Introduction
Many Americans think diets should work overnight to solve their weight problems. They struggle with the challenges they face of permanent weight loss. The billions that we spend on diets every year is a hefty amount. That money is spent towards a dream goal of weight loss. For those of us that want to fit into our skinny jeans, we need a diet plant that will work with our lifestyle so we can stay on the path of health and weight loss. Herbalife is a global nutrition company that sells nutritional supplements and weight management products that support a healthy lifestyle. For 34 years, Herbalife has been offering a safe, simple and effective weight management program that encompasses personal nutrition, education and product training. Herbalife products are sold through independent distributors in over 90 countries. (Herbalife)(businessweek.com)
Herbalife operates on a Direct Selling/MLM referral sales model. The majority of independent distributors of Herbalife purchase the product for personal use and consumption. The distributors receive financial compensation and product discounts. Some distributors purchase the products solely for personal use while other sell outright for commissions and deeper discount percentages.
Herbalife’s direct selling concept is a step aside from a referral rewards program. The only way to purchase Herbalife products is to buy them from an independent distributor. You cannot order direct from Herbalife’s website or in a retail outlet. Independent distributors become independent contractors for Herbalife and they try to recruit friends, family members and prospects to purchase product from them and/or become independent distributors themselves. The result is a $30 billion indu...
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...ximately 4 percent of Herbalife’s independent distributors joined the company to earn a fulltime income and the vast majority joined for the primary purpose of buying product at a discount. (Herbalife)
Action Plan
Herbalife needs to secure a marketing/public relations consultant to assist them in preparing some effective marketing strategies. They have a great product that works for them. They have members that are only there to receive discounts. They need a strategy in place that can move the company to even higher sales. Most people have no clue what Herbalife is in the diet/nutritional supplement industry and even a higher number have no idea what the Casa Herbalife Program is, or what Herbalife Family Foundation does to help children’s lives. If a more precise marketing campaign was put into place this company would see record double digit increases.
Recently, another weight loss supplement has stepped into the ever-increasing market. This drug, called Stimulife 750, is a supposedly all-natural herbal supplement that promotes weight loss without any effort from the client. Both the parent company – Stimulife International – and various distributors of Stimulife 750 make bold blanket statements such as “Stimulife 750 has everything good and nothing bad,” which set the success of the pill far higher than is possible. Furthermore, these individuals attempting to sell the product use a variety of marketing techniques to encourage purchasing the supplement; however, they provide no scientific evidence to support the claims they make regarding the safety and effectiveness of the product. By appealing to the clients’ desire for a natural and easy way to lose weight, providing pseudo-scientific statements to convey a sense of authenticity to the product, and befriending the client by seeming to care for their best interests, the distributers attempt to woo more clients. However, Stimulife 750 contains many ingredients included in other “unsafe” weight loss supplements and scientific research shows no clear evidence that Stimulife 750 is any more effective or safe as other diet pills.
One year later, in 1997, in an attempt to source its strategic investments, Natureview organized an equity infusion from a venture capital firm; however, the venture capital now needs to cash out of its investment in Natureview and management will therefore need to find another investor or position itself for acquisition. In order to attain the maximum potential valuation, the company must make strategic marketing choices in an attempt to increase revenues to $20 million before the end of 2001. And to meet this lofty goal, Natureview can potentially enter a new market and transition from the natural food channel into the supermarket channel, a move that would signify a dramatic departure from the company’s present channel strategy and affect all facets of Natureview’s current business model. B.
This situation seemed interesting to Vanguard because of the exponential increase in the number of potential clients, whom Vanguard doesn’t have to directly advise and serve about their products and services, combined with the high potential for profitability. The development of this broad qualified sales force could also be done at relatively low development cost. The positive aspects of this alternative are somehow strongly counterbalanced by the fact that huge efforts of mass advertising would be required in order to inform the potential customers about Vanguard’s brand, and over whom Vanguard would have no control in the sale process. Vanguard would also have to face some strong competition in its relationship with the intermediaries, who are not always the most loyal sales representatives.
Large players can offer competitive prices if they buy in bulk. Smaller players can differentiate themselves by offering niche products and superior customer delight at a premium price.
The Coop is depending on a marketing VP with experience in the hotel industry and not any real experience in fast food. They have no current research so they have no way of knowing the effects that their competitors are having on the retail sales.
Some quantities of the company’s products find their way to unapproved outlets or distribution channels. This gray market for Callaway’s products can undermine authorized retailers and foreign wholesale distributors who promote and support the company’s products and can negatively impact its image in the minds of its customers. On the other hand, stopping such sales could result in a potential decrease in sales to those customers who are selling Callaway products to unauthorized distributors and/or an increase in sales returns over historical levels.
“Sugar addiction is a rapidly growing epidemic (Teitelbaum, 2010).” According to researchers, on average an individual consumes one-hundred pounds of sugar each year. Americans spend billions of dollars a year on gym memberships, healthy foods and beverages, and exercise equipment. Despite the economic strain, Americans continue to make room in their budgets for weight loss products.
With the rise of baby boomers as a significant proportion of the dieting population, they crave new ways to manage their weight, allowing Weight Watchers to be successful within their target market. As obesity rates are increasing, the use of weight loss products and services are more acceptable than prior generation hesitations. New entrants should expect high barriers of entry and difficulty accessing distribution channels as it is extremely difficult for new product to enter an industry with sharp retaliation from established competitors such as weight management. The bargaining power of buyers is relatively high.
Profit Marketing objectives of marketing are usually to let potential clients in the target market know about the product or service and how it can benefit them, with a view to selling it in exchange for money. The corporation keeps the money, and the customer enjoys the product or service that they bought. Profit marketing also focuses on developing new markets for existing products or identifying markets for new product lines. The major difference between the marketing of the two types of corporations is the fulfillment of the customer need. The for profit marketing customer has a need that he fulfills by the purchase of the goods or services and may measure sales, the number of customers, or...
direct marketing: it means selling directly to the consumer through the mail, by telephone, or door-to-door. By having direct contact with the customer, the company knows what are the needs, the preferences, and then can effectively choose the kind of products it will sell in the Moroccan market.
Another important piece of Unilever’s general environment is the sociocultural segment. One of the company’s founding values is understanding and improving consumers’ lives. A major strength of Unilever lies in its ability to anticipate consumer trends and demands and then cater to their needs. For example, market research indicated that nutrition was the number one concern in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and that weight was the number three concern. The focus of peoples’ attitudes became living healthier lifestyles. To move with the trend Unilever acquired SlimFast. SlimFast was the U.S. market leader in the weight management and nutritional supplement industry, with a 45% market share. The acquisition seemed promising in the beginning. Approximately 94% of SlimFast’s sales were in North America, which presented a huge opportunity to diversify into foreign markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Unfortunately the healthy lifestyle that peop...
Avon Products is the world’s top direct seller of cosmetics and similar items, with direct sales remaining its main method of distribution to customers (Colbert, 2011). At last count, Avon had approximately 6.2 million independent representatives worldwide and sales and distribution operations in more than 100 countries and territories (Colbert, 2011).
According to recent statistics, every year Americans spend about $50 billion on products and services promoted to help them lose weight. Many of the overweight and obese people that join commercial weight loss programs are looking for a quick fix to lose the weight, such as fad diets and dietary supplements that are marketed to burn fat fast. However, many of these diets offer little success or success for a short time, resulting in many gaining the weight back a short time afterwards. Fad diets are “a trendy practice that has widespread appeal among a population. After a period, however, people lose interest in the practice, and it becomes no longer fashionable. People often lose weight while following fad diets, but usually regain much of
Lack of brand awareness. Our company has a strong image in other countries. But as we introduce our product into our new market where we may not have competitors with similar products, we may have competition with a variety of related products. We will address this issue with heavy and aggressive promotion emphasizing in our products’ nutrition facts.
A consumer might pay a bigger cost for the company's services or products due to an assurance to purchase the brand or a passive agreement. The path they bought should be identical to the company's status. Furthermore, companies always need to investigate whether channels are appropriate to marketing or not. Almost every today's companies adopt integrated multi-channel marketing such as social media. They can utilize one or more distribution channels in various ways. It can be sure that the higher the distribution channel, the higher the market place coverage.