Marketing Plan for Green Solutions - Assignment Example

Assignment 2: Part B: Marketing Plan for Green Solutions of the of the The Company introduction and Mission statement The Green Solutions is a solar energy producing and marketing company which aims to provide renewable solar energy to the industrial and household consumer groups in the United States of America. The company operates in a high potential domain of renewable energy sources which has many scopes of growth in the future years. The main mission of the company is to conduct the business in an environmentally and socially value adding manner by distributing solar energy to the customers at affordable rates and achieve success through the provision of excellent service to the customers and tapping in of the ample opportunities in the renewable energy industry. Branding strategy The brand of Green Solutions should be positioned as an environmentally responsible and customer oriented business so that a positive brand reputation is developed for the company. The brand name, logo and slogan of the company are as such, developed in a way to reflect the corporate philosophies and mission of the company. The brand name for the company is Green Solutions and the product of the company would be marketed with a slogan of “Let the sun shine!!” The slogan for the company has been developed in a way that it is simple to understand and that is inspiring in nature so that the use of the same may influence the customers to use the products. Also, the tagline of the company is developed with the aim of creating interest and awareness among the target customer groups in the United States energy market (Konoplyanik, 2004, p.44). The brand extension for the company can be done by developing and marketing ancillary solar power generating machines with small generation power so that they can be easily used by the low income household customer groups in the market. The logo designed for the company is given below (Figure 1). Figure 1: Brand Logo of Green Solutions Marketing strategy for the product The marketing strategy for the products of Green Solutions at the introduction stage should include the market penetration strategy. Since the company already has a competitive advantage over its competitors because of the free and standard customer services provided to the clientele groups, therefore, it can use these competitive advantages and strengths to penetrate into a wider target consumer market. The company should also take up the brand expansion strategies and market expansion strategies to widen the scopes and profits of the business. The brand expansion strategies would help to increase the revenues and profits of the company as per the company objectives to increase the sales volume by 10% in the next year of its operations. The market expansion into emerging economies like China, India, Brazil etc. and the developed economies like the European Union would help the company to access the untapped potential of renewable energy markets in the locations. The market penetration and the product category expansion as specified in the Ansoff matrix can be used by Green Solutions to tap in the potentials of the market in which it operates. Marketing plan The company should start marketing its products from the initial promotional activities. Along with the traditional modes of advertisement and promotion like print and visual media, Green Solutions should also invest sufficiently in the contemporary promotional techniques like the use of social media, blogging, electronic commerce site development and online order booking and grievance redressing systems. After the sales volumes and revenues of the company increase, the management of Green Solutions should focus on new marketing strategies like the diversification and expansion of the business in newer product and market areas. The possibility of brand extension can also be considered at this time by suitably evaluating the market position and the financial position of Green Solutions in the energy industry of the United States of America (Lovins, 2011, p.60). Time table for the implementation of the marketing plan The marketing plan for the products should be developed for the next year and segregated on a quarterly basis so that each of the marketing strategies can be implemented over a period of three months in the four quarters of the year, respectively. This time table is given in the table below in the form of a Gantt chart. Quarters January-March April-June July-September October-December Segmenting, targeting , Positioning (STP) Pricing and positioning Distribution plan development Brand extension Product and market expansion Review of the marketing plan Formulating and implementing necessary changes in strategy Positioning statement The current position of Green Solutions is quite established in the United States energy market. Though the energy market in the United States is a highly concentrated industry with high degrees of competitive rivalry among the big players, yet there are ample scopes for the alternative energy source providers to position themselves profitably in the market. The company under consideration can be positioned as an affordable company which would provide profits and services at competitive prices as compared to the other renewable energy providers operating in the energy industry of the United States (Pernick and Wilder, 2012, pp.144-146). Perceptual map A perceptual map or a mind map is used to depict the position of a company in the industry. A perceptual map is used as a diagrammatic technique for analyzing and visually displaying the market and competitive position of Green Solutions in the energy market of the United States of America. The perceptual map for Green Solutions is built on the basis of perceptions of the existing and potential customer groups for the company, especially related to the competitive position of the company. The brand image of the company is definitely a factor that adds value to the competitive position of Green Solutions among the industrial and individual customers of the company. The perceptual map for the company is designed on two assessment categories which are the prestigious value of the brand and the affordability level of the products of the company. The Green Solutions is definitely at an advantageous position as compared to the competitors in the market because it lies in the prestigious and affordable quadrant of the perceptual map. The perceptual map for the company is given in Figure 2. Figure 2: Perceptual Map for Green Solutions Consumer behavior for the target market The consumer behaviors of the target customer group in the United States energy market are heterogeneous and complex in nature. The general consumers of the country are much environmentally and socially conscious and their buying patterns are influenced by these consciousness factors. The customers prefer to encourage the use of products of companies that behave in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. As such, the consumers of the energy market are focusing on taking up the use of green energy resources as a replacement for the non renewable conventional energy sources. This creates a huge opportunity for the renewable energy providers in the country like Green Solutions. Considering the demands and preferences of the selected target customer group of Green Solutions, it can be identified that the company should engage in widely promoting the brand as an eco friendly and socially responsible brand. Also, Green Solutions should leverage on the “green” factor associated with the brand and promote the brand image in the same lines to develop a preferable and acceptable position for itself among the consumer groups (Lamb, 2012, p.140). Additionally, the factor that the company operates in a way to provide excellent customer service and markets the products at lower prices as compared to the other energy providers should be used to develop the market penetration, brand and market expansion strategies for the company. References Konoplyanik, A. (2004). Energy security: managing risk in a dynamic legal and regulatory environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lamb, C. (2012). Essentials of Marketing (7th Ed.). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Lovins, A. B. (2011). Reinventing fire: bold business solutions for the new energy era. White River Junction: Chelsea Green. Pernick, R. & Wilder, C. (2012). Clean tech nation: how the U.S. can lead in the new global economy. New York: Barnes & Noble. Read More