Essay on Malaysian Market

Question: Write an essay on "Malaysian Market". Answer: Place: The distribution of Breeze in Malaysia is intensive in nature. This indicates that the product is distributed and made available in a large number of stores in order to cover and dominate the market. This is also done to enhance Breezes image as a premium detergent brand in the minds of its customers and get substantial support from their retailers. When a product is offered in a huge number of stores, the customers have the privilege to get the product whenever and wherever they want it (Sharma 2013). Intensive distribution of Breeze will reduce the time spent by the customers in looking for the stores, and also ensures convenience in purchasing so that they are able to avail the services related to the product. As the product intensity increases for Breeze, the consumers will perceive more value for the product as more place and time utility is created. The increased value further leads to better customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and brand equity. It should be noted that positive brand associations are directly related to the customer's satisfaction with the product, which, in this case, can be done through effective distribution strategy of breeze (Kellner et al. 2013). Breeze by Unilever has its marketing channels widely distributed around Malaysia. Retailing of the product is done efficiently, and Breeze is easily available in all the departmental stores, supermarkets and chain stores all over Malaysia. The shelf space allocated ton a product enhances its display values, visibility and gives its a different identity among the rest of the products kept in a store. Allocating enough shelf space to Breeze detergents is one major component of Unilevers distribution strategy for Breeze. It is a proved fact, which has been researched over the years that shelf displays increase the sales of a branded product within a store. If a product is under-allocated or improperly placed in a store, it could ruin the products future. Therefore, it is imperative for the company to strategically place its products in stores (Abbas et al.2015). Unilever pays a significant amount to stores to get premium shelf space in their stores. The primary goal with respect to this is to increase the sales of their product and earn more profit. Unilever spends nearly 20% to 30% of its promotion budget of Breeze in allocating attractive shelf spaces for breeze. Figure 1: Retail Marketing Strategy Figure 2: Distribution model Promotion A successful product will fall flat if it is not communicated to the target market. A company has to indulge in promotional activities if it wants its customers to buy the product and hence, generate profits. Apart from the conventional methods of promotion, which includes personal selling and direct marketing, the company makes huge investments in advertising as well as public relations to promote its detergent brand, Breeze. Unilever Breeze reaps full advantage of this new medium of promotion by investing time and money for the promotion of its products through the social media. Breezes presence on the social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are very strong, and its social media team makes sure that they regularly interact with its customers (Hollebeek et al. 2014). This enables them to get first-hand feedbacks from the consumers and gives them the opportunity to rectify any grievances that the customers have towards the product. Breeze launches innovative ads on Youtube and Facebook that have gone viral throughout Malaysia. The promotional team comes up with attractive contests, which entices the consumer to participate to win exciting prices. At breeze, it is believed that stains are good for children. Keeping a perspective like this, they indulge in a number of activities dedicated only to the kids. Apart from the conventional advertising, they invest their budget in carrying out promotional activities that is targeted at kids and their mothers. Their campaign is built around enhancing the social skills of kids and boosting their self-confidence. Unilever also n though practices price promotions like discounts and direct reduction in price (Colicev et al. 2016). This is done to activate the sales of its products. Even though the profit margin is lowered per unit of the product, the profit is increased owing to additional sales. Free trails and Samples of Breeze detergent is offered to the new customers to entice them to use the product (Hollebeek et al. 2014). This is the most effective promotional technique adopted by the brand because this is a proven method of generating trials among the customers. Offering gifts to its customers is also a promotional technique embraced by Unilever. The gifts are linked to the brand entity of breeze and are a successful method of enhancing brand loyalty among the customers. References: Abbas, A., Imam, A. and Alvi, A.K., 2015. EFFECT OF SHELF SPACE OPTIMIZATION ON CONSUMER DECISION MAKING. Science International, 27(1). Colicev, A., OConnor, P. and Vinzi, V.E., 2016. Is Investing in Social Media Really Worth It? How Brand Actions and User Actions Influence Brand Value. Service Science, 8(2), pp.152-168. Hollebeek, L.D., Glynn, M.S. and Brodie, R.J., 2014. Consumer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), pp.149-165. Kellner, F., Otto, A. and Busch, A., 2013. Understanding the robustness of optimal FMCG distribution networks. Logistics Research, 6(4), pp.173-185. Sharma, N., 2013. Marketing strategy on different stages PLC and its marketing implications on FMCG products. International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services Management Research, 2(3), pp.121-136. Valenzuela, A., Raghubir, P. and Mitakakis, C., 2013. Shelf space schemas: Myth or reality?. Journal of Business Research, 66(7), pp.881-888.