Critical Analysis

An FMCG product stands for Fast-moving consumer goods (referred as FMCG). These products are generally sold speedily and at comparatively low price. Illustrations include home and personal care, tobacco, many non-durable products such as food, beverages, household items, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs, alcoholic drinks and other consumables (The economist, 2018).

In this report, FMCG product “Kellogg’s Special K” is one of the best breakfast cereal is being selected, as this brand is an emerging company of Australia market since 2015. Kellogg’s Special K (here in after referred as K-Product) is a tasty as well as crunchy ready-to-have breakfast cereal made with wheat and rice. It is a good source of fibre, certainly low fat product, and contains high B-group vitamins. This product is usually consumed with either skimmed milk or whipped yoghurt along with fruits and dry-fruits.
It gives a fresh feel to begin every day with delicious breakfast cereal and full of energy.

Although it was established in the year of 1898, yet after achieving benchmarks in Australian market, it became the first company, which was providing many choices about breakfast foods and cereals in 2006. Finally, in 2015 it created a never ending rising growth in FMCG market of Australia. Kellogg’s Pty Ltd. acquired the place of the topmost dealer of breakfast cereals in 2015. Their retail value sale was 32 per cent in the year of 2015 (Marketing91, 2018).

Consumer’s behaviour regarding K-Product can be observed easily by effective marketing and sales model application as it is a decision-making procedure of consumer while assessing, purchasing, utilizing, or disposing some products or services. This decision-making is mostly depending upon two main aspects that are as follows:

• The customers expected amounts of consummation.
• The capitals those are available with the consumer to spend on the product (Perner, 2018). 

To understand behaviour of consumers towards this product, theory model of Engel – Blackwell – Kollat Nicosia is being applied for the analysis and improved performance. Therefore, the total sum of how consumers identify and define their requirements and the way to select desired products to purchase and experience to fulfil those needs is the “Theory of Consumer behaviour.” Here, it includes the what-where-when and how about the purchase and post purchase experience procedure. The concepts of consumer behaviour examines and improves approaches of enumerate, estimate and influence the actions of customers.

Numerous other consumer behaviour models can also help in better understanding of consumer behaviour for this product. They are listed as follows:

• Economic Model
• Pavlovian Model
• Psychological Model
• Sociological Model(University of Missouri, 2009)
• Model of Howarth Sheth
• Learning Model
• Model of Engel – Blackwell – Kollat Nicosia
• The psycho analytical model
• Model of family decision-making (Perner, 2018) 

Source: (Kollat, Engel and Blackwell, 1970)

Consumer behaviour is the most important aspect in the marketing challenges of this product, and in this discussion application of The Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard model (referred as EBM) will be utilized to describe all marketing issues lying in consumer behaviour model.

Personal buying decision-making 

According to the EBM model, the consumer decision-making procedure for purchasing K-Product is shaped by various determinants and factors, divided into three wide categories:

• Individual differences
• Environmental influences
• Psychological processes (Keegan and Rowley, 2017).

Further, five steps of psychological process in decision-making model helps consumers of K-Product to execute his or her buying decision:

 Need recognition is therefore a state of desire, initiating a decision process that occurs throughout the interaction of individual differences and environmental influences.

Theories related to consumer behaviour

Attitudes of the consumer

Attitudes are important in assessing consumer behaviour, as the behaviour is mostly affected by his or her attitude towards the product brand. This attitude being an essential marketing tool can be made positive or negative by number of ways and it affects long-term choice.

Group influences on consumer

Majority of viewpoints can influence the consumer’s thinking and his or her attitude towards the brand.

Consumer learning processes & resources

Consumer’s time, financial resource and most importantly information processing abilities, these are the key factors of consumer learning process.

Culture factor

Culture factor implies the ideas, values, and other meaningful symbols helping persons to evaluate, interpret and communicate being a member of the society.

Social class

Social class is an environmental influence, which depict consumer behaviour differences grounded on socio-economic level differences.

Step-II Information Search

This search is subdivided into four kinds of search: internal search, non-marketing controlled information, marketing controlled information and external search. Internal search can be done through several ways of gathering information from friends, families and consumer memory. Marketing controlled search contain sources like advertisements on TV, frequent email, Google, promotion adds and radio. Non-marketing controlled search contain past experiences based knowledge. External info search can be defined as Kellogg’s   brand cereals can be found in various markets like Woolworths and Wal-Mart (Kollat, Engel and Blackwell, 1970).

Step-III Evaluation search for alternatives

The Step-III, is mainly contains awareness set of four types, through which a consumer of K-Product can get alternatives evaluation done. They can be explained as follows:

Evoked set: it is a group of alternative brands acquired from a process of information search.

Inept set: this set containing avoided alternative options; those have no chance to be utilized.

Inert set: this set of information contains particular alternatives, which consumers always have in his or her mind.

Unawareness set: this set contains those alternatives, about which the consumer is not aware at all (Perner, 2018).

Step-IV: Purchase

This procedure contains the ways by which products and goods can be purchased. There are following possible ways of purchasing K-Product:

• Grocery shops
• Super markets
• Shopping centres
• Famous gyms

Step-V: Post buying behaviour

This step is critical for the company, as it deals with the decision about whether to continue utilizing the product in future or not by the customer. In this context, Kellogg’s is one of the top most brands for breakfast cereals as it gives high quality satisfaction to its customers.

Specifically, marketing strategies of Kellogg’s company contains the identification of targeted customer, objectives identification of the products (Kellogg Cornflakes), assessment of mass media choices and identification of top likely media vehicle and the appropriate matter of the visual and verbal message (Perner, 2018).

Thus, Kellogg’s company have applied all above strategies and after critical analysis of the marketing mix of the company, 4Ps marketing mix contains following:

Kellogg’s Pty Ltd. is the food processing industry and produces several types of breakfast cereals and other good diet products. Some of its valued products are as follows:

• Cereals such as Nut Feast, All-Bran, Cinnabon, and Chocos
• Crackers
• Frozen Waffles
• Toaster Pastries (BizVibe, 2018)
• Cereal Bars
• Cookies
• Snacks having flavours of fruit (Kellogg’s, 2018)

The company has well designed distribution hierarchy at all places and manages the system efficiently. The team consists of distributors, sales members, and brokers (Marketing91, 2018).

Marketing issues concerning consumer behaviour

Moreover, to reach the customers at correct place and time Kellogg’s company has established warehouses those hold a healthy-stocked supply of its products. These products are shipped speedily and efficiently whenever required and for that company deal with the sellers directly to send the asked products to the consumers at a fast speed (McDONALD and M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016).

Price:  in the Marketing mix of K-Product

The Kellogg’s company always calculate the real selling cost of the product only post executing an in-depth consumer marketplace research that involves the client’s feedbacks. It also considers production costs, profit, and the promotion, advertisement costs. Finally, post analysing each aspect of the marketplace research the company defines the products prices (Kumar et al., 2009).

Promotions:  in the Marketing mix of K-Product

Promotion of the products is one of the excellent marketing strategies of Kellogg’s company. In order to create consumer awareness of its product and brand value, it has used media sources. Its advertising and marketing campaigns are broadcast on television particularly on the children channel and primary time. In this context, Kellogg’s has correctly chosen its target audience being the women and kids. The company realized the importance potential of above two sexes because, women are the decision makers, and kids are the influencers of the products of Kellogg’s (Marketing91, 2018).

In spite of adopting all-marketing strategies of 4Ps marketing mix by the company to sell K-Product, still there few areas, those can be covered into following actions:

• Selection of the correct advanced Technologies for the company requirement
• Preparation of targeting content addressing a Global Audience
• Directive and proper training of the team
• Recruitment and hiring of best talent
• Planning of  a digital marketing promotion (Hudson, 2018)

Further, some recommendations to the higher management of the company are as follows:

The progress and implementation of marketing strategies digitally takes much less time. Because by using digital marketing, it becomes very easy to improve strategies and execute rapid changes when needed in the marketing campaign.

Moreover, digital marketing is cost effective, as it has already proved during universal financial slowdowns of modern times. A digital-marketing campaign will cost lower than old-fashioned marketing campaign (Keegan and Rowley, 2017). Approaching effectively to the consumer is easy in digital marketing campaign than conventional marketing. Digital marketing strategy is so easy that it do not take time to give efficient results among target audience, but it goes faster than any other marketplace strategies on earth.

Getting feedbacks from consumers by using social marketing is a marketing mix recommendation in order to sustain in the market of top breakfast cereals worldwide. It is about getting ideas and feedbacks from consumers rather than selling products. As a result, if we are using info regarding consumer attitudes towards company’s brand value and product quality then efforts will be exactly directed towards fulfilling their needs and providing full satisfaction by reviewing company’s end processes (Kumar et al., 2009). As we, all know that, expanding a business requires the correct knowledgeable assets, properly chosen strategic corporations, and products with solid market demand. Still after achieving success and top place in market place, sustaining development needs a robust operational groundwork so that the critical risks to the business can be effectively reduced time to time (Forbes, 2015).

Addressing global audience can also be a recommended strategy for the Kellogg’s company. As mentioned above in this report, Kellogg’s company is having great marketing strategies in promotion area by targeting kids and women for creating better marketing campaigns. Still, there is a need to address whole audience effectively by creating and writing content, which actually addresses global whole audience to expand business more (Rudov and Ricket, 2017). By expanding the area of operation in the market, company can earn more, facilitate people more, sustain business growth and most importantly can attain never-ending high quality brand value (Forbes, 2015).

Conclusion

Finally, consumer behaviour critical analysis and implementing marketing psychology report concluding that there are many units in the marketplace to be analysed but consumer behaviour model is the base of any well-established business firm. Hence, main area of discussion in this report is the customer. However, any organization also requires analysing own strengths and challenges as well as of competing companies. To evaluate a competing company’s potential threat, first Kellogg’s Company need to calculate its resources like desired advanced technologies, market knowledge, patents and brands awareness in front of the challenges it faces within the market. Finally, we need to measure conditions like the marketing issues lying the consumer behaviour, attitudes, and environment for sustaining business growth.

The Kellogg’s company was introduced more than hundred years ago. Presently, Kellogg’s Pty Ltd is upholding the quality and market values in 180 countries worldwide. It is still going on providing nutrition rich breakfasts, which create better days of numerous families. Its flake corn tastes better and better since 1898, as W.K. Kellogg adopting and analysing the consumer behaviours and requirements regularly (Kellogg’s, 2018). 

References

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