Build a Bear: Build a Memory Marketing Case Study Essay Example

self. Students should consider how wants differ from these fundamental needs. Basically, they may need to belong, but could fulfill that need through any number of outlets.

Based on cultural and personality factors, they develop a specific desire to belong to the Build-A-Bear club. In the same manner, affection and self-expression can be fulfilled in various ways. Why do Build-A-Bear customers desire to fulfill these through needs with Build-A-Bear’s product offering?Students should outline specific elements of Build-A-Bear’s offering that fulfill each of the above-noted needs. Demands are differentiated from wants by the buying power of the Build-A-Bear’s customer base. To what extent can/do Build-A-Bear customers demand the things that they want? If they are coming to Build-A-Bear, then they have the money.

Therefore, they are demanding it. But the question remains — to what extent? It is important for a company like Build-A-Bear to distinguish between these three concepts. Core needs must be identified first.Then, every element of the product offering should be created with the intention of fulfilling one of these needs, thus generating wants and desires within the consumer base. The company must then understand what it is that customers might want that is not being offered — in essence, are they demanding something? Maxine Clark and her team have taken careful measures to understand the specifics of what customers are demanding: what is working in the stores, what isn’t, and what they want that is not being supplied.

2. In detail, describe all facets of Build-A-Bear’s product. What is being exchanged in a Build-A-Bear transaction?Students should be able to identify that Build-A-Bear’s “product” is multi-faceted. It can also be analyzed on different

levels, from the most concrete to the most abstract: The specifics of the tangible item. This would include the various options for the basic stuffed animal — the clothing, voice box, name, and birth certificate.

The experience. This would include the ability to customize and personalize each part of the product. It also includes being a part of the creative process and coming away with an item that is a piece of the customer. The store ambience and even waiting in line are also part of the experience.That which the product is being exchanged for should also be discussed.

This would definitely include the price of the bear. But it would to some extent also include other cost factors given up by the customer as identified in the response to question 4. 3. Which of the five marketing management concepts best describes Build-A-Bear Workshop? The marketing concept.

Maxine Clark has very clearly taken Build-A-Bear to high levels of financial success by knowing and understanding the needs and wants of the customers. The goals of the organization are dependent upon that. Clearly, the business strategy isplayed by Build-A-Bear fits the marketing concept better than it does the production, product, or selling concepts. Also, there is no information in the case that would lead the student to believe that Build-A-Bear is focused on the welfare of society. 4. Discuss in detail the value that Build-A-Bear creates for its customers.

Student responses or discussion of this question should incorporate a complete list of customer benefits as well as customer costs (value being of function of benefits minus costs). By this point, the benefits should be easily identified as

they have already come out in answering the previous questions.The benefits received by the customer could be identified in terms of need/want fulfillment. However, the cost factor has not been discussed. The most obvious cost is the monetary price, which ranges from $10 to upwards of $30. Other costs include time (waiting in line, that of actually going through the building process) and effort (the mental effort involved with so many choices of building this bear) expended.

This should be an interesting discussion in that the very things that on the surface are considered to be costs for so many customers, in this case, are actually benefits.The students should consider a comparison between the value formula for Build-A-Bear and that of a substitute like Vermont Teddy Bear. One thing that may come out strongly is that Vermont customers may not view the time and effort expended as a benefit. They’d rather order one and have it sent, or step in to a store, take a bear off the shelf, and be done with it. On the other hand, why is a Vermont customer willing to pay three to five times the price of a Build-A-Bear? 5. Is Build-A-Bear likely to be successful in continuing to build customer relationships? Why or why not?A couple of issues should be considered here.

As mentioned in the case, the toy industry is fickle. The popularity of toys comes and goes as trends and fads. In fact, it might be interesting to discuss how many top selling toys today were top sellers 10 years ago, much less 20 or 30 years ago. Very few toys make it from one generation

to the next.

Power Rangers are still out there, but hardly the rage they once were. Even blue chip brands like Barbie eventually show signs of age (its sales have been decreasing in recent years faced with newer “in” dolls like the Bratz line).But the thing that should come out here is that Build-A-Bear is not just a toy company. It is an entertainment company, a theme-park-like experience.

At the core of its success has been Maxine Clark’s strategic vision and her uncanny ability to pay attention to the real benefits that customers are seeking. As long as she and the company can continue to successfully do that, then they should be able to evolve and adapt to the trends as they happen. The inside of a Build-A-Bear store may therefore look very different in 20 years. Teaching SuggestionsThis case will stimulate students to think about some of their own product experiences, now and in previous years. One way to begin the discussion is to ask what products students buy that involve much more than the core, functional item.

As students recount their experience, it is helpful to ask them how they felt before, during, and after the experience to help bring out reasons why they purchase such a product. This case also works well with the marketing strategy chapter (Chapter 2), the consumer behavior chapter (Chapter 5), and the product and services marketing chapter (Chapter 8).