CASE STUDY: Please read the following case study about LILOBEE, the Malaysian fast-food company, and answer ALL of the questions that come after.

Lilobee Foods Corporation (LFC) is a Malaysian fast-food company. Among the establishment's best sellers are the Yumburger, which is the house hamburger; the Chickenjoy, which is a fried chicken meal; and Lilo Spaghetti, their sweet-style interpretation of spaghetti. All of these options are offered for affordable prices, an individual meal not exceeding the price of $10.

Lilobee has enjoyed a meteoric rise since its birth in 1975. As of this year, Lilobees internationally recognised brand has a foothold in several markets around the world. The firm operates 14 brands and 4,300 outlets across 20 countries, and its ambitions have yet to lose any momentum. Its expansion programme saw a year of milestones in 2021, with Lilobee opening its first European restaurant in Milan, Italy, in addition to opening its 100th Vietnamese store in early 2021, making it one of the countrys fastest-growing restaurant chains.

The firms upcoming expansion model is focused on three key markets: Malaysia, the US and China. Despite being the largest restaurant chain in Malaysia, Lilobee recognises huge potential for growth in its home country having penetrated only 10% of its cities. Meanwhile, the US and China offer the largest and most lucrative markets in the world. LFCs efforts are supported by their brand acquisition and brand expansion strategies. Lilobee itself is a well-known brand with a menu that has a loyal fanbases in each of its operational territories. This brand strength is boosted by market-specific acquisitions. In the US, in addition to plans to open more Lilobee outlets, the firm acquired Flashburger which competes, in the emergent better burger market, with popular joints like The Habit Burger Grill, In-N-Out Burger, and Checkers Burgers. As it gears up to launch a new Mexican concept, LFC is planning to team up with Rick Bayless, award-winning local businessman, to develop the project to fruition.

Lilobees success with international expansion has been compounded by the loyalty of Malaysian customers residing overseas. For many years, word of mouth has been an important marketing tool in regions with a Malaysian presence, particularly in the 34 US stores strategically located to capitalise on high Malaysian populations. Lilobee plans to augment the good faith of its customers with targeted marketing campaigns and focus groups among local consumers. While its core products will remain the same across its operational markets, Lilobee plans to offer region-specific additions to its menu to better cater to local tastes, such as the Saigon Chili Chicken offering in Vietnam, and Chicken Burgers in the US. Moreover, LFC plans to offer reimagined meals for different customer age groups; including a kids meal, a teenagers meal, and the usual adult meal, as the brand was criticized for not carrying a varied offering of meals for different customer needs.

Despite its strong expansion efforts, the company has noted falling behind when it comes to adopting the emergent technologies and trends in the industry. Therefore, LFC plans on assigning sufficient resources for its digital transformation and investing in the necessary expertise to achieve this. Speaking of further challenges facing the company, the company officials note that with such rapid growth, to the tune of 465 store openings in 20120 alone, LFC recognises that its internal infrastructure must be reinforced to handle the boost in operational volume. Our challenge is meeting the demands in terms of supply chain, logistics and building our stores, and there remains vast opportunities for growth, it says. We need to invest in our commissaries and add warehouses to keep supplies closer to the stores, and we are continuing to expand our store network so location is also key to meet the demand.

Based on your understanding of the case study above and your studies of the Marketing Strategies course materials please answer the following question.

(a) Based on the information highlighted in this case, conduct a SWOT analysis of LILOBEE, finding at least 2 points for each of the SWOT categories (4 marks).

Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	Threats

(b) Based on your understanding of the case above and the SWOT analysis that you filled out, What type of strategic focus is LILOBEE following? Explain your answer (4 marks).

Strategic Focus	Justification