UKCBC unit 4 marketing principles 3
Task 1 1: Start your report by explaining two elements of Marketing Concepts Assignment based on the example of Starbucks. You are to prepare a SWOT analysis of the effective organization and explain the importance of using SWOT analysis as a marketing tool. Next present and evaluate the marketing objectives of Starbucks and explain how defining marketing objectives can help a business to develop marketing strategies.
Introduction This section will discuss the SWOT analysis and the business decision marketing objectives of Starbucks. The SWOT analysis is a very popular and systematic approach and it is also very appropriate analysis which helps the company to devise a strategy on the basis of the factors like the strength and weakness of the company and also recognizing opportunity and threat of the company (Amin et al, 2011). Analyses of the market can effectively be done by recognizing the strength and weakness of the company in the market and it will also help in identifying the poten tial opportunities for the company where the company can expand and also the potential threat for which company can prepare itself (Yangdong et al, 2010). Apart from this, this section will also discuss the marketing objectives of the Starbucks. Marketing objectives is an essential part of any organisation as it gives direction to the people and the motive to achieve those objectives. This section of report will also discuss how marketing objectives helps any organisation in devising the perfect marketing strategies and principles for the organisation: –
SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Strengths Weaknesses 1. Sound financial records 2. Emerge as a number one brand in coffee house segment
1. Major profit comes from coffee bean price and business 2. High product pricing
3. The experience of Starbucks 3. Negative publicity 4. Largest chain in the world 5. Effective employee management
Opportunity 1. Large amount of supplier range 2. Uplift of many developing countries and economies 3. Diversified and large product range 4. Expansion of retail operations
Threats 1. Expensive coffee and other dairy products 2. Saturated market 3. Fierce competition 4. Trademark breach 5. Supply disturbance
Finding of SWOT analysis ¡ Strengths 1. Sound financial records: the profitability of the company has been rising from past few
years. The company saw a slowdown in 2008 but with proper strategies and planning the company revived from those losses (Civi, 2013). It is one of the most profitable businesses in the market. 2. Emerge as a number one brand in coffee house segment: the brand value of this coffee
house is very strong. People perceive it as number one coffee house and the quality of the coffee served is of very high quality and they also have a strong customer service. This brand is the most valued brand in the business decision making(Civi, 2013). 3. The experience of Starbucks: people value the strong experience which they have while having a Starbucks coffee and the ambience of the coffeehouse which is cordial and with friendly staff the warm atmosphere cannot be compared with any other coffee house. 4. Largest chain in the world: the company has its existence all over the world with twenty thousand coffeehouses in almost sixty countries (till 2013) (Civi, 2013). This makes it largest coffeehouse in the world. 5. Effective employee management: the company also make sure that the employees are treated well in term of a range of benefits and higher pay in comparison to the competitors.
¡ Weakness 1. Major profit comes from high coffee bean price and business: the major chunk of profitability come from the price of the coffee beans which is not in the control of the company and coffee prices are highly dependent on the coffee beans.
2. High product pricing: the coffee offered by the company is great and is of very high
quality also the customer experience is what stand the company apart from the competitors but the high price of the coffee is the main roadblock which comes in between the success of the company as the other competitors premium coffee price is lower than the Starbucks normal coffee (Civi, 2013). 3. Negative publicity: there is always a debate about the company’s corporate social
responsibility and many environmentalists complain about the lack of efforts by the company towards greenery and issues related to it.
· Opportunity 1. A large amount of supplier ranges: the company doesn’t produce coffee beans but they get it from suppliers which are mainly located in South America, Arabia and Africa. The company must increase it supplier network so that they can also import coffee from Asia. 2. Uplift of many developing countries and
economies: countries like China and India can be a major market for the company as coffee consumption is quite higher and there is less number of players in the form of competitors in the market (Ferrell, & Hartline, 2012). 3. Diversified and large product range: the company must diversify in their coffee offering with the introduction of new products in the coffee business. 4. Expansion of retail operations: the company also sell its products to various retailers apart from coffeehouse and franchise business (Civi, 2013). The company must explore this area even further with making the partnership with more retailers.
· Threats 1. Expensive coffee and other dairy products: the biggest threat is that the company has no control on prices of coffee beans and the dairy product which are the determining factor of prices of coffee. 2. Saturated market: the market of the company is quite saturated in the developed
countries. The competition is fierce and because of this the company is facing an intense competition in the market especially in developed markets. The growth of the company can face adverse effects due to this reason. 3. Fierce competition: competition is also there from local café which offers great coffee at
lower prices and the options which these coffee houses offer are to the customers is more suited to customers taste and Starbucks has to face intense competition from these coffee houses also as they target market share of this coffee house (Ferrell, & Hartline, 2012).
4. Trademark breach: the company has to face many legal cases against them as they have too many people has complained against them for illegal use of a trademark which is detrimental to the image of Starbucks and also the company has to bear the cost of such cases (Ferrell, & Hartline, 2012). 5. Supply disturbance: as the company export its coffee bean from various countries, the
company has the threat to face political, economic and weather condition which can be a threat to the company.
2: Next present and evaluate the marketing principles of Starbucks and explain how defining marketing objectives can help a business to develop marketing strategies. The mission of the company is inspiring people with the taste of the coffee they offer and it clearly says one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time (Ferrell, & Hartline, 2012). The company is in the business from more than twenty years now and it has reached its mature stage. So the company is now focussing on spreading its wings in international business activities and strengthening the international partnership because it is giving enormous opportunities to the company. The objective to grow in an international market has helped the company various marketing strategies. The company appointed multilingual and multinational managers to work towards the worldwide expansion in an effective and planned manner (Slater et al 2010). The motive of these people are developing new business for the company, looking after financing and also planning new stores all over the world, these people are held responsible for operations management and logistics of the business and in the last the main motive of this group was promoting and training new managers internationally for managing business in various countries (Ferrell, & Hartline, 2012). Marketing objectives is an essential part of any organisation and setting an objective is the core of the success and failure of the business. It is also important to understand that objective plays a very crucial part in setting marketing strategies. It is a part of corporate business objectives and it should be kept in mind while forming a strategy. Following are the various benefits of the marketing objectives: – 1. Marketing objective provides a motive to the organisation and also ensure that all the functions and efforts of the organisations are targeted towards attaining those set targets (Slater et al 2010). 2. Marketing objective also provides a direction of the employees. 3. Marketing objectives is also a source of motivation for the leaders and employees (Slater et al 2010).
4. Marketing objectives also provide proofs and support to the organisations when the success or failure of the project is evaluated.
Conclusion SWOT analysis and marketing objective both are very crucial for formulating marketing strategies (Amin et al, 2011). In the case, Starbucks is going through major changes and they need to formulate a strategy which is effective and at the same time give support to the slow growth of the business. For which the task one has analysed the business from two angles. First a SWAT analysis is conducted which defined how the company can make use of opportunities and analyse the threats and weaknesses and take corrective measures in order to overcome the weakness and be careful from the weaknesses. The next section of the task discussed the advantages of marketing objectives and how marketing objective can help the organisation to devise some effective marketing strategies (Slater et al 2010).Order Now