2016-01-28
The brand Mr. Coffee is the object of current investigation. Nowadays this brand belongs to the company Jarden Consumer Solutions.The last one is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (Jarden CS, 2016). The brand Mr. Coffee has appeared in 1972. It has become quite popular among Americans since that time. But it cannot always be. A lot of competitors have appeared on the market. In this case, it needs to analyze the current strategy of the brand and find new perspective ways to further develop if it is possible.
The system of core values, which characterize Mr. Coffee as well as its owner, includes the following principles: winning people; strong teamwork; continuous improvement; value and relevance to all our constituencies; integrity and honesty; results oriented.
These principles are considered as the same for all brands of Jarden Corporation. In this case, it needs to analyze the strategy of Mr. Coffe separately and in more detail. This brand has almost completely moved to the e-commerce. The website https://www.mrcoffee.com perform the function of the internet platform for sales of coffee makers for single/4/5/8/10/12 cups, different related products (water filters, grinders, tea infuser, milk frother, mug warmer) and replacement parts (Mr. Coffee, 2016).
The target audience is quite clear and the brand differs by strong marketing strategy: a lot information about goods and coffee, the popular blog and developed SMM activity. The whole order process occurs online via customer account, the support service can help each customer at any moment. Given this fact, one can say, that maintenance costs per order are minimized. However, there are some problems: the structure of a site is quite difficult for common customer, there is no strong emphasis on the coffee makers, some goods are not available. The website traffic is twelve times lower than, for example, the brand Keurig, that specializes in sales of ready-made beverages (Similarweb.com, 2016). At the same time, average order on the site of Mr. Coffee is probably much more than on the site of competitors. In conclusion, the strategy of Mr. Coffee will not be effective in long-term perspective.
As professor Langley said: “The greatest threat to any organization is to become a commodity kind of product or service” (Supplychainbrain.com, 2016). In our case, the strategy of Mr. Coffee should be changed. The most important recommendation is to sell branded products with added value. It can be additional service, individual offers for each customer through conducting coffee cooking courses or master classes. Another recommendation is to develop the cooperation with corporate clients: each company certainly needs at least one coffee maker for its staff. As a result, new direction of activity can be maintenance of coffee machines as in corporate and private clients. Redesigned strategy can help brand to develop and does not allow to become the so-called “commodity item”.
In my opinion, the current position of Mr. Coffee is quite strong on the market of coffee makers. At the same time, such competitors as Keurig grow rapidly. That’s why Mr. Coffee should differentiate itself to customers. Proposed recommendations can help brand in this.
The main goal of staff of Mr. Coffee is to analyze customer needs and offer new services/products which will not be similar to competitors’ offers. Сlearly formulated strategy can help to manage talents within employees and make right decisions.
References
Jarden CS,. (2016). About Us - Overview. Retrieved 28 January 2016, from http://www.jardencs.com/about-us/overview/about-overview.html
Similarweb.com,. (2016). Comparison of Website Traffic: Mr. Coffee and Keurig. Retrieved 28 January 2016, from http://www.similarweb.com/website /mrcoffee.com?competitors=keurig.com
Supplychainbrain.com,. (2016). A Look at Some Major Forces Impacting Supply Chain Management. Retrieved 27 January 2016, from http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/index.php?id=5032&cHash=081010&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=16722
