Marketing Plan for Houzit: A Brisbane Homeware Chain

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BSBMKG609 Marketing Plan
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Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................3
A.) Organizational overview....................................................................................................................4
a.) Organizational objectives and strategic decision............................................................................4
b.) Current size and resources & capabilities of Houzit company: -...................................................4
c.) Identification of gaps......................................................................................................................5
B.) Opportunities.....................................................................................................................................6
a.) Two marketing opportunities..........................................................................................................6
b.) Opportunity that best addresses organizational objectives.............................................................6
i.) marketing mix strategy................................................................................................................7
ii.) alignment of strategies with strategic decision..........................................................................8
iii.) Marketing performance review.................................................................................................8
iv.) metrics to be used in measuring marketing performance..........................................................8
C.) Tactics............................................................................................................................................9
a.) tactics to implement the strategy................................................................................................9
b.) legal and ethical requirements....................................................................................................9
c.) tactics fit within organizational resources and capabilities......................................................10
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................12
References..............................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
A report is prepared over the Houzit located at Brisbane. It is a chain of Homeware stores and
they are specialists into bathroom fittings, bedroom fittings, mirrors, and decorative items.
Marketing strategies and plan is required for the purpose of advertising their product in their
respective market and increase their share. There are various topics discussed in the report
such as strategies, organizational structure, their goals and objectives, available opportunities
and tactics to attain them. Legal requirements along with ethical segment get discussed as it
helps in preparing relevant strategies. Only planning is not sufficient to attain the set goals
then is a requirement of effective implementation of these planned strategies.
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A.) Organizational overview
Houzit is located in Brisbane and they are dealing in homewares. They render accessories
related to the bathroom as well as bedroom, glasses and other decorative items. It is around
five years of operations for Houzit in the market. They attain a wide range of accessories;
they provide easy to manage payment terms. Their customers get three years warranty on
their respective products. In Brisbane, they are operating with 15 stores. These all 15 stores
managed and coordinated by their head office which is situated at Milton.
a.) Organizational objectives and strategic decision
The main objectives of Houzit make the inclusion of the following: -
 They focused on delivering quality and unique products to their respective customers.
 Need to increase customer satisfaction.
 Need to become a global leader by 2020 in their segment of homewares.
 Focusing over increasing their overall sales from $15 million to $20 million
 To build a strong base of loyal customers
 To build strong brand awareness so that 1 out of 3 people recognize their brand by
2020
 To become the most preferred company for their respective customers in terms of
quality products and services.
 To become easily accessible stores
b.) Current size and resources & capabilities of Houzit company: -
The store size is from 1000 to 1500 m2 and they are operated by 15 stores. They have great
retail space that provides a variety of products to their customers. They have around 15-20
full-time employees, in addition, they have casual employees. The organizational strength
includes they have enough skilled staff who can covert the one-time customer into multiple
time customer. Their frequent buyers include such customers who purchase mirrors and
decorative items. They are facing issues related to the availability of funds due to which they
are not able to market their respective products at a higher level in their target market. Under
their capability belt, they have unique and quality products. They also provide easy payment
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system which attracts a number of customers. Houzit is capable enough in meeting
requirements as they have high customer loyalty.
Strength of company: - there are certain strengths that include: -
 High-quality products
 Attractive services as they provide a long warranty period of 3 years over their
products.
 Staff members are skilled enough to convert customer for a longer period
 Higher customer satisfaction
 Use of good technology.
 Higher customer loyalty
 Repetitive customers
 They provide quality, range, and accessibility in their product which attract a huge
customer base.
The weakness of the company: - there is some weakness that is affecting their sales that
include: -
 They are facing a lack of support in terms of finance
 They have lesser brand recognition in their market
 Not having sufficient funds to develop their brand awareness within their target
market
c.) Identification of gaps
For the betterment of the company, it is very important to identify the gaps. It helps in
identifying the loopholes or where they are lacking in order to attain their desired success
(Kreutzer, 2019). With the help of it, Houzit will modify or prepare their strategies that
provide support in achieving their set goals and objectives. In the absence of the gap
identification, Houzit fails to attain their objectives as they didn’t input their overall efforts in
the right direction. The identified gaps include Houzit has lesser number of skilled employees
due to which they are not able to make adequate sales. Their strategy to target maximum
crowd get affected adversely with this and they didn’t attract a number of customers in the
end. Their mostly employees are casuals that affect their sales. Secondly, they are short of
funds due to which they are not able to market their products and services in the market at
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large scale. Other identified gaps include that even after 5years they have sales of $15 million
every year and a base of 10,000 loyal customers per year. Currently, they are working in
Brisbane only with 15 stores and they don’t operate in interstate. Their liquidity gets
impacted as the increasingly provide credit to their customers with the purchase of the
product.
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B.) Opportunities
a.) Two marketing opportunities
In order to attain the set objectives, the most effective opportunities include: -
 Franchising: - In order to attain larger market Houzit may come up with the
Franchising facility. There are certain benefits enjoyed by the Houzit with this
opportunity as they didn’t need to fund the whole business, they need to charge a
certain amount from the franchise holder and provide them their quality products.
They need to monitor the activities as they didn’t sell other products without their
permission. They need to take care of the quality of products provided to their
customers (Kreutzer, 2019). It helps in capturing a larger area. Franchisee holder
invests money for the purpose of marketing and promotion.
But there is some risk associated with this factor as it may harm their goodwill if they
fail to monitor their activities on a regular basis. The planning of capturing larger
market share get demolished (Kreutzer, 2019). They might sell lower quality products
with their brand name that impact their goodwill in the market. There are some certain
of benefits enjoy by them such as the cost of marketing and promotion will be
invested by the Franchisee owner. Other costs like hiring, maintenance, etc. will be
paid by the owner and they will earn some share of profits.
 Joint venture: - Houzit can also opt a joint venture in order to increase their market
share. Joint venture helps them in locating at a different location at a greater speed.
The risk associated with this include that there is a sharing in the control over the
venture (Chernev, 2015). There might be a possibility of disagreement over the issues
identified in the new markets. The major risk will be the difference of quality in their
respective product that might impact their goodwill or brand recognition (Chernev,
2015). Along with this, there is some sort of benefits they will attain with a joint
venture that includes sharing in available risks and costs, they become able to make a
faster entry in a new market and get fast return over their investment made.
b.) Opportunity that best addresses organizational objectives
Both opportunities help in getting their set objectives that include they easily attain larger
market share with the help of Joint venture and Franchisee option. They also create more
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opportunities with the help of these as they took their product at a larger population. As per
their objective, they open more stores in Brisbane and show their presence.
i.) marketing mix strategy
In order to support their opportunity, Houzit comes up with the marketing mix strategy in
which they make use of 4P’s (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion)
Product: - goods or services rendered by the Houzit. As per the contribution in the marketing
mix strategies, it includes a range of products, it's quality, features, brand name, after sale
services and others (Chernev, 2015).
Price: - that amount which is paid by the customers to make purchases. For the marketing
mix strategy, the factors of price included by the Houzit like list prices, credit terms, payment
period, cash and credit facility, allowances, discounts, and others (Chernev, 2015).
Place: - Location from where customers get their products. The factors under place
considered for preparing marketing mix strategy includes different locations, transportation,
channels, logistics, and others (Paley, 2017).
Promotions: - Such activities that make the customer aware to purchase the product. The
factors that are considered for strategy planning includes advertisement, personal selling,
sales promotion, and others (Paley, 2017).
Houzit combines all 4 P’s to prepare an effective marketing mix that helps in attaining their
set objectives and provide value to their respective customers. It helps in establishing the
product position in its target market.
In their planning, Houzit also focuses on four C’s as instead of seller they put their customer
interest first. So, all 4P’s get replaced by 4C’s. The product got replaced by customer
solutions, Price got replaced by Customer cost, Place got replaced by convenience and
promotion got replaced by communication.
Customer solution: - While making strategies Hourtiz focuses on the customer solution. As
they provide such product in the market which can solve the problem of their customer or
which make value to them (Paley, 2017).
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Customer cost: - Houzit focuses on the customer cost while deciding pricing that helps in
attracting a number of customers. Customer need to know the total cost of acquisition.
Convenience: - Houzit needs to provide convenience to their customers so that they can make
purchases easily. It may include the location of the store, the interior of the store and others
(Paley, 2017).
Communication: - Houzit needs to build two-way communication with their respective
customers as it helps in resolving customer queries (Paley, 2017).
ii.) alignment of strategies with strategic decision
As per the strategy, Houzit whether opting franchising or joint venture. In both cases, their
motive is to expand its business in a larger market area. And with the help of the marketing
mix strategy, they can try to attain their set objectives and available opportunities. By
following the customer-centric strategy (4 C’s) they easily increase the number of customers
in their market. With the help of their extensive services, they make their loyal customers
(Baverstock, 2015). It helps in increasing their revenue generation as well as increases their
overall loyal customers.
iii.) Marketing performance review
In order to review their marketing performance, Houzit makes use of product life cycle
analysis. The product life cycle is that cycle in which product goes from the introduction (it
means launch in the market) to exit (when the company stops manufacturing or producing).
The product life cycle includes 5 stages that include development, introduction, growth,
maturity, and decline (Khurana, 2017). Development includes the production of product,
Introduction part include the launch of product in their target market, Growth part includes
the demand and awareness of product in the market when it keeps on increasing, Maturity
part includes sales remain constant and shows minor downfall in some months, and in the end
decline phase include the diminishing sales and minimum response from the market towards
that product (Khurana, 2017). With the help of this marketing manager arrange alternate
marketing strategies to deal with the upcoming challenges.
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iv.) metrics to be used in measuring marketing performance
To measure the marketing performance customer satisfaction and market share can be used as
metrics. Both of them are effective enough to share the results of whether Houzit is going
well or not. Increase in market share, as well as increase in customer satisfaction, shows that
their marketing mix strategy (inclusion of 4P’s and 4C’s) are effective enough to attain their
set objectives (Khurana, 2017). Increase in market share and customer satisfaction help them
in increasing their revenue as well as build up a strong loyal customer base. They also
enhance their brand with the help of it and make brand awareness in a larger group.
C.) Tactics
a.) tactics to implement the strategy
In order to implement the strategy, Houzit needs to follow tactics such as: -
 Scheduling: - Houzit schedules their activities in such a manner so that they prioritize
their activities. It helps in achieving their set targets. It is an effective time
management tool that helps in getting the prioritize the work and getting them
complete on time. Firstly, there is a need to identify the available time, prioritize the
work which is highly important, block time for some unpredictable situations, and
analyze the activities. It helps in segregating the available resources effectively and
equally (Leonidou, et. al., 2018). Unwanted wastage of resources can be avoided with
the help of it as less priority work gets completed at the last and with the available
resources only. It helps in saving available time.
 Budgeting: - Houzit set their budgets in order to execute their strategies. With the help
of it, Houzit set their standards of performance. Mainly the finance department is
responsible for developing budgets (Leonidou, et. al., 2018). Proper fund management
is executed with the help of it. They can manage their available funds in an effective
manner so that none of the activity will face a financial crisis. They also predict the
requirement of funds well in advance and make proper arrangement to support their
business activities (Morgan, et. al., 2019).
 Roles and responsibilities: - Houzit set specific roles and responsibilities so that it
helps in attaining their set targets. With the help of its activities get monitored
properly (Morgan, et. al., 2019). It provides clarity within the process. It creates
effective communication and coordination within the team and helps in attaining their
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set goals (Morgan, et. al., 2019). If they get adverse results then they easily identify
the loophole or fault due to which they get unfavourable results.
 Monitoring KPI’s: - It becomes very important to monitor KPI’s so that they help in
attaining their objectives. It helps in evaluating overall performance. It helps in
guiding the business towards their strategic goals. KPI is considered as a compass
which helps in measuring their business performance (Blakeman, 2018). KPI’s can be
financial and non-financial that helps in enhancing their overall performance. With
the help of it identifying the loopholes become easy and also helps in getting solutions
for them.
b.) legal and ethical requirements
Every organization is working as per the set rules and regulation or within ethical boundaries.
These ethical boundaries defined by applicable laws and standards (Gaughan, & Javalgi,
2018). Ethics defines moral values and characteristics and conduct business activities in the
right direction. It helps in building an ethical decision-making framework. It reduces the
chances of an ethical dilemma that also reduces the ethical obligations (Elliott, & Salyer,
2018). An ethical framework is that framework which is bound by the government rules,
having a system of principles and more which helps in judging the actions whether it is right
or wrong. The organization needs to perform its activities by following the set rules and
regulations or legal acts (Gaughan, & Javalgi, 2018). It is very important for them to keep
updated with the policies in order to restrict the violation of rules implied.
There are some legal and ethical requirements that need to be followed by the Houzit such as:
-
i) Consumer rights and product requirements: - It covers anti-competitive conduct,
price fixing, etc. it regulates product safety, the weight of goods, etc (Gaughan, &
Javalgi, 2018).
ii) Codes of practice: - They need to follow the codes of practice set by the industry.
iii) Privacy act 1988: - They need to regulate the personal information of their
respective customers (that may include information related to customer’s account,
address, etc. collected for the credit purpose). Customer information is the
customer’s right that needs to be protected from getting theft (Zhukov, 2019). It is
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essential to have a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a legal
guardian in order to protect their client’s information.
iv) Trademarks, patents and intellectual property: - It helps in protecting the products
and idea. By getting patents they safeguard their product and the quality from their
competitors (Zhukov, 2019).
c.) tactics fit within organizational resources and capabilities
The above-mentioned tactics fit within the organizational resources and capabilities as by
fixing budget they manage their available funds. By monitoring KPI’s they can effectively
manage their performance and evaluate them on a timely basis. Scheduling helps them in
prioritizing their activities so that they can execute their plans on a timely basis (Blakeman,
2018). It helps in making effective use of their available resources and makes most out of
them. Fixing roles and responsibilities help them in assigning the activities to the right person
and with the help of it they can execute the short-term plans effectively to attain their long-
term goals. Prioritizing the work activities helps in completing the urgent and productive task
well before the time. Non-urgent and less productive work gets completed in the end due to
which efficient resources will be utilised at the right place. With the help of its things get
completed successfully. Budgeting provide an effective level of control over their available
funds and it help in providing adequate funds to the respective activity (Ibrahim, & Harrison,
2019). They can arrange funds before the time so that they avoid any kind of harm. They
make predictions of the fund requirements with the help of the budgeting. They put control
over the usage of the liquid funds and avoid unnecessary wastage.
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