Target Market
LAC is a charitable organization that offers a diverse range of customers an opportunity to organize and participate in different art classes and meetings (“History and Mission”). In this instance, LAC aims at catering to the needs of a vast target audience including artists, entertainers, businessmen, and different communities (“History and Mission”). In general, the company focuses on the population of dissimilar ages and social groups such as students and teachers. Pursuing this strategy is logical for this organization, as it complies with its mission, advertises culture, promotes local talents, and supports diversity.
Along with that, it tends to focus on different corporate venues to attract more individuals from the business segment while also satisfying individual needs by organizing various events such as weddings. Meanwhile, to organize performances, it also has to attract different local and foreign artists and entertainers such as Thoi Bao Community Fund and Lehenga Ukrainian Dance, and it can be viewed as the secondary target of LAC (Living Arts Center 19). Based on the analysis of the target audience, it is vast due to the desire of the company to engage in cultural activities with as many visitors and communities as possible.
Positioning
When referring to positioning of the company in the market, LAC is a charitable entity that engages in different collaborations, organizes different events, courses, and workshops for people of all ages, and promotes cultural diversity and art while being as a “performance outlet” for various artists, entertainers, and businessmen (“History and Mission”). It differentiates itself from the competitors by the well-developed partnerships, popularity, a plethora of platforms for organizing events, international focus, exceptional atmosphere, and competitive pricing, and it allows selecting the most suitable event to cater to one’s needs (see fig. 1).
Product
As it was depicted earlier, this organization provides a diverse array of services while being viable in different spheres for its competitive pricing and unique value proposition. Figure 1 displays that it competes in fields like event planning, catering, and education. In this case, its main services pertain to
- Providing space and venues to organize various performances (theatre) and events;
- Holding courses, educational events, workshops, and camps to expand the understanding of cultural diversity;
- Creating a favorable environment for artists and entertainers by organizing art battlers and providing space for exhibitions (gallery);
- Offering catering services for weddings;
- Organizing business conferences;
- Having a restaurant;
- Offering technical services and support;
- Providing facilities for rent.
This list of services is associated with variety, and this matter entirely complies with the selected target audiences, mission statement, and positioning. This array of products and services ensures that the company has a unique value proposition and competitive edge, as with the help of this diversity, the organization can satisfy dissimilar tastes of vast population groups and increase its recognition and competitiveness while strengthening its positions.
Place
All services described above are provided at LAC directly. However, depending on the type of service, there is a separate venue and a place for it. For example, the gallery provides a favorable environment for artists to exhibit their artworks and masterpieces (“History and Mission”). Along with that, Live Restaurant can be discovered as an exceptional dining option that helps visitors with different backgrounds to enjoy the delicate taste of art (“Live Restaurant”).
These matters are only some examples of services while potential customers can learn more about them directly in the center or on the website. The official website of the company is interactive and sophisticated, as an average user can easily navigate, learn about services, contact the organization, and become a volunteer. For example, one can effortlessly choose the most suitable instructor, and this option increases the popularity of the organization and expands the employment opportunities (“Instructor Bios”). Overall, the company uses a unique blend of direct marketing while distributing information about events with the help of intermediaries such as sponsors and partners simultaneously.
Price
Due to the charitable nature of the organization and the desire to popularize cultural diversity, LAC relies on value-based pricing, as it helps make the product affordable to different socio-economic groups. In this instance, choosing this approach is reasonable, as the organization has a rather vast target audience and wants to attain one of its major goals – to promote culture and provide a platform for different venues and support local and international talents. On the contrary, premium pricing is mostly used in luxury markets to cater to the needs of specific niches (Hoffman and Coste-Maniere 30). This strategy is not appropriate in this case.
In the recent past, LAC introduced adjustments to its strategy by making its prices more competitive, and it resulted in 3.8% and 3.2% shifts in food revenues and room rentals respectively (Living Arts Center 19). Nonetheless, apart from its growth, pricing seems to be one of the major problems due to the substantial drop in the overall revenues in the past year. Consequently, addressing this strategic gap will help the company overcome economic challenges.
Promotion
When referring to the last component of the marketing mix, the company uses an extended variety of methods such as radio, online interactions, and social media (Living Arts Center 13). For example, sales promotion and ticket discounts advertised with the help of posters increase the attendance of the events (Living Arts Center 13). As for online marketing methods, it could be said that the company heavily relies on social media due to its cost-effectiveness. In this instance, it utilizes Google Ad Words, Twitter, and Facebook (Living Arts Center 13). These modalities along with word-of-mouth increase recognition of the organization internationally and enhance the effectiveness of its public relations.
This unique blend of advertising methods assists the company in delivering its mission statement and value proposition to the customers. Nonetheless, it is possible to improve it, as currently, the company is not able to communicate its message effectively. For example, focusing on the Canadian segment, using LinkedIn, PartnerUp, and Tumbler, and developing interactive competitions on social media can be viewed as the main opportunities to consider.
Customer Relationship Management
To reach organizational objectives, the company will need to have a well-developed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plan for each activity, course, workshop, or exhibition. For example, each activity will include
- evaluating customers’ needs and preferences (market research);
- preparing for the event;
- promoting via different channels;
- implementing;
- organizing an event,
- assessing.
Thus, throughout this process, the management has to focus on the integrity of people, processes, and technology (Goldenberg 108).
Due to the continuous fluctuations of the economic environment, it is essential to pay attention to the stages of consumer engagement, their usage of social media, changes in consumer behavior and expectations, development of technology, number of visits to public pages of social media and official website, customers’ feedback and satisfaction, their participation in interactive online activities, actions of the competitors, and attendance of events.
These matters are only some elements that have to be monitored initially on behalf of the CRM plan, as a combination of these factors can assist in making relevant adjustments to the strategy and ensuring the compliance of the company’s marketing plan with consumer preferences. Overall, the organization will try to increase the retention of its clients and attract new ones simultaneously, and this phenomenon will take place since some events such as festivals have repetitive nature.
Market Trend, Market Behavior, and Marketing Budget
Speaking of trends, one of the substantial forces is globalization, as it assists in promoting diversity internationally (Pride and Ferrell 272). Along with that, the role of social media is highly growing, and now, it is one of the most effective modalities of communication due to its cost-effectiveness and popularity among different age and socio-economic groups (Pride and Ferrell 305). Taking advantage of these trends can help increase a company’s recognition worldwide and attract the attention of both international customers and sponsors.
Other trends such as rapid changes in consumer preferences, the growing popularity of this industry, and intensifying rivalry can pose a threat to LAC, as failure to adapt to them will lead to low revenues and loss of the market share. As for market behavior, it continues to mature. For example, the rising number of consumers in different segments triggers the development of competitors in neighboring cities such as NAC.
Nonetheless, the company can discover the benefits of this expanding market, create more partnerships, and enhance its value proposition by organizing more events and activities. Thus, to consider these advantages, the company has to employ a diverse range of marketing instruments, and Table 1 presents the marketing budget. The overall expenses account for approximately $200,000, and each set is calculated per marketing campaign per project. For example, the company will advertise 40 events via Facebook, and Table 1 presents the subtotal of all projects for the year.
Works Cited
Goldenberg, Barton. The Definitive Guide to Social Media CRM: Maximizing Customer Relationships with Social Media to Gain Market Insights, Customers, and Profits. Pearson Education, 2015. Web.
“History and Mission.” LAC, 2017. Web.
Hoffman, Jonas, and Ivan Coste-Maniere. Luxury Strategy in Action. Springer, 2016. Web.
“Instructor Bios.” LAC, 2017. Web.
Living Arts Center. Annual Report. 2016. Web.
“Live Restaurant.” LAC, 2017. Web.
Pride, William, and O.C. Ferrell. Marketing. Cengage Learning, 2016. Web.