Marketing Audit Assignment: Case Analysis of Oporto

Question

Task: You are required to develop a report on marketing audit assignment and conduct a systematic, comprehensive and objective analysis of the marketing activities undertaken by Oporto.

Answer

Introduction
The term marketing audit can be defined as the systematic and comprehensive evaluation, analysis and interpretation of the marketing environment of the business. It involves both internal and external environment and its strategies, objectives and goals for the ascertainment of areas of opportunities and threats and aims at recommending an action plan for the enhancement of the marketing performance of the organization. The purpose of this report is to perform a marketing audit of Oporto which was founded in the year 1986 by Antonio Cerqueira. The company operates in the form of a fast food restaurant which is based in Portuguese theme. Oporto is specialized in Portuguese style burgers and chicken. Currently, the company has more than 100 takes- away or eats- in restaurants in Australia, India, New Zealand, Europe and Vietnam.

This report on marketing audit assignment focuses on the situation analysis of Oporto and performs the analysis of segmentation, targeting and positioning of the company. Furthermore, it also provides an analysis of the marketing strategy utilized by Oporto and provides recommendations which can be used by the company for improving its operations in the future.

Situation Analysis
Company Analysis
The headquarters of Oporto is situated in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. Oporto offers a number of products to its customers such as rappas, bites and snacks, salads, sauces and dips and meal boxes along with chicken and burgers. The company gives preference to its people as it considers itself as the people’s business. It gives importance to the efforts of its crew, suppliers, franchisee and other individualswho makes the experience of its customers exciting through amazing food and hospitality. The company is planning to open more restaurants in Australia and in other countries in order to rule the international market (Oporto, 2020).

PESTLE Analysis
Political- The political stability of Australia supports the business of Oporto in the country. However, this strong and stable political climate of Australia also invites the attention of foreign brands towards the country and can prove to be a major threat for Oporto in the future. The impact of COVID- 19 is also being effectively managed by the government of Australia by taking proper measures. The government of Australia has made it mandatory for the restaurants to ensure the safety of its staff and customers by maintaining social distancing among them, wearing face masks and excluding those staff and customers from the premises who are unwell. These measures are required to be taken by Oporto in order comply with government regulations (NSW Government, 2020).

Economic- The economy of Australia has been adversely impacted as a result of the COVID- 19 outbreak. Australian economy has witnessed a fall of 7 percent in the GDP in the second quarter of 2020 which has been considered as the largest fall since the year 1959. This fall in GDP has also resulted in the fall in the purchasing capacity of the customers which may impact their ability to spend money on visiting restaurants like Oporto.

Social- The choices of the customers to eat outside has been adversely impacted as a result if COVID- 19. The customers are avoiding visiting public places and eating outside in order to prevent themselves from getting infected with coronavirus. This may negatively affect the sales of Oporto in the year 2020. Also, those customers who are visiting restaurants give preference to those outlets where there is proper sanitization methods adopted and due care taken for the prevention of COVID- 19. Therefore, it is stated in this marketing audit assignment thatOporto needs to ensure that the safety measures are taken at all its outletsin order to come the choice of the customers (de Freitas&Stedefeldt, 2020).

Technological- With the passage of time, technology is evolving and is becoming more advanced. Oporto needs to give due consideration to the fact that the use of internet among the Australians is increasing day by day. Oporto can make the use of digital marketing channels such as email marketing, social media marketing and video marketing in order to attract the customers towards the brand.

Legal- The government of Australia has formulated various policies for the safety of its citizens during the current scenario. Oporto should make sure that it complies with all thepolices formulated by the government with respect to the restaurants in order to protect itself from getting into legal troubles. Furthermore, it should comply with other laws, rules and regulations such as the Fair Work Act 2009, Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, etc.

Environmental- Since Oporto is engaged in the food and restaurant industry, it should comply with all the environmental safety regulations and should not dispose of waste in a manner which is harmful for the environment.Also, the company should ensure that it does not make the use of ingredients and packaging which are not good for the environment (Aldaco, et. al. 2020).

Competitive Analysis
As per the investigation on marketing audit assignment, the main competitors of Oporto are McDonalds and KFC. McDonald’s and KFC are renowned brands that operate worldwide and have a strong presence in Australia as well.

McDonald’s- McDonald’s has its presence in Australia from the year 1971 and therefore, has become one of the leading fast food restaurant chains in Australia. It offers a number of products to the customers such as McFeast, McVeggie Burger, French fries along with various other breakfast and meal options. It is further found that McDonald’s is the most visited fast food restaurant of Australia and approximately 52.7% of the Australians aged more than 4 years eat at McDonald’s in an average of 6 months. McDonald’s ensure high satisfaction level of its customers and also offer the facility of eat- in and take away for offering their greater convenience (Roy Morgan, 2018).

KFC- The first restaurant of KFC was established in Australia in the year 1968 and today it has reached new heights and is capable of serving more than 2 million customers every week across 650 restaurants established by it in Australia.Various products are offered to the customers by KFC such as chicken, burgers, snacks and kid’s meals, twisters, drinks, etc. KFC is considered to be on a second position in Australia as approximately 40.8% Australians above the age of 14% visit this place in an average of 6 months (Roy Morgan, 2018).

Customer Analysis
These days, the choices and preferences of the customers have changed drastically. As per the customer analysis done with regards to the present case of marketing audit assignment, the teenagers and younger generation have started to give preference to snacks and fast food over the home made food. Therefore, the main customers of Oporto include these teenagers and youngsters who prefer such type of fast food restaurants where they get a variety of options to serve different purposes such as breakfast, lunch and dinner. These customers further look for restaurant options where they get quality food products at reasonable prices as they are unable to spend heavy amounts on such products. In simple words, the customers of Oporto are those which give preference to reasonably priced restaurants where they can hang out with their friends and colleagues and get best quality products with diversified food options in order to satisfy their needs (Janssen, Davies, Richardson & Stevenson, 2018).

SWOT and TOWS Analysis

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Segmentation- Following segmentation technique is used by the company selected in the present context of marketing audit assignment:

Demographic Segmentation- Through demographic segmentation, Oporto has divided the market on the basis of age, education, income, religion, etc. As far as the age of the customers are concerned, the major focus of Oporto is on the teenagers and youngsters who prefer fast food and snacks over the home made food. The products offered by Oporto can be afforded by the customers belonging to middle to higher income group.

Behavioral Segmentation- On the basis of behavioral segmentation of the customers, it is identified that the target customers of Oporto are those who look out of a destination where they can hang out with their friends and colleagues and can get diversified product range at affordable prices (Venn, Dixon, Banwell&Strazdins, 2018).

Geographic Segmentation- Oporto maintains its presence in all the key cities andlocations in Australia which also makes it a preferable place to visit for the tourists.

Targeting- The company has chosen the people between the age group of 14 to 30 years as the target market for its business. This basically comprise of the teenagers along with the youngsters who look for quality food products at the affordable prices. On the basis of the selected target market, Oporto has priced its products reasonably. However, the target market of Oporto is not limited to only a specified age group and also covers the people till the age group of 40 years as they often visit the outlets with their kids. The product range of the company has been designed after keeping into consideration its target market and therefore, it offers diversified products for meeting different objectives ranging from breakfast to meals (Boylan, Hardy, Drayton, Grunseit&Mihrshahi, 2017).

Positioning- Oporto has positioned itself as a brand that offers high quality products at reasonable prices. The products of Oporto have been included in the menu after deeply analyzing the demands of the target market. As mentioned in the marketing audit assignment, it has further positioned itself as a fast food restaurant which is capable of serving both types of customers i.e. those who prefer eating in the restaurant and those who prefer take- away restaurants. As far as the positioning of Oporto is considered, a major role is played by the Portuguese style chicken and burgers offered by it. It allows the brand to stand out in the market and helps it to give tough competition to KFC which is also specialized in chicken.

Marketing Mix Audit
Product- A number of diversified products is offered by Oporto such as Portuguese style chicken, burgers, Jalapeno bites, crispy pita pocket along with different type of salads, meals, and breakfast option. However, the main specialty of the brand is different type of chicken and burgers offered by it. The brand strategy used by Oporto is to focus on those products which are demanded by the teens and youngsters and to maintain its quality at all times in order to stand out in the market. The brand is also taking steps to introduce innovation in the food products for increasing the level of customer satisfaction. The brand has further increased its focus towards food safety and specification control and is taking measures for introducing new and exciting tastes in the products for attracting the customers (Oporto, 2020).

Price- Since it is seen in this marketing audit assignment that the company aims to serve both middle class and upper class customers, it has set different prices for various products for both the segments. In simple words, the company follows a mixed pricing strategy.There is different range of prices for all the products which depends on the toppings, ingredients, etc. However, most of the products are priced in a way such that it can be easily afforded by the middle class customers. This pricing strategy has been adopted by the company as the major part of the population belongs to the middle class segment and therefore, they are unable to spend large amounts on the fast food. This pricing strategy helps the company to attract the target customer base towards the brand.

Place (Distribution) -Oporto has its franchise stores all across Australia in order to serve large number of customers. The first franchise store of Oporto was opened in the year 1995 and was also given recognition as the fastest growing franchise in Australia in the year 2005. Along with this, Oporto also allows the customers to place their orders over the internet through the official website of the company or through third party ordering apps. Oporto offers take- away services as well as offer eat- in facilities to its customers in order to provide them with greater convenience (Oporto, 2020). Promotion- The promotional strategy of Oporto revolves around promoting the unique Portuguese style chicken and burger recipes which are different from the products offered by the competitors in the market.The different channels utilized by Oportofor its promotion are advertisements over electronic and print media including newspapers, pamphlets, radio and television. Not only this, Oporto also advertises its brand and products over the social media which is the most preferred platform for its target customers. The main reason behind the selection of these promotional channels is that it allows the brand to reach wider audience and inform them regarding the offers and discounts on the products (Namin, 2017).

What are the valuable recommendations you can suggest in the present case of marketing audit assignment?
The following recommendations provided in the marketing audit assignment should be taken into consideration by Oporto in order to have achieved better results in the market in future:

Firstly, Oporto is recommended to focus on digital marketing of its brand as it is the most important promotional strategy to be adopted by any brand in today’s time. However, Oporto advertises its products over social media, however, it has less followers as compared to its followers. Therefore, it is important for Oporto to invest into digital marketing channels such as email marketing, SEO and social media marketing in order to reach a wider audience and attract them towards the brand through advertising the offers and discounts (James, Lee, Zhang & Williams, 2017).

Secondly, Oporto is recommended to increase the number of products offered by it to the customers. The products offered by Oporto are similar to those offered by its competitors i.e. McDonald’s and KFC. Therefore, it is recommended that Oporto should introduce innovation in its products and add some new products in the menu. This will increase the customer base as innovation is capable of attracting new set of customers towards the company.The inclusion of new set of customers will result in increased sales and profits of the company over a period of time. Moreover, the company can diversify in the healthy food range for attracting the health conscious customers towards the outlets (Jin, Line, &Merkebu, 2016).

Thirdly, Oporto is recommended to give special offers and discounts during the current COVID- 19 period. This will help the company to increase its sales during this period. Such offers should be advertised by Oporto over all the platforms such as television, radio, pamphlets, banner and social media for informing all its customers. Furthermore, the advertisements should clearly specify the safety measures and sanitization practices adopted by the outlets for the protection of its staff and customers from getting infected. This will ensure the customers that the customer safety is being given prime importance by the brand and it will lead to a positive image of the brand during this time.

Conclusion
This marketing audit of Oporto conducted in this marketing audit assignment helps to conclude thatthe external environment of the company has been adversely affected as a result of the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic and is also creating a negative impact on its sales. KFC and McDonald’s are the main competitors of Oporto. Furthermore, the report provided that the customers of Oporto include those who look for restaurant options where they get quality food at affordable prices. The target markets of the company mainly involve teenagers and youngsters but cover customers up to the age of 40 years. The products offered by the company involve Portuguese style chicken, burgers, Jalapeno bites, crispy pita pocket, etc. which are priced differently in order to suit the requirements of both middle class and upper class customers. The company advertises its products over TV, radio, newspapers as well as on social media. Moreover, its sales are ensured through its franchise stores and through obtaining orders from its website and third party apps. At the end of this report certain recommendations have been provided which must be taken into consideration by Oporto in order improve its sales in the current scenario.

References
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