Beach House Shop 5/167 - Marketing Plan Assessment Answers

Competitor 1

Name: Sugar Bomb

Location: South Brisbane

Duration: 5 years

Personnel: 10 employees

Strengths

• A large variety of products that are offered for sale
• Good customer service
• Excellent after sales services

Weaknesses

• They produced perishable products, which make it impossible to store for a later date.
• A small number of employees that are responsible for conducting all the operations of the company.
• Their products are limited to a specific market and are not diversified.

Competitor 2

Name: San Churro, Southbank

Location: South Brisbane

Duration: 3 years

Personnel: 6 employees

Strengths

• Offers a large variety of products that can be shared among people of all communities and ages.
• Offers their customers special treats for various holidays that exist.
• Have low operational costs, which makes it possible for it to sell its products at relatively low prices

Weaknesses

• Low employee count, which limits the quality of service offered to its clients.
• The company is dependent on the sales they make during the holidays alone. They produce products that will only do well during the holiday seasons.
• The company’s market base is limited to a specific group target, and not diversified.

Market Segment 1 – Shoppers

The company is also dependent on the walk-in clients who hang around the beach area. The store of the business is strategically located in a region that has access to a high traffic of people. The target group of people is mainly aged between 18-34 years of age. These people are mostly attracted to the products they sell and are often found in the beach areas. These people find it convenient to access these products, and they are the people who are most likely to be found walking on the beach during the daytime. Also, the product sold by the business is cold, and it gives it provides a good form of refreshment when they are consumed during the day and especially in the hot weather.

Market Segment 2 – Office Workers

The products are also attractive to the people working in white-collar jobs. They provide a healthy snack that can be eaten during the day and while working. These people are usually between the ages of 25-45 years of age. With the high demanding jobs that people are engaged in these days, it is highly likely that they may not find time to go out and eat a decent meal of their choice. For this reason, the target market finds it convenient because it is readily available food and can be consumed in any working environment (Sprott, 2008). The snack can be eaten at any time, and one would be able to continue executing their normal responsibilities and duties while in the workplace.

Products sold by the business

• Frozen yoghurt
• Ice cream
• Milkshakes

Services

• They offered good customer service
• They offered after sales services
• They are quick to addressing any concerns the customers may have

Prices

• The pricing structure adopted by the business was a reflection of the target market
• They offered a variety of payment methods, thereby making it convenient for all customers in the target group.
• The business offers discounts on the shelf prices to customers who return regularly and also those who buy in bulk.

Distribution

• The products produced by the business through the retailing process from the business outlet
• The business is open on weekdays from 8 am to 6 pm, on Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm, closed on Sundays and all public holidays. Therefore, customers can only gain access to the business’s products during these stipulated times.

Image

• The business provides a good image to the customers by placing major emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene.
• The business has a health conscious attitude. The food is handled with extreme caution, and in the most hygiene of ways.
• The staff members of the business have a friendly touch to them. They have the ability to provide a good customer service experience.

Competitive advantage

• The business ensures that it provides the freshest products to their customers.
• Some of their products such as the milkshakes are blended with the finest products, which makes them tastier.
• The business outlet is strategically located to provide essential services to its large consumer base. This puts it at a great advantage that its competitors as far as competition is concerned.
• The business also provides a healthier image that its competitors. It appears to be cleaner and more concerned with hygiene factors.
• The business is also open for business in longer hours than its competitors in the same industry.

It is normal for the competitive advantages of the business to remain sustainable over a prolonged period.

The advertisement strategies for the business include the following:

• The business has greatly designed and attractive business cards. These capture the eyes of potential customers and partner companies (Schlegelmilch & Öberseder, 2010).
• The business also has brochures that are geared towards creating awareness in the target market about the available food offers that they have.
• The company has also placed some ad banners on the various social media platforms that exist. These platforms include websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
• The business also has a website, which they use to promote their products. The website is further advertised on the various social media websites that exist.
• The business has also placed advertisements in the print media. These include platforms such as newspapers and popular magazines in the region. These are the media platforms that are more accessible to the target market.

Promotions

• The business has placed billboards in strategic locations that would be more accessible to their target market.
• The business has also developed a large contact list comprised of business contacts that exist. The contacts are collected from business networking platforms.
• The business has engaged in a process of circulating the business brochures on a periodical basis to increase the popularity of the business in the target market.

Internet

The business has established a website that is used in further promoting the products that are sold by the business. The website is attractive enough to encourage the target market to visit the premises and acquire some of the products they have to offer. Products can be purchased through the websites, and deliveries are done at the desired location of the customer. When such purchases are made, payment can be made using a large variety of payment methods provided by the business. Also, the website will contain images of any promotional materials that are offered for sale by the business (Sheth & Sisodia, 2007). These materials include caps, T-shirts, mugs, and umbrellas, among others. The main pages that will be included on the website include the home page, products for sale, and the location of the business. These web pages will be best placed to provide all the available information necessary to give information about the business to the target market.

• A marketing proposal will be developed by the business.
• A budget will follow this process, which will be used to determine the amount of resources that will be required to implement the whole process.
• An executive committee will be formulated to follow up on the execution process of the marketing plan (Gregory, Karavdic & Zou, 2007).
• The marketing plan will then be implemented.
• The execution team will conduct a follow-up and monitoring process to examine the implementation process.
• Feedback will then be given about the implementation process of the marketing plan. The execution team will give their opinion about the marketing plan and give their recommendations.