case study marketing

case study marketing

Case Study: Effective Marketing Strategies

1. Introduction

The case itself outlines many key strategies that are relevant to our studies this semester. The course textbook “International Marketing” by Czinkota and Ronkainen has provided a detailed look at how a company should successfully globalize. We will analyze Uniqlo’s move attempt to create value through a global market presence as well as the desire to increase sales and profits through a geocentric offshore sourcing strategy. Considering that the brand has had success in various parts of Asia and Europe, the strategy and implementation in the US market is a very vital component in their bid to globalize. This case study relates quite well to Richard L. Daft’s chapter on marketing in a flat world. With the transition from 1980-2007, production and manufacturing of goods became more and more of a domestic concept, whereas Daft argues that the future of business lies in a world of no boundaries as companies can better access foreign markets in an attempt to increase revenue. Another key concept from Daft’s chapter is the hiring of cheap labor through migration from one country to work in the domestic market of another. This concept is slightly related to Uniqlo’s hiring of US workers to manufacture goods at a higher wage than their foreign workers to create a “unique” yet low-cost product for Americans.

The case study introduces the strategy of Japanese clothing company, Uniqlo, to globalize through the introduction of their stores into the United States of America. This “fast retailing” brand has achieved great success in the highly competitive domestic market and decided to expand into the global market. In our marketing seminar, we have learned that entering into a global market is a highly risky and complex business strategy. This case study analytically and critically discusses Uniqlo’s move to expand and whether it will be a successful venture. While the primary focus is the United States market, examples and comparisons to Uniqlo’s experience in other global markets will be discussed.

Title: Case Study: Effective Marketing Strategies

2. Identifying Target Audience

First, let’s examine target audiences in the Vision Nightclub and determine who they are. It is important to identify what demographic of people the business wants to attract. Demographics include: age, gender, ethnicity, employment status, and even more specific details like what car they drive, whether they own or rent their home, and if they have children. It appears that Vision excludes people of the younger age group and prefers to attract people within the ages of 25-35. It also appears that they are more focused on attracting men rather than women; this could be an area of enhancement for the business. It is difficult to identify a person’s ethnicity just by seeing what they wear to a nightclub, but Vision’s style could be aimed at Australian or European males. As Vision is a lavish and luxurious club, the people they are trying to attract would likely be working in high-paying jobs, or they may even be self-employed. Vision is more focused on single people or couples rather than groups or families. This information can be quite easily determined just by observing people at the club and inquiring about certain details to a variety of different customers. Determining the type of people the business wants to attract is the first and most important step in identifying target audiences.

3. Crafting Compelling Marketing Messages

Effective marketing messages often include psychological and situational factors related to the product. Converting a company or brand attribute into something the consumer can really relate to or something that is personally involving can improve message impact and consumer response. It is generally believed that the more attention one pays to a message, the more likely they are to learn from it and change their attitudes and behavior. This suggests that message effectiveness can be enhanced in situations that present high levels of involvement and attention. This can sometimes be achieved with a simple message that touches on an emotional chord with the consumer. High-impact messages can be effective in less involvement product categories, and low-involvement messages can be effective when it influences buying something more involving to enhance the self-image. Being remembered is the lasting effect of a compelling marketing message. A vivid message is more likely to be retrieved and influence a response at the time of purchase. This does not just affect brand switch but also simple trial behavior for a new product.

In crafting compelling messages, marketers need to make sure that their message is designed and delivered in a way that is meaningful, memorable, and long-lasting. Messages that are memorable and attitudes that are strongly held are more likely to be retrieved and used at the time of purchase. An example of a memorable message might be Gillette’s “The best a man can get!” or American Express’s “Don’t leave home without it.” Another key element of a compelling marketing strategy is to make sure that the message is strong enough to change consumer attitudes. Using a combination of strong arguments and persuasive tactics, the marketer must break through strong or likely consumer attitudes in order to affect a change in behavior. This often involves the introduction or redefinition of a brand or a consideration set for a particular product category. The strategy here is to create a strong link between the brand and the new belief.

4. Implementing Multi-channel Marketing Campaigns

Consider the current news that over 400 million people are using Facebook’s mobile app, according to Facebook’s own statistics. Nearly half of Facebook’s 845 million users are accessing the service via mobile phone at least some of the time, so the addition of sponsored stories (advertisements) in its mobile software is a BETA ad campaign allowing a select few advertisers to have access to the ability to buy ads shown in the mobile app’s news feed. Each day, Sponsored Stories in the News Feed receive on average 8x the engagement of Published Sitewide Ads (from the Facebook blog). This is highly significant as the mobile news feed is considered prime real estate for internet and phone advertisements. With Facebook being a method in which everyone regularly accesses from their PC and likely mobile phone, this would be a successful multi-channel marketing campaign option for their product which can be accessed in both locations.

Certainly, mobile multimedia marketing is a huge focus. After years of anticipation and hyperbole at Mobile World Congress, it appears mobile marketing has finally come of age. We understand the term multimedia to mean the use of audio, image, and video files on a computer that can be played with a media player.

5. Analyzing and Measuring Marketing Results

Unfortunately, Haw et al (2004, p.66) identify that many firms have different variations of resource allocation, none of the variations being a strategic marketing approach. This implies that the mentioned companies are not working towards an end goal or a specific marketing strategy, but rather a loose set of ideas. Tracking and analyzing marketing strategy is based on comparing expected and actual results in an attempt to test, reject, or modify the marketing strategy. It can be argued that there is always an expectation when a company undertakes an activity. This activity could be anything from a full marketing campaign to a change in packaging design. Marketing is a future-oriented activity; something is always being offered up in order to create an exchange of agreed terms. Due to the future-oriented nature of marketing, it will often involve speculation and uncertainty. When advertising, a company will spend money in the hopes of increased sales. Pricing strategy decisions can be made in the hopes of gaining an increased market share. At any time, consumer buying patterns will be constantly monitored. Expectations are derived from all these examples and they are the basis for comparing expected and actual results.

Marketing analysis is the study of how businesses operate and how they work with their potential customers. In order to determine if a chosen strategy is working, there must be a definition of expected performance metrics and a method of tracking the various elements to make sure the efforts are on target. If strategy is defined as the set of choices that determine the nature and direction of an organization, marketing strategy is a framework or plan designed to achieve a specific marketing goal. This should not be confused with a business strategy which is a wide range plan including the entire business. Primary and secondary research on marketing strategy is carried out in order to assess internal capabilities, establish resource ability, core competencies, and a sustainable competitive advantage.