Marketing Strategies - Express Vending LLC - Research Paper Example

Marketing Plan Yanina Y Yearwood Dr. Gary White MKT- 500 Insert Executive summary Express Vending LLC will enter an existing market to provide vending and restaurant equipment at reasonable prices. It will target a market where users have a limited range of products to suit their needs. The business will advertise its products through the internet, television, newspapers and direct salespersons. These avenues will be assessed for effectiveness depending on the individual channels. Express Vending LLC will be a leader in the industry through providing unique and technology intensive products at reasonable prices. Macro environment factors such as legal, economic, social and technological will influence its competitive advantage. However, changes in technology will be the key trend that will affect the business. Express Vending LLC will keep track of the changing technology and adjust accordingly. Brief introduction of the company Express Vending LLC will a family owned business that will provide high quality beverage and vending equipment for commercial purposes. The company will take advantage of the current situation in which customers lack high quality equipment at reasonable prices. Initially, the business will operate locally but will expand to global markets such as the European market. The business plans to approach the market by introducing unique products that are technology intensive. The company will offer three vending products; Sandwich Express, Fresh Juice Machine and Multi-line Machine. The company will also offer restaurant equipment such as Fresh Juice squeezer and Expresso Makers and Toasters. The company will target Branded Juice firms, Sandwich manufacturers and distributors and end users. Strategic Mission Statement “The mission of Express Vending LLC is to be the dominant company in both the vending machine and the restaurant equipment industries by providing easy access to a wide range of unique, high quality and innovative products at reasonable prices. We believe that we will be successful in meeting the needs of our customers by developing close contacts with them so that we have cordial relations with them. Express Vending LLC will earn adequate stream of profits from its operations so that stability can be sustained and even finance the future growth avenues. We will ensure that all our business operations will be conducted ethically and the value is added to our community by maintaining a familiar and friendly environment.” IMC and customer satisfaction plan The business will use an advertising strategy that will segment, target and position in the market in order to market products effectively. Targeting will ensure that the right advertisement reaches the specific market segments which will be sandwich and juice manufacturers, distributors and end users. Online marketing, direct marketing, television and newspapers will be the main marketing avenues. Online marketing will seek to advantage of the rising use of the internet and social media such as tweeter and Facebook. Since the business will begin operations in the local market, newspaper and television adverts will be effective in marketing the products in the national market. Measuring the effectiveness of the advertising channels will involve assessing the number of website visitors for internet marketing, the number of callers on a number on a newspaper advert, and the change in sales following a promotion. The strategy will involve after sale services such as free maintenance and discounts among other promotional strategies. The company will measure customer satisfaction through both online surveys and written surveys conducted by the customer realties service team. The business will have a dedicated customer service team that will work round the clock to receive complaints and recommendations from customers, and forward them to the quality assurance department. The quality assurance department will take the appropriate action regarding the issues. These actions will include training of workers, revising the quality and price of products. After addressing the issues, the company will notify customers of the changes and invite comments on the same (Nijssen & Frambach, 2001). Marketing Strategies Marketing strategies allow a firm to organize and optimize its resources towards exploiting any market opportunities and gain a competitive advantage. Marketing strategies result from precise market analysis (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2009). A market analysis will help Express Vending LLC to define its target market and position itself effectively in order to have a substantial market share. This also enables the business to establish the pricing, promotional and distribution strategies in a competitive environment (Rogers, 2001). Express Vending LLC plans to be a market leader in the industry. It will achieve this by introducing unique and technology intensive products at reasonable prices. This comes from a market analysis that revealed that customers have a limited variety of products to suit their preferences. The business will provide its buyers with a vast range of products with features that lack in the products offered by competitors. Macro environment analysis Analysis of the macro environment reviews of the environmental factors that impact on the operations of the company from outside. Among the factors that will impact the company are legal, technological, social and economic factors. The key aim of this analysis is to come up with a strategy that will influence these external factors to in favor of the company (Rogers, 2001). Economic factors include issues affecting the economy of a country such as the income of consumers, unemployment rates, the prevailing inflation rate, the availability of credit and interest rates among others. These factors can impact on the purchasing power of buyers and exchange rates that will impact on the sales of the company. Social factors include demographics, education and wealth and distribution of customers. They influence the relationship between the company and the consumers. Demographic factors will, for instance, will impact on the number of products that the company will produce. Other factors such as changes in lifestyles will influence the company to revise its pricing and quality of products. Technological factors involve innovations, the frequency with which technology changes, as well the software programs in use. If the company fails to keep pace with the changing technology, it might lose competitive advantage. The company will face a technological environment, which is extremely dynamic, and the company will have to keep pace. Legal factors include regulations and legislation regarding how businesses compete, health and safety and employment issues (Nijssen & Frambach, 2001). These are the key issues that will influence on the operations of Express Vending LLC. The vending machines and restaurant equipment will require high hygiene levels according to health and safety laws. The management will tackle such issues in order to avoid lawsuits. Trends impacting the Business The key trend that will influence the operations of the business will be changes in technology. A new technology today can be outdated within months. The company will produce technology intensive products different from competitors so as to gain a competitive advantage. Express vending LLC will keep track of the changing technology so as to provide customer satisfaction through the latest technologies as they emerge. References Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2009). Marketing. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Nijssen, E. J., & Frambach, R. T. (2001). Creating customer value through strategic marketing planning: a management approach. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Rogers, S. C. (2001). Marketing strategies, tactics, and techniques. Westport: Quorum Books. Read More