3. INTRODUCTION
• Intuit Inc. is an American software company headquartered
in MountainView, California.
• It was founded in 1983 by Scott Cook andTom Proulx.
• Develops financial and tax preparation software and related
services for small businesses, accountants and individuals.
• Developer of the best-selling software products such as
Quicken, Quickbook,TurboTax, etc.
• Number of Employees- 8,200 (Nov. 2013)
4. SWOTANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
High Focus on R&D
Product development according to the consumer’s
needs
User Friendly products
Positive word of mouth from the loyal consumers
which in turn helps in publicity of the products
WEAKNESS
Unable to expand in geographical markets
THREATS
Dynamic market where technology becomes
obsolete very quickly which may lead to more
rigorous market study and keeping up with the
environment continuously.
OPPORTUNITIES
Focus on SMEs and younger consumers
Strategic Acquisitions
5. (a)Traditional Organization Chart (b) Modern Customer-Oriented Organization Chart
Traditional Organization VS Modern Customer - Oriented
Organization
6. • Over the period, the marketing strategies of Intuit has evolved but
the most effective marketing tools for the company are the positive
word of mouth, exceptional customer care service and user friendly
software.
• Also, Intuit has recently started doing digital marketing exercises
with its increasing presence on social media web sites such as
Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIN.
Marketing Strategies
7. Elaborate on Intuit’s use of customer research. Why did it work so well
for the company?
• Intuit spends a significant amount of time and money on consumer
research each year and they state that it is “critical for Intuit to know
exactly how customers use and feel about their products” because of the
nature and pace of technology, the shifting customer and consumer
needs, and the competitiveness of the industry.
• Intuit uses site visits, lab studies, and remote studies to keep pace with
the consumer.
• Without this spend on research, Intuit might not have kept up with these
changes.
• This has work so well for the company because they understand what the
consumer wants and improves their product well accordingly to the
information they have
8. Building CustomerValue, Satisfaction, and Loyalty is one among the
important function of customer research. Creating loyal customers is at the
heart of every business.As marketing experts Don Peppers and Martha
Rogers say.
The only value your company will ever create is the value that comes from
customers—the ones you have now and the ones you will have in the future.
Businesses succeed by getting, keeping, and growing customers. Customers
are the only reason you build factories, hire employees, schedule meetings,
or engage in any business activity.
“Without customers, you don’t have a business”.
• Identify your customers.
• Differentiate customers in terms of (1) their needs and (2) their value to
your company.
• Interact with individual customers to improve your knowledge about
their individual needs and to build stronger relationships.
• Customize products, services, and messages to each customer.
Building CustomerValue, Satisfaction, and Loyalty
9. • InAugust 2008, Microsoft announced that it would stop releasing a
new version of Money each year and had no version planned for
2009.
• The company also announced that it would no longer ship boxed
versions of Microsoft Money to retail stores and would instead sell
the product only as online downloads.
• On June 10, 2009, Microsoft announced that it would stop developing
Money, would stop selling it by June 30 that year, and would continue
supporting it until January 31, 2011.
• The company cited the changing needs of the marketplace as the
reason for Money's demise, stating that "demand for a
comprehensive personal finance toolset has declined."
Discontinuation of Microsoft Money
10. Could anything go wrong for Intuit now that it has beaten out Microsoft?
Why or why not?
• We think that Intuit asTwo scenarios after Microsoft leaving the market.
• There is a positive scenario, where Intuit can become the leader in its
field, with most market share.This means to continue as they have done
until now, being leaders, innovators and using its strategy of investment
in research with customers.
• There is also a negative scenario, if they reduce or remove the research
funding and research efforts.They could end up in the same way as
Microsoft Money ended. Because competitor's are temporary and
competition is permanent.
• We think it would benefit them if they continue to follow the same
strategy .
11. How should Intuit gauge the results of its research among
younger consumers with mobile devices?
Intuit has already made dramatic and substantial steps in
gauging the younger consumers by :
• Increasing its presence on the social networking sites so
that it could reach out to more possible younger
consumers.
• Identifying bloggers to write & share blogs and then
classified each blog post according to velocity, share of
voice, voice quality and sentiment of the blogs
.
These are groundbreaking classifications, understanding and
interpreting this data is the key to gauge the research of the
younger consumers.