GBA 490 Written Case 1

The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.

Trader Joe’s is a major food retailer who has developed quite the name for themselves. It has well over 350 stores in over 32 states and is expected to continually grow over the next few years (Bond, 2012). For over 50 years, Trader Joe’s has been providing quality customer services, products and a unique shopping experience for its customers. They have come a very long way from when they first officially opened their doors. Trader Joe’s started when its founder Joe Coulombe wanted to find a way to differentiate his 7-Eleven stores (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhl-Bien & Hunt, 2012). In the food retailer industry, Trader Joe’s has developed a process that works well and

Trader Joe’s is an organic grocery food store that is one of the best known organic food chains. By listening to the consumer and adjusting to the changing consumer market, Trader Joe’s had built a brand equity that is continuously growing. Trader Joe’s faces stiff competition from other large organic food chains therefore must stand out and adapt to the consumers’ needs. Marketing strategies are important to communicate to the consumer more effectively and help target the consumer to their product. Trader Joe’s segments its products by psychographic, behavioral and demographic characteristics

Trader Joe’s is in the broad market of grocery retailers, a market where the top 10 revenue-generating companies accounted for over $360 billion in sales in 2011. This market is saturated with supermarkets (Publix and Kroger), large discount retailers (Wal-Mart and Target), premium retailers (Whole Foods and Fresh Market), warehouse clubs (Costco and Sam’s Club), and “hard discount” retailers (Dollar General). With this large variation in grocer strategies, the market is heavily penetrated and competition is fierce. Supermarkets are continually losing market share in grocery sales (51 percent in 2011 as opposed to 66 percent in 2001) as players like Wal-Mart and Costco continue to generate more revenue. Although the supermarket share is decreasing, the overall grocery market is steadily increasing as the population of the United States increases. People always need to eat, so there will always be a

Social media has become an influential ground for consumers to share their opinions about a company’s brand and products. In addition, it helps in having a strong brand that produces positive relations and distinguish the brand from competitors, is a critical component for effective marketing. According to Dahlén and Lange (2009) “the quality of the product is not the evident factor when it comes to purchasing a product, the deciding factor depends on how the brand is perceived” (Para. 1). This demonstrates the importance of incorporating social media as a tool to promote brands, allow for interactions, and customer satisfaction by engaging with customers more frequently for feedbacks or reviews. Thus create an opportunity for the company to show its devotion to their customers, and initiate good reputation, which can increase sales. In other words, social media has the ability to upsurge the awareness for businesses as well as the brand.

Thirdly, Trader Joe’s stores are small and located in non-prime locations, which holds fixed operating costs at bay. Furthermore, the company is able to generate the industry’s highest sales per square feet in its small sized stores. In an effort to diversify from its competitors, Trader Joe’s also relies on a non-traditional marketing strategy. Completely neglecting conventional marketing techniques like commercials or promotional offers, the company focuses on unique and store specific in-store marketing with its newsletter and the occasional radio ad being its major means of communication with its customers. The Trader Joe’s brand with its vast fan base is naturally another part of the company’s competitive advantage.

One of Trader Joe’s competitive assets is their business model. They open small stores that give their customers a neighborhood feel. Analysts have found that the chain sells almost twice as much per square foot as its main competitor, Whole Foods (INVESTPOEDIA, 2016). This unique strategy allows consumers to view and choose more products in a given area, therefore making them more likely to find what they are searching for. This strategy is sustainable if Trader Joe’s continues to operate in this manner.

Trader Joe’s is a leading firm that is taking over the supermarket industry. The company completely altered the idea of a traditional supermarket and turned it into a whole new experience for consumers. Through Trader Joe’s strategic planning, they’ve paved a way for consumers to have high-quality products while paying low prices. Trader Joe’s provides fewer products that are health-conscious, unique and privately labeled. Trader Joe’s has utilized this, secrecy, employee job satisfaction, culture and starting trends to its advantage. Within its industry companies are divided into different strategic groups. Aldi, similar Trader Joe’s strategic planning, is apart of the cultured-discount neighborhood market. This firm continues the low-stock, less-waste, small store, and low price method. A Walmart express used a hybrid strategy that made it a cross between a grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store. Tesco is the third that falls with small neighborhood markets strategy and focused on organic products, similar to Trader Joe’s. As the company grows and expands, there is caution in change of Trader Joe’s processes. With growth, there comes new management and employees which can alter the way a specific store is ran and there is worry of change in the stores normal procedures. Change that doesn’t follow the process could ultimately result in a downfall, so this can be considered a key challenge to watch in the future. Increased bureaucracy is additionally a

The last research method used was an interview with John D. Smith, Marketing Director of Fisher Products. The company Fisher Products has had tremendous success using the social media marketing strategy. John D. Smith was interviewed because of his pioneering effort in the use of social media for advertising. A 30 minute interview was conducted with questions pertaining to the company’s use of social media and their

We are successfully utilizing social media as a powerful way to gain positive exposure and connect with our internet-savvy customers in a global and local level. We rely heavily in word-of-mouth advocacy”. (John Mackey, 2012)

Trader Joe’s occupies a niche position in the grocery market by providing natural, organic and eclectic selection of wines, frozen food, prepared food and groceries at everyday low prices. They have a small area format with limited products which has put them in the top rank for sales per square feet.

Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to

Digital media is becoming powerful in the way grocers are communicating and engaging with consumers today. The use of paper, leaflets, newspapers and posters or it can be known as ‘‘traditional advertising’’ is now being switched to digital media platforms. Millennials are utilising digital platforms such as websites, apps and social networking sites as a new way to advertise (The Voice of Food Retail, 2016). Aldi uses Facebook as a form of promotion for advertisement purposes and to increase their brand awareness by providing incentives likewise inspiring followers to interact with their daily posts (Evonimie, 2015). Another social media platform used by Aldi is Twitter in order to interact with shoppers. By interacting through social media,

Trader Joe’s is growing with stability in the USA market, therefore, could be a great moment to enter in a new market. Nonetheless, the cultural differences with South Africa, the lack of experience in international markets, the lack of knowledge on the South Africa market, the inequalities of the local regulation and government structure with the USA, suggest that Greenfield entry mode could represent an excessive risk for Trade Joe’s.

For this paper, assuming that I am a small business owner, I will examine the power of doing so through various means of social media. Each site I use will be broken down, and I will give an in-depth look as to what techniques and approaches used for promoting my brand. Let’s take a look, starting with the company and its mission.