Katz, Sapper and Miller Analysis

Katz, Sapper and Miller Analysis

           The famous Accounting firm Katz, Sapper and Miller was founded in 1942. At very firm the firm started at small level but then the success ladder was open for the company. The growth of the firm was tremendous as compared to the other firms in the industry. Irwin Katz joined the company in 1952. He had a strong background which supported him very much in the professional career. Katz always believes that a business is just not a number game rather it is more than that. His thinking was to treat clients as the partners. This may give a sense of loyalty and respect towards them.

          The mission statement of the company KSM also shows the true loyalty towards the customers or we can say clients, as they say that our mission is to help clients to get success. The six key values of the company are long term relationships, integrity, being responsive, quality, employee success and the most important is entrepreneurial style of doing business. All of these values helped business very much in order to build a strong name in the market place. The basic point is to maintain long term relationships; if the customers are satisfied then they will definitely come again and again.
          The Company Katz, Sapper and Miller has focused on relationship building. They just not give attention to the transactional clients rather they prefer to make long term relationships with them. The strategy of having partners rather clients is actually motivates employees on relationship building. The employees of the company KSM are truly committed to the problems of their clients. They not only give solutions to the problems but even give tactics to get safe from the coming situations also. This behavior makes the clients more loyal towards the company and thus they become potential clients for the company.

          The management at KSM has always focused on superior customer service and thus gaining client satisfaction through their services. They have designed their policies and procedures in the way that they seem to give respect to the clients more than the company’s benefit. The skilled employees are always present to handle the problems of the clients regarding taxation, valuation, reporting, advisory services, auditing, consultancy and other legal matters.

          The Company KSM deals with the privately held companies, Governmental entities and non-profit organizations etc. many other industries may include construction, dealership, health care, hospitality and life sciences etc. The clients feel satisfaction by taking services at KSM and this satisfaction forces them to come again and again.

          To maintain a compliance behavior from the employees is really a difficult task. Due to globalization the policies and procedures are also changing at a rapid pace. To compete with the industry the firm managers also have to make their rules flexible so that they can also mould themselves with the industry changes. For this reason the KSM Company has a strong internal control. Internal control refers towards the management of employees and all their relationships with the company. If internal control system is properly managed then it means that employees truly comply with the company’s policies. Same is the case with KSM; they have a strong internal control system. An effective internal control makes compliance an easy task to be maintained

          At KSM, talent management process is also an important activity. The management wants to retain the employees so that the clients also consider them experts after frequent visits. The relationships with these employees are also maintained very well. A very supportive environment is provided to the employees so that they may enjoy working with KSM. A perfect package plan is offered to work in a competitive work place. In addition to the salary package, there are many other facilities which are also offered to the employees at KSM i.e. medical, house rent, retirement plans, education, wellness program and travelling programs etc.

          Student internships are very welcomed at KSM. They want the young professional to use their skills in the real world problems using their company name. These student internships are also helpful to sort out the talent or we can say the expertise and skills. Employee learning and development is very much focused issue at KSM. There is always a supportive environment for employee learning. There are many developmental programs offered for the employees which truly help them to polish their existing skills.

          Due to rapid changes in the environment, the competition in the market place has increased very much. Every firm of the industry tries to get success before any other may reach there. Same is the case with Katz Sapper and Miller Company; they are also facing intense competition in the market. But due to their superior services they have gained a competitive advantage over others. The experts or we can say skilled employees at KSM deal with the clients as if they are the partners of the company and this relationship management is the true essence of the company’s success. 

Influence of Brands on Consumers

Branding and its Influence on the Consumers

In these days there is an environment of intense competition between the companies. The popularity of the product is dependent on the marketing of the brand. There we can say that the marketing channels and the marketing strategies are very much important. Usually the marketing managers of any organization aim to inspire the consumers with their effective product image. This product image can be enhanced with an effective branding. Therefore we can say that a strong marketing of a brand may influence the consumers and also the society. There can many reasons e.g. the usefulness of the product, the celebrity endorsement for the marketing of the product or the importance of the product in the daily routine life. This research paper will elaborate that how an effective and strong branding may influence consumers’ lives.

Now the competition among rival products has been so fierce that the managers have to take care that the product not only satisfies the customer but also force them to re-purchase it. This will make them a loyal customer towards the company thus having a strong customer base. But all this is only possible when the company has defined its product as a strong ‘brand’. The word brand has many definitions. Many authors have defined it as their own point of view but a general description says that a brand is a distinct set of name, logo, mark and any other symbol which can be differentiated from other products offered in the market. A brand should be a set of expectations or the perceptions of the customer. Therefore the product or brand should be positioned so well that each and every customer can easily recognize it and also use it.

Branding just not means to sell your product but a strong and powerful brand always aims to give solution to the problems of the customer.  Branding is always a way to build an important company asset, which is good reputation. Branding can build an expectation about the products and services offered by the company, and can encourage the company to maintain that expectation or also can exceed them by bringing better products and services to the market place.

o   Customer Loyalty:

Another important concept is of brand loyalty. Most of the customers want to use any brand regularly. The only initiative is make them aware about the brand. When they think that this brand is the only solution to their problems then they want to use it on regular basis. This customer loyalty is also very important for the companies to gain because more loyal customers will definitely spread a good word of mouth about the brand and thus it may also act as advertising for the company.

o   Celebrity Endorsement:

Advertising is the easiest tool to affect the consumer buying behavior. For this reason the marketing managers try to make these advertising or we can say promotional campaigns unique and inspiring so that customers can recognize the brand among the rival products. Celebrity endorsement in these advertisements is a way to make a brand more popular. The marketing managers perceive that the people who are fan of these celebrities may also want to use the brands which their ideal personalities also use. This will increase the sales and also the list of potential customer. Usually these celebrities are sportsmen or media stars because they have huge fan following in the general public. And the marketing managers of these companies wisely use this popularity of the celebrities in order to market their brands.

o   Brand Image:

The perceived brand image also plays a very important role for the companies. Usually these advertisements or the promotions of the brands create an imagination in the customer’s minds. It is very necessary that this imagination is positive and also in a constructive way other it will ruin the brand image according to the customer’s perception. Therefore it is important consideration for the marketing mangers of these companies to create a powerful brand image so that customers may take it in a positive way. Sometimes a word ‘brand personality’ is also used for the description of the brands. The details which are specified in order to distinguish the brand are the attributes of the brand personality. From customer’s point of view the brand personality is very important. This brand personality is also very significant for edifying a competitive edge and also the brand loyalty.

o   Brand Equity:

Brand equity is actually the value which is added along with the name of the brand of a company. In quantifying terms it is difficult to measure the brand equity. It can only be measured in qualitative terms. Brand equity may involve its advertising, packaging, additional attributes, additional services etc. in other words we can say that brand equity may refers towards a complete package offered with a brand. The consumers’ knowledge about any brand tells us about the successful advertising of the brand.  In most cases the consumer prefer to know about the brand equity before the purchasing decision.

o   Brand Effect:

The brands have strong and influencing impact on the customers. Usually this effect is created with the help of additional features which are associated with the brand. For example the message which is given in the advertisement of the brand, the way of presentation of the brand, the personality of the celebrities who are promoting the brand. All of these mutually create a brand effect on the customers and also the society. Sometimes the brands are promoted in a way that they seem to be beneficial not only for the customer but also for the whole society. Now the people are more conscious to choose the product which is socially good. In this way the companies may also try to fulfill their social responsibilities and also create a good brand effect.  Usually the customers have association with the specific brands according to their own requirements.

o   Brand Extension:

In order to increase the market share the companies try to add value to their product portfolio. This additional value can be created either by launching a new product or by diversifying the old existing ones. There is always a risk associated with the launch of any new product that it may not fail and may not be accepted by the market and the customers. Thus usually the companies adopt the policy of adding value to the existing one thus renew it and resent it in the market for the customers. The potential customers who are loyal to that particular brand may also want to try the new version of same brand. This is called as the brand extension. Brand extension is always a better option in order to avoid new brand failures. Brand extension actually means to use the name of an old brand by the marketing mangers to introduce a new brand in the market. Because it is said those consumers’ choices are usually dependent on the brand recognitions. This strategy is usually adopted by the company because in most cases people are usually not ready to accept any new product or brand rather they would like to stick their old choices. This may also be termed as the brand loyalty towards the old brands. The marketing managers actually use that brand loyalty in the benefit of the newly launched brands.

Powerful branding of any product is also an important tool to gain competitive advantage in the market or industry as compare to rival firms. Brand based differentiation helps to make a higher place for the product among other products. The research studies show that usually people make relations with the brands as they usually do in case of their fellows. So that’s the reason that people are brand conscious and also brand loyal too. This brand loyalty is actually the competitive advantage for the brand over others. But the responsibility of the company also increases because the potential customers expect more from the brand and they may also break their relationship if they get dis-satisfied with anything. The relationship between the brand and the customer is highly dependent on the satisfaction level of the customers or we can say the tolerance level of the consumers. In other words we can say that the customer loyalty is the source competitive advantage but also there is an additional responsibility on the managers to take extra care of demands of those customers.

Advertising is the most effective tool to familiarize the customers with the particular brand. One of the most important goals of advertising is to create awareness about the product or the brand among customers.  The advantage of advertising is that people can recognize any specific brand. Recognition is the process of perceiving a brand as previously encountered. Therefore marketing managers try to focus on the strategy which not only creates awareness among the customers but they can also recognize the brand.

Huge billboards, posters, fliers, banners, print and electronic media are all the advertising tools which can be used by the company to promote their brands in the markets so that the people may also get awareness about the brands and also their associated special features or attributes. These promotional materials are used to tell customers about the existence of a brand. The strong promotions or advertisements may also help to create a good image in the customers’ minds. The customers think that this brand is the only solution to their problems and also meet their expectations. Now it all depends on the company and the brand mangers to meet those expectation levels and keep the high standard of the brand.

Everything is not always good as it seems to be. In some cases the advertising may also be a source of creating bad image of the brand in the customers’ minds. For example if the celebrity who is promoting the brand is not a well reputed person then it will be a negative point to the brand image. If any aspect of the advertisement is against the social and moral values of the community then it will also create bad brand image. In other words we can also say that if  the brand is useful but it is not marketed in a good way then there will be no use of the brands’ good quality. So we can say that the advertising should be considered very important because all the image of the brand is dependent on the extent of the advertising. The marketing managers should focus on the unique and creative and also socially acceptable ideas for the promotion of the brands. In this way the marketing campaigns will add value to the brand effect.

Brand is a specified name for any product. A powerful branding means that the product is truly ruling over the customer’s minds. All the research studies show that the brand awareness exerts its strong influence on the consumer buying behavior and this awareness is only possible if the brand is properly marketed in the industry. A well managed marketing campaign definitely adds value to the brand because customer gets familiar to it.

There can be different ways to advertise the product so that it may influence the consumer buying behavior. Many companies hire famous celebrities to promote their brands so that the people who are fans of those celebrities may also want to try these brands in their routine. This celebrity endorsement is also very much effective for making a brand more powerful. The loyal and the potential customer may also spread a good word of mouth about the brand in their family and friends thus increasing the customers for the company.

In short words we can say that brands are very much influencing in the daily lives of the people and thus affecting the society as a whole but the only factor behind the success of any brand is the impressive advertising, which can change the customer buying behavior. 

Netflix Analysis

Netflix Case Analysis

In this technological era there is an involvement of computers and IT in almost every field of life. Any system is considered incomplete if it is not available online. Film industry also faces this technological boom period. It is now a popular business of online rental movies. Netflix is an American company providing online streaming of a huge number of latest movies and even TV drama episodes also.  The firm is doing a successful business. They are serving a strong customer base in UK and USA. The research studies have proved the tremendous growth and sales of the Netflix Company during the year 2013.

Porter’s five force analysis is the basic tool to analyze any industry or market segment. These five forces are threat of new entrant, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, availability of substitutes and the existing rivalry. These are the basic five forces which any firm should know about in order to compete in an industry. If we talk about the movie rental industry specifically then this has gone under overhauling since past decade. Now the customers have a variety of options available to rent a movie of their own. The online ability is no more difficult for them.

Analyzing the movie rental industry under the five force model of Michael Porter, the following facts have been revealed;

Ø  The bargaining power of buyers is extremely high because of availability of many other options.

Ø  The bargaining power of suppliers is also very high because these businesses have few options to buy their movies. They can only purchase this movie directly from the production house. For this reason they have limited suppliers and thus the suppliers are dominant in this relationship.

Ø  The third force which is the availability of substitutes is relatively moderate because every movie is one and unique in its nature therefore no one can replace it thus we can say that substitutes are not that much readily available here.

Ø  Considering the fourth force of new entrants, we would like to say that there is less hreat of new entrants because people know that customers are likely to watch movies through online streaming and the business of rental movies is not that much successful now. Therefore no new entrant would like to come here.

Ø  Rivalry among existing market players is very high and they always try to adopt new ways to attract customers towards them.

Due to rapid changes in the customer buying behaviors, different industries are changing their strategies so that they can compete with a faster pace and also fulfill the market demand. For a general discussion there can be many driving forces behind these industry shifts e.g. globalization, economic fluctuations, consumer buying behavior, involvement of technology, resource availability and the five forces mentioned by Michael Porter in his studies. All of these factors are actually act as a driving force to change any industry. If we specifically talk about movie rental industry then the possible driving forces might be the consumer buying behavior and availability of many other options instead of renting the movies.

Analyzing the market of the movie rentals, in my opinion the future is not as brighter for the movie rental industry. There might be many reasons behind this opinion but the most apparent is the involvement of technology or we can say the internet. Now mostly people prefer to online order a movie and pay through credit cards instead to order and then wait for a DVD. The online availability seems to be accessible to the people. But still the live streaming option is alive for movie rental industry. They can revive themselves by going online through live streaming services.

Key success factors or commonly called as KSF are those essential features or attributors which a company must possesses in order to compete in the market or industry. Almost every firm has to face competition in the market because the companies try to adopt new technological ways as soon as possible. Therefore for being considered as a competitor a firm should have some additional factors which add points to its success. And the achievements of the company are basically the key success factors for the company. The examples of key success factors may include no. of customers per year, relations with customers and supplies, loyalty of customers, financial results, marketing strategies and product positioning. Same is the case with movie rental industry.

For the survival in the movie rental industry the Netflix Company and other competitors have achieved certain mile stones which includes;

·         Netflix became the first DVD seller with 900 titles.

·         Netflix had almost 1 million subscribers during 2003

·         According to 2012 facts and figures Netflix and Redbox had Return on Equity of 34%

·         Netflix had sales growth of 46% while Redbox’s was 33%

·         Return on Assets for Netflix was 10% whereas for Redbox it was 8%.

Up to mid of year 2011, there was huge growth for the Netflix Company. It seems that it will earn record breaking revenues this year. But suddenly after July 2011, the management at Netflix Company made certain strategic changes in their marketing and sales plans. They thought that these changes will boost up their sales and thus company will get extra benefit. According to them they have a strong potential customer base which is loyal too. And these customers will accept all the changes made by the management. But it didn’t work. They had to face an opposite situation which was not expected at all. The stock price fell down at an extreme. The company’s reputation was also on stake. The strategic changes that stoke the strong pillars of Netflix Company are given below;

Ø  Initially all the subscribers were enjoying an economic plan of unlimited DVD’s and unlimited live streaming at a minimal cost of $9.99 per month. The only condition was the return of DVD’s within a specific time period.

Ø  The Netflix management at once changed the whole pricing plan.

Ø  They separated the DVD plan from the live streaming plan.

Ø  According to new plan the DVD’s subscribers would only receive DVDs for the whole month by paying $7.99.

Ø  While the live streaming subscribers would get this service for the whole month by paying $7.99.

Ø  And if anyone wants to get both packages unlimited for the whole month then he may have to pay accumulative $15.98 for subscription.

All the existing plans are now entirely changed which shocked the existing subscribers. These changes badly affect the sales of Netflix. People started to get rid of their subscriptions. Thus their customer base was also affected. 

Companies' Analysis

Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser

Introduction of the Two Companies:

Unilever is a FMCG company headquartered in London, England. The company offers a wide range of products which includes food items, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products.  It is world’s third largest company as per the revenues. Unilever has served a huge portion of the market covering many countries thus becoming a famous FMCG provider organization. The products of Unilever are available in more than 190 countries. The famous brands of Unilever are Lipton (famous tea), Lux and Rexona (soap), Sunsilk (shampoo), Surf (washing powder) and Magnum (ice cream).

Reckitt Benckiser is another world famous FMCG headquartered in Berkshire. The major product lines are home products, hygiene and health concerning products. The company operates in more than60 countries and served almost 200 countries with a wide range of network. The famous brands of Reckitt Benckiser are Dettol (famous antiseptic), Strepsils (famous medicines of throat infections), Veet (famous depilatory), and Air Wick (famous air freshener).

There can be different forms of companies e.g. sole proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership, corporation and many others. The legal structure and other rules and regulations are totally dependent on the specific form of the company. Unilever is a public limited company and dual listed in two different stock exchanges with different names as Unilever N.V and Unilever PLC but still they work as a single entity. Reckitt Benckiser is also a public limited company listed in London Stock Exchange. These public limited companies usually float their shares in the trading market and thus raise the capital to be employed in the business. These shares are offered to the general public, anyone can purchase them.  Every shareholder gets the ratio of profit according to his shares in the business and no other liability is owed to him.

Though Reckitt Benckiser is operating at relatively small scale than Unilever but still both of them can be considered as competitors to each other because their origin are same, their serving market is same. Both of them are offering products which are commonly used in house hold matters in a routine life. Therefore they are competing firms with respect to many aspects. There can be many indicators which are usually used to highlight the firm who beats other market players. One of these indicators is the financial information of any firm. The research studies show the financial information of Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser which is given below;

This means that Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser are facing a healthy but tough competition in the market because both of them are nearly close to each other in the financial facts. Their competition is also shown through their advertising strategies.

Every firm needs a vision statement on which it can run its business activities. This vision statement actually depicts the purpose of existence of any firm. A clear and vivid vision helps to devise values for the company and these values are actually the terms and conditions to work with that specific company. These vision and values ultimate motivate employees to work harder and achieve success.

Unilever team says that there vision is to provide people the households through which they can feel good, look good and get more out of life. They want their customers to take huge advantage of little things which are used in daily routine life. This shows that the Unilever team wants to get inside into people’s daily life with the help of their household product items.

Contrary to Unilever Company, team at Reckitt Benckiser is aimed to give a healthy yet innovative life with the help of their house hold products. They want to differentiate themselves in the market among competitors on the basis of their innovative but useful products. They want to give a world where health and fitness are preferred by the people.

Corporate responsibility can be defined as the ethical and moral duty of any entity or we can say organization to devise such operational strategies which are beneficial for the people and the whole society as well. Now the people are very much aware about these delicate issues. They noticed such kind of activities if any firm is fulfilling its corporate social responsibility. United Nations says that CSR means that companies are integrating their operational activities with the social concerns.

Like many other multinational firms Unilever is trying its best to fulfill the corporate social responsibility and thus achieve a good image in the minds of the customer. The Unilever team always prefers to provide a healthy and hygienic environment with the help of their different household products. By adopting better techniques of waste management they have tried their best to save the environmental pollution. An efficient use of natural resources like minerals, water and certain gases is also a part of social responsibility and the Unilever team is very much concerned about it.

Another aspect of execution of corporate social responsibility is green marketing and the team at Reckitt Benckiser is aimed at it. They have planted almost 5 million trees and thus proved themselves to be nature friendly organization which operates to lessen the effects of environmental pollution. They claimed that all of their products are eco-friendly which means that its use will not harm the surrounding environment of a house.

In general terms the stakeholder can be defined as any single person who may get affected because of any change in the policies of the organization. Even the end-users are also considered as the stakeholders for an organization in some cases. The organization has to consider all of its stakeholders before taking any decision because it may affect them directly. These stakeholders are very important consideration for any organization because they affect the policy making process and the decision making process of the top management. Some authors give so much importance to these stakeholders that they say a firm cannot survive without the support of these stakeholders.

Unilever says that we are fully committed with our stakeholders because they are the reason of our success. Government is the biggest stakeholder because they have to give us an environment in which we can operate well. Government policies are very important because the team at Unilever make their policies on the basis of them. Managing relationships with customers, suppliers, investors and the most important employees is a critical issue. Unilever always to engage all of its stakeholders with them so that they fell involved in all decision making. The team at Unilever believes that sustainability in the operations is only possible when all the stakeholders play their positive role.

The team at Reckitt and Benckiser always strive to maintain sustainability in their operations. And this sustainability is only possible if the stakeholders are with them. Once RB faced some agitation for them customer regarding product quality but then the Reckitt Benckiser team changed it as per the customer demand. According to RB management stakeholders are those who even can alter the policies of the organizations with their immense power. Therefore it is necessary for them to take care of those stakeholders either case they are i.e. Government, investors, customers, employees and the suppliers.

To operate in the market, an organization must need certain organization strategies. These strategies are actually the ways or the plan of actions which help the management to behave in a certain situation. These strategies are very much helpful for the firm so they must be designed with great care keeping all the possible contingencies in mind. If there is contingency management in any organization then it shows the strength of its flexibility towards uncertain situations. These strategies must be aligned with the objectives of the firm.

The team at Unilever named their organizational strategy as the compass path because it provides them a direction to move on for further development. The business strategy is designed towards a sustainable growth. This strategy is also aimed to involve all the possible stakeholders so that they can feel their involvement in it. The basic aims of the operational or we can say business strategy is to save the environment, double the size of the product lines and the most important is the positive social impact.

The team at Reckitt and Benckiser is also very much suspicious to design such an organizational policy which could match with their vision of innovativeness. They aimed at finding the unique solutions for the customers. It is also tried that these strategies should meet the mutual interest of the shareholders and the stakeholders. Employing right people on right places is also a part of strategy so that they work well and also with their interest. 

Ritz Carlton Analysis

Ritz Carlton

When we talk about the economy of any country then one of the industries which have a great contribution for generating revenues is the hospitality or we can say hotel industry. The importance of hotel industry is also vital because it can even grab revenues from the foreigners. If the people coming out of their homes and even countries find a place where they can get a quality service along with comfort then they will prefer to visit again and again. This is true essence of the profitability of hotel industry. If we talk about the famous hotels which are always preferred because of their quality service then the name of Ritz Carlton would definitely be included in the list. According to tourists Ritz Carlton is the place where genuine care and hospitality is given to the respected guests. The guests are always welcomed in a warm relaxed environment.

Ritz Carlton is a chain of hotels serving a huge market of potential customers. If we talk about the history of the hotel then the very first Ritz Carlton hotel was opened in Paris in 1898. The company operates worldwide with a number of 57 hotels in 35 cities and 23 resorts. Actually at that time the owner of the Ritz Carlton was famous for his name as The King of Hoteliers. These hotels are luxurious but comfortable in all aspects. Therefore they can be the preference of any individual who is outside the home. The provision of quality service is the basic competitive advantage of the Ritz Carlton which highlights its position among rival companies in the hotel industry.

The mission statement of the Ritz Carlton states that the provision of genuine care and comfort is always the highest priority. The people themselves at Ritz Carlton are keen to the desire of each and every guest to be personally served. That’s why we can say that the employees are personally committed to the organizational mission. The logo of the Ritz Carlton is ‘We are ladies and gentlemen serving other ladies and gentlemen. For this reason the employees at the hotel irrespective of their geographical boundaries are always aimed to serve others in the way they want to be served. Their goals and objectives show the unanimity of all the employees regardless of their status and home country.

One of main factor contributing in the success of the Ritz Carlton hotel company is its talented staff members. The management has developed such a strong culture in the company where each and every employee irrespective of the gender is valued very much. These professionals are considered as the main source of the profitability of the company. Due to this importance the hotel staff members are also very committed towards their organization. Actually these talented staff members are the real assets of the company. There is no boundary of culture of geographical area rather every employee has to follow the culture of the organization itself. The work force diversity is valued and managed in a decent manner. A guest who was well served at Ritz Carlton shared her experience about the hotel staff. She praised the employees by saying that although every hotel trains their staff but the management at Ritz Carlton pays attention to little things which mostly other companies ignore. Therefore we can say that one of the key success factors for the management of Ritz Carlton is the staff also. The most important task for the staff members at Ritz Carlton is to provide best quality service to the visitors. There are three simple and easiest steps of providing quality service i.e. a warm welcome, fulfillment of needs and then a friendly good bye.

Like many other industries the company Ritz Carlton is also taking the advantage of technology advancement in its background processes. The guest profiling system with the help of a database is one of the important activities involving information technology. These databases then help the management to track the record of visits of their potential customers. Research and development department is also based on the internet services. The management pays great attention to the current prevailing market trends and thus has a flexible operational plan. Due to the flexibility they can change the business strategy as per market demands. Customer service is also provided in the form of a complaint program. All the filed complaints are regularly checked and improved.

Though keeping lower cost is an important strategy but Ritz Carlton focuses on the provision of highest quality to its customers which means that they want to capture the cream of the market. And because of this highest quality the customers are always ready to pay as much as they can. The management is always focused towards continuous improvements in its operations and this perfection is only possible due to research and development and also the customer feedback service. These activities show that how much Ritz Carlton is concerned about personalized care and service quality for their customers. These customers and also the staff members constitute a success for the company and also a well casted brand image in the eye of the customers. 

Marketing Research at Barclays' Bank

Barclays is a British bank (headquartered in London) which is working multinational and thus providing financial services all over the world. It is also termed as a Universal bank. It was founded in 1690.  It is providing, retail, commercial and investment banking services to its customers. Barclays have an extensive network of branches and ATM machines so that they can cover a large area of customer market. Barclays also offer some personal banking services. It also sponsored many big and major events also. This list of sponsorships may include Premier League, certain sports events e.g. tennis, golf and foot ball tournaments, the Churchill cup etc. Barclays is second-largestgest bank in the United States.

There are also certain controversies which are associated with the name of Barclays as it is very usual matter that every banking institution is usually supposed to be involved in the money corruption cases. Same is the case with Barclays, most of the competitors tried to create a bad word of mouth regarding the Barclays bank but it was not successful and the popularity of the Barclays bank is still in the minds of its potential customers.

Due to difference in the customer needs and choices the Barclays bank is also trying to serve them at every level. That is the reason of having different banking products and services so that customers of different segments can be targeted easily. When any company has such a versatile kind of target market and customers then there is a need of market research so that new and prevailing trends in the market can be analyzed efficiently. The promotional tools of the banking products and services would also be different for different customers. While doing market research the company should be capable of covering costs and also sell the product at a profit. They should also be able to handle the expected problems of the new segment.

There is so much competition in the banking industry that every bank has to be vigilant about the opportunities arising in the customer market so that it can be grabbed at once and then have a first mover advantage in offering new services to its potential customers. To achieve this vigilance by the company the marketing research should be very much active and effective also. Marketing research actually means to collect the customer related data from the market segments and thus analyzing it in comparison with the company’s resources and also the cost involved. This marketing research also helps to devise future plans for the company.

Barclays have analyzed the potential in the students target market and thus do a market research to find out whether this would be a profitable decision to launch any product regarding this segment. Barclays have considered the students as the major segment to be invested in. They did a marketing research in order to analyze the potential of this specific market segment. Barclays has a competitive advantage over other companies due to the geographic area it has covered. On the basis of this advantage Barclays can compete over them in the future also by serving more and more segments.

The research and development department of the Barclays is very effective. The research team provides actionable ideas that are based on the consumer preferences.  At first the company which is going for market research should focus on its own image created in the customer’s eye. In this way it can be easily analyzed that how the population of that segment will perceive that company’s product. The research and development department at Barclays efficiently try to cover all the possible segments of the consumer market and even also made valuations and other steps on the basis of research findings.

There can be variety of tools which are used to do the market research. All the companies use variety of them as per their access and affordability. The primary tools and the secondary tools are very much important. At Barclays the research and development team focuses on both ways of doing researches. Due to technology advancements in all the fields of life, it has also its impact on research. The research has been made a little easier as earlier before. Internet and World Wide Web has made this research process very much interesting. The internet research tools may include competitor’s websites, blogs, online surveys and sometimes social networking websites are also very important.

When doing a primary research, it is very much necessary to be sure that the researcher is experienced and have command over all aspects of the matter. Otherwise there is a risk of biasness influence on the research findings. Now the research findings can be of two types that are of quantitative and also the qualitative one.

When the research findings are calculated then there is a need to devise an action plan which is according to the resources of the firm. At fist the research team should select the proper channels through which it can enter the targeted market segment. After that a well organized promotion plan should be implemented so that the target customers can come to know about the product.

At Barclays there are different researches which have been conducted in order to compete with not only the local competitors but also with the global ones. This list may include Global market structure, quantitative portfolio analytics, equity strategies and Global macro research. All the policies are usually made on the basis of feasible research findings.

Barclay bank is providing its banking services in many of the major areas of the world that includes United Kingdom, Europe, America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. So the opportunity is very much clear to offer more and more products in these countries and states to grab over market existing there. The bank is providing a large range of products already but it can also take steps to grow further in other related fields. Due to borderless competition among different companies, there is an opportunity that a bank can adopt the policies and procedures of any other bank which are more effective and feasible for it. While going for any other economy the merger with the good companies is also an opportunity to gain the potential customers of that economy. Although the cost and affordability element should be considered before implementing the action plan.

Viktor & Rolf Brand Analysis

If we talk about fashion industry then there are many famous companies or brands which at once come in our mind. This list may include Dolce & Gabbana, Victoria’s Secret, Givenchy, Levi’s, Burberry, Gucci, H&M, Zara, Adidas, Nike and many others. All of these brands are ruling over the fashion industry through their eye catching clothing for both men and women and involving in many other product lines also. Victor & Rolf is one of the leading brands of the fashion industry.

Viktor & Rolf is a company, headquartered in Netherland and well operating in Fashion industry. Two Dutch Designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren (amazingly identical to each other in some styles) mutually started this company in 1993, after their Graduation from the same academy, Arnhem Academy of Arts and Design. They said that they got inspiration from a German TV Program and thus decided to come in the fashion world and show their creativity. During the whole journey of their Business Viktor & Rolf have made collaboration with many other brands which include Samsonite, Shu Umeura, H&M and Piper Hiedsiek and this list include many others at small scale.

Viktor & Rolf had also won certain prizes for their contribution in the fashion industry. They also presented their creations in certain exhibitions, art galleries and festivals and also got appreciation. Both the Founders of Viktor and Rolf are very much famous for their unique and surreal style of presenting their clothing lines. They actually try to twirl mind's eye in to veracity.

About the Brand:

The brand Viktor & Rolf was launched in Paris in 1993 at first. At the start both the founders of Viktor & Rolf assist some other designers and tried on their own ideas in the evening spare time. Viktor & Rolf offered men’s and women’s wear and also include Haute Couture. Haute Couture is a special kind of hand-made clothing which is a little bit fancier then usual dressing styles. The first collection of Viktor & Rolf got three different prizes. During their whole journey the brand Viktor & Rolf also took steps for their business Extensions. They have also participated in various popular fashion weeks. Viktor & Rolf also gave their costumes for certain Opera. In the mid of 2000’s Viktor & Rolf entered in to the new voyage and offered a fragrance for women, in collaboration with L’Oreal, naming the Flowerbomb. Later they themselves progressed in this perfume industry.

The Dutch Designers Viktor & Rolf are popular for their claims to change the imaginations in to the real world. The news has been roaming around from the start of 2013 that this year Victor & Rolf are again presenting their old Haute Couture fashion back and thus celebrating the 20 years of success in this way.

Products:

The company under the brand name of Viktor & Rolf is providing apparels, Clothing, shoes, perfumes, eye-wares and other accessories. Viktor & Rolf are working on men and women wear, ready to wear clothes, Haute Couture (special kind of fancy but hand-made clothing) and a perfume line also. Initially these clothing lines were introduced only for females only later on the lines for men were also introduced. Within all these product lines, the prominent and appealing feature is the creativity and innovativeness among the offers.   

Flowerbomb was the First ever perfume launched by Viktor & Rolf. This product was launched in Paris in the mid of 2000’s. The ladies perfume launched by the fashion brand, Viktor and Rolf, is so much popular that everyone wants to have it in her perfume collection. They are also working on the fragrances which can be offered for males. The bottle of the perfume Flowerbomb is like hand grenade. Its unique shape and sweet fragrance also adds points to the offered product. It is also included in the list of top ranking women perfumes.

The perfume Flowerbomb after gaining much success, launched in US, hoping to catch the huge market as targeted. The owner of Viktor & Rolf, Victor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren tried to analyze the capacity of target market of clothing lines in US by offering perfume first. Actually Viktor & Rolf used their perfume line as marketing or we can say advertising tool for their actual product of clothing. They wanted to know whether the huge and attractive market of the United States of America will respond to their brand or not? If yes then this would definitely be a good opportunity for the growth and progress of their business (Smith 2005). The US market actually welcomed the brand whole heartedly. Later on the perfume named Antidote was launched for men in the US market.   

Initially the single shade and print clothing was their symbol but at later seasons they also offered many colored and floral printed wears for both of the clothing lines i.e. for men and women also. The new collection from the brand Viktor & Rolf includes a new range of T-shirts which are also very much appealing for the customers.

Haute Couture is a French term which means having highly elegance. This type of product line includes a very high quality; hand-made fancy apparels. These apparels need very much attention while sewing them. A very unusual type of fabric is used in them. They are a little bit expensive too because of the resources (time and cost) spent on it. Viktor & Rolf are also famous for their couture collection. The first couture collection was launched in 1998 and its name was Atomic Bomb. This couture collection straight away grabs the press and media attention towards itself.

Competitors:

Fashion industry is facing so much competition all over the world. Every fashion brand tries to lag behind others in order to catch customers’ attention. Quality of products, Price offered, advertising campaigns, proper allocation of resources and also the performance of the brand are some of the major factors contributing to create competition among industry or market. At this time Victor & Rolf are competing behind many famous brands. The competitive brands for Viktor & Rolf may include Zara, Gucci, D&G, Armani, Nike, and Adidas in the clothing product line. All of these brands are enjoying a huge market share in the industry and also have a neck-to-neck competition. They have to struggle very hard to remain progressive in the market.

New entrants in the industry can learn certain things many ideas from Viktor & Rolf. They always tried to break the conventional rules of advertising of fashion industry. Competitive advantage over other brands in the industry can also be achieved through brining new, creative and innovative ideas to launch the product so that it may catch the audience’s attention at once.

Victor & Rolf gave many innovative ideas to the industry by launching their models in new ways like the use of Blue screen technology and also separate sound systems harnessed by the models themselves. In some fashion parades they dressed their models just like Dolls like wearing one dress over another and thus displaying them on the ramp stage. Viktor & Rolf also called famous actresses as their models for women clothing line.

Target:

When offering any new product in the market it is very much necessary to first identify the target market. If target market is properly identified then it will be very much easy for the business persons to serve them properly. In this way they can allocate their resources in a best suitable direction and also promote the product effectively. The targeted customers will also feel good and honored. The brand about which we are talking, Viktor & Rolf have also targeted certain segments of the market so that they can serve them properly. They have identified these segments on the basis of their different product lines offered.

If considering men clothing line offered by Viktor & Rolf then the target market would not be a relatively high class, because they include both high as well as low class people in their targeted market. The prices are not so much high but the offered quality is yet appreciable.

When we talk about the women clothing line, then surely we can say that target market is that of relating to upper or high class. Viktor & Rolf are designing women apparels for a luxurious market. Their target women would be age of 20’s to 30’s and wanting to remain updated regarding current fashions. The target women include those who like to wear unique and appealing dresses.

SWOT Analysis:

SWOT is acronym used for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and threats. Strengths are those capabilities of a business on the basis of which it can gain competitive advantage or we can say at least can perform better than others in the market. Weaknesses are those shortcomings which can become a hurdle in the growth or success of a business. Opportunities can be present outside the business boundaries in the market. Business should avail such existing opportunities. And at last threats are those hurdles existing outside the firm’s boundary in the market which can cease the growth of the business. The best practice for a firm should be to take advantage of strengths, overcome weaknesses, avail feasible opportunities and handle the threats and thus gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

Now there is a SWOT analysis of Victor & Rolf brand. The most important strength or we can say the interest catching point for the Viktor & Rolf is their strong innovativeness not only in the product lines but also in the ways to present them. Once they used dolls to show their clothing line in an exhibition. All the dolls were dressed according to the season and looking much presentable. That idea was much successful in the exhibition. Another strong point is their simplicity in the clothing lines. Their products are for every type of customers. The collection always includes formal and informal dresses. The price is always remain affordable and also having high quality. Their first ladies perfume Flowerbomb is also called as their signature strength.

Now every fashion brand either new or old is trying to enter in cosmetic industry also. This may create threats for the Viktor & Rolf so it should be a working strategy for the brand to take care of new entrants also. The best available opportunity for the brands can be lowering of operational cost by taking cheap labor from any-where in the world. Due to borderless communication it is easy for the firms to have resources at a lower cost from any other economy which is feasible for them. This lowering of cost will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the brand.

Distribution:

There can be variety of different ways or we can say channels which can be used by a business to distribute its product. These distribution or promotion methods surely increase the value of the product. Any fashion brand should adopt those channels which can be creative as well as eye catching because in this era of globalization, there is so much competition between different brands. Now days there is no as such restriction regarding boundaries of any country, every brand is working on the whole population in general and for a target market in specific. So one should try hard to remain competitive even in the selection of a distribution channel.

Before the launch of their ladies famous perfume Flowerbomb, the founders of Victor & Rolf, Victor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren did a launch of a fake perfume whose bottle did not open. They wanted to show their desire to enter in the cosmetic industry after ruling over fashion industry through their innovative and creative ideas. Victor & Rolf used many different ways to communicate with their audiences regarding their product lines. They also arranged some unauthorized exhibitions in order to attract press related people.

One of the distribution centers of Viktor & Rolf includes The House of Viktor and Rolf, an art gallery having retrospective style of presenting the clothing lines using porcelain dolls. This was a very much unique idea of showing the beautiful dresses by any famous brand. This retro style art gallery was established in 2008.

Communication:

In the competitive age of modern technologies, each and every brand is trying to capture more and more attention of its existing customers to gain their loyalty and also to attract new customers too. Now there are many media ways through which any firm can properly convey its message to the customers and also can get their feedback and suggestions. With the help of this feedback they can improve their relationships also. Internet is very much easy and approaching channel to gather feedback. Viktor and Rolf also used this internet technology to have better relationships with the customer base.

In the mid of 2011, Viktor & Rolf introduced their first ever customer program regarding CRM. The basic aim of this Customer Relationship Management Program was to cover the largest part of European market share. This CRM program was titled as Viktor & Rolf Secret Service.  This online program was launched not only to attract new customers but also to gain the further loyalty of existing customers. The customers can log on to this online program with the help of a number which was printed on the packaging of Flowerbomb. This may create curiosity in the customers. In this way the sales may also increased.  This CRM online program helps Viktor & Rolf in boosting the long term relationships with their potential customers.

This Customer Relationship Management Program was also awarded for its working in 2010. The launch of this website or we can say the online customer relationship management program is truly a success for the brand Victor & Rolf because this activity or innovative idea adds points to its share in the market and thus increasing its strength and also competitive advantage