Nestle Crunch Marketing Plan Essay

Executive Summary This marketing plan was created for Nestle Crunch to position itself in the next year to deliver at least $13 million in profit without increasing the budget by over $2 million. An analysis of the chocolate confectionery market will be analyzed to develop marketing strategies to implement to satisfy these objectives. situation analyses Market Size Crunch is produced by the largest food and beverage company, which is Nestle. Retail sales of chocolate confectionery comprised of $33.8 billion in retail sales, which $16.9 billion were in chocolate sales. Market Trends The growth rate of chocolate confectionery lagged behind the cereal, gum, and sugar confectionery and showing very little projected growth through 2014. Unit Volume 35% of the market share in sales were the Regular sized Chocolates, 30% were for the miniatures, 25% were of promotional items (promotes seasonal sales), and then there were the king sizes which made up of only 10% of the market sales. Price Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s strategy was to list the lowest price on their bars at $0.79 each for Butterfinger and Crunch, while its close competitor, Hershey’s priced its Bars and Reese’s cups at $0.89. The other competitor, Mars, priced theirs even higher at $0.99 each. Price increase would result in lost in sales. Product Services Offered Nestle Crunch offered consumers a chocolate confectionery that served as an indulgent treat in contrast to satisfying hunger. SWOT Analysis In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. In business, the strengths identified are what a business works to maintain, build, and leverage. Weaknesses that are identified should be removed, resolved, or remedied. Opportunities and threats are external factors. External factors are, in most part, out of our external locus of control. We can only either optimize it or deal with it. Opportunities should be prioritized and optimized. Identified threats must be acknowledged by a business and/or develop counter measures for it, if any (SWOT Analysis, 2009). INTERNAL Strengths Offer the lowest prices among competitors Crunch is regarded as an indulgence, a reward, or treat Participates in all channels of distribution Produced by the worlds’ largest food and beverage company – Nestle Weaknesses Marketing budget cannot increase more than $2M from the previous year (2009) Its positioned to target males and young adults who were not the largest chocolate consumers EXTERNAL Opportunities Large market in the Midwest Females and children consumed most of the chocolate confectionery Psychographic segments that are potential target markets: Practical value seekers Confection loving moderators TV has the greatest reach Threats Chocolate sales lag behind sugar confectionery, cereal bar and gum Competitors –Hershey and Mars in the U.S. market share marketing strategy Positioning We want to position Crunch as: â€Å"Nestle Crunch is for women and children who want to reward themselves to an indulgent chocolate treat, because Nestle Crunch is the only chocolate bar that tells you best that you deserve it.† strategy development Objective The mission is to deliver at least $13 million in profit without increasing the budget by more than $2 million. Targeted Consumer Demographics Target Market Crunch satisfies a consumer’s need to satisfy an indulgent desire, and promotion is used to trigger these impulses. Therefore, promotion is vital to increasing sales. Specifically, to children and females (teenage females, adult females, and mothers) who mostly attribute chocolate as an indulgent desire according to the Figure below In addition, according to the research, women are 51% of the population and consume 6% more chocolate than men. Children and young adults under the age of 25 comprise 60% of the population. In terms of geography, the Midwest is 22% of the population and the region that sells the most chocolate confectionery. strategy development Financial Projections Strategy and Execution Minus 1 event of free standing insert (FSI) coupon good on one regular size Crunch bar Add I event of A regular bar bonus size (+25%) is offered during 2-week promotional period; it was not offered in 2009 Minus 1 event of a 2-week store display featuring regular size Crunch Distribution increases by 2.0 percentage points A Crunch price increase of +12.5% on all products would match Hershey’s retail prices but would still be less than Mars’ prices; no pricing action was taken in 2009 The following table shows the impact on sales and profit when making changes  in the marketing mix. According to the table, with the marketing mix selected we are able to achieve our objective of ensuring production contribution of at least $13 million, our profitability percentage change is at least over 15%, and budget does not increase by more than $2 million. Advertising and Promotion Media Marketing The media vehicles for advertising that will be utilized are TV, print, and online. Since TV has the greatest reach, 70% is allocated in the budget for TV advertising and promotion; 20% for online and 10% of the budget for print marketing. The total budget for these media marketing is a little below $12.9 million We have an estimated reach of 90% for the TV advertising and marketing and 10% and 20% for print and online respectively. The pie graph below illustrates the media mix selection: Pricing strategy The pricing strategy will be to increase the price of Crunch by 12.5%, which will match the Hershey’s retail price, but will still be below the price of Mars. An increase in price does result in a decrease in sales, but after thorough examination of the P&L, it will show an increase in profitability to justify the drop in sales. Distribution strategy Increasing the distribution showed to increase sales. Since a large percentage of sales were sold through other distribution channels besides mass merchandisers, supermarkets, and convenient stores, an increase in distribution to the other channels that include drug stores, warehouse club, and vending machines, justify a slight budget increase as shown in the Figure below. The following figure summarizes the marketing plan Promotions, advertising, and special events are concentrated on the special holidays that historically show increase sales in the chocolate confectionery market. Many of the events are also focused mostly in the Midwest, because this region is shown to have the highest sales and consumption in the nation. The budget is kept below a $2 million increase while still accomplishing the goal of increasing profitability. Other Metrics The following table shows 2008 and 2009 chocolate confectionery market size and market shares of Nestlà © Crunch and its competitors as additional references. References Alan Chapman. SWOT Analysis. (2009, October 13). Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm U.S. CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONERY: DYNAMIC MARKETING PLANNING. Retrieved on June 02, 2014 from : https://brenau.instructure.com/courses/1209789/pages/course-documents?module_item_id=10683688

Corporate Strategy †Zara Essay

The core concept of Zara’s business model is they sell â€Å"medium quality fashion clothing at affordable prices†, and vertical integration and quick-response is key to Zara’s business model. Through the entire process of Zara’s business system: designing, sourcing and manufacturing, distribution and retailing, they presented four fundamental success factors: short cycle time, small batches per product, extensive variety of product every season and heavy investment in information and communication technology. These four elements are involved in every aspect of the business. Zara’s Business Model Zara’s business model can be broken down into three basic components: concept, capabilities, and value drivers. Zara’s fundamental concept is to maintain design, production, and distribution processes that will enable Zara to respond quickly to shifts in consumer demands. Jose Maria Castellano, CEO of Inditex stated that â€Å"the fashion world is in constant flux and is driven not by supply but by customer demand. We need to give consumers what they want, and if I go to South America or Asia to make clothes, I simply can’t move fast enough. This highlights the importance of this quick response time to Zara’s operations. Capabilities of Zara, or the required resources needed to exploit the opportunities and execute this conceptual strategy, are numerous for Zara. Zara maintains tight control over their production processes keeping design and manufacturing in-house or with some strategic partnerships located nearby Headquarters. Currently, Zara maintains 80% of its production processes in Europe, 50% in Spain which is very close to La Coruna headquarters. They have strategic agreements with local manufacturers that ensure timely delivery and service. Through these strategic partnerships and the benefits brought by this proximity of manufacturing and operational processes, Zara maintains the flexibility necessary to design and produce over 12000 new items annually. This capability allows Zara to achieve their strategy of expedited response to consumer demand. Competitive Advantage Fundamental to Zara’s success is their commitment to rapid response in customer trends in fashion, producing clothing often and with short life spans (10 wears). Their commitment to this goal and the capabilities that they have developed to achieve it, have provided significant competitive advantage to Zara especially in the areas of product development, strategic partnerships and cost of production, advertising and marketing, and information technology infrastructure. The efficiencies and processes developed in these four functions differ significantly from their competitors and stand out in providing additional value and profitability to Zara. Product Development Zara’s unique approach to product development is instrumental to their success. Zara gives store managers significant autonomy in both determining the products to display in their stores and which to place on sale, and relaying market research and store trends back to their headquarters in La Coruna. At headquarters there are teams of commercials who take this information into account to design and effectively plan and produce all of Zara’s products. Zara maintains a design team of 200 people, all of which produce approximately 12,000 new styles per year for Zara. The process of obtaining market information and relaying it to design and production teams expedites product development by shortening the throughput time of a product to 3-4 weeks from design to distribution. This process is very different from its competitors. Many competitors rely on a small elite design team that plans both design and production needs well in advance. Stores have little autonomy in deciding which products to display or put on sale because Headquarters plans accordingly and ships quantities as forecasted. Zara’s speed to market in product development exceeds the capabilities of its competitors. This in itself provides additional value to stakeholders, customers, and stores in producing quality clothing at affordable prices . Zara’s product development capabilities are essential to Zara’s business strategy and future success. Strategic Partnerships and Cost of Production In comparison to competitors, Zara’s business strategy, in regards to strategic partnerships and cost of production, provide for a strategic competitive advantage. Zara, unlike its competitors such as Gap, Benetton, and H&M, does not use Asian outsourcing. Eighty percent of Zara’s materials are manufactured in Europe, with 50% made in Zara controlled facilities in the Galicia region of Spain near headquarters. Most of Zara’s competitors have 100% outsourcing to cheap Asian countries. Though the cost of production in Spain is 17-20% more expensive than Asia, Zara does have a competitive advantage over its competitors in regards to operations. The local strategic partnerships that Zara maintains with manufacturers in Europe allow for a product throughput time of 3-4 weeks from conception to distribution. To make this happen, the company designs and cuts its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in only four colours to keep costs low. The proximity of these suppliers gives Zara great flexibility in adapting their product lines based on up to date market trends and consumer behaviour. It also decreases costs of holding inventory. Zara’s competitors, through outsourcing to Asian countries such as China, sacrifice the benefits of proximity for low labour and production costs. Though there is a cost advantage in their approach in regards to labour, the lack of flexibility in changing orders based on current trends hinders their operational efficiencies. Inventory costs are higher for competitors because orders are placed for a whole season well in advance and then held in distribution facilities until periodic shipment to stores. This proximity effect and the flexibility that it gives Zara is fundamental to their basic concept to respond quickly to shifts in consumer demand and has provided them with a competitive edge in comparison to their peers. The striking thing is that Zara has found differences that matter to customers and differentiated itself from its competitors by performing key activities [in its supply chain] differently. It is this that sets challenges for competitors because they will not find it easy to imitate or equal Zara’s positioning and it is this achievement that has given Zara sustainable competitive differentiation and positioning. Through a clear focus and vision, Zara has tapped into the power of fashion. It has shortened conventional supply chain response from 5-7 month down to 2-2? onths and their customers are eagerly awaiting next week’s—take note, not next season’s new fashion! Zara maintains a strong relationship with their contractors and suppliers—viewing them as part of the company. Small and frequent shipments keep product inventories fresh and scarce—compelling customers to frequent the store in search of what’s new and to buy now because it will be gone tomorrow. To successfully react to consumers demands, design decisions are delayed as long as possible. In today’s competitive environment, Zara has shown that fine tuning the supply chain is no longer a strategic tool, but a necessity. It has shown that supply chain management can be managed provide sustainable competitive differentiation and positioning on the one hand and increase throughput, reduce inventories and operating expenses on the other. Decision-making is encouraged and bad decisions are not severely punished. Designers are trained to limit the number of reviews and changes, speeding up the development process and minimizing the number of samples made.

Should Countries Encourage Tourism?

Nowadays, it is almost a routine, that people every year go to holydays. Often they travel to the places abroad. These places are often very popular and well-known. Even though these places are popular, the countries still promote them and want more people to come. This is because tourism is very important for the economy but not in all cases for the citizens. If so, should countries encourage tourism? Firstly, tourism leads to the development of the country. The desire to attract tourists to a certain area often encourages governments to improve local facilities which is beneficial for both, citizens and tourists. On the other hand, the development of the country must be somehow controlled and planned in such a way, it does not destroy the natural beauty of the country. Over-development leads to ugly, crowded tourist spots and environmental damage. Consequently, the development if necessary but is has to be done thoroughfully. Secondly, tourism has some positive and negative effects on a country’s economy. Many people claim that tourism is an important source of income. This is illustrated by the fact that in the touristic countries are very few possibilities to find a job not connected with tourism. Nevertheless, country’s economy may become so dependent on tourism that it is weakened and when something unexpected happens, for example a natural disaster, that tourist do not arrive for a long time, the country is helpless because of lack of resources. Thirdly, tourism greatly influences the citizens’ culture. Tourism allows people to experience other cultures. They may see how foreigners behave, what clothes they wear or what are their customs. However, this impact of tourism may destroy the local way of life. For instance the customs of the local people may simply disappear and be displaced by those brought by the foreigners and the local uniqueness changes into cultural mixture. To conclude, there are arguments to both, that countries should and should not encourage tourism. On the one hand, we have economic advantages and possibilities to experience other cultures. On the other hand, tourism overused may lead to the economic weakness of a country and to permanent changes of the local culture.

Massacre of the Dreamers

Ana Castillo, the author of â€Å"Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma† explores the 500-year old roots of Chicano feminism in America. Her collection of short essays dedicated to the issues of Xicanisma is aimed to denounce discrimination, the stereotypes and exploitation of Chicanos in the U.S. She begins her collection of essays by the phrase â€Å"I am a brown woman, from the Mexican side of town† and continues the confession with the astonishing confession, – â€Å"At an early age we learn that our race is undesirable† (Castillo, 1994). Chicanos â€Å"have been marginalized in every sense of the word by U.S. society† (Castillo, 1994). Probably, it seems too terrible to be true, but this what Ana Castillo asserts.The writer imitates no standard and generally accepted literary style of those times. The essays have no lack in tension, strength and dynamics. Ana Castillo doesn’t deviate from the theme, despite being limited by gende r bounds. This woman wrote the book in the course of important cultural and social changes; therefore Massacre of the Dreamers deserves detailed exploration. It is apparent, that Mexican-American literature cannot but place emphasis on social, feminist and racial issues. In this regard Castillo’s collection of essays can be called a perfect example of the literature of ‘resistance’. Ana Castillo tells not only about the loss of culture and land, but also the role offered to Mexicans. The ‘promised paradise’ turned into the land of changes and struggle for national identity.Ana Castillo evidently created her unique literary work at the intersection of numerous factors of social, political and cultural life at that time. The ‘historical chronicle’ brings the reader closer to the understanding of deep philosophical, social and political conflicts, patriarchal prejudices, gender stereotypes, nationalism, racism, the interests of influential academic structures of American society and mass media. Massacre of the Dreamers is notably complex, contradictory and ambiguous; it reflects the change in stereotypes, transformation of cultural and social space in U.S.The success of Castillo’s book can be explained not only by the ability of the author to tell the stories of Chicano movement, but, above all, by the ideological pathos of her essays. Ann Castillo tells the stories of discrimination and racism. She reminds that changes in social status and structure of people of Mexican origin created social and political prerequisites for mass movement of protest – Chicanos.The Chicanos movement was shaped in the image and likeness of any other movements; the ideology was based on the fact that Mexican Americans were people deprived of right for their territory. These people were treated like the objects of political and economic exploitation, and the second-rate nation. The writer dwells on inequality in economic, soc ial, political and cultural life of America, on long-standing discrimination in sphere of employment, focusing attention on high unemployment and crime rates, to mention a few.Ann Castillo dwells on the issues of language discrimination. Although Mexican Americans spoke Mexican language, in contrast to other ethnic groups, the system of education refused to take into account the peculiarities of â€Å"Spanglish† nation. The vast majority of Chicanos had to leave schools with no education necessary to get a qualified job. The language barrier was the main obstacle on their way.Ann Castillo brings the understanding that Chicanos accepted no ‘melting pot’ theory, according to which Mexican Americans had to refuse from their culture, language and traditions. The writer presents a proof of revolutionary consciousness and testimony, signaling real hope and inevitable changes. She even criticizes a ‘white feminism’, traces ancient Mediterranean roots for ma chismo, explores the moral dualism, repression of sexuality, and fear of death.Ann Castillo demands justice, writing that â€Å"When we profess a vision of a world where a woman is not raped somewhere in the United States every three minutes, where one of every three female children does not experience sexual molestation, where the Mexican female is not the lowest paid worker in the United States–we are not male-bashing or hating whites because overall they live a healthier life than we do, we are trying to change the facts of our condition† (Castillo, 1994).Massacre of the Dreamers can be compared with an ‘alternative’ letter, which is set off against patriarchal culture of that time. Ann Castillo’s literary style is a multilevel and dynamic system. The basis of her writing is feminist social and even literary movement, as well as radical changes in social conscience, attempt to overcome ‘masculine’ diktat, racism, the feeling of infer iority, gender stereotypes and clichà ©s. It seems that the writer’s main idea is to offer the alternative – not a mere equality, but creative cooperation and complementarity of cultures.Ann Castillo treads on forbidden ground. She dwells on problematic relationships between Chicanos and Americans, the issues of power and superiority of nations. She tells on correlation between racism both in literature and real life. The writer criticizes patriarchal culture with its racist’s values, and places emphasis on the necessity of self-realization through creative work. She strives for language expressiveness and makes an effort to create the independent Mexican American character.Massacre of the Dreamers sends a challenge to traditions, rules and stereotypes. Probably, she is not the first writer, who tries to express the history of Mexican Americans in U.S. but she is the first feminine writer, presenting a collection of the most acute and detailed literary confessi ons.Ann Castillo created the most brilliant and sometimes ironical essays. Although she writes from a palette consisting almost exclusively of grey and mud brown gloomy tones, she is extremely frank describing all nuances of Chicanos and their movement, their desires, fears, emotional experiences and doubts.ReferencesCastillo, A. (1994). Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Cyber Crime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cyber Crime - Research Paper Example Cyber crimes have brought massive loss of funds and relevant authorities should formulate measures in order to address the situation. Consumers and businessmen have continued to face the problem of cyber crime as the legitimate uses of the internet have become more sophisticated and diversified. The crime that started in the late 1990’s as a form of social engineering whereby criminals would steal passwords for consumers account with the intent of getting free connectivity has acquired significant growth and expansion into a profitable industry with the new forms of crime. These forms are monetary theft, identity theft, extortion, money laundering and industrial espionage among other crimes (Ionescu, Mirea and Blajan p.375). The criminals who undertake various forms of cyber crimes operate from almost anywhere whereby they target businesses and people in all countries. There are many challenges that are posed by the volume and the scale of cybercrimes. Moreover, the technical complexity in identification of the cyber criminals makes it hard for the criminals to be brought to justice. The increase in the number of internet users and the nature in which most businesses are conducted online has enabled cyber criminals to increase their opportunities. Furthermore, law agencies have not formulated comprehensive mechanisms of addressing the issue of cyber crimes and the traditional type of policing that exists in many countries is incapable of apprehending the cyber criminals (Ionescu, Mirea and Blajan p.375). There are major types of cyber crimes. Vandalism of services concerned with telecommunication is one of the many forms of cyber crimes. This form has become a major industry whereby criminals are able to access circuits, make their calls and sell airtime to third parties. Moreover, the criminals have been able to access the telecommunication systems through impersonation of the technicians. This is achieved using software

Relationship Between Culture And Psychological Processes Essay

Relationship Between Culture And Psychological Processes - Essay Example Different cultures have different personalities, and this also differs between males and females (Mead). People of different cultures have personalities that connect them with their culture. Some communities share the same personalities between men and women while others have different personalities among the genders. According to Mead, culture is extremely powerful and determines the fate of a person. Ruth Benedict was also a successful anthropologist who was also an instructor on anthropological studies (Benedict, 3). Both Ruth and Mead studied culture and its relation to human personality, and human sexuality. She studied different cultures and how they mould the personality of individuals, and also tried to recognize the association between psychosomatic processes, and cultural processes (Meyerowitz, 1063). These two are interrelated as they influence the emotions and cognition of human beings. Culture and personality brought about a large group of people including anthropologist s and psychologists. They, however, had different views on the same topic of culture and psychological processes. While Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead were anthropologists, Sigmund Freud was a psychoanalyst but they all joined hands in exploring culture and human personalities. Mead and Benedict shared their views that culture is responsible for individual development and emotions of cultures. Freud tried to explain that psychoanalytic theory could be used in the study of culture. It focused on child and toilet training and their influence on the development of children. Human personality is plastic according to Sigmund Freud and can be changed in any environment including culture. If somebody relocated, to another are which practice different cultural activities, he, or she will adapt be forced to that environment. Their personality will change, as well. Individual behaviors are much controlled by their minds; they are not only controlled by culture. Psychology plays a crucial rol e in the way an individual acts and thinks and, therefore, it is extremely vital in the studying of culture and human personalities. Both Mead and Benedict worked tirelessly in order to prove that the biological aspect of individuals did not determine the culture (Benedict, 16). This differed with Freud’s theory which explained that, both biological and psychological aspects played a role in cultural development. Race and ethnicity, according to their research do not determine the culture too. They, therefore, chose to study the relationships of the native groups because they argued that the native groups had not been exposed to modernity incredibly much. They further explained that civilization had been brought about by the contribution of many races and could not be attributed to only one race. It takes different personalities in order to build an economy, social system and also political systems. These different personalities are from different cultural organizations. Each element of culture has its own history and some cultural traits are shared among different communities (Meyerowitz, 1065). Cultural traits are not limited by boundaries and can spread to a large area. Sigmund Freud found out that personality and culture could be explained through the use of the psychoanalytical hypothesis. This included use of examinations and interviews (Meyerowitz, 1064). The views of Margaret mead and Ruth Benedict on culture and human sexuality are related to those of Sigmund Freud in such that they believe that personality changes according to the area of residence and situations. Personality traits are largely based on the surrounding environment and can be acquired by anyone. Every human being s unique in nature, and they perceive things in different ways. This

Process Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Process Analysis - Essay Example This makes it hard to ignore a bad habit if its contents are still within your reach. Withdrawal of reinforcers means identifying and moving out the factors that trigger the bad habit, and encourage its existence. When bad habits are at their worst, this can make it very frustrating and complicated to quit. Similar to an addiction, the bad habit signals the brain and in your mind, the consequences you are receiving from it are good reinforcers, when in reality they are really hurting you in some way. On the other end, most habits start as early as childhood. Bad habits in children can happen more because of a lack in parental boundaries. Some bad habits develop as children. When the bad habit is not addressed properly, the mind sees no reason to stop the habit unless the individual makes the direct choice to quit. Although, the longer the habit goes on, the harder it is to let it go. Kids and teens need guidance and support from adults, whether it be family, friends, or teachers. When a bad habit such as becoming argumentative or lazy occurs, people gradually disregard that they are even doing anything bad, it becomes a natural part of their life, even when the bad habit leads to negative consequences. When kids and teens begin becoming lazy, argumentative, or start lying, if nothing is done to stop the habit it will reoccur whether they mean for it to happen or not, and will eventually happen subconsciously, taking a couple seconds or minutes until it is realized. It is almost as if the mind decides to complete the bad habit on its own, causing the individual to lose all control for the decision to complete the action, before it actually occurs. "Bad Habits: Why We Cant Stop | LiveScience." Current News on Space, Animals, Technology, Health, Environment, Culture and History | LiveScience. Web. 24 Aug. 2011. . Wood, Wendy, and David T. Neal. "A New Look at Habits and