After working hard at the same job for nearly fifty years, Steven James III has
ID: 397335 • Letter: A
Question
After working hard at the same job for nearly fifty years, Steven James III has finally retired from his position as president and CEO of James & Sons Fireplace & Patio. Reluctantly, his son Steven James IV, who has also worked in the family business since graduating from college, has agreed to take his place at the helm of the nearly one-hundred-year-old company. Steven III knew that he wanted his oldest son to run James & Sons, but convincing him to take the job took a lot of work. Steven IV, who majored in marketing in college, told his father that if he were to take over, he would be taking the company in a different direction—and upon doing so, his first act of business would be a comprehensive market research study to determine the best direction.
1.) How would a market research study help James & Sons determine where it stands in the fireplace and patio industry?
2.) How would the market research study that Steven IV is considering the best approach each of the following subjects?
a.) Environmental factors
b.) Customer attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions
c.) Product research
d.) Marketing, advertising, and promotion research
e.) Corporate research
Explanation / Answer
1. The market research will enable the Steven IV to know about the market size, industry players, competitive products, their prices and specifications. It will also let him know the customer base, their needs and expectations from the products, current state of fulfillment and unmet needs. Finally the research will reveal the current market share of company, their competitive position in the marketplace, growth opportunities and factors that pose challenges before the company. These inputs and findings will help the company to form its strategy for future.
2. The study will provide following information about the market.
(a) Environment - Competitors, substitute products, government regulations, environmental challenges, legal issues, patents and copyrights.
(b) Customer attitudes, behaviours and perceptions - Expectations from the product, usage patterns, quality and price perceptions, buying behavior, pain points, brand recognition and brand perception.
(c) Product research - Product characterstics meeting customers' demand, pricing, , performance against competitors' products, scope of improvement, scope of value addition.
(d) Marketing, advertising and promotions - Knowing the target customers well. Effectiveness of current campaigns in terms of reaching out to customers, expenses per unit of sale, inclusion of modern methods of marketing and their effectiveness. Scope of change of marketing strategy, challenges in marketing, scope of cost reduction per acquisition. Competitors' marketing strategy.
(e) Corporate research - Competitive leadership and human capital, methods of targetting and segmentation, relative positioning of products in the market, comparative growth rate of different segments, effectiveness of market intelligence,