Marketing Strategy

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Marketing Strategy

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Marketing Strategy

Defining Marketing Mix for Healthy Food Plan

            Considering the healthy foods industry, a marketing mix can be as follows to ensure competitive advantage. The product has to be in the right form for the customer. For instance, healthy foods are mostly perishable since no preservation is used, thus, the products have to be fresh from the producers in order to appeal to the customers. The foods have to be produced with good quality care and high standards to fit customers’ needs for healthy foods and lifestyle.

Promotion is the other marketing mix in this industry, whereby the promotions such as advertising should be focused on the healthier nature of the food. One strategy is to advertise with good positioning statements such as “Healthy food for a healthy lifestyle”. In modern times, health is among the major issues that are addressed on a global scale. In addition, the packaging of the food should contain good packages and details of the content of each nutrient in the food. Customers are able to identify healthy food by the content indication in the package. In addition, the package should be environmentally friendly to appeal to more customers who are concerned with the environment. In order to inform the customers, above-the-line promotion involving advertising on television, radio and among other traditional modes of media is very important for such an industry. In addition, below-the-line promotion such as leaflets, direct mail to customers and newsletters are necessary in establishing a good relationship with the customers. Email can also be used to inform customers about the healthy products (Stevens & Loudon, 2005).

Place is the other P in the marketing mix that plays a crucial role in a marketing strategy. For healthy food plan for a restaurant, location has to be convenient for the customers. Majority of the customers will be employed people in towns. People spending much time at home might tend to cook instead of eating out in a restaurant. Thus, the customers will be those without enough time for cooking, especially during lunch breaks. Therefore, the best place to locate the restaurant would in a busy town where it is accessible to majority of the customers. Otherwise, locating it within estates or residential areas may not capture the targeted customers. Considering the cost and price of healthy foods, the restaurant should target those who are sensitive to their diet, especially the high-end market as well as the middle class.

Price is one of the sensitive Ps in the marketing mix, depending on the targeted consumers. Price should represent the value of the foods as perceived by the customers. Customers consider healthy food more costly that junk food to costs of production and their processing as well. The best price strategy to use would be competitive in order to attract more customers, as well as maintain the perceived value by the customers. This can be done by pricing the products relatively lower than the market value (Stevens & Loudon, 2005).

Competition Analysis

            The competition to be faced by healthy food is quite high and more costly than other food industries. Therefore, the costs associated are quite high, and for a starting business, or restaurant, the initial stages to establish it are quite hard and bound to fail if it lacks enough capital as well as good strategies. Therefore, the market entrance is quite hard for the new restaurant. In addition, the suppliers are limited and do have a high influence on the prices, meaning they could charge higher. The substitutes for organic foods are quite in plenty and cheap, appealing to more customers than the healthier foods. The buyers might be sensitive to prices among other things. However, the buyers do not have an upper hand on the bargaining power. Considering this is the food industry, the level of rivalry is not high. The industry competitors are not as many, but most of them will combine healthy foods in their menu with other foods to capture both markets (Glader, 2006).

References

Glader, M. (2006). Innovation Markets and Competition Analysis: Eu Competition Law and Us Antitrust Law. United Kingdom, U.K: Edward Elgar Publishing

Stevens, R.E. & Loudon, D.L. (2005). Marketing Planning Guide. New York, N.Y: Routledge.