Cosmetic Products by Bobby Brown - Paper Example

The cosmetic products sold by Bobby Brown are high end and cater for the premium market. As such, the affluent shoppers are fewer prices sensitive. Therefore, the company does not face the challenge of customer switch in their pricing process. Of utmost concern is maintaining customer loyalty through an emphasis on quality cosmetic products and services.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Medium

Bobby Brown obtains its raw materials from the global suppliers. As such, there is a concentrated effort towards ensuring that the costs of the raw materials are low priced through strategic partnerships. Nonetheless, with the increase in innovation coupled with speed to market, the suppliers have a competitive advantage. The sourcing approach adopted by the company should be changed to reduce the dependency on the suppliers.

Competitive rivalry: High

Bobby Brown has to grapple with rivalry from companies such as LOreal, Coty, and Avon. As per the organizational focus, the increasing competition has been emanating from changes in customer tastes (Hunt et al., 2011). The need for research and development has become evident with an emphasis on innovative competency to keep up with the rivalry evident.

Threat of substitutes: High

Skin coupled with beauty products exudes a large number of substitutes. The potential shoppers have a wide array of choice in opting to enhance their beauty. With Bobby Browns products being high-end, it is evident that there is a heightened level of substitutes available for the potential shoppers. However, Kumar, Massie, and Dumonceaux (2013) emphasize that the organizational focus on premium shoppers coupled with effective branding promising major skin improvement renders the threat of substitutes low for Bobby Brown. Thus, the organization should build upon its unique feature to eradicate the threat of substitutes.

Threat of new entrants: Low

From an organizational perspective, the threat of new entrants is low due to the barriers of entry. One of the major barriers to entry is a financial investment. For companies to compete effectively in the sector, capital investment is necessary to set up the right operations and resources to compete with the industry leaders (Lazar, 2012). Investing in research and development, marketing, and branding entail extensive capital investment, which is a daunting prospect for potential new entrants to the sector.

Distinctive competencies

Companies establish their uniqueness through various approaches to necessitate competitive advantage. From the evaluation of Bobby Brown, sustenance of the competitive advantage relies on acceptance of the market trends and investing into various approaches (Hunt et al., 2011). Through the use of John Kays distinctive capabilities, Bobby Brown exudes various unique traits.

Architecture

Relational contacts with the potential shoppers are necessary to establish or build a long-lasting relationship. From the evaluation of Bobby Brown, establishing customer relationship has been through investment into personnel selling. The supply chain of the organization entails direct interaction between the employees, suppliers, and shoppers in the transaction process (Hunt et al., 2011). A transformative environment whereby the shoppers are involved has been effective towards organizational development.

Reputation

Bobby Brown has built its reputation based on word of mouth coupled with celebrity advertising. The emphasis on the two approaches has presented a distinctively capable approach towards successful market domination. Further, the organization has been investing into free trials and demonstrations. The use of the two innovative approaches has developed the reputation of the business.

Innovation

Innovation is integral to advancing the competitive advantage in the cosmetics industry. In a competitive market, innovation has been the strategic disadvantage for Bobby Brown (Kumar et al., 2013). In the recent years, the organization has been lagging behind in its investment into various innovative new cosmetic products. Therefore, for the organization to redeem itself, it is imperative to renew its emphasis on innovation.

Strategic directions

The organizations strategic direction in the next three years should be focused on technology integration. Improvement of shopper experience should be reliant on how effective the organization adopts a technology, especially the social media. As such, snap chat, Instagram, and Mirmir are some of the applications that could transform the shopper experience (Kumar et al., 2013). Shoppers having a virtual simulation on how they would look using the Bobby Brown products should be the next approach by the organization in improving shopper experience. With major investments in the research and development, the company is bound to enhance its competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Executions

Enhancement of shopper experience via technology adoption will be reliant on the core elements of marketing. Product, price, place, and promotion as the main elements of marketing should be adopted by the company to enhance the shopper experience. The product should entail the company investing in innovation to create a wide range of virtual cosmetic products such as a wide array of lipstick colors. Promotion, on the other hand, should entail the investment into internet advertising with a specified emphasis on social media (Hunt et al., 2011). Pricing of the products and services should be in line with the organizational emphasis on premium customers. Lastly, the place should denote the use of online marketing via an online site to catapult the level at which they reach their customers.

Conclusion

Bobby Brown has been successful through unique operational approaches towards improving the shopper experience. Through its investment into various approaches to reach their customers such as demonstrations and celebrity advertising, the company has made major strides in its operations. Nonetheless, the need for innovation and technology adoption has become evident in the competitive market. To sustain its operations, innovative competency and investing into various technologies such as beauty applications should transform Bobby Browns shopper experience.

References

Hunt, K. A., Fate, J., & Dodds, B. (2011). Cultural and social influences on the perception of beauty: a case analysis of the cosmetics industry. Journal of Business Case Studies, 7(1), 1-10.

Kumar, S., Massie, C., & Dumonceaux, M. D. (2013). Comparative innovative business strategies of major players in the cosmetic industry. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 106(3), 285-306.

Lazar, M. M. (2012). Discover the power of femininity! Analyzing global power femininity in local advertising. Feminist Media Studies, 6(4), 505-517.