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Basic Market Audit of the Dundee City Centre, Proposing Strategic Growth Options and Alternative Options to Their Market Offering
By;
Okoro, Chiedozie Glenn
For;
Prof. Gary Mulholland

As part assessment of the module MK1102A; Marketing Management for the course MBA (Energy & Petroleum) 2011/2012

January 20, 2012

Contents
Introduction
Background
Primary Data
The External Environment * Customer * Competition * Opportunities for the City Centre * Threats to the City Centre
Internal Environment * Marketing Mix * Strengths * Weaknesses
Strategic Growth Options
Current Market and Alternative Range of Options
References and Bibliography

Introduction
The Dundee city centre (postcode DD1), located at the heart of the city, spans from the Tay River Waterside to just over the Victoria Street; past the Wellgate shopping centre, with the University of Dundee close to its extreme left and some past the Gallagher retail park on the right. The city centre is home to a series of businesses, schools and universities as well as public facilities. The business in the centre ranges from independent shops and diners to retail centres like the Overgate mall and Wellgate Centres, to financial institutions, service shops and cultural attractions such as the McManus Art Gallery, Dundee Rep, etc.
From an industrialised, jute producing city in the early century, Dundee has transformed itself today into a known key retail destination for North East Scotland, with the city centre offering a relatively wide variety of retailers, department stores and independent/specialist stores. The Murraygate and High Street which makes up the main pedestrian area houses a number of main retail brands such as Marks and Spencer, Monsoon, Accessorize and Zara and connects the two large shopping centres; Overgate Centre which is anchored by Debenhams, H&M, Next and Primark and the Wellgate Centre by BHS, T.J. Hughes and Peacocks ( Discover Dundee Retail).
Background
A general market audit of the city centre was done to understand the market type the centre exists in, the internal and external structure of this market’s environment and a basic review of the existing marketing plan set up by the Dundee city council. This was done incorporating primary and secondary data to give a better understanding of the city centre’s market offering and allowing for the proposal of key strategic growth options and/or alternative solutions.

Primary Data
A basic survey of 50 shoppers in and around the Dundee city centre as well as adjoining district areas, and 15 business people operating shops in the Dundee city centre was taken, to give a glimpse into both sides of the current market structure. The survey was generally conducted by interviews using established guidelines related to this project. Results were qualitative and collated as such to give a fair and subjective understanding as to the basics of the market dynamics.

The External Environment
Customer
From the survey done, the city centre is regularly frequented by residents of Dundee as well as other nearby towns and settlements including; St. Andrews, Forfar, Perth, Carnoustie, etc. with the most amounts of visitors from not only Dundee city, but those operating within close proximity to the city centre. The very nature of the city centre attracts a mass market of varying customers but mainly from within or around itself. The mix of customers to the city centre includes residents of the city with a larger concentration of those living/working in and around the city centre. These include working adults, adults past retirement age, young students (thanks to the universities located within), etc. looking to shop and socialize as well as the occasional non-resident, retail shopping for clothes and other specialty items. From the survey, there seems to be a general consensus around people coming to the centre either for their shopping needs, sight-seeing or socializing (dining inclusive) with their peers; or as a means to other ends such as getting transport links to other places. For the average shopper, the city centre offers convenience of shopping and a service variety, all in close proximity. The majority of customers to the city centre generally have knowledge of what the centre has to offer, and what they want from it. However, among those interviewed, there was a general (92%) expression of dissatisfaction of the general offering of the city centre with a call for the need of improved variety in independent store numbers as well as the need for other major attractions to the centre like cinemas, amusement or fun parks like bowling alleys and ice rinks to draw and keep more attention to the centre.
The survey also gave an average city centre spending figure estimate of a little under £200 a month per customer, with working residents spending the highest average of around £270, mainly on retail shopping but also for services like grooming, dining and public houses. Students averaged out at £196 per month for basic retail and socializing, while retired adults came in low at £118, mainly on dining and bars. Non- residential visitors seem to spend slightly more (£281) on the average, mainly on retail, but their visits are not as regular.
Among working residents, there was a perception of a convenient offering from the city centre even though they admitted to doing equal amounts of general shopping at out of town retail parks. Among younger adults, there seems more loyalty towards using the city centre for basic shopping needs, with the majority being students living within or around the city centre. They occasionally go to other city centres like Glasgow, Edinburgh and St. Andrews, but more for experience and social visits than retail needs. The most seen loyal customers to the city centre appear to be residents past retirement age (20% of survey), which used the city mainly for social needs but weren’t regular heavy spenders.
Customers of the city centre, more than anything value the quality of time spent in the centre. Their quality perception of the retail offerings of the sector is mainly what drives them in. The perception Dundee city centre has is mainly that of a better clothing retail destination over nearby areas.
Competition
The Dundee city centre by nature is in competition with other traditional city centres of the Scottish region including Edinburgh and Glasgow for new and existing customers. Nearby places like Broughty Ferry, St. Andrews and even other city centres like those in Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, etc. all compete for visiting shopper footfall. Also, by nature of its offering, it can be seen to be in a broader scope of competition with nearby district centres (Hilltown, Albert Street, etc.), or basically any cluster of shops and businesses including retail parks like those on east and west Kingsway road.
Competitors like Glasgow and Edinburgh city centres are in much demand due to their better developed city- scape and sky-lines, iconic modern infrastructure, rich cultural heritage and vast population densities. As such, they have a more developed market, seen to include a fair number of international tourists, visitors, businesses which boosts their overall city centre prosperity. Nearby smaller cities like St. Andrews for example; offer customers visitor experiences and have thus been able to draw more attention to their various city centres.
Competing retail parks and district centres on the other hand, tend to have less an offering of blissful experience, but instead, have been seen to offer customers the convenience of easy access shopping, and in a lot of cases; cheaper and more basic/essential goods and services.
Due to the economic downturn, consumer behaviour has now shifted to consumers being a bit more mindful of spending, and as such; supermarkets offering the basics at unbeatable prices seem to be where income is flowing. This is a major threat to the city centre as the movement of many customers and/or major retailers offering basic needs, to retail parks outside the centre as a means to profit from footfall poses a problem for smaller independent shops in the centre.
Dundee being a regional employment and education centre serves to draw employees from areas like Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross with large scale employers including; the Dundee City Council, University of Dundee, and BT located in and around the city centre. This commute to and from the city gives opportunity to retail parks located on the outer road links with the city as driving commuters can easily get various needs en route to their varying residences.
Online retailing is also a strong competitor of the city centre and even with some of the independent shops in the centre engaging in their own online retailing; it hinders the overall vitality and viability of the centre.

Competitor | Relative Strengths | Relative Weaknesses | Nearby City Centres | ExperienceInfrastructureEconomic StrengthPopulationVarietyHeritage Development rates | | Retail Parks | Convenience Easy AccessPrice PerceptionVariety | ExperienceNot as much growth driving footfall | District Centres | ConvenienceCloser To ResidencesExperience | Activity levelsGeneral Access | Online | Convenience OfferingConsumer InvolvementPricing competitiveness | Physical/social experience |

Competition plans and strategies are seen to include; * Improved and increased communications, eg; Perth * Development of infrastructure; such as the Glasgow airport rail-link Programmes designed to maintain its status as the largest and most successful shopping centre outside London, * Economic development, for example; financial and business services sector expansion plans in Edinburgh (www.edinburgh.gov.uk/eclp), * Socio-cultural heritage development; e.g.; the return of the Open Tennis Tournament to St Andrews

Opportunities for the City Centre * Being at the top of the hierarchy of the Proposed Tayplan Strategic Development Plan gives the city centre preference for new development opportunities which if structured properly can be a way to expand their market while improving their offering and overall economic vitality. * According to the economic profile report, the population of the City is expected to age over the next 25 years with more people in the age group above 65 years and a decline in those below. With these forecasts, strategies could be put in place to prepare for that shift in demographic, or drive a preferable age range into the economy and thus the city centre. * The DD-One’s plan to transform the centre into a Business Improvement District (BID) provides the opportunity for increased partnerships among businesses and can be a means of creating an environment of growth and thus increased attractiveness of the city centre to other start-up businesses. * Capitalizing on new proposed projects of high magnitude such as; the Façade Enhancement Grant Scheme, Dundee Waterfront Development and the V&A Museum, not only comes with a boost in economic activity, but it could serve as a means for setting up strategic partnerships which will boost the overall perception of the city of Dundee (with the centre as the main access point) as well as create potential new market growth and diversification of its offering. It is thus time for strategies to be put in place now to meet up with the completion of these projects. * Partnering with other nearby settlements like St. Andrews which enjoys decent tourist traffic is also an opportunity to look into. Drawing an international audience would mean a development of their current product offering and an increase in their marketing communications strategies. * Partnerships with areas around the city centre for the creation of amusement parks and centres associated with high traffic can be explored because even though the city plan seems to think it is not a basic reason for coming to the centre, current changes ascribe that it just might be a way of directing people to it otherwise. * With the growth of other competitors, the city centre can work on changing its perception by customers and work on differentiating itself and its offering.

Threats to the City Centre * Encroachment of more service offerings into the city centre for example; an increase in public houses, groomers, legal n financial facilities, Class 3 licensed premises, particularly restaurants, cafes and snack bars could defeat the traditional retail purpose of the city centre. However, the city council is steadily watching this and trying to create a fair balance even though the number of vacancy or “to-let” signs doesn’t serve as encouragement. * Other city centres development initiatives pose a serious threat to the Dundee city centre. The rapid growth and economic development of already successful city centres like Glasgow and Edinburgh could possibly render the Dundee city centre extinct, or keep it paling in comparison.

Internal Environment
The city centre seems to provide all these basic amenities for the average customer with two major shopping centres, a retail park, host of independent shops including dining places, public houses, and access to bus as well as rail networks around the entire country.
The city centre doesn’t appear to have a dedicated marketing team but the management of the city centre was given to the city centre action group or DDONE, which has been coming up with initiatives to make the centre a better place to do business. Programs like the Christmas Light Night, Farmers markets, and other events organised by the DD1 seems to drive some people’s awareness back to the potential of the city centre including the 25,000 head count in the city centre on the Christmas night lighting ceremony. Due to the fact that no detailed marketing information seems available on the structure of the marketing for the city centre, the ability to compare current marketing efforts to plans and the efficiency or effectiveness of the centre’s marketing plan seems futile. Customers seem to be generally hoped upon to visit, enjoy, spend and hopefully come back again. Proposed developmental plans for the city centre help give an idea as to which direction the city centre management team seems to be headed.

Marketing Mix
The city centre has a wide array of retail stores, independent shops, diners, bars and clubs, groomers, service offices, casinos, schools and universities, supermarkets, etc. which like any other city centre in the UK serves to drive people to its core for basic shopping and socializing among other activities. New planned projects appear to be underway including the Waterfront development project and the Dundee V&A. These will add to the overall attractiveness of the city centre and drive new crowds in for work, boosting overall economic growth.
Companies are allowed to regulate their own prices. The availability of a variety of stores with ranging prices makes the city centre a very affordable place to shop. Easy access by rail and bus with both stations in the city centre makes for good “Place” setting.
The city centre so far doesn’t have a good promotional mix. There is some mass-market reaching styled promotion of the city that includes attractions like the shopping malls in the centre and the educational institutions present, but none specifically done by the city centre to the best of my knowledge. Even the promotion of the city hasn’t been documented as being successful in driving new market reach.
The nature of service offered by the city centre isn’t one that is processed or packaged. The offering is basically one which should meet most of the customer’s needs in a relatively close proximity. There are no set processes for customer experiences as far as city centre delivery is concerned. It is more a random, consumer generated process, with the customer deciding which places it chooses to visit, which benefits it receives and in what order.
As far as physical evidence is concerned, the city centre doesn’t particularly offer any major land marks or exclusively iconic structures which could serve as backdrop for photos of visitors who have been here. On a smaller scale however, customers from nearby and those familiar with the Dundee City Centre and its offering will relate to the shopping goods taken back, the Discovery at the waterfront, the Caird Hall, Mcmanus Art Gallery, etc.

Strengths * Location and closeness to the Tay river waterfront makes it a key area for visitors wanting experiences as well as businesses sites * Ease of access with its bus, train stations and parking lots make the centre accessible to the community and visitors as a whole by public transport and a natural focus for shopping trips. * The presence of two major universities, plus the Dundee College and St. Andrews close by provides a customer base with huge disposable income. * Being an economic force in North east Scotland providing jobs for people out and around the city centre drives a huge flow of people with potential to use the centre for shopping needs daily. * Having the 4th retail ranking in Scotland having 2 shopping malls, a retail park and a host of independent stores make it a major retail destination for consumers from other less well developed areas. * They have the added benefit of providing a variety of other services, leisure facilities, etc.

Weaknesses * Lack of world class iconic infrastructure and set structured buildings including historical models doesn’t give an air of modernism to the city, could hinder development projects and serve to deter younger, more contemporary lifestyle seeking visitors.

* Night life and closing times of most stores in the city centre have been a regular deterrent of some customers who due to their operation schedules could make use of the centre only at later hours of the day. * The underdeveloped Waterfront area which could have otherwise been attracting tourists and other adventurous visitors could also be seen as a current weakness even though there has been a recognised need to improve it over the next 30 years. * Lack of entertainment facilities and major festival holdings which could serve as an attraction to the city centre * Less brand names n variety has also been a said reason for some customers visiting other places

Strategic Growth Options
Using the Ansoff strategic growth options matrix, the growth options are put in perspective of;
Market penetration, including; * Increased promotion of the centre, emphasising the need for the convenience and experience, as well as the quality of goods purchased * Improved tax cuts and benefits for new start-ups to drive more business traffic to the centre which could serve to cover a wider range of customer’s need options thus including their spending.
Product development; * Increasing entertainment and attraction facilities as a means to increase time spent in the centre by customer’s socialising. * Increased variety, covering consumers range of options in order to max out their use of the centre thereby improving convenience perception * Using the centre as a location for Scottish and Dundee festivals can be a way of getting and keeping crowds in, enhancing the overall vitality of the centre
Market development; * The city centre having one of the largest student population densities in England, could chose to brand itself as such; increasing student activities, promoting the centre as a vibrant student dwelling, encouraging reality shows on various media forms promoting the life of students and encouraging other international as well as domestics to join in * Pricing policies such as tax cuts, relief and returns could be made for new companies, in areas where the centre would like to grow into, including tourism, services, etc. * Promote and/or support the improvement of the airport facility and increased access could also increase movement through the city by a different crowd * An overhaul of the aesthetic redesign of the centre to include more modern architecture could attract a more sight-seeing crowd interested in such infrastructure

Current Market and Alternative Range of Options
The Dundee City centre like many others around the UK appears to be in the business/market of traditional city centre/ high street retail. An alternative range of options to this setting will most definitely include; * Becoming a more business inclined atmosphere, for example; financial, legal and technological institutions, could serve to bring a new vitality to the city centre and also put it in a different category of competition with more established financial centres like Edinburgh, London, etc. * Becoming more of a social experience centre. By moving projects like the proposed digital park and other experiential attractions to the centre, the centre could become more of a place where people come more for the experience more than the retail shopping. This in itself could maintain the already existent retail feature of the centre in the long run amidst the current threats it faces. * Becoming a tourist attraction centre will involve a decent amount of infrastructural development if it must compete favourably with other tourist attraction facilities like St. Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, etc… * Becoming a niched city attraction for something like the arts, or sciences or even an environmental or energy efficient city could also be an option.

References and Bibliography
Ansoff's Product / Market Matrix: An Introduction. [Online]. Available From; http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm
AVC Creative 2011. Dundee Airport Welcomes £1.7m Runway Upgrade Investment. [online]. The Dundee Messenger. Available from; http://www.dundeemessenger.co.uk/business/airport-upgrade.htm
The Courier, 2012. Enterprise Area Status A Boost For Dundee's Renewable Energy Hopes. [online]. Available from: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Business/article/20374/enterprise-area-status-a-boost-for-dundee-s-renewable-energy-hopes.html
The Courier, 2012. Dundee Port Named As One Of Scotland's New Enterprise Areas. [online]. Available from; http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Business/article/20348/dundee-port-named-as-one-of-scotland-s-new-enterprise-areas.html
Dundee Business Directory 2011/2012
Dundee Economic Profile 2011
Dundee Local Development Plan 2011: Main Issues Report. Dundee City Council [Online] Available From; www.dundeecity.gov.uk/localdevplan
Glasgow City Centre Action Plan. Glasgow City Council [online pdf]. Available from; http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/15CC7AB9-FB19-4353-9EE5-EE3FB9EE8355/0/CityCentreActionPlan.pdf
Locate-Dundee (http://www.locate-dundee.co.uk/)
Portas, M. 2011. The Portas Review: An Independent Review into the Future of Our High Streets.
Strategy: SWOT Analysis – Introduction. [Online]. Available From; http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/SWOT_analysis.htm

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...TOK – Aasir Osman Question – “There is no such thing as a true belief.” Discuss. A belief is a conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality or values. They are not based on facts or other evidence. They cannot be disproved or even contested in a rational or logical manner. They are inarguable. They cannot serve as a thesis of formal argument. An example of a belief is that God created the world we live in today and everyone who resides on Planet Earth. Knowledge has traditionally been understood as “justified true belief”. This is the idea of people initially having faith in something they believe to be true and then logically thinking about in order to justify their belief. Once agreed it is a justified true belief it becomes common knowledge between everyone. This later introduces the idea of Epistemology which is how beliefs can be verified. Some beliefs are justified through epistemology making them a true belief thus disproving the fact that there is no such thing as a true belief.  People who believe them have good reason to believe them. For much of what we believe however, we do not have any good reasons: we make guesses; we take things on faith. Epistemology is important because it is fundamental to how we think. Without some means of understanding how we acquire knowledge, how we rely upon our senses, and how we develop concepts in our minds, we have no coherent path for our thinking. Some beliefs would appear to be justified solely by the use of reason...

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...“The Possession Of Knowledge Carries An Ethical Responsibility.” Evaluate This Claim. –Seo Yeon Choi- Theory of Knowledge Essay Topic: “The Possession of Knowledge Carries an Ethical Responsibility” Evaluate The Claim. School: Auckland International College School Number: 001495 Candidate Name: Seo Yeon Choi Candidate Number: 001495-010 Session: May 2013 Teacher: Beate Wiebel Word Count: 1480 “The Possession Of Knowledge Carries An Ethical Responsibility.” Evaluate This Claim. –Seo Yeon Choi- After reading the claim, „The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility‟, I first thought what does „ethical responsibility‟ means. Considering that ethics is the study that debates what is right or wrong and thus govern one‟s behaviour1, I have decided that „ethical responsibility‟ is the obligation of a person in making moral choices which lead to a better society. For example, if one person saw a hit-and-run case and the victim is shouting for help, then that person has the ethical responsibility to rescue that person. I, also, once experienced a dilemma whether to bear an ethical responsibility or not. I saw a person beating a dog, but even though I had that knowledge, I did not call out for help or call the police. As one of a wide array of people who ignored the „ethical responsibility‟ even though one carried the knowledge at that particular period of time, I sometimes admired, but did not fully understand those who chose to help others or make better...

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...Theory of Knowledge Essay Eric Sheldon 4-25-13 Kennewick High School  “It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts.” To what extent would you agree with this claim? Before one can agree or disagree with the above statement, a few terms must be defined. “New ways of thinking” is thinking from a point of view that has not been considered previously, or an unproven idea. For the purpose of this essay, “facts” and “data” will be defined as: a series of empirical evidence, or a proven idea. I think that new ways of thinking and the discovery of new data and facts are equally important. If no one ever thought differently than the currently accepted way of thinking, than nothing new would ever be discovered. They are each no more and no less important than one other because, one cannot exist without the other. If one cannot exist without the other than their symbiotic relationship makes both equally important. It could be argued that discovering new ways of thinking is more important than the discovery of new data and facts. Someone arguing this point may make the point that many useful inventions that we (humans) have today come from an inventor who dared to step outside the norm, and look at a problem differently. One example of an invention is the nuclear reactor. Nuclear power would not exist today if no one had considered fission as a source of energy. Someone who disagrees...

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...“The knower’s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge.” To what extent do you agree? On a hot Saturday afternoon, I was walking around downtown in desperate search of a place to buy a birthday card when I came across a small, shabby looking ice cream shop. You could hardly see it from the street, but the inside was nearly packed with people. Curious and exhausted, I decided to enter in order to escape the heat of the sun. When I tasted the homemade ice cream, I immediately understood why it was so busy. The discovery of a delicious treat, while completely unintentional, altered my perspective on how my day was going and the ability to discover things without using the internet to locate the best new dessert place. This new knowledge was not what I set out to find. I originally wanted to find a greeting card shop, but I ended up with a different knowledge – the location of an amazing ice cream shop. I later shared this personal knowledge with friends and family to spread the news of this quaint shop, and it turned into shared knowledge as word spread not only from me and who I told, but as other people discovered it on their own. However, this makes me fallible to cognitive biases, like the confirmation bias. Ignoring anyone who says the ice cream shop I found was only “alright” or “not the best ice cream ever” and only listening to those who told me it was “outstanding” strengthens my preconceived notions about the store. My accidental discovery in the pursuit of...

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...The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may raise in two areas of knowledge.   The  study  of  Theory  of  Knowledge  (TOK)  indicates  four  distinct  ways  of  knowing:   sense  perception,  emotion,  reason  and  language;  however,  in  this  essay  I  will  argue   for  the  inclusion  of  intuition  as  a  fifth  way  of  knowing.  Intuition  is  that  moment  of   enlightenment  that  is  unexpected  in  which  something  is  revealed  to  give  one  a   greater  understanding  on  a  problem  or  puzzle  or  issue  of  concern  that  is  perplexing.   A  knowledge  issue  worth  examining  in  relation  to  the  role  intuition  plays  in  these   areas  of  knowledge  is:  How  does  intuition  lead  to  knowledge  acquisition  in  the   natural  sciences  and  in  ethics?         Personal  intuitive  insight  has  to  be  in  some  form  of  communication  which  conforms   to  requirements  of  public  knowledge,  natural  sciences  conforming ...

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...2/11/2016 School name: Seedling IB World SchoolSession: 2015-16 | Piyush Tejwani | TOK Essay | “In gaining knowledge, each area of knowledge uses a network of ways of knowing.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge. | 11 FEB, 2016 IB Theory of Knowledge “In gaining knowledge, each area of knowledge uses a network of ways of knowing.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge. Knowledge is the basis of living in our generation, knowledge can be anything like if we know what type of combination in clothes we should wear, or what type of food we should eat and even if you know how to propose a girl or a boy then that can be known as knowledge too. But where the focus goes on is the place where the knowledge comes from, it can be taken as an important question while pointing at the ways of knowing. Ways of knowing are the origins from which we gain knowledge such as TV, newspaper, radio, books, internet, family, etc. These were some examples of ways of knowing with which we can relate our daily life. But as far as I studied the main points for ways of knowing are: * Emotion * Faith * Imagination * Intuition * Language * Memory * Reason * Sense perception Now we must know what the areas of knowledge in Theory of knowledge are. Actually it is the division of knowledge into different areas: ...

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