Key Aspects about Marketing Mix - Coursework Example

I. Question Product A. What type of products could you use the paper for? These hole punch scraps are usually used by people for confetti. However, since these are rather occasional occurrences, the demand might be fluctuating. Also, the demand would be smaller because not all people would like to use confetti for weddings. The paper can be used to fill in stuffed animals or plush toys, pillows or similar products. These are the types of products that would have a concrete need for the hole punch scraps. They can be used as alternatives to other products such as “straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials (Wikipedia 2010).” The idea comes from thinking of bean bags which are usually stuffed by plastic pellets. Stuffed animals need stuffing. By looking at the raw material inputs that are used in stuffed animals, it was thought that these hole punch scraps can be used as alternative. The major concern in deciding on which products to choose, where the hole punch scraps can be useful is the question of volume. Hole punch scraps can only be valuable if they are sold in huge volumes. The answer to this question has been found on the stuffed animals alternatives for raw material inputs. B. Why do you think there is a demand for these products? Hole punch scraps are waste materials, that in essence when they are manufactured they are very minimal in terms of costs. The materials that are used to stuff animals like “straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials (Wikipedia 2010),” are naturally produced for the stuffing, thus maybe more costly to manufacture. The demand for these products come from children and adults who look for comfort objects (Fisher 2010). From a psychological perspective, the fascination for comfort objects has sprung up during the late 1800s when life is hard and comfort objects like stuffed animals tend to cheer people up for unique psychological situations (FoxNews.com 2008). The origin of stuffed animals businesses is traced back to practices of taxidermy, where skins of hunted animals are stuffed in order to mimic their appearances even when they are no longer alive. The demand for these products can be traced to a need using Maslows hierarchy of needs framework (Kotler & Armstrong 2004). A comfort object provides the consumer with security and partly, some social needs. During unique situations such as personal tragedies, problems and moments of loneliness, and stressful events, comfort objects somehow provide the feeling of having company as well as the feeling of being safe holding something (FoxNews.com 2008). II. Question 2: Price A. How have you decided on prices for your product? Pricing is a strategic tool when it comes to selling the product (Duncan 2005). In order to utilise pricing as a strategic tool, the concept of value has to be understood. The price that manufacturers of the stuffed animals will only be willing to pay a certain price for the hole punch scrap if they see some value of it by incorporating it in their operations. Since this can be used as an alternative to other materials for stuffing, manufacturers will only find value on it if: one, it has a better quality that end-users might demand and willing to pay for; or two, if it costs less than other materials that value comes in the form of cost savings to the company. The second premise is more valuable as a value proposition for this product (Kotler & Armstrong 2004). In order for manufacturers to perceive it as creator of value for them, the price has to be below the price of the other alternatives – the hole punch scraps can be positioned as the most cost-effective, least expensive and most environment-friendly material for stuffed animals and plush toys. The product will be priced depending on the unit that manufacturers pay for the units of their raw materials, i.e. in pounds, cubic feet, etc. While there is no specific price yet, the notion of its price relative to its positioning is such. III. Question 3: Place A. Where could your products be sold? The product is not for the end-user, but rather an input for a product for the end-user. Since the product is a raw material input, this cannot be sold in the traditional manner of distribution. It is very typical for business-to-business marketing to have the products distributed through delivery of the products after the orders are placed. Thus, this is not like other products where they can be sold in retail. Business-to-business marketing is more of selling things on wholesale (Kotler 2004). Depending on the location of the businesss target market, a small warehousing facility can be utilised, at the heart of a vicinity where these businesses are located. This is to ensure faster delivery of the products as well as savings in terms of transportation costs. If these businesses are more cluttered, the location of the warehousing facility can be located in a major business district where it will be most accessible through transportation networks. With the advent of information technology, the internet can be used as a tool in order for customers like these manufacturers reach suppliers for these kind of materials. Therefore, e-commerce can be utilised where these customers can buy and place order over the web for faster transactions. IV. Question 4: Promotion A. How did you identify possible markets? The stuffed animal/plush toy industry can be segmented in many ways when it comes to being customers of a hole punch scrap business. The best way to segment the market is by looking at their consumption / purchase behaviour, which usually determines the size they order, the types of materials and the prices they pay. Thus, the market can be segmented by the size of the manufacturers. Large manufacturers have more bargaining power to their suppliers (Kotler & Armstrong 2004). If they buy a lot of products, depending on the materials they can have sufficient cost savings depending on their bargaining power, which increases their economies of scale. While under the normal pricing scheme, the cost of hole punch scraps will be the lowest among all the alternatives for filling in the stuffed animals, large manufacturers can find alternative materials for much lower prices because of their ability to haggle due to their size. With this, large manufacturers may not be the suitable customer for the hole punch scrap business. The smaller manufacturers are the more suitable customers for this type of business. Since small manufacturers do not have the bargaining power of their larger counterparts, they will have less cost savings (Kotler & Armstrong 2004). Under the normal pricing scheme, the hole punch scraps will be have the lowest price among the alternatives. Therefore, these customers will perceive the scraps as creators of value and will prefer it over the other alternatives which can cost them much more. Since the customers are not necessarily after what is entirely inside the stuffed animals, using hole punch scraps will be seen as a viable alternative to existing materials. B. How will you communicate with your target markets? The choice of marketing communication mix should be strategic for the business, that is, it accomplishes a certain goal. In order for the business to reach out to these small manufacturers of stuffed animals/plush toys, the company has to set a goal. The IMC goal for this is to introduce the hole punch scraps as a viable alternative to current raw material inputs, and to show its value proposition relative to those current alternatives. In order to communicate effectively, the decision-making unit has to be properly identified. These manufacturers will have the gatekeepers, then the influencers, the buyers, the decision-makers, and the users (Duncan 2005). For the gatekeeper, public relations and advertising can be used as some of the marketing communications tools. Public relations, together with personal selling can be used to communicate to the influencers and the users. Personal selling should be utilised in convincing the decision-makers. Direct marketing can be used for the buyers. With the IMC message stating the value proposition of hole punch scraps as creator of values in the form of cost saving, and being an environment-friendly alternative, the campaign is comprised of the following activities: for advertising, business cards can be used. Public relations can come in the form of educational brochures and flyers can be sent to prospects, detailing the benefits of using hole punch scraps as an alternative raw material input for their products. Personal selling in the form of technical representative over the telephone can be used when prospects inquire about the product. Direct marketing can be utilised in the form of e-mails and a simple website where the customers will be informed about the product, the costs and how to place their orders. These marketing efforts should accomplish the businesss IMC goal for the product. References Associated Press. 2008 March 3. "History of Plush Toys" FoxNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334529,00.html (accessed April 25, 2010). Duncan, T. (2005). Principles of Advertising & IMC. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Fisher, Chad R. 2010. "History of Plush Toys" Ezinearticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Plush-Toys&id=1845874 (accessed April 25, 2010). Kotler, P. & Armstrong G. (2004). Principles of Marketing. 10th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall. Wikipedia. 2010. "Stuffed Toy." Wikipedia.com. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuffed_toy (accessed April 25, 2010). Wikipedia. 2010. "Comfort Object" Wikipedia.com. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_object (accessed April 25, 2010). Read More