Kingfisher School of Business and Finance

Marketing 11- Principles of Marketing

First Semester, S.Y 2017-2018

ALC Toy Balloons

(Marketing Plan)

Submitted by:

Agaceta, Kenji

Alvarez, Christopher

Aragona, Ronald Paul

Carrera, Rebecca Ruth

Reyes, Joperdave

Mr. Raul Serafica

Instructor
Executive Summary

Alc Toy Balloons offers the best party experience along with fun and friendly atmosphere

and exceptional customer service. It ensures that customers and their guests will do nothing but

enjoy the party.

ALC Toy Balloons is a small business located at Burgos Street, Dagupan City,

Pangasinan. It caters to a variety of people's needs and preferences for party services and

products for different types of celebrations. They specialize however to arranging birthday

decorations as well as providing entertainment. Their products include personalized balloons,

goody bags, banners, party hats, and other party needs, while their services are entertainment

and party decoration.

ALC serves customers that are divided in different market segments -- behavioral and

demographic. However, it serves only a limited share in the market and it has a narrow

distribution channel. The competitive advantage of ALC is with their excellent services. They

cannot consider products as one of their competitive advantage because these are

undifferentiated in the current market state. Specifically their major strength is their ability to

accept rush orders which competitors cannot do.

Given the situation of ALC, there is an opportunity for it to expand or improve its

business. Considering the market, the current state of the business, competitors, strengths, and

other relevant factors, there is a huge possibility for ALC to improve. Thus this business plan

sets the goals :

• To increase the number of customers being served

• To increase profits by increasing sales

• To increase market share

• To offer new products or services.

Also strategies and tactics were proposed to achieve these goals. Thus the existing

opportunity with ALC's current state, which can result to a better and improved business, has to

handled well.

A. Mission Statement

ALC Toy Balloons provides the best party experience that you will never forget. To do

this, we will ensure that in your special day, you and your guests will do nothing except to enjoy

yourself because we will take good care of the rest. We trained our employees in providing fun

and friendly atmosphere and exceptional customer service.

B. Diagnosis

ALC Toy Balloons may not be familiar with the majority but it is one of the top choices in

decorating a party and providing entertainment here in Dagupan. In terms of entertainment and

on time services, it is just next to Lavarias Party World which is the top choice in this industry.

Also, you can’t leave behind the ALC Toy Balloons if you’re talking about venue setup. But, if

you want special party materials, ALC Toy Balloons can provide you the best party materials in

the city. So, in overall ranking, we can say that ALC Toy Balloons is second among its

competitors.

C. Product/Service

ALC Toy Balloons offer both products and services. These products mostly include

balloons and party materials. Colors may vary depending on the theme of the occasion. Shapes

and sizes have a standard of a typical balloon and party materials are almost the same in every

store you can buy. These products are not differentiated at all so labelling and packaging is not

a major characteristic. For the service, that is mascots and/or clown entertainment, however,
are dependent also on the occasion. Mostly, the same routine of performance is made by these

workers.

ALC’s competitive advantage is mostly concerned on their service because products do

not vary in different stores. They guarantee that their service is very entertaining and suitable for

all ages. Also, their prices are relatively lower than their competitors.

Its major strength is its ability to accept rush orders that other competitors cannot do. But

its weakness is the changing climate because few events occur during rainy days so their

demand falls during these seasons.

Prices vary in different products. Regular balloons in sticks are selling at Php13 and

flying balloons at Php17 each. These products are marked up are said to be marked up at 30%.

Clown packages range from Php3, 000-Php7, 000 in each show.

Product personality refers to the set of personality characteristics that people use to

describe a specific product. Product personality can affect users' interaction with and evaluation

of a product. ALC product and service personality is the memory that the customers will retain

after experiencing their products. It may be the joy that their product made them, even though it

may have a minimal contribution to the event, ALC helps you enjoy your special day.

D. Market

Most of the entity’s customers comprise of parents which are classified to be under the

medium and high income earners in the Philippines. On the other hand, it also have customers

ranging from ages 18 and 30 both male and female, customers falling from this category are

most likely the one looking for event planners and decorations because as people age the

lesser they become interested in celebrations. Because certain life event happens from this

range like debut, first job, promotion, graduation and so on. Also, people falling under this range
are capable of being employed. But compared to the former, they are more price sensitive.

Since both of them are employed, it will be cumbersome for them to plan and create decorations

for celebrations especially when they are running out of time so they have to look for faster

ways to celebrate. In addition to, we also serves businessmen looking for decorations for their

grand openings to captivate and attract customers .Therefore, their decisions are influenced by

price, quick service and aesthetic value.

The customers are divided into different market segments. The first one is demographic,

in which the business offers decorations based on the gender of the celebrant such as cartoon

characters like Spongebob, Princess Sofia, Barney and so on. Another is that, ALC Toy Baloons

based on the age of the celebrant for instance they use cartoon characters for kids and plain

balloons and center pieces for adults. Another segment is behavioral, the business have

decorations for different occasions like birthday parties, business openings, or for holidays like

balloons having printed word of “Happy New Year”.

The customers’ real needs are decorations that can be quickly prepared but at the

same time can be completed on great condition and great quality. On the other hand, customers

perceived needs are decorations that only look good. In this business, they are capable of

producing decorations of high quality or even take rush orders while still making what the

customers want the decorations or party to look like.

E. Distribution

Delivering the products or services in a most effective manner is one of the ways to have

repeat customers. It can help the company to increase customers' satisfaction and to avoid the

cost of delays .

ALC Toy Balloons have no other distribution channels aside from its actual store at Burgos

Street, Dagupan City and its facebook page, thus most of the transactions happen at the
shop.The company uses cabinets and glass racks to display their party materials and other

products at the store. They do not mail out samples or provide trial offers but instead customers

come to their store to see the products and serviced that they can avail.

On the other hand, most of their customers or clients typically go to the shop in person a

to negotiate their preference for the set up venue, the services they will avail as well as the price

of each service and product.The owners do not go directly to their customers to offer their

products and services because majority of them are repeat and loyal customer, and the

business is already in the area.

Furthermore, the owners have recently created a Facebook page wherein their products

and service offerings can also be checked by customers. Through this page, customers can

easily browse the products and services that they are looking for. They can also see the

features of each service like entertainment and decorations as well as the corresponding

amount of every product and service.If customers have clarifications or inquiries, they can also

text or call the owners or simply leave a message on the page Moreover, they can give their

suggestions on how to improve the business and can try to visit the store if they want by just

looking at the exact address written on the page.

Although using the internet like social media is very beneficial to both the entity and their

customers most of their transactions especially when they are closing the deal still happen at

their store. The main purpose of the page is to provide necessary information to the customers

in a convenient way but some of their customers are not following the agreed terms of the

transaction and some even cancels their order or availment of service.

Given the fact that they only offer party materials and services for different occasions, they

do not have wide distribution channels. And as mentioned above, they use Facebook page for

relaying information about the product and service offerings of the business. But just like any
other business, they store most of their products in their shop.And if they have already enough

resources, they are considering to extend the usefulness of the Facebook page

F. Promotional Strategy

The promotional strategies as well as the activities involved play a significant role in a

company’s ability to sell its products and services to its existing and potential customers. And

part of this strategy is to create a good image of the business in the marketplace.

Establishing a good image however, is a difficult task for the management. But this can be

developed through extensive marketing activities, providing high quality products and service,

being socially responsible to the community and to its employees, and so on.

ALC Balloons image in the marketplace as perceived by its customers is quite good. This is

based from the owner’s viewpoint because so far they have not yet received any complaint from

their previous customers for the products that they sold and the services that they have

rendered. Moreover, relative to other entities that offer similar products and services in Dagupan

City, they always received a positive feedback from their current and repeat customers. They

also received complements from their loyal customers for the excellent accommodation and

entertainment that ALC balloons employees provide to the guests and visitors they served. On

the contrary, the entity’s perceived image is not 100% accurate because there are maybe some

factors that were not considered. Nevertheless, it provides a positive signal of the company’s

success in delivering their offering’s value to their customers.

On the other hand, ALC Toy Balloons wants to have a desirable image in the workplace. It

wants an impression from its employees that they are being treated fairly by providing the right

compensation and proper working environment. In addition, the projected image is consistent

with the current condition of the business.

 Employees were all doing their jobs properly because they are being treated not just as

ordinary workers but as the owner’s partners in providing high quality products and services.

And they were provided with all the necessary incentives to exert greater effort in the jobs which

in turn provides good company image. The owners provide a desirable business atmosphere to

its employees for them to work comfortably to be able to give the best service to their

customers. Although, beneficial, they do not used much printed communication in relaying the

features of their products and services they rely heavily on their actual store and social media to

capture their potential customers.

Furthermore, with the current marketing efforts, the entity is targeting customers who want

to celebrate their occasions in a special yet cheaper and convenient manner. In particular, these

potential customers are those who have no enough time to prepare for their celebrations but still

want to have an unforgettable experience with their love ones. These target customers can be

captured and served through the use of product differentiation strategy .With this strategy the

entity will not just offer similar products of its competitors but will provide some unique and

additional features that would deliver superior customer value. The owners will also try to

provide the products and services to the target customers in a much efficient and convenient

way to create a profitable customer relationship.

For ALC, new business comes from customers who might have heard through word-of-

mouth, those who recently discovered ALC through promotions, or those who appear to be

interested with the kind of service or products that ALC provides. Commonly though these new

businesses appear through the promotions and advertisements that possibly took their interests.

Customers who perceived an excellent experience are those who normally become

regular or 'repeat business' who repeatedly buys the business' products. Before availing ALC

Toy Balloons' products and services, customers usually have standard and high expectations as
basis to evaluate their satisfaction which the business usually achieves to provide. If they did

get more value from what they paid and perceived excellent experience, then ALC has acquired

a repeat business. After rendering their services, they might expect these customers to come

back whenever they need ALC' services again and will be expecting the same satisfactory

service

One of the most productive referral of the business are from families, relatives or

'kumare/pare' of those whom the business has had provided with their services or products.

These referrals or word-of-mouth arise from past customers and from their excellent experience

from their purchase of ALCs services or products with which they relay to others. They willingly

suggest the business to someone they know who might be interested in throwing a party or

celebration, or in need of any party services. Most of them come from the relatives of past

customers, to whom they gave the suggestion. Because they have heard of ALC's apparent

'excellent service' from the past customers they will be expecting so to be true. To maintain this,

ALC provides their services within the customers’ expectation and more from what they heard.

They provide no less than satisfactory to create value to these new customers. By doing so,

they may become a regular customer and also be the source of referrals of the business.

ALC Toy balloons' message is based on what customers need and want to hear. They

convey the needs of the customers in their marketing efforts through promoting their products

which particularly what customers are looking for. These include balloons, party setups, party

decors, and services among others.

They promote their products through sales promotion in their Facebook page. This is the

only promotional strategy of ALC. They post pictures of their products and they also show

finished output of client' orders to promote those products. Their promotional strategy attracts
attention of those customers who are looking and in need of services that ALC could provide.

This then creates interest and arouses desire, which leads to a call for action.

Public relation is the ability of the management to communicate to the public and create a

mutually beneficial relationship between them. Public relations provide an exposure of an

organization to their audiences by using topics of public interest and news items that do not

require direct payment. ALC Toy Balloons can generate product publicity by combining product

advertising and product relations. An example of tools to create a product relation is the audio

releases where the company releases videos or audio messages to different media channels

like Facebook. Also, the company can use product advertising in order to communicate its

products to different customers.

G. Competition (Direct and Indirect)

In a business, there is always a competitor. Competitor is a company that in the same

industry or similar industry which offer similar products. Competition can affect the company in

various ways like lowering the sales of each other. However, competition is not always bad, it

serves as a sign that the company needs to always improve and adopt in order for them to

maintain or increase their market shares.

ALC Toy Balloons has a lot of competitors. One of them is the Lavarias Party World which can

be considered as the leader in that industry. Lavarias Party World is a direct competitor which

has the same products and services compared to the ALC Toy Balloons. Also, Lavarias Party

World is in the same division as the ALC Toy Balloons so it can divide the sales of the company.

ALC Toy Balloons’ competitors have almost the same products and markets .They just differs in

terms how they provide their services. Aside from Lavarias Party World, there are some

competitors like Sweet Dreams Party Treats HQ, MLC Toy Balloons Party Clowns, and Trizha’s

Party Clowns and Balloons that is same with ALC Toy Balloons in terms of its market.
 Marketing techniques are very important to a company. It helps the company to identify its

target market and to set up its desire goals. Another thing is that marketing can be a way for a

company to succeed. It is vital to the company’s success because if the marketing fails, there is

a high possibility that the entire organization will also fail.

ALC uses the ‘word of mouth’ as one of their marketing techniques. In this technique, they

let the customer spread the good things they experienced from the company. Another thing is

that ALC creates a long lasting relationship with its customers by providing them not less than

the expected service. Also, ALC has its own Facebook page in which it advertises its products

and services. In addition, ALC is using a low pricing strategy in its products. In comparison,

ALC’s competitors are also using a Facebook page in order to advertise. However, some of

them don’t have this kind of advertising like the MLC Toy Balloons party Clowns. Lastly, its

competitors’ products have a relatively high price compare to ALC’s.

H. Pricing

ALC balloons maintains a mark-up of 30% of their products and services in which they

offer regular balloons in sticks at Php 13 and flying balloons are priced at Php 17 means

regular balloons costs Php 10 providing a profit of Php 3 while flying balloons costs around Php

13 with a profit of Php 4. On the other hand the price of clown packages ranges from Php

3,000- Php 7,000 per show with a salary of Php 1500 earning an income of around Php 1500 –

Php 5500. Compared to similar products and services in the industry it is relatively lower. This is

due to low variable and overhead cost of each product and services. Accordingly, it helps the

business to achieve its product differentiation strategy whereby it offers more for the same

product because across these establishments almost every product is similar like balloons. But

aside from prices, the business should try to differentiate their products in terms of quality

service and offering such as ability to accept rush orders.

 And since products like balloons are almost similar there are only two factors that

differentiate it across branches which are price and quality. From here, customers are quite

price sensitive when similar products are being sought but when it comes to services they are

quite willing to pay more for a greater value of quality and entertainment. The reason, why there

is a higher percentage of mark up for clown packages compared to balloons.

The entity’s prices positions is a top of the line when it comes to looking for the same

products or services with more value provided. Because prices are set to be low not due to poor

quality or absence of sales but rather on low variable and overhead cost which give the

business a good mark up on its product and services.

Product differentiation as our marketing strategy supports this pricing position because

customers views ALC Toy Balloons’ products and services to be different because of its lower

price while still maintaining its quality for the same product and even having the capability to

accept rush orders.

I. Action Plan

A. Goal: To increase the number of customers being served.

Strategy: Create new distribution channels

Creating new distribution channels can help the company to reach more customers. The

company can deliver its offerings in a more efficient and effective way through an increase

means to avail them. With more points of presence, more customers will be attracted because

they now have an easy access to products and services. This could also help to increase the

entity’s popularity in terms of unique offerings and will create a deeper customer relationship.

Tactic 1: Build a strong partnership with other entities that offer catering services.
 Given that ALC Balloons offers only party materials, decorations and entertainment, it

needs to look for ways to complete the setup of every occasion. This can be accomplished by

creating a strong partnership with entities that only offers catering services. With this tactic, it

can deliver its offerings effectively while satisfying the other needs of its customers. It can also

help the company to better serve the needs of existing and potential customers. And with the

recommendation of catering companies to their loyal clients, it can help the entity to increase

the number of customers that it served.

Tactic 2: Enhance the usage of social media

The business is currently using a Facebook page to show its products and services to

potential customers but the actual transactions still happens at the store. But in order to gain

more customers, it can extend the usage of social media to conduct transactions online such as

getting customers’ order and preferences. This will be done for customers’ convenience without

the need to go repeatedly to the store. Each time an order is receive, an employee of the entity

will visit the place to have an idea on how to setup the venue and a down payment will also be

collected. And on the actual occasion, customers’ order or chosen package will be delivered on

time and final will also be collected. This will be done for customers’ convenience without the

need to go repeatedly to the store but to only wait for a successful event happen.

B. Goal: To offer new products or services

Strategy: Create a product or service that will increase the satisfaction of the customers

After creating this product or service, we can assure that customers are getting a "more

for more" value on their purchases. This may ensure customer retention and customer value

that the firm is positioning.

Tactic 1: Souvenir Photo Booth

 The new product that we are considering is an option to avail a souvenir photo booth.

This is common for events such as weddings, birthdays, or social gatherings that would want to

have a remembrance of the event they had just attended. Some events can also have different

accessories that the guests can wear. ALC can add this to their product offerings to the birthday

parties that they are invited to perform.

These photos are at the expense of the customers of ALC. It may be viewed as

burdensome but every host of a party would want their guest to have a long lasting experience

on their event. People would want to remember a moment that they were happy with all their

friends and family. Although, one can easily take a picture on their mobile phones, there is still

a hidden beauty in printed photos.

C. Goal: To increase the market share by 15 %

Strategy: Offering new modes of payment for services and products sold or performed.

Offering new ways of payments open new ways to earn revenue. Aside from that new

form of payments provides customers options that could help increasing customer satisfaction.

It also helps to capture target markets who are interested in the product but have issues

regarding the availability of their money. These modes of payment can help the business to

increase and retain its customers which will help in expanding its market share.

Tactic 1: Instalment payments before the actual celebration or party.

One time of payment of big parties can be expensive for some customers. But by

allowing instalments the customers will be encourage to throw big parties since the cost of it is

divided into several periods before the party. For example, if a customer is interested in

throwing a big party that could cost around Php 7,200 who earns Php 10,000 might be

discouraged to make one since because of huge deduction in his money. But through
instalments he can pay more or less Php 600 twelve months before his planes party. In this

way, customers will be encouraged to buy in ALC because of this offer. Also, it attracts

customers from their competitors which increase our sales.

Moreover, due to it only needs smaller amount of money each month more customers

will be induced to pay for more decorations or bigger parties which again increases goods and

services sold. In other words, it makes customers spend a larger portion of their income in

making instalment payments for bigger parties than one-time payment for regular parties.

Tactic 2: Making credit sales of high volume or high cost purchases by loyal or credible

customers.

In some instances like rush orders some customers have insufficient cash on hand if this

happens the customers might discontinue his purchase due to lack of payment but by allowing

credit sales that customer would be willing to take the credit and pay for it later on which

prevents the potential loss of sale. However, it also has risks in it like default for payments. So

to mitigate the risk the business should ask for down payments and to provide credit sales only

to loyal or credible customers such as those with occupations.

By doing so, it will drive the sales to increase which can potentially increases the entity’s

market share. Aside from that, it helps in retaining loyal customers and creating new ones

because of the advantage of credit sales for them.

D. Goal: To increase profit by 20% through increasing sales

Strategy: Increase the advertising effort for products and service

Tactic I: Disseminate flyers

 The flyers will include basic information about the ALC Balloons such as the store

location, products and services, price and contact information. It is important to add the contact

information for the potential customer to easily contact the business in case he has some

inquires.

Tactic II: Give Discounts and Loyalty program

Giving discount can attract customers and it can increase the sales of the business.

Also, to maintain the long lasting relationship to its customers, the ALC Balloons must consider

giving incentives and points to those customers that frequently availing the products and

services of the company.