Sunday 24 October 2010

Marketing mix of shiverpool

Marketing Mix of Shiverpool:-
As a small firm, Shiverpool should be very clear about the services it offers because services offered are the heart of the marketing mix. Shiverpool should be very clear about the core benefits of their services. The core benefit which Shiverpool has is the rich history and culture of the Liverpool which Shiverpool is using quite well in designing the scripts for its ghost tours. From the other P’s of marketing, placement is of immense importance because if the placement of services is correct then it can save a lot off advertising money for the small firm which can be used somewhere else. So for Shiverpool it is very important that it carefully select its locations and stories during the ghost tours to capture a favorable place in the mind of the customers which will ultimately create a positive word of mouth and will create a customer relationship and can also save advertising money. Price is the third P of Marketing and if the business has taken all the other steps right but still the business can be a failure if the products/services are priced incorrectly. Price depends on various factors such as competition, costs and demand so businesses should be very careful in setting the prices as all the other P’s of marketing which include product, place and promotion add value to the customers and costs the business and price is the thing through which business can recover its costs and make profits. Shiverpool has no direct competition in Liverpool but as a tourist place and former capital of culture it has indirect competition from other tourist attractions in the city so it has to be very careful in setting the prices for its ghost tours and Shiverpool mostly does market penetration pricing in which they charge very low prices then expected from the customers in order to gain more market share in highly competitive market. The 4th P of marketing is promotion and the objective of any promotional campaign is to communicate and deliver the message to the target market. Any firm has to choose from the four major promotional tools (Advertising, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling and Public Relations) that how much weight they are going to place in each of the tool depending on the nature of the business.
As a small firm Shiverpool has to select its marketing tools carefully and should think first of saving marketing money by using the most appropriate and most efficient way of marketing. Shiverpool uses various marketing techniques effectively to create the awareness about the brand ‘Shiverpool’.
Shiverpool pays more attention towards advertising as through advertising they can persuade and inform the tourists and can also remind people about Shiverpool - The Ghost Tours as a brand. Shiverpool does viral marketing. Kotler defines viral marketing as “The use of pre existing social networks to market the brands”. Shiverpool has its page on social networking website Facebook where the visitors can join and get the alerts and news about the Shiverpool and its tours. There is also a photo section from which the photos of different ghost tours organized by Shiverpool can be downloaded. Shiverpool also use print media to promote itself. Shiverpool distribute broachers and flyers in the hotels of Liverpool to make the visitors aware about Shiverpool and its ghost tours. Internet marketing is the marketing medium of the dreams of small businesses and that is a medium which small firms can use to interact with their target audiences more effectively. The website of Shiverpool is developed by Glow New Media, a Liverpool based award winning web design and digital marketing agency. Shiverpool has very interactive website which offers videos and picture gallery. And within 14 weeks of launching the new website it achieved complete return on investment via online bookings. Visitors can also get all the recent offers and can book their tours through the website. Shiverpool also has mini site on visitliverpool.com and albertdock.com which also provides the information about the Shiverpool and its ghost tours. Shiverpool is also collaborating with the universities in Liverpool to know the number of international students and their nationalities so that they can drive better strategies to target those students and can drive ways of attracting their nation. Shiverpool also do the out of home advertising in which they place their advertising boards on different streets of Liverpool so that the tourists who do not know about it can come to know about the Shiverpool and its ghost tours. Finally Shiverpool is also doing undercover marketing. Undercover Marketing is a marketing concept in which the consumers are not aware that they are being marketed. As the ghost tours of Shiverpool go through the different streets of Liverpool so the people passing by the roads become aware about the Shiverpool and its services. Shiverpool also do shock advertising occasionally in which they adopt different techniques to create the awareness about the Shiverpool and its ghost tours. For example on one Halloween night, john stone the owner of Shiverpool put a black casket on which scary stories about the Halloween night were written on a car and drove through the roads of Liverpool or once an actor of Shiverpool stood in a shopping mall mysteriously wearing a makeup and complete black dress. So by these ways the passerby’s become curious about strange thing happening around them and when they come to know that it is from Shiverpool - The Ghost Tours then it creates the suspense among the viewers to know that what is Shiverpool and what are the ghost tours so they come to the ghost tours organized by Shiverpool to know more about the characters, stories and the history of Liverpool.

environmental analysis and SWOT for a firm

Environmental Analysis:
McDonalds is company which is globally expanding on a fast track, but it has faced a lot of problems like legislations and the political stability in which ever country they wanted to choose to open an outlet. In any country they want to enter it is their duty to consider all rules regarding cross contamination and other concerns such as environment, religious limitations. For example, while entering UK, any company cannot sell alcohol as it’s against the law, unlike countries like Greece. “Police chiefs in Birmingham, central England, have issued officers with vouchers to eat at McDonald's, in an effort to increase their visibility and save time in walking or driving back to the staff canteen”, (Johnson, 2002). The company has also released their report of the social responsibilities and the various steps company takes to taking environment and society into consideration. This is a sensitive issue to the company especially in the less developed countries. The company has also started campaigns to support charities such as UNICEF.
Technology wise the company is bound or rather forced to be better or moderately developed depending on its growth or the market share in which they are in competition with. This happens not just due to high production but also due to number of different products which they produce. All of this is just to maintain the competitive advantage and to make sure company has a good name in terms of fast service which is also efficient at the same time, which is in a healthy environment with not much skilled staff and the equipments doing most of the work. (Markatos, 2006)






McDonalds S.W.O.T Analysis


Strengths    
                        
• Brand Equity…world-wide
• 42% of US fast-food hamburger
business
• Consistency of food
• Successful items: Fries, Happy Meal,
Big Mac, Egg McMuffin, Promotions
• Overseas market
• Balance sheet position

Weaknesses:
• Declining market share
• Weak product development
• Disgruntled franchisees
• Quality and taste of products


Opportunities:
• International expansion
• Only serving 1% of the world’s
population
• Growing dining-out market




Threats:
• Mature/overstored industry
• Strength of competition
• More health-conscious
consumers
• Changing demographics
• Fluctuation of foreign
exchange rates; Economies

communicaiton used in Movie

In-film placement: Krrish has many brands in the film by which they have earned much revenue approx to Rs 1 crore. There are several brands which provided promotional support to the film. Brands which are being placed in the film are: Samsung, Singapore tourism, tide, Star network, hero Honda, Lays, Bournvita, faber castell stationary, etc.
Co- promotion: krrish has done cross promotion with the help of advertising with certain products and different offers. They have also launched a game in name of Krrish. Before the release of krrish, they did cross promotion with Lifebuoy and for kinds they offered a contest “main bhi KRRISH offer” so as to target children. Lifebuoy soaps are all about protection and that is the common thread between Lifebuoy & Krrish. Hansaplast was also used as a source for co -promotion.      
Also, it is mutually beneficial. Pidilite Industries’ Acron brand of “Rangeela” colours has brought out special packs based on the film. Commercials on cartoon channels are inspiring juvenile viewers to “celebrate the magic of Krrish with ‘Rangeela’ colours”. The co-branded colours are also being made available at the multiplexes where the film is being screened.

Public Relation: Krrish has gained massive revenue from PR as it was Hrithik’s first release after 3 years. Also they have a path- breaking association with Singapore Tourism Board. Also krrish got an additional source for PR as they donated certain amount of money to charity. Another advantage was the special effects used in the film which gives the film a cutting edge.
Media tie up: Krrish has cobranded with products for commercials. Products they have chosen are according to their target market. Products such as: Rangeela color, lifebuoy, etc. They have tied up with Star entertainment, and they have also placed star as a product in the movie. Regular commercials of Krrish were shown in between the serials and movies. There was a media tie-up of Hansaplast with Krrish six months after the release of the movie.              

Merchandising: They have also used a medium of merchandising so as to communicate better with their target audiences. Krrish tied up with Pantaloon retail limited for manufacturing and marketing of its merchandising. Such as games, krrish toys, mugs, bags, and specially mask of Krrish.
     

Destination Partner: They have done most of shoot in Singapore and by which they have also reduced their 50% of production cost. A special Krrish trailer was launched by Singapore tourism board so as to attract the audiences towards Singapore tourism locations. There are certain tours introduced by Singapore tourism board in which they included the locations used in krrish movie.
Other promotional activities:
·         Print and TV Marketing (interview’s of cast and crew)
·         Mobile Contests and Downloads
·         Banners and Hoardings
·         Internet (facebook ,orkut) and Mobile Marketing
·         Promotional Events (making of film)  

4 p's in movie industry

Four P’s concept applied on Movie industry:
PRODUCT: For a movie to be selected by its target audiences, it needs to be clearly identified by the audiences in its Marketing. Marketing should include the knowledge of genre, core cast, theme of film, special effects, etc. If we take Movie as a Product we can say that it is an intellectual product that can be delivered by different ways: like, by theaters, video tapes, DVD’s, CD’s of sound tracks, television and also by Internet, etc.
PRICE: Pricing in movie industry looks to be very standardized as in multiplexes, a movie ticket cost same for all the movies. But if we considered the broader concept of movie product then the price is very fluctuating. There are certain contracts which are made between producers and distributors and according to the distribution contract the returns are given to producers. It can be negotiated on the bases of:
  • Market segments
  • Percentages
  • Promotional budgets
  • Theatrical schedules
PLACE: Now innovation in technology has discovered so many ways as people find venues for entertainment not only by Theaters and broadcast, but on in homes, by internet, on phones, etc. options for delivering the movie product are expanding.
Promotion: Promotion is a very important marketing tool for every movie form the initial stage but till end of lifecycle of that movie. Promotion of the film is done by many of the techniques like through merchandising; media tie up, in film placements, promoting new games and toys with in the market. Promotion helps in attracting audiences towards theatre.

SWOT on IPL

SWOT Analysis Indian Premier League (IPL)
Where will you find the Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers, the Deccan Chargers, the
Channai Super Kings, the Delhi Daredevils, the Kings XI Punjab, the Kolkata Knight Riders
and the Rajesthan Royals? In the
franchise that the World has seen in recent years, with seemingly endless marketing
opportunities (and strengths, weaknesses and threats of course!).
Indian Premier League (IPL) - the most exciting sports
Strengths
·
completed in 2 ½ hours. That means that is fast-paced and exciting, and moreover it can be
played on a weekday evening or weekend afternoon. That makes it very appealing as a
mass sport, just like American Football, Basketball and Soccer. It is appealing as a spectator
sport, as well to TV audiences.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is based upon the Twenty20 cricket game which should be
·
more unified the sport, the more successful it is.
The IPL has employed economists to structure its lead so that revenue is maximized. The
Weaknesses
·
game that generated it.
Twenty20 has been so popular that it could replace other forms of cricket i.e. damage the
·
most popular games. There may be some distance between where the fan lives and the
cricket ground.
Some fans will also have to pay for travel to the ground. There may be large queues for the
·
quick to get rid of key managers and players if things don't go well quickly. Famously, Royal
Challengers Bangalore (RCB) sacked their CEO Charu Sharma for watching his team lose 6
from their first 8 games.
Stakes are very high! Some teams may not weather short-term failures and may be too
·
returns (e.g. Royal Challengers), and some sponsors and are moving their investment the
more reasonably priced teams.
Some teams have overpriced their advertising/sponsorship in order to gain some short-term
Opportunities
·
communications opportunity, especially for advertisers and sponsors.
Since it has a large potential mass audience, IPL is very attractive as a marketing
·
marketing its team to gain as large a fan-base as possible. The long-term success of all of
the franchises lies in the generation of a solid fan-base. The fan-base will generate large TV
revenues.
The league functions under a number of franchises. Each franchisee is responsible for
·
hospitality, season tickets, away tickets, TV pay-per-view and other ways to segment the
market for the IPL.
Different fans will pay different amounts to watch their sport. There will be corporate
·
memorabilia. Grounds can also sell refreshments and other services during the games.
There is a huge opportunity for merchandising e.g. sales of shirts, credit cards and other fan
·
long-term fan-base. Their parents and older cricket fans may prefer the longer, more
traditional game. The youth market may also impress on their parents that they want them
to buy their club's merchandise on their behalf - as a differentiator or status symbol.
Marketers believe that the teenage segments need to be targeted so that they become the
·
is safe against inflation which is traditionally relatively high in India.
Franchise fees will remain fixed for the up until 2017-18, which means that the investment
Threats
·
determines long-term viability of the league. If the level of competition drops, then revenue
will fall. For example, if the top names in cricket cannot be attracted to India, the appeal of
the game will fall. Often getting hold of the big names is a problem - Australian domestic
cricket runs concurrent with the IPL and if players move form Australia to India to follow the
money then their domestic game will be hit. This is known as 'Free Agency.'
The level of competition that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) can generate
·
pay the salaries of the best players. However, if you invest in the best players and they do
not win the trophies, then you may not see a return on your investment. It won't be a quick
return on investment - so owners need to be in it for the long-term.
If the franchisee's fan-base does not generate income then they may not have the cash to
·
bought by Mukesh Ambani for $111.9 million, whereas the lowest priced franchise -
Rajasthan Royals was picked up by Manoj Badale for a mere $67 million.
Franchises are very expensive. The most expensive franchise - Mumbai Indians - was
·
come from the most highly supported teams.
The most highly priced teams may not be those that have the early success. Revenues will

competitor analysis of firm

Competitor Analysis

McDonalds is on the first franchising company in the world with sales more than $31.81 billion. The biggest competitor of McDonalds as of now is Burger king which follows the sales of $9.01 billion. (Kotler et al, 1998) The strength of McDonalds has always been standardization where the company has provided same consistency of the products where their burgers taste the same everywhere. It has been targeting the children and teenagers, which later become their future loyal customers. “The well technologically developed H.V.A.C systems provided the company restaurants with a healthy environment” (Markatos, 2006) one another capability of this company is that the company can afford a huge budget of marketing and advertising their campaigns around the world. (Markatos, 2006)

Internal Analysis
The staff in McDonalds are usually young people generally students that work as part timers. The main disadvantage in this would be the major turnover of but it can be balanced as the expenses in training the new employees in limited. Also all the raw material the company uses for the production of the items in their menu come from different suppliers. These companies for eg McDonalds try to use local suppliers just so that they could meet the needs of the customers when in different countries. The best example would her be India, as in India selling or eating of beef is banned due to religious issues. So they had to look for a local supplier to find an alternative. (Markatos. 2006)

customer analysis of a comapny

Customer Analysis
“A major trend in the USA and Canada and in most of the industrial world is that more
People are eating meals outside their homes. It is predicted that this trend will accelerate in the future. As a result, fast food markets will offer greater growth opportunities for marketers. Presents consumers’ perceptions and preferences for fast-food is increasing for restaurants in the USA and Canada.”(Kara, Kaynak,, Kucukemiroglu, 1997) Understanding of customer perceptions of service quality and value is especially important to international service firms because such perceptions
are susceptible to cultural differences. In countries with different cultures,
tastes and living habits US service companies need to be aware and adaptive
to local needs. (Ulgado,Lee 1997)Customer’s perception of most these fast food companies such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC etc is “Good cheap food” which fits every lifestyle including students. ”Real treat for the family and it is very good value” “If you are taking the kids out it makes sense” and some people have said “its not the food but the kids want to go there” Customers like going to these fast places only because they have made it convenient for their consumers where in they can eat in or take away or drive through.  (Jones, Shears, Hillier, Clarke-Hill, 2002)