Hungry Box Chicken: A Marketing Case Study on Competitive Strategies

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MARKETING ESSENTIALS
Hungry box chicken

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................... 4
P1 KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION OF HBC..................4
P2 HOW ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING RELATES TO THE WIDER
ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT................................................................................................6
M1 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING IN THE CONTEXT OF MARKETING
ENVIRONMENT.....................................................................................................................8
M2 SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MARKETING AND OTHER
FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF HBC.................................................................................................9
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................... 12
P3 COMPARING WAYS IN WHICH DIFFERENT ORGANISATIONS APPLY MARKETING MIX TO
THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS...............................................................................12
M3 DIFFERENT TACTICS APPLIED BY THE ORGANISATIONS TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................................................15
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................... 16
P4 & M4 PRODUCING AND EVALUATING A MARKETING PLAN FOR HBC...........................16
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 20
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 21
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INTRODUCTION
In the present business scenario, the marketing environment is very dynamic and it is
become very crucial to have a good marketing strategy and plan for every business
organization. Offering a good product and services is just not enough for the company to
strive in the current competitive business world (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Every
organization should have a clear understanding of the market to achieve profit and growth.
A brief discussion about the different aspects of marketing will be presented in this report to
support Hungry Box Chicken (HBC) Company in prospering in the current competitive
market. The roles and responsibilities of marketing functions and their interrelation with the
other functional units of the business organization will be discussed. The key elements of
marketing functions and their interrelation with the other functional units of the company
will be evaluated. Further, a marketing plan for HBC will be developed to support HBC in
retaining its customers in challenging market conditions.
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TASK 1
Hungry Box Chicken (HBC) is a restaurant providing a delicious fried chicken in more than 10
cities in the UK. It offers home-cooked style food with a cause. The company is currently
being targeted by the Campaign of an animal rights organization (Hungry Box, 2019). The
company is currently challenging several marketing issues and needs to formulate new
marketing strategies to thrive in the market. thus, this marketing report will enable the staff
to understand the key responsibilities and functions of marketing to support the
formulation of effective strategies.
P1 KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION OF HBC
The term marketing could be defined as a management process through which the products
and services of the company move from producers to customers. Marketing is mainly
associated with the activity of buying and selling of products involving several mediocre
activities such as advertising, research, selling and delivering the products to the customers.
Philip Kotler has defined marketing as "the science and art of investigating, producing and
delivering value for satisfying the needs and demands of the customer at profit” (Kotler and
Armstrong, 2010).
Nature of marketing
 Marketing is a legal process of transferring ownership
 It is a system of interacting business activities
 It is a dynamic managerial process
 It is an art as well as science
 Marketing is a customer oriented process
The main concept of marketing is based on the belief that the companies should analyze the
needs, the demand of the customers, and formulate rational decisions to satisfy those
needs to beat the competition in the market. the marketing concept has four pillars; client
needs, profitability, target market and integrated marketing (Armstrong, et al., 2015). There
are several emerging trends in marketing such as relationship marketing, industrial
marketing, and societal marketing.
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KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING WITHIN HBC
 Market Research: understanding the marketing environment and demand is one of
the key responsibility and role of marketing in any business (Hill, et al., 2012). It
involves an analysis of market trends, government policies and competition to
formulate an effective market strategy for the company.
 Product development: marketing plays a vital role in product development by
providing proper information about customer preferences and market trends.
 Distribution: distribution is another important function of marketing. A proper
distribution system will help in capturing a large number of customers in a targeted
market.
 Customer relations: marketing department is responsible for formulating a proper
relationship with the customers to ensure customer loyalty and satisfaction (Hill, et
al., 2012).
 Advertising: advertising involves communication of the company's products and
services to the customers through the right medium to captivate a large number of
customers towards the company.
 Promoting and managing brand image: it is one of the most important and critical
tasks of the marketing department to enhance and maintain the brand image to gain
a competitive advantage in the market.
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P2 HOW ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING RELATES TO THE WIDER
ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT
MARKETING MIX
Marketing mix could be referred to as a planned mix of controllable elements of the
marketing plan of a product. A blend of the four major elements of the marketing mix
creates a perfect blend to successfully cater to the needs of customers (Kotler, 2012). The
four main elements of the marketing mix are:
Product:
a product is goods or services that are manufactured and sold in the market for satisfying
needs of targeted customers. It is a primary element of the marketing mix. It is what a
company use to attract customers. a product can be tangible or intangible (Perreault, et al.,
2011).
Price:
Several factors are responsible for determining the price of the product. Such as operational
costs and distribution cost as well as market competition. A price is an amount of money
that offers in exchange for goods or services.
Promotion:
it is an activity of creating and improving sales of the products through drawing the
attention of the customers towards the company and its products (Perreault, et al., 2011).
Place:
a place a location from where products are sold to the customers. a place of goods is the
location from where the customer purchases the product and a place of service is where the
customer directly consumers the services.
OVERVIEW OF MARKETING PROCESS
A marketing process involves an analysis of the market opportunities, selecting the target
market and developing a marketing mix. The four main stages of the marketing process are:
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 Analysis of opportunities in the market: it is first to step to identify the
opportunities and challenges in the market (Wilson, 2010). It involves the
identification of the unsatisfied needs and demand of the customers.
 Selection of target market: At this stage, the potential customers are selected
through a careful analysis of the target markets. The market is divided into different
segments and the segment that will best meet with the company’s strengths and
opportunities
 Development of the marketing mix: after selecting the target markets, the planning
of marketing mix is initiated (Wilson, 2010). By considering the 4 main elements of
the marketing mix, an effective and most suitable marketing mix program is created.
 Management of marketing efforts: it is an action phase of that where a complete
marketing programme is developed. It involves marketing planning, marketing
implementation, and marketing control.
HOW 4P’S RELATE TO THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING
The 4P’s of marketing supports in formulating an effective marketing strategy to achieve the
ultimate goals of the company. A proper marketing strategy will then guide in performing all
the marketing roles and responsibilities successfully. It is very essential to focus on all the 4
elements of the marketing mix to get the desired results from the marketing campaign.
DIFFERENT ROLES OF MARKETING
Other than the above-discussed roles and responsibilities, marketing function also performs
different roles such as business-to-business (B2B) marketing and business to customers
(B2C) marketing. B2B and B2C are the two major forms of commercial transactions (Wilson,
2010). B2B involves marketing products and services among other businesses and B2C
involves the marketing of products and services among customers for direct selling of the
product.
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M1 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING IN THE CONTEXT OF MARKETING
ENVIRONMENT
The marketing environment has a great impact on the overall performance of the company.
Thus, it is essential to have a proper understanding of the micro and macro environment of
the company. The macro environmental forces are those that affect the marketing
environment of the whole industry, while the microenvironmental forces are those that only
influences the marketing strategies and environment of the company. the macro
environment of the HBC is consist of all the external factors that affect the food and
beverages industry in the UK such as; political, legal, technological, social, economic and
environmental (Baker, 2014). The changes and transformations in these factors are greatly
affected by the marketing environment of the HBC. For instance, the changes in social
values and increasing environmental concern have influenced animal rights campaign PETA
that has created a major challenge to HBC. Moreover, the changes in the microenvironment
directly affect the marketing activity and strategies of the company as the
microenvironment is consist of all the factors that are directly linked with the company such
as customers, competitors, employees, suppliers, and shareholders.
The marketing roles and responsibilities support sustaining into the changing marketing
environment (Baker, 2014). Through market analysis, the company can identify the major
changes that may create challenges and threat to its business and formulate an effective
strategy to mitigate those challenges and threats.
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M2 SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MARKETING AND OTHER
FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF HBC
The activities and operations of every business organization is divided into different
functional units that need to work together to achieve the ultimate aims and objectives of
the business. All the functional units of the company are interrelated and interdependent on
each other for performing their respective roles and responsibilities. The interrelationship of
marketing function with the other major functional units of the organization is discussed
below:
Operations and marketing:
In HBC, the main roles and responsibility of the operations function are to ensure the
proper flow of production and operations within the company. It involves the management
of all the resources required for the production of food in the company (Le Meunier-
FitzHugh and Lane, 2013). The operations function is dependent on the marketing function
to forecast the market demand and develop operational strategies and decisions regarding
required resources and materials.
Warehousing and marketing:
Warehousing function is related to the accumulation and storage of the goods. In HBC,
essential ingredients and food material are stored to ensure the availability of materials at
the time of production. However, the marketing function provides essential information
about the customers demand and supports in ensuring the warehousing of essential
materials.
Sales and marketing:
The sales function is responsible for selling the products and services of the company. Sales
and marketing are closely related to the marketing function (Le Meunier-FitzHugh and Lane,
2013). As marketing encourages and builds relationships with the potential customers, and
supports in generating sales.
Human resource and marketing:
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The main responsibility of the human resource function in HBC is to source the skilled and
talented workforce within the organization to perform different functions of the company.
Human resource function supports in providing skilled and talented sales team that would
effectively perform all marketing activities.
Finance and marketing:
The finance department is one of the most common functional areas of a business that is
responsible for preparing a budget and setting out the cost for every activity of the
company. The financial department sets out the marketing budget by analyzing company
revenue and expenses (Le Meunier-FitzHugh and Lane, 2013). On the other hand, the
marketing function works to increase revenue for supporting the financial department of
the company.
The above-discussed functions of the organization are interrelated and interdependent on
each other for achieving the overall objectives of the company. All the functions perform
the respective roles and responsibilities and works on the basis of strategies formulated to
achieve the ultimate aims and objectives of the company. a value-chain framework is
applied to present the interrelationship of functional units in achieving organizational
objectives.
VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
A value-chain is a systematic approach is used for evaluating the value created by the
business operations and functions. It supports in gaining competitive advantage in the
market. It involves full-range of activities and functions including operations, marketing,
warehousing, finance and sales (Hollensen, 2010). the business activities are classified into
two categories; Primary and support
The primary activities are:
 Inbound logistics: inbound logistics is when raw materials and goods are received
from the suppliers. The warehousing, productions and operations functions play an
important role in inbound logistics.
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 Operations: this activity is related to manufacturing and assembling the goods. It
involves the preparation of food at the HBC.
 Outbound logistics: it involves the distribution of the final products to the
customers.
 Marketing and sales: promotion and advertising of the products and services of the
company are performed here (Hollensen, 2010).
 Services: it involves the activities that are needed for maintaining the product
performance such complimentary services provided to the customer.
The support activities are:
 Procurement: it involves the purchasing of goods, services, and raw materials. The
main aim is to secure the lowest price for purchasing the highest possible quality
through outsourcing and re-purchasing.
 Technology development: technology plays an important role in creating
competition. The increasing use of technology and innovations in the food industry
creates great competition for HBC (Hollensen, 2010). The marketing and other
functions need to work cooperatively to innovate new products and process
according to the market demand.
 Human resource management: employees are very important resources for an
organization. It plays a critical role in achieving the mission and objectives of the
company. The HRM strategies at HBC are prepared according to the company’s
objectives.
 Firm infrastructure: the infrastructure involves Management information system
and other mechanisms for planning and controlling the organizational functions such
as accounting and production department.
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TASK 2
P3 COMPARING WAYS IN WHICH DIFFERENT ORGANISATIONS APPLY MARKETING MIX TO
THE MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS
Every business organization uses different strategies and tactics for successfully marketing
its products and services in the market. The companies apply the elements of the marketing
mix in different ways so as to gain unique recognition in the market. The marketing mix
strategies of the company are largely based on its organizational goal and mission. the
objectives of HBC and its competitor McDonald's is compared below;
The business objective of HBC is to offer fresh and healthy fast food so that no one goes
hungry. The company focuses on eliminating hunger (Hungry Box, 2019). While the business
objective of McDonald's is to serve the community by providing great-tasting food by
responding to the fast-changing needs of the customers. The hungry box offers Gourmet
soups and sandwiches that are made from fresh ingredients and home-style cooked. While
McDonald's offers a wide range of fast foods products involving hamburger, sandwiches,
desserts, and beverages. McDonald's is highly recognized fast-food brands across the UK
and other countries of the world (McDonald's, 2019). On the other hand, HBC is a newly
established organization that serves customers from different locations across the UK. There
is a vast difference in the marketing mix elements of McDonalds and HBC.
Other the four common elements of the Marketing mix; product, price, promotion and
place, HBC and McDonalds also uses three extended marketing mix elements in its
marketing mix strategy and marketing planning process;
People:
people involve the entire human resource of the company that can have a great impact on
the quality of its products and services and affects customer experience (The marketing mix,
2019). Thus, both HBC and McDonalds considers people as a major factor while formulating
marketing strategies for the company.
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