Marketing Plan for Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Ltd - Assignment Example

Marketing Plan for Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Limited Introduction This section discusses the current company profile of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Limited especially on the marketing mix aspect. After this, the strengths and weaknesses of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Limited are also presented. The PESTLE discussion and the discussion of 12C framework are also available. However, before anything else, it is important to get to know the background and history of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. More information can be gathered from the website of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Limited is a company with history in two long-established family businesses in tea and cake. At present, the company is now managed by Frederick Belmonts third-generation descendants. They baked their own breads and cakes as well as created chocolates and pastries. The good thing about this business is that they roast their own coffees as well as import teas worldwide. The company has three divisions. These are five tea rooms, a bakery, and a tea and coffee blending factory. The company was founded in 1919 when Frederick Belmont started to operate a continental-style tea room named Betty Café Tea Room in Harrogate. In 1962, the humble company started to expand when Betty Café Tea Room in Harrogate was able to purchase a rival company C. E. Taylor & Co. when Charles Taylor died. By then, the newly merged companies started to develop long-term relationships with its coffee suppliers while trying to instill buying principles to ensure that sustainable prices for all its coffees are paid and so as not to double the price for its beans (Rothburd, 2001). As reported by Rothburd (2001), the merged companies covered farmers’ production costs and added them a profit margin to make them able to continue growing crops and secure their livelihood. The years between 1990 and 2005 were devoted to Community Social Responsibility. The Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate was able to plant million trees in Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Guatemala, Ecuador and other countries (Rothburd, 2001). In 1999, the company began trading via internet (Rothburd, 2001). This means that Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate started to adapt the advancement promised by the new breakthrough of technology. The Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate is adhering to responsible business. This can be visible through its fair prices and sharing of profits with suppliers (Rothburd, 2001). It cannot be denied that Tea is the most popular warm beverage in Britain. This further means that it consists of the 42% of adult drink intake each day which approximately be measured up to 165 million cups each day (Rothburd, 2001). From its website, http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk/, the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Limited (2009) was able to promote its products and services online. It was able to promote a traditional family business located at the heart of North Yorkshire. The said business is committed to provide quality customer service and cater various life’s pleasures such as delicious hand-made cakes, mouth-watering chocolates, beautiful café tea rooms, exclusive coffees and fine teas and all of these can now be bought online. The Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate was able to design a website with specialised sections for Betty Shop, Bettys Café Tea Rooms, Bettys Cookery School, Yorkshire Tea, Yorkshire Rainforest Project, The Cone Exchange and the promotion of career within the company. Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate is not only concentrating on its products and services. Part of its promotion is that it was able to make use of its expertise in baking or culinary arts to share the passion of cooking to those who are willing to learn more about baking and other related skills. This is part of its promotion to make its company’s name widely known to everyone. Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Marketing Mix This section tries to analyse the four essential marketing components such as products, price, place and promotion of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. Solomon and Stuart (1997) said that the product involves design, packaging of the item, standard quality and associated services. They believe that the product is tangible together with its services. From this definition, Solomon and Stuart (1997) categorised the products into three basic levels. The first level is known as the core product of which the customers buy in terms of benefits. The second level is the actual product which includes brand name, features, packaging, parts and styling. These provide the benefits the consumers seek in a product. The last level they explained includes additional services and benefits that is a part of the product. This is what they call as the augmented component. They also included other way to categorise a product. Here, they classified the products as either consumer or industrial goods. From their definition of consumer goods, it is clearly stated that these goods are purchased by consumers as either in a form of convenience, shopping, specialty and unsought good for their personal consumption. Knowing that there can be many products, Solomon and Stuart (1997) added that consumers compared products based on their price, quality, style and suitability. As they pointed out, customers try to justify price based on product features. Considering that customers justify the price based on the products’ features as pointed out by Solomon and Stuart (1997), then it is reasonable to focus closely on product development to come up with excellent features. As to the case of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, it is a fact that the development of their products is essential so as to meet the demands of customers. The development of their products was somehow a little unique or perhaps more than just the basic stated by Solomon and Stuart (1997). What the company has actually done was to make their products complimentary so as to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Considering that 91% of the hot beverages consumed by the British people is tea, it is also making sense to consider providing coffees which is also of a good choice among the British. This is what makes its products and services complimentary. The company was also able to provide products under pastries and confectionaries which would make a good combination too. The point of all of this is to win customers’ taste with foods that are complimentary. This can be referred to as one of the strengths of the company. However, at some point, it is important to consider that the market after all is after of the taste as far as the products of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate are concerned. However, these can be so time demanding and costly considering that Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate is expanding its line of products. This means more people with expertise are needed just to be able to maintain its brand and company strength which the bottom line is to ensure to produce products of high quality. Price means the assignment of value or the amount the consumer exchange in order to receive the offering. The price an important determinant of whether the product will be available to a market the company aims to serve, and how it will be accepted by the market (Solomon and Stuart, 1997). The mere reason why until this time Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate reached this far it is because of its strategy when it comes to pricing. As mentioned earlier, the company is trying to control the price by influencing the price of its production. Doing this, the company will have a strong control over the market price of its final products. This is another remarkable strength of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. However, in its real sense, the production is not totally controlled of the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate considering that the raw materials can be coming from all over the world considering free trade and globalisation are on their way from one nation to another. At this point, the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate might have saved even more when trying to make use the good promises of globalisation. According to Solomon and Stuart (1997), the place as channels of distribution are firms that work together to get a product from a producer to a consumer through distribution channels, market coverage, specific channel members, inventory management, warehousing, distribution centers, order processing, transportation and reverse logistics. For consumer goods, these intermediary firms include wholesale firms that work together with the manufacturer and with retail firms to have the right amount of product in the right styles at the right time (Solomon and Stuart, 1997). The Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate at this moment is a company that lacks channel of distribution considering that it is now trying to make a move to aim global and be acknowledged in the International market. It is clear that the company is trying to make known global at first not because of its products but because of trying to be active in community social responsibility. This is purely part of its promotion which the bottom line is a good opportunity for a good channel of distribution later. This means that as of the moment, the company is not into directly formulating strategies for a good channel of distribution. According to Solomon and Stuart (1997), promotion refers to a marketer’s effort to inform or persuade consumers or organizations about goods, services, or ideas. They mean that promotion includes all of the marketing activities that are designed to encourage potential customers to buy the product and can take many forms, including personal selling, television advertising, store coupons, billboards, and publicity releases. Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate have different approach of promotion not mentioned by Solomon and Stuart (1997). The company is trying to be active by involving in community social responsibility. The company is also trying to share its expertise as part of its strategy to make its products publicly known. This is a good way to fast tract promotion. However, there is a real threat coming along the way considering that the company is trying to share its expertise. This would just open up opportunity for other aspiring competitors in the future. As of the moment, the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate’s opportunity is to expand internationally since it has already started this activity initially. It is also important to consider the external environment in which it operates. This is to say that opportunities of expansion must be closely studied by having an investigation on the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental of its country and other countries it aims to expand. Currently, there is a great opportunity to expand somewhere in New Zealand, USA, China and Germany considering the line of products it carries. PESTLE Analysis Currently, there are many political parties in the UK contesting the elections across the UK (EU Profiler, 2009). This means that there would be various objectives that somehow would affect the current market set up of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. This is to simply say that the future of the business of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate will also depend on the current political system in the country. This means that the stability of putting up business for long-term or so cannot be determined yet. This paper tries to consider the present political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental landscape of UK. However, the present condition can somehow lead to finding out for another opportunity outside the country since it cannot be guaranteed that the present situation is already the best at all. The following information can be gathered from Datamonitor (2009). The mere purpose of presenting the following information is to show some enough bases on which country the Bettys and Taylors Harrogate should invest. In Germany, the coming of election significantly would affect the decision to focus the attention to alleviating economic recession. This can affect the opportunity of setting up business in Germany considering that the Government’s strong support cannot be relied on so much. Germany GDP growth rate is lower and its debt is increasing. Germany however is trying to transform a knowledge-based economy. It has high literacy rate but now in a shortage of specialists. Germany intends to increase budget for Research and Development though. It’s not hard to start a business in Germany, the average would be 18 days. However, Germany is more environmentally aware. In China, the leaders are aiming to continue develop economy while increasing social equality. Along with this, economy is moving into an upward spiral because of the reform implemented by the Government before. It has continually trying to achieve higher level of education for all and this alone has proved effective in implementing Government strategies in improving its economy. Not only that, China is also trying to increase budget for its Research and Development, an indication that it is gearing itself towards advancement. Not only that, China is trying to cut taxes to boost export. In New Zealand, the Government is into social uplifment. But even the Government’s focus is in line with this; still the rate of unemployment is still higher. However, its economy has contracted for the fifth consecutive quarter. However, there is a challenge of underdeveloped healthcare in the country. It is noted that the country has the highest internet users but lacked high speed broadband networks. The country is looking forward to come up with trade agreements. The country is environmentally aware and thus, trying to come up with programs related to protect the environment. In the US, it is rated with low rank in terms of political stability. The US is obviously in economic recession and this is the longest since the Great Depression. The US remains unequitable society. However, it can be clearly noted that the US is leader in innovation for it is home to specialists. There is ease of doing business in the US. However, it continues to be higher in global emission. 12 C Framework Up to this moment, it is important to consider that one of the main frameworks to look at in developing a business for Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate in an International setting is the country it can possibly penetrate with remarkable potential. It can be clearly observed that of the four mentioned countries based on their individual PESTLE analysis, there is a great opportunity to develop potential market in China. China has a great advantage and market opportunity and this can be clearly justified by studying its market to find out further the level of its potential. Analysis of Chosen Market China is widely known for its cheap labor and this is good news to every International company trying to penetrate in the country. This alone can give competitive advantage to every International company trying to search its way in China. China is relatively cheaper in almost everything and this makes the competition remarkably healthy, open and fair for all. The products of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate are actually not new for Chinese people and in fact, these can be of great interest to Chinese people. Only then, Bettys and Taylors need to formulate remarkably excellent market entry strategy, product strategy, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, promotional strategy and resource requirements and budgets. These are all discussed below. Market entry strategy Betteys and Taylors of Harrogate is going to be new in China. Therefore, it makes sense to create a market entry strategy. Its strategy should be more on planning on how to penetrate the market considering it is a new entrant. Product strategy Another point includes improving products or service with focus on a niche market. In this part, innovation is strongly recommended. Considering that Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate can use its specialist to create or recreate products that would suit the taste of new market, it is not impossible that it can come up with a new breakthrough. Innovation at some point can help the new products compete with the existing ones. Pricing strategy Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate should consider reducing its price. This is recommended because this can attract new potential customer. This can also trigger customer to switch and try a new product they have not tried before. Of course, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate can survive on this considering that it is used to influencing production price so as to minimise the price increase of raw materials. Distribution strategy The choice to expand in China is a distribution strategy by itself. Only then, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate needs to emphasised targeting new geographic markets for existing products. The best way to do it is to create a market segment. This is a sort of market expansion because the Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate needs to widen the scoop or coverage of a certain product through its distribution to a large area. In this case, the distribution of a product in a wide setting makes sense for a successful market penetration. Another thing needed is to develop new channels of distribution to access new markets or better penetrate existing one. However, there is a risk that might be involved in this. Sometimes it is too risky to penetrate an existing market where there is less understanding of the environment. In this case, it is sometimes enough to stay developing the existing market where there is much more understanding of the environment. Promotional strategy Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate has been consistent in creating good promotional strategy. It can still continue its community social responsibility program. There is also a wide opportunity to make use of technology to make promotion faster and even efficient. Resource requirements and budgets Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate at this point needs to rely so much on human resource, training them to equip them with knowledge so as to continue the heritage of the company. This is the greatest factor Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate needs to consider on a wide setting. However, the good thing about investing in China is that there is an assurance of cheap and affordable labour. References Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate Limited. (2009) ‘Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate An Independent Family Business’. [Online] Available at: http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk/ (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Carrie Rothburd. (2001) ‘Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Ltd.’. [Online] Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_2001/ai_n19123012/ (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Datamonitor. (2009) ‘Country Analysis Report: China’. [Online] Available at: http://www.datamonitor.com (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Datamonitor. (2009) ‘Country Analysis Report: Germany’. [Online] Available at: http://www.datamonitor.com (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Datamonitor. (2009) ‘Country Analysis Report: New Zealand’. [Online] Available at: http://www.datamonitor.com (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Datamonitor. (2009) ‘Country Analysis Report: USA’. [Online] Available at: http://www.datamonitor.com (Accessed: 2 January 2010). EU Profiler. (2009) ‘The UK Political Landscape’. [Online] Available at: http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Research/Media/eup/landscape/UK_EU%20Profiler_Description%20Political%20Landscape.pdf (Accessed: 2 January 2010). Solomon, M.R. & Stuart, E.W. (1997). Marketing: real people, real choices. Singapore: Prentice Hall. Read More