Experimental Marketing

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Cadbury is one of the most successfully producer and marketer of chocolate in the world. However, the company has been faced with a challenge on venturing into the Indian tourism industry as the level of chocolate consumption in the industry perform dismal compared to the same sector in other countries. Therefore this consultancy proposal aims at creating a marketing strategy that will help the company market White chocolate which has been marketed in Europe to the Indian tourism sector. Through experimental marketing, the company will promote consumer experience of the product through association with India festivals or other activities like beauty contests which attract a large number of tourists. The company has all the resources which can help it produce and market white chocolate in India. This consultancy has been prepared by John Smith, Susan Twain, and Richard Matt who are marketing professionals with a huge marketing experience.

Requirements
India tourism industry is a growing at unprecedented rate. As one of the most populous countries in the world with magnificent geography and culture, India is becoming ...
... one of the preferred tourism destinations in Asia. Driven by a burgeoning middle class, India tourism industry has recorded massive growth in the recent years. There are also a growing number of high spending foreign tourists. India is being recognized as one of the major global destination. Every year, more than four million tourists troupe the country visiting various sites in the country.
The growing tourism industry in India has different facets. First there is geographical tourism in which a growing number of tourists are visiting different geographical and traditional sites like Taj Mahar. Apart from geographical tourism, there is a new dimension of economic tourism where the growing IT industry is attracting a large number of businessmen and women who spend one or two weekends as tourists. Tourists visiting India spend more than in any other country in the world.
This marketing consultancy proposal looks into the reason why despite the increase advertisement campaign, Cadbury chocolate brands have not made an impact in the leisure industry like they have done in other countries. As outlined by the client, this problem has not been lack of advertisement but rather having advertisements which are not making impact on the country. Cadbury has used millions of dollars to advertise its products in the country and specifically targeting the tourism industry but the impact has not been felt. Compared to other countries where chocolate is making big sales in leisure industry, India has recorded lower sales.
Chocolate has been classified as a leisure product and hence marketing strategy should be aimed at making connection with consumers in the leisure industry. The problem that Cadbury had encountered in India is due to marketing strategies that are not making an impact. Furthermore, the company has concentrated on marketing dark chocolate which is also produced in the country. India has culture values which have either prevented the local tourist from increasing their consumption. For example the dark color is associated with culture issues which prevent most people from purchasing chocolate. Either, there is a wide belief among adults especially males that chocolate is meant for children and young girls. Although this is a stereotyped belief, there is enough evidence which shows that most adults do not identify themselves with the product. There has not been a marking appeal to their emotions to create the needed connection so that they can feel as a part of the products. Therefore, there is need to change marketing strategy to ensure that even adults creates a connection with the product and hence increased their consumption.
The company proposes to introduce white chocolate brand which has done well in other countries. White chocolate is marketed in leisure industries in most European countries and it has recorded positive impact. In some countries, white chocolate large bars are usually purchased as souvenirs for tourists returning home. The company therefore aims at making the same impact in India. However, this will required strategic marketing which can only be achieved through experimental marketing.
Experimental marketing can play a bigger role in ensuring the success of the chocolate products in India. Experimental marketing will create a connection between the consumer and the product such that it will break the culture and stereotyped barriers that have been identified above. In tourism industry, experimental marketing will connected consumers to the product to ensure that they can associate with it.
Proposed solution
Solution to the Cadbury marketing problem in India would be to use experimental marketing. Experimental marketing is a new marketing strategy which aims at selling products and services based on consumer experience (Mikunda, 2004). This integrates the art of creating a new experience to consumers with an aim of creating emotional connection between the persons, the brand, and product or idea. Experimental marketing is a new marketing approach which integrates different elements of emotions, logic and the thought process in order to connect with consumers. The main goal of experimental marketing is to establish a connection with consumer in a way that consumers response to producer and servicing offering from their emotional and rational response levels. Experimental marketing mainly appeal to a variety of personal sense to engage consumers. The concept seeks to tap an important and special place within the consumer. It looks into the place that has something to do with inspiring thoughts, comfort, and pleasures and which can greatly implore a sense of practicality (Hulten et al., 2009). This implies that role of the marketer will be to formulate strategies that creates a grasp of consumer mindset.
How can experimental marketing resolve the problem of Cadbury in India? Experimental marketing involves understanding how the consumer thinks and feels in relation to a given product or service. To connect with consumer sense, it is important to engage with as many senses as possible. This will involve creating visual displays that consumers can connect with including websites, visual media, and many others (Hulten et al., 2009). It will also require an integrated approach to appeal to other sense like tastes if it is for a food product and many others. The logic behind the whole concept is that consumers should be able to connect with the brand. Experimental marketing is carried at to consumers on multi levels. This means that it is one of them most ideal strategy to use in contemporary marketing since it can penetrate to different levels of consumers. For example in India context, this strategy can be used to reach tourist visiting different geographical regions and those coming for business reason through different marketing strategies.
The changing trend in marketing has shown that most consumers are tired of the traditional mass media marketing and they are interested in the modern marketing like internet (Gladwell, 2002). This means experimental marketing an ideal strategy to use in marketing campaigns. Through impressive advertisement, it can make a quick impression, connection, and engagement with consumers. For example in the case of Cadbury chocolate, the company can use marketing strategies that creates brand personality around white chocolate. This will ensure that consumer identify more with the white chocolate compared to other products.
Therefore, through experimental marketing, the company will be able to make a particular appeal to the consumer such that they will identify more with the brand (Mikunda, 2004). The company can use the strategy that has been used in other countries. For example through identifying white chocolate king size bar with souvenirs, consumer perception of the brand can be enhanced to mean more value. To add visual appearance to the product, the company may be required to repackage the chocolate in a different color pack. For example in other countries, white chocolate has been marketed in white and blue color wraps very different from purple wraps that are used in most chocolate brands.

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