3-Year Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

3-Year Marketing Plan Essay Introduction Company G is a very well-known company in the electronics industry and is highly regarded by consumers for their high quality products and this new product line that is being introduced by Company G continues the excellence of quality for which they are known. The â€Å"Tub-Scrubbie† is an innovative new product that is a first in a new line of electronic home care products that is being introduced by Company G. The Tub-Scrubbie is an automatic bathtub scrubber that is designed to allow people the freedom to spend more time doing what’s important to them instead of working on household chores. Mission Statement â€Å"We enable consumers to improve the quality and convenience of their lives by providing innovative electronics solutions.† The Product The Tub-Scrubbie is an automatic bathtub scrubber that is completely self-contained and rechargeable. This product is designed to scrub the bathtub for those that are physically unable to do so themselves and for people whose lives are very busy and would rather be spending quality time with their family than spending extra time doing household chores. The Tub-Scrubbie is quick to set up and very simple to use. There are no complicated instructions, no small parts to lose or parts that easily break. The unit contains a cleanser and water reservoir that is easy to fill and holds 16 oz. of liquid which is enough for one use, an automatic timer which switches the unit off when the time has expired, replaceable bristle brushes that can be used on all surfaces and a metal tube frame set. To use, the metal tube frame is attached to the bathtub using spring tension rods, the  scrubber is filled with the no rinse cleaning solution and water mixture, the scrub unit is attached to the frame, turn on the unit and set the timer and let it go. The scrubber unit will spray the cleaning solution in 15 second intervals as it scrubs the tub. It will move along the metal frame and move up and down on the drop post to scrub the walls of the tub. Once it has completed two revolutions around the frame, the scrubber will detach from the drop tube and scrub the bottom of the tub until the timer shuts the unit off. Rinsing the tub is not required, the cleaning solution is designed to be â€Å"no rinse† and is non-toxic and will not damage surfaces with regular use. Consumer Product Classification After in-depth research, we have determined that the Tub-Scrubbie would be classified as a shopping item. Even though this item has several characteristics of being a convenience item, such as being low in price and being available in multiple sales outlets, and the purchase frequency is infrequent as a specialty item, it maintains the shopping item profile. The consumer factors that direct this product to the shopping item classification are a considerable planning time involved in making the purchase, the importance of a convenient location, the considerable comparison of price and quality. The marketing mix factors include a relatively short distribution channel, the sellers’ image is very important for the reliability and durability of the item and that this item can be sold and promoted by the producer and the seller of the item. Target Market The target market for the Tub-Scrubbie actually covers two different demographic groups. The first group type to target will be the elderly from the age of 55 and over and disabled people of any age that are living alone. The second group type to target for marketing are the people that are too busy to spend time doing household chores such as scrubbing the bathtub, this group will consist of parents with children that are enrolled in multiple after school activities and the overworked business professional. The elderly/disabled group will be in a very low income bracket, and may or may not have been educated, they will most likely be living on a pension,  retirement or collecting a monthly check from social security, their annual income will average $10,000 $25,000. This group will most likely be living alone in an apartment or single family home in the low income section of town that is situated close to strip mall type of shopping center, which may or may not have a major anchor store. The business professional group will be in the medium income bracket; this group will be highly educated, holding either a Bachelors or Master’s degree. They will be working hard and very long hours so that they can remain in their income bracket range. Their average income will be between $40,000 and $60,000, enough to cover their living expenses and small extravagances, but not enough that they can hire someone to do their housekeeping regularly. This group will be living in an apartment community or in a condominium that is located close to an upscale shopping center or mall. Competitive Situation Analysis Analysis of Competition using Porter’s 5 Forces Model The following is an overview of factors that may have an impact on the introduction and future sales of the Tub-Scrubbie. In the cleaning product market, consumers are always looking for a new and innovative way to take the work out of their daily house cleaning chores. Competitive Rivalry At this time there would be no direct competition for the Tub-Scrubbie. As the sales of this item rise, competitors will start to develop their version of this product, if we patent our item that will reduce exact replicas. With the introduction of the Tub-Scrubbie, the main competition would be the companies that produce the well-known tub and bathroom cleaners such as Clorox Co, Proctor Gamble and S.C. Johnson Son, Inc. Each of these companies holds at least 50% or more of the market share of the different cleaning products that customers have been using for years. Threat from New Entrants The home cleaning product market is extremely large and the competition is very high among the leaders of the industry, this makes entering this market very difficult. Due to the cost involved with entering the cleaning product  market, the threat from new entrants is relatively low. The internet can be used to monitor any new competition that may try to break into the market with similar products to ours. Threat from Buyers With the cleaning product market being as large as it is, the threat from individual consumers would be relatively low; they would have no effect on price or placement of the item. The threat from buyers would be greater, big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Target would be able to refuse to purchase the item unless they received a discount per number of units ordered, they would also have control of where the product would be placed in their stores. Internet sales would not be considered a threat from buyers; this would be set up as direct sales to consumers. Threat from Suppliers Since we would be producing the main product in our own factories, there is no threat from a manufacturing standpoint. We would partner with Clorox Inc to provide the cleaning solution for the Tub-Scrubbie. Since Clorox is a very large producer, the threat from this supplier would be very low. The only threat from supplies that we would face would be from the suppliers of the raw materials that we would use to create our products. The internet could be used to watch for disruption to the raw material chain. Threat from Substitutes In the beginning there will be very little threat from substitutes, at this time there is no product on the market that will directly compete with this item. After this item is introduced, other companies such as P G, 3M and Clorox will flood the market of their version of the Tub-Scrubbie, which will then introduce direct competition for our item. Most of the substitute products for the Tub-Scrubbie do not offer the convenience of the â€Å"automatic cleaning† feature of our product, there is only one product at this time that offers this feature which is the â€Å"Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner†. This product is designed to clean shower stalls, not bathtubs and therefore should not pose to be direct competition. The only alternatives that are available to our product would be the â€Å"old fashioned† way by using a scrub brush or sponge and liquid or powdered bathtub cleanser and water. The internet could be utilized to monitor similar products bei ng offered  worldwide. SWOT Analysis In this section, we have highlighted Company G’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the production and sales of the Tub-Scrubbie line of products. STRENGTHS *indicates core competency Well-known brand name Innovative products Outstanding product support WEAKNESSES New to cleaning product market Introducing a new concept in cleaning Dependent on partner companys cleaning product OPPORTUNITIES Online marketing Expanding into new market Partner with industry leader of cleaning products THREATS Replication by competitors Cleaning products already on the market Consumers unwilling to try a new product Strengths The first of our strengths which is also a core competency is that we have a very well-known brand name in the electronics market. We have a name that consumers know and trust for quality products and excellent customer service; consumers would be more likely to purchase our product. Our second strength, also one of our core competencies is that our company is known for its innovative new products. We have spearheaded many different markets with new products that consumers have not ever seen before and have done very well in sales with these products, capturing at least 10% of the market. Our third strength is our outstanding product support. We offer the most extensive and longest warranties on our products, combined with a money back guarantee if not satisfied. We also have an excellent customer service department that receives customer feedback and requests by email, phone or  instant chat and concentrates on resolving customer issues within 48 hours. Weaknesses The first weakness is that Company G is a new entrant to the cleaning product market. We will have many competitors that have been selling quality products in hundreds of different outlets for many years. Our next weakness is that we are introducing a new, modern concept in cleaning to an older market that is mainly reluctant to change. Many of the consumers in our target market are older people that are afraid of technology or just may feel that its just not clean if they dont scrub it themselves. Our third weakness would be Company Gs dependency on our partner company, Cloroxs’ name to sell our product. Since the Tub-Scrubbie will be sold with cleaning fluids provided by the Clorox Company, we are depending on their reputation and popularity in the industry to help sell our product, if their product doesnt sell, then ours wont either. Opportunities One of our first opportunities with this product is to expand on our internet sales opportunities. All of our products can be found online on hundreds of websites as well as direct sales, by offering this product online we can expand into new internet outlets that have not previously carried our electronics. Another opportunity that this product will give us is the advantage of expanding our company into an entirely new market. This will be Company Gs first venture into the cleaning product market which will give us the opportunity to introduce future cleaning products and expanding our sales into new territories. Our third opportunity is that we are going to partner with Clorox, which is one of the leaders in the cleaning industry. Their name is seminomas with clean and germ free and by partnering with Clorox, it will only boost initial sales as well as residual sales of the refill cleaning fluids. Threats One threat would be replication of our product by competitors. Once our Tub-Scubbie is introduced, there is a possibility of the market being flooded with similar products. Even though their design will be different, the concept will be the same, this will ultimately bring down our sales. Another threat would be the wide variety of cleaning products that are  already available on the market. Consumers are creatures of habit and have their favorite products that they buy repeatedly and they refuse to change, if they dont use Clorox products, they are not likely to purchase our product. A third threat is that many consumers are unwilling to try a new product that will change the method they use to clean their bathtub. Many people do not like change and are unwilling to buy something new, they may feel it wont clean as well as it should or that its just another electronic device that will break after a few months. Market Objectives Product Objective The main objective for the Tub-Scrubbie is to offer a quality product that is simple and ready to use, uses very little energy, is rechargeable and is covered by our 60 day money back guarantee and 1 year warranty. Price Objective The Tub-Scrubbie will be available at an introductory price of $29.99 and after 6 months the regular price will be $34.99. There will also be color varieties available at $39.99 and an upgraded model bundled with cleansers will be introduced after one year for $54.99. Place Objective The objective for placement of the Tub-Scrubbie will be to introduce the product in a partnership with the Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club Corporations by Dec of 2013 and by Feb 2014, the Tub-Scrubbie will be available in most retail outlets. Promotion Objective The objective for promotion of the Tub-Scrubbie is to gradually introduce our product to the public through television and radio advertisements, newspapers and holiday circulars and free standing store displays by the end of January 2014. Marketing Strategies In order to make this product successful in the market place, we must ensure that the consumers receive the superior quality products that they have come to expect from Company G. This entails providing our customers a long lasting product that is energy efficient, available in a variety of colors at an affordable cost. We have created a three stage marketing strategy for  the Tub-Scrubbie by first placing the item in one of the largest retailers during the holiday shopping season, setting a pricing plan that will fit into the budget of most of our consumers and by offering price reduction in lower income areas. Product Strategies The Tub-Scrubbie will be sold with rechargeable batteries and AC adapter. The Tub-Scrubbie will be covered by our standard 60 day money back guarantee and 1 year warranty. The Tub-Scrubbie will be fully assembled and ready to use out of the box. Price Strategies The Tub-Scrubbie will have an introductory price of $29.99, after 6 months the price will increase to $34.99. The Tub-Scrubbie will be offered in a variety of colors for $39.99. The Tub-Scrubbie will be offered in a bundle with a larger cleanser reservoir and 2 bottles of cleanser in their choice of color for $54.99. Place Strategies The Tub-Scrubbie will be launched in December of 2013 in all Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. In January 2014, the Tub-Scrubbie will be released at all other major retailers such as Target, Raley’s, Bel Air and Nob Hill markets. By February 2014 the Tub-Scrubbie will be available at all smaller retailers and at online stores. Promotion Strategies In November of 2013, the Tub-Scrubbie will start to be featured in television and radio commercials sponsored by Wal-Mart. In December of 2013, the Tub-Scrubbie will be featured in holiday circulars and newspaper ads. In January of 2014, in stored displays will be set up at most retail outlets and $5.00 of coupons will be circulated as a â€Å"New Year cleanup special.† Tactics and Action Plan Shown below are the plans that have been put into place to carry out the objectives stated above. Each manager indicated will be responsible for completing the task by its due date. Product Action Plan Tactic Due Date Responsible Party Ensure that all packaging includes rechargeable batteries and AC cord Daily – As items are manufactured and packaged. Manufacturing Supervisor A copy of our guaranteed return policy and warranty are included with each unit. Daily – As items are manufactured and packaged. Manufacturing Supervisor Each unit is fully assembled and ready to operate out of the package. Daily – As items are manufactured and packaged. Quality Assurance Manager Price Action Plan Tactic Due Date Responsible Party Ensure that the packaging reflects the introductory price of $29.99 Daily through the first 6 months of production. Manufacturing Manager and Promotions Manager Ensure that the packaging with the color varieties indicate the correct color and the price of $39.99 Daily – As the items are manufactured and packaged. Manufacturing Manager Ensure that the packaging for the bundled enhanced product and cleaning fluids indicate the color of the unit as well as the price of $54.99 Daily – As the items are manufactured and packaged. Manufacturing Manager Place Action Plan Tactic Due Date Responsible Party Ensure that shipments have been received by all Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club distribution centers. November 1, 2013 Distribution Manager Ensure that shipments have been received by remaining large chain retailers. December 1, 2013 Distribution Manager Ensure that shipments have been received by all remaining retailers. January 15, 2013 Distribution Manager Promotion Action Plan Tactic Due Date Responsible Party Ensure that television and radio spots are ready to be aired. October 31, 2013 Promotion Manager Create and submit ads for circulars and newspapers. November 15, 2013 Promotion Manager Order POS merchandisers and distribute to retail outlets. November 30, 2013 Promotion Manager Monitoring Procedures In order to ensure that our marketing plan is achieving Company Gs desired goals, we must put into place and regularly review monitoring procedures. We will be using the following procedures from the first day that the product is introduced through the first 5 years of sales. Monitoring Activity Due Date/Frequency Responsible Party Overall Sales Volume Quarterly Distribution Manager Effectiveness of Advertisements End of each month Promotion Manager Accumulated Expenses Quarterly Accounting Manager Customer Satisfaction End of each month Customer Service Manager