Paul Smith Salon Mix Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example

PAUL SMITH SALON MIX MARKETING STRATEGY Name Course Tutor College Date Mix Marketing Strategy A marketing plan is an outline that a company sticks to make known of its product. Whether an organization is small or large a marketing strategy is an integral part of its growth and goal towards the realization of its intent in the market (Westwood, 2011). A marketing plan can be made up of a few pages or hundreds of pages. Some factors, which this essay will explore later, influence the size of the marketing plan. One of the recommended paths to follow as suggested by marketing gurus is to review the plan frequently say once every month. Plan reviewing will give you a picture of how the plan is working and few things that need to be adjusted. This essay is going to outline marketing plan for Paul Smith Salon (Westwood, 2011). It is important to differentiate between a business plan and a marketing plan, a majority of small businesses fall trap to this confusion. A program of activities is basically what a constitution is to a nation. A business plan is the rules and regulations that guide how business is conducted whereas marketing is a path to be followed when popularizing a product or a company in general. Mission Statement Paul Smith Salon will always commit itself to making your visit to our salon as memorable as possible. We will be at the forefront of implementing fresh ideas and styles using the latest industry accepted methods to meet our client’s desires. Our stylists are selected after a rigorous interview and are integrated our in-house culture and best practices. We have a robust employee support system both on and off work duties this ensures our employees progress both in their personal lives and career wise. Your continued support through granting the chance always to serve is what makes remain focused. Marketing Objectives Paul Smith Salon intends to increase its sales revenue by 100% from increasing its area of focus. For instance, the salon intends to open a separate children salon to counter what its competitors have been doing. Additionally, Paul Smith Salon will increase its portfolio by diversifying into nail artistry to make it an all one stop shop. Paul Smith intends to improve brand awareness by capitalizing on word of mouth spread by its loyal customers. By opening a separate salon for kids, Paul Smith will have an edge over its competitors who have incorporated their kids' section together with the adult’s one. Kids will always look forward to the salon’s visit if they are treated in a special manner thus increase in sales and attraction of more clients using word of mouth. Regarding geographical coverage, Paul Smith Salon intends to expand to Belconnen town after conducting a due diligence research of the potential market share existence. In Belconnen, Paul Smith Salon has two main competitors namely; Epic Hairdressing salon and the McKeller Hairdressing Salon. Both have online platforms that allow clients to book for their services. Mix Marketing Strategy Product Marketing Mix marketing strategy is mainly focusing on one's target market and how to reach the intended audience. It incorporates the use a set of controllable tools to market its product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). Paul Smith intends to sell its brand by majorly focusing on word of mouth. After satisfying its clients, they will consequently attract more customers by spreading the good news of the services they have been offered at Paul Smith Salon. Regarding packing, the establishment of a separate kid’s salon will improve how they package their products. Furthermore, the inclusion of nail artistry on the products list will set it apart for the rest of its competitors. Positioning the brand in two different cities will increase brand awareness of Paul Smith Salon. Successful companies always strive to spread their establishments to destinations which serve as potential fields. Brand positioning is a strategic mix marketing tool that improves the image of the said company (Mullins and Walker, 2013). If Paul Smith Salon establishes a second brand in Belconnen city, it will increase its portfolio and attract more clients who have faith in growing small, medium enterprises. Product differentiation will be achieved if they implement the separation of the adult’s salon with the kid’s salon. Additionally, the improvement of product offered will set Paul Smith Salon apart from the rest of the players in the industry. Price The price tag of the final product or service is determined by the cost price, cost of production and projected profits (Martin and Schouten, 2012). A number of marketing executives mostly focus on product promotion and brand giving little focus to pricing which is at the core of running a profit oriented organization. Due diligence has to be carried out when deciding the final price of the product, which in this essay is a service. Paul Smith Salon has ensured that their prices are competitive to clinch a substantial market share of Belconnen. One way of pricing its services is to ensure they have knowledge of how their competitors have priced their products. Price flexibility is achieved through setting up of structures and policies that can adjust prices any time there is the necessity to institute a price change. In comparison to the other factors of mix marketing, pricing is more dynamic thus can be hastily changed in response to external and internal market forces (Martin and Schouten, 2012). One of the procedures that can be used by Paul Smith Salon to use tactfully to have competitive prices is to use a team of experts who consider all aspects of pricing including the competitor’s price. Paul Smith Salon can additionally incorporate price skimming to establish how the new branch in Belconnen will respond. In addition to price skimming, they can also implement use of price trigger to test whether consumers will respond positively to the new Paul Smith Brand. However some clients are usually sensitive to price triggers thus, may keep away from establishments that barely have stable prices. Budgeting Paul Smith Salon has to consider the amount of resources they are willing to put into the new salon to be launched in Belconnen. According to their current financial situation, they are capable of investing sufficient resources to hive part of the hair dressing industry in Belconnen. Among the variable costs of the setup budget will be; the cost of staffing to be part of the team that will run the new Belconnen Paul Smith Salon. They are supposed to exercise caution when deciding the amount to be used as salary lest they begin spending more than the salon’s revenue. Another budget item that Paul Smith Salon will have to ensure is well taken care of is the cost of setting up shop, the furniture’s, the electronics and compliance of the permits to run the business in chosen town of Belconnen. However, furniture and electronics are long-term investment items thus they will be categorized as movable assets. For advertising budget, Paul Smith Salon has decided to leverage on word of mouth to market their services; this will be cost effective if only they distinguish themselves from the two main competitors; Epic Hairdressing salon and the McKeller Hairdressing Salon. Promotion After successfully setting up the service, the prices, and budgeting to kick start Paul Smith Salon, promotion of the new enterprise is next important activity of gaining access to the town with a population of 400, 000 women thus a viable market to a salon. The promotion has to persuasive to attract and retain consumers. Paul Smith Salon prefers the use of word of mouth to spread the availability of its services and attract more clients as it establishes its brand in Belconnen town. Using word of mouth has its fare share of both advantages and disadvantages. Among the benefits are; it is cost friendly because minimal funds are invested during marketing. Since Paul Smith is an established brand, use of cost friendly techniques like email marketing will reach masses and increase the customer numbers. Additionally, word of mouth creates trust because human beings tend to trust referrals from people they trust thus building of loyal customers. To ensure word of mouth is effective, Paul Smith will integrate branding of gift hampers for the first few selected customers who visit the new beauty shop in Belconnen. A well branded item like a shopping bag or nail cleaning kit will market the shop among friends who will in-turn end up as loyal customers. In addition to branding, participating in activities like beauty product promotion through subsidized platforms like exhibitions will immensely increase product awareness. Also, word of mouth marketing is a long-term initiative thus its effect last for a substantial period. Paul Smith Salon will build a solid brand name for the company by using word of mouth as its primary promotion tool. Use of word of mouth assists in creation of a positive brand because clients feel they are associated with your brand. Through sharing tips and articles about hair care, nail artistry and kid’s hair salon Paul Smith will improve its brand image. People Basically, employees play a major role of any company thus the need to ensure there well being is taken care of. Initially, mix marketing strategy was focused on the four main P’s, the inclusion of the fifth P (people) was necessitated by the fact that consumers have lasting impressions when they first use and interact with sales personnel thus the need to create positive impressions for Paul Smith Salon. Distribution For Paul Smith Salon distribution will play a minimal role in the mix marketing strategy of the business. All their services are offered in their two beauty shops thus there is no distribution channel to be followed. However, opening a new salon will increase its market dominance in the Australian hair dressing and beauty industry which is worth $3.9 billion as of 2015 (“IBIS World”, 2015). Conclusion A well-executed mix marketing strategy will guarantee Paul Smith Salon of getting a substantial share of the beauty market in Belconnen town. Tracking customer feedback and acting on it will ensure they retain clients as they attract more. References Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2012). Principles of marketing. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall. Martin, D. and Schouten, J. (2012). Sustainable marketing. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Mullins, J. and Walker, O. (2013). Marketing management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Westwood, J. (2011). How to write a marketing plan. London: Kogan Page. IBIS World, 2015, Hairdressing And Beauty Services In Australia Industry Market Research Report Now Updated By IBISWORLD. [Online] Available at: < http://www.steamfeed.com/hairdressing-and-beauty-services-in-australia-industry-market-research-report-now-updated-by-ibisworld/> [Accessed: 28st March 2016] Read More