Don Martin Limited Marketing Analysis

...

Promotion

Don Martin’s spending on advertising is extremely high. $ 100,000 on newspapers and radio promotions is a very big sum. The increase in the promotion cost is due to poor services offered to customers. The promotion cost is also transferred to customers through increasing the cost of products. In most cases, blue-collar employees lack adequate time and resources to buy newspapers. Therefore, the business relies on the erroneous media in its advertising initiatives. The business ends up spending a lot of resources for unproductive promotions. On the other hand, the age of the potential customers do not use newspapers. Instead, they rely mostly on television services and other social media services. Using newspapers and radio in promotion is, therefore, irrelevant to the potential customers. The promotion methods applied do not meet the customer needs.

Don Martin limited offers delivery services to its customers. These services have led to the increase of operation expenditures. There are also several competitors in the market. These competitors offer quality services and a variety of products to their customers. One of the main Don Martin’s competitors is Canadian Tires. The high number of competitors in the market has led to the reduction of prices and the reduction of the quantity customers who purchase in Don Martin limited.

External analysis

Socially, most customers prefer quality service delivery from businesses operators. Don Martin’s competitors have ensured quality service to their customers. As a result of this, Don Martin limited has experienced reduction in the numbers of customers. On the other hand, other competitors have embraced modern technology in their promotion. Don Martin relies on radio and newspapers. Due to this, Don Martin limited spends a lot of resources for unproductive promotions. Economically, most of the company’s potential customers are middle earners and middle aged people. They, therefore, have very limited resources to spend. The cost of Don Martin products is extremely high for middle class customers. The high cost of Don Martin’s products has discouraged customers from buying them.

Corporate capability

Don Martin limited has adequate resources to sustain itself for relative long periods of time. The business has invested its financial resources in various products. However, the management of the financial resources is poor. A lot of the financial resources are spent on unproductive activities such as promotion. Don Martin is also popular at the market. It has a good reputation. The business offers relevant products. Nevertheless, in the recent past, the business has tarnished its good reputation because of its poor service delivery and high cost of its products. Don Martin limited has one of the most successful production processes. The business buys its products directly from manufacturers. This initiative assists the business in maximizing its profit. However, the business does not get maximum advantage associated with buying products directly from manufacturers. This is caused by the inability to buy a sufficient quantity of products from manufacturers. The business has some of the most qualified and experienced managers. These managers are competent in specific business areas. However, other employees lack the commitment to offer quality services to customers. Some of the implications associated with poor service delivery are the increase of prices of the business products due to poor financial management, the use of irrelevant promotion technology, the increase in market competition due to the poor service delivery, and the loss of customers as a result of poor service delivery.

Alternative analysis

Increase in the cost of Don Martin’s products has relatively reduced the number of customers willing to buy. Middle class earners prefer to buy products at a fair and friendly price. The products price should in this case be in line with the customers’ capability. On the other hand, Don Martin’s distribution services have significantly contributed to the reduction in the number of customers. Adequate and appropriate distribution services attract more customers into the business. Market research is also very relevant in promotion. Don Martin used wrong promotion services. Poor promotion methods have led to the misappropriation of resources. Don Martin should consider using variable costing to maximize its profit and attract and retain more customers. In this case, the business should consider employing qualified employees who will offer quality services to customers. The promotion cost should also be reduced to decrease its products costs. Quantitatively, the business should consider attracting more customers by lowering the cost of its products. It should also employ qualified employees to enhance quality service delivery. Qualitatively, servicing few customers to their satisfaction is very crucial in attracting more customers into the business.

Discussion and Recommendation

Poor service delivery has made Don Martin limited lose a significant number of its customers. The business has failed to meet the needs of youthful blue-collar customers. Its promotion method has failed to meet its intended objective. On the other hand, the business has increased its products’ cost beyond customers’ capability. Additionally, the company’s distribution channel is inadequate to meet the target customers’ needs. To counter these pitfalls, the management should consider employing appropriately the four marketing (price, product, promotion, and place). To offset the problem faced by the business, relevant action plan is necessary. Don Martin needs to include other managers in the decision-making process. Frequent meetings among all stakeholders should be the first initiative. After meeting among all involved players, other employees should be informed on the importance of quality service delivery to customers. After that, the management should consider employing experts to train existing and new employees in the most appropriate ways of offering quality services to customers. Frequent monitoring and evaluation should follow, so that the impact of the plan could be assessed. The entire process should take less than three months.