The first company, Lowe’s is a retail chin that offers supplies to builders, and homeowners who like to do things themselves (LL, LFC, 2011). The retailer could benefit from three marketing ideas. The first would be to hold days that are dedicated to women in the form of allowing workshops for women to learn how to fix cabinets or bath tubs in their own home. This is a very inexpensive way to lure more women to shop and purchase at Lowe’s. Another suggestion would be to have a team of employees that can be used as dedicated personal assistants to customers. A customer would be able to pay a nominal fee and have an assistant show them through out the entire store, getting them all the supplies they need, and explaining techniques for their project. This would eliminate having to wait for someone to come and help the customer, which saves time. The last marketing suggestion for Lowe’s would be to offer lower delivery charges for senior citizens. This would cost more money than changing the work shops to woman shops or having a team of personal assistants who would be there anyhow.
The second company would be McDonald’s restaurants (McDonald's, 2011). McDonald’s has long since had a reputation for being a place for parents to bring their children to eat and play. The suggestions that would be beneficial for this business are also in the marketing area. First, the restaurant should offer a special everyday of the week. Perhaps a Value Menu item could only cost a quarter for that day. This would be an example of a single in marketing opportunities because there would be some cost, but not much compared to how much there is to be made with the increased traffic. Second, McDonald’s should offer a salad menu that has more options instead of offering only pre-made salads. Lastly, the toys for McDonald’s are usually in line with the popular children’s movie of the month, but in order to reduce the cost of the toys in the meals, the chain should consider using more educational toys.
The last business that will be discussed in this essay is Destination Maternity (Destination Maternity Corporation, 2011). Destination Maternity should begin a Secret Penny Sale campaign. This strategy increases customer numbers and retention in anticipation of the next sale. Since DM also runs a website where customers can order clothing, online raffles for codes that can be redeemed for such things as free shipping or a free accessory from the store. A home run marketing strategy would be to offer another amenity of DM that is for father to be’s. Here they could watch sports programs and socialize with other father-to-be’s. It would be a home run because it would cost a great amount of money and resources to restructure the stores to accommodate the men without disturbing the women only atmosphere inside the rest of the store.
References
Destination Maternity Corporation. (2011). Destination Maternity Home Page. Retrieved September 11, 2011, from www.destinationmaternity.com: http://www.destinationmaternity.com/
LL, LFC. (2011, August). Lowe's Home Improvement. Retrieved September 11, 2011, from www.lowes.com: www.lowes.com
McDonald's. (2011). Mcdonald's Home Page. Retrieved September 11, 2011, from McDonald's: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/home.html
