Westlake Lanes:How Can This Business Be Saved? Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Westlake Lanes:How Can This Business Be Saved? Case Solution

Evaluation of Alternatives

Evaluation of Alternate A (Digital Marketing)

Digital marketing could be an effective way of conveying brand awareness as it extends the reach to a larger community and thus helps in expanding business with minimum or no investment. This could be an effective way of conveying the message to broader corners in a profitable manner. This would prove a better corporate marketing strategy. It helps to gain the trust of a larger community due to frequent communication. It involves better engagement of the customers with the services and prices of the bowling alley. It aids in reaching out to the target audience in a better way and helps in gaining Brand Credibility. The firm is facing a crisis in finances which could be easily tackled by the digital marketing criteria as the strategy requires less input and returns the greater output.

Pros

The major advantage of digital marketing is its reach to every corner of the world with minimum investment and gaining customer trust and loyalty.
It becomes easy to target the correct audience and improve the brand legacy.
It might also aid in the global expansion of the firm due to the demand being created.
It helps to increase sales and able to pay back its loans.

Cons

The hiring of such technical staff is a big issue who could carry out the task in the desired way to help improve the brand image and awareness.
Given was mistrustful of whether the target audience has been tech-savvy or not. If they are not then this would be a complete waste of time.
The sponsors sometimes demand a huge amount of time to advertise the ad and thus it is economically not feasible for a cost-deficit firm.

Evaluation of Alternate B (Running Campaigns)

The campaigns could be a better option if analyzed and implemented properly. Proper campaigns with proper taglines and effective marketing could lead to wider brand recognition and aid in the brand legacy and better awareness. The program could be started with small groups running campaigns at the locality and receiving feedback. If the feedback is affirmative, then the program can be carried on to a larger level and increase brand awareness to a greater extent. Different marketing platforms could be exploited to run campaigns. Small sessions of trials could be held to make people aware of the services being offered and how they are different. Different offers and deals could be presented to attract customers and thus increase the customer base.

Pros

It might help in increasing brand awareness due to different activities being involved and the active participation of the audience.
This also leads to better reach out to the target audience. The sales volume increases gigantic due to top campaigns.
Hand-on practices would lead to better gaining of customer trust. It increases the awareness of the services ina better way.

Cons

The major cons are the cost required to run these campaigns as they are high-cost demanding projects and require trained professionals which is an extra cost.
The correct method to increase brand awareness is not an easy task.Targeting the correct audience is also a major target.

Evaluation of Alternate C (Updating the R&D Department)

The R&D departmentis a requisite for any marketing strategy as they carry out effective marketing strategy analysis and aid in the correct targeting of the market segment. Detailed analysis is required to analyze the company’s position and find out the correct strategy to be carried out to encompass the current economic conditions and the possible remedies that could be followed.These lead to the improvement in the current strategies and adopt better one which best suits the current situation.

Pros

The R&D section is very necessary to correctly analyze the strategies which the current economic condition of the firm permits.
It leads to the best possible way to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The best alternatives could be carried out only by the R&D section as they have a deep insight into the company’s positions.

Cons

The development of the required R&D department requires huge cost which is a big problem for the firm in current situations.
The hiring of trained professionals to carry out this effective and important task is a big deal.This too is cost-effective.

Decision

The three alternatives are being presented out of which the first one i.e. digital marketing could prove the best option for the firm as the main issue of the firm right now is the cost. Revenue generation is retarded and the firm is unable to pay the loans for 16 months.The other two options are cost demanding and are not reliable for the firm in current scenarios.Thus the best option that could be adopted is the digital marketing method which is a changing trend in the current world and people are more reluctant to be attracted to such advertisements than other platforms.

Recommendations and Implementation

The firm should seek the best social media platforms to convey its messages and hire trained professionals to withhold the current objectives and implement the correct plans. The firm requires to hold a deep analysis of the marketing trends being followed and customize the plans and services according to the current demands.The platform requires minimal or no investment but seeking the best method to recover the losses faced by the firm is of utmost demand at present.Because at this current time Westlake considersa high debt ratio that has to repay by the organization. This strategy improves the growth rate of overall sales by implementing a new digital marketing platform to gain new customers. This strategy ultimately increases the share value of the organization after implementinga new digital platform. There is a suggestion for Westlake to issue new stocks after capturing a new customer base. Issuance of stocks helps to raise funds for the organization that make the organization able to repay its debt and improves its financial practices and stability in the sales and operations.

Conclusion

Westlake Lanes is a bowling alley which is headed by Shelby Given who is concerned about the financial conditions of the firm and the unproductive employees. The marketing strategies need to be changed as the current strategy i.e. print media is of high cost. The alternatives being provided are digital marketing, running campaigns, and upgrading the R&D department. The best alternative could be digital marketing as it is less costly and a trending point for the firm to follow.The program can be implemented by hiring trained professionals and thus carrying out the planned objectives....................

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Westlake Lanes:How Can This Business Be Saved? Harvard Case Solution & Analysis