Through the course of the marketing plan assignments, my team and I have gained invaluable knowledge in Starbucks’ marketing operations. Furthermore, these marketing tools are not only applicable in the context of Starbucks, they can also be applied in many organisations.

The first important insight that I have gained is the ability to identify Starbucks’ segmentation, targeting and positioning. In the past, I always believed that the products that Starbucks offer are for the general group of consumers. However, by analyzing its STP, Starbucks is seen to customize different products towards a specific group of customers. For example, they offer healthier products such as coffee with low fat milk, frappachino without whipped cream to consumers who are more health conscious. This new range of healthier products have become increasingly important to Starbucks’ operations, as the society is seen to be shifting away from an unhealthy diet. Thus, Starbucks can be seen to segment this group of consumers and position itself with a healthier image.

The second insight that was really useful was the ability to identify and apply Starbucks’ marketing mix. We realize how Starbucks can price its products at a much higher cost as compared to its competitors and yet still manage to retain its consumer loyalty. Also, we learn how Starbucks utilizes strategic locations to make its stores more visible. In addition, Starbucks promotional efforts are seen to be very effective in attracting customers from all walks of life. Last but not least, we learn that products of superior quality must be offered by Starbucks.

Our group have gone one step further by identifying a target group of consumers that Starbucks should focus on. We have identified that Starbucks should concentrate their efforts on the younger group of consumers. Although this might seem unorthodox and difficult (young consumers only make up 2% of Starbucks’ revenue), we believe that this investment would reap huge returns in the long run.

In conclusion, the marketing plan assignments provided a unique and valuable learning experience for everyone to apply their marketing knowledge. By fusing the practical applications with our theoretical knowledge, our marketing skills will improve for the better.

This is a blog post in response to Visarut Kasemsupapun‘s post on October 9, 2013. In this blog post, Visarut clearly depicts the difference in sales volume of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.In addition, he mentions that the more affordable iPhone 5c is targeted to lower income customers, as compared to the more affluent customers that the iPhone 5s is targeted towards. I agree to his comments to a certain extent. Yes, the iPhone 5c might have a different target market, but instead of lower income customers in the US, it might have been targeted towards foreign customers instead. With Apple trying to gain market share in the overseas market, it might be more realistic for them to target a larger group of consumers, especially in places where the average income is much lower than other consumers.

In conclusion, the iPhone 5c and 5s have very different target markets. Consumers in the US might be somewhat indifferent towards the two models, but in other parts of the world, there are in fact huge differences.

On a separate note, there are additional features that the iPhone 5s offers, which are not available on the iPhone 5c. A better camera, processor and storage capacity are just some of the features that makes the iPhone 5s more attractive. In my opinion, the iPhone 5s’ target market is towards their loyal customers and ‘Apple Fans’. This is because the release of iPhone 5 was less than a year ago and consumers who are looking for a decent phone would not be willing to purchase the iPhone 5s just after a few months. Thus, loyal customers will see this new and improved phone as a ‘need’ instead of a ‘want’.

IKEA’s marketing operations have been rooted in the concept of the 4 Ps. However, being an international retailer in the furniture industry, it is seen that their 4 P’s do differ in various regions.

Firstly, the way it prices its products do differ in different countries. All along, IKEA’s philosophy is that it would price its products at low prices in order to attract more consumers. However, this philosophy was difficult to implement when IKEA expanded into  

China. There was plenty of confusion as their prices were not low enough as compared to their competitors, but were seen by the middle class as too low to be a ‘westernized’ product. As such, IKEA priced its products according to their consumer base and income levels to ensure that they are affordable.

Secondly, the products that it offers varies from place to place. In the US, consumers favored larger beds and bigger wardrobes but in Asian countries, the furniture on sale has to be significantly smaller, due to the smaller sizes of Asian homes. In countries like Singapore, houses are much smaller than those in Sweden and thus accommodations to the local market over there has to be made.

Thirdly, the store locations (place) have usually been in places that are in the suburbs so that rent might be lower. However, they would be situated near the highways so that it is easily accessible by car. This concept worked well in Europe but it failed badly in China as most people commuted by public transport. Thus, IKEA began to set up their stores close to rail and bus networks in order to reach out to their Chinese consumers.

Lastly, IKEA’s product catalogue as a means of promotion posed huge challenges in China as well, as it provided a means for competitors to imitate their products. However, once it began advertising on the Chinese social media and micro blogging website Weibo, its brand awareness surged significantly.

In conclusion, it can be seen that IKEA has adapted well to alter its marketing mix when it entered the Asian markets.

Today,  the Coca Cola company is the biggest non alcoholic beverage company of the world, boasting  more than 500 brands in over 200 countries. Its success can be attributed to many factors but in particular, I would be looking at its marketing growth strategies.

Out of the 4 main growth strategies, the Coca-Cola Company is seen to implement product development to a huge extent. In this aspect, I would refer to Jeudi’s blog (external marketing blog) which has elaborated on this point. The blog states that Diet-Coke and Coke-Zero has been introduced to the same market to relatively more health conscious consumers. This is a very useful strategy as consumers who might enjoy their beverages might become fearful of its health repercussions, or get bored of it after a while. Thus, by re-inventing its taste, it can continue to cater to these group of consumers.

Secondly, the brand loyalty that its consumers have with the company would encourage them to consume these new products. The blog also mentioned that the new products have been created to keep up with the switching and changing trends of its consumers. Although the blog did not specify how Coca-Cola did so, this strategy can be seen in the rapidly rising number of beverage varieties. This has been done through acquisitions of other brands. As seen below, Glaceau, Powerade, Nestea, Fruitopia and Dasani are just

some of the brands that the Coca-Cola company introduced in the past 20 years. Hence, a larger variety of products for the consumers have helped Coca-Cola to boost its brand awareness and value. Although this strategy only targets the current market of Coca-Cola, this market is in fact extremely large both domestically and internationally.

In conclusion, it can be seen that Jeudi has made some very relevant points on Coca-Cola’s product development strategies. These strategies have been immensely successful and have contributed to the success of Coca-Cola to a significant extent.

New Balance is an American footwear manufacturing company which focuses mainly on high performance athletic shoes. Recently, New Balance shoes have become increasingly popular among consumers, probably due to the success of its marketing strategies. In particular, I would analyze its segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies as they have proved very effective in the global market.

New Balance’s segmentation of the market is one that is diverse and increasingly specific. Of course, demographic segmentation is one of the basic forms of segmentation, where it divides its male and female consumers, as well as the youths and adults. However, it goes the extra mile by segmenting its consumers based on their feet structure (high arch, neutral arch or flatfoot) and this has targeted to the consumer’s specific needs effectively. Besides, it has also identified a new and upcoming market which is the shoe-wear of the youths. Hence, it came up with an alternative line of shoes, not designed for running but mainly for casual wear. This new array is known as the New Balance classics:

Furthermore, the New Balance Classics provided the spark for the company do target a new segment of the market: young children. It began to manufacture shoes which are not only comfortable for toddlers, but stylish as well. Hence, it began to branch out to consumers who do not wear the shoes for running purposes.

Currently, New Balance positions itself as a shoe brand which is of superior quality for running. It seeks to convince running enthusiasts that their shoes have the functional capability to meet their needs. With this, many runners are switching over to New Balance to maximize their running performance. Thus, by first positioning itself as a quality brand for running, New Balance then segments and targets the needs of the various groups of consumers, it is of no doubt that their sales and market share have the potential to grow substantially.

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Competition between different companies can occur in many different ways. One of the most popular ways is through aggressive marketing of their own product, which has proved to be very successful in giving each company their competitive edge. In fact, such aggressive marketing have inevitably let to these companies continually trying to reinvent their marketing direction, which has caused some of them to conduct unethical marketing practices. Such practices have been widely disapproved and one example would be in Kellogg’s marketing policies.

Kellogg is a world-renowned brand, particular famous for the various cereal products that they offer. However, they have attempted to market their children cereals in a very unethical fashion. They stated that their frosted  mini-wheats have been  clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by 20 percent.

As seen from above, the supposed benefits from eating the cereal would have convinced many consumers to purchase the frosted mini-wheats for their children. However, most of them have been unaware of the fact that the clinical test was done for a group of children who only had water for breakfast against another group who had the cereal. As it is obvious that children will not only have water for breakfast, the claim has been made in an unethical manner.

Thus, it is my opinion that such unethical marketing is very misleading and may harm consumer well-being. Kellogg’s may not be legally wrong in such forms of marketing, but it definitely is not right in misleading their customers. However, it is difficult to regulate such forms of marketing as it is difficult to differentiate ethical and unethical marketing. Thus, the onus would be on the individual company to market their product in a manner where they feel will not harm the welfare of their customers.