Assignment Assistance

1

11

PART B: MARKETING PLAN 10

Part B: ABC Marketing Plan (Jewels Furniture Palace)

MKT500 Marketing Management

Introduction

From the findings in part A, marketing is a paramount factor in the company. Notable is that marketing goes beyond the normal definition and introduction of marketing to a company but identifies and relates to its facts about its environment facts. Given the company's underperforming nature, a lot needs to be done to be at the level it originally needs to be. What transpires is to improve the marketing aspects of the company and, consequently, the revenues. Therefore, there is a need to identify ways to share and to gain a competitive edge. Such trends will create a sustainable brand for the company that will attract and retain customers to its products and services. Market share and gaining a competitive edge are attained when the company can have consistent interaction with the clientele to identify what needs to be improved and better ways to satisfy its quest. Therefore, this is a marketing plan for the company.

In particular, the company deals with making and selling high-end furniture; hence the name Jewels Furniture Palace, a name meant to attract high customers and compare to the fine pieces of art such as jewelry. The company was originally started in only one state in the US but is set to expand to other countries and continents. Jewels Furniture Palace began with a small number of employees but now scaling to over 1000 employees and set to have more. The company values its employees and believes they are the reason for its existent. More training is always done to employees to improve their effectiveness and allow them to adapt to new trends and technologies. The company invests heavily in technology and is always finding ways to become more innovative.

Given the company's intentions to improve on its marketing plan, there are lots of ideas to be done and activities to be implemented. The company believes the first step to reaching the clientele is through establishing an appropriate marketing plan. The plan is to increase market share and gain a competitive edge. Therefore, as Percy (2018) explains, the company's branding aligns well with this plan. Branding is what the consumer identifies with and is critical to the perception attained to the consumer. The paper will focus on the marketing plan through the branding strategy, primary and secondary targets, positioning statements, and consumer behavior. All these are critical aspects of implementing the marketing plan of the company.

Branding Strategy

At Jewels Furniture Palace, the belief is that branding is crucial to perceptions that the consumers have. Percy (2018) outlines that brand communicates to the consumer's emotions as it is important that the company creates and maintains a brand that captures this kind of importance to the consumer base. The latter forms the basis for the company's branding strategy to create an intellectual appeal. When consumers think of the goods and services of Jewels Furniture Palace, they think of class and elegance. The branding strategy covers the brand name, logo, slogan, and brand extension as follows.

Brand Name

The brand name is Jewels Furniture Palace. The names come from the core purpose that forms the company. The company did not only want to create pieces of furniture but ones that do not attain the level of elegance about these pieces of furniture. Therefore, the intention is not just to have an ordinary company making and distributing furniture but also to be regarded as a palace, one-stop-shop for clients. The name jewels are what the company's goods and services would like to be associated with. Jewels are art pieces meant to attract beauty being the intention for the pieces of furniture the company produces.

Logo

The logo is a reflection of what the company stands for through its products and services. The logo is meant to give a clear picture of the kind of services and products. The logo elaborates on the value of the company in the market and the industry it represents. The logo of Jewels Manufacturing Company is as follows:

Figure 1. Your company name logo and a short description.

Slogan

The slogan follows the logo. The slogan is meant to commensurate with the logo and gives an elaborative statement of the company. The slogan of Jewels Furniture Palace is "Where your needs meets elegance." The slogan is meant to elaborate on its value and what a customer expects regarding the services or products they seek.

Brand Extension

The brand extension for Jewels Furniture Palace is the company's mirrors. The mirrors are made with a unique design and through effective use of technology to create beautiful pieces. The idea of this brand extension is commensurate with the main products and services of the company.

Primary and Secondary Target Markets

The primary target markets for Jewels Furniture Palace are married couples and singles aiming at luxurious living. The target also extends to any other individual who aligns with the company's objective to live in elegance, as that is the motto for the company. The secondary target markets are associated with royalty and high hierarchal families, such as political families. The company believes that these families are good clientele as they give value to elegance and class and appreciate the value of their furniture.

The demographic profile of the primary target is as follows. As per the readings of Herve and Mullet (2009), our target age includes young individuals who are starting at life and excited to live elegantly. The same also applies to old individuals in the retirement period and aim to live a lavish life and enjoy free time. The primary target is women as the company believes that females are better at showing their style and representing their elegance level through what is in their surroundings. The company also believes that women are better determined at obtaining things of their desire, such as furniture and fashion, better than male customers. Equally, it is more effective to appeal to the emotions of the female customer. There is no particular ethnicity basing the clientele of the company's primary target.

The psychographic profile for our target market is consumers geared towards elegant lifestyles. The intent is to target customers who want nothing but the best in all things living, a major reason why we consider our company a palace and not an institution. Home plays a key role in the quality of life one lives, and that narrows down to pieces like furniture. Our elegant pieces are created to establish nothing else but class and elegance. The target customers' professional profile is people with a certain level of education, a bachelor's degree holder, and above qualifications. Customers with this qualification obtain better-paying jobs and can afford elegance living (Herve and Mullet, 2009). Professionals better understand the value of quality living and gear towards such a living to commemorate the hard work they put in their profession.

The geographic profile for the target customers of the company is from both urban and rural localities. The primary target market is in the urban region, while the secondary target market is rural. The belief is that elegance can be obtained at any location. The other profile cases to be considered by the company are risk orientation. The company focuses on consumers who understand the value attached to each elegance piece and what statement it can reinforce in the household (Herve and Mullet, 2009). The expectation for the primary target is a high risk-orientation attached to elegance furniture.

Positioning Statement

Jewels Furniture Palace aims at creating the best pieces in the market. The company's motto is "Where your needs meet elegance," and that is the unique position. The company attains at fulfilling the consumer's needs through creative, unique, and beautiful pieces that meet the kind of elegance that the consumers desire. The company's unique position is geared towards gaining a competitive edge, given the high and intense competition existing within the industry. The biggest competitor is Maiden Home. The competitor's unique selling proposition is that highly skilled craftsman offers a wide range of styles to the consumers (Farell and Lee, 2015). The positioning of the competitor differs from the company's positioning as Jewels Furniture Palace focuses on selling its services by addressing the consumer's needs. In contrast, Maiden Home focuses on the skillset used to make the products.

https://app.creately.com/diagram/UUq5TTgwYLx/edit

Figure 1. Perceptual map representing Your Company Name concerning competitors XYZ company, ABC company, and AAA company.

For customers who want to achieve elegance and class, our pieces of furniture reflect this art level in the best way possible. We optimize in appealing to creating beautiful pieces that fit well within their household and livelihoods, only creating statements that reflect you the consumer.

Consumer Behavior of Target Market

The consumer behavior of the company's target market is narrow. Most of the target markets fit under the limited decision making and extensive decision-making category. Li (2016) explains that some consumers purchase the company's services and products on limited decision-making behavior. Such kind of clients heavily depends on referrals from other consumers. The reliance is heavily on referrals made and is accompanied by very little research. The consumers believe the references made by friends and other contacts are more effective than personal research. The other consumers have extensive decision making. Many consumers are characteristic of these behaviors as the company's products are high cost. Such consumers spend much time researching expensive products and compare them to find what suits them. The research focuses on the product ratings and reviews made by other purchasers. Few consumers engage in impulse buying, A behavior that is rare and is only characteristic of individuals from affluent families. Such clients are not considered target customers as they are rare. The rate of this kind of buying behavior is shallow.

The company's identity is crucial to the target market as it is a break or make for the consumer base. A company's identity comprises various items, including brand name, logo, slogan, brand extension, and positioning statement. All these appeal to the consumer differently as they influence the consumer's purchasing behaviors and effectively influence competitive strategies. An identity of a company constitutes the company's central evaluation. Consequentially influencing interpretive, cognitive, and behavioral consequences that help the company sustain performance (Gumbert, 2019). The company's identity influences how the company looks and draws different consumer perceptions from the image created.

The company's identity does not only influence consumer behavior but creates a certain positioning. The unique selling positioning is crucial for a company within the industry or the market it holds on to. While unique selling positioning is usually expressed in the form of words, it can be a good competitive strategy, as it belongs to the company's identity and among the first things that the consumer can relate to. The first image highly influences the consumer's perception, consequentially, the position of the company. The unique positioning influences the heart of the business and the value that the company attains in the consumer's eyes. The positing statement articulates a specific benefit the consumers do not offer, setting out a competitive advantage to gain a competitive edge (Gumbert, 2019). Nonetheless, the company's identity needs to be relevant and align with the target market's profile and characteristics.

Conclusion

A marketing plan is imperative to the well-being and overall growth of a company. The marketing plan depends on the company's objective, which focuses on all activities, ideas, and strategies geared toward one objective, to have a better position in the market. Market positioning is done through increasing shares in the market and attains a competitive edge, all influenced by the target market. Therefore, the target market aligns with the marketing plan that a company intends to implement. The target market is the focus, and the ultimate objective is to attract and retain more of such target markets. The target market plays a critical role in the implementation and effectiveness of a company's marketing plan. However, while identifying, formulating, and implementing a marketing plan, it is important to note that the target market varies in their profile and characteristics. Therefore, all these aspects need to be integrated and used to the company's advantage to influence one important aspect, consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is at the core of the company, as it sets whether a certain product or service is marketable and at what rate. Jewels Furniture Palace market plan elaborates on the science of marketing and its relevance to companies.

References

Farrell, A. M., & Lee, N. (2015). Unique selling proposition. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1(0), 1-1. doi:10.1002/9781118785317.weom090272

Gumbert, T. (2019). Freedom, autonomy, and sustainable behaviours: The politics of designing consumer choice. Power and Politics in Sustainable Consumption Research and Practice, 4(3), 107-123. doi:10.4324/9781315165509-5

Hervé, C., & Mullet, E. (2009). Age and factors influencing consumer behaviors. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(3), 302-308. doi:10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00743.x

Li, Y. (2016). Global consumer behaviors in luxury goods markets. Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services, 12(3), 1-28. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-9958-8.ch001

Percy, L. (2018). Finalizing and implementing the IMC plan. Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications, 2(1), 268-289. doi:10.4324/9781315164342-17