BSBMKG502B: Establish & Adjust the Marketing Mix- Research Report Assignment Solution

Marketing Mix- Research Report

1. Research the marketing mix of your chosen organization’s products and services to identify and describe the following:
• The key characteristics of the company’s products and/or services and their significance to the market.
• The pricing policy
• The chosen promotional methods
• The customer base
• The chosen channels of distribution
• The level of customer service provided
2. Do you think your chosen organization has got the marketing mix right? Give reasons for your answer.
3. Identify environmental factors relevant to the organization and assess their potential impact on the marketing mix. In what circumstances might the marketing mix be adjusted to reflect changing environmental factors?
4. Identify customer/consumer priorities, needs and preferences. What impact do they have on the marketing mix?
5. What is the chosen positioning strategy? Describe the strategy in your own words.
6. How do you think your chosen organization measures marketing performance and how would you rate this performance? Give reasons for your answers.
7. Present your findings, conclusions and recommendations in the form of a formal business report.
8. Present your report to the class.

Puma Fuel Station Australia

Puma Fuel Station in Australia is a rapidly growing energy organization having 270 retail sites having a delivery exceeding 1 billion liters of fuel. The company specializes in providing a host of products including bulk fuel, equipment of fuel, lubricants and oils, expert counselling on issues related to safety, health and effective fuel management and customized fleet of fuel card services (Puma Energy 2016).

Significant characteristics of Puma Energy and its products

The company has an innovative business model that aims to partner with significant stakeholders to provide competitive prices, fuel supply security and a global outreach. The company provides excellent services across Australia and has acquired key firms including Neumann Petroleum, Matilda, CCG & Amsfuel Gull. It has also partnered with significant bodies like Shell and HP to provide energy solutions across the continent. The company furthermore provides competitive prices for a host of fuel products. As the firm provides a supply of bulk fuel, the prices offered are highly competitive especially for those aiming to procure bulk fuel. Hence, significant characteristics of the company’s products is that they have a global outreach and are in sync with global fuel prices.

Pricing and promotion policy

The firm uses an excellent strategy of marketing and promotion by means of product diversification and pricing. It has several ongoing campaigns that offer attractive discounts to its customers. The company also provides bonus newspapers on additional purchases. Its “Spend and Save” scheme has helped in attracting customers to purchase from fuel stations of the firm or partner firms (Puma Energy 2016). Especially for the Australia market, this is the right marketing mix.

The customer base

The customer base of Puma Energy is the ordinary households as well as business houses. Since the company offers solutions in bulk fuel supply, it needs to focus on creating awareness among people visiting fuel stations as well as those firms purchasing bulk fuel.

Channels of distribution

The company has mainly focused on distributing its products by means of franchisees and commission agents. It has also partnered and acquired key energy organizations to create awareness and grow to become the largest independent fuel provider across Australia (Pumaenergy.com, 2016).

Customer service

The company provides excellent customer service. It has a toll free number that helps in catering to customer queries as well as trained franchisees and commission agents catering to its customers.

Marketing mix strategies

Puma Energy has selected an excellent marketing mix policy by focusing on all four tenets including product, price, promotion and place. It has decided to focus on the continent of Australia and has partnered with significant energy giants to ensure consistent fuel supply. At the same time, it offers competitive prices, attractive discounts and promotion strategies to attract and woo customers. It offers a plethora of energy products and hence those visiting its fuel stations have the opportunity to choose from its diverse oils and lubricants.

External environment and marketing mix

The ongoing fuel price increase due to several external environmental factors may pose to be risky for energy suppliers. However, Puma Energy has strategically partnered and acquired key energy firms in order to ensure a security in its oil supply. The industry is highly competitive and Puma Energy is focusing to dominate the Australia market. This is possible due to the acquisition of several significant energy firms that has helped Puma Energy to spread its wings across Australia. The Australian Government has aimed to review and conduct a thorough market analysis to find out particular fuel markets having relatively high prices. In this case, Puma Energy will have to further review its pricing structure to offer competitive pricing solutions across the continent (Llewellyn Consulting 2013). Hence, its marketing mix will need to be changed depending on the review of prices.

Customer needs and preferences

The main priorities of the customers is to enjoy excellent products at competitive prices. Especially in the Australian market, it is essential for opening more fuel stations so that more and more customers have access to fuel products. The marketing mix has to focus more on promotion and pricing strategies to woo more customers. Hence, the company has to offer attractive discount schemes as well as branding to ensure that clients are aware of the company and visit the fuel stations to purchase their products.

The current upheavals in Middle East has considerably impacted the global energy market. It is essential for energy firms to have global outreach in order to survive due to rising oil prices as well as ensuring a healthy supply of fuel. Especially when the firm forayed into the Australian market, the continent was experiencing a decline in the refining sector. The strategic partnership and acquisition of key energy firms has helped the company to surge ahead and become the largest independent fuel supplier in the Australian market (Petrol World 2014).

Positioning strategy of Puma Energy

The company has slowly began to acquire global presence in the energy market. In Australia, the firm started with a local positioning strategy, but has rapidly captured the Australian market by partnering and acquiring key players in the energy business. In other words, the company has cashed on its global presence in the energy sector and has helped to locally position themselves in Australia. The local positioning strategy focused on establishing operations across a single continent by establishing effective franchisee and commission agents to spread their business by means of more fuel stations. At the same time, the firm has started offering incentives and attractive discount schemes to attract and develop a customer base across the continent. Its foray into the Australian market at the time when the refining industry was at a decline has helped the firm to spruce up operations and establish strong control of the energy market in Australia.

Conclusion

Puma Energy has grown to be one of the dominant fuel suppliers in the Australian market. Its fuel stations are popular as more and more customers throng to these outlets to avail attractive discounts. At the same time, the company’s philanthropic angle has also attracted consumers to be associated with the firm. All in all, the company has grown to be a name in suppling energy and fuel products to clients across Australia.