The Distinctive Doggie & Cattie Company



centercenterThe Distinctive Doggie & Cattie CompanyMarketing PlanDesigned to introduce a new and innovative product, and expand the business both domestically and abroad.2012Craig Slusser, Elaina Lynch, Mark Linscott & Anthony GarciaBlack Team12/4/20129500095000The Distinctive Doggie & Cattie CompanyMarketing PlanDesigned to introduce a new and innovative product, and expand the business both domestically and abroad.2012Craig Slusser, Elaina Lynch, Mark Linscott & Anthony GarciaBlack Team12/4/2012Table of ContentsExecutive Summary (P. 2)Product Conception (P. 3)Domestic Marketing Environmental Model (P.4) Competitive ForcesEconomic ForcesPolitical ForcesLegal and Regulatory ForcesTechnological ForcesSocio-Cultural ForcesInternational Marketing Environmental Model (P. 9)Competitive ForcesEconomic ForcesPolitical ForcesLegal and Regulatory ForcesTechnological ForcesSocio-Cultural ForcesS.W.O.T. Analysis (P. 14)Research Survey (P. 15)Marketing Strategies (Domestic and Abroad) (P. 17)Target Market SegmentationProduct PriceDistributionPromotionWorks Cited (p. 22)BrochureExecutive Summary:In the following pages you will find a new and aggressive marketing plan for the Distinctive Doggie & Cattie Company. We have been tasked by the president of the company to start a new mobile marketing division. This division will be showing this company an affective plan for implementing a new and innovative product and growing internationally.“Simply Share” is the name of our new product and its main purpose will be its ability to feed and be appealing to both cat’s AND dog’s. With such an innovative and different product we will be looking at various environmental factors that will be influencing it. Initially our focus will be on the domestic U.S. market. As we develop “Simply Share” we will also be fulfilling the other require task of this venture. International expansion, specifically into the African country of Morocco and later abroad will be another area of focus for us. Needless to say expanding into a smaller international market has its many challenges and opportunities, all of which we will be examining.As well as looking at the environmental forces from both domestic and international markets we will also be looking at viable marketing strategies that will work in those respective markets. To really do these tasks we will be looking at a S.W.O.T (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis of the company right now. We will need this analysis to take an honest look at the company as it stands right now and how we expect to adapt and react to the coming future expansion. Looking at our new product “Simply Share” will be the first step in this process.Product Conception:For the Distinctive Doggie & Cattie Company we propose a new product line. We feel that an untapped part of the market is available in the “Universal” sector. What we mean by this is that consumers who own pets, specifically both cat(s) and dog(s), are required to purchase food and treats for their pets separately. This product line will enable consumers to purchase pet food and treats for both their cat(s) and dog(s) at the same time. The working name will be “Simply Share”. This product will be like any typical dog or cat food or treats with the exception of being nutritionally viable and appealing to both animals.“Simply Share” will strive to be organically formulated and produced. This will enable us the ability to meet the nutritional needs of both animal groups. We will initially need to focus on the vitamins and supplements that are part of a healthy diet for both cats and dogs. Then we will need to find a way to incorporate the differences between nutritional needs in both species without harming one or the other. By developing our base formula for our food we will then be able to start expanding into different flavors and tastes.While most pet food tastes are subjective (meaning most animals will eat what is given to them) we realize that pet owners believe that their pets “prefer” certain tastes. We have found that the tastes of the various pet foods available in the market are often a reflection more of the owner than that of the animal. With this information “Simply Share” will introduce with three starting flavors: 1.) Salmon and Sweet Potato2.) Turkey, Tuna, and Potato3.) Turkey, Salmon, and BeefAnother factor that we need to address is the prevalence in the markets for pet foods that are specifically catered to pet age brackets. We typically see brackets that encompass youth (0-12 months), middle age (1-8 years) and old age (8+) years. These make sense because a various stages in a pet’s life they need more of some and less of other nutrients. While those are not comprehensive guidelines for the purposes of “Simply Share” those are the varying grades of products we will offer (Youth, Middle Age, and Later Years). Our target market and the food we expect to see the largest sales in is the Middle age products. Before we continue we must look at our domestic marketing strategy to see if making this food will be viable in our biggest market. Domestic Marketing Environment:Here is some general info on the economic state of the United States. Personal income in the U.S. increased $15.0 billion, or 0.1 percent, and disposable personal income increased $12.5 billion, or 0.1 percent, in August 2012, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures increased $57.2 billion, or 0.5 percent. Real disposable income decreased 0.3 percent in August, in contrast to an increase of 0.1 percent in July. Real personal consumption expenditures increased 0.1 percent, compared with an increase of 0.4 percent. Also, wages and salaries increased during August 2012 to 4.7 billion. July 2012 had a 9.3 billion increase. These numbers are in line with what has happened to the state of the economy since 2008, a slow recovery, however this shows us that the U.S. Market is still worthy of investing in. (U.S. Census)Here are some statistics showing that our industry is starting to see more viable growth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2012 were $412.9 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent which is 0.5 percent better than the previous month and 5.4 percent above September 2011. Total sales for the July through September 2012 period were up 4.8 percent from the same period a year ago. (U.S. Census) Once again while the growth is small in the retail and food service section it is growing at a rate faster than the domestic economy as a whole. This indicates to us that we will be able to introduce “Simply Share” into the market and have it be viable and profitable in the long run. There are more factors that we must evaluate to see if we should move forward with this product.In the dog food market there is expected to be little change in the competitive landscape. Global giants Nestlé, Mars Inc, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Del Monte Foods have collectively accounted for almost three quarters of dog food value sales over the review period. Large marketing budgets, nationwide distribution partnerships and strong consumer awareness will keep the national brands controlled by these companies in control of the US market for the foreseeable future. We feel that even though these “giants” exist an innovative product like “Simply Share” can excel in this market.The US market for dog food enjoyed an improved performance in 2012, bolstered by high value, premium positioned products. There are an estimated 76 million household dogs in the US, with a projected population increase of 2% in 2012. This is the largest annual increase in the dog population of the US since 2007. Spending on food and treats, per dog, is projected to reach US $167 in 2012. Consumers remain ingredient-focused, gravitating towards premium positioned products, acting on the health and wellness concerns that affect their own food choices. (ASPCA)Dog food sales are expected to increase by 4% annually in constant value terms between 2012 and 2017. In volume terms, dry dog food sales are predicted to increase by 1% annually between 2012 and 2017 while wet dog food will arrest the declines seen in the review period, with volume sales growing slightly between 2012 and 2017.In the cat food market US market for cat food remains fairly consolidated among leading manufacturers, with Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. defending its strong lead. US consumers gravitate towards brand names, with high awareness for iconic brands like Friskies, Fancy Feast (Nestlé Purina PetCare Co), Meow Mix (Del Monte Foods Co) and Whiskas (Mars Inc). Innovation within these brands, such as new flavors, formulations and healthy product lines, are the key driver of new sales. This is where we are really hoping to capitalize. We feel that with a new our new product we will be able to crack this deep but profitable market.US cat food sales in 2012 showed sustained improvement after disappointing years in 2009 and 2010. Premium positioned products and treats were the largest winners, with only economy cat food experiencing a decline in value in 2012. While there was a slight acceleration in value growth in 2012, volume growth slowed, as a result of corresponding flatness in household cat population figures. Value growth within cat food was driven by premium products, particularly as pet food safety concerns forced consumers to reconsider the value equation. Value sales of at food are expected to increase by 3% annually in constant value terms between 2012 and 2017. Volume sales will also rebound, and are expected to increase by 1% annually over the same time period. (ASPCA)We are already involved in these markets. By having a longstanding company with a great history of success we have already gotten over the possible entry barriers that we would see if we were just starting out. By introducing a hybrid cat/dog product into the market we feel that there is ample opportunity to capitalize on the growing domestic pet owner market. We must, as always, continue to monitor the political, legal and regulatory forces that are influenced by our business practices.The goal of our company is to encourage the introduction of effective legislation by influencing government officials and key opinion formers and to represent the most appropriate view on such matters in order to ensure its recommendations are pertinent, reasonable, and comprehensive in regards to the welfare of pet animals. We plan to uphold these actions by creating safe products to support healthy pets. As an already established company in the field, we have a leg up on the competitor, but we must take the necessary precautions that come with new product conception as for there have been many recalls in the pet food industry. There have been over 1100 pet food recalls since 2005. There has been 88 recalls reported for cats, and 144 for dogs in this span of majority pets owned according to the FDA. In 2006 and 2007 and the U.S. suffered one of the largest pet food recall ever totaling 180 different brands of pet food and treats, produced by 12 different manufacturers. (FDA) The products were recalled due to the intentional contamination of wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China by two Chinese Companies, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. and Binzhou Futian Biological Technology; this was originally initiated by the dominant manufacturer of dry dog and cat food, the Canadian Company. In 2008, Mars Petcare announced numerous recalls due to 'potential contamination with Salmonella'.? The pet foods recalled, from Ol' Roy to Pedigree to lesser known, and private label brands, were all manufactured at a Mars Petcare facility in Everson, PA.? Thanks to modern science, health experts can sort of 'fingerprint' Salmonella strains and connect the dots, so to speak, to discover the source of particular strains.? Going back to May 2007, the identical strain of Salmonella surfaced originally and an association was determined between sick individuals to exposure to dogs.? At the end of 2008 diagnosed 79 people diagnosed with the same Salmonella strain. This could have been prevented if the company’s main packaging facility was more cautious and aware of the products care. (Global Post)We do not want to stream line “Simply Share’s” process to make an easy dollar. We plan to keep commend ground with our company by appeasing them with a well-designed product that responds well with the market place as well as following the regulatory guidelines set by our countries governing bodies, after all this products is going to be consumed by tons of pets safety is the key factor in this products stability.We must work with precision when it comes to inspecting and choosing the right ingredients for “Simply Share” so there are no harmful side effects. Our company’s good name and our customer’s loyalty are in the forefront of the product creation. We must see to it that we proceed responsibly to ensure no legal action be taken against us. With our current business model, we have been successful amongst some of the industry leaders, and we will provide a S.W.O.T analysis on the organization determining the strengths and weaknesses for our products. Capitalizing on opportunities and threats are a big focus of ours and with the support of our company, we have the right minds and the capital to present a product that will build a bond between the customer and us.In order for “Simply Share” to be successful, we must make sure that we use the appropriate technology. Technology is always evolving, so as a company we must be able to keep up with these changes in order to keep our customers buying our product. We can use certain technological advancements such as e-mail to reach our customers and inform them about new promotions, or possibly send them coupons for our products. While these strategies will not only improve our company and our current products as a whole we plan on initially focusing on our new product. It would also be helpful to our company to create a website so that potential customers can read information about our products, as well as see what our prices may be, as well as where we are located and what we stand for. We also plan on developing this website around our new product line. It would also be very helpful to our company if we did a technology assessment to see the effects of our products and processes.Socio-cultural forces will be very important in affecting our company. We need to focus on three aspects: demographic characteristics, consumerism, and cultural values. We need to research the diversity of an area by variables such as age, gender, and income level, among other things. These will help us to determine our target market consumers. After our target market is determined, focusing on consumerism will help us encourage our customers to purchase our goods and become loyal to our company. Cultural values also come into play because we need to find out the values of our target market and make sure that our products meet their expectations of what they find fair.We have encompassed the environmental forces surrounding the new product as well as the organization as a whole for the domestic U.S. market. We whole heartedly feel that this will be the market in which we see the biggest gains initially from introducing “Simply Share”. However we have been tasked with not just focusing on the domestic market but abroad. Since this company is new in the international market we hope a small initial introduction will eventually open the doors to almost limitless expansion. Morocco is the country that has been decided on for our first foray into international markets. Much like in the U.S. we face similar Environmental Forces abroad.International Environmental Forces:What follows are some of what we expect to be the competitive and economic forces in Morocco. Since there are typically higher disposable incomes among Moroccans we see more households able to afford pets, pet food and other pet care expenses. The number of dogs and cats rose to nearly 2 million and 460,000 respectively, in 2009. (USDA) The market for pet food and pet products in Morocco is small, but growing quite rapidly. The volume sales of dog and cat food are showing healthy growth. Other specialty formats such as premium, and health and wellness-oriented products, have grown less quickly, suggesting that such products remain a niche area. Middle and upper-income households that keep dogs and cats as companions, represent an expanding group of affluent pet owners. (USTR) This will offer continued opportunities in the pet food industry, to target this consumer group with premium brands.Premium dry food is forecast to show the highest volume growth of all dog food over the next five years. Middle and upper-income households that keep dogs and cats as companions, represent an expanding group of affluent pet owners. This will offer continued opportunities to the pet food industry, to target this consumer group with premium brands. Premium dry food is forecast to show the highest volume growth of all dog food over the next five years. (Humane) Moroccan dog owners are slowly making the transition away from non-prepared food, alongside rising awareness among middle-income consumers regarding the affordability and health benefits of prepared dog food. This, coupled with a rising dog population, makes prepared dog food products a growing category. In particular, the appetite for premium food is on the rise in both volume and value terms, showing 13% volume growth in 2009. (Euromonitor International) The main purchasers remain high-income groups, or western expatriates residing in the country. Dog food is the leading category in the pet food market in Morocco, with a year-on-year growth of 7.3% between 2008 and 2009. The dog food category represents 96% of the pet food sector. Sales of dry dog food, for example, are forecasted to reach US$32 million by 2014. (Euromonitor International) The Moroccan dog food market was valued at US $23.3 million in 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2% between 2005 and 2009. (Euromonitor International) Cat food sales are expected to continue growing at a rate similar to that observed in the past few years. An increase in the cat population coupled with the rising number of people switching to prepared food, are factors driving growth of cat food sales. A shift in the perception of pets among Moroccans and rising disposable incomes, are the main drivers of a growing cat population. This is compounded by the rising number of expatriates settling in the country, and the increasing number of Moroccans returning to their home country from the West.Cat food is the leading category in the cat care market, with a year-on-year growth of 6.1% between 2008 and 2009, driving the cat food market share to 91.8% of the cat care sector. The Moroccan cat food market was valued at close to US $12 million in 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2% between 2004 and 2009. As well as seeing the economic ramifications and potential in expanding internationally, specifically into Morocco, we need to begin expanding our legal resources into understanding international laws and regulations. (Euromonitor International) By understanding the aspects of Moroccan law we can seamlessly begin offering our products in a legal fashion.As food distribution chains are increasingly stretched around the world, urgency has arisen for the creation of new food safety standards and stricter enforcement of existing food safety laws to ensure that food industry quality control and food processing standards provide a safe global food supply. We are going to focus on Morocco partially because its growing rate of pet owners continues to climb. We plan to target this market with the hopes of sustaining a strong hold in the European, North African, and Middle Eastern region, as it is still an untapped region. The food and beverage industry is the world's largest industry; in fact, larger than the all the other industries combined. In the search for market share and increased profits, the quality of and safety of food products can be sacrificed at some points. With our products, this will not be the case as we plan to bring high gains with a high quality product that strive to meet all guidelines for pet foods. Global consumers rely heavily on the connection and the coherence between government agencies to set and assimilate safety guidelines that ensure the best quality and safety.Morocco’s main commissions for the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, is located in the U.S., therefore Morocco’s main agendas is very much in line with what the U.S. regulations are. The consumer needs to know that our products are safe. These guidelines must be adhered to from our production facilities all the way to the grocer's shelf. We must insure the fish is safe harvested wild or raised by aquaculture, poultry and livestock are free from pathogens, and that food and food supplements contain ingredients generally recognized as safe to be used in our products. Our processed foods must be pasteurized or sterilized, and canned or otherwise packaged in aseptically sealed containers. Our fresh ingredients must be reviewed and accepted by government agencies, to insure no food recalls like those as recently as 2007 and 2008. Morocco is one of over 200 governing bodies in which the U.S. is in compliance with, ensuring safe products for our consumers local and worldwide. (USTR) Coordinating these efforts will be no easy task; however, it must be done in order to begin our global expansion.The Moroccan U.S. ambassador’s office must sign off on all food and agriculture import regulations. In fact a report was signed in late October of 2011. The report provides an update on the list of certificates required to export food and agricultural products to Morocco. The Moroccan food safety agency (ONSSA) has issued new certificates for the importation of dairy products, hides and skins, pet food and feed additives. This insures three things must happen when we produce and ship our products to Morocco. First by merely checking the documents provided, an inspector might require physical inspection of the imported commodity before clearance, they may also require that samples of the imported goods be drawn and sent to a local government approved laboratory for analysis. (USTR) We will comply with these standards to insure a long lasting partnership with Morocco. Industry standards must be met and exceeded. We believe “Simply Share” will mature into an industry standard and our relations with other countries will be prominent in the development of the products longevity.Just as the United States socio-cultural forces would affect our company, so will Morocco’s socio-cultural forces. We would once again have to focus on demographic characteristics, consumerism, and cultural values. Our strategy would be the same as when we had to research the diversity variables of the United States. We would still need to look at things such as age, gender, etc. This would help us to develop our target market within Morocco, as we may have a different type of consumer in Morocco than in the United States. One issue will be the fact that Moroccans do not tend to keep many household pets. We will really need to focus on those citizens that do in fact keep household pets, and determine if they would be willing to buy our products specifically “Simply Share”. These cultural values will be very important to our success or failure within the Moroccan market.For our company to be successful in Morocco, we must assess their technological forces and use them to our advantage. The Moroccans use a decent amount of technology, with close to 13 million Internet users as of 2009. They also have about 36 million telephone users. This is good news for our company, because we will be able to reach our new customer base using new technology. The Moroccan citizens will be able to access our web site, as well as receive e-mails from our company with coupons or promotions. We could also focus on doing some e-marketing in order to get the news about our product out to the Moroccan people. The rate of technology use is constantly growing as the population grows each year. This will enable us to continue doing business with Morocco and possibly grow year after year because we will be able to reach more technology users in the country.S.W.O.T:We also need to examine our own company in respect to expanding our business. To do this we will be employing a S.W.O.T. (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis. As for strengths the strongest one is our 25 years of experience in the pet food production business. Due to that we already have a large stable of consumers who are used to our products. Another strength is our desire to expand. A weakness of ours is the lack of an international presence. Another weakness of our is that fact that we have been doing the same things for so long, while this has given us sustainable success we need to expand. An opportunity we have is in the innovation of our new product line “Simply Share”. Never before has there been a product that consumers can purchase that both cats and dogs can eat. We feel the development of this product will enable us to grow and expand very quickly compared to the other large pet food producers. We also have a wonderful opportunity to expand internationally specifically into Morocco. The threats that are posed to us right now are many. We have never expanded globally so there is going to be a period of learning in deal with international markets. We are introducing a new and innovative product that no one has seen before, and many haven’t even thought of it as a possibility. This may make our initial entry into the market a little rocky until we get our customers informed. We hope that by looking at this brief S.W.O.T. analysis we can better understand ourselves in the hope of improvement going forward as we venture into this new product and market.Research Survey:Since we have taken an in depth look at the Environmental Marketing Forces in both the U.S. and Morocco we now need to focus on the people who will actually be purchasing “Simple Share” What follows is a sample survey that we plan on releasing in various formats. The most prominent way we will offer this survey is through email programs associated with the reward programs offered by our biggest distributers. We also plan on offering the following survey on the new section of our website dedicated to the “Simply Share” product line. What we have deemed as the most important questions are highlighted in red (they will not be highlighted when we give the survey). Sample Research Survey 1) Are you a male or female? MaleFemale2) What is your age?18-35 years old35-50 years old50-65 years old65+ years old3) What is your current marital status?SingleMarried4) What is your yearly income (on average)?0-$20,000$20,000-$30,000$30,00-$45,000$45,000-$60,000$60,000+5) What is your ethnicity?CaucasianAfrican-AmericanAsianHispanic6) What is your highest level of completed education?High schoolSome collegeCollege (Bachelor’s Degree)7) How many pets do you own? ________8) Do you own a dog or cat? (Check both if applicable)DogCat9)) How old is your pet? _______10) How much money do you spend on your pet(s) per month on average? _______11) What brand of pet food do you buy for your pets? _______12) How satisfied are you with your current pet food?1- Very satisfied2- Mostly satisfied3- Pretty Satisfied4-Somewhat satisfied5- Not at all satisfied13) How important is buying organic food for your pet?1- Very important2- Mostly important3- Pretty important4-Somewhat important5- Not at all important14) How important is the flavor of your pet food to you?1- Very important2- Mostly important3- Pretty important4-Somewhat important5- Not at all important15) If you owned both a cat and dog, would you be willing to buy them the same food?YesNo16) Where do you typically buy your pet’s food? _________17) Do you give your pet(s) treats?YesNo18) How often do you give your pet(s) treats?OftenSometimesNever19) How often do you feed your pet(s)Once a dayTwice a dayOther20) Do you keep your pet(s) on a strict diet?YesNoWe feel that this survey will give us a basic understanding to the viability of “Simply Share”.Marketing Strategies (Domestic and International):With all of the information thus far we will now be looking at our various marketing strategies. We are going to implement a concentrated targeting strategy. We feel this is the best strategy because since we are focusing on a single market segment it makes sense for us to use one marketing mix. For the US market strategy we are going to use the following segmentation variables. For the demographic section we will use the following variables: income, family size, social class, and education. Geographic section we will use: region whether it is urban, suburban, or rural. Also, we will take a look at the psychographic section. In this section we will focus on lifestyles. Finally, in the behavioristic section: our product will use the brand loyalty, price sensitivity, benefit expectations, and volume usage. Our company’s market segment profiles found out that, consumers with low to median income levels are price sensitive and seek products that they can get the most volume out of it. Also, many of these consumers tend to live suburban areas. It has been shown that US owners spend an annual $167 for food per dog in by the end of 2012. Pet food sales totaled $19.85 billion in the US in 2011. Over the last few years pet food sales have been increasing yearly between 5.3%-5.8%. These figures are according to the American Pet Products Association. In the U.S. the product strategy for Simply Sure is a multi-pet food product that is for the consumer looking for a good quality pet food that will work for both dogs and cats. We will focus in on selling to shelters because they are seeking value from their pet food and are price sensitive and don’t have a big budget to spend on high end separate dog and cat food.In Morocco we will focus on the same variables that we did with the US market. Moroccan dog owners are slowly making the transition away from non-prepared food, alongside rising awareness among middle-income consumers regarding the affordability and health benefits of prepared dog food. This, coupled with a rising dog population, makes prepared dog food products a growing category. In particular, the appetite for premium food is on the rise in both volume and value terms, showing 13% volume growth in 2009 (Euromonitor International). The main purchasers remain high-income groups, or western expatriates residing in the country.Dog food is the leading category in the pet food market in Morocco, with a year-on-year growth of 7.3% between 2008 and 2009. The dog food category represents 96% of the pet food sector. Sales of dry dog food, for example, are forecasted to reach US$32 million by 2014. The Moroccan dog food market was valued at US $23.3 million in 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2% between 2005 and 2009. (Euromonitor International) For our Moroccan product strategy we should focus on the budget consumer as well. This is because all the other international brands will be priced much higher than most consumers can really afford, but if we target as we did in the US to a more budget and volume good quality seeking pet owner we could take a good share of this fast growing market because consumers will have our more middle income friendly pricing for our food.Pricing is a highly complex area: get it right and sales and profit flow; get it wrong one way and sales flow but profit is poor; the other way and sales are poor but profit per transaction is good. So how do you get it right and what are the methods that can be deployed to help increase the likelihood of success? Food is the biggest ongoing cost of owning a cat or dog, accounting for $20 billion in annual sales in the U.S. Our survey respondents told us they spent an average of $36 a month on food for dogs and $20 a month for cats. (Humane) These figures come from the sale of lower to mid-range food products. On average for higher end pet food, it is about 54 to 30 dollars a month. These costs can vary depending on the size of your dog or the health of your pet in general. Dog owners spend $580, $695, or $875 per year depending on the size from small to large. Cats fit in to the mid-range on an average of $670 per year. Just one in seven pet owners said they had reduced spending on their pet during the past year, even as they cut other expenses to save. The rising cost of animal care is forcing more consumers to settle for lower end products to save money, and in turn their animals are not getting the same treatment and good sources of vitamins and nutrients they need. Instead of nutrition, they are getting fillers and byproduct. To make it brief we won’t to fit in the middle of the 36 to 20 dollar price point. With our product eliminating the need to consistently purchase two specific items, more than once each month is a saving for the customer. We plan on saving consumers on average per year around $200 per year for mid ranged products to higher grade products, and this will allow the consumers to gain loyalty to us and are current and future products insuring higher returns in other areas of our company line.Do to our status in this field, pet food distribution should not be a problem. Our relationship with our current vendors will surely guarantee are products are easily accessible by our consumers and front and center on the shopping aisle. We need to make sure our scheduling is precise and our production lines are filled, to ensure the product is produced on time and can get to the wholesaler and retailers (i.e. Petco, Costco, Wal-Mart, etc.) in a timely manner. To gain high profits we have a coaching strategy to keep total inventory, transportation, and storage cost to a minimum. These extend to all forms of management in our distribution efforts from, opts management to channel management. These efforts will be no different from our venture in Morocco. Because Morocco is becoming an increasingly attractive consumer market for brands and retailers across virtually all categories, it has allowed Moroccan pet food expenditures to significantly increase year-over-year. We plan to capitalize on Morocco’s growing pet community with the same effective strategy’s applied to be U.S. market. One U.S. dollar is currently worth 8.5 dirhams, however if production cost are lower than profits can increase significantly with the market availability. (USTR) All in all this can prove to be a win, a win for Morocco and us.For both the U.S. and Morocco, we need to do four things in order to have our promotion strategy be successful: create awareness, stimulate demand, encourage product trial, and identify prospects. Since we are in the introduction stage of promoting our product, we need to create awareness about our food. We need to make sure that consumers know what our product is, and what we have to offer for their pet food needs. Next, we must stimulate a demand for our particular product. We need to use pioneer promotion. This will ensure that our customers know exactly what our product is, what it does, and where they can buy it. This will create a certain amount of demand for our product, without stressing brand name products or comparing our products to other brands. We need to make sure that we single out the aspects of our product that no other companies can offer. Then we must encourage a product trial. If we let customers try out our product and they like it, then they can become loyal customers as well as recommend us to other people they may know. And finally, we must identify our prospects. This will ensure that we will be aiming our promotions at the customers who are most likely to buy it.There will be differences between our promotion strategies for the two countries, though. Since Americans use the Internet much more than Moroccans do, it would be wise for us to stress promotion of our product online, because more people will see it. We should still do some online promotions in Morocco, but we will not need to advertise our product there as much as we would in the United States. We will also focusing on promoting where to get our pet food in Morocco, since there are only a few major pet stores in the cities. In the United States, most of our promotions will be done outside of the pet store, to draw customers into the stores to buy our products. This is different from Morocco because most Moroccans will not respond the same way to the same promotion due to the fact that they do not have as many domestic pets.That concludes our presentation. We feel that we have presented a viable product and plan to successfully expand the Doggie & Cattie Company. This should allow this company to grow to unknown heights both domestically and abroad.Works CitedGlobal Post. (n.d.). Pet food recall expanded in United States and Canada. Retrieved 2012, from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012, from ASPCA: Humane Society of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012, from Humane Society: . Department of Commerce. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012, from United States Census Bureau: #U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (n.d.). Pet Food Recall Products List. Retrieved 2012, from States Government. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012, from United States Trade Representative: . (n.d.). Global Agricultural Information Network. Retrieved 2012, from ................
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