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The market environment is a marketing term and refers to all of the forces outside of marketing that affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers. The market environment consists of both the macroenvironment and the microenvironment.

The microenvironment refers to the forces that are close to the company and affect its ability to serve its customers. It includes the company itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors, and publics.

The company aspect of microenvironment refers to the internal environment of the company. This includes all departments, such as management, finance, research and development, purchasing, operations and accounting. Each of these departments has an impact on marketing decisions. For example, research and development have input as to the features a product can perform and accounting approves the financial side of marketing plans and budgets.

The suppliers of a company are also an important aspect of the microenvironment because even the slightest delay in receiving supplies can result in customer dissatisfaction. Marketing managers must watch supply availability and other trends dealing with suppliers to ensure that product will be delivered to customers in the time frame required in order to maintain a strong customer relationship.

Marketing intermediaries refers to resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies, and financial intermediaries. These are the people that help the company promote, sell, and distribute its products to final buyers. Resellers are those that hold and sell the company’s product. They match the distribution to the customers and include places such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. Physical distribution firms are places such as warehouses that store and transport the company’s product from its origin to its destination. Marketing services agencies are companies that offer services such as conducting marketing research, advertising, and consulting. Financial intermediaries are institutions such as banks, credit companies and insurance companies.

Another aspect of microenvironment is the customers. There are different types of customer markets including consumer markets, business markets, government markets, international markets, and reseller markets. The consumer market is made up of individuals who buy goods and services for their own personal use or use in their household. Business markets include those that buy goods and services for use in producing their own products to sell. This is different from the reseller market which includes businesses that purchase goods to resell as is for a profit. These are the same companies mentioned as market intermediaries. The government market consists of government agencies that buy goods to produce public services or transfer goods to others who need them. International markets include buyers in other countries and includes customers from the previous categories.

Competitors are also a factor in the microenvironment and include companies with similar offerings for goods and services. To remain competitive a company must consider who their biggest competitors are while considering its own size and position in the industry. The company should develop a strategic advantage over their competitors.

The final aspect of the microenvironment is publics, which is any group that has an interest in or impact on the organization’s ability to meet its goals. For example, financial publics can hinder a company’s ability to obtain funds affecting the level of credit a company has. Media publics include newspapers and magazines that can publish articles of interest regarding the company and editorials that may influence customers’ opinions. Government publics can affect the company by passing legislation and laws that put restrictions on the company’s actions. Citizen-action publics include environmental groups and minority groups and can question the actions of a company and put them in the public spotlight. Local publics are neighborhood and community organizations and will also question a company’s impact on the local area and the level of responsibility of their actions. The general public can greatly affect the company as any change in their attitude, whether positive or negative, can cause sales to go up or down because the general public is often the company’s customer base. And finally, the internal publics include all those who are employed within the company and deal with the organization and construction of the company’s product.

The macroenvironment refers to all forces that are part of the larger society and affect the microenvironment. It includes concepts such as demography, economy, natural forces, technology, politics, and culture.

[[Demography] refers to studying human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, and occupation. This is a very important factor to study for marketers and helps to divide the population into market segments and target markets. An example of demography is classifying groups of people according to the year they were born. These classifications can be referred to as baby boomers, who are born between 1946 and 1964, generation X, who are born between 1965 and 1976, and generation Y, who are born between 1977 and 1994. Each classification has different characteristics and causes they find important. This can be beneficial to a marketer as they can decide who their product would benefit most and tailor their marketing plan to attract that segment. Demography covers many aspects that are important to marketers including family dynamics, geographic shifts, work force changes, and levels of diversity in any given area.

Another aspect of the macroenvironment is the economic environment. This refers to the purchasing power of potential customers and the ways in which people spend their money. Within this area are two different economies, subsistence and industrialized. Subsistence economies are based more in agriculture and consume their own industrial output. Industrial economies have markets that are diverse and carry many different types of goods. Each is important to the marketer because each has a highly different spending pattern as well as different distribution of wealth.

The natural environment is another important factor of the macroenvironment. This includes the natural resources that a company uses as inputs and affects their marketing activities. The concern in this area is the increased pollution, shortages of raw materials and increased governmental intervention. As raw materials become increasingly scarcer, the ability to create a company’s product gets much harder. Also, pollution can go as far as negatively affecting a company’s reputation if they are known for damaging the environment. The last concern, government intervention can make it increasingly harder for a company to fulfill their goals as requirements get more stringent.

The technological environment is perhaps one of the fastest changing factors in the macroenvironment. This includes all developments from antibiotics and surgery to nuclear missiles and chemical weapons to automobiles and credit cards. As these markets develop it can create new markets and new uses for products. It also requires a company to stay ahead of others and update their own technology as it becomes outdated. They must stay informed of trends so they can be part of the next big thing, rather than becoming outdated and suffering the consequences financially.

The political environment includes all laws, government agencies, and groups that influence or limit other organizations and individuals within a society. It is important for marketers to be aware of these restrictions as they can be complex. Some products are regulated by both state and federal laws. There are even restrictions for some products as to who the target market may be, for example, cigarettes should not be marketed to younger children. There are also many restrictions on subliminal messages and monopolies. As laws and regulations change often, this is a very important aspect for a marketer to monitor.

The final aspect of the macroenvironment is the cultural environment, which consists of institutions and basic values and beliefs of a group of people. The values can also be further categorized into core beliefs, which passed on from generation to generation and very difficult to change, and secondary beliefs, which tend to be easier to influence. As a marketer, it is important to know the difference between the two and to focus your marketing campaign to reflect the values of a target audience.

When dealing with the marketing environment it is important for a company to become proactive. By doing so, they can create the kind of environment that they will prosper in and can become more efficient by marketing in areas with the greatest customer potential. It is important to place equal emphasis on both the macro and microenvironment and to react accordingly to changes within them. [1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_environment

Customer Service RepresentativeCompany: Domino's Pizza Location: south Military Trail,Boynton Beach, FLJob Type: Part-timeDate posted: 22 Feb, 2010 From: snagajob.com Share:

Description:Great things are happening at Domino's Pizza, and we are looking for exceptional people who want to be part of the best pizza delivery company in the world!... You will be responsible for taking orders, making pizzas, and giving the customer the best experience possible. You must have an outgoing personality, be efficient and energetic, and be willing to work in a fun and fast paced environment. Domino's Pizza takes care of their employees, it is a fact that we promote from within and 99% of our current franchise owners started out as CSR's, Delivery Drivers, or Assistant Managers!... To drive for Domino's Pizza, you must be at least 18 years of age, have a valid driver's license and a good driving...

http://www.jobisjob.com/south-military-trailboynton-beach-fl/domino-s-pizza/customer-service-representative/job-offer-2ibizjn35m4ux7xdxgp6imo3le

Lack Of Crisis Management Is A Crisis Unmanaged.

Writing by Belinda Ang on Thursday, 23 of April , 2009 at 5:13 am

►   Tweet!

Hear hear…

After the Domino’s effect, it has become ever more obvious that Crisis Management is one of the most important function of every PR person in a company. In the digital age today, it is almost impossible to take absolute control of every individual and tiny bit of information. Many a times, the bad PR would have found its way into the mass faster then you can say, “SXXX!”. And just in case you missed all the action, Adage gives an overview on the “cheese in the nose” incident here. And guess what, the two protagonist of the prank video are facing charges, as reported by NY Times.

Traditional marketers usually attempt to lie low and wait for news to subside as people tend to (used to) have a short memory when overwritten with news of the following day. But things online is a quite different scenario. News don’t simply get overwritten. But rather, they get passed on and duplicated in multiplies. People talk wildly about them, make assumptions and create a large snowball effect that could have an unimaginable damage. One that can get out of hand and destroy an entire brand, if not dealt with properly, and timely.

Domino’s was critized for not responding to the issue promptly. But on realisation that these rumours are not going to stop and customers are quickly losing trust in the brand, they reacted swiftly to turn the tables around. Domino’s incident started off with a viral video. Domino’s decided to end it with a viral video.

As touched on previously during the China’s melamine poisoning incident, hiding facts or pretending to be an ostrich no longer works. Likely that the most positive PR is really to face the issue oncoming and find all possible ways to minimize the damage and rebuild brand confidence. Taking criticisms positively may also help to calm and convince consumers in one’s willingness to listen and address the problem. Consumers wants to know what IS to be done, not what cannot be undone.

But what really prompted me to write this was not Domino’s. I mean yes, Domino’s affair caught my eyeballs and I was having a whole lot of fun following the news. There are no Domino’s in Singapore, so I guess what doesn’t really concerns me won’t affect me too adversely. However, one incident DID affected me.

Just last Wednesday, I posted a blog post on “How Companies Are Using Twitter” and commended on the proactiveness of Midphase (my web hosting company) in addressing customer satisfaction issues. I was given much confidence from the General Manager himself on the service quality and was promised downtime wouldn’t happen again. That was last week. I was happy for a couple of days and tweeted positively about it. BUT today, not only was there a server outrage, emails were down but the entire Midphase iterally “disappeared“. Even their own company site and support systems could not be reached. No one is attending to their Twitter accounts. GM Marc Bollinger’s last message was 8 hours ago and their parent twitter account @Midphase was 16 hours ago! It was creating a nervous breakdown for many customers who anxiously hanged online to wait for any possible news.

Reviews on Midphase’s services has been dropping quickly since 2008 when their service quality suddenly deteriorated. With 71,900 domains owned by Midphase and hosting on their servers, you can imagine the kind of anxiety each and every customer is going through. Customers are not demanding an immediate restoration. Customers demand and has the right to know what is going on. However, that channel was not made readily available, especially essential for a company with such a global customer base. I had to make a long distance call to the United States to find out what is actually going wrong. As I do not have any existing number with me (website is down). I am for once grateful that Google caches information. (Not grateful for this all the time as their cache caused me a lot of trouble once).

About 3-4 hours later, the service came back on. When the General Manager for Midphase,  Marc Bollinger woke about 6 hours later, he was overwhelmed with the unhappiness and short of explaination to customers on the outrage. People (including me) were coming together over twitter, making wild assumptions and threatening to terminate the service due to frequent downtime. Marc quickly sent a personal apology to each customer and the Midphase blog was promptly updated to explain the issue. Although he explained he was asleep at that hour, the promise of a 24/7 service has been broken and it has shook the confidence of customers in a big way. Isn’t it ever more prevailing that value of customers are invaluable especially in times of recession where businesses are constantly trying to cut each other’s throats to stay afloat. Competitors will be more than happy to benefit from the spill over of this effect. 

So you can see, social media does not necesasary only cause damage to big brands, but small companies can suffer as well. This is of course, largely dependent on the type of business you are in. But a digital crisis is not something to be seen lightly as. Regardless if your company is big or small.

 

Post-Domino’s Effect

After the much hyped Domino’s incident, PR agencies are sitting up and relooking into ways to tackle digital crisis when they happen. Niall Cook, the Worldwide Director of Marketing Technology for Hill & Knowlton posted a question on twitter yesterday,

“Thinking about a rapid response Twitter app for companies to use during a crisis. Any thoughts?“

As quoted from Adage on the aftermath of the Domino’s case, “In Just 24 Hours, Clip Has Received 760,000 Views, and Warrants Are Out for Offending Employees’ Arrest.” Los Angeles Times quickly churned out an article reflecting the on recent incidents on how the businesses of CNN, Amazon and Domino’s are affected by the power of Twitter.

Like it or not, brands don’t really have a choice to the kind of publicity they want in digital age. The only way to counter the game is to be part of the game. Like they always say, don’t wait for customers to come, be where your customers are. And obviously, where your customers are, will be where the action sparks too. 

I am no PR expert, although I am trying to hone my skills in this area. Perhaps PR gurus can drop your comments here on

how you think a digital crisis could be better managed to minimize damage and what is the desired minimum time delay of responses.

http://belindaang.com/tag/dominos/

Domino's streamlines marketing aiming bigger pie of pizza mkt

21 Nov 2007, 1700 hrs IST, PTI

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After establishing itself as a quick-delivery company in the Indian pizza market, Domino's is streamlining its marketing initiatives and expanding product portfolio as it seeks to cruise in a high double digit growth path.

"We are trying to deliver the best tasting product to become the best pizza company in the country and not be known only for quick delivery," Domino's Pizza India VP (Marketing) Dev Amritesh said.

He, however, said the '30 minute or free' campaign will continue but the three important pillars for growth will be enhanced retail presence, best product and delivery competency.

The company has just launched a new 'stuffed crunch' pizza for which TV commercials, featuring Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi, will go on air next week, while local campaign involving store-level publicity and flier programs have already begun. "We have earmarked Rs 20 crore as the marketing investment till March 2008, a 70 per cent increase from last year," he said.

As a part of its strategy, Domino's had launched 'cheese burst' pizza during the same time last year, followed by 'calazone', 'chinese'. "In next fiscal, we will launch three-four new products to cater to increasing demand for different flavours," he added.

In the current year, Domino's turnover has grown by 65 per cent as against last year's, 30 per cent of which came from the launch of new product variants. Amritesh, however, did not disclose the exact amount of its sales.

The company plans to take its outlets to 200 from 180 at present by the end of current fiscal, while the blueprint for 2010 is to set up 500 outlets at Rs 350 crore, targeting Rs 1,000 crore turnover in 2010-2011.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/Dominos-streamlines-marketing-aiming-bigger-pie-of-pizza-mkt/articleshow/2559335.cms

Service systemFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

A service system (or customer service system, CSS) is a configuration of technology and organizational networks designed to deliver services that satisfy the needs, wants, or aspirations of customers.

Contents[hide]

1 Overview 2 History

3 Service system topics

o 3.1 Definition

o 3.2 Design of service systems

o 3.3 Types of service systems

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

[edit] Overview

"Service system" is a term very frequently used in the service management, service operations, services marketing, service engineering, and service design literature. While the term frequently appears, it is rarely defined. Given the growing importance of this term in the literature, this entry begins to organize historical usages, examples, and inferred definitions. A service system worldview is a system of systems that interact via value propositions.

One recent definition of a service system is a value coproduction configuration of people, technology, internal and external service systems connected via value propositions, and shared

information (language, laws, measures, etc.). The smallest service system is a single person and the largest service system is the world economy. The external service system of the global economy is considered to be nature's services or ecosystem services. Service systems can be characterized by the value that results from interaction between service systems, whether the interactions are between people, businesses, or nations. Most service system interactions aspire to be win-win, non-coercive, and non-intrusive. However, some service systems may perform coercive service activities. For example, agents of the state may use coercion in accordance with laws of the land.

[edit] History

Usages of the term service system (bold added) are provided below:

The earliest known usage of the phrase service system in a book title is: Stochastic Service Systems. John Riordan. Wiley, New York, 1962. x + 139 pp. Illus. "Anyone seeking an introduction to queueing theory..." Also a Science article was published by John Riordan http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/citation/137/3532/742-a Science 7 September 1962: Vol. 137. no. 3532, p. 742

Usages from Quinn and Paquette (1990) Technology in Services: Creating Organizational Revolutions. MIT Sloan Management Review. 31(2).

"Properly designed service technology systems allow relatively inexperienced people to perform very sophisticated tasks quickly — vaulting them over normal learning curve delays."

Examples: "Domino's Pizza … industrial engineering and food science research automated the making of a pizza to as near a science as possible, eliminating much of the drudgery in such tasks, yet ensuring higher quality and uniformity. Then, finding that its store managers were still spending fifteen to twenty hours per week on paperwork, Domino's introduced NCR "mini-tower" systems at its stores to handle all of the ordering, payroll, marketing, cash flow, inventory, and work control functions … Federal Express … Its DADS (computer aided delivery) and COSMOS II(automated tracking) systems give FedEx maximum responsiveness."

Inferred definition: Service systems, also known as service technology systems, are designed to allow inexperienced people to perform very sophisticated service provisioning tasks quickly.

Usages from Cook, Goh, and Chung (1999) Service Typologies: A State of the Art Survey. Production and Operations Management, 8(3).

"Customer contact is one of the primary criteria used to classify service operations and refers to the physical presence of the customers in the service system during the provision of the service... Service systems can be placed on a continuum that ranges from high customer contact to low customer contact during the creation of the service."

"Capital intensity of the service system also serves as the basis of classification... The capital intensity of the service system ranges from low to high."

"The level of customer involvement in the creation of a service is also a dimension used to classify services... Customer involvement means the level of interaction the customer has with the service system and the level to which the customer can actually affect the service delivery process."

"Customer satisfaction is the most basic concept underlying TQM. It is, therefore, of critical importance that the service system and the services it is designed to deliver satisfy the needs and wants of the organization's customers."

"Not only does one have to consider the implications on product design and how this affects marketing, but is also may have significant implications for the design of the service system. This illustrates the need to address interactions between the marketing and operations functions and to integrate these functions for the betterment of the firm."

"The environment in which a service organization operates will be instrumental in determining how the service system, as well as the services themselves, should be designed... Global service organizations must also appreciate and understand local customers, laws, and culture to successfully operate internationally."

Examples: "Pure services (e.g., health centers and personal services) represent the highest level of customer contact. Progressing down the continuum toward lower custom contact are mixed services (e.g., branch offices of post offices), quasimanufacturing (e.g., home office of banks), and manufacturing (e.g., automobile assembly plants)... ...When a client contracts with an architect to design a home, a relationship involving high customer involvement is created. On the other hand, a customer who has purchased an airline ticket has little opportunity for involvement in the service delivery or to impact how the service is going to be provided."

Inferred definition: Service systems are organizations designed to delivery services that satisfy the needs and wants of the organization's customers. Marketing, operations, and global environment considerations have significant implications for the design of a service system. Three criteria used to classify service systems include: customer contact, capital intensity, and level of customer involvement.

Usages from Lusch, Vargo, and Malter (2006) Marketing as Service-Exchange: Taking a Leadership Role in Global Marketing Management. Organizational Dynamics, 35(3).

"Stated alternatively, service-dominant logic offers opportunity for the organization to focus on selling a flow of service. This would encourage it to determine the optimal configuration of goods, if any, for a level of service, the optimal organization or network configuration to maintain the service, and the optimal payment mechanism in exchange for providing the service. That is, the organization is encouraged to think about the service system."

Examples: "For example, if a heating and air conditioning equipment manufacturer views itself in the temperature control business, then it could decide to sell climate control for a building rather than just mechanical devices. It could charge per cubic foot of climate maintained on a monthly or annual basis and/or through a payment plan involving gain sharing, in which costs

are reduced as system performance rises, thus benefiting financially both the firm and the customer. A seller entering into such an arrangement has an incentive to look at everything about the building that will influence heating and cooling costs."

Inferred definition: Service systems are optimal configurations of goods, organizational networks, and payment mechanisms for providing a level of service.

[edit] Service system topics

[edit] Definition

Karni and Kaner in "An engineering tool for the conceptual design of service systems" first provide a general definition of a system, and then specify the distinctive characteristics of a service system:

A system is an organized set of objects which process inputs into outputs that achieve an organizational purpose and meet the need of customers through the use of human, physical, and informatic enablers in a sociological and physical environment (adapted from Nadler 1981; Checkland 1981). It is architectured as a set of nine interlinked classes of objects: (1) customers - those benefiting from the system (or otherwise affected by it); (2) goals - aims, purposes or central meaning of the system and the organizations; (3) inputs - physical, human, financial, or information entities to be processed by the system; (4) outputs - physical, informational or human entities after processing by the system; (5) processes - transformations for obtaining outputs from inputs; (6) human enablers - human resources owning and/or operating the system; (7) physical enablers - physical resources which aid in operating the system; (8) informatic enablers - information and knowledge resources supporting the system; and (9) environment - physical, economic, technological, social, ecological or legal factors influencing the system.

A service system is nevertheless distinguished from other types of systems by the fact that the customer may be actively involved in all nine classes: (1) customer - as initiator and receiver of the service (e.g., the customer is characterized as looking for novelty, reliability - or both); (2) goals - as setting the primary objectives for the design and operation of the service (e.g., the service should an Internet shopper to configure the product variant he wishes to purchase); (3) input - as a client upon whom the service is to be performed (e.g., a patient coming for treatment); (4) output - as a client upon whom a service has been performed (e.g., the patient after treatment); (5) process - as a participant in the process (e.g., an Internet sales transaction incorporates a dialogue facility between a customer and a sales agent); (6) human enabler - as a resource in the process (e.g., an Internet sales transaction involves the customer as an independent agent); (7) physical enabler - as providing a resource to the process (e.g., an Internet shopper uses his own computer to access the vendor site); (8) informatic enabler - as applying his own knowledge to the process (e.g., an Internet shopper uses his own know-how regarding the product to configure the model he wishes to buy); and (9) environment - as setting constraints or standards for acceptable service levels (e.g., an Internet shopper demands 24-hour availability of a dialogue facility).

Richard Normann in "Reframing Business" introduces the notion of a value-creating system. Prime Movers are the ones who reconfigure value-creating systems. Since the term service is often defined as value coproduction, a service system might well be called a value-coproduction system. Norman writes about the unbundling and rebundling of value-creating systems as one of the main trends of our time.

[edit] Design of service systems

Marketing, operations, and global environment considerations have significant implications for the design of a service system. Three criteria used to classify service systems include:

customer contact, capital intensity, and

level of customer involvement.

Properly designed service systems employ technology or organizational networks that can allow relatively inexperienced people to perform very sophisticated tasks quickly — vaulting them over normal learning curve delays. Ideally, empowerment of both service provider employees and customers (often via self service) results from well designed service systems.

[edit] Types of service systems

Service systems range from an individual person equipped with tools of the trade (e.g., architect, entrepreneur) to a portion of a government agency or business (e.g., branch office of a post office or bank) to complete multinational corporations and their information systems (e.g., Domino's Pizza, Federal Express). Hospitals, universities, cities, and national governments are designed service systems.

The language, norms, attitudes, and beliefs of the people that make up a service system may evolve over time, as people adjust to new circumstances. In this sense, service systems are a type of complex system that is partially designed and partially evolving. Service systems are designed to deliver or provision services, but they often consume services as well.

Every service system is both a service provider and a customer of multiple types of services. Because service systems are designed both in how they provision and consume services, services systems are often linked into a complex service value chain or value network where each link is a value proposition. Service systems may be nested inside of service systems (e.g., staff and operating room unit inside a hospital that is part of a nationwide healthcare provider network).

Service system designers or architects often seek to exploit an economic complementarity or network effect to rapidly grow and scale up the service. For example, credit cards usage is part of a service system in which the more people and businesses that use and accept the credit cards, the more value the credit cards have to the provider and all stakeholders in the service system. Service system innovation often requires integrating technology innovation, business model (or value proposition) innovation, social-organizational innovation, and demand (new customer wants, needs, aspirations) innovation.

For example, a national service system may be designed with policies that enable more citizens (the customers of the nation) to become an entrepreneur, and thereby create more innovation and wealth for the nation. Service systems may include payment mechanisms for selecting a level of service to be provided (upfront or one time payment) or payment based on downstream value sharing or taxation derived from customers who received the benefit of the service (downstream

or ongoing payment). Payments may also be in the form of credit (creative arts) or other types of intangible value (see anthropological theories of value and theory of value).

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Domino's, Snow and Susan Boyle

Turnover and profits at Domino's Pizza are up, thanks to bad weather and Susan Boyle.

Severe winter weather and heavy snow in Europe has encouraged more consumers to order Domino's takeaway pizza.

Challenging economic conditions may have played a role, as well. Consumers are buying cautiously and instead of spending for a big restaurant meal, many choose takeaway for a modest splurge.

Domino's also says its sponsorship of Britain's Got Talent--especially the final, featuring Susan Boyle--was a major factor in increasing turnover. The Domino's brand enjoyed a halo effect by association with BGT . . . and there was a definite sales bump, according to the chief executive:

It's difficult to pull out a figure and attribute that entirely to BGT, but we did have a record week when we had the final, so it does have an effect on sales.

In the US, Domino's is running a "turnaround" campaign to show that it's improving its pizza, adding more herbs, better cheese and a special glaze on the crust. Few firms are willing to publicly admit their products need improvement, so Domino's US approach is a refreshing change and an intriguing campaign.

Posted by Marian Burk Wood at 13:58

Labels: Domino's, Susan Boyle, turnaround

The Marketing Environment.What is the marketing

environment?

The marketing environment surrounds and impacts upon the organization. There are three key perspectives on the marketing environment, namely the 'macro-environment,' the 'micro-environment' and the 'internal environment'.

The micro-environmentThis environment influences the organization directly. It includes suppliers that deal directly or indirectly, consumers and customers, and other local stakeholders. Micro tends to suggest small, but this can be misleading. In this context, micro describes the relationship between firms and the driving forces that control this relationship. It is a more local relationship, and the firm may exercise a degree of influence.

The macro-environmentThis includes all factors that can influence and organization, but that are out of their direct control. A company does not generally influence any laws (although it is accepted that they could lobby or be part of a trade organization). It is continuously changing, and the company needs to be flexible to adapt. There may be aggressive competition and rivalry in a market. Globalization means that there is always the threat of substitute products and new entrants. The wider environment is also ever changing, and the marketer needs to compensate

for changes in culture, politics, economics and technology.

The internal environment.All factors that are internal to the organization are known as the 'internal environment'. They are generally audited by applying the 'Five Ms' which are Men, Money, Machinery, Materials and Markets. The internal environment is as important for managing change as the external. As marketers we call the process of managing internal change 'internal marketing.'Essentially we use marketing approaches to aid communication and change management.The external environment can be audited in more detail using other approaches such as SWOT Analysis, Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis or PEST Analysis.

Domino's in India Domino's International

Vision

Milestone

Media Centre

Domino's on a Zapping Drive..Business & Economy, New DelhiMarch 9-22nd, 2007

Domino’s on a zapping drive….Knowing the fact how gaming industry is expanding in India, one of the country’s leading Pizza making food chains Domino’s has something extra to offer to its customers along with its delicious pizzas. Anyone now who orders Domino’s new “Zapizza’ combo would get a free gaming CD worth Rs. 450, which has a cricket game along with three others. The offer is open for that combo only because of the recent tie-up that Domino’s has with Zapak games. Famous for games on racing, strategy, puzzles to name a few, Zapak.com is a well known online gaming web portal which is liked by all game lovers.

The CEO InterviewNEVER LOOSE SIGHT OF ‘FUN’Ajay Kaul, CEO, Domino’s Pizza in conversation with Quest on his life and its important decisions

Tell us something about your company (Business venture)Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. Which entered India with its first store in January 1996, at New Delhi, Today Domino’s Pizza India has grown into a countrywide network of stores, with a team of over 3,000 people. Over the period since 1996, Domino’s Pizza India has established a reputation for being a home delivery specialist capable of delivering its pizzas within 30 minutes or else free to its community of loyal customers from all its stores around the country. Today Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. Has a network of 135 stores in India and is the market leader in the organized Pizza home delivery segment with over 40% market share. The company plans to open more than 50 stores in the next financial year and increase its market share in the Pizza market by at least 5%.

Tell us about your academic journey in details

I have done B.Tech from IIT, Delhi and MBA from XLRI, Jameshdpur.

What do you think are the choices that you made in your academic life that have had a major impact on your professional life ?

Two main choices – After Engineering, I decided to do an MBA During MBA, I chose to major in Marketing and Sales.

What is the biggest risk that you ever took?

I left an MNC like AMEX to join a private domestic airline ModiLuft.

What has been the most important lesson that you have learnt till date and how?

Value addition to oneself should be the most important factor in this ever transforming modern world, Rest all things follow.

What is your hobby/passion/favorite pastime? When did you pick it up and how? Do you still get time to pursue it?My hobby is Golf which helps me stay fit. My passion is to be with my family and spend quality time with them. My favorite pastime is to watch films. I stay fit to generate the extra energy for my family and to pursue my hobby and pastime.

What is the next big thing on your list of to-dos?

Make a highly successful business at Domino’s

Your advice to young?

My advice to the young – Be passionate in whatever you do.Never loose your inquisitive student like trait.Be dispassionately honest and fairNever loose sight of “fun”. Make your passions “fun oriented”

Pockets of affluence in small cities must be tapped

DOMINO’S EFFECTGoing out and eating in smaller cities is getting amplified as an occasion. Keeping this in mind, Domino’s has made a strategic shift in the way outlets in smaller towns are modeled.

DOMINO’S PIZZA, the $1.44 billion US-based international pizza delivery chain, is tweaking its delivery only business model to tap the eating-out market in smaller Indian cities. After almost a decade of Indian presence, the quick service restaurent (QSR) chain is exploring dine-in, big time, primarily through franchisee-owned stores. The 43 year – old CEO of Domino’s India, Ajay Kaul, and alumni of IIT Delhi and XLRI Jamshedpur, met up with ET and shared the challenges of growing a QSR business in a retail market caught in realty throes. Excerpts :

What are big trends in food retail business in India?

The entire retail industry is getting organized and so is the food retail business. While there are these (host of new) multinational QSR brands planning their India entry, a lot of action is also taking place amongst the (local) Indian players as they get their acts together. In addition, the mall mania is adding to the growth in the organized food retail. And just about half of the top 15 odd multinational QSRs world wide are currently present in India. New players entering the segment is a healthy sign that the industry is trying to get organized. On the flip side, the escalation of real estate prices and lack of availability of quality retail space is acting as a big hindrance for all retail players. The latest ruling on the service tax on commercial rental has added to the issue of availability of the retail space.

How will Domino’s grow from its 100 odd stores?

We at Domino’s are heavily investing back into the business at this point in time. In the last 2-3 years we have created an engine of growth – be it at the level of manpower training or developing store management skills. Our plan is to take this growth forward by expanding into newer cities and opening more stores. From 135 stores in March 2007, we would like to add another 60 stores by 2008 and have our presence in around 190-200 cities. Our effort is to reach out to as many state capitals, which are ready to explode, in a year’s time. We are opening our second store in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Other cities that would come into our radar would be places such as Baroda, Surat, Vizag, Patiala, Jammu, Rajkot, Nagpur besides others. There are around 12 cities we are looking to open during this fiscal year.

We are also looking at fast table turnover and give special offer during certain day parts to drive affordability. Along with the entry level offerings, which are very relevant for the smaller towns, we would also focus on the top-end offering. India is the best operations for Domino’s in the world outside the US. We are also exploring new areas such as railways.

Is Domino’s focus shifting to smaller cities now?

Although, the numbers in terms of volume will still come from the big cities, the smaller cities have these pocket of affluence which needs to be tapped. Besides, the fact that going out and eating in smaller cities gets amplified as an occasion. Keeping this in mind Domino’s has made a strategic shift in the way outlets in smaller towns are modeled. There is ample dine-in space made available to customers to sit and enjoy the meal.

Will you concentrate on dine ins?

No, we will remain delivery focused but for smaller cities the dine-in works better.

Are you evaluating franchisee option?

All Domino’s stores are corporate stores and we have no franchisee stores. We believe that the fastest way to profitability in the current environment is to build own stores, get your return on investment in couple of years and keep building profitability. But we constantly evaluate the franchisee option. And since we do not have indiscriminate plans for expansion it suits us line to open our own stores. Although, for the dine-in model we might look at franchisee as we are not experts in that area.

We are looking at fast table turnover and will give special offers during certain day parts to drive affordability. We would also focus on the top-end offerings.

Branding Short Takes

30 minutes to your tableDomino’s adds dine-in to its portfolio

So what comes to your mind when you think of having those indigenously Italian pizzas at home in thirty minutes flat? Why, Domino’s of course! Yes, in a time span of more than a decade, that’s how Domino’s Pizza has placed itself in the consumer mind-space. Consistently over time, Domino’s has always projected itself as the best pizza home delivery brand. And this strong image building exercise has served as a source of sustainable competitive advantage.

But this gives an edge to its archrival Pizza Hut, which rules the ‘sit & dine’ segment. And now Domino’s too is paying heed to this hitherto ignored segment. This became evident when the company unleashed three restaurants last year in New Delhi and is planning to open as many as 45 more such outlets across India by the end of 2007. This is also a part of Domino’s global strategy, as it is also adding more restaurants in Europe. But if you thought that this QSR has suddenly jumped onto the ‘sit & dine’ segment, you are wrong. As part of a carefully planned strategy, it tested the waters for the past two years in different cities across India, through 30 such stores.

Now the billion-dollar question : Is Domino’s getting a bit too obsessed with Pizza Hut by following  it around? “No, we are still a home delivery brand and we will never compromise with  this brand image. At the same time, to attract new customers, it becomes important to have a sit & dine arrangement. And here also, we are very concerned that it doesn’t affect you brand image, so we are not providing a complete restaurant service offered by other pizza outlets.” Replies Dev Amritesh, Chief of Marketing, Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. Domino’s internal research shows that people in Tier I & II cities are increasingly dining out, particularly during weekends. Indeed, when you look at their outlets, there is no one of the comforts – cutlery, waiters, that Pizza Hut offers. The company follows a self-service concept and you still get pizzas in use-and  throw cardboard boxes. But then, its dine in, alright! And for a diehard Domino’s fan, it could be the best of both worlds.

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Marketing-Pizza IndustrySummary

Microenvironment

The four major competitors, Pizza-Hut, Papa John's, Domino's, and Little

Ceasers are the market leaders in the take-out pizza industry. Having a strong brand

equity in the take-out pizza industry allows a company to gain a significant advantage

in the market. Customers in the take-out pizza industry place a high value on the product

quality and price of a company. Maintaining a good reputation is very important in this

industry for companies because customers will build a relationship with the company and

will keep on coming back or ordering from that company if they feel like they are getting

a good deal. Even though the take-out pizza industry is very competitive, many investors

will surely be looking for investment opportunities in the years to come due to the growth

potential in the industry.

Macroenvironment

The demographic factors in the take-out pizza industry have provided new

positive opportunities for companies in the industry. Economic factors can also influence

the industry in a positive or negative way during a good or bad economy. Ecological

factors such as rising prices in gas and rising prices on dairy products has hurt the

industry. Technological factors are helping companies meet new customer needs and

demands and are opening up new opportunities for companies all around the world.

Political and legal factors have not had a tremendous recent impact on companies in the

industry. Cultural factors that have affected the take-out pizza industry have been

primarily the increase in consciousness of health and fitness among the public in the

United States.

Microenvironment

Those factors that are close to a company, that affect its ability to serve its

customers, are called its microenvironment. There are several factors that affect the

microenvironment of a company in the take-out pizza industry mentioned in this report.

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Marketing Strategy Of Mcdonald's Corporation

We have many premium term papers and essays on Marketing Strategy Of Mcdonald's Corporation. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.

Marketing Strategy Of Mcdonald's CorporationMcDonald's Corporation is in the fast food industry and operates more than 24,000 restaurants in 111 countries worldwide. In the United States, it has 12,450 US outlets, most of them in stand-alone locations that generate a 42% share of the nation's fast-food hamburger business. Corporate communications states that a new McDonald's restaurant opens every 8 hours (McDonald's 1999). Marketing Strategy Although traditionally quiet about its marketing strategy, the British web site, Biz Ed managed to get the company to address several critical issues. One of the issues concerned their marketing strategy. After stating that the first step in developing a marketing strategy is understanding the customers, enabling reaction to their changing needs and the changing dynamics of the market.

To this end the company conducts "several stages of in-depth customer research and audits of the McDonald's brand. The research involving both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This research tells us a lot about how McDonald's is perceived and about trends that are taking place in the market" (Biz Ed Online, 1999). The company also conducts research into the local areas of the restaurants, into the general market environment, and into specific areas of our business, "children for example. We also have to have a thorough understanding of our competition" (Biz Ed Online, 1999). The company considers its competition to be in three broad and basic areas: * Total Eating Out Market that include all restaurants, hotels, pubs, and any other outlet where people eat. * Quick Service Restaurant that includes all the obvious competition and also fish and chip shops, and sandwich shops - any outlet where food is served quickly * Burger House Sector that comprises restaurants serving hamburgers including Burger King, Wimpy, Wendy's and all independent burger bars. McDonald's studies its competition thoroughly, and does...