Management Strategies - Essay Example

Section Introduction: In seeking to market a new product, management of a marketing strategy and the means that this is accomplished is perhaps even more essential than the quality or brilliance of the product itself. As a direct result of this, the following analysis will be contingent upon how marketing and management strategies for iDesign could help to achieve a greater level of success for the entry level brand and product. In this way, advertisement and marketing can provide a powerful benefit to the eventual success or failure of the firm in question. 2: Aims and Objectives: The ultimate aim and objective for this report will be to provide leadership/management with actionable levels of engagement that they can pursue as a means of effectively presenting iDesign to the market. Whereas it is true that there are a number of key pitfalls and challenges that are presented with respect to launching any new firm within an already saturated market, the analysis and discussion will keep these relevant difficulties in mind and seek to leverage a better understanding for how management and marketing strategies, if effectively employed, can seek to increase the potential for the brand within the market. 3: About the Brand: The brand will seek to combine a high level of technical innovation and 3D printing capabilities within the nexus of cutting edge fashion and person style; thereby allowing the individual to custom order those style and designs that they feel best suits their own personal tastes. By focusing on innovation, technology, and sustainability, the brand will help to differentiate itself greatly from the many other offerings that already exist within the bloated and saturated clothing/textile market. What Makes the Brand Special? As has been noted previously, the brand is unique due to the fact that it directly elicits customer input as a means of creating each unique article of fashion. However, beyond this, the focus and drive towards presenting earth conscious and sustainable products directly to the consumer market without the added worry of ethics and potential sweat shop labour abuse, the firm stands well apart from the many competitors that it seeks to leverage market share from. 3.1: Importance of Innovation: Rather than being merely sustainable and promoting a level of ethical care for the environment and workers in third world/underdeveloped nations, the brand places a high premium on the importance of innovation; as is evidenced by the cutting edge use of expensive 3D printing technology (Akroush, 2012). The drive to focus on technology and innovation will see the brand re-invent itself and present new options to the consumer who would otherwise be somewhat constrained by seasonal offerings that other clothing merchants could represent to them. 4: Customer Profile: A cursory profile of the potential consumer is an individual within a broad demographic; either male or female. The ultimate rational behind this demographic focus has to do with the fact that fashion purchases and unique personal tastes transcend barriers of race, culture, gender, or age. Moreover, the current consumer represents more and more individuals that are most keen to promote sustainable business and interested in new technological means by which their daily needs can be fulfilled (Nikolopoulos & Yannacopoulos, A 2010). 5: Interview Findings: Interview findings reveal that individuals are both interested in the sustainable aspects of the firm’s business idea as well as the potential for cost savings that can be exhibited alongside the 3D printing of garments. However, an added benefit that was not expected to be focused upon by the consumer was with regard to the emphasis that they placed upon the lack of 3rd world labour that was necessary to provide such products to the market (Gallicano, 2013). Ultimately, it became clear that the consumer saw the ability of the garments to be produced in store and on site as a massive benefit and say ethical concerns regarding sweat shop labour as tantamount to the issues that have thus far been discussed concerning the environment. Marketing: Marketing Mix - Place: The brand will launch in Hong Kong; with one of the first store locations within Hong Kong’s famous “Shopping Paradise’; home to a great variety of fashion brands. Further, as tourism is a major element of the Hong Kong economy, the number of visitors received can be maximized. An ultimate regional economic goal is for iDesign to help create interest within the Hong Kong fashion community and drive the way in which further products and technological innovation within fashion is represented in the near future. Marketing Mix - Product Products will not be limited to simple t-shirts of other such expected articles of clothing; instead, the products will include crop-tops, sweatshirts, skirts, iphone cases, hand bags, vests, and a variety of other high volume fashion accessories that are composed of cotton, polyester, and recycled plastics. Naturally, with the flexibility of design that exists within 3D printing technology, the scope and rate at which the product offerings can be varied is virtually without limit (Morimoto & Chang, 2014). Marketing Mix – Promotion: The promotion of the product will be limited within the initial stages; due in part to financial constraints and the inability to engage in a multi-million dollar ad blitz. However, within this constraint in mind, it should be noted that the product itself is somewhat novel and unique; allowing it to be represented within the market in a way that maximizes its own self promotion ability. Management and leadership can utilize this to ensure that the displays and stores that are first opened seek to capitalize on the way in which such promotion takes place and the means through which the initial understanding of the product is represented to the consumer. Marketing Mix – Price: Whereas the price will be comparable to other clothing options, the novelty of this product is what is ultimately expected to sell it within the initial stages. Once the product is able to catch on and be represented within further markets and greater overall demand can be replicated elsewhere, the ability to lower costs and provide even further incentives to integrate with the product will be evident to the consumer (San-Yih & Wan-Shiou, 2008). 6.2 Points of Parity Points of Difference One of the biggest opportunities that the start-up has for competing with the likes other well established firms is the fact that it is a newcomer in the market and not affiliated with either of these large well known brands. Although being little known is always a dangerous point to start from, within the fashion and clothing market, seeking to separate oneself from those mega firms that produce fashion on a massive and mechanized scale and have the reputation for sacrificing quality and individuality for assembly line production of goods can be a net positive (Steyn & Niemann, 2014). Secondly, with respect to the level to which the firm can hope to differentiate itself from the competition, this will depend upon a series of things (Jin-Hui et al., 2013). Firstly, brand image must be something that necessarily captures the attention of the consumer while at the same time providing a resonance with regards to representing the manner by which the differentials between the product offering and that of the major brands can be readily determined and utilized. Additionally, the niche market must be understood as a means by which the product is able to engage and interest the customer (Nazari-Shirkouhi et al., 2013). As a means to accomplish this differentiation, the promotion tactics must seek to reach not only the individual consumer but also those secondary consumers who will in turn provide the product to their consumers; i.e. restaurants. In this way, the marketing will need to rely on both traditional advertising while at the same time providing the product at cost or below cost to the secondary consumers as a way of attracting them to deviate from the arrangements they may have already with the brand names of others (Christ-Martin, 2013). Naturally, this will require a large amount of initial funding; however the rewards of which can easily prove to be very rewarding in the long run. With respect to how this will necessarily change within 5 years time, as long as the marketing plan detailed above shows that it has worked, the firm will need to provide a higher level of focus on the primary consumer once a solid secondary base has been developed. 7: PR/Advertising: Due to the fact that one should assume that the number of struggling businesses is unlimited within the given region, it would make a great deal of sense for the start up to seek to build relationships with each and every one of those targeted businesses that they wish to place the iDesign units within (Dyall et al., 2009). Due to the fact that a more broad based marketing approach would be sure to blanket the market, as well as waste a large amount of valuable resources on needless advertisement, a more focused approach is advisable as a means to target the key shareholders who would stand to benefit the most from the services that the startup has to offer (Kwong et al., 2011). There are a number of ways that this could be initiated. Firstly, simple face to face marketing could be targeted in a manner in which the consulting firm representative makes a purpose to drop in on the place of business of the firm’s owner/management (Kirmani & Wright, 1989). Alternatively, a group meet and greet could be conducted whereby the consultancy startup would provide a catered lunch to the interested shareholders while at the same time acquainting them with the offerings that the startup has with reference to their specific needs (Yu-Xin, 2011). In short, a personal approach is highly more effective in such an instance than a more generalized marketing approach (Sethi et al., 2008). 8: Conclusion: Ultimately, there are many nuances in the way that the brand launch can be facilitated as a means of improving upon its marketing approach and concept with the consumer (Martin, 1995). As such, the approaches that have thus far been elaborated on are of course the core approaches that this student believes will be the most successful if followed and allowed to direct the means by which the company seeks to develop in the future. Bibliography Akroush, MN 2012, Organizational capabilities and new product performance: The role of new product competitive advantage,Competitiveness Review, 22, 4, pp. 343-365, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 May 2014. Christ-Martin, G 2013, Out with the Old, In with the New Management Model, Industry Week/IW, 262, 12, pp. 34-36, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 May 2014. Dyall, L, Tse, S, & Kingi, A 2009, Icons and Marketing of , International Journal Of Marketing Science, 7, 1, pp. 84-96, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 May 2014. Gallicano, T 2013, Relationship management within generations, Public Relations Review, 39, 3, pp. 222-225, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 May 2014. 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