The New Ultrathon Scented Insect Repellent - Research Paper Example

Sustainable Marketing Campaign for 3M Ultrathon Scented Insect Repellent Introduction 3M Organization 3M is a multi-industrial and multi-national manufacturer of diverse products and services that operates in six segments of business including; security, safety, and protection, electronics and communication, display and graphics, consumer and office, industrial and transportation, and healthcare (Theis 12). With over 60% of the organization’s total revenue coming from its international market by 2010, 3M is a global company with enough global penetration to take advantage of lucrative and growing economies like Brazil, China, and India (Theis 12). As a global marketer, manufacturer, and innovator of technology, 3M is a business leader with its main competition being General Electric, Carlisle Companies, Tyco International, and Danaher in the international conglomerate sector. Within the healthcare sector, 3M Conglomerate has numerous products, including the 3M Ultrathon insect repellent, which will be the focus of this sustainable marketing plan. For this particular case, the marketing strategy will focus on the new 3M Ultrathon Scented insect Repellent. Target Market The new Ultrathon Scented insect repellent will be targeted at a select segment through methods of differentiation. While insect repellents do not have a specific point of differentiation as their use is broad and general, this particular product will be targeted at people who feel that the scent of the insect repellent is important to interaction. The provision of a desirable scent will, therefore, make the current Ultrathon product more useful for this segment of people, especially with regards to women home-keepers and groups travelling outdoors for group activities. The product will be marketed to the Midwestern region of the United States in geographical terms. The marketing of the product will focus on the Midwestern region because there is a high use of insecticides in the region. The promotion focus will be on the rural and urban areas with a higher possibility to exploit the market in urban areas because of the product’s new attractive scent. Sales should also be strong in the rural areas of the Midwest because it will attract more users to a Scented version of the Scented Ultrathon insect repellent, while also bringing in new clients who will be attracted by a Scented insect repellent. In terms of demographics, important factors will include family cycle, income, and age. The marketing campaign will target both male and female consumers aged between eighteen and forty because they are most likely to be involved in outdoor activities and starting a family. In addition, this age group has more affinity for worn scents than the older demographics. This age group is also likely to be either single or starting a family, while single people in the region are increasing because they wait longer prior to committing to marriage. The marketing campaign will focus its advertising on this group since they have more tendencies to purchase items for personal care, such as colognes and perfumed sprays. In addition, individuals who earn below $20,000 annually rarely use insect repellents and, for this reason, the marketing campaign will be aimed at those who are aged between eighteen and forty with income levels that are above $20,000. Finally, with regards to psychographic segmentation, this will not be as crucial as the other discussed segmentation criteria for the target market. However, the marketing campaign could target customers by focusing on their values and lifestyle, which should be brought to the forefront of the marketing strategy. The lifestyles of the age group discussed above lean towards healthy living, and they are very insistent on environmental protection (Garoogian 76). They also enjoy activities that involve the outdoors with the major activities for recreation being fishing and hunting. They also enjoy outdoor sport, boating, golfing, hiking, and camping. For 3M Ultrathon Scented, the psychographic market targeted will be families and outdoor enthusiasts who prefer to spend leisure time outdoors (Garoogian 76). It is inevitable that this target market encounters bugs and insects and will have the most to gain from 3M Ultrathon Scented insect repellent. S.M.A.R.T. Goals for the Marketing Plan Profit Goals The most significant financial goal involves an increase in product sales (Doole & Lowe 34). It is estimated that the first year will see an approximate 500,000 units sold. Thus, 3M Ultrathon Scented is expected to sell a three ounce bottle at slightly over half a million dollars (500,000 units x $3 dollars for each bottle x 35% of sold units = ~$530,000). Because it is possible to estimate that 3M Ultrathon Scented will sell 65% of the six ounce manufactured units, the expected sales total to around $2 million (500,000 units x $6 for each can x 65% of sold units = ~$2,000,000). Therefore, the expected sales to the consumers for 3M Ultrathon Scented’s first year are approximately two and a half million dollars. Concerning this figure, as well as the rate at which the company expects the demand for the product to grow, it is our expectation that the consumer sales will grow by approximately 10%. This is attainable and realistic in the product lifecycle’s initial stages (Doole & Lowe 35). Planet Goals The product is to be marketed as an insect repellant that cuts back on volatile organic compounds and hydrocarbons that contribute the global warming phenomenon (Doole & Lowe 51). In line with this, we will set goals for Ultrathon Scented that we hope to achieve by 2015. Volatile organic compounds are to be reduced in manufacturing the repellant by 50%, which is to be communicated during the promotion of the product. In addition, the promotion activities will ensure that the customers are assured that the insect repellent is made of active ingredients that are registered with the EPA and are CDC approved. This will be displayed on the coupons and the insecticide repellent containers in order to ensure the customers see it. As more people are becoming environmentally conscious, the results of this will be that customers can trust the product not to cause environmental pollution. The product will also not use electricity for diffusion of the repellent and this will be used in the promotion tools by insisting on the alcohol diffusion technology. By insisting on no electricity use, this should appeal to a community that is increasingly aware of the need to reduce electricity and energy consumption (Doole & Lowe 52). Finally, the marketing team will set out to inform the consumers on the minimal use of water in manufacturing the repellent, especially directed at communities that struggle with water scarcity. People Goals Marketing assistants for the product will be sourced from the local Wisconsin communities in order to give them a sense of ownership (Doole & Lowe 77), while the pricing used during promotion of the product will take into consideration the local residents, especially in the rural areas, and the most appropriate prices for the product. For the former, employing local residents to market the product should create new jobs in the community, which should improve how the community views the product by feeling they have a meaningful role in the product’s marketing. The marketing team will also seek to collect information from out clients as to how we can improve the product during direct marketing and on the website advertisements, again ensuring that the community feels involved in development of the product and that it is specially formulated for their environment. 3M Ultrathon Scented will also seek to expand community volunteerism programs in draining or treating of stagnant pools of water in which the insects breed. By using the adverts placed in outdoor and home-keeping magazines, as well as websites, Ultrathon Scented will seek to involve the community in activities that reduce breeding sites for bugs and insects, while also indicating the impact that this will have on local communities. Of course, treatment of the insect and bug breeding areas will be done with Ultrathon Scented insecticide samples and its success should convince the local community that the insect repellent works for them. Positioning Map Marketing Mix Product Ultrathon Scented repellent was developed by 3M Conglomerate and patented via their Office and Consumer Division. Originally, the insect repellent was developed for the military for use in adverse environments. The insect repellent has been tested in Central America’s jungle, as well as the Congo and India. Now, Ultrathon Scented is being reintroduced to public in 3-ounce spray cans and 6-ounce lotion cans (Consumersearch.com 1). The 3-ounce can go for $3 and the 6-ounce lotion-can will go for $6. The product point of difference for Ultrathon Scented is its slow release technology that works for longer than its competitors do. This advanced formula from 3M creates a barrier that is effective against insects and bugs like flies, ticks, and mosquitoes. The insect repellent only contains 20% DEET in the spray can and 30% DEET in the lotion can. The formulation allows for an effective barrier against West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes and Lyme disease carrying ticks, as well as deerflies, gnats, chiggers, and flies (Consumersearch.com 1). The product is resistant to water and perspiration that enables it to last longer (Consumersearch.com 1). Its pleasant outdoor scent and ability to be sprayed upside down enhances its ability to be used anywhere and on any surface. 3M Ultrathon Scented also enables the consumer to enjoy him/herself outdoors for longer as its activity is long lasting, while the consumer is only exposed to a low DEET concentration. It also reduces the consumer’s need to keep re-applying it since its protection lasts for a long time. In addition, 3M Ultrathon Scented has a mellow scent and is less oily than its competitors. Finally, its low DEET concentration offers less concern by the consumer about toxicity and environmental damage (Consumersearch.com 1). Pricing 3M Healthcare has determined that Ultrathon Scented’s price floor should include its packaging (Yu?ksel & Idowu 44). They have determined the variable cost at $0.11 for every ounce, which allows for the calculation of its simple cost at $0.33 for the three-ounce spray can and $0.66 for the six ounce lotion tubes. The product’s markup scheme is delivered on cost with customization to the two main channels of marketing. The estimate for cases sold can be made based on Ultrathon Scented’s expected sales in 2014 of two and a half million cases. Ultrathon Scented lotion insect repellent will be expanded by 10% every year with an additional 200,000 cases taken up by new consumers and the remaining 250,000 taken up by already existing Ultrathon Scented customers. While the cannibalization here is significant, it is expected that the lotion repellent will increase customer satisfaction and size of the market with switching current consumers (Yu?ksel & Idowu 48). Ultrathon Scented will enter the market at prices that are comparable to our major competitors but slightly lower than Buggins Insect repellent that retails for $25 and slightly higher compared to our foremost competitor Cutter, which sells at $5 for each six-ounce lotion tube. It is expected that the consumers will want to try a more novel, and higher quality repellent through using this strategy (Yu?ksel & Idowu 56). Through skimming, Ultrathon Scented can access the market as a specialty repellent that stands out from other convenience repellents. While we will seek to encourage the retailers to sell it at our recommended price, we accept that the organization has little control over how much they actually sell it for (Yu?ksel & Idowu 57). Ultrathon Scented has a low cost unit, which means that even pricing will imply even intervals of ten cents. Therefore, the suggested retail price from the manufacturer is $3 for each three-ounce spray bottles and $6 for every six-ounce lotion tube. This is noticeably above the major competitors like Cutter, Off! Insect repellent, and Bugg Spray insect Repellent. Place Ultrathon Scented insect repellent will set out to use an intensive strategy of distribution. The goal for the marketing team is to distribute the product to as many consumers as it possibly can. For this reason, the repellent will have to be distributed to as many stores as is possible (The 3M Company 5). Simply ensuring that the product is only available at Home Depot, or even Wal-Mart will lead to a significant reduction in sales. The product will also be rolled out only in the United States, which should reduce distribution expenses, research costs, and risk. Our product is also a convenience product and, as such, the customer will purchase what is available with minimal requirement for decision making (The 3M Company 5). Therefore, it is important to ensure that the repellent is available since the consumer will pick a competitor’s brand if Ultrathon Scented is unavailable. Ultrathon Scented plans to use a dual channel form of distribution, which is what we have been using. The first form will be to retailers or wholesalers that will sell the product to consumers. The second channel will involve selling Ultrathon Scented in bulk packages to wholesalers for them to distribute to sporting good shops, gas stations, and convenience and grocery stores (Worley & Mirvis 61). While the first channel will guarantee increased sales, the second will allow us more coverage, which is essential for products of convenience. Logistically, the marketing team considered buying and transportation of Ultrathon Scented facilities and EDI or Electronic Data Interchange. This will reorder chemical ingredients automatically is the inventory level falls below recommended levels. The prominent transportation form will be truck transport in the Wisconsin. There will be no need for air transport due to increased costs and water transport will not be required either because the market is domestic. Freight forwarding is to be used for more efficiency by combining orders in one truckload and dropping off products to retailers and wholesalers on the way, which should minimize costs (Worley & Mirvis 61). Promotion From 3M’s annual report, $372 million out of $16 billion of sales to advertising expenses in 2012. With a forecast of around $40 million in sales for Ultrathon Scented, the promotion budget of 3% of sales should compute to a $1.4 million promotion budget for Ultrathon Scented. Because Ultrathon Scented is being re-introduced into the market in order to re-discover its brand awareness, as well as improve share of the market, promotion to sales ratio will be higher in advertising Ultrathon Scented (Ferrell Hartline 72). The ad campaign will seek to target two major markets; families with females who do household goods purchases and male outdoor enthusiasts. For the outdoor enthusiasts, most like to watch TV shows and documentaries that are related to their activities; surfing the web and reading outdoor magazines. Because Wisconsin is the test market, Ultrathon Scented ads will run in Wisconsin outdoor magazine, Wisconsin Outdoor Journal, Wisconsin outdoor television shows like Ron Schara’s Minnesota bound, and Backwoods Wisconsin website. For the family target market, advertising will focus on females and the magazines and TV shows they read and watch. These include family circle, Good Housekeeping, Better gardens and Homes, and Rebecca Garden’s outdoor show. These advertisements will seek to show children and families involved in outdoor activities and using Ultrathon Scented, while also using fear appeals to stress the importance of protection against West Nile Virus and Lyme illness. In order to measure how effective these campaigns are, it is essential to compare sales before the promotion campaigns and afterwards. Ultrathon Scented’s marketing team will also include coupons in the print ads where consumers can redeem gifts and discounts and code these coupons in order to determine the most effective publication with the best results (Ferrell Hartline 80). The team can also offer discounts for customers who tell them they are responding to ads. Since some of the publications that we will be using offer response cards that allow their subscribers to get information from advertisers, we will also track the publications that these leads emanate from. Comparison of traffic on our website before and after the ad campaigns will also provide us with an idea as to the success of our ad campaigns, especially from customers who want to find out more about Ultrathon Scented (Ferrell Hartline 81). Finally, since we will also be advertising online, we will be tracking the click rate. The sites that we will be using track these rates, and thus, they will provide us with statistics. Promotion Budget & Implementation Calendar Promotion Budget The 3M Ultrathon Scented insect repellent marketing team will seek to allocate 40% of the budget meant for promotion of the product to advertising. Since 3M and Ultrathon Scented are relatively well known brands in their own right, the focus will be on placing product advertisements, instead of carrying out institutional advertisements. Pioneering advertising will be utilized to inform the target market about what the product is all about and its effectiveness in repelling all types of insects and bugs. When we have raised product awareness to the expected levels, and the product attains maturity stage in its lifecycle, the rest of the advertising allocation is to be utilized. Most of these funds allocated to advertising will go to out-door related and home keeping magazines. At least 20% of these advertising funds will also go to TV adverts. 30% of the budget for promotion will be specifically directed to promotion of sales. Since majority of consumers in Wisconsin, already have an idea about Ultrathon Scented, the effectiveness of sales promotion in the short term will be of use for the team to draw attention to Ultrathon Scented and its competitive edge over our other competitors. The bulk of this allocation, at least 70%, will be used for displays at point of purchase, samples, and coupons. Sampling will take 60% of this allocation due to its importance in allowing customers to determine whether the scent is likeable, which is usually the most significant unknown factor for most repellent consumers. Finally, 30% of sales promotion budget will go to allowance push strategy to increase sales to channel members. 20% of the budget for promotion will go to personal selling. Personal selling should allow Ultrathon Scented’s marketing team to bring the product close to the real product. Personal selling, just as with the sampling pull tactic, will give the consumers the opportunity to sample how Ultrathon Scented’s scent smells like. This element of promotion and at least 70% of the personal selling allocation will go to the rural and suburban areas where the target market is clustered. Finally, public relations and direct marketing will be allocated 5% of the budget for promotion. Much of this allocation will be focused on direct mail that is to be sent to the rural and suburban areas. The remainder of this allocation will be used for public relations strategy in case of a problem or emergency in order to ensure that damage caused to the credibility of Ultrathon Scented and 3M is minimized. Implementation Calendar The marketing campaign process began on 1st September 2013, with a two day planning workshop. This was followed by five more workshops that each lasted two days over the next two months. The success of our implementation process will be greatly affected due to various benefits that we expect to get from the planning. On 6th January 2014, we expect to produce a more robust plan, which will be essential to the later activity of implementation. Team building activity will occur during the next two weeks as we get to know one another and set out how we will work towards out goals as set out in this marketing plan. This will create a strong sense among the ambers that we own the marketing campaign, while also creating commitment and enthusiasm that is necessary to make our campaign a success. Finally, it will also create belief and confidence among the members of the team that our marketing campaign will achieve the ambitious goals that it has set. The key elements that will be involved in the implementation process for this marketing process are as follows. On 20th of January, the marketing plan will be finalized, and necessary initial alterations made before being assented to by all the members present. On 23rd January, the team will convert the plan into a presentation that is suitable to be reviewed together with 3M’s senior management and executives. On 25th January, the team will get together to create a simple and memorable essence of our plan. On 1st February 2014, the sales conference that is scheduled for that day will be used as the platform on which we will launch the new marketing plan and campaign to the entire organization. The summary cards created on the 25th will be used as a backup to the conference presentation. It will be recommended that everyone at the conference keep these summaries. The segment action teams will be introduced on 14th February in order to implement the different strategies introduced in the plan to different target groups. On 17th of February, we will move on to selecting the cross-functional groups that will be drawn from every level in the chosen functions to take part in these teams. One member of each management team will also be chosen to head these segment action teams on the same date. For the first marketing goal to increase customers by 10%, the direct mail pieces will be developed on February the 28th. On March the 3rd, mailing lists and instructions to staff involved in direct selling will be made. On 6th March, the first direct mailing service will be conducted. One month later, the relevant segment action teams will examine the reviews of the first mailing campaign. On the 7th of April, the second direct mailing piece will be developed and sent out a week later. With regards to the second marketing goal that involves increasing the visibility of Ultrathon Scented and name recognition across the two main market segments, the key messages and taglines will be developed and finalized on the 18th of February. A complete inventory of additional materials required will be made on 20th February should they be required. To communicate the brand message to our two target groups, the advertising, will be designed during the week between the 24th and 28th of February. The budget allocations will be confirmed on 3rd March. The ad campaign will be rolled out concurrently with the direct mailing campaign and personal selling campaign on the 6th of March. Works Cited 3M.com. What makes Ultrathon Scented™ Insect Repellent different? 2013. Web. 6 december 2013 . Consumersearch.com. 3M Ultrathon Scented Insect Repellent. June 2013. Web. 6 December 2013 . Doole, Isobel. & Lowe, Robin. Strategic Marketing Decisions in Global Markets, London [u.a.: Thomson Learning, 2005. Print. Ferrell, O’Connor. C. & Hartline, Michael. D. Marketing Strategy: Text and Cases. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2014. Print. Garoogian, David. Profiles of Wisconsin, Amenia, NY: Grey House Pub, 2010. Print. Hemming, David. Plant Sciences Reviews 2011. Wallingford: CABI, 2012. Internet resource The 3M Company. 3M Company - 2011 Sustainability Report. 25 June 2011. Web. 12 October 2013. . Theis, Anita. 3M Case Analysis: Cultivating Core Competences. Munich: GRIN Verlag, 2013. Worley, Christopher. G. & Mirvis, Philip. H. Building Networks and Partnerships, 2013. Print. Yu?ksel, Mermod. A. & Idowu, Samuel. O. Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Business World, 2013. Internet resource. Read More