Marketing Research of Mars Incorporated : Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2008, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately-held company in the United States by Forbes.[2] Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA,[3][4] the company is entirely owned by the Mars family. Mars operates in six business segments in the U.S.: Chocolate (Hackettstown, New Jersey) , Petcare (Franklin, Tennessee), Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (Chicago, Illinois), Food (Los Angeles, California), Drinks (West Chester, Pennsylvania), and Symbioscience (Rockville, Maryland).[5]

Marketing Audit: Current Marketing Plan

Marketing Strategies

The current marketing strategies of Stobo Castle is geared towards the wealthy market. Stobo Castle is positioned as an exclusive wellness spa with state of the art facilities and services that are fit for royalties. Also the current marketing strategies aim to position Stobo Castle as a premiere destination for guests that are health conscious and at the same time willing to spend for relaxation and pampering.

Marketing Mix

Product – the main product of Stobo Castle is service in the form of accommodation, spa treatments and dining services. The main offering of Stobo Castle is its spa treatments and therapies. However, the spa also caters to guests that want to stay longer in the castle. Stobo Castle has a number of rooms where guests or residents can stay. Lastly, Stobo Castle also offers dining services through its restaurants.
Price – the price of the packages at Stobo Castle are aimed at the A and B market. These market segments are health conscious and are willing to spend much on wellness and spa treatments.
Place – the place where service is distributed to the guests is accessible to the target market. The castle presents a unique concept that adds to the attraction of the spa. Also, the castle radiates a feeling of exclusivity, tranquility and privacy to the consumers.
Promotion – the promotion is usually centered in the website of the spa. Brochures are the primary promotion tool of the spa.
People – as a service-oriented organization, the staff plays an important role in the marketing of Stobo Castle’s products and services. The staff is the ones who facilitate the service encounter. Stobo Castle employs professional and well-trained staff.

ocial media has put power in the hands of the consumer, giving everyone a publishing platform to push out their thoughts and feelings to the world at large. This has given great power to word-of-mouth, typically considered the most trustworthy form of marketing.
But social behavior is changing as it matures.

The GlobalWebIndex “Annual Report 2011,” which includes data from Trendstream and Lightspeed Research, outlines a shift in consumer behavior on social media. As usage of social sites increases around the world, the landscape is maturing.

According to the report, usage is shifting to focus on distributing content rather than creating it. Social media users disseminate and share professionally created content more often on microblogs, social networks and video-sharing platforms.

But the human element remains key to engendering trust. Internet users worldwide reported a nearly 50% increase in their trust of social network contacts giving product recommendations, and a 21% increase for microblog contacts.

Even though many of those contacts are likely sharing some professional content with or alongside their personal recommendations, professional sources of information like newspapers and TV barely gained any trust over the same period.



But Edelman’s “Trust Barometer” report for 2011 shows, for the second year in a row, an apparent decline in trust of a “person like me” (from 47% in 2009 to 43% in 2011) and a concomitant rise in trust for experts.

That survey polled college-educated consumers ages 25 to 64 who are in the top 25% of household income relative to age group in their home country and who follow business news and public policy.

The opinions of such an affluent, highly educated, highly informed group cannot be extended to the general population.

Further, Edelman asked about trust in “information about a company,” a different query than product or brand recommendations.

The inclusion of answer choices like “a financial or industry analyst” or “government official” orients the question more toward investor than consumer issues.



Other research tends to support the traditional view that word-of-mouth from friends, family and other peers is still the most trustworthy way of getting information about products and services. Teen influencers told Ketchum in May that friends with their top source of information.

The importance and trustworthiness of customer reviews has grown, especially when shoppers feel they are authentic peer opinions. And social media users say dialogue and comment quality are key to trust on social sites.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2008, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately-held company in the United States by Forbes.[2] Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA,[3][4] the company is entirely owned by the Mars family. Mars operates in six business segments in the U.S.: Chocolate (Hackettstown, New Jersey) , Petcare (Franklin, Tennessee), Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (Chicago, Illinois), Food (Los Angeles, California), Drinks (West Chester, Pennsylvania), and Symbioscience (Rockville, Maryland).[5]

Marketing Audit: Current Marketing Plan

Marketing Strategies

The current marketing strategies of Stobo Castle is geared towards the wealthy market. Stobo Castle is positioned as an exclusive wellness spa with state of the art facilities and services that are fit for royalties. Also the current marketing strategies aim to position Stobo Castle as a premiere destination for guests that are health conscious and at the same time willing to spend for relaxation and pampering.

Marketing Mix

Product – the main product of Stobo Castle is service in the form of accommodation, spa treatments and dining services. The main offering of Stobo Castle is its spa treatments and therapies. However, the spa also caters to guests that want to stay longer in the castle. Stobo Castle has a number of rooms where guests or residents can stay. Lastly, Stobo Castle also offers dining services through its restaurants.
Price – the price of the packages at Stobo Castle are aimed at the A and B market. These market segments are health conscious and are willing to spend much on wellness and spa treatments.
Place – the place where service is distributed to the guests is accessible to the target market. The castle presents a unique concept that adds to the attraction of the spa. Also, the castle radiates a feeling of exclusivity, tranquility and privacy to the consumers.
Promotion – the promotion is usually centered in the website of the spa. Brochures are the primary promotion tool of the spa.
People – as a service-oriented organization, the staff plays an important role in the marketing of Stobo Castle’s products and services. The staff is the ones who facilitate the service encounter. Stobo Castle employs professional and well-trained staff.

ocial media has put power in the hands of the consumer, giving everyone a publishing platform to push out their thoughts and feelings to the world at large. This has given great power to word-of-mouth, typically considered the most trustworthy form of marketing.
But social behavior is changing as it matures.

The GlobalWebIndex “Annual Report 2011,” which includes data from Trendstream and Lightspeed Research, outlines a shift in consumer behavior on social media. As usage of social sites increases around the world, the landscape is maturing.

According to the report, usage is shifting to focus on distributing content rather than creating it. Social media users disseminate and share professionally created content more often on microblogs, social networks and video-sharing platforms.

But the human element remains key to engendering trust. Internet users worldwide reported a nearly 50% increase in their trust of social network contacts giving product recommendations, and a 21% increase for microblog contacts.

Even though many of those contacts are likely sharing some professional content with or alongside their personal recommendations, professional sources of information like newspapers and TV barely gained any trust over the same period.



But Edelman’s “Trust Barometer” report for 2011 shows, for the second year in a row, an apparent decline in trust of a “person like me” (from 47% in 2009 to 43% in 2011) and a concomitant rise in trust for experts.

That survey polled college-educated consumers ages 25 to 64 who are in the top 25% of household income relative to age group in their home country and who follow business news and public policy.

The opinions of such an affluent, highly educated, highly informed group cannot be extended to the general population.

Further, Edelman asked about trust in “information about a company,” a different query than product or brand recommendations.

The inclusion of answer choices like “a financial or industry analyst” or “government official” orients the question more toward investor than consumer issues.



Other research tends to support the traditional view that word-of-mouth from friends, family and other peers is still the most trustworthy way of getting information about products and services. Teen influencers told Ketchum in May that friends with their top source of information.

The importance and trustworthiness of customer reviews has grown, especially when shoppers feel they are authentic peer opinions. And social media users say dialogue and comment quality are key to trust on social sites.

Hey netra, as you have already mentioned that Mars Incorporated is a company which produces pet food and other food related products. Well, i have got some important information and would like to share it with you.
 

Attachments

  • Mars Incorporated.pdf
    404.3 KB · Views: 0
Top