Branding: Greenins-Coowin - Assignment Example

Branding: GREENINS-COOWIN Case Study Branding: GREENINS-COOWIN Case Study Greenins-Coowin is a division of the Alliancz International Pte Ltd, a Singapore based company established in 2006. Alliancz International Pte Ltd has to divisions Automotive and Architectural where Greenins-Coowin is within the architectural division. Greenins-Coowin is in the decking industry and its establishment happened as a diversification of the functionalities of the company after it was incorporated and was aimed at taking advantage of available demand. The aim of this study is to develop a situation analysis of Greenins-Coowin and using the insights in the situation analysis a Greenins-Coowin case study of brand management will be developed. Situation Analysis A situation analysis of a business entails the examination of both the external and the internal environment of a business or use in the construction of a marketing plan. Several reasons subsist for situational analysis to be done for a given firm including understanding the position of the business or a product in the market, getting information in the survival of the business, and getting an understanding of the capabilities of the firm within the market. This paper aims at analyzing the situation of one architectural division of Alliancz International Pte Ltd, specifically Greenins-Coowin. Greenins-Coowin is one of the most successful brands in the line of business by Allianz International Pte Ltd and there is a need to have knowledge of the internal and external environment for the firm to make strategic choices for the future aimed at maintaining success and credibility in the market. To make a situation analysis of Greenins-Coowin, this paper will utilize two models, SWOT, and Porter’s five forces. The reason for the inclusion of these models is to get a comprehensive analysis of the external as well as the internal environment of Greenins-Coowin. SWOT analysis of GREENINS-COOWIN Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT Analysis) SWOT analysis is the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of an organization for its use in planning and marketing purposes of a company. SWOT also guides the firm to harness its strengths and opportunities to gain competitive advantage while using the knowledge of threats and weaknesses as a basis to make strategies to overcome these challenges to the organization. GREENINS-COOWIN has a number of strengths and opportunities that it advantage give it a competitive but is faced with some threats and has weaknesses that has to defend itself from to remain relevant and profitable. These factors are analyzed below: Strengths Greenins-Coowin has strengths that have allowed it to scale the decking industry and be the leading supplier of composite decking in Singapore. The main strengths is that there is a great emphasis on quality, where Greenins-Coowin provides the highest quality of decking and customization, fencing poles, trellis, tramps, staircase, gates, benches among other products. Pricing strategy taken by Greenins-Coowin is competitive and with the provision of quality ensures the customer attains value for their money. The other strength at the company is efficiency in operations and having quality human resources. The company trains their own carpenters who ensures all the projects are efficiently completed. Timely completion of projects is the other strength of Greenins-Coowin that has been emphasized over the years with no matter the largeness of the project. Provision of after sale services and maintenance to the customers is strength for the company with emphasis on customer satisfaction and feedback. This emphasis on quality, competitive pricing, and quality human resource, efficiency of operations, maintenance, and timely project completion form the main strengths of Greenins-Coowin. Weaknesses Greenins-Coowin’s main weakness is the inability to perfectly substitute natural wood in the construction of structures and other decking. The substitution ration is gradually increasing but so far, Greenins-Coowin has not been able to achieve a position of perfect substitutability for natural wood. Opportunities Greenins-Coowin has opportunities to engage in the decking businesses internationally due to the environmental friendly nature of the business. There has been a lot of emphasis on eco-friendly products globally opening the way for Greenins-Coowin. The other opportunity available for the company is increasing operations to smaller projects as they have mainly emphasized on large projects. The other opportunity available for Greenins-Coowin is ensuring all the products offered by the company are customized and tailored for the client. The other opportunity for v is to expand, owing to the six-year success in Singapore there is a high chance that expanding will be effective in augmenting sales and profits. Threats There are some threats that is faced by the company including imitation by Coowin Wood (Coowin –group.com) but there is copyright and this infringement is poised to end at that, just an imitation. The other threat is the possibility of increased competition in the coming years from international companies that have lower production costs as exemplified by Coowin Group from China. This threat is manageable through improving the quality of product and human resource. Porters 5 forces model on GREENINS-COOWIN i. Competitive position and Porter’s five forces The competitive environment that a firm operates is well identified by Porter’s five forces that are listed below and the impacts on the operational environment of Greenins-Coowin. Threat of New Entrant: low The decking business requires a lot of investment in high technology and quality machinery and the development of quality human resource for success of the business making the threat of entrants low as Greenins-Coowin is already established. Goods supplier relations and customer loyalty are the other needs for a new company making entry of competitors hard. Bargaining Power of Buyers: medium The company employs a competitive pricing strategy but the substitutability of the products to natural wood increases the bargaining power of the consumers. However, this is mitigated by the increased benefits of the Greenins-Coowin products over natural wood including high impact strength, termite free, easy installation, no cracking, environmental friendly, corrosive resistant, water resistance, and that it is UV stable. Bargaining power of suppliers: medium Greenins-Coowin makes contracts with suppliers and there is emphasis on maintaining high quality provision ensuring the company meets the needs of consumers fully. However, rising need for eco-friendly products has increased demand on the suppliers increasing the prices of supplies for Greenins-Coowin making the bargaining power of suppliers to rise but the Greenins-Coowin hedge itself against risks through future contracts. Threat of substitute products: Medium Since the products offered at Greenins-Coowin are not natural substitutes for wood, the threat of substitutability is prevalent especially in places where people are handy and like fixing staff on their own. However, innovation has allowed Greenins-Coowin to increase the benefits of its products giving more value to the consumer than natural wood coupled with a two year warranty reducing the substitutability. i. Rivalry among existing firms: low There is a low rivalry between Greenins-Coowin and existing firms in the market. Greenins-Coowin emphasis on quality, customer satisfaction, quality human resource, free maintenance, and having a large customer base has enabled it to outpace other producers in the market and be the leading supplier of decking products in Singapore. From the SWOT and Porter’s five forces, Greenins-Coowin is an established brand and has been managed well owing to the success and the inability of the other firms in the market to take over the market share. Greenins-Coowin is undoubtedly a brand that is poised to continue being the leading decking supplier in the Singapore market and beyond for the future. This is due to the ability of the company to be the best, maintain quality, have market share, and satisfy consumers. It is from this realization that the second part of this study focuses on Greenins-Coowin: The future of Decking industry. Greenins-Coowin: The Future of Decking Industry Greenins-Coowin as a brand and the relation to other brands in the decking industry Greenins-Coowin: The Future of Decking Industry: this is the case due to the emphasis on the needs of customers through what they get at Greenins-Coowin. Greenins-Coowin provides high quality products, exemplified by the two year warranty on al product offerings; there is maintenance of the products free, in-house trained human resource work around the clock to ensure client needs are met, innovatively crafted eco-friendly products, emphasis on customer feedback and loyalty. What you get: Product quality, maintenance, two year warranty, and excellent human resource Finishes and Color Charts Project References Applications (Outdoor, indoor, trellis) Formation Greenins-Coowin is in the decking industry and its establishment happened as a diversification of the functionalities of the Allianz Internationl PTE Ltd after it was incorporated and was aimed at taking advantage of available demand. Greenins-Coowin main aim was to change the decking industry for the better through the introduction of innovative and environmental friendly products in Singapore and for the future. In Singapore, this aim has been realized, as the Greenins-Coowin is the leading supplier of composite decking industry, now the vision is aimed for the future. The future of Greenins-Coowin is anchored on remaining the number one supplier in Singapore and to be the ccomposite supplier providing customisation services. Currently Greenins-Coowin is the leading decking supplier in the Singapore market and this is poised to be the case in the future with the emphasis on quality, customer satisfaction, innovation and creativity, technology incorporation, and research and development. Target market and Pricing strategy Greenins-Coowin target market is segmented into three segments in the local market oowners/ Developers, Main Contractors and Architects. Prices to owners and main contractors are around the range of S$238 – S$268 depending on the area and complexity of work. For architects the price would range from S$268 – S$280. The prices are competitive in the decking industry and with the quality offering and maintenance the target market receives value for their money. Point of parity and difference with other brands in the decking industry The points of parity between the brands in the market are the introduction of an environmental friendly product as a substitute to natural wood, development of new product offering, providing satisfaction to the consumers, having client feedback, and ensuring the products meet the needs of the consumers. Features Characteristics Greenins-Coowin differs from the competitors in a number of ways including that the products offered by Greenins-Coowin has been researched and developed to ensure suitability in the Singapore and Asian market. The other difference between the products offered by Greenins-Coowin is the use of 3mm thick hollow section aluminium battens for our main structure compared to the use of wooden structure by competitors owing to save on costs. Damp and humid conditions in the enclosed area under the decking results in rot and decay over time results in rotting and decay of wood used by the competitors leading to stability lose leading to high chances of injury. The other difference is that Greenins-Coowin uses customized stainless steel for securing timber planks to the aluminum batten within differing to the market practice where direct bolting is common. The disadvantage of direct bolting is that when it is exposed to an uncontrolled environment, expansion and contraction results in the screw-hole deforming and eventually leading to instability. Current issues and problems in the decking industry Comparison with Coowin Wood: Imitation The Behind the scenes: Innovation and creativity Allianz Around the clock customer feedback Greenins-Coowin emphasizes on receiving feedback and working on it through the call lines and websites as well as in the office. The future: Maintaining the leading spot in the decking industry To be the best, innovation, creativity, and technology incorporation in the product offering are the main avenues that Greenins-Coowin will incorporate in the business. References Evans, David. 1998. Decisionmaker [14 business situations for analysis and discussion]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ireland, R. Duane, Robert E. Hoskisson, and Michael A. Hitt. 2006. Understanding business strategy: concepts and cases. Mason, OH.: Thomson Higher Education. Barney, Jay B., and William S. Hesterly. 2010. Strategic management and competitive advantage: concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Campbell, David, George Stonehouse, and Bill Houston. 2002. Business strategy: an introduction. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Lehmann, Donald R. 1979. Market research and analysis. Homewood, Ill: R.D. Irwin. Grant, Robert M. 2007. Contemporary strategy analysis. Oxford: Blackwell. Lussier, Robert N. 2000. 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