Marketing Plan for Mina Chocolates

Executive Summary

This report is the marketing plan for the biscuits, coffee and cocoa range of Mina Chocolates for its business in the Vietnam. The goal of this marketing plan is to outline the strategies, tactics, and programs that will make the sales goals outlined in the Mina Chocolates business plan a reality in the year 2010.

We believe that we can maintain the strong sales growth and yet be able to achieve much higher margins than what has been historically achieved by the business

Contents

Executive Summary 2

I. Introduction and mission 4

II. Marketing Audit 4

A. SWOT Analysis 4

1. Strengths of the Company 5

2. Weaknesses of the Company 5

3. Opportunities in the Sector 5

4. Threats in the Sector 6

B. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning 6

III. Marketing Strategies 7

A. Products 7

B. Pricing 8

C. Promotion 9

D. Place 9

IV. Conclusion: 10

V. Recommendation 10

VI. List of references 11

I. Introduction and mission

We have Mina Chocolates of Mina Company. This will give us a presence in the premium confectionary market to complement our existing confectionary market ranges.

One of the product ranges of Mina Chocolates is the biscuits, coffee and cocoa range. The products that Mina has will strongly complement our existing products in the beverages and chocolate & confectionary range.

The mission for this range will be to continue providing premium brand and quality biscuits, coffee and cocoa for our clients through a greater distribution access. This follows the overall mission for the brand and business of maximising profits without sacrificing quality or exclusivity.

Marketing will play a vital role in the success of Mina Chocolates must build a brand around the services it offers by heavily promoting itself through local television, radio, and print advertising. Marketing efforts are just beginning by the time a potential customer enters Mina Chocolates for the first time. A strong emphasis will be put on keeping customers and building brand loyalty through programs focused on staffing, experience, and customer satisfaction.

II. Marketing Audit

The rest of this section presents the SWOT analysis, the key assumptions utilised in their marketing plan, and a discussion of the segmentation, targeting and positioning.

A. SWOT Analysis

This part of the marketing audit section presents the SWOT analysis for the Mina Company in Hanoi, Vietnam.

1. Strengths of the Company

Has top global confectionary firm with strong global brand in Vietnam; good manufacturing experience

Extensive financial and technical resources

Complementary brands across other confectionary pricing points

Mina has a retail-oriented business model and is a niche specialty business .

Mina is a best brand name in Vietnam. Mina's brand resonates with its target market, and is well-known resulting in its strong growth in Vietnam

2. Weaknesses of the Company

Improving business operations but overall still not at similar performance levels with other company in the Vietnam.

Currently no premium brand confectionary marketing staff

Competitors are more established in the Vietnam and have a more complete distribution network

Mina Chocolates with low operating margins versus competitors in premium confectionary sector. Mina's low operating margin is largely due to the high cost of inputs such as labour and leases, and working capital usage.

3. Opportunities in the Sector

In Vietnam, premium confectionary sector growing at ~10% rate, much higher than mass market confectionary sector (at 2%); strong demand expected to continue, particularly in the near-term as key holidays coming up: Christmas holiday season and Valentine's Day. Mina sales are influenced considerably by seasonality with sales volumes increasing significantly during holiday's seasons such as Lunar new year and Valentine's Day

The Vietnam is becoming increasingly richer with the list of millionaires growing and greater disposable income, particularly in the financial markets such as Hanoi

4. Threats in the Sector

Decreasing cocoa production: in 2008/2009, Vietnam cocoa production was lower by 7%

Large part of cocoa production at risk: the vory Coast and Ghana vory Coast and Ghana has ~56 % of world (2010) cocoa production but is politically unstable, and cocoa production is potentially at risk

Increasing competition with several premium brands entering the sector to capture the large growth opportunities

B. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

This section discusses the market to be targeted for the biscuits, coffee and cocoa range of Mina Chocolates. There are two key markets that will be targeted for the biscuits, coffee and cocoa range of Mina Chocolates. These markets continue to follow the current markets catered to by Mina Chocolates. These are the corporate segment and the affluent retail market.

The corporate segment consists of two key groups for specific purposes. The first group is for business gift giving which is an all-year round market but does have its peak during the holiday gift giving season. The second group is for corporate incentives program which are utilised by corporate for sales incentives, recognition or rewards.

The affluent retail market is composed of retail clients who have a preference for premium confectionary