Marketing Plan of the Star Corporate Services - Assignment Example

Marketing plan Introduction The Star Corporate Services (SCS) is an event planning organization that prominently focuses on designing, planning and organizing events for various corporate clients in New York, the United States. The SCS services can be broadly categorized in two corporate services, namely, corporate training services and corporate product launch services. The training services of the company mainly provide three kinds of trainings: leadership development, cultural transition and team skill development. One of the unique selling propositions of SCS is that the firm can arrange the services by means of event either alone or with its business partners depending upon clients’ requirements. Large events will be arranged by accessing support of various strategic partners so that quality is maintained (Cravens & Piercy, 2008). The paper presents marketing plan for the company where internal strengths and weak spots of the firm has been assessed for better understanding of external opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis is expected to provide a strong foundation for the marketing plan and strategic analysis for long term purpose. Moving forward, the paper highlights organizational mission and forecasts its goals using situational analysis. The 5C model of situational analysis has employed in the paper along with other marketing theories and frameworks for designing appropriate marketing strategy while incorporating various aspects of marketing mix for successful implementation of the plan. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is an effective tool in strategy formulation of a firm as it helps in analyzing strength and weaknesses of a firm and strategically using the strengths to access maximum opportunities (Day, 1981; Kotler, 2000). The SWOT analysis of SCS is discussed as follows: Strengths 1) SCS is essentially focused on delivering high quality services to its consumers with respect to their requirements. Product differentiation can be considered as one of the important strengths of the company. 2) Recruitment of productive human resources and appropriate job allocation. Comprehensive employment policy focusing strictly on employee engagement. 3) Long term strategic relationship with business partners so that contingent issues are handled effectively. 4) Technological advanced work environment for maximum utilization of resources in an efficient manner. 5) Cooperative work culture so that employees do not feel uncomfortable at work. 6) Supportive management, efficient marketing and public relation team and financial stability. Weaknesses 1) The company is new in an already saturated market and the size of the company is relatively smaller than its competitors. 2) Centralized management arrangement can have probable unconstructive impact in long run. The top management is handled by limited number of people and as a result few individuals hold large amount of information. 3) Being new in the market, the company is expected to face issue in acquiring prominent clients. Therefore, lack of awareness and visibility can be considered as weaknesses. 4) Limited number of stuff can often impede long term growth plans of the firm as the firm is presently not capable of meeting unexpected rise in market demand. Opportunity 1) Presently, most organizations prefer to outsource various secondary activities because outsourcing often minimizes internal costs. 2) Rapidly growing market presents large number of opportunities ahead of the company. 3) Product launch events are increasingly becoming common as most companies in any industry are engage in product development and selling. 4) The overhead cost is declining in the industry. Threat 1) Threat from competition is highest for the company as it is entering into a business sector where the market is being dominated by major corporate players. 2) The slow economic condition can have negative impact on growth of the company 3) Product diversification by competitors can also prove to be a threat 4) Inability to recruit high quality skilled workforce due to resource unavailability Organizational vision and mission Mission and vision are essential for providing directions to an organization in long as well short run. The organizational mission and vision of the company are to deliver various client organizations with high quality of event planning services. The company will strongly focus on attracting and retaining consumers and it is believed that by satisfying consumers, every other requirement in the business can be achieved. The short term vision of the company remains to exceed expectations of consumers (Kotler, 2000). The specific mission objectives of the company are: Increasing the number of repeat customers in every quarter Minimizing the average customer acquisition cost on yearly basis Achieving profitability by the end of second year Recording steady monthly growth Increasing awareness regarding the firm and its services which will be quantified by means of 4 percent increase in unsolicited service requirement in every two quarter. Minimizing resource related costs Situational analysis Systematic marketing plans are essential for organizational efficiency and effectiveness considering the growing complexity in the business environment. It was determined that for developing a successful marketing strategy of the firm, it is important to have comprehensive understanding of the ongoing situation (Day, 1981). The paper has conducted situational analysis by assessing 5C of marketing. Company SCS is in its first year of business in event planning and the company will make effort to attract mainly corporate clients. The company is financially stable but areas of public relation and recruitment require significant attention considering lack of sufficient market exposure and shortage of skilled resources respectively. The strengths of the company have been listed previously and should be utilized to nullify threats and weaknesses (Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Collaborator By collaborators, the main focus of the firm remains on suppliers, distributors and alliances. SCS has some significant strategic collaborators who will play important role when the firm will be handling large client projects. Collaborators are mainly responsible for providing supportive capabilities to the firm. The company maintains strong collaboration with its strategic partners and the same will be reflected in its performance (Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Customer The company will mainly focus on corporate clients. It has been observed that due to economic slowdown, companies are reducing their secondary budgets related to training and development and event management. The market is slowly recovering and this phase presents strong scope of opportunity for the company. It was determined that companies consider outsourcing as a cost effective alternative to certain activities that are generally performed internally. Corporate consumers are careful watchers and as a result, the company has to perform well to ensure long term relationship and have access to more clients (Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Competitors The market is driven by strong competition as a large number of players are regularly entering the industry. The industry is commanded by a considerable number of players and there is a possibility for potential competitors in the long run. Additionally, there is also competition from various substituting products such as skill training provided by colleges and universities, and events being organized by companies themselves. The competitors are positioned in a superior position and the company will have to make sincere efforts to improve its market position. However, the company is in a strong position with respect to its competitors because the company is providing two unique services which are unlikely on the part of its competitors (Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Climate The climate focuses on macro-economic environment of the company: Political-legal environment: The political-legal environment of the company emphasizes on implementation of various regulations related to business development, organizational ethics, environment and employment. Economic environment: The economic climate of the company is gradually improving and it is expected to have positive impact on the growth of the firm. It is expected that economic factors such as inflation and interest rate will further support its expansion. Social environment: The present corporate social trend is focused on outsourcing and SCS will make maximum utilization of this favorable situation. The company will try to reach corporate clients for having event contracts. Technological environment: SCS will be incorporating various technological changes in the organizational environment so that employees can make maximum utilization of soft and hard technologies for improved productivity (World Bank Group, 2015). Marketing Strategy SCS will be making aggressive moves for developing future contracts with various companies. Since the firm specializes in its services, the same will be offered to clients at a reduced cost as a result of being specialized. Since SCS is concentrated on only few specialized services, it is expected that the firm will be a proficient in these services and perform the same better than other firm without similar kind of expertise. SCS will enhance the company visibility through website, participation in trade fairs and shows and by means of networking with local chamber of commerce (Kotler, 2000; Cravens & Piercy, 2008). The SCS company website will be highly organized and detailed where visitors will be provided thorough information regarding the services that the firm is offering and will offer in recent future. It is expected that the website will help in cost minimization and deliver high quality with ease. The management will ensure that the company actively participates in local chamber of commerce for greater exposure. Besides online website and chamber of commerce, the company will appear in various tradeshows for direct interaction with various clients. The paper will undertake STP (segmentation, targeting and positioning) analysis for determination of target market and determination of segmentation techniques. Additionally, the paper has explored 7Ps of marketing mix so that an effective and efficient marketing plan is developed. STP Analysis Segmentation Segmentation is essentially a marketing technique where the consumers can be broadly classified into various segments based on certain similar taste and purchasing behavior. The market can be segmented for SCS as corporate clients and client with personal requirement and it has already been highlighted that corporate clients will be the main focus of the firm. The chief purpose of this segmentation is that it will help the firm in developing relatively more specific services for its specific clients in the long run (Kotler, 2000; Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Targeting Since corporate clients are priority of the company, SCS will not take into account services for social event market. The social event market is an alternative market within the same industry. The target market will approach SCS for their event and training services because third party intervention often minimize large amount of internal costs. Besides, third party event planners expertise in the particular area and consequently, are best at the things they do. Investing fund in seasonal infrequent event may prove costly for firm and as a result, companies will hire SCS for event planning. The training event services of the company will be provided mainly to large companies while the product launch event services will be offered to product as well as to service producing companies (Kotler, 2000; Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Positioning SCS will be positioned as a niche event marketer and it will provide its services to various small and large local companies. The company can leverage its competitive edge for achieving desired position. The company will earn competitive edge by means of strategic relationship and specialization. From consumer perspective, specialized event based services from the company at a comparatively low cost will augment its market share (Kotler, 2000; Cravens & Piercy, 2008). Marketing mix The analysis of marketing mix comprises studying 7Ps of marketing, namely, product mix, price, place, people, process, physical evidence and promotion (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Product mix Product mix is defined as a group of products and/or services that a firm offers to the targeted group of consumers. SCS offers its services to corporate firms and the offerings mainly consist of two exclusive services, namely, training program and corporate product launch events. The services of the firm have been crafted and designed in such a manner that they can be swiftly modified as per an organization’s requirements. The sub-products (services) within each package can also be customized as per prerequisite terms and this feature can be considered as the USP of the firm. The company will be making further addition in its product/service line in the long run. However, it is noteworthy that each product has medium to long product life cycle as a result of which SCS will have scope of cost minimization in recent future (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Pricing Pricing is one of the essential aspects of marketing mix. A firm’s pricing strategies frequently implies product quality and brand image. Theoretically, various pricing strategies have been recognized which are selected by companies in accordance with the image it would like to portray in the consumer mind. Considering the highly competitive market and slow growth, it was determined that the company will adopt competitive pricing technique. The pricing technique will enable SCS to charge a fee that is flexible as per the services that has been availed by the clients. Another important factor regarding competitive pricing is that it can be adjusted as per changes in the market and the industry. The company will be employing some of the pricing tactics as well such as discount on bulk order and on repeat purchases for greater visibility and access to consumer base (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Place Place invariably implies distribution channels by means of which service will be provided to consumers. There are three kinds of distribution strategies that a firm can opt from, namely, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and intensive distribution. The company will be adopting exclusive distribution where the services will be provided directly from the corporate office of the firm. The company will consider expanding its business and distribution channel as demand for its services increases in the future (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). People The company believes in the policy learning by experience; consequently, it is expected that the service performance of the company will improve as demand for its services increase in the long run. Future services of the company will be designed while keeping in mind the current requirements and latent demands of consumers (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Process The process of marketing mix with respect to SCS implies various inputs that the firm will employ for delivering optimum services. Some of the processes include technological process, supportive activities by strategic partners, telecommunication services and services that are essential for making a specific event successful. The process will also include monetary transaction between SCS and its clients. In other words, every activity that is performed throughout the event is considered under the purview of the event (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Physical evidence Physical evidence indicates various physical cues which organizations provide to customers regarding the products so that they can assess and compare the product prior to purchasing. Physical evidences lie in various aspect of physical environment such as store layout, symbols, ambience and artifacts. The visual code of the company implies sincerity, concern for consumers’ budget and taste and innovation. The company logo is also very unique and implies that it has been crafted very intellectually (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995; Ivy, 2008). Promotion Marketing communication strategy Marketing communication strategy is very important for conveying right message regarding the product or service of the firm to appropriate consumers at the right time. The communication strategy plays an essential role in marketing because it helps in increasing awareness regarding the company offering and it’s USP among consumers. There are three strategies in this regard: pull, push and profile strategies. The pull strategy indicates that consumers are attracted towards the company and its offerings by means of differentiated products and promotional tools. Brand loyalty is moderately high in this strategy (Houman Andersen, 2001). Push strategy is implemented when product demand is very low and companies practically force the product on consumers. In this strategy, product manufacturers emphasizes on product pitching compared to its substitutes Profile strategy comprises adoption of various communication measures that will help the firm build strong relationship with various stakeholders of the company. SCS will implement pull strategy so that consumers are retained for long term. It is important to understand that no firm can push its services to consumers unless they choose to avail the same. The strategy will further prove compatible for SCS because the services of the company are differentiated and innovative in nature (Burnett & Moriarty, 1998). Marketing communication mix A number of marketing communication tools can be adopted by an organization for communication of brand message regarding its product. These measures are digital communication, ad campaigns, tradeshows and customer relationship management. SCS have to invest strongly in marketing communication for gaining attention of its corporate clients. Among all the mentioned measures, the most expensive technique shall be ad campaigns. Ad campaigns should be seasonal in nature and should portray the exclusive features of the service packages of the firm. The clients can access the campaign videos on You Tube and on the company website (Kotler, 2000). The company is expected to develop and manage CRM by means of public relation and direct marketing on occasions of tradeshows and corporate visits. In this regard, below-the-line and above-the-line advertisement can also be considered appropriate. Advertisement in digital media and newspaper and trade journals can also help SCS in attracting corporate clients. Another method of promotion is word-of-mouth or corporate reference but for accessing this promotional tool, the company has to establish a strong market reputation so that SCS is referred by its existing clients to potential clients (Shimp, 1997; Kotler, 2000; Stacey, 2007). Conclusion and recommendations SCS is an event management company that aims at targeting the niche market of corporate clients only. The company is planning to offer to kind of event services, namely, training outsourcing and product launch. The market analysis of the company suggests that the competition is very high due to slow economic condition and the company will have to innovate and differentiate for developing strong market position. One important recommendation in this regard is investment in high quality resources and marketing of the organization. Recruitment should be emphasized largely by the company because in the current market condition, it is difficult to recruit quality resources in a new firm. The company should be able to present itself and its future agendas in such a manner that potential employees exhibit willingness towards being part of the organization. The company management should periodically evaluate organizational performance qualitatively and quantitatively so that loopholes and issues are mitigated in an effective manner. References Burnett, J. & Moriarty, S. E. (1998). Introduction to marketing communication: an integrated approach. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Cravens, D. & Piercy, N. F. (2008). Strategic marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Day, G. S. (1981). Strategic market analysis and definition: an integrated approach. Strategic Management Journal, 2(3), 281-299. Houman Andersen, P. (2001). Relationship development and marketing communication: an integrative model. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 16(3), 167-183. Ivy, J. (2008). 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