Ford Consulting Group Case

Summary

With their target market of 6 – 12-year-olds in the midst of an ongoing and, considerably large, cultural shift, Tony’s Pizza is confronted with a serious issue in that their core market is less and less accessible as they are continually integrated into this more technologically oriented culture. According to Video Case 8, an extremely large portion of this market was once accessible with “3 television spots,” but now, to reach the same portion they would need “80 television spots.”  This limited market results in inhibited growth. To correct this, and better understand why the market is becoming more difficult to reach, Tony’s brand manager Mark Rehborg seeks out the advice of Ford Consulting Group president David Ford. 

Tie to Class

Mark Rehborg must compile a considerable amount of data in order to conduct his research. In order to effectively solve his client’s limited growth, David Ford must collect and analyze Tony’s Pizza’s marketing information in order to find a measure of success. 

Question 1

Tony’s Pizza’s performance in the Northeast is the weakest out of all of the other regions in the United States. An explanation for the sales being soft might be due to product not being moved despite having the smallest amount of outlets that carry it. In addition, they have the most evident price gap as well. These poor results most likely stem from the fact that the brand is promoted the least in the Northeast, and as such, they generate the least amount of sales. The marketing research would indicate as much. In comparison with the other regions, Tony’s Pizza struggles with distribution and this affects the amount of product sold. The most immediate problem for the sales is the small number of outlets that actually carry Tony’s Pizza, which in turn affects the amount sold. Therefore, if Tony’s Pizza is not seeing a healthy amount of sales, then it will not warrant as much promotion.

Question 2

From Table 2, the primary data would suggest that Tony’s does not perform well at Food-Fast or Get-Fresh chains, with very little change in quarterly volume. As such, there is a smaller amount of distribution. In comparison to the other chains, Save-a-lot and Dollars-Off have a comparatively high amount of support and sell a decent amount of product with this promotion. They are unlike Food-Fast or Get-Fresh because Tony’s Pizza receives very little in the way of promotional support and the results of this are evident. The solution, then, is obvious: Tony’s requires more promotional support that will effectively reach its target audience in order to encourage consumer motivation and have them choose them over another brand. It would also be beneficial to broaden the appeal of the brand and establish a new measure of success for Tony’s Pizza in its weaker regions and for less-than-satisfactory performances in certain food chains. 

Outside Sources

Adapting to the more Internet-driven culture of the target market, a “mobile marketing initiative” (Minkara & Borg, October, 2011, pg. 2) would be prudent, so they could reach the target market of children aged 6 - 12 through the mobile devices of their parents, or perhaps they could reach the target market directly should any members of this age group have such a device. With the cultural shift that their target market is a part of, Tony’s Pizza has to return to the basics and “know [their] audience” (Lipovetsky, 2011, para. 2) because this opens up a variety of advertising avenues and a plethora of new data to collect. Because their promotions are only limited by Tony’s Pizza’s structural constraints, such as their capacity and capability for Internet promotions and the feasible cost of doing so, their target market is no longer limited to television. Social media and marketing now go hand in hand. This being the case, Tony’s Pizza should also direct more attention towards the Internet and the market because of the possibilities it presents. The target market is immediately expanded from children aged 6 – 12 because it would include their parents as well.

References

Lipovetsky, G. (2011, June 27). Ten inexpensive ways to reach your target market. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-tools/ten-inexpensive-ways-to-reach-your-target-market/article584372/

Minkara, O., & Borg, A. (2011, October). The new mobile marketing imperative: Measuring what matters [PDF]. Aberdeen Group.