Marketing manager for a chain of home-ware stores

Assignment Help Management Theories

Reference no: EM131066337

Please read the following case study and answer the questions that follow. Part A - case study

You are the marketing manager for a chain of home-ware stores in Brisbane called Houzit. The marketing plan for the 15 Houzit stores was developed over 12 months ago and you are actively engaged in implementing the strategies to achieve the marketing objectives. Specifically, you are instigating those marketing activities that meet the marketing objectives of a 12% market share (up from 11%) and an increase in sales by 8.5% over last year's result. No expansion stores are planned during this phase of consolidation and on average the stores achieved $24,680 per week for the year.

The next six months of the marketing plan calls for increased marketing to match the growth in seasonal demand that occurs during this period. In particular, you should focus on magazine advertising and PR, together with in-store promotions and web based promotions.

You are assisted in the marketing role by Marie and Tony. Marie manages the advertising/PR while Tony is a specialist search engine optimiser and webpage designer. You enjoy taking responsibility for the in-store promotions because it keeps you connected with the key personnel and the trends in merchandise category sales. Lamberts consulting are also a preferred supplier of market research, marketing audits and marketing consultancy.

The market for home-wares in Brisbane is estimated last year at $175 million per annum with an anticipated growth rate of ten percent in the coming year.

The next six-month campaign is designed to take advantage of the seasonal growth in bathroom fittings and mirror categories with linkages to the other two categories of Houzit: bedroom fittings and decorative items.

Some of the leading home-ware magazines are selling advertising space with the opportunity of a PR write up in their magazine and website. You see this as a key driver in achieving the marketing objectives because you are aware that your major competitor is slashing their advertising budget and putting what they have into sponsorships.

It is planned that the in-store displays will feature these advertising visuals and link the featured products with other areas in Houzit's assortment. At the same time, the company's web page will also carry the advertising visuals on the home page and will use the PR copy in article marketing on popular article content sites. The webpage will be targeted towards the key words found in the PR article and featured in the advertising of

The webpage has simply been about company and product information with no opportunity for customers to All advertising, PR and in-store displays will carry the web address line of 'Find us at www.houzit.com'. To date, order and pay online. This is one area that Lamberts Consulting has recommended to the board as an area that should be considered in the distribution channel options. You have been asked to fit this into the plans over the 'stylish bathroom' and 'exotic mirrors'. These keywords will also be secured via pay-perclick traffic directing. next six months.

Lamberts has also alerted the company to the fact that the strong Australian dollar was making their imports cheaper to buy, putting pressure on the local suppliers to match prices. As a result, some of your competitors have signalled a drop in the retail price of their quality imported home-wares. Imports were usually an area of high margins for the company and any loss there could be a serious issue. Monitoring both the Australian dollar and competitor prices has been set as a priority for the coming six months.

The board has set a benchmark of 15% of new sales generated as an appropriate customer acquisition cost. This is a KPI that the board wants monitored along with the market share percentage.

Part A - Questions

1. Review the proposed marketing activities suggested for the company and identify and evaluate three activities you think show the greatest potential for the organisation.

2. Discuss how the planned range of marketing activities can be integrated to ensure the achievement of the established marketing activities.

3. How would you monitor the product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies in relation to market changes, marketing plan objectives and organisational requirements?

4. Review the proposed models for distribution and pricing of product, and describe how this should be adjusted to allow for the market fluctuations (as identified in the case study). Provide a plan for how distribution and pricing can be monitored over time, in relation to the market changes and adjustments in organisational requirements.

5. Provide a detailed plan for how progress can be measured against performance target to ensure that marketing targets are being met (use return of market investment and market share to measure).

Part B - case study continues

You know from experience that the marketing and promotional activities you have planned for Houzit are going to put pressure on your team. However, you accept this as the nature of the business, and you have developed strategies to help the team achieve the marketing objectives in the most efficient and effective way. Both your key personnel in this plan, Marie (Advertising/PR) and Tony (Website) have expressed ambitions to pursue a career in company management. You agree to help them by providing coaching and mentoring when you see attitudes, skills or knowledge levels that could help them achieve their ambitions.

You have also set up a formal weekly meeting to discuss the KPI results generated from the accounting information system and their individual reports. You also use this meeting to emphasise the concept of team achievement and that financial resources should be allocated to the greatest need. You also address where they can achieve the greatest return that is in line with the marketing objectives.

You make a habit of taking them on store visits so their role does not isolate them from personnel and products on the front line of the business. Another strategy you employ is to cc them on all emails that affect the whole marketing group, apart from the private and confidential correspondence.

Part B - Staffing support plan

1. Develop a staffing support plan for supporting the individuals and work teams within the marketing division of Houzit. This should include information under the following headings:

a. Strategies: specific strategies for mentoring and coaching of staff throughout the period of the proposed marketing activities

b. Resources: models for assessing use of resources provided to attain required marketing outcomes

c. Feedback: a model and mechanism for providing feedback to staff throughout the process

d. Performance: a process to be used for identifying weaknesses in individual and team performance (in meeting the requirements of the marketing objectives for the delegated marketing activities) and instigate corrective actions when required.

Part C - Questions

1. Describe how you would provide one-on-one coaching to Marie to assist her in achieving the required marketing outcomes

2. Describe the performance to-date of Tony, and describe the corrective actions you could take to ensure that marketing outcomes continue to be achieved.

As part of this task, you will need to ensure that you understand the mission and strategic objectives of Houzit, in particular any guidance given by these or other policy and procedure documents on staff interactions and staff training.

Your plan will need to establish strategies for coaching and mentoring staff, providing feedback and when necessary, instigating corrective actions to ensure that marketing objectives are being met.

Legislation requirements will also need to be addressed. Such legislation requirements would cover areas such as: copyright laws, privacy laws, Trades Practices Act, Direct Marketing Code of Practice and defamation laws.

What to submit for assessment

Part A - Questions
Part B - Staffing support plan
Part C - Questions

Your assessor will be looking for evidence that you analysed and identified the needs of the case study, and reflected these in the staffing support plan and responses you have developed.

Assessment Task 2 - Written Assessment

Instructions for completion

You are required to complete all items in thisAssessment Task

The written assessment must be typed

Use of correct grammar and spelling is required to demonstrate foundational skills

Use of APA referencing must be used where original sources other than your own have been used - to avoid plagiarism

Write your name, student ID, the assessment task and the name of the unit of
competency on each piece of paper you attach to this assessment document

Submit to your trainer/assessor by the due date

Due Date

The trainer/assessor will provide a date and time for this assessment The due date is

In this assessment, you are to:

1. review the implementation and progress of a marketing plan, based on the established plan and metrics

2. read the information below

3. analyse and measure progress of the plan against established KPIs and review targets for the next phase of the marketing plan

4. Text Box: • Advertising $250,000 • PR $30,000 • in-store promotions $60,000 • web marketing $100,000 Text Box: You believe that the extra expenditure in web marketing was justified in preparation for the on-line merchandise sales that will be included in the next marketing period. You also believe that there is a need for the company to shift more of its marketing budget into web marketing activities in line with the industry trends. demonstrate data evaluation techniques to measure marketing performance

Using the information provided above, detail the outcomes of ongoing marketing activities to develop a marketing performance report. The report should follow the three headings below:

1. Analysis: analyse the marketing outcomes, changes in marketing and calculated marketing metrics (ROMI and market share). Describe the changes required to meet strategic objectives.

2. KPls: explain any success or performance gaps in the information provided as measured against KPIs mentioned earlier. Identify what you believe are the causes and effects of any successes or gaps. Describe marketing outcomes and how you could improve strategic performance.

3. Targets: for any identified over-performances (against targets), describe the trends and reasons for these, and set new targets for the next 12-18 months.

Assessment Task t - Project

Instructions for completion

Read this project assessment task and complete all the requirements

You are to work in pairs for this project

Assessment tasks must be typed (not hand written)

Use of correct grammar and spelling is required to demonstrate foundational skills

Use of APA referencing must be used where original sources other than your own have been used - to avoid plagiarism

Write your name, student ID, the assessment task and the name of the unit of competency on each piece of paper you submit for assessment

Submit to the trainer/assessor by the due date

DUE DATE

The trainer/assessor will inform you of the due date

The due date for this task is ____________________________

In pairs, you are required to market a product or service of your choice.

You can choose your preferred marketing mix (product, place, promotions and price) and are responsible for ensuring that the marketing activities align with the strategic objectives which is to raise awareness of a particular cause.

You should use this opportunity to showcase your innovation and creativity skills to create strategies that can meet and exceed the marketing objectives.

Task

You are required to gain practical experience by carrying out this project while at the same time observing your actions so that you can prepare a 1000 word report on managing marketing performance. The following criteria must be addressed in your report:

Create a marketing plan
Manage both individual and group marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards maximising the strategic objective which is to raise awareness for a cause of your choice
Integrate marketing, promotional and sales activities
Create and monitor product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies. Ensure you research market changes and familiarise yourself with the marketing plan objectives and organisational requirements
Use marketing metrics and monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met. Have a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the group can work towards
Key provisions of legislationof relevant legislation from all forms of government, codes of practice and national standards that may affect aspects of your marketing strategy e.g. Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) Direct Marketing Code of Practice, confidentiality requirements, copyright laws, Trade Practices Act, Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model etc.

Communicate strategic marketing objectives within your team and with your assessor
Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors (if any) who are

involved in all elements of marketing effort. You can seek help from other group members (fellow

students) on a consultation basis if other they have an expertise you require

Develop a communication strategy outlining each personnel's responsibility for each element of the

marketing mix

Mentor, coach and provide feedback to each other
Use the KPIs as a way to identify individual and team performance and begin corrective action promptly if things are not happening according to plan

After you have carried out the marketing activity, you are required to evaluate and improve your strategic marketing performance and document it in a report. You can do this by using the following methods:

Analyse marketing outcomes, review strategic objectives and marketing metrics, and revise if required
Analyse successes and performance gaps and use this information to improve
Analyse over-performance against targets for trends. Set new targets e.g. Target was to sell 10 plastic wrist bands to encourage people to donate blood. Wrist band sold for $2 each but managed to exceed the target by 25%. To increase target to 50 wrist bands sold
Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their impact on strategic marketing objectives
Document review of marketing performance against key performance indicators in accordance with organisational requirements

The marketing process you have chosen can be as elaborate or simple as you like but must allow you to observe and carry out all the criteria listed above.

Please submit a printed copy of your report to your trainer/assessor.

What to submit for assessment:

1. 1000 word report on managing marketing performance

2. Managing marketing personnel report

3. Report on evaluating and improving your strategic marketing performance

Reference no: EM131066337

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