Marketing, it can simply be defined as the strategy or plot applied by a given business entity to ensure its goods and services are sold. This department works hand in hand with the sales department to great response from the consumers. Marketing management, on the other hand, is the organizational function that concentrates on the hands-on methods and orientation being employed by the company. They manage the resources being invested in the marketing of a given product from the said company.
The marketing management team devices techniques to be used for the endeavor. These tools are devised with an inclination to the competitive strategy and also the market analysis of the product. They categorize their competitors in the same line of production, and also the regulatory bodies and enforcers. From this basis, they now develop a strategy to win over the consumers with regard to their competitors and in consensus with the regulatory bodies.CITATION Ale67 \l 1033 (Chernev, 2007)Their other mandate is to invest in research. Through research as stated by Kotler CITATION Phi14 \l 1033 (Kotler, 2014), they make adjustments on the products based on quality and mainly branding. We have different structures within which marketing operates. In an organization, we have the marketing department. The group of experts that constitute the team is researchers, surveyors, experimental crew and finally the observational team. Each of this group has the mandate to fulfill. The research team ensures the best product is released to the market. The surveyors are sent out to find consumer needs and expectations. The experimental group is sent out with a sample of the product, for the test markets. The observational group is dispatched after the first batch has been released to the market. They do on-site observations and bring in recommendations to be applied for the second batch to be released.
We also have marketing strategy; it is defined basically as producing a product that meets the needs of the consumers and also makes a profit out of it. It involves targeting a given market segment. All resources are channeled towards that; this facilitates proper engagement between the producer and the consumer on a firsthand basis. Another form in which marketing strategy is applied is by direct competition. It is done through identification of the anticipated position a company wants, their products and most importantly the brand that is identical with the consumers. Hence, a market strategy is designed to ensure maximum profit from the product.
Market planning encompasses all the strategies being applied. This is a plan developed by the marketing management. They plan how the chosen strategy would be achieved and in what time. Market planning mainly consists of a summary of the executive; both long-term and short-term goals of a company in line with the mission of the company. It also entails objectives for both financial and marketing. CITATION Phi14 \l 1033 (Kotler, 2014)Today, many businesses are moving away from the general physical offices to e-commerce. Hungry Jack is one of those entities that is looking up to online platforms to increase their consumer base. Hungry Jack is a fast food company owned by Jack Cowin. It is based in Australia. They have an active online platform where they carry out many of their advertisement. They are also very active on social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter. Through these sites they can reach the target market which is mainly the youths and young school going, kids. Although they are not limited to only young people, because even adults identify with their products, especially the ladies. Their main product is burgers. They are served for both who eat beef products and the vegetarians. They also have the traditional fast food meals which include; chips, salads, Crips, hamburgers, and beverages. In 2011, they underwent a whole transformation whereby the stuff was given new uniforms and advertising methods. CITATION Jac13 \l 1033 (JacK Cowin, 2013)The main target market for the Hungry Jack Company is the Middle-income earners of the society. It is a company that started way back in 1996, but it was fully stable in 2002 after finishing all the legal battles it had with their mother company. During this period of restructuring and rebranding is when they also took their marketing strategy to a whole new level. It is reported that in the year 2010, they had an after-tax profit score of $32 million. This is a significant amount of money; it is from these proceeds that the restructuring initiative was mooted. There are several fast food companies in Australia today, some are already established while others are still coming up. It is competition to the Hungry Jack Company. They had to improve and motivate their customers.
When a company is restructuring, the majority of the tasks fall under the marketing department. This department is designed and equipped to handle such operations in any given organization. At Hungry Jack Company that was the case. The marketing management team had to come up with new strategies that would attract more customers and also hold on to their current clients. CITATION Wil08 \l 1033 (Luther, 2008)In the recent past, their mode of advertising was through running of commercials on television. They sponsored an advert called Oh Yeah that run as a commercial between the year 2005and 2006. Based on the profits announced in 2011, they were still up in the game, but other companies were surely gaining ground on them. In their new strategy, they had to add some new meals in their menu. They also had to improve the other menu they had and give it a new look either through packaging or presentation. It is what brought about the wind of change that was experienced at the beginning of 2013.
The marketing management team sent out a group of experts in the fast food industry. They were to seek an audience with the majority of City dwellers and get to know what they want as their breakfast or lunch and is easily available. They were to consider the health part of the meals they provide in terms of calories and most importantly the pricing. After rigorous rounds of surveys, they came back with the recommendation. Some of the survey questions were asked on their online platforms, and it was easier for the team to get those feedback.CITATION Ale67 \l 1033 (Chernev, 2007)With all those recommendations at hand, it was time of implementation. In marketing, a plan is drawn to set out the stages of how a given strategy will be implemented. The first step was to introduce new menus. This majorly included Indian delicacies in all of their branches and restaurants. They also brought in the organic beef products. This went a long way in their plan to bring more customers on board. Second on the list was to change tact on how advertising takes place. They introduced a new website which generated a lot of traffic. This website was purposely set to ensure their products are known far wide across Australia and beyond. They also came up with a mobile application. These were a direct mode of communication between the company and the consumers. All this redesigning was being carried out in the year 2013. The use of an application was magical. It had an immediate impact with the clients. It also allowed for bookings and placement of orders when you are not physically present. This application strategy boosted their sales. The website also was another hit, anyone who was qualified and wanted to work for Hungry Jack Company now had a platform to present his or her credentials. Any complaints from the consumers were directly channeled to the management through the website platform. From this is where we also analyze the marketing metric. The question in mind is; did the techniques applied yield fruits?
The metrics of our marketing is also calculated from the ratio customers obtained through marketing. This is called the marketing originated customer. This is calculated on the basis how much product is sold through commercialization of the product. Another metric that is employed is the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), these are calculated along with the amount of time and money used to obtain such a client. These ratios are imperative because they are used to judge the success of the marketing department. If the amount of money used to acquire a customer is generated within a short period, then that is a successful mission by the marketing team. Essentially, if a customer buys your product in bulk, then the cost used to get to be your customer is returned very shortly. CITATION Ash141 \l 1033 (Jain, 2014)This venture has been a success so far. We have our products selling at a very high rate. The customer flow to the Hungry Jack is overwhelming. Everyone wants to test the new meals being served. The strategies employed were successful. We can also not say that everything is perfect. With the new technology being very dynamic, challenges are bound to crop up. It was reported that, the number of complaints have increased due to the easy mode of communication. This is a concern to the management, but they are working on it. The management of the system is required to be done regularly to ensure tight security for both the employer and employee details. Cybercrime is on the rise across Europe and the need of tight surveillance.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Chernev, A. (2007). Strategic Marketing Management. London: Oxford.
JacK Cowin. (2013, August 5). Hungry Jack. Retrieved from Hungry Jack: https://www.hungryjacks.com.au/
Jain, A. (2014). Principles of Marketing. New York: Sage publishers.
Kotler, P. (2014). How to Create, Win and Dominate Markets. NewYork: Adventure workpress.
Luther, W. (2008). The Marketing Plan. London: Sage publishers.
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