Urgent Report 2000 Words Marketing Consulting Projects

(Figure 1)

Several assumption been made do budget constraints regarding qualitative primary research, Figure 1 shows several Competitor brands found in major supermarket grocery stores, the recommendation recognizes major supermarkets are not the target market, this is further discussed in distribution and partnerships. The assumption is made that smaller independent chains will still stock similar if not the same brands and these brand still serves as substitutes and therefore a possible competitive threat.

Furthermore, Figure one reveals that Traditional Medicinals is able to assume its own position when current US price is transferred to the Australian dollar,17.5 is the medium amount of tea bags and the most homogeneous brand is Pukka, the comes close to the medium at 16 tea bags to 1 box. Though the tea market is saturated, according to prior the research report page 11, it is currently in a growth stage with annual growth forecasted to be 3.5%. moreover high demand examples exist such as Unilever's “acquisition of Pukka”(Pukka, 2019)

Further basis for pricing strategy is whether the pricing is based on cost-plus pricing, makeup Pricing, value-based pricing and competition-based pricing, Client response indicates that products are 'marked up' 100%, thus price is based on cost pricing, however regarding the Australian market it is recommended a competition-based pricing strategy is adopted in collaboration with further Qualitative field studies ( professional shopper acquiring competitors prices).

Lastly, taking the above into consideration it is recommended that

- Psychological pricing is used, “which attempts to influence a customers perception of price to make a product more attractive” this would be implemented via “Multiple-Unit pricing” for example by two get 10% off (Pride, Ferrell, Lukas, Schembri, & Ninninen, 2015b).

-Penetration Pricing, as the price in figure one already is just below the TM's main competitor, one recommends remaining adopting this Penetration pricing strategy , where prices are just below the competing brand to penetrate a market and gain a significant share quickly.(Pride et al., 2015b)

7.2 Communication Strategy( Comms mix or called Promotional Mix) add sub Leonie heading as seen fit

This might form the bulk of the recommendations report so maybe split between two people?

-Advertising

-Personal Selling

-Public relations

-Sales Promotions

-Product Placement

-Digital marketing

-Word of Mouth (WOM)

-Social Media

-Mobile Promotions

7.3 Distribution (Cabe)

Distribution plays a very important role, as it is not enough to develop a product that satisfies customers needs. Enough products need to be produced to meet demand, also these products must be available to B2B customers and B2C customers in a timely fashion, any delay in the supply chain also called logistics can have a flow on effect. For example, the stocking of reseller shops where a customer has come in to buy his/her favourite tea and it is out of stock, this increases the customer referring to their evoked set of brands which can be costly for an organisation.

Thus, the importance of distribution strategic guidelines, the word guidelines are used because further field work may be required, for example many organisations employ logistic professional, procurement professional and freight brokers whom are akin to the complexities of logistical moving parts. In this area of the recommendation marketing channels and physical distribution in supply-chain management is explored with the most logical being recommended.

7.3.1 Marketing channel

The below points make up the bulk of marketing channels which are discussed, these channels have grown in complexity and number since the inception of the internet, coining the phrase “hybrid marketing channel” This channel is of clear prominence in TM's channel strategy and is discussed further on.

7.3.2 Channel management

Australian has 7.692 million km2 of surface area surrounded by ocean which makes Australian very accessible via shipping, unfortunately it is not financial viable for most if not all ships to travel directly to Australian from the US, in fact they appear to stop up to 9 times and more at different ports, loading and unloading.

According to the organisation 'MAERSK' which is a supply chain and freight forwarding service provider, it takes approximately 33 days to ship goods from Philadelphia to Sydney Australia, see figure 2 on page16 below.

(Figure 2) (MAERSK, 2019)

Fast-forward to the Sydney shipping port in Australia, already the tea product has had up to six points of contact in the supply chain and many more in the production phase.

Traditionally larger companies warehouse surplus good however it is recommended due to the additional cost and not having a mature foothold in the Australian market, that a materials handling service is used.

Such a services provides “efficient tools to minimise inventory management procedures and techniques for materials handling, reducing cost and also reducing the number of times a good is handled” see table 2 below, recommended providers (Pride, Ferrell, Lukas, Schembri, & Niininen, 2015).

Furthermore, it is recommended to mitigate shipping lead time which was indicated to be three months which may be due to customs and other unforeseeable events that a minimal surplus remain with inventory management services. As just in time (JIT) is only possible from warehouse distribution onwards.

Table 2.0

These organisations specialise in physical distribution, outsourcing, order processing, inventory management, materials handling and secure storage of products, typically this solution can be cradle to grave, for example; receive goods from port to delivering to retailer or direct to consumer via TM's online store. It is important when choosing a transportation mode that a “combination of cost, speed, dependability, load flexibility, accessibility and frequency” are taken into consideration when attempting to meet the companies desired level of customer service.(Pride, Ferrell, Lukas, Schembri, & Ninninen, 2015a)

Further recommendations regard labour, without being too specific, activities will need to be undertaken by management and staff that are able to operate between outsourced channel management and marketing intermediaries, this is also referred above in 6.0 Cost analysis (labour cost's).

Labour in the from of area managers or sales representatives become the enabling momentum behind the four recommended tea products and will help facilitate business area growth.

7.3.1 Partnerships Cabe

Possibly the most important variable is choosing the correct retailer channel member, correctly, currently the economic status quo dictates that physical retailers still have superior footing and visibility, however along this status quo is a growing trend online shopping trend in Australia, the “The NAB Online Retail Index Report 2017 discovered online shopping has increased by almost 9% in Australia over the past year while in-store foot-traffic has only increased by 3%”. (NAB, 2017). Though Online sales growth faster over the month November 2019, overall it has been slower for the year, one should take stock online shopping has been slightly over hyped, unless your company is called Amazon.

Looking for partnerships that eco the mantra of Traditional Teas and have the reach and customer base to attempt $2.5 Million in revenue in a year produced limited results, taking in consideration that Coles and Woolworths are not currently part of the strategy. Fortunately, “FLANNERY'S' ORGANIC & WHOLEFOOD MARKET” was considered, it was found that Flannery's has 11 retail stores in Queensland and 6 stores in New South Wales, Flannery's has been a going concern for “30 years” and is seen as a retailer that can add brand equity to TM's products(Flannerys, 2019)

Though a separate TM Website tailored to the Australian Market is recommended it is not treated as a partner as paid media can be locally controlled and administered in the United States.

With regard to B2B partnerships, “CHEMIST WAREHOUSE” is considered as a future growth opportunity or possible alternative, Chemist warehouse has several retail stores in most Australian states which stock Tea products that similar to TM's. Product range is typically larger than Flannerys and therefor shelf space competition may be higher along with slotting fees.

8.0 B2B Communication Strategy-(Leonie)

9.0 Proposed Timeline for Market entry (Cabe)

Below in figure 2 (Gantt Chart) is a high-level recommended overview of the necessary key steps in launching the four TM products, for instance before start of project research and data may need to review new competitors that could be entering the market, macro-economic changes in the climate need to also be considered (currency exchange rates).

Has the packaging been modified to reflect Australian regulations; A project manager consultant may need to lease with a business broker/consultant or TM employee in Australian when bidding for retail space? However, these details are part of a more complex operations project schedule that can be create with the assistance of a professional project manager. It is recommended that a TM employee is based in Australia and works in collaboration with a Project manager/Business Broker that is familiar with the business environment.

(Figure 2)

Regarding figure 2, Findings in the initial research report indicate that Australians are searching for the best online deals between Nov 13th to Dec 26th. . furthermore, seasonality is one of the major considerations for the product launch, though traditional consumers might associate tea with winter, due to generational change in habits consumers are drinking tea for different reason, namely health benefits detailed in the research report. 4.0 Recommended teas also reflect seasonality and adjust for consumer spending.

10. Summary (Cabe) Just a small summary

11.0 List of Sources

12.0 Appendixes