Faith Ice Cream Launching: A Brand Management Report

 

CORPORATE OBJECTIVES

 

To ensure a long-term presence in the market, through offering to our valued consumer such diverse product concepts in sweets and confectionery segment that become parts of their everyday lives and build recognition for our brand offerings on a sustainable basis.

 

BUSINESS UNIT OBJECTIVES

 

To establish our name as the premium chocolate sellers in the market, based on an offer that the consumer is attached to as a habit, securing for us the brand equity to expand our business line in due course of time.

 

PRODUCT PROGRAM

 

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

 

Ours is a new product offering a benefit which none of the existing brands in the market offer. Our product is a caramel fudge chocolate, with a hard chocolate coating on a soft, tasty caramel fudge inside. The USP of our product is that our chocolate is a companion for you in your ups and downs in life, a friend through thick and thin, someone you can depend upon to be there for you in your time of fun and need. Basically the chocolate is a companion for you in every kind of mood and emotional phase. As we want our customers to stay with us for life, the primary target market will be teenagers. This is because teenage is the phase of life where you start learning a lot about life and that is the time when you experience different new kinds of emotions and feelings which you have never experienced before. Our chocolate “Faith” will be there for the teenagers to be their companion in every kind of mood. As they grow up, eating “Faith” in every kind of mood, a special kind of a bond will be built with the chocolate which will carry on throughout their lives and the customer will be a life long customer, depending on his faithful friend in all his times of need throughout his life.

 

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

 

We plan to use a number of media to introduce our product in the market. Main emphasis will be on the television and the print media. We would be publishing print ads in major newspapers and journals and other publications of interest to our target customers. We would also be running TVCs in primetime and other time slots during which programs of interest to our target population are shown.

 

For product introduction, we also plan to arrange a big concert, free for teenagers through specially arranged passes, in which groups and singers which are most liked by our target consumers will give a performance. This concert will help in creating a brand personality of our product in the minds of our target customers as fun loving and friendly, someone who understands what they want, thus sowing the seed of a life long friendship.

 

We would be also emphasizing on a sales program giving high margins to distributors, thus pushing our product into the market. When the distributor will be getting handsome margins on our product, he will also try to make more sales of our product thus giving it the extra push which every new entrant into the market needs before being accepted by the customer.

 

PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT

 

As our product is portrayed as fun loving and a companion for every mood, the package uses neutral and not very flashy, yet eye catching colors. The chocolate is packed in a silver foil and then a paper is wrapped on it. The outer paper shows the name of the product “Faith” prominently in big letters and small smileys are splattered randomly all over the wrapper. The outer wrapper has only two colors in the background, namely green and yellow. Product name is written on the wrapper in green and the smileys are in green and are very small in size.

The highlight of our package is that a quotation about life or an uplifting statement etc will be printed on the inside of the outside wrapper. The purpose of this quotation is to give advice to the customer as a friend would advice you and as the chocolate is your companion in every mood, many a times an uplifting statement would be very comforting when you are feeling bad about something.

 

PACKAGE INTRODUCTION

 

We plan to introduce our package mainly at the concert we would arrange for the product launch. At the concert, free chocolates would also be distributed as gifts so as to ensure the first trial of the product and also establish an association in the minds of our customers of the chocolate with fun and things teenagers like to do.

 

BRAND NAME SELECTION

 

We have selected “Faith” as the brand name for our product. There are a number of reasons for selecting this particular name. As the basic idea is that our chocolate should not just be another daily use eatable. Our chocolate should be considered a friend who is there to share your joy or pain. Also, “Faith” has a number of connotations which would serve the purpose. For example; ‘Have Faith’, ‘Have faith on Faith’, ‘Faithfully yours’, ‘faithful friend’ and in the end, as George Michael puts it in one of his songs… ‘Cause I gotta have Faith… Faith… Faith!!!’

 

PRICING PROGRAM

 

PRICING STRATEGY

 

Faith has been positioned on the basis of its appeal and exclusivity wrapped in a package of complete value for money, that the consumer would carry with him at all times, not out of need, but out of habit. The brand is thus positioned for masses, against all income groups, for people of all ages and for both genders. To maintain this delicate balance of exclusiveness and uniqueness that the consumer would preserve, the pricing strategy adapted is a competitor based market penetration strategy, with two size variants, thus providing coverage against risk through ‘product depth’ expansion.

 

The first variant is the 25 gm. bar priced at Rs. 5, which is the industry regular. The second variant provides the consumer with the value for money. This is the 60 gm. bar priced at Rs. 12. This size variant is not available in the market, and is a unique offering, both in terms of its look, and its price. Being positioned as the chocolate for all moods and emotions, and priced at just under the industry average, Faith would reach right at the consumer hearts through the trade shelves, that we plan to take over through an even aggressive sales program.

 

CHANGE IN PRICE POLICY

 

Another factor behind a two variant depth launch is to maintain the price of the brand through its life cycle, without allowing for consumer preferences to change and thus arising for us the need to modify our price structure. The consumer can opt for the smaller regular pack or the larger value pack, but will have to accept Faith as the chocolate priced at Rs. 5 and Rs. 12. More than trade discounts, ‘quantity discounts’ to the distributors would be given, based on a certain volume of product off-take that they can ensure us. Sales promotions would be launched for the end consumer that would also involve the trade to a great extent, as discussed later.

 

This however does not go to say that the price structure decided in principle at this stage is the final word on the wall. The marketing team has decided to maintain a ‘flexible pricing strategy’ in case of contingent events, or lack of sales upto the end of the first month of launch. If the targeted sales upto such a time are not reached, the end margins would be compromised against withdrawing one layer of pricing, that is, reducing prices by 15%, across the board.

 

CREDIT POLICY

 

It has been decided in principle to operate strictly on cash basis, rather than on credit basis. During the initial phase for a product launch, to win the trade support, it is advisable to be flexible on the credit policy and terms, yet it was viewed profitable for the brands long-term survival that a strict non-credit policy be adapted. For this purpose, the best sales force possible has been assembled, by hiring the services of a dedicated distributor, so that such experienced salesmen are not caught in the web of retailers, who are shy to making cash payments on the spot. This would ensure consistency and signal out to the larger market of retailers that the company is strict on all money matters.

 

On the other hand, discounts to the distributor would be given on the basis of volume sales that they are able to make. The product will be made available to the trade in cartons of 24 chocolates. Upon purchase of 5 cartons more than those purchased in the previous cycle, the distributor would receive 5% margin greater than the stated margin. On purchase of 5 plus 2 cartons in any cycle, the margins would be increased by 2.5%. A final discount offer to the distributor is 1% off on each pack of chocolate on every carton taken over 10 cartons.

 

PRICING CONTRACTS

 

The primary focus through this entire pricing exercise is the distributor. It is receiving the largest discounts and best possible offers, without passing the benefit to the consumer. The aim for such a distributor focused strategy is to ensure a continued support and partnership with the distributor, so that the brand can be built on such strong foundations of product availability and visibility. The more strongly the brand is pushed into the retailer shelves, the greater its chances of being bought by the consumer.

 

For this purpose, the distributorship would be involved in a partnership situation with us, whereby our extended margins and discounts would be backed by price consistency assurance by the distributor. The contract would entail a long-term price consistency and zero-demand tolerance by us to the distributor, even in conditions of economic downturn or reduced sales. The onus would be on the distributor and thus on its sales force to ensure continually that the product is reaching out to the consumer at all times.

 

SALES PROGRAMS

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Our sales team will be distributor-based and all decisions regarding the sales team will be taken by the distributor and the sales manager together. The ultimate responsibility of the performance of the sales team will lay with the sales manager. He will be monitoring day to day operations at the distributor’s premises.

 

REDEFINE THE SALES JOB

 

Our sales people will not be just part of any other sales team. They will be hand picked and will possess the following traits:

1. Drive
2. Self-confidence
3. Action oriented
4. Persistent
5. Risk taker

 

They will be entrepreneurs willing to pursue risks with aggression in the market place, will be strong leaders and will understand the customer psyche to take quick decisions when required.

 

PLAN OF SALES ORGANIZATION

 

The sales team will be distributor based and their performance will be monitored by a sales manager who will be reporting to the marketing manager. The sales manager will be allowed to make the final decisions regarding the sales people which the distributor interviews. He will also be required to:

 

1. Review sales records and sales people reports as well as investigation of market trends and other relevant environment factors.
2. Set objectives for the sales team and map out strategies and tactics to achieve these objectives.
3. Supervise day to day implementation of sales policies, programs, and plans.
4. Comparison of actual and planned sales results and evaluation of the need for plan revision.

 

The number of sales people will depend on the requirement of the market at different times. Initially, a sales force of around fifty persons each will be assembled in all the main regions of the country, based on our criteria described below and the distributor will have to seek the sales manager’s consent before he hires any sales person.

 

Even though we follow a ‘no fire’ policy but in case a sales person does not perform according to his given targets he will be warned and then fired but with permission from the sales manager.

 

TERRITORY LAYOUT

 

We define a territory as ‘current and potential accounts for which responsibility will be assigned to a particular representative’.

 

The formation of sales territories will depend on customer related factors. Each customer will be given immense importance and each territory will yield equal accounts to make sure that the sales team remains motivated and the total sales potential is divided equally among the sales people.

 

Since our product is a consumer product, therefore it requires efficient distribution methods so that it does not go out of stock at any time. We will assign the sales people with territories designed on geography, potential and servicing requirements. Territories will be assigned keeping in mind that each person’s contribution to the company’s profit will be highest. Our sales targets will be based on volume but yielding maximum profits.

 

Top performers will be assigned to second-tier territories to adequately challenge them and low performers will get the weakest. This approach will allow new members of the sales organization to work their way into the principal organization as a member of the sales department.

 

COMPENSATION PLAN

 

Compensation will be based on a fixed flat rate and the sales people will be motivated by giving them commission based on volume sales. They will be given a percentage of the profits on every carton that they sell above their target.

 

The salary of the sales team will be paid by the company itself. The distributor will just be responsible for overlooking and coordinating the activities of the team. This insures the company total control over the sales force, and will give us the opportunity to set up training and development programs for the sales force personnel from time to time. The distributor acts to provide only such facilities as logistical support, infrastructure and a home base to operate from. The sales people would be paid commission on a per carton basis so as to motivate him to recommend only the best people for hiring and to perform the sales function to the best of his abilities.

 

The flat rate that we have decided to give to the sales team based on research is Rs. 3,000. Strong incentives will be provided to increase productivity. With every additional carton of chocolate that they sell above their target, they will get 5% of their daily sales volume.

 

PERSONNEL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS

 

Qualifications Sought:

 

The sales team that we will hire will consist basically of highly motivated individuals with at least a bachelor’s degree. In this way we will help out the society and also give a decent employment to educated and deserving people.

 

The sales person along with a good education must also be well dressed, have a clean appearance, have good interactive skills and verbal ability, be motivated, and have a clear understanding of selling consumer goods. A prior work experience is not necessary but we will require the sales manager to have some experience in selling consumer goods.

 

RECRUITING:

 

For recruiting purposes, we will give out an advertisement in the newspapers stating that a local company requires sales people for selling consumer goods. A brief job description as given above will also be provided. All applications will be invited at the distributor’s premises which will also form the base of our sales operations.

 

SELECTION:

 

Selection will be based on a written application through which candidates will be short listed and called for initial interviews. The short listing will be done by the distributor himself according to his own criteria. The list with the resumes will be handed over to the sales manager who will then call only those candidates final interviews who show the desired characteristics.

 

Interviews will be held at the distributor’s premises and will be taken by the distributor and the sales manager. They will try to judge which applicants have the most potential and whether they will be comfortable in the organization’s setup.

 

The selected individuals will then be informed through phone and job offers will be mailed to them. They can then sign a contract with the distributor for the job.

 

 

TRAINING:

 

The sales team will be trained for 3 days at the beginning of their employment. In these sessions, they will be told about the product, be taught about the target market, given communication courses, and taught verbal skills. The training session will be held by the sales manager along with the human resource department. The distributor will also be present at these sessions so he can also be educated about the product and the way the sales function will actually be operated.

 

The distributor will be allowed to hold his own training sessions apart from these, to introduce the sales team to each other and to answer any queries that might arise.

 

In addition to these training sessions, the sales team will also be trained from time to time on any improvements made to the product. They will also be told about the various sales promotion programs that we will be running from time to time.

 

The reason we are focusing so much on training and educating the sales team is that we want them to feel that they are an integral part of the organization and only by working together will both them and the organization benefit.

 

PROMOTION:

 

All sales people who show promising responses will be promoted to territory managers and area managers. Promotion will be internal to keep the morale and motivation of the sales team high.

 

Even though we will have minimum number of territory and area managers, but the numbers will increase with the increase in the scope of our operations. As soon as we go national, we will require the presence of company representatives in our cities to take care of the distributors in those cities. These managers will be hired from the promising candidates.

 

THE ADVERTISING PROGRAM

 

OBJECTIVES

 

• To create awareness for our brand:

 

Since we are launching a new brand, we are standing at the first stage of the product adoption process. Hence to diffuse our product, the first objective is to create awareness for our brand in the market.

 

• To create interest and consequently trial:

 

Our objective is to have our product diffused as soon as possible. Along with creating awareness, another objective we will carry simultaneously will be to create interest and trial for our product. Faith is a low margin product which is relatively fast moving. Hence it is essential to have launch objectives that concentrate on not only creating awareness and interest but also trial.

 

• To establish our brand identity which later can be extended to other related products:

 

As discussed earlier, our long term vision is driven through our corporate objective of having a permanent market presence in Pakistan. Faith, for us is a gateway to entry into the Pakistani market and serves us the opportunity to extend our product line in the future, based on our established equity and market recognition. The brand identity that we want to establish can be explained as under:

 

BRAND IDENTITY

 

BRAND ESSENCE

“Emotionally yours”

 

This one-liner captures the soul of our brand; Faith. By emotionally we mean expressively, sensitively and psychologically, we will impact our customers. Our USP’s will always concentrate on establishing our brand as someone emotionally attached and close to the consumers. When we say “emotionally yours”, we mean that our brand is something the consumers will own, will relate to. It is theirs entirely, a part of their everyday life.

 

CORE IDENTITY

 

• Companionship and sharing
• Product quality

 

EXTENDED IDENTITY

 

• Personality

-Warm

-Friendly

-Trustworthy

-Emotionally strong

-Contained

 

• Symbols

-Smiley faces

-Warm colors of green and yellow

 

• Customer/brand relationship

-Close interaction

-Dependability

-Deriving strength

 

• Value proposition

-Functional benefits

-Emotional benefits

-Self-expressive benefits

 

• To improve the perception of the people about the locally manufactured chocolates which are usually of bad quality.

 

POSITIONING

 

Our product positioning, derived from our brand identity would focus on establishing the brand as a “COMPANION” for all kinds of emotional situations.

 

It is because of this positioning that we have the name “FAITH”, because faith is something that can get you through all kinds of low situations, be it those of anxiety, fear or sadness etc. We are offering a product that could bring a smile on the faces of our consumers.

 

Hence our USP will be our image which touches the hearts of the consumers by using sensitive emotions such as loneliness, anxiety or sadness. So our positioning statement would be:

 

“To establish our brand as a companion to our consumers in their difficult times of life. Be a source of solace and comfort for them in small, everyday situations, which though seem so petty, yet they affect ones lives to a great extent.”

 

Our tag line, based on this positioning is:

 

HAVE FAITH…EVERY THING ELSE WOULD FOLLOW

 

This line not only expresses our brand identity, but can also be taken as a general and emotionally strong statement. The word ‘Faith’, here means our brand, but could also be taken as the generic word faith, which means your belief that gives you courage and comfort.

TARGET MARKET

 

Our target market comprises of everybody over the age of 13. The lower limit on age is set because it is usually after the age of 12-13 that emotions start seeming meaningful. It is then that these tiny little, everyday emotions start making sense. Before this age, a person is too young to understand and relate clearly to the emotions we will express in our positioning.

 

According to the Maslow’s hierarchy, only when a person’s basic sustenance needs are being fulfilled, he or she starts giving importance to the higher level emotional needs. Following this view, people who belong to the low class who are more concerned with fulfilling their basic physiological needs will fall out of our target market. Yet, the product concept, theme and positioning is such that our life companion moves across time, with our consumers, starting from their bad times and moments into their happy states, without making distinction of which age bracket they fall into.

COPY THEME

 

The theme of our ad is based on the idea that if you have faith you will not feel lonely, sad, depressed or anxious. Instead when you have faith, you will feel surrounded by the people you love. This means if you have faith, you will feel loved, cared for and secure.

 

MEDIA

 

MEDIA OBJECTIVES

 

Target Market (URBAN POPULATION)	No. of People
Total Population–Ages 13 and above	94,883,000
Urban Population (32.5% of total population)	30,836,975
Less A Class Elite 3%	925,109
Less Population Below Poverty Line 30%	9,251,093
Less C Class 40%	12,334,790
Target Market–Middle Upper Middle B Class	8,325,983

 

As the above table illustrates, our target population is people above the age of 13, totaling to just under 95 million people. Urban population is estimated at 32.5% of this figure with the respective income segments further classified through research and company reports. Of the entire universe for our brand, our primary target market is the Middle Upper-Middle B Class segment of the 216 urban and semi urban towns and cities across Pakistan, that we aim to reach. Hence, our total target market stands at 8.3 million people.

 

	Year 1 Sales Target
Total Sales on retail price	257,239,149

 

Based on our first year objectives and targets, we aim to capture sales to the amount of Rs. 257 million that would in a large extent be driven by our promotional campaign and strategies.

 

TRIAL TARGETS FOR THE YEAR	Yr 1
Trial target — number of people	1,500,000
PERCENTAGE OF TRIAL 1.5 Mio/target population)	18%

 

Our media objective places our reach and market coverage as a determinant of the product trial that we would be able to generate over the first year. This is estimated at 18% of the entire target population.

 

	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter
Awareness	0.3	0.45	0.55	0.65
Trial	0.1	0.13	0.16	0.18

 

On a micro scale, the media objectives trickle down to the awareness and trial targets set across the four quarters during the first year, as illustrated from the table above.

MEDIA BUYING

 

TV Guide Prime Time
TVC Channels	Rate/minute (Rs)	Total cost (Rs.)
PTV Network– 8 spots/day for 7 days a week	89,000.00	2,492,000.00
PTV World– 10 spots/day for 7 days a week	70,000.00	2,450,000.00
Star TV– 10 spots/day for 7 days a week	18,000.00	1,260,000.00
Total TVC cost per week		6,202,000.00
Total TVC cost for 3 weeks		18,606,000.00

 

 

Outdoor (Hoardings)
Classifications	1 Year Budget (Rs.)	Launch Budget (Rs.)
Front-Lit Large Size (6 Units @ Rs. 1.5 million)	9,000,000.00	9,000,000.00
Front-Lit Medium Size (30 Units @ Rs. 175,000)	5,250,000.00	5,250,000.00
Repainting and Repairs (Rs. 4,000/Board/Month)	1,440,000.00
Total Outdoor Cost	15,690,000.00	14,250,000.00

 

 

POS Display
Classifications	Quantity	Total Cost (Rs.)
Merchandising (Clocks, Calenders)	1,000 each	500,000.00
Specialty media (T-shirts, Car Stickers, Caps)		500,000.00
Buntings, Mobiles, Suspenders, etc.	50,000 units each	600,000.00
Window Displays, Shades	150 units	375,000.00
Total POP Cost		1,975,000.00

 

 

Hoardings	Karachi	Lahore	Isb-Rwp	Sargodha-Faisalabad	Peshawar		Multan	Total
Front-Lit Large Size	2	2	2					6
Front-Lit Medium Size	7	6	5	4		4	4	30

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEDIA STRATEGY AND TACTICS

 

COMMERCIALS

 

• TVC:

 

In our Television Commercial, we will have one main model who would be a young guy who could be deemed to be in an age bracket of 19-26, so that more people could relate to him. He will be shown in a pensive mood. His mood would be reflected as such that it becomes an expression of all and any kind of emotion ranging from sadness to loneliness to anxiety to discomfort. Then he remembers something and takes out the chocolate “Faith” and starts eating it closing his eyes. With every bite, he could see one of his friends coming and joining him. These friends are talking to him, laughing with him and are being a source of joy and comfort for him. When the chocolate finishes and he opens his eyes, he realizes that it was all in his imagination and everybody is gone. He smiles and takes out another faith and closes his eyes to eat another one. This is where we end our commercial with a smiley face and our tag line: “Have Faith, everything else will follow.”

 

The idea is that the feeling faith gives is that of being surrounded by love, care and friendship. We are showing friends gathering with every bite to help the customer be able to relate to the feeling Faith would give you, that of being surrounded by the loved ones and how it feels to be so. He smiles when the chocolate finishes because he realizes that it was our product that was giving him the feeling of being cared for. So he takes it out again, to reassure the audience that every time you have our chocolate, you feel good and cared for.

 

• PRINT AD

 

In the print ads given in the first few months of the launch, we will have different adaptations of the above mentioned ideas:

 

-We will have our main model sitting alone having our chocolate with a satisfied look on his face. With this picture we will use our tag line, the photograph of our product and a brief description of what the product is like.

 

-We will have the picture of a group of friends sitting together, laughing and giving attention to our main model who is sitting in the middle with the chocolate in his hands. The message would be same as in the above-mentioned ad.

 

-In our reminder ads, we will either come up with a new theme or will use the launch theme only. Another thing can do is just have a smiley face in an attractive color format with our product photograph, description and the tag line.

 

 

• HOARDINGS

 

-Hoardings will be an adaptation of the print ads, with reduced text to ensure effective communication. In upscale geographic areas or in areas where reach is high, we will use scotch prints with the ad as described above. In areas where reach is limited, we will have painted smiley faces hoardings.

 

• OTHER MEDIA

 

-BUNTINGS

On these, we will have our product colors and the theme used on the packaging.

 

-POSTERS

These would be prepared at the time of the launch and the main objective here is to create an environment of our brand across the city and on the site where the launch is planned. Our brand colors, i.e. green and yellow would be splashed all over the place mainly through these posters and the tag line would be issued on each poster to create a reminder of what Faith really is to our consumer.

 

MEASUREMENT OF ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE

 

• Since it is a new product, number of units sold and demand for our product by the distributors derived from the increased demand for our products, would be the most straight forward tool to gauge the effectiveness of our advertising.

 

• We plan to invite emails from people encouraging them to share with us some of their sad or emotionally charged moments in life and how it affected them. We will choose the best ones from them and print them in a series of ads focussing on those quotes only. This, however, we will undertake after 2-3 months of the launch. More the response to this tactic, more will be the effectiveness of our advertising.

 

LAUNCH PROGRAM

 

Our aim is not to market ourselves as just another brand in the market, we agree that making money is important for the survival of the company but we also emphasize that to make money we have to get into the minds of the consumer. This means that we will project our brand in such a way that it will become the preferred brand for the consumer and will be on top of his mind.

 

How will we manage to do this. We are following a promotional strategy which will project our brand as a companion for all people, for all times. We will say that yes we charge more… but we provide you with a friend… and good friends come at a priceJ. Our chocolate will no longer remain a product but will become a personality which will integrate itself in the lives of the consumer for all times.

 

Our initial launch will be a well publicized event. Even though it is a consumer product but like it has been mentioned before, we aim to make it a part of your life. We will do this by arranging a concert which will be a big event. We have a budget of Rs. 1.6 million for the event.

 

The event will be held on a weekend. We will publicize the event through teasers in various media. We will set up bill boards and print advertisements to be distributed in the daily Urdu and English newspapers. The advertisements will give the audience a certain amount of information that they can expect a very good product to be launched on that day but the entire product will not be unveiled till the day of the launch. The reason for this is that we want to arouse curiosity in the minds of the target audience and not just become another brand which is trying to penetrate the market. Curiosity will play a major role in determining the outcome of the event.

 

The ads to be inserted in the newspapers will be on colored papers reflecting various moods. The background will be like the wrapper of the product and will also bear the name “FAITH”. The copy of the ad will be simple and brief. It will be an open invitation to the target audience to attend the launch ceremony. We do not want to over emphasize upon the launch because then we might end up increasing the expectations of the audience and that might lead to problems in accepting the product. That is why the entire publicity will be simple …. But will be aimed at the mass market.

 

The parade will be held on a large ground like the hockey stadium which will be rented for the entire day. It has a large seating capacity and will be ideal for our launch ceremony.

 

During the event we will have different attractions for the children and different stalls for the adults. There will be characters dressed up as “FAITH” to welcome the crowd. They will have different face expressions on their outfits. We want to manage this in such a way that after entering the stadium the people will still not be sure about what the product actually is and why such a hype is being created.

 

The entire stadium will be decorated with buntings and ribbons in the colors of our brand, i.e. green and yellow. Balloons will be handed out to the children. These balloons will be customized and will be of our brand colors having smiley faces splashed all over them.

 

Once inside the stadium, our event managers will seat the audience in an organized manner to prevent chaos. Once the stadium is full, the gates will be closed and no more people will be allowed to enter into the stadium. This will be done for two reasons. Firstly, we do not want so many people into the stadium that seating becomes an issue. We want the entire event to be smoothly run so that it becomes a good memory rather than a bad one. Secondly, the people inside the stadium will appreciate our efforts to make the event a successful one and the people turned back will not be disappointed because we will be handing out surprise gift packs to the children which will contain samples of the product. They will be asked to wait until the launch ceremony is completed when the gates will once again be opened so that everyone can enjoy the carnival.

 

After the gates are closed, our Master and Mistress of ceremony will take over the event. They will tell the audience why the concert has been held and at the same time our event team will hand out samples of the chocolate to the audience.

We plan to sketch the memory of this event forever in the minds of the consumers. We plan to free a hundred pigeons at the same time from the hockey stadium. This will be done by children which will be randomly selected from the audience. Each child will be given one pigeon to release and at the same time we will release thousands of helium filled balloons. The aura created at that moment will be of a bliss with white pigeons and thousands of green and yellow balloons filling the sky. It will be an event worth remembering.

 

The actual concert will get underway around 8 p.m. as the music and occasion lights up the most during night. The special guests on the occasion to perform would be internationally renowned performers like Strings, Junaid Jamshed and Abrar, to name a few. The event will continue till 11 O’clock.

 

The next day, we will have rented out space in the newspapers where pictures of the event will be placed. This will be done to create a feeling of association with the brand for the participants. We are also hoping that the news papers will give our event a favorable rating which will go a long way in establishing a position for the brand in the minds of the consumer.

 

POINT OF SALES PROGRAM

 

Our point of sales promotion will be much emphasized. This is because our product is not a high involvement product and we plan to place it within the consumers reach to make it an impulsive decision to buy the chocolate.

 

We will be constructing special stands which will be each hold about 20 chocolates. These stands will be of different colors complementing our promotional strategy. They will be placed in counters which will put our product in the sight of the consumers increasing the probability for purchase.

 

The point of sales material will also include posters featuring our theme of “companionship”. These posters will be hung outside as well as inside the retail outlets. They will be large and easy to read and will contain minimum copy. Emphasis will be on visuals which will be easy to associate with.

 

The various posters, alongwith the point of sale material and miniature models of the billboards are included in the presentation.

 

From time to time, our sales team will set up larger displays in different large outlets to keep the product from becoming another brand of chocolate. Our aim in the point of sales promotion is to keep giving the consumer something new to look at so that our product always remains on top of their mind.