SWOT analysis is known as a tool used by organizations or companies for auditing the marketing environment. It is stated as the first planning stage which generally helps the marketers to mostly focus on the major issues. SWOT analysis helps an organization to know where they rank in the market and helps the marketing department to understand where there is need to adjust in order to maintain a healthy competition in the market. The analysis consists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The opportunities and the threats are known to be the external factors while the strength and weaknesses are the internal factors. Proper analyzing of these factors will help Beefeaters understand the market properly most especially the competitors and thus get an opportunity to develop more powerful and effective strategies which will help them maintain their good public image and acquire more success.
Beefeaters Strengths
Beefeaters is under a very recognized brand name of Whitbread and this acts as strength against the competitors. Whitbread is a well recognized hospitality brand dealing with hotels, coffee shops and grills all over the world. The advertising strategies of beefeaters and the promotional strategies act as an advantage towards the competitors thus creating a great name for the brand. The brand also provides a great and enjoyable menu towards its target market thus satisfying their needs. This has attracted more customers most of them who are youths and has seen to the success of the company. The brand has also provided affordable prices to its target market and this allows them to come back for more and also the price attracts more new customers.
Weaknesses
Opportunities
The brand has several opportunities which can help the company acquire a larger market share and retain more customers in the long run. One of the major opportunities is the growth. Since more and more people are attracted to the products and services offered by Beefeaters Grill, they have an opportunity of placing more branches in other regions which might receive a positive response due to the brands good public image. The company can also acquire more loyal customers in the long run by practicing product modification strategies and product development strategies. The company can introduce more products into the market and improve on the existing ones and this will give them a competitive edge towards the competitors. These strategies will give the company an opportunity to acquire more new customers and also maintain the existing ones. More profits will be gained and this will help the company create more branches in the future.
Risks
Customer’s preferences and tastes change from time to time. Therefore the brand faces the risk of losing customers who might go for other options of different menus provided by the competitors. Competition is also very intense and this requires the brand to create and implement more strong marketing strategies to avoid any serious impacts which acts as risk towards the brand and the company also.
Marketing Mix
Marketing mix is described as the elements of a tactical part of a marketing plan. It’s also known as the 4p’s which consist of price, product, promotion and place and the 7p’s which consist of people, process and the physical evidence. Marketing mix is very important especially when introducing a product in the market since these elements will help determine the customer’s perception of that product. Therefore, each company or organization should highly consider these elements and ensure that they are well placed in the market in a way that the product or service will gain competitive advantage. The most influential of these elements is the price since some of the customers are said to be very price sensitive.
Recommendations
In order to increase the value of the customers, the management of Beefeaters should ensure that the marketing mix elements are well applied and favor the customer needs and wants as well. The pricing of the menus should be favorable and worth the value at the same time. The management should also ensure that they offer proper promotion services to the product in order to make awareness of their services and products and attract more customers.
References
Böhm, A. (2008). The SWOT Analysis. Germany: GRIN Verlag.
Cholamandalam MS Risk Services. Risk Assessment – Hotel Industry. India: Cholamandalam MS Risk Services.
Haberer, J. (2008). Disneyland International Marketing Mix. Germany: GRINVerlag.
Habgood, A. (2010, April 29). Our Perfomance. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from Whitbread: http://annualreport.whitbread.co.uk/our-performance/chairmans-statement.aspx
Pearsons School. (2009). Investigating the Hospitality Industry. Liverpool: Pearson Education Ltd.
Research.com. (2011, August 9). Whitbread PLC (WTB) - Financial and Strategic SWOT . Retrieved April 24, 2012, from Research.com: http://www.marketresearch.com/GlobalData-v3648/Whitbread-PLC-WTB-Financial-Strategic-6485767/
Wenderoth, M. (2007). Marketing Mix for Service Operations. Germany: GrinVerlag.
Whitbread PLC. (2011). WHITBREAD INCREASES DIVIDEND BY 17% AND ACCELERATES GROWTH PLANS. London: Whitbread PLC.
