...and they hold a market share of 5% only. The commercial customer base of Meridicom – The market leader in broadband and landline market, has been targeted by Telzip : a small mobile-network operator is providing free broadband service into a long-term contract. Telzip is offering “FREE broadband FOREVER”. This has come as big threat to Meridicom as it is already facing the following problems: 1. No increase in Customer Base : Its mentioned in the beginning that the new customer initiatives were running behind schedule 2. Underperformance of the mobile unit. 3. Customers finding the broadband service expensive 4. No synergy between the three units : Landline, broadband and mobile Meridicom has to ensure its customers are retained. As indicated in the case, as switching network is considered a hassle, the current unsatisfied customers are still sticking along as the cost of switching is much higher than the 10% difference between Meridicom and other competitor’s prices. But Telzip’s offer apparently is available at one time cost of switching as it is free. Alternatives Revisit the pricing: Not Slashing the Prices but Changing the Focus from Cost based to Value based Pricing. Meridicom has been receiving inputs from the customers that their services are a bit over priced. Regardless of the Telzip’s offer, Meridicom need not slash down their prices as low as telzip but they should shift their focus from cost based pricing to value based pricing in order to ensure that customers...
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...discount on the current purchase, or points that can be used for future purchases. Discuss the CVS Extra Care loyalty program and whether the program is a source of shopper insights that can be leveraged in multiple ways to be successful. Since launching in 2001, CVS/pharmacy’s Extra Care Rewards Program has become the largest retail rewards program in the U.S., with more than 66 million active cardholders. It’s one of the most popular loyalty programs. The Extra Care program pays back customers 2 percent on purchases in the form of a coupon printed at the bottom of the store receipt. It also rewards customers with $1.00 to spend on front store merchandise for every two prescriptions purchased. The Extra Care program operates as an extra layer to our mass marketing efforts. It allows CVS to target customers with offers that print at the register and in direct mailings according to what they really buy and need regularly. Card sales provide CVS with another body of information that helps provide better services and products, customize our promotional plans, and generally be a better pharmacy retailer for customers. Recommend how Kroger should tailor its retailing strategy to take into account the seven main segmentation groups it has identified. Kroger should tailor its retail strategy to putting the customer first. Since the economy has been down they have been offering lower prices without negatively affecting financial returns. The main key ingredient of low cost and...
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...reloading for validity period, and paying less for longer calls. Product is defined as ‘a set of benefits companies offer to customers to satisfy their needs’ (Kotler 2003, p.11). By satisfying consumer’s wants and needs, sales increases hence achieving company’s goal. A simple definition of price is ‘exchanging the benefits of using a product or services with amount of money charged’ (Kotler et al. 2007, p.478). In order to make Happy penetrate into the market swiftly, DiGi uses the market-penetration pricing. Penetration pricing is illustrated as ‘Setting a low price for a new product in order to attract massive buyers and obtain a large market share’ (Kotler et al. 2007, p.504). In a mobile network market, consumer chooses the network offers a greater value for their money. By offering lower rates, Happy might extract some of the market share from other competitors. What makes Happy different from other DiGi packages is it’s sales promotion – ‘A direct inducement that offers extra value or incentive for the product/services to the consumer’ (George E. Bech 2007, p.495). Besides offering low rates, Happy offered extra services after purchased such as a 60-day validity period after reload and a 24-hours call center. Through promotion, a company could observe how the customer chooses it’s...
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...as market leaders they benefit heavily from economies of scale. The introduction of their own brand allowed the company to cut their costs and increase their profit margins. Tosco's current strategy is very much one of growth. Depend on the feature aimed at the high street consumer TESCO offering different categories shop and services- In ‘'Tesco's Extra'' stores here are over 15,000 of their own brand products. Customer can buy any product in cheaper price. "Tesco Extra" stores, selling not just food, like other supermarkets but material products such as kitchen accessories, entertainment items such as televisions and VCR players and CDs, magazines and cleaning products. "Tesco Metro" was introduced. This was a feature aimed at the high street consumer while offering the benefits of a large supermarket. "Tesco Express" in essence a petrol station with a small Tesco store onsite. This offered customers convince products i.e. bread, milk and essential grocery items. Tesco Direct - The recent interim results show how Tesco's non-food products have made good progress. Tesco's Direct will offer the vast range to anyone with computer access. Telecommunications - Tesco launched an ISP service back in 1998, but have invested more heavily in this field since 2003. Tesco's mobile is in an association with O2 and their ADSL package with NTL. Their most recent example of differentiation is the “Tesco Internet Phone”, which is an innovative product making use of the voice over IP capabilities...
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...Case 3 1. What is Blockbuster's business model? Blockbusters' business model has traditionally been as a rental service for videos and DVD's. But over time, the company has progresses and expanded their model in order to compete with Netflix offerings. Currently, the Blockbuster model includes the in store rentals, an online rental service, Movie Pass (monthly subscriptions), Game Pass (video game subscriptions) and a no more late fee program. How successful has it been? Successful but not enough to match their competition. According to analysts, Blockbuster's offerings in the online DVD market is "inferior" toNetflix. Blockbuster's no late fee option also caused problems in the fee revenue. 2. What industry and technology forces have challenged the business model? What problems have they created? Netflix posed as first threat to Blockbuster's business with its convenience of online DVD rentals. This change in the industry made video/DVD rental possible without a store. Netflix also eliminated the late fee charges by allowing customers to keep the movies for as long as they wanted. This posed a problem for Blockbuster, as they incurred $250 - $300 million in annual late fee revenue. Blockbuster's biggest problem was Netflix's gain of market share. Blockbusters has had to revise its business model to stay competitive and with the help of it's CEO, hopes to find new opportunities in the movie rental market. Currently, Blockbuster and Neflix are up against new technology...
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...Statement Bank of America is struggling to position their mobile banking service in the continuously changing industry. The bank already has a mobile application but is evaluating if they should add more features to this app and how this will affect their clients. Situation Analysis Company • Bank of America is the largest U.S. bank holding company; it was founded in 1904 and expanded with several acquisitions. • By the end of 2009 BoA was the leader in the market, serving 82% of the US population (over 53 M customers) and positioned number one in online and mobile banking. • Very strong and best-managed banks before the crisis which brought losses and a very strong drop in stock price. • Mobile banking was launched in 2007 and in less than 3 years they have 4 million customers using the service. Customers • Chose their bank based on low account minimums, competitive rates and convenient locations. • In 2009 10 million consumers used mobile banking and this was expected to grow to 37 million by 2014. • Customers willing to use mobile banking are not the same as online users. • Security issues, low value and cost of data access were the primary reasons why customers would not use mobile banking. • Debit card holders were the most active users because of the convenience of checking their account balances at any time. • They are reluctant to try a new banking service if it represented an extra cost and were also afraid of losing control of their finances. • Customers...
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...type of competitive advantage is Panera trying to achieve? Panera Bread’s strategy is to provide a premium specialty bakery and café experience to urban workers and suburban dwellers. As well as to create a specialty café anchored by an authentic, fresh-dough artisan bakery and upscale quick-service menu selections. Broad Differentiation is the competitive approach Panera Bread has taken. They compete on the basis of providing an entire dining experience they call “Panera Warmth” .Their environments are distinctive and engaging, have an alluring and hospitable atmosphere, free Wi-Fi , real china & stainless silverware. Also regular changes in menu offerings to adapt to consumer wants and needs are points of emphasis to differentiate themselves from the competition. The type of competitive advantage they’re striving to build is based on the triple combination of Product, Environment, and Great Service (PEGS). Prior to Panera Bread going nationwide, the management performed cross-country market research and concluded that consumers could get excited about a fast and high quality dining experience, called fast casual. Panera Bread is attempting to achieve competitive advantage with offerings that rivals don’t have and can’t afford to match. In this case, delicious handcrafted bread arriving fresh daily, served in an inviting atmosphere is the company’s competitive advantage and core competency. 2. What does a SWOT analysis of Panera Bread reveal about the overall attractiveness...
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...Description of SAS 2 The augmented service offering 3 The CRM Strategy 4 Description of SAS (Mission/Vision statement) SAS is the largest airline company in Scandinavia and the 9th largest in Europe. The airline company was founded in 1946 and in 1954 they operated the first trans-polar route. SAS is owned 50 % by the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian states and private shareholders own the other 50%. They have global network with Star Alliance, which allows them have worldwide networking in 1160 destinations and in more than 180 countries. Nowadays they still concentrate on the Scandinavian market and their mission is to provide the best value for the customers’ money and time. They realize more than 1008 daily departures, flying to more than 30 countries and to 127 destinations all over the world. SAS are well known for their punctuality, safety and for taking good care of their customers. Their main target groups are business people but they also have leisure customers. And for the most loyal ones they created a loyalty card, which gives a lot of benefits. One of their main strategies used is the 4 Excellence, including commercial, sales, operational and people excellence. The first three factors are concentrated on the customer needs, values and willingness to pay for the service they offer. And the last one is for the treat and potential of the employees. SAS has simplified centralized-staff structure and this creates a short decision-making and centralized...
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...Dental Office case talks about how a dentist, Dr Herridge, managed to turn her dental office in a profitable business trying to offer the best service quality to her patients. As her previous office became to small and not convenient anymore to treat the patients as well as possible, she decided to move to a bigger place and to redesign the service offering. She really loves her job and she cares a lot about her patients, but regarding the current situation of the dental profession, it is difficult to face the cost constraints. As the most important for her is the quality of the services offered to her patients, she decided to focus on this point in particular and asked a consultant to work with her on improving the service quality of her dental office. They worked on three main axes: the facilities and equipment of the office, the human resources and how patients are treated. To analyse this case, we will first look at what is the current service offering of Dr Herridge's Dental Office by looking at the seven components of the marketing mix. We will then evaluate the service quality following the five attributes of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles and will provide some recommendations on what could be improved. The current service offering can be analysed under the frame of the service marketing mix that are product, price, promotion, place, physical evidence, people and process. Looking at the product, Dr Herridge’s dental...
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...team means that everyone must be extremely motivated, and that will increase the chances of being successful at any venture the business may pursue. However, in today’s society, most businesses have a difficult time keeping their employees happy and motivated to work hard. As a result, it is difficult for the manager to keep things going. To be a successful manager, one must be able to meet the needs of everyone on board individually, while offering incentives and rewards to keep the team motivated. Motivation is the biggest factor in ensuring that you have a productive team. Though this seems to be a very obvious thing, the big problem is that a manger needs to determine what keeps each individual employee motivated. It is the manager’s responsibility to get active and determine what your team would require to keep them motivated. It is vital that you ask the questions needed to determine this. It can be a variety of things, such as offering bonuses for reaching a goal, having contests to see who can achieve bigger numbers, or an extra day off. It is vital that the manager determines what the employees would like to see; otherwise the manager will have a difficult time keeping their team motivated to do a good job. One step that a manager can take in keeping a team motivated is to use “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” (Kettner, 2002). Maslow explains that there are five different levels of achieving a motivated employee, and they are in order the physiological needs of the employees...
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...Wants are shaped by one’s society and are described in terms of objects that will satisfy those needs (Kotler and Armstrong, page 6). A demand is human wants that are backed by buying power (Kotler and Armstrong, page 6). JetBlue customers demonstrate the physical need for snacks and beverages by showing the company that they enjoy the free snacks and beverages that are being offered by the company. The customers may want the brand name snacks and beverages and the demand is demonstrated by the customer having the buying power to purchase Dunkin Donuts coffee, Terra Clue Chips and Chocobilly cookies. JetBlue customers also demonstrate the need to be comfortable while flying by wanting extra leg room and more space. The demand is demonstrated by the customer having the buying power to pay an extra $10 dollars to reserve one of JetBlue’s “Even More Legroom” seats, which offers more space and a flatter recline position. Another example JetBlue customers demonstrate is the need to be entertained while on a flight in the event of a delay by wanting to watch a movie. The demand is demonstrated by the customer having the buying power to pay $6 dollars to buy a movie or a favorite television show. Given their wants and resources, JetBlue customers demand products with benefits that add up to the most value and satisfaction (Kotler and Armstrong, p. 6). The implications for JetBlue practices are that they want to make...
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...Ayesha Waheed EXTRA CREDIT Apple Incorporation is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The Company's products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. During the year ended November 24, 2011, the Company, as part of a consortium, acquired Nortel Networks Corporation's patent portfolio. In February 2012, the Company acquired app-search engine Chomp. Apple Incorporation is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The Company's products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. During the year ended November 24, 2011, the Company, as part of a consortium, acquired Nortel Networks Corporation's patent portfolio. In February 2012, the Company acquired app-search engine Chomp. Apple Incorporation is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The Company's products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod...
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...Continental Airlines and United Airlines competitive programs Continental Lite and Shuttle by United. Each is designed to cut into the Southwest’s strategic marketing plan. In early January of 1995 Continental Airlines endeavor to encroach on Southwest’s market resulted in operational issues financial loss causing the airline to scale back their plan of attack. United Airlines had actually launched their “Shuttle by United” program in October of the previous year. At the time they were already offering fourteen routes in California and by January of 1995 they had on neighboring states. Over half of these routes put them in direct competition with Southwest. It became clear the only threat to Southwest was United Airlines by copying the Southwest blueprint. This became the new focus of the meeting. A few key actors play a factor in what Southwest needs to consider in order to stay number one in their field. The actors identified in this case study are: (1) Economic (2) Technology (3) Service (4) Pricing Economic: The first actor in this case is economic. The economic factor is key for Southwest. By having the low airfares that has helped put them on top in the aviation industry it give customers the ability to take those family trips to Disneyland or universal studios and not have to spend a fortune to get there. Technology: Southwest initiated the ticketless system. By booking a...
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...where the company selling the invoice guarantees it will be paid by their customer. Non-recourse is where the factoring company assumes all the risk in collecting from the customer. Each has its benefits and each has a different payout. 2. What should the focus of the company be? What is its strategic business opportunity? The focus of the company should be on strategic growth since Tom tries to be "all things to all people", this is one area that he has lost focus on. To do this they may need to use a differentiation strategy. They can do this by listening to their customers and offer a few different items such as entertainment centers that can be special ordered from the catalog. The strategic business opportunity of CeeBees is offering discounted priced furniture. Right now they are trying to be a low cost leader. They are very comparable to one of their competitors and slightly lower than another one of their competitors. 3. How does the company improve inefficient management practices? First, Tom should learn how to use the new computer and printer that was...
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...In reference to Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s decision to expand its Preferred Guest Program by offering new features - no blackout dates, no capacity control, paperless rewards, and hotel reimbursement- that might increase operating costs and lead to higher staying costs. The imminent problem for Hilton is whether to compete point for point or take a different approach to its existing reward program in order to be distinct from Starwood. Below are recommended action plan for your consideration, towards the implementation of a balanced program in order to gain a competitive advantage, whiles retaining our valued guests. The Solution: Instead of matching with Starwood's new strategy, Hilton should take a different approach to its existing loyalty program and focus on how to make it more attractive in order to maintain its current customer base and to attract new ones. There are two reasons why this solution is the best: • Starwood has been trying to develop the Starwood brand. On the other hand, Hilton HHonors guest reward program has a competative advantage over Starwood's program because Hilton's loyalty program has been successful compared to others in the hotel industry. The most important feature of the program that distinguishes itself from competitors is Double Dipping which lets guests earn milage for the same stay in partner frequent-flyer programs. Hilton is the only hotel chain that offers this opportunity. Additionally, becoming a loyalty program...
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