Marketing Research on ATM Cupcake Machine - Report Example

My marketing project as about (Cupcake ATM machine) Contents Introduction about the company and its mission ment 4 Marketing Research 5 Externalenvironment analysis (CREST) 7 Competitive Forces 7 Economic Forces 8 Social Factors 8 Technological Forces 8 SWOT analysis 9 Strengths 9 Weakness 10 Opportunities 10 Threats 11 Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning 12 Segmentation 12 Targeting 13 Positioning 14 Marketing strategy (4ps) 14 Product 15 Price 15 Place 16 Promotion 17 Ethical Dilemma 17 References 19 Appendix 20 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 20 Appendix 2 21 Introduction about the company and its mission statement Cupcake ATM machine, is a new type of product that is to be launched in the market of Qatari market. These types of machines are well established in New Work. This machines does provide the facility to the customers to fulfill their desire about cupcakes at any time in the day, this machine provides cupcakes on 24hours basis. There are three different varieties of products that can be obtained from these machines which are Cupcakes, Brownies and Pupcakes (for dog). Different flavors of these cakes are been found in each machine. Each of these machines providing cakes and brownies to the customers will help the customers to have some healthy food by spending less and also will help them to avail that product easily. With people in Qatar being very busy with their work schedule, they always try to get quickly food items at the time of their work and food items which can be consumed quickly and also easily without consuming much time. They look to prefer fast foods so that they need not waste much of time and also consume their food. With the launch of such ATM machines it will help people in a huge way as they will be able to consume good and tasty food easily without spending much time and also by spending few Riyals. The mission statement of the company states that they want to provide good quality cupcakes and brownies to customers 24 hours and also at an affordable rate to make sure that the product and the service can satisfy maximum customer satisfaction over a long time and also keep growing in the whole country. These mission statements of the company clearly shows its objectives of capturing maximum market in Qatar and have its ATM machines in all the major locations of the country. This allows the company to build a forward growing strategy and make sure that they can satisfy the needs of the customers in every possible way and achieve their expectations by providing good equality service continuously. In this report it can be seen how the company uses various theories of marketing to understand the preference and liking of the people in Qatar and the type of strategy that the company needs to implements to launch its ATM machines in Qatar. The market analysis is been done to understand the current situation and also to understand the preference and liking of the people in Qatar. The strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for the company is been analyzed using the SWOT analysis and CREST analysis is used to analyze the influence of the external factors based on which the segmentation, targeting and positioning of the product is been done. The value that the company creates to the customers is been analyzed using the 4Ps. And also the ethical problems that the company might face is also been analyzed. This report gives a clear indication of the marketing plan that the company needs to implement to launch the product in the market of Qatar. Marketing Research An extensive research process is used to analyze the feasibility and suitability of the cupcake ATM machine business in the Qatari market. The research process is aimed at understanding and evaluating the external factors existing in the Qatari market which are likely to affect the business of cupcake machines. The research process involves the collection of data from primary as well as secondary sources of information. The primary data collection process is done by selecting a group of 90 respondents from Doha, which is the selected area in with the business is to be established. The age group of the respondents varies from 14-45 years which is the selected target customer group for the business. The secondary data includes the economic indicators, customer behavior and trends of the fast food market in Qatar that help to evaluate the prospects of the business in the Qatar market. The primary data is collected by the use of a questionnaire and through the use of semi structured interview processes. The secondary sources of data include academic journals, census, government records, organizational records and economic publications to understand the feasibility of the business and the suitability of the economy for absorbing a new business in the fast food sector. The data collected from the census and organizational and government publications would be helpful in providing quantitative or measurable data whereas the interviews and questionnaires would help to gather qualitative information relevant to the market research (Crouch and Housden, 2003, p.144). The questionnaire aims at collecting specific responses of the respondents and data related to the research. The semi structured interview on the other hand, follows an open framework where the interviewer tries to understand the responses and behavior of the group of respondents and carries out the interview in a relaxed manner. The data collected from the questionnaires are specific data related to the responses of the consumers and acceptability of the consumers towards a new product in the market. The data collected from the semi structured interview are qualitative in nature and aim at gaining a deeper understanding of the attitude of the potential customers towards a new business. The collected data is used to analyze the tastes and preferences of the customers in Doha and the level of acceptability of the customers towards a new business concept. The data collected from the questionnaires and the semi structured interviews with the 90 respondents are used to analyze the external marketing environment in Qatar and decide the positioning and marketing strategies for the new business. The data are also used to decide on the marketing mix involving the 4P’s of marketing i.e. product, place, price and promotion and devise the strategies for introducing and popularizing the concept in the Qatari market. The responses of the customers are analyzed to develop the products and introduce the cupcakes and brownies with different flavors to suit the varying tastes of the consumers in Doha. External environment analysis (CREST) The external factors which influence the performance of the company in a new market is been analyzed by using the CREST analysis, wherein the CREST stands for Competitive Forces, Regulatory Forces, Economic Forces, Social Factors and Technological Forces. Competitive Forces The Cupcake ATM machine will be one of its own kinds in the market of Qatar and it will face major competitions from the restaurants and bakery’s that are located from many years in the markets of Qatar at all the major locations. The bakery’s which are already present from many years in the market in the major locations of Qatar have a good idea about the likes and dislikes of people present in the country and also they have got a benefit over Cupcake ATM machine as they have already build a good market share and also a good brand image in the mind of the customers (Jones, 2010). Regulatory Forces Cupcake ATM machine to launch its service in Qatar markets should take care of the rules and regulations that are been made by the Qatar government. The various laws can be related to the taxes that the company needs to pay to the Qatar government, and the other legal rules set up by the Qatar government like GCC Common External Tariff Law No. (41), which is related to the import duties that the government has set up over companies. For the company to launch its service in the country of Qatar it needs to see that it does follow all the legal rules and regulations from time to time as any failure in them can lead to serious penalties for the company in future (Navarro, 2006). Economic Forces The economic condition of people in Qatar is one of the major concerns for the company to launch its business in Qatar. The company needs to see that the economic conditions of the country is good and also growing which will only help the company to grow at an increasing pace in the country. The economic stability of the country will help the company to expand more and help the company to get more and more customers. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Qatar is of worth 183.38 billion US dollars in 2012 and the capacity of per person to spend on daily basis is 74.51 Riyals, this gives a huge opportunity to the company to launch its business in Qatar as the economic condition of the country will help the company to grow in a huge w2ay and at a fast rate (Kozami, 2002). Social Factors Qatar is a small country with a population of only about 1 million with most of its population living in the city of Doha. Among them four fifth of the total population are immigrants from other countries like India, Pakistan, Egypt, Palestinian, Iranians and others. The social factor in the country has a blend of mixture of different cultures and different likings among different people. For the company Cup Cake ATM machine to launch its business in Qatar it needs to see that the it can understand the mixed culture of people from different countries in Qatar and make sure that they can take come up with such products which can satisfy the needs of all the customers (Mazzucato and The Open University, 2002). Technological Forces Qatar is a growing country and is looking to develop new information technology systems in every process. Most of people in Qatar have mobile access and also have internet service, the business world in the country is also looking forward towards implementing the latest technologies in their different departments and to make sure that their work process becomes more efficient. Even Qatar government is looking to implement new technologies in its various services to make the overall performance more effective and cost effective. Thus for Cupcake ATM machine company the technological forces are quite good to launch their business as in Qatar people will find it exciting to get the service in the form of the availing Cupcakes and brownies easily from an ATM machine (Hill and Jones, 2009). SWOT analysis The SWOT analysis of the company helps to know the competitive position of the company and the amount of competitive edge that the company has in the market. Strengths The Cupcake ATM machine company has much strength both internally and externally which does help the company to grow in a good way and also capture a good market share. Few of the strengths of the company can be seen below. The latest technology for availing cupcakes and brownies. New concept in the country of Qatar. Good quality of products. The company has a good experience by having a successful operation in New York. The cakes and brownies are cheap and a\can be easily obtained by the customers witho0ut much hassle. Good technological database. The company provides a 24 hours service to the customers. Good team for operation for preparing the cakes in time so that the company can be able to provide the best quality product to the customer on 24 hours basis. Eight different flavors of cupcakes can be availed from the ATM’s. Huge number of cupcakes are been produced every day. Weakness The company also has a few weakness with respect to its business operations, which are been listed below. Lack of knowledge of Qatar market. Lack of knowledge of exact liking of the people in Qatar. The company might face certain technical faults from time and now like when a person orders for a human cupcake, it can happen that the cupcake for the dog comes out. Opportunities The Cupcake ATM machine also has huge number4 of opportunities which can help the company to grow in a good and fast way. Huge opportunity with a completely new unexplored market of Qatar. Diversify its business by providing some other products based on the liking of the people in Qatar. Grow in other parts of Middle East as well. Huge opportunity to grow global across to other countries across the whole world. Provide service in other forms also to the customers like by providing cold drinks and also coffee and tea for the people of Qatar. Come up with new and more varieties of cupcakes and brownies and look to reach the expectations of the customers and even try and go beyond that creating a wow factor for the people in Qatar. Threats The company launching its service in Qatar will face many threats and manly from the external sources. The threats for the company are been listed below. Threats from the existing bakeries and other fast food restaurants in the country. The company has a huge threat from the preference and liking of people in the country with regards to their preference for food items. The company faces threat from the suppliers who are completely new to the company in Qatar. It has huge threat from the fluctuating currency rates on daily basis based on which the profit margin of the company depends in a huge way. Thus the company needs to have a strong hold over its strengths and work hard over them to improve upon its weakness by conducting a good market research and thus cash upon to the opportunities which are available to the company the company needs to also take care of the fact that they can tackle the threats in a good way and keep expanding their business in a good way. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Segmentation, targeting and position of the product by the company are mainly done to find the exact offering that the company is providing to the customers in the form of its product or service. The segmentation helps to know the exact demographic segment for which the particular service is to be launched while targeting means the target customers who will be maximum benefited from the se4rvice and positioning refers to the positioning of the product in the market in exact way. In case of Cupcake ATM machine the segmentation, targeting the right customers and also positioning the product in the right way is very important for it to be launched in the market of Qatar as the company is entering the new market and with clear segmentation and targeting it will have a good focus over the customers and based on this the company can position itself in a proper way. Segmentation The company needs to segment its customers based on the demographic, psychographic, geographic and also based on the behavioral factors (Kerin, Hartey and Rudelius, 2012). These factors will clearly explain the factors over which the company can focus upon. The demographic segmentation is done based on the age, race, or gender of the people who are to be mainly focused upon. The products of this company can be provided to people of different cultures and also for both male and female community. The different varieties of cupcakes can be given to customers of all age group. Based on the psychographic factor which is related to the needs and desires of the customers, the company can look to focus upon the working class and high school students majorly as they are the people who generally have the desire to have food which can be consumed at quick time and also are cheap along with being tasty. The geographical factor represents the location at which the machines are to be placed so that they provide maximum benefit to the customers and are easily approachable for the customers. While the behavioral factor is related to the fact that the way the customers behave with respect to the new product and technology that is been launched in the market (Dibb and Simkin, 1996). The company can focus upon both male and females as both the gender people can have cupcakes at any time in the whole day as and when they want to have. In Qatar both males and females are in the working class and also in the schools and colleges thus they tend to take fast food that is found readily and also is good in taste and quality and also is cheap. Thus the company focusing upon both the genders will allow the company with a huge market segment to explore in Qatar. This new technology after being launched in Qatar will help the company to satisfy the needs and desires of the customers in a very effective way. The socio economic condition of the people in Qatar is growing at a constant pace and thus people have more money to spend thus the launch of this new service will attract customers to have their choice of cupcakes whenever they require. Cupcake ATM machine needs to see that they clearly explain to the customers that this service will provide a lot of benefit to them which will help the company to change the behavior of people and make them take the service from this company in a positive way. Targeting The company needs to target the customers in a proper way and make sure that they focus properly over the targeted population so that they can have a good sales volume and can capture the market of Qatar quickly. The target customers for the company should be in the range of 14-45years where in all the high school, college students and the working class and business persons are been included. These target population include the people who look to take foods which are readily available and also can be consumed easily and also are good in taste. The company provides its products at a reasonable rate to the customers so that they can have the competitive advantage over the other competitors and also provide a new method for availing cupcakes and brownies at a quick time. Proper targeting of the market segment will help the company to know the exact benefit that the company can create for its customers. The company should look and target to open more ATM machines in Doha than in other parts of the country so that they can concentrate more and provide its facility to huge number of its customers (Kotler, 2009.). Positioning The company needs to position itself in the market in a very effective way and make sure that they can capture maximum market share and provide its facility to maximum number of customers. The company needs to concentrate over its POD (Point of Difference) from other competitors to have a difference from its competitors. This company has got a huge difference from other bakeries as it provides cup cakes and brownies to the customers automatically with a click of button in the way money is withdrawn from the ATM machines. This provides the customers a huge benefit to avail the products easily and also in fresh quality with huge variety. The company needs to make the customers understand in a proper way what all benefits they can get from the particular service. The company needs to explain the target customers that the company will help the customers in a huge way by providing them good and fresh cup cakes with just a single click and with no hassles for the customers so that they can have their desire and needs to have a cupcake can be fulfilled very easily and also satisfy their expectations by providing 8 different varieties of cup cakes and brownies for the customers and also for their dogs which they can have based on their preferences. The variety of the cupcakes are been done based on the taste that is been preferred by the target customers in Qatar. Marketing strategy (4ps) The marketing strategy for the company is done based on the marketing mix of the company. The marketing mix explains the 4Ps of the company with respect to the Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The company’s 4Ps helps to understand what the company is offering to the customers and the competitive edge that the company can heave in the new market of Qatar. The marketing mix of the company based on the 4Ps can be seen below. Product The cupcake ATM machine does provide a lot of varieties to the customers in the varieties of cakes. There are totally 8 varieties of cupcakes and brownies that the company provides to the customers based on their preferences of taste. The cupcakes and brownies can be availed by the customer’s on a single click and make it easy for the customers to get their choices among the varieties among other by just a simple click and it is as simple as withdrawing money from the ATM machines. The prototype of the ATM machine along with the box containing the cup cake is been given in (Appendix 2). It can be clearly seen from the prototype that the ATM machine is just like the normal ATM machine and by just a single click of making the choice the correct item can be obtained easily. The brand name of the product is Cupcake ATM machine as it clearly explains the purpose of the product and the way it helps the customers. The product is in the introductory stage of the life cycle in the market of Qatar and it needs to keep growing with latest technology and facilities and also latest variety of products that it can offer to the customers. The customers are not expected to adapt to the technology quickly but slowly with the growing information about the particular service in the market the company will find more and more customers looking to avail the service. Price The pricing strategy that the company needs to adopt is that the company needs to provide the products at a low price thus having a competitive advantage over the competitors who are already present in the market from many years. The cupcakes that are found in various bakeries in Qatar is in the range of QR 20-QR25. Thus the Cupcake ATM machine can look to provide the cupcakes at a price of around QR17, brownies at a range of around QR15 and also the cupcakes for dogs which have been named as Pupcakes at a price of QR10. This low pricing strategy by the company well helps the company to attract more customers in the starting and also help them get a lot of competitive advantage over its competitors. This objective has been chosen for the company as because the company is entering into a new market and also has to face huge competition from the existing good bakeries in the market of Qatar. So for the company in the initial stage to attract more customers it needs to have low price for its products and make sure that they can capture more and more customers. Place The company needs to focus more on Doha in Qatar as most of the population of Qatar is located in the city of Doha. The company needs to have its outlets in major locations in the city which are more crowded places especially the places near the big malls, places where the main companies have their offices and nearby the colleges and high school areas like near Dubai towers, Commercial bank Plaza, Museum of Islamic Art, and Education City etc. The distribution channel of the company in Qatar must be in a way that the stores where the cupcakes are been produced have the attached ATM machine from the cupcakes can be obtained easily. This will allow the customers to have freshly baked cupcakes and brownies 24hours as the employees in the stores work till 3a.m in the night and make cupcakes in shifts. The company needs to open around 15-20 such outlets in the whole of Qatar and in Doha it must open around 10 outlets and slowly keep increasing the number and spreading across to other parts of the city and country as well increasing its market share. The company needs to have only those many outlets in the starting to increase the awareness among the customers and making them know about the existence of such brand and facility in the market, later on when the company is able to create a good market awareness then slowly it can look to open more outlets and spread wide across the whole country. Promotion The company launching its service in Qatar needs to conduct promotional activities in huge scale and also needs to make sure that each of the promotional activity helps in creating a good market awareness. The company has to have a strong promotion using different elements of promotional mix like advertisements, direct marketing, public relations and also personal selling. All these promotional mix elements are to done with a single focus of communicating the message about\t the benefit that the service creates to the customer in the best possible way. The message to the customer must be conveyed in a proper way such that the customers can clearly understand what exact benefits they can get from the particular service. The company needs to advertise in a broad way making use of the various platforms like social media, television advertisements, by distributing leaflets and pamphlets and also by promoting its message across using various newspapers and magazines. The company can also conduct different other mediums like direct selling and create good relations with the customers which will help the company in getting word of marketing in a huge way. The only obstacle that the company might face in promoting its message in a proper way is with the way it makes the customer understand the message in a proper way without any failures (Abraham, 2012). Ethical Dilemma A major ethical dilemma that is faced by the fast food companies across the world is the increasing concern related to the health and obesity issues for the consumers of fast food (Low and Davenport, 2008, p.90). The introduction of the cupcake ATM machine business should consider the health issues of the customers that may be aggravated or caused by the consumption of fast food. The customers have a direct relation with this ethical issue. The customers are critical stakeholders in the business and proper consideration should be given in preparing hygienic and high quality cupcakes which would ensure the well-being of the consumers. The company should ensure that its manufacturing and other business processes comply with the food safety guidelines prevailing in Qatar. The cupcakes and brownies should use low fat and trans fat and should be prepared in a clean, hygienic and safe environment. The ATM machines should be cleaned regularly and proper disposal of the leftovers should be ensured. The company should avoid keeping any stale products in the ATM machines and conduct regular quality checks to ensure that the cupcakes and brownies are safe for consumption. The company should also ensure that the ingredients used in the baking of the cupcakes and brownies are sourced from reliable suppliers in the country. This would ensure that the ultimate baked products are healthy and fresh. The company should behave on a socially responsible manner and make the customers aware of the pros and cons of the products offered by them. The company should not focus only on profit reaping but should also concentrate on meeting the ethical and moral principles and be responsible for the health effects of the cupcakes and brownies. References Abraham, S. C. (2012). Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide for Competitive Success. UK: Emerald Group Publishing; Crouch, S. & Housden, M. 2003. Marketing Research for Managers. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Dibb,S. and Simkin, L. (1996). The Marketing Planning Workbook: Effective Marketing for Marketing. 2nd ed. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Hill, C. and Jones, G. R. 2009. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. USA: Cengage Learning. Jones, R. F. (2010). Strategic Management for the Plastics Industry. USA : CRC Press. Kotler, P. 2009. Marketing Management. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Kozami, A. (2002). Business Policy and Strategic Management,2e. India:Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Low, W. & Davenport, E. 2008. Organizational Leadership, Ethics and the Challenges of Marketing Fair and Ethical Trade. Journal of Business Ethics. Vol.86 (1), pp.97–108. Mazzucato, M. and The Open University. 2002. Strategy for Business: A Reader. UK: SAGE. Navarro, P. (2006). The Well-Timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage. USA: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kerin, R., Hartey, S. and Rudelius, W. 2012. Marketing. London: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Appendix Appendix 1: Questionnaire How often do you eat fast food? Daily Weekly Monthly Once in a while Would you prefer to use a cupcake ATM machine over a human person for ordering? Yes No Maybe Please tick your most preferred choice among the following fast food items: Cupcakes Burgers Brownies Do you think cupcakes are healthy options for fast food? Yes No Maybe Appendix 2 Read More