Altitude Coffee Roastery in Armidale - Marketing Strategy - Assignment Example

Name Professor’s name Course Date Q.1. Justify and discuss the selection of two key microenvironments and two key macro environment elements that are likely to affect the business referred to in this case Rachel and Darryl Stace started Altitude Coffee Roastery in Armidale in the year 2008 which was the first coffee roaster as well as café with a cosmopolitan style. The strategy adopted by the business entailed attracting coffee lovers drawn from all walks of life with a surety of granting exceptional customer experiences coupled with great service for delicious food. The marketing strategy was driven by the identified needs of the customers particularly by ensuring that the coffee offered to their customers was of the highest attainable quality (Hollensen, 2015, p. 132) . The owners of Altitude Coffee Roastery focused on actors within the company’s microenvironment in order to positively impact on its customer relationships for enhanced performance. The main microenvironment elements that Rachel and Darryl capitalised on include their customers and their competitors. In the first place, the business thrived faster by providing a product that was already available on the market while focusing on addressing the tastes and preferences of their customers. The management established a roasting facility for coffee that made it possible for customers to get freshly roasted coffee . In addition, the business invested in procuring high-quality coffee beans from different parts of the globe namely Nicaragua, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Zambia. This made it possible to meet the diverse preferences of their customers in reference to the type or blend of coffee they required. The location of the coffee roaster was also carefully thought and strategically placed at the heart of the café so that customers can enjoy the fresh smell of the roasted coffee beans (Jain and Haley, 2009, p. 125) Secondly, Altitude Coffee Roastery adopted a leading role amongst its competitors by expanding its market share as well as the total demand for its products and services. From the outset, the company leveraged on its well thought out market strategy by making quality its first priority. The business adopted a cosmopolitan style thus becoming a pioneer in that aspect in Armidale and ensuring it had plenty of room to accommodate a diverse customer base. Moreover, the management identified several avenues through which value addition was ensured for the customers. Altitude also explored markets that had been previously ignored by the major players within the sector thus able to realise unique and lasting experiences for customers drawn from the new markets (Kotler et al., 2015, p. 293). The macro-environment forces that impact on the actors within the microenvironment. For instance, Altitude leveraged on technological advances in order to expand its business. The business provided its customers with an online platform to perform various products and services at their convenience. These products include coffee beans, barista supplies, cleaning materials, and espresso machines. Rachel and Darryl also made further investments to put up a coffee roaster plant that would help them meet the growing demand for their coffee products (Proctor, 2014, p. 67). Secondly, Rachel and Darryl focused on the cultural environment regarding the consumption of coffee in order to grow their business. While establishing the business, the factors strengthening the culture of coffee consumption were clear to Rachel and Darryl. The entrepreneurs ensured they have fresh supplies produced by different cultures across the globe. In addition, the recognised the fact that parents would most likely need a place for their children to play as they consumed their coffee and integrated this into their business strategy (Cross et al., 2015, p. 4). Q.2. i). Briefly, Describe How the market for the product category of the business referred to in this case might have been segmented by this business Market segments refer to distinct groupings of customers with diverse needs, behaviours, or characteristics with varied needs for products or marketing strategies. Market segmentation is coupled with market targeting whereby an entrepreneur focuses on marketing his/her products and services to one or several segments. Rachel and Darryl Stace conducted a market analysis before venturing into the coffee business. This analysis informed them on an approach for segmenting the market based on the habits of consumption of fresh coffee products. The consumers were segmented as those who consumed raw materials such as the coffee beans, consumers who required finished coffee products such as the roasted coffee, consumers who required equipment for processing their own coffee, and consumers who required support services such as training (Cross et al., 2015, p. 7). ii) Describe the segments of this market targeted by the business The segments included consumers drawn from all walks of life with a preference for high quality and fresh coffee products. Rachel and Darryl targeted already existing consumers who were being served by various actors in the sector as well as those potential consumers who fell out of the realm of the existing partners. The first segment of these consumers included those who required high-quality finished products made from coffee such as the roasted coffee. The consumers accessed these services through Altitude's coffee outlets or made orders online for deliveries to be made. Altitude also established a coffee processing plant in order to meet the growing demand of these consumers (Evans, 2012, p. 19). The second segment comprised of consumers who wanted fresh raw materials namely the coffee beans so that they could process for themselves or their customers. Altitude responded to this segment by contracting suppliers of fresh coffee beans from Nicaragua, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Zambia. The third segment comprised of consumers who required equipment namely the cleaning materials and espresso machines. These commodities were also accessible to the consumers via the online platforms. The last segment comprised of consumers who required technical support services such as training in coffee processing, maintenance and servicing. Altitude responded to this market segment by rolling domestic courses targeting such consumers (Darley et al., 2010, p. 98). iii) Explain the positioning of this business in the market for its products/ service Market positioning involves the development of a market offer that guarantees consumers with value superiority and ensuring that the desired position is delivered and communicated in order to stick in the minds of consumers when faced with competing brands. Altitude Coffee Roastery has distinguished itself with a superior mark of quality and given incredible offers for its wide range of products. The offers for its products are also available online for consumers to make a quick reference before making a purchase decision. Altitude delivers its purchases at the doorstep of the requisitioning customer thereby increasing the value added to the customer experiences (Wilson et al., 2012, p. 35). Q.3. Which elements of the extended marking mix (i.e. all 7 elements) have been carefully managed by the business referred to in this case, and suggest one marketing mix element that might be better managed in order to deliver customer value, justifying your answer The marketing mix comprises of controllable variables in marketing that a business can moderate in order to record higher returns. The identified controllable market variables include the price of commodities, product varieties, promotional approaches, place or channels for distribution, the people involved in the business, the processes for producing goods and services, and the physical evidence of the business (Jain and Haley, 2009, p. 132). Rachel and Darryl’s Altitude Coffee Roastery went to great lengths in moderating all the controllable variables that impacted on their business. Their segmentation of the market enabled Altitude to come up with a variety of products that addressed the identified needs of each market segment. The quality of the products was top-notch and designed to address the tastes and preferences of the consumers. The products were properly packaged and branded by the producers for ease of identification and marketing (Wilson et al., 2012, p. 41). The prices of the commodities produced by Altitude Coffee Roastery have been carefully thought through and this ensures that customers get value for their money. The prices are listed online and customers can quickly compare with other brands in the market. The competitive prices, as well as the superior quality offered by Altitude, gives the business a stronger competitive advantage as compared to other industry players. Altitude also provides for varied payment options for its commodities such as credit terms that customers can opt for in order to address their demand for the marketed goods (Darley et al., 2010, p. 105). In regards to place, Altitude has diversified its distribution outlets both locally and internationally. The outlets are located in different locations to promote the ease of distributing the products and services. In addition, Altitude guarantees to deliver goods purchased online at the consumer’s doorstep thus reliable in meeting customer’s demands. The enterprise has also invested in promotional services through advertisements and branding of its products. Moreover, the company has invested in strengthening its public relations by bringing on board staff members who value the business (Bremmer, 2010, p. 250). The people serving with the organisation are very friendly and committed to the growth of the enterprise. Moreover, Altitude Coffee Roastery values transparency in its processes considering the fact that its roasting plant was installed at the heart of the coffee where customers can experience the coffee roasting process. In addition, the business has invested in teaching its customers about similar techniques for making quality coffee at home thereby extending the customer experiences. Finally, the business commands a physical presence in Armidale, Northern NSW, between Brisbane and Sydney (Bremmer, 2010, p. 251). References Bremmer, I., 2010. The end of the free market: who wins the war between states and corporations? Eur. View 9, 249–252. Cross, J.C., Belich, T.J., Rudelius, W., 2015. How marketing managers use market segmentation: an exploratory study, in Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Springer, pp. 531–536. Darley, W.K., Blankson, C., Luethge, D.J., 2010. 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