BBC Children in Need
Children in Need, are an annual charity appeal organized by the BBC. Each year since 1979, the BBC has set aside one evening of programming on its flagship television channel, BBC One, to show events aimed at raising money for charities working with children in the UK. BBC coverage also extends across the BBC's other television and national and local radio channels. A mascot called 'Pudsey', a teddy bear with a bandage over one eye, was introduced in 1985 and has become a regular feature.
November 2002 saw Asda’s second year of support for BBC Children in Need; last year they raised £1.2 million for the appeal through lots of local fund raising and selling their exclusive profit-free products. Asda will continue to support Children in Need in 2003.
Extending the British growing season
In the last three years they have extended the British carrot-growing season from 46 to 49 weeks. This year we expect to source all of their carrots from British farmers. This means an additional 4.5 million kilos of British carrots will reach their shelves in 2003 compared to 1999.
They have also extended the British season for new, baby and salad potatoes by 10 weeks. In the past they had to start importing these ranges in November. For salad potatoes this means they will sell 1.2 million more (750g) packs and on baby/new potatoes they will sell an additional 1.15 million (1kg) packs.
Working closely with growers
Following feedback from their cabbage growers, Asda has started selling spring green cabbage in larger weight packs. As a result, sales of individual packs have increased by 122 per cent and overall volume sales have gone up by nearly 200 per cent. In 2003 they expect to sell 4.8 million packs, 1.4 million more than 2002.
An ASDA swede and parsnip grower in Devon has teamed up with an ASDA cauliflower grower in Cornwall. This year, in partnership, they will start growing Cornish swede and parsnips for the first time. The scheme aims to extend the UK growing season for swede and parsnips even further.
Local Sourcing
Asda define a local product as those that are made locally, grown locally and reared locally; are a local taste or delicacy and recognized by customers as local; and for which there is significant customer demand.
A dedicated local sourcing team was established at ASDA in 2001 in direct response to customer and store requests. Information from a General Store Manager at their Falmouth store showed that the store had been swamped with requests for local products and research showed that customers in the southwest felt motivated to buy local products. Asda’s ‘Best of Cornwall and the West Country’ launch soon followed, which introduced locally sourced ranges such as ice cream and biscuits in to their stores.
In September 2002, Sir Donald Curry, chairman of the Government’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, called on farmers and retailers to follow Asda’s lead at the launch of a pioneering partnership with local Cumbrian food park, Plumgarths. The initiative is a launch pad for a range of projects to find local products from small suppliers for all 259 ASDA stores.
With stores from Elgin to Falmouth, the local sourcing team focuses on one area and, if necessary, one store at a time. They already have more than 100 local suppliers and sell more than 800 local lines!
How does Asda find out about its local products?
Asda’s colleagues tell us via a dedicated intranet link about their products and offers.
Also they visit the store personally and talk to customers and colleagues. They make contact with the local food agency to ensure that customers or buyers get well fresh products. They use many resources to research such as, desk-based research, Internet, food and books etc. They also contact many suppliers in the area.
Special Arrangements for Smaller Suppliers
As Asda started talking to smaller suppliers we realised that their systems and processes needed to be adapted to be accessible for smaller suppliers who are sometimes ‘one-man’ operations. The following commitments are made to their local suppliers:
Three/six months on shelf commitment (unless otherwise agreed). Asda does direct deliveries to stores or most appropriate and cost effective method for both parties.
They will also consider minimum orders and order the frequency. They do this by easy ordering via fax or EDI. They will advise on electronic ordering, marketing and technical issues for themselves and the customers. Local marketing support with Asda’s local branding – "Best of…" Asda also works together with regional food groups and pay them on payment terms to suit all this is made as a easy to follow processes. Asda also has a training day at Asda House or Regional Depot for its employees.
The External Environment
Market Research
Asda was told that the trading conditions faced by multiple grocery retailers had altered significantly during the course of the last decade. As a result Asda was told customers have become more discriminating in the terms of heir spending decisions. Increased demands n female labour force participation rates, have also affected the nature of demands for groceries in many ways. This is mostly done by terms of premium attachments by customers to convenience them in their shopping habits and purchases. A customer preference for greater convenience in the grocery retail offer has been expressed in various ways. The provision of chilled ready prepared meals and other convenience type foods by large supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco.
Primary Market Research
In primary research, data is collected specifically for the study at hand. It can be obtained either by the investigator the subject or phenomenon being studied, or communicating directly or indirectly with the subject. techniques include such qualitative research techniques as , focus group and projective techniques, and quantitative research techniques such as , and surveys.
Observation:
Observation is a primary method of by human, mechanical, electrical or electronic means. The researcher may or may not have direct contact or communication with the people whose behaviour is being recorded. Observation techniques can be part of qualitative research as well as quantitative research techniques. There are six different ways of classifying observation methods:
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Participant and no participant observation, depending on whether the researcher chooses to be part of the situation s/he is studying (e.g. studying social interaction of tour groups by being a tour participant would be participant observation)
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Obtrusive and unobtrusive (or physical trace) observation, depending on whether the subjects being studied can detect the observation (e.g. hidden microphones or cameras observing behaviour and doing garbage audits to determine consumption are examples of unobtrusive observation)
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Observation in natural or contrived settings, whereby the behaviour is observed (usually unobtrusively) when and where it is occurring, while in the contrived setting the situation is recreated to speed up the behaviour
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Disguised and non-disguised observation, depending on whether the subjects being observed are aware that they are being studied or not. In disguised observation, the researcher may pretend to be someone else, e.g. "just" another tourist participating in the tour group, as opposed to the other tour group members being aware that s/he is a researcher.
The data being collected can concern an event or other occurrence rather than people. Although usually thought of as the observation of nonverbal behaviour, this is not necessarily true since comments and/or the exchange between people can also be recorded and would be considered part of this technique, as long as the investigator does not control or in some way manipulate what is being said. For instance, staging a typical sales encounter and recording the responses and reactions by the salesperson would qualify as observation technique.
Direct Communication:
There are many different ways for the investigator to from subjects by communicating directly with them either in person, through others or through a document, such as a questionnaire. Direct communication is used in both and .
Qualitative research differs from quantitive research (definition of quantitative research) in the following ways such as, the data is usually gathered using less structured research instruments, the findings are more in-depth since they make greater use of open-ended questions, the results provide much more detail on behaviour, attitudes and motivation, research is more intensive and more flexible, allowing the researcher to probe since s/he has greater latitude to do so, results are based on smaller sample sizes and are often not representative of the population, research can usually not be replicated or repeated, given it low reliability and analysis of the results is much more subjective.
Quantitative research differs from qualitative research in the following ways such as, the data is usually gathered using more structured research instruments, the results provide less detail on behaviour, attitudes and motivation, results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population, research can usually be replicated or repeated, given it high reliability.
Secondary research
Secondary research occurs when a project requires a summary or collection of existing data. As opposed to data collected directly from respondents or “research subjects” for the express purposes of a project, (often called “empirical” or “primary research”), secondary sources already exist.
These secondary sources could include previous research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content, and government and NGO statistics. Sometimes secondary research is required in the preliminary stages of research to determine what is known already and what new data is required, or to inform research design. At other times, it may make be the only research technique used.
A key performance area in secondary research is the full citation of original sources, usually in the form of a complete listing or annotated listing.
External research:
, involves looking at data gathered by industry experts, trade associations, or companies that specialize in gathering and compiling data about various industries.
The most commonly utilized external information include the trade association data, industry publications and databases, government databases, trade measurements and sales, volume, and brand market share measurement systems.
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Internal research is data gathered by your company for purposes other than market research (e.g., sales reports broken down by product line) but which you can use to gauge what the market will do in the future.
The most commonly available internal company information includes daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sales reports, broken down by geographical area, by product line, or even by product, accounting information (e.g., spending and profitability) and competitive information gathered by the sales force.
Mintel
Mintel is a global supplier of consumer, media and market research. For more than thirty years, our wide-ranging products have provided unique insights that have a direct impact on our clients’ success. Mintel can help you discover opportunities, monitor competitors, develop products and services, and hone your marketing and advertising efforts.
Mintel is constantly creating new products and improving existing ones, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive range of market research. For four years in a row, an independent panel of marketing executives has categorized Mintel as a Business Superbrand in the UK. This honour exemplifies Mintel’s continuing commitment to providing unique, dependable and original market information.
Mintel Reports
Mintel Reports offers a series of market and consumer research reports, providing a rigorous analysis of market landscapes and a performance forecast for each category. Complex issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, demonstrating the structure of the market. Original consumer research and analysis provide an understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Mintel Premier
Unlike standard market research, Premier reports are live and interactive, making them more relevant, up-to-date and easier to use. Links to news in the margins, the ability to add comments and highlighter directly into reports, extensive graphing tools, and ready-made PowerPoint presentations all help make Premier the next generation of market research.
Menu insights
Menu Insights provides an online solution to all your flavour and ingredient trend questions. See trends emerge through data sourced from 550 US restaurants and 50 top chefs. With trends reported quarterly, you could spot and respond to changes in menu items, ingredients, price, preparations, and even entirely new menus.
POS+
The UK’s most-effective sales promotion database, POS+ is an essential tool for anyone involved in fast-moving consumer goods markets. POS+ examines trends, techniques and innovations, comparing the strategies of the major players. POS+ is a valuable tool allowing you to gain a better understanding of the promotional dynamics within your category.
Compere Media
Compere Media is the premier database for direct mail and print advertising in the US and Canada. Our Web-based tool allows users to track trends and competitive strategy in industries such as credit cards, telecom, banking, insurance, travel, and investments. Each record contains detailed information about the campaign, images of creative and demographics on the recipients.
Mintel Services
Mintel Services provides worldwide retail audits and product retrieval in the fast-moving product intelligence market. Mintel Services sources products from more than 130 countries, as well as conducting quality assurance, shelf surveys, mystery shopping and trade sampling. No other information service provider can put you in real-time touch with the global consumer markets.
GNPD
GNPD, Mintel’s Global New Products Database, provides thorough, up-to-date coverage of new product innovation in consumer packaged goods markets. GNPD adds 12,000 products to this searchable database each month. Clients use GNPD to check on competitors, get new ideas, and stay informed of innovations in products, packaging and ingredients around the world.
Mintel Consulting
Mintel Consulting has more than 30 years of research expertise, coupled with vast global resources and unbeatable client support.
Mintel Consulting regularly undertakes research for packaged goods companies, retailers, the media, government departments, trade associations as well as a wide range of other organizations.
Mintel ECLIPS
Mintel ECLIPS is a searchable, online database of video clips from Mintel's proprietary ethnographic interviews and focus groups. Thousands of video clips cover the most cutting-edge consumer trends. Enhanced by expert analysis, Mintel ECLIPS provides clients with comprehensive insights that identify new product opportunities, unmet consumer needs, and up-and-coming trends.
Enterprising Skills
There are many skills that an enterprise should require in all its employees. The company sets these skills so that the company can achieve maximum concentration form each employee and also to enable its employees to work to their best abilities. Some of these skills are listed below:
Self-confidence and Motivation
Self-confidence and Motivation help the worker to behave calmly because they have no doubts about their ability or knowledge and be well motivated at all times to complete an aim or objective.
Risk taking
All employees should have to take risks on certain tasks they perform during their work period enabling them to find out what right or wrong things they have done. This enables the employees to learn from the mistakes they make.
Ability to innovate
The employees in the company should be enabled to innovate. This means that employees should take and introduce changes and new ideas.
Ability to build teams and to inspire
The employees should have the knowledge to build their ideas up in a team and to also share them with other colleagues in the project or task. Also to inspire someone on something they want to do. Others can help this person along the way to achieve it.
Belbins Skills
Plant
The contributions to the plant are to be creative, imaginative. The employees in the plant need these to work efficiently and have a better understanding of what they are doing. They also need to be unorthodox meaning different from what is usual or expected in behaviour, ideas and methods. All workers are also required to solve difficult problems. The employees that do this in Asda are customer services.
Allowable weaknesses
The company allows all workers to ignore incidentals, meaning to incident details or expenses and to be pre-occupied to have effective communication.
Co-ordinator
The employees should be mature in attitude, confident and also to be-able to clarify and achieve the set required goals that the company sets out for them. The co-ordinator should also be able to promote decision-making and to also delegate well in the company. The employee that does this in Asda is the senior manager.
Allowable weaknesses
The allowed weaknesses are that the co0ordinator can be seen as manipulative, meaning someone who tries to control people to their advantage. Also a person who off loads work for other employees.
Monitor Evaluator
The contributions include being sober, meaning to become more calm and serious strategic and disceming. This means to spread or give out information and ideas. This person also sees all options and judges them accurately. The employee that does this in Asda is the manager.
Allowable weaknesses
In the company the allowable weaknesses is to lack drive and your ability to inspire others in the company.
Team worker
Employees should be co-operative, have a mild perceptive and diplomatic. This means that all employees should have a keen eye at noticing and understanding things that other colleagues may not notice and to work along with other and co-operating with them. Also have freedom from legal actions in the company. The employees that do this in Asda are the main workers.
Allowable weaknesses
The team worker can be indecisive in crunch situations. This means that when a situation becomes extremely serious and a decision must be made.
Shaper
The contributions of a shaper are to be challenging. Also to be dynamic, meaning to have lot of ideas and enthusiasm is energetic and also being forceful. The shaper also thrives on pressure and dive and encourages other employees to overcome obstacles. The employee that does this in Asda is the supervisor.
Allowable weaknesses
The shaper should not prone to provocation, meaning to enable someone who often has accidents an action or statement that is intended to make someone angry.
Asda SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a technique much used in many general management as well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current activities of the organisation. It strengths and weaknesses are used for external research data to set out the opportunities and treats that exist.
Strengths:
Asda has much strength in the local market. Some of these strengths are that Asda has got the best value supermarket. They sell cheap and affordable priced goods like foods, clothes, stationary and house wear equipment. Another strength that Asda has got is that they are set in a well area where customers can go to their stores easily either by walking or on car. They have also got friendly help incase needed in the store by their customers.
Weaknesses:
Asda has one main and particular weakness in the market at the moment. This weakness is Asdas access to car parking. Asda has got a less number of parking spaces in the car park for vehicles. They have got parking only for 100 peoples cars but should have more because many people over 150 visit their stores a day.
Opportunities:
Asda can have many opportunities on the market than other markets. One of these opportunities is that Asda can open many small branches for their customers who live far from the main store. They can do this to increase profits and let older residents who have the difficulty to walk to Asda to have easier access to Asda stores just 10 minutes away from their homes.
Threats:
Asda has many threats in the market from other local supermarkets. Some of these supermarkets are Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Kwik save and other leading markets.
Marketing Mix
Marketing mix is the additional approach to marketing planning which is based on the four P’s. These four P’s are:
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
Product policy:
This is the range of products (goods and services) that the organisation offers to the marketplace. Decisions have to be made about quantities, timing, product variations, associated services, quality, style and even packaging and branding.
Price policy:
This is an important decision area because although it is a promotional tool in many respects, it is the main source of income to the organisation. If the prices are lowered for promotional purposes, the cash flow within the company, and its long-term profitability, could be seriously affected.
As with products there is normally a range of prices. These can vary according to the quantities bought, the importance of the customer, and the market segment. Pricing can be long-term (set at the level for sustained profit-making) and short-term (cut prices for tactical reasons, such as market penetration).
Promotion policy:
Promotion consists of a number of techniques, which create awareness of the products and persuade the potential customer to make the buying decision. It involves all communication with actual and potential customers. The techniques include advertising, branding, packaging, publicity/public relations, sales promotions and merchandising. Each differs from the others but all, or all of them thought relevant to a given situation, will be used to create a unified product image and an image for the organisation, the corporate identity.
Place policy:
A business when marketing its marketing will ask a number of questions relating to place. It also follows into a long-term strategy, with a value for money, philosophy at the mid to premium end of the market.
Boston matrix
On the diagram below products are positioned on the diagram according to each one’s share of the relevant market. The market themselves are also analysed for growth rates. On the left hand side it shows high values of the horizontal axis. The Matrix has unusually been seen this way. The base line shows the market share of a product relative to its major competitor. An example is the value, which indicates your product, has only one tenth of the market share of its leading competitor, whereas a value of 10 indicates a market share ten times more than its leading rival.
PEST
You have to appreciate that marketing is the management of change. The adequate manager notices that changes are happening the good manager anticipates its market research: a good top-notch manager causes changes, leading the market into new areas. Pest is used as a mnemonic for an easier method to memorise the needs that go with each word from Pest.
Political change, from one party to another in control a good example would be the rise in private healthcare and privatisations under Conservative governments.
Economic change, for example a recession, which creates, increased activity at the lower ends of product ranges. Rate of interest rises depressing business and causing redundancies and lower spending levels.
Social changes involve changing attitudes and lifestyles. The increasing number of women going to work, a good example is the le to the need for timesaving products for home.
Technological changes as we can see create new opportunities for new products and product improvements and of course new marketing techniques-the Internet, e-commerce.
Asda/Wal-mart
A Corporate Profile
Racial and gender discrimination
Wal-Mart appears not to object to racial and gender discrimination practice in its stores, and this accounts for a considerable proportion of the many lawsuits brought against the company. A famous racial suit concerned the firing of a white woman who had a black boyfriend. The company is suspected of institutional racism. According to Bill Quinn Wal-Mart never develops its stores in predominantly minority areas.
Environmental policy
Environmental issues are of concern to supermarkets now due to consumer pressure, but supermarkets create ever more complex PR strategies to make they appear 'green', often without actually changing their policies very much.
On Asdas website it says:
Our aim is to identify, monitor and reduce any direct negative effects we have on our environment through a process of continuous monitoring and improvement in the way we manage our day to day business operations. We also try to influence our colleagues, customers and suppliers as this can also help reduce the effect we have on the environment.
Petrol Prices:
All major UK supermarkets now sell petrol, and as with everything else they sell, they are always in competition to sell it cheaper than anyone else. In September 2004 Asda was still managing to sell petrol cheaper than any other UK supermarket, in a continuation of its effort to bring price wars into every sector.
Brain Washing Children
The educational value of these programmes is highly questionable. For example the main slogan on Big Eat website calls for eating five times in a day, not the most useful health message. Also The Big Read and The Big Sum programs are disrupting schools' programs removing lessons to Asda stores.
Asda has had other Big programmes for kids, e.g. ‘Big Healthy Body’, 'a three-year programme to teach children about looking good, eating well and exercise...The Big Healthy Body scheme includes introducing children to unusual fruit and vegetables through ‘trails’ at Asda stores and an interactive website.'
Environmental policy
On Asdas website it says:
Our aim is to identify, monitor and reduce any direct negative effects we have on our environment through a process of continuous monitoring and improvement in the way we manage our day to day business operations. We also try to influence our colleagues, customers and suppliers as this can also help reduce the effect we have on the environment.
What Asda is doing towards environmental policy?
It then specifies a few things it will do, such as 'reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our stores and distributions centres' and 'minimising packaging from own-brand products.' This sounds pretty good, but it does not go into much detail about how it plans to achieve these goals. In 2001 Asda decided against an externally verified environmental management system. An Asda spokesperson added that 'getting a high environmental profile' was not one of Asdas key goals. This rather implies that Asdas environmental policy is a token gesture to make it looks good rather than a genuine effort to improve. If you are a large company on the scale of Asda Wal-Mart, and trying to get even larger, it is hard to be very environmentally friendly.
All major UK supermarkets now sell petrol, and as with everything else they sell, they are always in competition to sell it cheaper than anyone else.
Cheap food cheats
On Asdas website it says:
We offer Britain's best value weekly shop with prices on average 10% lower than our main competitors.
Is Asda really cheating?
Since the merger, Asda has set off a price war in the UK by initiating the aggressive 'price-rollback' programme. In 1999 Asda claimed to have ‘rolled back’ the prices on 4000 products. In 2000 this was raised to 6000 and Wal-Mart said £105.5m had been ‘invested’ in Asdas price reductions during the six months to the end of July 2001. 'Since joining the Wal-Mart family in 1999 our sales growth has risen dramatically - and we have cut our prices by around £0.5 billion in total.'
Despite these campaign claims we still can find cheaper food in non-supermarket shops. This is especially true of fruit and vegetables. Most cheap food in supermarkets is in the form of 9p cans of beans and highly processed sliced bread. Most things that are good for you are still expensive.
Lying in court
In any case, Asdas ‘roll back’ price reductions are not always what they seem. In September 2001, Asda was fined £9000 for misleading customers over a discount promotion. They had done this by making price comparisons with figures over six months old. Prosecutor Miles Bennett argued that sometimes the prices in the roll back promotion never actually got any lower: 'The roll back now even lower price for
Asda crisps was £1.15 but the crisps had been available for £1.15 for the last eight months.' As a result of this case, the supermarket claims to have changed its pricing policy.
The so-called cheap food that Asda peddles with its misleading advertising has wide consequences: is it is subsidised by the taxpayer; it encourages cheap exploitative labour; intensive agriculture, environmental destruction, and animal and human diseases.
Appendix 1
Competition Monitoring
Asda has made three price surveys. These three surveys help Asda to monitor their competitor price monitoring. Asdas three price surveys are:
- 1,200 lines: weekly 1,350 lines for northern and southern stores of Kwik Save, Safeway, Sainsbury, Somerfield, Tesco plus one Morrison and Iceland. Based on high volume lines, sold in other stores. Constructed as sales weighted average of prices indexed to market average for each line.
- 600 lines: high volume grocery lines, only changed every two or three years. Survey four stores in each competitor every four weeks.
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Monthly discounter surveys verses Aldi, Lidl, Netto of 200 lines plus ad hoc surveys.
See appendix 1 for details of monitoring carried out by the competition.
Conclusion
In my conclusion I have found out that Asda is doing good regarding to their profits made each year. It has got the same amount of market share as Sainsbury, which is 15 percent. I have compared Asda to Sainsburys and Asda to Tesco. I have out that Asda is doing better according to customer opinions and in the market. In the comparison between Asda and Tesco I have found out that even though Asda is making fine progress Tesco I doing increasingly better than them. This is due to their eight percent lead in the market and their products. This enables Tesco to have a slight advantage. Overall Asda is doing fine progress each year and also being excellent to their customers.
Bibliography
In this piece of coursework I used the following resources inorder to get the information I needed for my business Asda:
- Wiki textbook
- Advanced Business Book
Michael Fardon
The main site of my chosen company is:
