Assessing Marketing Performance - Case Study Example

Name Class Unit Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Relevance of a pioneer or a follower strategy and suitable strategic market programs for the Sport UNE Life 3 Relevance of the growth-market strategies for market leaders and share-growth strategies for followers for Sport UNE Life's business 5 Strategic choices for the Sport UNE Life's business offerings for maintaining competitive advantage in shakeout mature and declining markets 8 Defenders 8 Prospectors 9 Analysers 10 Relevance of various strategies to serve new economy markets 11 Appropriateness of designing organisational structures and marketing plans for the implementation of different competitive strategies for Sport UNE 12 Role of marketing metrics and marketing audit in relevance to Sport UNE Life's business and its offerings 14 Conclusion 15 References 17 Introduction This strategic marketing plan is based on Sport UNE. Sport UNE is located in the University of New England Australia. The sporting facility is used by both university and the local community for sports, fitness and health (SportUNE, 2015). The strategic marketing plan starts by addressing the relevance of the pioneer or follower strategy through highlighting the suitable strategic marketing program for Sport UNE. The plan then looks at relevance of the growth-market strategies for market leaders and share-growth strategies for followers. This is followed by strategic choices which Sport UNE can business can use to maintain a competitive advantage in case of shakeout, mature and declining markets. Strategies to serve new economy markets in regards to Sport UNE Life's business are addressed. The report then looks for appropriate organisational structures and marketing plans to be used for the implementation of various competitive strategies for the Sport UNE business. Lastly, the plan explains the relevance of marketing metrics and marketing audit in relevance to Sport UNE Life's business and its offerings. Relevance of a pioneer or a follower strategy and suitable strategic market programs for the Sport UNE Life Being a first mover is very vital for Sport UNE. As pioneers in unique sporting activities they will be able to benefit from high enrolment. Despite this, it is important to note that the first mover advantage decreases over time. This leads to need for the pioneers to look for ways to enforce it. The pioneers are forced to look for ways in which they can increase and defend their market share (Boulding & Christen, 2003). Despite this, it is important to note that the aspect of being a pioneer is usually highly promoted without looking at the risks involved. The outcome of being a market pioneer depends on the initial resources and the capabilities that are alter developed in response to the followers. The firm must have the skills and resources to take advantage of the resources brought about by pioneering (Shankar, 2006). The speed of entry into the market is of great importance to Sport UNE. This is due to fact that this will allow the company to exploit the market first. In this case, it becomes possible to beat the competition in the sport industry. It is important to look at the business as a race that never ends. This implies that Sport UNE will have to continuously maintain their competitive advantage. The temporary innovation by sport UNE has to be transformed into a long term process. As a pioneer, Sport UNE will have to create new products and new demand. There will also be new advertising campaigns and changes in charges. The timing action of the market pioneers such as Sport UNE matters a lot. The choice to be a pioneer in the market is chosen and incorporated into the sports UNE strategic planning process (Boulding & Christen, 2003). The first mover advantages that will be enjoyed by Sport UNE are; positive image for being the pioneer, reduced total cost due to cost control and creation of loyal customers. The pioneers have an advantage also since they can make imitation difficult for the competitors. Being a market leader, the organisation will be able to maximize on profits. It is important to note that pioneers are able to continue holding large market share even after the followers have entered the market. The market pioneers in most cases have a longer market lives than their peers (Shankar, 2006). Research has shown that pioneers have less resistance from the potential consumers compared to later entrants. This is due to fact that pioneers are able to “skim” the early adopters. The followers in most cases are left with customers who are less predisposed to purchase the new products. Consumers also prefer the pioneers than followers. When Sport UNE comes up with new product offerings, they will be able to have an advantage over other sports facilities that will adopt them later. The organisation will be able to establish a perceptual structure which will work to its advantage in the sports industry (Boulding & Christen, 2003). The best point for Sport UNE to start at is to look at both their internal and external capabilities. This analysis shows that the company is best suited as a market pioneer. The industry dynamics and internal resources will help a lot in determining the length of the length of the first mover advantage. Sport UNE has to identify the challenges and risks that are associated with the market for the first mover advantage to last. There is also need to minimise the associated anxieties in the market (Shankar, 2006). Relevance of the growth-market strategies for market leaders and share-growth strategies for followers for Sport UNE Life's business The relevance if the growth market strategies for market leaders lie on their venture. To grow in the market, Sport UNE will have to educate their market. This is through giving them timely and adequate information on the new products on offer. There is need for a frame of reference which will make it possible to attract new customers. For the market to grow, the consumers have to be persuaded that the need to make the purchases is greater than the risks involved. The market education will hasten the products uptake and enhance firm profitability. A venture that has high educational awareness has high probability of the survival in the market (Covin, Slevin & Heeley, 2000). Another growth strategy for market pioneers is their lead time. This is due to fact that lead time minimises competitive rivalry. The high lead time and low competitive rivalry enhances the understanding of the new products. The pioneers also gain a chance to broaden their product lines through the lead time. This is also a chance for Sport UNE to improve their products and protect the competitive advantage. Lead time provides an opportunity to set the best prices and gain cost advantage. This will help in putting the market followers at a disadvantage. Through the lead time, Sport UNE has a chance to create barriers to new entrants. The period of monopoly gives the market leader time to learn the new tasks and enhance the chances for survival. It is important to note that sport UNE will also be improving their product and services offering. Sport UNE will be able to compete in the global sports industry. The products that are being offered will be enhanced and repositioned. Apart from choosing the appropriate marketing strategies, the timing of new product will play a major role (Shankar, 2006). As pioneers, Sport UNE can use the entry barriers for their growth. The pioneers have a cost advantage and better product differentiation. They also use advertisement channels to gain a large market. For the pioneers, the level of competition is very low. They operate in a monopolist market which helps in attaining higher profits and large market share. The pioneers are able to gain benefits that are not possible in a competitive market environment. Sport UNE can also increase their market share through use of their bahavorial perspective. This is due to fact that there is low resistance to pioneers by the consumers. They may strategize to skim off the early adopters of their products (Robinson & Chiang, 2002). Another growth market strategy that can be used by Sport UNE is preference formation. This is due to fact that they are in a position to influence consumer preferences. There is also a high chance of creating consumer awareness which may also be contributed by their experience. The members in the Sport facility can be made more aware and also given trials. Through this experience, it will be hard for the members at Sport UNE to switch to new entrants. This strategy will be able to make it possible for Sport UNE to grow at a fast rate (Shankar, 2006). Market share refers to what market percentage a business commands. Market share strategies are used by the business to increase, maintain or divest from the market. A market follower should be able to attract and retain customers based on their strategies. For the followers agility is needed to gain a market share. The pioneers in some cases lose the market advantage. This gives the market followers a chance to expand their market share. The market followers in some cases are forced to use pricing methods that will take advantage of the market pioneers. Late entrants can position themselves as variety enhancers. This is through offering their products as variety instead of replacement to pioneers products. The followers can segment the market with an aim of putting all the focus on a given segment. The followers can then use aggressive pricing strategies (Covin, Slevin & Heeley, 2000). The late entrants can also gain market share through use of high growth market. This is through targeting the market which is experiencing major shifts. Market share can also be gained through micro segmenting the customer base. This is through putting the focus on the high value customers who can pay for the services and products at a higher price (Boulding & Christen, 2003). It is important to note that as the followers tries to expand their market share, they are faced with defence mechanisms from the market pioneers. Sport UNE may act to ensure that the followers do not gain market. This is trough increase barriers to entry, making fast innovations and making the organisation more flexible. It is important to note that on the sporting industry, competitors usually differentiate their products to stay ahead of the competitors. Sport UNE may have to differentiate the new product offerings with an aim of being unique in the market. Most of the new products by Sport UNE are based on pioneering entry strategy (Boulding & Christen, 2003). Followers may win the market when they are holding complementary assets. The first mover advantage also may not be available in the long run. For the first movers, they incur high costs than those of the followers. This gives them a benefit since they can gain market share at a lower cost. The first movers may still be stuck in their original plan and fail to adapt to the changing market conditions. This gives the follower an advantage as compared to the competitors (Covin, Slevin & Heeley, 2000). Strategic choices for the Sport UNE Life's business offerings for maintaining competitive advantage in shakeout mature and declining markets Sport UNE must be able to survive in the sport industry as it becomes mature and starts declining. As the market becomes mature, competition increases and growth becomes more important. Sport UNE should ensure that they are market leaders for them to gain growth in the declining market. At the mature stage, business finds it hard to attain growth opportunities. The market position has been shown to be a major determiner for growth in a mature market. The firms who have strong market positions have adequate resources which they can reinvest in the core business. This implies that market leaders have the capability to strengthen their market position and identify growth opportunities and attain long term growth (Bumgardner, Buehlmann, Schuler & Crissey, 2011). There are several strategies that can be used by the Sport UNE to maintain competitive advantage in the shake-up, declining and mature market. Defenders This is a strategy where a business is able to gain a competitive advantage in the industry through occupying a niche market. The niche market is then protecting the niche from the competitors. Sport UNE can make sure that their products and service offerings to the members are superior and efficient. There is strong evidence that market defenders are able to succeed in a declining market by protecting their niche. Since defenders are able to secure their niche through high efficiency, they are able to maintain their members in cases where the niche is decreasing. Market defenders have the capability of surviving in the stable market environments. The major risk that Sport UNE can encounter as a market defender is inability to succeed when there are major changes in the industry. Despite this, declining market has gradual changes which make it possible for the market defenders to survive. Sport UNE can leverage on their efficiency to gain success even as the competition in the market increases (Bumgardner et al., 2011). Prospectors Prospectors are the opposite of defenders as they are capable of gaining a competitive advantage through exploiting new markets. Sport UNE can thus act as an innovator and market developer. Prospectors are able to follow the changes in the market and avoid being driven out. They work hard to ensure that they are in a position that is suitable for them when there is a major market shake up or decline. Prospectors are capable of surviving in dynamic conditions than the rest in the organisation. If the change is continuous in the market, the prospectus can be driven out. Thus, a discontinuous environment change is the most suitable for them. This is due to fact that prospectus are able to survive through innovation and entrepreneurship. The discontinuous change in the industry enables the prospectus to exploit their abilities and create new opportunities. Sport UNE can be a prospectus in cases where the change in the market conditions is not fast (Bumgardner et al., 2011). Sport UNE will thus be required to have corporate entrepreneurship so that they can reinvent their industry domain. Sport UNE will be able to use this strategy by being proactive in their entrepreneurial orientation. The sport facility is thus supposed to invest heavily on research and development so that they are ready for any change in the sports market. The market is not supposed to disappear but replaced with a new one (Bumgardner et al., 2011). Analysers This is a strategy that involves combination of defender and prospectus strategies. The sport facility can maximize their opportunities while at the same time reducing risks. This makes the business to survive in different change situations since it’s efficient and can follow market changes. This will make it possible for Sport UNE to survive better in all environments since they are able to be efficient and innovative. Analysers are capable of gaining competitive advantage from different sources and hence survive in different environments. The sporting industry is at the maturity. This implies that it is experiencing a slow decline which can be addressed by the analysers’ strategy. Sport UNE can thus increase their efficiency and also invest on other segments that will make it possible to gain a competitive advantage (Wong & Ellis, 2007). Sport UNE should be ready to stabilize their organisations and come up with ways to spread risks. When facing the decline and market shakeups, analysers tends to diversify their operations and come up with an exit plan in case it will be required in future. The organisation is expected to diversify the operations based on the developing market conditions. In this case, the business has to leverage on their core competence. Sport UNE is thus expected to align its strategy to the changes in business environment to survive. Despite this, it is important that while the analysers have the capability to diversify, they are constrained by what they offer. Thus, Sport UNE can only diversify its products and service offerings based on the constraints of their new environment (Bumgardner et al., 2011). This is the best strategy that can be used by Sport UNE to deal with market shake up, decline and maturity. This will enable Sport UNE to maximize the opportunities and reduce risks. Sport UNE can diversify in the same industry through leveraging in its capabilities. Relevance of various strategies to serve new economy markets Sport UNE can benefit a lot through adopting new technology in their marketing. This is through the use of new economy market tools and technologies. The business can take advantage of social media to market its new offerings. This is due to fact that social media enables viral marketing and makes it easier to communicate. Social technologies have become a major source of information for a large portion of the society. Through use of social media, it will be possible for Sport UNE to engage the consumers and also learn about their behaviour. It is also easier to monitor the product like and dislikes through the social media. Use of new technology makes it easy to crowdsourcing ideas on a product and also come up with new features (Lievrouw & Livingstone, 2002). The social technology has almost zero operating costs. It is also common for people to look for connectedness through the use of social media. This is where people share their interest and belief. This gives Sports UNE a unique chance to learn the basic sociological patterns of their members. Sport UNE can also create value through the use of social media. This is through improving the organisational productivity. Through social media, Sport UNE will gain high brand recognition hence an increase in margins. This implies that Sport UNE have to increase their participation in social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There is also need for Sport UNE to use technology in their business. This is through online registration and also promotions (Potts et al., 2008). Appropriateness of designing organisational structures and marketing plans for the implementation of different competitive strategies for Sport UNE Organisation structures and marketing plans plays a major role in implementing the various competitive strategies. The organisation structure has a great influence on communication, coordination and decision making on a business. The main dimensions to be looked at in relation to Sport UNE are; formalization, centralization and specialisation. Formalisation is referred as the level in which the decisions and working relationships are governed. This is through use of formal rules and procedures in an organisation. Routines are dealt through use of rules. Rules are part of the organisation routines and enable the organisation to fully exploit its capabilities. When an organisation has few rules it’s referred to as organic. Organic organisations encourage free communication and are more flexible. There is both vertical and horizontal communication. Sport UNE should adopt an organic structure. This is due to fact that organic structure enables rapid awareness and can easily respond to market changes. It also becomes easier to share information in an organic organisation making it possible to implement strategies (Thomson, Strickland & Gamble, 2001). Centralized refers to organisations whose decision authority is made a preserve for the management. There are clear lines of communication in centralised organisations. The main problem with centralized organisations is poor innovation. It is important to note that most of the strategies by Sport UNE require innovation. This implies that in centralized management it may be hard to implement innovative strategies. Despite this, decisions in centralized organisations are easily made due to stability. The level of specialisation also affects the implementation of strategies. When an organisation is highly specialised, there is a group of specialists who have a set of defined activities. Specialists are experts in their areas of operations hence operate autonomously. This makes it possible for the organisation to respond in a rapid manner to changing environment. This makes it possible for the organisation to succeed in the specific market segment. Sport UNE should have high level of decentralization. This will make it possible for different ideas to emerge from the workers. This is due to fact that decision making is dispersed. Despite this, decentralisation may lead to more time being spent on decision making (Thomson, Strickland & Gamble, 2001). Having bold strategies is not enough as Sport UNE will have to transform the strategies into actions. The management of Sport UNE will play a major role on implementation of strategy. The managers are the strategy implementers in the organisation. This is through being involved in the process of implementation of the strategy. They will be the determiner of the pace used for the strategy. The internal and external strategy for the business will determine the execution. This is through building a capable organisation (Thomson, Strickland & Gamble, 2001). The organisation structure must match to the strategy of the business. To achieve this, Sport UNE will have to pinpoint the key functions which are requisite for a successful strategy implementation. This is due to fact that some of the activities and skills are more critical than others in an organisation. There is also need for Sport UNE to understand the existing relationship among different activities. All the activities are then supposed to be grouped into the organizational units. After grouping the activities, the last step involves determining the level of authority to give to each group. This will make all activities used in strategy implementation to have coordination. It’s important to know that the organisation structure evolves as the strategy changes. This is based on the stages model where different stages are strategy related (Thompson et al., 2008). Sport UNE can be described as a large decentralised business with a management focused on its success. The strategic decisions made by Sport UNE are based their line of business. Role of marketing metrics and marketing audit in relevance to Sport UNE Life's business and its offerings Marketing metrics and audit plays a vital role in the success of a business. Marketing audit involves carrying out a strategic review of value of the marketing activities. It also involves looking at the efficiency of the market. The main aim is to identify any problematic area, opportunities and come up with a plan to improve the efficiency of the business. The first step in carrying out marketing audit is marketing environment. This is through looking at the macro environment analysis. The macro environment has a great effect on the company future. In the micro environment, suppliers, staff, customers and competitors are analysed (Ambler, Kokkinaki & Puntoni, 2004). The next step involves looking at the marketing strategy. In this step, it is important to ensure that the marketing aims are in harmony with the company objectives. This will involve carrying out an organisation audit for the Sport UNE. There is also need to ensure that marketing productivity costs are reviewed. Through the marketing audit, it will be possible to deal with delimination. It will also be able to have an accurate determination of the specific functions. The main aim of marketing audit is to ensure that there is efficiency in marketing performance (Ambler, Kokkinaki & Puntoni, 2004). Marketing metrics will help Sport UNE in evaluating marketing performance. It will also be possible to analyse the available marketing plans and strategies. Through the marketing matrix, it becomes easier for the marketers to justify their spending. Marketing metrics helps in showing the existing relationship between the marketing department and the larger organisation. Through the marketing metrics, it will be possible for Sport UNE to increase their competitive intelligence and anticipate competitors marketing strategies. It will also be possible to access the company marketing assets and their level of effectiveness. Sport UNE will be able to come up with a base of knowledge which will help in designing marketing mix decisions. In the business world, marketers are expected to justify their spending and can only do this through marketing metrics (Ambler, 2000). Conclusion Sport UNE have a great opportunity through diversifying their products through new product offers. The analysis shows that being a pioneer in the new products market will be able to give Sport UNE a competitive advantage as compared to being a market follower. This is due to the unique benefits that fast movers are able to benefit from. Sport UNE will be able to enjoy positive image for being the pioneer, reduced total cost due to cost control and creation of loyal customers through being pioneers. Consumers have higher preferences for market pioneers than followers. The market growth strategies for pioneers will be ensuring high lead time, educating consumers, creating entry barriers and influencing consumers’ preferences. For the market followers, agility is needed. The followers can use strategies such as acting as variety enhancers and taking advantage of the high growth market. To maintain competitive advantage in case of mature, declining or market shake out, Sport UNE can use defender, prospector and analyser strategies. To serve the new economy, it would be advisable for Sport UNE to adopt more technology use. Sport UNE is supposed to increase their social media engagement. The organisational structures and marketing plans used must be able to match the implementation of different competitive strategies. Lastly, it is important for Sport UNE to realize that marketing metrics and audit plays a very vital role in success of business offerings. This is through addressing marketing efficiency, marketing activities and evaluating the marketing performance. References Ambler, T. (2000). Marketing metrics. Business Strategy Review, 11(2), 59-66. Ambler, T., Kokkinaki, F., & Puntoni, S. (2004). 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