Q-Tele Inc Marketing and Merchandising - Assignment Example

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Executive Summary Date Recipient's Name, Title Street Address City, State Zip Code Dear Sir/ Ma’am: We are Q-Tele Inc, a startup telecommunications company aiming to offer alternative cellular and data services to the US Market. The company is still in its planning stage, and is looking at being able to start operations by October of this year. Currently, we are still putting together the backbone facility of the service and looks at completing this before the 4th quarter of this year. Q-Tele is Sales and Marketing driven, and will invest heavily on equipment purchase, ensuring the telecommunication infrastructure is competitive and will promise to bring better service to the target market. Upon setting up of important facilities, the owner will then proceed investing on marketing and sales tools that would bring the group to market consciousness. The owners are likewise planning for global expansion by forging tie ups with global service providers in ensuring connectivity among the target market. The succeeding sections will discuss the plans and goals, and the company’s business objectives. Sincerely, __________________________ Business Mission & Vision Mission Statement Q-Tele’s mission is to commit itself to continued high levels of customer service by selling outstanding telecommunications services through identified retail locations and other point of sale channels. Company Vision Q-Tele strives to be the country’s leading cellular service provider. The company’s vision is focused on products and services that are technologically superior. The main value proposition is to enhance business and personal communications that would benefit the target market. Business Goals and Objectives Management aims to establish and stabilize business operations by the end of the third month, and have all start up loans paid up by the end of the second year in business. The owners would like to be able to open business stocks also by the end of its second year in business. Operations are being targeted to commence by October 2013. There will be soft selling of services by start of June. Dealer acquisition will start by end of April 2013, and potential dealer-retailers shall undergo a training program to ensure that they are aligned with the company’s business goals and mission vision. All needed manpower to fully support the operations should already be in by June 2013. Initial facility acquisition has commenced December of last year, and setting up the infrastructure to support the network operations would take approximately six months from completion of site acquisition. Business History Q-Tele is a startup telecommunications company in an industry that already has several players. The business goals may seem ambitious but the owners are optimistic that they would be able to reach the objectives by bringing in a management team with varied expertise in the telecommunication business operations. Headquarters will be located at ____________________. There will be dealers and retailers from all parts of the United States. Eventually, there will be expansion programs in key areas in US. SWOT Analysis Strengths 1. Q-Tele offers a fresh approach to retail telecommunications by providing a dedicated after sales and service teams to provide individual and group training for their merchandise. 2. The company has already started establishing solid relations with manufacturers and will use this as leverage to further market the products. Marketing tie-ups shall be utilized to have cost-efficient promotions. 3. Inventory management will ensure good supply of the most sellable products and a steady cash flow. The inventory team shall be tasked to effectively monitor inventory levels by using reliable software. The have the responsibility to maximize warehouse space by having reasonable inventory levels of all items being offered. Weaknesses 1. Competition in the area is stiff as far as telecommunication services is concerned. 2. As a start up company, it may have a hard time catching up with the competitors. Opportunities 1. Technology is the primary source for opportunity. Technological advances enable retailers to continue marketing products, and be at their toes to keep up with the latest trends. 2. The growing clamor for the most up to date gadget gives the company a chance to expand the knowledge of their sales and after-sales teams. Threats 1. The entry of more telecom providers in the area. 2. Price wars among manufacturers themselves. This may be a reason for a price war among the retailers as well. Products and Services 1. Products and Services Q-Tele has created a niche market as a one-stop shop for wireless services. Additionally, Q-Tele has professionals with over 10 years combined experience in the industry, sophistication, and sales and distribution channels that are successful. Our services are formulated with ingredients known to increase the quality of communications, enhance internal business communications, and give users the opportunity to access the latest technology such as the ability to access the Internet on their handset. Q-Tele maintains a number of different services and accessories. Each of these services and accessories can be placed at the growth phase on the product life cycle curve.  Promotions Plan The company wishes to do away from the traditional forms of marketing, including the passive ways by which small companies relay their marketing messages to their target market. We aim to actively reach out to the customer rather than wait for him to find the company. The communication strategy shall be geared towards service awareness, value creation, competitive price, availability and attractive service experience, all leading to the patronization of our products and services. Roughly about 35% of Q-Tele’s monthly operational budget shall be allocated to Advertising and Promotional strategies alone. This includes expenses to be incurred in utilizing mainstream media particularly print advertising; other alternative media; and design and production of merchandising and promotional materials. Mainstream-wise, Q-Tele shall utilize print advertising particularly through tie-ups with different magazines. Although this would not be the company’s primary vehicle in promoting its products, it would just aim to maximize its relationship with these magazines whose websites Q-Tele shall be utilizing in its online campaigns. By alternative media, it means that Q-Tele shall utilize media channels other than print, radio and TV and online marketing. Merchandising and promotional materials include posters, flyers and mini billboards for display in strategic areas in London and in neighboring cities. Specifically, Q-Tele shall undertake the following strategies: 1. Above the Line Advertising A successful launch is always accompanied by a tri-media campaign to ensure that the target market is reached. However, due to the limited advertising and promotions budget, it chooses to advertise mainly via radio plugs in local radio stations in London. Repeat exposure via radio advertisements would spark interest among listeners. Among the three mainstream media, radio is considered to be the most cost efficient as it requires the advertiser a fixed advertising cost, yet it allows the product to be continuously stimulating the consciousness of its listeners. 2. Below the Line Advertising - Merchandising Strategic merchandising is the key to promote the new business. Billboards and signage, announcements in key points within the city play a vital role in the company’s promotions plan. Q-Tele’s will ensure that the brand, the product lines, promotions as well as the service delivery details are displayed in two major billboard sites in two main entry points to the city. It will also display mini billboards and signage in public places such as shopping centers, supermarkets, subways, train stations and bus stations. Billboards should contain the brand name Q-Tele’s, as well as a short description of what is being offered. An enticing photo of two of the store’s top products should be shown also, together with its contact details. The phone numbers, the website and the email addresses should be shown in the advertising materials as well. There will be leafleting activities in areas where applicable. Target areas are university vicinities, and places with high foot traffic. Q-Tele’s also aims to display posters in the universities, particularly in dormitories. 3. Promotional Activities Q-Tele’s will partner with student organizations to support various school events and activities with the interest to plug and advertise the products and services. The management will allot appropriate funds for sponsorships of student projects that would enable them to advertise the products among the target market. There will be discount and privilege offerings for frequent patrons, and a loyalty card to ensure repeat purchase among the market. Patrons who makes a particular total purchase in one month gets the Q-Tele’s membership card which entitles them to special privileges and incentives on their next purchase. 4. Internet Marketing Internet Marketing has become popular because Internet access is becoming more widely available and used. Well over one-third of consumers who have Internet access at home report to using the Internet to make purchases (What is Internet marketing 2004). Moreover, statistics show that Internet users increase at a rapid rate that in five years’ time, it is predicted that 80% of United Kingdom’s population will have a computer with Internet access at home (Advertising 2007). Since Q-Tele’s target market are individuals and groups who, most likely have internet access either at the office or at home, it chooses to primarily utilize internet marketing to promote its products. First and foremost, Q-Teleshall create a website that contains pertinent details regarding the company’s profile and its products. It would contain the company’s mission-vision and a statement of what the company wishes to achieve market-wise. It would also present the profiles of the designers creating its product line. More importantly, it would contain an updated catalogue of the products being offered. Each brand shall be represented through his own sub web page. Products shall be sorted and categorized to make it easier for browsers to look at the collections and make their decisions on which to purchase. Online shopping would be available through tie-ups with affiliate credit card companies. Tie ups with shipment companies shall also be made to ensure that Q-Tele would reach various places in US and in other countries. The website shall be launched simultaneously with the main branch’s opening. Advertising in the listings on the Internet can provide a website with a number of viewers. As such, Q-Tele shall do Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by subscribing to the most popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo, among others. Q-Tele shall subscribe to advertising services such as Google AdWords, in which Q-Tele’s website would appear immediately following key word searches from Internet browsers. This would prove to be cost-effective since Search Engines charge a company only whenever a person actually accesses its website. Further, this would guarantee that the advertising effort would reach the targeted market because one can limit its ad to appear only to people searching in a particular city, state or region. Q-Tele would also do Online Banner Advertising, as this is an effective way to promote brand awareness. Online Banner Advertising allows a company to flash its brand name and other details to browsers upon prompting through specified keywords. Although this does not guarantee sales leads, it nonetheless promotes the Q-Tele brand through its repeated appearance on the screen, consequently leading to brand awareness and recall. To save on cost, Q-Tele would employ a “cost per lead” or “cost per acquisition” strategy to ensure that it only pays for quality viewers or for browsers who actually expresses interest by logging in Q-Tele’s website. Q-Tele would secure numerous key words to maximize the opportunity to flash its banners to Internet browsers. Q-Tele will also initiate a tie up with affiliate magazines to reach various publications’ already captured audience. Q-Tele shall arrange to create a sub page or hyperlink in these magazine’s web pages, create a link therein which automatically directs browsers to Q-Tele’s official website upon clicking. Site visitors will be offered an interactive page whereby they will be rewarded for participating in the activities. 5. Merchandising and Promotional Materials Q-Tele shall further convey its message to its target market through using posters, leaflets and mini billboards as its media. These materials shall carry the company’s brand message and shall feature teasers of the product lines that Q-Tele carries. Particular attention shall be given to photo shoots that would feature the latest gadgets so that these materials would definitely catch the attention of onlookers. Mini billboards shall be displayed at areas where high foot traffic is present. And since Q-Tele’s target market includes working individuals, these mini billboards and posters shall be displayed at bus stops in main avenues like in Oxford Street, where the target market passed by on their way to work and on their way home. Promotional materials would also be displayed in highly crowded places waterloos, subway stations among others. Design and production of these materials would constitute the remaining 30% of the overall advertising and promotional budget. A bigger portion of this allocation shall be used for the services of a good layout artist and photography team to ensure that the company’s key message is delivered right through Q-Tele’s target market. These strategies were made in close reference to Q-Tele’s marketing mix. Pricing-wise, subscribing to relatively low-cost advertising consequently leads to competitive pricing of Q-Tele’s product line up. Promotions-wise, utilizing Internet marketing provides Q-Tele with the opportunity to touch base with its target market and interact with them on a more personal level. Interacting with customers online, particularly through interactive activities such as online surveys and the like through the Q-Tele Exclusive Circle gives Q-Tele the chance to collect valuable feedback regarding its product line up. This enables management to be in constant check whether the products being carried continue to be competitive. This way, the management would be able to keep track of the needed improvements and move on to achieve an distinct advantage compared to competitors so that the target market may prefer patronizing its products over other retailer stores. As a whole, Internet Marketing would definitely play a big role in showcasing Q-Tele’s product line up in the market since Q-Tele has only one branch to physically carry and showcase its merchandise. Internet marketing will be its chance to reach out to a wider audience. Reference List Benefits of an online marketing approach. Nextsbd.com. Retrieved April 15, 2012 from http://www.nextsbd.com/imarketing/benefits-of-online-marketing.php Small Business Statistics. Federation of Small Business. Retrieved April 18, 2012 from http://www.fsb.org.uk/stats The Building Regulations 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2012 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002531.htm The UK’s E-Commerce Regulations. April 15, 2012. http://www.out-law.com/page-431 Read More