Marketing Strategy Alternatives & Recommendations Paper

STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES & RECOMMENDATION
This part of the marketing plan will include a discussion of TWO possible alternative solutions
to the problem.  When you discuss alternative solutions to the problem, keep in mind that your
alternatives should solve the problems as stated at the beginning of your analysis. Make sure that
you   discuss   changes   in   the   marketing   mix   commenting   on   each   of   the   4P’s,   the   target
segment(s), positioning, outcomes and pros and cons of each alternative. Make sure you assess
each   alternative   against   your   decision   criteria.   Remember,   the   alternatives   must   fit   with   the
current resources of the organisation. They must also use the SWOT.
The marketing strategy you recommend must be justified. The logic of your selection of one
alternative  course of action over the others  must be apparent. The decision  must fit with the
objectives, strategy and resources of the organisation. The decision must be feasible given the
competitive environment.  Discuss to whom are you selling and how will you distinguish your
product from competition  or talk  about the competitive  advantages  your chosen strategy will
provide. If you are planning on targeting multiple segments, how will you reconcile the fact that
these segments may require different positioning approaches and/or different marketing mixes?
Please comment on likely competitor reaction to your strategy.
IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROLS
Include a guide for implementation. List specific action steps and include a time line. Outline the
controls   that   will   be   used   to   monitor   progress   and   allow   higher   management   to   review
implementation results

Some info:

Strength

Weakness

Unique massage style

Sufficient time for massage

Funders’ rich experience

Loyal customers

Lack of advertisement

Soundproof of the store

Reduced service type

Opportunities

Threats

Increasing aging population

Growth of the physical therapy industry

Demand for massage therapy is increasing

Recovery of economic

Shortage of professional therapists

Strong primary competition

Cultural difference

Strengths:

Oak Spa had been very popular among Asian immigrant customers because its unique traditional Chinese style massage. The Chinese style of massage puts more pressure and focuses more on the deeper tissue, this will give customers more relaxation. As a result, the unique style also helps Oak Spa gain some loyalty, local customers, they had been visiting Oak Spa since the very beginning and they will not switch to other substitutes because Oak Spa is the best Chinese style massage provider in the market. Oak Spa’s funder has over twenty years of experience working in the massage industry, she always knows that customers are very concerned about whether they get enough time for service, and it is a very easy problem to solve. All they have to do is save fifteen more minutes to wait for the customers to change clothes and get prepared. The fifteen minutes may cause them to serve one or two fewer customers each day, but their service quality will be more satisfying for the customers and get better reviews. Most of the customers of Oak Spa are repeat customers, some of them are lovers of Chinese massage, some of them have already become good friends with the therapists since Oak Spa always wants to create a comfortable environment and build strong relationships between customers and the store. Oak Spa gains a large number of loyal customers during its thirteen years of operation, some of them even travel from Niagra to enjoy Oak Spa’s service every week.

Weakness:

Oak Spa’s operation relies on its loyal customers and the main source of new customers also comes from the recommendations of loyal customers. Since their business is still in good health, they never tried to engage in advertisements to get more customers. If you have not visited Oak Spa before or none of your friends knows Oak Spa, the information you can get online about Oak Spa is very limited. On the other hand, Oak Spa does have a good placement that is located in a busy commercial zone and near a major highway, but they even don’t have their store name on the plaza’s billboard. It is hard to notice the store in such a large plaza. Oak spa only invested very little effort in the promotion, and that will be a limitation on their future development. The busyness of the commercial zone also has its negative side, when Oak Spa moved to this new location, they did not soundproof the store. It was not a big deal in the beginning until the opening of the children’s swimming school. When customers are enjoying their spa sessions, they can hear the noise from next door easily. Oak Spa attaches great importance to creating a comfortable environment for customers, and these noises ruin the environment. Oak Spa used to provide customers with more types of services, not only massages but also nail services and foot care. The foot care service was canceled for over two years and just been moved back to the service list and the nail service is still unavailable now. Many competitors still provide all these types of services and Oak Spa may lose some customers for not having some type of service.

http://oakspa.ca/

and this is the spa shop we wrote about

The problem is that the massage industry has a solid consumer base, always with a small group of customers.

the massage industry is susceptible to environmental influences, for example, because of covid19, which has led to dismal performance.

Also, from 2019, the Canadian government began to regulate the massage industry, resulting in the difficulty of obtaining a massage license.

3 reasons

The first point, we have no promotion, oak spa is always old customers introduce new customers, no other way to do promotion

The second reason, the service is very one-sided, no matter what services are provided, always massage, no new items to attract new customers

The third reason, after investigation, oak spa in Toronto belongs to the low end of the massage store (small store). There are many senior massage stores in Toronto, oak spa is difficult to attract the attention of high consumption groups, so it is difficult to make a breakthrough