Marketing Analysis of Picture Frame and Furniture Company - Assignment Example

Marketing Report What is marketing According to Alan Weiss, "marketing is analysis." It is sometimes referred to as tactics. Analysis is about analyzing the customers need. We must analyze the perceptions and preferences of our customer. It means segmenting the market correctly and not in the way that most companies think about segmentation. It means having a profound understanding of their attitudes, their knowledge and their emotions. Without having this knowledge, the tactics of marketing are just blowing in the wind. You'll hope that the tactics work, but be blissfully unaware about whether anyone would want to pay attention or listen. So what is marketing It is the analysis of customers, competitors, and a company, combining the understanding into an overall understanding of what segments exists, deciding on targeting the most profitable segments, positioning the product and then doing what's necessary to deliver on that positioning. Marketing is what is done to make the public aware of a product/service/company. This can include many things, advertising, public relations, person to person communications and more. It's important because without marketing your product won't be known to the public. The target location of the business is located in Kent , UK. It is located west of UK. The following factors are to be considering in describing our target market. Our business is a period picture framing and a small furniture workshop. First we must identify who will be our customer. Who among the resident of Kent would be interested in our product. Our segment definition is of itself strategic. We are not intending to satisfy all users of furniture intended for use with personal computers, but, rather, only those who are most demanding. We are definitely out to address the needs of the high-end buyer, who is willing to pay more for quality. In our particular market, we also seek the buyer who appreciates two attributes: the quality of furniture workmanship and the excellence of design, with an understanding of technology and ergonomics built in. Our target market is a person who wants to have very fine furniture with the latest in technology, combined with an old fashioned sense of fine woods and fine woodworking. This person can be in the corporate towers, small or medium business, or in a home office. The common bond is the appreciation of quality, and the lack of price constraints. We understand that our target market needs more than just furniture and pictures in frame. We need to grow out of the special needs of personal computing, when combined with other furniture - thus the picture frame fits the room being furnished Our target customer wants to have all of that plus fine furniture. There is a need for quality, reassurance of wood and good workmanship. We don't just sell a picture frame and furniture; we sell quality design, plus workmanship. Market Segmentation Corporate executives: our market research indicates about 250,000 potential customers who are managers in companies of more than 100 employees. The target customer is going to be at a high executive level, in most cases, because the purchase price is relatively steep compared to standard office furniture. It will be not applicable to promote to someone the furniture who are not earning enough money. The people would appreciate it, but we will not be able to market the furniture since they don't have the means to purchase the said item. Like our company we can market our product to starting small business owners: our customer surveys indicate a strong market among the owners of businesses with fewer than 100 employees. There are3 million such businesses in this country, most of them with concentrated ownership that makes the owners potential customers. Since their company is just starting up they need furniture for their offices as well as pictures frame that will go with their furniture. Home offices: the home office business has proliferated during the 1990s, and we also have home offices for people employed outside the home. This is a big market, some3 million home offices, growing faster than other markets. A home office does not necessarily imply a home business--just that a homeowner has designated a room in their home as an office. Our furniture is using the best materials that can suit both home offices and big offices. We can also market our furniture and picture to someone who are having a hard time arranging one of the house rooms to become an office for their home business. Is it possible to have a good looking office inside the house The answer is yes, by patronizing our product. We can even give you some advice on how to do it. After analyzing who will be our target customer, it is now time to analyze what would be the best strategy to market our product Since our furniture will be marketed to people who are not after the price but for the quality and we will be directly competing to other maker of furniture in UK it is best to use the SWOT strategy - Strength , Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . SWOT Analysis is a strategic method for identifying your small business strengths and weaknesses, and to examine the opportunities and threats in the wider environment (market, industry, global situation). What would be the strength of the company Unlike any other furniture company, our company offers workshop for those who want to learn more about the furniture we are offering. Since we are targeting a greater number of high- level communities we are sure that we will achieve the target sales in a short period. Marketing operations were analyzed carefully to prevent errors or wrong moves. We will assure that we produce a high quality of furniture with a very promising price. The company has a very good financial situation, we are targeting a total of L 150,000 expenses and will be opening a credit account in a bank, to be able to increase the capital of the company as well as its profit. The weaknesses of the company can be manifested to its material. We want to market a good quality of furniture but it will cause us a lot giving us the problem of increasing the price instead of lowering the price to be able to reach out to the medium level of people. Opportunities, we will be able to study more about what our customer need aside for the product we are offering. Our competitors serve us our threats; we will be able to establish the action needed for our competitors. For example, what are our advantages over them Our company has a picture framing and workshops being offered which is not evident to others. If we were able to establish our SWOT then we will be able to fight for the survival of the company not just for a month but for the coming years. We can promote our products using the different media of promotion such as TV, radios, newspaper, internet and others. Promoting the product is also the hardest part of marketing. We must produce an effective promotional campaign. We can have TV commercials, a good ad in the newspaper, and radio and leaflets for information of the people. We can invite someone influential to promote our product. Our model can show the consumer that he is enjoying the service of the company and its product as well. We can reproduce our leaflets and distribute in not only in Kent but in the whole country. A furniture show will be coming this June, how will the company promote the products we have We can start by showing the pictures or clips on how our furniture is built. People would be interested in the material we used, therefore it is best to present the material we use. We can show the origin of our raw materials, from a single branch of a tree to a royal kind of furniture fitted for a king with a very affordable price. What people would say about our product One of them would say that the items looks expensive , but because they watched how to assemble the item the customer would have a second look on the item and buy the said item. A positive result would be heard during the furniture show. One of the executive present during the show would say that the items are very nice and can easily be sold as long as it maintain its high quality with reasonable price. The marketing has to convey the sense of quality in every picture, every promotion, and every publication. We can't afford to appear in second-rate catalogs with poor illustrations that make the product look less than it is. We also need to leverage our presence using high-quality catalogs and specialty distributors. Due to the market segmentation that has established above, we will require constant updates in terms of the potential sizes, distributions, and purchasing patterns of the quality conscious, technology utilizing executive markets. We will use our historical performance to establish a customer database containing this information. This will allow us to target customers more efficiently as a result of actual experience. Furthermore, as our customer service and follow-up are key to establishing retained customers, the marketing database will allow us to divide the potential buying patterns of customers into categories based on future needs. We must also analyze who our competitors are In UK there are many furniture businesses offering the same item with different style. Our advantage over the other company is that we offer picture framing and workshop as well. We believe that by targeting the high-end market, we can successfully occupy an emerging niche that other channels of distribution have not been able to target. With the implementation of the new marketing focus outlined in this plan, we will position our product line as the high-quality, elegant alternative to mainstream furniture business found in office supply stores. Our ability to integrate emerging technologies in our design, provide complimentary pieces for a complete set, and custom design ergonomic executive-level furniture will provide strengths and establish a reputation of unmatched quality. We will be able to create a Business Plan using the strategy and analysis we have done here. A questionnaire for our customer is provided to be able to evaluate who will buy and why will they buy our product. This questionnaire will help us to made necessary actions on our product. This will be conducted with both men and women from a high level society as well as in the medium class society. If most of the answer in this questionnaire is yes then we will need to increase our capital to have a quality product and an added service for the convenience of our customer. Questionnaire Name of Respondent ____________________________________ Age ___________ Sex __________ Occupation ______________ E-mail Address _______________________________________________ Are you into furniture hunt Please answer the questionnaire Please tick the box Yes No 1. Do you want to buy furniture 2. Are you after the quality of the product 3. Is the price important to you 4. Do you agree that it is important to have a quality product even if it cost you a lot 5. Are you also particular in color 6. Do you want your furniture deliver to you 7. Are you looking for an added service Such as someone that will help you arrange your purchased furniture 8. Is our product satisfying your taste 9. Do we still need to improve our product 10. Are you going to buy our product References 1. SWOT < http://cbae.nmsu.edu/dboje/sbc/pages/page3.html > 2. Office Furniture Marketing Plan 3. What is Marketing By Allen Weiss November 26, 2002 < http://www.marketingprofs.com/2/whatismarketing.asp > 4. Furniture for Business < http://www.ffb.co.uk/ > 5. Kent County Council Read More