Reference no: EM132265858

Question: Today, customers have many more choices to make than 10 or even 20 years ago. Business growth relies heavily on repeat customers who are satisfied with a product or service. The first task of any organization is to bring customers to its stores. This gives rise to the need for marketing and promotion. Marketing and promotion campaigns enable an organization to present a product to the right consumers. Read the following case study and perform the given tasks.

Zion's Irons started in 1991 in the basement of an ex-army engineer and golf professional. The company specializes in manufacturing low-cost but dependable golf clubs. The product has seen tremendous growth over the past two decades, with a notable spike in sales when the economy is not performing well and another notable spike in sales when the country is at war. Creative marketing techniques, word of mouth, and clever use of limited marketing funds helped to propel Zion's Irons into the upper echelons of the highly competitive industry of golf club manufacturing.

The clubs are made from surplus metal from the army and the navy, and the company donates a portion of the profits-3.5%-to the Disabled Veterans of America because the founder belonged to the 35th Engineering Corps when in the army. As one would imagine, this product and its features have historically appealed to a specific population-the people in the military or the people with close ties to the military. The golf clubs are currently sold through specialty retail stores and public golf course pro shops. In addition, the company has a five-year contract to sell the product to the U.S. army and navy.

Today, Zion's Irons faces a new challenge. The slumping economy has hurt the golf club manufacturing industry, and with the United States engaged in multiple wars around the world, surplus metal stock is fast dwindling and more costly to obtain from the military. Until recently, Zion's Irons experienced dependable, yearly growth and was approaching economies of scale that allowed for better buying power and lower production costs. Zion's Irons topped out at $15.4 million in 2006, but has recently seen a steady drop in sales parallel to that of bigger players, such as Taylor Made, Callaway, and Titleist. In addition, the issue of dwindling supply of metal from the military threatens to dramatically affect production costs in the next 6 to 12 months. Zion's Irons has also committed to spending 3.5 percent of sales on marketing efforts. The chief executive officer (CEO) has challenged your team to find a way to reduce production costs by 3.5 percent, stop the losses, and increase sales by 3.5 percent by the end of next year.

1. Conduct summary research of the golf club manufacturing industry to determine trends in sales, production, distribution, and promotion. Your responses should be 1-2 pages in length.

2. Provide a strategic positioning and promotional strategy that would take Zion's Irons out of harm's way and onto the path of financial redemption. Your responses should be 2 pages in length.