The marketing is the act of promoting and selling products and services. It includes market research and advertising. This report includes the marketing and management of the Milton which produces electric tiffin. The SWOT analysis of the company have been defined along with the macro-environmental scanning. The report even comprises the STP model which is helpful in identifying consumer needs, best segmental and marketing objectives. The marketing strategies have been defined to execute the product launching in the market of Canada.

At the end it can be concluded that Milton can successfully conduct its marketing activities in the market of Canada. The STP model and marketing strategies are effective in the development of the product in the country.

Contents

Executive summary

Introduction

Situation Analysis

SWOT analysis

Micro environment

STP

Strategies

Overarching strategy

Product strategy

Place strategy

Promotional strategy

Pricing strategy

Conclusion

References

Milton was established in 1972 and its housewares products bring convenience to the life. Milton is one of the leading manufacturers of the housewares products and supplies worldwide. The company has network of more than 55,000 retailers and innovates better and efficient product for the customers. Milton has mission of providing high quality innovative products. It even offers significant earning opportunity. The company aims to cultivate confidence need to enrich lives of people and families around the world. Milton is even committed to accelerating profitable revenue growth for the benefit of all the stakeholders. The innovations is the core competency of the company. We are working with the Milton to research for something new. Our innovation is to use the battery to heat the food

Need

Hot food is tasty.

Weather brings down the temperature of food.

Microwaves, solar cooker and wired electric lunch box require power supply.

Microwaves are non-portable.

Power supply is not available everywhere.

No one likes to eat food which is not warm!

Homemade food is the best!

People have to consume unhygienic food while travelling.

How can we find electric plug points while travelling?

Important features of our product

Facility for working employees and students to take their homemade food, heat it when they want and eat the warm food anytime.

Steam food at your desk

SWOT analysis

The SWOT analysis is a vital strategic planning tool which can be used by Milton to do situational analysis of the company.

Strength

Milton is one of the leading corporations in the industry and the strengths contributing behind it are given below:

Superb performance in new markets: Milton has gained expertise at entering in new markets and making success. The expansion helps company to protect market share and expertise at entering in the new markets. The expansion has even helped company in generating new revenue stream and diversifying the economic cycle risk in the market where it operates.

High level of customer satisfaction: Milton has been successful in achieving higher level of customer satisfaction with the help of customer relationship management department. It is even good at brands equity among the impending customers (Clarke and Ford 2015, 373-373.

Consistent suppliers: Milton has a robust base of reliable supplier of raw material which enables the company to overcome supply chain bottlenecks.

Weakness

Day’s inventory is higher than the competitors: It makes Milton to raise more capital to invest in the channel. It impacts long term growth of the company (Chen et al. 2014, 319-329).

Investment in the research and development: Milton is spending above average on the research and development still it has not been able to compete with the leading companies in the terms of innovation.

Gaps in the product range: There is gap in the product range sold by the Milton. This lack of choice offers competitor a foothold in the new market (Abram et al. 2018, 83-86).

Opportunities

New trends: The latest trends in the consumer behaviour open new market for the Milton. It offers great opportunity to the company to construct new revenue streams and expand new product classifications.

Differentiated pricing strategy: The new technology offers company to practice differentiated pricing strategy in the new market. It is helpful to the company in maintaining loyal customers by offering great service and pull new customers. It is possible through the value oriented propositions (Cattani and Zur Shapira 2017, 13-38).

Customers from online channel: The company has invested huge money into the online platform over the past few years. Such investment has opened new sales channel for the Milton. It is expected that company can leverage this opportunity by knowing customer better and serving their needs in an appropriate way.

Threat

Seasonal nature: The demand of the high profitable products is seasonal in nature. Any unlikely incident in the peak season can affect the profitability of the company.

More power to the local distributors: More strength to the local distributors presents a threat in some of the markets (Bull et al. 2016, 99-111). The competition pays higher margin to the local distributors.

Varying consumer behaviour: The varying behaviour of the consumers from the online channel can cause threat to the existing physical infrastructure driven by the supply chain model (Dangelico and Daniele Vocalelli 2017, 1263-1273).

Currency fluctuation: Milton operates in various countries so it is exposed to the currency fluctuations specifically the volatile political climate in various markets across globe.

Micro environment

Competition

The competitive matrix can be used to define new opportunities and competition for the growth. It helps to find opportunities to innovate products and services compared to the competitors. The matrix critically compares company against the competitors. It is an analytical tool which can help Milton to establish its competitive advantage.

Factor

Milton

Tupperware

Tayama

SKG

Low price

4

5

4

3

Superior quality

5

4

4

3

On-board controls

Yes

No

No

Yes

Installation

Yes

No

No

Yes

Customizable products

5

3

4

3

Unique features

5

3

4

4

Rapid delivery

4.5

3

3

3

On the basis of demographics, the company will have more customers from the range of 15-54 years which consists of 9,398,848 males and 9,549,808 females. Their income is accumulated at $70, 336 and it is constantly increasing. More than half of the Canadians aged 25-64 have either college or university qualifications. The country has highest percentage of college and university graduates.

Economy

The country needs more investment for the less import tendencies. It creates prospect for the Milton to establish business in Canada. The weak Canadian dollar push costs up for the companies which would deter investment. The country had economic growth of 3.1% in 2017 which is quite solid. The expansion in all the sectors contributes to the economy. The Canadian government contributes to the economic growth which is possible by the business expansion (Bielefeldt 2018, 121-138.

Socio-cultural

Canada is the second large country worldwide. The population growth has been also fairly consistent in the last four decades which is helpful for the Milton to expand its market. The living standard here is also one of the highest in the world and the consumers are self-assured about the sustainability (Beracha and Seiler 2014, 237-255. The consumers always demand high quality products and services along with the after sale customer support.  The trend of the online shopping is also growing as young customers generally like to shop online.

Technology

The technology has important role to play in the Canadian economy. Both public and private investments in the Canada’s technology industry are growing speedily. Add on political, economic and social stability has made country appealing for the entrepreneurship. Milton has various growth prospects in the country which offers a lot of opportunities to the company. For the business expansion in Canada, corporation is the most popular method which can be used by the Milton.

Legal/political

Canada law protects specific rights of the employees. There are also minimum standards which Milton is required to abide. The discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, age and other grounds is strictly prohibited in the country.

The STP comprises three steps which can help Milton in analysing its offerings and the way it communicates benefits and values to the specific groups. This model is useful as it helps in identifying most valuable customers and in the development of the products and services which are ideally suitable.

Segmentation

The segmentation is done to divide customers into the groups of people having common characteristics and necessities. It can allow Milton to tailor approach in order to meet needs of the each group in the cost effective manner (Gambetti and Schultz 2015, 1-4). It offers huge advantage over competitors. The approaches used to segment target market are:

Demographic: It includes the personal attributes such as age, gender, education and occupation Milton focuses on the demographic factors in segmenting factor by gender. Milton focuses mainly on the women but it also produces tiffin which can be equally used by the males. . It includes all age groups as electric tiffin’s are required by everyone as it needed by the professionals and to the households as well. The households prefer to use electric tiffin’s during outside trips (Diamantopoulos et al. 2014, 39-61). There is less scope for the occupation or marital status as having electric tiffin is more like necessity. 

Psychographic: The psychographic factor identified is lifestyle. Milton is aimed for the people having a good habit lifestyle. For instance, people who are more concerned about the condition of earth will prefer to buy Milton for achieving practice of reduce, reuse and recycle.

Behavioural: More important is given to understand consumer behaviour so that their need can be served by the Milton in an effective manner. It comprises the quality and the tiffin size required by the customers.

Targeting

The targeting is the best segment. The targeting is a process of separating market into the segments and then focus on the marketing efforts on one or few key segments. It can determine the success of the Milton in the Canadian market. The target marketing is useful in making the pricing, promotion and distribution of the products more readily and more cost-effective (Ervural et al. 2018, 15-38). The focus of the marketing activities is offered by the target marketing.

Milton uses differentiated marketing strategy and it can be used by any gender. Although mostly sales is driven by the women. By offering product variations to the segments, Milton can earn good profits and can attain strong position in the each market segment.

Positioning

Milton tends to maintain its position as the leading global seller by offering qualitative and innovative products. The company often excite confidence of its association, sales force, customers and inventors. Milton is constantly trying to change life of people by empowering its customers to reach their full potential. It is the objective of the Milton to attain maximum number of the customers. It is specific, measurable and achievable over a definite period of time (Iamratanakul 2018, 1-16). The company aims to attain 50% of market share in the next two years which is quite relevant. The perpetual maps on the basis of quality, price and prestige, performance are given below:

High quality

                                                                                                               Milton

Low price                                                                                                                                        High price

   Tupperware                                                                                     Tayama

                                                                             Low quality

(Perpetual map 1)

High

                             Milton

Low prestige                                                                                                                                   High

                           Tayama                                                       Tupperware

                                                                            Low Performance

(Perpetual map 2)

Overarching strategy

The differentiation strategy is used by the Milton to develop unique products that customers find better than the competitors. It includes development of the products like electric tiffin which are unique for the customers in terms of the features, design, brand image, quality or customer service. Such products are highly valuable to the customers. The bases of the differentiation are innovative products, pricing and organization. Such innovative products fulfil customer’s requirements whereas supply and demand decides the price of the product. The differentiation is based on the organization where Milton can earn success through brand name, goodwill and customer loyalty (Venter and Sally Dibb 2015, 62-83).

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The strategy can be implemented by providing utility to the customers such as offering products which matches the needs and preferences. Milton can even innovate tiffin and increase product performance. The company can set the price of the tiffin based on its features and purchasing power of the customers. It can even create brand image by ensuring better quality, services along with the customer satisfaction. In order to implement successful differentiation strategy, Milton can price its product higher than its competitors and can attain customer loyalty. It is because generally customers are accustomed to the unique features (Eschen et al. 2015, 228-237). The differentiation comprises product performance, ease of use, useful life, superior service and more.

Product strategy

The electric lunch box of Milton is a perfect example of the innovation and comfort. It heats and stores food and also preserve its nutrition. The tiffin is made of stainless steel which is suitable for the working professionals. It is made from the durable and high temperature resistant materials. The qualities parameters are kept in mind by the company to deliver detect free range. The electric tiffin offered by the Milton heats and stores food warm. The product includes features like rugged design, easy to clean and consumes less power (Lee 2015, 73-102). The electric tiffin complements the existing product mix by offering satisfaction to the customers. The basic idea is to charge a battery and use that battery to heat the food anywhere anytime.

The model of our project

Photograph from Class project in India***

Concept Development:

So we will make a lunch box that can use the rechargeable battery to heat the food or to cook simple food like noodles etc. We will provide two batteries  so that one can be charged when other is in use .

Materials to be used are:

•         Aluminum plate – good conductor

•         Resistance wire mesh – for heating

•         Reflectors – reflect heat inside

•         Thermostat – control temperature

•         Glass wool – for uniform heat distribution

•         Foam – insulator

•         Outer box (Plastic) – Cover

     Connector – to connect generator

The sales of the Milton are zero during the product development. Whereas, the company’s investment costs constantly increases.

The sales of the company start growing slowly in the introduction stage. The profits are still missing because heavy expenses of the product introduction overweigh sales. The growth stage comprises the stage of the rapid market acceptance along with the increasing profits (Van Velsen 2017, 129-150). The sales of the company slowdown in the maturity stage and the product has achieved acceptance till now by the customers. After the maturity stage, the sales fall of and profits drop.

The branding strategy can be used by the Milton to differentiate its products. The unique attributes of the product of the company differentiates it and helps in attaining position. The tiffin provided by the company are efficient in maintaining nutrition of the food and keeps it warm. The branding strategy of the company can be integrated with the help of communication through social media, telephone or how company interact with the customers (Morse et al. 2016, 194-235).

Milton will provide services with its product offering. The after sale service helps in attaining customers to the company. The service mix of the company includes product, price, place, promotion, proper, process and physical evidence. The product offered by the Milton is electric tiffin. It is designed with care. The place in case of offering products is going to be Canada overall. The company need to conduct huge promotional campaign in order to gain competitive advantage. Milton can make use of differentiated pricing strategy on the basis of the demand. The people are important element of the service mix of the company. The engineers design the whole functioning of the tiffin. The staff is trained and focused towards customers’ satisfaction. The service process is the method in which service is delivered to the end customers. The company believes in the constant delivery of the products. The last element is physical evidence is used as differentiator in the service marketing (Perera and Pushpanathan 2015, 13-29).

The new product development process is a process of taking product from formation to market. It includes series of stages that product go through beginning of idea and concept generation to the introduction of the product in the market. The company trials and takes time of two months to develop the market. The budget of $30,000 was maintained to develop the product. The product of the Milton does not require market testing as it is the innovative product and is capable enough to maintain the nutrition of the food.

Place strategy

The channel of distribution is the path that a product takes from producer to consumer. Milton makes use of direct distribution channel in which it sells product directly to a consumer without any interference of the intermediaries. The direct channel of distribution includes face to face sales, mail order, online sales but does not include any distributor other than the original producer. The factors affecting direct channel choice are consideration related to product and market. The considerations of the product are unit value, standardised product, perishability and technical nature. The considerations related to the market are number of buyers, type of buyers like general and industrial, buying habits, buying quantity and market size (Sarkar et al. 2016, 169-183). The company has set up its manufacturing units in more than 10 nations. The company can appoint a distributor in the host country and can grow and promote its business.

The recommended channel structure for the Milton is dual distribution. It is a wide variety of marketing arrangements in which a manufacturer can use more than one channel consecutively to reach end user.

Promotional strategy

The marketing communication strategy is used by Milton to reach the target market through various types of communication. The integrated marketing communication includes entire range of activities to market the products. It comprises mainly three things brand alignment, customer alignment and budget alignment. Milton can build relationships with the household and professional ladies to promote the product (Theaker 2017, 17-27). The customer alignment focuses on the oldest rule of marketing which is ‘be where customers already are’. Milton is required to pick channels where customers are already engaged and active. For instance, the company can advertise on the social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook or on TV. The budget alignment is choosing a marketing channel which fits budget. Milton have several campaigns on the multiple channels concurrently like social media, advertising on TV, radio, print and more.

The push promotional strategy can be used by the Milton comprises taking products directly to the customer by any means. This strategy ensures that customers are aware of the brand at the point of purchase. Direct selling is the example of push strategies in which sale is made to the customers directly in the showrooms or face to face. IMC includes different media to improve marketing campaigns. The elements of the IMC are media, consistent messages, design consistency, reinforcement, reinforcement and sales alignment. The IMC creates loyalty with the customers through various stages of the buying process. The IMC reduces the risk in the mind of buyers. It also saves money as it eliminates duplication in the areas (Wei et al. 2014, 49-70).

Pricing strategy

The objective of the Milton’s policy is to produce quality products at the possible minimum prices. The electric tiffin are termed as premium rated and the value for money which a consumer gets makes them consider that products are cheap (Utaka 2015, 408-420). The company can make use of price skimming in which prices are set high to skim maximum revenues layer by layer from the segments who are willing to pay. The company lowers the price stepwise in order to skim maximum profit from each segment. The suggested list price is given below:

Milton’s tiffin model

Price

Discount availed

Milton hot meal 3 Insulated lunchbox

16$

10%

Milton electron electric lunch box

19$

8%

Milton Slimtron electric tiffin

13$

5%

The sources of the revenue of the company are direct sales and selling products online. The online sources are in rend now a days.

From the above report it can be concluded that Milton’ electric tiffin has gained enough popularity. The situational analysis of the company comprises internal and external environmental analysis. The company’s strength are capable enough to survive in the Canada market. The macro environmental analysis also provides enough opportunities in the Canada. The macro environmental factors are in the favour of the company. Segmentation, targeting and positioning model are capable enough to capture the market. The strategies such as differentiation, product, place, promotional and pricing are effective to set up its product in the Canada market.

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