Report — Create a company follow the activity 1 2 3 Essay Example

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Executive summary

This report looks at how Nivea carried out its marketing campaigns during the relaunch of the Nivea For Men in the United Kingdom. It is based on an analysis of the methods used in devising and implementing the marketing strategies. The results of the findings found out that Nivea successfully managed to achieve its marketing objective through a well-strategized move. The company relied on data from SWOT analysis and consumer research. It then supported a sport that has a huge following among men who are also its target market. The following are the recommendation of the report:

1. Continue to sell its brand by sponsoring popular sports especially football

2. Roll out more marketing activities that support boy/men initiatives to identify with the target group.

3. Take advantage of social media marketing to reach the younger population that are more open to new ideas.

Introduction

Through marketing, customers have been able to increase their market share and realize more profit. Marketing is the process of educating consumers why they should use a company’s products and services and not those of their competitors. It includes all activities of getting a product or service from the manufacturer or seller to the consumer. Marketing managers are therefore tasked with identifying their target market, promoting their wares and moving it through the proper selling channels. All marketing activities must have clearly defined objectives. Marketing objective is a group of goals set up by a business when promoting its products or services to a target group and should be achieved within a given time frame (Egan, 2011). Some of the common marketing objectives include increasing sales and building brand awareness. An example of a company that attributes their leading market share to marketing strategies is Nivea. The success of the enterprise can be attributed to the right marketing strategy.

Marketing plays a valuable role for companies. Firstly, it helps companies understand their customer’s needs. Businesses can find information on consumers’ needs and attitudes towards products (Lorette, n.d.). Companies, therefore, can have firsthand information on their customers and what they like. Secondly, it helps businesses create awareness of their products and services to the market. That way, they become visible to the consumers who in turn purchase the marketed brands. Thirdly, businesses use marketing to enhance their reputation. Marketing helps build brand name recognition or product recall with a company. Marketing activities such as participation in community programs, effective communication and providing quality products and services help build the reputation of a firm.

Sources of Data

Nivea relied on factual data to come up with a marketing plan to relaunch its product Nivea for Men. A SWOT analysis of the company’s position in the market was conducted. The results of the study found out that it had strong brand recognition and the necessary resources as its strengths (Nivea For men, n.d.). It was also revealed that Nivea For Men could take advantage of changing social attitudes towards men skin care products. Men were slowly embracing facial skincare products. The main threats were from the increasing level of consumer awareness about what they purchase and price consciousness. Buyers were expecting more sales promotions and discounts. Besides, it was established that the business could face competition from new firms in the market. As a result, the need to differentiate their products was seen. The SWOT analysis enabled it to be aware of its internal strengths and weakness as well as opportunities it could seize and threats in the marketplace. The other data used was from research on what male customers preferred and the level of competition in the industry.

Most companies choose to sponsor sports teams due to their fanatical following. Nivea opted for football sponsorship to increase its brand awareness due to several reasons. Firstly, it had a huge following among its target group that is men. Millions of men had dreams of becoming professional footballers, but they could not actualize that due to varied reasons. The season received coverage by leading outlets who passed information to their audiences. By supporting amateur teams, the brand appealed directly to their target market. Secondly, it allowed for the active participation of the members of the public. The company launched a nation-wide search to find one lucky team. To be selected, the applicants were required to record and upload a video of themselves with a valid reason on why they deserved to be picked. The company attributes that it received high engagement from members of the public. It received over 600 video entries, 3.5 million YouTube views during the period, 65,000 Facebook likes and over 200,000 website traffic (Utalkmarketing.com, 2012). Good marketing strategies are that enable companies to reach as many people as possible.

Additionally, the company picked football to appeal most to its target market. A target market is a group of people or organizations for which a business designs, implements, and maintains a marketing mix with the aim of meeting the needs of that group which leads to satisfying mutual exchanges (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011, p. 274). In other words, a target market is the group of people with particular or identifiable characters that a company intends to make them their main customers. An organization may have different products for different target groups in their bid to have as many customers as possible. For example, a company may have a product for the youth, women, and old people. Categorization of the market enables businesses to concentrate their effort on a viable market niche.

SWOT analysis

Strengths

Nivea have enjoyed a good position in the market for a long time. The results of the SWOT analysis before the relaunch of Nivea for Men showed that it had strong brand recognition in the market. Brand recognition is the strength of a brand in the eyes of a customer (Kapferer, 2012, p. 376). Strong brand awareness enabled Nivea to stand out in the market and thus led to higher sales. Brands that are easily recognized by consumers perform well in the market than those which are unknown. Also, strong brands establish trust in customers which in turn translates to repeat sales and higher profits.

Weaknesses

The main weakness facing Nivea was found to be competition from rival brands. Whereas competition is seen as an external factor, it could be as a result of inadequate marketing by a company.

Opportunities

These include possible chances for companies to increase their market (Pahl and Richter, 2007). Nivea had the chances of growing its market share and taking advantage of changing societal views about men facial products to sell more of their items. Companies should always be aware of opportunities that are available and exploit them fully.

These include any factors that threaten the operation or existence of a brand. For Nivea, the main threat came from competition from rival companies. However, this problem is not specific to Nivea since all businesses compete with others for customers unless they are a monopoly.

Effectiveness of Nivea for Men Marketing Plan

An effective plan is that which accomplishes its purpose. Adams 92017) says that a company cannot be successful without an effective marketing plan. The marketing objectives of the Nivea for Men were to increase the share of the UK male skin care market through brand awareness. As mentioned previously, the marketing activity which involved the sponsoring of a football team led to an increase in awareness of the brand. Particularly, this is evident from the 3.5 million YouTube views and increased engagement on social media and their website. More importantly, the marketing activities during that period helped the company have improved public relations that led it to be awarded numerous awards such as the Best Digital Activation in a Sponsoring Campaign.

Conclusion

The Nivea for Men relaunch. The company used the right strategies to come up with the most effective marketing plan. It carried out a SWOT analysis, and they did a consumer research to find out what their customers liked most. Moreover, the combination of the outcomes of the SWOT analysis and consumer research enabled them to know their limits and how to push past them. The primary marketing objective of the company was to increase market share for male products in the U.K. It was able to achieve that through increasing brand awareness of its products and developing a connection with the targeted audience by sponsoring identifying with the football game. The marketing activities of the company lead to increase engagement on its YouTube channel, social media pages, and website.

Recommendations

From the above findings, the following recommendations can be made:

1. Continue to market its brand by sponsoring popular sports especially football

2. Roll out more marketing activities that support boy/men initiatives to identify with the target group

3. Take advantage of social media marketing to reach the younger population that is more open to new ideas.

Reference List

Adams, R. (2017). How To Develop An Effective Marketing Strategy. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/06/01/how-to-develop-an-effective-marketing-strategy/#5ab7c0962324 [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Egan, J. (2011). Relationship marketing. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Kapferer, J. (2012). The new strategic brand management. London: Kogan Page.

Lamb, C., Hair, J. and McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of Marketing. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Lorette, K. (n.d.). The Importance of Marketing for the Success of a Business. [online] Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-marketing-success-business-589.html [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Nivea For men. (n.d.). [ebook] The Times 100. Available at: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Utalkmarketing.com. (2012). Nivea for Men — “The Great Football Experiment” — Marketing Case Studies UTalkMarketing. [online] Available at: http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=23408&Title=Nivea_for_Men_-_%E2%80%9CThe_Great_Football_Experiment%E2%80%9D [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Pahl, N. and Richter, A. (2007). SWOT analysis. [Munchen]: GRIN Verlag.