BBA 4004

CASES IN MARKETING

TAN WAH TIONG

940928-14-5531
201565

SEPTEMBER 2015

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NO
1.0
2.0

DETAIL
Content
Marry Browns
-

Overview of Marry Browns

Marketing situation

SWOT analysis

Competitors and marketing objectives

New product and services idea

Future marketing strategy

PAGE
1
2-16

3.0

Reference

17

4.0

Coursework

18-22

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2.0 Marry Browns

2.1 Overview
Mary Brown's is a Canadian fast-food restaurant chain most popular for its Big Mary
sandwich, chicken and 'taters' or potato wedges. Its process involves marinating chicken
for up to 48 hours prior to cooking. The company has over 120 locations in Canada: 40
in Newfoundland and Labrador, 37 in Ontario, 32 in Alberta, one in British Columbia,
two in Saskatchewan, four in Nova Scotia, four in New Brunswick, and one in Prince
Edward Island. The company also operates one location in Istanbul, Turkey. It
advertises using the slogans Honest to Goodness and Famous chicken & taters.
The CEO of Mary Brown's is Gregory Roberts, originally of Triton, Newfoundland and
Labrador.
In 1969 the first Mary Browns restaurant opened in St. Johns, Newfoundland. During
that first year it opened two more restaurants in Newfoundland under the Golden
Skillet name. The name was later changed to Mary Brown's, in honour of the wife of the
U.S. creator of the original fried chicken recipe.
From 1969 to 1978, Mary Browns grew with fifteen more franchises being sold to
independent operators in Newfoundland and Labrador, and one in Halifax. In 1972, the
first 'Mary Brown's Fried Chicken' restaurant was opened in Ontario in the Arena Plaza

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located near the corner of Dixie Road and Dundas Street in Mississauga. The first office
for Canada was located above this first store. Since then, the company has grown to
over 70 restaurants located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and
Alberta. 'Mary Browns Famous Chicken & Taters' intends to open additional outlets in
Ontario and Alberta. 75% of sales are takeout orders. In 2008 and 2009 twelve stores in
Alberta and Ontario became 100% Halal.
Marrybrown is founded in 1981, Marrybrown is the largest home-grown Quick Service
Restaurant chain with a global reach of over 400 outlets in Asia, Middle East, and
Africa. It is currently 82% franchised, and yet we are offering exceptional acquisition
and development opportunities, including entire areas of the Malaysian and
international markets.

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2.2 Marketing Situation

2.2.1 Product
Even though Marrybrown has rice and noodles that seldom seen in fast food industry,
there is still lack of product attractiveness and inconsistent food quality control. There
are different tastes in different franchises of Marrybrown. The taste of the food is not
tasty as well. Marrybrown has signature dish but most of the consumer does not know
what it is and what Marrybrown truly famous for. Unlike McDonald, people will think
of it when they feel like eating burger. However, it is problems that Marrybrown does
not have such impacts on people as the taste of its products are just too normal. For the
service, consumers are not served quickly as what is expected in a fast food company.
Marrybrown is also not offering delivery service and no full operation hours like
McDonald.
2.2.2 Price
Marrybrowns selling price is expensive compared to other competitors and the price
that it set does not meet the quality of the food. For example, consumers are given small
size tower burger and little bowl of mushroom soup but the price that they paid, they
can get a better deal at other restaurant such as KFC. Additionally, there is no price
stated in Marrybrowns website. Consumers are not aware of the pricing and there is no
any strategy like psychology pricing that can be used to attract customers.

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2.2.3 Place
Marrybrown is having the poor management ability problems as too much franchises
owned. Business standard cannot be performed well. Besides, Marrybrowns
competitors are having more franchises than Marrybrown. For instance, there is about 3
KFC but just one Marrybrown in small place like Nilai. Moreover, some Marrybrown is
located in crappy place that creates inconvenient for consumer. Marrybrown is also
having problem onits website that provides insufficient information.
2.2.4 Promotion
Marrybrown is having a blurred target customer that lead to the failure of promotion
efficiency. The promotion causes little help while cost-consuming. Besides,
Marrybrowns mascot is seldom noticed by people as it has lack of advertisement. Its
promotion is less attractive than its competitors. There arent many advertising and
promotions done by Marrybrown. Additionally, there is less information about the treat
discount and price offered in Marrybrowns promotion. It is not efficient enough to
inform customers about the existence of their products. Moreover, poor positioning is
being used. People are not aware of their specialty like porridge, and noodles

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2.3 SWOT Analysis

Strengths (S)

Weaknesses (W)

Variety food product

Blur target

High customer loyalty

Poor positioning

Rapidly expanding globally

Weak web design

Opportunities (O)

Threats (T)

Rapid growth in tourism

Competitors around

Product innovation

Culture and health concerned

New distribution channel

Declining economy

2.3.1 Strengths
The first strength that Marrybrown has is a variety of food products such as burgers,
chicken rice and porridge. This gives consumer a wide range of choices to satisfy their
demand. Next, Marrybrown has high customer loyalty and their customers are mostly
Islamic consumer. Besides, Marrybrown is the leading home-based Halal fast food
restaurant chain with a global market of over 250 franchises and opening soon at
Azerbaijin, Syria and Iran. Marrybrown is also looking to enlarge its markets out of
Malaysia especially Asian countries which have population of at least 500 million
people, mainly Muslim countries. (Sunesra, Z., n.d.)

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2.3.2 Weaknesses
Marrybrown is weak in targeting customers. It didnt focus on specific group of people
and this leads to the problem on promotion. A wide range of targeted customers led to
the difficulty of gaining customer's attention. Besides, it is having poor positioning too.
Its nasi lemak and curry noodle are not positioned in people's mind. Most of us would
prefer the stalls with original taste rather than Marrybrowns. Furthermore, Marrybrown
is weak in designing its website. The web site that allows customers to view is lack of
information.It only shows the promotion product without further detail like price,
duration, and promotion time.

2.3.3 Opportunities
There is a rapid growth in tourism. Kuala Lumpur, a city state, is now becoming the
metropolitan area, more than 10million tourists visiting yearly. This is a good sign and
opportunity for Marrybrown to create more branches in new places. Moreover, there is
opportunity on producing more innovative products by using the advanced technology
today. The business processes can be shortened and services can be improved too. Next,
there is significant growth opportunity with new distribution channels as consumers are

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requiring greater convenience when purchasing. Marrybrown can have more branches
in urban area where consumers demanding more such as shopping malls, universities,
hospitals and other high-traffic areas.

2.3.4 Threats
There are more opponents occur in the industry like Old Town, KFC, Wendys,
McDonald and any middle-range of sit-down restaurants. This intense competition
provides consumer with best product at the lowest price leads to the squeezing of
margins. Moreover, healthy issues have been concerned. Marrybrown faces threats as
the world is facing more obese problems. Customers may turn to alternative and shift
their demand to more healthy and fresh food, avoiding all fried items. Furthermore, the
declining economy is affecting the sales in Marrybrown. As many things went more
expensive compare to previous era, disposable incomes that spend on eating out become
lesser. Thus, there will be less sales and profits obtained.

2.4 Competitor Analysis and Marketing Objective

Marrybrown

KFC

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Market

No.8

No.3

share
Major

18-24 year-old youngsters by

Family, blue-collar, white-collar

customers

bring along their family

Product/

members.
Core values is food quality and

Having a quality assurance

service

safety which means they are

system to ensure that they cook

quality

producing good and safety food

based on the recipe provided

for customers.

from mother company. They

established many rating channel
to evaluate their performance

Brand

Emphasize HALAL food

such as CHAMPS and HACCP.

Recipe with 11 herbs and spices

recognition
Length of

1981-2013 (32 years)

1952-2013 (61 years)

Currently none. Customers

Commercial and leaflets

time in
business
Advertising

found Marrybrown is not

interesting enough.

The main competitor that Marrybrown faces is KFC as both of them sells similar
product. From the table we can see that Marrybrown gains competitive advantage by

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offering variety choice of products especially the local foods. KFC which has been
established for about 61 years had focused more on research and development for its
fried chicken. There are 11 herbs and spices in the fried chickens offered that can keep
its customers loyalty. With this, Marrybrown is pressured as there is no much research
done on frying its chicken. Furthermore, KFC is efficient in using promotion and
pricing strategies. Customers who tend to have more interest on KFC during promotion
will affect Marrybrowns sales. Besides, KFC puts effort in promoting its mascot while
Marrybrowns mascot (Chip Munk) is not recognized by most of the people. People
have more understanding about KFC than Marrybrown. Moreover, Marrybrown is also
having competitors which are more capable on positioning customers mind. For
instance, when people think of eating burger, they will think of McDonald. People tend
to go McDonald for burger although Marrybrown is offering burger too. This can be a
serious challenge to Marrybrown as there is less people think of Marrybrown when they
want to eat fast food.
Marketing Objectives:
-

To increase yearly sales by 10% for the next five years.

To have at least 10 more franchises over the world.

To achieve at least an 80% excellent customer service rating each month.

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To have improvement in research and development by offering more products.

To improve brand recognition amongst the 21-34 age group.

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2.5 Marketing Plan

Market Segmentation
Age
Income

13-17
RM 100 RM 300

18-24
RM 800

25-30
RM 2500 & above

Occupation

Student

RM 1500
College Student

White collar &

Lifestyle

Tuition, Hangout,

Hangout,

Blue collar
Busy working,

Study, Sports,

Shopping, Movie,

Travelling, Health

Homework

Assignments,

concerned,

Adventurous

Exercise

Market Targeting
Marrybrown should target on those age between 18 and 24. This is because consumer at
this age has higher purchasing power than those below 18. Average for their pocket
money is between RM800 and RM1500. Since they just started to have more money to
spent, they dont usually plan for their budget meaning they just spend where ever they
go. Even though the price of food in Marrybrown is considered to be affordable by most
of the people but for consumer who doesnt have that much pocket money, it is still
considered being quite expensive for them.
Other than that, consumer in this age range is usually college student. A college
students lifestyle is usually hanging out with friends, going for shopping and movie,

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doing assignments and travelling. When they hang out, the first place that they will
think of is usually fast food restaurant. This is the current trend for youngster now a day.
Marrybrown should target on them rather than those age above 25 because they do not
concern about their health like those adults do. Furthermore, adults dont like to hangout
in fast food restaurant and they forbid their child from eating fast food too often as they
believe fast food is not good for health.
Market Positioning
Marrybrown should have a theme song that is easy to be remember and attractive to
people. This the method used by many others competitors such as McDonalds and
PizzaHut and it is proved to be effective in increasing the brand awareness among the
consumers. In addition, Marrybrown should have more unique cartoon character to
represent their brands and that cartoon character should have some characteristics that
are related to the name Marrybrown so that it is easier for consumer to remember.
Marrybrown should have a unique signature meal which others competitorsdont have
in the market so that when consumers think of having something special, they will think
of Marrybrown.

2.6 New Product and Services and Future marketing Strategy

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2.6.1 Product
To have efficient product marketing, consistent quality control must be
implemented. Marrybrown can have implication on training and improving
franchise system. Moreover, Marrybrown should concentrate more on research
and development to avoid normal product that is hard to get customers attention.
They should come out with foods with special taste that can attract customers.
Besides, Marrybrown can choose a special preferable product that has a relation
with its brand to be its signature dish. The signature dish will help Marrybrown to
have regular patrons and it keeps the business for a long time. (Laura, 2013) It
helps customers position Marrybrown brand in their minds. For instance, people
will think of nasi Marrybrown when they feel like to eat nasi lemak if it is a
signature dish that has special taste that is more delicious than normal stalls.
Training for employees should be done regularly to ensure performance as well.
2.6.2 Price
Mostly, people are judging a products value by looking at the price. Hence,
Marrybrown should have control in quality to meet customers satisfaction on the
value. Customer satisfaction can lead to the sales revenue. During lunch and
dinner time, Marrybrown should use product bundle pricing to sell more products
in one time. It is kind of discount as bundle product is sold in lower price. In

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Marrybrown website, price should be mentioned for easy comparison. People will
not feel unclear and unsecure to make purchase in Marrybrown if they can know
the price before they go. By showing the price, many types of pricing strategies can
be used to attract customers too.
2.6.3 Place
Marrybrown should target more places to expand its business. For example, places
where there are popular, convenient and more population of its target customers
should be targeted. Unclear target customers must be avoided.Otherwise,
competitor like KFC will gain more competitive advantage than Marrybrown.
Marrybrown must plan on location requirement. Never has a franchise that is
inconvenient and meanwhile cost-consuming. Marrybrown also must have a design
that suits its target customers. For instance, study environment must be created if
student is the target.Lastly, website must be a place that provides sufficient
information. Marrybrown must present its website with important detail like its
marketing mix to enhance people understanding on Marrybrown.
2.6.4 Promotion
Marrybrown must know who is the most potential customers and specify the
target. Mascot must be used often to increase customers attention too.
Additionally, Marrybrown can offer more promotions like advertising, treats, sales

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promotions, and free gifts to customer who spends more than certain amounts. For
example, advertisement can be promoted in its website with clear information.
Marrybrown also should distribute flyers to promote Marrybrown to students
during dismiss period. The activity will help to increase product awareness of
Marrybrown. Likewise, Marrybrown must put right position in peoples mind. For
instance, Marrybrown should position peoples mind for its specialty like chicken
porridge that are having distinctive difference with competitors. This specialty will
increase product awareness among consumer. Marrybrown should build up a good
public relation too. For example, they should create events for children or involve
themselves in charity events. As for their product, new product shall be published
out and given sample for consumer to taste.
2.6.5 Future recommendation:
First, Marrybrown should improve their service. They should do delivery service
since most of the teenager nowadays doesnt like to get out from their room and
employees doesnt have much time to dine in at the restaurant. Second,
Marrybrown should improve their website design and features. There isnt much
information provided in their website. They should add in the price of the meals
and increase their creativity for the promotion. Lastly, Marrybrown should be
more active. They should involve themselves in charity event and giving back to
the society which can helps in increasing brand awareness.

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4.0 References
-

www.allfreepapers.com/Business/Marrybrown-Case/10039.html

www.scribd.com/doc/49853571/Comparison-between-KFC-andMarrybrown-amik-yg-nie

www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120805233647/Arti
cle

http://www.wbiconpro.com/465-AmyAzhar.pdf

http://www.goeatout.com.my/Restaurants/Promotions/Details/View/PID/407
69/Marrybrown-Happy-Monday--Thursday-20-Off.aspx

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5.0 Coursework
Please explain the Market Entry Barriers.
Companies that compete in the market often have an inherent advantage over
others planning to enter the market. This edge results from the market entry
barriers that the new entrant will encounter. Understanding the entry barriers
present in a product-market is important both to incumbents and to potential
competitors. Entry barrier analysis includes (1) identifying the barriers and their
relative importance, (2) estimating the effect of the barriers on entry at different
stages of product-market maturity, and (3) recognizing how entry barriers vary in
different product-markets (e.g., consumer and industrial products).

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Entry Barriers. The major barriers are described in Table 1.2 with accompanying
definitions. A variety of specific barriers can be identified within the six areas
suggested by Table 1.2. For example, cost advantage may be due to volume
production, design efficiency, and experience.

A study of Fortune 500 executives in a simulated business environment found all of

the six barriers to be relevant. Cost advantages were viewed as the most important
entry barrier, with capital requirements second and product differentiation third.
No distinct relative importance pattern was found for the other factors.

Concept
Cost

Definition
The advantages include the decline in unit cost of a product as

advantages of

the absolute volume of production per period increases, as well

incumbents

as the reduction in unit cost resulting from product know-how,

design characteristics, favourable access to raw materials,
favourable locations, government subsidies, and learning or

Production

experience curve
Established firms have brand identification and customer

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differentiation

loyalties stemming from past advertising, customer service,

of incumbents
Capital

product differences, or simply being first into the market.

The need to invest large financial resources to enter a market

requirements
Customer

and compete in that market.

One-time costs to the buyer due to switching from one supplier

switching costs

to another (i.e., employee retraining costs, cost of new

ancillary equipment, need for new technical help, product

Access to

redesign, etc.).
The extent to which logical distribution channels for a product

distribution

are already served by the established firms in the market.

channels
Government

The extent to which government limits or forecloses entry into

policy

industries with such controls as licensing requirements and

limits access to raw materials (i.e., regulated industries and
Environmental Protection Agency laws).

Table1.2

Early versus Late Market Entry. The market pioneer (first to enter) often gains a
sustainable competitive edge over firms entering the market later. Being first does
not assure the pioneer of a favourable market and profit position. Initial entry
offers an opportunity for rewards but is also risky, since later entrants can benefit

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from the early entrant's mistakes. The successful pioneer must select and
implement strategies for sustaining competitive advantage.
Entry Barriers in Different Product-Markets. The importance of the six entry
barriers may vary across consumer and industrial markets. In one study all of the
barriers except capital requirements were different for industrial and consumer
markets. Product differentiation and access to distribution channels are more
influential in early entry for consumer markets. Variation in the importance of
entry barriers appears to be influenced by product-market characteristics.

Please describe FOUR generic strategies.

The Develop Strategy.Organizations using the develop strategy are relatively new
businesses, firms with rapidly changing technology and product line, or companies
entering new product-markets because of unfavourable conditions in the existing
business arena. The develop strategy seeks long-term growth via new product
and/or market development. Firms in this category pursue market leadership

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strategies. Intuit's pioneering entry strategy in the personal finance computer

software market is an example of the develop strategy.

The Stabilize Strategy. Companies that want to stabilize are found in mature,
stable industries (e.g., textiles, chemicals). In markets where buyers' needs are
relatively similar, management's strategies emphasize cost leadership. In
differentiated markets, market segmentation (or focus) strategies or some type of
product specialization are employed. The strategy typically emphasizes high
quality products and serviceand close contact with customers. In the tire industry
Goodyear follows this strategy.

The Turnaround Strategy. This strategy is appropriate for survival and rebuilding
situations. Emphasis may be on improving cash flow and reducing costs or
refocusing the organization. Downsizing and other forms of restructuring may
occur. The cost strategy involves actions to increase efficiency, where refocusing
may include reorganization, diversification, and acquisitions (or mergers). The
Strategy Feature describes Laura Ashley's turnaround strategy.

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The Harvest Strategy. A business in this category is a candidate for removal from
the corporate portfolio. The factors driving the decision to harvest the business
include poor financial performance, lack of compatibility with the core business,
no competitive advantage, and poor fit with the future direction of the corporation.
General Electric's sale of its small appliance business to Black & Decker is an
example of a harvest strategy.

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