Marketing Management Report: Strategies for Folio Books, Brisbane

This report provides a comprehensive marketing analysis of Folio Books, a Brisbane-based bookstore. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, followed by a profile of the organization and its current market strategy. The report delves into the current target markets, marketing strategies, and a detailed customer persona. It includes a competitor analysis, strategic analysis using SWOT, and PEST tools. The latter half of the report focuses on recommendations for a new marketing plan, social media presence, budget considerations, and control and evaluation measures. The report concludes with overall recommendations for the firm's success in the digital age, referencing key concepts in marketing management and digital marketing. The case study covers the analysis of the company's digital experience and provides actionable insights for improvement.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The digitalization has changed the face of the business and hence, it is with respect to this that
the different firms are required to undertake considerable initiatives to ensure that the firm will
be able not create a competitive positioning for itself in the market. Th focus of the report lies on
understanding the way the firm will be able to attain digital success. The firm which has been
chosen is the Folio Books in Brisbane. The report follows a structured format with respect to
which the Introduction has been followed by the current strategy analysis and the persona
analysis. Recommendations for the future have been provided.

2MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
A profile of the organization and current market strategy...............................................................3
Current target markets and marketing strategies.............................................................................4
Customer Persona............................................................................................................................4
Competitor Analysis........................................................................................................................7
Strategic Analysis............................................................................................................................9
Recommendations for new plan....................................................................................................13
Social media presence....................................................................................................................15
Budget............................................................................................................................................16
The control and evaluation measures............................................................................................18
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................21

3MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The Marketing management can be understood to be taken as an integral part of the
organization and with respect to this, all the businesses as present in the business environment
would be required to ensure that they are being able to successfully undertake certain initiatives
relating to the domain of marketing. Due to the advancement of technology, the domain of
marketing has undergone a considerable change and in line of this, digital marketing has become
a considerably popular topic (Bagozzi et al, 2018). Hence, the primary focus of the study can be
understood to be directed towards the Marketing management and the related techniques and
strategies which will assist in understanding what moves can be chosen by the firm in question.
The company which has been selected for the purpose of analysis is the Folio Books. Hence, the
focus of the study will lie on understanding the manner in which the firm needs to form the
adequate strategy based on the current market strategy, the targeted customer segment, the
external influences which have an influence on the overall operations of the firm and a set of
recommendations which would assist in improving the different operations of the organization.
The study follows a systematic format whereby the report begins with a brief introduction which
is then followed by a profile of the firm and the current market strategy which the firm has been
following. Along with this, the report will also throw light on the current marketing strategy
along with the current target market which the firm has been serving. This is followed by the
discussion on the Consumer persona and the competitor as well as the strategic analysis using
tools like SWOT and PEST have been undertaken which assists in understanding how the firm
has the potential to perform well and currently how it has been performing. After the analysis,
the latter half of the report focuses on the new recommended marketing plan and the evaluation
strategies which have to be adopted with respect to the same. Certain recommendations for the
overall welfare of the firm have also been provided.
A profile of the organization and current market strategy
As mentioned earlier, the organization is in Brisbane and offers a unique instore
experience to the different readers with their huge collection of books which range from different

4MARKETING MANAGEMENT
domains like the Fiction, Art, Architecture, History, Cooking, Graphic Design and many more.
Presently, the firm has come up with the online experience which provides a unique and
personalized experience to the different individuals and offers them with an extensive range of
books which are thoughtfully chosen based on the profile of the reader. In addition to the
personalized experience for each of the readers, the Folio Books will also provide the different
readers with a specialized customer service which will be from the highly experienced as well as
the knowledgeable booksellers. The firm also engages in the customer special orders whereby if
a customer is unable to find any product related to their choice then, the firm orders it and makes
the good available to them.
Current target markets and marketing strategies
The current target market which the firm has been catering to can be understood to be the
book lovers who enjoy reading and thereby with respect to this, ensuring that they will
successfully be able to order the books which are not available at their disposal. (Baker, 2016).
Therefore, these individuals want to satisfy themselves with the unique experiences which are
generally offered to them and make the resources useful for them (Grzegorczyk, 2017). The
marketing strategy which is being utilised by the firm can be understood to be enhancing the
instore experience of the different customers and engaging in differentiation services which will
ensure higher experience to the different customers. In addition to this, by offering books on a
varied offering to the customers the firm is creating a brand name for itself and in line of this, the
customers are being offered the facility to choose exclusive experiences for themselves. In line
with this, the firm uses the traditional mediums of advertising whereby it is being able to reach
out to the different customers using print media and related tools (Gummesson, 2017).
Customer Persona
Persona Type Marketing
User/Customer Name Job Title/Functional Role Customer/User segment
Jenny College Professor Regular customer
Photo Key Demographic Details Personality& Behavioral

5MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Characteristics
Age: 36 years
Gender: Female
Family: Married with two
children
Education: Master’s in
English and Sociology
Location: Brisbane
Income: $85,000
Organizational details:
ABC University
Employment: 10 years
Is an avid reader
Generally, orders books on
a very regular basis
Manages various assistant
professors
Prefers to keep herself
updated with respect to
various domains and
related topics.
Is very committed towards
ensuring that she can
provide the best service to
the different students.
Hands on program manager
with adequate skills of
management and
vocational as well.
Has a strong influence on
the purchase decisions of
the different students
Reads topics related to
Sociology, Modern
English, Political science,
Autobiographies and
Current affairs

6MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Representative Quote Pain Points Drivers & Influencers
“I would like all the readers to enjoy
the art of reading just the way I do.
The digital era has taken
up and hence, accessing
books from different
sources have become very
difficult.
Various publishers these
days now engage in the
print of the e-books only
which makes it difficult for
the students to get the feel
of the physical books.
Good variety of books with
original copies.
With respect to online
reading, a good interface
Ease of ordering a good
and unique book
Purchase/User Experience Goals Motivations Perceived Obstacles
Reduce time spent on going through
different books.
Finding the right copy of the right
book.
Wants to ensure that her
students will be able to get
thee right choice of books.
Wants to fulfill her
monthly reading goals.
Inability to visit the store
very often.
Lack of awareness about
the developments of the
website
Relationship to Brand/Product Technology Expertise Preferred Channels /
Devices / Platforms
A reading expert
Has been a customer since the last 20
years
Is a regular on the website as well
Is comfortable browsing
and shopping online
In case of any
Internet and digital medium
In store experience

7MARKETING MANAGEMENT
However, is willing to experience
new brands and stores as well.
technological update,
should be informed about
the update
Competitor Analysis
There are many competitors of the business who are based in Australia and tend to
provide intense rivalry to the Folio Books in Brisbane. The primary competitors of the firm
comprise of the online book industry like the Booktopia, Dymocks, QBD, Boomerang Books,
Amazon, Bookworm.com and the Fishpond.com among others. As these firms require a
comparatively low infrastructural costs, the costs of the business are considerably low and hence,
they tend to provide lower costs to the different customers which then makes it difficult for the
Folio Books to follow the trend and hence, when they are unable to find these discounts and
provide it to the customers, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to carry out the different
operations (Baker & Saren, 2016). However, for the purpose of the analysis, the Amazon
bookstore will be chosen for the purpose of the analysis. The Amazon is an ecommerce business
which is present in Australia and tends to engage in the operations of selling goods and services
online to the different customers. In line with this, the organization tends to ensure that, it is
being able to successfully attain their overall objectives by offering huge discounts and a good
collection of the books which appeals to the different customers.

8MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Figure 1: The positioning map
(As created by the author)
CIRCLE: folio Books
Square: Amazon
Triangle: Fishpond.com
The primary objective with which the organization tends to carry out the operations of the
firm can be understood to be as follows:
 To provide the best possible book collection to the different members of the target
audience
 To provide the best digital experience to the different users and to ensure that they are
being provided with the best interface as possible.

9MARKETING MANAGEMENT
 To offer the best prices to the different customers so that their overall sales can be
increased to a great extent.
Analysis of Digital experience
The digital experience can be understood to be the primary area whereby the new
bookstores have been trying to gain an overall digital experience. In line with this it becomes
crucially important for the firm to see to it that, they are being able to undertake the advantage of
the e-commerce medium in order to reach out to the different customers at a faster rate and in
line with this, the firm has a very strong social media and ecommerce domain presence (Chaffey
& Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). With respect to this, the firm has a strong e-commerce presence by
having its own portal such as the Amazon.au and it is with this portal name that the firm is
successfully able to reach out to the designated audience. Moreover, the organization also has
access to the use of the social media mediums like the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the
help of which the audience is able to get an access to the portal via browsing their social media
pages (Finkler,, Smith & Calabrese, 2018). In line with this, it is integral for the firm to ensure
that, it has maximum views on the social media and in addition to this are being able to gain the
maximum views and the maximum responses from the website.
Strategic Analysis
SWOT
The SWOT analysis can be understood to be a useful strategic management tool which
goes a long way in assisting the firm to understand the way it will be able to deal with the
different forces which exist in the business environment. In line of this, the SWOT of the firm
can be undertaken as follows:
Strengths Weaknesses
The strengths of the Folio Books can be
understood to be those aspects which assist
in ensuring that a firm is successfully able to
possess certain internal capabilities which
will assist in gaining a long-term competitive
advantage. The different strengths which
are generally possessed by Folio can be
The weakness of a business can be understood
to be the lack of an incapability which is
generally possessed by an organization and
thereby limits the firm to carry out the different
operations. The first weakness of the Folio
Books can be stated to be the lack of proper
online operations which assist in reaching out

10MARKETING MANAGEMENT
taken to be the huge collection of books
which are possessed by the firm, the
experience of 30 years, the instore
experience and the service expertise which
the firm has to offer to the different
customer (Haider et al., 2019).
to the customers and thereby limits the overall
revenue earning capability of the firm.
Additionally, Folio is although applying the
capabilities, is not being successfully able to
reach out to the different customers in the right
manner.
Opportunities Threats
The opportunities can be understood to be
the presence of certain scenarios which lie in
the external environment of the firm, which
prove as a good advantage to the firm to
succeed (Heding, Knudtzen & Bjerre,
2015). The Folio Books has an overall
opportunity to expand its business and
strengthen its overall positioning using the
online operations. In line with this, the
personalization of services and customized
marketing can also be understood to be a
technique which can be undertaken by Folio
in order to succeed in the long run.
The different threats which are being
faced by the organization can be referred to as
the various forces which lie in the external
environment of the firm and may impact the
operations of the firm negatively. The different
threats which are being faced by the Folio
Books can be understood to be competition
from the online book sellers like Amazon
(Homburg, Jozić & Kuehnl, (2017).
PEST
The PEST Analysis can be understood to be a useful strategic management tool which
assists in understanding the external environment forces which have an overall strong impact on
the operations of the firm. The PEST as a tool comprises of the Political, social, economic and
the Technological forces. This assists in understanding the way, the firm will perform its overall
operations in the long run. The PEST Analysis of the firm has been undertaken as follows:
Political/Legal The different book sellers which are
present in Australia have lobbied the
government regarding the two significant
political or social issues which are they
facing currently and is having an overall
impact on the overall operations of the firm.
It assists them to compete in the right
manner particularly with the overseas
retailers (Kannan, 2017). The first issue
which relates to Folio is the issue regarding

11MARKETING MANAGEMENT
the Imposition of the GST on the overseas
consumer purchases. In line with this, the
books which are generally purchased
currently from the overseas stores do not
tend to undergo subject to the Australian
Goods and Services Tax. Hence, with the
help of this the international retailers can
charge 10% cess for the items. Hence, this
proves to be aspect related to considerable
competition. Additionally, under the
Australian Copyright Act , the Australian
booksellers like Folio are obligated to make
a purchase of bulk orders of the books from
the Australian holder of rights. In line with
this, they are not permitted to purchase the
cheaper editions from the overseas supplier
if the rights which they are subject to get are
held locally. Hence, this tends to push up the
price of the local product thereby impacting
the overall impacting the overall
competitiveness of the Australian stores
when they are compared to the online
stores. In line of this, people prefer
purchasing the books offshore.
Economical The climate of Australia in the past five
years cannot be understood to be conducive to
growth subject to the bookselling industry in
the country. The period has been witnessed by
the weaker global economy and the instability
in global markets along with a fall in consumer
confidence and limited spending. The
purchase of the books for stores like Folio has
become a luxury with the plethora of other
media sources available and the variety of the
options which are available to a consumer. In
line of this, there are various less expensive
means to utilize a book and study rather than
purchasing it from an actual bookstore (Intezar,
2017). The Australian Dollar has remained
considerably strong and prompted various
customers to make the purchases from various
online stores where the Australian dollar
delivers a greater value. With limited spending
on the books, the different firms like Folio