Brave Software Companys Main Rivals - Assignment Example

 Brave Software Company’s Main Rivals Marketing strategy Brave Software Company competes with its main rivals in software based products on brand basis. This has created an inter-brand competition environment in the market. When firms are said to be involved in inter competition, the business rivalry is plainly on the basis of company labels or brands (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2002). Competitors’ strengths Brave Software Company’s main rivals have been perceived to have strong brand logos that make it simple for their products to be identified by the customers in the market. This has further contributed to continued dominance and relatively high share of the market. Also, most of these firms were founded long before Brave Software Company came into being. Therefore, their brands are better positioned in the market than Brave Software Company’s brands. Also, most of the Brave Software Company’s competitors have a bigger work force than that of the Brave Software Company. Competitor’s weaknesses Nevertheless, Brave Software Company’s competitors have weaknesses too. Most of these firms have been perceived as being less ‘technologically conscious’. Also, these competitors charge a relatively higher price on the software-based products and rely more on the traditional methods of advertising to reach out to their customers in the market. Differentiation strategy This is a plan aimed at reaching out to a particular segment of the market by developing a unique product that is more appealing to the customers (Simons, 2000). Different firms may therefore produce a similar item but they cannot sell exactly the same product in the market. Each of these firms has to package, price and even quantify the product in such a way that it looks different from the similar products in the market. In this case, Brave Software Company has embarked on a low-price strategy. Following the fact that most of the other companies in the industry charge a relatively high price on the software-based products, Brave Software Company has embarked in producing similar products at relatively lower prices. Further, these products have been developed in a way that they target a specific market and not the entire market. The company has also capitalized on specific advertising mechanisms to reach out to specific group of customers in the market. Further, the company has a strong brand positioning statement. Company’s intention Having been established in the year 2010, Brave Software Company has worked towards providing the best software solutions to its respective customers. The company also aspires to grow beyond the geographical borders into the international market. In this regard, the company has always targeted the gold award for best software-based solutions every year. This is clear evidence that the company works extremely hard towards becoming a leader in the industry and not just a follower. Level of impact of the salient macro-environmental issues In an organizational set-up, the macro-environment is normally made up the external factors that adequately influence the activities of the businesses and of which are uncontrollable. They not only affect the decisions made by the particular businesses but also influence the business strategies and performance in the market. Such factors include legal, social, economic and technological factors (Madhavaram, Badrinarayanan, & McDonald, 2005). In the past five years, there has been development and implementation of new trade laws and labor regulations in United States. This has had an impact on the activities of the different companies operating in the different states of America. It is therefore obvious that such trade regulations and labor regulations automatically have an effect on the business activities of Brave Software Company. Also, fluctuations in the interest rates in the American economy have a significant influence on demand and supply of the goods as well as the prices of goods and services in the different markets. This has an influence on the prices, demand and supply of Brave Software Company’s software-based products. Further, the cultural diversity of the America society today as a nation and growth of communication strategies such as the social media platforms have resulted in consumer’s changing taste and preferences. These factors therefore have to be considered by Brave Software Company when developing an appropriate marketing strategy. Marketing research tools Brave Software Company may use the market research tools to assess the customer’s reaction to their different products and to measure the impact of the market decisions that are made by the company. Such market research tools include: surveys, focus groups and the social networks. Surveys Surveys are normally used to collect information, opinions and ideas from the different customers. As a research tool it is adopted following the fact that they can be administered in person, through mail or even online. The administered surveys were formatted in way that they required short answers to the questions with multiple choices. Focus groups Focus groups as a research tool are normally integrated following its ability to adequately provide first hand information on the respective products in the market. The focus groups are normally designed to constitute groups of individuals who are part of the target market of the company. Social Networks Social networks; Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are integrated by different companies of the world since they are platforms where individuals freely share their true feeling concerning the different products, brands and ideas. Through social networks, companies are able to adequately receive the review the customer’s perception concerning its product what further influenced the company’s marketing strategy. Implementation strategy A good implementation strategy normally allows the company to effectively integrate a plan in a step-by-step process. Normally, implementation strategies include time limit and the activities to be involved in the process. Phases Time Activities and responsibilities Phase 1 The first week The marketing manager carefully reviews the marketing strategy. Phase 2 The second week The marketing manager develops adequate goals that were to be realized on implementation of the market strategy and notifies the sales staff of their different roles in the implementation process. Phase 3 By the end of the second week The marketing manager selects a team that was to work with him in implementing the market strategy. Phase 4 After one month The marketing manager conveys meetings with the sales staff involved in the implementation process to assess the progress on achievement of the goals and objectives and discuss what is to be adjusted to enhance achievement of the goals and objectives. Phase 5 After two to three months The marketing manager notifies the upper management on the progress made in the implementation process and the achievements made. Five year expansion plan In the next five years, the Brave Software Company wants to achieve the following: Obtain finances to be able to expand its manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Increase its sales revenues by 50 percent A grow of at least 20 percent in market share every year. Sales revenue graph US Dollars 6,000 sales revenues 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Market share growth graph Market share in Percentage 28.00 24.00 20.00 16.00 12.00 Sales revenue 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Social media that would be used Facebook Facebook is a social network platform what has been perceived to adequately enhance efficiency and effectiveness of communication between family members, workers, coworkers and friends. Having been founded in the year 2004, Facebook has grown to become the largest and the most popular social media of the world with more than two hundred million subscribers (Wilson, 2009). In the past years, Facebook has been associated with benefits such as low cost when used as an advertising medium, essential in providing free interaction between the customers and the businesses as well as having the capabilities of creating a direct contact with the clients and the potential clients (Kittinger et.al, 2012). Twitter Twitter is perceived to be the second largest social network after Facebook and is regarded better than Facebook for the ability to establish a platform where different persons can communicate in short real-time messages (Waters & Williams, 2011). Therefore, the interaction between the business and the respective clients is in this case real-time. Through use of Twitter, it is also possible for a business to analyze how a particular brand is performing in the market and it is possible to track the brands through API (Waters & Williams, 2011). Performance standards Business service expectation This is important in determining the customer’s experience in the company. In this regard, the marketing manager adequately assesses the interactions between the sales staff and the customers and the customers’ concerns are learnt in a friendlier way. After which the manager may set new parameters to act as guidelines. Communication This is adequate in determining how the different employees communicate with the respective customers and business clients. In this case it involves all employee-customer or client interactions; telephone, email, in-person or even written interactions. Monitoring methods Sales report Sales reports are used by the management in analyzing the trend in the company’s sales volume within a certain period of time. In this case, the sales reports are vital for Brave Software Company in analyzing whether the sales are increasing or declining. This way, the respective managers are in a position to undertake the necessary course of action. Feedback By carefully analyzing the feedback from the stakeholders, a business can be able to assess its performance. The feedback may not always be from the respective customers and suppliers but can also emanate from the team members or even other departments. Financial Control methods Financial statements All companies and businesses are mandated by law to maintain proper books of account. Amongst these records are profit and loss accounts that reveal a summary of the business incomes and expenses for a certain period of time and a statement of financial position that depicts the financial position of the company or business as a particular time. Break Even Analysis The breakeven point in a business is normally a point where the business has no profit. Above the breakeven point the business makes profit but below this particular point the business incurs loss. Breakeven point in this regard will be an adequate finance control device for Brave Software Company. Company’s Potential Performance Brave Software Company has an adequate work force that comprises of well-trained, skilled and talented individuals who work hard towards realizing the company’s goals and objectives. Also, the company has a committed management to expanding the business into the international markets and works towards ensuring a good working environment for the employees. In the recent past, Brave Software Company has revealed a substantial growth in the market share of its software-based products in the market following the fact that Brave Software Company is ‘technologically conscious’ hence quite conversant with the world’s newest technologies. This places the company in a perfect position to adequately expand on its brands market and adequately earn a substantial market share. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) The most relevant integrated marketing communications in this case are social media; Facebook and Twitter, digital bill boards and print media. The three are also perceived adequate in building the brand image of the software-based products and further aid in raising the brand awareness in the market (Madhavaram et al., 2005). References Fleisher, C., & Bensoussan, B. (2002). Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kittinger, R., Correia, C. J., & Irons, J. G. (2012). Relationship between Facebook use and Problematic Internet use among College Students. Cyber Psychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 15(6), 324-327. Madhavaram, S., Badrinarayanan,V., & McDonald, R. (2005). Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) and Brand Identity as Critical Components of Brand Equity Strategy: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions. Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 69-80. Simons, R. (2000). Performance Measurement and Control Systems for Implementing Strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Waters, R. D. & Williams, J. M. (2011). Squawking, Tweeting, Cooing, and Hooting: Analyzing the communication patterns of government agencies on Twitter. Journal of Public Affairs, 11(4), 353-363. Wilson, J. (2009). Social networking: the business case. Engineering & Technology, 4(10), 54-56. Read More