Research Project
Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Introduction. 3
Literature Review.. 5
Methodology. 11
Data Collection. 14
Data Analysis. 16
Time Scale and Plan. 19
Bibliography. 20
Abstract
Marketing strategies determine the success or failure of an organization or firm. The aim of this research study is to investigate various marketing strategies used by Molton Brown Company. From the literature review, it is evident that there are various marketing strategies that can be employed by a firm and among the most popular strategies is the standard marketing mix. The research methodology that will be employed is quantitative research whose aim will be to establish the correlation between marketing strategies and different performance variables.
The research will comprise one hundred participants that will be selected using a simple random design. Data will be collected from both secondary and primary sources. The main primary sources to use include interviews and questionnaires. Secondary sources include publications as well as web-based information sources. Data obtained will be analyzed using statistical techniques, and represented in form of graphs and charts. This study will be beneficial to various stakeholders including the Molton Brown Company that will be know more about the effectiveness of the various marketing strategies it has employed.
Introduction
The process of attempting to conform opportunities to the objectives and resources of a firm is referred to as marketing strategy planning. Spotting of an attractive market opportunity by a creative manager marks the start of successful marketing strategies. It is however important to know that an opportunity that seems attractive to one firm may not necessarily attract another firm. An attractive opportunity for a particular firm is the whereby a firm has a chance of acting on it given its objectives and resources. A firm should therefore have the ability to recognize various opportunities that would enable implementation of successful marketing strategies.
Firms have achieved success in high-growth, moderately competitive markets through the marketing concept of developing an organization around the profitable customer needs’ satisfaction. However, well-developed marketing strategies are requires in order to succeed in markets with leveled economic growth and many competitors. A typical marketing strategy takes into consideration a variety of products as well as the expected moves by competitors within the market (Silk, 2006). The aim of this study is to examine different marketing strategies used by Molton Brown, a London-based company. Additionally, the effectiveness of the strategies in ensuring that the company’ objectives are met will be examined.
Molton Brown Company focuses on the manufacture and distribution of beauty and cosmetic products. Among the products provided by the company are fragrance, lotions, hair products, and skin as well as body products. Molton Brown is an international company whose products are distributed to more than seventeen different nations globally including Australia, United States and Japan. The cosmetic industry has become continually competitive with the increasingly emergent of novel entrants into the market in combination with other globalization forces. For this reason, Molton Brown has employed some marketing strategies to ensure its continued performance in the cosmetic industry. The various marketing strategies employed by Molton Brown, there effectiveness as well as applicability in other industries and areas will be examined.
Literature Review
Generally, marketing refers to what an organization has to do in order to create and exchange value with customers. This implies that marketing playa a fundamental role in setting the strategic direction of an organization or firm. Deep knowledge of competitors, customers, collaborators as well as great skill is essential for successful marketing. Marketing is the process of management that facilitates the movement of services and good from concept to the consumer, according to the business dictionary (2010).
According to Silk (2006), Marketing is not just a function delegated to specialist but a general management responsibility. Any person with career interests leading to the setting and execution of an organizational strategy, regardless of its size and type, requires insight and marketing skills. There are two major activities that pertain to a marketing strategy. The first activity is selection of a target market and determination of the desired positioning of the product in the minds of target customers. The second activity is specification of the marketing activities plan to achieve the intended positioning. Positioning is the unique selling proposition for the product (Silk, 2006).
Armstrong, Harker, Kotler, and Brennan, (2009) postulated that, when developing a marketing strategy, five aspects that should be considered include competition, company skills, customer needs, collaborators and context. It is essential to specify the target market and desired position prior to the marketing mix. The result of this is strategies for customer acquisition and retention that enhance a firm’s profitability. Hence, a prerequisite to developing different marketing strategies is specification of the target markets that a firm intends to serve. Generally, marketers have been moving from serving large mass markets to specifying smaller segments that have customized marketing programs (Armstrong, et al., 2009).
As part of target selection and segmentation process, an organization or firm should play out scenarios. This implies that it has to consider a specific approach to use for the marketing option selected. A position statement that specified, the position a firm desired to occupy in the minds of target customers should be formulated. In some situations, it is not possible to adequately capture the positioning through focus on the single most significant claim. One of the most popular beneficial aspects of positioning and target market selection is that it enables a firm to find a solution to the marketing mix problem. Different businesses adopt some form of marketing strategies which may be either informal or formal. The key objective of employing different marketing strategies is for a firm to maintain its level of competitiveness within the industry (Silk, 2006).
The most popular of the marketing strategies is the standard marketing mix. The standard marketing mix involves price, product, promotion and place. Essentially, it entails the working out of the tactical details pertaining to the positioning strategy. The term “marketing mix” was used by Neil Borden of Harvard Business School to describe a set of activities that comprise the marketing program of a firm. Neil noted that firms combine mix elements into a program. Additionally, he noted that forms competing in a given category of product can have radically different mixes at work. The twelve ix elements specified by Neil include product planning, pricing, branding, channels of distribution, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, Servicing, Physical handling and finally fact finding and analysis (Armstrong, et al., 2009).
Under the 4Ps of the standard marketing mix, a firm should first of all understand the product as well as the total package obtained by the customer. It is essential to consider the product from the perspective of value delivered to the customer for marketing strategy. Place, which refers to the marketing channels, is the other component of the standard marketing mix. A set of mechanisms through which a firm goes to the market is the marketing channel. This ranges from degenerating demand to delivering services or goods. The determinant of the functions that must be delivered by the channel members is the customer needs for effective support (Armstrong, et al., 2009).
The other component of the standard marketing mix is promotion, which refers to marketing communications. It is essential for a firm to determine the most appropriate ways to use in communicating with customers in an attempt to foster their knowledge about the products. An integrated communication plan that combines both non-personal and personal selling efforts is required for effective marketing. Some of the efforts include sales promotion, advertising and public relations. The final element of the standard marketing mix is pricing. The combination of product, channel and promotion determine the perception of the target customer towards the value of the firm’s product to a large extent. The value perceived by the target customer represents the maximum price that customer can pay for the product. This should therefore be the fundamental guide to product pricing (Silk, 2006).
Getner and Guthery (2007) carried out a research study to investigate various strategies employed by Brazilian companies to promote their export products in the global perspective. Getner and Guthery’s research study first of all, concentrated on the standard marketing mix and its effectiveness in the industry. Results indicated that out of the four components of a marketing mix, pricing, product and place played a significant role in the organization’s competitiveness. On the other hand, there was an insignificant effect caused by the competitiveness of Brazil export promotion. The effects relied on the nature of the product under investigation as well as the target customers. According to the conclusions reached by Getner and Guthery (2007), it is essential to tailor marketing strategies to an organization’s market objectives. This is due to the fact that the effectiveness of employed marketing strategies varies from one firm to the other and from one industry or market to the other.
Another aspect that is essential to a firm’s marketing strategy is branding. According to American Marketing Association, a brand is defined as a term, name, symbol, sign or design that is intended to identify services and goods of a single seller or group of sellers, and distinguish them from the products of other sellers. The main objective of branding should be making a firm’s prospectors to perceive the firm as the only solution to their problems. A good brand should deliver the message in a clear manner, confirm a firm’s credibility, connect a firm’s target customers emotionally, motivate customers and finally concrete the loyalty of the user. It is vital to have knowledge about the wants and needs of customers and prospects for successful branding. As the battle for customers becomes intense day by day, a strong brand is invaluable. A firm should spend adequate brand in building and strengthening its brand. After all, a brand is the basis of marketing communication and overall marketing strategy (Abimbola, 2010).
Branding has evolved into a fundamental marketing strategy in regard to popularization of terms like brand recognition, brand position, brand franchise, brand equity and brand reputation. A research study based on the effect of brand on the phone and other digital technology market was conducted by Abimbola (2010). The researcher investigated performance of the product was affected by the Brand names “Nokia” and “Apple”. Results of the study indicated that brand plays an integral part in influencing the perception of product quality and value among customers.
An organization may opt to employ marketing strategies to help it in defending its market position. This form of strategy is popularly known as defensive marketing strategies. A research study whose objective was to investigate defensive strategies was conducted by Hauser and Shugan (2008). One variable that was measured in the study was the efficacy of some actions in terms of guaranteeing a product position that is favorable. The actions in question included advertising, pricing, improvement in product quality and distribution budget. The researchers used quantitative measures to determine whether change in the mentioned aspects marketing could result to change is customers’ perception towards a given product. Hauser and Shugan (2008) concluded that advertising, pricing and improvement in product quality are among the good defensive marketing strategies. Increase in distribution budget did not result to a significant improvement in product positioning, which implies that it is not among the good defensive marketing strategies that should be employed by a firm.
The web is growing at a tremendous rate, and is increasingly impacting the behaviors of business market and customers. In response to this, many firms have begun employing internet-based marketing strategies. A study conducted to investigate the different success factors of web-based marketing strategies was carried out by Wang and Fesenmaier (2006). The two researchers attempted to evaluate the success of web-based marketing strategies that were employed by the Visitors Bureau and the American Convention. The conclusion of the research study indicated that for web-based marketing strategies to be successful, it is essential to integrate and coordinate the internet marketing efforts’ complementary aspects with optimal organizational and technological environment (Wang and Fesenmaier, 2006).
Methodology
This research study involves examination of the marketing strategies employed by Molton Brown Company. Despite the fact that the company runs distribution outlets in various country parts, the research study will solely be conducted on the main branch that is situated in London. The key objective of the study will be to determine the link between the employed marketing strategies and product performance within the industry. This relationship will be established through the use of a quantitative research design. The research will be organized by research problem formulation and definition. The importance of this step is to help in focusing the research process in order to draw conclusions that reflect the real world situations.
The other essential aspect under research methodology is variable. A variable is defined as an aspect that changes in accordance to various factors. Variables can be grouped into two broad categories which are dependent variables and independent variables. An independent variable is the variable that a researcher intends to measure while a dependent variable is the assumed effect that relies on the independent variable (Ott and Longnecker, 2008). In this research study, the independent variable is marketing strategies while the independent variables include revenues, volume of sales, customer feedback, and market control by the company’s product. Marketing strategies, which are independent variables, will be compared to the dependent variables mentioned above.
The aim of a quantitative research study is to figure out the connection between an independent variable and a dependent variable. Quantitative research studies may either be experimental or descriptive. While an experimental study is used to establish causality, a descriptive study is used to establish only relationships between different variables (Kumar, 2005). The study that will be employed in this case is a descriptive research study that will be used to establish the relationship between marketing strategies employed by Molton Brown Company. In order to get an accurate approximation of the relationship between different variables, it is recommendable to use a sample size consisting of a hundreds or thousands of participants. An experimental study on the other hand needs only a few participants which may be tens of subjects and at most hundreds (Kumar, 2005). Both dependent and independent variables will be utilized in evaluating the effective marketing strategies employed by Molton Brown Company.
The sample size will comprise of one hundred participants who will be selected by the use of a simple random sampling method. A random sample may be defined as a sample in which the probability of selecting every individual member of the population as part of the sample is non-zero. Every individual member of the population has the same likelihood of being chosen as every other individual member in simple random sampling method (Ott, 2008). The participants will include one senior most staff of Molton Brown Company, heads of different departments within the company as well as other lower level employees. Prior permission from the company as well as the participants will be obtained before to conducting the study. In addition to simple random sampling, snow ball methods of sampling will be used to select some of the participants of the study.
There is a high representativeness of the sample because random sampling method will be used. Moreover, there is a low probability of biases due to the high rate of participation. In random sampling, samples are chosen in such a way as to prevent presentation of a biased population view. Excluding certain members of the population from a research study, results to generation of unrepresentative sample of the population. Biases may also result in cases where some members of the population are less or more likely to be inclusive in the sample compared to other population members under different grounds with the exception of sample design (Ott, 2008). Therefore, the sample in this research study is a true representative sample that depicts the real or actual world situation.
Data Collection
An essential aspect of any type of research study is data collection. The results of the study as well as their validity can be negatively affected by inaccurate data collection. There are different data collection methods along a continuum. Quantitative methods are at one end of this continuum while the other end comprises of qualitative data collection methods. The data collection method that will be used in this study is the quantitative method. Quantitative methods of collecting data depend on structured data collection instruments and random sampling. Such methods generate results that can be summarized, compared and generalized easily (Axinn and Pearce, 2006).
There are different quantitative data collection techniques and some of them include obtaining relevant data though management information system, experiments or clinical tests and administration of surveys with closed-ended questions. Two commonly used methods of administering close-ended questions are questionnaires and interviews (Axinn, 2006). There are two main groups of data sources, the primary sources and secondary sources. Text and empirical data that a researcher needs to interpret is what comprises primary sources. Secondary sources of data sources on the other hand comprises of research that is based on other authors’ work. Texts that comment or interpret upon primary sources are known as secondary sources of data (Axinn, 2006).
In this research study, primary data will be gathered through the use of questionnaires, interviews as well as a review of the statistics and records of Molton Brown Company. Secondary data on the other hand will be gathered from company reports and previous publications including scholarly and literary sources. Ten participants from the company’s senior staff will be interviewed. Moreover, heads of different departments in the company as well as lower level employees will also be interviewed. In order to get appointment for the interviews, prior permission will have to be obtained from the main respondents as well as from the company. Different sampling methods will be used to select respondents to the interview.
A total of one hundred questionnaires will be issued to employees of different levels within Molton Brown Company. The participant will need to answer simple multiple choice questions that relate to application of specific marketing strategies within Molton Brown Company. The other objective of the questionnaires will be to establish the company’s products’ performance both at international and local market. There will be an inclusion of a single open-ended question, which will attempt to capture the feelings of the respondent towards the topic under study. The use of questionnaire also requires prior permission from the respondents as well as the management team of the company. There will be the need for the researchers to get a written permission of consent from the expected participants.
Review of company records, statistics and reports from the data archives of the company are among additional data collection methods that will be used. Prior to utilizing the mentioned methods, permission should be obtained from the management team of Molton Brown Company. The company will not be forced to reveal information that may be deemed sensitive but rather it will be requested to reveal documents that it is comfortable revealing to outsiders. The organization management will be requested by the researcher prior to gaining accessing the records of the company reflecting general information concerning trends and levels of marketing reports, sales and profits as well as other information relevant to marketing strategies.
In addition to publications or print sources such as books and articles, data may also be collected from the Internet. This includes gathering information relating to Molton Brown Company and its marketing strategies from different websites. Data collection will be followed by the process of analyzing data.
Data Analysis
The process of cleaning, inspecting, modeling and transforming data with the key goal of highlighting useful conclusions to aid in decision-making is referred to as data analysis. There are various approaches and facets of data analysis which encompass a wide spectrum of techniques in various science, business, and social science domains. One of the common analysis techniques is data mining which focuses on knowledge discovery and modeling for predictive instead of purely descriptive roles. Business intelligence is another technique that depends on focuses on business information relying on aggregation (Ott, 2008).
Under statistical applications, data analysis may be categorized into explorative data analysis, descriptive statistics and confirmatory data analysis. The main focus of exploratory data analysis is to discover novel features in the data. Confirmatory data analysis focuses on falsifying or confirming inherent hypotheses. A precursor to data analysis is data integration, and there is a close relationship between data analysis and data visualization and dissemination (Kumar, 2005). The data analysis technique that will be used in this study is the descriptive statistics. This included mean, percentages, mode, median and standard deviations. These methods will be utilized in giving a description concerning the nature of collected data.
Statistical tools that will be used for data analysis include chi square, correlation analysis as well as regression analysis. The tools will fundamentally be employed in determination of the linkages that are there between the test variables. In this case, marketing strategies as independent variables will be correlated with dependent variables indicating organizational performance for instance the profit and sales margin. Classification and comparison methods will be used to analyze data gathered through interviews. This entails classifying marketing strategies into different categories followed by a comparison of their effectiveness.
Statistical methods of data analysis employ different statistical methods and four of the popular methods are generalized linear model, general linear model, item response theory and the structural equation modeling. General linear model I one of the widely used model which incorporate a wide variety of statistical methods including ANOVA, MANOVA and ANCOVA. Generalized linear model on the other hand represents an extension of the general linear model, and is meant for numerical independent variables. Structural equation modeling is used in assessment of latent structures derived from measured manifest variables. Latent response theories are models that are commonly employed when making assessments of latent variables from many binary variables measured (Axinn, 2006).
Charts and graphs will be used to represent the findings obtained from the research study. These will give a diagrammatic representation of the research findings in a clear manner. Additionally, narratives will be used to present the research findings. In the final stage of data analysis, research findings will be documented and the potential corrective actions taken.
This research study is of great benefit to a wide range of stakeholders including Molton Brown Company itself. Molton Brown Company will gain an understanding concerning the effectiveness of the marketing strategies that they have employed. Other organizations also stand to benefit from the study because the success of some marketing strategies employed by Molton Brow may also be adopted by other companies within the same industry. It is therefore clear that this research study presents a chance for other organizations that would desire to implement marketing strategies on the basis of the report drawn from this study. It is important to note that this research study will help future research in marketing and marketing strategies fields.
Time Scale and Plan
The entire project is expected to last for two months. The initial step will be to obtain consent from the Molton Brown Company management. This will be followed by randomly selecting employees and senior staff who would participate in the study. It is important for the participants to willfully agree or give consent prior to conducting the research study. This will take a period of two weeks. Data collection which includes conducting interviews and distributing questionnaires will take three weeks. The remaining period will be used in data analysis and drawing conclusions from the results obtained.
Bibliography
Abimbola, T. (2008). Brand Strategy as a Paradigm for Marketing Competitiveness. Journal of Brand Management, 18, 177-179
Armstrong, G., Harker, M., Kotler, P., & Brennan, R. (2009). Marketing: An Introduction. Financial Times Prentice Hall
Axinn, W. G., & Pearce, L. D. (2006). Mixed method data collection strategies. Cambridge University Press
Business Dictionary (2010). Marketing retrieved on April 20, 2011 from http://
www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing.html.
Getner (2007). The Impact of Marketing Strategies, Marketing Research and marketing planning on the Export Performance of Brazil Exporters. International Journal of Business Strategy.
Hauser, J., & Shugan, S. (2008). Defensive Marketing Strategies. Marketing Science, 27(1), 88-110
Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners (2nd Ed). SAGE
Ott, L., & Longnecker, M. (2008). An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Cengage Learning
Silk, A. J. (2006). What is marketing? Harvard Business Press
Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. (2006). Identifying the Success Factors of Web-Based Marketing Strategies: An Investigation of Convention and Visitors Bureaus in the United States. Journal of Travel, 44(3), 239-249
Is this your assignment or some part of it?
We can do it for you! Click to Order!
