Consumers aged 15 to 29 had poor credit quality and they were considered to be low users, therefore they were not as attractive to current players. The cost to acquire a customer was roughly $370 and the average monthly bill was $52. The average cost to serve one customer was $32. Virgin Mobile was able to identify this niche, its needs and where they usually bought for electronics. The company knew that these customers’ usage was inconsistent and that they did not like the confusion current rates created.
• Fisher-Price’s product line has received strong acceptance; 82.7% of customers buy Fisher-Price brand preschool toys, and 60.5% buy just one brand most often. • 66% of Fisher-Price’s sales are from items priced $5 and up. • Fisher-Price has had previous success with higher priced items (Creative Coaster: $6.95 retail, Family Farm: $13 retail, and Play House:$14 retail). Weaknesses: • Initial costs of the ATV Explorer toy are to be considerably higher than expected (primarily due to the additional investment in the mold and special tooling costs increasing). • It is believed by some that a moon-themed toy may be outdated.
Jones Blair manufactures and distributes paint to 200 independent paint stores, lumber yards, and hardware stores, 40% of which are in the DFW area. Their paint is high priced but their reps are highly respected between their customers and their knowledge about their paints gives them an edge over their competition. 5. Which segment(s) should Jones Blair pursue? Jones Blair should focus on the segments that they have sustained growth in.
• Fisher-Price has relatively good market for specialty toys. It has grown substantially over recent years due to product and pricing strategy. • Fisher-Price is the best know brand for toys and has a larger market share (64.7%) than any other company and is the brand being brought most often (82.7%). • Fisher-Price ranks first in brand loyalty - it has a good brand loyalty (60.5%). • The company is a well-run organization and has acquired professional management expertise from diverse industries.
Later on Marvin Bower (MBA graduated from Harward university) determined his new vision for the firm concentrated by importance of top level management based on highest standard of integrity, professional ethics, technical issues capable to extend and absorb the new generation of qualified individuals and committed to sustainability of developing power and influence of the company. after ten years he started upgrading the size and quality of clients. Rather than above mentioned issues he believed the in spite of financial incomes some other intangible factors like prestige experience ,play an important role. According to the passage the firm had competitive advantage on human resource and managerial source. Because they recruited outstanding and valuable managers and consultant which increased the effectiveness of the firm with high performance.
3 Industry Analysis Competitors: Crowded markets with six national service providers (AT&T, Cingular, Verizon, etc) -- no single provider can control more than 25% of the market (Exhibit 1). Buyers: -- The main segment with consumers above 30 has reached maturity with a penetration rate of about 50%. -- Penetration into the niche segment with consumers aged 15-29 was much lower. However, it did not attract many providers given that such consumers typically do not have credit history. -- Buyers do not have much bargaining power but their satisfaction is low.
B&L must improve their disposable lens market only by a 5% margin in order to regain the market share held by Johnson & Johnson. The company suffer a (14.8) loss in earnings from continuing operations, however those losses are shown from the R&D Expenses which show a ($108.1) million dollar difference from 1992 to 1993 due to the increase in R&D. (Harvard Business School-Bausch & Lomb, Inc. 9-101-010 Exhibit 3 p. 7) The net sales were up from 1992 to 1993 to show a net gain of $ 163.1 gain in their optics division. My recommendation: Re-development of their distribution process for their conventional lens product, extending the credit line of so many distributors by more than a 25% increase has placed B&L into unaccredited worthy placement if more than 5% of their distributors fail. B&L can roll out the new distribution plan in three phases: Phase- One: Change the distribution method to the company top 10% distributors. Only the high volume distributors with the high volume customer change over first.
It has to be sold at $18.50 retail price after mark up. However, concept test had promised a substantial demand for the new riding vehicle at $12 price. (54.9% spend too much on toys- exhibit 8). SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths: * 20 Largest toys firms accounted for 58% of total sales * High profit margin( 40%-60%,Exhibit 1) ) in Prestige items with minimum advertisement * Five qualities set by Herman Fisher: intrinsic play value, ingenuity, strong construction, good value for money, and action. These are still observed today * Introduction of six new toys every year in the company * Increased volume in $3and $5 toys while decrease in volume in$1 and $2 toys * Sales rose to $32million (Exhibit 1) * Fisher Price has its own R&D facility * Fisher-Price operated a licensed on-premise nursery for 2 to 3 years and 4 to 5 years old by trained teachers.
Similarly income distribution is highly skewed with 20% of the richest Indians sharing more than 40% of the national income. India’s deep suspicion of foreign companies, the preference for national products and the presence of several religious and activist groups are political issues facing McDonald’s. 2) McDonald’s did well in India for a number of reasons. The main reason to their success was that six year period before entering the market after the economic liberalization that made India attractive for foreign direct investments. Rather than rushing into the market they took the time to focus on planning, extensively researching Indian consumer tastes, product developing, and arranging their supply chain before opening their first outlet in 1996.
• 66% of Fisher-Price’s sales are from items priced $5 and up. • Fisher-Price has had previous success with higher priced items (Creative Coaster: $6.95 retail, Family Farm: $13 retail, and Play House:$14 retail). Weaknesses: • Initial costs of the ATV Explorer toy are to be considerably higher than expected (primarily due to the additional investment in the mold and special tooling costs increasing). • It is believed by some that a moon-themed toy may be outdated. • The launch of a previous high priced item, the Fisher-Price Circus, was a complete failure ($13.95 retail) • The number of children 6 and under is decreasing in the upcoming years.