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Perfect 10 Agency
Promotional Campaign Project Phase IV
MDSE 3850.001
November 18, 2012
                                             1. Overview
   1.1 Executive Overview
    Best Buy is an electronics retailer that is being slowly overcome by online retailers. Best
Buy‟s annual revenues in 2011 were fifty billion dollars and are projected for 2013 to be forty
nine billion dollars. This decrease in sales has been linked to the availability of new technologies
on-line. Best Buy will need to increase their sales with a new promotional strategy or will find
themselves at the fate of bankruptcy.

   1.2 Overview
    This promotional strategy will be put in place to help save Best Buy from bankruptcy. With a
new promotional and marketing strategy Best Buy will try to promote themselves to an older
demographic like Baby Boomers and the „first timers‟ of large purchases like Generation Y.
Through the use of different promotional avenues such as a refreshed magazine articles and
different special events, Best Buy will bring in new clientele and save their declining business.

                                        2. Situational Analysis
   2.1 Cultural Context
    The cultural characteristic of Best Buy that would pertain to the market is its focus on
customer centricity. Best Buy caters to specific customers in the market and target favored
shoppers to come back more often. This characteristic helps Best Buy align stores and
researchers comb through reams of sales and demographic data to determine whether a particular
location should be tailored to” (Boyle, 2006). This aspect sells solutions to the market rather than
just products.

   2.2 Historical Context
        Best Buy started in the 1960‟s but was originally named “Sound of Music.” The company
founded by Richard M. Schulze in St. Paul, MN, started out having a primary focus on home and
car stereos. As demand for inventory grew, first year sales totaled up to $173,000. (Pederson,
2004) The electronic retail powerhouse expanded their inventory to more appliances which
gained 9.3 million in revenue by 1982. By 1983, Sound of Music was given the official name,
“Best Buy.” This was just the beginning, throughout the 1980‟s Best Buy soared in sales and by
1993 sales reached another whopping 1.6 billion. (Pederson, 2004) The company then expanded
in size and introduced larger concept stores across the nation. Much of the 90‟s consisted of the
store expanding and eventually buying out Musicland Stores Corporation by 2001. This buy out
gained Best Buy over 1,300 music stores and further expansion continued. (Pederson, 2004)The
innovative hands-on electronic aspect made consumers flock in thousands and after reaching 10
billion in sales, Best Buy re-launched their official website. Even with competition such as
Circuit City, Best Buy certainly had the edge over the competition. After Circuit City had to
close down due to bankruptcy, Best Buy continued to flourish. The company didn‟t really gain
much out of the bankruptcy as expected, but remained constant in sales. Today the company
operates over 1,100 stores worldwide and employs around 180,000 associates. (Pederson, 2004)
Though Best Buy has a copious amount of success stories, as time went on, the company
encountered some setbacks. As technology grew, sales started to slip and continue to not do so
well today. The increase in online purchasing and other mass market merchants have contributed
to Best Buy‟s significant loss. Recently, Best Buy has had to get rid of CEO Brian Dunn and
with new chief; sales continue to decline.
        Today the company offers various home/office electronics, software, appliances and
other services. These are the main categories that bring in the company‟s revenue. The “big
box” retailer has multiple superstores ranging from 20,000 to 45,000 square feet (BestBuy.com,
n.d.). The products vary from laptops, cameras, phones, DVDs, CDs, washer/dryers, TVs and
many other electronics. They also have the store within a store addition named Geek Squad that
attracts many consumers. Best Buy takes pride in price matching and offering affordable
electronics for consumers. The placement involves narrow isles with shelves or hooks of items
stacked upon each other. The placement also entails a showroom style display of merchandise on
certain items such as laptops, notebooks, cellphones and cameras. As far as pricing goes, it is not
very competitive. The retailer engages in price matching but pricing is just about the same as its
competition. There are many promotion and deals that the company offers. These include, “deal
of the day” and no interest financing for 18 months when applying for a Best Buy card. There are
discounts for students in school, discounts on certain cameras, HD TV‟s and free shipping when
ordering online. They have “weekly offers”, where there are more deals on movies, computers,
phones, cameras etc. These offers include different sale pricing ($50 off all Samsung phones)
and promotes things such as a” free 8x8 photo book with purchase of digital camera or
camcorder” (BestBuy.com, n.d.). Best buy also has the order online, pick up in store option that
may be easier for certain consumers who don‟t want to wait on delivery.
          Best Buy strengths include its “big box” store environment leaving the consumer with
endless choices. The Geek Squad center located in most Best Buy stores is where customers can
get their electronics fixed. The in-store environment of Best Buy has some hands-on electronics
that continue to lure in the consumer to actually experience the merchandise. The company also
has a genuine trust in consumers to accommodate price matching and offers an 18 month
financial payment plan on certain merchandise. There is a relevant uniformity in that all items
are either electronic, electronic related, or appliances. The fact that the company is a specialty
retailer lures in the customers who have a demand for this exact merchandise, rather than having
to search for it at a mass merchant. Though Best Buy has great promotions and deals, there are
still a few weaknesses. One weakness would be the fact that they do not engage very much into
competitive pricing. This is a major problem with huge mass merchants and online retailers
offering lower prices. Thus, leading to the next weakness, online retailing is taking a large
portion of their consumers. Sites like Amazon and EBay are big online merchants that offer
discount pricing on new and used electronics. Some consumers will even go to Best Buy just to
get the hands-on feel of the item but end up purchasing it for cheaper online. The company also
does not have the best customer service. A reason for this could be because the employees are
not offered commission whatsoever. This could be the reason employees are not as motivated to
sell and or even offer top customer service. Though Best Buy has plummeted, it has not fully
sunken yet. The opportunities for this retailer are endless and can still be implemented. They can
increase the in-store experience by redesigning the store front and interior. The fact that they
have barely changed over the years is not working with the ever-changing world of technology
today. A new, chic innovative remodel will attract customers as Apple has done in the past.
Adding different, unique features to the merchandise set up and store can help lure in different
types of consumers of this generation. More interactive rooms will be added to create a more

                                                                               Perfect 10 Agency: 2
comfortable feel for consumers and so consumer can experience various products. Another
marketing opportunity could be better employee training and uniforms. People want to know
they are being helped by professionals and looking like one would not hurt the company. The
customer service should be a high quality and employees need to be more than informative. This
could be completed by offering the employees commission and rewards for bringing in the
company sales. These employees will help give tutorials on how certain items are used in the
new innovative interactive rooms that will be implemented. Besides testing out new items, there
will also be days where customers get to watch a movie in 3D to experience Best Buy‟s product
selection. These special promotions will lure customers to learn more about products they aren‟t
sure about. As far as further promotion, interactive media could be used to implement a wish list
event during special occasions like graduation or certain holidays. To receive discounts all the
customer would have to do is take a picture with an item they desire. Since social sites are
extremely popular, the consumer would upload their picture to BBY‟s Twitter, Facebook or
Instagram. This way, the customer is receiving benefits and so is Best Buy by that interaction
and increased awareness. This will certainly increase consumer spending and that positive
reinforcement will keep the customer coming back. The online site also could use more
improvement since online retail has increased tremendously over the years. This site needs to be
redesigned, have unique features and more easily navigable. To gain even more brand awareness
the company could also engage in radio advertisement and magazine advertisements. This is to
market to a specific age group such as Baby Boomers and Gen Y. This will also be a great
opportunity for the retailer to make consumers aware of the new deals and changes Best Buy will
be implementing. The magazine advertisements will display everything from new items in store,
promote sales and show customers engaged in the new interactive rooms in the store. The threats
to BBY obviously are the mass merchants such as Wal-Mart, Target, innovative Apple stores and
various online stores. These merchants are indeed a big part of why Best Buy has seen better
days. Another threat is their competitions pricing. It is hard to price match every single item
without losing too much revenue and online retailers are surpassing BBY when it comes to
pricing. If consumers believe they are paying for an item of better quality, they will sacrifice the
extra dollar(s).

       2.3 Industry Analysis
    Best Buy has to implement a strategy to make all consumers feel welcome regardless of their
knowledge of technology, build that connection/trust with consumers and have
energetic/informative staff. The consumer characteristics and demands for the product category
vary. The consumer wants a more personalized service and a unique deliverance to ordinary
products. When there is too much of one product, it becomes clutter and consumers are looking
for something that stands out. The demand for more hands-on and testing interactive products
will never cease and the in-store experience can never be replaced. The consumers of today are
seeking customized and technologically advanced items.

       2.4 Market Analysis
    The companies target market regarding the marketing plan would be tech savvy individuals
and suburban families. Stores like Apple and Wal-Mart do so well because one caters to the tech
savvy, new generation and the other caters to families in the area. The individual customer would
be a major target to create specialized service for specialized products. Best Buy also has stores
outside of the US contributing to an international consumer base. The main marketing strategy is
                                                                                Perfect 10 Agency: 3
expanding the brand even more store wise and truly being more customer centric. This means
“It's about understanding what problems customers face in their lives and then providing
mutually advantageous solutions” (HBS Review, 2010). BBY wants the consumer to receive top
tier service and understand that they are actually trying to also view the enterprise from the
consumers view. Building that personalized connection is vital to the Best Buy marketing plan.
     Due to the constant decline in sales at BBY, it is clear that the company needs to take a
different route. The demand for electronics is still there but there is reason consumers are
choosing other retailers rather than Best Buy. The competitive situation that is driving the
promotional strategy is the companies pricing, store look, service and online site. These are all
lagging behind compared to the competition. The major competitors consist of Wal-Mart, Apple,
Target, Amazon, EBay and other various retailers. Amazon and EBay are doing well due to the
strong power of ecommerce in today‟s world. Amazon is actually the number one e-tailer in the
world. “It has web sales 5 times more than Wal-Mart, Target and Buy.com web sales combined”
(Poeter, 2011). EBay, another big ecommerce retailer implements unique features like bidding
on an item as if in an auction and there is also the “buy it now” option. Wal-Mart‟s everyday low
prices and catering to families across the nation have made the company extremely prosperous.
The huge supercenter has merchandise varying from groceries to even hardware. The key to their
success is their competitive pricing and the easy access to items of many different genres. “In
2010, American consumers bought almost as much merchandise at low-priced Wal-Mart ($307.7
billion in U.S. retail sales) as they purchased from the next five largest U.S. retailers combined
($324.5 billion): Kroger ($78.3 billion), Target ($65.8 billion), Walgreen ($61.2 billion), Home
Depot ($60.1 billion) and Costco ($58.9 billion)” (Perry, 2011). The progression of Wal-Mart
has caused it to be one of the most successful retailers in history. Target also carries out a similar
floor set to Wal-Mart. The stores success comes from its varying merchandise and trendy
clothing sections. Target can be considered a step up from Wal-Mart depending on the consumer.
Lastly, Apple also has gained the respect of consumers worldwide and is also another successful
retailer. Apple has developed a very strong and loyal customer base. Apple users are very hard to
switch and the chic, hip marketing campaign is to be accredited for that. “By creating an
emotional connection with its customers, Apple has done the near impossible – it has acquired a
loyal following” (Goodson, 2011). The new, sleek and cutting edge technological advances
leave consumers anticipating new features of different Apple products. Today Wal-Mart, Target,
Apple, Amazon and EBay continue to be leading retailers in many individuals of America
households.

       2.5 Competitor Analysis
    The market is extremely competitive because the items Best Buy sells are now everywhere
and readily available. This means the items are also not hard to access at brick & mortar stores
and purchasing is now only a click away. It is very hard to break though such a competitive
market without offering something new and unique to consumers. A new marketing strategy
would indeed help with what has been hindering the company recently and ensure constant
revenue. The opportunities at hand need to be taken advantage of and BBY will be the same
powerhouse it was years ago. In this generation, not all stores can depend on their name to carry
them through, a company in today‟s world has to be steps ahead its competitors and innovative
enough to keep that same consumer coming back.


                                                                                  Perfect 10 Agency: 4
3. Objectives
    Best Buy‟s new promotional strategy‟ quantitative benchmark will be to increase the sales by
specific demographics. “Best Buy's market share of the US consumer electronics market is” at
41%. (2012 Factbrowser.com) With this promotional plan Best Buy plans on increasing that to
45% by the end of next year. Best Buy plans to continue that increase by 2-5% yearly to steadily
climb back to number one.
    In order for Best Buy to measure this expected increase the advertising and statistics
departments will work closely together. By measuring one month, three months, six months and
twelve months from the time the first promotional tactic is used Best Buy will be able to set the
bar for how much sales increase by each category. Another measuring tool that will be used will
be Best Buys own employees. By polling them before these new tactics are in place and
consistinly speaking with them as the efforts play out, Best Buy will be able to measure the
effectiveness of these tactics from the people that interact with our target markets on a daily
basis, in store.
    The time frame for these promotional tactics will be quite different. After Best Buy‟s special
events they will be able to know if sales increase on the items shown by a simple end of day print
out. Managers can then send these results to corporate for further analyzing. As far as the other
promotional tactics, time can only tell. With the month schedule that has been laid out, Best Buy
will be able to monitor sales increases quad-yearly.
                                             4. Strategy
   4.1 Market Segmentation
    The target consumer of our new promotional campaign will be college students and recent
college graduates. Enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased by 11 percent between
1990 and 2000. “The percentage of American college students who are Hispanic, Asian/Pacific
Islander, and Black has been increasing. From 1976 to 2010, the percentage of Hispanic students
rose from 3 percent to 13 percent, the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander students rose from 2
percent to 6 percent, and the percentage of Black students rose from 9 percent to 14 percent.
During the same period, the percentage of White students fell from 83 percent to 61 percent.
Race/ethnicity is not reported for nonresident aliens, who made up 2 percent and 3 percent of
total enrollment in 1976 and 2010, respectively” (IES, 2012). Best Buy‟s other target consumer
will be Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are a growing market that advertisers should not be
ignoring. According to Patricia Lipp Davis, the vice president of AARP‟s Media Sales Group,
“In the last 12 months, 47 percent of consumer goods and services were purchased by people 50
and older, to the tune of $2.7 trillion.” (Yip, 2012)
    Within the target market we decided to emphasize Best Buy‟s original target market more on
college students, post graduates and Baby Boomers .It is the main purpose to analyze the
interests of the target markets, as indicated by their selection of courses, their job selection and
their retirement plans. Determining the psychographics is also indicative of what involvement
they have within their universities and communities. The importance of psychographics includes
the emphasis of setting and community, extracurricular activity involvement provides a setting to
become involved and to interact with other students or their communities , by identifying with a


                                                                                Perfect 10 Agency: 5
peer group, that group may influence their social circle affective and cognitive development as
well as their behavior so this can include their purchasing behavior.
    The typical age for college students used to be eighteen to twenty-one. Today more students
are in their mid-twenties and work part time jobs. This creates a larger amount of disposable
income for college students and the stereotypical, starving student, doesn‟t apply like it did a few
years ago. Although ramen noodles isn‟t the staple of a college students diet, college students
spending habits still focus on food. Over 11 billion dollars was spent on snacks and beverages
last year alone. Even though most college students are on meal plans, but a great portion of their
spending habits go toward eating out. Students today spend over one hundred dollars a month on
coffee alone (Caron, 2011). Next to food, college students spend a great deal of money on high
tech gadgets and devices. Over 90 percent of college students have a desktop or a laptop
computer. Of this 90 percent, 65 percent have broadband internet connections (Caron, 2011).
This, along with television, cable, cellular phones and their plans, iPods, and other gadgets
absorb a significant amount of a college student‟s disposable income. But spending money on
additional upgrades and additional music or apps can put further demands on a college student‟s
already limited budget (Caron, 2011). According to Burst Media, 69.1% of male college
students spend $250 or more in a typical month on personal items, compared with 50.2% of
female college students who do so. 46.7% will purchase casual clothing for school, with females
somewhat more likely than males saying they will do so: 50.2% vs. 43.8% (Marketing Charts
Staff, 2007). But laptops and cell phones are the tech products that college students will purchase
most before school. Baby Boomers have this in common with these students and post graduates
in the way that they too have disposable income and are looking for an avenue to spend it. “Their
brand loyalty is almost non-existent, older adults like to try new things. In fact, that‟s one of the
things that boomers pride themselves on is trying new things.” (Yip, 2012) With this open
market Best Buy has the opportunity to swoop in and start a new trend of building brand loyalty
with Baby Boomers.
    College students spend more time with the internet than other media, 33.0% spend more than
10 hours per week online, and 19.6% spend more than 20 hours per week online. However, just
16.6% watch more than 10 hours per week of television (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). And
only 5.5% listen to terrestrial/satellite radio more than 10 hours per week. Students are online
even when watching television or listening to the radio, 50.6% surf the web while watching TV.
43.5% are online while listening to terrestrial/satellite radio (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007).
Students use the internet to keep in touch and be entertained, instant messaging is the most
popular online activity with both male (62.3%) and female (57.2%) college students (Marketing
Charts Staff, 2007). Next are downloading music/MP3 files (53.3%), and pursuing school/work
activities (51.7%). Those are followed by playing online games (47.7%), reading entertainment
news/gossip (46.2%), listening to internet radio (44.5%), reading local/national/international
news (44.2%), viewing, streaming video content (42.6%). Males are more like than females to
view streaming video (49.3% vs. 34.3%). Females are more likely than males to research health
info (32.8% vs. 21.7%) (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). Another part of our target consumer‟s
media habits is social media; the highest percentage of what social media college students use is
Facebook at 96 percent. YouTube comes in second with 84 percent. Other media such as, Blogs
(20%), Twitter (14%), MySpace (12%), and LinkedIn (10%) are the last in what social media
college students tend to use (Deris and Desjardins, n.d.). By using this target market we will give
Best Buy a deeper access into what Generation Y and Baby Boomers purchases and how much

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they do use technology and how Baby Boomers are starting to use more technologies than those
that usually shop with Best Buy.

   4.2 Positioning Strategy
                            Generation Y and Baby Boomers: Positioning Map


                                               Amazon



                                                                Best Buy




               Apple Inc.                                                         Wal-Mart


                             Target (other)




                                                                               Radio Shack
                                                                                (other)




   4.3 Brand Communication
    The message that will be communicated to the target consumer is that our brand is for the
everyday consumer. Not just a Generation Y consumer or a Baby Boomer can get technology
that “fits” their needs. The characteristics of Best Buy as mentioned in section 2.1, Best Buy
cater to specific customers in the market and target shoppers to come back more often. This
aspect sells solutions to the market rather than just products. (Boyle, 2006) With the array of
products that Best Buy has to offer, Best Buy takes pride in price matching and offering
affordable electronics for consumers. Even though this particular factor may not concern the
Baby Boomer generation it is very much a weighing factor for Generation Y consumers. Best
Buy is a retailer with a “big box” store environment which leaves the consumer with endless
choices along with helpful and knowledgeable employees. Best Buy gives the consumer hands
on experiences, technology support, and technological expertise.

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5. Execution
   Promotional Tactic: Radio Advertisement
    The radio advertisement will be geared toward Baby Boomers and generation „Y‟. This
advertisement will emphasize Best Buy‟s commitment to their customer, highlighting their
student discounts and their upcoming special promotions. This advertisement will be broadcast
on radio stations that are specific to the target market Best Buy will be trying to reach. For
example the Generation „Y‟ market will be advertised on stations like Kiss FM and The Edge
which has a younger listening audience. For the Baby Boomers, more talk radio shows will
broadcast this advertisement like NPR and the Ticket. These affiliate stations will be able to
specifically target the ideal market for Best Buy. It will showcase Best Buy‟s ability to connect
with and answer any questions the consumer may have. By pulling people into this
advertisement it will draw more consumers into Best Buy to make a purchase, rather than simply
using Best Buy as a stop before the purchase is made at an online retailer. Using radio
advertising is key to Best Buy because Best Buy wants to target specific groups of people.
Continuous scheduling will be utilized for this advertisement. Best Buy will then put this
advertisement on a flighting schedule during the holiday season. Resulting in a pulsing
advertising schedule will be most beneficial to reach the target markets. By using this form of
advertising Best Buy can segment their markets more accurately and can advertise to a particular
consumer base.

   Promotional Tactic: Magazine Advertisement
        The magazine advertisement will be utilized in many different types of magazines to
attain Best Buy‟s new target market. This advertisement will appeal to Baby Boomers and the
Generation Y age groups. Magazines that will be utilized for appealing to the Baby Boomers will
include AARP, Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies Home Journal. By reaching these Baby
Boomers through this advertisement Best Buy will acquire this group of society that has money
saved and ready to spend. Magazines that will be utilized to attract the Generation Y age group
will include Fitness, Glamour and Men‟s Health. The article for the Baby Boomers will
emphasize an older couple enjoying life. It will highlight that the time for work is done and
retirement is fun and has its perks. One perk being that money can be spent on more things like
the items offered at Best Buy. The magazine article for generation Y will emphasize the best new
technologies and the deals that one can receive by shopping at Best Buy. This article will
highlight Best Buy‟s student discounts which will highly appeal to this generation. Generation Y
are in college or have recently graduated, by highlighting the deals a college student can receive
and emphasizing the newest technologies for the best prices for the graduates, this article will
appeal to both. With the diverse spectrum that these magazines are able to reach Best Buy will be
able to generalize their markets to promote to these individual groups.

   Promotional Tactic: Special/Promotional Event
    While Best Buy is looking to move away from their large super stores in the near future, they
are still their central location of sales. People go in and out of the brick and mortar stores,
playing with the cameras, checking out the 3D TVs and getting a closer look at the new iPads,
but have a tendency to go home and buy the products online for a lesser price then Best Buy can
offer. To keep people coming into the store, and actually buying the products, Best Buy should

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host special events that involve and teach their customers about their products in a way that just
looking at them can‟t.
        The first group of special events Best Buy should hold is tutorials on how to use the very
involved products that they sell, such as cameras, and the photo editing software, as well as the
many digital photo viewing options to get people involved with the whole photography package.
They could have their teams of highly trained staff hold workshops to explain how to use not
only cameras, but cell phones, tablets and their many gaming systems that they sell. A portion of
the store could be set aside for such events, in order to give people a focused environment to
learn everything there is to know about a product and the many additional products that can be
paired with it in order to enhance not only their buying experience, but also their ownership
experience. These zones in each store will have tables with stools, much like the Genius Bar of
the apple store, so that people can sit comfortably while the staff engages them in learning how
to use the products they are considering buying. These events will be held on weekends,
promoted through direct emails to their customers enrolled in their rewards programs as well as
signage placed at the front of the store informing customers of the upcoming events. With Best
Buy‟s employees already so informed on all of these products the timing for this event would be
short. Best Buy would just need the signage and e-mails sent and these special events could
begin almost immediately.

   Promotional Tactic: Special/Promotional Event
        Best Buy could have movie nights, letting people see what watching a movie in 3D at
home would really be like. A 3D television is a big-ticket item, which is still very new to the
consumer, and might not be perceived as a good long-term purchase. Coinciding with holidays
or big movie releases, Best Buy could hold an afterhour‟s movie viewing event, showcasing their
newest 3D, or even just HD, TVs. People will get an opportunity to experience the TVs as well
as build a positive relationship with Best Buy. This special event will require more time to
create. Best Buy needs to build rooms with oversized chairs and sofas that this event can be held
in. This event will take time and preparation, an average of 12-14 months is a reasonable
estimate on when this could be accomplished. Although this will be pricey and time ridden it
would be worth it overall by building a relationship with their consumers.

   Promotional Tactic: Interactive Advertisement
    Best Buy would promote an interactive media “Wish list” event coinciding with popular
shopping times such as Christmas and graduation. During this event customers would be
encouraged to go into the store and take a picture of or with a product they would like to have
and describe why they want this item. It would then be uploaded to the Bestbuy‟s Facebook
page, Twitter, or Instagram. After doing this the customer will be rewarded with an entire
purchase discount of $10, $30, or $50 dollars off their next purchase within a certain time frame.
This will attract more attention to the products available and alert people to what items and
brands are popular buys. Implementing this interactive media event will also help retain more
consumers because they will be more likely to buy when they are going to save money through
discounts. As a result more customers will buy directly from Best Buy instead of competitors
like Amazon which has become a major threat due to show rooming.



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6. Evaluation
    The results of the new changes implemented at Best But retailers will be evaluated using
surveys, direct manger feedback, and by analyzing the impacts of the promotions on sales. The
surveys will be made available to consumers through the company‟s facebook page, and will
also be printed on every receipt. This will help Best Buy to better understand what the customers
like about the new promotions, and make them more aware of how each promotion can be
further improved. Feedback directly from every Best Buy manager will also be a vital tool used
to evaluate how successful the new promotions have been. This will be done through conference
calls and live chats. Lastly, every month Best Buy will analyze the sales of each store to examine
how the promotions have affected sales by reviewing in store and online purchases and
promotional discount usage.




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7. Reference List
Best Buy Inc (n.d.) http://www.BestBuy.com
Goodson, M. (2011) Is Brand Loyalty the Core to Apple‟s Success? Forbes Retrieved
from: www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2011/11/27/is-brand-loyalty-the-core-to-
apples-success-2/HBS Review (2010) Inside Best Buy‟s Customer Centric Strategy
BloomBergBusinessWeek
 Retrieved from:
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2010/ca20100413_286655.htm
Boyle, M. (2006) Best Buy‟s giant Gamble CNNMoney Retrived from:
www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/04/03/8373034/index.htm
Pederson, J. (2004) International Directory of Company Histories: Best Buy
Perry, M. (2011) Walmart: The Most Successful Retailer in History Retrieved from:
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/07/18/walmart-the-most-successful-
retailer-in-history/
Poeter, D. (2011) Infographic: The Secret to Amazon‟s Success Retrieved from:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396634,00.asp
Coran, Terry. (2011). Common Spending Habits of College Students. Retrieved from
http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/80305.aspx
Desjardins, Eric and Deris, Johanna. (n.d). SOCIAL NETWORKING USAGE AND
GRADES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS. Retrieved from
http://www.unh.edu/news/docs/UNHsocialmedia.pdf
Marketing Charts Staff. (2007). Survey: To Reach College Students, Brands Need to Use
Internet. Retrieved from http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/television/survey-to-reach-
college-students-brands-need-to-use-internet-1389/
State University. (n.d.) College Extracurricular Activities - Impact on Students, Types of
Extracurricular Activities. Retrieved from
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1855/College-Extracurricular-Activities.html
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of
Education Statistics, 2011 (NCES 2012-001), Chapter 3 . Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98
Wilson, M.O. (1927). The American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 409-417
Published by: University of Illinois Press Article Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1415009

(n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2012, from 2012 Factbrowser.com:
www.factbrowser.com

Yip, P. (2012, August 10). Baby Boomers make a plum marketing target. Retrieved from
www.dallasnews.com




                                                                     Perfect 10 Agency: 11
Perfect 10 Agency: 12

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Phase iv agency final report

  • 1. Perfect 10 Agency Promotional Campaign Project Phase IV MDSE 3850.001 November 18, 2012 1. Overview 1.1 Executive Overview Best Buy is an electronics retailer that is being slowly overcome by online retailers. Best Buy‟s annual revenues in 2011 were fifty billion dollars and are projected for 2013 to be forty nine billion dollars. This decrease in sales has been linked to the availability of new technologies on-line. Best Buy will need to increase their sales with a new promotional strategy or will find themselves at the fate of bankruptcy. 1.2 Overview This promotional strategy will be put in place to help save Best Buy from bankruptcy. With a new promotional and marketing strategy Best Buy will try to promote themselves to an older demographic like Baby Boomers and the „first timers‟ of large purchases like Generation Y. Through the use of different promotional avenues such as a refreshed magazine articles and different special events, Best Buy will bring in new clientele and save their declining business. 2. Situational Analysis 2.1 Cultural Context The cultural characteristic of Best Buy that would pertain to the market is its focus on customer centricity. Best Buy caters to specific customers in the market and target favored shoppers to come back more often. This characteristic helps Best Buy align stores and researchers comb through reams of sales and demographic data to determine whether a particular location should be tailored to” (Boyle, 2006). This aspect sells solutions to the market rather than just products. 2.2 Historical Context Best Buy started in the 1960‟s but was originally named “Sound of Music.” The company founded by Richard M. Schulze in St. Paul, MN, started out having a primary focus on home and car stereos. As demand for inventory grew, first year sales totaled up to $173,000. (Pederson, 2004) The electronic retail powerhouse expanded their inventory to more appliances which gained 9.3 million in revenue by 1982. By 1983, Sound of Music was given the official name, “Best Buy.” This was just the beginning, throughout the 1980‟s Best Buy soared in sales and by 1993 sales reached another whopping 1.6 billion. (Pederson, 2004) The company then expanded in size and introduced larger concept stores across the nation. Much of the 90‟s consisted of the store expanding and eventually buying out Musicland Stores Corporation by 2001. This buy out gained Best Buy over 1,300 music stores and further expansion continued. (Pederson, 2004)The innovative hands-on electronic aspect made consumers flock in thousands and after reaching 10 billion in sales, Best Buy re-launched their official website. Even with competition such as Circuit City, Best Buy certainly had the edge over the competition. After Circuit City had to close down due to bankruptcy, Best Buy continued to flourish. The company didn‟t really gain much out of the bankruptcy as expected, but remained constant in sales. Today the company operates over 1,100 stores worldwide and employs around 180,000 associates. (Pederson, 2004) Though Best Buy has a copious amount of success stories, as time went on, the company encountered some setbacks. As technology grew, sales started to slip and continue to not do so
  • 2. well today. The increase in online purchasing and other mass market merchants have contributed to Best Buy‟s significant loss. Recently, Best Buy has had to get rid of CEO Brian Dunn and with new chief; sales continue to decline. Today the company offers various home/office electronics, software, appliances and other services. These are the main categories that bring in the company‟s revenue. The “big box” retailer has multiple superstores ranging from 20,000 to 45,000 square feet (BestBuy.com, n.d.). The products vary from laptops, cameras, phones, DVDs, CDs, washer/dryers, TVs and many other electronics. They also have the store within a store addition named Geek Squad that attracts many consumers. Best Buy takes pride in price matching and offering affordable electronics for consumers. The placement involves narrow isles with shelves or hooks of items stacked upon each other. The placement also entails a showroom style display of merchandise on certain items such as laptops, notebooks, cellphones and cameras. As far as pricing goes, it is not very competitive. The retailer engages in price matching but pricing is just about the same as its competition. There are many promotion and deals that the company offers. These include, “deal of the day” and no interest financing for 18 months when applying for a Best Buy card. There are discounts for students in school, discounts on certain cameras, HD TV‟s and free shipping when ordering online. They have “weekly offers”, where there are more deals on movies, computers, phones, cameras etc. These offers include different sale pricing ($50 off all Samsung phones) and promotes things such as a” free 8x8 photo book with purchase of digital camera or camcorder” (BestBuy.com, n.d.). Best buy also has the order online, pick up in store option that may be easier for certain consumers who don‟t want to wait on delivery. Best Buy strengths include its “big box” store environment leaving the consumer with endless choices. The Geek Squad center located in most Best Buy stores is where customers can get their electronics fixed. The in-store environment of Best Buy has some hands-on electronics that continue to lure in the consumer to actually experience the merchandise. The company also has a genuine trust in consumers to accommodate price matching and offers an 18 month financial payment plan on certain merchandise. There is a relevant uniformity in that all items are either electronic, electronic related, or appliances. The fact that the company is a specialty retailer lures in the customers who have a demand for this exact merchandise, rather than having to search for it at a mass merchant. Though Best Buy has great promotions and deals, there are still a few weaknesses. One weakness would be the fact that they do not engage very much into competitive pricing. This is a major problem with huge mass merchants and online retailers offering lower prices. Thus, leading to the next weakness, online retailing is taking a large portion of their consumers. Sites like Amazon and EBay are big online merchants that offer discount pricing on new and used electronics. Some consumers will even go to Best Buy just to get the hands-on feel of the item but end up purchasing it for cheaper online. The company also does not have the best customer service. A reason for this could be because the employees are not offered commission whatsoever. This could be the reason employees are not as motivated to sell and or even offer top customer service. Though Best Buy has plummeted, it has not fully sunken yet. The opportunities for this retailer are endless and can still be implemented. They can increase the in-store experience by redesigning the store front and interior. The fact that they have barely changed over the years is not working with the ever-changing world of technology today. A new, chic innovative remodel will attract customers as Apple has done in the past. Adding different, unique features to the merchandise set up and store can help lure in different types of consumers of this generation. More interactive rooms will be added to create a more Perfect 10 Agency: 2
  • 3. comfortable feel for consumers and so consumer can experience various products. Another marketing opportunity could be better employee training and uniforms. People want to know they are being helped by professionals and looking like one would not hurt the company. The customer service should be a high quality and employees need to be more than informative. This could be completed by offering the employees commission and rewards for bringing in the company sales. These employees will help give tutorials on how certain items are used in the new innovative interactive rooms that will be implemented. Besides testing out new items, there will also be days where customers get to watch a movie in 3D to experience Best Buy‟s product selection. These special promotions will lure customers to learn more about products they aren‟t sure about. As far as further promotion, interactive media could be used to implement a wish list event during special occasions like graduation or certain holidays. To receive discounts all the customer would have to do is take a picture with an item they desire. Since social sites are extremely popular, the consumer would upload their picture to BBY‟s Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. This way, the customer is receiving benefits and so is Best Buy by that interaction and increased awareness. This will certainly increase consumer spending and that positive reinforcement will keep the customer coming back. The online site also could use more improvement since online retail has increased tremendously over the years. This site needs to be redesigned, have unique features and more easily navigable. To gain even more brand awareness the company could also engage in radio advertisement and magazine advertisements. This is to market to a specific age group such as Baby Boomers and Gen Y. This will also be a great opportunity for the retailer to make consumers aware of the new deals and changes Best Buy will be implementing. The magazine advertisements will display everything from new items in store, promote sales and show customers engaged in the new interactive rooms in the store. The threats to BBY obviously are the mass merchants such as Wal-Mart, Target, innovative Apple stores and various online stores. These merchants are indeed a big part of why Best Buy has seen better days. Another threat is their competitions pricing. It is hard to price match every single item without losing too much revenue and online retailers are surpassing BBY when it comes to pricing. If consumers believe they are paying for an item of better quality, they will sacrifice the extra dollar(s). 2.3 Industry Analysis Best Buy has to implement a strategy to make all consumers feel welcome regardless of their knowledge of technology, build that connection/trust with consumers and have energetic/informative staff. The consumer characteristics and demands for the product category vary. The consumer wants a more personalized service and a unique deliverance to ordinary products. When there is too much of one product, it becomes clutter and consumers are looking for something that stands out. The demand for more hands-on and testing interactive products will never cease and the in-store experience can never be replaced. The consumers of today are seeking customized and technologically advanced items. 2.4 Market Analysis The companies target market regarding the marketing plan would be tech savvy individuals and suburban families. Stores like Apple and Wal-Mart do so well because one caters to the tech savvy, new generation and the other caters to families in the area. The individual customer would be a major target to create specialized service for specialized products. Best Buy also has stores outside of the US contributing to an international consumer base. The main marketing strategy is Perfect 10 Agency: 3
  • 4. expanding the brand even more store wise and truly being more customer centric. This means “It's about understanding what problems customers face in their lives and then providing mutually advantageous solutions” (HBS Review, 2010). BBY wants the consumer to receive top tier service and understand that they are actually trying to also view the enterprise from the consumers view. Building that personalized connection is vital to the Best Buy marketing plan. Due to the constant decline in sales at BBY, it is clear that the company needs to take a different route. The demand for electronics is still there but there is reason consumers are choosing other retailers rather than Best Buy. The competitive situation that is driving the promotional strategy is the companies pricing, store look, service and online site. These are all lagging behind compared to the competition. The major competitors consist of Wal-Mart, Apple, Target, Amazon, EBay and other various retailers. Amazon and EBay are doing well due to the strong power of ecommerce in today‟s world. Amazon is actually the number one e-tailer in the world. “It has web sales 5 times more than Wal-Mart, Target and Buy.com web sales combined” (Poeter, 2011). EBay, another big ecommerce retailer implements unique features like bidding on an item as if in an auction and there is also the “buy it now” option. Wal-Mart‟s everyday low prices and catering to families across the nation have made the company extremely prosperous. The huge supercenter has merchandise varying from groceries to even hardware. The key to their success is their competitive pricing and the easy access to items of many different genres. “In 2010, American consumers bought almost as much merchandise at low-priced Wal-Mart ($307.7 billion in U.S. retail sales) as they purchased from the next five largest U.S. retailers combined ($324.5 billion): Kroger ($78.3 billion), Target ($65.8 billion), Walgreen ($61.2 billion), Home Depot ($60.1 billion) and Costco ($58.9 billion)” (Perry, 2011). The progression of Wal-Mart has caused it to be one of the most successful retailers in history. Target also carries out a similar floor set to Wal-Mart. The stores success comes from its varying merchandise and trendy clothing sections. Target can be considered a step up from Wal-Mart depending on the consumer. Lastly, Apple also has gained the respect of consumers worldwide and is also another successful retailer. Apple has developed a very strong and loyal customer base. Apple users are very hard to switch and the chic, hip marketing campaign is to be accredited for that. “By creating an emotional connection with its customers, Apple has done the near impossible – it has acquired a loyal following” (Goodson, 2011). The new, sleek and cutting edge technological advances leave consumers anticipating new features of different Apple products. Today Wal-Mart, Target, Apple, Amazon and EBay continue to be leading retailers in many individuals of America households. 2.5 Competitor Analysis The market is extremely competitive because the items Best Buy sells are now everywhere and readily available. This means the items are also not hard to access at brick & mortar stores and purchasing is now only a click away. It is very hard to break though such a competitive market without offering something new and unique to consumers. A new marketing strategy would indeed help with what has been hindering the company recently and ensure constant revenue. The opportunities at hand need to be taken advantage of and BBY will be the same powerhouse it was years ago. In this generation, not all stores can depend on their name to carry them through, a company in today‟s world has to be steps ahead its competitors and innovative enough to keep that same consumer coming back. Perfect 10 Agency: 4
  • 5. 3. Objectives Best Buy‟s new promotional strategy‟ quantitative benchmark will be to increase the sales by specific demographics. “Best Buy's market share of the US consumer electronics market is” at 41%. (2012 Factbrowser.com) With this promotional plan Best Buy plans on increasing that to 45% by the end of next year. Best Buy plans to continue that increase by 2-5% yearly to steadily climb back to number one. In order for Best Buy to measure this expected increase the advertising and statistics departments will work closely together. By measuring one month, three months, six months and twelve months from the time the first promotional tactic is used Best Buy will be able to set the bar for how much sales increase by each category. Another measuring tool that will be used will be Best Buys own employees. By polling them before these new tactics are in place and consistinly speaking with them as the efforts play out, Best Buy will be able to measure the effectiveness of these tactics from the people that interact with our target markets on a daily basis, in store. The time frame for these promotional tactics will be quite different. After Best Buy‟s special events they will be able to know if sales increase on the items shown by a simple end of day print out. Managers can then send these results to corporate for further analyzing. As far as the other promotional tactics, time can only tell. With the month schedule that has been laid out, Best Buy will be able to monitor sales increases quad-yearly. 4. Strategy 4.1 Market Segmentation The target consumer of our new promotional campaign will be college students and recent college graduates. Enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased by 11 percent between 1990 and 2000. “The percentage of American college students who are Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Black has been increasing. From 1976 to 2010, the percentage of Hispanic students rose from 3 percent to 13 percent, the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander students rose from 2 percent to 6 percent, and the percentage of Black students rose from 9 percent to 14 percent. During the same period, the percentage of White students fell from 83 percent to 61 percent. Race/ethnicity is not reported for nonresident aliens, who made up 2 percent and 3 percent of total enrollment in 1976 and 2010, respectively” (IES, 2012). Best Buy‟s other target consumer will be Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are a growing market that advertisers should not be ignoring. According to Patricia Lipp Davis, the vice president of AARP‟s Media Sales Group, “In the last 12 months, 47 percent of consumer goods and services were purchased by people 50 and older, to the tune of $2.7 trillion.” (Yip, 2012) Within the target market we decided to emphasize Best Buy‟s original target market more on college students, post graduates and Baby Boomers .It is the main purpose to analyze the interests of the target markets, as indicated by their selection of courses, their job selection and their retirement plans. Determining the psychographics is also indicative of what involvement they have within their universities and communities. The importance of psychographics includes the emphasis of setting and community, extracurricular activity involvement provides a setting to become involved and to interact with other students or their communities , by identifying with a Perfect 10 Agency: 5
  • 6. peer group, that group may influence their social circle affective and cognitive development as well as their behavior so this can include their purchasing behavior. The typical age for college students used to be eighteen to twenty-one. Today more students are in their mid-twenties and work part time jobs. This creates a larger amount of disposable income for college students and the stereotypical, starving student, doesn‟t apply like it did a few years ago. Although ramen noodles isn‟t the staple of a college students diet, college students spending habits still focus on food. Over 11 billion dollars was spent on snacks and beverages last year alone. Even though most college students are on meal plans, but a great portion of their spending habits go toward eating out. Students today spend over one hundred dollars a month on coffee alone (Caron, 2011). Next to food, college students spend a great deal of money on high tech gadgets and devices. Over 90 percent of college students have a desktop or a laptop computer. Of this 90 percent, 65 percent have broadband internet connections (Caron, 2011). This, along with television, cable, cellular phones and their plans, iPods, and other gadgets absorb a significant amount of a college student‟s disposable income. But spending money on additional upgrades and additional music or apps can put further demands on a college student‟s already limited budget (Caron, 2011). According to Burst Media, 69.1% of male college students spend $250 or more in a typical month on personal items, compared with 50.2% of female college students who do so. 46.7% will purchase casual clothing for school, with females somewhat more likely than males saying they will do so: 50.2% vs. 43.8% (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). But laptops and cell phones are the tech products that college students will purchase most before school. Baby Boomers have this in common with these students and post graduates in the way that they too have disposable income and are looking for an avenue to spend it. “Their brand loyalty is almost non-existent, older adults like to try new things. In fact, that‟s one of the things that boomers pride themselves on is trying new things.” (Yip, 2012) With this open market Best Buy has the opportunity to swoop in and start a new trend of building brand loyalty with Baby Boomers. College students spend more time with the internet than other media, 33.0% spend more than 10 hours per week online, and 19.6% spend more than 20 hours per week online. However, just 16.6% watch more than 10 hours per week of television (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). And only 5.5% listen to terrestrial/satellite radio more than 10 hours per week. Students are online even when watching television or listening to the radio, 50.6% surf the web while watching TV. 43.5% are online while listening to terrestrial/satellite radio (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). Students use the internet to keep in touch and be entertained, instant messaging is the most popular online activity with both male (62.3%) and female (57.2%) college students (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). Next are downloading music/MP3 files (53.3%), and pursuing school/work activities (51.7%). Those are followed by playing online games (47.7%), reading entertainment news/gossip (46.2%), listening to internet radio (44.5%), reading local/national/international news (44.2%), viewing, streaming video content (42.6%). Males are more like than females to view streaming video (49.3% vs. 34.3%). Females are more likely than males to research health info (32.8% vs. 21.7%) (Marketing Charts Staff, 2007). Another part of our target consumer‟s media habits is social media; the highest percentage of what social media college students use is Facebook at 96 percent. YouTube comes in second with 84 percent. Other media such as, Blogs (20%), Twitter (14%), MySpace (12%), and LinkedIn (10%) are the last in what social media college students tend to use (Deris and Desjardins, n.d.). By using this target market we will give Best Buy a deeper access into what Generation Y and Baby Boomers purchases and how much Perfect 10 Agency: 6
  • 7. they do use technology and how Baby Boomers are starting to use more technologies than those that usually shop with Best Buy. 4.2 Positioning Strategy Generation Y and Baby Boomers: Positioning Map Amazon Best Buy Apple Inc. Wal-Mart  Target (other)  Radio Shack (other) 4.3 Brand Communication The message that will be communicated to the target consumer is that our brand is for the everyday consumer. Not just a Generation Y consumer or a Baby Boomer can get technology that “fits” their needs. The characteristics of Best Buy as mentioned in section 2.1, Best Buy cater to specific customers in the market and target shoppers to come back more often. This aspect sells solutions to the market rather than just products. (Boyle, 2006) With the array of products that Best Buy has to offer, Best Buy takes pride in price matching and offering affordable electronics for consumers. Even though this particular factor may not concern the Baby Boomer generation it is very much a weighing factor for Generation Y consumers. Best Buy is a retailer with a “big box” store environment which leaves the consumer with endless choices along with helpful and knowledgeable employees. Best Buy gives the consumer hands on experiences, technology support, and technological expertise. Perfect 10 Agency: 7
  • 8. 5. Execution Promotional Tactic: Radio Advertisement The radio advertisement will be geared toward Baby Boomers and generation „Y‟. This advertisement will emphasize Best Buy‟s commitment to their customer, highlighting their student discounts and their upcoming special promotions. This advertisement will be broadcast on radio stations that are specific to the target market Best Buy will be trying to reach. For example the Generation „Y‟ market will be advertised on stations like Kiss FM and The Edge which has a younger listening audience. For the Baby Boomers, more talk radio shows will broadcast this advertisement like NPR and the Ticket. These affiliate stations will be able to specifically target the ideal market for Best Buy. It will showcase Best Buy‟s ability to connect with and answer any questions the consumer may have. By pulling people into this advertisement it will draw more consumers into Best Buy to make a purchase, rather than simply using Best Buy as a stop before the purchase is made at an online retailer. Using radio advertising is key to Best Buy because Best Buy wants to target specific groups of people. Continuous scheduling will be utilized for this advertisement. Best Buy will then put this advertisement on a flighting schedule during the holiday season. Resulting in a pulsing advertising schedule will be most beneficial to reach the target markets. By using this form of advertising Best Buy can segment their markets more accurately and can advertise to a particular consumer base. Promotional Tactic: Magazine Advertisement The magazine advertisement will be utilized in many different types of magazines to attain Best Buy‟s new target market. This advertisement will appeal to Baby Boomers and the Generation Y age groups. Magazines that will be utilized for appealing to the Baby Boomers will include AARP, Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies Home Journal. By reaching these Baby Boomers through this advertisement Best Buy will acquire this group of society that has money saved and ready to spend. Magazines that will be utilized to attract the Generation Y age group will include Fitness, Glamour and Men‟s Health. The article for the Baby Boomers will emphasize an older couple enjoying life. It will highlight that the time for work is done and retirement is fun and has its perks. One perk being that money can be spent on more things like the items offered at Best Buy. The magazine article for generation Y will emphasize the best new technologies and the deals that one can receive by shopping at Best Buy. This article will highlight Best Buy‟s student discounts which will highly appeal to this generation. Generation Y are in college or have recently graduated, by highlighting the deals a college student can receive and emphasizing the newest technologies for the best prices for the graduates, this article will appeal to both. With the diverse spectrum that these magazines are able to reach Best Buy will be able to generalize their markets to promote to these individual groups. Promotional Tactic: Special/Promotional Event While Best Buy is looking to move away from their large super stores in the near future, they are still their central location of sales. People go in and out of the brick and mortar stores, playing with the cameras, checking out the 3D TVs and getting a closer look at the new iPads, but have a tendency to go home and buy the products online for a lesser price then Best Buy can offer. To keep people coming into the store, and actually buying the products, Best Buy should Perfect 10 Agency: 8
  • 9. host special events that involve and teach their customers about their products in a way that just looking at them can‟t. The first group of special events Best Buy should hold is tutorials on how to use the very involved products that they sell, such as cameras, and the photo editing software, as well as the many digital photo viewing options to get people involved with the whole photography package. They could have their teams of highly trained staff hold workshops to explain how to use not only cameras, but cell phones, tablets and their many gaming systems that they sell. A portion of the store could be set aside for such events, in order to give people a focused environment to learn everything there is to know about a product and the many additional products that can be paired with it in order to enhance not only their buying experience, but also their ownership experience. These zones in each store will have tables with stools, much like the Genius Bar of the apple store, so that people can sit comfortably while the staff engages them in learning how to use the products they are considering buying. These events will be held on weekends, promoted through direct emails to their customers enrolled in their rewards programs as well as signage placed at the front of the store informing customers of the upcoming events. With Best Buy‟s employees already so informed on all of these products the timing for this event would be short. Best Buy would just need the signage and e-mails sent and these special events could begin almost immediately. Promotional Tactic: Special/Promotional Event Best Buy could have movie nights, letting people see what watching a movie in 3D at home would really be like. A 3D television is a big-ticket item, which is still very new to the consumer, and might not be perceived as a good long-term purchase. Coinciding with holidays or big movie releases, Best Buy could hold an afterhour‟s movie viewing event, showcasing their newest 3D, or even just HD, TVs. People will get an opportunity to experience the TVs as well as build a positive relationship with Best Buy. This special event will require more time to create. Best Buy needs to build rooms with oversized chairs and sofas that this event can be held in. This event will take time and preparation, an average of 12-14 months is a reasonable estimate on when this could be accomplished. Although this will be pricey and time ridden it would be worth it overall by building a relationship with their consumers. Promotional Tactic: Interactive Advertisement Best Buy would promote an interactive media “Wish list” event coinciding with popular shopping times such as Christmas and graduation. During this event customers would be encouraged to go into the store and take a picture of or with a product they would like to have and describe why they want this item. It would then be uploaded to the Bestbuy‟s Facebook page, Twitter, or Instagram. After doing this the customer will be rewarded with an entire purchase discount of $10, $30, or $50 dollars off their next purchase within a certain time frame. This will attract more attention to the products available and alert people to what items and brands are popular buys. Implementing this interactive media event will also help retain more consumers because they will be more likely to buy when they are going to save money through discounts. As a result more customers will buy directly from Best Buy instead of competitors like Amazon which has become a major threat due to show rooming. Perfect 10 Agency: 9
  • 10. 6. Evaluation The results of the new changes implemented at Best But retailers will be evaluated using surveys, direct manger feedback, and by analyzing the impacts of the promotions on sales. The surveys will be made available to consumers through the company‟s facebook page, and will also be printed on every receipt. This will help Best Buy to better understand what the customers like about the new promotions, and make them more aware of how each promotion can be further improved. Feedback directly from every Best Buy manager will also be a vital tool used to evaluate how successful the new promotions have been. This will be done through conference calls and live chats. Lastly, every month Best Buy will analyze the sales of each store to examine how the promotions have affected sales by reviewing in store and online purchases and promotional discount usage. Perfect 10 Agency: 10
  • 11. 7. Reference List Best Buy Inc (n.d.) http://www.BestBuy.com Goodson, M. (2011) Is Brand Loyalty the Core to Apple‟s Success? Forbes Retrieved from: www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2011/11/27/is-brand-loyalty-the-core-to- apples-success-2/HBS Review (2010) Inside Best Buy‟s Customer Centric Strategy BloomBergBusinessWeek Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2010/ca20100413_286655.htm Boyle, M. (2006) Best Buy‟s giant Gamble CNNMoney Retrived from: www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/04/03/8373034/index.htm Pederson, J. (2004) International Directory of Company Histories: Best Buy Perry, M. (2011) Walmart: The Most Successful Retailer in History Retrieved from: http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/07/18/walmart-the-most-successful- retailer-in-history/ Poeter, D. (2011) Infographic: The Secret to Amazon‟s Success Retrieved from: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396634,00.asp Coran, Terry. (2011). Common Spending Habits of College Students. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/80305.aspx Desjardins, Eric and Deris, Johanna. (n.d). SOCIAL NETWORKING USAGE AND GRADES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/news/docs/UNHsocialmedia.pdf Marketing Charts Staff. (2007). Survey: To Reach College Students, Brands Need to Use Internet. Retrieved from http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/television/survey-to-reach- college-students-brands-need-to-use-internet-1389/ State University. (n.d.) College Extracurricular Activities - Impact on Students, Types of Extracurricular Activities. Retrieved from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1855/College-Extracurricular-Activities.html U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of Education Statistics, 2011 (NCES 2012-001), Chapter 3 . Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 Wilson, M.O. (1927). The American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 409-417 Published by: University of Illinois Press Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1415009 (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2012, from 2012 Factbrowser.com: www.factbrowser.com Yip, P. (2012, August 10). Baby Boomers make a plum marketing target. Retrieved from www.dallasnews.com Perfect 10 Agency: 11