Marketing Case

Question 1- outline and discuss the main factors that contributed to Crust's success and RBW's poor performance.

The main factors that contributed to Crust's success were the identification of the market gap and the appealing design of the outlet. The market gap that was being targeted by Crust, explored the difficulty of the pizza to maintain its quality during delivery time. Thus, the priority was to develop a formula in which the crust of the pizza remained fresher for longer. Crust's Creative Chef Peter Augoustis,explained "the pizzas are of a quality you'd expect from a top-class restaurant but they are served as takeaway." With the business set up in Annandale, it targeted a more younger and trendier demographic, despite the main target market being traditional families. The founder aimed to provide customers with an enhancing experience. Thus the stores were designed to be visually exciting, with crisp modern looks, utilising the colours of red, black and white, the preparation of food in front of customers and the location of counters placed closer to the front of the store, forcing customers to wait outside. This attracted more attention and appeal from potential customers.

The factors which contributed to the poor performance of RBW was the poor advertising, location and design. Real Burger World was also set up to take advantage of the market gap. However the business's poor advertising tactics didn't provide the return that was expected. With the investment of 400 000 UK pounds in the start up of the business, the store needed an annual revenue of 350 000 pounds to reach break even. With the use of a design agency to give the business a professional look, RBW initially used 'real food, not junk food' with their advertising. However with poor trading the business hired an advertising agency to review their brand vision. RBW's first store was located nearby existing major fast food outlets. Despite the location not being suitable for higher socio demographic target market. The interior of the outlet is bright and quirky with the use of blue and green landscapes. Thus the store ended up with the look and feel of a typical burger chain.

Question 2- Which growth and downsizing strategies would you recommend for Crust? Provide a rationale for your strategies.

For further growth within the business Crust could implement a new market development and product development strategy. Crust could invest into a new market segment targeting a more relaxed environment for friends and families. By developing a new product related to the focus of the business which is gourmet pizzas, Crust could seek to start a new line for the business related to gourmet sweets and focus on a similarity between sweets and pizzas. The business environment could focus on the sweets market and aim to