Marketing strategy devised for Ramalingam foods to expand in international markets

Assignment Taken

Develop a marketing strategy to tap into a fast expanding market.

Case Understanding

Ramalingam foods is a fast-food restaurant, its USP is in authentic south Indian cuisine. To stay afloat during the 1975 political turmoil, Mr. Ramalingam introduced dosa-idli batter and packets of authentic south Indian chutneys. Further in 1990, Mr. Vijay Ramalingam grew the business in pan India by selling a variety of instant mix products like Instant dosa Mix, Instant Idli Mix, Instant Gulab Jamun Mix, Instant Laddu Mix, instant coffee powder Instant Dhokla mix and other products of this kind. They observed that their products are being shipped to foreign markets by Indian origin visitors settled in those countries. This gave them an idea to leverage the opportunity of international expansion of their brand. As a marketer we need to make Ramalingam foods a known and recognisable brand internationally among its potential customers. We need to create a Go to market strategy to launch our product in the UAE.

BCS Solution Summary

As a part of our research we selected UAE as the target country. UAE has the largest number of migrated Indians(2.8 million) worldwide and among them one in every four is a Keralite (1 million). 4.5 lakh are from Tamil Nadu. The solution is about developing a marketing strategy for the company in fast-expanding markets. The solution talks in detail about a series of important dimensions of marketing strategy such as segmentation, targeting and positioning, the value proposition of the company, the promotion of the products etc. Ramalingam Foods will focus on R&D for product innovation, marketing for extending reach, and brand building

Solution

Market Analysis

Why to start with UAE?

The UAE has experienced a tremendous increase in the population of resident Indians who initially migrated to the country as a result of opportunities in petroleum. Now, Indians are the backbone to the UAE's construction, retail, financial services, manufacturing and transport sectors.

Group	Total Population
Malayali	773524
Tamil	450000
Telugu	80000 ~
Punjabi	50000 ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARKETING STRATEGY:

The marketing strategy should cater to providing sufficient shelf space and the traction among customers in the retail outlets of its target markets. This is possible through strategic relationships with the supply chain partners, the retailers and the customers themselves by positioning the products and promoting them in the right way.

 

Mission:

Ramalingam Foods aims to enter new international markets where it has a potential to become the market leader by serving the Indian and local people living in that country through its ready to cook food products from the Indian cuisine.

Tagline: Chef’s Kiss with Tasty Instant Mix- The essence of Indian Flavours

Marketing Objectives:

• Achieve a market share of 25% within one year of entering a new market.

• Strengthen the presence at home market by introducing new products and marketing them to the right audience.

• To increase shelf space and brand recognition in the international markets.

• To introduce e-commerce channels for the new digital age

SWOT Analysis of the company:

Strengths:

• Legacy of having good quality products

• A well established and recognized brand in India

• Highly experienced in handling business in India since a long time

• Good understanding of the Indian market

Weaknesses:

• Lack of strategic partners (supply chain members, logistics etc.) outside India

• Lack of international exposure

Opportunities:

• Diversifying risk by moving serving more than one market

• Opportunity to become the market leader in a developing market

• New markets to expand business

• Increased brand recognition

Threats:

• May lead to significant losses if the right markets are not entered.

• Already established competitors in UAE

Segmentation:

1. On the basis of Demography- Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, race, religion, language, income, occupation.

2. On the basis of Geography- Nations, states, regions, cities, postal codes or neighbourhoods.

3. On the basis of Psychographic- Personality, attitude, values, self-image, interests, opinions, lifestyle.

Behavioural Segmentation: User status- The group of people to be targeted based on their usage levels are: 

1. Non-users 

2.Potential users

3.First-time users

Target Markets:

For the company to penetrate the target market and become a known brand, our target segments would be-

1. Age Group -  18-65 years old

2. Ethnicity -      Indian

3. Income -        Lower middle class to Upper class households

4. Region-         Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi

The customers to be targeted are “Millennials of Indian origin, who live in or travel to other countries for professional or personal reasons. These people may or may not have used the product the company has to offer.”

Positioning:

For Indians living abroad, millennials and working households to be their favourite instant mix and fast-food company overseas while solving problems associated with cooking traditional cuisines and fast foods in a quick and hassle-free way.

Brand Value Proposition:

Through our products, customers can enjoy healthy, ready to eat Indian food from the comfort of their homes.

 

 

The Marketing Mix for the first year: The 4Ps:

 

Product: 

1. Ready to cook Indian food products.

2. Easy to cook.

3. Takes less time to prepare - 5 minutes.

4. Very healthy.

5. No artificial ingredients added.

6. 100% organic.

7. Available in various packet sizes.

8. Three-layered packaging.

9. Intellectual property rights (IPR) to prevent plagiarism

Place:

• Available at mom and pop stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets in metro cities of the target countries

• Local Indian restaurants and local Indian community halls

• Listing on e-commerce websites like Amazon, Souq and Ounass 

• Making our own website to sell speciality products

Price:

• Affordable prices in the range of Rs.50 - Rs.300 INR and equivalent in the target market’s currency

• Penetration pricing is used for achieving a good market share

Promotion:

• Through television commercials

• Influencer marketing- Collaboration with famous food bloggers of UAE

• Web page advertisements

• Social media campaigns- We can run multiple campaigns on Facebook and Instagram for Top, Middle and Bottom of the funnel. Carousels, single image/ video, testimonial videos and slideshow ads can be run with a daily budget with the conversion objective

• Google Advertising- Google AdSense is the best way to reach your target market through online advertising. With the help of Search Engine Marketing through long tail keywords, a minimum cost can be acquired with the maximum impact on our target audience

• Word of mouth marketing

• Sponsoring events in localities where most of the target population is expected to reside

• Through events of the Indian community clubs of that country

 

• Google ads- ₹4,00,000

• YouTube ads- ₹2,50,000

• Facebook ads- ₹3,50,000

• Instagram ads- ₹4,00,000

• TV ads-₹2,50,00,000

• Flyers and Billboards- ₹55,00,000

• Stage shows and other promotional events (Trade Fairs)- ₹1,00,00,000

• Influencers- ₹30,00,000

• Referrals and coupons- ₹6,00,000

• Discounts and free gifts- ₹10,00,000

 

Conclusion

The marketing strategy for Ramalingam foods that would support the company’s international expansion plan was created Promoting to the right target audience with the support of supply chain partners is essential Customer satisfaction is topmost priority. This is to ensure positive word of mouth.

Attached File Details

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKRPioxOhbQ