E-Marketing Plan of BlackBerry Computers - Essay Example

? E-Marketing plan of BlackBerry Computers AFFILIATION: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 BlackBerry profile 5 Snapshot of Computer Industry 6 Situation Analysis 7 PESTEL Analysis 7 SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis: 8 Financial Cost 9 Target Market 9 E-Marketing Objectives 9 E-Marketing Mix Description 10 Product 10 Price 11 Place 11 Promotion 11 E-Marketing Strategies 11 BlackBerry Traditional and Online channels to reach customers 11 BlackBerry Online Marketing Tools 12 Implementation and Control 13 References 15 Appendix 17 Introduction Internet has revolutionized the way organisations do business these days and it has eased ample activities for the business. Now, every business can do every activity with few clicks and they just need to remain well-informed about the technological advancements that are happening these days. The organisations must design their business objectives and strategies in a way that take advantage of amenities provided by Internet (Smith and Chaffey, 2005). Likewise, Internet has opened diverse range of avenues for businesses to conduct their activities and the best opportunity given to companies is of E-marketing (Rossi et al., 2007). Hence, the strategy of reaching customers and enhancing the customer loyalty starts with a strong e-marketing plan. The brands whether old or new ones, all need to design an effective e-marketing plan for reaching the customers so that the company’s expansion plan is successful and the business can earn revenues as well (Krishnamurthy and Singh, 2005). E-marketing is the latest marketing strategy for all organisations these days and it offers ample advantages to the companies as it allows easy and direct access to the customers, makes tracking easier, saves a lot of time and cost and most importantly marketing efforts can be measured with utmost ease. Hence, E-marketing can be defined as the means of getting the company’s product or service or brand to the entire world in a glimpse via the use of effective electronic mediums such as Internet and World Wide Web (El-Gohary et al., 2008 and Grimes, 2010). In other words, E-marketing is the marketing of goods, services and information via various electronic mediums. For decades, researchers have used Internet Marketing, E-marketing, E-commerce and E-business interchangeably; however, there are differences between each terminology which can be expressed by the figure developed by El-Gohary (2010) as follows: In today’s market, it is vital for companies to do more than telling a story of innovative technology; they need to take advantage of technological advancements and attract customer flow to develop a good market share. Hence, companies need to develop effective e-marketing plans and strategies that have quantifiable goals and provide measurable impact to monitor the successful implementation of an e-marketing plan (Petrovic, 2009). According to Carmen et al. (2004), the conceptual framework of E-marketing is: The performance levels of the company can be measured with the co-alignment of the strategy with the firm’s internal and external context. The web strategy is made by taking account of 4 W’s as shown in the figure above to ensure that the marketing functions are effticient. The long-term performance of the company’s website is heavily dependent on the relationship with the customers and it will be the most important factor for measuring the company’s performance. Hence, the e-marketing plan of Blackberry’s computer will be designed following the conceptual framework as highlighted by Carmen et al. (2004). BlackBerry profile BlackBerry is among the top-rated and popular brands in the smart phone industry and the devices under the brand name are designed and developed by Research in Motion (RIM). The pioneer in the smart phone industry has introduced numerous products in the market taking advantage of the technological breakthroughs happening in the world. Almost all Blackberry devices are smart phones which are designed to perform functions similar to portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, personal digital assistants and many more. They are widely recognized for the ability to send and receive the instant messages and e-mail; simultaneously, the company ensures that there is high level of security on these devices (Mobile and Development, 2010). BlackBerry has a huge market share in the mobile devices and RIM is given the sixth ranking for the popular smart phone maker. As of 2011, Internet service of BlackBerry is available in around ninety-one countries and has coverage in over five hundred mobile service operators. Now, the company wants to launch computers under its brand name and want to develop an e-marketing plan for it. It can be successful in its e-marketing strategy if it implements the plan properly and reviews its performance continuously. Snapshot of Computer Industry The computer industry was booming in the early years of 21st century but the computer sales began to decline in the early 1990’s as the economy was weakening, the competition was getting tougher and price was deflating. The industry recovered a little bit in 2003 but it had to be restructured; as a result of restructuring in mid-2000, the market share of computer and computer equipment sellers was increasing but only of those who were doing online business. The computer stores still have tough competition from the online stores and also companies that have transformed from manufacturers to retailers such as Dell. Since 2000, the number of computer stores has declined and they have shifted to online businesses as the sales from this avenue are brighter. The companies are now shifting their attention to online marketing tools so that they can attract more customers and increase their profit margin as well (Easingwood, Moxey, and Capleton, 2006). The number of employees working in the computer industry is around 89,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2009. According to D & B Sales and Marketing Solutions Industry Reports, in 2009, there were more than 40,000 establishments that were doing retail sales of various computers, computer accessories such as equipments, printers etc. and computer software that had total value of $17.4 billion (Highbeam business, 2011). The report also revealed that the strongest sellers comprised of business and system utilities software along with security suite software. Therefore, the current trend of computer sellers is shifting to online retail sales with customized buying options for customers. Situation Analysis The situation analysis of BlackBerry computer will comprise of both External and Internal analysis as the company needs to analyze the environment before it launches its new product in the market. PESTEL Analysis PESTEL stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. Hence, the company will have to do PESTEL analysis to evaluate the factors that can hamper as well as support the launch of new product in the market. Since the product will be first introduced in the US market, the political condition in the country is stable and the rules and regulations for launching the new product will be easy to follow. However, for E-marketing, the company will need to understand the new rules and regulations that have been recently introduced by the government to boost the concept of e-marketing and ensure that the privacy of the customers remains secured. Since the transactions are mainly done online via credit cards and other payment systems, the company will have to ensure that the contents of the website are secured and no one can access the private information except for the authorized personnel. The technological advancements happen on a continuous basis so it will be vital for the company to ensure that effective mechanisms are in place to be assured that the computers are up to date and have all the latest features that are demanded by the customers. The economy is getting out of recession and the rise in people’s incomes and earning power ensures that people will buy computers for their personal uses. However, BlackBerry will have to do a lot of effort to attract the customers towards its website. The social environment is also conducive as the people are now shifting to online shopping for all their purchases and they are even now using computers as a basic necessity. Since the people of US are technologically savvy so the company will not have so much difficulty in launching the computer. The main competitors of BlackBerry are Dell, Toshiba, HP, Apple, Acer and Vaio. However, the direct competition is from Apple as both brands have almost the same range of products and getting the market share in such a tough competitive environment will be a bit difficult. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Strong market presence Loyal customer base Corporate website Effective marketing campaigns Highly skilled and trained management and workforce Limited resources for new market Less experience in computer market Limited options for e-marketing Opportunities Threats Diversify in international markets where BlackBerry is present Transform from online seller to online retailer Start manufacturing computer accessories Stricter government regulations Slump in economic growth cycle Increase in interest rates More tighter consumer protection laws Financial Cost Since BlackBerry already has market presence and has contracts with marketing agencies; it will just have to review some additional costs in case it uses any of other advanced e-marketing techniques such as Click-through costs, Database management expenses, Creative web design costs, List rental fees and copyright acquisition in case it develops its own website. Hence, the most effective way for BlackBerry will be to design a separate website for its computers so that it works as a separate entity. Target Market The target market for BlackBerry computers can be divided into two i.e. one is the existing market and the other will be the business organisations such as head offices and other buildings of multinational companies. The company will first target its existing customer base which means that it will first try to sell the computers to its existing smart phone users so that the customer loyalty gets enhanced. The computers will be designed specifically for the businesses so that they can properly do their everyday transactions easily. E-Marketing Objectives Since the computer market has been restructured and is now again in the growth stage, so BlackBerry is projecting growth and is expecting to meet the customer demand by making customized products for them. BlackBerry has already placed order in its manufacturing plant in Asia and it has been rumoured that it has ordered about 30,000 computer parts. The primary marketing objective of BlackBerry e-marketing is to facilitate the revenue generation so that the market growth is profitable and it will be done along with on-line and off-line marketing activities which are consistent and effectively co-ordinated with the brand image of BlackBerry. Hence, the objective of BlackBerry e-marketing campaign for computers can be broken down into following elements: 1. To increase the image and awareness of BlackBerry computer as an innovative and distinctive product of the company while limiting the cannibalization of BlackBerry smart phone sales and image which is developed among its users. 2. Efficiently and cost-effectively promote BlackBerry smart phones, computers and other products in physical stores and on-line at the BlackBerry store by offering wide range of options for customers in terms of price, design, features and components. The marketing objectives will be measured by applying the evaluation tools as discussed in the implementation and evaluation section. E-Marketing Mix Description Product The computer of BlackBerry will have distinctive features from already existing computer in the market. The size of the PC will be mediocre so that the screen size is appealing for eyes and isn’t straining to the eyes at all. The interface of the computer will be elegant and simple, the memory space will be large to hold numerous data, battery life will be long, will allow Wi-Fi connectivity, high Intel processor will be used and will have all the basic facilities that are vital part of the computers such as USB Ports, Cable ports, DVD writer and etc. Price The price of the computers will be in between $300-$1,000 as it will vary among the customers’ orders. However, for initial two months after the launch of computers, the customers will be given the option of buying the computers at discounted prices. Place The computers will be sold online on BlackBerry’s online store and the company will itself act as a retailer. Although some computers will be distributed on limited retail stores but only for certain time period to create brand awareness. Promotion The promotional activities will be done in collaboration with the brand image of BlackBerry and the products will be of high quality and will be made with highly innovative technology so that it has all the features that the customers are looking for. The promotional theme will be simple, elegant, sophisticated, high-tech and innovative. E-Marketing Strategies The basic foundation of BlackBerry e-marketing strategy will be as follows: 1. Bring the customers on the website 2. Serve them well 3. Learn about the customer’s personalities 4. Induce the customers to make repeated purchases BlackBerry Traditional and Online channels to reach customers Blackberry can implement following techniques for promoting its new computers: 1. Above The Line (ATL) activities – The Company can do promotions on TV channels such as The Daily Show on Comedy Central, TBS, TNT, VH1 and MTX; magazines and newspapers such as The Economist, Harvard Business Review, Oracle and etc. 2. Below The Line (BTL) activities – BlackBerry can do promotional activities via posters, brochures, billboards and viral marketing. 3. Direct Marketing – It can be done via two ways i.e. online channels which will comprise of SMS, MMS and e-mails and bulk SMS which is the unique message sent to multiple recipients. BlackBerry Online Marketing Tools BlackBerry will implement the following digital marketing tools for attracting the customers to try its new product: 1. Placement of advertisement banners and interactive ads on most popular search engines such as Yahoo and Google; websites news portals which have focus on innovative technology and news. The company will try to get placement on various search engines so that when the computer or Blackberry keyword is typed, the user is given the link to BlackBerry’s website. 2. BlackBerry can also opt for search marketing in which it will have to pay the search engines for their ads to turn up when the customer is searching for a similar keyword on a search engine. 3. Viral Marketing will be done via the chat rooms, e-marketing buzz on technological stuff and technology blogs. The company will start its own blog which will create linkage to technology sections of the new organisations such as CNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNET, Wall Street Journal and many other technology related websites. 4. Email solicitation will be carefully monitored for the potential computer user. The customers will be asked to give their feedback about BlackBerry’s products and will be asked to give recommendations as well. 5. Cross promotion will be done with social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn along with tech carrier services such as Vonage and Skype. These efforts will help to attract the customers and reaching the customers will be easy. 6. Beta Test market will be done via a small on-line community either with or without free Wi-Fi service with different tech carriers so that the problems, features, price points and various Internet marketing strategies will be discussed as well. Implementation and Control The marketing efforts of BlackBerry computer will be reviewed monthly as the technological advancements take place on an ongoing basis and new products are introduced quickly as well. The initial source of evaluation for the company will be the difference in the estimated and actual sales of the product. On the website, the customers will be allowed to give their feedback about the product features and the existing customers will be asked to participate in the survey of the computers. However, some of the evaluation tools that will be used to measure the performance are as follows: 1. Keep track of the current and potential customers of BlackBerry smart phones and computers by tracking the traffic clicks and exposure to banner ads on the website from cross-linked and redirected links created for promotional purposes of BlackBerry on media channels or websites targeted in the marketing tactics and key browsers or key search engines. 2. Carry out customer satisfaction surveys and gather information from customer reviews on various blogs and review the customer feedback by selecting the users from Beta test market both current and potential ones. 3. The evaluation of direct sales and surveys and e-mails designed for follow-up purpose with products recently purchased will give a proper indication about the customer’s satisfaction level and how successful the product is in view of the customers. Hence, it is expected that BlackBerry computer will meet the customers’ expectations and with more advancements in technology, more heavily designed and technologically sophisticated computers will keep on coming in the market. Hence, if BlackBerry is able to satisfy its target market, it will definitely be able to get the market share with ease. References Business, 2011. Computer and Computer software stores. [Online] Available at: http://business.highbeam.com/industry-reports/retail/computer-computer-software-stores [Accessed 6 May 2012] Carmen, L., Lages, L.F. and Rita, P., 2004. The Relationship between E-Marketing Strategy and Performance: A Conceptual Framework in a Web Context. Business Process Management Journal, 13, pp. 714 - 730. Easingwood, C., Moxey, S. & Capleton, H., 2006. Bringing High Technology to Market: Successful Strategies Employed in the Worldwide Software Industry. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 23(6), p.498-511.  El-Gohary, H., 2010. Expanding TAM and IDT to understand the adoption of E-Marketing by small business enterprises. International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management (IJCRMM), 1 (3), pp. 56-75. EL-Gohary, H., Trueman, M. and Fukukawa, K., 2008. The Relationship between E-Marketing And Performance: Towards a Conceptual Framework in a Small Business Enterprises Context. Journal of Business and Public Policy, 2 (2), pp. 10-28. Grimes, A., 2010. Towards an integrated model of low attention advertising effects: A perceptual conceptual framework European Journal of Marketing, 42, pp. 69 - 86. Krishnamurthy, S. and Singh, N., 2005. The international E-Marketing framework (IEMF): Identifying the building blocks for future global E-Marketing research. International Marketing Review, 22, pp. 605 - 610. Mobile, W. & Development, A., 2010. Smartphone Cross-Platform Development, Apress. Rossi, M., Tuunainen, V. K. and Pesonen, M., 2007. Mobile technology in field customer service: Big improvements with small changes. Business Process Management Journal, 13, pp. 853 - 865. Smith, P. R. and Chaffey, D., 2005. E-Marketing excellence: at the heart of e-Business, Oxford, UK: Butterworth Heinemann. Petrovic, D., 2009. Principles of e-Marketing. Oxford: Oxford University Press Appendix Projected Results of a planned e-mail promotion $ Prices of product sold via Promotion 40 Other charges (postage and handling etc.) 2 Adjusted price of products 42 Variable costs: Cost of product or service 12 List rental (per 1,000) 5 Handling and order processing cost (per unit) 2 Packaging expenses (per unit) 3 Shipping costs (or digital delivery charger per unit) 5 Variable cost per unit of filling order 22 List rental cost per unit sold 1 Fixed costs (for entire campaign): Creative costs 1000 Other fixed costs 2000 Total fixed costs 3000 Contribution margin per unit 20 Number of orders to break-even 150 units Response rate to break-even 0.150% Projected response rate 0.5000% Number of e-mails to be sent 100000 Projected number or orders 500 Projected Revenue $21,000 Projected Total Contribution Margin $10,000 Projected Net Income $6,500 Projected ROI of Mailing 46.43% Testing E-mail promotion $ Number of e-mails sent in test 10,000 Number of orders received 60 Response rate of test 0.6000% Prices of product sold via Promotion 40 Other charges (postage and handling etc.) 2 Adjusted price of products 42 Variable costs: Cost of product or service 12 List rental (per 1,000) 5 Handling and order processing cost (per unit) 2 Packaging expenses (per unit) 3 Shipping costs (or digital delivery charger per unit) 5 Variable cost per unit of filling order 22 List rental cost per unit sold 0.63 Fixed costs (for entire campaign): Creative costs 1000 Other fixed costs 2000 Total fixed costs 3000 Contribution margin per unit 20 Number of orders to break-even 150 Response rate to break-even 0.150% Projected response rate 0.6000% Number of e-mails to be sent 100000 Projected number or orders 600 Projected Revenue $25,200 Projected Total Contribution Margin $12,000 Projected Net Income $8,500 Projected ROI of Mailing 52.47% Read More