Marketing Intelligence of Superdry - Essay Example

Topic Topic TASK RESEARCH PORTFOLIO, including MARKETING PLAN Marketing PlanSummary/Introduction Superdry is a subsidiary of London based Supergroup, which is an international branded clothing company that produces clothes for a niche market. The first Superdry store was opened in 2004 in London. The brand has not aimed for the limelight over the years but has maintained an understated but substantial presence in the market. The company has done reasonably well in its niche market, and CEO, Dunkerton was placed in a list of Britain’s top richest people by The Sunday Times in 2010. Supergroup was one of the most successful stocks in 2010 on the market. (Reuters, 2012). Marketing Objectives The objectives of this marketing plan created for Superdry are to conduct market research for the company by looking at some specific factors like customer behaviour and demand in the future and using this information to build more research on customer satisfaction. Throughout the course of this marketing plan, some key objectives will be looked at, for example marketing research techniques, the validity of market findings and situation specific information. Through this research, it is to be determined what steps Superdry needs to adopt in its marketing objectives that will help it adjust in the new market scenario. The business’s strengths are that it has a lot of appeal in the market that it caters to , however that is a small market and on the weakness side, Superdry doesn’t advertise too overtly to become a more prominent player in the market. Some specific objectives include increasing customer satisfaction, sales volume and consequently restoring the company’s position on the stock market. Situation Analysis Recently, Superdry has gone through a lot of structural changes. One of the cofounders of Superdry, Karpathios, who became a partner of the company in 2004, quit this year. Superdry has also experienced falling stock prices and sales levels and shortfalls of stocks. (Baird, 2012). Further, this year Superdry partnered with Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries. (Jogi, 2012). This move has allowed it to expand its target market and venture into a new arena. India is an expanding market and has a large and diverse population which will help Superdry expand further in the future. A SWOT analysis on Superdry would reveal numerous things. When looking at the strengths that Superdry offers, we notice the elements of quality, niche market appeal and variety. The brand has kept quality levels high while maintaining reasonable prices as compared to other brands that sell branded clothes for a niche market. (Jogi, 2012). However, there are weaknesses too; inadequate marketing, management conflicts and a failure to correct those internal conflicts which are adversely affecting the sales volumes and stock prices. Opportunities have arisen in the form of expansion into new and larger markets which will form a bride leading to further expansion in Asia. Threats to Superdry can be from competitors who cater to the same market as Superdry does and have homogenous products. Target Markets Superdry has always operated with a very specific niche market in mind. Thus they have not had to expand a lot in terms of their product line. But with their recent measures for expansion and going into new markets, Superdry has also expanded its customer target market beyond what it previously was. The new target market still remains a niche in the total market for clothing, but is now more diversified due to differences in culture that Superdry will consequently have to adjust and cater to. However, there is still a more generalized form of the niche market that Superdry is targeting. This target market can be characterised by a young, hip generation, ranging from their 20s to late 30s. The target market is fashion conscious and follows latest trends, and though it wouldn’t pick comfort over style, their buying decision does factor in comfort which is what Superdry provides them with. People in this target market belong to an income bracket of upper middle class and above, the products are branded and even though affordable compared to competitors, are by no means cheap and affordable by the common man. There is a lot of variety in their products so the target market can be of a very diverse psychographic. Strategies The strategies that Superdry will adopt will depend on its marketing mix of product, price, placement and promotion. The marketing mix is a set of tools that help the company achieve its goals from the target market. (Riaz and Tanveer, n.d). There are two basic strategies that Superdry needs to adopt; one, they need to be better able to reach out to their existing customers and two, they need to be able to bridge cultural barriers and reach out to their new customers. The underlying motive behind any strategy implemented will be to differentiate Superdry from its market competitors and help it stand out. In existing markets, Superdry can improve its standing but advertising more and better and using more types of media to reach its target audience more effectively. The product and price are already established and thus the only things to be tampered with are placement and promotion. Promotion should be enhanced and placement as a niche product for a niche market should be made more flexible to incorporate a larger segment of the market as this could help boost sales volumes. In the new markets where Superdry has expanded, it needs to look at all the elements from scratch. The product should essentially be kept the same, but should be tweaked a little to make it compatible with the new culture and help bridge the cultural divide. Prices for Superdry’s products need not be changed because in this area it enjoys a position favourable as compared to competitors. Promotion should be given special attention because this is a new market the brand is entering and it’s important that it make a good first impression and be able to reach out to the target market from the audience. Placement has already been decided to much extent in the new markets, where the reputation of the brand supersedes its arrival in the market. Superdry can invest in numerous advertising and marketing activities that will help it regain sales volume; advertise in print and electronic media by giving ads in the newspapers and on the TV, online advertising by setting up an interactive blog for example and making sure that they receive media coverage for major events like acquisition/opening of new stores. Tracking and Evaluation Tracking measures are those taken for the purpose of seeing if the business is going in line with what it was intended for. Management can invest in activities like display ads, direct marketing, ads in news, print and electronic media, internet marketing, events, trade shows and trend analysis from data. Measures like these will help keep the company in line with its objectives. Evaluation is the final step of a marketing plan. It allows the management to see if the company is going in the right direction and is basically a follow up on the company’s tracking measures. If Superdry invests in the tracking measures mentioned, then it can improve its position with respect to advertisement in the market and the ability to reach its target audience. Thus it will be able to solve its issues of falling sales and stock values. The validity and reliability of the marketing research findings will materialize as effects on the business in the long run. Research done at the current point will predict what will happen to the business in terms of sales volumes etc in the future. When Superdry’s management conducts marketing research on the basis of what the business needs, they will discover key areas that the business lags in and consequent areas of improvement. The customers will give them input about what they think the business lags and which are areas of strength for the business. Since this input comes from the company’s customers directly, it is valid and reliable as long as interpreted correctly and as long as effective measures have been taken by management to target areas of concern and exploit areas of strength. Since customers are what the company is targeting and catering to, their views are very pertinent to the company’s actions. Research Portfolio Purpose The research was commissioned by Superdry so that its customer target market could be analyzed. Key variables of interest include finding out about customer satisfaction, consumer demand, future demand etc. This research portfolio will exhibit information about the market Superdry is operating in, its competitors, analyze market trends and consumer behaviour and finally identify any opportunities and threats that Superdry currently faces. Methodology To get this information about Superdry, researchers will have to look into avenues of primary and secondary research. In primary research, the following methods could be employed: 1. Experiments Experiments allow researchers to see the effect of a control variable on a situation. On the flipside, the experiment takes place in a control environment and thus cannot account for the effects of extraneous variables. 2. Telephone and Email Surveys Telephone and Email Surveys are an effective way to reach out to the people, because it is a quick method and has the farthest reach. However, in this day and age where spam ads are rampant, ads and surveys on telephone and email may go to junk folders and may remain unanswered. 3. Questionnaires and Sampling A sample that represents the total population accurately must be picked, this sample is then given a questionnaire which asks for feedback. If the sample is unbiased, this method provides information about the completer population without ever having to access the whole lot. However, if the sample is biased, the results may be misleading. 4. Individual and Group Surveys Individual and group surveys are effective because they ensure real time feedback from customers and researchers can address their concerns and queries on the spot, however, on the negative side, they are a tedious process and make it difficult to access larger proportions of the target population. Industry, Competition and Market The industry that Superdry is competing in is a highly competitive industry. Luxury clothing brands are numerous and provide expensive, quality apparel to a market segment that can afford any amount that the companies print on their price tags. This makes most of these companies elitist and hesitant to expand into broader market spheres. Superdry however, has expanded to India where it has entered into a franchise partnership and will be accessing a market completely different from what it is used to in the home economy. In the Indian market, Superdry needs to concentrate on its pricing strategy which thankfully is already in a good position as compared to other luxury brands in the industry. TASK 2: MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 1) Evaluate techniques of assessing customer response Customer satisfaction is achieved when a product or service meets a customer’s expectations. The product quality is of extreme importance when aiming for achieving customer satisfaction. If the brand can maintain quality, it can expect to satisfy and retain its customers. (Gerson, 1993). Measuring consumer satisfaction is important for a company for many reasons. Firstly, consumer satisfaction id directly related to profitability. If it increases, sales and thus profit levels increase, if it decreases, profits fall. Secondly, a small change in customer satisfaction can cause a much larger change in profit levels, hence intensifying its importance to companies. Measuring customer satisfaction thus becomes extremely important because it helps companies determine how their customers feel about their product or service; it tells them what aspects customers are happy with and which ones they don’t like and consequently what aspects need revision, adjustment, changing or omission. (Conklin, n.d). Customer satisfaction can be measured using surveys. Surveys can be of two kinds; Transactional, which provide insight about how customers feel about the product or service and relationship based, where they provide insight about how the customer feels about the service that they get from the sales staff. Ideally companies should survey as many people as their research budget allows, the bigger the research sample the more accurate the results from the survey. Surveys can be distributed physically, but online surveys remain by far a more effective method overall. (Conklin, n.d). 2) Design and complete a customer satisfaction survey There are some pointers that should be kept in mind when looking to do an effective survey to measure customer satisfaction. Firstly, the survey should ask for the overall satisfaction level with the company should be asked in the very beginning of the survey. Later the survey should delve into the specifics like why this is so and a number of reasons that it could or couldn’t be. This ensures that they provide an objective answer about overall satisfaction one that has not been biased from satisfaction of individual facets. Secondly, the survey should use a 5-point satisfaction scale with 1 being the point at which the customer is most satisfied and 5 being the point at which the customer is least satisfied, or vice versa. The number scale should have descriptive headings so that the customer has an easier time classifying his/her response to each question. To further, the analysis the ratings gotten from the 5 point satisfaction scale, the survey can also incorporate a 5-point expectation scale which basically asks the customer the same questions from a different angle. This time around the customer had to give their feedback on what level of product/service they expected. This will give researchers further insight when they compare satisfaction with expectations and see if the company has exceeded, met or lagged behind expectations of its customers. Thirdly, there should be a consistency in the survey’s questions. This makes it easier to make an analysis from the observations later. Fourthly, the survey should not be too lengthy and diverse; if this happens the customer may lose interest and may fail to fill in the entire survey or even complete part of it. If the survey is short and simple, the customer’s attention won’t get diverted and he/she will be able to complete the survey. Lastly, the survey should include questions that relate to the customers’ demographic origin. This will help the company analyze customer data by dividing it into subgroups according to their demographic location. (Conkin, n.d). Sample Survey: Instructions: Please mark a number rating as your answer, with 1 being the most positive and 5 being the most negative rating. Q1. What is your overall satisfaction level with Supergroup plc? 1. Extremely Satisfied 2. Somewhat Satisfied 3. Neutral satisfaction level 4. Somewhat Dissatisfied 5. Extremely Dissatisfied Q2. How well did Supergroup plc meet your expectations? 1. Greatly Exceeded 2. Exceeded 3. Met 4. Fell Short 5. Greatly Fell Short Q3. What is your overall satisfaction level with Superdry? 1. Extremely Satisfied 2. Somewhat Satisfied 3. Neutral satisfaction level 4. Somewhat Dissatisfied 5. Extremely Dissatisfied Q4. How well did Supergroup plc meet your expectations? 1. Greatly Exceeded 2. Exceeded 3. Met 4. Fell Short 5. Greatly Fell Short Q5. Reasons for level of satisfaction with Superdry: 1. Customer Service 2. Product Quality 3. Product Range 4. Affordable Prices 5. Fashionable Range 6. Other (please specify):_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q6. What areas do you think Superdry needs to improve? 1. Customer Service 2. Product Quality 3. Product Range 4. Affordable Prices 5. Fashionable Range 6. Other (please specify):_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q7. Are you likely to return to Superdry for repeated purchase? 1. Highly likely 2. Somewhat likely 3. Neutral 4. Not too likely 5. Very unlikely Q8. What are 5 specific Superdry Products you are extremely satisfied with? (1 being the product which you are most satisfied with and 5 being the product you are least satisfied with). 1. _______________________________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________________________________ Q9. What are 5 Superdry products you are extremely dissatisfied with? (1 being least dissatisfaction and 5 being most dissatisfaction). 1. _______________________________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________________________________ 4. _______________________________________________________________________ 5. _______________________________________________________________________ Q10. Is there any additional feedback you would like to provide us? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for completing our customer survey, the Superdry team is highly obliged  Completed Survey: Q1. What is your overall satisfaction level with Supergroup plc? 1. Extremely Satisfied 2. Somewhat Satisfied 3. Neutral satisfaction level 4. Somewhat Dissatisfied 5. Extremely Dissatisfied Q2. How well did Supergroup plc meet your expectations? 1. Greatly Exceeded 2. Exceeded 3. Met 4. Fell Short 5. Greatly Fell Short Q3. What is your overall satisfaction level with Superdry? 1. Extremely Satisfied 2. Somewhat Satisfied 3. Neutral satisfaction level 4. Somewhat Dissatisfied 5. Extremely Dissatisfied Q4. How well did Supergroup plc meet your expectations? 6. Greatly Exceeded 7. Exceeded 8. Met 9. Fell Short 10. Greatly Fell Short Q5. Reasons for level of satisfaction with Superdry: 7. Customer Service 8. Product Quality 9. Product Range 10. Affordable Prices 11. Fashionable Range 12. Other (please specify):_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q6. What areas do you think Superdry needs to improve? 7. Customer Service 8. Product Quality 9. Product Range 10. Affordable Prices 11. Fashionable Range 12. Other (please specify):_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q7. Are you likely to return to Superdry for repeated purchase? 6. Highly likely 7. Somewhat likely 8. Neutral 9. Not too likely 10. Very unlikely Q8. What are 5 specific Superdry Products you are extremely satisfied with? (1 being the product which you are most satisfied with and 5 being the product you are least satisfied with). 1. Jackets and coats 2. Shirts 3. joggers 4. jewellery 5. hats Q9. What are 5 Superdry products you are extremely dissatisfied with? (1 being least dissatisfaction and 5 being most dissatisfaction). 1. dresses 2. shorts 3. scarves 4. loungewear 5. leathers Q10. Is there any additional feedback you would like to provide us? Superdry needs to improve customer service. Thank you for completing our customer survey, the Superdry team is highly obliged  3) Review the success of a completed survey The completed survey should be distributed to customers who will provide feedback to be analyzed. There are some specific things that analysts will be looking for in the findings. i. Trends in the feedback They well add up all the satisfaction scores and see what percentage of the customer base is above and below the ‘just satisfied’ line, further, they will also extrapolate numbers from the data to represent the percentage of the customer base that had expectations met or not. These numbers can be displayed visually in the analysis as charts or graphs for easier comprehension. ii. Sources of dissatisfaction Analysts will also be able to pinpoint problem areas that need immediate fixing. Open ended comments will provide additional information that the analysts might not even have anticipated, but if they form a large percentage then they might become a factor to address along with the problem areas that were anticipated. iii. Action plan Based on the findings, the company can decide which areas are more critical and need targeting first and consequently devise a plan to fix those problem areas. (Conklin, n.d). References: Baird, R., 2012. Superdry Founder Quits After Management Clashes. This is Money. < http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2188326/Superdry-founder-quits-management-clashes.html?ito=feeds-newsxml> Jogi, S., 2012. Reliance Brands Buys Superdry, Spurs Retail Business. The Ground Report India. < http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Reliance-Brands-Buys-Superdry-Spurs-Its-Retail-Bus/2947078> Reuters, 2012. UPDATE 1-Superdry Fashion Group’s Co-Founder Quits. Reuters. < http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/14/supergroup-board-idINL6E8JE1I20120814> Riaz, W. and Tanveer, A., n.d. Marketing Mix, Not Branding. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences, Vol.1, No.11. < http://www.ajbms.org/articlepdf/ajbms201211i11103.pdf> Gerson, R. F., 1993. Measuring Customer Satisfaction. Thomson Learning. < http://www.axzopress.com/downloads/pdf/1560521783pv.pdf> Conklin, M., n.d. Measuring and Tracking Customer Satisfaction. White Paper Series. < http://www.zoomerang.com/whitepapers/customersat.pdf> Read More