Category: Tim Hortons

Introduction

The book, “The Oxford companion to American food and drink”, by Smith¹ argues that coffee is one of the most preferred beverages all over the world. Coffee is brewed and usually exhibits a dark color and also has acidic flavor due to the brewing process.

The preparation of coffee is done from roasted seeds obtained from coffee plants. Individuals drink coffee for various personal reasons. Some drink coffee because they believe it gives them extra energy, especially those who like to stay awake for long during the night. Some people actually are fascinated by the taste and smell of coffee.

They just feel good when they can smell the nice aroma and feel the taste on their tongues as they drink coffee. Besides, for non-alcoholic drinkers, taking coffee is one of the best ways to spend time with friends in social joints. In fact, with increase in the number of coffee cafes like Tim Hortons, meeting for coffee has turned into a social event where friends meet to share good moments together.

Many people also drink coffee just as a form of habit. Tim Hortons is one of the most common coffee joints in Canada. It serves various customers with varied taste for coffee. It also offers other kinds of drinks the customers can choose from besides coffee. The surveyor issued questionnaires to respondents to find out how customers at the Tim Hortons purchase the company’s beverages and other products.

Methods/Procedures

The survey focused on Tim Hortons and its coffee customers. Ten participants were randomly sampled to participate in the survey. They were each issued with a structured questionnaire containing matrix questions to answer. The questionnaires contained ten similar questions for every respondent. They were required to answer the questions independently without consulting one another. This was to ensure validity and reliability.

The first question asked the respondents the size of coffee they preferred. The responses varied a great deal. Amongst the ten participants, five stated that they preferred medium size; this represented 50% of the respondents. Then three people indicated they preferred small sizes and two indicated that they preferred big sizes. These represented 30% and 20% of the respondents respectively.

The respondents were also asked how frequent they bought stuff from Tim Hortons. Three of the respondents indicated that they bought coffee from Tim Hortons always, four indicated that they bought coffee most of the times, one indicated sometimes while two indicated rarely.

These statistics represented 30%, 40%, 10% and 20% respectively. A question was also asked on whether respondents ate at Tim Hortons every day. In this case, six of the respondents indicated that they ate there most of the time; three indicated some times while the remaining one indicated always. This implies that the respondent ate at Tim Hortons every day. In terms of percentages, these represented 60%, 30% and 10% respectively.

The respondents were also asked to indicate the frequency with which they took both lunch and breakfast at Tim Hortons. These two questions generated similar answers. Five respondents indicated that they always took both breakfast and lunch at Tim Hortons. Four of them indicated that they only sometimes took both lunch and breakfast.

This implies that some other times they may either eat from their houses or go to other restaurants. One respondent showed rarely for both lunch and breakfast. The implication of this could be that the respondent was never stationed at a work place but could be traveling during the day’s businesses.

There was a question regarding ordering of stuffs whenever the participants visited Tim Hortons. The question asked them how frequent they ordered other products apart from coffee.

Eight of the respondents showed that they rarely ordered other products besides coffee, one indicated sometimes while the remaining one showed he always ordered different things on various occasions. Since many people like taking coffee for various reasons, the respondents were asked whether or not they believed coffee was important for energy concentration. All of the respondents answered on the affirmative.

They all indicated that in deed coffee was a source of extra energy, especially during winter periods. When asked on whether they thought Tim Hortons was the best, seven of them agreed, one indicated somehow while the remaining one was not sure on the issue. Those answered it is the best showed that they had mostly relied on the coffee and other products from Tim Hortons for a long time. This could be because they liked the quality of products at Tim Hortons.

On whether they kept special amount of money for Tim Hortons, the respondents again had varied answers. Three indicated always, two indicated sometimes, two showed rarely while the remaining three never kept special money for Tim Hortons. Those who always kept special money might be very loyal to the company’s products. The reason could also be that they were always satisfied with the services they received whenever they visited Tim Hortons.

Coffee is one of the most preferred drinks at the Tim Hortons. However there are also other types of drinks offered at the meeting joint. With regards to this, the respondents were asked to respond on whether they bought other drinks different from coffee.

All the ten respondents indicated that at time or another they bought other drinks. However, three of the respondents indicated that they always bought drinks different from coffee; four indicated they did this sometimes while the rest of the three showed that they rarely bought other drinks apart from coffee.

Conclusion

Tim Hortons is one of the companies offering coffee and other beverages to the population of Canada. The survey sought to find out the experience of customers with coffee brewed by Tim Hortons. The respondents were presented with structured questionnaires on which were matrix questions to answer. Ten respondents were selected to participate in the survey. They were asked to fill the questionnaires independently without consulting one another. This was to ensure reliability and validity of the survey.

The analysis of the data obtained during the survey indicated various outcomes from the respondents. The findings showed that the frequency with which customers bought coffee from Tim Hortons varies greatly from one customer to the other. Moreover, it also came out that customers do not only buy coffee from Tim Hortons, but sometimes buy drinks different from coffee; they also bought other things apart from drinks.

This implies that customers for Tim Hortons are not only attracted by the coffee itself, but also by other products in general. The survey also found out that other customer would buy other drinks unrelated to coffee despite the fact that they still preferred coffee most of the times. Again, a good number of respondents believed that Tim Hortons was the best place for them to buy coffee and other related products.

References

Smith AF. The Oxford companion to American food and drink. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2007.

The marketing researcher’s role is to generate insight to aid the marketing manager’s judgment. Marketing research is the activity that connects the marketer to the client, user, and public through knowledge used to uncover and identify marketing issues and opportunities, as well as to develop, improve, and assess marketing activities (Kotler & Keller, 2016). This paper will give actionable insights regarding the market research for Tim Hortens’ ice cream cone project with diagnostic knowledge on the specific market that might impact the product and what that means for the company.

There are several objectives for the market research due to the complexity of new product implementation. According to Kotler & Keller (2016), marketing executives must exercise caution in defining the problem widely or excessively specific for the marketing researcher. However, it might be helpful, to begin with general objectives that would provide initial and the most critical data. First, the research should be “exploratory—its goal is to identify the problem and to suggest possible solutions” (Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 125). Namely, the research should identify what preferences and demands are there among the customers concerning the new project for Tim Hortens. The research might reveal the tendencies among the target market regarding their specific taste in Canadian restaurants and shops, as well as varieties in their preferences. Tim Hortons focuses on breakfast, lunch, and supper; introducing new products was not successful as many of the franchisees had difficulty keeping up with a quick service turnaround (Edmiston, 2022). Hence, it is valuable to know whether demand for the new product exists, what it is specifically, and whether it promises profit so that loading the service would pay off.

The next purpose involves estimating demand by conducting descriptive research. The first question concerns the offer of ice cream cones to the target market of Tim Hortens. As such, there might be different segments among the target market, such as generation Z and millennials, which might have different preferences (Marshall, n.d.). In this case, the research should establish what specific target market the company should offer the product more. According to Perch (2022), Tim Hortons targets floaters. These are consumers that live on a low budget but what to provide the best for their families. This is evident in the company’s commercials: those are focused on comfort and long-lasting relationships, those working for a living but not living to work (Perch, 2022). Hence, one of the objectives is to decide what price the company should charge for the ice cream to keep the customers buying it and the other products to support the CRM. Therefore, the questions to research include how many customers and from which segments would purchase the ice cream and how many of them could afford it in addition to the standard Tim Hortons products.

Next, this research plan should provide information regarding its scope. As such, the research should start with gathering available secondary data by using a combination of resources, such as the internet and checking out rivals. For example, this study will provide information about the broad audience in Canada, reveal some of the preferences existing in the market regarding ice cream, and what the offers of existing companies that sell out. However, it might not be enough for marketing the product since this information does not state anything about the specific audience of Tim Hortons, which are the visitors of its shops and restaurants (Pytlik, 2019). Hence, the firm needs to collect primary data by the company to prevent product failure and retain the CRM.

There are several methods for acquiring the much-needed data for Tim Hortons. First, through observation, researchers can get new data by quietly monitoring people as they purchase or consume things (Kotler & Keller, 2016). As a result, one can detect some behavioural patterns among the visitors to the shops, such as in what manner they prefer to choose the products, for whom (maybe they can purchase ice cream for children), and others. A questionnaire, which is a series of questions that are presented to respondents, is useful for the purpose of the research. Respondents can answer open-ended questions on their own terms. This method is particularly valuable in exploratory research for determining the preferences among the target market. Several personal interviews can provide even more information, but they are expensive. According to Kotler & Keller (2016), with a valid selection, samples of less than 1% of a population can typically yield acceptable dependability. Thus, one needs to carefully select 1% of the target market of Tim Hortons, which is Canadian “floaters,” define several segments among them and provide a diversified data collection consisting of observation, questionnaire, and personal interviews.

After the company finalizes the primary SWOT analysis of the product so that to decide whether its production is justified by the demand and profit, they can begin to implement the research. At this stage, some of the secondary data mentioned earlier can come up and give quick insights into the research purpose. Then, after the managers produce some theories about the product, it is reasonable to begin to seek specific primary data until enough information about the consumers’ preferences exists to produce and test the ice cream.

References

Edmiston, J. (2022). “We also must win in espresso”: Tim Hortons charts new phase in multi-year turnaround. Financial Post. Web.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.

Marshall, K. (n.d.). Tim Hortons marketing messaging: How do they do it? Profit Works. Web.

Perch, D. (2022). Target market of Tim Hortons. The Social Grabber. Web.

Pytlik, G. (2019). Tim Hortons brand hits 50 with style. Adwiz. Web.

Introduction

Tim Hortons is a coffee and doughnut chain founded in Canada in 1964. The company offers a wide variety of coffee and tea drinks, as well as baked goods such as doughnuts, muffins, and cookies. Tim Hortons is one of Canada’s largest quick-service restaurant chains, with over 4,000 locations (Tim Hortons, 2020). The company maintains its position as a leader in the quick-service restaurant industry through its team of scientists and engineers who work on developing new products and improving existing ones. In addition, Tim Hortons is constantly innovating to offer its customers new products and experiences. Recently, the company has introduced new products such as the Dark Roast, the Espresso, and the Beyond Meat sandwich. It has also been experimenting with new store formats, such as drive-thrus and express locations.

Tim Hortons is committed to providing excellent customer service. The company can answer inquiries and resolve issues facing the vast clientele through its team of customer service representatives. It also has a toll-free customer service number that customers can call to speak to a representative. Tim Hortons is focused on efficiency in all aspects of its business. The company has streamlined its operations to minimize waste and maximize productivity. The company has also invested in technology, such as automated coffee machines, to help make its stores more efficient.

Competitive Market Analysis

In general, Tim Hortons does well compared to its competitors in the coffee and fast-food industry, such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. However, a SWOT analysis by Shastri (2021) identified the following as Tim Hortons’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The company’s strengths include its strong brand identity, a loyal customer base, a significant market share, strong online presence, and fairly priced, good quality products and a wide range of menu items. However, the company has some weaknesses, such as limited health options, insufficient up-to-date market data, and inadequate quality control funding. Opportunities for the company include expanding into new markets, increasing its online presence, increasing sales, and introducing new menu items. Lastly, threats to the company include intensifying competition from other coffee chains, the rise of specialty coffee shops, changing consumer tastes, and high prices of raw materials.

Principle #1 – The Marketing Concept

Introducing hamburgers at Tim Hortons would bring variety to the menu, thus improving customer satisfaction. This could increase customer traffic, higher average customer spending, and brand awareness/recognition. These benefits could lead to increased profits for the company. Additionally, introducing hamburgers could help Tim Hortons compete better against other fast-food restaurants.

Principle #2 – Satisfying Customer Needs & Wants

Tim Hortons is known for its coffee and baked goods, so customers may not have time to sit down and enjoy a full meal. Hamburgers would satisfy the needs/wants of these customers by providing them with a quick and easy meal option. It would also provide Tim Hortons with a new menu item that would appeal to a wider range of customers.

Principle #3 – Market Segmentation

When introducing hamburgers to Tim Hortons’ restaurants, I would likely focus on segments of the market that would be receptive to the product. These market segments include families with young children, young adults, and seniors. These segments will likely be interested in hamburgers as a quick and easy meal, a casual dining option, or a hearty and filling meal.

Principle #4 – Marketing Mix

It would be important to evaluate the controllable factors through the 4 Ps to market hamburgers to the target market segment. This involves the incorporation of product, price, place, and promotion. The product would be hamburgers and must be of high quality to attract customers and compete with other fast-food restaurants. The price of the hamburger would need to be competitive with other fast-food restaurants, allowing the company to make a profit and attract customers. The hamburgers would need to be available at all Tim Hortons locations and be easy to find and purchase to satisfy the place aspect of the 4Ps. Finally, Tim Hortons would need to promote the new hamburgers to attract customers. This could be done through advertising, social media, or discount offers.

The marketing mix also requires using the PESTLE framework to scan the external macro environment in which an organization operates. This framework includes political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that must be considered before and after the introduction of hamburgers to Tim Hortons. Considering all these factors, the best possible plan can be created to help ensure the success of introducing hamburgers at Tim Hortons.

Principle #5 – Value and Exchange Process

The Value/Exchange process is all about creating value for the customer. In this case, introducing hamburgers to Tim Hortons will create value for the customers by providing them with a new and convenient way to get their burger fix. This quick and easy meal option will give customers more value for their money since it allows them to choose from a wider variety of menu items. Customers will be willing to pay a slightly higher price for their meals in exchange for this increased value.

Principle #6 – Product Life Cycle

When introducing a new hamburger to Tim Hortons, the company would ideally go through the following steps in the product life cycle:

1. Introduction: Tim Hortons would release a new hamburger with great fanfare, including advertising and promotions to generate interest and excitement.
2. Growth: In this stage, the sale would increase as customers try out and become familiar with the new hamburger.
3. Maturity: The new hamburger would become a staple item on the Tim Hortons menu, and sales would level off as customers become used to it. The cost of marketing and production has decreased, making it the most profitable stage in the product life cycle.
4. Decline: eventually, sales of the hamburger would begin to decline as customers get tired of it and move on to other menu items. Increased competition from other fast-food companies would also cause the decline.

Activating your Partnership

A few potential partnerships could help support Tim Hortons’ hamburger marketing success. A partnership with a local grocery store could help increase the burgers’ exposure and availability. In addition, a partnership with a local restaurant or food truck could help to promote the burgers to a wider audience, whereas partnering with a local event or festival could help to generate buzz and excitement around the burgers.

Conclusion

By utilizing effective marketing strategies such as advertising, promotions, and product placement, the introduction of hamburgers at Tim Hortons would be a success. Hamburgers would not only increase variety in the menu for customers but also increase the average order value and help Tim Hortons boost its profits.

References

Shastri, A. (2021). Detailed SWOT Analysis of Tim Hortons – 2021 Update | IIDE. IIDE the Digital School; IIDE. Web.

Tim Hortons. (2020). Tim Hortons. Www.timhortons.ca. Web.

Introduction

It is common for companies to compete, implement new strategies, set more effective goals, and try to expand their client base to win the market. However, in some situations, external circumstances may severely interfere with this process and make it more challenging for organizations to maintain their image, profit, and competitive advantages. For example, one such sudden circumstance that appeared recently is the COVID-19 pandemic. It had numerous negative impacts on various markets, and the quick service restaurant segment was no exception.

Business Environment

First of all, it is essential to give an accurate description of the business environment in which the company in question operates. Overall, Tim Hortons is a fast-food restaurant company, and its two primary competitors are McDonald’s and Burger King. Consequently, these three fast-food chains operate in the quick service restaurant segment – a rather competitive market that aims at providing its target customers with efficient and prompt service, food, and drinks. While many people enjoy the positive aspects of getting a fast-food meal, generally, such restaurants’ target consumers are the youth (especially students), low-income people, individuals on their way to work, and parents. During the pandemic, many fast-food restaurants, including Tim Hortons, McDonald’s, and Burger King, had to limit their delivery, take-out, and drive-thru services. As for the new things, Tim Hortons plans on launching “two next-generation restaurants fit for the future” (Coley, 2022, para. 1). What is more, the company upgraded its menu and enhanced its mobile application with new features.

Business Structure

Further, it is necessary to focus on the business structure of the Canadian fast-food restaurant chain. In 2008, Tim Hortons decided to change its strategy: “the new structure, the President and CEO is responsible for operational leadership and day-to-day running of the business, strategic development in collaboration with the Executive Chairman and strategy implementation” (Tim Hortons, 2008, p. 1). Presently, the company has about 100,000 workers and 1,500 franchisees (Sagan, 2020, para. 13). From 2018 to 2021, its annual revenues were 3.29, 3.34, 2.81, and 3.34 billion dollars (Lock, 2022). The company’s profit was 1.3 billion in 2020 and 1.6 billion in 2021 (“Tim Hortons financials,” 2022). Some of Tim Hortons’ leaders are José E. Cil (CEO), Axel Schwan (President in Canada, U.S., and Latin America), Matthew Dunnigan (chief financial officer), and Hope Bagozzi (chief marketing officer) (“Tim Hortons CEO and key executive team,” n.d.). Finally, the company has some recent sustainability initiatives (Vitello, 2020). For example, napkins are now made with recycled fiber, and wrappers are paper-based.

Problem Identification

Evidently, COVID-19 still impacts Tim Hortons’ site selection, capacity planning, managing operations, and employee motivation. First, when it comes to site selection, for several months, the company had to keep its sitting areas closed for visitors (Sagan, 2020). As for the capacity planning, it was not allowed to seat people nearby and exceed the permitted number of guests. Management of operations was also disrupted, including failed deliveries and affected supply chains and the need to address new responsibilities such as wearing masks and disinfecting surfaces. Finally, the coronavirus threat influenced workers’ motivation to work because they were afraid of getting sick, losing their job, forgetting about new duties, and facing other issues. While many of these problems disappeared when the restrictions were weakened, some still remain.

Business Response

The company adopted various measures to address the issues identified above. Thus, according to Lewis (2020), Tim Hortons paused its sustainability initiative aimed at accepting reusable cups, introduced additional measures to keep social distance, considered making employees wear reusable masks, and ensured constant sanitizing. Further, the company connected with experts, stating that it is “regularly taking advice on health and safety from public health officials” (Tim Hortons, n.d., para. 5). It is possible to suggest that almost all these steps are quite successful and common in addressing the spread of the disease. As for the unsuccessful ones, one may indicate that the promotion of wearing reusable masks may not be a good option for stopping the disease because some workers may forget to wash them after each shift.

Recommendations

Overall, there are three recommendations for Tim Hortons to make in order to ensure that their operational processes are managed successfully, employees stay motivated, and the company remains competitive. First, it is of vital importance to focus on employees. Research does not indicate how Tim Hortons addressed the needs of workers during these troubled times. McDonald’s shows an example that it is possible to introduce a new bonus and reward system and ensure them that their job positions are secured (Carouthers, 2021). Second, it would be beneficial to encourage customers to visit and order during ‘unpopular hours’ when there are few other guests. This can reduce the workload and allow for more efficient operations management. Third, clients should be informed not only about sanitation measures but all other interventions, including those aimed at workers. When customers see how proactive and caring the company is, its competitiveness will rise in their eyes.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion, one may say that it is essential to make the company focus more on its employees because they are the heart of Tim Hortons’ success. This is the primary change that needs to be introduced. Overall, it seems that the fast-food restaurant chain managed these uneasy times quite effectively. While it had to stop some of its sustainability initiatives, they will be back soon, and Tim Hortons’ revenue is also growing steadily. However, if I were the leader or operations manager, I would consider a proper advertising strategy to inform our clients about all introduced initiatives and implement effective employee training programs to show that the company cares about them.

References

Carouthers, P. (2021). How McDonald’s supported employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. QSR.

Coley, B. (2022). Tim Hortons unveils its restaurants of the future. QSR.

Lewis, M. (2020). Tim Hortons uniform may soon include masks, as drive-thrus and dining rooms get a pandemic makeover. Toronto Star.

Lock, S. (2022). Revenue of Tim Hortons from 2015 to 2021, by segment. Statista.

Sagan, A. (2020). Tim Hortons wants to remind customers it is still very much Canadian. Global News.

Tim Hortons. (2008). Tim Hortons Inc. announces senior management transition [PDF document].

Tim Hortons. (n.d.). An update on the current public health environment.

Tim Hortons CEO and key executive team. (n.d.). Craft.

Tim Hortons financials. (2022). Craft.

Vitello, C. (2020). Tim Hortons implements new sustainability initiatives. Environment Journal.