Marketing Management - Essay Example

1. To what extent do you think planning is effective in business operations during the contemporary period? In attempting to explore the effectiveness of planning in the operations of a conventional business during the current period, it is imperative to explain what planning is as a way of gaining a clear understanding of the whole concept with regards to business at Hengist House owned by Brenda and Phillip. Planning is a central task of marketing and always starts with gathering of information and a business’s success depends on many factors (Cant et al 2000). For instance, the size of the market segments, preferences of consumers, actions of competitors and distributors all interact to produce the results of a given marketing plan. It should always be borne in mind that the above mentioned factors are subject to change and uncertainty and likewise Hengist House is not immune to change hence the need to have up-to-date information about their business environment if they are serious about its development. Whilst Brenda and Phillip may want to believe that their business is flourishing by virtue of the large number of visitors they get each year, a close analysis of their business shows that it is operating below capacity to a certain extent. As a result of underutilisation of other vast facilities, their property is not earning them the maximum capacity it should be considering that it used to be a successful farm as well as tourist attraction. Indeed, the place is endowed with the resources that can generate large amounts of revenue if properly utilised and carefully marketed. It seems there is no proper planning the reason why some of the facilities that can be used to generate income are being underutilised. For instance, there are winter bulbs that flowered under the trees each February and even into March but nothing much was ever done to them by way of feeding or other care but they are among the most attractive features at the place. With proper planning and marketing of the place, there is no need for applying for grants or loans to develop the area but it would generate its own revenue that can be in turn used to spruce up the image of the place. Their place looks as if it is neglected hence may not appeal to many people. Winter tourism has great potential for business and Brenda and Philip have the property endowed with all qualities necessary for the business to flourish like all other property owners but they had little planning to harness this kind of business. In the absence of proper marketing strategies in place, though the owners would like to believe that they are making handsome business, it can still be argued that they are not using their competitive advantage compared to other competitors in the area. In some instances when the competition would be stiff, they would even allow ‘free entry’ or ‘free snowdrops’ to ensure that they keep their numbers up which should not be the case. Indeed all the businesses operate in a competitive environment and they should not reach an extent where they would allow free entry whilst other competitors are making business. The purpose of every business is to make profit therefore giving something for free for the sake of ensuring large numbers of attendances is tantamount to loss making. In a competitive environment, any organisation should be better positioned to attract and retain its own loyal customers. 2. Outline and evaluate the SWOT analysis for business at Hengist House owned by Philip and Brenda. “A SWOT analysis is a useful instrument for helping managers to identify internal strengths and weaknesses of a business and external opportunities and threats facing it,” (Strydom J. p 31). Basically, SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W) while on the other hand the external environmental factors are regarded as either opportunities (O) or threats (T). This analysis is very important to marketing managers as it allows them to focus on key strategic issues based on the notion that an effective strategy fully utilises the strengths and opportunities of a business and strives to minimise the weaknesses and threats. The major strength at Hengist House include the aspect that the place has got the resources that can be fully utilised to attract visitors given that winter tourism is one of the thriving businesses in the area where this house is located. The house is located in an extensive area rich with natural resources that can be fully utilised to attract visitors who in turn will bring the much needed revenue. The winter bulbs which are a very attractive feature at the place grow in abundance but it seems they are not putting more effort to care for them since they are simply left to grow on their own which is why their business is not really booming. The whole place has full of potential of developing into a thriving business enterprise if fully utilised which is a major strength of the area. One major weakness facing Brenda and Phillip is that they have little knowledge about growing snowdrops which are a major source of revenue at their place. A critical analysis of the case shows that at one time they left the snowdrops to dry which resulted in heavy loss since they do not need to be left to dry but picked whilst still green for them to be productive. Indeed, winter tourism is one of the highly recognised income generators but the major weakness between Brenda and Philip is their inability to fully utilise the resources that are in abundance at their place. Little knowledge is a major impediment that is taking a toll on the rate they should be developing their place to be a thriving business enterprise. There are several opportunities that can be utilised by Brenda and Philip but the greatest one is through the use of new information and technology. The advent of the internet brought a lot of advantages to people who are in business as they can market their products with relative ease and the internet is also cheap compared to other forms of communication. The internet has also advantages in that communication is instantaneous and can reach millions of potential consumers at the same time. Carefully designed websites allow the customers to give feedback and this two way communication promotes mutual understanding between the customers and a business enterprise. Information dissemination forms the backbone of marketing in any given organisation hence the need to establish structures that allow a two way communication. The major threat facing the above mentioned people is the issue of competition. Winter tourism is seasonal and the opportunity has to be fully utilised come winter season and it seems these two individuals are operating below capacity to outwit their competitors who are well established. In some cases, they give the snowdrops for free or allow free entrance to their place for the sake of retaining large numbers of visitors. This speaks volumes about their inability to fully operate in a competitive environment. 3. What do you think is the reason why Brenda and Philip are failing to acquire financial assistance even though they have a noble cause? On two different occasions, Brenda and Philip tried to acquire financial assistance in the form of loans or grants but were not successful as a result of various reasons. However, it can be noted that they had noble and valid reasons for applying for that assistance but their bid was turned down on two different occasions. One of the main reasons why their bids are turned down is that their operations appear to be more informal. They do not have business structures that are formal and it would be difficult to convince the finance providers that they are a registered business entity that is capable of generating revenue that can be used to pay back the loan in the event that they are successful in acquiring the funds. Having realised the potential of winter tourism, Brenda at one time decided to seek government grant to develop their place to meet other tourism related events but her bid was turned down since their business had no physical structures that could be used as evidence to prove that they were in business. The government was only able to find a constituted body which had record of the minutes as well as a constitution. To a greater extent, business at Hengist house is run on an informal basis and it is a bit difficult to prove if it is being run on a commercial basis, one of the main reasons why they often fail to get financial assistance. Brenda at one time had heard that the local authority agency had some funding available for small businesses that created employment. Brenda decided to put in an application for funds and spent a significant amount of time over several weeks researching and submitting an application. However, after quite a long period of time, they were told that their bid was unsuccessful. Whilst one official posited to the effect that they put a wrong code, it seems their bid in itself was also not very convincing to the extent of being run on a commercial basis. 4. What marketing strategies can be implemented by Brenda and Philip to make their business a success? Reaching global markets in particular requires concerted efforts such as making use of modern communication technology such as the internet which is accessible to a wide range of people especially during the contemporary period. Use of the internet can be used as an effective communication strategy that would be aimed at targeting particular groups of people likely to be potential customers. This endeavour calls for precision on market segmentation which is defined as the process of grouping people into segments on the basis of their interests, level of income, age and even geographical location, Kotler. (1999). There is need to identify the targeted audiences which can make marketing relatively easier as the company would know its specific target group hence easy to reach them. In this case, it seems that Brenda and Philip have no such communication structures in place which makes it a bit difficult for them to target their market. Morden communication technology has made dramatic changes in the contemporary marketing communication landscape. Consumers now have the ability to make evaluations on their choice of goods owing to the improvements in communication technology. Marketers on the other hand are cogniscent of these sweeping impacts caused by new technology which has led to significant changes in the way they carry out their business. An integrated marketing communication plan is more ideal during the current period. According to Cant M. (2000 p.285), an integrated marketing communication can be defined as, “a concept of marketing communication planning that recognises the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, sponsorship.” These often are combined to provide consistency, clarity and effective communication. Mass techniques like advertising, sponsorship and publicity for instance can be effectively used as communication strategies. The communication plan for the above mentioned company should include the effective use of advertising whose major goal is to develop as well as comprehend the sales of the product through increasing awareness just like the goal of publicity or sponsorship. On the other hand, the goal of personal selling is building primary demand for the product hence the communication plan must be tailored in such a way that it appeals to the customers at primary level. Public relations is another effective communication plan that can be used by the above mentioned company whose ultimate objective is to attempt to make loyal customers through the provision of relevant information and knowledge to the customers. In actual fact, all communication efforts are meant to create brand awareness through providing relevant information to the clients. The combined effects of advertising, sales promotion, publicity and personal selling can be effectively used as viable tools in communication. In view of the argument outlined above, the most effective communication plan for the company in question involves the identification of the target markets. This is then followed by the selection of communication channel that can be used to convey the message to the customers. The message is then tailored in such a way that will make a distinction between the company and rival competitors already in the market in line with the company’s vision of becoming a unique brand name. It can be concluded that the success of the marketing strategy employed by the company is determined by the effective use of modern communication technology such as the internet. In this scenario, diversifying the products can be one of the viable options for the company of ensuring that it is not always facing stiff competition from otherwise established business entities. The products should be appealing to a wide range of customers in the market hence the need for more alternative ways of attempting to satisfy the needs of different categories of people. Instead of relying on a certain particular product, they can diversify their products given that winter tourism is seasonal. This means that if it performs badly, then the other substitute such as farming would certainly cover up the gap. 5. To what extent can innovation be relied on in a conventional business set up? Innovation can be loosely defined as a newly devised method of achieving something. Simply put, it is an act of introducing something new hence it can be noted that to a certain extent, innovation can usher in new ideas as far as growth of business is concerned. Something unique from the products offered by rival competitors can be introduced and this can make a big difference in attracting consumers for a certain product. Indeed, it has been mentioned that Philip is good in art and he can fully utilise this opportunity to make artefacts that can be used to decorate the area to make it attractive since it looks like an abandoned area in its current state though visitors still go there. The main advantage of innovation is that it is not costly in most cases since new ideas can be used to develop the resources that are available. For instance, Brenda invited a local baker to produce a related product and they came up with biscuits decorated with an iced snowdrop. These biscuits easily identify with the products offered at Hengist House which are snowdrops. These are sold by the baker in his shops, but more importantly, the brand is also sold in the café adjacent to the house and they claim that they have sold lots of these biscuits and that they are a good talking point too which is one method of gaining publicity in such a manner without any hassles. It can thus be noted that innovation is very important especially to small business enterprises as they can introduce something that is unique and can be used as a major attractive feature that is different from all other products offered by other competitors. Usually it would be difficult for small business enterprises to acquire bank loans hence they ought to be innovative to fully utilise the potential they may have in the resources available to them. References Cant M.C. (2000), Marketing Management, 4th Edition Juta and Co Ltd, SA. Kotler P. (1999), Kotler on Marketing: How to create, win and dominate Markets, Free Press, London. Kotler, P. (1998). Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and control. Prentice Hall, New Jersey Strydom J. (2004), Marketing, 3rd Edition, Juta & Co Ltd, SA Read More