Study of Marketing Strategies Adopted by Mastermind Tobacco (K) Limited, Kenya

Abstract

Environmental changes create pressure for change in the organization and this means that they have to respond to relevant central change to ensure that they survive (Ansoff and McDonnell, 1990). (Thomson, 1997) sees the external environment as consisting of three aspects: the external stakeholders; the changing economic, social, technological and political forces, and the organizations response to the nature of the stake holders and the environmental forces. The objective of this study was to determine the new marketing strategies adopted by Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Limited after the Tobacco Control Act (2007).This research used a case study of the Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Limited, to assist in identifying the key marketing strategies adopted to deal with the challenges occasioned by the new laws regulating selling, promotion and consumption of tobacco and tobacco products. This design was most ideal as the researcher sought in-depth information on the strategies adopted by Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Limited in order to stay in business. The research also provides insights into the research problem by describing the various parameters of interest in detail. The respondents were selected from management level in the organizations marketing department as the researcher sought to work on key individuals who would give the necessary information and as accurate as possible. The researcher established that Mastermind Tobacco Kenya Limited can no longer rely on traditional marketing strategies in its operations after the Tobacco control Act (2007). The company has had serious challenges of connecting with customers, consumers and would be potential consumers through promotions that were not acceptable after the Tobacco Control Act (2007). The research established that the company highly used market segmentation, low cost leadership, open distribution, strong brand positioning, customer relationship management and personal selling to continue in the business.