3 MARKETING PLAN Marketing plan: Pestel, swot and marketing mix about GU

Pestle analysis of the macro environment

Political

The quick and steep increment in the food stuff prices creates some strong implications for GU, it will have to go for increase in prices of its products eventually. This will decrease the profit margins of the company and the final burden have to be transferred to the final consumers. In addition, rising fuel is another matter of great concern. The viability of cost effective supply chain will fade and GU will have to act as an average company that passes the cost to the customers. The credit crunch may have a negative impact on the future plans of GU to enter into other segments (Lauterborn, 1990, 26). Moreover, it might affect the consumers as well. The credit crunch has decreased the purchasing power of the customer significantly. They still buy the essentials, but with a more cautious approach.

Social

Food products of GU hold the future of the company more than the clothing. Nowadays there is a strong emphasis on healthy and easy to cook food; GU does not have the expertise to create a competitive advantage in this sector. Desserts of GU are well placed and have good quality; they can be the cash cow for the company. But, on contrary the government in UK is promoting healthy food habits among the citizens. The rising obesity problem in UK provides a problem for GU because the desserts are generally considered bad for healthy eating and high fat. The massive amounts of people are shifting towards low fat food (Weldon, 2005, 411-421).

Technological it is estimated that by 2011 the amount of online sales to be generated in Europe will reach around 263 billion Euros. British customers will make around one-third of these sales.

GU has a big chance to leverage this trend by quickly developing online business applications. If creating online delivery system is costly, GU can outsource this operation to an external service provider.Environmental factorsGlobal warming is an issue which will impact the organizations in Europe greatly. The need for efficient and environment friendly systems are imperative for future growth. In the retrospect this issue was at the backburner, but the gravity of the situation demands that GU take immediate steps to control the emission of greenhouse gases. On ethical grounds, GU organic foods may face some criticism from rights groups, ...