Development of competitive marketing strategy : case study of a medium3sized movie theatre

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to guide and advise entrepreneurs how to plan the marketing strategies of medium-sized businesses. Due to economic crisis from the past few years, many businesses were failed or had even faced a loss problem in their investments. This result leads to a very dense competition in business Those buiness owners with good and effective marketing strategies can then survive in this particular research was basically begun with information gathering on both internal and external factors. Then, the vision, mission and critical success factors have been established. The examples of internal and external factors are market analysis, competitors, advantages and disadvantages (Pros and cons), opportunities and threats, and results from past events. Analysis of people within the organization is also one of the most important factors that should be considered because it is the key to keep the business going either forward or backward. The analyzed information will then be evaluated and be proepared for planning the marketing strategies. From the evaluation, we can set aims and objectives, mission and vision, and how to achieve them. Main seven factors that must be considered in planning marketing strategies for service business are product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical facility. Besides, a one-year marketing activity plan could be developed and the results evaluated. The key factors for evaluating performance include profitability and customer satisfaction. The performance analysis will let the company know whether the marketing strategy results are being achieved. In this research, a medium-sized Movie Theatre was chosen to be the case study. The customer survey has been conducted using cluster-sampling technique with a sample size of 450. All the collected data were analysed and developed three-year marketing strategy plan. Due to the time limitation, this research evaluated the results followed by the marketing strategy plans for 4 months (May - August), and also customer satisfaction. There is an increase in income and number of customers shown in evaluation and conclusion after implementing marketing strategies in which the objectives were achieved. However, from the lessons learned from this research, some developed marketing strategies were not successful because of many factors such as inefficient employees, low budget, and so on. This research identified the obstacles, and problems faced during the research including data, personnel, process, and timing. The ways to cope the problems and some recommendations were identified. Movie Theatre business must focus on customer's satisfaction, competitors, marketing trend, and continuous improvement. The lessons learned from this research were then developed as a guideline for developing marketing strategy for other service businesses.