Marketing Management Assignment help on : Elg & Robinson
About Elg & Robinson
Founded in 2009 by Phillip Elg and Peter Robinson, Elg & Robinson is a sought after meat outlet in Williamstown, Victoria offering specialty meat, poultry, fish, sea food, spices, wine and some small foods. The store is known for its fresh and customized raw meat and allied products. They are extremely popular in the area for their offerings in ready to eat and ready to cook meat, fish, sea food and poultry. Phillip Elg is the owner of 18 year old sea food eatery, Strand Restaurant and is known for his knowledge about the food and the place. Peter Robinson started his career 27 years ago as a butcher at Willow Meats and has an experience of managing few stores. The two partners having expertise in their respective fields have brought in their subject proficiency into Elg & Robinson and created quality products that cater to the demands of the local populace making them a preferred choice in the area. They have redefined the idea of a butcher’s shop and created a sophisticated and personalized meat outlet run by the “Fresh food specialists”.
Market segmentation and target marketing
Markets are segmentation on the basis of geography, demography and psychographics. Geographic segmentation involves dividing the markets on the basis of countries, states, regions, cities or local neighborhoods. For example, marketers may customize the promotional campaigns best suited to a specific city. Demographic segmentation involves differentiating a market on the basis of variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, gender, education, religion, social class, nationality and generation. This type of segmentation is assumed to be most appropriate as consumer wants and preferences are largely affected by demographic variables. For example, the needs of men and women can be easily differentiated. However, people within the same demographic profile can exhibit different behavior. This differentiation is attributed to psychographic traits i.e. personality traits or values and beliefs. However, marketing strategies should be designed to recognize customer differences regardless of the type of segmentation technique used.
Positioning a relatively common product as an exclusive brand targeted to a specific set of customers needs exhaustive study of the market. Mass marketing involves mass production and distribution to a large section. This strategy runs on the concept of low costs of mass productions and ignores customer preferences or need for customization. However, this type of strategy is irrelevant when products are marketed on the basis of exclusivity such as Elg & Robinson. The markets are much more complex than what is assumed in mass marketing. People and demands vary according to geography, culture and demography. Micromarketing which takes in consideration the factors affecting the market is increasingly becoming popular with organizations all over the world.
A market segment is a group of customers who share the same set of wants and demands. Marketing to a particular segment, called segment marketing has distinct benefits over mass marketing because it caters to specific demands of the customer in terms of price, product and value and hence create an edge over the competitors that offer a run of the mill product for all customers. Segment can be further classified as a niche market in which the needs are more distinct. For example, a set of customers looking for a vacation can be defined as a segment while people who want to take a vacation to Las Vegas fall into a niche market category. There is yet another sub-category of niche market in which the customers’ needs are defined by a small geography. Local marketing was always a part of small businesses before marketing emerged as a discipline in management. It is, however, being revisited by the global organizations that understand the importance of local marketing and deploy innovative methods to cater to demands of a local or niche market.
Target marketing by Elg & Robinson
Elg & Robinson is situated in Williamstown, Victoria which is a known for its heritage monuments and churches. The population is mainly occupied in maritime activities in the Hobson’s bay and Port Philip bay. The town is now also known for its café’, bars and restaurants. Some of the prominent eateries of the area are Pelican’s landing and The Rotunda Restaurant (Williamstown Official Website, 2012).
Elg & Robinson partners have a clearly defined target segment for their products. Their product line includes fresh meat, sea food, poultry and small foods such as pie, soups, lasagna and sausages. They also offer wine under the brand Elg & Robinson. Elg & Robinson is situated in Hobson’s bay area opposite the Coles supermarket, the only supermarket of Williamstown. However, it does not offer the high end restaurant quality small foods and pre-packed meat which drives customers to Elg & Robinson.
Phillip and Peter realized that to survive successfully in these dynamic times, they need to develop themselves from being mere butchers. The consumers’ behavior and buying decisions are influenced by many factors such as personal (age, occupation, lifestyle, economic situation, personality), social (family, friends and social status), cultural and geographical. Phillip Elg ,a native of the area and an established hotelier, used his knowledge about people and their buying decisions to appropriately categorize the segment they wanted to target. They, like all other marketers, used user status, perceived benefits, buyer-readiness stage and attitude as the basis of their target market. The clientele in the vicinity involved dual income families which were pressed for time and wanted an answer to quick fix cooking. Since these people were well educated and wanted top-end quality, fresh meat took the main place in the ingredients list. Elg & Robinson keep introducing new ideas in their small foods section to satisfy the ever changing palate of this generation. Their innovative efforts fetched them the coveted “ham on the bone” award in the AMIC small goods competition and Hobson’s Bar Retailer award (AMIC, June 2011). The profile of the market segment targeted by the store is highlighted below:-
- Dual income families who managed work and home and hence preferred ready to cook or ready to eat food.
- High income earners owing to high end real estate prices.
- Well educated people who demanded quality for the money they spent.
- Customers familiar to high quality restaurant type of food.
- Socially active people who demanded varied flavors and inventive ideas in food.
- Natives of the Hobson’s bay who knew their conventional palate but were happy to explore new tastes.
- A stable population suggesting a long term relationship with a preferred brand.
- Proximity to Melbourne city affecting the overall dining culture in the area.
Markets can be targeted at distinct levels ie, segments, niches, local areas and individuals. As described earlier, segments are large specialized groups with a potential market whereas niche is a more discreetly defined group. Local retailers such as Elg and Robinson adapt marketing at a more individual level. Elg & Robinson targeted the financially astute and educated families of local market of Williamstown and created a niche market for themselves with their quality product offerings. They identified that this market, if satisfied will have word of mouth publicity in their social circle creating a percolating effect for their brand. The store continuously strives to keep the interest of the customers alive by bringing in innovative seasonal treats and uses promotional offers to ensure a repeat purchases by customers. The marketing promotions and brand building by Elg & Robinson in analyzed in the next section.
Brand Elg & Robinson
Brand is defined by the American Marketing Association as the name, sign, term or symbol intended to identify the goods or services of a seller and differentiate them from those of the competitors. From a marketer’s perspective, brands have always been relied upon to boost the financial value of a firm. While from a consumer’s perspective, brands are associated with a certain level of quality and value perception about the product or services. Organizations put in focused efforts to build brand equity i.e. the value endowed to products. The value is identified by the way customers react and respond to the brand.
Being a butcher was not considered very glamorous and the offerings were delimited to the basic meat and meat products. Though they had a vision to deploy innovative ideas to food, there was a huge risk of being perceived as yet another meat shop. They had to carve a niche for themselves in a market strewn with options and also create a distinguished brand equity that reflected their zealous aspirations. Phillip and Peter developed their passion about food and customer service to suit the trends of contemporary clients and created a brand that is synonymous with quality and indigenous flavors. The guiding principles in creating a value for this brand were extra ordinary product offerings, competitive pricing, innovative promotion and cashing on location advantage.
Elg and Robinson have a product for every palate. They offer right from basic meat cuts to exquisite and award winning recipes at their counter. The chefs keep on adding new foods to the array of exciting products. Philip’s experience of running a restaurant in the area gives an additional advantage when it comes to understanding the consumers’ demand fluctuations. Their association with the Australian Meat Industry Association (AMIC) and Meat and Livestock Australia gives them an insight of new approaches in the industry and thus helps them incorporate new techniques to churn out better food in their store. Adapting new technology in processing and servicing and infusing new items on the menu card ensures a total customer value for Elg and Robinson which in turn leads to high customer loyalty. Customer loyalty derived from satisfaction depends highly on product and service quality. Quality, as defined by the American Society for Quality Control, is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (ASQ 2012) . Elg & Robinson’s commitment to service quality is reflected from the fact that their staff is trained not only to serve but satisfy the customer. They understand the customers’ need and suggest appropriate variant from the wide array of products. At the same time, they educate the consumers about the benefits of loyalty program which leads to repeat purchase.
Pricing a relatively common product to reflect quality is tricky. Many people consider price as an indicator of quality. Also, different consumers have different perception of value offered by a product. Some products such as lifestyle items or luxury cars can attach a brand value to the actual price and increase the price. Some products’ high prices are justified by the scarcity of the product in the area. However, pricing an easily available product such as meat to reflect quality yet affordability would be a challenge for any marketer. Although Peter & Philip have an advantage of exclusivity in the area, they have priced their products suitably to reflect quality as well as acceptability. The well designed loyalty program tends to encourage purchase and provides an attractive bargain from the customers’ perspective. Elg & Robinson also use the “left digit” effect in most of their product prices. The concept on pricing the product as $6.99 or $9.99 is based on an assumption that consumers process prices from left to right, thus creating an illusion that a product priced as $6.99 is in the six dollar category while actually it is close to seven dollars.
Selling standard meat, sea food and small foods is not a unique concept in itself. Hence, to make a brand stand out, it needs extra ordinary product and attractive promotions. The partners at Elg & Robinson realized that their expertise at food was not enough to create a buzz about what they wanted to achieve. Hence, they hired expert help from Can I Play (CIP), a professional media agency to translate their vision into an innovative promotion strategy. The result was an outstanding interior in the store that reflected vibrancy and an attractive and practical loyalty program that ensured customers visited frequently. The creative agency formed a colorful atmosphere at the outlet unlike the gloomy interiors of butchers’ shops. The surroundings were created to give a lively feeling where people could come with their families. The signage and the interiors were updated seasonally without losing the core brand image. Creating customer loyalty on the basis of a delightful atmosphere at the place of service or purchase has been a common practice in small local businesses. This went well with the seasonal changes in the menu. Small promotional items such as pen stands and visiting card holders are designed to ensure a top of the mind recall. Elg & Robinson’s awards won at different competitions also go a long way in creating a brand and cementing the customers’ belief in the products and services.
Elg & Robinson’s loyalty program is practical and plays an important role in creating brand loyalty. The customers get a 2% credit for all the purchases made at the outlet which can be redeemed at any time on the weekly offers or the wines offered at the store. The USP of this loyalty program is that it does not give a time limit to redeem the points making it extremely customer friendly. The weekly offers or limited period offers also create a sense of urgency and opportunity loss amongst the consumers and drive them to make the purchase. The success of their loyalty program reflected that the customers wanted to keep coming repeatedly provided the promise of the brand was fulfilled during each visit.
Location is regarded of vital importance in retailing business such as of Elg & Robinson. Their store is located right opposite a supermarket which happens to be the only supermarket of the locality and is frequented by some 30,000 people per week. Hence, it was an advantage as well as a threat. The footfall at the supermarket made for a large potential customer base for Elg and Robinson. The weekly promotional offers were designed and placed strategically at the glass panels of the store to capture the potential buyers visiting the supermarket. Though these promotional offers could drive people to the store, it was again dependant on quality of the food products to impress and retain those customers. Also, since the supermarket could price their products on the basis of mass distribution, competing with them on the basis of price would have been a costlier affair for the small venture of Elg and Robinson. Hence, it again came down to personalized customer service and innovation that proved to the survival tactics of the small retail outlet.
The Tagline- “Cleaver Gourmets”
Elg and Robinson is a venture of two connoisseurs who transformed a traditional occupation into a successful contemporary business. Hence, the tagline “Cleaver Gourmets” reflects their vision for exquisite taste and their passion for their occupation. The new tagline will not only highlight their specialty in meat and poultry but will also create an impression of quality and expertise that characterizes a gourmet. Also, punch line enhances the feeling of using conventional food item to create a modern experience which a customer can expect at Elg and Robinson. This is in sync with their efforts of updating themselves to the changing needs of the industry and reinventing the image of a conventional butcher’s shop.
Marketing communications are important to build a brand and propagate the vision of the organization effectively to the customers. Since the product or services may be extra ordinary, it is the promotion and advertising that creates a curiosity about the brand and drives the customers to purchase the product. The new tagline will infuse an interest about how a traditional occupation can merge with a modern concept.
With the new tagline, the partners should incorporate some promotional offers that make the presence of the brand prominent in the local market. Elg and Robinson already have a customer friendly loyalty program, marketing merchandise, festival lucky draws and weekly offers and discounts. However, some new and exciting promotional campaigns need to be devised that increase involvement of the customers such as a weekend cooking competition using ingredients from the store or asking for new flavors the customers would like in the menu. This creates a sense of belongingness and will certainly translate into increase in purchases.
The store can introduce a Wi-Fi zone in the store to substantiate their modern and technology friendly approach to business. Social marketing is the new forte to gain a competitive edge in the current dynamic markets. A well updated website and a strong presence on the social networking sites will push the brand further in the market. Social media is an extremely cost efficient way of communicating with a large number of people at minimal efforts. Also, it is easier to update and customize the information. Hence, it can used effectively to promote the weekly offers and discounts at the outlet. Inviting consumers to connect to the brand’s social network using campaigns such as “Fan of the week” or “slogan writing for your favorite item on the menu” will divert the friends of friends to the store. The percolating effect of the social media is highly underutilized by Elg and Robinson currently.
The website can have an interactive mode of communication asking the consumers to discuss about the food or initiate a dialogue about important things in the community. The idea is to permeate brand in the lives of the people and connect with them at all times. Since the store is catering to local market, an online platform to take orders and deliver them at the consumers’ doorstep is an excellent method of marketing on the basis of convenience. Involvement in community welfare will also increase the brand awareness and boost brand loyalty. Philanthropic efforts have a strong positive effect on the customers’ minds and it has been globally proven that the customers tend to prefer a socially responsible brand.
Conclusion
Elg and Robinson have redefined the image of a traditional butcher’s shop. They have created a place for themselves in the local market in spite of strong competitors. It is largely owing to the experience and foresight of the partners who infuse their passion for profession in the foods they serve. With sound marketing strategies and spirit to excel, the future looks promising for Elg and Robinson.
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