Marketing module 1 Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing module 1 Case Study - Essay Example This paper will be directed towards describing the target markets and market positioning strategies of two companies having products and services that are similar and belong to the same industry classification. In this respect I have chosen to compare and contrast Wal-Mart and K-Mart, two of America’s most well-known discount stores and indeed Fortune 500 companies worthy of global recognition. Interestingly both of these companies have been in operation for more than 40 years and have seen a lot of ups and downs in the corporate landscape. The Wal-Mart chain is the brainchild of Sam Walton who worked at J.C Penney’s before opening up his own store in Arkansas in 1962. Due to his outstanding success, the company quickly expanded to 24 stores across the state before going public in 1969. Today it owns and operates over 8500 stores in 15 countries under the Wal-Mart logo as well as other names (Frank, 2006). On the other hand, K-Mart was formed back in 1899 by Sebastian S . Kresge, who as a travelling salesman met and was inspired by Frank Woolworth, owner of the original discount store concept business that bears his name. K-Mart has also been reconstituted and changed its logo after coming out of bankruptcy proceedings in 2002. The company is slowly reconsolidating its position in the USA and worldwide. Big Kmart, K-wash, K-Cafe and Kmart Supercenter stores are concepts similar to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club, Walmart market, Marketside, Express and other initiatives. Comparison of Target Markets and Positioning Strategies Coming to the concept of target markets and market positioning strategies, we see that Wal-Mart had previously adopted a one-size fits all approach and sought to attract all groups of customers by offering slightly lower prices and volume discounts. This is also reflected by its slogan for 19 years which ran as: ‘Always lower prices, always’. But lately the company has evolved a new business strategy that acti vely practices market segmentation. Its segmented groups may be stated as African-Americans, Hispanics, affluent empty nesters, rural residents and suburbanites (Walmart website, 2011). Based upon current research, the company’s biggest three customer group segments are Brand Aspirationals, value-price shoppers and price-sensitive affluents. Meanwhile the company has also reconstituted its logo and slogan which reads: ’Saving people money so that they can live better lives.’ As compared to this, K-Mart’s has not yet done the customer segmentation approach. It is still busy reconsolidating and experimenting with changes after the 2005 purchase of Sears. Its businesses in Australia and New Zealand operate under entirely separate management. While the names of some stores have been retained, others have been sold to the Wesfarmers group (K-Mart website, 2011). Creating a New Target Market and Consumer Perceptions Creating a new target market may be easy or d ifficult, depending on the nature of the product or service, the ease of introducing a new product line that does something a little different or is offered to complement something that the existing products are already offering. I would imagine that K-Mart and Wal-Mart would do well to offer a line of exclusive and specialty products as cars or business suits that are made by the world’

Australian Macro-Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Australian Macro-Economy - Essay Example The macro-economic environment supporting the Australian micro-economic reforms have been satisfactory is some respects, but notably deficient in other areas. It is imperative to examine these developments briefly, since, if the major problem areas are not resolved, they have the potential to disrupt the genuinely significant achievements and frustrate the path towards an internationally oriented and efficient economy. The purpose of this section is to examine briefly the salient features of the macro-environment. This article also alludes to some of the effects of the reforms. It does not attempt to provide a comprehensive assessment, which would be beyond the scope of this chapter, and arguably premature. Fiscal Policy Throughout most of the reform period, fiscal policy was reasonably conservative. The Australian Labor administration inherited a large fiscal deficit in 1982/3, in consequence partly of a severe recession. The government proceeded to reduce this deficit progressively through the decade. By 1987/8 a modest surplus had been achieved, and was maintained for the next three years, before another serious recession forced a change in policy. For a short period, also, the administration reversed the post-war trend towards an ever-larger government presence in the economy. Economic growth remained quite buoyant during this period, although inflation continued to exceed that of major trading partners, while remaining below 10 per cent after 1983. The recession of the early 1990s was the major mistake in macro-economic management over this period.