The current marketing trends used by Cadbury in digital technology

The report will analyse the impact of marketing on performance of organisation and its interdependency on other functional units of organisation. It will provide a marketing plan for Cadbury which is the second largest confectionery brand after Mars incorporated. The study will also provide comparative analysis of organisation on the basis of marketing mix elements.

LO 1

Marketing processes and its elements

In order to meet the needs of customers and to deliver the required services Cadbury follows the sequential process of marketing. At first the organisation analyses the market and opportunities in which Cadbury can deliver its services with profits. For analysis purpose the organisation evaluate both macro and micro environment factors and tools like SWOT analysis, PESTLE and 5C analysis. When organisation successfully identify the opportunity it creates a strategic plan by segmentation, targeting and positioning concepts so that marketing mix related decisions can be implemented (The Role of Marketing in Organizations, 2014).

The promotional and implementation strategies used by Cadbury are based upon above mentioned analysis. In the final stage of marketing process the organisation control and monitor its strategies and bring improvements or changes as per the changing demand of target audience. The various elements of marketing involves the elements like price, product specification and parameters related to distribution and supply of services.

(Source: What is the definition of strategic marketing?, 2018)

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Roles and responsibilities of marketing manager of Cadbury

Marketing managers of Cadbury plays a key role of implementing marketing functions of organisation. For effectively applying marketing strategies into practice the managers ensure that analytical and communication skills are extensively used (Why marketing is so important, 2016). Marketing manager organises market research so that organisation can discover the opportunities. It is the responsibility of manager to coordinate and guide other team members so that appropriate strategies can be developed and implemented for achieving the profit goals of organisation. In Cadbury marketing managers also performs the role of employee and customer management. They identify the skills and abilities of team members and assign duties so that business activities can be accomplished.

The managers also conduct surveys for analysing the customer satisfaction for services and how organisation can retain consumers for long term. During the situation of risk management the marketing managers cooperate with other functional departments to evaluate the solution for dealing with the crisis (Dinnie, 2015). The marketing manager of organisation also ensures that promotional strategies used by the organisation are highly efficient and influences the buying nature of its consumers.

One of the significant duty of Cadbury marketing manager is that these executives regularly monitors the market trends and strategies of competitive organisation. From their observation they provide potent recommendations which can help organisation to overcome the performance of their competitors and to build new customer segments. If marketing managers are not efficient enough then organisation will not be able to achieve its marketing goals and it will be almost impossible for organisation to change the business practices according to demand of market trends and consumer requirements (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).

Impact and interrelation of marketing with other departments of organisation

The marketing functions greatly affects the performance and operational activities of other functional units of Cadbury. The impact on key departments is as follows:

Accounts and finance department: The promotional strategies of marketing team must be in alignment of budget sanctioned for the department. The finance department also keep track of the records or purchase in response to a particular marketing strategy. The interrelation helps organisation to have a control over its operational cost as well as to analyse the benefits or sales analysis due to implemented marketing strategy.

Operational department: The operational activities of Cadbury must be in alignment with the marketing team. The product specifications and distribution must be in accordance with marketing plan of company (Helm and Gritsch, 2014). It requires coordination between both divisions so that organisation can accomplish its business activities with maximum efficiency and accuracy.

Information technology (IT) department: The current marketing strategies of Cadbury are highly dependent on digital technologies such as social media marketing and online system for bookings and order management. It requires cooperation and support from IT department otherwise company will not be able to use technology as success tool and will lag behind others.

Customer management department: Marketing functions are aimed at retaining and creating customers. Thus, for identifying the needs, issues and expectations of customers marketing teams interacts regularly with customer management team so that marketing plans can be applied in correct direction. This interaction helps organisation to understand the behaviour of consumers and to meet their expectation without compromising their profits (Barrett and Weinstein, 2015).

Significance of marketing within organisation

Marketing plays an important role in success of Cadbury. Without efficiency marketing plan organisations are unable to achieve their sales target.

• Marketing informs consumers about the products and policies of organisation. Thus, if Cadbury is well known name among customers then its credit can be given to its marketing strategies and functions.
• Marketing approaches helps organisation to sustain its position among competitors. With globalisation and digital tools companies are getting vast opportunities for growth (Phan and Vu, 2015). If Cadbury will not focus on its marketing approaches then it may vanish completely from the market and will be soon replaced by other organisations.
• The marketing role also defines operational ways which can reduce the cost and can make business process more beneficial. For example marketing team of Cadbury create awareness among people by using social media which is more effective than directly approaching people in different countries.
• Marketing provides an opportunity to organisation to discover new markets and customers. In the absence of marketing Cadbury will only limit to a small region and will not be able to retain its dominant position in confectionery sector.

LO 2

Marketing mix elements

It can be defined as the set of factors which are controllable by the organisation and can affect the purchase decision or marketing strategies of organisation. The improvements and changes in these elements can force customers to change their buying decision (Khan, 2014). These elements include factors such as products, price, promotional methods, place, target audience and processes involved in marketing. It helps Cadbury to achieve its marketing goals with accurate projection of planning.

Source: (Elements of Retail Marketing Mix (7Ps), 2016)

Marketing mix comparison between Cadbury and Mars

Mars incorporate and Cadbury are the leading giants in confectionery industry. The marketing mix analysis of both the organisations is given below:

LO 3

Marketing plan for Cadbury

B. Competitive analysis:

Cadbury faces tough competition from Mars, Nestle and Hershey. The other organisations give tough competition to Cadbury on the basis of innovation and wider product range. The nutritional value in products also make Cadbury to lag behind some brands and inability to reach audience which is health conscious.

C. Consumer behaviour:

The organisation is one of the most popular and favourite brand in chocolates and food products. The product quality, price and easy availability are the main factor for such popularity (Jackson and Ahuja, 2016). However still certain consumer groups avoid the products of organisation from health perspective thinking that products have low nutritional value.

Market segmentation: The market segmentation of Cadbury has been divided into different criteria. For promotional basis the organisation uses geographical classification. The promotions and advertisements are different in each country. The organisation ensures that products are available in every locality (Yang and Gabrielsson, 2017). The products of Cadbury are used by all age groups and gender. The reasonable prices also motivates the people with low income to buy products of Cadbury.

Targeting: Cadbury can targets its markets within groups which consumers its products more. For instance women, children and teenagers can buy these products. Similarly, if organisation introduce some high energy and nutritional chocolates then health centric groups can also be targeted for increasing the benefits and sales of organisation.

Product positioning: The organisation has effectively positioned its products in market and among various customer groups. The teenagers and young people use its products for love, taste and for exchanging it as gifts. On the other hand children used to eat its products for fun and small gifts in the packet. Currently the organisation is planning to position its product among nutrition oriented groups.

Marketing strategy: The key marketing strategies of Cadbury are its distribution network and promotional events. The organisation provides its products at high as well as economic budget range (Barrett and Weinstein, 2015). Cadbury manages that its brand is visible and available at every state and store. This will automatically help organisation to become the first choice of its customers. Along with the effective distribution channel organisation also use highly impressive promotional strategies (Todorova, 2015). For instance for attracting customers it uses videos of alien creatures but at the same time for influencing adults it develops promotional videos with emotional appealing. Cadbury consider every event as an opportunity to gain the benefits and sales target. Like during festival sesaons instead of going normal it gives attractive discounts and gift packagings so that people can use it as gift as well.

Marketing mix: The 4 P's of marketing mix can be used as follows:

Product: To increase the sales Cadbury requires bringing some innovations in its products. Though current products are performing well but for long term success and leading other organisations Cadbury must introduce new nutritional and innovative products.

Price: The price strategy of organisation is effective. However, the products which are kept in higher price range can show higher sale records by price reduction. To compensate the change organisation can make changes to packaging or distribution which can reduce operational cost.

Promotion: As per the current trends digital marketing is the most popular and effective promotional method. The adoption of these strategies will also lower the promotional costs (Lusch and Vargo, 2014). Along with this Cadbury can increase its participation in social events so that people can relate emotionally with organisation. It will help organisation to create brand awareness easily in regions where company is facing low sales records and profits.

Place: Still there are regions in which Cadbury gets tough competition from other organisations. Cadbury must identify those regions and special marketing strategies must be developed for those segments. It will help company to explore more opportunities in areas which are still not covered by the organisation (Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015).

Return of investment: With the effective marketing strategies and plan the organisation will be able to increase its market share. The organisation will increase its market share by 25% within 2 years. It will also increase the total number of sales in distinct regions.

The marketing plan will help Cadbury to achieve its long term success goals and to become the leading industry.

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CONCLUSION

From the report it can be concluded that marketing strategies are vital for organisations to achieve their profitability and success goals. The report has explained the various elements of marketing mix and impact of marketing strategies on other functional activities of organisation. It is also observed from the analysis that the interrelationships between marketing and other departments enable organisation to achieve its business activities with the most efficient and cost friendly ways.

The organisations can improve the quality of services by interrelationship discussed in report as it will minimize the operational cost along with elimination of functional errors. It can also be concluded from the report that marketing plan cannot be accomplished without the support from other functional departments of organisation. Thus marketing team must have coordination with other departments of company.

REFERENCES

• Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015. Essentials of marketing research. Nelson Education.
• Bahadir, S.C., Bharadwaj, S.G. and Srivastava, R.K., 2015. Marketing mix and brand sales in global markets: Examining the contingent role of country-market characteristics. Journal of International Business Studies. 46(5). pp.596-619.
• Online
• Elements of Retail Marketing Mix (7Ps), 2016 [online] Accessed through <http://retailmanagementunikl.blogspot.com/2016/12/elements-of-retail-marketing-mix-7ps.html>
• The Role of Marketing in Organizations, 2014 [online] Accessed through <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140915080650-84228363-the-role-of-marketing-in-organizations-by-timothy-mahea>

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