Case Study $-$ Hometown Hardware

Background

You own a small hardware store in a small town with a

population of approximately $14,000$ residents. It has been in

operation for more than $10$ years and enjoys mild profitability.

Demographics

The town is a bedroom community, meaning there are not many jobs

in the immediate area. Adults like the schools and the low crime

so they will make sacrifices such as a dailyl commute each way of

$20$ to $25$ miles.

The average age of the population is $38$ and has been trending upward

for the past $20$ years. The town is aging more rapidly now

because $75\%$ of its post$-$secondary graduate leave the state to

go to the university; the overwhelming majority of those who

stop their education after high school move to the nearby city

where there are more entry level jobs and more to do$.$ There is

little diversity in the town. The overwhelming majority of

residents are Caucasian. However,

Staff

The hardware store has $6$ employees who work long hours and rotate

on weekends; and, the store has hours of $7$AM to $5$PM Monday

through Friday; it is also open on Saturday from $8$AM until $5$PM$.$

Competitive Environment

Recently, there have been rumors about a big box hardware store

moving to within $8$ miles of the store. Your hardware store has

enjoyed little nearby competition for its entire existence. A big

box store is likely to have lower prices and more financial staying

power to win a head$-$to$-$head competition.

One of your employees was approached by a friend to apply for one of

this big box store's jobs.

Strategic Shift

In order to survive as a going concern, your hardware store will have

to make many critical decisions and execute a new strategy in a

short period of time. Construction on the new big box store has

not started and there has not been any formal announcement

about its expected opening date, however, some representatives

of the company have met with the zoning and licensing offices in

your county.

Your Mission if You Decide to Take It

Please use everything you have learned in this course to create a plan

on how you will defense your business and even thrive during

the expected attempt to take away market share and force down

prices and profit using your as$-$yet$-$to$-$be developed multimedia

capabilities.

You will need to revise your strategic plan. You will need to make your

existing customers aware of the necessary changes you must

make to survive. In particular, you will need to significantly

increase your personalized customer service to differentiate your

store from the big box store which is likely to open with

significantly lower prices and greater inventory.

Answer these questions:

Who are your current customers?

How can you increase purchases by existing customers?

How can you gain new customers?

What multimedia will you use?

How will you coordinate its launch and monitor it over time?

The New and Improved Strategy Using Multimedia Communication

Describe your new integrated strategy for the use of multimedia that

identify all forms of media for each element of the approach as

well as for discrete segments of your $($existing and

expanded$/$new$)$ target market. Include campaigns and live

events. Include the use of analytics on the front and back ends.

To expedite your approach, develop a table that shows each

supplier$/$partner touchpoint and the multimedia communication

for each, if applicable. Assume that you have an unlimited

budget and will use your analysis and planning here to prioritize

and develop the optimal plan with the budget you decide upon

later.