Bunning Marketing Plan Development - Case Study Example

BUNNING’S INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PLAN Name of Student Institution affiliation BUNNING’S INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PLAN 1. Introduction Bunning’s is a reputable outdoor living equipment and home improvement products in New Zealand and Australia. The company deals with construction materials. It is one of the biggest housing industry, project builders and commercial trade people suppliers in Australia and New Zealand. The company operates a network of warehouse stores spread across these two countries. On the other hand, it is also operating in strategic trade centres and format stores; the company's business model is moulded to focus on both its commercial customers and consumers. The company has a total of 234 warehouses 28 trade centres, 57 format stores and three main frame and truss centres in operation across New Zealand and Australia(Greenblat, 2015).. On the other hand, the company has a total of 40,000 employees working in its stores in both across these two countries. This paper, therefore, highlights on Bunning’s Market plan with the focus of venturing into the U. S market. The paper also highlights on various marketing strategies that the company can take up in its course of venturing into the U.S market. It also touches on various ways in which these strategies can be implemented in order to ensure that the company transition into this new market is smooth. 2. Situation Analysis The company's success has been attributed to its customer services and specialised networking with the housing and construction industry. In this case, the company's direct advertising fall in the "do it yourself market”. This is the people in the construction and building trade. The company should, therefore, focus on direct advertising approach in its new market through taking up unique selling propositions. In this case, T.V ads will be the most effective mode of advertising due to their potential of cutting through the market since television are common sources of entertainment in most households. The company can strategically use advertising frequency in this form of advertisement where the ads occur thrice in a week during the weekends (Treadgold, 2011). Through this, this strategy the ad will occur on the baseball channel before the main weekend match; the other ads will also occur in the footy channel before the main match of the day commences. The company will also embrace online advertising. In this case, the Bunning will develop back links on some of its main products therefore if one types the name of this product the ads resurface (Riches, 2016).Bunning main competitor in the U.S market Masters Home Improvement, also embrace these types of direct advertisements which have proven to be a success for the company sales. However it is notable that Masters does not strike a balance in these mentioned advertising strategies rather it focuses more on the online ads. Bunning should therefore take up this niche and use all these advertising strategies in order to break through the U.S market. 2.1. Industry Trends Bunning Company has revealed its strong track record in the acquiring and integrating business. This attribute of this company will give it a competitive edge in the U.S saturated retail hardware industry. The Building and Hardware Supplies Retailing industry has recently been boosted by the buoyant trends in household discretionary income, growing number of households and residential building investment in the U. S. This, therefore, it boosts for the transition of the company into this market. The undersupply of affordable housing the increasing prices of house rent have contributed to more houses coming up, therefore, creating a huge demand for the construction materials in the U. S market (Greenblat, 2015). On the other hand, the abolition of mortgage exit fees has made it possible for the potential homeowners to finance their home improvement projects therefore further increasing the demand for construction materials. The U.S Hardware and Building Supplies Retailing industry is claimed to grow by a staggering 6.7 % in the coming two years this, therefore, means that this market is conducive for the sustainability of Bunning Company in its early years in a new market which is crucial for the company development (Jensen, 2013). 2.2. Swot analysis The company swot analysis of the new product provides help in the marketing plan implementation due to the relation between a company’s marketing plan and the swot analysis Strengths The company boasts of the existing sales networks due to its reputation in Australia and New Zealand. This will boost the willingness of the customers in the new market to make purchases from the company’s outlet. The company’s high profitability records in its sales will give customers confidence in the company as it ventures into the U.S market (Lambert, 2016). Weaknesses A competitive market is one key weakness for the company in the new U.S market. The saturation of the U.S retail hardware industry means that the company has to do more on its marketing plan in order to have a competitive edge over its competitors. The tax structure is the other weaknesses that Bunning Company is poised to face in its new market. This will result in the company limiting the funds for the marketing plan in order to stick to its strict budget. Development and growth expense is also the other weaknesses for the company’s entry into the U.S market. Opportunities One significant opportunity for the company’s marketing plan into the new market is wide product markets for the company. This means that the company has a bigger market for it to execute the marketing plan on. On the other hand, the company has a larger market to exploit through implementing its marketing plan. Growing product demand in the other opportunity the company will benefit from by venturing into the new markets. This will boost the company’s marketing plan implementation due to the multiple demands of goods it can focus on various sectors of the market. The other opportunity presented in the new U. S market is stability in sales (Mitchell, 2015). This is attributed due to the diverse market and in this case, the company’s market plan can be diverse to cover multiple potential markets strategies to increase the company’s product sales. Threats Tax changes are one significant threat for the implementation of this marketing plan in the company venture into the U.S market. This threatens to reduce the budget set for the implementation of this marketing plan in order to cover the new expenses that arise due to tax changes. Increasing in labour cost is another threat that poses for the company in the course of it venturing into the new market. For this particular threat, it might cause limiting of the budget set for the implementation of this marketing plan in order to cover for the suddenly rising expenses (Naische, 2016). 3. Marketing goals The company’s main marketing goal is creating the company’s presence in the U.S market. This is due to the saturation of the Hardware and Building Supplies Retailing industry where there are a number of more established similar companies as Bunning. In this case, the company seeks to create customer loyalty through tapping on relatively affordable prices and good customer relations. The other company’s marketing goal is creating awareness of the company’s budget-friendly products which will benefit the company through giving it a competitive edge over the multiple similar companies in this market (Krstic & Becic, 2011). Creating awareness of the company’s environmentally friendly policies is the other marketing goal to be taken up by the company. This will, therefore, give the company the view that it is concerned with the creation of an environment and society. In this case, the company should be keen to mention their waste recycling processes as its initiative of ensuring environmental friendly policies are observed. The other Bunning marketing goal is rising of a minimum of $20,000 in sakes in each of its stores in the U. S market. This is meant to ensure that the company targets this goal to ensure that it makes some profit to ensure its sustainability in this market (Naische, 2016). 4. Segmentation/target/position This marketing strategy will be implemented through creating awareness of the company products by increasing the number of the company’s outlets in the new market, creating the company’s products online present. This will strategically help the company boost its awareness in the new market and also attract more returning customers as it seeks to create customer royalty on its products this will also give the company a personal touch with its market(Mullin, 2006). On the other hand, the company will come up with advertising policies to govern its venturing action into the new; in this case, it will be required to advertise the product in order for them to get stock from them company in the company outlet in order to avoid overstocking. The implementation course of this marketing plan for Bunning Company will also include market segmentation, positioning, and targeting. In this case, the company will carry out an in-depth market research in order to identify the products different market buying behavior, needs and wants and age. 5. Marketing strategies The main marketing strategy to be used by Bunning in its entry in the U. S market is using cut-prices to attract more sales for the company in its early years in the new market. This is meant to draw more customers to the company’s product in order for the company to then focus on the development of customer loyalty. Due to the fact that product prices is a significant factor of consideration for customers in the U. S market the company will, therefore, focus on this strategy. The other marketing strategy that the company will take is focusing on fostering good customer relation. Research on the U. S market reveals that customer relation is an influential factor in creating customer loyalty (Mullin, 2006). In this case, since the company wants to create customer loyalty on its product it will focus on creating good customer relation with its potential new customers in the new market. 6. Marketing mix 7Ps Product In the new market, the company will offer a wide range of products in order to give its customer diversity in choice of products. Bunning products range in its new market will include; general tools, building and hardware materials, garden tools, outdoor living materials, kitchen materials, bathroom and plumbing materials, painting and decoration materials, storage and cleaning materials and electric materials. All of the company's outlets in the new market will be stocked will all these products in order to maximize on product diversity (Mullin, 2006). Price The company will focus on price regulation where it will be regulated depending on the as per the customers responses. The company will ensure that there are different makes of this product which come at different prices in order to fit the customer’s budgets. In line with this Bunning, the company will also ensure that these products come in different sizes which also vary in prices in order to make them affordable to all the potential buyers. The company will also use cut-off price strategy to attract more sales on its products (Mitchell, 2015). Placement The company well strategically place its outlet in the metropolitan cities where construction is common in order to tap on these potential buyers. On the other hand, the company will also strategically place its outlets in the residential areas with the high potential for growth and development in order to tap into the potential customers who will be putting up residential houses (Greenblat, 2015). Promotion Part of the company marketing budget will cater for product promotion. In this case, the company will come up with a competition relating to the sale of its product. This competition will be steered to create awareness of the product in the market as it acts as indirect advertising for the company. The company will also participate in promotion products for a new product in its product portfolio in order to steer their sales. In line with promotion, the company will also create gift cards and vote tickets which it will randomly dish out to its returning customers as a strategy to attract customer loyalty in the new market (Krstic & Becic, 2011). People Since the organizations staff are the individuals in an organization who make things happen it is ideal for the company to have the right mix of staff. In this case the company will employ both experience and knowledgeable employees who can perfectly implement the organizations plans.The company’s HR strategies will therefore ensure that employees are properly qualified, trained and vetted before being employed(Mullin, 2006). Process In this case the company will ensure that it has a well-articulated process in place which it follows. This is meant to ease the company’s operation and also draw some organization and flow in its operations. This process is also meant to review the company’s performance after a given period of time (Jensen, 2013). Physical Evidence The company’s product in this case is a tangible thus what the customer is paying for is intangible. For example the company will provide its customers with kitchen, bathroom, painting and decorating tools which the market has a particular perception of. In this case the company will focus on branding thus if a potential buyer thinks of commercial hardware equipment then they will have to think of Bunning Company. Through branding the company will create its presence in the market place by establishing both physical and psychological evidence in marketplace (Greenblat, 2015). 7. Conclusion The laid down marketing plann will require a gra ce period for it to be implemented. However due to the fact the company is venturing into a new market it is bound top experience some challenges during the implementation of this marketing plan.This therefore mean that the resultf for this paricuy;llar marketing plann will be achived after this period.In this case the company should be patient with the marketing plan despite the prevailing challenges it will face during its implementation especially in the early months. References Greenblat, E. (2015). Bunnings outlines strategy to expand. Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/bunnings-outlines-its-strategy-to-expand-in-the-hardware-market/news-story/65edde52042942fc2515506d1d86af4e Jensen, D. (2013). Your Personal Marketing Plan. Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.caredit.a1300171 Krstic, I. & Becic, S. (2011). Implementation of marketing strategy: Factor of competitive advantage. Marketing, 42(2), 118-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.5937/markt1102118k Lambert, O. (2016). How convenient would it be to access a smaller Bunnings store when you do your weekly grocery shop?. NewsComAu. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/bunnings-will-open-small-retail-stores-in-shopping-centres/news-story/ec4b077c4137fbe0c5f9061d9860f33f Mitchell, S. (2015). Is Bunnings getting too big?. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/bunnings-growth-at-risk-as-market-reaches-saturation-citigroup-20150309-13zpxn.html Naische, C. (2016). Bunnings' only threat is its own growth - Business - NZ Herald News. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11476183 Riches, N. (2016). Can Bunnings replicate its success in the UK? - AdNews. Adnews.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from http://www.adnews.com.au/opinion/can-bunnings-replicate-its-success-in-the-uk Treadgold, T. (2011). Analysis: Bunnings' market strategy. Business News. Retrieved 20 May 2016, from https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Analysis-Bunnings-market-strategy Read More