Business Plan For The Mead Johnson Nutritional Company Marketing Essay

Business Plan For The Mead Johnson Nutritional Company Marketing tryAn action research was sponsored by Mead Johnson in collaboration with NGO to access its efficacy in terms of increasing weight of infants of weaning age in urban slums of Dhaka city capital of Bangladesh. The findings of the study states thatInfants weaned on ENFAMIL had more weight and length gained comp ard to control groupMothers attitude and infants acceptance of ENFAMIL was satisfactory. terminal pests (insects) were found on in one batch of weaning fillets.Now Mead Johnson wants to access the acceptance of ENFAMIL in terms of its price, packaging, taste/quality among middle and cut d admit middle split up families.In the context of the current maturity of the market and the strategic options available, it is first necessary to assess whether the company is marketing the right mathematical return form the point of view of the consumers. Hence evaluation of the harvest is necessary.The specific objectives of the research are to assess consumer evaluation in the broad areas ofPackaging ingathering equipment casualtyThe end objective is to identify areas that need to be strengthened and also the existing strength areas that can be exploited.Start up analysisStart-up costs of Mead Johnson consist of legal costs, research, Manpower, marketing/promotion production is to fund start-up expenses with Companys reserved fund, owner investments and a long-term business loan.Product Testing- ENFAMILResearch cypherItemUnitCostTotal (Taka) specimen product818150.00122,700.00Consultancy fee28,500.0017,000.00Team leader and key members88,000.0064,000.00Field Work supervisor cum Data Quality Controllers165,000.0080,000.00Data Collectors403,000.00120,000.00Study Coordinator27,000.0014,000.00Controller of Field exercise46,000.0024,000.00Focus group discourse64 three hundred.0019,200.00In-depth interview20500.0010,000.00Data Analyst29,000.0018,000.00Daily allowance40120.004,800.00Particulars2,000 .002,000.00Printing of Data order Instrument5,000.005,000.00Stationary4,550.004,550.00Photocopying and rachis of reports2,750.002,750.00Pre-testing of Data Collection instrument3,000.003,000.00Total expenditure511,000.00Source of Capital The source of capital is as followsFunded by company 45% 270000.00Owners investment- 20% 120000.00 bring from Bank- 35% 2 super C0.00Total Capital 600000.00RESOURCES REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATIONPhysical resourcesThe physical resources of this project leave be include all essentials office equipments such as, computers, phone and fax, internet connection for data transfer, data collecting equipment. The costs of the physical resources Taka 140,000.00 ( 1320.00)PHYSICAL RESOURCESUNITTOTAL COSTSSample product818122700.00Printing of Data Collection Instrument25000.00Particular102000.00Pre-testing of Data Collection instrument53000.00Stationary7300.00Total140,000.00Human ResourcesPOSITIONSNUMBER OF EMPLOYEESAdministrative Assistant1Team Leader and k ey members8Supervisors cum Quality controllers16Data collector40Study Coordinator2Controller of Field Operation4TOTAL71Initially there will be a Team Leader who is responsible for the operational work. One will be an administrative assistant who will deal with all the paper work and who will take care of the administration duties. The re main(prenominal)ing people will be divided into few groups. After taking all the necessary information members of the each group will forward these information to team leader to bear upon the activities.Financial ResourcesThe funding and investments for this project will be received from the companys own fund, owners personal investment and loan from the Banks. Research budget with sample products initial expenses is taka 511,000.00 ( 4820.00)enquiry DESIGNThe research design is essentially a concept cum usage test. The details are discussed in turn.New product tuition The development of original products, product improvements, product modificatio ns, and new brands through the firms own RD efforts.The study criteria of new development are written below with a short definitionIdea generationThe systematic search for new product ideas-Idea screeningScreening new product ideas in order to spot near(a) ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible.Product conceptA detailed version of the new product idea started in grave consumer terms.Concept testingTesting new product concepts with group of target consumers to find out if the concepts have strong consumer appeal.Product development is a major part on marketing. The RD of any company does the mainly product development. In Bangladesh Mead Johnson havent have any RD departments. Mother company of Mead Johnson well known non-government social geological formation have innovated the product according to the consumer need, and analyzing the segment, culture and the other part of marketing.Study DesignWe have conducted a house-to-house random keep an centerfield on using or ganize questionnaires through personal interview. In our persona Monadic test design as followed i.e. each respondent would tried one test product only(prenominal). Prior to the main quantitative survey qualitative exploration was done through Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The opinions were collected in following sequence in the main surveySelection of RespondentsDiscussion on need need gaps on weaning foodIntroduction to concept reactions thereofProduct placement responses to productReaction to priceMETHODOLOGYThe agency proposed a house-to-house random survey to be conducted using a structuredquestionnaire through personal interview. In this case Monadic test design would be followed i.e. each respondent would try one test product only. Hence, we propose to place the product to the respondents for a period of 15 days after which their opinion on the product will be gathered. During this period they will use the product as suggested. Prior to doing the quantitative product tes t 8 Focus Group Discussion (FGD) will be conducted to have an in-depth understanding of the choice factors and to generate consumer vocabulary for the same.Measuring tools to usedFor valuation on choice factors an 11-point scale (0-10) was used. Consumers will give mark out of ten. This scale has equality of interval properly and is reliable. This is also closest to reality because consumers are familiar with this scale and can easily rate on any factor.sample distribution UniverseConsidering the geographic spread the Company has proposed that the following towns would be cover in the study.Dhaka( Capital city )ChittagongRangpurSyhlettIn sum, the sampling universe for this study is all households having infants aged 4 to 10 months belonging to socio-economic classes B and C (appendix) in the selected towns.Sample SizeQualitative (FGD)QuantitativeMetro Dhaka2156Large Chittagong285MediumRajshahi284 comminuted Syhlett284Total8409The allocation of sample size of it across the selected towns was done on the basis of sampling error ranges and also of heterogeneousness of households within the town classes. For larger towns higher numbers of samples were covered to capture its diversity/ heterogeneity. In all there were a total of 8 FGDs and subsequently 409 respondents for quantitative study. Standard error ranges for different percentage estimates at the 95 % level of confidence based on simple random sample size.Sampling TechniqueWe followed a multi stage, stratified sampling method to ensure representative samples. Within a town, households were selected by the Random Route technique (Cluster sampling). In each cluster/ area (smallest urban unit) 5 households were covered. Thus a total of 17-31 clusters/ areas were covered in each town, depending on sampling size.Target GroupAs mentioned, ENFAMIL targets the middle class and freeze off middle class consumers. Middle and lower middle class consumers are more concentrated in the urban towns than in the semi-ur ban towns or rural villages and hence urban target consumers are more accessible to the marketers for a new brand. Therefore, this study would be limited to urban towns only. Hence, autochthonic target segment for ENFAMIL is all the households of the urban towns having at least one child between 5 to 10 months age and belonging to the middle and lower middle class.Time Plan for the StudyWeeksActivities123456Sample SurveyPreparatory Work for Sample SurveyInstrumental DevelopmentField Briefing, Training Field Work For Sampling SurveyData Entry Analysis for Sample Survey describeFocus Group DiscussionDesk Research for the program Training ModulePreparatory WorkCollection of musical themes, documents and historical DataReportingDraft ReportFinal ReportHead of the householdThe analysis of the respondents is disposed center-wise and on the basis of socio-economic classification. Standard market research classification of income is provided below.CenterSEC eon of the Child (In month) DhakaChittagongRajshahiSyhlettSEC BSEC C5-8 Months8+ MonthTotalTotal1568584841882212181914091. Less than Tk 300015%9%13%4%4%17%12%10%11%2. Tk 3001-400021%20%35%14%12%30%23%21%22%3. Tk 4001-500018%26%31%26%20%27%22%26%24%4. Tk 5001-600011%14%6%19%13%11%10%15%12%5. Tk 6001-700010%8%6%13%14%5%9%10%10%6. Tk 7001-80006%5%6%4%9%2%5%6%5%7. Above Tk 800019%18%4%20%27%6%20%11%16%Mean Score(In Taka)71996682.948649.46567.98422.54834.46968.55930.46483.7 remand Monthly disposable incomeIn majority of the market research projects we consider disposable periodic family income (DMFI). This is the amount of total earning of the family left after paying house rent, if any. This is a very nifty indicator of purchasing power. Needless to mention, average DMFI of the residents of Dhaka is more. And, sort of obviously respondents belonging to SEC B had higher DMFI than their SEC C counterparts.However in all the centers, barring Dhaka, majority of respondents live in own houses especially at Chittago ng and Syhlett (around 76-87%). In Dhaka 77% of the respondents live in rented houses paying an average house rent of Taka 574 per month.Family Size Number of ChildrenThe respondents had standard family size in most cases ranging from 4.7 to 6.2. In other words the average family size was 5.3.The following table will give an idea about the number of children the respondents have.Table Family SizeCenterSECAge of the Child (In Month)DhakaChittagongRajshahiSyhlettSEC BSEC C5-8 Months8+ MonthTotalTotal156858484188221218191409Mean Score4.75.956.25.65.15.45.35.3List of ChildrenBoyGirlList of ChildrenBoyGirl05 Months16%10%08 eld12%12%06 Months13%17%09 Years8%7%07 Months12%13%10 Years6%8%08 Months10%15%11 Years3%609 Months18%17%12 Years6%4%10 Months30%28%13 Years2%1%01 Year*%*%14 Years1%3%02 Years4%3%15 Years2%1%03 Years6%9%16 Years1%-%04 Years11%9%17 Years-%*%05 Years12%16%18 Years*%-%06 Years11%13%07 Years4%6%Total207202On an average the respondents have two children. Among the 409 resp ondents interviewed 298 had children below 8 months and 191 had children above 8 months on the basis of which they were selected.The Respondent99% of the respondents were housewives. The respondents were primarily young and 65% of them belong to the age group of 18 to 25 years whereas rests are between 26 to 35 years.able Occupation of the RespondentCenterSECAge of the Child (In Month)DhakaChittagongRajshahiSyhlettSEC BSEC C5-8 Months8+ MonthTotalTotal1568584841882212181914091. Housewife99% degree centigrade%98%100%98%100%99%99%99%2. Student-%1%-%2%2%-%-%2%1%3. Part time job-%1%2%1%2%*%1%1%1%4. Full time job1%2%2%2%2%1%2%1%2%5. Others1%1%1%1%2%*%*%2%1%INFORMATION AREACONCEPTPACKAGINGPRODUCTstatus motive needs. overall measures-LikeabilityUniqueness-Nutrition-Modernity-Overall pass judgment-AttractivenessAttractiveness-Physical appearance (looks, granularity, etc.)-Dynamism-Intention to try-UniquenessPack size-Preparation convenience (easy to mix with water, does not form lump, etc .)-Friendliness-Intention to use regularly-CredibilityPackshape/Graphics/Design/ color-Taste, aroma, etc-Age trainingLiterature/information-Storage convenience-TrustworthinessOverall acceptabilityAbility to preserve content-Longevity, not forming lump-PremiumUsefulness of information given on the packInsect growth, etc.-SophisticatedCredibility of informationCan be complex with milk, soup, etc.-Natural/freshUsage ExperienceMajority of the respondents (61%) had consumed almost both the packets given for usage. Some 27% had consumed at least one packet in the 15 days, the time given to them to try the product. During this time phase, on average the product was given two times daily to the child mixed with only water (about average of 253ml) in most cases (69%). About 26% of the mothers had also mixed sugar or other items with ENFAMIL. Hot water was preferred most by the respondents (79%), whereas 14% used tepid water.DIAGNOSTIC OF PERFORMANCEIt is clear that the respondents had sati sfactory product implement. Their views on the product therefore are meaningful. We first examine the overall performance indicators of the product. For this we shall consider three indicators- Intention to regular use, Intention to try, and overall rating. Of these three, intention to regular use is the strongest indicator as it expresses the probability of buying and using the product. Intention to try comes next. And overall rating is the third most important indicator as it signifies how much the product is likedSpontaneous ReactionOn exposure to the concept the respondents were asked to express their feeling about steady-going or bad. The major reactions are shown belowCenterSEC%ReactionsDhakaChittagongRajshahiSyhlettSEC BSEC CTOTALChilds health will remain good if fed on with breast milk4145427363435Liked the literature which states this is necessary along with breast milk2512138112116Child will get nutrition29667131715Has Vitamin1712158141414Literature gives Impression tha t it will be a quality product32241712910Balanced diet137849109Helps in rapid1016649109 viewpoint156858484188221409At a top of mind level, childs health has registered most. It is understood that if fed along side continued breast-feeding ENFAMIL would ensure good health. It nutrition, being balanced diet, and helping in babys growth have also registered moderately.Likes and dislikes of the conceptThe respondents were also asked to describe what they liked and disliked of the concept. Only about 2% had any dislike while all had one or more likes of the concept. The major likings are picture of the baby (70%), literature on childs food fatality (26%), the packet (21%).MARKETING MIXAttempting to target relatively high-priced offerings to rural families on the margins of the cash economy, or to the poorest of the urban poor, is simply bad marketing. But Mead Johnson demonstrable this new brand of ENFAMIL so that middle class families can barter for this product at a lower price but meet nutritionary requirements for infants. The next section will emphasize the 4Ps of ENFAMILProductNature of product ENFAMIL milk-based, lactose-free, iron fortified infant formula for first 12 months.Product Features The only lactose-free, milk-based formula, which includes LIPIL, a unique blend of DHA and ARA Lactose-free and sucrose-free No sucrose (table sugar)Nutrition valueNUTRIENTS(Normal Dilution)Per 100 Calories(5 fl oz)Protein, g2.1Fat, g5.3Carbohydrate, g10.9Water, g134Linoleic acid, mg860VitaminsVitamin A, IU300Vitamin D, IU60Vitamin E, IU2Vitamin K, g8Thiamin (Vitamin B1), g80Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), g140Vitamin B6, g60Vitamin B12, g0.3Niacin, g1000Folic acid (Folacin), g16Pantothenic acid, g500Biotin, g3Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid), mg12Choline, mg12Inositol, mg6MineralsCalcium, mg82Phosphorus, mg55Magnesium, mg8Iron, mg1.8Zinc, mg1Manganese, g15Copper, g75Iodine, g15Selenium, g2.8Sodium, mg30Potassium, mg110Chloride, mg67Core value the product is giving to its custome rEnfamil the first infant formula in all over the globe, which contains the nutrients DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid). Also naturally found in breast milk, DHA and ARA have been clinically shown to support infant brain and eye development.Performance of the PackLikes and dislikes, attribute rating, and overall rating of the pack are examined below to assess the packs acceptability.Overall rating The rating on the pack on overall was collected on a 7.0-point scale. The ratings are as below. %allVery Poor to moderate 1 expert 2Very Good 36Excellent 1Mean Score (1-7) 6.6The pack is excellent on overall consideration. Hence it is quite obvious that it would have few dislikes.PricePrior to exposure to the stipulated price, an effort was made to identify the price most suitable for the brand, via Psychological Monetary Demand (PMD) technique. The respondents were offered a range of price from Tk. 100 to 200 with and increment of Tk. 5, and asked above which price, an d at which price or below they would not grease ones palms the brand. The analysis provides the proportion of the target group willing to purchase ENFAMIL at each price level and corresponding pecuniary demand. For a marketer profit maximization is likely to occur at the highest level of fiscal demand. The analysis depicts that maximum monetary gain can be ensured if the price of ENFAMIL is at Tk. 75. Above this price proportion of buyers and monetary value of sales beam drastically. On the other hand, if the objective is to maximize number of users, one can impose the price down to the level of Tk. 60. Beyond this, interested buyers will be fewer.PriceMarket price lineENFAMIL TK 75TIMEFigure market penetration strategyDemand moldAccording to the market dynamics, the demand for consumable products depends on the price factor along with other related factors i.e. test and preferences, nature of the product, and economic condition of the target customers. After analyzing the mar ket pattern and relationship of price to quantity through sample survey questionnaire the following demand pattern was observed. The analysis provides the proportion of the target group willing to purchase ENFAMIL at each price level and corresponding monetary demand. For a marketer profit maximization is likely to occur at the highest level of monetary demand.Proportion of consumers Monetary DemandPrice (%)willing to buy (Assuming pop=100)Tk.50 67 3337Tk.55 76 4135Tk.60 83 4958Tk.65 83 5419Tk.70 82 5716Tk.75 82 6125Tk.80 69 5535Tk.85 60 5071Tk.90 46 4137Tk.95 42 4018Tk.100 17 1711Tk.105 15 1540Tk.110 10 1103Tk.115 9 1012Tk.120 0 0The analysis depicts that maximum monetary gain can be ensured if the price of ENFAMIL is at Taka 75.00 Above this price proportion of buyers and monetary value of sales fall drastically. On the other hand, if the objective is to maximize number of users, one can reduce the price down to the level of Taka. 60.00 Beyond this, interested buyers will be fewer . Thus it can be concluded that the demand for baby food ENFAMIL is elastic. bewilder The nature of distribution of the product and the market accessibility also plays a major role after generating awareness of the product among the target customers. If the customers dont have the product at the right place at the right moment than there exists the possibility that those customers will switch to another brand and have bitter experience while purchasing the product . To reverse the effect of the above situation the company should use both direct marketing and indirect marketing conduct to agitate ENFAMIL. For distributing ENFAMIL the company should use following methodsManufacturerWholesalerRetailersCustomersManufacturerCustomersManufacturerPharmacyCustomers1)2)3)Figure Distribution channelsPromotionThe range of promotional activities available to todays manufacturer or companies can be overwhelming. The promotional action plan for ENFAMIL is listed below.Advertising Newspaper, Bi llboard, Electronic mediaRadio TVPublic relation- Social activities, Sponsorship, sense campaign about the benefits of baby food productDirect marketing- Promoting via doctors through medical representativesENFAMIL is very new in the market it requires specific events such as the launch of an advertising campaign or a press conference to announce the launching of the new product. In other cases promotional activities necessarily be required for the NGO to carry out in different local government and private hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and aware rural, urban middle to lower middle class families about the product. In other cases promotional activities involve putting various elements into place for the long term, such as training salespeople for directing marketing to promote this product via doctors through medical representatives. In all cases, it is important to integrate companys promotion efforts doing so can decrease costs and increase communication effectiveness. sales FOR CASTThe sales forecast has been done in three levels. First level depicts optimistic forecast if all other factors affecting sales are favorable. The secondment level of sales forecast is based on normal ongoing condition of the economy and the next level of forecast is done based on the pessimistic approach.YEARLY ESTIMATED DEMANDPrice remains fixed as the product is price elasticsQuantity demanded (units in hundreds)Economic conditionPortion of expect customer (assumption)Sales forecast (Units in hundreds )TK 75.006125Optimistic90%5512TK 75.006125Normal75%4593TK 75.00