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Marketing Assessment
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The assessment below has been made for the marketing performance of the panda company that has initially launched a basic product for the workers and after some time the company has launched a product for the businessmen who travel a lot. There has been a continuous revision of the various aspects related to both the products.
Quarter 1
This venture name will be Panda. This is a global symbol that is easily recognizable. Thus, the product of the company will also be easily recognizable. The target market selection process includes many options. From the targeting of the full market available which is called mass marketing and is used when the same product is offered to the whole market to the micro marketing in which each individual is catered differently. In case of our product, we will use a segmenting strategy. The segment is carefully selected after studying the characteristics of the people as well as the product. The product is targeted at the workhorse segment of the market. The reason behind choosing this market is that it matches with the name of the company. The company name was chosen so that it is easily recognizable, the segment of workhorse is also easily recognizable in the market.. The marketing department will oversee all the activities related to the marketing aspects of the product. This will include all the activities from selecting the target customers to the stage where the needs of the customers are met. In the current scenario, the target market has been defined as the people who travel a lot and who need laptops and other portable devices. After identifying the customers, a thorough analysis of the needs will be undertaken to decide which customer segments match the company objectives and the resources. After the customers have been chosen, the company will decide on the product to be made and what particular features will be added to the product to satisfy the needs of the customers. The company has also identified the price that all the segments are willing to pay for the desired features and the product itself. The workhorse segment is willing to pay the lowest price i.e. $ 2500. The most important aspect for the target customers is the ease of use that the product will offer them. This will also mean that this segment will demand the least features in the product and the company will have to develop a simple basic product for these customers which will be easy to develop and manage. The last part of the market survey includes the identification of the original number of customers in all the segments separately. This will help the company to identify some of the numerical aspects of the business undertaken. We will open the first store in Shanghai because the symbol will be the most common to that place.
Quarter 2
The second quarter started with the testing of market by analyzing the various aspects of the customers and products once again. In this regard, the customers segment targeted, the price they are willing to pay and the needs that they have are revisited. The first product of the company will be a desktop computer to the target segment. This will be named vostro and it will cost $ 60000 to the company to make initially. The workhorse segment selected will comprise of the workers who will use the computers for work purposes so the system will include the office software. Some of the software will also be included in the system. These will help the customers in working at the offices. An example can be given using the book keeping software used by accounting clerks. One of the requirements of the customers segment was that they must be able to see the work done on the screens clearly. To cater this need, the company has opted for a larger screen with the product. The computing power is generally required by those who want to play games on the system, since our target segment is least likely to use the system for this purpose, the screen will be kept a bit bigger. The workhorse will have to save a large amount of data to the system which means that the hard drive of the system should be high capacity. As far as the pricing is concerned, the company can use many alternative strategies to price the product. The first option is the cost-plus pricing technique for the company. This option allows the company to set a price by adding a certain percentage to the cost incurred on making the product. This strategy will not work well for this company because this is best suited for the company that targets the mass market and deliver a standardized product. The second option for the company is to follow a penetration pricing strategy which means that the price of the company will be kept very low to drive the competitors out of the company. This strategy will not suit the company because it is successful when the company is well established and is in a position to drive the competitors out of the market on the basis of price. This company has just entered the business of computing which will mean that it will not be able to compete solely on prices. The last option available to the company is the competitive pricing strategy which is based on the prices charged by the competitors of the company. This strategy suits the company in many ways. It will be easier to set a price as there will be a bench mark in the form of competitor price against which the company can judge its price. The second benefit that this strategy will offer will be that the company will just have to keep an eye on the competitor’s actions and react to them. This will also mean that the company will not have to focus very hardly on the pricing aspects of the product. The customer is willing to pay $ 2500 so we have kept the price at $ 2400 which is calculated after deducting the discount of $ 100.
Another important consideration that has to be made by the company is the price elasticity of demand for its product. This is referred to as the impact of change of price on the change in demand. This analysis is very important for several reasons. The most important aspect is the relationship between the elasticity of demand and the revenues of the company. The inelastic demand refers to the case when the change in price is more but the change in quantity demanded is less. This situation is characterized by a change in price and revenue in the same direction. The elastic demand is characterized by a higher change in demand as a result of a smaller change in price. This case shows that the revenue and price move in opposite direction. If we talk about the product under consideration, the target segment is more concerned about the price of the product which will mean that the product may see a sharp change in the quantity demanded. It will be advisable for the company to decrease the prices a little bit so that it can generate more revenue out of the product.
Once the pricing has been set, the next step of the process is the promotion activity. The promotion of the company product will be done by the advertisement on the television. This mode is chosen because the nature of the product is such that the visual advertisement will be the best mode of reaching out the customers. While making the advertisement, the customers needs will have to be revisited. First of all, the product name should be mentioned in the advertisement so that the people should clearly know what the information relates to. Since the customers are price sensitive, the discount or rebate deals will be beneficial for the company to enhance sales. Thus, the advertisement will also mention any deals that are offered by the company. The advertisement will also show the various applications that are available on the system so that the customers needing these applications can easily decide whether to purchase the product or not based on the advertisement. It will show the picture of various business professionals using the system and appreciating the ease with which the system has helped them complete their tasks. There will also be a person who has not been able to save some huge files on his system and when he uses the system bought from the company, his problem is solved.
The company will also place some advertisements on the business magazines, this placement will be made with the tag of high efficiency. The company will have a total of 10 representations in various magazines. The only issue faced by the company at this stage will be to make sure that the claims made in the advertisements are truthful and do not have a chance that the company may have to face some law suits due to these.
The company will hire the sales staff for making the sales of the product with the help of four people. One of these people will be trained enough and will not require any training. One person will be engaged in the support associated with the sales department. The support agent along with the two sales agents will have to be trained before put to work. The training and salary costs of these people will amount to $ 77000 for the quarter to the company.
If we take a look on the potential demand of the product from various segments available, the highest figure in all the areas is for the workhorse segment.
Quarter 3
If we see the start of quarter 3, the performance of the company in the last quarter has not been up to the mark by any standards. This has been shown in the balanced scorecard where all the performance scores are well below the average of the industry. These scores are also lower than the scores of the competitors. There were concerns from certain independent bodies about the various aspects of the target segment being missed by the company. The company had to control the costs to make the profits out of the operations. The market share in the target segment was very low, this aspect means that the company advertisements are not able to communicate the message in a way that can compel the customer to buy the product. This may be caused by some poor identification of the needs of the customers. If we refer back to the needs of the customers, there are certain things missing in the system that were required by the customers. A large number of customers wanted that the machine must be easy to use. The product offered does not specifically cater this particular need. There were demands of the customers that the system must be able to connect to the various other devices through various connectivity options. This feature is also apparently missing in the product as it does not provide the option to connect to any networks. This si very logical as the segment is assumed to be the working class and while working in the offices, they will definitely need that their computers are able to be linked to the networks for data share and other aspects. Another very important aspect that is missing in the basic aspects of the system is the after sales service and warranty aspects of the machine. In the industry that the company is working in is such that the provision of after sales service is almost a must. This is even more applicable to the company because it has just started working in this product market. The company is dealing in the technology related products which are more prone to malfunction so the company must have some office that caters the concerns of such customers whose products are not working properly. This service will work two way, the company can use this service as the information delivery as well. The sales staff hired should be closely in contact with these people who provide the after sales services so that there is a team effort to resolve the problems. The marketing department should also take the feedback form the after sales services department because this will help them to know what aspects of the product are creating problems for the customers. Another change that the system will need is that it should be compatible to at least some of the games that are available in the market. The company can also provide some built in games for the customers to play. Another option is to provide some themes that can entertain the customers and make their usage of the system a fun experience. A large number of customers marked that they needed a distinct look with the system. This aspect of the product was also ignored by the company by making a common type of product that has no specific difference in the looks.
The above mentioned aspects have resulted in the current situation that the company is having only 30% of the market share in the market. This shows the weaknesses in the marketing strategies of the company. This is because the company is not innovating enough to attract more customers and increase the market share. The company should have offered some product that provides some distinct features to the customers or some other thing that has not yet been offered by the competitors. The innovation is expensive but it certainly pays off. The second method of increasing the market share is to improve the customer’s relationships. This aspect relates to the better recognition of the customer needs and also to the availability of the customer relationship methods.
Better serve your target customers.
The increase in market share is possible only when the customers are loyal enough to stay with the company even when there is some specific offers by the competitors of the company. This will mean that the old satisfied customers will speak positively for the company that will in turn extract more customers for the company. This method will be cost effective as well because the positive word of mouth will not need that the company spends some amount for advertising but it will generate more customer traffic for the company.
Quarter 4
The balanced scorecard related to the last quarter shows that the company has improved in the financial aspects of the operations. The reason behind this is that the company has been able to sell more products due to the online sales program introduced by the company.
In this quarter the company is trying to expand its operations by introducing another product for a new target segment. The segment chosen for the second product is the traveler segment of the market. This segment has specific needs that have to be incorporated in the design to cater their needs successfully. The foremost need that has to be catered is the portability of the systems. This is because the name of the segment suggests that they will need to carry the machines with them while going from one place to another. The Customers will also need that the systems easily support the various document files that are used outside of the country. These people will be the businessmen who will be least concerned with the price and most concerned with the features that the company products will offer them. The connectivity aspects of the products for these customers will be very important.
The name of the second product will be think pad and the pricing strategy for the company that is recommended for this product is the skimming pricing. This strategy is worked out when the company is targeting the segment that is price insensitive. Thus, the company will use this strategy to attract the traveler segment. The company will have to provide some top of the line product to ensure that the customers get what they want.
Quarter 5
The results of the last quarter have shown continuous improvements on the various aspects of the products. This specifically includes the marketing aspects where the company has scored the maximum possible marks on the card. The marketing effectiveness issues prevail for the company which can be addressed as follows:
Revisit the quality of Sales Staff
The company must also consider the caliber and ability of the sales staff hired in the office. This is because the increase in market share will mean that the company product is sold more. This is only possible when the sales personnel of the company are communicating effectively to the customers who are approaching them. In this regard the company must also reassess the training methods employed by it because the training effectiveness is evident from the increase in sales of the company which in turn will increase the market share.
The new target segment is the one that include frequent travelers and these people are generally on the go, the best option for this segment for the advertisements for this segment will be online marketing. The company should run an extensive social media campaign to attract and retain the customers. This campaign will target all the customers in general but some of the advertisements will be specifically targeted to the business class. The company will hire two people who will be trained to handle the social media marketing campaigns. The better solution is that the company may train any of the existing sales person to take up the task. This option will be cost effective and can prove beneficial in generating sales. The company has decided to hire two new people for the sales force. One person will be added to the support section and other will be added to the sales section specifically for the online sales and advertisements.
The second office will be opened in Chicago. This is because there are many people who come to the city as travelers and it is one of the business hubs of the country. There will also be 4 new hiring for sales staff for the new office in Chicago.
The company has lagged behind in satisfying the needs of the customers. The major concern that has been shared by most of the customers is that the battery timing of the system is too less for them to work in some independent capacity. There have also been some concerns over the connectivity aspects of the system. Some customers also stated that many features that were communicated were not available in the original product. All these aspects made the product performance poor.
Quarter 6
In the quarter 5 all the scores had been satisfactory except for the marketing effectiveness score. This issue can be resolved as under:
Revisit the advertisements
There were certain aspects in the advertisements that were pointed out by some external stakeholders that the company has not been able to satisfy the needs of the customers. There has been a detailed discussion above on where the company lacked In terms of identifying the needs of the customers. Now the company must revise those aspects of the customer needs in the original modifications of the product and also in the advertisements that have to be reviewed.
This quarter will see the company take various steps to improve the product that is targeted at the business customers. The technical department has been advised to bring out some solution to the battery timings issue of the product. The marketing department will be given the task to redesign the advertisement in coordination with the technical team so that the product contains the features that have been communicated in the advertisements. The company will use the lowest cost options of advertising the products so that the overall costs of the company will decrease. After controlling the costs, the company will be able to charge a price that is relatively lower than the price charged by the competitors. This will benefit the company in a way that the value delivered will be more than the value perceived. This will help the company to make some loyal customers who will spread a positive word of mouth for the company. The company will have to make sure that the delivered products are very much similar to the ones that have been communicated in the advertisements of the company. Failing this will be hazardous to the company in many ways. This segment is always seeking value for money spent so they will be quickly dissatisfied if the company fails to deliver what is promised.
Keep costs lower to generate profits
If we see the brand profitability analysis for the company, we can assess that the company is not even able to earn the operating profit. This is because the company sales are not very high and expenses are not properly controlled. Both these aspects are adding to the fact that the company is in a loss for the current period. A further analysis reveals that the costs of the company are split into fixed and variable costs. The fixed costs are the ones that have to be paid irrespective of the level of production. The costs that are directly associated with the production are the variable costs. The company under consideration has to incur the fixed costs because the facility rent will be paid anyway. The variable costs can be controlled by the company. If we see the expenses incurred by the division, the cost of goods sold is very high, the division should bring in automation to the processes followed to make the product. The advertising costs are also higher and the same has not proven to be as effective as it should have been. In order to control the expenses and earn some kind of profit, the company must go for the online options of the marketing and advertisements. This will mean that the company will spend less amount of money on advertising through the conventional media which is expensive as well. The reach of the advertising and marketing through the online options will be much more as compared to the traditional options of advertising. The cost per advertisement will go down which will improve the profitability of the company.
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