Executive Summary
PrincessWedding4U Company operates in a highly competitive industry. Due to the high competition, the company needs an appropriate and effective marketing brand that will help it gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors. PrincessWedding4U has problem in its brand in adequately understanding the needs of the consumers and also appropriate means of reaching many people. The company always fail to adequately understand its customers. Those involved in the company’s operations tend to undermine the company’s operations. Porter’s five forces analysis is used in analyzing the company’s brand. This brand problem needs to be addressed in order to promote the company’s brand using the stipulated recommendations. Some of the most vital possible solutions to maintaining the company’s brand include; generating traffic and heals, providing ROI of the marketing activities, securing adequate budget and also managing the company’s website.
Introduction
PrincessWedding4U is an event organizing ecommerce organization targeting the wedding industry in Indonesia. This company makes a significant contribution to the wedding market of Indonesia through offering various wedding accessories as well as souvenirs. The organization’s growth has been rapid for the past few years. But, PrincessWedding4U still requires to conduct its operations proficiently, and deliberately in a highly competitive market in order to maintain its growth (PrincessWedding4U, n.d.). The company’s achievement is attributed to its branding. Branding plays a vital role in marketing the organization. The company’s brand is important in promoting the company’s sales. Therefore, strategic branding is required in order to ensure that the company remains competitive in the market. Therefore, the intent of this analysis report is to analyze PrincessWedding4U’s marketing brand, identify its brand issue and provide recommendations that could be the possible solution to the issue. By understanding its brand challenge, the company might be able to understand the industry better and improve its marketing brand that will earn the company a competitive advantage.
Overview of organization
Princesswedding4u family owned privately company under the management of its founders Mr. Diana Salim and Mr. Budi Salim. Back in the year 2011 during the planning of their wedding ceremony, they noticed that there are some openings in the Indonesia industry of wedding (emarketer, 2013). They noticed that suppliers in local wedding have few choices of products for wedding. Some of the simple souvenirs for wedding such as pens and key chains are provided by the local suppliers only from the Indonesia market. The owners noticed that they can take missed idea by coming up of princesswedding4U for providing variety of better quality favors for wedding to the consumers of Indonesia (Trading Economics, 2013). By early 2012 they had already establish and there vision was to expand princesswedding4U to be central portal for wedding where customers who may wish to get married in Indonesia are able to find all services and wedding materials such as wedding accessories, wedding souvenirs, decorators and caterers.
Brand recognition and brand problem
Awareness of brand building within favor industry in wedding has been quite strenuous for prince wedding4U. Customers of the company has increase since it was formed in the year 2012.The number of likes in its Facebook page account have grown successfully beginning from connections degree of the owner. By June 2013, approximately 54 thousand individuals in Facebook page have liked princesswedding4U’s page. A Facebook friend or like in page for the brand is worth $ 174 (emarketer, 2013). People who like the page for the brand are more fulfilled with brand and would advocate the brand and spend more in a way of showing support. Customer base in Facebook are likely to play important part in the future growth of princess wedding4U’s. PrincessWedding4U has problem in its brand in adequately understanding the needs of the consumers and also appropriate means of reaching many people. The company always fail to adequately understand its customers. Those involved in the company’s operations tend to undermine the company’s operations.
Porter’s five forces analysis
The analysis make use of porter’s forces framework to check the competitiveness and profitability of an industry. This five forces are the threat of substitute products, customers bargaining power, suppliers bargain power, rivalry among competitors and threat of new entrants (Rastogi, Tamboto, Tong, & Sinburimsit, 2013). Knowing about these forces enables a firm to appreciate the structure of the industry and allowing it for maintaining of viable business. Government part is discussed as being the sixth because the effects of its doings may take over other competitive forces.
Rivalry is intense from existing competitors.
Jakarta wedding market favor is split extremely with many competitors thereby coming up with huge competitive surroundings. Retailers with varying sizes without main firms in the market are many. These companies compete comprehensively on price avail similar products though some differentiate themselves from the other competitors by employing other features. This features include customer supports, consistent quality of a product, additional services and variation of a product.
Threat of New Entry is high
These challenges to joining into favor market for wedding moderate to low and the required capital when entering the wedding favor industry is low. Retailer of new wedding favor can join the industry with minimal or zero financial investment unlike other capital businesses of wedding like dress rental. New institutions can make available catalogues for wedding favor and few sample brands to clients without stocking many inventories (Pandurics & Illés, 2015). This features may create new start-ups in the sector especially from the involved in small-scale operation of the business. Much of entry problems are present in firms that do not create their own products.
Wedding resellers need to build relationship with other suppliers of wedding favor. There must been a clear knowledge of wedding favor goods, seeking of better suppliers, building strong relationship in business researching the target market. Furthermore, procuring products from overseas by wedding resellers should have a better understanding of cost, outbound logistics, regulatory requirements of trade and inbound logistics (Rastogi et al., 2013). Some of the wedding sellers who are new entrants in the market can notice that this knowledge involves major findings that require investment of money and time. Joining the wedding favor industry can be more challenging to some wedding revelers basing on the complexity of required logistic and supply chain knowledge.
Without availability of dominant firms, Indonesian wedding favor business is well saturated. Some of the entrants that are new are advantageous from new product identities from the void. The market possess large quantity of smaller incumbents having few resources capabilities, thereby competitors that are new are to expect slight threat of revenge from occupants (Trading Economics, 2013). Wedding favor market in terms of investments return are always associated with moderate or low margins that appeal new entrants who do not expect robust operations business. Firms that have higher resources and capitals may receive more revenues from other place as well as decide to disregard joining the market altogether. Even though being with moderate to low profit margins are commonly associated with attractiveness level of industry may also be actual challenges if the first investors do not anticipate returns that are reasonable.
Threat of Substitute products is high
The Wedding favor industry possess a significant threat of substitute goods due to the nature of the products it is offering. There are grooms and brides gifts to their guest by for representing their appreciation token (Russel, 2011). There are no restriction that have been placed for wedding favor in the industry of wedding. The grooms and brides can select brand that can consider suitable to be their wedding favors. They may even personalize and establish their own wedding favor like giving out cupcakes to the guest or simple thank-you notes. Industries who avail wedding favor should acknowledge the availability of considerably high threat of substitutes and competition from other competitors.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers is Low.
There is a weakness in the bargaining power for suppliers in the wedding favor industry. This suppliers include logistic and manufacturers companies. The have low bargaining power due to availability surplus of providers (Consterdine, 2015). Large quantity of wedding favors logistic and manufacturers companies generates a free market competition without domination of the market by suppliers. Changing costs to various manufacturers companies are minimal because no investment is needed for distributing the products or using logistic services by resellers. Moreover, logistics and manufacturers companies come up with same services and products having little differentiation thereby eroding the bargaining power of manufacturer.
Bargaining Power of Buyers is Moderate
Clients of wedding favor retailers have a fare bargaining power and consist mainly of customers who plan their own wedding. There is enough bargaining power from customer base because they have got options and are non-repeat clients due to many stores providing products that are similar. The nature of customers in wedding favor from Jakarta erodes the bargaining power due to majority of them acquiring products for only specific events of wedding with narrow possibility of repeated business. A split environment in the wedding favor industry adds more bargaining power for customers and it consist of abundant wedding favors retailers can deal similar goods (Consterdine, 2015). Transparency in price has improved due to development of online stores and clients are able to browse through various dealers online and check a better deals available in the industry. Additionally, buyers from the wedding favor market experience insignificant cost changing between products. Buyers are much rare commit themselves in acquiring a certain brand of wedding favor products. Changing costs is still much low for buyers in wedding favor market even though high-service quality helps in customer loyalty retention.
Potential solutions
Generating traffic and leads
To increase popularity which will help to growth the company’s brand, the marketers of the company needs to focus on generating more traffic as well as leads. More demand has to be created by marketers seeking more alternative ways for generating more leads which will consequentially increase the brand’s growth. The marketers needs to be guided by two principles of them being to create high quality content that people would pay. And also the need to the customers’ wants first (Russel, 2011). Putting emphasis on developing content which the audience wants, the focus should automatically be shifted to the promotion of it in a manner that attracts the audiences. By doing so, the public is being flooded with content whereby consumers won’t need to utilize a search engine in their efforts to find answers. However, articles fill the news feeds of the consumer’s pocket through mobile notification.
Provide ROI of the marketing activities
The measurement of the return on investment of the brand’s marketing is an important way that helps marketers to apprehend the effectiveness of every specific marketing campaign. With regards to providing ROI, there needs to be an indication that dictates time as well as resources to creating a linkage between sales outcomes and marketing activities. To increase accuracy and efficiency, marketing software such as CRM solution and HubSpot should be used and as well as closing the gap between marketing and sales using a service-level agreement (Salim, 2013). In this manner, it enables marketers of the organization to see the number of leads as well as customers generated via the company’s marketing activities. The combination of a service-level with inbound marketing is topnotch.
Securing adequate budget
The company should secure more budget which will help in funding marketing at both local and global levels. This can be achieved by proving the ROI of the marketing struggles. Essentially, there is a higher chance of obtaining higher budgets by calculating ROI (Rastogi et al., 2013). The company also needs to carry out inbound marketing so as to obtain high budgets. Inbound marketing has to be considered a long term strategy
Managing the website
A website is a very important assert working continuously in drawing visitors to the company’s website, converting them into ideal customers and also assist to achieve its set objectives. Marketers much also ensure that they regularly analyze the four vital elements of a website performance and design (Russel, 2011). They include; the website’s average load time, SEO, the security of the website and also mobile friendliness. Make website management to be quite easier through website hosting that incorporates all marketing channels.
Conclusion
To sum it all, PrincessWedding4U Company operates in a highly competitive industry. Due to the high competition, the company needs an appropriate and effective marketing brand that will help it gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors. PrincessWedding4U has problem in its brand in adequately understanding the needs of the consumers and also appropriate means of reaching many people. The company always fail to adequately understand its customers. Those involved in the company’s operations tend to undermine the company’s operations. This brand problem needs to be addressed in order to promote the company’s brand using the stipulated recommendations. Some of the most vital possible solutions to maintaining the company’s brand include; generating traffic and heals, providing ROI of the marketing activities, securing adequate budget and also managing the company’s website.