Target market and Positioning

The report illustrates the market segmentation, targeting and positioning of an Australian food company. The company chosen in the report is Vegemite, an Australian food spread brand. The product is very popular in the Australian market. The goal of the marketing objectives of Vegemite is to revitalize the brand image as well as the brand positioning in the Australian market. The report will explain the marketing mix strategies of the company in order to enhance the local customer acceptance of the company by 70%. The target market and positioning of Vegemite describe the different types of segmentation of the target customers along with their point of contacts. The marketing mix of the brand will aim to increase the total consumption of the product among the Australian consumers by enhancing the product mix while adding more speciality and flavours. The media promotional campaigns are also described in details with its implementation in the Australian target market. The positioning strategy of the company will be illustrated in a perceptual map that will enhance the product positioning of the different types of competitive rival brands. The awareness campaign of the brand targets the different customer segments of the major areas of Australia by using both traditional and digital media.

Selection of Target Market

Vegemite will adopt undifferentiated approach of marketing when they will segment the food spread market of Australia. The primary target market for Vegemite will include customers who are aged between 21 to 45 years living in the metropolitan areas of Australia such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, New Castle, Queensland, Townsville, etc. Undifferentiated marketing is the appropriate marketing approach for segmenting the target market, as they are suitable for a generic target market.

Demographics: Y generation is the targeted generation of Vegemite along with the millennial generation. It is already mentioned earlier that the age group between 19 to 45 years along with children are targeted. The food spread is a healthy product that can be consumed by people of all age categories. Its unique taste and health benefits also attract children to consume this product. As Vegemite is a food product, hence it is targeted to people of all social classes (Kuuru & Tuominen, 2016).

Psychographics: Regarding the psychographic characteristics of the segmentation, it can be said that the lifestyle of the people residing in metro are modern and status oriented. The youth population of the country in the metropolitan cities are increasing at a faster level than any other groups of people. They are the early adopters and the innovators. However, Vegemite will target the innovators and early adopters of the product (González?Benito, Martos?Partal & Fustinoni?Venturini, 2014).

Consumption and Usage patterns: In this situation, the children and the women of the families play the role of the influencer of the decision making of buying the products especially food items. The usage rate of the brand among these groups of people is more because Vegemite can be used in breakfast, Tiffin and in snacks (Maarit Jalkala & Keränen, 2014).

Positioning Strategy

Geographic: The geographic locations of promoting the products are the metropolitan cities of Australia such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Townsville, etc.

Brand and marketing dimensions: Since, the branding and marketing dimensions focused on the promotional campaigns that aim in enhancing the brand awareness among the target customers.

Nature of the relationship with customers: Since, the millennial and Generation Y consumers of Australia are in touch with gadgets more than that of traditional media, hence the company has to put emphasis more on the digital media like social media websites and other traditional media. They are tech savvy, ambitious and take decisions based on the feedback and reviews of the products (Athanasopoulou, Giovanis & Avlonitis, 2015).

The unique selling proposition of Vegemite in Australia is the most yummy and healthy black brown food spread. The tagline of the company in the country is “Happy little vegemite”.  The positioning strategy of the company will formulate a strategy that will enhance the brand awareness by the different competitor brands. The financial performances of the company also determine the different types of the competitor analysis. The current positioning strategy of the features of the food spread in the Australian market is not so much updated as there are many competitors in the market (Baker, 2014). The positioning strategy of Vegemite in Australia focuses on the different product attributes such as unique flavoured, product benefits, usage of the customers, etc. Vegemite should focus on the competitor’s strategies of positioning themselves in the market. It can be pointed out the fact that the women, children, etc. use the products more than that of the people of other product categories. The product is trying to redefining its brand value and the awareness of the brand among the minds of the target customers (Singh, Kalafatis & Ledden, 2014).

The slogans or the taglines of the company in Australia that the company is adopting are:

“Happy little vegemites”

“We are happy little vegemites”

“The concentrated yeast extract”.

These taglines carry the message of the brand to the target customers. Apart from that, a perceptual map will be explained below that will illustrate the position of the brand in the market along with the position of the rival brands of food spread in the market. The positioning strategy will include product features like, great taste, healthy food spread, nutritious food spread ever, sturdy and attractive packaging (Kotler et al., 2015).

Product

Vegemite is one of the most popular food chain selling foods spread in Australia. The main product of this company is Vegemite fat free spread, Vegemite cheese bite and Vegemite reduced salt (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017). The products are nutritious and hence very popular across Australia. Vegemite is nutritious as well as tasty. It contains thiamine B1 and riboflavin B2. The spreads are fat free and good accompany for a healthy breakfast. The products are very popular across Australia and hence consumed in a large quantity (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017). The nutritional content of the products, along with the high nutritional value and low fat content makes the products very popular. Moreover, the range of usage of the products includes children to elderly people. Hence, the products are essential for market mix.       

Marketing mix strategies

Price

  The price of the products of Vegemite is very less and reasonable. The company moderates the price such that the customers of Australia easily consume them. The prices of the products play an important role in determining the business of the organization. High price of the products makes it unreachable for the mass of Australia (“VEGEMITE Story”, 2017). Since the products are breakfast accompanies, hence the price needs to be well regulated. The prices of the products are much less than the nutritional value it adds to the food. Hence, the price also enhances the sale of the products of Vegemite (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017). To achieve competitive edge, Vegemite has controlled the prices of the products well.      

Promotion

  Promotion of any product plays an important role in marketing. A consistent promotional strategy is maintained by Vegemite and ensures that the products are promoted efficiently (“VEGEMITE Story”, 2017). The promotions of the products of Vegemite could be promoted using the following tools:

Advertisement

This is an efficient way of promotion. The advertisements include television commercials, digital radio advertisements, hoarding as well as the official Vegemite website. Television commercials play a significant role in influencing the buyers’ decision. The potential customers, are largely influenced by the way the products are promoted in the television commercials, hence, it acts as an efficient source of promotion (“VEGEMITE Story”, 2017). Radio is used by a large mass of people, hence effective advertisement on radio helps in promotion of the products of Vegemite (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017). Use of hoardings and placards also acts as effective methods of advertisements of the products of Vegemite.     

 A good public relation of Vegemite acts as an advantage and a promotional tool. The public relations include the press releases and media coverage. Enhanced public relations with the media personalities and press, results in the media coverage of the newly launched products (Yeleti & Sayed, 2015) . The promotions of the existing products are also enhanced using public relations. The media coverage is important for promotion of the products. Along with these, a good relation with the customer is to be maintained such that the loyalty of the customers might result in promotion of the products, by the process of word-of-mouth (“VEGEMITE Story”, 2017). A satisfied customer is likely to recommend the products to other customers as well. Thus, it is essential to maintain a good public relation with the customers. Use of various loyalty programs such as giving discounts to the customers and offering special price to the loyal customers might result in customer satisfaction and promotion (Schultz et al. 2015).   

 With the rise of social media and increase in the use of the social media, this platform is successfully used by the company Vegemite to promote their products (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017). The social media such as Facebook, Twiter, Snapchat could be used by the company in order to promote their products. Facebook video of the products of Vegemite could be released in order to promote the products (Yeleti & Sayed, 2015). Moreover, release of teasers is also essential promotional methods, to promote the products of Vegemite. Food blogs of Australia are also used as promotional channels. Offering of free samples to the regular users of the blogs throughout the year attracts hundreds of customers to become loyal customers of the products of Vegemite (Schiffman et al. 2013).    

Media channel

Exposure

Mar

April

May

June

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Television commercials

24 per day (1 every hour)

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

Radio advts

12 per day (1 every hour from 9am to 9pm)

*

*

*

Press release

1 release every alternative month

#

#

#

#

#

#

Social media

2 trailers or releases every two months

*

*

*

*

The above media schedule highlights the media exposure during the various months of the year (“VEGEMITE Products”, 2017).  

The place where the products are available plays an important role for the promotion of the products. The distribution strategy of the products of Vegemite follows the conventional FMCG distribution strategy (Beverland et al., 2015). The selective push distribution strategy is used in order to send the products of Vegemite to the various distribution channels and the retail stores across Australia. The products are send from the factory to the transports chains. The logistic facility is efficient and delivers the products to the retail stores across Australia (Murphy, 2016). The retailers sell the products by advertising the products to the target customers. The products are available all around Australia in all the leading retail stores. Thus, the place and availability of the products of Vegemite makes it a popular choice among the Australian citizens (Yeleti & Sayed, 2015). The ease of availability, along with the nutritional values of the products and the reasonable price of the products makes the products of Vegemite very popular in Australia, thus establishing the company as a leader in the market of food spreads.            

The success of a marketing plan while achieving the goals and objectives of the company depends on the different types of evaluation and control metrics adopted by Vegemite in their field of practice.  The marketing goals must adhere strictly to the organizational goals of Vegemite. The evaluation of the marketing campaigns will be carried out in the gap of 3 months from the implementation of the plan. It will determine the overall success of the products along with the different procedures of mitigation of the evaluation (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016). 

Metrics	Methods of measurement	Timing	Responsibility	Outcome
Increase of market penetration by 70%	Calculation of market share in the Australian market	Every 3 months	Chief Operational Officer Chief Financial Officer	Market penetration rose by 70%
Successful launching of new brand into the market	Deciphering consumer response by testing advertising methods Calculating the total media coverage	Every 3 months	Marketing head	Feedback from the consumers is positive along with the increase in sales of the product and brand awareness

The chart below describes about the implementation of different marketing activities around the year. The marketing department of the organization will be responsible for implementing the procedures of the marketing activities in order to maintain a successful product launch of the product in the Australian market. 

Vegemite Product Launch

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

Aug 2017

Sept 2017

Oct 2017

Nov 2017

Dec 2017

Jan 2017

Feb 2017

March 2017

Product

Product Development

Product Launch

Price

Pricing Strategy

Promotion

Website Update

Radio ads

Social media campaign

TV ads

Place

Distribution Strategy

Distribution of products

Evaluation

Market penetration analysis

Media coverage

Conclusion and Recommendations

It can be concluded that Vegemite should consider the consumer analysis and the marketing analysis of the product in the Australian market. The report describes the marketing mix strategies that Vegemite will adopt in the Australian market in order to increase its presence in the market along with the increased consumer perception regarding the brand. The study describes in details about the segmentation along with the different characteristics of the target segments of the consumers of metropolitan areas of Australia. The target consumers are selected from the metropolitan areas, as they are the early adopters of any types of product. They usually seek products that have health benefits and loaded with nutrition. However, the marketing mix that is recommended in the study can be improved in order to achieve the goals of the marketing along with the organization.

The recommendations are described in the following regarding the marketing mix adopted by Vegemite in the Australian market.

• It is recommended that the brand can also target to the sub urban areas beside the metropolitan cities of Australia. The population in the sub urban areas are also huge compared to the metropolitan cities of the country resulting in the increased consumption of the food spread.
• The product attributes and features that are considered in the positioning strategy of the company must be eco-friendly and sustainable in nature in order to attract the attention of the consumers (Solomon, 2014).
• The price of the product must be kept reasonable so that every people irrespective of social class of the country. The company can implement penetration-pricing strategy.
• Apart from unique packaging, sachets should be available in the market so that everyone can avail the product.
• The promotional campaigns must put emphasis more on the social media promotions rather than the traditional media campaigns in order to engage the customers (Hollensen, 2015).
• The company must invest in its research and development department while developing new products in the market.

References

Athanasopoulou, P., Giovanis, A. N., & Avlonitis, G. J. (2015). Marketing strategy decisions for brand extension success. Journal of Brand Management, 22(6), 487-514.

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Beverland, M., Dobele, A., & Farrelly, F. (2015). The viral marketing metaphor explored through Vegemite. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(5), 656-674.

Freeman, B., Kelly, B., Baur, L., Chapman, K., Chapman, S., Gill, T., & King, L. (2014). Digital junk: Food and beverage marketing on Facebook. American journal of public health, 104(12), e56-e64.

González?Benito, Ó., Martos?Partal, M., & Fustinoni?Venturini, M. (2014). Retailers’ Price Positioning and the Motivational Profiling of Store?Brand Shoppers: The Case of Spain. Psychology & Marketing, 31(2), 115-125.

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Manceau, D., & Hémonnet-Goujot, A. (2015). Marketing management (Vol. 14). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kuuru, T. K., & Tuominen, P. (2016). Creating a conceptual framework for corporate brand positioning. In Business Challenges in the Changing Economic Landscape-Vol. 2 (pp. 177-195). Springer International Publishing.

Maarit Jalkala, A., & Keränen, J. (2014). Brand positioning strategies for industrial firms providing customer solutions. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 29(3), 253-264.

Murphy, J. M. (2016). 19 Assessing the Value of. Branding: A Key Marketing Tool, 184.

Schiffman, L., O’Cass, A., Paladino, A., & Carlson, J. (2013). Consumer behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Schultz, D. E., Barnes, B. E., Schultz, H. F., & Azzaro, M. (2015). Building customer-brand relationships. Routledge.

Singh, J., P. Kalafatis, S., & Ledden, L. (2014). Consumer perceptions of cobrands: The role of brand positioning strategies. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 32(2), 145-159.

Solomon, M. R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

VEGEMITE Products. (2017). Vegemite.com.au. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from https://www.vegemite.com.au/products

VEGEMITE Story. (2017). Vegemite.com.au. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from https://www.vegemite.com.au/heritage/vegemite-story

Wirtz, J., & Lovelock, C. (2016). Services marketing: people, technology, strategy. World Scientific Publishing Co Inc.

Yeleti, B. M., & Sayed, H. (2015). BRANDS & BRANDING; GROUP 15. Month.