Marketing Plan, Product Classification essay
Snackfood is the product that undergoes FDA regulations since it is a food product. The distinct feature of this product is the customer’s health concern since, unlike other fast food products, snackfood is a healthy fast food product, which has a positive impact on consumers’ health because it contains organic ingredients that contain vitamins and other elements essential for human health.
b. Individual Product Decisions
i. Attributes
Snackfood will have attributes traditional for a fast food product, such as the fast preparation and delivery to the customer, including free shipping, if the customer orders the delivery of the product to his/her home or workplace.
ii. Branding
The branding of the new product will focus on the creation of the new brand, Snackfood, which should be associated with healthy fast food products.
iii. Packaging
The packaging of the new product will depend on the distance of the delivery of snackfood. For instance, if the customer is served in a fast food restaurant, then the snakcfood is offered on the plate. If the customer wants to carry the snackfood, the product is offered in the paper package. If the product is delivered to the customer remote from the fast food restaurant, the carton package will be used.
iv. Labeling
To enhance the new brand, the new product will be labeled Snackfood, to make it recognizable and different from rival products. The label will involve the use of the company’s logo and the image of the product itself. In such a way, the new brand will become recognizable due to its labeling that will evoke strong associations in customers between the label and the product.
v. Support Services
Support services will include the supply chain management service, which conducts the selection of reliable suppliers to create healthy and safe product for customers.
In addition, the company will need the quality management support service to ensure that the quality of the new product matches the company’s standards. In this regard, the automated control system may be enhanced by manual control. For instance, the automated system can assess the weight, chemical content of the product, where as manual control may involve the control of taste and smell of the product.
Finally, the support service will include the shipping service, which may be outsourced, if necessary. In such a way the company will not need to acquire or hire its own transport. Instead, the company will use the outsourced company to ship its product to customers.
Section VI
VI. Pricing Plan
Internal Considerations
While determining the price of snackfood, the company should take into consideration several factors. First, the costs of product should be covered by the price of the product since the price of the product cannot be lower than costs, the company has spent on its production. In addition, the company will have to take into consideration the transportation costs, which may decrease, if the company reaches the high level of the localization of the production and supplies. Moreover, the company should also take into consideration promotional costs because the new product will need a new brand, label and aggressive promotional campaign to attract the target customer group to the product.
External Considerations
At the same time, the pricing starategy should take into consideration external factors. In this regard, the average price of the similar product in the fast food industry is one of the external factors that influence the pricing of snackfood. The price of the rival product should refer to the product of the similar size, weight and category.
In addition, the pricing of the new product will depend on the cost of ingredients used for the production of snackfood. If suppliers raise their prices or if the fuel price skyrocket, the company producing snackfood will have to raise the price respectively.
c. Pricing Strategies
The introduction of the new product should be enhanced by the introduction of the flexible pricing strategy. The pricing of the product will depend on the costs of ingredients and supplies and the customer buying power. At the moment, the new product may be sold at the price comparable to its fast food rivals, being closer to the top price segment in the market, because, unlike rivals, snackfood is healthy food and customers are ready to pay the higher price. However, the price should remain affordable for mass customers from the lower- and middle-class because they comprise the target customer group of the company and they will not buy expensive fast food products.
On the other hand, the product’s price should include the costs of the product and the flexibility should mirror not only changes in the customer behavior or the customer buying power but also in the costs of the product. To keep the price affordable, the company may consider the possibility of choosing several suppliers to maintain competition between them to decrease costs of ingredients for snackfood and, thus, to have a possibility to set an affordable price for its product.
