Research Proposal: Analyzing Marketing Shortfalls at Woolworths

This research proposal critically analyzes the inadequate marketing strategies of Woolworths and their impact on the company's business performance. It identifies the general business problem of poor marketing, which affects customer loyalty and market penetration. The literature review explores customer retention, branding, and various marketing strategies. The research employs a qualitative research method, utilizing in-depth interviews with employees and managers to gather primary data. The study aims to determine how people perceive marketing and advertising as essential components of a successful business, and it seeks to provide recommendations to improve Woolworths' marketing approach and address issues such as declining customer loyalty and brand image.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Critical Analysis of Inadequate Marketing as a Failure of Business Organization
Name of the Student:
Name of the Author:
Author Note:

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Abstract
The research proposal aims to deal with a business problem of poor marketing strategies in
the organization called Woolworths that is profoundly affecting the ongoing of the business.
It will identify a general research problem where the outcomes of the research could assist in
decision making process. The paper will perform a literature review to identify and elaborate
on the problem area. Findings and outcomes of the papers will be based on qualitative
research method that would help to formulate an effective solution to the persisting problem.
The paper will also strive to identify why the company is facing problems in the area of
customer loyalty and buying problem in order to provide with useful recommendations.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background of the Study............................................................................................................3
Background of the Company.....................................................................................................4
A general business problem.......................................................................................................4
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................5
Customer retention.................................................................................................................5
Branding.................................................................................................................................5
Kinds of marketing strategies.................................................................................................7
Research Questions....................................................................................................................7
Research Methodology...............................................................................................................8
Justification of research method.................................................................................................9
Research Plan...........................................................................................................................10
Issues to be identified:..........................................................................................................10
Interview Guide:.......................................................................................................................10
How many groups, interviews?............................................................................................11
How many Questions?.........................................................................................................11
Sample of Participants..........................................................................................................11
Location:..............................................................................................................................11

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Data Analysis...........................................................................................................................12
Ethical Considerations:............................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Marketing strategies are essential for any business organization in order to make the
utmost usage of all the available resources and enumerate the best way to position the
company in the market. Marketing strategy forms a crucial element of business plan which
should possess an overall structure on attracting potential customers, product differentiation
as well as overall business strategies and achievements. According to Molyneux and Holton,
(2015) poor marketing strategies can affect the company during market penetration, cost
control policies and introducing new products to the customers. Woolworth’ product sale and
business reputation have repeatedly failed to revive itself due to its poor marketing strategies
like lack of social media presence. Woolworths has therefore failed to compete in the face of
strong competitors. An organization can face number of problems with poor or no marketing
strategies like face loss of customers leading to lack of revenue growth and downsizing.
Background of the Study
In the sector of retailing, shaping customer opinions and views towards a product in
favor of the company is crucial. If a company fails to formulate a strong marketing strategy it
can lag behind its competitors. Woolworths should make use of potential advertising tools to
generate awareness of its brand name amongst the population. As a part of marketing plan
every company need to focus n customer segmentation that would influence strategic choices
those customers would make for themselves (Shim & Yang, 2016). Therefore it is significant
for every company to have a clear view of the market they are operating in and carefully
decide on marketing tools. The paper would identify where the company is falling short in
doing so as well as what measures can eradicate the shortcomings.

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Background of the Company
Woolworths Group is a famous Australian company which focuses extensively on
retailing that once focused heavily on advertising via radio and newspapers to focus on the
marketing development of the company. In a very short amount of time, it successfully
created a brand name in the market. It slowly managed to acquire 500 shops in Britain and
maintain a strong customer loyalty base. Over the years it has developed its goals of
developing a sustainable approach to marketing, customer-oriented store culture and
technologically advance the system of shopping at Woolworths so that it can have larger
access to the upcoming generation who depend on shopping apps for grocery marketing.
Woolworths currently has 202, 000 employees with its headquarters based in New South
Wales Australia.
A general business problem
The problem of poor marketing can hamper customer loyalty and their dependency on
the product since in an ever-growing competitive market, advertising and marketing of a
product can pave the way for better market penetration. If a company has to maintain a strong
brand image, the main focus should be on marketing to achieve product differentiation. Some
of the business problems that this research paper can address are the fluctuations in customer
loyalty that can immensely hamper the reputation of the brand. For an effective sale of
product, companies need to have a clear idea about their customers and market to maximize
the appeal of the product (Molyneux & Holton, 2015). Issues like failure to identify market
and strategy devising is a major problem of many business settlements. The research paper
could therefore address the major business problems like radical shift in customer preference
for a brand and loyalty. Recommendations could consequently be drawn as to mitigate the
immediate problem as much as practicable.

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Literature Review
According to Çifci et al., (2016) Woolworths should be focused both internally and
externally as internally it has the power to engage its employees in a superior quality working
environment that would pay due attention to their needs and grievances. The marketing sector
should primarily be concerned with understanding customer values and the management of
operation that would ensure maximum satisfaction of these values. The problem area is loss
of the customer loyalty from the brand can therefore be managed with the appropriate
framework of marketing.
Customer retention
Customer retention should be the key strategy of any retail store since the cost of
acquiring new customer is more than maintaining the old ones. According to Armstrong et
al., (2014) customer loyalty can be defined as the customer attitude or behavior towards the
brand or products under the brand. Marketing and management can be strategically used to
maintain the repetition of behavior that customers have previously shown towards the
product. If Woolworths repeatedly fails to enrich its marketing strategies like the introduction
of rewards program, it could lose its brand image and adversely impact customer behavior
and motivation in buying the product.
Branding
Marketing and advertising is necessary on the part of companies to form a strong
emotional attachment with the customer who would slowly associate the brand with their
concept of self and personality. According to Armstrong et al., (2014) if Woolworths
emphasizes on its marketing activities it could improve its branding. The process would help
the customers develop a mental image of the brand and attach symbolic meanings with it in
order to find a solution to the problem area of fluctuating customer loyalty. The emotional
perceptions that the customers would attach with the brand would therefore help Woolworths

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in improve its sales and ensure the highest customer satisfaction. The customer loyalty would
be based on the repeated purchase of the products by customers and their willingness to do so
in the long-term. In the views of Petersen, Kushwaha & Kumar, (2015) with the help of
marketing and strategy making companies can establish commitment and trust as important
mediating variables in the relationship between the brand and customers. Therefore it can be
established that customer loyalty is an important aspect of customer commitment towards the
brand. Marketing is also essential in influencing a customer’s relative attitude to a special
brand as well as ensuring repeated purchase behavior of the customer (Armstrong et al.,
2014). It can be firmly asserted that for any retail store or business to survive in the long-run
marketing and advertisement should be tailor made to suit the brand image that the owner
wants to create within the consumers in order to facilitate long-term customer involvement
with the product and continuous identification with the brand. An organization continuously
needs to create a dynamic relationship with customers to mitigate some of the obvious
problems of sustaining in a market. As per the opinion of Katsikeas et al., (2016) an effective
marketing strategy would also be helpful in identifying the core factors that influence
customer commitment towards a particular brand or product. As the traditional means of
marketing often prove inefficient of improving sales growth the primary aim of marketing for
the smooth operation of a business organization would help to fetch customer satisfaction.
This would help any organization to achieve the continuity of a harmonious relationship with
the customers. Marketing and strategy formulating would be based on evaluating the target
market so that it leaves a strong appeal on the chosen section of buyer, Woolworths can
achieve an effective strategic marketing by product type segmentation and taking into
consideration the buyers needs and motivational factors beyond those needs (King &
Thobela, 2014).

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Kinds of marketing strategies
Some of the prevalent marketing strategies that an organization implements in the
approach are-
 rational marketing strategy
 emotional marketing strategy
 maintenance marketing strategy
 Dual oriented marketing strategy
An organization can choose to swear by emotional marketing to establish a link
between the company and consumer (King & Thobela, 2014). If a company is repeatedly
failing to achieve this the brand can lose its social presence, poor word of mouth brand
endorsement of the brand, and customer referrals. For the long-term sustenance of the brand
this could be a negative aspect. Constant rejuvenation of brand name is essential to maintain
relevance in the market and therefore make competitors irrelevant. If a company is
consistently failing to do this, it is a presence of weakened market presence and opportunity
of creating new markets. Marketing strategy is one of the many ways by which a company
can assure its long term survival in the market, provide job security to the employees and
continue providing service as per customer expectation.
Research Questions
a. What are the main concepts intricately woven with advertising and marketing that
could influence consumer buying behavior?
b. What are the reasons behind the failure of strategic marketing and management of a
company?
c. How can be marketing and advertising be approached so that it has a wider mass
appeal? How can it improve brand image and customer loyalty?

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d. How can the relationship between customer loyalty and marketing strategies be
assessed in respect to customer segmentation?
Research Methodology
The suitable research methodology chosen for the topic is qualitative research method
that would comprised of in-depth interviews that would be fundamental in collecting primary
information. Qualitative research method is chosen for the formulation of elaborate details
and opinions on the current business problem and elaborate opinions and current thinking
about the issues that would help the research progress. For the research study, the qualitative
research method would help in collecting data that would determine how people perceive the
notion of marketing and advertising as a serious part of company. As qualitative research
method is executed through human instrument by which one can also study the surrounding
environment and context which are responsible for prompting those answers. The research
study shall be conducted by taking interviews of the employees and the mangers at
Woolworths. The responses would be further evaluated in order to have a better
understanding of how lack of proper marketing and advertising is a serious concern of
Woolworths as an organization.
The questionnaires for the participants of interview are:
 What is your organizational approach towards marketing as well as traditional mode
of marketing in today’s era?
 Why is it essential to maintain a consistent brand image through marketing? How can
it be customized to influence customers’ perception of the brand and product?
 How can marketing change or create criteria through which customers evaluate a
particular brand and service?

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 How should you draft a competent budget for undertaking marketing and advertising
issues in your organization?
Justification of research method
The research proposal has a specific set of aims and objectives to achieve, the primary
of which is to identify the crucial problem of Woolworths which is their lack of marketing. It
is therefore essential to collect enriched quantity of data is required to be collected that would
give a glimpse into interviewees’ personal opinions and experiences regarding the issues. It
would also allow for an opportunity to study the facial expressions of the respondents to sync
with the answers they are providing. The research method would be fundamental in learning
from the participants who have themselves witnessed the phenomenon of marketing ad
advertisement and its multifaceted benefits on the organization. It can help in creating new
ideas and vision of seeing the current problems and in better analysis of the crisis.

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Research Plan
Issues to be identified:
The main issues that would be identified during the interview process are
 Scope of marketing and advertising in an organization
 How lack of marketing of product affect the will of employees working for the
organization?
 What are the major hindrances while propagating a brand?
 Limitations of a good marketing in targeting customers
 The relevance of digital marketing in retail stores
 Decreasing of customer motivation due to poor marketing strategies
 How can wrong marketing affect the brand image? What are the possible ways by
which it can be averted?
 How can marketing enable the customers react proactively towards the products or
company?
Interview Guide:
a. Arriving on time
b. Reconfirming of consent
c. Encourage unbiased responses
d. Recording the total span of time for each answers
e. Provide clear transition between each question

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f. Repeat respondents if they want to elaborate on anything
g. Sticking professionally for the interview schedule
h. Eliminating any sort of body language that can generate biased answers.
How many groups, interviews?
2 groups and one round of interview is recommended.
How many Questions?
5 open-ended questions
Sample of Participants
The participants would be selected in a standard manner so as to eradicate the
selection of random participants who can steer the research towards a wrong direction by
giving amateur or incorrect answers to the interview questions. Decision regarding the
selection of participants would be based on their profession and relevant experience in
marketing and advertising that they have chosen for the purpose of selling their brand. The
chosen sample should be capable enough of providing both the negative as well as the
positive side of the crisis from which organization could learn. They would be also
responsible for providing valuable perspectives and insights that can open new avenues for
the research. The number of participants is generally based on their capability to answer all
the required questions so that it could help in the identification of issues and perspectives that
can otherwise get overlooked.
Location:
The chosen location of interview would take place at their respective offices so that
they are in their comfortable surroundings to reflect on and answer the questions.

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Data Analysis
Analysis of the qualitative data would be necessary to form a thorough explanation of
the collected data and answer in order to frame them in a comprehensible manner. The first
part would the identification of important passages and labeling them in a precise manner so
that it could be helpful in proving a particular theory or concept. Secondly, interpreting the
opinions and insights so that data can be derived for further usages in research papers is
necessary. Thirdly, organizing the data by careful understanding and assessing so that the
process of coming to conclusions becomes smoothened. Interconnection of the passages and
opinions so as to come at substantial conclusions for the completion of research is also
necessary. The quantitative data should only be transformed into quantitative data if it helps
in generating a clearer picture of the scenario.
Ethical Considerations:
With qualitative research problems one has to confront with a number of ethical
considerations which are always imperative to adhere by during the execution of a research.
In accordance to Data Protection Act published in 1998, it is essential to ensure that no
respondents are receiving any kind of verbal threat or pressure going against their will.
Moreover, they should be bestowed with the choice of leaving the interview survey anytime
they are willing to. It is also essential to make sure that none of the questions are framed in a
very biased manner therefore hurting the sentiments of the respondents. Additionally it is also
necessary to keep confidential any of the details that the respondents want to. No single
information or details would be published violating the trust of the interviewees. Lastly,
anonymity would be maintained if the respondents seek so.

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Reference List:
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014). Principles of marketing. Pearson
Australia.
Biddle, I. (2016). The Wesfarmers/Woolworths duopoly war: The Bunnings vs. Masters
battle. Busidate, 24(3), 3.
Bolton, S. (2015). Woolworths workers back at work. Green Left Weekly, (1065), 3.
Çifci, S., Ekinci, Y., Whyatt, G., Japutra, A., Molinillo, S., & Siala, H. (2016). A cross
validation of Consumer-Based Brand Equity models: Driving customer equity in retail
brands. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3740-3747.
de Noronha, I., Coca-Stefaniak, J. A., & Morrison, A. M. (2017). Confused branding? An
exploratory study of place branding practices among place management
professionals. Cities, 66, 91-98.
Katsikeas, C. S., Morgan, N. A., Leonidou, L. C., & Hult, G. T. M. (2016). Assessing
performance outcomes in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 80(2), 1-20.
King, L., & Thobela, S. (2014). Woolworths farming for the future. International Food and
Agribusiness Management Review, 17(B).
Lovelock, C., & Patterson, P. (2015). Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Methner, N., Hamann, R., & Nilsson, W. (2015). The Evolution of a Sustainability Leader:
The Development of Strategic and Boundary Spanning Organizational Innovation
Capabilities in Woolworths. In The Business of Social and Environmental
Innovation (pp. 87-104). Springer, Cham.

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Mishra, S. S., & Sharma, P. (2017). DO BRANDS MATTER IN BUSINESS-TO-
BUSINESS MARKETING? A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF B2B
BRANDING PRACTICES.
Molyneux, L., & Holton, A. (2015). Branding (health) journalism: Perceptions, practices, and
emerging norms. Digital Journalism, 3(2), 225-242.
Petersen, J. A., Kushwaha, T., & Kumar, V. (2015). Marketing communication strategies and
consumer financial decision making: The role of national culture. Journal of
Marketing, 79(1), 44-63.
Shim, K., & Yang, S. U. (2016). The effect of bad reputation: The occurrence of crisis,
corporate social responsibility, and perceptions of hypocrisy and attitudes toward a
company. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 68-78.