Tim Hortons, the Canadian coffee-and-donut gaint, have made two cities, Columbus, Ohio,and London, Ontario its official testers for the company’s new dark-roast coffee. This move was commented” It’s the first-ever new-blend experiment for the big chain.”
It’s not the first time the company has turned to the cities to try out new items. This method turns out to be successful and efficient in determining whether the company should launch a new product.
Tim Hortons have put a lot of effort into its marketing. It focus most on its campaign, which increased its public visibility and captured a lot of customer’s attention. Instead of competing with Starbuck, the NO.1 in the industry, Tim Hortons focus on the Canadian market and dominates it. With reference to the Porter’s Generic Strategies, Tim Hortons’ strategy can be considered as cost leadership strategy within Canadian market. However, within the international market, Tim Hortons is using a focus strategy. This is why I found Tim Hortons’ marketing strategy interesting.