Reference no: EM13939980

In Assessment Task 1, each member of the marketing team (including you) presented potential marketing opportunities to the Marketing Manager, Sam Lee. He has chosen three separate marketing opportunities to further evaluate and rank before choosing one to proceed with. These three are

1. manufacture and sell own-brand of BBQfun barbeques (built in India and imported)

2. sell products through e-commerce (online) Australia-wide

3. sell products at bargain prices.

The first opportunity is to manufacture and retail own-branded barbecues and products. Manufacture would take place at a leased plant in India as BBQfun has no manufacturing capability. Also, manufacture in Australia would be too expensive.

The second opportunity is to make all products available in an online store. Existing warehouses would be reconfigured to store the extra stock. Customers would be required to cover extra delivery costs.

The third opportunity is to aim to increase market share by cutting the cost of products and aiming at mass appeal. BBQfun would focus on selling lower priced products while eliminating the higher cost (differentiated and higher quality) products from the product line.

Sam Lee has asked you to evaluate the three opportunities based on a variety of different factors, determine the financial viability of each opportunity, and then rank them.The first step is to consider if these are appropriate marketing opportunities that BBQfun should be looking to implement. Analyse each opportunity in terms of fit with organisational goals and capabilities (pages 44 - 52).

• Is the opportunity consistent with the BBQfun business plan(page 2)?
• Consider BBQ's current capabilities and resources. Is the business capable of exploiting this opportunity?

BBQfun's marketing research found the following market needs and trends:

Market needs

• Selection - a wide choice of options.
• Accessibility - the customer needs easy access to the store with minimal inconvenience. Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular.
• Customer service - the customer needs expert customer service to help sort through choices.
• Competitive pricing - the customer needs all products/services to be competitively priced relative to comparable high-end outdoor lifestyle options offered by competitors.
• Flexible payment - the customer needs easily managed payment plan.
• Quality guarantees - the customer requires three year product guarantees

Market trends

The market trend for outdoor lifestyle stores is headed toward a more sophisticated and informed customer. Outdoor lifestyles customers are becoming more sophisticated in a number of different ways:

• Item quality - the preference for high quality items is increasing as customers arelearning to appreciate the quality differences.
• Unique - our patrons appreciate the opportunity to include outdoor lifestyles in their home that stand out from the mass-produced and low-quality items.
• Selection - people are demanding a larger selection of choices; they are no longer accepting a limited offer in outdoor lifestyles.

Based on this research, analyse each opportunity to determine likely impact on current business and customer base.

• How will customers react to the implementation of the marketing opportunity?
• Is the market share likely to increase or decrease?
• Will this opportunity allow BBQfun to enter new markets?
• What will be the likely impact on sales volume?
• Consider consumer preferences(page 17)

Outline any risks associated with the marketing opportunity (page 76). You may wish to consider

? risks in terms of implementing the opportunity

? risks associated with costs or sales

? external factors such as regulations and relevant legislation

? you may wish to refer to the SWOT analysis on pages 14 - 15or the risk register on pages 11 - 12.

Analyse the role of competitors in relation to each opportunity (page 15).

? Which businesses would likely be BBQfun's direct competitors?

? Compare BBQfun to competitors in terms of target market, product offering, price etc.

? What might be the reaction of these competitors to implementation of the new opportunity?

For each of the opportunities, you will do some calculations and statistical analysis in order to determine the impact on the business and customer base. Based on your analysis above, the marketing team has calculated some future estimates for each opportunity (such as future market size and future sales). Based on these estimates you will calculate gross and net profit and return on investment. As an example, the first opportunity (own-branded products) has been completed for you.

1. Manufacture own-branded products.

For the financial year 2012/13, the marketing team has estimated future sales volume if BBQfun decides to sell own-branded products. Use the table below to calculate total revenue, unit contribution margin and total gross profit. You need to fill in the boxes shaded in pink.

In Assessment Task 1, each member of the marketing team (including you) presented potential marketing opportunities to the Marketing Manager, Sam Lee. He has chosen three separate marketing opportunities to further evaluate and rank before choosing one to proceed with. These three are

1. manufacture and sell own-brand of BBQfun barbeques (built in India and imported)

2. sell products through e-commerce (online) Australia-wide

3. sell products at bargain prices.

The first opportunity is to manufacture and retail own-branded barbecues and products. Manufacture would take place at a leased plant in India as BBQfun has no manufacturing capability. Also, manufacture in Australia would be too expensive.

The second opportunity is to make all products available in an online store. Existing warehouses would be reconfigured to store the extra stock. Customers would be required to cover extra delivery costs.

The third opportunity is to aim to increase market share by cutting the cost of products and aiming at mass appeal. BBQfun would focus on selling lower priced products while eliminating the higher cost (differentiated and higher quality) products from the product line.

Sam Lee has asked you to evaluate the three opportunities based on a variety of different factors, determine the financial viability of each opportunity, and then rank them.The first step is to consider if these are appropriate marketing opportunities that BBQfun should be looking to implement. Analyse each opportunity in terms of fit with organisational goals and capabilities (pages 44 - 52).

• Is the opportunity consistent with the BBQfun business plan(page 2)?
• Consider BBQ's current capabilities and resources. Is the business capable of exploiting this opportunity?

BBQfun's marketing research found the following market needs and trends:

Market needs

• Selection - a wide choice of options.
• Accessibility - the customer needs easy access to the store with minimal inconvenience. Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular.
• Customer service - the customer needs expert customer service to help sort through choices.
• Competitive pricing - the customer needs all products/services to be competitively priced relative to comparable high-end outdoor lifestyle options offered by competitors.
• Flexible payment - the customer needs easily managed payment plan.
• Quality guarantees - the customer requires three year product guarantees

Market trends

The market trend for outdoor lifestyle stores is headed toward a more sophisticated and informed customer. Outdoor lifestyles customers are becoming more sophisticated in a number of different ways:

• Item quality - the preference for high quality items is increasing as customers arelearning to appreciate the quality differences.
• Unique - our patrons appreciate the opportunity to include outdoor lifestyles in their home that stand out from the mass-produced and low-quality items.
• Selection - people are demanding a larger selection of choices; they are no longer accepting a limited offer in outdoor lifestyles.

Based on this research, analyse each opportunity to determine likely impact on current business and customer base.

• How will customers react to the implementation of the marketing opportunity?
• Is the market share likely to increase or decrease?
• Will this opportunity allow BBQfun to enter new markets?
• What will be the likely impact on sales volume?
• Consider consumer preferences(page 17)

Outline any risks associated with the marketing opportunity (page 76). You may wish to consider

? risks in terms of implementing the opportunity

? risks associated with costs or sales

? external factors such as regulations and relevant legislation

? you may wish to refer to the SWOT analysis on pages 14 - 15or the risk register on pages 11 - 12.

Analyse the role of competitors in relation to each opportunity (page 15).

? Which businesses would likely be BBQfun's direct competitors?

? Compare BBQfun to competitors in terms of target market, product offering, price etc.

? What might be the reaction of these competitors to implementation of the new opportunity?

For each of the opportunities, you will do some calculations and statistical analysis in order to determine the impact on the business and customer base. Based on your analysis above, the marketing team has calculated some future estimates for each opportunity (such as future market size and future sales). Based on these estimates you will calculate gross and net profit and return on investment. As an example, the first opportunity (own-branded products) has been completed for you.

1. Manufacture own-branded products.

For the financial year 2012/13, the marketing team has estimated future sales volume if BBQfun decides to sell own-branded products. Use the table below to calculate total revenue, unit contribution margin and total gross profit.