The report begins by evaluating Mercato’s position amongst food market players in the industry by conducting a comprehensive competitor benchmarking analysis. The result of this analysis revealed Mercato’s relative performance while compared to other food markets, namely Borough, Camden and Old Spitalfields. A customer journey map was also constructed to gain a deeper understanding of the different touch-points that current and potential consumers interact with while selecting a certain food market to visit. The RACE framework was used to highlight consumer needs, emotions and interactions with different sources of information available to them.
Primary and secondary research was conducted to evaluate consumer perceptions of the brand, with prime importance given to the brand associations in relation to sustainability and community engagement. An online survey was circulated and interviews were conducted to examine what the current consumers of Mercato knew about the brand, and whether there was an existing gap between the brand’s positioning and consumer perceptions.
The research also highlighted the key relationship between the attitudes and behaviours of current and potential customers with regards to food markets and Mercato’s values. This relationship was further examined by applying key theories of consumer behaviour and to draw inferences based on any inconsistencies observed. The consumer decision making process was also mapped out to understand the detailed steps that current and potential customers take before they choose to engage with a food market community. The strongest factors that influence their decisions and other affecting variables are also reported.
The gaps identified were that target audiences lacked awareness about Mercato’s value proposition and the underlying inconsistency between positive attitudes and final behavioural intentions. A detailed plan for a communication’s campaign has been developed to close these gaps and improve awareness of the brand and what it stands for. The aim of the plan is to increase reach, and inform a larger part of the target audience about sustainability practices and improve the rate of community engagement. The plan will include a phase wise implementation in line with the corporate and marketing objectives. The main campaign titled “More meaning beyond food” will encompass the use of social media posts to build awareness, in-store additions, the circulation of games and referral programs.
COMPETITOR BENCHMARKING
The aim of this report will be to investigate MM’s value proposition and compare it to its main competitors with a particular emphasis on community engagement. Thus, fundamental digital touchpoints to encourage MM’s community engagement will be identified, as well as aspects that could be improved.
The competitor benchmarking highlights several similarities and discrepancies across the four food markets. Analysis reveals that MM represents weaknesses while being compared to other players, and Borough Market stands as the most competitive one. Mercato does not offer the same variety of services as other markets. For example, absence of merchant shops can deprive consumers of the shopping experience.
Secondly, MM presents low direct referrals compared to its competitors suggesting a relatively low level of brand recognition and customer loyalty. Thirdly, MM exhibits relatively inferior social media reach and engagement. These imply that MM can inform and influence a limited number of consumers who currently seem to not be interested in its content damaging community engagement. Fourthly, MM’s SEO is not optimised. Although MM has a better SEO health check than Camden market and Old Spitalfields Market, it is still outranked by Borough market on google search. This would not allow MM to be found over several fundamental search queries. For example, Google does not rank MM in the first page of the broad match search query: “London food market”. Hence, MM will lose several potential customers to its competitors due to low visibility. As a consequence, MM’s brand awareness and community engagement are deeply impacted as customers would not be able to find MM’s website and acknowledge the brand’s movement.
On the other hand, MM presents an important strength concerning a social factor. The presence of buzzers enables the consumers to wait with friends or family comfortably seated instead of waiting in long queues. Competitors' reviews pointed out that long queues were a pain point, which Mercato addresses and may pose as a competitive advantage.
Furthermore, the competitor benchmarking shows that food markets' primary value propositions differ from one another. Although table N.3 portrays Borough market and Old Spitalfields market customers’ to have acknowledged the businesses’ values, MM customers seem not to be aware of its value proposition.
This could address MM’s low retention rate compared to Borough and Old Spitalfields markets. Consequently, it can be concluded that MM’s customers are visiting the market because of utilitarian values represented by various food and events (Mathews-Lefebvre, Ambroise and Brignier, 2009). Nonetheless, studies contend that symbolic perceived value seems to be a key aspect of the customer experience and that symbolic associations and perceptions contribute to the development and improvement of consumer-brand relationships. Therefore, MM should make its customers aware of their value proposition to enhance community engagement.