The Pet Lovers Centre Marketing Essay

In 1973, two brothers Robert and David Ng, founded the Pet Lovers Centre. This was as the culmination of their passion for pets having been brought up in a farm with all kinds of animals and pets. Currently, the PLC is Singapore’s largest retail and service chain. When the brothers opened the first shop, it was in a form of a hobby business. As the company grew in leaps and bounds, the second generation of the Ng family took over the running of the business. The business grew rapidly not only in Singapore but also in Malaysia.

PLC is popular for offering its customers with the ‘freshest and widest, warm and prompt service’. Initially, the business opened the first store and offered everything a pet would need in wholesale. As the demand for pet-related retail service increased, the business changed into retailing. The switch was a success for the business as pet ownership became widespread. The owners of the pets realized the need to give their pets appropriate foods as opposed to leftover foods. As more time and was being invested by the two brothers in the venture, the decided to launch their own R&D including turning household carpets into cats’ scratch pads. The rapid growth of the business has seen the company becoming a franchise-able brand in 2008.

Pet Lovers Centre Macro-Environment

The Singapore and Malaysian pet food markets are contemporary influenced by a variety of factors. Some of these factors are similar to those that affect human food trends.

Legal

In 2007, contaminated protein import from China was used in dog and cat food. Some importers in Malaysia had purchased the products without full knowledge of the state of the food. The contaminated food was eventually linked to kidney failures in most pets that had consumed the contaminated food. Consequently, there were multiple litigations that affected the industry. Further, a large scale recall was order by authorities that significantly impacted majority of the pet food manufacturers. The incident continues to impact the pet food industry today. Pet owners are ever sensitive to the ingredients and food quality.

Political

PLC is well versed with the government policies within Singapore having operated in the country foe almost four decades. However, venturing into the international business arena requires the business to learn the policies of the host government since different governments function under different policies. Venturing into new regions may require the management to learn the rules, regulations and legislations that will make the business friendly to the host country. This may require scheduling meetings with authorities in those countries, contacting unions and federations so that the business can operate within the laid-down parameters.

Micro-Environment

Intensity of rivalry

Although PLC currently dominate the pet food industry in Singapore and has recently indicate increase in market share in Malaysia, there are other drug stores, supermarkets and discounters that pose a threat to PLC’s dominance. These competitors employ tactics that indicate bitter rivalry with PLC. The encroach regions that PLC has a wide customer base and place competitive and better quality products in the market. This is a major threat for PLC which is often required to respond aggressively to maintain market share and competitive advantage.

Bargaining power of customers

Threat of entry

PLC has been increasing its supply chains in various locations in Singapore and Malaysia. The pet supplies industry is inherently fragmented with a wide variety of supermarkets, specialty and independent retailers, and merchandisers. All these players account for major entry points into the market. This is especially the case with Malaysia which in recent years has seen the pet food supply and services grow tremendously. Many of the retailers are offering a wide range of product selection at competitive prices. There is also a rapidly growing range of pet services. These factors make it hard for independent retailers such PLC to enter into new markets due to limited product selection. However, PLC stand a chance to enter new markets of it focused on the brand that it has built over the years.

Substitutes/Supplements

In merchandising, grocery and discount outlets, pet products are becoming a growing category of products. Historically, such suppliers only offered a limited assortment of products which primarily feature pet foods. The emergence of new entrants has made the pet food industry to be more competitive as manufactures devote significant amount of money into research and development to offer new products in the market. Further, a wide range of retailers are reported to increasingly devoting more shelf space to premium pet products. This is aimed at meeting increasing demand from customers.

Major Factors that Affect PLC business

Naturally, any business entity is often affected by some factors irrespective of the success of the business, the size or the competence of the organization’s management. PLC in spite of the success the company has achieved since its founding, it has perennially been plagued by two factors that significantly impact the organization’s business. These factors include economic and environmental.

Economic

The ever present economically challenging times often lead to pet owners to be more value conscious. The company has always been affected by intense increases in production costs. These affects the consumers as manufacturers are forced to raise the unit prices. When the economy stabilizes, the pet food industry is often expected to remain robust. Further, the organizations that deal in pet food are expected to have a positive growth in the medium to long-term. Whereas the premium food for pets remains popular during recessions and challenging economic times, customers who place value on their pets continue purchasing the products for their pets. This is the reason why most of the well established organizations continue to be profitable particularly because the pets are treated as surrogate children are highly humanized.

As manufacturers spot opportunities in the increased market segmentation in relation to the premium trend, retailers target life-stages and specific breeds. This has been one of the fields that PLC has been well-augmented in the pet food industry. The business has resulted in new low calorie/low fat pet foods that have been gaining popularity. This has been as response to the growing pet obesity which irrespective of the economic challenges, pet owners have been considerate regarding the welfare of the pets.

On an international scale in which PLC entered and has been performing significantly well, functionality and quality has been a vital aspect that the business has been sensitive to. PLC research and development department has predicted that functionality claims will continue to perform well in terms of profitability as customers continue seeking to provide their pets with optimal nutritional benefits. Pet foods that provide pets with fortified minerals, vitamins and other associated nutrients are likely to continue performing well in the market considering that the market has not been significantly affected in the past by these considerations.

Although PLC has always reported profitability during previous economic downturns, the products the business offers including organics are likely to continue facing economic challenges as the customers increasingly continue be more price conscious. However, the brand that the business has established for the last four decades has ensured that the company has competitive advantage over the competitors. On the other hand, remaining ahead of competitors always demand that the company continuously continue to invest heavily in all natural/organic lines that tap into other trends. This includes the use of functional ingredients which present the company with the opportunity for differentiation.

Environmental

For centuries, researchers have been concerned about the food humans consume. In recent decades, the attention has significantly shifted to the food that pets eat. Most of the foods that pets such as dogs and cats consume are produced from what humans do no eat such as bones, tissues, organs and scraps (Rostagi, 2010). PLC has been faced by this challenge for long. It is considered by environmentalists that pet food is a kind of a recycling operation. Pet food companies are said to take the waste products and find appropriate use for them in the name of pet food. It has often been argued that PLC contributes to environmental degradation when the waste products are recycled into pet food. The core point is that the by-products from pet wastes are not recycled as efficiently as the products that are used to manufacture the foods.

How the functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling can be applied to PLC to make it more effective and efficient

The management of any organization is critical in ensuring that an organization effectively achieves its organizational goals. The functions that are the inherent responsibility of management include planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These functions have to be applied effectively irrespective of the industry an organization operates in. These functions typically belong to the top management. This ensures that the organization achieves its goals since the top management is often better knowledgeable regarding the goals and objectives of the organization compared to the lower ranking managers and employees.

The most paramount need for an organization that is forward-looking in the increasingly competitive business world today is to develop an integrated and a logical management system that will provide the organization with alert leadership with profit-oriented control and planning. This ensures that the organization is streamlined as a competitive organization (Allen, 1973). The planning function of a management can be subdivided into ‘activities’ by classifying the largest category of works that must be performed by the management to predetermine a course of action. In the case of PLC, this function has been dominated by the management of the business being family-oriented. However, it is imperative for the management of the business to acknowledge that such a mode of management operation may not auger well in the cotemporary business setting despite the system having worked in the initial stages of the establishment of the business. This is largely because business entities have ever since changed the approach to management which have significantly impacted how organizations are run. In organizations, planning is considered as a course of action while in contemporary management terms, planning is only a goal-seeking management action that the management commits itself to. The planning at PLC should include forecasting, establishing objectives, programming, scheduling, budgeting and establishing organizational procedures.

After applying the initial planning, the management of PLC should endeavour to organize the functions of the business. This involves arranging and relating the work to be executed so it can be accomplished most effectively by the workforce. The corporate culture of PLC identifies with bureaucratic structure of management. The company requires introducing organizational changes that will place competent managers in the hierarchy as opposed to having heirs take over the running of the business. Since the managers will be professionals, they will be able to put organizational structures in place that will ensure the engagement of employees at all levels of the business. The organizing by the management will differentiate between the relation and the arrangement of work and the motivation of the workforce. The arrangement will ensure that the positions in the business are distinguished from the holders of the positions.

The success of any organization is determined by the quality of leadership that is exhibited within the organization. It is imperative to recognize that not all managers are leaders but a leader can be a manager according to Gemmy Allen and Georganna Hall (1998). Leadership involves the power of persuasion over others by others to motivate the actions necessary for the achievement of organizational goals. It is hence imperative for the PLC leadership to ensure that they are able to motivate the workforce to an elevated level and direct themselves to the responsibilities and duties assigned during the planning process. This approach will motivate the workforce to attain the goals of the organization and overshadow competitors at national and international levels.

Controlling refers to the process that ensures that the plans are effectively and properly implemented. It brings the management functions to a full circle. The performance standard of the organization is communicated and set within functional groups in the organization. The control will allow the business management to delegate tasks to teams within the business.

Conclusion

Pet Lovers Centre is a leading business organization that deals in pet food and services. The company boasts of numerous pet food products which have been launched in recent years. In the locations that the organization operates, there is an impressive pet population and the organization has managed to establish a wide customer base centred on quality products and excellent customer relationships. However, give the changing trends in pet food and service enhanced by competition, research and technology, it is important for the organization to fully comprehend the specific needs and the trends of customers in the highly fragmented industry in order to influence potential opportunities for penetration and differentiation. Contemporary, there is a variety of opportunities for new, functional, innovative and organic products for the market. Similarly, there will emerge opportunities at the private brand level as consumers seek both cost-saving and premium products. Despite recessions that significantly impact a variety of industries including the pet food market, the sector offers a range of opportunities for retailers.

Recommendations

As PLC sets its strategy that will ensure the delivery of the organizational goals in the next five years, it is imperative for the business to ensure that the workforce is committed to organization’s excellence. This will help avoid the ruin of the business as it seeks to make organizational changes. The organization should live to the values that clarify the organization’s goals and objectives. This will be achieved through proper planning planning. The management should ensure there is quality in the results that are attained including customer relations and quality of the pet food products. Since the organization has branches in various locations, continued use of the plan is imperative.

The management staff should know the subordinates and what they are capable of so that it can organize the most valuable resources as an organization. The managers should also be responsible in keeping communication lines open between different departments to eradicate any organizational issues from forming.

The management should also motivate the workforce to achieve the organizational objectives. The managers should be able to use open communication and be able to give directions at individual and team levels.