Marketing Essay For Freedom Australia." (40 Characters)

Based on the selected issues regarding the current situation of the company Clearly state up to three objectives for the forthcoming 12 months using S.M.A.R.T goal setting criteria. Explain how these goals link to the identified issues.

 
State and justify which segment(s) you intend to target and how will you position the product/service for the target market(s)?

The Changing Business Environment and Marketing Strategies

The changes that has taken place within the spectrum of the contemporary business world has made it imperative for it to resort to the use of diverse kinds of strategies or measures which were not used by the organizations in the earlier times (Baker 2014). Wagner and Eggert (2016) are of the viewpoint that the changing nature of the business world becomes apparent when the needs of the modern organizations and also the demands of the customers are taken into effective consideration. The net result of this aspect of the business world is the fact that the organizations are not only finding it hard to attain sustainability but at the same time to attain a higher rate of profitability as well (Le & Czakon 2016).

As opined by Menon et al. (2015), this change has propelled the diverse organizations to take into effective consideration the entire concepts of promotion as well as marketing, something which was not seen in the earlier times. Furthermore, it is also seen that the organizations are required to conduct thorough market researches to identify the customer base or the section of the population on which they need to place their focus but also to understand the needs or the demands of these customers in the most effective manner (Chernev 2018). This in turn helps the organizations to design the products or the services offered by them as per the demands of the customers but also to design the marketing or the promotional plans which will appeal to these customers in the most effective manner (Yu, Ramanathan & Nath 2017). Solomon et al. (2014) are of the viewpoint that the prospects of the products or the services offered by an organization or for that matter of the entire organization itself depends on the effectiveness of these marketing or promotional strategies or plans. The major issues that the concerned organization faces in the business market of Australia are lack of effective online presence, high price of the products or the services charged by the company, intense competition and others. These issues are important since they directly affect the business process of the concerned organization and the mitigation of these issues can help the concerned organization to gain success. This report will highlight the marketing plan that the organization Freedom Australia can use for the process of their business in the particular context of the business environment in which they are operational.

The Business Environment for Freedom Australia

Freedom Australia, established in 1981, is one of the largest retail homeware stores in the nation of Australia (Freedom Furniture and Homewares. 2018). The company under discussion here is known for the high quality of sofas, furniture and other kinds of homewares’ that it had been providing to the customers of the nation (Freedom Furniture and Homewares. 2018). As a matter of fact, the company has more than 49 operational stores in the different parts of the nation and primarily banks on the need of the individuals to beauty their home and surroundings (Freedom Furniture and Homewares. 2018). In addition to the sofas and furniture that the company offers to the customers it is also known for the other kinds of home appliances like lights, storage solutions and others (Freedom Furniture and Homewares. 2018). However, at the same time, it needs to be said that the company operates in a very competitive Australian business market wherein the business market has already been dominated by the various organisations like IKEA, Kmart and others. In order to overcome, this intense competition the company has decided to embrace the digital technology.              

 Baker and Saren (2016) are of the viewpoint that the marketing objectives are the goals which an organization sets for the products or the services that they offer to the customers, which it needs to achieve within a given period of time. As opined by Katsikeas et al. (2016), the marketing objectives can be broadly classified as the marketing or the promotional strategy that a particular organization for the effective promotion and the resultant sale of the products or services offered by them to the customers. In this regard, the prospects of an organization and also the products or the services offered by them depends to a large extent on the kind of promotional or marketing strategies used by it and its effectiveness (Piercy 2014). Thus, it can be said that the marketing objectives or the strategies has emerged as an indispensible part of the business world that the diverse organizations need to take into effective consideration.

An analysis of the Australian business market clearly reveals the fact that the major threats that the concerned organization is facing in the nation of Australia are intense competition, the emerging online shopping trend, global recession, inflation and others. In addition to these, the analysis also reveals the fact that some of the major weaknesses of the organization are lack of effective online presence, the high price charged by the company for the products or the services that it offers to the customers and others. Experts have argued that the primary focus of the marketing objectives as well as the strategies devised by an organization should be to mitigate the adverse effects of the threats and also to utilize the business opportunities presented by the business environment in which it is operational in the most effective manner. Thus, on the basis of this, it can be said that the marketing objectives or the strategies that the organization under discussion here needs to devise should take into effective consideration these factors.

Marketing Objectives for Freedom Australia

As opined by Hunt (2018), one of the major trends seen within the cannon of the contemporary business world is the fact that the customers are increasingly turning towards the use of the system of e-commerce and this has changed the dynamics of the business world in a substantial manner. Recent researches have shown the fact that the organizations which are taking the help of the system of e-commerce have far better chances of enhancing their profitability than the ones which still depend on the brick and the mortar model of business (Dangelico & Vocalelli 2017). Thus, the company Freedom Australia needs to embrace the online technology and also adopt the system of e-commerce. This will not only allow the organisation to reach out to a much larger customer base but at the same time the company will be able to increase the sale of the products or the services offered by it and thereby its profitability.

Intense competition within the business market of Australia is another major threat that the company under discussion here is facing currently. The intense competition that the organization is facing currently can be reduced in an effective manner through the use of various kinds of periodical discounted sales as well as discounted offers (Baker 2016). This will require the organization under discussion to organize regular sale wherein they will offer products or services to the customers at a much lower price than the one which is normally being offered by its competitors in Australia (Foxall 2014). For the effective utilization of this process the company will have to convey the required message to the customers regarding the discounted sales organized by them.

The third marketing objective that the organization under discussion here can utilize for the process of their business, on the basis of the business environment in which it is operational, is to offer better quality products or services to the customers. The effective utilization of this goal will enable the organization to earn the satisfaction of the customers which will in turn help them to achieve the loyalty of the customers (Lagat & Frankwick 2017). This is likely to not only enable the organization to achieve competitive advantage but at the same time a higher profitability as well.

Gabrielsson, Seppälä and Gabrielsson (2016) have stated that the prospects of an organization depends to a large extent on the kind of customer base that it is focusing on and also the manner in which it is positioning the products or the services offered by it. The primary focus of the organization under discussion here is on the women customers who belong to the age bracket of 25-49 years of age. In addition to this, it is also seen that the organization focuses on the customers who are moving out of their old homes or seeking renovation of their current homes along with the spent savvy ones (Mullakhmetov et al. 2016). Furthermore, in the recent times it is noticed that the organization has started to focus on the customers who are very conscious about the appearance of their home and want to make their home more fashionable.

Mitigation of Intense Business Competition

The organization has positioned itself in the business market of the nation of Australia as the one which offers various kinds of products or services to the customers that not only enables them to beautify their home but at the same time beautify it as well (Freedom Furniture and Homewares. 2018). This is perhaps one of the major reasons why the major target customer base of the organization is the women section of the Australian society which belongs to the age bracket of 25-49 years of age. In addition to this, the organization at the same time, to create the need for the beautification of the homes and also to make it more fashionable takes the help of various kinds of marketing or promotional campaigns wherein they emphasis on the aesthetic and other benefits offered by the same (Kienzler & Kowalkowski 2017). More importantly, by offering easy home delivery services to the customers of the nation, the organization, at the same time, can position itself as an organization which takes into effective consideration the needs of its customers and is also customer friendly (Wensley 2016). Moreover, the high quality of products or services offered by the organization under discussion here can at the same time enable it to gain a positive brand image in the Australian business market and this can position the organization as the one on which the customers can rely on or have trust (Mullakhmetov et al. 2016). The net result of all these can help the organization to gain the unprecedented success in the business market of Australia.

McDonald. and Wilson (2016) are of the viewpoint that the major purpose with which the different organizations take the help of diverse kinds of strategies is to improve the prospects of their business and also to attain a much higher growth rate that their current one. The organization under discussion here in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the threats presented by the business market in which it is currently operational can take the help of different kind of strategies. Some of the common strategic options that are available to the organization are listed below-

• One of the major threats that the organization Freedom Australia is facing currently is from the rise of the different kinds of e-commerce business organizations. The emergence of these organizations has not only reduced the customer base of Freedom Australia but at the same time is taking a toll on the profitability of the organization as well. Thus, the effective utilization of the “omni-channel business strategy” is likely to help the concerned organization in a substantial manner. The use of this strategy will require the organization to not enhance its online presence but also offer e-commerce business services to the customers along with the brick and mortar business model that it is currently following (Le & Czakon 2016). Recent researches have shown different organizations like Amazon, Woolworths Limited, Tesco and others have been able to gain a substantial amount of success in the recent times through the effective utilization of this strategy (Chernev 2018). Thus, it is likely that the organization under discussion here through the effective use of this strategy would also be able to gain unprecedented success in the business market of Australia.
• The organization can also take the help of the various kinds of digital marketing strategies not only for the enhancement of their online presence but at the same time for the improvement of their brand image as well. In the cotemporary business world it is seen that the customers are very particular about the brand image of the company whose products or services that they are opting for (Menon et al. 2015). The effective utilization of the digital marketing strategies along with the improvement of the brand image of the company would at the same time help the organization to market and promote the products or services offered by them in an effective manner. Recent researches have shown that the organizations which take the help of effective marketing as well as promotional strategies have far chances of gaining success than the ones with ineffective marketing and promotional strategies (Wagner & Eggert 2016).
• The use of cost leadership strategy is another strategic option that the concerned organization has at their disposal. It is seen that the price of the products or the services that the concerned organization offers to the customers is higher in comparison to the ones offered by its competitors. This actually deters many customers from actually opting for the products or the services offered by the concerned organization. However, through the use of the strategy of cost leadership the organization under discussion here would be able to offer quality products or services to the customers and that too at very affordable prices (Yu, Ramanathan & Nath 2017). The use of this strategy will not only enhance the sale of the products offered by the company but would at the same time help the company to gain a higher amount of revenue as well.    

Freedom Australia, in order to mitigate the threats that it is facing in the business market of Australia and also to effectively utilize the business opportunities presented by the business environment of Australia can take the help of different kinds of measures. Some of the measures which is likely to help the organization under discussion here are listed below-

• The effective use of the product differential strategy is likely to help the organization under discussion here in a substantial manner. Freedom Australia, through the usage of this strategy will be able offer products or services which are not only superior in quality to the ones offered by its competitors but at the same time in terms of appearance as well (Solomon et al. 2014). In addition to this, the use of the strategy of product adaptation will also help the organization, to effectively to integrate the demands and also the needs of the customers into the design and also the quality of the products or the services offered by them (Hunt 2018).
• Enhancement of the customer base is another option that is likely to help the organization in the process of its growth. The company currently is focusing on just the women customers of the nation who belong to the age bracket of 25-49 of years. However, by incorporating the male customer base in this domain the concerned organization would be able to increase the revenue earned by them and also the sale of their products.
• Use of effective marketing campaigns and also social media for the process of the promotion of the products or the services offered by the organization will help the organization to reach out to a much larger customer base. In addition to this, it will also help the organization to convey the required information regarding their products or services to the customers and thereby increase the sale of these products in a substantial manner (Katsikeas et al. 2016).

Enhancement of Product Quality

Conclusion 

To conclude, the concept of marketing management has become an important one from the perspective of the various business enterprises and helps them to effective promote as well as market the products or the services offered by them. The dynamicity of the contemporary business world has made it imperative for the various organizations to take the help of different kind of strategies like omni-channel business strategy, digital marketing strategy, cost leadership and others. Furthermore, at the same time, it is seen that the different organizations formulate marketing objectives for the products or the services that they offer to the customers so as to boost its sale. More importantly, in the contemporary business world it is seen that different organizations have been able to attain a substantial amount of success in the recent times through the effective utilization of the various precepts of marketing management.

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