Build-a-Bear Case Study
Build-A-Bear Workshop Case Study 1. Which of the marketing management concepts covered in this chapter best describes Build-A-Bear Workshop? The marketing concept within the marketing management concepts is the one that best describes Build-A-Bear.The marketing concept, which is the “marketing management philosophy which holds that achieving organisational goals depends on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively than competitors do” (Kotler, 2011), best describes the Build-A-Bear Workshop because they are focused on the needs of their customers and by creating and building relationships with their customer base.This is evident, as Maxine Clark, Founder & CEO, says ‘our concept is based on customisation’ (Kotler, 2011) and puts herself on the ‘frontline’ and asks her customers to email her with ideas and concepts that they have and believe could improve their product, while trying to answer to all the emails she receives. 2.
How does Build-A-Bear contrast with traditional toy shops and what accounts for their sales growth in the face of declining toy sales generally? What new skills will Soren and his employees have to learn if they are to develop the Build-A-Bear operation?Build-A-Bear contrasts with traditional toy shops because they are a business within the toy industry that allows their customers to ‘personalise’ the bears that they build, whereas traditional toy shops would sell toys and electronics which are pre-designed and made. The Build-A-Bear also offers their customers an ‘experience’ by allowing their customers to be able to design and personalise their bears to what they want, which has become an ever growing trend for all sorts of toys and gadgets.The fact that they offer their customers the ‘experience of building and customising a toy’ (Kotler, 2011)can be seen as accounting for their sales growth, while the rest of the industry are facing decline because it is creating customer relations, which they are focused on rather than just trying to sell as many products as they possibly can. New skills I feel that Soren and his team of employees would have to learn if they were to develop the Build-A-Bear operation could include those of interpersonal skills, such as communication and customer friendly.These skills would be seen as essential to the company to help them be successful because as mentioned, they are operating around creating relationships between their customers, which are based on the satisfaction they have. If they weren’t to learn or develop these key skills, as they already work within the toy industry, then I feel the Build-A-Bear operation wouldn’t be as successful as they are in their current markets around the world (the United Kingdom; the United States of America; Costa Rica and Canada) because customers may not enjoy the experience that they are supposed to be enjoying.
. In detail, describe all facets of Build-A-Bear’s product. What is being exchanged in a Build-A-Bear transaction? The main facet of Build-A-Bear’s product is the selling of “the experience of participating in the creation of personalised entertainment”. This all starts as soon as they enter a store, as they are designed as a cartoon land with child friendly assembly stations that are clearly labelled, including different process for children to design their bears with, for example ‘Choose Me’; ‘Stuff Me’; Hear Me’; ‘Stitch Me’; ‘Fluff Me’; ‘Dress Me’ and ‘Name Me’.With the business allowing their customers to customise their bears from the very first stage to the very last, it allows their customers to have the most enjoyable experience they can possibly have.
Other facets that Build-A-Bear have also include the quality of the product available to their customers and the quality of their customer service.These facets can be seen as very important to the organisation, as previously mentioned, because their business is orientated around creating and building their customer relationships, which they believe sells more, rather than the need to keep on selling different products. By the time the customers leave one of their stores, they have created a product that is so unique, it’s one they’ve actually created themselves from the very first stage to the last. 4.Is Build-A-Bear likely to be successful in continuing to build customer relationships? Why or why not? I believe Build-A-Bear are likely to be successful in being able to continue building their customer relationships because they are focused on looking at the needs of their customer base and building on the ideas that are being suggested.
This is being built on the marketing concept, which as mentioned previously, is built on understanding what the customers’ needs and wants are, which can only help build successful relationships.By having the concept that is based around having customer relationships built on high customer satisfaction levels, this means it is easier for them to have a strong customer loyalty base, which would therefore allow them to just modify their product, for example, adding new accessories for the bears, as they have done so in the past, it would sell to their customers a lot more easier than trying to find a new target market, which could provide to be more costly. 5. Will Build-A-Bear transfer from the few markets in which it now operates into successful franchises across Europe?Why and how does Build-A-Bear need adapting to work in your national market? I believe that the Build-A-Bear organisation would have a successful transfer if they were to open up franchises across Europe. I believe this because there is already evidence that they are successful enough to go worldwide, with over 200 stores already in the UK, USA, Canada and even Costa Rica, which could be seen as surprising. To make sure they are successful in transferring into markets across Europe, they would need to ensure that staff are trained properly, as the organisation is sold on the experience the children have as well as the product.
