Paderno Competition Analysis and 4p's Strategy Analysis - Case Study Example

?Paderno Competition Analysis and 4p's Strategy Analysis Introduction This present paper is based on the case study of the Paderno Cookware company, whose headquarters are located in Canada and they specialize in the manufacture of high quality cookware. The analysis of the Paderno Cookware Company will mainly focus on analysis of its competitors and the strategic analysis of its four key marketing mix elements also known as 4Ps. Paderno’s competition analysis To begin with, Ian described competition analysis as the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors (13). Fleisher and Bensoussan added that the findings from the competition analysis are usually usefull in the designing a defensive and offensive business strategy that could aid in identifying threats that exist as well as the viable opportunities within the market (28-31). Fleisher and Bensoussan stated that the current business environment is mainly characterized with heightened competition and therefore, for businesses to survive and remain profitable, they always have to be aware of strengthens possessed by their competitors and their weakness. Thereby use this information to capitalize on their key strengthens whilst making their weaknesses to be part of their strengths (34-38). The Paderno Cookware Company operates in a highly competitive environment since there are other key players in the industry such as Meyer Canada, which is a leading global distributor of metal cookware that have been manufactured by its affiliate companies. The second key competitor of Paderno is the Canadian cookware, which is a subsidiary of the BelKraft Group of Companies that specializes in the manufacture of the waterless cookware. The Meyer Canada Company offers a wide variety of cookware products that range from stainless steel, hard-anodized aluminum, and nonstick aluminum while the Canadian Cookware mainly specialize in production of waterless cookware that is health conscious. Another significant competitor of Paderno is the original Paderno cookware company from Italy, which still exist and it own the rights of the Paderno name in every country expect for Canada. The unique strengths of these competitors lies on the products that they manufacture and sells, more so for Meyer Canada, which produces a wide variety of products unlike the others include Paderno. The Meyer Canada Company poses a threat to the Paderno Cookware Company because of the fact that it has affiliates in various countries who are obligated to conduct an aggressive marketing campaign and sell the company’s products. The main threat that is posed by Canadian Cookware Company comes from the fact that it has branded itself as a cookware company that is health oriented meaning its products are health conscious and therefore, consumers who are conscious about their health will prefer the company’s products. The threat posed by the original Paderno company comes from the fact that it is able to used the Paderno brand name to market itself across other countries other than Canada, which means that it incur lower cost in marketing in foreign countries as compared to trying to promote a new brand name in a foreign country. These three competitors make opportunity for Paderno Cookware Company to be the only leading cookware company that focuses on manufacturing cookware using the highest grade of 18/10 stainless steel and bonding on the outside book of the products using a thick aluminum pad. Moreover, Paderno has an opportunity to increase further its sales because these competitors only exploit one sales avenue unlike Paderno, which exploits for avenues for selling and hence it is able to generate more sales revenue. 4Ps strategic analysis Borden described the 4Ps as the four key elements that marketers use or emphasize on, in order to effectively market products and/ or service thereby generate more sales (23-25). Solis stated that the 4Ps are controllable elements within an organization that can be exploited to create the main sources of a company’s competitive advantage (189-201). Chernev in his studies stated that the 4Ps comprise of product, place, price, and promotion (21). Product is described as an intangible service or tangible product that is produced in mass and the aspects of product that are considered for the marketing purposes are the features of the products and how it will satisfy the identified needs of the customers (Chernev, 66-69). Paderno focuses on producing cookware products that are manufactured from the highest grade of stainless steel and hence, why the Canadian company has full confidence in giving the product a 25-year warranty. The company markets itself using the unique product that it sells to the market, which is backed by an unusual 25-year warranty. In particular, the abnormal warranty issued on Paderno products that are sold in Canada strategically distinguishes it from the other competitor’s products. Solis described the ‘place’ element within the 4Ps as the location where consumers could obtain or purchase the product or services, and therefore, this element mainly entails the distribution channel used to transport products from the manufacturer to the customers (202-205). Additionally, Borden stated that the place element entails the warehousing, middlemen involved in the distribution channel ad transportation (34). In the context of place, it is noted that Paderno has for key avenues through which it avails products to its customers, which include kitchen stores, the online platform or the company’s website, blowout and distribution through national chain retailers or wholesalers. The utilization of four avenues means that Pederno is able to reach a wide customer base. The third element among the 4Ps is the price, which is simply the amount the customers pay in order to obtain the product or service. In regards to price, it was noted that Pederno is selling its products at an exorbitantly high that could be an asking price of over $500 of which it was too high customers. However, through avenues such as the Kitchen stores and the websites the company has been able to lower significantly its prices thus attracting more customers, thereby increasing sales. The fourth element is promotion, which represent the marketing communications that are normally geared to attract more customers. In most cases Casey placed advertisements in newspaper as a marketing strategy, and in all the reviews it was noted that this strategy usually resulted in high sales. Works Cited Borden, Neil. "The Concept of the Marketing Mix". Neil Borden. 2013. Canadian Cookware. Retrieved from; http://www.canadiancookware.com/about_us.html.Accessed on [05.11.2013] Chernev, Alexander. The Marketing Plan Handbook, (3rd Edition) 2011 Print Ian Gordon: Beat the Competition. How to Use Competitive Intelligence to Develop Winning Business Strategies. Basil Blackwell Publishers, Oxford/UK 1989 Fleisher,Craig and Bensoussan Babette: "Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition." Prentice Hall, 2003 Mayer Canada Retrieved from: http://www.meyercanada.ca/MeyerCanada.asp?lang=1. Accessed on [5.11. 2013] Solis, Brian. 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