Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins
Introduction
Baskin-Robbins is a leading company in the American hospitality sector. With a rich tradition, the company’s brand is popular among most consumers. However, Baskin-Robbins faces the daunting challenge of remaining competitive. Companies such as Cold Stone Creamery have literally taken the industry by storm. This is through innovative products and services. Due to these trends, Baskin-Robbins has lost a substantial foothold of the market. In order to ensure that Baskin-Robbins remains dominant in the market, the company’s executives led by Ken Kimmel seek to establish a strategy for competitiveness. Based on the executives’ plan, there are two strategies for enhancing the company’s brands.The first strategy pertains to the redesigning of stores. This would cost more than $50,000. The second alternative encompasses a brand overhaul. Such an overhaul would cost about $5 million. It is thus paramount for the executives at Baskin-Robbins to establish an initiative for investigating the effectiveness of these alternatives. This paper will examine an effective research design in line with the marketing research problem for Baskin-Robbins. The various perspectives about using secondary data in research will also form an essential component of this case study. Consequently, the paper will evaluate some of the most effective marketing research approaches for Baskin-Robbins.
Thesis: Prior to changing the brand logo, Baskin-Robbins requires a comprehensive market research.
Research Design
Even with an excellent reputation, Baskin-Robbins face the challenge of competition from relatively new companies. The lack of innovativeness has been a notable factor behind the declining popularity of Baskin-Robbins. At the meeting in the company’s headquarters, different perspectives about potential strategies emerge. The overhaul of the company’s logo and redesigning the stores are two prominent proposals from the company’s executives (Malhotra, p. 783).Despite the potential benefits from both strategies, it is quite precarious to implement them without conducting a comprehensive research. In such a study, it is fundamentally essential that the company uses a strategy that is not only reliable but also valid. Among the most outstanding research designs for this study is the mixed research method. This is an approach that comprises different types of research techniques. In such an approach, it is paramount for the organization to integrate both qualitative and quantitative platforms (Kolb, p. 117).
The qualitative framework encompasses the subjective approach that examines the customers’ perceptions towards the brand overhaul as well as redesigning the company stores. This framework would thus help in evaluating different kinds of opinions with regard to the company’s marketing strategy. In contrast, the quantitative framework would encompass an empirical analysis. This quantitative framework encompasses an objective approach that deals with different forms of data. Such data is crucial in investigating various trends about the potential implications of the strategies. The implementation of the mixed approach would provide the company with sufficient information about both alternatives (Stevens, p. 35). Consequently, it would serve as an excellent decision making platform. During the qualitative surveys, it would be essential to develop open-ended questions. The questions must evaluate the respondent’s attitudes towards a new logo for Baskin-Robbins and also the redesigning strategy. For the quantitative framework, it would be essential to develop a research plan that empirically compares the number of respondents who support or oppose the company’s marketing proposals (Smith, p. 49).
Secondary and Syndicated Data
While changing the brand logo, it is crucial for the company to utilize syndicated and secondary data. This pertains to information that emanates from other sources. This mostly applies to previous investigations in the same industry by other companies. Leading companies like Coca-Cola have previously conducted investigations that seek to analyze the potential implications of new marketing strategies (Kolb, p. 76). Such data would help Baskin-Robbins in making projections about the possible implications of changing the brand logo.Additionally, data from research agencies would also serve as an essential basis for Baskin-Robbins survey. Research agencies usually have the expertise of extrapolating past surveys to reflect current trends. In any survey, secondary data is extremely helpful in drawing comparisons between similar perspectives. Although such comparisons are not conclusive, they are form an excellent framework for decision making. Changing the company’s brand is among the most precarious undertakings in management. It is thus critical for Baskin-Robbins to examine all alternatives in order to make the most appropriate decision (Malhotra, p. 784). It is possible for the company to achieve this through the evaluation of syndicated data.
Applying the Secondary Data
Prior to applying the secondary data in the research problem, it is vital to establish a criterion for evaluating the usefulness of such data. Such a criterion would be helpful in determining whether the secondary data is appropriate for research or not. Validity is among the most essential criteria for assessing the usefulness of secondary data. In essence, this implies that the data emanates from a reliable source. Without reliability, the secondary data would not be helpful in addressing the marketing research problem (Stevens, p. 83).The second criterion for examining the usefulness of secondary data pertains to bias. It is fundamentally essential that Baskin-Robbins uses data that is devoid of bias. This is because bias has the inherent capacity to undermine the effectiveness of any research framework. It is also vital to note that bias undermines the validity of secondary data. The usefulness of secondary data is also dependent on the capacity of such data to offer an effective platform for testing hypothesis. In this study, Baskin-Robbins will formulate different hypothesis in order to investigate the underlying issues. Consequently, the secondary data should have an effective basis for nullifying or accepting the hypothesis (Bradley, p. 75).
Conclusion
Prior to changing the brand logo, Baskin-Robbins requires a comprehensive market research. In recent years, Baskin-Robbins has lost a substantial foothold of the market. In order to ensure that Baskin-Robbins remains dominant in the market, the company’s executives led by Ken Kimmel seek to establish a strategy for competitiveness. Based on the executives’ plan, there are two strategies for enhancing the company’s brands. The first strategy pertains to the redesigning of stores.The other option involves a complete overhaul of the brand logo. The lack of innovativeness has been a notable factor behind the declining popularity of Baskin-Robbins. At the meeting in the company’s headquarters, different perspectives about potential strategies emerge. The overhaul of the company’s logo and redesigning the stores are two prominent proposals from the company’s executives. Among the most outstanding research designs for this study is the mixed research method. This is an approach that comprises different types of research techniques. In such an approach, it is paramount for the organization to integrate both qualitative and quantitative platforms. Leading companies like Coca-Cola have previously conducted investigations that seek to analyze the potential implications of new marketing strategies. Such data would help Baskin-Robbins in making projections about the possible implications of changing the brand logo.
References
Bradley, N. (2007). Marketing research: Tools and techniques. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press
Kolb, B. (2008). Marketing research: A practical approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Malhotra, N. (2010). Marketing Research, 6/E, Boston, MA: Prentice Hall
Smith, S. & Albaum, G. (2005). Fundamentals of marketing research. Thousand Oaks , CA: SAGE
Stevens, R. (2008). The marketing research guide. NY: Taylor & Francis
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