Marketing Simulation - Research Paper Example

Marketing Simulation for Round 5 Company Analysis at the end of Round Five Market Outlook The market for smart phones is shrinking gradually due to the increase in the number of smart phone makers in the market. Most of the companies are targeting the high-end segment of the market i.e. high-end companies and households while concentrating less on the lower end segment. This is the main reason for the shrinking market share in the market since most smart phone users originate from this segment of the market. This therefore means that there is potential in the lower-end segment, which can be exploited especially in the Asian market. Advertising remains a key tool of reaching the consumers in all segments. Research indicates that most of the consumers responded well to advertisements in most of the segments except for the corporate segments. Overall, the company should put more focus on creating products and advertisements aimed at the normal and lower end segment of the market. Competition Competition is extremely fierce in the smart phone market. The main competitors are Best Sport, Brandy A1, Super Sport1, H2 and O2. Ocean Blue is the biggest threat since its range of Sport products are the market leaders in Europe. Most people in the other markets also prefer the products to the others. For instance in the above chart, they are preferred by most households (both average and high end), and companies. Ochre is also a significant threat due to its main product, the iConnect 900. This product is dominating the Asian market, which is proving to be tricky for the Orange team to penetrate. The U Smart developed by the Creative team also dominates the Asian market. The U Smart follows the iConnect 900 in market domination. The Orange team is trying to put strategies that will improve its situation in the two markets. In terms of share price, the Orange team had an increase of approximately 10%. This is however not productive enough compared to its main competitors such as MFKA. MFKA had the biggest achievement in performance since their share price increased to approximately 300%. This can be considered as the biggest achievement in the market so far. The Read Teams on the other hand had an increase that exceeded 200%. The Ochre teams had an increase of approximately 10 percent, which is roughly near the Orange team’s performance level. Customers From the market outlook chart above, most of the customers are derived from households and companies. On average, most of the customers are derived from general households. The high-end households also contribute a large portion but particularly in Europe. In Asia, the sales in the high-end households have dwindled to the extent that there are negative sales in this particular segment. The companies follow the household in usage in both Europe and Asia. However, in Asia, the reception in the high-end companies has been poor compared to the European market. Marketing Research The team has three phones in the European market that are SSKE 1, SSKE 3 and SSKE 4. In the Asian market, the team has one phone, the SSKE2A. The SSKE4 I is the best performer in the European market followed by the SSKE1. Most high-end companies prefer the SSKE4 while the ordinary companies prefer the SSKE1. Therefore, it can be concluded that most of the consumers in the region are derived from companies. The phone model on sale in the Asian market mainly targets the lower end segment of the market. The product has received significant reception in the general households and companies. By not focusing on improving the product to suit the high- end segment of the market, the company is losing on sales in this segment in Asia. The team also has not emphasized enough on creating enough awareness of the product in the region compared to the awareness in Europe. Furthermore, introducing only one product in the region is not a feasible strategy. The team should introduce more products in the region to compete effectively with the competitors. The team also channeled most of its resources in advertising and channel investments. This caused a reduction in operating profits for the team. The team should have reduced the investment in the two divisions considering that most phone companies have their own niche in the market. The curved out section will always buy the products. Furthermore, the investment was done without introduction of more new products. The money would have been used for research and development instead. Marketing Plan Marketing Mix The actual products should have captivating brand names. Due to many varieties in the market, the design of the phones should be unique. This should serve as the main attracting feature especially for the women. The features should also be technologically advanced than the current versions on the market. Additionally, for the phones to be trusted by the customers, the quality of the products should be unrivalled. The teams should ensure that the quality meets accepted global standards. Lastly, the packaging should be attractive enough to give the customers a unique experience while opening the new products. Most phone manufactures package their products in ordinary boxes but the teams should develop a unique approach in packaging. The price of the commodities should be directly proportional to the benefits the user will derive from using the products. Customers should attach some value to the team’s products. This should serve to gain customer confidence and satisfaction. For the expensive phones, the customers should be able to relate the price with the benefits they will derive from using the products such as longer battery life and enhanced features. These will make the customers to choose the products over the competitor’s due to the benefits they will get from using the teams products. The team should also promote the products. For instance, they should advertise their products particularly in the segments that have low volume of sales. The team should issue a three-year warranty to its customer after they purchase the products. This is to ensure that the customers are satisfied with the purchased products. Furthermore, there must be after sales services such as helping new customers learn the features of the new phones. The team should also review the distribution channels in the various markets. For instance, this plan recommends intensive distribution to ensure that the customers encounter the products everywhere they go (Fifield 1998, p.23). Product Mix Product mix refers to the set of all the product lines and items the teams will produce for the consumers in the different markets. The product mix consists of the length, depth, width and consistency with the length i.e. the total number of products in the product lines. The teams should develop products that range from expensive to cheap products to gain control of all segments of the markets. Depth refers to the number of versions of each product. The teams should develop versions of the products that are current market leaders. For instance, a version of the SSKE2A should be developed that has a longer battery life. Additionally, there should be a variety of products, which target the low-end segment of the market and the high-end segment. The width refers to the number of the different product lines. The teams should increase products to their product lines. The approach recommended by this plan is for the teams to develop products that target the youth, women and the elderly individually in each segment of the market. Consistency refers to the relationship between the product lines in the various departments such as in the distribution channel and end use. The teams will ensure that the different products are related in terms of quality and some unique features (Fifield, 1998). Research and Development The team should identify the features in the competitor’s phones that made them to penetrate the Asian market and produce similar or better features to increase market penetration. The teams should invest in product development if they are to achieve market penetration in the Asian market. For instance, the product currently sold in the Asian market has a low product life. The product should be improved to have a longer battery life for it to be more appealing. The teams should also focus on market development. This should be achieved by producing new products that may help the development team to enter new segments in the markets and increase the usage per user (Fifield, 1998). As indicated earlier both the low-end and the high-end segments of the markets will have to be targeted. References Fifield, P. (1998). Marketing Strategy. Worbun, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More