Description of the cases
The marketing based activities of an organization play a major role in the operating processes and creating a profitable position in the industry. The promotion and marketing related strategies that are formulated by the organizations have the ability to increase the revenues in their operating areas. The companies are further able to gain competitive advantage in the industry of its operations with the help of appropriate marketing. The activities related to marketing that are performed by the companies are therefore vast and they differ based on the organizations. The competitors which these organizations have in the industry are faced in an effective manner by developing proper strategies of marketing (Daspit et al. 2017).
The report will be related to the analysis and discussion regarding the marketing activities that are performed by different organizations. The companies which have been considered in the analysis are a part of the same sector in Australia. The two companies which have been considered as a part of this analysis are Woolworths and Coles. These organizations operate in the retail sector of Australia.
Woolworths is an Australian organization which has its operations in the retail industry of Australia and New Zealand. The organization has been able to gain the position of the second largest company in the retail industry of Australia with respect to the total revenues that have been earned by it. The company had established its first store in the year 1924 in Sydney. Woolworths has thereby been able to develop a different position in the industry with help of strong customer relationships. The company has also gained a competitive advantage in the industry with the help of its unique capabilities (Woolworths.com.au 2018).
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty. Ltd., which trades in Australia with the name of Coles has been trading the retail sector of the country. The headquarter of the organization is located in Melbourne and it operates under the parent company named Wesfarmers. The organization was established in the year 1914 in Collingwood, Melbourne by George Coles. Coles operates more than 800 supermarkets all across Australia. The organization has employed around 100,000 employees. The company was known as Coles Supermarkets which was later named as Coles Group Limited. The organization was further purchased by Wesfarmers in the year 2007.
The two companies which belong to the same sector in Australia have been able to achieve their objectives based on marketing related strategies. The research that will be conducted related to the marketing objectives of the two companies is mainly based different articles that have been able to depict the ways by which they have implemented the strategies in different organizational processes (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).
The products that have been offered by Woolworths in its product mix have been improved in order to create competitive advantage in the industry. The organization has always aimed at providing offers to the customers based on the preferences and choices. The company has been able to create successful relationships with the local growers and farmers as a part of process based on the development of competitive advantage. Sydney Herald, which is a famous newspaper of the country has published an article based on which it can be proved that a marketing campaign has been designed by the organization in order to create a successful position in the retail industry (Mitchell 2018).
Evidence based on marketing related success
The greatest and fierce competitor of Coles in the Australian retail market is Woolworths. The organization has always aimed at providing tough competition to Woolworths with help of its strategies. Coles has planned to create a competitive advantage in the market with the help of international expansion strategy. The organization planned its launch in the UK retail market in order to create an advantage in the retail sector. The company has thereby planned the expansion with the help of increasing its online presence (NewsComAu 2018). The first online store was planned by the organization in order to increase its sales and presence. The article which has helped in providing information based on the strategy that has been implemented by Coles is news.com.au. which is known to provide information regarding various aspects related to different sector in Australia (James 2016).
The strategy that has been implemented by Woolworths in a successful manner to create a competitive advantage in the market target or personalised marketing. The company has been able to customise different marketing based activities in order to provide the offers to customers based on their choice and preference. The company had previously followed the process of mass marketing which was changed later on in order to create an advantage over the other organizations. The buying based history of consumers is helpful for the development of personalised offers (Adbrands.net 2018).
The main aim of Woolworths behind the implementation of new marketing strategies is the repositioning of the brand and further increasing the customer base. The activities of the organization related to advertising and promotions have been organized to attract a larger group of customers. Another major strategy that has been an important part of the ways by which competitive advantage has been created by Woolworths is related to the change of strategy from product oriented to service oriented in nature. The company has been able to solve the different operational issues which have been faced previously with the changes in strategies (Financial Review 2018).
The operating process that has been followed by Woolworths after strategic change has become service oriented in nature. Woolworths was able to create a large supermarket chain with the help of the changes in strategies. The organization was also able to beat its biggest rival Coles in 2006. The organization has thereby claimed a position which has been dominating in nature. Woolworths has developed successful relationships with the local growers of the areas in which it is operating (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017). The strategy which has been implemented by Woolworths has helped in the proper creation of competitive advantage.
The online store which has been planned by Coles is based on the ways by which the company can increase its competitive advantage in the retail sector of Australia. The threat that has been faced by the organization based on the overseas rivals in the retail sector has been an important part of competitive strategy. The physical stores of Coles have been an important part of the success that the company has seen in retail market. The online stores will be helpful in increasing the awareness of products among the customers and the reach of the company as well. Coles has been able to provide tough competition to its rival Woolworths with the help of lower prices based on the services and products (Mitchell 2018).
Explain the ways by which these organizations achieved success in the industry
Coles had reduced the prices of products in order to provide tough competition to the other companies. The prices of liquor and food have been reduced by the company in order to cut the sales of the organization. This has further decreased the sales of its rival organization named Woolworths by around 0.9% in the retail industry of Australia. Coles has operated in the retail industry with the help of customer centric methods which is related to the decrease of prices of products and services (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).
The huge number of customers who are present in the retail sector of Australia are important for the improvement of the competitive advantage of an organization like Coles. The price war that has been fought in Australia by the retail organization has been won by Coles with the help of the lower pricing strategy or cost leadership strategy that has been implemented by the company (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017). The competition that has been faced by the Coles in the retail market is based on the ways by which the organization has been able to create a profitable position in the industry. Coles has thereby been successful in creating a competitive advantage in the market with the help of two major strategies which include, the international expansion strategy and lower pricing strategy (NewsComAu 2018).
Conclusion
The report can thereby be concluded by stating that the organizations which have been analysed in the report namely, Woolworths and Coles have implemented different types of strategies in order to create competitive advantage in the retail industry of Australia. The companies have operated in a profitable way with the help of the approaches that have been taken by them. The approaches of both the companies have been totally customer centric in nature The customers are thereby considered to be an important part of different organizational processes. The effectiveness of the strategies related to marketing that have been implemented by the organizations are thereby based on the ways by which the customers are affected. The companies need to gain competitive advantage by providing appropriate services to the customers. The levels of sustainability of the two companies can be increased by implementation of effective marketing strategies.
References
Adbrands.net. 2018. Woolworths : marketing and advertising profile at Adbrands.net. [online] Available at: https://www.adbrands.net/au/woolworths_au.htm [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Daspit, J. J., Chrisman, J. J., Sharma, P., Pearson, A. W., and Long, R. G., 2017. A Strategic Management Perspective of the Family Firm: Past Trends, New Insights, and Future Directions. Journal of Managerial Issues, 29(1).
Financial Review. 2018. How Woolworths’ personalised marketing is lifting loyalty and sales. [online] Available at: https://www.afr.com/it-pro/how-woolworths-personalised-marketing-is-lifting-loyalty-and-sales-20130213-jz5jx [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., and Schilling, M. A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
James, S.D., 2016. Strategic bankruptcy: A stakeholder management perspective. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), pp.492-499.
Michael, S., Storey, D., and Thomas, H., 2017. Discovery and coordination in strategic management and entrepreneurship. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, 45-65.
Mitchell, S. 2018. Woolworths kicks off new marketing campaign. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/woolworths-kicks-off-new-marketing-campaign-20151020-gkd4dl.html [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
NewsComAu. 2018. Coles leaves door open to price war. [online] Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-leaves-door-open-to-price-war/news-story/364449719d46084312615552b01cb688 [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Woolworths.com.au. 2018. Woolworths.com.au. [online] Available at: https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
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