Janmar Coatings Case Study

The company started off producing 20,000 units of mountain bikes. We did not change the production quantity. Last year our forecast sales were 24,000 when we only sold 19,866; therefore we thought it would be best to leave production at 20,000 bikes. Having excess inventory, we concluded that 20,000 units should be enough considering our quality has not changed and our advertising will not increase the sales dramatically. Although we had the choice to produce as much as 30,000 units, we felt as though we did not have sufficient money to increase production. We were interested in allocating the money towards marketing as opposed to production. We realized that without awareness, no matter how many units we make, sales would be inefficient.

After a period of declining sales for Allround, we increased the advertising budget to be consistent with our competitor’s budget. We decided to be very consistent with our strategy over the ten periods; however, in hindsight we should have implemented a more dynamic strategy that factored in the changing

Although the company did show an increased gross profit of $8,255,000 with $6,358,000 less Net Sales in 2013 versus 2012, that increase is due to the reduction in product Cost of Goods Sold by $14,613,000. Since increases in product price will negatively affect sales, one of management’s primary goals is to keep prices stable. This objective is achieved through implementation of cost cutting programs, investing in more efficient equipment, and automation of more steps in the production process.

Low brand awareness -, Advanced Materials Inc. needs a strong financial effort to make prospective customers familiar with the brand

The biggest challenge that they face as a company is they do not have the room the increase expenditure by such a vast amount. Currently there is $3,675,000 in promotional dollars allocated as follows; sales and administration expense (995,000), cooperative advertising programs with retailers (1,650,000), consumer advertising (562,000) and trade promotion (467,000). adding the $225,000 increase in consumer advertising will not allow the 5% of expected sales for total promo expenditures. John Bott, the vice president of sales disagreed with the budget allocation and noted that sales expenses and administration cost were projected to be $65,000 in 2008. This led him to believe that an additional sales representative would be needed to service company accounts because 50 were being added. Therefore he estimated this addition would cost at least $70,000 including salary and expenses in 2008. Bott also stated that “That's about $135,000 in additional sales expense that have to be added to our promotional budget for 2008”

In this case study, we will be analyzing the current position of how well Kingsford is within the marketplace and determine which of the issues are plausible causes in its drop in revenue. We will be creating a comprehensive strategy as well as a marketing plan to evaluate and adjust the matter at hand. First we will begin with identifying the issues and implementing a method to reemphasize the importance of marketing in the business. The goal is to create a marketing plan that will add value to Kingsford’s market share, sales, and profitability.

In order to achieve our first marketing objective, we recommend the following activities: Keep producing high quality, positive image products that satisfy customer’s needs. Secondly, the team must maintain direct and indirect sales force of no less than 140 and plan in advance in order to have the budget to do so. We also recommend offering employee fringe benefits to encourage long term positions

Mark Jefferies, Vice President of Marketing, is presiding over the meeting of Hillary Hanson, Brian James, and Rob Erickson. After listening to the suggestions of the three people, he realizes that they all have valid plans but all of them fail to meet the three goals he feels the new price should meet.

Palladium Door, Inc. wants to increase 2003 sales by 36% in 2004. There is concern whether the current distribution strategy used by Palladium would be adequate to achieve the goal. Although Palladium's growth has been steady over the past 10 years the market share was only at 2.6%. The firm's senior executives were firmly believed they justified this lofty sales goal because they had to attain a larger sales volume to preserve its buying position with suppliers. Palladium, during its growth, has exceeded the industry growth. There are three new plans on how to reach the goal. There are four different viewpoints on the marketing decision.

A major issue is since reducing the price 20% reduces the profit margin to 15%, to maintain the same profit while reducing the price, the sales must be $28 million for this year. This is an increase of 233% in one year to justify reducing the price this much. This is a highly unlikely target.

There is certainly a market for this product. It is the market that is currently dominated by asbestos pad and micarta slab users, and is comprised of uneducated (about cushion pads) and price-sensitive customers. Prior to CMI’s involvement, “the pile-driving industry had paid very little attention to cushion pads.” There was no dominant manufacturer, little-to-no branding, and ambiguous distribution channels.

In 1999 the U.S. paint industry sales were projected to be more than $13 billion. The industry has slow sales growth and is constantly changing due to government regulations. In 1999, Jones∙Blair had sales volume of $12 million with an annual growth rate of 4%. Jones∙Blair produces and sells architectural coatings, OEM coatings and paint sundries. However, the President, Alexander Barrett and the senior management executives know that there are some areas that they need to improve on.

Because Harrington Collection thinks that sales people are the most important factor in the consumer decision-making process, they spend significant resources training their personnel and offering them attractive commissions. Their expenses are understandable, and didn’t change for the fiscal year of 2007. What did change were the Manufacturing Group’s expenses. The Manufacturing Group’s SG&A increased 4.63% in 2007, meaning that the cost of maintaining the current manufacturing set up is increasing.

You are the president of the McKinstry Advertising Agency, a medium sized firm that specializes in preparing the marketing strategies, performing the market research studies, arranging the distribution channels, and designing the advertising and promotional materials for industrial companies that have developed ”off-shoot” consumer products. You obviously serve a very specific niche. Your clients are industrial companies- that is, they sell primarily to other manufacturing firms and government agencies- that have developed- as unintended outcomes of their R&D programs- products for the retail trade. Dow Chemical Company, while not a client of your agency, is an almost ideal example of this type of firm.

Mr. Lutz, I can understand why you are puzzled by the Ad Age articles. The truth is that you are in an unprecedented executive position at General Motors and the future of this all-American company rests in your hands. You see Mr. Lutz, the function of marketing is about satisfying the needs of your customers; developing a brand experience, if you will. Although marketing is an extremely broad organizational function, it’s purpose is to create, communicate and deliver value to its customers while maintaining those relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Where General Motors has failed is in its ability to connect with their customers. Undeniably, GM has become a company focused on serving itself. To ensure GM’s profitability in this highly commoditized economy, you must refocus your attention on who keeps you in business; your customers. Indeed, there must be a shift from the GM’s current sales (how can we sell more aggressively) & production (what can we make best) orientation, to a more holistic market orientation. By utilizing the holistic marketing concept, we refocus the list of marketing mix activities to include people, processes, performance and programs (Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L., 2012). This change in orientation will improve GM’s market position as it includes four all-encompassing parts: relationship marketing (processes), performance marketing (performance), internal marketing (people), and integrated marketing (programs)