Introduction
Marketing planning is the process of developing and implementing a plan which will help to identify and evaluate the customer demand prevailing at the market place. This is mainly done to study the market and analyse the demand in the market. Proper market planning is done with the help of market research which helps the organisation to use the adequate market mix to fulfil the requirements. With the help of proper market planning the organisation is able to organise all the aspects of the market such as consumers, market, product and competition which influence the growth of the company.
In the given report, the aspects of marketing planning are discussed. All the techniques of organisational auditing and external factors which affect market planning are also included. Further the subsequent report states about all the barriers and essential of market planning which affects the working of the organisation. The report duly evaluates the marketing planning and future aspects of KFC.
KFC is a USA based fast food company which has specialised in fried chicken. KFC is considered as the second-largest fast-food chain after McDonald's. It has 18,875 outlets across 118 countries.
In earlier days, the organisation used to market their products by way of mass media and reach of the advertisements to the customers. This lead to a trust gained by the familiar brands among customers which increased its sales. Marketing is responsible for the image and familiarity of the brand. This was done to target customers (Abubakar, 2014).
The changing environment and market conditions have to lead to developing new marketing strategies which are based on fresh and improved concepts. These are based on the total experience of the customer and now trust among customers is gained through experience and over a period of time. Now all the persons in the KFC are responsible for the brand. Consumers have now become the co creators of the brand as organisation demand for regular feedback from the customers which help in improving the brand of KFC.
Figure 1 Future change in organisational marketing planning
(Source: Wong, 2010)
Core competencies, resources and strengths are the capabilities of KFC to plan its future activities of marketing. The company employs creative operations within the marketing of its products which have a distinctive brand in the market which puts out synergetic impacts on customers’ perception in markets. The company also has sound networks globally along with a strong base of resources which are capable of helping a firm in conducting effective market research. This further helps in customizing marketing activities to suit different types of demand in markets. The firm also enjoys the huge potential for competing with other bigger brands in the same industry such as McDonald’s and Burger King (Stephenson, 2005). It has employed competent management functions related to finance, productions and human resources. Company is also proficient in monitoring fund flow with the help of effective budgeting (Schottler, S. J., 2013).
KFC is also famous for enhancing its awareness of the brand among current and potential customers around the world and this enhances its operations related with clientele. Its core competencies, strengths and weakness are explained as under:
Figure 2: Core Competencies KFC
Analysing and auditing are the two main aspects of generating a proper plan in every organisation so as KFC. There are different ways of doing organisational audit such as SWOT Analysis, value chain etc this help in analysis the internal value and strength of KFC. It also helps to estimate the scope of development internally of KFC which will increase its value. The organisation is able to understand its operating system and analyse its strength weakness opportunities and threats which can influence the organisation (Gönül and Carter, 2012).
External analysis on the other hands leads to the development of the peripherals of KFC. It considers all the exterior factors which influence its growth and development. The techniques used for external analysis are PEST helps in evaluating the external factors which influence the working of KFC and thus the external analysis is done in the next question.
Here is the PEST analysis which is one of the techniques of external audit for KFC and hence is as follows:
Political: KFC has to follow many political factors such as Health and Safety guidelines to support that the organisation is taking care of the safety measures for the welfare of customers. It also has to properly label GM Foods so that customers are aware in advance about the ingredients used in it are safe and not allergic to them.
Figure 3 Labelling GM Food
(Source: Bens, 1990)
KFC also have to deal with the campaigns related to animal rights and welfare as these is the organisation which affects the development and sales of KFC (Pest Analysis On KFC, 2013). KFC deals with a huge variety of non-vegetarian food and thus it is necessary for the organisation to take proper care of these issues. Political factors of different countries also influence this organisation as every organisation has a different political background and it has to deal with all these factors.
Economic: KFC is has a very low set up cost which is one of the benefits for the organisation. It uses franchising techniques for setting up in different organisation which helps in influencing its growth. The market for KFC is tremendously growing which is another factor which persuades KFC. Thus the economic factors are favourable for the organisation (Bens, 1990).
Social: Today’s lifestyle is very busy and persons are now becoming health conscious. They are developing healthy eating habits and this has a negative impact on KFC. The customers are now becoming vegetarian and getting aware of different issues by way of social activities related to safe animals is a threat for KFC.
Technological: KFC has always invested in technological inventions which have helped in the growth of KFC. It is using a computer ordering system today which has reduced the heavy-duty work of the employees and thus leads to fast service to the customers.
Figure 4 PEST Analysis of KFC
(Source: Caemmerer, 2009)
The organisational Audit in any organisation is done by way of internal analysis and hence the SWOT for KFC is as follows:
Strength: KFC is the second-largest restaurant chain in and thus has a good brand image which is its biggest strength (SWOT analysis of KFC, 2013). The organisation is now fixing its roots strong in China and is establishing its business. It is globalising and developing a good market for the organisation in the entire world.
Weakness: KFC has untrustworthy suppliers which is its biggest weakness. It leads to negative publicity to the organisation. The menu of KFC is very unhealthy which does not attract to the health-conscious crowd (Freytag and Munksgaard, 2011). The employee turnover is also very high which a drawback is for the company. Marketing forces of KFC is not very strong which affects the value of the organisation.
Opportunities: KFC can opt for providing healthy food as its demand is also increasing. It can offer a home delivery option which will increase its sales. The organisation can also develop new range in its chicken products which will provide good opportunities to KFC.
Threats: Food market in developing countries is saturated which is affecting KFC’s growth. The new healthier trend is also affecting the organisation (Gönül and Carter, 2012). There is huge currency fluctuation due to inflation which has an adverse effect on KFC. There are some lawsuits against KFC which is declining its value.
There are certain barriers which affect the marketing planning of KFC and they are as follows:
Confusion between tactics and strategy is the biggest barrier for KFC in the context of market planning. The organisation is unaware of how to implement the strategy and tactics. This is one of the biggest mistakes as KFC formulate its plans in accordance with tactics when the strategy is required (Grete, Noreen and Susan 2003).
KFC also lacks in doing depth analysis which is another drawback for the organisation. Depth analysis helps in properly formulating market plans in the organisation and fulfils all the organisational strategies. But this depth study lack in KFC.
KFC does not follow a systematic approach of market planning which affects its overall development. Systematic market planning help to properly evaluate the market and then make proper plans for market development. Thus these are certain barriers which highly influence the market planning for KFC.
KFC must take certain steps to overcome the above barriers so that it will help in promoting and increasing its efficiency (Henley, Raffin and Caemmerer, 2011). For that KFC needs to first identify the main difference between tactics and strategy and thus develop its strategy in such a manner that it leads them to develop a proper plan which helps in achieving will long term goals of the organisation.
KFC also needs to analyse the market properly so that it will make them aware of all the factors in which it lacks and then the proper plan will be developed which will focus in that particular area. This will help in the promotion of KFC (Johnson. 2004).
It must also develop a systematic plan in the organisation. Systematic planning will properly evaluate and plan the desired plans in KFC which will lead to its growth. Thus it is necessary for KFC to put these into practice to properly manage to work.
Marketing planning is vital for KFC as well as for its strategic planning process. It helps in identifying sources of achieving competitive advantages in the industry. It is useful in having a smooth flow of a number of departmental activities which have to be in accordance with activities of marketing planning. There are various threats from markets which organization has to face and which shape its major responses to deal with them. Major marketing decisions of the company are often affected by threats from substitutes and competitors. KFC is bound to share a considerable amount of market share with its competitors in the food retail industry and it is because the firm has little control over it (Loudon and Wrenn, 2006). Further, customers and suppliers enjoy a considerable amount of bargaining power which again affect the level of profitability of the firm. Company has to operate in accordance with the demand from markets and the level of food supply available in the industry. New entrants in the industry also pose significant threats to KFC in markets and they have to be tackled through sound customer awareness of the brand (Johnson. 2004).
In order to develop new products, KFC must use certain techniques which will help to analyse market demand and then duly develop new products which will lead to its growth. Some of the techniques are:
KFC can take a market survey to analyse the requirement of customers (Schottler, 2013). This is that method which helps in connecting directly with the customers and making efforts to develop products according to their choice.
KFC can focus on a target market which and then develop product considering that particular market. This will help in generating demand in customer and KFC will be able to satisfy that demand which will increase the value of the new product.
KFC can also opt for Delphi techniques (Stephenson, 2005). Under this technique, the employees will do a proper survey in the organisation which will help in developing the appropriate product according to the needs and demands of the customer.
By the above methods, KFC can develop new products and launch in the market. It is necessary to analyse the market properly before developing or launching any product.
In addition to it, the following are the steps that can be taken into account by KFC for developing a new product:
Idea Generation: At this step, the idea about the new product is generated with the help of market research, market opportunities, the demand of customers and other related.
Idea Screening: After this, the idea is screened based on feasibility and acceptability. In this, a somewhat clear picture of the product is developed so that work upon it can be initiate.
Concept Development & Testing: It is required to assess the reaction of customers on the idea that been developed. It helps in developing product more specifically so that the need of customers can be addressed.
Business Analysis: After testing the idea, profitability context of the same need to be review. This aids in identifying whether the new product will be profitable for KFC or not.
Product Development: In case if a new product is approved, then marketing and technical steps need to be clear out. For this, a prototype is developed at this phase where exact product is produced.
Test Marketing: Based on the prototype, test marketing is done in which actual response is attained from the customers. In this, every aspect of a product are assessed and feedback is considered to make it better.
Commercialisation: At this phase, marketing strategies and tactics are applied in order to move towards the phase of launching of the product. KFC need to focus on segmentation, targeting and positioning so that more customers can be attracted towards a new product.
Launch: This is the final stage where products are launched in the market. For this, a smooth plan for launching is required so that more attention can be derived through targeted audiences.
There are many internal and external factors which influence the marketing planning of KFC and thus it is necessary to take certain steps to overcome these issues which will help in the acceptance and proper implementation of the market plan (Wong, 2010).
Market planning is contingency task as no one can exactly forecast the future and thus it is necessary for it to duly analyse the market properly and then make a plan which will help in the proper execution of the market plan (Abubakar, 2014).
KFC must develop its marketing plan taking the availability of substitutes into mind this is because the customers must be attracted towards the product development so that it will increase its sales and it must increase the value of the new product of KFC. In addition to it, there are several other barriers as well in implementing the plan. These are mentioned underneath:
Environmental barrier: KFC needs to assess the business environment of the whole country prior implementing the plan as it can affect to the core. There are variations in political structure, economic aspects, social background, technological grounds and other related.
Cultural barrier: KFC is directly affected by cultural differences as it offers varied dishes of chicken. However, the company needs to mould its products so that it can meet with the demand of varied customers.
Behavioural behaviour: There are differences in the behaviour of individual and it can affect the marketing activity. Marketing team with the variation of behaviour among members leads to poor implementation of the plan.
Resources: Another key concern for implementing the plan by KFC is to have the right set of resources. Hence, the same need to be arranged by the cited company so that success can be attained.
There are always some or the other ethical issues involved in activities of KFC and they may or may not be against law. These issues are concerned with various marketing aspects such as advertising, distribution, media promotion, dividends etc. Ethical business consideration of KFC requires the firm to keep away from those activities that are illegal and harm customers’ sentiments. It is the duty of firm to ensure true claims made by its advertisements and that they are not false and misleading (Market planning, 2014). A study shown by Adweek Media poll revealing responses of customers towards honesty and loyalty of firms within their advertisements is shown as under:
Figure 5: Honesty in Advertising
(Source: (Abubakar, 2014)
The famous example of an ethical issue is related to Nike. The news was published in one of the very reputed newspapers stating that Nike was using child labour in its factories. The company moved ahead with the slogan “just do it”. It created havoc in the industry that Nike is not going ethical but the organisation still moved on. At that time the brand ambassador of Nike was Tiger Woods (Natalie, 2012). Nike faced many issues and challenges but moved ahead strong and ethically.
Another issue on ethics was raised on the company that it was not paying proper wages to its employees. These consecutive issues related to ethics could not create less importance of this brand among the consumers but somewhere it was affecting organisational progress. Many legal issues were raised against the organisation but it didn’t stop and then it was clear that all the ethical claims made on Nike were irrelevant. Nike for this developed proper wage plan and also indulged itself into corporate social responsibility.
Example of impacts of consumer ethics on marketing are discussed as under:
False Insurance Claims – A person can claim false insurance for the purpose of getting benefits and this is considered as unethical in business. For example, an individual pretends to show loss of insured jewellery due to theft and claiming false insurance. This is known as a fraudulent act which is required to be dealt with effectively through competent marketing plan (Wong, 2010).
Warranty Deception – It is practised to mislead customers by, for example, mentioning on an electronic product a period of warranty which is not accepted alter on when claimed at the time of damages to the same (Natalie, 2012). This is known to affect consumer ethics and company should be aware of it while producing aims and objectives of marketing.
Conclusion
In the above report, the readers will be able to analyse the marketing planning and its issues. They will also be able to realise the importance of ethics in development of market plan and how does it affects the organisation.
References
- Bens, I., 1990. New Product Development: Theory into Practice. on, M. and BarclayLeadership & Organization Development Journal.
- Caemmerer, B., 2009. The planning and implementation of integrated marketing communications. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.
- Freytag, V. P. and Munksgaard, B. K., 2011. Complement involvement in product development. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
- Gönül, F. and Carter, F., 2012. Estimation of promotional strategies for newer vs older drugs based on physician prescribing data. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing.
- Grete, B., Noreen S. and Susan S. F., 2003. “Quick response: perceptions of UK fashion retailers”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
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