Blue Sky Clothing Company’s Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is an essential tool for any organization or business seeking to venture or succeed in any market (Kotler &Keller, 2012). This essay provides a marketing plan for the Blue Sky Clothing Company.

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Executive Summary

The Blue Sky Clothing Company was founded by Lucy Neuman and Nick Russell. The company competes with other well-established companies in the clothing industry. This five-year market plan is intended to help the company generate extra funds for expansion, and inform the management about the company’s current position. The plan also provides possible guidelines the organization should follow to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors.

It was launched three years ago, but it has succeeded in getting many customers due to its high-quality products. The company’s mission is to become the leader in producing and marketing casual clothing for outdoor activities. The company sells outdoor apparel for both men and women. Distribution is done through retail stores that primarily deal with outdoor clothing and gear. The distribution outlets are mainly concentrated in Northern England, California, the Northwest, and some states in the West.

Blue Sky’s Financial Goals

Nonfinancial Goals

Situational Analysis

The Blue Sky Clothing Company operates in a market environment that has several opportunities. The company is aware that marketing activities are vital to their success and profitability. It offers a wide variety of outdoor clothing with different colors and logos to attract customers. However, the market has several obstacles and challenges that the company feels it can overcome smoothly with a strategic and tactical marketing plan.

Market Summary

Blue Sky Clothing Company gathered information regarding the basic characteristics of the target customers. This information will play a great role in determining the customers’ needs and the best way to address the targeted market segments.

Target Markets

The target market for the company comprises of consumers aged between twenty-five to forty-five years old. These demographics include active people who like hiking, rock climbing, surfing, figure skating, riding horses, and many other outdoor activities. This group of target consumers reflects knowledgeable individuals whose income range between $60,000 and $120,000 annually. Currently, blue sky customers live in Northern New England, Southern California, and the Northwest. However, the company plans to venture into new markets in Mid-Atlantic and Southwest states in the future.

SWOT Analysis

Blue Sky’s position in the market for the last three years is provided by the SWOT analysis elaborated below.

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Strengths

Weakness

Opportunities

Threats

Competition

The company’s outdoor retail sales are about $ 5billion annually. However, the industry has many competitors including Timberland; Bass Pro Shops; Cabello’s; Patagonia; and REI, which are already established in the market. Smaller companies such as Title IX and Ragged Mountain also compete in the target market.

Product Offering

The company intends to offer a unique trendy customized logo and slogan clothing products. This offer is not provided by any of the competitor companies.

Keys to Success

The company’s keys to success include excellent customer service, the supply of high-quality cotton products, and effective and efficient market operations.

Critical Issues

The Blue Sky Company is new in the clothing industry. However, it plans to venture into internet-based retail sales to supplement local retail outlets. Its critical issue is to continually and gradually expand its channels of distribution.

Marketing Strategy

The Blue Sky Company will engage in web-based marketing for the next five years to creating an awareness of the company and its products. In addition, it will engage in outdoor advertising to provide the public with general information about the firm’s website and its offering.

Marketing Mix

Product Strategy

The company plans to offer high-quality cotton apparel with customized clothing items. In addition, it plans to expand its product line to include items of lightweight luggage bearing the company’s logo.

Distribution Strategy

The company plans to intensify its distribution strategy through online sales, creating online kiosks, and retail specialty shops throughout the US.

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Promotional Strategy

Promotions are done through the internet, direct mailings, and in person. The organization plans to organize trips, contests, and competitions to promote the company image.

Pricing Strategy

The organization offers value pricing. This makes the customers acknowledge the value of their purchases and go for more products. Actually, moderate pricing makes its products affordable.

Market Research

The blue sky marketing team conducted thorough market research using focus groups to gather valid market information before developing this marketing plan. Through the research, the company is likely to be more successful in the market.

Financials

In the past three years, the Blue Sky Company enjoyed a steady increase in sales. This plan projects that the company will continue with the same trend for the next three years. The table below illustrates the annual sales forecasts for the organization.

Years Sales
Year1 $75000
Year2 $130,000
Year 3 $390,000
Year 4 $780000
Year 5 $1.6m
Year 6 3.2M

Expenses Forecast

Blue Sky’s monthly expenses are expected to rise during the first quarter of the third year because of the introduction of new product lines and new internet promotion activities. Thereafter, they will reduce due to established markets.

Timeline for Expansion

The introduction of two new product lines and the expansion of the product outlets are summarized in the table below.

Years Number of new outlets Customized items Luggage items
Year 1 20 5slogans/logos 0
Year2 50 10 slogans/logos 2
Year3 100 5slogan/5logos 1 (backpack)

Controls

Blue Sky’s marketing plan acts as a roadmap for the company. Therefore, customer acquisition costs, repeat customers, and customer satisfaction will be monitored to determine the company’s continuing performance.

Implementation and Milestones

The table below shows the implementation and milestone of marketing programs.

Activity Duration Budget Department in charge
Marketing plan completion Jan-March $0 Manager
Internet advertising campaign Jan-May $3,300 Marketing manager
Outdoor advertising campaign Jan-May $3,400 ‘’
Internet advertising campaign 2 Aug-Dec $4,600 ‘’
Outdoor advertising 2 Aug- Dec $ 3, 400 ‘’
Profitability Jan-Oct $0 Everyone
Total cost $14,700

Summary

The Blue Sky company intends to continue in the fashion industry into the future. It has no plans to exit the market soon. The company aims at expanding its product line to leverage a much more market share. Finally, the company intends to operate independently without merging or amalgamating with large organizations in the industry.

Reference

Kotler, P., &Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management (14 th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.