Marketing Strategies of Woolworths & BHP-Free-Samples-Myassigment

Question: Discuss about the Marketing strategies of Woolworths limited and BHP Billiton. Answer: Introduction The following paper focuses on the fact of marketing strategies and its implementation on the organizations. The proper marketing strategies can bring ultimate success to the organizations if they properly use those use those strategies and fulfill the needs and requirements of their target customers. In order to discuss these strategies for a better marketing, two organizations have been chosen from the Australian context who have done a great deal of business by applying their strategies particularly to meet the needs of their customers and then gain the competitive advantage over others in their respective industries. The chosen companies are Woolworths limited and BHP Billiton. The first one acts in the retail industry while the second organization works within the metal and mining industry. Both these organizations have been extremely successful and their marketing strategies have catered to the customers demands, thus establishing them as supreme brands in the industry. Background of the companies Woolworths limited Woolworths limited is one of the leading organizations in Australia that works within the realm of the retail industry. It was founded in the year 1924 (Woolworths Online, 2017). The headquarter of this organization is situated at Bella Vista in New South Wales. Along with Australia, it serves the countries like New Zealand and India as well. The number of employees engaged in this organization ios over 200000 (Woolworths Online, 2017). They have used many innovative methods to cater to the target customers as they have a very clear set of target consumers by segmentation. BHP Billiton BHP Billiton is one of the biggest and most successful organizations in the metal and mining industry in Australia (BHP, 2017). The full name of BHP Billiton Plc is the Broken Hill Proprietary. The headquarter of this organization is situated at Melbourne in Australia. Another branch of this organization is located at London in the United Kingdom. The market area that this organization serves is worldwide. The CEO of the company is Andrew Mackenzie. The annual revenue of this company as recorded in the 2016 was A$30.9 billion (BHP, 2017). The kinds of products that this company produces are iron ore, coal, petroleum, copper, natural gas, nickel and uranium. This organization has numerous mines all along Australia (BHP, 2017). SWOT analysis It is very important to note that the success of the company depends on its marketing conditions. The marketing conditions of a company rely on the facts how they see their strengths, weaknesses, threats from the rivals that those weaknesses expose and the opportunities that they can grow in the future (Grant 2016). These are very important to mark the growth of the company. Here, the macro-environment of the business has to be discussed. Woolworths SWOT analysis Strengths They have a very strong financial condition. They provide a wide range of products. They have a brand image and reputation in the industry. Their supply chain management is better than others (Stadtler 2015). Weaknesses They have an increase in their debts. Operating cost is too high than others (Grant 2016). Their overall cost is higher as well. Their petrol margin is reduced. Opportunities They have a big potential to increase their customer base. They can increase their market share as well. As a result of the population increase, diversity has grown as well as their customers (Grant 2016). They have a growth opportunity in the health food sector. Threats The jaws of recession and growing unemployment have loomed large on its growth path. Slow growth and uncertainty in the Australian economy has stunted its growth as well (Grant 2016). The growing dominative power of the suppliers has worked as a threat as well. The use of latest technology in other companies has proved to be a threat as well. BHP Billiton SWOT Analysis Strengths They have renowned natural resources in the industry and have a diverse portfolio of their assets. BHP is one of the major producers of iron ore, metallurgical ore and manganese in Brazil, South Africa and Australia. BHP Billiton has been able to deliver huge financial returns over the past decade as they have returned the money to their investors (Capon, Farley and Hoenig 2012). They offer a dedicated service to their customers relating to their product portfolio and this caters to their competitive advantage (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014). Weaknesses The gross margin of the company is very low and they do not have a long-term gross margin for its equity. BHP Billiton is currently facing several human resources issues. The company is weak in corporate communications because the staffs are not properly active in responding to the corporate enquiries. Opportunities They can execute several projects of pipeline in many countries so that they can increase their market share. BHP Billiton has reduced 5% greenhouse gas emissions that have helped a lot to protect the natural environment. They can improve their brand position by introducing innovative technology based marketing based marketing solutions and using various social media platforms to reach to their customers (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014). Threats The supplier costs are continuously rising that includes shipping charges, contract labor costs and energy costs. They are even facing political threats within their home country in Australia. BHP Billiton relies heavily on China for the supply of the raw materials. They can face some immediate problems if there are economic breakdowns in Asia (Achzet and Helbig 2013). Target segmentation for Woolworths When a company wants to gain the competitive advantage over their rivals they have to outsmart their rivals to erase the challenges they can give (Wedel and Kamakura, 2012). Woolworths has to make their target segmentation choices properly so that they can cater to the needs of the consumers. They have to analyze the demographics of the consumers so that they can set up their targets properly (Wedel and Kamakura, 2012). There are various kinds of people all over Australia with cultural diversities. People come from different countries, religions and family backgrounds. Woolworths look to focus on the buying powers of those customers and provide them products according to it. They also focus on customer loyalty and the quality of products (Wedel and Kamakura, 2012). This helps them to stay ahead of their rival companies. Once they begin to provide the best products to their customers according to their buying power, they gain the faith and thus compete strongly. Ansoff matrix of BHP Billiton The application of Ansoff matrix on any organization indicates the strategies for growth in other countries. In case of BHP Billiton they have a worldwide market with a good reputation and for further expansion they must follow some simple things (Hussain et al. 2013). Market penetration BHP Billiton must adhere to the different aspects of maintain the market share and thus resulting in the growth of the organization. Market development BHP Billiton should target their new market segmentation areas by analyzing the demographics. They should be able to provide the products like metals for buildings of huge offices or apartments. They should gain the customer faith first (Hussain et al. 2013). Product development Apart from the existing products, they should look to develop new products of metals and mining ingredients (Hussain et al. 2013). They can look to prepare alloys by mixing metals and making it stronger than before. This will help them to capture the market in the new target market. Diversification BHP Billiton can focus on developing new businesses in the new target markets. This will boost them to have a firm hold on the industry than their competitors (Hussain et al. 2013). These new products will be prepared according to what the people of that place want. Woolworths Four Ps of marketing Product As Woolworths provides various premium brands in the food chain, their product prices are generally higher (Gordon 2012). However, they provide the customers various products at both low and higher prices according to the consumer segmentation. Place Woolworths operates in 1000 stores in Australia. 950 of them are supermarkets and 50 are convenience stores. They also operate through their online version and They have several label brands in the country. The retail chains using their brand name exists in many countries all over (Gordon 2012). Promotion They use several methods for the promotion of their brand like offering loyalty schemes at petrol pumps through coupons (Gordon 2012). They also operated a Fresh Food People campaign as well. They promote their business through social media platforms. Price Woolworths looks to maintain similar or slightly higher prices in the market. They provide shopping cards to their customers that help to track the transactions. They offer lower prices as well according to the buying powers (Gordon 2012). BHP Billiton marketing mix Product BHP Billiton happens to be the top company in delivering the major commodities. The oil gas segment is the chief segment for the company. They possess a large share in the world market. They supply their products according to their demographics. Place They trade their commodities on a global basis (Peng 2016). They find their raw materials all over the world so they have a large capacity to expand all over. BHP Billiton has become one of the best suppliers of resources due to a set of merger and acquisitions. Promotion They always assure that they provide best promotional activities in the industry. They advertise about their products in various mediums like radio, newspapers, television and online platforms as well. They also promote their brand in the form of business to business (Armstrong et al. 2015). Price They fix the price of their commodities based on the global market (Peng 2016). These are dependent on global markets, competition and many other things. The raw materials that they trade in are traded at a low price. The levied government taxes on the materials increase the price of the materials as well. Conclusion After a thorough evaluation of the business market and environment of these two globally reputed organizations, it can be concluded that making proper strategies is very crucial for a successful business campaign. The companies have to focus on their demographics to fix their target consumers. They have to adopt proper marketing strategies if they want to expand their business to other countries. The companies also have to focus on the strengths they have and improve on their weaknesses. They have to utilize the opportunities they have. It is indeed important for them to think about these various aspects and then make their marketing strategies so that they can gain the competitive advantage References Achzet, B. and Helbig, C., 2013. How to evaluate raw material supply risksan overview.Resources Policy,38(4), pp.435-447. Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015.Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education. BHP. 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