Surfside Leisurescapes Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Introduction

Surfside started its operations in 1983 and since its inception, this this company has maintained its focus on the selling of new product categories, they started from selling computers and pool tables, with this continued development, they entered the market of hot tubs in 1990. Located in Newmarket, Ontario, the company became one of the most reputed, respected and trustworthy company in the eyes of the consumers. The company maintained its annual growth of 15%-20% in sales and was able to maintain it for a considerable time. Besides the absence of competition in the early era’s the company maintained the quality of its product and services and using its expertise provided an atmosphere that was preferred by consumers.

The absence of competition restricted the company to make any marketing strategies or plan as the need was not accessed before and was not given importance. The new entrants in the market in 2004 increased the intensity of competition, and the company was under serious consideration for developing such strategies to meet the growing competition and to sustain its position. To handle this situation the company hired Steve Jentzen as the new general manager to develop marketing strategies and plans to sustain its sales growth and market share.

The case analysis starts with identifying the problem and will then analyze the current situation. In the next step, the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company along with the external threats and opportunities will be analyzed using SWOT analysis. The external industrial analysis will be conducted using porter’s five forces model. After the analysis, the promotion strategies will be analyzed after the analysis of the marketing mix of the company. The later part of the analysis will be supported by the recommendations.

Problem Statement

What strategies to be used by Surfside regarding promotion and advertising in order to meet the growing competition in the market. The company using these strategies is aiming to sustain and increase the annual sales of hot tubs that are contributing 25% of its revenues.

Situation Analysis

SWOT

Strengths

The strengths of Surfside are vital and important which includes the experience of the new general manager Steve Jentzen in the field of marketing. Steve served in the corporate sector for many years and joined Surfside to utilize his expertise and to bring innovation in the company. The company also has the first mover advantage in the product category and the company can leverage on this advantage. The company also has the advantage of being the first mover in the Newmarket, Ontario, which sells a wide range of products. The company has been in the market for a very long period and with its quality products and services gained the preference of the consumers and has maintained healthy relationships with the consumers. These relationships helped in promoting the product by word of mouth.

Weaknesses

The company lacks the experience in strategies that are required in a competitive market. The company also lacks in the efforts of promoting and advertising the plan, as no such plans were made in the company before, due to the absence of competition.

The company is selling two products under the hot tub category that include a Jacuzzi and pacific but the majority of the floor space is dedicated to Jacuzzi which may hurt the sales of the pacific in an adverse manner. Another major weakness include the absence of a sales team, and only one sleep person is appointed to do the task. One of the major weaknesses of the company is the employee turnover due to changes in the season as the product is a seasonal one and low sales season saw many experienced employees leaving the company.

Opportunities

The opportunities for Surfside include gaining considerable good discounts from manufacturers for selling their products. Using a cooperative technique for advertising and promoting a product with the brands specially pacific and may include Jacuzzi as well. Jacuzzi is the name that sound generic for the hot-tub’s category and taking the leverage of this fact, it promotes the product to build a strong brand name for itself. With the growing developments in the product category hot-tubs are sold as a source of entertainment as well as a home-improvement product which provide companies with an opportunity to develop strategies keeping in mind the new developments in the product category.

Threats

The seasonal factor is the biggest threat to a category because off-season sales are very minimal also the market is very precise. The company is also facing direct competition from players like Seaway pools and hot tubs, Backyard pool and spa and Sundance spa and indirect competition from Canadian tire and Wal-mart, which makes the intensity of competition very high.................

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Hot tub division Surfside Leisurescapes (Surfside), yard-living retail store, and failed to meet sales expectations. General manager needs to develop a comprehensive marketing plan to increase profitability units in a highly competitive environment. Students were asked to analyze the profitability of the product line Surfside and recommendations for alternative advertising to create increased interest in the products and in store. The analysis includes the determination of the specific tasks of marketing and industry analysis, the hot tub consumers, competition and opportunities Surfside author.
This is part of a set of cases Ivey and technical notes written for the introductory-level courses. "Hide
by Elizabeth M. Grasby, Karin Koopmans Source: Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation 12 pages. Publication Date: November 7, 2007. Prod. # 907A20-PDF-ENG