McKenzies Furniture Marketing Communication Strategy - Book Report/Review Example

McKenzie’s Furniture Marketing Communication Strategy Portal 1 Introduction McKenzie’s Furniture is a Southampton based business engaged in the furniture manufacturing and distribution business. McKenzie’s furniture specializes in the manufacturing of wooden dining, kitchen and room furniture. The specialty of McKenzie’s Furniture is the handcrafted dining tables, chairs, kitchen units and bedroom sets. For this purpose, McKenzie’s Furniture depends upon carefully selected and trained wood craftsmen from all over the England. In addition to this, the skilled staff of McKenzie’s Furniture also give advises to the clients for the purpose of designing their homes and offices based on the McKenzie’s design philosophy (McKenzie's Furniture, 2014). The basic aim of this paper is to develop a live client portfolio, i.e. to develop an online portfolio of McKenzie’s Furniture. For this purpose, the author will systematically build readers’ understanding of the marketing environment in which the client operate, its strengths and weaknesses that can be influential on the performance of the business and the opportunities and threats that have an adverse impact on the future performance of the client (Dominick, 2012). The next step will be to develop an understanding of the proposed marketing communication mix, development of marketing communication strategy, develop marketing communication activities and critical self-reflection of the whole marketing activity. Portal 2 SWOT Analysis Presented here is the SWOT Analysis of McKenzie’s Furniture: Strengths Vertically integrated supply chain allowing the company to bring down costs of production Major dependence on collecting wood form the forests, on its own State of the art infrastructure and equipment Proactive to respond to innovation and technological advancement in the industry Weakness The company does not have concrete relationship with the local government Inefficient communication channels being utilized by the company which distort the purpose of the message to be communicated Does not possess sufficient infrastructure for research and development activities Opportunity Increasing demand for pine, oak or timber based furniture in England Increasing purchasing power of the target market Threat Lack of skilled labor force available to the company Increasing pressure from government and legal bodies to avoid cutting forests PEST Analysis The PEST analysis the wooden furniture industry is presented here which will help the readers to understand the macro-economic factors that might have an impact on McKenzie’s Furniture’s business. Political No significant challenge or threat from the political landscape of UK. Government is supportive for growth and development of the wooden furniture manufacturing industry in the country. Regulatory The policies prescribed by UK’s Government supports easily accessible supply of short time financing for furniture manufacturing businesses. Moreover, the regulatory environment also demands furniture manufacturers to engage into healthy competition and develop organizational functions that does not harm ecological environment. Economic The economy of UK is recovering from the financial crisis of 2007-2011 and the corporate sector is confident about the future economic outlook of the furniture manufacturing industry. Social The society in UK possesses a unique taste for the selection of furniture for their homes and offices. There is a trend in UK, that every family or business changes its furniture after 4-7 years to bring a change in their daily lives. Technological Technological changes are vibrant in UK in every industrial sector. Particularly, in the furniture industry, technological advancements force furniture manufacturers to focus on differentiating with respect to product quality and designing. Competitive There are a number of online furniture businesses established in Southampton due to easy access to required raw material in the region. The key competitors for McKenzie’s Furniture are Office Depot, IKEA, Staples and CostCo. Organization There have been concerns raised by the environmental activists and UK’s Department of Forestry about the immense consumption of wood by McKenzie’s Furniture. Market McKenzie’s Furniture have established a profound image in the eye of the consumers in the marketplace. For this reason, it is expected that the company will not have to incur huge expenditures on sale generation strategies. Stakeholder Analysis The stakeholder analysis of McKenzie’s Furniture is demonstrated in the figure below: Latent Promoters Customers Employees Key Suppliers Transportation and Distribution Unit Municipal Office Monitor Keep Informed Middle and Top Management Shareholders Labor Unions Government Ministry of Trade, Finance and Ministry of Forests Environmental Activists Media Consultants of the business Introduction to Target Market The target markets of McKenzie’s Furniture are the furniture consumers, who are seeking aesthetic furniture designs made of solid timber wood. The demographic of targeted segment ranges from men and women of age between 25-45 years. There are no geographic boundaries for the marketing message to influence consumer behavior. From the analysis of furniture industry and market in UK, it has been identified that the customers of solid wood based furniture purchases one of the items in the line, for at least once in two years. On the other hand, there are commercial customers who purchase office furniture every third year. Keeping in view the market trends, it can be suggested that the sales of McKenzie’s Furniture is going to increase mainly because improving financial outlook and target market’s purchasing power. Another potential segment that can be served by McKenzie’s Furniture is the food and hospitality sector. It is estimated that this sector alone, consumes around 25% of total furniture produced within UK. Moreover, customers from this sector purchase solid wood based furniture in every three years (United Nations, 2010). After communicating the information about target market segments and their potential to purchase McKenzie’s Furniture, an analysis of major competitors to the business is given in this part. As already stated, the major competitors to McKenzie’s Furniture are Office Depot, IKEA, Staples and CostCo. Office Depot and Staples are experts in dealing with commercial clients, i.e. customers coming to purchase office furniture. Whereas; IKEA and CostCo produces furniture which can be used by both commercial and private consumers. The product and marketing strategies of these four competitors are designed and implemented in the light of market research, prevailing home and office decor trends and the availability of required quality of wood. The unique selling point of IKEA is the company’s dominance on global furniture industry whereas CostCo, Office Depot and Staples offer ease of access to their products for the customers. These three businesses do not only possess online presence but also have a number of outlets established across the country (Market and Business Development Limited, 2004). Introduction to Consumers’ Buying Behavior The basic factor that influences consumers’ buying process is the wood used to manufacture a furniture item. McKenzie’s Furniture will have to ensure that the finest quality solid wood is procured in order to satisfy consumers’ demands. Another aspect that McKenzie’s Furniture will have to consider is the pricing of its products. Keeping in view the buying trends of furniture consumers in UK, it is suggested that a penetration pricing strategy will help the business to satisfy the customers and fulfill its financial objectives (Market Research, 2014). In order to influence consumers’ buying behavior, McKenzie’s Furniture should adopt a holistic approach towards marketing its products. The key advertisements and social network marketing should communicate the message to the consumers that the products are manufactured from solid wood and is priced below the industry average. In this manner, the quality and customer friendly pricing strategy will prove to be an influencing factor on customer behavior (Euromonitor International, 2014). Keeping in view the segments identified for McKenzie’s products, it is eminent that the quality and reliability of the wood used to manufacture products will play the key role in satisfying customers. If McKenzie’s Furniture proves to be successful in satisfying quality and reliability aspects, the target market has the potential to pay lofty amounts for purchasing a furniture item. In this manner, McKenzie’s Furniture will be successful in winning customers’ loyalty and avoid customer loss due to brand switching. Portal 3 Marketing Communication Mix and Plan for McKenzie’s Furniture The organizational goals associated with the marketing communication activity are to improve the taste and satisfaction level of the target audience pertaining to wooden furniture. The overall goal of the communication plan will be to increase the awareness of the target audience about McKenzie’s furniture’s products and services. In this manner, the best marketing communication medium available to the organization are mostly online which may include developing and operating a social media profile on Facebook, publishing blogs and e-newsletters and publishing press releases on the social media profile of the organization. Media Channels Target Audience Description Internet Facebook Profile Page Facebook Competition Blogging E-Newsletter Families who want to give feedback and search for information regarding prevailing furniture trends and compare prices Digital media will integrate the content which will be used in the campaign ( Furniture trends/ Prices of the furniture/ Info graphics/ Public service messages/ Celebrity Endorsements), and to increase the engagement of the target audience with the whole campaign Print Media Press Release To keep the stakeholders informed about company’s operations and key decisions To market the organization as a socially responsible organization and win stakeholders’ trust on the company. Portal 4 Facebook Profile The basic purpose of setting up a Facebook profile page is to introduce the business on the social networking. Social networking portals like Facebook enables businesses to market their products and services to a larger audience. Moreover, social network marketing and profile maintenance allows the business to target a specific set of customer groups. Keeping in view the business scope of McKenzie’s Furniture, the Facebook profile page will be helpful in attracting the primary target market, i.e. Southampton and its surrounding areas. The secondary market of McKenzie’s Furniture, UK and near located countries in Europe will also be served with the same marketing approach but they can be offered more lucrative deals to expand the geographic coverage of the business (Smith & Zook, 2011). Maintenance of a Facebook profile will also allow the company to access huge databases of other similar businesses. In this way, it will become easier for the company to observe marketing tactics of successful furniture businesses across the globe and understand psychology and preferences of the target audience (Reynolds, 2010). The Facebook profile page of McKenzie’s Furniture can also be used for holding online competitions to win gifts from the company, communicate important news and information about the company to the target audience. Portal 5 Facebook Competition Facebook competitions are useful to attract masses toward the product and services of the business. Moreover, these Facebook contests also help businesses to offer incentives to the followers. In this manner, businesses also clear off their out dated stock in lesser prices or for free to customers who follow the business and its products on social networking websites (Keillor, 2007). For McKenzie’s Furniture, the contest should include offering followers gift vouchers or offering them discounts on its premier furniture collection. Maslow’s theory of human needs hierarchy states that to motivate or capture the attention of the prospects, the business should fulfill their intrinsic requirements like offering them with incentives and benefits. In this manner, the prospect will become loyal to the business and would not switch the brand easily. Another advantage of implicating the competition strategy, the Facebook profile page of McKenzie’s furniture will be followed by more customers resulting in a sudden increase in the followership of the company. In this way, it will become easier for the business to establish a reputation of a brand and increase the flow of revenue of the business. Lastly, Facebook competitions will allow McKenzie’s Furniture to collect important data to determine followers’ preferences (O’Brien, 1999). Portal 6 Blog Internet has provided businesses with immense opportunities to increase its fan following and increase the knowledge and awareness of the target market about the products and services. Blogging is another online technology which provides businesses with opportunities to explore new markets and understand customer dynamics. It is recommended for McKenzie’s Furniture to implicate blogging as a core activity in the marketing communication processes. Blogging will not only enable the business to increase awareness and knowledge of customers about the business, but it will also increase the ratings of the company in the search processes of customers (Dahlen et al., 2010). By blogging, McKenzie’s Furniture will ask the marketers to write blogs and articles about the business, its origin, and nature of the business, organization, its culture, values, norms, the products and how customers can purchase them. The developers will create key words and use them frequently in the blogs and articles, which will increase the chances of being searched first in the furniture category, whenever a customer searches for one on search engines. In this manner, the whole marketing mix of the business will be implicated into the business efficiently. This marketing tool is also beneficial as it requires less cost to use on the implication stage. Portal 7 Press Release Stakeholder management is the key role of a business’s decision makers. Stakeholder management helps the business to identify the primary and secondary stakeholders of the business so that strategies can be prioritized accordingly. In this scenario, it becomes crucial for the business to keep its stakeholders informed about the business, its operating procedures and intended future plans. For this reason, press releases prove to be an efficient less costly marketing tool to inform stakeholders about the business and its strategies. McKenzie’s Furniture will publish press releases in the newspapers, fashion and décor magazines, periodicals and trade magazines on the Internet. These press releases will also be published on the Internet through the business’s blogs and social networking profile over Facebook. Press releases will be beneficial in communicating business’s profits and loss, key financial figures, achievements, milestones, changes in the management or board of directors, dividends and investment and job opportunities in the company. The open communication carried out by McKenzie’s Furniture with the stakeholders will increase their trust on the business and its products and services, but also provide more and more customers in current and new markets to avail the products and services of McKenzie’s Furniture. Experiential Press Release McKenzie’s Furniture is now Live March 25, 2014- Keeping in view the increasing interest of our prestigious customers in the company’s furniture catalogue, new arrivals and themed furniture, McKenzie’s Furniture is launching its social networking portal on Facebook. The complete collection of furniture manufactured by McKenzie’s craftsmen is now available for sale and display on the company’s Facebook Profile. In addition to displaying its furniture collection, McKenzie’s is also engaging target market with its marketing and social initiatives in order to gather target market’s views about the products and their quality. Moreover, the social profile of McKenzie’s Furniture also provides opportunities to users to win gift hampers and discount vouchers. Portal 8 E-Newsletter Organizations use e-newsletters to market its products and services to inform stakeholders about the latest developments related to the business, to communicate changes in the management of the business, and milestones achieved. McKenzie’s Furniture will use e-newsletter to show case its premier furniture designs and latest furniture design and color trends followed all over the world. Therefore; the e-newsletter will serve as a medium of communication with customers and consumers in the marketplace. Another advantage of publishing an e-newsletter is that it will allow McKenzie’s Furniture to increase its credibility and maintain a strong relationship with stakeholders. Advertisement of business’s new products and services will also be published through the e-newsletter. The newsletter will be published through company’s website, social networking profile on Facebook, company’s blogging website, online trade portals and fashion and décor portals and websites on the Internet. Portal 9 Critical Self Reflection Reflection is the person’s own interpretation of an activity that he/she carried out. Reflection allows researchers and scholars to communicate the learning experiences with the target audience of their work. In addition to this, reflection also facilitates the researchers and scholars to share their mistakes and errors committed with the target audience of their work so that similar mistakes and errors are not committed. The development of this marketing communication strategy and plan helped me to strengthen my marketing concepts. Being a student of business studies with majors in marketing, the marketing communication strategy and plan development activity helped me to understand what aspects of the marketing need to be focused in modern times. Previously, I have studied traditional marketing concepts that were related to marketing activities conducted offline. The invention of the Internet has made it easier for businesses to attract and retain customers belonging to different nationalities, societies and possessing different consumer dynamics. Upon reviewing the communication strategy and the plan developed in this paper, I identified a number of shortcomings. I observed that there are more portals and opportunities to market a business’s products and services. These portals and opportunities have the potential to achieve greater results than the implicated marketing mediums identified in the planning process. For example, if McKenzie’s Furniture decide to prepare a documentary movie which includes information about the organization and its objectives and show casing its products and services, it will attract more viewers and followers then other social networks like Facebook or Blogs. The documentary can be published over video portals YouTube and Video Share etc. Though, there are shortcomings observed in the marketing communication plan and strategy developed in this paper, still it consists of concrete justifications recommended by the author of the paper. It contains theoretical support to the ideas and concepts presented in the paper. Therefore; the information and recommendations provided in this paper can be seen as an authentic source of marketing products and services. List of References Dahlen, M., Lange, F. & Smith, T., 2010. Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Dominick, J.R., 2012. The dynamics of mass communication: Media in transition. New York: McGraw-Hill. Euromonitor International, 2014. Retailing in the United Kingdom. Industry Profile. London: Euromonitor International Euromonitor International. Keillor, B.D., 2007. Marketing in the 21st Century: Integrated marketing communication. Ny: Greenwood Publishing Group. Market and Business Development Limited, 2004. The UK Kitchen Furniture Market Development. London: Market and Business Development Limited. Market Research, 2014. Furniture, Lighting & Homeware Retailers in the UK - Industry Market Research Report. Industry Profile. London: Market Research.com Market Research.com. McKenzie's Furniture, 2014. About Us. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 7 March 2014]. O’Brien, J., 1999. Management Information Systems – Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise. Boston: McGraw Hill. Reynolds, G., 2010. Information Technology for Managers. Mason: Cengage Learning. Smith, P.R. & Zook, Z., 2011. Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media. London: Kogan Page. United Nations, 2010. Forest Products Annual Market Review 2009-2010. NY: United Nations Publications. Read More