E-marketing and Future Activities for Company Called The In Thing - Case Study Example

E-MARKETING REPORT AND A PLAN FOR FUTURE ACTIVITIES Executive Summary This report aims at analyzing the marketing tactics utilized with the inclusion of ICT and internet technology by the Company “The In Thing”. Marketers have of late realized they influence wants and demands of target clientele, by communicating what they have to offer to their potential customers. Thus, this report clearly outlines the strategic objectives undertaken by “The In Thing” with respect to getting its market share and realizing its business target. This will be achieved by looking at the target audience, as well as the positioning strategy put in place for e-marketing strategic move. With the organization of the business as a strategic business unit, it would be serving the households (being a B2C business). Consequently, the other is acting as a distributor to the retailers (B2B). The two business units segregate themselves from their competitors via the efficiency in order, delivery system. This is achieved via marketing practice that informs customers about the toy brand, giving room for making orders. The marketing plan devised by this report is aimed at increasing the customer’s base by analyzing the existing inconsistencies in the e-marketing mix of “The In Thing”. This will pave the way for channeling tools improving the business activities by enhancing marketing. Further, this will see introduction of channels that do not bring any progress to the market. This is through the utilization of every available channel of marketing that is effective and efficient. The acquiring and maintaining the customers is the main objective behind the coming up with a strategic marketing measure. The “In Thing” company will be given a number of recommendations regarding coming up with a website development technology that is in-house host and maintain the functioning while focusing of the competency deemed strong for the company. 1.0. Introduction to the Company This marketing plan is devised specifically for the company “The In Thing”. The marketing strategy aims at incorporating the internet and other ICT applications with respect to enhancing marketing techniques at the company of choice. On the same note, the examination of critical factors resulting from the success in e-marketing also referred to as electronic or internet marketing is imperative. “The In Thing”; a UK based company trading in toys and with all major UK national accounts. Founded in 2007 and privately owned, “The In Thing” is a private enterprise and operates in Accrington, Lancashire, with 25 employees. The diversity, reach as well as service standards of their independent distribution capability is unrivalled by their competitors. The strategic management of marketing practice will see the extensive turnover of the market shares that the company will have to increase. This will be an achievement towards the market capitalization, and increasing the investment as well as capital base. In regards to this, the market realisation will be brought about by customer base and building confidence in them. “The In Thing” emerged as a result of market creation by the internet taking advantage of the opportunity at hand, the owners created the business model that connected the manufacturers and inventors of toys with retailers, specialty stores and the household consumers. The report entails e-marketing strategy for “The In Thing” company. This will be achieved by analyzing the objectives of the company, target customer and positioning strategy, internet value proposition, e-marketing mix and relationship management, offline and online strategies and finally the implementation plan. 2.0. Objectives in the Company E-Marketing The concept of marketing as a whole is that the key to fulfilling organizational objectives includes being more effective, as compared to rival competitors with regards to integrating marketing activities in an effort of determining and satisfying needs and wants of target markets(Capon et al. 1987). There is a need for target markets to be enhanced as they cannot always satisfy the needs and wants of a broad market. Marketing is all about meeting the needs of target markets in a profitable manner. The implicit market has offered a huge opportunity to the company to establish a base and reach the potential market. The company has both the B2B and B2C models with the introduction of websites for each channel model. The main aim of the marketing concept at the company is to enable it achieve the set objectives. It is therefore, the responsibility of marketing managers to provide value to customers as well as profits to the company itself. With the B2B model at hand, a unique opportunity for “The In Thing” will be the enhancement of operation by noting the probable wholesalers and distributors in the target market. The strategic move with this regard would be the creation of websites for wholesalers and distributors for online sale. These would be ensured by the following objectives: - Creating awareness of customer offers to the buyers. Communicate the benefits offered by the company to the consumers. Promote the above benefit among the target customers to achieve maximum customer response. With enhanced customer response, it will be converted to definite sales of the offering. With the utilization of the B2B model, profits are bound to increase and “The In Thing” needs to strategically organize to promote its toys to the distributers and wholesalers worldwide and expend their target market. One aspect to consider is the websites of the company; SMART analysis ought to be conducted to ensure they are user friendly, and the property is maintained. The SMART marketing objectives of the company constitute: - To enhance the customer base by 10% in a year. Generate an additional 19% customer response. To enhance the web traffic by 10%. Increase the Brand awareness to consumers by a margin of 5%. To enhance customer satisfaction by a margin of 20%. 3.0. Target Audiences and Positioning Strategy Every business in the 21st Century is keen when it comes to choosing a target audience for their products/services. With respect to “The In Thing”, the target audiences for B2B model are the wholesalers and distributors for the toy products. The In Thing Company is aware of the fact that E-marketing is considered an aspect of an organizational function which helps in communication, creation and delivery of value to potential and already existing clients. The In Thing Company has live running campaigns weekly, and this depends on whether or not stock is available or if a new product line arrives. Presently, the company is running a total of 17 campaigns where its main target audience is companies dealing in sale of toys for instance Toymaster and Toys ‘R’ Us companies. It also targets the younger generation interested in buying advanced toys. One of the company’s main distributions is situated in the United Kingdom, and the privilege of exclusive distribution licenses enables it to be much more competitive. The In Thing’s main customers on the B2B level, include The Entertainer, Toys ‘R’ Us and Smyths Toys while on the B2C level, their main target audience/stakeholders include Amazon, Firebox.com, and Play.com (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p.137). These attributes are critical in the reaching of the target clients realized through the electronic marketing tools. An estimated 8% of income is gained from B2B level. The stakeholders of any company constitute the shareholders and owners, management, employees, customers, suppliers and distributors or any party with investments in the company for returns. With effective function in the marketplace, financial gain is also improved and this results to the value addition to the shareholders stake (Harris and Dennis, 2007). According to Egan (2007), the continuity of communication, any marketing strategy undertaken is realizable, failure to which the results are poor sales. Competition per se is something that most companies struggle to beat. This is enhanced by prioritizing advertisement and in this context internet comes in handy. This a highly crucial tool followed by television for marketing of the products. Others constitute billboards displays promotion, newspapers, as well as human or physical advertisement. Positioning of the marketing strategy is very clear to the marketers, and knows well its importance. This leads to them ensuring they hit the market first to seen and heard before their competitors do. With “The In Thing” company, the utilization of ways to attract the children would be highly crucial as it deals with toys. This can be realized by utilizing the visual mode like the TV where children are glued daily watching programmes during their free time. 4.0. Internet Value Proposition The Internet has totally transformed the manner in which businessmen sell their products and services. Consumers are utilizing the Internet to not only carry out research about a given product/service but also purchase these products/services online. As The In Thing company would testify, E-Marketing has proved to be an essential part of marketing in this day and age where technology is advancing rapidly. Today’s Internet age has made more and more individuals to be online as compared to how it was in the past, confirming the fact that Internet tends to serve as a highly effective marketing, as well as a communication instrument for the majority of businesses across the globe (Jelassi & Enders, 2005, p.102). In the course of carrying out their research regarding the Internet applications to Marketing and E-Marketing, “The In Thing” Company noted that a wide range of E-Marketing strategies and techniques have come up in the recent past to assist companies quickly reach wider audience/stakeholders, in order to establish firm online relationships with already existing and potential customers. The Company has also realized that E-Marketing in today’s Internet age is more than just banner advertising as it also encompasses a large number of web-based marketing initiatives which include partnership and affiliate marketing, Search Engine Optimization and email marketing. Since time immemorial, marketing has been in existence and people, have come a long way since then. Marketing methods and strategies have evolved and improved with time, making it more efficient. The In Thing Company views E-Marketing as the product of the merging between modern communication technologies and traditional marketing principles that most individuals have always applied (Egan, 2007, p.21). As the company has also discovered, the importance of E-marketing strategies have increased with the advancement of the Internet. It is quite possible for organizations and companies to adopt E-marketing as well as advertising strategies as a way of generating better business. As a result, customer relationships are built and maintained via the Internet. 5.0. E-Marketing Mix 5.1. E-Marketing Mix Whether or not one is familiar with marketing as a topic, they have at one time or another heard of the Marketing Mix. This is a 4P Classification that is used to describe elements making up a complete marketing program and include Product, Price, Place and Promotion (Bellizzi, 2000, p.46). Currently, more and more companies are being forced to adapt to advanced technologies and in the process come up with new marketing as well as product development processes, in order to keep up with competition (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p.131). Adapting to new technologies also enable these companies to keep in touch with their target audiences. The digital business is a representation of recent business contexts and is therefore, with the greater need for differentiation as well as upgrading of the marketing mix (Adamic & Huberman, 2000, p.8). 5.1.1. Product5 One of the advantages of implementing E-marketing is that clear online facts regarding a particular Product one intends to purchase are provided. The buyer is made aware of the facts regarding the product features rather than sales persons’ assumptions. Majority of companies, including The In Thing Company, have some form of webpage mostly used for advertisements. There exist interactivity with customers with the website giving feedbacks, granting discounts, newsletters of the products, as well as online chat mechanism where customers get answers for queries over the web. The e-marketing is crucial in the ascertaining how well the company marketers present the company to the buyers. Without just relying on the idea of selling toys, the company has to ensure that it sells. This is entrenched in the sense that the manner of presenting the product possess considerable value proposition with regard to promotions carried out in the marketing process. The detailing of products ought to be specific with superb resolution pictures, readable fonts, as well as excellent audio and visual presentation to create a lasting effect on the potential customer. 5.1.2. Pricing In the past, Pricing was all about finding about one’s costs, taking into account competition pricing, observing how much customers are willing to pay and then setting one’s price (Jelassi & Enders, 2005, p.108. the company ought to match its prices with the demand for given brands. This is via the following of the conventional supply and demand of attaining the competitive price. The technique of bundle pricing can also be utilized to enhance attracting customers. This can be enhanced by a variety of brands which will give customers diverse products that are latest in demand and purchase cost affordability. With technology growth, customers can also pay through online credit cards. 5.1.3. Promotion Under Promotions, E-marketing utilizes web public relations as a way of promoting their products/services online. “The In Thing” is investing heavily on the TV advertisement, but there is a need to enhance corporate, retail chains clients. The company has to cut on unnecessary advertising costs and redesign the corporate web to make it more effective. There is a need to also post pictures and clips of the products on social networks to enhance awareness. Another form of popular and commonly used form of Promotion through E-marketing is direct email. The In Thing Company is well versed with E-Marketing mix and has tried utilizing this to their business’s advantage. E-Marketing, as earlier mentioned, is more than just banner advertising as it tends to also incorporate a wide range of web-based marketing initiatives that include partnership and affiliate marketing, other online programs and Search Engine Optimization or the SEO. 5.1.4. Place Location or Place is considered an important element in E-marketing and refers to where links are placed on other websites (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p.133). Marketers have in the recent past realized that they influence wants and demands of target clientele where they communicate their offering to potential customers. The company ought to promote its products in the trade shows and community events. On the same note, visiting social circles involving family gathering s would prove a very crucial move in the targeting the customer. There can also be the distribution outlets that are unique for “The In Thing”. This will see the creation of a contact relationship with the customers. The outlets will also serve as centers for solving arising issues with old toys or any queries that need one on one interaction. 6.0. Strategy “The In Thing” company ought to adopt an integrated marketing strategy so as to maximize the marketing activity’s specific and collective effect. With utilization of in-house ICT, there is also need for outsourcing the job of e-marketing to the various social media marketing and e-marketing companies specializing in such services. 6.1. Tactic- Offline Promotion and Online Promotion Their E-marketing plan is based across the B2B side of the company that is The InThing.com, and the B2C side of the company, that is IwantIwant.com and magicchoc.co.uk. The company aims at continuous growth within their industry, opening new doors as well as signing new licenses. There is a crucial need for the marketing manager to devise final channels keeping in mind the set budgetary allocation by the company. This calls for very stringy marketing channels with the objective of maximizing every channel’s potential. This calls for a turn around marketing strategy that would place the company at higher marketing level. Strategies that can be utilized offline incorporate: - i) Target market identification. ii) Taking strategic positions that do not jeopardise the trading relations in the country. iii) Looking into the logistical measures of goods distribution. iv) Budgeting and strategic planning. v) Initiating partnerships with international companies or recruiting agents to distribute the products. vi) Conduct an extensive study of the targeted market, preference of consumer, purchasing habits and the purchasing power of the people. With regards to the online promotion strategy; the website strategy is utilized. This constitutes the realisation of all attributes supporting the electronic marketing for the company’s marketing process. The online marketing strategy will involve the pay per click sponsored advertising (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), the SNSs marketing, blogs and article listing, brand loyalty, brand awareness, email marketing and interacting with customers. 6.2. Tactic- Relationship Promotion Marketing strategies are considered important tools in fulfilling market needs as well as reaching marketing objectives (Adamic & Huberman, 2000, p.10). With respect to understanding the needs of customers, there is a need for customer relationship management software. This will entail the building of customer profile and most crucially, customer database. A marketing strategy is defined as a process that allows an organization or company to concentrate its limited resources on greatest opportunities in order to increase sales and achieve an appropriate, competitive advantage. The system will be imperative to anticipate the needs of customers. This calls for the satisfaction of the employee who in turn sees to it that the customer ensures customer satisfaction. 6.3. Tactic- Extranet The In Thing Company has two different websites allocated for these particular marketing strategies, the B2B website being TheInThing.com and that of B2C being IwantIwant.com (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p.141). A new, additional website under the B2C marketing strategy was also recently added, and that is magicchoc.co.uk. B2C on the other hand, refers to Business to Customer marketing. As The In Thing Company discovered; B2C E-marketing is one of the most advanced consumer marketing strategies that has revolutionized the world of business (Adamic & Huberman, 2000, p.11). It enables a company to develop direct contact with its customers, allowing entrepreneurial businesspeople to independently advertise as well as sell their products and/or services in the simplest way possible. The In Thing Company has observed that the majority of its B2C clientele tend to look for the best price possible, including value added option to have loyal commitment of good customer service (Albert & Sanders, 2003, p.80). 7.0. Implementation Every business organization or company has some form of the implementation plan that leads the company into achieving its final goals and objectives. The In Thing Company has a News page on their website where their customers can log on and view any bulletins regarding the business, new product lines or stock arrival information. There is also need for realizing the evaluation via checking the raw statistics of hit rates in the B2C and B2B websites. The company’s Sales Managers have their own online section where blogging and updates can be posted. This is for the purpose of creating a personal contact with the customers and improving on the relationship between them and their Account Manager. The In Thing Company implementation plan is through its Information Communication and Technology. On a weekly basis, an email newsletter is sent out introducing a new product lines or promotions that can be accessed through Google and Yahoo click. They have also implemented ICT into their e-marketing as they find it a fast way to get messages across to their customers and at the same time, link them directly to the company’s websites (Jelassi & Enders, 2005, p.114). Additionally, The In Thing Company has their own in-house Internet expertise capable of showing customers their products on their leading B2B website within hours. With the majority of their brands, they distribute on average, 4 out of the first 10 page on listings, between their retail, B2B and micro sites (McKay & Marshall, 2004, p.69). The company has a close working relationship with children’s TV channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon which gives them power to expose new brands to a wide range of highly targeted children audience, thus establishing unparalleled brand awareness when launching new crazes. The strength and weaknesses of the websites comes to the forefront, and suitable action plan should be devised to ensure customer are retained and keep coming back to the website. This results to increasing the chances of closing a sale from these visits. With respect to financial analysis, the owners, it highly crucial for the stakeholders and management of “The In Thing” company to assess the cost implications of the electronic marketing. This constitutes the costs of developing a website, domain and web hosting, as well as the digital marketing costs of advertisement. The management ought to analyze the cost involved in the strategic venture. Further analyze and compare with the revenue from the e-commerce sale to ascertain the profitability of the company. 8.0. Conclusion The main conclusion that can be drawn from this report is that E-marketing is an essential and effective tool for businesses. E-Marketing is also a tool encompassing a wide variety of marketing initiatives that include email marketing, Search Engine Optimization and partnership and affiliate marketing. As mentioned in this report, Internet enables a company to get its main value proposition out to potential clientele as compared to other marketing channels. Cost efficiency is yet another benefit enjoyed by companies that implement E-marketing as it has proven to be less expensive than other marketing initiatives (Sheth and Sharma, 2005). Companies can also improve personalization since the Internet makes it easier for them to tailor their promotions and messages as per the customers’ distinct behaviors, preferences and needs. The In Thing is a young and agile company whose ability to reach, within hours if necessary, is their predominant forte. The company possesses the ability to ‘think outside the box’ and simply believe that they perform their thinking a lot quicker than most of their competitors. The company is the UK’s premier specialist pocket money distributor and its small size has not stopped it from implementing E-marketing. The In Thing trades with all major UK national accounts and the diversity. Through E-marketing, the company aims at creating an awareness of the business, making sure that they are considered the go-to company for the latest toy lines. For their future activities, The In Thing Company intends on venturing into the food industry. It has never entered a toy line into the food industry before, and it is only recently that it signed Magic Choc. Magic Choc.co.uk is still developing, having goals of an online mini-game section, as well as photo uploading facilities in the near future. 9.0. References Adamic, Lada A., and Huberman, Bernardo A., 2000. ‘The Nature of Markets in the World Wide Web’, Quarterly Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1(1). Pp. 5 – 12. Bellizzi, Joseph A., 2000. ‘Drawing Prospects to E-Commerce Websites’, Journal of Advertising Research, 40(1/2). Pp. 43 – 53. Capon, Noel, and Glazer, Rashi., 1987. ‘Marketing and Technology: A Strategic Coalignment’, Journal of Marketing, 51(3). Pp. 1 – 14. Cheffey Dave, Ellis-Chadwick Fiona, Mayer Richard, and Johnston Kevin. 2009. Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, 4th Edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall. Doyle, P., and Stern, P., 2006. Marketing, Management and Strategy, 4th Edition, Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall. Egan, J., 2007. Marketing Communications, London: Thomson. Harris Lisa, and Dennis Charles., 2007. Marketing the E-Business, 2nd Edition, Taylor & Francis. Jelassi, T., and Enders, A., 2005. Strategies for E-Business, Harlow: Pearson Education. Maury, M., and Kleiner, D., 2002. ‘E-Commerce, Ethical Commerce?’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol.36(1/2). Pp.21 – 31. McKay, J., and Marshall, P., 2004. Strategic Management of E-Business, Milton: National Library of Australia. Sheth, J., and Sharma, A., 2005. ‘International E-Marketing: Opportunities and Issues’, International Marketing Review, 22(6). Pp. 611 – 622. TheInThing. About Us. Available from http://www.theinthing.com/cgi- bin/html_display.cgi?aboutus.htm&IT-133424742711915539216 [Accessed 29 April 2012] Read More