Week 4 Marketing Plan: Phase III
MKT421
August, 2012
Introduction
Attributes of Service In market research context, attributes are simply properties of a given product, brand, service, advertisement or any object of interest. Much brand and market research is targeted at understanding the most significant and powerful attributes, in our case, a service. Our cooking classes at Macys can have many attributes including great customer service, consistency and loyalty as well as consumer involvement.
Customer services are an important concept being touted by all types of companies. For almost 80 years, Macys has strived to be “America’s Department Store”, and they continue to be consistent with
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If the company is not able to do this then they may consider stopping this service.
Positioning and Differentiation Strategies
Macy’s identification of their differentiation and positioning strategies for Macy’s new cooking classes is crucial to serve customers base. Differentiating the marketing mix for the cooking class will not only meet customer needs, but it will build a competitive advantage. In addition, positioning the cooking classes to a unique target market of customers suited to their cooking needs. Recognizing differentiation strategies also creates a clear path of market mix blending to meet Macy’s goals and objective of the service.
Macy’s new cooking classes most be positioning to how customers think about proposed or present cooking classes is crucial to separate itself from competitors (Perreault, Jr., Ph.D., Cannon, Ph.D., & McCarthy, Ph.D., 2011). Macy’s will use multiple market segmentation to position the cooking classes for success: Geographic segment allowing for the dividing of Macy’s store locations into regional markets, demographic segment that will classify the broad market of age, income, and race for the advertising campaign, and behavioristic segment for loyal customers, class rates, and type of courses. In addition, to identify concisely the cooking classes target market and increased effective positioning Macy’s will also use a positioning statement of “For the 18-80-year-old cooks, who
As for our market segmentation the concentration will be on teens, young adults, and parents. Since teens don’t typically cook a lot we believe that there should be a chance for success in this area because we are offering quality products at a cheap price. The same could be said about the young adults as they could be new into the work force and looking to get the most food for the price and this is something that we will be able to provide for them. With all of this being said our main focus will still be with parents and families. This is because we want to gain customers at a young age and hope to maintain these customers for the period of their entire lives. If our business is able to obtain life-long customers it is sure to be a success and this is what we are looking for with our business.
The most important component of Nordstrom's retail mix is its customer service. The retail environment is completely customer driven and giving the customer satisfaction in every possible manner is very important. The point of view that ‘Service Pays’ is accepted by the retailer today
Kudler plans to expand these areas in the future, providing a multitude of specialized classes to its loyal customers. Offering cooking classes in many areas of the store makes customers more interested in shopping the store and learning new techniques in cooking healthy fares for their families. In addition to offering these classes, the employees are to be cross trained in many areas to provide a pleasant shopping experience for Kulder 's customers. The customers will also be provided with brochures of the dishes they will learn in the store that will provide the recipe and food suggestions that will go with the main dishes taught in the class. This suggestive information has been proven effective in marketing strategies; therefore, Kudler will use this suggestive marketing technique to increase the buying desires of the customers.
Consumers are more mindful of how their dollar is spent, and want to obtain the best bank for their buck. With general grocery stores located in La Jolla surrounding Kudler, Kudler must find innovative ways to compete and get customers into its stores. Marketing research for competitive intelligence is importance because the local grocery stores offer differentiated options to reach new customers. For example, generic stores are beginning to offer natural and organic foods, buyer programs, cooking demonstrations and slashed prices just as Kudler does and for a fraction of the cost. One can compare this to Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks; some folks want the experience and that is what Kudler must do; make it an experience for the consumer and potentially bring in products they do not current stock such as beauty products, vitamins and supplements, or other common grocery store items.
As for “personnel”, customer service at Nordstrom is priority one. They firmly believe that word of mouth advertising is the best kind of advertising. Their committed personnel go above and beyond what is expected of employees to make the shopping experience a great one at Nordstrom. The example in the case study of the lady that only needed one shoe is a great example of how Nordstrom goes above and beyond to meet its customers’ needs.
Consumers are always satisfied with good customer service. When it comes to retail store customer service and satisfaction it is important because department stores are large in size and finding help can be difficult. Colloquy, a company concerned with building customer value, released a survey and asked 3,000 consumers across five geographical areas to rate their personal experiences with retailers. Macy’s was ranked number one in the department store category, with the most loyal customers. To keep up with technology advances Macy’s has invested time and money into developing a more efficient online shopping site, Macys.com and Macysweddingchannel. This investment cost nearly $300 million in 2006-2008 is being used to scale-up these fast-growing businesses through improvements in delivery efficiency, online site functionality and customer service. To enhance the shopping experience at Macy’s 100 stores in 2007 experienced remodeling and began introducing the most advanced POS registers and systems to the sales floors nationwide. Macy’s passion is product and people. There continuing pursuit is to have unique fashionable merchandise ready for customer satisfaction. Macy’s promise is to always carry the best brands and the most-wanted items. They also believe in hiring the right employees. With the right employees, there will be a sense of motivation and helpfulness. The American Customer Satisfaction Index covers 200 companies’ products and
The four advertisements chosen represented separate, and distinctive, themes. The first advertisement, for anti-wrinkle cream, utilized a bandwagon approach and a sense of the ideal retirement life. The second advertisement, for hygiene experts, suggests utilizing the fear of uncleanliness to sell the services. The third advertisement, for Camel cigarettes, brought a sense of nostalgia as I remembered spending time, as a child, with my oldest brother prior to his passing. To summarize, it embodied the ideal picture of a manly outdoorsman. The fourth, and final, advertisement focused on food and choices. Specifically, one pizza offered two distinctly unique flavors.
Kudler fine foods is a store that markets fine foods but needs to bring some focus toward expanding their goods to the public. Improving their business operations will increase store efficiencies and the demand of its customers at a higher volume of purchases. The growth of this organization is significant and growth will coincide with strategic marketing that will expand Kudler Fine foods locally and internationally. Kudler’s current marketing strategy and tactics have limited the company from targeting the right group of areas of consumers to promote goods too. Examining demographics and consumer behaviors
Two different customer service models that most retail and online retail organisations use are the cheap prices and convenience model and the personalized in-depth model. The cheap price model is controlled by management and ensures policies and procedures are in place that can be easily measured and constantly measured. This is the one that we at Flanagan’s use more than the other model. However, the other models the personalized and in depth model is used predominately by our other section of the organisation. This is the hotel and leisure and building maintenance side of the business. This is face to face and allows our agents/advisors to be more personal with them. Good use of
The strategy was to offer low price in the market which led to setting the lower prices. Niche marketing was used in setting the prices to be offered for the different market segments. Products with market target specifications are availed. The low-cost strategy was applied to set up the budget of the firm. It would use the least possible production budget to cut the price of products. The combination of strategies assists in maintaining a key position in a market. Compete effectively with opponents.
In order to accomplish the organization’s goals, the product differentiation and positioning strategies will be used. In some cases both will be used while other goals will only use one of the strategies. To meet the ticket sales goal of being in the top one third of the league both will be used. Product differentiation will be used by showcasing the elite
Within these stores, there are many different departments and groups of job roles including sales floor customer assistants, store operations, section managers and store managers (Careers.marksandspencer.com, 2016). Marks and Spencer are devoted to providing great value and services to their shareholders and customers within their business, which suggests customer service is a key part within their organisation (Corporate.marksandspencer.com, 2016). The strategic direction of Marks and Spencer is to prioritise profitability as well as growing the business, alongside improving performance in all areas of the organisation (Corporate.marksandspencer.com, 2014). This essay will focus on sales floor customer assistant departments within Marks and Spencer.
Jan Homer together with Butch Rice developed the conversion model that enables the business owners to segment their customers on the basis of their commitment to the brands both for the users and non-users and their openness to switch to the brand. This is based on the level of education of the customers. Whole Foods have to ensure that they determine the main target of their customers (Winkel, 2010). For the CEO this would be crucial in determining the mode of advertising that the company will
McDonald’s mission is, “To be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat” (McDonald’s Inc., 2012). Since 1955 McDonald’s have been building a multinational and multicultural international business that satisfies customer’s Worldwide (McDonald’s Inc., 2012). McDonald 's is the leading global food service retailer with more than 64 million people
In viewing the marketing strategic planning as a process of segmenting markets by targeting specific customers and working to assist with positioning. Target understands the current market position by researching the product identity in the customer’s mind. Positioning was based on more than just cost; it surrounded characteristic, fashion, and the direction the fashion is in favor of style. This was the differentiation strategy that was consistently applied since the launch of the chain. To achieve this upscale image, it offered trendy and stylish goods in an environment that was bright and attractive, unlike other discount stores of the time.