Entrepreneurial Marketing Strategy - Coursework Example

Marketing Strategy for Electrical Equipment LTD Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Competitor analysis 3 Strategic marketing plans 4 Market research for analysing customer requirements 4 SWOT analysis of EEL 5 Setting marketing objectives 6 Balanced marketing mix 6 Marketing strategies 6 Market development strategy 7 Product development strategy 7 Product lifecycle 7 Potential Problems and solutions of strategic implementation 8 Conclusion 10 References 12 Introduction This case is regarding a small UK based company named Electrical Equipment ltd. This company is doing its business in manufacturing alarms, signal, communication equipment and control. Company also sell these kinds of above written products. Those products are generally being used in oil, chemical and gas industry as indicators of danger. Company is having well designed in house production capacities of their products. The company is an expert of this kind of products and materials. Company’s sales force is technically well equipped to handle their customers in the market. They deal very well with their customers in the market. This industry has lots of legal formalities. It is very important to maintain those formalities according to the stipulated law. As the products are related with dangerous industry it is very important from the part of the company to maintain all the security guide lines. Company’s departing marketing director was Max Carter. He worked in the company for a long period of time. Company faced lots of ups and downs over the years. Max Carter witnessed all those tipsy and Torbay of the company. Company’s turn over in 2008 was 8.6 million pound and margin also increased by 50%. Company’s aim is to reach up to 10 million Pound within 2010. Company has gone for new product like audio communication (Non-ex). Company has decided to go for overseas market and preparing themselves for reaching that level. As a newly appointed marketing director this case would go to show new strategic marketing plans and potential problems and solutions related with those problems. Competitor analysis Competitor analysis of the EEL is very important before making any strategic marketing plans for the company. Competitor’s analysis is going to give a clear picture about the competitions in the market. It would help EEL to design its strategy according to that. Norwegian company Norloud is the main competitor of EEL. This company has very similar products line like EEL. Norloud is also having huge experience of 20 years in this industry. This company poses lots of competition in terms of products and expertise. Norloud is having lion share of the market in terms of non-ex products. EEL tried to take away some of the market share of this product from Norloud. There are others players are there in the market but concentrating on the very well defined niche market. EEL has to deviate from its core competency for the production of Audio communicator. Competition is very hard for EEL from Norloud. This kind of new products has caused confusions in the mind of production and sales team. Company came up with new products and able to offer market a new substitute. Norloud has well designed material procurement policy for this kind of non ex products. EEL has to take lots of pressure in terms of procurement of raw materials. Company also faced issues related to its supplier. Norloud certainly has competitive edge in terms of these new products of EEL. Norwegian company is a tough competitor to beat related to this new product. Strategic marketing plans As a marketing director of EEL some of the strategic marketing plans are discussed in this section of the study. Market research for analysing customer requirements EEL has to do lots of market research related with this industry. This kind of extensive market research would pose a clear picture in front of the company (Lussier, 2008, pp. 123-126). Research would clarify different requirement of the customers belongs to oil, gas and chemical industry. It would also show that how a new product is going to influence the industry. Market research would help the company to maintain its inventories and would help to choose the right suppliers for products. Market research would give a general trend about the industry which would be very helpful for EEL to take any strategic decisions. SWOT analysis of EEL EEL is a well known player in this industry (George, 1996, pp. 56-59). Company is having a very well established in-house installation for manufacturing products. Company has very efficient and well equipped sales force performing pretty well in the market. Company has been performing very well in the previous years. Customers have good faith on the company. Previously company was under the leadership of good manager. EEL has some weakness regarding new products developments (Chaston, 1999, pp. 46-51). There is a scope of confusion in the mind of sales force and manufacturing team regarding their new product. Company’s procurement policy was a subject of weakness for the EEL. Company has issue with foreign suppliers (Reuvid, 2012, pp. 78-81). As there is only one prominent player in the market i.e. Norloud, EEL has enormous opportunities to take some share away from Norloud. Threat from new entrants is less in this industry. This industry has lots of legalities to follow. It is not that much easy for a new entrant to do the business in this industry (Coade, 1997, pp. 91-96). It creates lots of opportunities as the competitors are less in the industry. Diversification towards a new product can cause deviation of focus from the existing main products. It is a very serious threat for the company. Setting marketing objectives Setting a clear cut marketing strategy is very important for EEL. Company must be very clear about the products and its suitable market (Navarro, P. 2006, pp. 34-38). Orientation between products and proper market is very important for EEL to recognize. EEL must be very clear about their products and return out of that products after certain time. Setting marketing objective would give a clear guideline to the company to follow and come to the desired success. Balanced marketing mix It is very important for the EEL to come up with good products according to the need of the customers related with this industry. Good quality of product is very important. Pricing of that product must be realistic according to the industry and other competitors. Price plays a very important role in –terms of nay products (Fitzroy and Herbert, 2007, pp. 201-207). It is important to choose the right place i.e. market to launch products. Choosing right market is very important for EEL to have successful products. Proper promotions are also very important for EEL to communicate its products very well among the customers. Company can go for TV, radio advertisements, online advertisement etc (Laurie, 2007, pp. 67-72). It is very important for EEL to come up with a right balance of this above written four P’s. Marketing strategies EEL can go with two specific strategies of Ansoff. Market development strategy According to this strategy EEL can go for new market with its already established products line. Company can go for foreign market with its existing popular products (Fox, 2007, pp. 89-94). Here risk is medium for the company. The products are known so only identification of the good potential market is enough. It is a very effective strategy for the company to expand its business. Product development strategy This would be a good strategy for EEL in terms of their new products. This strategy would give the needed platform to company’s new products (Rao, 2008, pp. 101-105). Only company have to promote its new products into existing market. Risk level is medium for the company. Company don’t have to create a new market from the beginning. Product lifecycle EEL has to manage life cycles of different product very well. EEL must invest a lot for launching new products at its introduction stage. In this stage sells will be low. In the growth stage company has to invest less but the earnings will be on the higher side of that product (Helen, 2005, pp. 234-237). In the maturity stage the products of the EEL would be well established in nature. In this stage company would be most competitive with their products. In the last stage of decline markets will be saturated for the products. In this stage EEL can go for less expensive production process. In this stage Customers are going for substitute products (Singla, 2011, pp. 68-71). Potential Problems and solutions of strategic implementation In this section of the study potential problems related to strategic marketing and the strategic implementation of the solutions are going to be discussed. Market research can come out with unclear and vague findings (Smith, 2011, pp. 78-83). It would have an adverse effect on the management decisions. If market research are faulty and Sample sizes are not proper it would yield a faulty results. Decisions on behalf of that research are also full of errors. EEL can go for any research firm for their research purpose to come up with right ideas. Sample size of the research should be proper for the industry (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2010, pp. 23-27). EEL lots of strength regarding their in house manufacturing capabilities and well equipped sales force. Building on that strength is very important. Growing after a certain limit can be a potential problem for the company (Schmitt, 2000, pp. 91-98). Company has to keep adding its strength by growing its manufacturing infrastructure and adding more and more skilled worker and sales persons. Proper communication regarding new products among manufacturing unit and sales forces can be a serious problem for EEL. Sales forces are not fully convinced with its new products can be a huge problem for the company. Company must communicate properly about their new products. There should not be any confusion in the mind of employees. EEL can go for employee orientation programs for new products. This kind of orientation program can eliminate the air of confusion among employees. Over dependency upon Taiwan vendor also can be a problem for EEL. Bargaining power of that vendor would be higher causing serious problems for the company. EEL should lower its dependency on that particular vendor. It would diversify its portfolio of vendors. Bargaining power of the vendors will be less on the company. Company has to check its vendors’ performance after regular intervals. Competition with Norloud can cause lots of problem for EEL. Norloud is also an old player in this market. It would try very hard to create lots of problems for EEL. Company must take each and every decision in a very calculative way. Product diversification can cause lots of problems for EEL. High investments in new product diversification can be an utter failure would cause a serious pressure in company’s financial health. Company must diversify its new products after lots of research and must analyse the longevity of the demand of that new product. Understanding different need of customers is also problem for EEL. Company must analyse the different buying behaviour of different customers present in this industry and must produce their products according to that. Deciding a competetive pricing model can be a problem for the organization. Company can look for the current market trends for the solution of this problem. Company can focus on different austerity measures to cut its costs down and can come up with a good pricing model. Choosing a proper market also can be potential problem for EEL. Company must identify lucrative places suitable for the industry and then launch their products in that market. It would be a very successful strategy for EEL. Products promotions in an effective manner can be a potential problem for EEL. Company can chose T.V, radio, internet, banners and hording for their product promotions. Company’s promotion should be very well designed and must not cannibalize any existing brands. Product diversification can shift the focus of EEL from its existing popular products. Existing popular products are the highest revenue earner for the company. Company must not shift its focus from those products. They must innovate on those products. EEL may face lots of problem in terms of Market development strategy and product development strategy. New market may not accept the products and Established market may not accept the new products. Company has to be very cautious in case of developing their strategy. EEL can go for a preliminary acceptability test for these two strategies. Taking right decisions at the different level of product life cycle is can be very problematic for ELL. Management must monitor each and every stages of product life cycle very closely and must make required changes for that. Continuous persuasion towards long term objectives can be very problematic for EEL. Company must be very sincere and dedicated towards its objective. EEL must not follow any short cut roots to reach towards their goals. Conclusion Business world is ever changing. Change is the only constant thing in this world. Every company in this world are giving lots of importance to their marketing strategies. EEL must look into this matter very seriously. There is no scope of complacency for the company. Competition is very high for the company. To sustain that cut throat competition EEL must be innovative and creative. This study clearly shows that proper marketing strategies are very important for EEL. Company must take every step in a calculated manner. Decision making is also very important for setting up a business in new place. Implementation and controlling of plan is also very much needed. Management around the world always plan very well before setting up any new business. Management of EEL must take proactive measures to counter different problems relating to strategic marketing. ELL must address all the interests related with company’s all stakeholders. Company must abide by all the legalities related with the industry. Company must invest its capital after lots of calculations. Company must maintain transparency and integrity of the business. References Chaston, I. 1999. New Marketing Strategies: Evolving Flexible Processes To Fit Market Circumstance. London: SAGE. Coade, N. 1997. Managing International Business: UK: Cengage Learning EMEA. Fitzroy, P. and Herbert, J. M. 2007. Strategic Management: Creating Value in a Turbulent World. USA: John Wiley & Sons. Fox,W. 2007. Managing Organizational Behavior: South Africa: Juta & Co. George, P. M. 1996. Gerontographics: Life-stage Segmentation for Marketing Strategy Development. London: Greenwood Publishing Group. Helen, S. 2005. Organisational Behavior and Change Management. UK: Select Knowledge Limited. Lamb, C., Hair, J. and McDaniel, C. 2010. Marketing. Mason: Cengage Learning. Laurie, J. M. 2007. Management and Organizational Behavior. UK: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Lussier, R. 2008. Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development. America: Cengage Learning. Navarro, P. 2006. The Well-Timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage: USA. 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