Marketing Plan for the Kidz-IDz - Research Paper Example

Marketing Plan for the Kidz-IDz Target Market: The primary potential target market for the Kidz-IDz are parents who are concerned about the safety of their children. Along with this, the company will also target different schools as this product can also be used for the safety of the students. The main geographic market being targeted by the company is that of United States of America (USA). Some of the characteristics of primary target market of Kidz-IDz are that they are caring and concerned with respect to the safety of their children and are ready to spend money in order to ensure that the children are protected and safe. At the same time, the target market of the company is ready to take part in the educational process for learning different safety precautions. Marketing Mix: One of the important elements of the marketing plans is the marketing mix or most commonly known as the 4P’s of marketing (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). In this section the strategies of 4P’s of marketing with respect to the e-business are presented. Product: Kidz-IDz presents the parents with different options and products which can facilitate the parents in the process of keeping the children safe. Different kits offered by the company includes different identification details about the child along with the picture identity. The main kit, known as Kidz-IDz kit consists of different products like identification card with photo, medical card, fingerprinting, and several other tools (Kidz-IDz). With the help of all of these tools, parents can make sure that all essential measures are taken for the safety of the children. This product will carry all necessary information about the child and if he or she get lost somewhere or get indulge in some medical emergency, it will become easier to take life saving measures and contact the parents. Apart from this, the data and information can be converted into electronic information which can be forwarded to different institutions quickly in the case of emergency. Along with this the company allows the parents to update the data regularly in order to make sure that the data is not outdated. Price: All these safety items or tools in the Kidz-IDz kit are available at the price of $100.00. All products of the company are reasonably priced, so that most of the parents can afford the child safety products. Promotion: The company is currently promoting and marketing itself by taking part in different fundraising and charity programs. Kidz-IDz has positioned itself as the leader in the field of providing the all required information in order to keep the children safe and protected. In order to target more customers and ensuring that more and more children are protected, the company will promote itself online. For this purpose, Kidz-IDz will focus more on social media marketing and will launch the e-business with the help of TOP shelf marketing. Place: Along with the traditional brick and mortar physical store, the company will now also enter into the industry of e-commerce or e-business and launch the online store. The company will use penetrating pricing in order to increase the penetration of the product in the market. Online Strategies: In order to make sure that more and more traffic is targeted towards the website and there are more revenues, the company will promote the website through social media marketing. People will be encouraged to take part in different contests through pages and profiles on different social media sites. At the same time, the company will work on the branding strategy of the website and will integrate with the overall brand image. Customers will be attracted with the help of direct mails and newsletters. Banners ads will be used for this purpose. Apart from this, the company can earn more revenue by starting different affiliate programs. Another technique which will be used by the company for attracting more traffic on the website will be Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Company will run different blogs through which it will educate the parents about different safety measures, this will also help in the process of promoting and marketing company online. Offline Strategies: In order to implement an integrated and 360 degree marketing communication plan, the online promotion and marketing strategies will be supplemented by the offline marketing and promotional strategies. For this purpose, the company will distribute flyers and brochures through different places. Along with this the company will conduct different educational programs for the parents to teach them about the safety measures for the children. The company will also market itself by conducting different contests and training sessions at schools. All this will be done alongside the company’s practice of taking part in charitable and fundraising events. SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis is an important strategic tool for getting useful and significant insights from the audit of the internal and external environment of the organization (Haberberg & Rieple, 2008). Strengths: The company is accredited with the Better Business Bureau. Company already has affiliations with different charity organizations and schools. Weaknesses: The company is new in the area of online business or e-commerce. Lack of experience in term of online marketing strategies. Opportunities: Growing concern about the security and safety. Increasing awareness among the parents about different safety and protective measures for their children. Threats: The threat of fraudulent transactions and fake customers. High possibility of new entrants in the market thus increasing the competitive pressures. The fluctuating political and economical environment of the country. Customer Relationship Management Plan In order to make sure that company is able to attract new customers and at the same time is able to retain the old customers, there should be an effective and efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Customer relationship management strategy and system will be formulated keeping in mind the ‘Five Stage Customer Development Cycle” presented by Parker (2010). The five stages in this customer development cycle are: Awareness Comparison Transaction Reinforcement Advocacy In order to increase the awareness of the website and product different online and offline marketing strategies will be used like direct marketing and social media marketing. Once the customer is on the website, he will compare the website with that of other competitors. In order to make sure that customer stays at the site and indulge in transaction, meaningful and useful content will be placed on the website. Along with this the website will be attractive and user friendly. The next stage is of transaction. The process of transaction will be easy and fast so that the precious time of the customer is not wasted. Apart from this it will be make sure that the transaction process is not complicated so that customers are not irritated. The stages of reinforcement and advocacy are all about relationship building and retaining the customers. company will maintain a proper database of the customers. The customers will be mailed for follow up and take their opinions for further improvements. Along with this different promotions for loyal customers will be mailed in order to encourage repeat purchase. The feedbacks from the customers will be saved in the database in order to extract important insights from them for further improvement in the product and online service. Architecture Plan The basic objective and aim behind the online business for the Kidz-Idz is to make sure that the website is not only attractive and interactive but it also should have proper and required functionalities and is responsive to the customers’ requirements and need, both internally and externally. For this purpose, architecture plan is devised in order to address the needs and requirements of infrastructure in effective and efficient manner. Infrastructure Needs: The overall website will be designed in such a manner that more and more customers can be attracted to the website. However, in order to make sure that the customers remain at the website and get indulge in transaction the overall process and experience of shopping should be enhanced. The success for the online business or ecommerce lies in the fact that the website provides the customers with easy and quick transaction process. Apart from this, the features which are not required by the customers should be removed (Coles, 2010). The website will be designed and developed in such a manner that all operations related to the online transactions of order and payments, marketing, supplier management, and customer relationship management can be integrated with the website. Website will consist of contact us form and also an online forum in order to contact the sales and customer representatives of the organization. The customers will be able to purchase products online. For this the purchase process will consist of minimum steps in order to save the time of the customers. At the end of each purchase process the customer will be provided with an invoice and code which can be used by the customer for order tracking in future. The website will have separate section for order tracking. Also, there will be a feedback form which will be used in order to get feedback from the customers. Infrastructure Sources: The website of the business will provide the complete functionalities associated with ecommerce and online transactions. Along with this the website will be user friendly and attractive. The service of renowned and credible online transaction service provider will be taken in order to make sure that the transaction process is safe and secure. As one of the major concern in the online business is related with the safety and security of the transaction and important information (Rayport & Jaworski, 2002). Also, the website will provide the customers with opportunity to directly interact with the customer representatives in order to solve any sort of query. The feedback, online query form, and contact us page will be directly linked with the backend database in order to keep a record. Apart from this the data about all online transactions will be also stored in order to keep a record of online sales and other associated information. Enterprise Resource Plan The key of the success for any business lies in the fact that all operations and departments of the organization strive for the achievement of the same goals and targets. This can become possible by the implementation of appropriate Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system. The implementation of Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will ensure that all operations of online transactions, marketing, customer relationship management, etc are integrated with each other (O’Leary, 2004). It is important for the business to make sure that all operations are connected and related with each other. As operations of all departments are dependent on each other and cannot be conducted in isolation. Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will allow the company to provide improved services to the customers at relatively lowered cost. The Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will be designed in such a way that all essential and required information will be available to the concerned personnel and decision makers. The ERP will interlink and interconnect the sales department, accounts department, procurement department, supply chain department, and customer relationship department. All the information about the online sales will be provided to the sales and procurement department in order to make sure that there are almost no chances of stock outs and the procurement department can initiate the process of sourcing and procurement for further products according to sales forecasting. Apart from this, once the customer will complete the online purchase process and payment will be made then one copy of invoice will be forwarded to the finance and accounts department with the help of ERP. Also, the information about the online sales will also be presented to the supply chain or distribution department in order make arrangements for transporting the product to the customer. All information and data from the contact us, feedback, and online query form will be redirected to customer relationship management department so that quick response can be provided to the customers. This will facilitate in the process of effective and efficient decision making and formulation of growth strategies for the business. Also, it will be make sure that the authority of viewing important data and information is only provided to the concerned and related personnel in order to avoid any serious issues and challenges at later stage (Holsapple & Sena, 2005). With the help of strong integration in the departments and operations of the organization, it will become possible to provide the customers with the option of customization. Apart from this, the organization will be able to keep a track of the sales and inventory and there will be low chances of stock outs. Well built and integrated Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will also facilitate in the process of forecasting and predicting the future sales and important customer trends. This in turn will allow the company to device proactive strategies to avoid any issues at the later stage. Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will also make it easy to integrate the suppliers and distributors in the whole transaction process and improve the supply chain management (O’Leary, 2004). Well built and well thought Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will help the company in the process of providing the customers with high standard and quality services. This in turn will increase the sales and profits of the organization, which is the main objective or target. Hence, the organization will give due consideration to the development and implementation of the effective Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system, which will be according to the needs and requirements of the business. Along with this, the Enterprise Resource Plan ERP system will assist the organization in the overall business management and formulating different strategies and plans for the future growth and development. The Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) system will be in harmony with the vision and values of the organization to make sure that all objectives are achieved in timely manner and the organization is heading towards the right way. So, this system will also provide the facility of checking and monitoring the progress and development of the organization. REFERENCES Haberberg, A, & Rieple, A (2008). Strategic Management: Theory and application. New York: Oxford University Press. Kotler, P, & Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Parker, R. (2010). Streetwise Relationship Marketing on the Internet: create one on one bonds with prospects and customers and keep them forever. Avon, MA, USA: Adams Media Corp. Coles, G. (2010). The Effects of Website Deign Consumer Trust in E-Commerce. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Rayport, J., & Jaworski, B. (2002). Introduction to E-Commerce. New York: McGraw-Hill. Holsapple, C., & Sena, M. (2005). ‘ERP Plans and Decision Support benefits.’ Decision Support Systems, 38(4), 575-590. O’Leary, D. (2004). ‘Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: An Empirical Analysis of Benefits.’ Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting, 1, 63-72, Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Kidz-IDz. Kidz Store. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Read More