skincare product company case study.

what is different between part a and part b of the case study..(skincare product company)
PART A
1. Review the case study information.
2. Research trends and development in the cosmetics industry, potential new and emerging markets, competitors and any other relevant factors.
3. Develop a SWOT analysis that outlines all the internal and external factors that will impact on the plan based on the case study information and the research above.
4. Based on your review of the case study information and research, develop a briefing report to The purpose of the report will be to inform the development of the Marketing Plan.
5. The report should address the following:
a) Introduction to the marketing plan – outlining its purpose.
b) Report on the SWOT analysis conducted.
c) Identification of at least two marketing opportunities for the company based on the review of the case study and research, as well as the SWOT analysis. Include an evaluation of each of the two options, including a review of any possible risks for the marketing opportunity identified and likely returns regarding revenue and/or profit.
d) Identify and report on marketing strategies that could be used. The marketing strategies you develop must:
§ Address the four P’s of the marketing mix in accordance with the organisation’s marketing objectives, including desired positioning
§ Align with organisational strengths as per the case study information
§ Be relevant to the marketing opportunities you have identified
§ Be consistent with Blush Skin Care’s ability to implement such marketing strategies given the information provided in the case study.
§ Consistent with existing staff resources and budget.
§ Identify and consider gaps in achieving the objectives with current capability and expertise (this may have been identified in your SWOT analysis so your strategy will need to identify how you will close the gap).
e) Identify and report on marketing tactics for each of the identified strategies including:
§ An explanation of marketing tactics and rationale for such.
§ Timing of the marketing strategies, staff roles and responsibilities and costs involved.
§ Recommended coordination and monitoring mechanisms that will be used to ensure that the marketing tactics are implemented as required and according to timelines.
§ How the proposed marketing tactics are achievable within the available budget and staff.
§ Legal and ethical issues that need to be considered in using the marketing tactics proposed and how you have ensured these issues are addressed.
f) Identify and report on how marketing performance will be measured against marketing objectives, including a description of the marketing metrics that can be used and rationale for this specific approach to reviewing marketing performance.
PART B
1. Use the information from your report to develop a marketing plan using the template provided by your assessor. Ensure you clearly demonstrate how your marketing plan meets legal and ethical requirements. You may also presume any information that has not been provided in the case study.
Template
About the template
One of the most important, yet often overlooked areas for the small business owner is the development of a marketing plan. An effective marketing plan will act as a reference document to help you to execute your marketing strategy. It will also help you to develop a methodical approach to creating services and products that satisfy your customers’ needs.
When writing a marketing plan you need to be clear about your marketing objectives and how you’re going to achieve them. A good marketing plan sets realistic and measurable objectives; includes budgets and action plans and allocates responsibilities.
Your marketing plan will include the following elements:
A summary of your marketing plan
Background analysis of your business and market
Marketing objectives and strategy of your business
Your marketing mix
Action plans and budgets
Organisational implications and contingencies
Evaluation and monitoring strategies
Supporting documentation
This template has been downloaded from Business Victoria as a free template and revised for student use.
How to use this template
To complete the template:
1. Guidance text appears throughout the document, marked by the word Guidance. Where you see a guidance note, read and then delete it. Guidance has been added to help you complete the template and should not appear in your final version.
2. Using Word’s Replace function, search for {Business Name} and replace with your company name.
a. In Word’s Home ribbon, open the Find and Replace tool, choose Replace to open the Find and Replace tool. The Find and Replace dialog opens with the Replace tab selected.
b. Enter {Business Name} in the Find what field.
c. Enter your company name in the Replace with field.
d. Click Replace All
3. Replace {items in curly brackets} with your own wording.
4. Once you have finished work on the template, delete this and the following page.
5. Lastly refresh the page numbers in the table of contents.
a) Right mouse click on the table of contents
b) In the small menu that appears, choose ‘Update Field’ then ‘Update page numbers only’.
Marketing Plan
Contents
Marketing Plan. 3
Marketing Plan Summary. 5
Marketing Objectives. 6
Goals/objectives: 6
Marketing Strategy. 7
Your strategy and marketing mix: 7
Action Steps. 8
Top 10 Action Steps: 8
Background Analysis. 9
Business overview.. 10
Business structure: 10
Date established: 10
Business owner(s): 10
Owner/s experience: 10
Vision statement: 10
Mission statement: 10
Business objectives: 10
Short Term goals: 11
Long Term goals: 11
Products: 11
Financial Analysis: 12
SWOT analysis. 13
SWOT activity sheet 14
The Market Overview.. 15
Your Market 16
Market research and environmental/industry analysis: 16
Your Customers. 17
Target customers: 17
Customer profile: 18
Your Competitors. 19
Competitor analysis: 19
Competitor profile: 20
Your Marketing. 21
Marketing Strategy: 23
Your PRODUCT or service. 24
The PRICING of your product or service. 26
Your POSITION (Place) in the marketplace. 28
Sales and distribution channels. 28
The PROMOTION of your product or service. 30
Marketing Activity. 32
Your Finances. 33
Marketing Budget {YEAR} 33
Organisational Implications. 35
Contingencies. 35
Monitoring/measurement activities. 36
Marketing Plan Summary
Guidance: ———- page last. The marketing plan summary is a snapshot of your more detailed answers from your marketing plan. It should be easy to read and simple to follow. A rationale of the objectives and chosen strategies and tactics must be included here.
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Marketing Objectives
Goals/objectives:
Guidance: In one or two sentences, summarise the key marketing objectives for your business. Your objectives may be financial, with a goal to increase sales, marketing focused to build awareness of your product or service, or online to build engagement with online customers and business networks.
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Marketing Strategy
Your strategy and marketing mix:
Guidance: Use this section to summarise the overall strategy and marketing mix you will use to position yourself within the market to meet your customers’ needs. Your strategy and marketing mix should take into account the activities that are relevant for your business. Whatever your strategy, aim to differentiate yourself from your competitors to encourage customers to choose your business first.
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Action Steps
Top 10 Action Steps:
Guidance: list of the Top 10 action steps that will bring your theoretical objectives (your marketing strategy and objectives) to life. E.g. Finish SWOT Activity Sheet, complete marketing budget}
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Background Analysis
The background analysis should give a snapshot of where you are right now, where you have been and where you want to go. Undertaking this process will help you to define your business’s capabilities and find opportunities within your particular market. Finally, defining your core business elements will ensure that your marketing plan and overall business strategy work together seamlessly.
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Business overview
Business name:
Guidance: What’s your business registered business name?
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Business structure:
Guidance: What’s the formal structure of your business? Are you a sole trader, in a partnership, a trust or company?
Date established:
Guidance: When did you begin trading?
Business owner(s):
Guidance: Who are the owners of the business?
Owner/s experience:
Guidance: brief summary of your (and other owner’s) experience in the industry and any major achievements/awards.
Vision statement:
Guidance: A Vision statement should describe WHERE you want your business to be in the future. It should communicate both the PURPOSE and VALUES of your business and answer the question, ‘Why are we here?’
Mission statement:
Guidance: A Mission statement should outline HOW you will get to where you want your business to be in the future (Your Vision). It should define the PURPOSE and PRIMARY OBJECTIVES of your business and answer the question, ‘What do we do?’
Business objectives:
Guidance: What are your short and long term goals for your business?
Short Term goals:
Guidance: What are three primary short-term goals for your business (6 Months)?
Goal/Objective
Description
By when
{insert Goal/Objective name}
{insert Brief goal/objective description}
{insert Date of completion}
Long Term goals:
Guidance: What are three primary long-term goals for your business (1-3 Years)?
Goal/Objective
Description
By when
{insert Goal/Objective name}
{insert Brief goal/objective description}
{insert insert Date of completion}
Products:
Guidance: What products and/or services do you sell?
Product/Service
Description
Price
{insert Product/service name}
{insert Brief product/service description}
{insert Unit price including GST}
Financial Analysis:
Guidance: In this section provide a high level analysis of your current financial situation, specifically addressing sales and profitability.
Sales Analysis
Guidance: Use this section to summarise the current sales data for your industry (if available) and your business. The areas that you can analyse include:
Sales for your overall market
Sales for your business
Sales for your competitors
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SWOT analysis
Guidance: Use the table below to list each of your businesses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats (S.W.O.T.).
Strengths
Weaknesses
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Opportunities
Threats
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SWOT activity sheet
Guidance: Outline how and when you plan to address each of the weaknesses/threats from your SWOT analysis above.
SWOT weakness/ threat
Activity to address weakness/threat
Completion date
The Market Overview
Guidance: Gathering information and identifying the key characteristics of your target market will help you to find the most effective way to reach your target customers. The Market Overview should provide an analysis of the market in which your business operates, including your customers, competitors and the market as a whole. Revisit this process regularly to ensure that your strategy remains relevant and targeted.
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Your Market
Target market:
Guidance: Summarise the key statistics for your target market. This may include the size and growth potential of your market, as well as key demographics such as age, gender, income level etc.
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Market research and environmental/industry analysis:
Guidance: What research have you completed to help analyse your market? Did you utilise a survey/questionnaire? If so, you may like to attach a copy of your survey/questionnaire and findings to the back of this plan. In this section, detail the results of the market research you have performed. Consider questions such as:
Is the area experiencing population growth or decline?
Does the region where you operate have a stable economy?
Are there any seasonal variations that might affect sales?
What is the size of the market?
What recent trends have emerged in the market?
Is there potential for growth in the market? How will you be able to capitalise on any opportunities?
How will your entrance affect the market/customers?
What external factors will affect your customers?
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Your Customers
Target customers:
Guidance: Who are your target customers and how do they behave? Include specific demographics such as age, social status, education and gender. What are your customers’ lifestyles, activities, values, needs, interests or opinions? Where are they located? Please adjust the column headings as required.
Customer
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Education
Location
Lifestyle
Values
Interests
{insert Target customer – choose a name}
{insert Customer’s Age}
{insert Customer’s Gender}
{insert Customer’s ethnic background}
{insert Customer’s education level}
{insert Customer’s location}
{insert Customer’s lifestyle}
{insert Customer’s values}
{insert Customer’s interests}
Customer profile:
Guidance: What’s the profile of an ideal customer for your business? In a paragraph or two, clearly define your ideal customer – their needs, buying patterns and motivations for buying. This process will help you to develop a mental image of your ideal customer (often referred to as a customer avatar).
Your Competitors
Competitor analysis:
Guidance: Use the table below to analyse at least 2 competitors.}
Competitor
Established date
Size
Market share (%)
Value offered to customers
Strengths
Weaknesses
{insert Competitor’s name}
{insert When was their business established?}
{insert Number of staff and/or turnover}
{insert Estimated percentage of market share}
{insert Unique value to customers, e.g. quality, price or customer service?}
{insert What are your competitor’s main strengths?}
{insert What are your competitor’s main weaknesses?}
Competitor profile:
Guidance: What’s the profile of a typical competitor for your business? In a paragraph or two, clearly define a typical competitor – their size, market share, unique value proposition, strengths and weaknesses. This process will help you to develop a mental image of your typical competitor.
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Your Marketing
Marketing Objectives:
Guidance: Summarise the key marketing objectives for your business. Your objectives may be financial, with a goal to increase sales, or marketing focused, to build awareness of your product or service. An effective (and accountable) way to define your marketing objectives is to follow the ‘SMART’ acronym (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely)[1].
Examples of SMART marketing objectives
To achieve a 20% return on capital employed by April 2014 (Profitability Objective)
To gain 15% of the market for sports socks by November 2018 (Market Share Objective)
To make X brand of juice the preferred brand of 21-29 year old females in Australia by August 2019 (Branding Objective)
Detail your SMART marketing objectives in the table below:
Objective
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely
{insert Your specific marketing objective}
{ Is your objective specific?}
{ Can your objective be measured?}
{ Is your objective achievable?}
{ Is your objective realistic?}
{ Have you set a specific date for your objective to be achieved?}
Marketing Strategy:
Guidance: Use this section to detail the overall strategy you will use to position yourself within the market to meet your customers’ needs. Whatever your strategy, you goal should be to differentiate yourself from your competitors to encourage customers to choose your business first. The specific elements that make up your marketing strategy are typically referred to as the marketing mix. Each element can be varied to broaden the appeal of products and services, and will therefore have a direct impact on sales.
The 4 P’s of marketing
Your PRODUCT (or SERVICE)
The PRICING of your product or service
Your POSITION (place) in the marketplace
The PROMOTION of your product of service
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Your PRODUCT or service
Guidance: Here you should describe your long-term product strategy in detail. If you are providing a service then you should consider your service(s) as your product(s).
You will need to consider:
· What features and benefits do you offer?
· The unique selling position – what makes your product/service different from your competitors’?
· Potential spin-off products or services?
Product or Service
Features
Benefits
Unique Selling Position
Support
Spin Offs
{What is your product or service?}
{What are the features of your product or service?
{What are the customer benefits of your product or service?}
{What makes your product or service unique?}
{What additional support do you offer? E.g. warranty, money back etc.}
{Are there any potential spin-off products or services you can offer?}
The PRICING of your product or service
Guidance: Price is a critical component of your marketing mix. Why? Because choosing the right price for your products or services will help you to maximise profits and also build strong relationships with your customers. By pricing effectively you will also avoid the serious financial consequences that can occur if you price too low (not enough profit) or too high (not enough sales).
Setting prices for your products and services might seem like a daunting task, however, it doesn’t need to be … just remember:
· you are in business to make a profit (and that’s ok!)
· most business owners underprice the value that they deliver
· your sales and marketing strategy should defend your prices
Your overall pricing strategy will depend on your marketing, business and lifestyle objectives. So, before you start the research process spend some time defining your income (and net profit) aspirations.
Product or Service
Price
Costs
Net Profit
Comp. Price
Value
{What is your product or service?}
{What is the price of your product or service?}
{What is the total cost of selling your product or service?}
{What Net Profit is made from selling your product or service?}
{What is your competitor’s pricing for this product or service?
{What unique value does your product or service offer/deliver?}
Your POSITION (Place) in the marketplace
Guidance: Place refers to the channels and locations for distributing your product, related information, and support services. This is how you will position your product or service in the marketplace.
This includes:
· the place where the product/service can be bought
· the distribution channel
Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. This may include any physical store (supermarket, departmental stores) as well as virtual stores (e-markets and e-malls) on the Internet. This is crucial as this provides the place utility to the consumer, which often becomes a deciding factor for the purchase of many products across multiple product categories.
Sales and distribution channels
Channel type
Products/services
Percentage of sales (%)
Channel strategy
{e.g. Shopfront, internet, direct mail, export or wholesale.}
{List all the products/services sold via this channel}
{What percentage of overall sales do you expect to sell via this channel?}
{Why have you decided to use this channel type? How and when will you use it? What is the strategy behind using this channel type for this particular product/service?}
The PROMOTION of your product or service
Guidance: State how you currently promote and market your business now (or intend to). Compare (where applicable) what your competitors do for promotion, noting what does and doesn’t work for them as well as yourself. Regardless of how good your business is, if you don’t promote it and tell people you exist, it’s unlikely you will make many sales.
Promotion is more than selling and advertising your business. It’s about attracting the right people to use and reuse your business. There are a number of techniques to use and they can be combined in various ways to create the most cost effective strategy for your needs.
Detail your promotion techniques into six categories:
· online
· public relations
· advertising
· promotion
· packaging or personal selling
· branding
Direct marketing is often added to the marketing mix despite being part of advertising rather than marketing.
Product or Service
Online
Public Relations
Advertising
Promotion
Packaging
Branding
{What is your product or service?}
{What online strategies are you using?}
{What PR strategies are you using?
{What advertising strategies are you using?}
{What promotion strategies are you using?}
{What packaging strategies are you using?}
{What branding strategies are you using?}
Marketing Activity
Guidance: Once you have defined your marketing mix, the next step is to detail the specific activities that you will undertake to achieve your marketing objectives. As you create these activities, keep referring back to your marketing mix – it will help you to assess which activities are worth the time and effort to implement. What steps or activities will you undertake to achieve your marketing objectives?
Marketing activity/milestone
Person responsible
Date of expected completion
Cost ($)
Success indicator
{Print advertising, online advertising, mail-out, giveaway, media release, event, website, blog/social media, public relations, branding and artwork, or publications and catalogues.}
{Who is responsible for completing this task?}
{When do you expect to complete the marketing activity?}
{Estimated cost of activity.}
{What indicator/ measurement result will need to be met before this activity is considered a success?}
Your Finances
Marketing Budget {YEAR}
Guidance: To complete marketing budget, devise a simple budget based on the information in the case study, your objectives and activities. Double-click the table below to enter your details or attach your own budget at the back of this marketing plan.
Organisational Implications
Guidance: Organisational implications are often overlooked when business owners tackle a marketing plan. For example, if your goal is to increase your customer base by 15% and therefore your staff by 10% – will you be able to house them in your current offices? Could you outsource some tasks? It’s important to consider and document these decisions in your plan.
Use the space below to outline any organisational implications, which you feel may affect the implementation of your marketing plan.
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Contingencies
Guidance: All plans in business should remain flexible (and adjustable) as you are often working with assumptions. The more planning you do, the better you will become at predicting. However, as you are learning the needs of your market – it is fair to say that some of your assumptions are going to fall short of expectation.
Use the space below to outline any contingencies (alternative options) which may assist if things don’t go as planned.
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Monitoring/measurement activities
Guidance: Reviewing the impact of your marketing should be a periodic activity. List the details of each review in the table below.
Marketing activity
Date of review
Monitoring methods
Review outcomes
{Print advertising, online advertising, mail-outs, giveaways, media releases, events, website, blog/social media, public relations, branding and artwork, or publications and catalogues.}
{e.g. Month/Year}
{What tools did you use to measure/monitor the impact of your marketing activities?}
{e.g. What were the results for the promotional period? What were your sales/profit figures? How many new/repeat customers did you receive? How many customers visited your website? Etc.}
[1] Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11(AMA FORUM), pp. 35-36.