Marketing Valuation of Special Kellog's Cereal Marketing Essay

Marketing Valuation of Special Kellog's Cereal

Marketing valuation Kellogg's Special K. cereals

Kellogg's Foods: 3

Marketing mix: 3

Product: 4

Price: 4

Promotion: 5

Product Differentiation: 5

Triple bottom line Strategy: 6

Financial, Social, and Environmental Factors: 7

The business case of Kellogg's Special K. cereals is analyzed to assess the effectiveness of marketing mix, key features of the business strategy, and growth factors. The history of Kellogg's Foods is briefly described along with the analysis of marketing mix. Later section provides a brief about the product differentiation strategy of the business. The recommendations for overall business are followed by the triple bottom line strategy. Finally conclusion is presented as a summary of the findings.

Kellogg's Foods:

The company started its operation in 1906 and expanded its operations in domestic market. The first international opening is remarked as its Canada operations in 1914. The innovative development in 1915 was introduced through bran flakes. In 1923 the business hired a dietician to offer advice on its product developments. The business has celebrated its 00 years in operation in 2006 and the years 2009 and 2010 are vital as the corporation took initiative to add fiber in its products to increase nutrition. The business is expanded to 180 countries through various product categories and brands (Kellogg's Foods).

Marketing mix:

Marketing mix is often referred to four Ps of marketing. It is essential to note that e-business level strategies for all four functions including products, price, promotion, and place are developed to assess the business function's direction. The business is focused to create value for its stakeholders. The business performance is also related to its products sales. The increased revenues are generated through implementation of effective strategies for products, pricing, place, and promotions. Four Ps of marketing are analyzed for Kellogg's Special K. cereals as following.

Product:

The product, Kellogg's Special K. cereals is a premium range with original as well as added features. The original cereals are prepared using the conventional recipe. The added flavors are regarded as a company's efforts to enhance its products through effective product innovations. These flavors include chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, low-fat, blueberry, cinnamon, peach, fruit yogurt etc. The latest flavor is chocolaty strawberry. The product is prepared with whole grain and high fiber ingredients (Kellogg's Foods). The addition of fruits, nuts, and flavors are specifically targeted towards low age and young individual consumer groups. The products strategy is to target these products for high income groups of various age brackets.

Place:

The place is referred to distribution and it also a significant strategy. The significance of distribution has multiple dimensions. These dimensions are availability of products, shelf space, and optimizing inventory levels. The business utilizes technological solutions as it is emphasized throughout food retail industry in U.S.. The business uses a large scale program to effectively monitor sticks, and replenishments. The large scale system is technology enabled and provides an effective control over inventories. The products are sold through major retail stores including mall to medium size supermarkets. The business has also acquired access to stocks of major stores. The inventory is managed according the historic demands. During promotional campaigns additional levels of stocks are maintained in-house as well as at strategic locations.

Price:

The pricing strategy of Kellogg's Special K. cereals is based on the premium pricing. It is noted that the business does not allow its products to focus on lower market shares. The middle to high end segment is targeted as result the high prices are not considered as a disadvantage. However it is also noted that a number of generic products are also launched in the market by various competitors. It is a significant threat for the business. The lowering economic conditions in overall global and domestic markets are also relevant variable that should be considered while developing these strategies.

Promotion:

The key features of the product are highlighted including its nutrition content and the premium quality of ingredients. The special cereals are promoted using various marketing channels. The usage of internet, print, and electronic media is noted during the analysis. The business follows an agreed approach through internet marketing and social media channels (Advertisements, 2012). The importance of nutrition is highlighted through various marketing campaigns. The products variety is large enough to cater various age groups. The requirements of aged customers are fulfilled through original flavor. However the additional flavors are also developed to target a wide range of customers. The promotional campaigns are also formulated for special events and they are advertised using conventional and non-conventional media. The strategy for the business is to target middle to high class income group by highlighting the salient features of the food products (Aschemann-Witzel, Perez-Cueto, Niedzwiedzka, Verbeke, & Bech-Larsen, 2012).

Product Differentiation:

The product differentiation is also one of the major advantages of Kellogg Foods. It has established numerous brands and product categories. The business produces products for various brands and they all are manufactured with the aim of distinct taste, aroma, packaging, and markets. There significant focus on product differentiation allows the business to abstain from being a price leader in the market. The long established brand loyalty and list of their successful products allows it to enjoy growth. A variety of brands also allows the business to offer multiple product ranges, process, and target different markets. The key to differentiation is their strategy based on focused differentiation enabling the business to define market segments and target the products to fulfill customer requirements.

Recommendations:

Following major recommendations are prepared on the basis of case assessment of Kellogg's Special K. cereals and analyzing the major business strategies including review of the marketing mix.

The business should keenly observe market factors for attaining growth.

The life cycle of products is essentially achieved hence it is required to continuously innovate products.

The focus of marketing mix should be to create value for consumers in global era of declining economic growth.

Triple bottom line Strategy:

The triple bottom line strategy is regarding the corporate social responsibility of an organization as well as the ability to create sustainability. The concept that requires diligent planning in terms of the value creates not only for the business but also for the communities in which it is operating. The triple bottom line strategy is regarding the financial, environmental and social responsibility of business to create value for its sustainability as well as for its shareholders and communities at large. The importance of the concept is well appreciated through various sources. The emphasis on the creating value for clients, society, and environment enables a business to achieve sustainability (Henriques, & Richardson, 2004).

Financial, Social, and Environmental Factors:

The corporate social responsibility is regarding the business efforts to create value, for all three major factors influencing sustainability. It is essential to cater environment, community, and as a result gain financial growth for business. The company is well placed to create value in all there major areas. The financial position of the business is effective and it is gaining growth through various product related innovations. The financials of the business provide a significant picture of the fact that it is attaining high level of growth. The products line of corporation is also helpful in creating a sustainable growth prospective.

The social responsibility is fulfilled through various initiatives of business. One of the significant developments is through providing adequate amount of fibers in their products. The business has observed that U.S. public is not getting appropriate amount of fibers through diet. Therefore the business took a decision to add extra amount of fibers in their products to facilitate their consumers. The business is also significantly responding towards other social responsibilities. The social image of the brand is also associated with noble products development and utilizing premium quality ingredients in their products. The effective marketing and…