Marketing of Quick Travel Medical Systems - Case Study Example

Pricing Strategy Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc.’s pricing strategy will be based on two methods. First, prices will be evaluated based on competitor’s pricing. National averages for PET scan prices range from $3,300 to $5,300 per scan (New Choice Health, 2014). To position Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc.’s price within the average range but at a competitive rate the price will be set as follows: $3,300 + (25% of range $5,300 - $3,300) = $3,800 per scan Second, price set by the competitive pricing method is evaluated against costs to verify that the price meets target profit objectives using the calculation based on target-return pricing method (Kotler & Keller, 2012): $3,800 – Cost = Profit (Requires cost information) Prices being set low compared to national averages for competitor’s prices are to account for a lower cost of living in New Mexico and to position Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc. to break into the existing mobile PET scan market. Management The correct team has to build for an effective marketing strategy. In this regard people from the industry has to be hired who know the market and know the industry and has the experience of marketing other similar product and services. The teams is one who will build the main marketing strategy and needs to be experienced. In this regard the company will hire 3 people who know the how to make cost effective marketing strategy to reach the desired goal. These people have good knowledge of the internet and have contacts in print and electronic media. They have a good aesthetic sense and know the culture of the society to come up with a good and relatable marketing message. Marketing Objectives The team has prepared the following marketing objectives to be achieved for the company: 1. The first of the objective is to prepare a cost effective marketing strategy. The cost of the marketing should not be high. 2. The second marketing objective is to ensure that there is high penetration of the message in the market and should reach to the desired geographical region. 3. The third marketing goal and objective is to ensure that the message is effectively delivered to the consumer and to generate positive response. Sales and Marketing Strategy Product Description: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan is a new medical invention which detects the diseases in the system with the help of radioactive substance (Plus, 2014). It is a modern technology which is used to show how the organs and tissues are working. PET is more advanced and different from other form of similar technology including MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and CT (Computed Tomography), these two show the structure of the blood from in the organs. Target Market: Medical care does not define it audience, the machine can be used by anyone who is not feeling well. The main function of the machinery is to determine any inner malfunctioning of the organs with the help of tissues. It goes deep into the body and determines the minor infections as well. PET scan be useful to any age and any gender. The target market does not limit to any bracket. Although we will limit it to the geographical region of New Mexico, where the product is being introduced. Competitive Edge: One of the competitive edge of the product is the mobile service. There are many patients who do not have the access to the hospital and there are others who are not feeling well to reach to the hospital in time. There are patients who have the disability to walk and it becomes difficult for them to move from one place to another. For all these patients and other special cases it is more advisable if we bring the machine to the patient. Although there are existing competitors in the market but the competitive edge of the mobile machinery along with price gives the advantage to our product and we will use the blend of both to make our marketing strategy. Marketing Message: The marketing message for our company would be “We bring the best and state of the art machinery to your doorstep to ensure that the patient are in safe hands and they are provided with quality service at affordable prices”. Marketing Strategy The target market will be reached by combining low-cost marketing materials with an online presence and moderate use of radio advertising to expand the reach of Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc.’s marketing message. The use of selected communications channels may be required to be increased and/or the use of other communication channels may be implemented as revenues increase but the following communication channels have been selected for start-up: Website: To publish pop-up ads and through other popular sites is one of the most cheap mode of promotion. These sites can include face book, twitter and other media sites popular with all ages. There are different shopping sites which can be utilized because they are target the female population and female is the key driving force of the house. If the message is communicated in a good manner she will remember to use our services whenever required. Website marketing can also use popup adds, these ads can be used during site with most popular rating in New Mexico. A pamphlet will be designed. The positive aspect of website marketing is that it is not only low cost but it ensures to reach out to a larger number of audience. The website marketing can cover many regions at one time. However, the only drawback with website marketing is the effectiveness of response. There are many people who will see the ad but the retention ratio is very low. Most of the people do not even take these ad seriously, most of them skip the ad to reach to the desired search. There is a lot of ad penetration through website and it becomes difficult to market the product. Company Representatives on the street: Another way which is less in cost is to send company’s representatives on streets. These people will stand with proper banners and information about the product. They will ensure that their voice is being heard by the people crossing by. They can use different techniques to attract the people into listening to their product. These are company specific with all the relevant information. The marketing strategy has a positive aspect of being heard, because people stand and pay close attention to the product being sold. These people even ask questions and the interaction makes the sales more effective, however, there is a drawback to the marketing strategy. One of the drawback is the geographical region being covered, the people can access to a certain amount of area and a large market can be left un-marketed and the message is unheard by the masses. Another drawback to the marketing strategy is that if the people standing are not motivated the audience will not pay close attention to the product being sold. This would waste time and efforts of the company. Yellow Pages: Yellow pages is a similar marketing strategy as internet, the only difference between the two is the market penetration, with internet the market penetration is high and it reaches to a larger number of audience. Yellow pages will only reach to the people who access them. Yellow pages are not updated and it is also not available to everyone. Yellow pages is not an effective source for marketing the product at low cost. The penetration along with effectiveness of the message is lost in transit. Special Deals: Special deals is an effective way to attract the initial sale of the product. The item to be sold is medical service, the company can always make a group of two medical services at a price of one. These can include general checkup of blood pressure or sugar, or free pain killers or any other daily use medicine. These can also include free lecture about various diseases. The group of two gives the customer to hold and look at the produce even though they might not need it. Most of the end user would also avail the service to get the other service for free. There are many people who only want to have their blood pressure and sugar checked and find it more convenient for themselves to avail two services at low cost. Special deals can be communicated to the consumers to all the other sources of marketing mentions, these have high penetration rate in the market and the effectiveness of the message is also high. Customer Calls: Another source of low cost marketing is to call up customers and the same people who will be hired to hire on streets can be used to call the consumers. The phone numbers can be taken from the yellow pages phone book. The positive aspect of the marketing is that the company reaches out to the customer directly and the message is communicated in a more effective manner. The service is area specific that is why the calls are also limited to the region. The lists can be shared from insurance company and people with certain diseases can be communicated on priority basis. This can bring a positive response. However, call to consumers have a single drawback, there are certain consumers who do not appreciate being called at a certain time of a day, few are busy and other don’t have much time to hear the entire phone call. These are people who do not understand the product but at the same time can be a part of negative marketing to the product. Being new in the market, companies don’t want to have a bad reputation due to word of mouth. Promotional Material: The promotional material can include pamphlets and new ads and online ads. These ads should be synchronized in message and images, and should represent the same services. These materials should also be attractive with respect to the consumer. The ad should have the quality to stop the product while they are moving through ads and skipping ads on line. These should convey a clear and concise message to the end user and also ensure that they are not in violation of any social or cultural norms. The same message should in print and in electronic medium. If the ads are not in accordance to the theme they are mis-communicated and build a negative image for the company. Print ads in newspaper: the company can also use the local newspaper to advertise their ads; these newspapers are read by most of the households. This can prove to a good way of communicating to the selected geographical region. The ad cost is low but the assurity of the ad being read can only be achieved if the ad made provide the correct message is communicated. Radio: Radio is one of the most effective low cost medium. People are fond of listening to music while traveling to and from home. They tune into radio to listen to the update news and songs. While driving they switch less and are forced to hear to the ads in between. Radio is proven to be a medium through which the message can be communicated to a larger geographical region with the confirmation that the ad will be heard by the consumer. However, the effectiveness of the ads is not assured. The marketing strategy have to be designed and developed very carefully to ensure that the right message is communicated to the people in the right manner. That is why one channel is not effectiveness and a combination of different mediums will be used to ensure that the message is being delivered to a large geographical region and also that it is communicated effectively. In our marketing we will use a combination of print and electronic media and use the yellow pages to distribute our contact details. Along with the above we will also use the internet and radio channels to build an awareness about our services and product. The combination deals will also be used. Following we will further discuss the cost of marketing with respect to each of the strategies discussed and how frequently we will use them. The combination of all the strategies along with the cost will determine which strategies will be used more frequently and which is the optimal combination for the company to reach the desired goal. Marketing Costs The cost of marketing is most critical aspect because it determines the first objective or marketing highlighted above. There are few services in the market that sell themselves they only need to have an awareness in the market, the consumer should have the knowledge that they have alternative companies to provide the similar service at a lower cost. Similar is the PET Scan and the cost of marketing has to be within budget because the message to be communicated is the more important. Following are the details of the cost of marketing with respect to each of the strategies highlighted above. Marketing costs have been determined by researching several companies and websites that provide marketing services. SquareSpace provides web building and support services sufficient for Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc. for $16/month (SquareSpace, 2014). The Yellow Pages website offers advertising starting at $49/month (Yellow Pages, 2014). Vista Print provides marketing material at the following prices and offers prices below these rates for sales and bulk orders: brochures - $20/20, Flyers - $25/25, and business cards – $23/100 (Vista Print, 2014). The website www.gaebler.com provides average radio advertising costs and indicates that the average cost for a 30 second radio spot in New Mexico is approximately $92 (Resources for Entrepreneurs, 2014). The marketing needs for Quick Travel Medical Systems, Inc. will require a website; a Yellow Pages ad; 100 each of brochures, flyers, and 4 sets of business cards every 3 months; and 2 – 30 second radio advertising spots per week. Marketing Schedule The marketing schedule is designed in a way that could not only communicate the message to the audience to at the same time bring the maximum response. The service is new to the market and has existing competition and the new entrant has to be very careful with the communication channels because a small mistake in marketing the wrong message can destroy the worth of the company and the trust factor will dissolve before it can get the opportunity to build it. The communications channels will be set-up to start simultaneously. In the first week of the marketing schedule marketing materials from Vista Print will be ordered. Second, while the marketing materials are being produced and delivered a website will be created using SquareSpace. Approximately 1 ½ weeks will be designated for the arrival of the marketing materials and completion of the website. A Yellow Page ad will be scheduled to begin the third week of the marketing roll-out with the completed website up and running and the marketing materials from Vista Print onsite. Last, in the fourth week of the marketing plan a 30 second radio ad will begin running twice per week on an Albuquerque radio station that will be selected based on the target market. Once the marketing roll-out is complete the marketing materials will be re-stocked from Vista Print every 3 months while the website, Yellow Page ad, and radio advertising will continue as needed. A close post analysis of the marketing will be undertaken by the company to see which of the marketing strategies are more effective and which are not producing the desired results and the strategy of the marketing will be changed accordingly. As we start the marketing roll out explained below in the grant chart, the same will be updated on regular basis according to the input of response by the different medium being used. The combination will be changed accordingly. The Gantt chart below shows the marketing roll-out schedule described above (1st 3 months): Marketing Budget References Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management, 14th Edition, 2012 New Choice Health. (2014, January 1). PET CT Scan Cost and Procedure Information. www.newchoicehealth.com/Directory/Procedure/47?PET CT Scan Resources for Entrepreneurs (2014) Cost of Radio Advertising www.gaebler.com/Cost-of-Radio-Advertising-In-Albuquerque---NM SquareSpace. (2014) Build a Website www.squarespace.com/ Vista Print. (2014) Business Cards, Post Cards Invitations, and More www.vistaprint.com/ Yellow Pages. (2014) Advertising Solutions adsolutions.yp.com/advertising-solutions/yellow-pages-advertising Bibliography Group, Cambridge Strategy. 2014. Marketing Strategy Business Plan. B Plans. [Online] 2014. http://www.bplans.com/marketing_strategy_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php. Plus, Medline. 2014. PET Scan. Medline Plus. [Online] 2014. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003827.htm. Senter, Sharron. 2014. 6 Low-Cost Marketing Strategies. Business Know How. [Online] 2014. http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/affordmark.htm. Read More