Marketing strategies are essentials in an organization. They refer to a long term plan developed by a company that aims to popularize their products, increase profitability and attain competitive advantage by understanding and implementing the customers, wants and needs (Morgan et al., 2019). There are four essential components of an effective marketing strategy. These key elements ate otherwise known as the four Ps; product, price, place and promotion. Product refers to an item needed to meet and satisfy the consumers' wants. This could either be tangible goods or services. A marketing strategy should offer a clear concept of the product by ensuring it meets the consumers' needs and is well-differentiated from the competitors' products. The second concept of price should be incorporated into the marketing strategy, according to the target market's affordability. The marketing strategy should assess the product's value before setting the market price and ensure it is at par with the competitors' prices. The third concept is place, whereby the strategy ensures that the products are placed at the right place and time for the consumer's convenience and accessibility. The fourth concept is promotion, and here the strategy dictates the communication channels used to popularize and advertise the product to the consumers.
Mission
In the case of Lee's business, a catchy phrase is required for his coffee and bagel shop. The shop is located in a busy area, close to the city centre and mostly frequented by working-class individuals. It would be advisable for the mission statement to target this audience. On analyzing Lee's business, it is safe to conclude that it falls under the food and drinks industry, particularly specifying in breakfast products. The mission statement should insinuate this factor. The most appropriate mission statement for the marketing strategy would be: "To provide refreshing, delicious and healthy breakfast."
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Situation analysis
To identify internal strengths and weaknesses, Lee could use the most effective methods, and that is customer feedback. This will enable him as a business owner to recognize the areas to improve and what to tone down. Lee could also use previous annual records to assess the company's performance and how much improvement is needed. Lee's direct competition includes nearby joints that sell coffee such as Starbucks which is more established. Indirect competition comes from restaurants and drive-inns that offer various food choices for breakfast compared to Lee, who only sells coffee and bagels. The increase of rental vacancy spaces by 6.5% in the previous year has favored Lee's business by inviting more business tenants around the area creating a new market for the business (U.S. Labor Department, 2018).
SWOT analysis
Strengths
Located in a busy area near office establishments.
Availability of ready market.
Readily available resource and raw materials.
Affordable rental space.
Weaknesses
Lack of efficient labour.
Lack of capital.
Poor technological establishment.
Opportunities
Ready investors.
Supportive government policies.
Threats
Internal and external competition.
Mismanagement of capital and funds.
Automated coffee vending dispensers are a trending technology aspect in the food and drinks industry, whereby the customers fill their coffee cups after inserting the payment. Although this method is much efficient, it is costly to install and maintain, and this is one of the setbacks experiences in Lee's business. Lee's competitive advantage against his direct and non-direct competitors is that his prices are slightly lower than the others' making his shop more lucrative because of the affordable deals. It also serves as an advantage that Lee's coffee shop caters for vegan customers by offering soy milk as an alternative to animal milk.
Sustainable competitive advantage refers to an aspect that provides an added advantage to a business, making it more successful than its competitors over a long period of time (Mahdi et al., 2019). To obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, I would advise Lee to offer lucrative after-sale services such as free office deliveries.
Marketing plan objectives
To open two more branches of the business within the city in the next six months and create a broader market pool.
To incorporate at least two social media platforms in their marketing strategy within the next three months to improve the business's digital presence.
Marketing strategy
Lee's target audience is the young and middle-aged working-class individuals. These are people who rush to work very early and need to grab a cup of coffee quickly. In the market penetration stage, Lee's business should consider offering samples of their products to introduce them into the market and gain popularity. In the market development stage, the company should consider creating a new target audience by creating sugar-free and gluten-free products to capture the elderly working-class market. For product development, Lee should ensure the business offers a variety of coffee flavours such as latte, mocha, cappuccino and vanilla. To promote diversification, the business should incorporate more ideas to the menu such as introducing iced tea, samosas, kebab, hotdogs and yoghurt.
In my marketing mix strategy, I would enhance the product through packaging. To achieve this, I would ensure the products are packaged in colourful containers, especially the coffee cups and introduce three coffee sizes in the packaging; small, medium and large. This will provide variety for the customers. I would also ensure that the price remains slightly lower than the competitors to give the business a competitive advantage. For the place strategy, I would introduce delivery services for the customers' convenience. For promotion, I would increase the business's popularity through advertising the products in paid Ads on Instagram and Facebook.
Implementation and evaluation
I would strive to implement this strategy by hiring a competitive workforce and training them on marketing skills. I would ensure the development of good organizational skills within the organization and an effective leadership style to be followed. I would also provide a timeline to these changes so as to speed up the process. For evaluation, I would ensure the provision of annual reports and audits to assess the company's performance trend, before and after the changes. I would also rely on customer feedback to make evaluations and conclusions.
References
Mahdi, O. R., Nassar, I. A., & Almsafir, M. K. (2019). Knowledge management processes and sustainable competitive advantage: An empirical examination in private universities. Journal of Business Research , 94 , 320-334.
Morgan, N. A., Whitler, K. A., Feng, H., & Chari, S. (2019). Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 47 (1), 4-29.
U.S. Labor Department. (2018). Bureau of the census. https://www.census.gov/
