Introduction
In the modern business world, competition between firms is persistent and continuously growing, which necessitates companies’ search for effective marketing strategies to maintain a competitive advantage. In this regard, an organization’s work is predetermined by the marketing goals it plans to achieve, which would align the mission, performance, and employee training according to the strengths and weaknesses and situational analysis. This paper will analyze the marketing strategy for the Preuss Pets company located in Lansing, MI, to develop a compelling competitive advantage.
Mission
As a company that sells pet products, such as food and accessories, Preuss Pets currently has an insufficiently effective organizational mission statement, which is product-oriented. To make it more marketing-oriented, the company might formulate it as follows: it sells happy experiences and lasting memories of the times you spend with your loved animals (“Champions for caring connections,” 2023). Such a statement appeals to emotions and long-term value rather than mere products sold in the store, which creates a more extensive scope of mission accomplishment opportunities.
Situational Analysis
A proper situational analysis is essential to determine what direction the company should choose for its development. For that purpose, a SWOT analysis should be conducted as a process of “identifying internal strengths and weaknesses and examining external opportunities and threats” (Lamb et al., 2020, p. 24). To identify strengths and weaknesses, Preuss Pets might conduct consumer surveys to collect data on their performance and secret shoppers to detect organizational functioning particularities (Lamb et al., 2020). Such an approach will allow the company to collect an objective and diverse pool of information to make relevant conclusions.
Regarding demographics affecting Preuss Pets’ business in Lansing, MI, one should note that pet owners might belong to a diverse demographic group, including people of different ages and incomes. However, it is relevant to consider that 66.8% of citizens of Lansing, MI, are employed, and approximately 22% of citizens live in poverty (United States Census Bureau, 2023). The level of education is median, with 95% of the population having high-school diplomas and about 24% having Bachelor’s degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2023). These demographics indicate that Preuss Pets should market their products informationally and aim to lower costs to reach the target audience.
As for technology, online sales in the retail business and the omnipresence of computer and internet use by people have a positive impact on Preuss Pets’ online store functioning but limit the sales of their physical store (“Champions for caring connections,” 2023; United States Census Bureau, 2023). In Lansing, MI, the most significant competitors of Preuss Pets are Petco, Soldan’s Pet Supplies (direct), and Pet Supplies Plus Lansing(indirect), which might impact the analyzed company’s marketing performance.
On the one hand, Preuss Pets has an advantage over its competitors in terms of offering a wider range of products directly to individual consumers. At the same time, other organizations target pet shops or only small animal owners (“Champions for caring connections,” 2023). On the other hand, other companies offer additional services, such as self-served dog wash and others lacking from Preuss Pets. Competitors cannot replicate a sustainable competitive advantage (Lamb et al., 2020). For Preuss Pets to achieve it, the company should lower its costs and target the whole market with a full spectrum of products and services.
Marketing Objectives
Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals should be set for the marketing strategy to be effectively implemented. Setting marketing objectives according to these characteristics allows for making efforts attainable (Lamb et al., 2020). For Preuss Pets, the SMART goals might be formulated as follows:
- SMART goal 1: Increase market share in the pet business in Lansing, MI, by 5% by October 2024.
- SMART goal 2: Reduce product costs by 8% by January 2024.
Marketing Strategy
For Preuss Pets to maintain its competitive advantage, it should target the whole market because it will allow for attracting a wider range of consumers. It is relevant to consider four strategies for growth, which include market penetration, which is the increase of product sales to the current market (Lamb et al., 2020).
Next, market development involves offering existing products to newly discovered markets; product development is focused on promoting new services and products to the current market; and diversification intertwines new markets and product development (Lamb et al., 2020). Preuss Pets might prioritize market penetration by lowering the prices of its products and services and investing in advertising to reach more consumers.
Implementation
Implementing the marketing plan should be conducted via close communication between the employees. In addition, strict budgets, clear job descriptions, and performance activities should be developed to ensure transparent plan execution (Lamb et al., 2020). To ensure the plan does not fail, the team should continuously review the set goals and compare the interim results with the desired ones.
Evaluation
To evaluate the performance and the overall implementation of the marketing plan, the company should control the execution within the time frameworks set in the goals. Control activities might involve the marketing audit, allowing for proper and precise progress tracking (Lamb et al., 2020). Furthermore, the evaluation should be conducted within the specified periods, and goals should be set compared to realistic achievements to enable improvements.
Conclusion
In summation, the analysis of the marketing opportunities for Preuss Pets has demonstrated that although the company now has some competitive advantage over rivals, it should improve its market presence. It has been recommended that the entire market targeting focus on increasing sales and market share using market penetration strategies. Preuss Pets can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by implementing and evaluating a proper marketing plan.
References
Champions for caring connections. (2023). Web.
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2020). MKTG (13th ed.). Cengage Learning US.
United States Census Bureau. (2023). Lansing City, Michigan. Web.
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