The Three Marketing Opportunities Chalked out by the Company

The concept of marketing opportunities, can be defined, as the process by means of which, an analysis of the present market condition is undertaken in a bid to determine the areas in which there is scope to attract more amount of customers (Johanson and Mattsson 2015). The focus of the process is to determine the effective means by which the customer base of the organization or the company concerned can be increased (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2013). The company by trying to increase the customer base can also indirectly increase the annual revenue as well as the profit margin, which will lead to the overall growth and the development of the organization or the company concerned. The company selected in this report to study the process of marketing opportunities is the BBQfun. The company was founded in the year 2009 by its current CEO, Pat Mifsud (Price 2016). The company is known for the extensive range of products as well as the services offered by it. The products as well as the services provided by the company, incorporates both the imported and local services and goods. Initially the company started on a very promising note, however, after the year 2010, the sale of the products as well as the services offered by the company drastically dropped (Price 2016). This was attributed, to a combination of various factors like the process of globalization, various technological changes, increased competitive retail market, the change in the buying behavior of the customers, lack of customer confidence in the products offered by the company and other factors. The company in order to come out of this situation implemented several strategies, the major ones among them being the building up organizational strengths, renewed focus on the increase of the customer base and following the path of globalization in order to expand their business. It was a reflection of the successful implementation of these strategies that the annual sales of the company grew to an impressive $12 million in the year 2012 (Price 2016). The company, BBQfun, has its centers in Gold Coast and Brisbane and is looking to expand its business in other areas as well (Price 2016).

The company provides services to the customers in a variety of products as well as services. The company in order to expand its business has chalked out three plans for the overall growth as well as the development of their company. The three marketing opportunities chalked out by the company are as follows-

• The manufacture and the sale of own brand products and services
• The sale of the products as well as services through the use of e-commerce
• The sale of the products at bargain prices in a bid to attract more customers and thereby to increase the annual sales and profit margin.

PESTLE Analysis of the Company

The first marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per the following statistics of the company-

	BBQs	Outdoor Furniture Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers	30,000	13,000	56,000
Quantity	1	1	3
Average Price	$600	$850	$50

This particular opportunity, that is, the manufacture and the selling of the products manufactured by the company will require the company to outsource its production in the third world countries like India and others, as the manufacturing cost in Australia will be very high (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).

The second marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per the following statistics of the company-

	BBQs	Outdoor Furniture	BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers	40,000	20,000	70,000
Quantity	1	1	3
Average Price	$500	$650	$50

This particular opportunity, that is, the selling of the manufactured products through the various online e-commerce websites will require the company to make use of the various online websites. In this process, the manufactured products can be stored at the two existing locations and the various delivery costs involved will be covered by the customers themselves (Kim and Ko 2012).

The third marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per the following statistics of the company-

	BBQs	Outdoor Furniture	BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers
Quantity	1	1	3
Average Price	$620	$880	$55

This particular opportunity, that is, the selling of the various products manufactured at bargain prices will require the company to sell its products at a bargained price in a bid to capture the market and increase its customer base (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014).

A PESTLE analysis of the company will reveal the following facts-

Political	· The present focus of the Australian government on the concepts of growth as well as the development of the various industries will act as an added advantage to the company(Australia.gov.au 2018). · In the recent times, there has been a strong emphasis on the various environmental factors like the conservation of environment, the use of bio-degradable materials for the manufacture of products and others, which the company needs to take into consideration(Australia.gov.au 2018). · The company also needs to take into consideration the political scenario of the country of Australia for the manufacture of its products. Threat: Therefore, the political factors will act as a threat to the company as the company needs to take the various political factors of the nation into consideration for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products and services (Kolios and Read 2013).
Economic	· The company needs to take into consideration the various economic laws as well as the regulations into consideration for the process of manufacture as well as the sale of its various products as well as services (Australia.gov.au 2018). · The company will also have to take into consideration the rising prices of the land in the country · The company will also have to take into consideration the increasing rate of interest, which will affect the amount of capital invested in the company (Australia.gov.au 2018). Threat: This will act as a threat to the company as the company will have to take into consideration these factors for the manufacture of its products. The increasing prices of land will mean that the company will have to acquire land for its expansion at higher prices.
Social	· The company needs to take into consideration the various social as well as the cultural norms of the country of Australia for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products (Australia.gov.au 2018). · The people of Australia are also very particular about their cultural identities and do not like the things which undermine their culture. Therefore, the company will need to take this into consideration as well. Opportunity: This will actually act as an opportunity to the company as the company can increase the sales and the profit percentage by manufacturing the products as well as the services as per the social and the cultural requirements of the people of Australia.
Technological	· The company needs to take into consideration the various technological innovations for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products. · This might include the use of latest technologies as well as machineries for the manufacture of products and the use of latest technological trends like e-commerce for the sale of its products. Opportunities: This will act as an opportunity for the company as it use the latest developments in the technological field to increase its productivity and at the same time the company can utilize the platforms like e-commerce to increase its sales and thereby annual profit.
Legal	· The company needs to take into consideration the various Privacy Act 1988, Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and various others, in order to recruit and maintain its employees (Australia.gov.au 2018). · The company also needs to take into consideration the various economic as well as quality laws for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products and services. Threat: This will act as a threat to the company as many time it is seen that various companies fail to recruit skilled as well as trained professionals as they need to take into consideration the various employment laws. It is also seen that if the company takes into consideration also the economic as well as quality parameters into consideration, the productivity of the company will get hampered.
Environmental	· The company also needs to take into consideration the various environmental guidelines provided by World Health Organization, United Nations and various others, for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products (Australia.gov.au 2018). Threat: This will actually act as a threat to the company as the productivity and the sale of the products as well as the services manufactured by the company will get hampered if the company takes into consideration all the guidelines provided by the various environmental organizations and the governmental organizations.

The marketing mix of the company BBQfun is composed on the basis of these approaches-

• Pricing:The various products as well as the services of the company will be put in a price range on par with the other services and products provided by the other companies and organizations. The primary focus of the company will be on the quality of the services as well as products manufactured by it. Therefore, the aim of the company will be to provide best quality services to the customers at affordable prices.
• Distribution:The distribution of the products as well as the services manufactured by the company will be conducted through its two operational centers at Brisbane and Gold Coast (Vivarelli 2014).
• Customer Service:The goal of the company is to provide the customers with the best kind of experience possible. The company believes that by creating a loyal customer base it can increase its future prospects in terms of profitability and annual sales (Chikweche and Fletcher 2012).
• Advertisement:The company will utilize the help of the various advertisement campaigns and the social media for the purposes of promotion of its products and services (Vivarelli 2014). The company will also hold various competitions at its two retail stores in Brisbane and Gold Coast to exotic locations in a bid to increase its customer base and attract new customers to its stores.

The expenses incurred by the company in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the various modes of advertisement are provided by the below given table-

Expenses	2012	2013	2014
Radio Promotions	$30,000	$50,000	$70,000
Direct Mail	$40,000	$50,000	$60,000
Magazine advertisement	$110,000	$100,000	$80,000
Total	$180,000	$200,000	$210,000

The annual sales profit of the company for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 are provided by the below given figure-

	2012	2013	2014
Total Sales	$11,000,000	$12,000,000	$15,000,000
Gross Profit	$5,110,000	$6,500,000	$7,500,000

The company BBQfun in a bid to increase its annual profit as well as the sale of its products and services manufactured by it, has come up with the plan to manufacture as well as sell its own products. The company will need to outsource its production to third world countries like India and others in a bid to reduce the production cost (Wiewiora et al. 2013). This strategy will help them to reduce the production cost as well as the significant amount of costs incurred by it, if it were to sell its products using the techniques of e-commerce. This will also enable the company o have an increased profit percentage from each product sold by it as the company will not have to sale the product at bargained prices, which it will have to take into consideration if it were to use the third marketing opportunity (Wiewiora et al. 2013). The company even will not have to take into consideration the various legal, environmental and economic factors. Moreover, this will also significantly reduce the amount of cost incurred by the company on the various advertisement campaigns.

Marketing Mix of BBQfun

The company BBQfun, can also utilize the concept of selling the manufactured through the process of e-commerce. This method will enable the company to reach out to a larger number of customers at a very lesser amount of time. However, if the company makes use of this method the advertisement cost incurred by the company will increase significantly. This will also enable the company to set its own price for the various products as well as the services manufactured by it, which will not be the case if the company makes use of the marketing opportunity of selling its products at bargained prices. Moreover, using this method the company will be able to reach out to a larger customer base through the use of the social media and e-commerce websites. The company can even follow a sandwich method wherein it will utilize the first marketing opportunity to manufacture its products in India and other third world countries and sell them at higher prices using the process of e-commerce in Australia and other countries of the world.

This particular marketing opportunity will enable the company to capture the market and increase its customer by selling its various products as well as services at a bargained price. This will considerably reduce the advertising cost incurred by the company if it were to follow the policy of selling its products through the process of e-commerce (Wagland and Taylor 2015). Moreover, if the company provides best quality products to the customers at bargained and affordable prices it will be able not only to increase its customer base but will also in the process get customer loyalty. It is to be noted that many start-up companies are using this method to increase their customer base and earn reasonable amounts of profits.

Risks, can be defined, as the threats or the factors, which could harm the productivity as well as the profit percentage of the company in the longer run (McNeil, Frey and Embrechts 2015). There are several risks which the company faces at the moment. The major ones among them are as follows-

• The threat from national competitors like Yard and Outdoorz as well as the threats are from the local competitors like various retail stores operational in the Brisbane and the Gold Coast area (Australia.gov.au 2018).
• A PESTLE analysis of the company provided above clearly lists some of the other risks and threats faced by the company.
• The failure to provide best quality services to the customers can able be taken as another risk, which the company faces.
• Failure to meet the environmental, occupational and various other requirements should also be taken into consideration.
• Inadequate management strategies
• The failure to recruit skilled as well as professionally trained individuals should be taken into consideration.

It is necessary for the company to overcome the risks above mentioned in order to achieve the overall growth as well as the development of the company. The various methods by which the company can overcome those risks are given below-

• Effective management:The process of effective management is one of the best ways by which the company can mitigate the factor of risk. The company should device effective management strategies in order to increase the sale of its products and services (Wagland and Taylor 2015).. It is to be noted that the process of effective and efficient leadership can also help in the process.
• Recruitment process:The company can follow the process of effective recruitment in order to hire individuals who are skilled as well as professionally trained. This will enable the company to not only to improve the quality of the products as well as the services provided by it but will also increase the productivity.

A survey conducted with 500 customers of the company reveals the following facts-

	New Builds	Renovations	Replacements
The customers having visited the stores in the past 3 months	70%	70%	50%
The customers willing to use the e-commerce services of the company	100%	100%	100%
The company happy with the bargain price policy of the company	70%	65%	70%
Customer loyalty	30%	20%	10%
Customers for whom price as well as quality both are important	70%	65%	60%

Annual Sales Profit of BBQfun

Therefore, from the above survey reports it becomes clear that both the quality as well as the price of the goods and the services provided by the company are important. The above data also reveals the fact that almost all the customers of the company are willing to utilize the online services, which the company is intending to provide to its customers. It is also to be noted that most of the customers do not visit the stores on a regular basis. This can be the result of various factors. However, this defect can be overcome by providing online services to the customers. Therefore, this data reveals the fact that the best possible strategy which the company can make use is to provide e-commerce services to its customers.

Therefore, the best course of action that the company could follow to sell its products as well as services through the process of e-commerce. This process will provide several benefits to the company. A general trend seen among the Australian people is that they like to make use of the technologies available to them. Moreover, the modern hectic as well as the busy lives lead by the people leaves them with very little amount of time to actually go to the physical stores and buy products from there. This will not save the time of the customers but will also enable the company to reach out to greater number of people in a very short time. Another benefit of the process is that the company can significantly reduce the amount of expense incurred by it through the use of various modes of radio, television and direct mail kinds of advertisements (Wiewiora et al. 2013). Moreover, the company can even follow a sandwich method by which it will manufacture its products in the third world countries like India and sell them in Australia and other countries (Wagland and Taylor 2015). This will significantly reduce the cost of production and will help to increase the profit of the company.

The second option, which the company can utilize is to sell its products at a bargained price. This is a long-term process and initially the profit of the company will not be very high. However, this process will help the company to increase its customer base and also to reach out to a larger number of customers (Wiewiora et al. 2013). The company can win the loyalty of the customers in this way, which help them in the longer run.

Strategies to Increase Annual Profit and Sales

The third process which the company can make use is the process of manufacturing and selling its own products. The company will manufacture its products in the third world countries and sell them in Australia (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015). However, there are two drawbacks of the process-firstly, the company will have to bear significant cost for the purposes of advertisement if the company is going to sell its own products at its stores and secondly, if the company is going to outsource its production, the quality of the products might not be very high (Wagland and Taylor 2015).

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that for a company to be succeed and capture the market there are various factors, which it needs to take into consideration. The primary one among them is the choice of effective strategy, which it needs to follow in order to expand its business. There are various options available to the companies in the present scenario but the effectiveness of a particular strategy depends on the scenario in which it is being utilized. It is often seen that one particular scenario which helped a particular business to succeed might not be equally successful for another business. Therefore, a careful study of the various needs as well as the requirements of the customers becomes very important for the implementation of any particular strategy. Therefore, the company BBQfun should also take into consideration the market scenario as well as the various needs and requirements of the customers before the implementation of any marketing strategy.

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