Free «Parle Company Marketing Plan for the UK Market» Essay Sample

Parle Products is a company with its headquarters in India that deals with the manufacture of confectionary and biscuits. The company has been in operation for almost 80 years now with operations in various countries including India, Africa, United States, Middle East, New Zealand, Canada, South East Asia, and Australia. The products offered by the company vary between countries due to different tastes and preferences by customers from different nations. The company is known as the world’s largest manufacturer and seller of biscuits, Parle G plus other top brands. Parle is a name used especially by the Native Indians to show quality, wonderful taste, and nutritious. The company completely dominates the Indian market for it has been running for some time, with favorable market abroad too. Parle G biscuits have managed to dominate 40% of the market in India, with the confectioneries contributing to around 15% of the total market. Parle has grown to have an enormous customer base, and has also been used as a milestone by other competitor companies (Parle 2011).

Launch Plan in Central London

In the U.K, the Parle Company has three branches, having the major one in London. The UK companies mostly transact on biscuits, chocolates, and snacks. Sweets sell lowest in the UK with two major brands in the market namely Melody and Chox. The company launched two brands of sweets in different countries where it has branches. The company now wishes to launch the two brands, Mango bite and Kaccha mango bite in the UK using a favorable strategy to penetrate the market. The brands have been doing well in the countries they are already launched especially in India.  The UK, however, has a range of sweets already in the market including Rainbow dust, Barratt, and the village sweet. This emphasizes the need for a good strategy to penetrate the UK market (Parle 2011).

The two products, Mango bite and Kaccha mango bites are products with almost similar ingredients but different flavors. Kaccha Mango bite combines the taste of tangy with the flavoring taste of a sweet green mango, while mango bite does not have many additives and contains only a flavor of ripe mangoes. In the UK, most sweets are packed in packets of 100 grams that retail for an average of 0.88 pounds. These include the above named popular brands in the country. For Parle Company to gain and sustain customers, it has to set its prices according to the rest of the sweets’ industry. After calculations, Mango bite and Kaccha mango bite will be packed in 100 gram wrappers. Mango bite will retail for 0.85 pounds while Kaccha mango bite will retail for 1 pound. The main suppliers of the new products will be the three major Parle stores in the UK. Other retailers and intermediaries can obtain the sweets from the stores and bridge the gap to the consumers (Marg 2011).

The sweets will mostly be sold along the major towns in the UK at first, and spread all over later after they become established. Various promotional activities to entice customers and increase sales will be applied. The target market is kids and young adults, and the marketing done has to target a specific age bracket. Packaging of the two sweets will play a role in promoting the sweets, to make them attractive. Various mobile Parle kiosks will be established in the UK, central London having large pictures on it to attract attention. Several events will also be organized in and around the major schools in Central London to increase awareness of the product. Posters and billboards will also be set up in attractive designs to create attention from sweet lovers. During the first few months of launching the two sweets, adverts will be run on the TV and other commonly used mediums in the UK. Major modes of transport commonly used by students like buses and trains will also contain averts of the same products.

Marketing objectives in the UK

From the Marketing strategies applied by Parle Company to the UK market, favorable returns are expected from the new products after launch. This is expected to affect the overall income of the three branches in the UK. The marketing is also supposed to create awareness of the new and hip sweets. There are some already established companies dealing with sweets in UK, and hence the marketing is also aimed at making Pearl Company popular among UK citizens. The marketing will play a role in creating an image for the two sweets and their distinct characteristics. The more a new product is advertised, the more it’s likely to enjoy more sales as compared to the competitor products (Parle 2011).

The Marketing Mix Elements to Achieve the Objectives

Kaccha Mango bite will have a mint taste, with a sharp mango taste as it is made from green mangoes. Its packaging should also be green to emphasize its flavor with a kid’s picture on the wrapper. The wrapper is polythene with a shiny inside surface to avoid quality interference by the sun, and heat in general. The sweet will be 100 grams in weight and of normal size for easier portability, and ease of package. Mango bite, the second product is made up of ripe Mangoes, plus other natural additives. The sweet will be in a yellow wrapper also in 100 grams each. The inside will be shiny too, and for the same reason as the packaging of Kaccha Mango bite. Introduction of the two products will create a choice for customers who have different tastes in sweets. It will also increase the overall revenue of Parle Company and earn more customers.

The Mango flavor is common among most sweets sold in Central London, and hence to entice its customers, the product has to be sold at a lower price than the existing products. Normally, the 100 grams sweets are sold for an average of 0.88 pounds. The price for the Mango bite will be set at 0.85, cheaper than the competitor sweets, but still at a price that earns the company income. Kaccha Mango bite contains a distinct flavor from other sweets, and is likely to be preferred by many young adults for its mints. In the UK, mint flavored sweets are the most consumed despite being of a higher price. As a result, it will retail for 1 pound, depending on the vendor and location of sale. The contents of the Kaccha Mango bite will clearly be indicated on the wrapper in an attractive manner to distinguish it from the ordinary Mango bite (Marg 2011).

The three main store of the Parle Company in the UK will be responsible for the distribution of the sweets. Areas where there is a probability of good market for the sweets in the country will be identified and retail outlets supplied with the sweets. Mobile kiosks for Parle products will also be used to supply the sweets on the streets and the neighborhoods without shops nearby. The mobile kiosks will also be used in schools to market and distribute the new products. The major supermarkets in Central London and the rest of the UK will also be supplied with the new sweets to assist in distribution. A website will also be used to receive orders and delivery made incase of large orders. Parle Company has a fairly good market for its biscuits in the UK already. Some of the channels used to distribute the biscuits will also be used to assist in distributing the sweets.

Communication between the consumers and manufactures of any product is important. Communication enables the company to get a feedback from the customers on the standards of the product. The customers can either communicate directly to the manufacturer or can communicate through a retailer or super market staff. Every sweet contains an address on it that can be referred to incase any communication with the company is necessary. Contacts are placed on the company’s website, which also contains a comment section where customers are free to leave a comment. However, communication is not only necessary in a one way channel. The Parle Company also needs to communicate its adverts and messages to its customers. This is to create awareness on the new products and convince consumers to choose it over competitor products. Communication can be done by use of visual or audio media, as well as by use of writings on the sweets’ wrapper itself (Doole and Lowe 2008).

How to Monitor and Control the Plan

The plan will be monitored by the three managers responsible for the three Parle Company branches in the UK. The three managers should then report to me, as the company manager on the progress of the product launch. Various tests will also randomly be carried out among the citizens of Central London to establish the degree of acceptance of the new products. The selling trends of competitor sweets is also to be monitored by the branch managers so as to reinforce our marketing, if need arises. The managers will also be responsible to ensure control of the messages and finances used in marketing. A comprehensive monthly report on the marketing progress in Central London should also be submitted to me for review. This will enable the company to channel its resources to where they are mostly needed, to improve the overall company revenue from the sweets (Doole and Lowe 2008).

Central London is a good market for the Mango bite and Kaccha Mango bites sweets. It has several companies dealing in the same product but differentiated either by branding or packaging. Parle Company has three major branches in the country that mainly obtain their revenue from sale of Parle G biscuits and few other products from Parle Company. Introduction of the two sweets will lead to higher revenue from the country, which will result to an increase in the main company’s turn over. Proper marketing of the two sweets will not only boost the sales but also ensure customer loyalty to the products once they are introduced for the first time. It is the role of any marketing manager in any country to ensure proper strategies and plans are used to market products and services.