EOC Week 10: What are the benefits vs. the features

"Consumers around the world vary tremendously in age, income, education level, and tastes... How these diverse consumers relate with each other and with other elements of the world around them impacts their choices among various products, services, and companies." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 137)

My chocolate adventures do sport a wide variety of delicious caramel fillings and nougat accents wrapped up in the chest made of the finest quality milk and dark chocolate velvety wraps, but these are just features. However delectable and good these chocolates are, if that was all they gave you'd be no better off then getting a snickers bar or a milky way. My Doubloon Candies show you a new world of adventure and possibilities for each bite. You never known what you're going to jump into and you never know just how good they are until you take a bite. Inside the larger chest box you will find a dozen smaller chocolate chests ready to tell you their secrets right after you bite into the chocolatey goodness they each hold.

Implementation Evaluation Control

“The company should periodically survey buyers who have used the product and ask these questions: How do you like the product? Which specific features of the product do you like most? Which features could we add to improve the product?” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, pg 215)

After release there should be a voucher for a digital survey placed in every chest that would be quite simple involving a grading system on how well the product satisfied your thirst for fun, the quality of the chocolate, and any ideas you had for improving the product as well as a comments and concerns section, an email, phone number and mailing address for any other concerns. On top of that there could be a code given upon completion of the survey for a 10% of coupon for your next purchase of Doubloon Chocolate Treasures.

“When customers buy a product, they exchange something of value (the price) in order to get something of value (the benefits of having or using the product).” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, pg 276)

“A powerful form of segmentation is to group buyers according to the different benefits that they seek from the product.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, pg 182)

 We could also use any information on the purchasing habits of the card holders of those who buy our product via the stores they buy them from to find out if its the children themselves buying it, which would point to a teenager presence, or if a parental figure doing the purchases meaning that our product is being properly marketed to the bracket of 8-14.

Marketing Mix

“To estimate sales, the company might look at the sales history of similar products and conduct market surveys.” (Marketing: An Intorduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 251)

 My product  and it's history in the market place are known and unknown. There's always been chocolate confections with different ingredients inside but there's also always been a road map of sorts on the box to tell you what was inside those confections. There has yet to be a set of chocolates of identical size and color made with different innards for the purpose of making you enjoy the randomness of your choice. Each box will actually be a "chest" about 6 inches by 6 inches by 4 inches containing a dozen miniature chests.

“In the normal case, demand and price are inversely related; that is, the higher the price, the lower the demand.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 283)

 The price for my product seeing as how it's a commonly purchasable and commonly consumed product would be set at an appropriate 8 dollars a box. There's no need to set my product price too high, and that leaves adequate room for product development and shipping.

“Consumers with limited budgets probably will buy less of something if its price is too high.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 283) 

 

 “Consumer promotions are sales promotion tools used to boost short-term customer buying and involvement or to enhance long-term customer relationships.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 434)

 

 The promotions for my product will be handled as thus; in all stores selling the product forthright there will be drawing contests for all children ages 18 and under eligible to enter. The drawing will need to include pirates and will be used as the mascot for the product. Whoever wins will get a free years supply of Doubloon Chocolate Treasures and the drawing will then be used as the mascot for the product hence forth. It gets children excited about the product and then it gets attention without sacrificing any profit margin.

 

 

Creative Content

Target Market Strategy

In order to go after the specific market we must first see what section we can best utilize. For lower income families looking for a reprieve from the dreariness of daily life we offer an escape. For upper middle and lower high class families we also offer a fun bit of time and enjoyment. "Companies need to consider many factors when choosing a market-targeting strategy. Which strategy is best depends on company resources. When the firm’s resources are limited, concentrated marketing makes the most sense." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 192. The definition of concentrated marketing is as follows, "Concentrated (niche) marketing- A market-coverage strategy in which a firm goes after a large share of one or a few segments or niches." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 188. Since we are starting off fairly small going to local supermarkets and using radio advertisements only, concentrated marketing is where we begin. It employs a high risk high reward strategy. I however have full confidence in my product and my company and think that this risk is justifiable.

SWOT

“The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T).” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 55).

 

 The strengths in our product obviously come first for the ability for people to enjoy chocolate as everyone does. The second being the lure of not knowing what you're going to eat which leads to just an all around fun experience. A weakness is not having a super high quality product as it's not meant as a luxury item. This is a chocolate for kids and playful adults, not to lose yourself in the moment or as a reprieve from a bad day. An opportunity this has however is becoming a massive item to the children of the day, which then everyone is nostalgic about in times to come which leads to large purchases all throughout life. A threat to this product however is over indulgence from children leading to a backlash of health enthusiasts, or other child enticing products such as chips or sodas.

 

 

“Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that will help the company attain its overall strategic objectives… The main section of the plan presents a detailed SWOT analysis of the current marketing situation as well as potential threats and opportunities.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg 56)

EOC Week 9: Three Great Mission Statements

"My Mission Statement is to provide the consumer with a tasteful way to gain the energy and health they once had as a child, and lead the energy supplement industry with a youthful approach of the product." - Todd Cecil. This mission statement stood out to me first of all because of it's approach to making peoples lives better as a whole, but also without any cheap or non-lasting effects as his product obviously intends to be a healthy one. "Companywide strategic planning guides marketing strategy and planning. Like marketing strategy, the company’s broad strategy must also be customer focused." Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler. Pg 39. Todd has shown here that his strategy is on par with that employed by the book, customer should come first in the short term and in the company's broad sense as well.

"Deliver A rich and exotic way of drinking!" - Javier Garcia. his mission statement seemed appropriate to me as his product is simple yet powerful such as his mission statement is simple yet powerful. Give your customers a new twist on beer and they will surely enjoy the experience. "Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the marketplace." Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler. Pg. 6. This rings precisely true especially with this statement if I do say so myself.

 "We give families the opportunity to taste a delicious blend of natural flavors that everyone and anyone from all ages can enjoy. " - Jose Fernandez I rather enjoy this statement on a personal and professional lever for a few reasons. The first of which being that he wants people to enjoy his chocolates rather then just consume them but also that they're for everyone, and not just a pleasure chocolate. "Few leaders actually get the point of forging a mission with real grit and meaning. [Mission statements] have largely devolved into fat-headed jargon. Almost no one can figure out what they mean." Armstrong/Kotler, Marketing: An Introduction, page 40. This rings true with most mission statements but I'm easily convinced that with Jose, this is not that case.

Objectives

Objectives are quite important to the companies development. We plan on  following this promotional outline to grow this business. "The most logical budget-setting method is the objective-and-task method, whereby the company sets its promotion budget based on what it wants to accomplish with promotion. This budgeting method entails (1) defining specific promotion objectives, (2) determining the tasks needed to achieve these objectives, and (3) estimating the costs of performing these tasks." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page, 389. We start by taking over the radio commercial world. We will begin by doing radio commercials only for the first quarter. Radio is by far the lowest expense in advertising media and easiest to produce due to it's limited sensory input. " In addition, advertising can be very costly. Although some advertising forms, such as newspaper and radio advertising, can be done on smaller budgets, other forms, such as network TV advertising, require very large budgets." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 383. After our first quarter, and recording our sales, we can then project future quarters. At that time of projection, we can then move on to paper mediums such as newspaper and magazines. By end of the first quarter, sales will be expected to be above expectations, and thus we could then move on to TV advertisements. "For companies that want to reach a mass audience, TV is the place to be. Beyond its reach, large-scale advertising says something positive about the seller’s size, popularity, and success." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, Page 383.

Mission Statement

"Being the first producer to introduce a value and new feature is one of the most effective ways to compete." Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong & Kotler, Pg. 215. I don't think for a second that I'm the first to introduce chocolate, but I do think I'm the first to introduce adventure along with a delicious treat. At Doubloon Candies our statement is "With every chance give fun and adventure. It's never too late to dream" We strive to make everyone from the smallest child to oldest veteran of life to remember and live the dream of being free and without constraint. We want everyone to have an uncontrollable smile every time they try to choose a chest to bite into. And most of all we want everyone to have fun doing it.

Promotion

 I will be drawing a picture of a treasure chest that looks a bit too brown to be real and using it as a still frame as I narrate a radio commercial in Pirate English over top to be hosted on SoundCloud or Vimeo or worst case scenario, YouTube. It will speak of the boundless treasures to be given to those brave enough to venture out and have their adventure to find and eat the bounties of the deep. It can tell of the chocolate chests left behind by old captain Chocolate Beard and elaborate on his bravery on the high seas and how he was presumed lost at sea only to give his first mate a map to his hidden chocolate chest treasures to give to all the people for their great adventuring needs. The pirate style voice speaks to the inner child in all of us and the kid like demeanor would not draw attention to the obvious downsides to being a pirate but would remind us how we all wanted to be a pirate as a kid, right up there with fireman and astronaut. It would of course say that product may contain peanuts. Done.

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

A new adventure every time you buy a box, Doubloon Candies is 8-12 identical chocolate pirate chests (milk or dark chocolate depending on which package you purchase) filled with either straight chocolate or white chocolate blends or nuts, nougat, caramel, and even a 21 or older box sold at liquor stores with liquor infused within. The packaging would be within another larger old world style trunk or pirate chest with the label written in an Old English font. This could easily be marketed to children or teens with a fondness for pirates and adult versions of the packaging for the 21 and older versions as to not allow for accidentally selling a 21 and older version to children or teens.

Besides the milk chocolate, dark chocolate and 21 and older versions of both I don't feel there should be any other indication of the contents within the chocolate chests. A product may contain nuts label is obviously warranted but otherwise there shouldn't be any indication to keep it truly random and a new experience every time you bite into a new bounty ensuring that you have no preconceived notions of what it should taste like allowing you to be disappointed without truly enjoying the treat.

Everyone at one moment or another has dreamed of the treasures of the pirates of old and that dream is finally revealed with your adventure into Doubloon Candies. Who knows what exciting concoctions and flavors you'll experience within.