Introduction
Marketing plan is essential because it describes how a company is going to market its products and services. It is therefore, pivotal to come up with effective marketing plan. Basically, a marketing plan comprises information concerning things such as consumer behavior in which it outlines the target segment and their purchasing behavior. Additionally, a marketing report could include market research that covers areas concerning the marketing objectives that are set and also the research taken to understand the target customers. Additionally, market research aims at determining the viability of new goods and services in a market. Besides, the marketing plan provides information on the communication plan, which involves communication objectives and how they will be achieved.
Additionally, a communication plan gives a budget for communication. Finally, a market plan has communication tactics that involve specific tools used for communication. Different tools can be used for communication to ensure that information reaches the target consumers. This market report provides a marketing plan for Nando Company. It is a corporation that operates in 23 countries and has many restaurants. For Nando to keep growing, it needs to have an effective marketing plan to reach new customers and thus increase sales, which leads to the growth and development of the company. The paper provides a marketing plan for Nando covered in four key areas, which include consumer behavior, market research. Communication plan and marketing communication tactics.
Consumer behavior
According to Dhaliwal, Singh, and Paul (2020, p.23), consumer behavior is the study of what influences organizations and individuals to purchase a particular product and from a specific brand. Therefore, consumer behavior assists in determining what motivates consumers to purchase a product. Through consumer behavior, one can identify different categories of consumers based on their psychological, social, cultural, and personal factors. Understanding consumer behavior is essential because it determines whether consumers can purchase a company’s products. Companies can’t succeed if they do not understand their consumers’ behavior. This is because consumer behavior assists in understanding how the consumers feel about a certain product (Albalate Boné, 2019). Additionally, consumer behavior assists companies in understanding the motivations of consumers towards purchasing a particular product and why they choose a particular company.
One of the significant parts in understanding consumer behavior is defining the chosen target market in which a company expects to respond positively and buy its products and services. Consumer behavior assists in designing a marketing campaign because it needs to be established considering the targeting audience. To define a target market, STP (Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning) framework can be used. STP framework is a three-model that assists in examining products and services and approaches to communicating their benefit to a particular customer segment. Segmentation involves dividing the market into different groups of consumers using segmentation practices. A company can have distinct segments (Rashid, 2019). The segmentation concept is contributed by the recognition that consumers are different and they can be different based on the behavioral, geographic, demographic, and psychographic factors which can be used to define a segment in Nando. Therefore, such factors represent the target segment in Nando. In targeting, the company can select the group or segment to focus on, and Nando Company can focus on Generation Z as it enters on US market. Generation Z illustrates individuals born between 1996 and 2010, and it comprises of the students and young professionals living in inner-city sub-urban and urban locations which have high chances of eating restaurants (Albalate Boné, 2019). According to NPD (2019), generation Z has a likelihood of responding positively to the launch of Nando. Therefore, Millenials is an important segment in the restaurant industry. The company started its expansion in Washington DC, Baltimore and Chicago, and thus cities such as New York and Philadephia need to be targeted. Nando provides a relaxed as well as a unique dining experience, and this can attract many young consumers.
Additionally, Nando provides a casual dining experience that removes formality and, therefore, is suitable for young consumers. This is positioning since it involves creating product positioning and marketing mix that are likely to appeal to the selected segment. STP framework is illustrated in figure 1 effectively.
Having selected the market segment, it is essential to understand the behavior of the consumers. Furthermore, understanding consumer behavior assists in attaining consumer insight. Success companies create their marketing strategies based on consumer behavior insight (Fotiadis, Mombeuil and Valek, 2018). Companies do not develop marketing plans relying on their ideas alone. However, they depend on external information to understand what consumers need and how to they need it, and this assist in providing products and services that meet the demand of the customers; providing what the consumers need is essential for any business because it leads to customer satisfaction which is one of the key performance indicators( KPI) of the business success (Rashid, 2019). Customer satisfaction leads to customers preferring products from a particular brand, and as a result, it is essential for retaining and attracting new customers. A company will satisfy its customers if it has consumer behavior insight. Customer behavior insight can be obtained from different sources (Firmansyah et al., 2020, p.88). According to consumer behavior theory, companies need to study how consumers make decisions. It assists marketers and companies to capitalize on the behaviors by projecting when and how a consumer could purchase a product ((Singh and Paul, 2020). One of the sources of consumer behavior insight is observation. Marketers and businesses can observe customers as they purchase and learn what they are buying at a particular time in a year. Therefore Nando can observe the behaviors of the young consumers. With technological advancement, it is easy to observe what customers are purchasing all big thanks to big data ((DO, 2021). Collecting data on what consumers are buying can be essential because it can help define what particular people in the market segment purchase. Therefore, businesses can use the information to provide goods and services to a specific target segment in the market.
ATR (awareness, trial, and recognition) model can be used as a consumer behavior process. Awareness involves consumers knowing that Nando is offering food, which can trigger them to trial the Restaurant food. If the food satisfies them, they recognize the restaurant and start eating in the restaurant. Therefore, it is essential to have consumer insight to be in a position to satisfy the customers.
Figure 1: STG MODEL
Source: (Singh and Paul, 2020)
Market research
Fotiadis, Mombeuil and Valek, (2018) states that market research is a process of assessing the feasibility of new services and products. It is conducted directly with consumers. Besides, market research combines economic and consumer behavior trend to approve and enhance the business idea. Consequently, market research is a pivotal task in the marketing process. One of the advantages of conducting market research is that it assists businesses in evaluating the key trends to predict how the market can change (DO, 2021). Besides, market research is an essential step in the marketing plan as it is used in recognizing new market segments, the establishment of new products, and selecting the target market. To have successful market research, any business needs to have marketing research objectives that need to be SMART to analyze the selected market comprehensively (Han et al., 2018, p.37). Besides, the research objectives provide hypotheses to be approved and questions to be answered.
One of Nando’s market research objectives is to understand brand awareness in the US within one month. Understanding brand awareness is essential because it assists in understanding what is all about business and services and the product it is providing in the market. Understanding the current brand awareness can be done through accessing the behavior and attitudes of existing customers of Nando (Rashid, 2019). This assists in strengthening the existing customers base, ensuring that the research output is reliable and strong. It understands the brand assists in identifying strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the business (Dimitrescu et al., 2018, p. 281). through understanding the opportunities, the business can take advantage of opportunities to provide services and products to the customers. Researching the existing customers of Nando is essential. It assists in understanding whether the customers are satisfied or not. Through understanding that the business can, therefore, come up with suggestions on how to satisfy the customers, and as a result, the suggestion can be used in the new market (Firmansyah et al., 2020, p.88). This shows that the company can strengthen its weaknesses to gain a competitive edge. The objective of understanding the current brand awareness clearer in the US can be conducted by use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Therefore, the research obtains both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data is expressed in numbers, and the data can be used to form numerical relationships. The information from quantitative data can be used to provide information regarding the views or opinions of the existing customers (Albalate Boné, 2019).
Furthermore, quantitative data provide information on the patterns and trends of many consumers. Qualitative data is expressed in words, so it is obtained from consumers. It can be obtained through focus group discussion and therefore provides a comprehensive and deeper understanding, however, from smaller and more focused base consumers.
Secondly, the market research objective is to attract new customers to Nando. Attracting new customers assist any business to grow. Different approaches exist on how to attract new customers. One of the approaches is to provide quality products and services. Usually, providing quality products and services assist in meeting the needs of the consumers (Thompson, 2020). Satisfying customers can be successful through effective research on the taste and preferences of the target customers. The market research that can be used is the digital online research approach (Mhlanga, 2018). This is because the Z generation is characterized to be present on digital platforms. The target group spends most it time on social media platforms, and through social media platforms, they provide true and reliable information as a result of openness (Thompson, 2020). The target group is free to express feelings and emotions. Using qualitative methodologies, it can be easy to understand crucial factors that are essential to the Z generation and that motivate them to purchase particular products and services. The information can be gathered through human opinions or emotions and the use of language. Z generation is a crucial target segment in the market; satisfying them will lead to business advertisements to friends, relatives, and the world. This can be through a post that the Z generation post on social media platforms. Therefore by use of a psychographic approach can be essential in understanding consumer needs, preferences, and wants, which assist in satisfying the target customers which can attract new customers to the business (Mooi, Sarstedt & Mooi-Reci, 2017). growing in customers is essential as it leads to growth and success of the business.
Lastly, gaining an understanding of the cultural and geographic differences of the customers is a market research objective. Understanding the cultural difference is essential because culture defines the values, attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions of consumers. Different cultures have different perspective on what is beauty and what is necessary. Therefore, cultural differences can be put into consideration. They can assist in determining products and services that a particular group consumes. Geographical locations can define cultural and societal differences (Ind, Iglesias and Markovic, 2017, p.320). Therefore, it is essential to understand products that need to be consumed in a specific market segment. The values that people or consumers hold can impact the Nando brand and, therefore, the need to be incorporated into the brand’s core values (Peng, 2019). in this case, data can be obtained through a secondary approach (Pereira et a., 2019, p.10). secondary data is the one that has been already obtained; other scholars may have obtained it. Therefore it can be used to understand cultural and social differences among consumers. The secondary approach is less specific, broader, and looks for information.
Communication plan
Communication is essential in any business because it facilitates the flow of information within an organization and also all concerned stakeholders (Taimio, 2020). Therefore, a communication plan is an approach that provides information to the stakeholders. In any company, stakeholders play a pivotal role since they influence and have an interest in the company’s performance. It is therefore essential to keep them informed as this will assist them in making essential decisions. A communication plan provides a strategy for communicating business messages to the target audience to attain set objectives. Therefore, it is a systematic plan to attain business and marketing objectives. According to Imamura and Sumita (2018), a communication plan is characterized by elements, including target audience, intended outcome, context, key messages, preferred massagers, and appropriate medium. The target audience is individuals the message is tailored to meet, and these are the stakeholders. The intended outcome illustrates what the communication plan wants to achieve. Usually, a communication plan aims to reach information to the stakeholders, and it is essential to set objectives to be achieved by the communication plan. The key message illustrates the message to be conveyed to the business stakeholders. Appropriate medium is the channels through which message will pass to reach to the targeted audience, and preferred messengers are individuals who will convey the message to the target audience.
For a company to have an established coherent plan, first is essential to understand the current situation in the business. This can be done through situational analysis of the industry to understand core competency as well as key competitive advantages. Rossmann (2019, p.16) demonstrate situation analysis as external and internal factors analysis. Therefore, situational analysis aims at analyzing the internal and external environment of a business (Almeida, 2021). Examining the internal environment assist in understanding what factors within the business affects its growth and external environment; it involves analyzing factors such as technological, socio-cultural, political, economic, legal, and ecological factors that influence the performance of the business. The different frameworks can be used to carry out situational analysis, and one of the frameworks is porter’s five forces. Nando can be analyzed using the porters’ five forces. The framework has five factors which include analyzing the threat of new entrance, supplier power, bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitution, and competitive rivalry (Pervan, Curak and Pavic Kramaric, 2018, p. 4). Analyzing the five forces assist in understanding the structure of the industry, and therefore, a business can understand the nature of the competition in the industry of operations. Understanding industry structure is one of the approaches to understanding the industry’s competitiveness, which assists in developing strategies for attaining a competitive edge in the industry.
Nando is operating in a competitive industry with strong competitors. Its big competitors include TGI and Hard Rock Café that dominate the market (RAHIMI, 2020, p.115). Therefore, for businesses to succeed in the industry, Nando has to establish strategies for providing quality food and customer experience more than the competitors. Through this, the business can attain a competitive edge and, as a result, be in a position to compete in the industry (Mhlanga, 2018). Besides, Nando needs to focus on cuisine with international influence, personalized food options, and unique service provision to gain a competitive edge in the US industry (PENG, 2018).
Additionally, Nando will be operating in an attractive industry, and therefore, many businesses will desire to enter the industry because of its profitability. Therefore, Nando will be exposed to the threat of a new entrance (Burak, 2021). The dining industry is attractive, and thus, it has a high-profit margin, and businesses will desire to operate in the industry. Therefore it is projected that there will always be a new enterprise in the industry. However, for the business to enter the industry, they need to operate on a large scale. Therefore, they can be scared by high entry funds to enter the enterprise. However, Nando has been successful in its other areas of operation, and it can reinvest its profits to the new locations; and therefore, high funds for entering the industry cannot be a problem to the market.
Additionally, the bargaining power of buyers is a vital external force, and it can affect the operation of the Nando. In the US, there are many dining places, and therefore, customers have a variety of choices. Therefore, getting customers can be a challenge for Nando (George, 2021, p.150). However, the bargaining power of buyers is related to the threat of substitutes. The business can be replaced by other enterprise as food can be provided by different businesses. However, Nando can use generic strategies to compete in the industry. Providing unique food and at a low price can be essential because it can differentiate its products and services from those of competitors. Therefore, Nando can position itself to reflect its marketing differentiation and offer unique selling joints to have a strong customer attraction and to combat or reduce the threat of substitutes.
Furthermore, Nando can be affected by the bargaining power of suppliers. Therefore, for Nando to succeed in the industry, it needs to have many suppliers with similar prices from which the business can select and therefore enjoy bargaining power (Gitia, 2017). Nando focuses mainly on chicken, and having multiple suppliers is essential.
According to Taimio (2020), having marketing communication objectives help in setting goals that are quantifiable and can be achieved with a specific timeframe. The objectives can be derived from the situational analysis of Nando. Thus. Two objectives are outlined in communication plan establishment. One of the objectives is to increase the brand awareness of Nando by 50% within the first two months through the use of marketing communication (George, 2021). The communication objective requires an expenditure wedge pattern, which is a continuous marketing communication pattern aiming at targeting 100% of the target market segment; however, reduce the frequency of the campaign continuation. The approach is essential because it assists in reaching the entire target population, and therefore, creating awareness of the Nando brand.
The second objective of the communication plan is to convey and reinforce the competitive advantage of the personalized experience of the Nando. The objective aims at communicating that Nando provides a great dining experience as they provide products and services that meet the taste and preferences of their customers. To achieve the objective, a reverse wedge pattern can be used, and as a result, the media expenditure increase as the campaign continues (Mooi, Sarstedt & Mooi-Reci, 2017). To attain two objectives, an affordable budgeting approach can be used. The method will use the £Ib of Nando’s revenue and its retained profits of around £39.5. If a similar revenue is produced, Nando can invest 2% of the total revenue into marketing communication resulting in around £22 Million investment in marketing communication and can be split. For example, 60% can be allocated to digital marketing, whereby 20% can be online marketing and 40% social media platforms. The achievement of the objectives can be determined by the number of customers in Nando. Therefore, an increase in sales can be used as the KPI to assess the achievement of the objectives.
Marketing communication tactics
Marketing communication tactics illustrate the methods used to attain the marketing communication objectives (Albalate Boné, 2019). Basically, communication tactics are the specific tools that Nando will use to communicate to the target audience. The target audience for Nando is the Z generation; for Nando to determine tactics to use, it needs to consult FCB matric, which assists in understanding where the product stands in the customers’ minds. Therefore, it assists in understanding the relationship between the product and the customers. In this case, the FCB matrix assists in predicting whether or not customers require to make highly emotional decisions or intellectual decisions when purchasing (Skånland, 2018). Additionally, the model demonstrates how consumers approach the buying process through four quadrants and the end of goals advertising strategies which include self-satisfaction, habit-information, affective and informative quadrant. From analyzing the matrix, Nando will indeed fall under the self-satisfaction quadrant. This is because Nando aims at providing products that create an emotional stimulus for consumers, and thus marketing needs to convey personal satisfaction (Fiset, Oldford and Chu, 2021, p.29). The marketing needs to provide advertisement that conveys the emotional and personal benefits of experience in Nando directly. The Digital marketing media need to convey their messages to portray personalized services.
The target segment or audience for Nando is generation Z, and they depend on digital media channels to obtain information. Around 61% of them search online to get information about how they can purchase food or dine. Therefore, social media platforms play a great role in reaching the target audience and influencing them to buy from the restaurant. Since millennials are characterized by heavy use of social media platforms, the advertisement can be done on such platforms, which could include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, among others (Francis and Hoefel, 2018, p.12). Nando can use paid advertisement and celebrity endorsement for advertising its products. Through that, information about the restaurant can reach many individuals and increase the awareness of the brand.
Conclusion
Nando is a strong brand, and therefore, expanding its services in the US can be essential. It needs to have a comprehensive market plan to succeed in the industry. The plan can assist in understanding consumer behavior which is essential in getting consumer insight, and thus provide goods and services that meet the need of the consumers. Additionally, carrying out market research can assist in understanding the target segment market, which assists in understanding the feasibility of the products in the market. Furthermore, a communication plan provides an approach that can be used to communicate information to the stakeholders. Communication tactics assist in understanding specific tools that need to be used in marketing. Therefore, a marketing plan is essential for Nando.
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