Strategic Approach to Marketing Defense, Essay Example

In the outlined case study, a brand is given which is not strong enough to engage with loyal customers and gain a large market share on the personal care The product has been on the market for over a decade but failed to make an impact. Therefore, there is a need for making a strategic decision whether to continue with promoting the product and invest in brand marketing, change the features or the product, or simply replace it. The below marketing strategy will define the pro-s and con-s of each option in order to allow the company to maximize the profit on the product at the lowest possible cost. The company also needs to build brand equity(Kotler, 1999, p. 18); a process that Defense failed at previously.

Strategic Marketing Approach

In order to evaluate the performance and the marketing opportunities to create a suitable and successful marketing strategy, it is important  to review five different aspects of defense as it is currently positioned on the market. These aspects of current marketing are: competition, partnerships, distribution, pricing and positioning. Based on the review, the company can create a competitive advantage for the brand (Ferrell & Hartline, p. 87)

Competition. The competition of the deodorant market is fierce. Big brands spend millions of dollars to promote their products, such as Sure, Mennon, Axe, Right Guard, therefore, DEFENSE only has a 2.1 percent market share.

Partnerships. It is not known whether or not Merit Enterprises has a partnership with retailers, or whether or not they engage in cross-promotion of other, successful own products. In order to increase sales levels, partnerships need to be developed.

Distribution. In order to strengthen the brand, it needs to be diversified, especially if it is distributed through the same channels as competitors. Researching new channels of distribution would be an important step of evaluating current marketing.

Positioning. Based on the company’s research, today DEFENSE is positioned on the market as an average deodorant with no distinctive features or strong brand image. In order to increase sales and strengthen market position, a new image needs to be created that customers  can engage with.

Marketing Strategy

The three options described in the introduction paragraph will be analyzed below.

1. If Merit Enterprises discontinued the marketing of Defense, the following outcome is expected:

1.  an annual revenue of 4.4 million is lost
2.  company would lose customers who are regularly buying the product
3.  reputation loss
4.  decreased product diversification on the market

One potential benefit is that the company would be able to invest the marketing funds spent on promoting Defense on other, more successful products.

1. If Merit Enterprises decided to replace the product, the following outcomes are likely:

1. Increased R&D costs
2. Loss of profits from Defense
3. Reputation loss
4. Investment required for creating a new brand and launching a marketing campaign.

The potential benefit of the above option is that the company would be able to develop a more competitive product that would (in 18 to 36 months) achieve higher market share than Defense currently holds.

1. The final option for Merit Enterprises is to re-design, re-brand and re-position the existing product: Defense on the market, based on Porter’s product differentiation strategy. (Schnaars, 1998, p. 61). By doing so, the company would:

1. Increase brand popularity
2. Increase market share by responding to customer expectations
3. Minimize the cost of the project
4. Keep existing customer base

A potential risk of this solution is based on inadequate market research and segmentation. The company needs to ensure that consumer surveys and market research analysis are completed among existing and potential buyers.

Strategic Marketing Plan

Merit Enterprises, based on the analysis of the three options, should decide to implement the third strategy and re-position Defense on the market. Competitive positioning, according to Hooley, Piercy & Nicoluaud (2008,  p. 22) is essential to target customers. The authors state that customers do not buy products; they buy what the product does for them. Therefore, when creating a marketing plan, this unique feature needs to be communicated. For this, the management needs to identify target customers based on recent surveys and research (Kotler, 1999, p. 41). Next, it is important to find and highlight the product’s unique selling point which will be communicated through various marketing channels, creating a strong brand image. Further, the pricing of the product needs to be reviewed based on the following data: competition’s prices for the same product, customer price preferences and perceived value of the product. Finally, the distribution plan needs to be reviewed; the company needs to find new channels and strengthen partnerships with other retailers. The new campaign would feature the renewed brand alongside other successful personal hygiene products created by  Merit Enterprises in order to strengthen the brand and gain new customers through cross-marketing. The marketing communication channels are described below.

1. Retailer shops’ banners featuring the new image of the product and the unique selling position
2. Social media advertising offering samples and involving competition to strengthen the brand image. Social media would also create brand awareness and opportunities for market research.
3. Cross-promotion with other successful Merit Enterprises personal hygiene products
4. Featured ad about the new image and unique selling points of Defense, targeting female audience in popular women’s magazines

Conclusion

By implementing the above marketing strategy, the company would be able to keep existing customers engaged with the brand, strengthen the image of Defense, reduce the cost of advertising and connect with new customers through social media, while monitoring customer perception about the product and engaging with the audience of marketing messages.

References

Ferrell, O., Hartline, M. (2012) Marketing Strategy. Cengage Learning.

Hooley, G.,  Piercy, N.,  & Nicoluaud, B. (2008) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. Pearson Education.

Kotler, P. (1999) Kotler on Marketing. Simon and Schuster.

Schnaars, S. (1998) Marketing Strategy. Simon and Schuster.