Marketing Challenges and Opportunities for Expanding Business

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Marketing Challenges and Opportunities

Companies expand their businesses beyond borders to explore opportunities granted by their markets(Mason and Sanjyot, 2013). Such businesses must have well defined structures and plans that would make them exist in those markets and remain relevant. The businesses must then “overcome challenges within those markets while majoring on the opportunities” presented, according to Ranjan (2012).Companies must attempt to maintain their commanding market and high profitability by differentiating themselves on the basis of their competencies and quality.

            Through strategic marketing program, companies should allocate the marketing resources and activities appropriately in order to accomplish its goals. Through the strategic business units as company components, it is easier to decide on the objectives, markets and competitive strategies that make the company relevant in the markets pursued. The company can break its corporate objectives to sub-objectives specific to its components and varying according to the subunit strengths and competitive advantage.

            For the purpose of company survival in the market, the strategic objectives should detail how the company can compete in the market through the strategic business units, according to TD Bank report (2013). The plan should detail allocation of resources across strategic units that enable it gain advantage over its competitors. The company competitive strategy should be viable, concentrated on units’ core competencies and resources as well as its customers and the competitive characteristics of the markets as explained Mullins and Walker (2013).

            The competitive strategies differ with the business units and the market levels. These strategies must focus on the how the business get to topple the existing and potential competitors in the market, positioning the company based on its unique resources and competencies. The procedures may be similar for firms irrespective of its size but may differ depending on the market the company operates and the customers. For the small businesses, competitive and market strategies appear blur, blended with no clear distinction. As opposed to larger firms with different business units, their competitive and marketing strategies are distinct from each other.

            Companies competing in global markets will tend to defend and strengthen their competitive positions through different strategies, while pursuing expansion and establishments in other markets. The competitive strategies will differ depending on the countries of the markets pursued. The company strategic groups, therefore, need to operate differently and adopt structures that best implement its functions across the markets in different countries to ensure its survival and expansion as explained in Mpofu, Chigwende, and Karedza (2013).

            Within the components of the strategy, there is a difference in the dimensions that provide an insight on the appropriateness of each strategy and the relevance of each marketing action in implementing each strategic point effectively. The objectives of the businesses also tend to differ over the markets and specified on varied criteria focusing on performance dimensions of importance to the business. The firm has to carefully balance these dimensions to achieve simultaneous performance based on competencies with well-calculated trade-offs. Competitive strategy should be that which promises the business continued cash flow that exceeds the cost of capital incurred.

            According to Walker and Mullins (2011), “different strategies pursue different objectives for a business in different domains through different competitive approaches”. These strategies however cannot be applied in a similar manner in different business environments and market structures. Therefore it is important for a business to identify feasible environmental situations where each strategy can be applied. The constraints of resource allocation and market competitive situation dictate the design of marketing programs business products or services.

            According to Singh (2013), the food market is ever growing promising no smooth sailing. Woolworths, therefore, need to create and sustain competitiveness over other market players, through entry into the new markets or increasing their market share. The chain must carefully examine prevailing conditions in their industry and predict the likely future trends. It has to examine the analytical foundation of marketing process involving the company and its people, the environmental context in which it operates, the competition it faces and it is likely to face and the target customers. Based on the company competencies and the market it serves together with the industry it is competing in, the strategy will be well understood.

            To be consistently profitable, Woolworth must focus on the competitive forces that include competitor rivalry, threat of new entrants, supplier and buyers bargaining power and threats of substitute products in order to determine the attractiveness of the industry in the long run. This is conducted through a checklist that give insight on the resources required and the strategies adopted for the company to be successful. In the industry in which the business plays, the major threats are possible substitute products and rivalry of its competitors in the environment. The industry has new entrants over time taking the rivalry farther.

            Even though the business offers fresh food and a range of attractive products and services to its customers, it does not mean that enough customers will buy them or many customers prefer them. The company must concentrate on, and understand the customers who they target with their products to understand the attractiveness of the market. Woolworth however has been successful overtime. The success can be tied to its company specific strategies that are its critical factors the competitors cannot imitate. The chain also locates its stores in strategic places accessible to customers coupling with free customer service aside their products.

            The company has also exploited the advantages of technology and internet. It has gone an extent of partnering with Truthworks to ensure that the internet advantage is exploited. It is utilizing the web based avenues in marketing itself and the products, providing information about its components the service and product lines. It has a website which is easy to toggle around presenting ease of access to customers who may access it. The website offers opportunity for online shopping and information on any new products that the company is releasing. This enables the company to gain real time insight about the customer response to its products and the preferences expressed by them.

            In the Journal for defense resource management, Minculete and Chisega-Negrila (2013) argue that “internet has presented radical phenomenon to marketing whose elements are difficult to quantify”. They further argue that the advancements are presenting evolutions putting to test the ability of current managers and bringing a shift in modern argument. Woolworth exploited the internet to form and develop its image with regard to its strategies together with its products and services. Woolworth engages in online marketing through their website accessible in the worldwide web to enhance their sales and provide company information and details. Online promotion is another aspect through which the company attracts the website visitors.

            On accessing their web page, a customer is able to view the general face of the business in one interface before concentrating on the specific area of interest. The company has also partnered with creators of search engines so as to avail their webpage and their product line online. The firm is also managing its reputation online stressing on the price guarantee, the different brands and the quality of their products. On accessing their webpage, the customer will be attracted by the general looks and the offers expressed on the site. The company has been able to use the internet not only for advertising itself but according to situations, and the purpose it should serve to take into account marketing view in an online context according to their strategy and techniques (Deloitte, 2014).

            The company successes are unconfined and it must have undergone several changes due to circumstances surrounding its market environment. The shifts in the industry circumstances force the company to undergo complete overhaul of its strategy as a reactive technique. Change in operation structures, decision making, co-ordination process and reward systems get to help the company in effectively implementing its strategies. Woolworths has been able to establish prospects to encounter changes in the market environment rather than its already established units. This has been successful through the acquisition and transformation of other retail shops and businesses. It has moved strategically to provide products that are relevant to markets their products enter into with the ability of pointing out what is best for its products, and capabilities of its operations.