Jones Blair

The purpose of this report is to determine how and where the Jones Blair Company should utilize corporate marketing efforts among the architectural paint markets located in the Southwestern United States. The specified options are:

• To keep marketing efforts as they are

• increase the corporate brand advertising by $350,000

• cut the price of all paint products by 20%

• hire another sales representative

In order to make an informative decision, the Jones Blair Company must be analyzed in terms of the consumer behavior, market segments, and competition.

Consumer Behavior

The architectural paint market is said to be a mature market with annual sales increasing between 1 and 2 percent each year. The consumer demand for architectural paint is dependent on the amount of do-it-yourself home remodeling and maintenance. The professional demand for architectural paint reflects the construction of new homes and the repair of older homes. Recent research performed by the Jones Blair Company states that 50 percent of architectural paint sales are from the do-it-yourself painters, and 25 percent of sales are from professional painters. There has been an increase in the amount of do-it-yourself customers that choose to buy from a retail store. According to the Home Improvement Research Institute, do-it-yourself painters first choose a retail outlet, and then choose a paint brand. Consumers tend to purchase from different stores, and try to get the best price. The consumer behavior also has an effect on the market segmentation, and the distribution of sales.

Segmentation and Competition

The Jones Blair Company has total sales of 12 million dollars, which are distributed evenly between the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area and the non-DFW area. The company is comprised of four different segments, and each segment has a different market share and percentage of sales as shown in chart 1.

Chart 1

The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) do-it-yourself painter segment accounts for 30...