3. Regarding the current market, it appears to be segmented by geographic, psychographic, and demographic variables. Geographically, SKI Associates is counting on business from the current permanent population which falls between “7,000 [and] 15,000 people” (Pritchard, n.d.). This estimation includes the local and outer communities in the area. Based on the population total and vast travel distance to other car washes, the location can be classified as rural. This is potentially an advantage for SKI Associates as people generally do not want to drive long distances for errands. Another geographic variable noted in the case is climate. Snowy winters—although some years are bare—and hot summers promote skiing, snowboarding and boating in the
SMC was currently distributing and selling to retailers, wholesalers, and private-labels as well as to Europe and the South Pacific. About 75 percent of total sales were coming from nonmetropolitan areas. Wholesalers represented 30 percent of riding mower sales and 25 percent of sales was from direct-to-dealer sales accounts. The private-label sales accounted for 40 percent of total sales and foreign sale 5 percent.
When one thinks of classic Americana, they reminisce about the 1970s and 1980s and the notion of the nostalgic past in terms of what is the classic American image. It was a time of economic prowess where the blue collar factory worker would work 9 to 5 and then go to the local bar with his coworkers. However, times have since changed. The industrial plants that once dominated the Great Lakes economic region has become a shell of its past to the point where it is now none as the Rust Belt as industry left and white collar jobs became the norm. Since this degradation has settled into this once industrial cities, many cities and companies have sought to rebrand themselves in order to build from their reputations in the past to appeal to the nostalgia felt today. One such case where these is a correlation between a company and city are that of Harley Davidson, founded 1904, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both have sought to rebrand themselves to the public and consumer, with Milwaukee seeking to transformation its image into that of a young and vibrant and city while Harley targets a new clientele. It is this shift to Harley’s "cult branding" to attract new clients that parallels Milwaukee's attempts to integrate itself to a service sector economy based on touristic leisure and the consumption of
The methodology of this research project included both qualitative methods and quantitative methods. The qualitative methods were used for primarily background information and specific examples of respondents that would be considered part of the target market. The quantitative methods included a distributed survey and a collection and analysis of the results using statistical software.
As James Flink points out in The Automobile Age, the village store and the local banks were the businesses most vulnerable to the new competition (47). Robert E. Wood, former vice president of Sears, explains how businesses moved to the suburbs, "When the automobile reached the masses, it changed this condition [the funneling of consumers into the town centre] and made shopping mobile. In the great cities Sears located its stores well outside the main shopping districts, on cheap land, usually on arterial highways, with ample parking space (Wollen 13)." Thus city centers came to be seen as sites of congestion, whereas the surrounding areas were regarded as accessible and convenient. The rapid proliferation of shopping complexes outside of the city center in the 1950s left down town a crime-ridden wasteland of vacated stores. City centers no longer featured traditional shops; instead they contained gas stations, parking lots, and inns whose focus was on the travelers and their cars (Wollen 13).
Bass Pro shop started as an 8-foot-long display area in the back of a liquor store in 1971 and has expanded into a Fortune 500 company that employs over 8,800 employees and has annual sales estimating somewhere around $1.25 billion today. The question at hand is: should Bass Pro Shops continue to expand, and if so at what rate should they? The primary problems they might face when expanding are as follows. Could expansion hurt their brand image and if so how? The Competition outside of Missouri is going to be much greater. They will not have the publicity and brand recognition as they do in Missouri. Does Bass Pro have the financial resources in order to open new stores, if not then what are some options they can exercise? Will Negative publicity threaten their brand image as they continue to grow? Is the cost of overhead going to be too high initially for Bass Pro to expand at a fast rate, if so then at what rate should they expand yearly? These are all problems Bass Pro is going to have to face in the future. Through research and extensive problem solving, they will be able to make an accurate decision on rather they should expand.
AutoZone has responded to changes in its' macro environment by placing stores in regions "that have large number of vehicles seven years old and older because of these cars' need for repairs and maintenance" (Wikinvest.com, 2012). Nationally, sales of new automobiles were at a 30-year low in 2009, but they have since rebounded slightly. Customers are still reluctant to buy new vehicles due to concern over high prices and general jitters about the economy. To combat this, many manufacturers have been offering discounts to lure consumers to purchase. As a result, AutoZone is facing a boon in the marketplace- "the cars and trucks in America's driveways have reached a record old age" (USAToday, 2012). In addition, there are more vehicles registered in the U.S. than previously.
According to our case study, Allstate Insurance Company is an industry leader in providing various insurance products to customers, but recently realized it had room for improvement in its “non-traditional” sectors. First, what are non-traditional sectors? The study emphasizes motorcycle insurance, but it could also be assumed that boat, RV, ATV and snowmobile insurance would fall into the same category. Second, we have to consider who would need these types of insurances. We need to think of what kind of person owns these various types of vehicles and what is most important to them. Third, we need to come up with a plan on how to gather information about the people we want to target. Finally, once we have our information gathered we’ll need to come up with a plan on how to use it to our advantage.
In Three stages of American automobile consciousness, Flink states that the automobile industry growing rapidly in both urban and suburban area , and it gradually becomes a core industry of the economy in the 20th century. The auto industry facilitates the relation between city and suburban area and speed the pace of building modern agriculture. So, it seems like that automobile do more good than harm in the rural area. For example, in Flink’s article, it says “The general adoption of the automobile by farmers promised to break down the isolation of rural life, lighten farm labor and reduce significantly the cost of transporting farm products to market. (p6，Three Stages of American Automobile Consciousness)” Whereas in fact the Kline and Pinch
Lululemon, a premium yoga-focused retail chain, serves two market segments. One segment consists of consumers who are characterized as “trendy urban” and the other segment consists of “wealthy” consumers. The “trendy urban” segment, in summary, is fashion oriented or active women who live in metropolitan areas. The “wealthy” market segment is affluent women who live in either urban or suburban areas. As discussed below, these two market segments are defined by differences in demographics, geography as well as behavioral and psychographic characteristics.
Nordstrom segments are broken down into preference segments. There are three segments that Nordstrom has containing the following: homogeneous, diffused, and clustered. Homogeneous is a market with no natural segments. Diffused is a market with evenly distributed preferences with no concentration. Finally, a clustered market when natural segments exist and may be effectively targeted. Nordstrom’s segments focus on inside
The business opportunity we will be perusing is renting out motorized scooters to college students. This will appeal to many people because of the savings on gas, convenient parking on campus and the reduction on traffic on and around the universities’ campus. There is currently no competition in this field besides the dealerships themselves selling the scooters. The appeal will come from the low ownership price and reduce cost of ownership because we are leasing and we pay for routine maintenance and registration. We will be able to successfully operate this business because of the following reasons: the demand for cheap and easy transportation on the average college campus, the void currently in affordable ownership for a moped
Business travelers who spend much of their time in the car (like real estate sales agents)
There are many types of perfectly competitive firms throughout the Rio Grande Valley, for example, gasoline stations, convenience stores, restaurants, snow cone stands, as well as nail spas. A nail spa has
There are three main business activities in the automotive sector: rental, repair, and other services. Of the three, automotive rental franchises have increased the most. Given this, a potential idea would be to team up with some of the rental facilities, and offer them special discounts or service options. We could offer pick up and delivery, customized service, or a number of different amenities to gain continued business.
The Current situation is the need of a marketing plan to help increase sales that attract young and older customers. There are fundamental assets that focus on 35-50 year olds and 21-35 year olds who are buying motorcycles. The older customers seem not interested in the modern lifestyles that CruiserThorr symbolizes. However, the younger customers do not have disposable funds to buy the motorcycles. They prefer a lower c...