Business studies assignment marketing coursework

The aim of this coursework is to evaluate the marketing strategy of a familiar product or service, making recommendations on whether the marketing mix should be changed in any way. For my assignment I am going to investigate a bowling organization. Below is a map of the bowling organizations near and in Newcastle Upon Tyne: http://www. multimap. com/map/browse.

cgi? client= public&X= 425000&Y= 575000&width= 700&height= 400&gride=&gridn=&srec= 0&coordsys= gb&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm= 1&scale= 200000The bowling alley at the metrocentre has facilities such as; a diner, a restaurant, shops, amusements, bars and American pool. For one game of adult bowling they charge �5. 50. They have many promotions mostly better value offers aimed at all ages: birthday parties for children, teenagers with mega teen parties, students with unlimited bowling, bowling and a meal offer, etc, they also promote other business’ which are near to them such as laser quasar. The bowling alley in Whitley Bay has facilities such as; American pool, bars, amusements and a cafe. For one game of adult bowling they charge �4.

Product life CycleHow popular the bowling alley is and what and why facilities need updating. Textbook, teacher, information from bowling alley staff. How the bowling alley promotes and advertisesTo find out how people find out about the bowling alley and why people may not be going to it. For example they might not know about it because of some lack of advertising in certain areas. Also to find out how the bowling alley promotes itself. Looking on the internet and looking through leaflets.

Looking inside XS Superbowl and asking them what methods they use. Prices charged by the bowling alleyTo find out what prices they charge to see if it’s the prices that attracted or make customers repel from XS Superbowl. Look at the prices on their price list and compare them with other bowling alleys. The locations of the bowling alleyTo find out where the business is and to see if the location may be why lots/not many people go to superbowl. To see if anything nearby could draw people away from the superbowl.

QuestionnaireHere is the questionnaire below that I have designed to help me find out about the bowling alley. The purpose of the questionnaire will give me personal views straight from the consumers so it will help me to find out the consumers tastes and knowledge of the bowling alley this will help to decide if anything needs to be improved in the bowling alleyComplete questionnaire in black pen by taking the boxes and where appropriate circle. 1. Male or female? M/F (please circle)2. How old are you? 18 or under(Tick the box)19-3031-5050-6060+3. Where do you live? _______________________ (please state)3.

Have you ever been bowling? YES/ NO (please circle)4. Have you ever been to XS Superbowl in Longbenton? YES/ NO (please circle)If not, why? Too expensive Too far away Not aware of itOther____________________ (please state)5. If so how often? 1-2 times 3-4 times 4-5 times 5+ times6. What facilities did you use at XS Superbowl? (please circle- more than one if needed)* Bowling* Wimpy* Arcade* Bar* American pool7. What facility did you find to be the best? (please circle)* American pool* Wimpy* Arcade* Bar* Bowling8.

7. Who are the main competitors?* The main competitors are star bowl, Local cinema, JJB soccer dome, Wet ‘ n’ Wild and other local bowling alleys such as Megabowl and Ten Pin Bowling. 8. How does XS Superbowl try stay ahead of its competitors?* XS superbowl tries to stay ahead of starbowl by making a bigger range of facilities for every family member and setting up special offers. 9. Does the location of the bowling alley affect the number of customers?* The location does affect the number of customers because it is not on a bus route and it isn’t next to other big facilities like the starbowl is because the starbowl is next to things like: wet ‘ n’ wild, outdoor shopping centre and a soccer dome.

10. How do they decide the pricing strategy? What pricing strategies do they use?* Bowling, Bar and Vending- XS superbowls pricing strategy is based around the economic growth and targets set by their head office. If their bowling targets have increased by 3% the bowling prices will increase at that rate.* Wimpy- Wimpy is a franchise so they are restricted by their pricing structure. 11.

Marketing MixThe marketing mix is the combinations of factors which help the business sell a product. These are usually known as the four p’s- price, product, promotion and place. The marketing mix is so important because there is so much choice in the market and there are so many ways a customer can spend their money so the greater the competition the more businesses have to produce effective marketing. I will be looking carefully at each component and making recommendations to XS Superbowl of my findings. ProductThe first marketing component is the product.

This is what the firm must come up with that people will want to buy. It must fulfil the customer’s needs and wants. In this case the product of XS Superbowl is bowling aswell as the amusements, bar, wimpy and American pool. XS Superbowl tries to offer something for all tastes. This is the unique selling point (USP) of XS Superbowl; to be a family entertainment service; they provide a service for every family member.

Skimming- is the opposite of penetration pricing. Firms charge a high price to start off with this helps the product to become desirable to people with larger incomes the firm then lowers the price of the product when it has become firmly established. This then helps it to become a mass-market product. 3. Destroyer pricing- This is also known as predatory pricing.

Firms charge low prices that they know other firms can’t afford to do, then once they have driven their competitors out of the market they raise their prices. 4. Price discrimination- This is where firms charge different prices to different consumers for the same product. 5. Competition pricing- This is where firms charge similar prices to other firms. It happens when there is lots of choice and not much difference between the products.

This links to the marketing strategy of Xs Superbowl it shows that it is doing well for its prices although it could charge slightly less then starbowl to create even more competition. However, it has excellent offers of children’s parties and group bookings so this should keep it ahead of its competitors. PromotionThe next marketing component is promotion. The product must be promoted so that the customers are aware that it does exist. XS Superbowl has found the most effective promotional tool so far has been flyers inside newspapers. They use these because they can measure the target audience and compare this to their sales database.

They also use special offers and TV advertisements too. The flyer advertisements are effective although they can get ignored and chucked in the bin as junk mail so the most effective method for XS Superbowl I would recommend are posters, this Is because many people drive past XS Superbowl because it is beside a busy road. I would also recommend more TV advertisements as XS Superbowl is in a difficult location for transport so for people to know that it exists TV advertisements would be the best this would contribute to the marketing mix of XS Superbowl greatly. Starbowl uses effective TV advertisements for it to get widely known that’s may be one of the reasons why it is doing so well. Megabowl is advertised on TV aswell and this is seen regular as the place it is in gets seen regular because many people shop near it.

Question7- What facilities did you use at XS Superbowl in Longbenton?(Pick as many options as required)Bowling= 15 peopleWimpy= 5 peopleArcade= 8 peopleBar= 5 peopleAmerican pool= 4 peopleThis pie chart shows that bowling was mostly used at XS Superbowl and American pool was the least used. This pie chart relates to the marketing component – product. This shows that people mostly visit XS Superbowl for the bowling. This relates to the marketing strategies, it shows that people must be happy with the condition that the bowling alley is in and they are taking advantage of the special offers. This pie chart also clarifies that people like the promotions of the special offers because the special offers are mostly for bowling so the marketing strategy through the way the product is presented and also the promoting of the product has progressed well.

Question 8- Which facility did you find to be the best? Bowling= 14American pool= 1Wimpy = 0Arcade= 3Bar= 2This pie chart shows that bowling was found to be the best product at the XS Superbowl and that is probably because people use it the most and because of the many different types of special offers that are on offer. Also that is what XS Superbowl specialises in so that factor also has a lot to do with the fact that people think it is the best. The wimpy was the least favoured as it had no people who voted for it. Wimpy don’t seem to use promotion or be quite cheap in their foods this is may be the reason why they are the least favoured. The marketing strategy for this particularly needs to be improved. Question 9- Do you think any of the following facilities needs to be improved?(Pick as many options as required)Bowling= 1American Pool= 3Wimpy= 13Arcade= 0Bar= 9This pie chart shows that most people think that the wimpy should be improved.

The pubwatch is also strength. Their promotions for through cinema vouchers and the family club have also proved to be a good strong point aswell as the better value offers.* Weaknesses- The weaknesses at XS Superbowl are: 1. There is no major bus route. 2. Wimpy is fast becoming a dying brand.

3. Youth culture is poor- puts off publicy good custom. 4. No other entertainment sites to support their service.* Opportunities-NAMCO as a business is expanding with four new sites opening within the past couple of months.

ConclusionIn conclusion of this investigation, there are many ways XS Superbowl could get back into the product cycle through launching new things. The recommendations concluded from my investigation have come from evaluating and looking into depth into the marketing strategies of the marketing mix.