Marketing Strategy for Robotic Toys - Essay Example

[Type the company [Type the document [Type the document sub here [Pick the [Type the of the documenthere. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.] Introduction: Marketing is an oft conceived word used in our daily life. It is a normal word which may often be found as a part of our day to day conversations, and has more to do with the approach then the execution of a business idea. It was first explained by the American Market Association as an "activity". Later the definition was elaborated and modified to involve the various institutions and processes employed for making, communicating and delivering products which are of value to the stakeholders-customers, clients, partners and the society at large. The term was derived from the original meaning which taken literally meant simply going to the market to shop or to sell goods and services there. Marketing has grown by leaps and bounds today. It is a creative industry that has expanded down to various genres such as advertising, distribution and selling. Customer base is figured out, their needs and aspirations realized and the relevant product developed accordingly. Product: "Robotic toys are the latest trend in a huge toy market worth $31.8 billion in the United States alone in 2005, according to the research firm NPD Group. The toy generations breed and spread rapidly--and go "extinct" fast, too". (Jeffries, 2006) But the innocence hidden in playing with mud has made it all time favorite game of children. While keeping in view the level of fame in the children the company is planning to introduce a new product. The product is the toy machine named as Mud Master that can make mud balls just like when one has to compact it with his hands. The toy will need sand, dirt, mud, and water in it to make mud balls much faster and more compact. The mud toy is a relatively new product that the company is going to launch. At the preliminary level, the product is stipulated to reach customers through vendors, whole sellers, the company's factory outlets and its main branches. Based on the response triggered by the product, future variations in the delivery of the product will be reasoned out. PRICING: As mentioned by Kotler (2000), the company will follow a six steps procedure for setting its pricing policy: 1. Selecting the pricing objective 2. determining demand 3. estimating costs 4. analyzing competitor's costs, prices and offers; 5. selecting a pricing method and 6. selecting the final price. The company will follow the method of target return pricing long-run profit making strategy by keeping the prices low. Price is an important factor in the determination of the marketing mix as it will have effects on the supply and demand of the company. Price is an important factor for the customer while making a decision to buy the mud maker. Price will often be the difference that will push a customer to buy our product over another, as long as most things are fairly similar. For this reason pricing policies need to be designed with consumers and external influences in mind, in order to effectively achieve a stable balance between sales and covering the production costs. Price strategies are important to the company because the price determines the amount of sales and profit per unit sold. Businesses have to set a price that is attractive to their customers and provides the business with a good level of profit (Geoffrey; 191-192) The company should give more incentives to middle men or retailers in way a that they offer them free samples, by this these retailers and middle man push their product in the market, so that coca cola can be seen more in the market. And have a good sale in the market because according to the expert which product seen more in the market that sells more, basically a strategy to provide incentives to retailers and distributors. "Seen as sold". Marketing program is an important tool in order to get cutting edge from the competitors. It is important for the company to constantly monitor and upgrade the ad budget and distribution system. The company is aimed at pushing its product into the big leagues of the toy industry. The product will be distributed statewide in over 50 retail stores, and in next two months the sales will projected to be 20,000 pieces generating the revenue of 500,000 @ $25 per piece. The key component of the company strategy will be a well-planned and monitored marketing campaign. CHANNELS of DISTRIBUTION Distribution Mode Selection The two main modes of distribution that will be considered to get the product from factory to the retailers will be by road. However the issue of cost appears to be most important and therefore transportation by road will be feasible. At the basic level, the procurement department is going to order for the purchase of the required raw material for manufacturing the product from the suppliers. Several suppliers will be zeroed down and the best one will be chosen accordingly. The basic raw materials that would be needed includes plastic, steel, mud, clay and finical. These will be delivered directly to the warehouses allocated for the manufacturing purposes. From there they will be taken to the manufacturing plant under surveillance and supervision of the logistics and transportation as and when needed. Once the product has been manufactured, it will be delivered to the warehouses in all the regions. From there, the suppliers to big stores like Wal-Mart, central, lifestyles, shoppers stop, will be given the rights to transport them there. At the same time, the product will also be delivered to the shops' factory outlets and its main branches throughout the city via company's own transportation system, When it has reached these terminal points of contact with the customer, the routing selling and convincing would inevitably follow. Based on market response, any future investments where the product is concerned will be determined, and sales cum amendments made accordingly. At the company's main branches, workers already stationed will demonstrate the product to the customers stepping into the shop. At the bigger stores, the onus would be on the store manager to help the customer according to ad hoc queries put in perspective by the customer himself. Similarly the response of the toy will be adjudged for another 6 months and on the basis of the response any future diversions and variations in the promotional strategy figured out. In the long run, it is planned that stalls will be set across most mother care shops from where it will be sold out. A free market system occurs when only few items are produced for consumption by the general population. Demand and supply are co-related. The more people want a particular product, the more it is produced. In case there is a shortage, prices are affected and they shoot up. In the words of an economist "supply and demand will eventually find a middle ground, regardless of the fluctuations and inconsistencies that occur throughout the marketing process." Promotions: Promotion of the product will vary and will involve an integrated approach. As the product's targeted audience includes children aged 3-10 years so market niche involving children round about this age will be targeted. For this purpose, sales teams comprising of 6 people each will be sent to various schools, nurseries, play group centers. The primary purpose of these teams would be to promote the product, brief the children and parents if spotted of its specifics demonstrate it and give them other relevant details about the availability and costs of the product. The whole idea behind this is to trigger a spread of word based marketing within these forums. The product will be initially advertised in American magazines. With the promotion the company will also establish a toll-free 800 number to help consumers locate stores where the mud maker is sold. These numbers will also help the company in tracking the response of the advertisements in the magazines. As the company has limited budget it will spend approximately $200,000 on advertising for the product on radio, syndicated TV spots, magazines and newspapers. Web based presence is also important in today's era, keeping in mind this fact the company will launch its web site through which the customers will be able to buy the product from their home. Banking on the premise that the mud maker will help children build self-esteem and develop a passion for learning the company now plans to distribute its products through the top 10 retailers of the state. As the management of the company is already aware of the importance of the marketing strategy it is important that the marketing plan must be a living document, a responsive strategy that provides the fuel and direction that drives a company forward. To survive in these turbulent times, it is planned that the company will constantly track its customers, competition, pricing, distribution and market share. At the same time newspaper supplying agencies will be contacted and colorful fliers prompting the targeted customers about the product will be delivered and circulated through them. The flier will carry a jingle that should be able to attract many eyeballs and will also induce potential customers to head straight to the shops to buy them. Other lucrative offers may also be mentioned in the flier to trigger a more vivid and conspicuous response. Online Marketing: For the first and foremost approach the company's official portal will begin flashing pop banners of our product. At the same time, affiliate marketing will be used and so will the product be promoted at the main portals of our big stores too. The whole idea is to inform any potential adult market base through this as kids won't be too keen on going online at their tender age. Keeping the same in perspective it has been decided that the budget allocated for marketing will be kept as little as possible. Against the basic essence of the marketing is the selling concept. The basic premise of companies pursuing this concept lies in their over-capacity which they aim to utilize to T. Such companies normally give little or no regard to what the customers of a particular niche aspire for. Rather they make and produce what they want and aim to sell it accordingly. Sales on a large scale basis and to promote the products accordingly are the basic approach adopted by such companies. The idea is to get through with the sale while customer bugs stand only secondary. Thus this approach has a short term pre-conceived target plan and does not seek to work on building long term profitable relationships with customers. And this is precisely where we are hitting at. Other modes of marketing that the company plans to incorporate include ads in some of the weekly mother care issues. This is to trigger a market based on prompting awareness about the product to the parents. Based on the response and output triggered by the aforementioned areas of marketing, investment into other areas of marketing for instance, radios, personal selling and promotion through our coffee mugs will be ventured into. But for now it has been decided the marketing budget will be kept little. For the budget, online marketing should not cost more than $ 100 where graphic incorporation as concerned where as flash adds on the main center portals per site would be 50$ an hour. The mother care magazine would cost somewhere around 20$ a week for an add on the second page while other costs would go into fliers which shouldn't go beyond 100$ for the printing of the fliers and the newspaper vendor costs would be 1$ a house each, Conclusion: More marketing and further variations of the product are in the pipeline but it all depends on the response prompted in the initial 2-3 months. References: JWT. (2007, April 15). Marketing Practice. Retrieved Sep 14, 2009, from http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/04/levis-orginal-icon.html Nexbitt, A. (2007). Social Marketing Case Study. Retrieved Sep 14, 2009, from http://www.digitalpodcast.com/podcastnews/2008/04/22/social-marketing-case study-levis-project-501/ Digital Marketing. (n.d.). Retrieved Sep 14, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_marketing Delaney, J. (1994, November). Crafting a Marketing Plan That Works. Black Enterprise, 25, 120. Geller, L. K. (2002). Response: The Complete Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing. New York: Oxford University Press. Jeffries, E. (2006, July/August). E-Wasted: Toys and Gadgets Become Toxic Junk, Thanks to the Circuit-Bored. World Watch, 19, 21. Read More