Marketing Essay Sample on the Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies for O'Brien

O'Brien has several issues to address pertaining to product attractiveness, competitive advantage, and marketing strategies. The management of the company should, therefore, implement the following short-term strategies in addressing each.

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Product attractiveness: The company's products are deemed old-fashioned, therefore, unappealing (Philippart, 2016). In the short-term, a tactical reduction in pricing strategy can boost sales.

This strategy is meant to respond to customers who are deemed to rate the company's chocolate brand as of average quality to old-fashioned. The company then can develop its market share in the meantime by selling its less popular product at competitive prices so as to catch up with competitors on popularity.

Competitive advantage: O'Brien needs to concentrate on market segments where it is strongest (Ben-Oz & Greve, 2012). As such, saving costs in advertising in non-performing segments.

Currently, the company advertises in various segments of the market but the majority of its clientele comes from lower income and the elderly generation. To that extent, an exclusive focus on this same segment proves critical to enhancing the chances of the company's success as it maximizes profits where the firm performs best.

Marketing strategies: O'Brien ought to develop a universal marketing plan that coordinates the VP's team towards common short-term goals (Philippart, 2016). For example, meeting a sales target.

Currently, the chain of command proves cumbersome and time-consuming as reporting to the VP directly would eliminate lengthy decision-making processes in the reporting protocol pyramid. The short-term should see a clear goal set for all members to meet. That way, each person knows their contribution to the overall goal by ensuring that individual objectives are attained.

The long-term goals recommendations are as follows;

Product attractiveness: Modernizing its products proves paramount to continuity. In that regard, investment in research and development is necessary for the diversification of company products to meet modern-day customer's expectations (Ben-Oz & Greve, 2012).

Undoubtedly, the lack of popularity of chocolate products among the youth should be a worrying concern for the management at O'Brien. To that extent, it is imperative that the company makes strategic investments in trends research that will lead to the development of new brands that appeal to the youthful generation. Indeed, appealing the youth is almost guaranteed success in the chocolate market since youth are a bigger market share for chocolate products as compared to the older generation which forms a significant stronghold of O'Brien's current market share.

Competitive advantage: Penetration pricing seems to be a good option that O'Brien can utilize to gain market share in its poor performing markets at a fast pace. Initial price can be low to attract customers, once a customer base has been established, prices can be raised to maximize profits (Philippart, 2016).

Penetration pricing is the best strategy for attracting customers to O'Brien's chocolate brand because increased consumption will lead to its popularity after which the price can be raised to on that can give sustainable profits.

Market strategies: The management ought to invest in research to develop knowledge on sales intervals, seasonal changes, and factors that motivate sales teams (Ben-Oz & Greve, 2012).

R&D is inevitable if the company is to strategically respond to changes in demand and supply in the chocolate market. By understanding the seasons of the year when chocolate sells the company can maximize its profits during peak seasons and organize its production schedule to meet market dynamics.

References

Ben-Oz, C., & Greve, H. R. (2012). Short-and-long-term performance feedback and absorptive capacity. Journal of Management, 41(07), 1805-1826. doi:10.1177/0149206312466148

Philippart, M. (2016). The procurement dilemma: Short-term savings or long-term shareholder value? Journal of Business Strategy, 37(06), 10-17. doi:10.1108/JBS-11-2015-0114