UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO

SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS SARAJEVO

MARKETING PLAN FOR THE CLOTHING STORE MONURO

Course: Strategic Marketing Management

Mentor: Husić-Mehmedović Melika, Ph.D.

Students: Šahman Hako, 4521-72668

Ikanović Nersad, 4571-18/MM

Šoše Jasmina, 4500-72652

Ćimić Muamer, 4495-72650

Ćatić Bakir, 4577-MM/18

Department: Marketing Management – master

Sarajevo, January 2019.

Executive summary
In this paper we will present the background, target groups, marketing plan and its
implementation of an imaginary clothing store called Monuro. Monuro is domestic modern store
that follows world fashion trends and implements them on the Bosnian market at affordable
prices.

In introductory part, some basic information about the company and its history will be presented.
After that, the analysis of the current situation will be done throughout several factors with the
brief competition analysis (using Porter’s five forces model) and SWOT analysis as well. Since
conditions on our market are still quite unstable when it comes to economy and politics, Monuro
has faced some difficulties in the initial development phase.

The third part focuses on marketing strategy with a brief primary research provided. The research
included quantitative method – a questionnaire with 121 respondents from Bosnia and
Herzegovina. According to the survey, young people think that there is always a need for more
creative marketing campaigns and strategies and introduction of new retail stores.

After that, marketing plan consisting of product management, price management and online
distribution management will be provided. In this paper, creative strategy that focuses on the
promotion on social media is launched.

Lastly, before the conclusion part, financial plan and overview of the organization with
implementation and control will be provided. Since it is planned for Monuro to open its first
store in Croatia in 2019, timeline of planned actions is going to be presented in the last part of
the project paper.
CONTENT

Executive summary................................................................................................................2

1. ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION..........................................................................................5

1.1. Establishment, history and operations.............................................................................5

1.2. Mission and vision...........................................................................................................6

2. ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITUATION WITH RESPECT TO THE TASK...................7

2.1. Analysis of environment..................................................................................................7

2.2. Analysis of competition.................................................................................................11

2.3. SWOT analysis..............................................................................................................13

2.4. Direct competition.........................................................................................................13

3. MARKETING STRATEGY................................................................................................15

3.1. Segmentation, targeting and positioning.......................................................................15

3.2. Description of the selected strategy...............................................................................18

4. MARKETING PLAN...........................................................................................................20

4.1. Product management.....................................................................................................20

4.2. Price management......................................................................................................21

4.3. Online Channel (Distribution) management..............................................................21

4.4. Managing promotion and communications...................................................................21

4.4.1. Description of communication strategy and goals..................................................22

4.4.2. Creative solutions of communication campaign.....................................................22

4.4. Business goals............................................................................................................23

5. FINANCIAL PLAN AND OVERVIEW.............................................................................24

6. ORGANIZATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL............................................26

 6.1. Organizational and implementation timeline................................................................26

6.2. Control mechanisms......................................................................................................27

REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................29

APPENDIX...............................................................................................................................31

LIST OF FIGURES:

Figure 1: Monuro’s competition................................................................................................14

Figure 2: Are offers on clothing satisfactory in Bosnia and Herzegovina? ............................. 16
Figure 3: Is clothing too expensive in Bosnia and Herzegovina? ............................................ 17
Figure 4: Do clothing stores need more creative campaigns? .................................................. 17
Figure 5: Would you like to see new clothing stores on the market of B&H? ........................ 18
Figure 6: Selected strategy ....................................................................................................... 19
 1. ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

As introduction to our marketing plan, we will focus on the brand itself, its origin and its
achievements. The aim is to get readers closer to Monuro’s positioning as a brand, its
recognizable values, history and main goals.

1.1. Establishment, history and operations

Monuro is a clothing retailer company created in April 2010 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina. It designs and sells items of clothing in its stores. This brand was founded by 5
colleagues from the Faculty of Economics as a symbolic protest against the constant import of
foreign brands, while the B&H industry stagnates. At that time, they did not even imagine what
Monuro would accomplish as a brand. It is the first domestic store of clothing, footwear and
fashion accessories which, with its quality and offer, belongs to the same category as
multinational successful sellers such as Bershka, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, H&M, etc. This
brand is available all over Bosnia and Herzegovina with its 26 stores and approximately 850
employees. Shops are located in cities such as Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Zenica,
Prijedor, etc. Currently, it operates only on the domestic market, but the organization's
management plans to expand in the near future to neighborhood markets such as Croatia and
Serbia. Our expansion plan for Zagreb which should be implemented during 2019 will be briefly
explained later in the research paper. Monuro currently does not work with online sales, but its
Website contains information on all available products, sizes, colors and prices.

Monuro is intended for all young men and women who like to express themselves through their
clothes and follow the latest fashion trends. The combination of aesthetic interior and modern
clothing is one of the main reasons why Monuro has experienced such success. This brand is
recognizable because it chooses the most famous domestic influencers and Youtubers for its
marketing campaigns. In a certain way, becoming a brand face for Monuro has become a goal for
all bloggers and Instagram models, especially those in the fashion world.

Since 2016, in each store there is a corner that is arranged as the most famous Hollywood stars’
backstage and it is intended solely for customers’ selfies and photos with modern and unique
background and great lightning. Costumers use the hashtag #Monuroslays on their Instagram
stories and posts when publishing these photos and by doing that, they promote the brand. That
way Monuro became much more than an ordinary clothing store. It has become a symbol for the
trend in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After the brand reached great popularity, especially on social networks, it launched its first line
of perfumes and cell phone masks in 2017. For a year, 80% of the profit from the sales of the
introduced products went to charity, or more precisely in the SOS village, thus Monuro proved to
be a humanitarian as well. This brand sponsors many charity manifestations such as awareness
campaigns for breast cancer, AIDS and so on. Also, Monuro sponsors many entertainment
events, mostly domestic music festivals such as Javorwood, Beer Fest, Mostar Summer Fest,
Festival 84, and so on.

1.2. Mission and vision

Monuro’s mission is to enable young people all over our country to present themselves with
modern clothes at affordable prices and express their style. As a brand, we are devoted to the
constant quality, employee care and meeting our costumers’ needs. Also, given the social
situation in our country, Monuro’s goal is to provide workplace for as many capable young
people willing to work as possible. In this way, our brand expands global trends in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, but at the same time it helps our economy. Accordingly, Monuro’s slogan is "We
get you!", which represents much more than just understanding our costumers’ style and
clothing.

As far as our brand vision is concerned, it is very clear and concrete, and that is to make Monuro
available throughout the whole region and to become a proof that even domestic products can be
equally good or even better than those presented by well-known international companies that
generate huge profits. Also, as a brand of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we want to represent our
country in the best possible light and be a role model for many young people who have the desire
to start their own business. We want to positively change more lives by providing opportunities
for people to live a happier and safer life.

2. ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITUATION WITH RESPECT TO THE

TASK

There are so many factors that can influence performance of the company in either positive or
negative way. In this part of the marketing plan some of those factors are going to be analysed.
The focus will mostly be on the analysis of the industry, environment and our competition on the
market. Lastly this part will be concluded with SWOT analysis of our company.

As already stated, our company Monuro is part of the retail clothing industry which is an
industry that is constantly changing in some ways. Companies have to be aware of the trends that
are changing. They need to be careful when it comes to consumers so they can adjust and adapt
the products to consumers’ needs and always be innovative. Most costumers, especially in our
country, want and need products that are going to be within their financial budgets, while they
also simultaneously expect that those products are going to provide them some exquisite fashion
standards. The products that are usually being sold in this industry can vary from clothing and
accessories to shoes. In the clothing retail industry where our company belongs, the products are
suitable for the young people with the desire to look and dress up trendy and to be different. The
industry is mostly dominated by the specific format where we have many well-established
retailers. Most of these in our country are originally coming from another country i.e. they are
international retailers, unlike Monuro. The prices that we offer are considered to be relatively
affordable for our standards and the people around our country. However, an important thing
about this is that we have many other retailers that offer similar products like we do at very
similar prices (i.e. we were mostly looking and analyzing the competition when it comes to
pricing our products, so we could offer something better to our customers).

2.1. Analysis of environment

This part of the marketing plan is going to be divided into several factors that need to be
analysed. Those factors are: political, economic, social and technological and we will briefly
analyse each of them.

Political factors
Unfortunately, our country’s political situation can be considered as unstable. According to the
World Bank: “The political system in B&H is complex, reflecting the provisions of the country’s
constitution developed to end ethnic conflict, as well as subsequent changes to the system
introduced under the guidance of the international community through the Office of the High
Representative.” The consequences of the war, that took place in our country and some other
countries in the region, can still be seen when discussing political and economic factors. This is
one of the reasons why the rate of foreign direct investment is very low when compared to other
countries, which is also the case for some neighborhood countries as well, especially since
political factors are directly connected and influence other factors such as economic, social and
technological factors. It is logical that foreign investors are avoiding our country and the whole
region since many of them are not willing to take a risk to engage in some operation in the
unstable area. Another political factor that has a big impact lies in the differentiation of legal
legislative in two entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each of the entities has their own
political systems which can be considered as a disadvantage since there are some differences
regarding the laws and legislations. According to Business AntiCorruption Portal – another big
problem is corruption which is a serious obstacle for business operating in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The same applies to the public administration where nepotism and patronage
networks are widespread practices. The Criminal Code in B&H criminalizes several forms of
corruption; including passive and active bribery and the bribery of foreign officials. Nonetheless,
the government did not enforce the relevant laws effectively and prosecutions of corruption
offenses have been selective and officials engaged in corruption with impunity. The offering and
demanding of bribes and gifts are criminalized in B&H, however, these practices are widespread.
On a positive note, in July 2015, the Council of Ministers of B&H, Government of Republika
Srpska (RS) and Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) adopted a
joint program of structural reforms known as the reform agenda. This reform agenda presents a
rare window of opportunity for structural reforms in B&H, underpinned by a broad national
consensus on the country’s critical challenges and priorities and the sustained support of key
development partners. (World Bank, 2017)

Economic factors
The economy in our country still didn’t fully recover from the end of the war. Nowadays, we
have a complicated bureaucracy system, complex procedures and as mentioned unstable business
environment, which is considered major obstacle to foreign investment into the country's
potential. By introducing our company on our market, we wanted to help re-build our country
and give an opportunity of employing a lot of young people, which is one of the core values and
purposes of the company. Unemployment rates in our country are very high - 19.4%, and
according to data from the last Economic Report for South East Europe SEE6, unemployment
among young people in B&H is the highest in the region - 57.9%. The salaries are very low -
average net salary in B&H in May, 2018 was 881 KM (which was an improvement of 2.5%
when compared to May, 2017) which is definitely low when we take into consideration that
consumer basket is around 2,000 KM. Another big problem is the socalled grey market. By some
estimates, grey economy is 25.5% of GDP in our country.
(Vladimir Čolaković, 2017) On a positive note – there are some positive trends and
improvements in our country. The percentage of unemployment is, as already mentioned, 19.4%
which is the first time in years that the unemployment rate is under 20%. According to some
estimates the unemployment for the following years, 2019 and 2020 are going to be 18.8% and
18.3% respectively. Other positive things include: our currency, BAM – Bosnia and Herzegovina
convertible mark, is stable because it is pegged to Euro (1€= 1.95583 convertible marks), so our
economy has a relatively low inflation and relatively low import tariffs. Some of these things
may have a positive impact and increase the number of foreign direct investments in the future.

Social factors
According to the 2013 population census in Bosnia and Herzegovina the total number of people
living here is 3,791,622. Of that number 2,371,603 or 62.55% live in Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, while 1,326,991 or 35.00% live in Republika Srpska and 93,028 or 2.45% live in
Brčko District. According to the Labour Force Survey (conducted by Agency for statistics of
B&H) for 2018 in B&H labour force numbered 1.007.902 persons and there were 1.387.837
inactive persons. Among the labour force there were 822.446 persons in employment and
185.465 unemployed persons. Among persons in employment there were 30.702 unpaid family
workers. The same research show that half of the working age population in B&H (42,1%) were
active persons, that is, persons who participate in the labour market as employed or unemployed.
The educational structure of people in employment shows that the 68,2% them have finished the
secondary school, followed by persons who have graduated from college, university or have
postgraduate degrees - 16,9% and persons who finished the basic or lower education - 14,8%.
The average monthly household consumption expenditure was by 16% larger in urban
households compared to rural ones. Such differences are apparent in almost all group of non-
food expenditure, especially the ones that are related to clothes, footwear and housing. Agency
for statistics of B&H also measured negative trend of natural population change in the several
last years, which means that the number of deaths exceeds the number of births. Also, the
number of people who are immigrating to countries of EU is very high.

Considering that our country has low salaries and that unemployment rate is high, we wanted to
offer Bosnian people a link towards fashionable items and shopping with our products. Young
generations are especially attracted to our store which, apart from offering quality products that
are not expensive and are affordable, also helps many young people to find a job and have a
working experience. For the customers it means that they will be in trend and modern like people
in the developed countries already are, which can give them some kind of connection with them.
 Technological factors
Today’s world is influenced with many rapid changes that are related to technology
development. They can be seen through development of information technology which means
that many experts on a global level are working every day in order to improve and develop many
new products. All those technological innovations can bring many advantages to any industry
and clothing retail industry is no exception. Technological changes require additional education
and there is always something new that has to be learnt since it is changing quickly. As for our
country – it is characterized by slow technological development, which represents the result of a
slow economic development. Technological improvements are not used to its full potential in our
country since we are still considered to be a transition country that is rebuilding itself. Not being
in times with technological changes is one of the reasons that influences the outflow of young
and educated people from our country. Our country is doing little to boost the technological
progress here, which is proved by the fact that it is investing below 3% of GDP into scientific
research, meaning that our country is definitely not doing a great job regarding this issue.

2.2. Analysis of competition

The analysis of competition will be done through Porter's five forces analysis that is consisted of:
threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of
suppliers and competitive rivalry. In the following parts of this marketing plan, each of the listed
five forces will be briefly analyzed with respect to our company.

Threat of new entrants

The economies of scale are difficult to achieve in the clothing retail industry in which our
company Monuro operates. The economies of scale, if achieved, make it easier for the companies
that are producing huge amounts of products to have a cost advantage, which directly means that
the production for new entrants on the market is costlier. Within the clothing retail industry, the
sold products are differentiated products and not standardized. There has to be a strong
advertising and a great offer when it comes to customer service. The capital requirements,
especially the initial costs, are generally high in the industry which makes it difficult for new
entrants on the market. All of these listed factors can make the threat of new entrants, a weaker
force within the clothing retail industry.
As for our company, we definitely need to try to achieve the economics of scale which would
give as a certain cost advantage compared to potential new entrants on the market. Monuro also
has to focus on innovation and advertising in order to differentiate the products from competition
and build a strong brand that customers can identify with. All these can help the company to
keep its customers and not to lose them to new potential entrants.

Threat of substitutes
The competitors that Monuro faces on our market include companies like Pull and Bear, Bershka
and Zara. All these mentioned brands target the same customer groups, they sell relatively
similar products (with some small differences) like Monuro does and offer similar prices. The
competition for Monuro is really high, especially when taken into consideration that we are a
local brand that has to compete with all these giant companies that are established on a global
scale. Monuro should focus on providing better quality of the products with lower prices so that
the customers can recognize it and choose Monuro’s products instead of some other brand that
offers the same quality but is more expensive. Also, the differentiation of the products will make
sure for products to be seen as unique by customers which will make them stay loyal and not to
substitute the products from some other brands.

Bargaining power of customers

There are still many international clothing companies that are not operating in our country. The
buyers have less firms to choose from (when compared with some countries in the region) which
means the buyers do not have much impact and control over prices. The product differentiation is
high and for that reason the buyers may face difficulty in switching because they cannot find
other firms that can offer them an alternative for some particular product. As already mentioned,
the economic situation in our country is bad and the average customer does not have a big
amount of income to spend on clothing, which makes the buyers to be more price sensitive. They
have some kind of pressure to buy clothes at lower prices. By focusing on innovation and
differentiation, Monuro can attract more buyers with slowly trying to build a large number of
loyal buyers.

Bargaining power of suppliers

The clothing retail industry may not offer some kind of substitutes for the products other than the
ones that are provided to them by the suppliers if the product differentiation is high. The
industry’s main focus is on the customers since the profits are closely connected with them, so
the suppliers have to provide reasonable and affordable prices, especially for our country. This
just makes the bargaining power of suppliers a weaker force within the industry. What Monuro
has to do is to try to buy the raw materials from the suppliers at a low cost (the suppliers should
be local). The company can have multiple suppliers within its supply chain, which means if a
certain supplier is not suitable for us (the costs may be too high or the product quality is not
good) the company can always switch to another supplier. Efficiency can be achieved in this
way. A close relationship with its supplier is really important for a company, because it can be a
benefit for both sides.

Competitive rivalry
The number of competitors on our market for the company is not high (there are many other
similar companies that are Monuro’s direct competition but the number of them is not as high as
in other countries due to the fact that many international clothing brands do not operate on our
market; H&M and C&A for instance) but most of them are large in size and are already well-
established players on the international clothing retail market. Since we have a few competitors it
is logical that they own a large market share which means that they are always trying to gain
some kind of advantage and become market leaders. As already said, the products are usually
differentiated and as a result it is hard for the firms that are competing for the same customers
because each of them is offering their own unique products. Sometimes companies want to
achieve economies of scale, so if there are some disruptions in the balance between supply and
demand it can lead to overproduction. Furthermore, overproduction will mean that companies
need to cut down and decrease their prices.

As for Monuro, it is already said – the company should focus on building its own brand
recognition and differentiating its own products so that the actions of other competitors will not
have a big impact on its customers. As the industry is constantly growing, the focus should also
be on new potential customers. Some kind of market research is recommended in order to find
out the details about the customers’ opinions and the market as a whole.
 2.3. SWOT analysis
Strengths
1. Monuro is domestic brand meaning
many B&H consumers have stronger
relationship with it than with foreign
brands.
2. It offers affordable prices.
3. Monuro is a great humanitarian and
is doing charity.
4. It offers a wide range of clothing
items.
5. It has nique products.
6. Monuro is financially stable.
Opportunities
1. Possibility of expansion in other
countries across the region.
2. Providing online shopping platform.
3. Collaborations with B&H celebrities
and designers.
Weaknesses
1. Monuro still hasn’t made available
online shopping via its app or on
their Webpage.
2. Monuro has to follow similar trends
like its competitors since it is in fast-
fashion industry.
3. There is a lack of control in
production.
4. Production capacity of Monuro is
smaller when compared to its
competitors that operate on global
level.
Threats
1. Its main threat are strong competitors
that are well established both
globally and on our market.
2. Trends in fashion industry are
always changing and Monuro has to
stay updated.
3. Government regulations and bad
economy.

2.4. Direct competition

When it comes to Monuro’s competition, it is quite sure that brands such as Bershka, Pull&Bear
and Zara are the main direct rivals on our market because they also sell women’s and men’s
latest fashion clothing. These are all part of the Spanish Inditex group, the biggest fashion group
in the world, who already has stores available in more than 90 countries all over the world. After
we make an introduction on Croatian market in Zagreb, H&M will also become one of our direct
competitors.

The strategy of these companies is that, instead of launching a big new line every season, it
presents a smaller number of new products on a weekly basis and thus dynamically keeps up
with new trends. Given that Monuro does not have as large production capacity as these global
giants, it presents its new products every 20 to 30 days which is certainly a weakness, especially
knowing that Monuro doesn’t produce its clothes and that this is done by a B&H textile
manufacturer. Also, these competitors already have available online shopping and their names
are well known in every part of the world, so consumers trust them.

The atmosphere in Monuro stores is relatively similar to the one in its competitors stores. These
are all modern spaces with minimalistic interior and with highlight on clothes. So, all mentioned
brands offer similar shopping experience to its costumers. In our favor, people can more easily
identify themselves with the local brand plus there are not much domestics brand with modern
and creative ideas, especially in fashion industry so Monuro surely offers something different
and new.

Below is presented a price/quality chart which should more precisely describe the positioning of
Monuro among its competitors.

Figure 1 Monuro's competition

 3. MARKETING STRATEGY

In this part of our paper, we will focus on our target groups and selected strategy. It is important
to know who our main costumers are and how they perceive us as a brand. If the company targets
the wrong group of people and implements a strategy regarding those poorly chosen costumers, a
good product or service could face failure when it comes to sales.

3.1. Segmentation, targeting and positioning

Monuro is a store that was built on the principle of segmented target markets. Young modern
people have been always a focus of this company. Monuro has stayed consistent with the
creation, communication and delivering values to this group. Geographic segmentation as much
as demographic, psychographic and behavior segmentation, are used by Monuro in order to reach
its’ customers.

Considering that Monuro has stores throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which culturally,
religiously and ethnically has colorful society, it has decided to be sensitive with its’ loyal
customers. However, in terms of choosing and buying clothes, young people in B&H have
similar habits. Furthermore, Monuro is collecting the needed information for segmentation
directly from the customers in the store by doing a short quantitative primary research. In return,
the customers are being given discount cards. This successful approach resulted in win-win
situation.

As the target group of Monuro are fashion savvy young people, the satisfaction of their wants
and needs must be on time. Our primary target groups are 18 to 30 years old women. They are
communicative, fashionable and they like to be very up to date. Also, these women like to go
shopping and they like spending time in the clothing stores. They are intensively using social
media and follow many fashion bloggers and influencers and possibly have their own blogs.
Moreover, when it is up to purchasing some clothes for their husbands or boyfriends, they are
mostly the decisionmakers. Also, they are early adapters when it comes to new technologies and
limited income doesn’t restrict their ownership of technology.

On the other hand, in the secondary target group, we have all the others – girls in their teenage
years, women in their late 30s and younger men as well.
Monuro is a fast fashion brand whose primary objective is to provide its’ customers with desired
products in order to respond to fast-changing consumer tastes. With the innovative products
Monuro strives to gain the competitive advantage. Therefore, it is always trying to be two steps
ahead. Otherwise, the competition will try to surpass us by offering something which is more
appealing to the Millennials and Generation Z. Likewise, Monuro has to make sure that the
company keeps up with the trends, or even better, create new trends to suit the ever-changing
needs of their customers. For this reason, Monuro collaborates with social media influencers who
are promoting Monuro’s new products in order to create new trends which will along with
existing customers attract others as well.

We have organized a short survey in order to collect data about our target group’s preferences
and to find out what would be the best way to approach our customers. We asked them the
following questions:

1. Are offers on clothing satisfactory in Bosnia and Herzegovina? YES/NO

2. Is clothing too expensive in Bosnia and Herzegovina? YES/NO
3. Do clothing stores need more creative campaigns? YES/NO
4. Would you like to see new clothing stores on the market of B&H? YES/NO

This research was conducted online using social media. Since our friends are part of our target
group, we asked them these questions. Moreover, we excluded the questions of demographic
nature due to the fact that we wanted to have as few questions as possible. We have had 121
respondents who have helped us to gain an insight into their point of view concerning these four
particular questions.
Figure 1: Are offers on clothing satisfactory in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

More than half of the respondents think that the current offers on clothing are not satisfactory,
51, 2 % precisely.

Figure 2: Is clothing too expensive in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

On the other hand, even 55, 4% consider the clothing too expensive.
Figure 3: Do clothing stores need more creative campaigns?

Besides, even 97, 50% have said that clothing stores need more creative campaigns.

Figure 4: Would you like to see new clothing stores on the market of B&H?

Finally, 95, 90% of the respondents would like to see a new clothing stores on the market. When
we refer to these valuable insights, we can conclude that those are clear indicators that young
people want better offers with affordable prices, and with more creative campaigns.
Monuro could offer all of that and it could even exceed the customers’ expectations.
 3.2. Description of the selected strategy
By choosing the survey in order to get the insight into the situation on the market, we managed to
obtain priceless information about our customers.

As aforementioned, Monuro offers something new which is affordable and by doing that it
stimulates a desire to buy something. We already implemented online marketing strategy and
have partnership with many B&H influencers that promote our brand on their social media
profiles. Furthermore, we have launched creative campaign with the backstage selfie and
hashtag, plus the sponsorship option on Instagram, since the largest percentage of our customers
use this social network. However, we will insist on more creative campaigns because we want to
enrich our customers’ experience while buying at our stores. As already mentioned in the
previous text, Monuro offers new products every 20 to 30 days, in order for our consumer to visit
the store consistently and always find something new.

After all, we have partnership with our consumers, and to have a sustainable relationship, we
constantly need to innovate in order to keep the existing and to attract the new customers. The
essential parts of our strategy which are indispensable for a successful implementation are
presented on this diagram.

Market
Evaluation Insight

Marketing
mix Segmentation
 Positioning

Figure 5: Selected strategy

4. MARKETING PLAN
4.1. Product management
Monuro is one of the few local and domestic brands which is something that makes it unique in a
way. Range of products offered by this brand include clothing like: dresses, jumpers, vests,
cardigans, pants, jeans, jackets, jewelry, shoes, purses and even mobile phone cases and other
accessories. Given that there must be cooperation with companies that produce and distribute our
products, they must be carefully selected in order for the clothing represented by Monuro to be of
a good quality and satisfactory. Our goal is to use as many natural fabrics as possible in
producing process.

In the near future, cooperation with a local brand, named Revolt Clothing is planned, since it also
represents strong domestic brand approved by many celebrities, especially in hip hop culture.
Certain products with their logo will be adapted to Monuro’s style and standards and they will be
found on shelves in our store.
 Women’s department (60% of total products)

Tops 30%

Bottoms 25%

Shoes 10%

Dresses 25%

Accessories 10%

Men’s department (30% of total products)

Tops 45%

Bottoms 30%

Shoes 15%

Accessories 10%

4.2. Price management

Since the whole concept of Monuro is to offer something that looks good complemented by its
affordable price, the only logic solution is to implement pricing strategy in accordance with
purchasing power of B&H consumers. The prices in our stores are lower than those of our
competitors, and the discounts on part of the assortments are very common, regardless of season.
Products are also heavily discounted on some special occasions – Black Friday being the first
example. Also, on some other holidays like New Year, some bonus products in terms of little
gifts are given when a customer buys some item. This resulted in a large number of sales. In
order for Monuro to keep offering such low prices, it is necessary to maintain its producing costs
low. Since our competitors tend to offer some expensive items but also offer low price range
products at the same time, we wanted for our high price range to be at the level of the average
competitors’ prices and that way make ourselves more available in terms of money.

4.3. Online Channel (Distribution) management

It is already mentioned that Monuro, as of now, does not offer the possibility of selling the
clothes online. This is something that will definitely be done in the future. There is a website of
Monuro where the products, prices and locations of the stores can be seen. Website is updated
with all the new and relevant information on a daily basis which means that customers can see if
the products are discounted or if we have a certain size of the product at a certain store. There is
also an online app called Monuroslays that is similar to the website but it easier to use when
using a mobile phone.

Also, Monuro can be found on social media, mostly Instagram, in terms of sponsored content
that targets users who follow fashion influencers and bloggers.

4.4. Managing promotion and communications

Monuro’s promotion and communications strategy is mainly focused on young people who are
well aware of the latest fashion trends. The company’s products are advertised by some of the
most influential young people in the region with our well-known hashtag. It has already been
mentioned that many influencers promote the brand Monuro and its products through their
Instagram profiles and in return they receive those products as a gift. Monuro is not available
outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina yet, but some of the promotion is also focused outside of our
borders in order to “test” the markets that Monuro plans to conquer in the future. Also, Monuro
promote itself by sponsoring music festivals in our country.

The company also promotes itself as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) company, since
not a large number of domestic companies have this process implemented in their system.
Monuro is all about giving back to the society. The main reason for doing these things is because
we want to be a part of the responsible society and to motivate others to do such things. It
represents a great opportunity for the company to strengthen its relations at every level – with it
management, employees and the customers at the end. It created a positive vibe around the brand
image and makes it stronger and more recognizable among people, especially knowing that our
competitors are not really engaged in this process.

4.4.1. Description of communication strategy and goals

Communication strategy is based on online channels which are the most popular among
Monuro’s target audience (Instagram and Youtube). Key messages that Monuro shares through
the communication channels, represents Monuro as the popular, trendy and cool fashion brand.
Traditional types of marketing such as flyres, banners or billboards are not used in the
promotion. Monuro also communicates with costumers with the store itself by regularly
changing its window displays depending on the season, promoting new line and using
professional, available and communicative first line employees as one of the advantages.
By using this type of communication, Monuro tends to:

1. create a base of loyal consumers,

2. be recognized as a brand of Bosnia and Herzegovina
3. create a strong image and reputation of its brand,
4. represent itself as trendy fashion brand.

4.4.2. Creative solutions of communication campaign

Earlier it was emphasized that the brand is being advertised by many domestic female influencers
and that we are running hard Instagram campaign. Monuro also wants to represent Bosnia-
Herzegovina as a country that can have a successful fashion brand. For these reasons we decided
to organize a PR road trip for a small group of a faithful influencers trough Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Road trip would last for 10 days, and all the most important monuments of B&H
would be visited. In that way the brand would bring closer beauties of B&H and it would show
that it nourishes tradition and the history. By filming stories, posting pictures on Instagram and
filming vlogs, influencers would bring closer the brand, but also B&H.

When Monuro enables online shop, influencers would be offered a discount code which they will
give to their followers. In return, from every shopper that puts in that code, they would get a
small amount of money, around 2%.

Events for fashion bloggers and influencers are also going to be implemented as a part of our
communication strategy. The idea is to create exclusive events that only invited people can
attend to. The location of these events would be large halls in hotels such as Radon Plaza or
Hotel Hills so that interior design can be appropriate for this type of occasion. The goal is that
the guests take as many photos and videos as possible and post it online for their followers to see.

4.4. Business goals

Monuro set a list of short-term goals for the current year and those are:

1. Increase monthly sales of products by 15%,

2. Increase market share on B&H market by 3%,
3. Expand on Croatian market till June, 2019,
 4. Raise brand awareness on foreign market by doing intensive promotion campaigns with
10% of our budget,
5. Implement staff training courses focusing on product knowledge with 10% of our current
budget,
6. Increase store managers incentives by 2%.

5. FINANCIAL PLAN AND OVERVIEW

Market ing plan

Basic Description Value

Project preperation and logistics (Office 9.000,00 KM

supplies,
Computers, Design software, Printer)
 Human Resource 4.500,00 KM
(Executive Director, Seniro Marketing Manager,
Copywriter & PR Executive)
Market Research
(Fieldwork, data collection, cost of fieldwork, 10.000,00 KM
surveys)

Supervision, training, control of work 9.750,00 KM

Web page development 4.500,00 KM

Social media project 15.000,00 KM

Social media campaign (Facebook, Instagram, 12.000,00 KM

Twitter)

TOTAL 64.750,00 KM

VAT 17% 11.007,50 KM

TOTAL WITH VAT 75.757,50 KM

We start the implementation of the marketing budget plan by engaging a marketing research
company to conduct the research needed for the fieldwork, data collection, cost of filedwork and
surveys. Right after the research is finished, we start acquiring all the necessary hardwer,
software and office supplies needed for the project preperation and logistics.

After that, we will hire a professional trainer for the training of the workers and a designated
person who will keep track of the workers. Human resource personnel needed for the
implementation will also be involved in this process.
When the research is finished by the marketing research company, web page development kicks
in and a detailed results from the marketing research company will be provided to properly adapt
the web page to targeted consumers. Social media campaign that has been having a very
successful impact on potencial consumers would also be evaluated and improved to a
professional marketing communication agency.

6. ORGANIZATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL

 6.1. Organizational and implementation timeline
In this part of the project paper, a plan for introducing Monuro on Croatian market will be
presented. Expansion in Serbia, Belgrade, is also planned but not during 2019, so the focus will
be on Monuro’s new store in Zagreb, to be more precise – in Arena Centre.

When it comes to economic factors, Croatia has somewhat better position than our country given
that it is part of the European Union since 2013, so conditions for new entrants on their market
are improved. Also, a higher percentage of young people is fashion conscious in Zagreb and has
a creative way of expression, so this is definitely an opportunity for Monuro. Further, brief
explanation of introduction process will be provided.

Heavy promotional
Renting a
Hiring all necessary campaign to raise
workspace and
employees awareness of the
arranging the shop
brand
Implementation represents day-to-day activities that will effectively put the plan into action. This
is the process where we focus on the who, where, when and how. Proper implementation can
give a company the edge in a market with similar market plans. Monuro’s main competitors are
Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear. Kanton Sarajevo has around 413.593 citizens (since the last
census from 2013) and 117.433 are our potential customer since Monuro target population is
divided into 2 categories: young men and women, up to 30 years old. Employees need to receive
information of the task.
Activity Responsibility Review Data

Regular marketing audits Marketing manager Monthly

 Review and developed Marketing manager Monthly and annual reports
marketing objectives

Establish Online Head of Advertising and Monthly

Advertising Marketing Manager

Establish Print Advertising Advertising Quarterly

Design Department/Marketing

Update/Developed Website Executive Weekly

maintenance

Update/Developed Mass Media Marketing Monthly and weekly reviews

Department/Advertising
Develop staff Training Program Marketing Executive/Human Monthly

Resources
Manage the Service Quality Marketing Executive/Human Monthly reports and diary

GAP Resources reviews

The company needs to have one designated person who would be following up on overdue
activities. Reviewing progress will also help us learn from mistakes so that are can improve plans
for the future.

6.2. Control mechanisms

Marketing plan progress should be monitored in line with the proposed marketing objectives and
action of the promotion plan to assess its effectiveness, so that issues can be detected at an early
stage and appropriate action taken. Constant tracking of Monuro’s management through a year
has to be implemented. Other thing that has to be implemented in this phase are questioners for
costumers. Through this method, employees’ opinions and attitudes when it comes to Monuro as
a company reliably observed. Two options exist to monitor against marketing objectives and
those are short-term targets and short-term budgets.
 CONCLUSION

Monuro is a clothing retailer company from B&H. Marketing plan explained the essence of the
Monuro brand. We presented the organization; analyzed current situation with respect to the
task; explained marketing strategy and marketing plan; presented financial plan and overview
and introduced organizational and implementation timeline.

Company is doing really well on territory of B&H. We employed many young people, and in a
way we mitigated the exodus of young people leaving our country. Monuro is a brand which has
a social responsibility towards young people. Also, Monuro helps with a lot of humanitarian
actions and promotes itself as a Corporate Social Responsibility company. Prices are adjusted to
the market and Monuro became one of the most favorite brands on B&H market within young
people who want to be trendy. Monuro gives a lot of attention to social media, especially
Instagram, where it advertises itself, and attracts the costumers.

Monuro is constantly expanding and it is becoming main fashion brand in our country. Soon we
will expand to countries of our region, where we are preparing the field to enter. We are
expecting that in a few years we will be one of the strongest regional brands and that we will
constantly expand our lines of clothing. In a sooner period, we are going to set up the online
shop, which is going to make shopping for our customers much easier.
REFERENCES

1. Agency for Statistics of B&H. (2018). Labour Force Survey.

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Accessed: 03/01/2019
2. Bhasin, H. (2018). 4 types of Market segmentation and how to segment with them?
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Accessed: 03/01/2019.
3. Essay48. Porter Five Forces Analysis.
Available at: https://www.essay48.com/porter-five-forces Accessed:
03/01/2019.
4. Dowling, G. R. (2004). The Art and Science of Marketing: Marketing for Marketing
Managers
5. World Bank (2016). South East Europe Regular Economic Report No.10
 Available at: http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/521981474898709744/SEE-RER-
Report-Fall-2016.pdf Accessed:
03/01/2019.
6. World Bank (2017).
Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bosniaandherzegovina/overview
Accessed: 03/01/2019.
APPENDIX