Product Marketing, Promotion, and Distribution - Case Study Example

TARGET MARKET: The main target market of the new ‘foamed dome’ will be the construction companies who are into the business of constructing differentbuildings. Also, the company will be targeting the people who are the owner of different buildings. The initial market research concluded that there are certain areas of construction which can be targeted by the new foamed dome. These areas of construction are as follow: Bulk Storage Cold Storage Educational Construction Covers for industrial tanks Light commercial constructions Planetariums Recreational Construction (such as golf course starter house) So the target market of the new foamed dome will be the owners of all these facilities and also the builders and constructors who are into the business of constructing such buildings and facilities. The target market of the new dome will be interested in saving the money and the time associated in the construction of dome. This will be the main differentiating point for the new foamed dome introduced by Pretson. The company will try to attract the large builders and architects who are currently involved in the business of building and construction. This strategy of targeting the architects and builders will allow the company to promote the new product in effective and efficient manner. PRODUCT: Abby Preston who is working as a Chemist in ApplPoly Products’ resins laboratory, came up with new product ‘foamed dome’. In this product, the foamed polystyrene is utilized in order to build dome shaped roofs and other building structure. The procedure being used in order to construct the foamed dome is as follow: A specially designed machine has been used in the manufacturing of a foamed dome because of which, the dome shaped is formed by bending, placing and bonding pieces of plastic foam collectively. The head of the machine is mounted on a boom at the time of forming a dome and at this point of time, the machine swings around a pivot very much similar to the hands of a clock, laying and bonding layer upon layer of foam board in a rising spherical form. There are several benefits of the new foamed dome concept over the simple domes and structures constructed through the cement based materials. One main advantage is regarding the cost and time associated with the construction of the foamed dome and structure. The foam boards allow the architect to save time involved in the process of construction. On the other hand there is more time involved in the construction of the dome and structure through the cement. Some of the other advantages or benefits of the polystyrene foamed boards are as follow: The polystyrene foamed board is hard and stiff but at the same time the formation or bond of the board can be generated through the heat only. Also, the polystyrene foamed board has exceptionally low weight and for this reason this foamed board can be handled easily. Apart from this the foamed board has good rigid structure. The polystyrene foamed board is one of the effective insulator and have outstanding and enduring insulating features. It is also important to acknowledge here that the foamed board is mainly used as an insulator. Lastly, the polystyrene foamed board results in the generation of an outstanding base for the application of the different surface finishes, for example the durable, resilient, and inexpensive concrete based stucco, which is readily and easily available. Hence, the new idea of Abby Preston regarding the polystyrene foamed boards and domes is attractive and will result in providing the constructors and builders with different advantages and benefits. PROMOTION: The company should position the new polystyrene foamed structures and domes as the inexpensive and quick way of constructing different building structures. The main competitive advantage of this new product is the ease of use associated with along with the limited consumption of time and budget. It will be challenging to market and promote this new product. The most of the target market of the company consists of the corporate clients and customer like different architects and builders. The company will initially work on the strategy of personal selling and will directly communicate with the clients regarding the benefits and advantages of the new idea. Apart from this the company can invite different corporate clients or customers in order to view and observe the domes constructed for the demonstration purpose. This will provide the chance of displaying the benefits and advantages in appropriate manner and will result in more confidence on the part of the customers. The company will also use the tool of Personal Relations (PR) and will collaborate with the different construction companies and organizations in order to promote the new and innovative product. These construction companies and organizations will refer the new and innovative product of the company to other customers and people. This will result in the generation of positive word of mouth and also positive publicity. Apart from this the company will try to build leads on the basis of the testimonials and referrals of the existing customers. In order to make sure that more and more people adopt this new idea and innovative product, the company will run different educational sessions and seminars in order to educate the market about the new concept. It is important to acknowledge here that the new and innovate products required appropriate education and information so that the customers understand the whole process and become comfortable with the new and innovative idea or concept. Along with this the company will use social media marketing tools and techniques in order to capture more market. The social media will provide the company with a low cost promotion and marketing medium which has high reach. Also, the social media marketing will also allow the company to create more awareness about the innovate product in the market. the company will also send the promotional mails, e-brochures, and newsletters to the potential clients and customers. Another marketing tool which will be used by the company is of blogs. The company will promote the usage and positive points of the new product concept through the blogs and other social media sites. DISTRIBUTION: As the new product requires high care and attention, the company will distribute it itself. The company will do the own contracting for the initial four to five years in order to make sure that there are no mistakes and issues during the process of implementation and construction because of the inexperience and untrained contractor personnel. The company will provide the required and essential demos and will guide the customers during the whole procedure of the construction and installation. For this purpose, the company will come up with its own logistics and distribution team which will work to distribute and deliver the new innovate product to the target customers. The method of direct distribution will also facilitate the company in the process of educating the market regarding the construction and usage of the new polystyrene foamed boards. This will in turn allow the company to build more customers. As the innovative product of polystyrene foamed boards involve the new technology, it will be better that the company handles the processes associated with the logistics and distribution. This will allow the company to make sure that the new and innovative product is delivered to the customers in effective manner and is installed appropriately. This will promote the image that the company is considerate about the customers and is ready to help them in the process of using this new construction material during the process of construction of the different structures. PRICE: As mentioned before the company will try to build competitive advantage on the basis of the cost and time involved in the construction process. Also, the target market of the company will prefer inexpensive alternative to the domes and structures constructed with the help of the cements. For this reason, the company will initially adopt the strategy of penetrating prices and will set low prices for the product. The strategy of penetrating prices will allow the company to easily penetrate in the market with the help of the relatively low prices. This in turn will facilitate the company in the process of building market acceptance in the initial stage. In this way it will become easy for the company to enter into the already mature market and will allow the company to come up with solid competitive edge or advantage. The company will strive to provide the customers with high quality products at relatively low prices. This will results in the creation of strong demand for the new innovative product of polystyrene foamed boards by the construction companies and architects. Also, this will result in the creation of positive brand image and name. The new innovate product of polystyrene foamed board has been designed in order to provide the customers with high quality at low cost. This can be achieved by implementing the strategy of penetrating prices in the initial phase. Bibliography Anderson, P. (1982). Marketing, Strategic Planning and the Theory of the Firm. The Journal of Marketing, 46 (2), 15- 26. Borden, N. (1964). The concept of marketing mix. Journal of Advertising Research, Retrieved April 17, 2012 from http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/managementstudies/Courses/bus2010s/2007/Nicole%20Frey/Assignments/Borden,%201984_The%20concept%20of%20marketing.pdf Grundy, T. (2006). ‘Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porter’s Five forces model’, Strategic Change, 15(5): 213-339 Haberberg, A., and Rieple, A. (2008). Strategic Management: Theory and application. New York: Oxford University Press. Kotler, P. (2009). Marketing Management. Pearson: Prentice-Hall. Kotler, P., and Keller, K. (2009). A Framework for Marketing Management. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Krishnan, T., Bass, F., and Jain, D. (1999). ‘Optimal pricing strategy for new products.’ Management Science, 45(12): 1650-1663. Rangan, V., and Jaikumar, R. (1991). ‘Integrating distribution strategy and tactics: a model and an application.’ Management Science, 37(11): 1377-1389. Thackeray, R., Neiger, B., and Hanson, C. (2007). ‘Developing a Promotional Strategy: important questions for social marketing.’ Health Promotion Practice, 8(4), 332-336. Zenker, S. & Martin, N. (2011). ‘Measuring success in place marketing and branding,’ Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 7: 32-41. Read More