Panera Bread Company Marketing Strategy Panera Company is a chain of bakeries that are based in the U.S. And spans all the way to Canada. It produces a series of baked foods, mainly bread, and cakes. Its customer base is local and international. Currently, the company is the leading bakery in the market. It has cut out a special niche for itself in the market through a series of marketing strategies that ranges from online marketing to direct marketing. In this paper, the marketing strategies employed by this company are analyzed with the view of concluding on how the strategies have helped it obtain a competitive strategy over the rest of the competitors in the market.

Direct marketing

Direct marketing is that form of marketing in which the company avails its goods and wares directly and physically to where the clients can be found. Reasonably, the company gives the consumers a chance to taste the products directly in a manner that enables them to view clearly what the company has to offer (Roberts and Berger 2012). In the case of Panera Company, the company has been conducting trade fairs in the public domain to enable the members of the public to come and witness the products that they have. During these fairs, the company has their staff taking the interested potential buyers through the process, showing them the prices as well as answering all the questions that they might be having (Adcock, 2014).

This type of advertising is advantageous of because it enables the company to put their best products on display. Secondly, the amount of time that the products will be showcased is much longer compared to the time taken to do the same over the media platforms. In the media platforms, the amount of time the advert will take is determined by the advertisement fee to be paid. As a result, the company will only devote to spend; less by advertising for shorter periods, which will end up limiting the coverage that would have otherwise been achieved. On the other hand, direct advertising gives the company all the time to carry out their advertisement agenda. In the latter option, the company will be better placed to have sufficient time with the clients than in any other form of advertisement. It is also a fact that in the direct advertisement method, the company will be able to have a direct interaction with their clients as opposed to the other forms of advertisement. One-on-one interaction results in instant feedback, which is appropriate for timely decision-making (Roberts and Berger 2012).

Online marketing

This is the use of the online platform to reach out to the company's potential clients. There are several avenues and types of the Internet-based advertising, as is sometimes called. These include those meant to reach specific target groups and those meant to reach out to the general masses out there in the public (Sheehan, 2010). The former refer to the use of websites and private company sites that are only accessible to a select few in the market. The other options are those meant to reach out to the public: whether known to the company or not. This entails using of public websites, the social media, as well as the use of blogs

Panera Company uses much of the online marketing avenues. It does it with blogs, the social media as well as websites they haves created specifically for advertising. It is with the online platforms that the company has succeeded to reach out to the kind of large clients that it now has, especially outside the home country. The fact that the social media enables the customers to give their comments easily and conveniently concerning the products gives the company the best avenue to collect views that can be of use in decision-making (Adcock, 2014). The company utilizes the social media to make sales with the help of the following avenues:

Business- to-Business (B2B)

On this platform, the company engages with other businesses and cooperates within its circle. For instance, communicating with the suppliers, the distributors, and other supports such as the financiers. In this case, Panera Company has developed a special online forum where they get the chance to communicate with these stakeholders.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

This is the most emphasized form of communication that the company has devoted much time, attention, and resources. Ideally, it is the point of sale that matters most to the company. The ability to generate revenue is what drives the company to have a reason to concentrate most on the customers more. In this communication avenue, several forms are applicable...

Business is best done when the consumer is brought to the mix and properly incorporated into the business. It is for this reason that Panera Company has brought consumers' interests close by reflecting on the use of the multiple avenues on the Internet to advertize (Roberts and Berger 2012).
Other services supported by Panera Company's online strategy include the use of avenues that support consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communications. In this case, consumers get to engage each other, communicate on the products that the company offers, comparing prices, and sharing other information that touches on their welfare concerning the products. Lastly, the company has also developed a platform for a Consumer-to-Business (C2B) communication. In the latter, the consumers send orders and their budgets to the Business, which then reviews them and approves any valid transaction possible (Sheehan, 2010).

Competitive strategies

Competitive strategies are those actions that a company employ in order to stay better than the rest of the competitors in the market (Mahnken, 2012). These include the strategies essential in reducing the cost of production, producing quality products, and any other strategies that will help it stay better than the rest in the industry (Mahnken, 2012).

Panera Company has been employing several competitive strategies in its quest to stay better than the rest of the competitors in the industry. One such way is cutting its cost of production. Given its large-scale production, the company has managed to produce cheaply by sourcing raw materials in bulking hence improving their profitability margins. The other competitive strategy that the company has successfully employed is the use of mass media as its main form of communication. This gives it a first-mover advantage as well as giving it a competitive edge in the quest to win the market. The clientele easily fall for the company that seems to be all over the media in the hope that they have the set products (Adcock, 2014).

Competitive advantage

Competitive advantage is the scenario that arises where the company has an upper hand over the production or the marketing frontiers. It can be through the action of being able to fight off the competitors, not with many efforts but rather with the natural strengths that the company has (Adcock, 2014). The source of these strengths is in the areas of production and the point of sale. Where a company has an easy way of producing or where it easily makes a sale, then we can say that a competitive advantage has been attained. For instance, with the case of the Panera Company, competitive advantage is derived from various avenues. One is the fact that the company has a cheap source of raw materials. Its virtual closeness to all the customers because it has branches everywhere in America is an advantage. The fact that the company has a large financial base gives them the advantage of being able to do more than their small competitors can. Panera Company has also built its name in most American homes. Such has been beneficial to Panera over other bakeries in the industry (Roberts and Berger 2012).

Sustainability / Sustainable marketing

Marketing, being an integral part of making sales, needs to be done with the cost effect in mind. There has to be a cost analysis that will ensure that during marketing, the amount of money used will not be much compared to the revenues that the company will reap from the advert. Sustainability is the ability to do the marketing offensive in a consistent manner throughout the life of the company. In this regard, any company needs to spend the kind of money that is easily available within the company's coffers and that the amount spent does not hurt the company much (Sheehan, 2010).

Panera Company is spending a reasonably modest amount on advertising. It is doing so through a minimized approach where the amount spent does not eat too much into the company proceeds. In fact, the company has been able to adopt a sustainable marketing campaign throughout its life. The advantage of doing a continued and sustained advertising campaign is that clients will eventually get accustomed to it and start owning it. It brings about an effective way of earning from sales and ensures the income streams are constants (Mahnken, 2012).

Ethics

Ethics in business advertising refers to the use of a respectful language and good context of presenting the content in the advert. Ethical standards dictate that the advert being…