E-marketing Plan for Lexus Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

E-marketing Plan for Lexus - Assignment Example With the help of that this paper analyses the situation, factors, opportunities, problems, etc. And then finally need to take decision, which strategy we will follow. I feel there might be some shortcomings of my planning. But it would take consideration that, if it can overcome the inconsistencies properly that found in control stage, and then it won't be difficult for LEXUS to regain the lost position. LEXUS has gained a deserving status for turning out utterly refined luxury vehicles. The hallmarks of this brand are a calm, well-crafted cabin, a plush ride and commendable performance from powerful and nearly silent engines. It was launched by Toyota in the fall of 1989; the Lexus line represents its effort to create a world-class luxury-car brand. Groundwork for the Lexus line was laid in the mid-'80s, when the company began tapping U.S. focus groups in an attempt to define design concepts best suited for American users. By the early 1990s, the Lexus brand was expanded to other markets, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.4 As a Marketing Executive of LEXUS, like to create an outline e-marketing plan for my organization. 1. 1-2: Problem Statement: 1. I would like to make the plan by analyzing situation that we are in now, objectives where we want to get to, strategy how we are going to get there, tactics details of the strategy, actions how to implement the strategy, controls monitoring and reviewing where we are going. 2. Determining whether the plan would be cost-effective, and finish able timely or not. Along with that what is going to happen when and was that intended or not. CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH DESIGN 2-1: Methodology: E-marketing specify sell of any goods or services using digital technologies. These technologies are a valuable

History of Measurment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of Measurment - Essay Example The Egyptians were not able to monopolize the measuring system. The Babylonians also devised measures stemming from a cubit, though 6 mm longer than that of the Egyptians. This cubit was then divided into 30 kus, roughly equal to a digit. The earliest known decimal system is the Harappan system; from 2500 B.C. to 1700 B.C. Evidence suggests that they had two different series of weights. One system was based on a measurement of the Indus inch (1.32 modern inches). Since their system was based on base-10, ten Indus inches equaled 13.2 inches, the measure of a foot. The other scale was discovered in the form of a bronze rod with markings of 0.367 in. 100 units of that would be 36.7 inches, approximately the length of a stride. Measurements of the Harappan ruins show that they used these measurements extremely accurately. European systems of measurement were based on the Roman system. The Romans, in turn, borrowed their measurements from the Greeks, who had based it on the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Their base unit was the breadth of a finger. Unlike the other cultures, they only had three widely used units of measurement: the finger, the foot and the Greek cubit. The Greeks also standardized weight by stabilizing the size of containers to weigh goods and by creating a standard set of measures. The Romans changed the Greek system slightly, by creating the pace, equal to five feet. Thousand paces was a Roman mile, extraordinarily close to the modern British mile. It was in 1672, that Sir Isaac Newton actually made a vital discovery about the "Newton Rings" which actually used light to measure distances. Neither he nor the world at large understood the great implications of it, and today "interferometry" as it is called helps measure precise distances to within millionths of an inch or a millimeter. The French, on the other hand, used a bewildering array of measures. Standardization was a big problem since no one could come to an agreement. As late as 1788 Arthur Young wrote in "Travels during the years 1787, 1788, 1789" published in 1793, "In France the infinite perplexity of the measures exceeds all comprehension. They differ not only in every province, but also in every district and almost every town". The English though tried to standardize as early as in the 13th century, by England issuing a royal ordinance "Assize of Weights and Measures" to bring some unity. Wren had proposed a new system based on the yard defined as the length of a pendulum beating at the rate of one second in the Tower of London. Britain and Scotland uniting ensured a better prevalence for the system but it was hard when each province wanted its own system followed. In 1824, the English Parliament legalized the yard that was first proposed in 1760. In 1870 the French in Paris convened an International Conference with the aim of improving international scientific cooperation by having the metric system as the worldwide standard. This resulted in seventeen nations signing up and later a few more nations joining in and kind of standardized the metric system. US though were influenced by the colonists who brought with various measurements from their places of origin and for a long time it was an array of measurements. In 1821 John Quincy Adam for the first person to propose to the

PEP and performance analysis for rounders Essay Example for Free

PEP and performance analysis for rounders Essay There are many important skills and techniques required in Rounders. As a batter in order to successfully hit the ball the player will need to have good hand and eye co-ordination. A number of things contribute to making, a good hit, these include the hand grip you are using while holding the bat, the hand grip of the bat is bad then the direction the ball will be other target because of awkward angles. Hitting the ball in Rounders is fairly significant as it will make getting the ball pass the opposition easier allowing you to ran around more bases allowing you to score more points for your team. Also when hitting the ball in a batter role it is important to keep you head in an up-right position this is because if you hit the ball with your head in an awkward position it will affect the direction the ball will go because of your lack of area awareness. Stance is important in Rounders because it determines whether you hit the ball well. A good stance includes, having your legs apart with knees slightly bent. When batting if you manage to hit a perfect ball then you will need good agility, to run around the bases well with out hitting them or going around them to far (if this happens it will affect you because it means your will have to run further out making your time slower because of the larger  distance you will have to run.) In Rounders when playing in a fielding position you need to have the ability to both catch and throw a ball in order to either get batter out or stop them from scoring the maximum points. The .reason you need to have the capabilities to catch is to catch someone out if they hit a high ball, this requires good co-ordination. When throwing a ball in a fielding position you need to have a good ball grip and good timing (this is because it will make the ball go accurate when thrown.) it is important to have a good grip of the ball when throwing it because if your grip is to loose then the ball will fall out of your hand. Also when you throw the ball you need to keep it up right so it goes in the direction you want it to go in. 2. (a) List in detail the strengths of the player/competitor/participant.  In Rounders Im good at hitting the ball when batting; in order for me to do this I had good hand and eye co-ordination. When batting it is good to have good hand and eye coordination because it determines whether a hit will be good or bad, I think the ball the reason why Im good at batting is because I hi the ball right in the middle making the ball go at max speed, the reason I can do this is because of the co-ordination. This also involves me having a good grip of the bat this is so I get the angle right when hitting the ball, if I did not have this angle right then I would not be able to hit the ball well directionally wise, it is important a can hit the ball in a good direction because it makes it more hard for the opposite sides fielders to get the ball and try get me out. Im also good in the fielding position where I have to stop the ball going past me and stopping the ball go a longer distance reducing the chance of the batter t score more points.  (b) List in detail the weaknesses of the player/competitor/participant.  The weaknesses of me when playing Rounders is in the fielding position where I have to throw the ball to a team mate where by it becomes possible for them to get the batter out. The reason why I think Im bad at throwing the ball long distances and in an accurate direction is because of the strength of my arms and because my co-ordination is not the best it could be. This could be because of the lack of flexibility in my arms making me not able to move my arm in a swift motion. Another weakness is the lack of agility making my body not as agile as it could be (making running in different directions harder.) 3. Suggest what raining practices might be used to improve the strengths and in particular the weaknesses you have identified.  One of the weaknesses I have found out is my lack of agility, a training practice could be set out for me where b I have to run in and out of cones in opposite directions as fast as I can while recording the tie, I can keep track of my progress by comparing the different times I have ran it in. (this test is called Illinois Agility Run and is commonly used with sport competitors throughout the world.) I can also use ladders in m exercise, going through them as fast as I can see what time I did and then improving it. This will help my timing and it will tune my muscles into knowing where my feet are, giving me a better sporting feel.  To improve my throwing ability I can set out a base with a thin pole in it and see how many times I can hit it, if this activity gets to easy I can always position myself further away from the pole and as time goes on I should see my coordination levels increase as my muscle more gets more use to doing this exercise thus making m directional throwing better.

A Guest Experience Based Upon Hospitality Marketing Essay

A Guest Experience Based Upon Hospitality Marketing Essay The rewards are the opportunity to create a guest experience based upon hospitality rather than efficiency, to implement customer service that makes memories rather than horror stories, to truly be in touch with guests rather than seeking to avoid them because a guest contact usually indicates a problem. Because of their size, small boutique properties often do not have the clout in the market to recruit and retain good line employees. Seasonality can have the happy retired hotelier making beds, doing laundry and unstopping toilets in the off-season when he/she has had to lay off the seasonal staff. Any furloughs due to seasonality pretty well guarantee that the quality labour in the market will go to a property with the mass to offer them year round employment. Operational Performance Objective: Flexibility Personal Approach LOCATION (segment market) COST (budget) Demand Service process Keep on changing customer Taste The four houses of quality function deployment connect customer needs with engineering design characteristics, components production processes, and associated control parameters http://www.naukrihub.com/india/hospitality/overview/challenges/ http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_4th/Nov06_ISHC.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3656/is_200612/ai_n17190382/ Q3 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2007_April_3/ai_n27189784/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.22 .http://www.managingchange.com/masscust/overview.htm http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/ChiangMaiJun00/CustomizationHospitality.html#1 IMPORTANT http://www.smthacker.co.uk/postponement_mass_customisation.htm http://www.madeforone.com/Articles/index.php/page/2/ http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/03/weekend-reading-mass-customization-round-up.php http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/TitleDetails.aspx?TitleId=743DetailsType=Preface http://www.sideroad.com/Customer_Service/measuring-customer-loyalty.html http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/210546/hotels_and_hostels/new_trends_at_boutique_hotels.html 1. Shortage of skilled employees: One of the greatest challenges plaguing the hospitality industry is the unavailability of quality workforce in different skill levels. The hospitality industry has failed to retain good professionals. 2. Retaining quality workforce: Retention of the workforce through training and development in the hotel industry is a problem and attrition levels are too high. One of the reasons for this is unattractive wage packages. Though there is boom in the service sector, most of the hotel management graduates are joining other sectors like retail and aviation. Personalization and Design by Own Individualism (demand) Peoples lives today are more turbulent and diversified. The one size fits all model is out-of-date. Individuals now want to be seen and treated as individuals and many are prepared to pay for this. They are better educated and informed; able and willing to make their own decisions. http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/210548/hotels_and_hostels/unique_features_with_new_boutique_hotel_resort_trends.html _ boutique hotel http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/ChiangMaiJun00/CustomizationHospitality.html Davis, Stan, Future Perfect, 10th anniversary edition, Addison-Wesley Pub Co, Harlow, England, 1996, ISBN: 020159045X Gilmore, James H. Pine, B. Joseph II 1997, The four faces of mass customization, in Gilmore, James H. Pine, B. Joseph II (eds.), Markets of One, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Boston MA, U.S.A. pp. 115-132 Introduction Boutique hotels are believed to have been invented in the early 1980s. (Anhar,L,2001) There is no single definition of a boutique hotel but most of the boutique hotels do share some common characteristics. The first, boutique hotels put more emphasis on design and architecture than traditional chain hotels. (Anhar.L.2001) Creating unique design with additional lifestyle amenities in order make hotel guest feel something special than others. For example each guest room in Blakes Hotel in South Kensington, London was designed by celebrity stylist Anouska Hempel. This kind of hotel is very individual and focuses on their look. (Jones.P,2002) The aim is to create an environment with sense of style, warmth and distinction which they are willing to pay premium room rates. Second, the common feature of boutique hotel is superior personal service.(Drayton.P Rodwell.K,2001) Providing personal service guide to hotel guests is importance to enhance guest experience rather than efficiency, to t ruly be in touch with hotel guests rather than ignorance them when they faced to problem, to makes guest with unforgettable memories will come back on next time rather than terrible service that not return again. Furthermore, boutique hotel tend to provide a higher quality and wider range of guest amenities; such as pillow menu, complimentary candies and nuts. (Reich.M Ho Jung Kim) The third feature is the number of rooms. The number of room should not exceed 150 rooms to maintain the intimacy between the guests and the hotel staff, and the personalized attention by the staff. (Anthar.L,2001) However, there seems to be not upper limit on the maximum number of room; for example among properties operated by Ian Schrager, Pramount Hotel has 594 rooms and Hudson Hotel has 821 rooms. (Ibid) The last common feature of boutique hotel is the target market. The middle to upper income group of people tend to be target market of boutique hotel. In addition, the image of boutique hotel is major element for promoting through media, fashion, entertainment and advertising companies that are attracted to the trendy design and lively atmosphere.(Jones Lang Lasalle report) Location of the boutique hotel can be classified into two types. The first is the city destination hotels. () Accordingly, most existing city boutique hotels are located in urban edgy and chic neighbourhoods in major cities like New York, London, San Francisco, and Miami. (Anthar) Nevertheless, more companies are targeting less cosmopolitan cities. Location of traditional hotels often seeks for convenience to their customer but for boutique hotel, they are often located in cities with big fashion capitals to best attract their target market. The second type of boutique hotel is located in generally well-hidden, tucked always in deserted corners of the island or the mountains. Each boutique resort hotels promote the non-existence of electronics and communication devices in guestrooms as a competitive advantage. () Q1 Every company will face problemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ challenges Boutique hotel tend to serve their guest with high degree of service quality therefore the greater of customer contact, the greater degree of interaction between the service system and the customer. (Jacobs.R,Chase.R,2008) Service systems with high degree of customer contact are more difficult to control and rationalize rather than low degree of customer contact. In high-contact systems, the customer can affect the time of demand, the exact nature of the service, and the quality, or perceived quality of service because the hotel guests are involved in the process. (Jacobs.R,Chase.R,2008) This is reason why boutique hotel manager should take into account on this particular area of service design process. This is not easy as all customers are different and have different expectations of what the service will provide. Perhaps a boutique hotel guest tend to wait for too long to check-in at resulted he or she might not come again due with the expectation on their speed of their service provided was disappointment. Hence, boutique hotel can offers several counters with different type of function such as registration check-in, check-out counter, and complaint counter to shorten the time of waiting by other guests. Flexibility approach take part on this challenges, Service process must be short and accurate in order to SOA(219) Service Blueprinting 211 As mentioned above, for boutique hotel the customer indeed is greater extent involved in the actual delivery of the service. The service employees by boutique hotel have frequently work together with their customer thus the behaviour if employees is likely to have a major effect on the customers perceived level of service quality.(Greasley.A,2009) Unlike tangible products, technology can be replaced the workforce on certain jobs but in services, it is difficult to replace the element of human interaction completely. (Greasley.A,2009) For service industry, the service operation for boutique hotel greater front office tasks by adding value to their customer both input and output of the operation while back office task is lesser. (Figure 1.1)(Greasley.A, 2009) Boutique hotel as a mass customization operate at high volume and high variety because the customer require high levels of contact with the service provider and a customized service. Human resource development: Some of the service s required in the tourism and hotel industries are highly personalized, and no amount of automation can substitute for personal service providers. India is focusing more on white collar jobs than blue collar jobs. The shortage of blue collar employees will pose various threats to the industry Lack of skilled hotel employees can become an issue for boutique hotel that tend to provide superior personal service. STANDARD The hotel boutique employees are expected to know their guests needs very well with caring, polite, friendly, and etc. Hence, the manager of Boutique hotel has to invest on a series of training program in order to maintain the quality of the service provided by their employee especially front-line employees which interact with customer most of the time. Assume a boutique hotel employees does not know well about a potential customer whose is vegetarians, but sending meal with chicken to the customer. This in the result, the potential customer will feel very disappointed on the careless of service provider by particular boutique hotel. The customer definitely switches to other brand of boutique hotel and not to return again if there is no a good service recover to resolve the problem. Service is unlike product that can be easier to argue back but in service industry especially with high service quality provided by boutique hotel, customers tend to be correct most of the time. Quality is a particular challenge for boutique hotel in both the tangible and intangible aspects, for example the quality of the food served, the quality of the mattress in the room and service of the staff must meet quality standards in order to retain customer. However, intangible service may be difficult to measure and often depends on an unpredictable interaction between the service provider and customer. (Greasley.A, 2009) The boutique employees cannot predict what the next will be happen thus they have to get ready to resolve problem at anytime. However, there are three authors; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) define the quality in service with five principal dimensions that customers use to judge service quality which is Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Tangible based on a comparison between expectations and perceptions of the service quality. Marketing strategy: For the side of marketing view of point on boutique hotel, the image is very important to enhance the quality of the hotel itself to their target market. What are so special about boutique hotel compare to other hotel chain without paying high price of room rate? This is why Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) gets involved to work together to promote the brand and image of boutique hotel. A good service cannot be successful without the demand in a market. To open a new boutique hotel in a market place obviously is very fresh on the particular brand. Hence, branding can become one of the challenges to a new boutique hotel. At that point, the new brands that were ill-conceived and lacking clear definition and marketability ultimately become the weaker performers which are then often absorbed by the stronger ones.( ISHC Annual Conference,2007)Investing on brand proliferation to attract consumer interest toward the new boutique hotel. Marketing research effort s hould not be neglected by collecting information on favourable design of hotel room, service encounter and etc. By doing marketing research better performance outcome in order to meet customer needs. Virtual advertising can be useful to let customer know more information about the boutique hotel. An addition, online booking hotel becomes more convenience to customer in the purchase processes. A system that can let customer choose the theme or design of the room that they prefer including the menu of pillow, type of food to serve and etc. Public relation is also a powerful tool to get useful public opinion from the public. Distribution channel renovation : In 2006, it is estimated that $24 billion worth of hotel rooms in the US alone will be booked through internet sites representing 27% of US hotel industry room revenues up from $15.5 billion just two years ago. (INSH,2007) Meanwhile, this is current challenge of distribution management, manage and market to the consumer in the online world. Without understanding online consumers buying behaviour, the possible investment on marketing will be wasted. Buying process change rapidly nowadays with advancement of technology device support. Brick and Motor Directors of Sales Marketing and Directors of Revenue Management must understand at least the basics of search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, link popularity strategies and web traffic analysis. (INSH,2007) Connection between the service provider and their potential customer is linked. Expanding distribution revolution preserves the relationship with their customer. (INSH,2007) Click and M ortar approach can be applied on boutique hotel strategy in order to serve the best quality by using online or offline form of service provided. Construction cost: To build up a new boutique hotel, cost definitely has to take into account because it involved a huge amount of money on constructing, furniture, equipments and labour cost. The cost of raw materials for construction such as wood, steel, sand and so on is categorized as dramatically changes according the demand of the world. For example steel prices experienced a 48.8-percent increase in 2004, which was preceded by significant increases in scrap iron and steel prices in 2002 and 2003.(INSH,2007) By constantly monitoring changes in the markets for both construction materials and labor costs, a developer has to ensure that a project has a better than even chance of being completed on time and on budget.(INSH,2007) Adoptability and Knowledgeable on new technology system: In this 21th century with all digital-based of world with high-technology advancement that can improving the effectively and efficiently of doing things. The research and development (RD) department have to gone through emphasis on the design of the room in boutique hotel. Supply and demand service capacity : skilled employees or unskilled employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Training Demand of the market : middle to upper class. Fashion ,media Finance Q2 Mass processes that produce high-volume and low variety products are termed line or mass processes. Because of the high volumes of product it is cost-effective to use specialized labour and equipment. Because of the low variety, setting up of equipment is minimized and utilization of equipment is high. Examples of mass process included automobile plant, television factory, vehicle manufacturing, DVD production and food processes. (pg78) Customization processes is special customized to the need of the customer. High variety of product but low volume. This customization processes can be applied on goods such as big size shoes, special design for wedding cake and while service on or services like facial treatment, cosmetic, and hair style that can meet individual needs. The target market is niche market with a small group of people with the similar needs. High degree of customization, in order to meet individual customer needs. For exampleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Because the need of specialized, time-consuming to finish on certain number (usually with low quantity) However, the variety is very low for mass processes, customer could not have much choices. Meanwhile, with the customization goods and services the price is trend to expensive. It is difficult to meet individual needs with low cost. It can be either want to pay higher price to meet individual price or low price but no choice. Based on the statement above, the trend of the layout process changed to Mass customization. What is mass customization? Mass customization is processes that combine the Mass and Customization feature in one which mean high volume and high variety at a relatively. (Figure 1.2) An attempt to combine high-variety and hiagh-volume output to provide the customer with customized products at a relatively low price. ( Greasley.A,2009)was typothie si s For example, Dell is the worlds largest volume producer of personal computers yet allows each customer to design (albeit in a limited sense) their own configuration. (Slack et al, 2007,pg47) Customer can select the feature of specification of the computer that they wanted after that make an order. Once Dell received the order, they will make customized computer requirement by the customer and delivery to them within two weeks. Another example on Land à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Feel different from others. Repeat buyer. Capture their interest and follow up by sending greeting card to welcome back to the boutique hotel interested like music. Event singing competition. Live band Designà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Flexibilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ act quickly , fast, information or data tranformation

Representation of Women in Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart and Perfect Days by Liz Lochead :: Weep Stewart Perfect Lochead Essays

Representation of Women in "Men Should Weep" by Ena Lamont Stewart and "Perfect Days" by Liz Lochead Both plays portray women as very independent people. In â€Å"Men Should Weep†, Maggie is the main female character. She is a housewife living in a male dominated society. The main theme of the play is her journey form oppressed housewife to self-empowered women. Whereas in â€Å"Perfect Days† Barbs the main female character is an extremely independent woman from the start and has worked hard to earn herself her own hairdressers. Maggie’s husband John is a very self-centred character; he doesn’t have a job or any notion to ever help around the house. Yet he thinks that is perfectly acceptable. Due to the way society was in that day and age then it said that once a woman wedded they automatically became their husband’s property. This meant that they had no choice but to obey their husbands every demand. What they said went. â€Å"I’d an idea a wis heid o this hoose† This demonstrates that even though John doesn’t contribute to the family he still feels he is superior to them all. Maggie takes this though she doesn’t argue with him as she believes that he is head of the household and she constantly stands up for him. Lily, Maggie’s independent single sister is very much against men she thinks ‘there aw dirty beasts’. As she argues with Maggie about John but Maggie straight away stands up for her husband. â€Å"You leave John alane! He does his best for us† Even though Maggie knows John doesn’t do anything for her and her children she still stands strongly by her husband as that was the right thing to do. Not only does Maggie have her husband to run around after her and look after her, but she also has five children. â€Å"If you’ve got wee ans, you’ve got tae put up wi the fella that gie’d ya them† The women in the play are constantly making excuses for the men and their behaviour. Maggie is particularly bad at doing this. This is a prime example of this behaviour as Mrs Bone her neighbour gets domestically abused and this is Maggie’s attempt to offer her support. As the play progresses Maggie gradually starts to see sense and comes to realise how weak men really are. â€Å"They canna staun up tae things like a wummen† This shows female strength and is the start of a major turning point for Maggie as she becomes more and more disenchanted with her life. Jenny, Maggie’s eldest daughter runs of at the beginning of the play but returns at the end with money and the opportunity for Maggie and

media Essay -- essays research papers

Media Manipulation There is a very subtle, yet powerful force at work on our world today. It is trying to control what woman and young girls do say and believe, especially about their own appearances. The media portrays unrealistic images that affect the way people, particularly woman, feel about themselves. And there is no way to avoid it. The media acts as a transmitter of potentially dangerous, socially desirable values and norms. Anyone can become a victim without even realizing it. Woman are told to believe distortions, inaccuracies, and bias on a daily basis. Somehow in that all the madness thinness has become synonymous with attractiveness. It is the media's job to surround us with slogans and pictures that are able to etch themselves into brains. (Stevens 44) Television, movies, magazine ads, commercials and billboards all attribute to the growing influence the media has on women. (www.rethinkingschools.org). Young girls are the most influenced by the media and its manipulation.(www.ed.gov .ERIC...). However, society as well as the media, has put forth dangerous and concentrated images, that have a strong impact on the lives of woman of all ages. Society has always placed a great emphasis upon the importance of a woman's appearance, and through that emphasis woman have been taught to measure their self worth in terms of the image they present, even more so than their own intelligence. They have been given rigid and challenging standards to live up to, standards that are usually unrealistic, unattainable, and disheartening. Many woman spend the majority of their lives suffering just trying to reach these standards. The ideal body image in this country today seems to be the long haired 5' 7", 110 lb. female found in every fashion magazine and television show. However, many woman at Johns II 5' 7" could starve themselves their entire life and never reach the so called "ideal".( Rushkoff 27). The persuasive and intrusive ... ... dangerous role model, that may even defy their biology, and when this societal and media pressure leads to severe eating disorders among women who believe that they cannot otherwise attain this perceived "ideal" state. The media plays a major role in setting the standard as to what "beauty" is, as the About.com site notes, in finding that, "the average person sees between 400 and 600 ads per day -that is 40 million to 50 million by the time she is 60 years old. One of every 11 commercials has a direct message about beauty." There is abundant evidence that by communicating unhealthy or infeasible goals for appearance, the media can directly cause an increase in eating disorders among women. A Hofstra University research group reported that: "A study examined over 4,000 TV ads. On the average, 1 out of every 3.8 ads had an "attractive-based" message. (www.cdc.gov.nccaphp/teen.html). These results were used to estimate that women are exposed to over 5,000 of these ads a year, (www.cdc.gov.nccaphp/teen.html) and each one adds to women's body dissatisfaction and the desire to be thin and "beautiful."

Marketing Mix

Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION3 II. MARKET STRATEGY4 A. Product5 B. Price5 C. Place5 D. Process5 E. People6 F. Physical evidence6 G. Promotion6 III. ENVIRONMENT7 A. Macroenviroment7 B. Microenvironment8 IV. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR9 V. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING10 A. Segmentation10 B. Target market12 C. Market positioning12 VI. CONCLUSION13 VII. References14 INTRODUCTION This report aims to identify various factors for success in the quality take-away food market. This will be accomplished by comparing two food service companies with a similar strategy – Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars and Real Burger World (RBW) – ended up with remarkably different results from the following aspects; marketing strategy, the environment, consumer behavior and target market and positioning. MARKET STRATEGY The foundation of both Crust and RBW was animated by a similar desire to provide a gourmet or higher quality take away food in the competitive fast food industry. Though, they came up with slightly different plans and implementations. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |People |†¢ Founder : previous experience as a manager of |†¢ One of the founders : successful experience in | | |a Pizza Restaurant |starting up a business | | |†¢ Training and management support for their |†¢ General manager replaced because of his lack of| | |franchises |experience in the industry | |Process |†¢ Long |†¢ Long | | |†¢ Preparati on in view of the customers |†¢ ‘guest' burger, customer invited to suggest a | | | |menu item |Physical Evidence |Dynamic, fashionable and modern : upmarket look |Typical burger shop | | |for upmarket target | | |Product |†¢ High quality and fresh |†¢ Real, natural and wholesome ingredients | | |†¢ Broad choice from traditional to original |†¢ Choice more or less diversified | | |taste (‘Asian touch') |†¢ Dynamic menu with gourmet burgers, handmade | | |†¢ Product on demand |fries | |Price |Restaurant prices, more expensive than the |Slightly above competitive brands (1? ore than | | |competitors |the existing competitors) | |Place |Shop, Internet Website, Phone |Shop | |Promotion |†¢ Heart Foundation Tick of approval & medias |†¢ TV Show â€Å"Risking it all† in 2episodes, | | |†¢ radio, local papers, letterbox drops, |†¢ Brochure handouts in the street | | |sponsorships |†¢ Protest in front of their co mpetitor store | | |†¢ Website | | | |†¢ reward card | | Table 1 Marketing strategy of both companies through the 7P’s 1 Product Both companies offer better value to their customers through the high and fresh quality of their product. This is the main advantage that differentiates themselves from their competitors. o Quality QualityWhile RBW provides â€Å"real, natural and wholesome ingredients† (Naz Choudhury, http://books. google. com. au/ ), Crust, sensitive to the new trend of healthy food, provides not only high quality food -with premium ingredients such as prosciutto, tiger prawns or smoked salmon- but also healthy food with six Heart Foundation Pizzas. o Variety They both offer a broad choice from traditional to original taste (‘Asian touch’ for Crust). What seems an advantage for Crust over RBW, and pizza restaurant is that Crust customers can compose their own pizza, though a common doing in the pizza fast food industry. 2 Price Because it is not trying to be cheaper than or as affordable as its competitors, unlike RBW, Crust chooses a clear different position from its competitors. Crust gets a premium price based on the product differentiation. 3 Place The place for the first shops gives an indication on the position of the firm. While Crust established their first shop in a suburb where people may have more time to wait for a longer process, RBW had their first shop in a dynamic street, in the city and a close walk from its competitors. Also Crust developed a delivery service with as many ways as possible to make their product available to overcome their geographic limitation. 4 Process Due to their position as higher and fresh quality food, both of these companies need a longer processing time for their product, than its competitors. Though, Crust found a way to compensate. The preparation in view of the customers increases the interaction between the staff and the customers and is visually exciting. This tactic is a way of creating delight for customers. A good point for RBW is the ‘guest’ burger. The customer is invited to take part in the creation of menu items. 5 People People working for the company are important since they contribute to the image of the firm. Crust understood this well, they made it an important part of their plan. They provide training and management support for their franchises to preserve brand identity and so, the atmosphere of the first shop. On the contrary, RBW showed an mistake from the start, the first General Manager of the store had no experience in the fast food industry. 6 Physical evidence The look of the store conveys the marketing message of the firm. It has to be in adequation with what the firm claims to provide, that includes also the differentiation from their competitors. Crust chose distinctive colours and a high class decor just as a gourmet firm would do. It gives satisfaction to customers who would expect greater value. On the other hand, though they hired professionals to design their store, RBW appeared to have missed the upmarket look and ended up looking like any other burger shop. 7 Promotion By earning the Heart Foundation Tick of approval, they consolidated their image differentiation, got the media attention as a short term promotion but also undoubtedly a long term promotion through this kind of sponsorship. They also use radio, local papers, letterbox drops, and sponsorships. Those tactics are important to build a strong brand identity. Crust is omnipresent so that they stay in potential customer’s minds. They developed a Website to go along with the technology orientated society and targeted customers. The use of a reward card is a way of retaining profitable customers. Whereas in the case of RBW, it is appearing in a TV show, the firm benefited from a priceless mass promotion to make their brand known. Nonetheless, they didn’t sustain themselves to this level and came up with only short term promotion. Protesting in front of their competitor store can be regarded as a desperate move to attract customers. From the analysis of these parameters, we can say that Crust has a well more developed strategy than RBW. When RBW’s main (unique) advantage is the higher quality food, Crust has developed a more complex strategy around the higher quality and healthy food and the service cape, regarded as a key to success. ENVIRONMENT This section discusses external and internal factors affecting Crust’s and RBW’s business. Four factors were chosen to outline their success/failure – Demographic forces (macro), socio-cultural forces (macro), corporate culture (micro), and competitive environment (micro). Macroenvironment are fairly common to the two firms as Australia and UK have similar cultural background and economic level. The factors which led these two firms to contrastive results could be found in microenvironment. [pic] 1 Macroenviroment o Demographic forces Understanding the demographic environment is of great importance as it â€Å"involves people, and people make up markets (Kotler, Adam, Denize and Armstrong, 2009: pp. 89)†. Changes in household types are beneficial trend for fast-food industry. The important demographic trend for fast-food industry is changes in household types. Increased number of one person, childless couple households increases the demand for convenient, ready-to-eat meals. Dual-income families made quality food affordable. The two firms targeted those new-type households. o Socio-cultural forces Businesses exists within society, therefore businesses can be influenced by society. To keep up with social changes may provide businesses with competitive advantages. The increased health awareness in society led the changing trend in consumer preferences to better-taste, fresher fast-food which perceived as healthier. Crust and RBW met this consumer trend. Another socio-cultural force is the trend towards choice. Both firms dealt with this trend by offering broad range of menu. 2 Microenvironment o Corporate culture Strong corporate culture helps to develop strong brand because people, internal and external to the company, can share similar values. Strong brand equity enables businesses to establish firm customer base and brand royalty, which in turn give businesses long-term growth and profitability. Crust has a clear corporate culture of â€Å"personality driven† based on â€Å"professionalism†, â€Å"entrepreneurship† and â€Å"teamwork and partnership with stores and customers† (www. crust. com. au, 2010). This is expressed to customers through store presentation and service, which serves as physical evidence to the customers. On the other hand, RBW’s culture was based on co-founders’ friendship. The business built on friendship can be fallen into amateurism resulted in various operational problems, which could reduce customer satisfaction. o Competitive environment Fast-food industry is highly competitive market and the competition is complex. Players in the market have to compete with huge multinational organizations such as McDonald’s, Subway and Pizza Hut as well as thousands of local take-away stores. To provide greater customer value and satisfaction than competitors, strategic analysis of competitive environment is crucial for businesses. Crust identified a gap in the pizza market in Australia, and then develops the strategy to fit them into the gap. Differentiation against competitors is the key factor to be successful in competitive market. Reflecting the tough competitive environment, crust aims to grow slowly and steady through good relationships with the stores and the customers (www. crust. com. au, 2010). RBW didn’t take it seriously compared to Crust because RBW were confident with the products and believed that consumers choose them once they tried their burger. The location choice for the first store was made by financial reason rather than strategic point of view. This resulted in direct competition with established fast-food brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR [pic] There is little difference between the fact that RBW and crust pizza are located in England and Australia respectively because both are industrialized nations and both are very similar culturally. As such, both are positively affected by the growing awareness of the benefits of healthier food, as well as an active desire for such food, especially in the age groups that both Crust and RBW caters to. There are three driving psychological influences on a customer to eat at crust pizza. The first is an aspirational one. The existing perception of high dining atering to educated, high earning professionals that crust has worked meticulously to build, and one of the results is that being seen to eat there is indicative of being a member of that particular demographic. [pic] Figure 3. Reasons for eating Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01 _archive. html The second influence is the imperative and willingness to pay for high quality food by the more discerning consumers. The third is one of safety, in the sense that crust delivers on time, with the correct pizza, in the same quality as in the store due to its specially made base. While the time take is longer, customers are satisfied as it is what they expect. RBW’s customers have different set of influences due to its geographical location in a less well off part of London where price is a significant factor. For the majority of consumers that frequent that particular part of London, the health benefits that RBW provided were not enough of an incentive to try the burgers. Also, it is the nature of burgers that they are quick. The reason for eating them is that it is a convenient way of eating and customers are unwilling to wait more than ten minutes for a burger that elsewhere they can get within one or two minutes. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING 1 Segmentation The basis of a long term marketing strategy, as well as the initial success of the business requires a target market to be identified and the business positioned satisfy the needs of the chosen market. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |Geographic segmentation |- Distributed around Australia ; NSW, ACT and |- Opened the first store in London in mid 2003 | | |Victoria – An expansion in |- Located in a street with other fast food stores| | |Singapore | | |Demographic Segmentation |- Targeting the age of 18-39 years old including|- Targeting the people with the age of 20-40 | | |families and high incomes including middle class|years old and high incomes | | |and upper class. Targeting | | | |consumers from diverse nationality | | |Psychographic Segmentation |- Targeting the people with a healthy lifestyle |- Targeting consumers with a healthy and busy | | | |lifestyle | |Behavioural Segmentation |- Targeting for the middle and upper class who |- Some of consumers would have negative attitudes| | |would have purchase occasions frequently |due to some failure on plans. | Table 2. Comparison of segmentation between Crust and RBW o Geographic Segmentation Most firms have national marketing programmes which adjust their products and promotions to satisfy the individual needs of geographic units. Geographic Segmentation can be the most important process which  brings to light  the  difference between the case of Crust and RBW. For Crust, it  is distributed in the main cities of Australia include d Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Victoria. The stores  are located in various suburbs. This implies two factors of geographic segmentation being region and population density. This  indicates a  greater opportunity  for the  success of  the company due to its location. On the other hand,  the first RBW store  was located in a street with other fast-food stores containing McDonald’s and Burger King. This evidently demonstrates that there is more competition and hence  the  potential of losing customers to  the other major food chains. RBW would be forced to compete against eminent and familiar  fast-food outlets. In this case, having just  launched their first outlet,  it would contribute to decreasing their earnings. o Demographic Segmentation The Crust has targeted  an age group ranging between 18-39 years of age. Additionally,  they are more likely focussing on middle and upper class demographics. We can assume that RBW also has targeted  a similar  demographic of consumers  to that of  the Crust. This can be classified  as demographic segmentation. Each business  targets a specific demographic that they feel the product or service would be most likely to attract. With that, the company will be able to set out its goals, marketing strategies and prices according to that chosen demographic. It clearly shows that both the Crust and RBW have targeted  appropriate level of consumers who would become big fans of the restaurant. In addition demographic factor is very influential on marketing strategy because consumer usage and needs are variable since each individual has different taste desires in  products depending on how old they are, what family life cycle they have or what occupation or income they have. o Psychographic Segmentation The Crust has an aim to change the perception of pizza from  that of a  cheap food to more of one that can be classified as a healthier choice. Accordingly, this will appeal to  those people who have a healthy lifestyle  or are conscious about their diet. This strategy  would lead to  further success in their business as not only will they be able to  maintain the number of existing customers,  they would also  be  attracting a new line of customers. For instance, through education and the media people are  increasingly gaining more awareness with regards to their diet and healthy living. With that in mind, the public will be less inclined to  eat unhealthily and would begin to focus  on maintaining a healthy diet. This  is a  clear indication  that people would  choose Crust rather than Dominos or Pizza Hut because of their marketing strategy. As well as in the case of RBW, they  have tried  to develop  the idea that burgers, if  served correct, can  be considered as  an extremely healthy  meal and not simply  another form of junk food. This also would appeal to  the public to  dine  at RBW as it appeals to the present values the public upholds. o Behavioural Segmentation One of the factors in behavioural Segmentation is purchase occasion. In the case of both Crust and RBW, they have targeted  a demographic of  high income earners  and this has  lead to  an escalating  chance  of increasing their earnings. Since pizzas and burgers are the most favorable food for parties, gatherings and meals,  the public is guaranteed  to purchase these foods on a frequent basis. But consumers may have different attitudes towards Crust and RBW. The Crust has been well-known as a  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœpersonality driven culture’ whereas the RBW has negative aspects associated with their food chain  since they failed with some launch tactics such as brochure handouts and a free burger day. With knowledge of such aspects, the public will most likely respond accordingly and think twice about RBW and it's few slip-ups. 2 Target market For target market there are several different strategies ; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. Firstly, undifferentiated marketing is to ignore the specific market segments and approach the whole market with one market offer. Secondly, differentiated marketing is a marketing that determines to target several market segments and design separate offers for each. Lastly, concentrated marketing is choosing one large market or few submarkets. It clearly shows that both Crust and RWB are concentrated marketers since concentrated marketing provides a means  for small firms to compete against other larger companies and to gain a foothold in the food industry. 3 Market positioning Market positioning is the final part of step, involving developing a positioning for the target market, followed by the marketing mix. Crust pizza positioned their stores to be attractive to the market outlined. The relatively high price per pizza reflects their positioning as a gourmet pizza restaurant, though offering delivery services as well to expand the reach of their business. The restraint ambiance and staff trained in customer service helps differentiate Crust as a higher class of dining than its competitors. It’s certification by the national heart foundation also gives proof to its claims of healthy pizza, swaying those skeptical of those marketing gimmicks and again differentiating it from competitors. RBW however, positioned both physically and otherwise to be in direct competition with existing fast food outlets. Located in a part of London where price is the defining factor, it is similar in price to McDonalds, contradicting its projected image of gourmet burgers. Customers have also commented that the shop feels similar to burger king, losing the perception of healthy food, and thus customers. Unlike crust, it’s burgers are not certified as healthy, though it’s stating of nutritional values of its burgers is a positive move, similar actions by McDonalds and other fast food outlets dilutes the impact of that move. Had it gone with its initial location at a more high priced part of London, the outcome may be very different. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are a number of factors that determine the success or failure of a business such as those of a gourmet fast food such as RBW and Crust pizza. These factors range from the elements in the marketing strategy to the target market and market positioning, both planned and execution. The importance of these factors can be illustrated by the difference between Crust Pizza and RBW, given the similarity of their environmental and cultural factors. It is RBW’s failure to understand the nature of their product and the behavior and influences on their customers that lead to RBW’s eventual downfall. Crust pizza, on the other hand, well understood these factors and created an appropriate strategy and focused on the correct target market to claim success. References INTERNET Crust website, http://www. crust. com. au/ Momentary Musings, http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Wikinvest, http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 BOOK Kotler P, Adam, S, Denize S, & Armstrong, G. , 2009,. Principles of Marketing, 4th ed, Pearson Education. Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW ———————– Figure1. Market shares of the Major Players in the Fast Food Industry http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 Figure2. Pie chart of Consumer behaviour on Frequency of Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Marketing Mix According to Eddie Robinson, â€Å"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential†¦these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. † In this competitive business world, it is imperative that business owners’ develop and create unique products in order to be differentiated from its competitors. Business owners can use a set of tools called the â€Å"Marketing Mix† to provide the unique quality that the item for consumption is a need.This tool is made up of a set of controllable factors that can be adjusted until the precise combination is established to satisfy the needs or wants of consumers in a particular target market while generating a profit. The Marketing Mix is made up of four factors. They are product, price, place and promotion. The product can be referred to as the physical product or service that satisfies what a consumer wants or need. Price refers to the amount that customers will pay for a par ticular good or service after taking into account factors such as profit, competitor’s response, business survival and probable pricing.The channel of distribution that serves as a means of getting the product or service in a convenient location to the target consumers is referred to as place. Promotion represents the methods of communication used to provide information of a particular good or service to its target market using various mediums. The proposed product we have decided to discuss in this essay is a self-cleaning bathtub. This product would satisfy the wants and needs of luxury hoteliers and people who are interested in living a luxurious life around the world.Generally, majority of the people who perform cleaning services usually avoid the time of cleaning their bathtub because it is very tedious task and the effects of the noxious fumes from the cleaning products. The idea of a self-cleaning bathtub would solve these problems, while satisfying the many wants and in some cases, the needs of a wide cross-section of people. This product will be sold in two variations and will range in different sizes. These variations include free standing tubs and drop in tubs.The self-cleaning bathtub boasts of its quick drain plus fast-action integral pump for rapid water changing, self-cleaning system that simultaneously removes surface debris and cleans the bottom of the hot tub with its built in vacuum. It also has premium LED lights that create ambiance and tranquility. It comes with an installation crew and technicians standing behind 10 years of warranty to give customers peace of mind. In addition, the economic theory asserts that in a free market economy the market price reflects interaction between supply and demand: the price is set to equate the quantity being supplied and demanded.In turn, these quantities are determined by the marginal utility of the asset to different buyers and to different sellers. In reality, the price may be distorted by o ther factors, such as tax and other government regulations. When a commodity is for sale at multiple locations, the Law of one price is generally believed to hold. This essentially states that the cost difference between the locations cannot be greater than that representing shipping, taxes, other distribution costs etc.In the case of the majority of consumer goods and services, the distribution costs are quite a high proportion of the overall price, so the law may not be very useful. In practice, it may well make economic sense to offer a product or service for sale at a higher price in a wealthy area than in a deprived area as the marginal utility of the asset for purchasers will be higher in the former. With that being said, several factors can be taken into consideration when looking to price an item such as this one.Since the price of a product is normally the deciding factor in choosing one brand over another, it is a common area of the marketing mix that can be used to make s trategic changes. The customer would not expect to pay the regular price of a regular bathtub. However, they may not expect a significantly high price. For instance, if you take the price of a regular bathtub, add on the cost of products and tools usually used to clean the tub, the customer will not expect to pay a price that is 50-100% more than the total of the two. They might as well decide to continue cleaning their tub on their own.Smart retailers sell good items cheap, with small profit per item because cheap prices increase sales and overall profit. In other words, it is better to sell forty (40) items at ten dollars ($10) profit rather than five (5) items at forty dollars ($40) profit. This will ensure business survival for a very long time as long as the quality of the product in maintained. Competitor’s response will have no effect on this product as long as the affordable price and high quality is maintained. As long as the cheapest possible manufacturing method is utilized, the competitor will find it very difficult to compete.Furthermore, it is important that the self-cleaning tub is available when and where the customer wants it. Distributing the product to its consumers will be done through direct channels for the customers who wants customized tubs and through dual distribution. This product will be accessible to customers with few obstacles. Moreover, mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is the type of marketing (or attempting to sell through persuasion) of a product to a wide audience.The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. The target market for this product would be very huge. Quite frankly, every single person who owns or lives in a home should be interested in a self-cleaning bathtub. However, the most strategic channel of distribution should be among person building or looking to build new luxury homes, apartment buildings or hotels. Many new business customers can be obtained since apartment buildings and hotels would want to utilize this product.The benefits range from cheaper cost of janitorial service to additional attraction to apartments and hotel rooms for guests and tenants to choose from. In order to get all prospective customers interested in the product, public demonstrations will have to be made at strategic areas of business in the city or main towns. Invitations should be sent out to all hotels, luxury home owners and apartment building owners to attend this public event where usage of the bathtub will be demonstrated for all to see. Generally, promotion is communicating with the public in an attempt to influence them toward buying your products and/or services.How does promotion differ from advertising? Promotion is the broader, all inclusive term. Advertising is just one specific action you could take to promote your product or service. Promotion, as a general term, includes all the ways available to make a product and/or service known to and purchased by customers and clients. Promotion of this item would be done through various mediums. These mediums include television advertisements, billboards, radio advertisements, newspaper advertisements just to name a few.In summary, the success of the self-cleaning bath tub relies greatly upon proper marketing. The company must have the right combination of all the elements of the marketing mix in order to produce desirable sales results. The mix will include the variables and apparatus that the company will use to satisfy the business objective and the needs of the potential customers. The marketing mix is the foundation of a marketing strategy, unless a new theory is developed and can convincingly replace it will continue to serve that purpose.The market mix is designed to accommodate the customer. Therefore, each aspect of the marketing mix is equally important . When the mix is being developed, all final decisions about the elements should be made at the same time. To summarize the marketing mix, a company develops a product that meets the needs and desires of customers. Then determines how the product will reach final customers. A promotion plan is then developed to inform the customer of the product. Finally, a price is established while ensuring the company earns a profit. Marketing Mix Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION3 II. MARKET STRATEGY4 A. Product5 B. Price5 C. Place5 D. Process5 E. People6 F. Physical evidence6 G. Promotion6 III. ENVIRONMENT7 A. Macroenviroment7 B. Microenvironment8 IV. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR9 V. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING10 A. Segmentation10 B. Target market12 C. Market positioning12 VI. CONCLUSION13 VII. References14 INTRODUCTION This report aims to identify various factors for success in the quality take-away food market. This will be accomplished by comparing two food service companies with a similar strategy – Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars and Real Burger World (RBW) – ended up with remarkably different results from the following aspects; marketing strategy, the environment, consumer behavior and target market and positioning. MARKET STRATEGY The foundation of both Crust and RBW was animated by a similar desire to provide a gourmet or higher quality take away food in the competitive fast food industry. Though, they came up with slightly different plans and implementations. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |People |†¢ Founder : previous experience as a manager of |†¢ One of the founders : successful experience in | | |a Pizza Restaurant |starting up a business | | |†¢ Training and management support for their |†¢ General manager replaced because of his lack of| | |franchises |experience in the industry | |Process |†¢ Long |†¢ Long | | |†¢ Preparati on in view of the customers |†¢ ‘guest' burger, customer invited to suggest a | | | |menu item |Physical Evidence |Dynamic, fashionable and modern : upmarket look |Typical burger shop | | |for upmarket target | | |Product |†¢ High quality and fresh |†¢ Real, natural and wholesome ingredients | | |†¢ Broad choice from traditional to original |†¢ Choice more or less diversified | | |taste (‘Asian touch') |†¢ Dynamic menu with gourmet burgers, handmade | | |†¢ Product on demand |fries | |Price |Restaurant prices, more expensive than the |Slightly above competitive brands (1? ore than | | |competitors |the existing competitors) | |Place |Shop, Internet Website, Phone |Shop | |Promotion |†¢ Heart Foundation Tick of approval & medias |†¢ TV Show â€Å"Risking it all† in 2episodes, | | |†¢ radio, local papers, letterbox drops, |†¢ Brochure handouts in the street | | |sponsorships |†¢ Protest in front of their co mpetitor store | | |†¢ Website | | | |†¢ reward card | | Table 1 Marketing strategy of both companies through the 7P’s 1 Product Both companies offer better value to their customers through the high and fresh quality of their product. This is the main advantage that differentiates themselves from their competitors. o Quality QualityWhile RBW provides â€Å"real, natural and wholesome ingredients† (Naz Choudhury, http://books. google. com. au/ ), Crust, sensitive to the new trend of healthy food, provides not only high quality food -with premium ingredients such as prosciutto, tiger prawns or smoked salmon- but also healthy food with six Heart Foundation Pizzas. o Variety They both offer a broad choice from traditional to original taste (‘Asian touch’ for Crust). What seems an advantage for Crust over RBW, and pizza restaurant is that Crust customers can compose their own pizza, though a common doing in the pizza fast food industry. 2 Price Because it is not trying to be cheaper than or as affordable as its competitors, unlike RBW, Crust chooses a clear different position from its competitors. Crust gets a premium price based on the product differentiation. 3 Place The place for the first shops gives an indication on the position of the firm. While Crust established their first shop in a suburb where people may have more time to wait for a longer process, RBW had their first shop in a dynamic street, in the city and a close walk from its competitors. Also Crust developed a delivery service with as many ways as possible to make their product available to overcome their geographic limitation. 4 Process Due to their position as higher and fresh quality food, both of these companies need a longer processing time for their product, than its competitors. Though, Crust found a way to compensate. The preparation in view of the customers increases the interaction between the staff and the customers and is visually exciting. This tactic is a way of creating delight for customers. A good point for RBW is the ‘guest’ burger. The customer is invited to take part in the creation of menu items. 5 People People working for the company are important since they contribute to the image of the firm. Crust understood this well, they made it an important part of their plan. They provide training and management support for their franchises to preserve brand identity and so, the atmosphere of the first shop. On the contrary, RBW showed an mistake from the start, the first General Manager of the store had no experience in the fast food industry. 6 Physical evidence The look of the store conveys the marketing message of the firm. It has to be in adequation with what the firm claims to provide, that includes also the differentiation from their competitors. Crust chose distinctive colours and a high class decor just as a gourmet firm would do. It gives satisfaction to customers who would expect greater value. On the other hand, though they hired professionals to design their store, RBW appeared to have missed the upmarket look and ended up looking like any other burger shop. 7 Promotion By earning the Heart Foundation Tick of approval, they consolidated their image differentiation, got the media attention as a short term promotion but also undoubtedly a long term promotion through this kind of sponsorship. They also use radio, local papers, letterbox drops, and sponsorships. Those tactics are important to build a strong brand identity. Crust is omnipresent so that they stay in potential customer’s minds. They developed a Website to go along with the technology orientated society and targeted customers. The use of a reward card is a way of retaining profitable customers. Whereas in the case of RBW, it is appearing in a TV show, the firm benefited from a priceless mass promotion to make their brand known. Nonetheless, they didn’t sustain themselves to this level and came up with only short term promotion. Protesting in front of their competitor store can be regarded as a desperate move to attract customers. From the analysis of these parameters, we can say that Crust has a well more developed strategy than RBW. When RBW’s main (unique) advantage is the higher quality food, Crust has developed a more complex strategy around the higher quality and healthy food and the service cape, regarded as a key to success. ENVIRONMENT This section discusses external and internal factors affecting Crust’s and RBW’s business. Four factors were chosen to outline their success/failure – Demographic forces (macro), socio-cultural forces (macro), corporate culture (micro), and competitive environment (micro). Macroenvironment are fairly common to the two firms as Australia and UK have similar cultural background and economic level. The factors which led these two firms to contrastive results could be found in microenvironment. [pic] 1 Macroenviroment o Demographic forces Understanding the demographic environment is of great importance as it â€Å"involves people, and people make up markets (Kotler, Adam, Denize and Armstrong, 2009: pp. 89)†. Changes in household types are beneficial trend for fast-food industry. The important demographic trend for fast-food industry is changes in household types. Increased number of one person, childless couple households increases the demand for convenient, ready-to-eat meals. Dual-income families made quality food affordable. The two firms targeted those new-type households. o Socio-cultural forces Businesses exists within society, therefore businesses can be influenced by society. To keep up with social changes may provide businesses with competitive advantages. The increased health awareness in society led the changing trend in consumer preferences to better-taste, fresher fast-food which perceived as healthier. Crust and RBW met this consumer trend. Another socio-cultural force is the trend towards choice. Both firms dealt with this trend by offering broad range of menu. 2 Microenvironment o Corporate culture Strong corporate culture helps to develop strong brand because people, internal and external to the company, can share similar values. Strong brand equity enables businesses to establish firm customer base and brand royalty, which in turn give businesses long-term growth and profitability. Crust has a clear corporate culture of â€Å"personality driven† based on â€Å"professionalism†, â€Å"entrepreneurship† and â€Å"teamwork and partnership with stores and customers† (www. crust. com. au, 2010). This is expressed to customers through store presentation and service, which serves as physical evidence to the customers. On the other hand, RBW’s culture was based on co-founders’ friendship. The business built on friendship can be fallen into amateurism resulted in various operational problems, which could reduce customer satisfaction. o Competitive environment Fast-food industry is highly competitive market and the competition is complex. Players in the market have to compete with huge multinational organizations such as McDonald’s, Subway and Pizza Hut as well as thousands of local take-away stores. To provide greater customer value and satisfaction than competitors, strategic analysis of competitive environment is crucial for businesses. Crust identified a gap in the pizza market in Australia, and then develops the strategy to fit them into the gap. Differentiation against competitors is the key factor to be successful in competitive market. Reflecting the tough competitive environment, crust aims to grow slowly and steady through good relationships with the stores and the customers (www. crust. com. au, 2010). RBW didn’t take it seriously compared to Crust because RBW were confident with the products and believed that consumers choose them once they tried their burger. The location choice for the first store was made by financial reason rather than strategic point of view. This resulted in direct competition with established fast-food brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR [pic] There is little difference between the fact that RBW and crust pizza are located in England and Australia respectively because both are industrialized nations and both are very similar culturally. As such, both are positively affected by the growing awareness of the benefits of healthier food, as well as an active desire for such food, especially in the age groups that both Crust and RBW caters to. There are three driving psychological influences on a customer to eat at crust pizza. The first is an aspirational one. The existing perception of high dining atering to educated, high earning professionals that crust has worked meticulously to build, and one of the results is that being seen to eat there is indicative of being a member of that particular demographic. [pic] Figure 3. Reasons for eating Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01 _archive. html The second influence is the imperative and willingness to pay for high quality food by the more discerning consumers. The third is one of safety, in the sense that crust delivers on time, with the correct pizza, in the same quality as in the store due to its specially made base. While the time take is longer, customers are satisfied as it is what they expect. RBW’s customers have different set of influences due to its geographical location in a less well off part of London where price is a significant factor. For the majority of consumers that frequent that particular part of London, the health benefits that RBW provided were not enough of an incentive to try the burgers. Also, it is the nature of burgers that they are quick. The reason for eating them is that it is a convenient way of eating and customers are unwilling to wait more than ten minutes for a burger that elsewhere they can get within one or two minutes. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING 1 Segmentation The basis of a long term marketing strategy, as well as the initial success of the business requires a target market to be identified and the business positioned satisfy the needs of the chosen market. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |Geographic segmentation |- Distributed around Australia ; NSW, ACT and |- Opened the first store in London in mid 2003 | | |Victoria – An expansion in |- Located in a street with other fast food stores| | |Singapore | | |Demographic Segmentation |- Targeting the age of 18-39 years old including|- Targeting the people with the age of 20-40 | | |families and high incomes including middle class|years old and high incomes | | |and upper class. Targeting | | | |consumers from diverse nationality | | |Psychographic Segmentation |- Targeting the people with a healthy lifestyle |- Targeting consumers with a healthy and busy | | | |lifestyle | |Behavioural Segmentation |- Targeting for the middle and upper class who |- Some of consumers would have negative attitudes| | |would have purchase occasions frequently |due to some failure on plans. | Table 2. Comparison of segmentation between Crust and RBW o Geographic Segmentation Most firms have national marketing programmes which adjust their products and promotions to satisfy the individual needs of geographic units. Geographic Segmentation can be the most important process which  brings to light  the  difference between the case of Crust and RBW. For Crust, it  is distributed in the main cities of Australia include d Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Victoria. The stores  are located in various suburbs. This implies two factors of geographic segmentation being region and population density. This  indicates a  greater opportunity  for the  success of  the company due to its location. On the other hand,  the first RBW store  was located in a street with other fast-food stores containing McDonald’s and Burger King. This evidently demonstrates that there is more competition and hence  the  potential of losing customers to  the other major food chains. RBW would be forced to compete against eminent and familiar  fast-food outlets. In this case, having just  launched their first outlet,  it would contribute to decreasing their earnings. o Demographic Segmentation The Crust has targeted  an age group ranging between 18-39 years of age. Additionally,  they are more likely focussing on middle and upper class demographics. We can assume that RBW also has targeted  a similar  demographic of consumers  to that of  the Crust. This can be classified  as demographic segmentation. Each business  targets a specific demographic that they feel the product or service would be most likely to attract. With that, the company will be able to set out its goals, marketing strategies and prices according to that chosen demographic. It clearly shows that both the Crust and RBW have targeted  appropriate level of consumers who would become big fans of the restaurant. In addition demographic factor is very influential on marketing strategy because consumer usage and needs are variable since each individual has different taste desires in  products depending on how old they are, what family life cycle they have or what occupation or income they have. o Psychographic Segmentation The Crust has an aim to change the perception of pizza from  that of a  cheap food to more of one that can be classified as a healthier choice. Accordingly, this will appeal to  those people who have a healthy lifestyle  or are conscious about their diet. This strategy  would lead to  further success in their business as not only will they be able to  maintain the number of existing customers,  they would also  be  attracting a new line of customers. For instance, through education and the media people are  increasingly gaining more awareness with regards to their diet and healthy living. With that in mind, the public will be less inclined to  eat unhealthily and would begin to focus  on maintaining a healthy diet. This  is a  clear indication  that people would  choose Crust rather than Dominos or Pizza Hut because of their marketing strategy. As well as in the case of RBW, they  have tried  to develop  the idea that burgers, if  served correct, can  be considered as  an extremely healthy  meal and not simply  another form of junk food. This also would appeal to  the public to  dine  at RBW as it appeals to the present values the public upholds. o Behavioural Segmentation One of the factors in behavioural Segmentation is purchase occasion. In the case of both Crust and RBW, they have targeted  a demographic of  high income earners  and this has  lead to  an escalating  chance  of increasing their earnings. Since pizzas and burgers are the most favorable food for parties, gatherings and meals,  the public is guaranteed  to purchase these foods on a frequent basis. But consumers may have different attitudes towards Crust and RBW. The Crust has been well-known as a  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœpersonality driven culture’ whereas the RBW has negative aspects associated with their food chain  since they failed with some launch tactics such as brochure handouts and a free burger day. With knowledge of such aspects, the public will most likely respond accordingly and think twice about RBW and it's few slip-ups. 2 Target market For target market there are several different strategies ; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. Firstly, undifferentiated marketing is to ignore the specific market segments and approach the whole market with one market offer. Secondly, differentiated marketing is a marketing that determines to target several market segments and design separate offers for each. Lastly, concentrated marketing is choosing one large market or few submarkets. It clearly shows that both Crust and RWB are concentrated marketers since concentrated marketing provides a means  for small firms to compete against other larger companies and to gain a foothold in the food industry. 3 Market positioning Market positioning is the final part of step, involving developing a positioning for the target market, followed by the marketing mix. Crust pizza positioned their stores to be attractive to the market outlined. The relatively high price per pizza reflects their positioning as a gourmet pizza restaurant, though offering delivery services as well to expand the reach of their business. The restraint ambiance and staff trained in customer service helps differentiate Crust as a higher class of dining than its competitors. It’s certification by the national heart foundation also gives proof to its claims of healthy pizza, swaying those skeptical of those marketing gimmicks and again differentiating it from competitors. RBW however, positioned both physically and otherwise to be in direct competition with existing fast food outlets. Located in a part of London where price is the defining factor, it is similar in price to McDonalds, contradicting its projected image of gourmet burgers. Customers have also commented that the shop feels similar to burger king, losing the perception of healthy food, and thus customers. Unlike crust, it’s burgers are not certified as healthy, though it’s stating of nutritional values of its burgers is a positive move, similar actions by McDonalds and other fast food outlets dilutes the impact of that move. Had it gone with its initial location at a more high priced part of London, the outcome may be very different. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are a number of factors that determine the success or failure of a business such as those of a gourmet fast food such as RBW and Crust pizza. These factors range from the elements in the marketing strategy to the target market and market positioning, both planned and execution. The importance of these factors can be illustrated by the difference between Crust Pizza and RBW, given the similarity of their environmental and cultural factors. It is RBW’s failure to understand the nature of their product and the behavior and influences on their customers that lead to RBW’s eventual downfall. Crust pizza, on the other hand, well understood these factors and created an appropriate strategy and focused on the correct target market to claim success. References INTERNET Crust website, http://www. crust. com. au/ Momentary Musings, http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Wikinvest, http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 BOOK Kotler P, Adam, S, Denize S, & Armstrong, G. , 2009,. Principles of Marketing, 4th ed, Pearson Education. Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW ———————– Figure1. Market shares of the Major Players in the Fast Food Industry http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 Figure2. Pie chart of Consumer behaviour on Frequency of Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html