Tim Hortons Marketing Mix (4Ps) & Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy of Tim Hortons through marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
Tim Hortons Product Strategy:
Tim Hortons is a leading coffee chain brand serving various snacks and beverages. Tim Hortons specializes in food items like coffee, donuts, pancakes, waffles, strudles and lattes etc., which are a part of a wide product portfolio in its marketing mix. The company has its restaurant chains in more than 10 countries globally. It has a breakfast menu which includes bagel sandwiches, wraps, hash browns, oatmeal and croissants. It also has a menu for footlong sandwiches and burgers. Tim Hortons serves three types of coffees original, decaf and dark roast. In hot beverages French vanilla, lattes and mocha are available. In cold beverages it has iced coffee, fruit chills, fruit smoothies, frozen lemonade and chocolate chills. In baked menu they serve donuts, muffins, Greek yogurts, cookies, bagels and pastries. All these menu titles have a variety of options under them. Tim Hortons also serve sides like soups, wedges and dips.
Image: Wikimedia
This concludes the product strategy in Tim Hortons marketing mix & strategy.
Tim Hortons Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Tim Hortons marketing mix strategy:
Tim Hortons targets the masses and hence has a wide range of prices so that more and more people can afford the products. As compared to Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts its menu is priced lower by a small margin and hence gives it the price advantage.
Tim Hortons serves coffee in the range of $1.15 to $2 depending upon the size of the cup. Cookies are priced at $0.89. Sandwiches come for $2.5. Donuts are priced at $0.99. Bagel sandwiches cost around $2.5. The hot beverages cost the most i.e. in the price range of $2 to $5. Cold Beverages come in the range of $1.5 to $3. The sides come for around $1.5. The pricing strategy in its marketing mix focuses on competing with other brands in the same market segment.
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Tim Hortons Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Tim Hortons marketing mix:
Tim Hortons is available in 4500 locations out of which 3000+ are in North America. It is one of the major café chains in the world. All the stores are located in areas where there is a great footfall of people. The cafes are cozy and have spacious area. The confectionery is up for display in a beautiful set up to drive sales. Customers can also buy Tim Hortons products from their website. These products are usually coffee mugs and coffee packs.
Also, the famous coffee grinds are available on ecommerce stores like Amazon for purchase.
Tim Hortons Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Tim Hortons marketing mix is as follows:
Tim Hortons promotes its brand through a campaign called ‘roll up the rim’ where the customers roll the rim of their coffee cups after the drink to see what prize they have got. It takes place every year in February and prizes like TVs and vehicles are given to lucky winners. It associates itself with the Canadian culture through various adverts which emphasize on the story of Tim Hortons and Canadians’ love for donuts as they consume the most donuts in the world per year. There is a Tim Hortons children’s foundation which sponsors underprivileged kids from Canada and the United States to go for high-end summer camps. It also sponsors events like ice hockey tournaments, earn-a-bike program, swimming competitions, Enactus and food drives. The Tims Rewards program provides additional benefits to its loyal customers.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Tim Hortons.
Process:
Tim Hortons has several simple business processes. Customers enter the cafes and place an order at the counter and pay for it. The cafés are self-service, that is once the order is ready the customers have to go to the counter and collect it. The service only includes the food which is prepared and the staff which processes the orders and handles the café operations.
Physical Evidence:
The physical evidence of Tim Hortons consists of the fact that the store is of great pride to the Canadians as it is a story of success of a Canadian. People feel a sense of belonging in the cafes where they are treated with a lot of love and friendliness. The food quality is impeccable for the amount it charges and the service is great as well. The aesthetics of the food items makes them more attractive and palatable to the customers. The seating which is cozy and the entire ambience which makes it a family place add to the experience of the customers and contributing to the physical evidence of the place.
People:
Paul House is the CEO and executive chairman of the restaurant chain. Ronald Walton is the president of the Canadian region of restaurants. This is followed by the top management which includes marketing and media, supply chain heads, Talent acquisition, finance and customer service heads. The staff of Tim Hortons is polite during service and friendly to the customers. They have a scheduled training procedure for keeping the staff up to date. Many opportunities are given to the students who want to pursue part-time jobs while studying and hence start working there. Hence this completes the marketing mix of Tim Hortons.
About Tim Hortons:
Tim Hortons is a café chain famous for its coffee and donuts. It was founded in 1964, by the hockey player Tim Horton and his friend Jim Charade in Hamilton Canada where initially it started as a hamburger joint but later was changed into a café. It was acquired by Burger King in the year 2014 for 11.4 billion dollars.
Tim Hortons faces competition from strong brands like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and Subway. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada the company is present in 4500 locations with a workforce of 100,000 employees and generated a net revenue of close to $3 billion. The company now operates as a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International.
Browse marketing strategy and 4Ps analysis of more brands similar to Tim Hortons. The Marketing Mix & Strategy section covers 4Ps and 7Ps of more than 800 brands in 2 categories.
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