Marketing Information Of Slip Safe Australia - Essay Example

Marketing Information for Slip Prevention Services of Slip Safe Australia Introduction and Company Overview This paper focuses on the illustration and analysis of marketing information of Slip Safe, Australia. The organization was established in the year 1982 and is currently situated in Bridgeman Downs, Queensland. The business is specialized in providing floor surface safety to prevent any kind of slip hazards. It serves a wide market in Australia through licensees (Slip Safe Australia, 2015c). The study will shed light on the market situation, marketing objectives and marketing strategies of the organization in terms of their Safety Plates and Step Edges product lines. The paper also proposes to evaluate the current market situation of the product line along with its strengths and weaknesses. It will also illustrate the future market opportunities and threats for the business and its specific product line. Current Market Situation Marketing situation analysis of any business refers to various methods which are generally utilized by management to evaluate and understand the external and internal business environment (Wilson and Gilligan, 2012). Company and its offerings Safety Plates and Step Edges product line of Slip Safe is steel backed with heavy duty anti-skid surface design which is suitable for highly dangerous slippery areas. This product provides skid and slip resistance even in the condition of soiling of the surface and heavy spillage. This product range provides the facility of long wearing and full grips step edges and they are available in a number of highly visible safety colors, such as safety brown, yellow, light grey, black, which follows Australian Standards. The product is available in different colors such as and dark grey. The backing materials of the product include color bound stainless steel and zinc aluminum (Slip Safe Australia, 2015a). Customers The organization mainly deals with other business locations. The major consumers of the product are the tile shops, health care locations, old age care locations, shopping malls, residential apartments and hotels and restaurants such as Blue Nursing Service, Tweed Heads & Kingscliffe, John Flynn Hospital, and Grand Mercure Hotel. The product is highly considered by various local councils. A number of schools, clubs, pubs and swimming pool locations also prefer to utilize the Safety Plates and Step Edges product of the organization (Slip Safe Australia, 2015b). Competitors The market of Australia possesses a number of slip prevention service organizations that has increased the competition for the Safety Plates and Step Edges product line of the organization. The competitors within the market include Anti Slip, General Staircase and Stair Care. There are few stair designing companies which are also providing stair nosing facility such as OzStairs. The price competition is very high within the industry as most of the leading players are providing competitive prices. In this scenario Safety Plates and Step Edges of Slip Safe can be considered to be higher priced which restricts the organization to achieve a competitive position (Riazi, et al., 2012). Distribution/ collaborators The organization mainly focuses on licensing procedure to distribute their product s and services to the potential clients. Their licensees are scattered within a wide ranges of areas across Australia such as Melbourne, Tasmania, Wollongong, Canberra, Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle, Rockhampton, Cairns, Mackay etc (SlipSafe, n.d.). External climate The government regulations of Australia have initiated a number of products and service standards for the slip resistance facilities, such as AS 3661.1 of 1993 and AS 4663 of 2004, to strictly monitor the quality of slip resistance products of different organizations. The products of Slip Safe properly and efficiently maintain this Australian Standards (Department of Health and Aging, 2005). Home And Community Care (HACC) of Australia along with Australian Government has initiated various programs to increase the knowledge and awareness of the populations regarding the physical effects of fall and slip. Their programs also aimed at increasing the awareness of population in terms of the efficacy of the slip resistance products (Department of Health and Aging, 2005). SWOT Analysis The analysis of the SWOT matrix assists organizations to evaluate their internal strengths and weaknesses. This analysis also emphasize on then opportunities and threats of the market (Kotler, et al., 2013). Strength Safety Plates and Step Edges product line offers high product values and latest technologies in terms of preventing slip and skid. This is an innovative product range of the organization which increases safety of any kind of hard floor, stairs vehicle steps etc. This product is also highly resistant to solvents, alkalis, acids, grease, alcohol, hydraulic fluids, oil, saltwater etc. The product is available in a number of safety colors which provides high degree of visibility. The organization also provides the facility to customize colors as per the demand of consumers. The product manufacturing process and its color strictly compile with Australian Standards 1428.4 of 1992 which influence them to provide products which are friendly towards the visually impaired population. The organization invests in continuous research and development to introduce innovative and user friendly Safety Plates and Step Edges. They are planning to introduce fiberglass backing material for the product in the near future. The less number of hierarchy and intermediaries of the organization increases the possibility for clients and operators to contact the owner or higher authorities of the business. This practice enhances the relationship of the organization with its licensees and clients. The high value of the product and business to business dealing has enabled the organization to increase their profit margin while the expenditure for the product line is low (Slip Safe Australia, 2015c.). Weaknesses The product design and business set-up cost for this sector is very low. Hence, the competitors in the market are increasing day by day. This situation is reducing the market share of the product. The licensing process limits the opportunities for proper knowledge delivery and training to the licensees in terms of best use of the product. Hence, it reduces the market potential of the product line. The existing clientele of the organization is very limited. On the other hand, their marketing programs are poorly designed and less focused to efficiently attract new consumers. There are no proper advertising, promotional activities of the organization. Hence, it hampers the new market acquisition process of the organization. The licensing process has also restricted the marketing and promotional assistance from the head office which has subsequently reduced the customer loyalty. The organization lacks participation within digital promotion and advertisement process that hinders them to target a huge range of consumers (SlipSafe, n.d.). Opportunities The increased awareness regarding the floor and stair safety from slip and skid has enhanced the opportunity to target and acquire a wide range of new consumers along with the existing one. The company can shift their focus to different clientele such as residential locations, single consumers. The organization can also initiate partnership with different real estate giants to ensure proper delivery of their products and services. The availability of different advertising and promotional media and wide expansion of digital media can assist the organization to effectively and efficiently design their marketing and promotional strategies which will increase the opportunities to attract new consumers (SlipSafe, n.d.). Threat Increased competition and market rivals are the biggest threats of the organization. The rivalry of the slip prevention services and products business in Australia is increasing rapidly. The market entry of local as well as multinational businesses can reduce the market share of the organization. Legal claims due to different product malfunctioning and accidental incidents can harm the reputation of the business. The improper and inefficient control and maintenance of product delivery and servicing process of the licensees can reduce the effectiveness and quality of the product (Slip Safe Australia, 2015a; SlipSafe, n.d.). Objectives The major goals of the organization are to increase their market share, sales volume and profit ratio. The organization needs to set its goals to increase its sales volume by 20% while increasing the profit margin to 15%. The goals of the organization also need to set up to acquire approximately 12% of the market share of Australian market. The objectives of the organization to follow the goals will include: Enhancing the product facilities and specification as per the market demand and customer preferences. Differentiating the product prom the leading rivals. Re-designing the marketing strategies of the organization. Expansion of market and services to increase customer loyalty and engagement. Re-structuring pricing decisions as per client profile and competitors offerings. Marketing Strategy The marketing mix strategy will enable the organization to focus on the major elements of the marketing strategy of the organization such as product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategy (Baker, 2014). Product Strategy The management needs to focus on design a separate range of Safety Plates and Step Edges product that will fulfill the demands of the residential consumers. The organization needs to accumulate minimum features to this product to offer better slip resistant facilities to the household consumers across different locations of Australia. Hence, it will assist the management to indulge in the business to customer dealing within their operated locations. They also need to introduce modified and easy to use Safety Plates and Step Edges products for stairs and slopping areas of houses that can be easily applicable by the consumers. This product line will increase the consumer base within the locations where the organization is currently not holding any licensees. The organization can also initiate governmental collaboration to provide free slip resistance and floor testing facilities for each of their business clients and general consumers. The Safety Plates and Step Edges products should provide 3 years initial warranty to the business clients and 4 years initial warranty to the domestic clients which can be extendable for another 3 and 4 years respectively. Pricing Strategy The marketers need to revise their pricing decision for the product range as per their targeted consumers as well as competitors pricing. They can consider two different pricing policies for their consumers such as value-based pricing and competitive pricing (Indounas, 2015). The value-based pricing will mainly target the large and medium sized business clients such as hotel, clubs, hospitals, corporate houses, nursing homes, local councils etc. This process will enable the marketers to boost their profit by offering innovative and highly featured Safety Plates and Step Edges for the business clients. On the other hand, the product ranges for domestic clients needs to follow the competitive pricing which will follow the general pricing strategies of the local competitors. This pricing strategy is subjected change as per the economic fluctuation and differences in the competitors pricing. Promotion Strategy The promotional and advertising strategy of the organization requires thorough revision. In the first stage the organization needs to modify their website to make it more attractive and informative. The organization must hire a third party agency to re-design their website. The agency will be responsible for time to time update the website as per the latest details and achievements of the organization. The organization also needs to provide e-Commerce facility to the consumers those are interested to apply the product by their own. The website must carry pages with full guidance to the application of the product. The website should also provide facilities to the consumers to extend their warranty period, book slip resistance testing facility and servicing facility. This facilities need to be integrated with the toll-free customer care facility of the organization which will easily circulate the queries to the specific zone of the customers. The organization need to hire promotional agents and sales agents for product promotional design and personal sales promotion. The promotional agents will be responsible for designing promotional and advertising activity. The organization needs to focus on print media such as newspaper, local and business magazine advertisements. They can target various local events and trade shows to demonstrate their products and services. Hoardings and billboards can also be considered as the effective media of advertising. The authorities also need to consider various social media pages to increase the visibility of their offerings and business. The personal sales promotion team will be divided across different operating regions of the organization. These teams will consist of 3-4 employees for each location who will be responsible for attracting sales from business locations and integrate it with the local licensees. They will also be responsible for acquisition and retention of new consumers as well as providing promotional discounts and services to the customers to increase the bonding and loyalty. This process will enable the marketers to attract new consumers in different locations. Distribution Strategy The product distribution facility will mainly follow the traditional licensing procedure of the organization. Along with this facility the organization will also focus on online product booking and delivery system. The marketers need to select a panel who will be responsible for closely monitor the performance of the licensee group and the sales force. The organization also needs to arrange training and feedback sessions for all their licensees and sales force from different locations after every 3 months which will impart knowledge about customer service, handling, and product specifications while properly entertaining all the queries. The training and feedback session will be organized in multiple locations which will be easily accessible for the respondents. The licensees and sales force will ne intimated for these session through phone calls, company website and e-mail. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Issues and Implementation Integrating all the communication channels is essential to properly coordinate all the promotional methods that reinforce each other (Percy, 2014). The proper integration of marketing communication can be hampered due to a number of issues that can affect the organizational competitiveness by restricting desired outcomes of the marketing strategies (Blakeman, 2014). The integrated marketing communication issues for Slip Safe Australia are as follows: The organization is integrating both traditional and digital communication process which requires different sets of financing and monitoring process along with proper managerial support. Scarcity of management support and resource allocation is the major issues for the implementation of IMC. The proper implementation of IMC in the organization requires adequate resource allocation in terms of financial and human resources. The improper management of any of the resources will reduce the effectiveness of the IMC process. The integration of different suggested marketing channel requires significant initial investments. Hence, the organization needs to attract different local investors as well as they should initiate partnership with real estate giants. Determining proper leadership and hierarchical structure is also required for efficient IMC process. The management needs to ensure that each level of the employees in the sales force and promotional department along with the licensees are availed with managerial supports and guidance. Improper flow of information can also be considered as one of the major issues for IMC process. The restricted flow of information will hamper the proper communication process with different employees and licenses with the management of the organization. This situation will increase ambiguity regarding the strategic changes and operations. The organization needs to introduce digital communication facilities for eliminating queries. Time to time training programs will also gather queries and feedbacks from employees and licensees. The organization needs to initiate an employee help line that will provide adequate information to the queries of employees. Measuring and maintaining the balance between the investments and returns is also an issue for the organization. The management needs to hire and allocate candidates for financial measurement for the organization. They will be responsible for monitoring the return on investment for all the strategic activities. Conclusion The report is based on the analysis of the market situation and marketing performance of Safety Plates and Step Edges product line of Slip Safe Australia. The discussion has evaluated the current market situation in terms of products performance, competitors, distribution facility and potential customers. The situational analysis has assisted to illustrate the internal strength and weaknesses of the organization along with their external threats and opportunities. The further discussion has evaluated future market and sales growth objectives of the organization which has supported by the relevant marketing mix strategies. Finally, the study has detailed the issues related to integrate marketing communication process with proper solutions. Reference List Baker, M. J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Blakeman, R., 2014. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to implementation. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Department of Health and Aging, 2005. The National Slips and Falls Prevention Project. [pdf] Department of Health and Aging [Accessed 9 June 2015]. Indounas, K., 2015. The adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(5), pp. 22-34. Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Ang, S. H., Leong, S. M. and Tan, C. T., 2013. Marketing Management: An Asian Perspective, 6th edn. Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd. Percy, L., 2014. Strategic integrated marketing communications. London: Routledge. Riazi, A., Ying Boon, M., Bridge, C. and Dain, S. J., 2012. Home modification guidelines as recommended by visually impaired people. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 6(4), pp. 270-284.  Slip Safe Australia, 2015a. Products & Services. [online] Available at [Accessed 9 June 2015]. Slip Safe Australia, 2015b. A listing of some of our major clients. [online] Available at [Accessed 9 June 2015].  Slip Safe Australia, 2015c. About Us. [online] Available at [Accessed 9 June 2015]. SlipSafe, n.d. Product & Services Catalogue. [pdf] SlipSafe. Available at [Accessed 9 June 2015]. Wilson, R. M. and Gilligan, C., 2012. Strategic marketing management. London: Routledge. Read More