Hungry Jacks Marketing - Case Study Example

Hungry Jacks Name Course Lecturer Date Executive Summary Hungry Jack’s is one of the leading fast food restaurants in Australia. This report presents a detailed analysis of the company's SWOT analysis. The researcher also provides insightful recommendations on how the company can improve its all-round performance. The report borrows information from various sources including company website, company annual reports, academic journals and books. The findings indicate that Hungry Jack’s has been performing tremendously for the last couple of years. It is a home grown company and it enjoys loyalty from the Australian customers. However, the company is facing a daunting task of maintaining its growth and market share due to the ever increasing competition from international competitors. Encouragingly, Hungry Jack’s has potential for growth and expansion and to position itself among the elite in the competitive market. Hungry Jacks Introduction Hungry Jack’s is a master food franchise operating in the Australian market. It is a franchise of Burger King Corporation. Hungry Jack’s started to operate in the Australian market in 1971. It opened its first store in Innaloo area, a suburb of Perth city on 18th April 1971. The master food chain experienced growth leading to rapid expansion. This led to opening of Kedron in Queensland and Everard Park in South Australia in 1972. Hungry Jack’s had already opened ten stores in three states by the tenth year of its operations in Australia. Hungry Jack’s is a wholly owned subsidiary of the competitive foods Australia (Hawkes 2012). Competitive foods Australia allowed Hungry Jack’s as independent business in 199. After it opened its first ever store in Australia in 19711, Hungry Jack’s is in every state and it operates more than 340 food stores. It has become an iconic Australian brand. The company delivers quality food products in the quick service food industry. It endeavors to consistently deliver its corporate promise, “Hungry Jack’s makes it better”, and this has created a well-loved and long brand that has a great future in Australia (Rosen, Carlisle & Thornton 2014). This report will identify Hungry Jack’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The report starts by providing an overview of the company's SWOT analysis. A detailed discussion of the SWOT analysis is given in the findings section. The report concludes by providing recommendations on various aspects of the company such as increase revenues, market share, customer base, efficiency and effectiveness. SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses competitive and measurable product lack of superior operations range of food playing second fiddle mature environment poor distribution super brands high cost of entry Australian image lack of coherent national share increasing market share   strong relationship with vendors experienced and skilled staff     Opportunities Threats increasing growth competitive push increasing leisure time substitute products flexible working hours Increase in number of delivery services   Increase in convenience foods   Increasing trend towards ‘light’ food Findings One of the major strengths of the company is that it produces competitive products. Its products are measurably better than those products offered by the competitors in every way taste, size, fresh ingredients, and value for money, cooking methods and shorter holding periods. Hungry Jack’s has a wide range of products; it is apparently the company with the most product range in the Australian restaurant industry. Moreover, the company offers more mature products than those in the competition (Dunford et al., 2010). The company also owns superior brands such as “WHOPPER”, these brands are very important as they attract more customers. The brands are also in line with the company's customized food delivery. Essentially, Hungry Jack’s has an Australian image and a growing market share. Its customer base is increasing and this is a very important aspect in the company's objectives. Hungry Jack’s has a very strong relationship with its vendors or suppliers. The strong relationship with the suppliers is crucial; this is because the supplies are essential in making quality products. The vendors offer high quality ingredients. This enables the company to make high quality products and hence mark an edge over its competitors. The vendors also make frequent and fast deliveries on time, this has been key to success of the company (Wellard et al., 2011). Moreover, the company has a quality staff with skills and experience. The workforce implements the company quality policies and ensures that they meet the corporate objectives. The staffs are customer attentive and they are highly trained, they have been playing a significant role in the past success of the company. Weaknesses Despite its obvious strengths, Hungry Jack’s has some weaknesses. The company operations are not perceived to be superior to competition. This is a major weakness as it indicates lack of operational effectiveness. Another weakness is that the company is perceived as second to McDonalds in the market place. Many customers place McDonalds first in the market and Hungry Jack’s second; this is a weakness as Hungry Jack’s plays a second fiddle to McDonalds. Notably, the company has poor distribution. Although it has several businesses located in cities and major towns, the businesses are not located strategically. This is a hindrance to some customers as they cannot access Hungry Jack’s or any of its outlets (Mehta 2011). Another weakness is high entry costs; there has been an upward trend in the cost of entry in the restaurant industry in Australia. The food market in Australia is very competitive; there is a limited growth of the market. Moreover, the entry costs are relatively high, the distribution costs, marketing budget and development costs make up the biggest part of the costs. This reduces the company's power and force in the market as (Scully et al., 2007) outlines. This is raising entry cost as the cost of establishing outlets and products are increasing, this reduces profits. The company indicates lack of ability to achieve equal share of market with its competitors in Australia. As indicated above, McDonalds has the biggest market share, Hungry Jack’s has not been able to acquire more share of the market than McDonalds (Rosen, Carlisle & Thornton 2014). Opportunities The burger market in Australia continues to grow at a very strong rate. This offers the company a very good opportunity to serve new customers as many customers prefer burger, Hungry Jack’s is one of the best burger makers in Australia. As such, this offers a real opportunity for the company to exploit as Franchises & Coventry (2011) asserts. There is increase in leisure time; this leisure time leads to a greater use of fast foods. Hungry Jack’s targets the young generation, this young generation has more leisure time. They also love fast foods; this provides an opportunity for the company to take advantage. In Australia, there is flexibility of working hours; this flexibility enhances business especially in the quiet parts of the day. This is an opportunity for the company to supply breakfast and late night foods. It also provides an opportunity for working 24 hours in a day as there are people working all hours day and night (Franchises & Coventry 2011). Threats The biggest threat facing the company is the perennial push by McDonalds and other international competitors. These companies have superior facilities and resources at their disposal. Such resources at their disposal enable them to have an upper hand in terms of marketing budget, finance, distribution channels and innovative products. This force is very strong and threatening the expansion and even survival of Hungry Jack’s. McDonalds has the biggest market share and enjoys distribution store growth, this is a major threat to Hungry Jack’s. Another threat is the presence of product range enhancements. The chicken chain operators provides various enhancements, they serve as substitutes for Hungry Jack’s products. These competitive offerings make it impossible for Hungry Jack’s to create a competitive edge (Schaper & Buchan 2014). There is also an increase in improved varieties of convenience foods for home use. The increasing varieties decrease the market niches for the company; they decrease the company's customer base as they do not only take the existing customers but take up untapped segments. Similarly, there is increase in the number of food home delivery services; there is an increase in businesses offering home delivery of ready food. Notably, the increase in demand for the ‘light’ food decreases the demand for beef based products. This is a major blow to the company as its main products such as burger have beef as Terry & Forrest (2007) reports. Recommendations Develop a WiFi Network While the company needs to grow revenues, it is equally significant to get a better understanding of customers. Better understanding of customer demographics will decrease the waiting times for its customers. Hungry Jack’s customers queue for long time waiting to be served. Developing a WiFi network throughout its 340 plus stores would move the company closer to being able to deliver its objectives as Rosen, Carlisle & Thornton (2014) recommends. Therefore, the company should develop a WiFi network for all its customers. This network would increase in-store volume, more customers will come. The network will also improve customers experience; this will lead to satisfied customers. Eventually, increased customers will lead to increased revenues (Brindal et al., 2008). Growth and Expansion The analysis of the company's distribution strategy indicates that the company is concentrated in Australia. There are large and great emerging potential markets that are yet to be discovered and exploited by Hungry Jack’s. There are ready markets in Asian countries such as in Pakistan, in Africa such as South Africa and Kenya as well as some of European Union countries (Thornton, Bentley & Kavanagh 2009). The company can get a higher margin in these markets by avoiding struggling head to head with the McDonalds and the other leading hamburger making giants. Notably, the company has been able to serve the Australian market; it has an effective distribution strategy. This is evidenced by the number of its outlets in the country, more than 340 stores. As such, the company now should focus on expanding its operations to the foreign markets. The researcher recommends Hungry Jack’s to venture in foreign markets where there are a host of emerging markets that are yet to be discovered (Warren 2010). Communication and Marketing Channels To reach the whole market, bearing in mind that the market is made of many aspects, the company should use different nontraditional marketing channels. Hungry Jack’s has to integrate its efforts, it can do this by making all its brand messages that it sends whether through television ad, internet or press releases under one major brand message where its main brand is found. If it is “Hungry Jack’s makes it better’, as it has been its slogan for years, then all its other brands messages should spin around this message (Rose 2009). This will make its messages stickier for customers to relate and remember the Hungry Jack’s brand. For marketing, it should be more careful not to alienate any section of its customers by focusing on others such as children vs. adults, women vs. men on its marketing campaigns (Hawkes 2012). Analysing Hungry Jack’s positioning map, and despite its strenuous endeavor to improve its marketing campaigns and its operations, there exists an ample room for improvement. If the company is to emulate McDonalds (market leader) and other competitors, it has to improve its facilities, product quality and variety as well as services. Having said that, it has to maintain and sustain its position as the best hamburger maker in Australia (Schaper & Buchan 2014). References Brindal, E., Mohr, P., Wilson, C., & Wittert, G, 2008, Obesity and the effects of choice at a fast food restaurant: Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 2(2), 111-117. Dunford, E., Webster, J., Barzi, F., & Neal, B, 2010, Nutrient content of products served by leading Australian fast food chains. Appetite, 55(3), 484-489. Franchises, L. C., & Coventry, W. D. I. (2011): Burger King, History. Hawkes, L, 2012, City meeting places: Brisbane's Hungry Jack's and Melbourne's Flinders Street Station. New Voices, New Visions: Challenging Australian Identities and Legacies, 37-49. Mehta, K, 2011, Media, marketing and how children think about food: In Invited speaker, Education for Health Conference, Singapore. Rose, D, 2009, Hungry Jack’s roasted over new burger: The Sydney Morning Herald. Rosen, B., Carlisle, R., & Thornton, L, 2014, Is more fast food what the community really wants?. Schaper, M. T., & Buchan, J, 2014, FRANCHISING IN AUSTRALIA: A HISTORY, International Journal of Franchising Law, 12(4). Scully, M., Dixon, H., White, V., & Beckmann, K, 2007, dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Australian secondary students in 2005: Health Promotion International, 22(3), 236-245. Terry, A., & Forrest, H, 2007, Where's the Beef-Why Burger king Is Hungry Jack's in Australia and other Complications in Building a Global Franchise Brand: Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus., 28, 171. Thornton, L. E., Bentley, R. J., & Kavanagh, A, M, 2009, Fast food purchasing and access to fast food restaurants: a multilevel analysis of VicLANES. International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity,6 (1), 28. Warren, M, 2010, Good Faith: Where Are We At. Melb. UL Rev., 34, 344. Wellard, L., Glasson, C., Chapman, K., & Miller, C, 2011, Fast facts: The availability and accessibility of nutrition information in fast food chains. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 22(3), 184-188. Read More