Strategic Advertising Planning

INTRODUCTION

Strategic advertising and management planning are having a significant impact on the growth of the business and help to meet the goals and objectives. The proper analysis of market opportunities and planning of the marketing actions accordingly is beneficial for the organization to maintain profitability and competitive advantage (McDonald, 2016). The report will analyze the growth opportunities for the brand extension for KFC and justify the objective of strategic advertising planning. Moreover, the report will analyze the target audience, audience decision making and develop the communication strategy. In the end, the report will provide the information for media strategy and legislations to aid companies to protect the brand.

GROWTH OPPORTUNITY

For managing the business, the organization needs to maintain the marketing and advertising actions as per the current trends and competition level. KFC is one of the leading brands in the fast-food industry and offering a wide range of product and services as per the needs of the customers. The organization is known for high-quality chicken products. In the current scenario, the organization is looking for a brand extension in the UK market. Therefore, the organization needs to identify and understand the growth opportunities. KFC is the fourth most valuable brand in the UK with 15 billion profits. The limited brand extension approach of the company is having a significant impact on the business process of KFC and helping the management to develop and offer the products as per the needs of the customers (Nguyen, et al., 2018). The strategy of brand extension refers to the development and introduction of new products and services using the brand name. For the extension of the brand for KFC, the organization needs to conduct market research and identify the opportunities and developing the strategic planning for marketing. According to the analysis, the following are the major opportunities for KFC in the UK:

KFC is having the opportunity for offering healthy food for attracting new customers

Reinforcing its network will allow the organization for brand penetration and support in become the leading outlet in the market

Improvement in the distribution strategy can be beneficial for growth and gaining competitive advantage

Creative and ethical marketing of products will be helpful for brand extension

The analysis of the current market is as follows for KFC:

Brand relevance:

The organization is offering chicken products in different verities but the management can develop the new product renege using the plant base healthy products as the demand for vegetarian products is increasing in the current scenario. KFC is having good brand value and reputation in the market which will help to attract people to try the new products of the organization. The high quality of these products will be beneficial for the organization to expand the business and achieve the goals and objectives (Boyland, Kavanagh-Safran, and Halford, 2015).

Market opportunity:

The demand for plant-based food products is increasing as people are giving preference to healthy food products. This will be a great opportunity for the KFC management to introduce healthy vegetarian products to their menu. The innovative approach and extension of the product range using the market opportunity will be useful for the organization to maintain the competitive advantage and capture the new segment of the market. This kind of approach will help the organization to capture the new market in the UK and increase the brand reputation by offering high quality and fresh products.

Organizational competencies:

The core organizational competencies of KFC is involving the manipulation of the market, taking advantage of the brand reputation and taste that the company is offering to the customers. The major competence of KFC is the exploitation of special formula of developing and offering food with the trust of the brand. In addition to this, supply chain management and destruction are the key competencies of an organization and helping to expand the business and planning related to attracting new customers and retaining the existing (Mason, Pearce, and Cummins, 2018). However, the level of competition is high and having a significant impact on the policies and procedure of the company that needs to be rectified.

OBJECTIVES OF STRATEGIC ADVERTISING PLANNING

For the business expansion and increasing the market sales and profitability in the UK market, the KFC management is planning different tactical approaches and strategies. The improvement in the strategic advertisement and planning for new products of plant-based food, the major objectives of the organization are as follows:

To improve the sales and profitability in the UK

To expand the business share and numbers of customer

To capture the new segment in the UK market

To gain a competitive advantage

Now to achieve these objectives, the KFC management needs to analyze the market conditions and develop the plan accordingly. Following are the key aspects that consider for justifying and developing the plan for strategic advertising for KFC:

Table 1: Assessment

Source of business:

The company is known for the quality food products with great taste and variety. This will be a major source for the KFC management to attract and retain new customers for the new products developed through plant-based raw material. The consideration of the actual needs of the customers and the offering of the new products accordingly will be beneficial for the organization to achieve the objectives (Wu, and Mohi, 2015). The proper awareness about the products and service will be helpful for brand extension and gaining a competitive advantage.

Competitive evaluation:

For developing the strategic advertising plan, KFC management needs to understand the approach of leading competitors. The key competitors of KFC in the UK are McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and Nando’s. These organizations are offering high-quality food and beverages for all type of customers and having a positive brand value that influencing the buying decisions of KFC customers. To attract and retain the customers, KFC must develop an advertising plan that could help to gain a competitive advantage and help to provide the information related to the new products and their benefits to the customers (Liu, Lee, and Hung, 2017). Moreover, information related to the price, quality and availability will also help to influence the decisions of customers. Moreover, targeting the lower-middle segment will be beneficial for KFC.

Market assessment:

The proper assessment of the market is needed for developing the strategic plan and actions to meet the goals. According to analysis, there are more than 55000 fast-food restaurants in the UK that are offering different types of food products and services for customers. In addition to this, the demand for fast food is high in the market of UK and increasing the numbers of new entries considering the needs of the customers. Therefore, the level of competition is high and KFC management needs an advanced strategy for managing the competition and attracting customers for new products of plant-based food products. The graphical analysis is also providing the information related to projection sales and expected growth in the market. The low-pricing strategy at the initial stage of offering of new products of KFC will be helpful for the organization to maintain the growth of +0.8 annually.

Product description:

The offering of information related to ingredients and benefits of the new product that is going to be offered by the KFC in the UK will help increase the demand and achieve the goals and objectives. According to current marketing aspects, the awareness related to nutrition and health benefits of food products is essential as it will help to change the buying decision of the customers. Plant-based products are beneficial for increasing health, minimize the risk of sugar, high blood pressure and heart attack. The demand for these products is increasing the having a positive impact on the health of people (Burgoine et al., 2016). Therefore, the use of effective marketing actions and strategies will be beneficial for KFC to achieve the goals by utilizing the market opportunities.

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

The strategic advertising planning process of KFC for new plant-based food products will involve the following elements:

Step 1: Target audience

For the strategic planning and development of marketing actions, the management of KFC needs to determine the target audience groups. The proper understanding of the needs of the target groups will help promote the elements that could influence the buying behaviour and support in managing the resources to keep them engage in the sales and ordering the new products of KFC. The management will target lower-middle-income group and people of all age groups in UK market as plant-based food products are beneficial for all population. This kind of segmentation and targeting strategy will be helpful for the organization to develop an advertising plan that could help to influence the people and support in increasing the sales of products. According to analysis, large numbers of people are giving preference to plant-based food products which is healthy and has no side effects as well as boost the immunity of the body. Apart from this, the lower prices and high-quality food products are having a good demand in the current scenario. Therefore, consideration of a lower-middle-class audience will be good for KFC to target and developing the plan around them for promoting the new products (Ahmed, and Hammarstedt, 2020). In addition to this, consideration of buying behaviour of these target groups will also helpful for involving the new aspects that could help in influencing the decision making of the potential customers.

The brand image of KFC is good and having a positive impact on the sales and demand of the fast-food products offered by the company. The effective utilization of this element will be beneficial for the organization to attract customers by offering products at lower prices. This kind of strategic move will overcome the risk of switching brand and become the loyal customers of KFC. In addition to this, the introduction of plant-based food products will be socially acceptable as it will not harm the ecological system and increase the ethical image of the company. The consideration of satisfaction and needs of the customers will also play a critical role in the development and offering of food. According to the loyalty grid suggested by Percy and Rossiter-Elliot (2012), the analysis of buying behaviour and descriptive characteristics towards the brand helps develop the marketing plan. As per the analysis, KFC consumer segmentation is vulnerable and customers are highly satisfied with the quality and brand services as well as products of the organization (Krizanova et al., 2019). Therefore, the launching of the new plant-based products will be in favour of KFC to achieve the objective of brand extension and increasing sales and profitability in the UK. Apart from this, the management will communicate the information related to the products and services through TV, print and online media platforms that will be helpful for reaching the large numbers of potential customers and creating the awareness related to the new products of KFC in UK.

Step 2: Understanding of decision making

For launching a new product and developing a strategic marketing plan, the organisation needs to have an understanding of the decision approaching the target audience. The management has chosen to target lower-middle-class people and now understanding their decision making related to buying fast food products will help plan the action. The consideration of the behavioural sequence model for understanding the decision making of target customers will support the analysis. According to this model, the consideration of the brand loyalty, consumption and needs of the target customers is beneficial for managing the sales and developing an effective plan for marketing (Finne, and Grönroos, 2017). The influence of family and friends is having a significant impact on the decision making of the customers.

Table 2: Decision table

In addition to this, social culture and health consciousness are also playing a vital role in the buying decisions of the customers. In the current scenario, people are giving preference to plant-based food products as the impact of Covid-19 has affected the diet of the people and they started giving preference to vegetarian products. Therefore, the decision making of the customer will be influence considering the perception of the society and focusing on the current environment to craft improvement in the immunity by taking a good amount of vitamins, carbohydrate, zinc, iron and other nutrition through plant-based food products (Cummins et al., 2020). The use of organic products for cooking the product will also help the KFC management to attract customers and influence the buying behaviour. Apart from this, the consideration of the level of competition in this segment is good as leading competitor companies like McDonald's and Subway are offering vegetarian food products and attracting and retaining customers. The introduction of plant-based food opinion will create an ethical image of KFC as till now the company is known for chicken-based products and services.

Step 3: Positioning

There are different types of strategies are used for positioning the brand and products in the market considering the market conditions and trends. According to analysis and conditions, the management of KFC has planned to introduce plant-based food products in the UK to achieve the determined goals. Now, to position itself in the market, the management will apply the positioning strategy of products benefits and characteristics. The consideration of this strategy will be helpful for the management to manage the competition and maintain sales and profitability. The major characteristics of plant-based products of KFC involve lowering the blood pressure, keep the heart healthy, prevent from type 2 diabetes and help in weight loss (Hollensen, 2018). In the current scenario, people of the UK are facing issues related to obesity and it is increasing the problems related to heart, diabetes and blood pressure.

Therefore, the demand for plant-based products in the fast-food market of the UK is increasing and supports KFC by positioning the products in this category. In addition to this, the use of plant-based food products in a regular diet will minimize the risk of cancer in people as consumption of beans, fruits, nuts, vegetables and seeds help maintain the level of fibre, vitamin, minerals and photochemical. In addition to this, the promotion of characteristics such as a plant-based diet minimizes the risk of stroke, improves physical and mental health will help gain a competitive advantage. Apart from this, the management has decided to offer these products at lower prices will play a vital role to improve the sales and support in gaining a competitive advantage (Chernev, 2018).

Step 4: Communication strategy

The marketing communication strategy refers to reaching the target customers through various types of communication. It includes the message, medium and target. KFC has decided to introduce new plant-based food products and to create awareness related to the products the management will use different medium of communication such as TV advertising, print media and emailing. This type of communication strategy will include a message that provides information related to the benefits of products and prices. As the company is offering these products at lower prices and keeping the health of the customer in mind. This will help to create awareness about the products and increase the reach (Blakeman, 2018).

The communication of customized development and delivery of products and services will also help in managing the sales and support in the achievement of goals and objectives. KFC is having a positive brand image which will help the management to maintain the demand and sales of the products. However, the ethical communication and consideration of the feedback of the customers will help in managing the sales as the experience of customer and changes in the products accordingly play a significant role in the business development. In addition to this, sponsorship and brand promotion through a communication marketing mix will be helpful for the organization to manage the strategic advantage.

Step 5: Media communication

For advertising and promotion, the KFC management needs to make use of media communication tools that are very popular among the young generation and working-class population. The development of a media advertising campaign will help to improve the awareness related to new plant-based products and services. According to this strategy, the management will develop the post for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The effective design and development of visual content for the media communication will be cost and time effective for KFC and increase the reach to the target audience (David, David, and David, 2017). The target segment of the company is lower-middle-class people and they are using smartphones for collecting information about the new products and considering the reviews of the customers before buying them.

Therefore, advertisement through this will be helpful for KFC to meet the objectives. For example, the development of images and videos for social media platform will increase the awareness related to the plant-based food products of the company and help to get the feedback of the customers. In addition to this, by publishing the reviews of customers the management will able to influence the buying decision of target customers (Nguyen, et al., 2017). This kind of approach of the company for media communication strategy will be helpful to increase the numbers of customers and support in gaining a competitive advantage.

Step 6: Legislations

For managing the business with the support of regulations and legislation, leading companies need to make use of intellectual properties and compile the operations with lawful activities. KFC is going to launch a new product of plant-based food and effective use of registration and marketing regulations will be helpful for the organization to maintain the competitiveness and brand effectiveness. The trademark and information related to ingredients of the products and services will help the management to maintain the ethical brand image and overcome the issues related to illegal aspects for developing the food. Apart from this, the use of ethical and reliable marketing sources and protection of the consumer data will be useful for KFC to meet the business goals and objectives in a professional manner (Boyland et al., 2015). The legislation for online business marketing and design of the product involve the consideration of the trademarks and agreements. The consideration of the packaging design and license for the product is beneficial for the organization to manage the business and maintaining the standards in the business. In addition to this, knowledge of the domestic and international tread for food products is essential. The franchise limitations and content marketing regulations are also considered for the business of food products that can be useful for developing the ethical image of the organization.

CONCLUSION

From the study, it has been carried out that KFC management could use the strategic advertising planning for its new product of plant-based food to achieve the determined goals and objectives. The report has analyzed the market and identified the growth opportunities for developing the plan. The report has critically discussed the targeting and segmentation of the new products and suggested using the product characteristics for positioning the product in the UK market. Moreover, the report has provided knowledge related to communication and media strategy and explain the importance of legislation for maintaining the competitive advantage.

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