Majans Company’s Product Awareness: Consultant’s Perspective Report

Context and Opportunity: Wholesome Ingredients in the Australian Food Market

There is a consistent necessity to deliver the end product to the customers fast. Therefore, the food industry, and especially the domain of fast food, cannot be deemed as being concerned customer health. The Australian food market is not an exception. According to the latest statistical data, the Australian fast food industry grew to the impressive $14.2 billion in 2014 (Retail and Personal Services Training Council, 2015). However, the wholesomeness of the food produced by the companies operating in fast food remains dubious at best. Therefore, by producing wholesome fast food, Majans will have a significant competitive advantage in the target market.

Literature Review: Exploring the Opportunities and Addressing the Threats

Key Problems, the Factors That Trigger Them, and the Means to Address Them

When considering the problems that the organisation is likely to face in the target market, one must mention the fact that the concept of healthy fast food is not alien to the target environment. Quite on the contrary, numerous organisations have been focusing on delivering the snack food that is both nutritious and tasty (Gerson, Goto, Wolff, & Giovanni, 2013). Therefore, competition levels and the necessity to find a unique identity that will allow Majans to attract people’s attention are the primary concerns. However, increase in the consumers’ demand for healthier products show that people are enthusiastic about the subject matter (Bukhari & Kazi, 2016). Thus, Majans is likely to succeed in promoting the idea of wholesome food as a part of the fast food product line.

What Makes Customers in the Food Market Loyal: Emphasis on Health-Related Issues

As stressed above, there has been a recent increase in concerns for healthy and nutritional food. Thus, the production of healthy food can be viewed as the first step toward gaining buyers’ loyalty. Furthermore, the identified strategy must come from care for customers. Once people realise that the organisation is concerned with their health, they will feel more inclined to trust it (Ishaq, Bhutta, Hamayun, Danish, & Hussain, 2014).

Furthermore, the use of a sensible pricing strategy should be considered a necessity. With a range of companies offering similar products at a rather low price, it is crucial to set the company’s pricing strategy at a reasonable level. Since the production of wholesome food will require significant expenses, sustainability must be viewed as the company’s priority, Lean management, waste reduction, and other ways of using resources to the maximum must be considered (Kumar, Kumar, & Narayana, 2016).

Last but definitely not least, the focus on quality must be considered a necessity. Wit the recent emphasis on healthy products, the target audience expects high quality from fast food organisations. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the principles of the Total Quality Management (TQM) into the organisation. Furthermore, the use of the Six Sigma framework (particularly, the DMAIC tool) as the basis for consistent quality improvement should be considered a necessary step (Yadav & Sukhwani, 2016).

Customers’ Perception of Snack Food: Tasty, Fast, Unhealthy

At present, the idea that fast food is usually unhealthy remains persistent (Siew, Wai, & Hoe, 2016).The opinions about its taste differ depending on the brand, the company, and the individual preferences of the reviewer (Chandon et al., 2016). That being said, fast food is often viewed as a cheap substitution for products of better quality. Therefore, Majans will have to subvert the identified stereotype and shape the customers’ perspective accordingly, promoting the idea of wholesome food as a possibility for the fast food industry.

Primary Target Audience: Students (Children, Adolescents, Teens)

Reports show that students (i.e., adolescents, teens, and young adults) constitute the majority of fast food consumers (Vaida, 2016). Children can also be viewed as the target audience (Sharifirad, Yarmohammadi, Azadbakht, Morowatisharifabad, & Hassanzadeh, 2013). Therefore, the products will have to be linked to the youth culture (Rahimi & Karimi, 2016).

Theory: The Concept of Self-Determination as the Key Perspective

In order to explore the opportunities that the target market offers, one must use the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Solomon, Russell-Bennett, & Previte, 2012). The recent tendency toward healthy food consumption shows that people need to be psychologically comfortable with the food that they consume. Therefore, by supporting the target audience’s choice, the organisation will encourage their autonomy, competence, and relatedness in accordance with the primary tenets of the SDT framework.

Consequently, the buyers will be encouraged to exercise their autonomy by choosing healthier products as opposed to the traditional fast food options. The organisation needs to appeal to people’s need to experience consistent growth. Since the development of a better understanding of one’s nutritional needs and healthy choices is an important part of personal growth, the use of the SDT approach is quite sensible in the identified scenario.

Furthermore, the current need of the target population to gain new information about healthy food and lifestyle can be viewed as competence from the perspective of SDT. In other words, people need to be effective in their choice of food and have mastery identifying the best opportunities for healthy eating. Majans will promote the concept of wholesome fast food as the phenomenon that supports the target audience’s choice. Therefore, the identified customers will be encouraged to explore and improve their competence. Feeling that their concerns are shared and supported by the company, the target audiences will develop loyalty toward Majans.

Finally, relatedness as the need to connect to the community can be explored by enhancing the connection between the proponents of a healthy lifestyle and wholesome food consumption (Solomon et al., 2012). According to the definition provided by Solomon et al. (2012), the concept of relatedness can be explained as “the need to be connected to others” (Solomon et al., 2012, p. 147). Therefore, by creating a community of people that value wholesome products as a part of healthy lifestyle, Majans will be able to improve its position in the target market significantly.

Therefore, the tenets of the SDT will help shape the marketing framework that will define the further success of the project. At present, people feel the urge to address their health needs. The food industry, and especially its fast food domain, has been under considerable scrutiny due to the health concerns that it has been causing. Thus, promoting the product that is not only healthy but wholesome is bound to lead to success (Solomon et al., 2012).

The theory may have its limitations. The fact that people’s personal opinions may differ significantly is the key one. Therefore, when considering the feedback received from the identified population groups, one must generalise the data. Nonetheless, the theory will help build an efficient marketing strategy since it will shed more light on customers’ needs and desires.

Interview: Description and Analysis

An interview was carried out among the target population so that the trends in fast food demand could be identified. The interview included five questions and allowed determining whether wholesome products were going to be a success among the identified population. Thus, the foundation for creating an appropriate marketing strategy was built.

The interview results showed that health-related concerns were becoming common among the identified audience (see Table below). Consequently, introducing a healthy fast food product would likely be a welcome change of pace. The interview helped realise that people were going to take the concept of wholesome fast food seriously.

Interview Results

Recommendations: How to Convince and Attract the Target Audience

As stressed above, the current propensity among the target population to choose healthier options should be viewed as the key opportunity. Using the 4Ps framework, one should place especially strong emphasis on the product that the firm will deliver. Particularly, opportunities for improving the quality thereof and promoting it successfully need to be mentioned. While the idea of wholesome fast food sounds fine, further elaboration is required.

It is necessary to design the brand image, message, and product that will represent the organisation. Thus, a very careful design of the product will be required. For instance, the brand product must represent the organisation’s concept of diversity. Put differently, various options must be provided, including vegetarian ones. As a result, the organisation will be able to embrace rather diverse populations, catering to the needs of all possible consumers.

The use of various vegetables and fruits, including the most exotic combinations, will have to be considered as the means of designing the unique food items that will become the representation of the organisation. As soon as the brand product is memorable and relatable, a consistent increase in not only numbers but also loyalty levels of the target customers can be expected. Similarly, brand image of the organisation must be designed in a very elaborate manner that will allow attracting the attention of as many target groups as possible.

The process of promotion as an important part of the 4Ps framework is nonetheless important. To make sure that the product could appeal to all members of the target population, one should design the promotion campaign that will incorporate internet marketing, social media promotion, and advertising strategies into a single framework. The importance of social media in the process of promoting the product to the target population can hardly be underrated.

In the contemporary environment, social networks have become the platform for regular interactions between the members of different communities. Therefore, by using social media as the foundation for carrying out the promotion campaign, Majans will be able to increase the number of its customers to a considerable extent. The tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., must be incorporated into the promotion strategy. Furthermore, blogging should be viewed as the opportunity to attract more customers and shed light on the unique advantages of the products. Similarly, the importance of internet marketing should not be underestimated.

By using the tools that will allow the company’s official site to be in the top 20 of the search results, one will be able to improve the firm’s performance significantly. Finally, the use of the traditional advertisement tools will also have to be taken into account. Billboards, transport ads, etc., should be considered an integral part of the product promotion. As a result, the target product will be advertised to as many members of the target demographics as possible.

The price issue will also have to be addressed accordingly. As explained above, the financial aspect of operating in the target environment may be somewhat complicated. As a rule, the prices set for fast food are comparatively low. Thus, selling its food at an unreasonably high price, Majans will be unable to attract many customers. However, the production of wholesome food will require rather expensive equipment. Maintaining the quality standards high will also require financial support.

Finally, the promotion campaign will entail impressive expenses. Consequently, a unique approach toward the pricing process will have to be developed. Specifically, it is recommended that the company should use discounts as the means of keeping the prices reasonable and at the same time retaining its clients. Discounts and cards can be provided to loyal customers. The cards should be viewed as especially important part of the pricing strategy.

They will be provided to the clients who have spent a specific amount of money (e.g., $1,000) buying the company’s products. As a result, the prices will remain the same, yet customer satisfaction levels are bound to rise. The introduction of the principles of sustainability into the company can be viewed as another way of managing the price issue. Once a sustainable use of the company’s resources is promoted, the costs will drop. Afterward, a more flexible pricing strategy can be designed. In other words, the price of the fast food sold at Majans will be comparable to that one of the competitors.

Entering a new market is always a challenging and risky step. However, the time has come for Majans to expand. Therefore, the company needs to consider the options for promoting its product to the target audiences. Because of the current trends in the fast food industry (Figure 1), Majans must focus on developing a competitive advantage. The emphasis on the wholesomeness of the food should be viewed as a sensible solution.

Furthermore, it will be necessary to build efficient communication strategy for keeping the connection with the target audiences. The combination of traditional and online advertisements will serve as the means of attracting as many people as possible.

It would be wrong to claim that the identified approach is entirely flawless. Quite on the contrary, the idea of building an entirely new brand image and product from scratch implies significant challenges. For instance, the organisation will require significant investments. Thus, it will be necessary to seek financial assistance from investors in the global market. Nonetheless, it is expected that the outcomes will be more than inspiring. Thus, the design and promotion of a new product must start as soon as possible.

References

Australian Government: Department of Agriculture. (2014). Australian food statistics 2012–13. Web.

Bukhari, A. N., & Kazi, R. (2016). CRM triggers effectiveness through customer selection orientation, business cycle orientation, cross-functional integration and dual value creation: Myth or reality. Journal of Marketing Management, 4(1), 163-171.

Chandon, P., Cornil, Y., Schmidt, L., Chabert, M., Atik, S., & Aron-Wisnewsky, J. (2016). Obesity and sensitivity of food perceptions and preferences to marketing actions. NA – Advances in Consumer Research, 44(1), 76-81.

Gerson, A., Goto, K., Wolff, C., & Giovanni, M. (2013). Food, health and values: The Effects of attitudes and behaviors regarding sustainable food practices on overall diet quality among college students. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 11(2), 53-60.

Ishaq, M. I., Bhutta, M. H., Hamayun, A. A., Danish, R. Q., & Hussain, M. N. (2014). Role of corporate image, product quality and customer value in customer loyalty: Intervening effect of customer satisfaction. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 4(4), 89-97.

Kumar, M., Kumar, S., & Narayana, P.. S. (2016). Impact of brand equity on customers purchase decision making while choosing branded over unbranded apparel in Andhra Pradesh. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 11(7), 5202-5209.

Rahimi, M., & Karimi, A. A. H. (2016). The study of the formation of consumer attitudes and intentions towards internal and external characteristics of fast food restaurants. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, 10(3), 238-244.

Retail and Personal Services Training Council. (2015). Environmental scan 2015. Fast food: Quick & limited service restaurants. Web.

Sharifirad, J., Yarmohammadi, P., Azadbakht, L., Morowatisharifabad, A. A., & Hassanzadeh, A. (2013). Determinants of fast food consumption among Iranian high school students based on planned behavior theory. Journal of Obesity, 13(147589), 1-7.

Siew, L. W., Wai, C. J., & Hoe, L. W. (2016). An empirical study on the selection of fast food restaurants among the undergraduates with AHP Model. American Journal of Information Science and Computer Engineering, 2(3), 15-21.

Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R., & Previte, J. (2012). Consumer behaviour. Melbourne: Pearson Higher Education AU.

Vaida, N. (2016). Prevalence of fast food intake among urban adolescent students. The International Journal of Engineering, 2(1), 353-359.

Yadav, A., & Sukhwani, V. K. (2016). Quality Improvement by using Six Sigma DMAIC in an industry. International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, 6(1), 41-46.