Phone Credit Identity - a Multipurpose Gadget - Research Paper Example

Phone Credit Identity Introduction The technology market is always on the outlook for new products that are embracing advancement in this sector. Customers who are the end users must be people who can use the new a gadget. This has made the sector full of competition all through. PCI will be a specially designed gadget that serves three functions in one gadget. This includes being used as a cell phone, credit card and an identity card (ID). These functions were motivated by the fact that customer’s need for a multipurpose gadget has been on the increase. Apart from being multipurpose in nature, the gadget is also portable in that it is easy to carry around (Slawsky, 2005). Gadget will be used when performing transactions in the banking industry and other governmental authorities as identity cards by individuals who will possess it. The gadget will be easy to use as the technology employed had that as one of the factors that were put into consideration during its invention (Slawsky, 2005). The product will be readily available in shops that sell phones, computers and their accessories. Some of the shop that shall be used in the distribution and sale of this product will be those owned and managed by Nokia, Samsung, IBM, Apple which are just a few to mention. After acquisition, the customer will be required to pay a subscription fee only once. This means that subsequent subscription will be free. This will come along with some warranty which shall mean that incase of any complications or unintended breakdown of the gadget means free correction of the complication or even a replacement with a new gadget in case it cannot be repaired or corrected. For the credit card, there shall be no extra charges imposed on the customer a part from the monthly payments for the services rendered to them. This will in order for them to continue enjoying the services at a lower cost as compared to those who have not bought the gadget (Newman, 2010). 1.0 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis Slawsky (2005) argues that, like any product in the market, PCI will have to experience some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to it. Being a new product in the market will mean recording high sales after their first advertisement of the new product. This will be due to the fact that people will always be on the outlook for new products with the aim of testing whether they are effective as claimed in during their advertisement or not. The product will also have an advantage over the other products in the same line because of it being in the forefront in embracing new technology and advancing it to a higher level. Combining three functions in one gadget will mean that it will be riding above other similar product that are not that complex to perform several duties as one gadget. The fact that the gadget will be trying to keep up with the technology world of inventions will mean that customer who are lovers of new inventions will be out to look for the new gadget. The portability of the gadget will mean that people who don’t love bulky products will definitely go for it (Slawsky, 2005). When it comes to weaknesses, the product will be new in the competitive sector and therefore means it has to spend a lot of money and resources to counter the already existing competition at the time of its entry into the market. Despite the fact that the product might be loved by many people, getting it to the end user will be a challenge as there will be no outlets in various places that the gadget might be needed (Slawsky, 2005). Opportunities that exist for the product are that there is no monopoly in this field. This makes it a free and fair market to trade. As a result of the fact that people like to be associated with new products in the market which are doing well means that several individuals and other companies will be willing to provide financial support in order for the product to be successful. This will give the company a strong financial base to enable it advertise effectively for the product and even have it reach it potential customers in time. Few barriers in the field such as no restrictions to new entrant in the market will give it an easy entrance into the market and stabilize very first as compared to earlier time when the market was highly regulated. Cost of acquiring credit card separately is high and will there give the product an opportunity to convince customer who don’t have one the best reason to get PCI which combines the three functions in one(Newman, 2010). Finally the product will face several threats that if not properly looked into will mean failure. Some of them include, but not limited to stealing of the idea by other companies. This might happen if at all there is leakage of information before the actual release of the product into the market. Cooperation among competitor in this field will mean that PCI will experience tough time as it finds its way into the market. The competitor might come up with ill motive strategies to bring it down in case they feel threatened by the new product which will be in their line of products. Hiking of interchange rates by institutions such as bank will sabotage the efforts of the PCI manufacturing company. This will mean that the cost of making transaction will go up by a greater margin which in turn will discourage customer from using the product (Slawsky, 2005). 2.0 Marketing Strategy The sector where the new product will be launched is one that is full of competition since time immemorial. This has been attributed to the fact that new innovations and invention are being made daily. With this in mind and the fact that the market is already flooded with old guards make the situation even more serious. The company will be facing stiff competition from reknown companies such as Nokia, Samsung amongst others. The new product will be competing with products from these companies which have been in the market for quite along period of time and therefore have set up a strong customer base. Their customers have become loyal to an extent that convincing the otherwise will not be that easy. Being that PCI still does not have any record in the market put is at a disadvantage (Slawsky, 2005). . According to Newman (2010), for the effect of PCI to be felt will mean that it has to do a lot of advertising for its product for a considerable duration of time before it can be known to exist. It will also take some time to convince the already loyal customers to other companies to cross over and try the new product which they have never used before. 3.0 Microenvironment Analysis This will call for a more focused and target oriented type of market selection. The marketing department will have to come up with effective technique which will see the product sell despite the stiff competition already in the market. The way market is chosen must also be guided by the fact that it is full of competitor who have been in the field for substantial duration of time. This gives them an automatic advantage over new entrants such as PCI. The concerned people who will be doing the market selection will have to focus mostly in setting up strong customer base in the unexploited area as these area still bears potential customers. This will give them easy time in convincing customer who will not be that much conversant with other products from their competitors (Newman, 2010). Ability to focus on the demand for the product will guide the amount of product that an area will need. This will reduce if not eliminating the chances of undersupply for the commodity and oversupply in some areas and vice versa. PCI is considered a new product in the market in that it is the most recent in this line of products. It is considered unique and one of its own in this sector because of the fact that it combines three functions in one gadget. PCI can be said to be derived from these three words that is P from Phone, C from Credit card and I from Identity card. The name was arrived at because it is easier to recall as it touches basically on the major functions of the gadget. This makes advertising for the gadget becomes easy as the name explain everything about the product (Newman, 2010). PCI is considered a gadget that has been able to solve some of the problems and complication that were being experienced by customers earlier. The gadget has capitalized on the weaknesses of other products in the similar line and made advancement in that providing more services as compared to those from other companies. By factoring all these, manufacturers tend to argue that CPI will be the next big thing in the payment card industry. This is because it has provided more options from a single gadget which can now perform several important actions needed in the daily life of its customers. 4.0 Customer and Business Analysis Given that the business buying behavior is affected largely by certain factors like economical, and the perception of the company within the market (Berry & Linoff 2004). PCI as a product will compete well in the market. To justify this, considering the economic factors which are govern by regulatory changes, technology changes and competition, PCI has high rated level of technology based on its qualities and features, to cope up with the dynamic world of technology and business. It will also cater for the majority of the customer needs especially those in the business world, since it will provide most of the solutions to many of their problems related to business transactions. According to Berry & Linoff, (2004) consumer analysis is significant aspect in any market research, since it allows the product to establish the market and develop the business prospect. Based on the consumer benefits particularly the functional benefits, PCI will give its users variety of benefits such as improved technology, easy access to internet services and documentary records. In terms of the psychological benefits, this product given its physical appearance will boost the moral and self-esteem of its users hence making them feel powerful in the society. The customer’s profile This will be deduced from his/her buying behavior. Having established the customers’ needs and preference in the market, PCI will establish what the customer really need in the market, his buying behavior, the season he or she needs the product and the buying process of the customer. PCI as a product will always be available in all seasons to meet the demands of the client at any given time. 5.0 The name of the product The product will constantly be called PCI. This name has been chosen because of the intention of the products for its users. To elaborate, the name consists of three characters, P for phone, C for credit card, and I for identity card (ID). That’s make it easy for customers to remember it, and also it’s easy to recall it. To convey the meaning of the name PCI to the potential customers in the market, I will use mass media during the promotion and advertisement of the product. Owing to the troubles many people especially the people in business face during the business transaction such as loss of credit cards or Identification Cards during transaction, forgery of their valuable documents, PCI will come in handy and control some of these problems, this will make this product to gain fame among its users. Due to the level of technology in this product (PCI), many phone users particularly the business men will find it useful due to various reasons such as, the new technology in it which makes it easier to access the internet, Identification Card details, speed in work completion, easy accessibility to bank account details not to mention but a few. Decision in developing a brand strategy In every business, coming up with an effective or useful brand strategy that can make the business succeed in its operation is always quit challenging (Berry & Linoff, 2004). Businesses have insufficient information on what branding is all about and how to develop and working strategy are just doomed to fail. Prior to developing the brand strategy for PCI, it is significant to understand precisely the meaning of branding. Berry & Linoff (2004) further explains that a great brand is a product that has gained fame among its users and that they want to be part and parcel with it, and sharing in a way that they are expressing themselves with the product. Summarily, branding is vow to customers which then gives the ultimate experience for them. It is also the core or the essence for business meaning that it provides the significant component which dictates the direction of the company. This implies that when developing the brand strategy for PCI, the whole process should incorporate the all the business aspects right from the products development to advertising, promotion and marketing, including even hiring the decision makers of the company. Stages of Brand Strategy Development for PCI Essentially, the process of coming up with successful brand strategy lies in three main stages which are, strategy, development, and execution or implementation (Berry & Linoff 2004). However, care and emphasis must always be put at each stage just to make sure that all the business aspects are incorporated in the process. To handle this, PCI would ensure that it includes the product or service, the company itself, the staff or human resource and the targeted customers. The research stage will be highly keen on at several spheres, including the company’s profile, its products and services, the targeted market and in this case the mobile phone users in the business and other products offering similar services but from a different companies (competitors) such as the Blackberry, the Ipads and Ipods. All these aspects must be well understood and known prior to the development stage. Specifically, the research on PCI as a product will rest on the company’s philosophy, its targeted customers and what dictated their purchasing decisions, and researching on the benefits the PCI will offer its users. The number and strength of the competitors should also be put into consideration, and explaining the reason why PCI has an edge over its competitors and the reason it should be chosen over the rest of the products in the market. The brand positioning of PCI The mobile phone users especially those in the business world, who caries lots of business transactions in day to day running of the business is the targeted market for PCI. Therefore, PCI would be famous among its users because of the level of technology accompanied with it, and the effectiveness that will always come with its usage, since it will assist business community in making work easier for the during business transactions such as bank transactions as the businessman will not need to carry with him/her certain documents like Identification Cards and Credits Cards. This will also assist in curbing cases related to forgery of the hardcopy documents. All these reasons will make the consumer buy and like PCI. The concept of Brand Positioning Positioning generally implies the perception that is in the minds of the targeted market. It is the overall perception of the market over a given firm or company, its products or services, with respect to competitors’ perception offering the same products or services. Given that PCI will be entering the market for the first time and as a new product, it will labor to influence these perceptions through successful and effective strategic plan and actions. Based on marketing, positioning refers to as the process or means by which marketers try to form a positive identity or image in the minds of their potential customers, in essence, it is considered as the relative competitive comparison their product posses within a given market in relation to the targeted market. The Process of Positioning the PCI brand Positioning of the PCI brand will involve first, knowing in-depth the available competitors and the potential buyers or generally the market available for the products. It will also collect the information from various customers to find out on their perception about the PCI product. All these collectively will enhance proper awareness of the PCI and hence will make it compete effectively in the wider market of technology. 6.0 PCI is a new product that’s to be launched into the market and therefore, this implies that it will face stiff competition in future. This product will face competition from firms such as blackberry, Samsung, apple and LG which are multinational corporation companies from USA and South Korea. The company’s marketing department can be able to formulate various strategies so as to curb the problem of competition in the market place (Belch, 2009). There various competitors in the market especially those from apple and blackberry which adjust their products frequently to meet the market demands. The marketing department should check on its marketing segments and differentiation of its products to catch up with the ever dynamic technology. The PCI is at a better position because it combines all the necessities needed in business such transactions, communication and internet services all at once thus making business operations effective and efficient, as far as, communication, transactions and e-business services is concerned (Belch, 2009). All these services cannot be done by only credit cards or the identification card, but instead if these services are assembled, they will result into convenient, effective and efficient business operations that would lead to company growth. 7.0 PCI is a combination of three devices that is the cell phone, the credit card and the identification card. This product is launched into the market mainly to assist in the internet services, ease transactions in the bank and also to offer effective phone services. The product is durable and flexible on the basis of its functionality (Walters and Dana, 2007), which can be maintained through upgrading its parts frequently to meet the customers’ needs in the market.. This upgrading would also ensure full reliability for the customer to the product. Considering tangibility; the product is easy to use especially when carrying out business transactions. For instance, an individual is able to observe and touch the product as he or she operates its physically. When it comes to consumer goods, these goods cannot stay for a longer period of time, hence this product will ensure that these goods are suitably delivered through helpful communication and transactions. In addition, these three materials have undergone some form of fashioning that enhances the manufacturing of goods or services. Eventually when these three services are assembled together they enhance the speed of work, easy access to banks accounts and easy access to internet services in the business world. To make this product competitive in the market the company should practice vertical differentiation whereby the product is developed with a distinctive feature, from the rest and this would make it more competitive as compared to those from the apple, Samsung, LG and IBM. On the other hand, product line analysis is the process of examining a company’s product line by establishing whether the line is maximizing the company’s use of resources and is able to attain the strategic goals (Belch, 2009). The process entails assessing the volume and the type of product is present in the line. It is also necessary to check whether there is life-cycle stages of products based on, the segmentation, methods of marketing the PCI product from those segments, how the PCI is seen by customers in the market place and finally, how the resources to products are allocated within its line. 8.0 Consequently, the company should be able to outsource funds to improve manufacturing of a quality product that would match the needs of the consumer in the ever competitive market. The company should minimize fixed costs to incur a lot of profits and should also formulate strategies that enhance effective product delivery to the retailers. This can be done by ensuring that there are specific numbers of potential retailers in the market that facilitate the management of the customers and provide them with what they need. Therefore, retailers of level one are the best and convenient in this case since this is a new product, and it needs to spread quickly in the market to obtain a good market stability to generate a lot of profits for the company (Belch, 2009). On the other hand, when a contract is signed with an intermediary, it would effectively enhance the product’s familiarity to the consumers. This would also increase the level at which the product is convenient to the consumers. To enhance the products availability into the market the retailers should be trained on the sensitive concepts of marketing the product to boost the level of sales volume in the market. Push strategy involves introducing a new product or services to a consumer to create awareness of the products to a consumer at the point of purchase for instance: negotiating with the retailers to stock the PCI products (Belch, 2009). On the other hand, pull strategy entails motivating consumers to seek out more about the brand in an active process thus getting the customers to come by themselves for the products. This can be done through, carrying out sales promotions, discounts services, advertising and mass media promotion. A successful marketing strategy will often include elements of both the push and the promotion measurements. This form of strategy is very essential particularly, when you are introducing a new product in the market for the consumption of the consumers. In this case, the PCI product is to be sold directly through level one retailer that means that the manufactures need to persuade or convince outlets to purchase and stock the product. 9.0 Advertisement program for the PCI product Creating and bringing a new product in the market entails a lot of preparation thus consuming a lot of time. It is therefore, necessary to develop an advertisement program. Step one The new product sales goals and advertisement budget should be listed and the coordinator should work with the manufacturing department to develop an advertisement plan to reach potential consumers (Walters and Dana, 2007). This should be accompanied by a strong individual leadership that effectively coordinates the advertisement program. It is also necessary to obtain break-even and profit projections from the companies accounting system. There should be developed measurable sales goals that show a reflection of the product type and nearby environment. In addition, the sales goals should be divided by acceptable criterion, for instance, assigning a number of sales per sales individual Step two At this stage it is important to list the attributes and benefits of the PCI product which include high speed of completing work, easy access to bank accounts, internet access and cell phone services. Conversely, it is necessary to discuss the shape of the product and its appearance as this would form the basis of the advertising message. Step 3 It is necessary to create a marketing profile by collecting information about the target market. It is also necessary to study and learn more about the potential customer’s ages, income and levels of education. Equally, it is vital to obtain consumers’ leisure pursuits dining options and consumer purchasing habits relative to the PCI product in the market. Step 4 At this point there should be a strong concentration on the customers media use patterns and therefore, the preferences for potential customers’ should be identified (Walters and Dana, 2007). The advertisement program coordinator should facilitate what the typical customer prefers for instance newspaper with morning coffee or obtain news from a target social media preferred by the customers. Step 5 At this s level it is significant to concentrate on the social media market place which is a formidable advertising medium for the product. Marketing via social media is better than online media platform thus it is necccesary to conduct a research on social media to locate the right customers for the PCI product. Finally, an introductory advertising plan is necessary to accompany monthly and quarterly advertising budgets (Belch, 2009). The products are supposed to be reviewed in terms of its description and target market profile with the current marketing team. Considering the fact that this product will mostly be used by the youth, it is therefore, necessary to develop an advertising message that resonate them and this should be integrated in all the advertising materials. Consequently, it is important to obtain rates and current data from print and electronic media. This should be done by choosing the right electronic media, specify its size and frequency details. All this can be done perfectly by a graphic designer who will polish everything to look pleasant and appealing to the customers’. Sales promotion involves the marketing activities apart from personal selling (Walters and Dana, 2007). Advertisement and publicity which trigger consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness like displays, shows and expositions ,demonstrations and a variety of non-recurrent selling efforts which are not in the normal trend. In this situation, the amount of funds would determine the kind of promotion mix to be used. Therefore, all these activities should conform with the ethics involved in public relations whereby consumers should receive genuine information through sales promotions and at the same maintain good public relations between the firms as well. References Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (2009). Advertising and promotion: an integrated marketing communications perspective (8th Ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Walters, C., & Dana, L. P. (2007): Marketing principles (4th ed.). Auckland] N.Z.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Berry, M. J., & Linoff, G. (2004). Data mining techniques for marketing, sales, and customer relationship management (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Wiley. Newman, Robert C.. Computer security: protecting digital resources. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2010. Print. Slawsky, Jeff H.. Developing and managing a successful payment cards business. Aldershot, Hants, England: Gower, 2005. Print. Read More