UP MOVE Marketing - Research Proposal Example

Marketing Consultancy Research Research brief UP MOVE is a product developed to track every aspect of an individual’s fitness activity, including tracking the steps of movements, calories intake and a lifestyle coach component that can help an individual improve on their fitness lifestyle (jawbone.com, 2014:n.p.). The product was launched in the market in 2014, and its performance in the market has been considerably good. However, there is a great need to understand how the product is performing in the European market, to be able to design the most effective marketing strategy for 2015/2016 in Europe. The major intention of the marketing consultation is to understand how long the lifecycle of the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker product is likely to be. A product passes through four basic phases of lifecycle since its introduction into the market to the point where it declines its usability in the market, and thus requires being phased-off (Robson, 1993:27). In this respect, the profitability and rate of return on the product is based on the length of time the product will persist through the introduction face into the European market, how long it will remain in the growth phase of the lifecycle, the length of time it will be selling in the European market during its maturity phase of the lifecycle, and finally at what point in time is the decline phase of the product likely to set in the European market. The phasing –off of a product from the market can be dealt with severally, which may include expanding he product’s line. Thus, the fundamental purpose of the Jawbone’s marketing enquiry will be to establish the life span of the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker throughout the different phases of the product lifecycle, while also establishing the likelihood of expanding the product line when the product enters its decline phase. Price is the other important component of the marketing mix, which determines not only the rate of returns that the product is to make to the company, but also the manner in which the product is received in the market (Johnson, 2007:112). Additionally, the product’s price also determines the chances of survival of the product in the market. This is owing to the fact that the product can survive in the market just to the extent that it is bringing sufficient returns to the company, and also selling at a price acceptable to the target customers. Therefore, another vital purpose of Jawbone’s enquiry will be to determine the most suitable price at which the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker should sell in the European market, which will enhance the chances of survival of the product for long enough, while also determining the returns obtainable at the most competitive and acceptable price to the customers. The marketing strategies and modes of communication applicable in different markets differ based on various social-cultural factors that are unique to a market (Johnson, 2007:112). In this respect, the Marketing Consultancy Research also seek to establish the most appropriate modes of communicating the market information related to the Jawbone’s UP Move tracker in the European market. Finally, the place/location at which a product is availed to the customers goes a long way to determine the level of convenience offered to the customers in purchasing the product, and the consequent market access and quantity of the product purchased (Robson, 1993:22). Therefore, understanding the most applicable strategy for availing the product to the market, and the manner in which the product will be distributed is essential. Therefore, it is in the interest of Jawbone to understand the most suitable channel of availing and distributing the product to the customer, to enhance convenience and increase sales. Marketing Consultancy Research Proposal Background and Objectives Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker was launched in November 2014, and the product had a successful sale over the Charismas. Nevertheless, despite the initial performance of a product in the market during the first few months of its introduction into the market, there are numerous environmental factors that can affect the future performance of that product in the market (Johnson, 2007:112). In this respect, it becomes very important to plan for the future of the product, based on the forecasted market and other environmental conditions that can shape a product’s performance. Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker is a fitness product that seeks to help individuals adapt a more physical fitness lifestyle, through availing various fitness tracking aspects such as the tracking the steps of movements, calories intake and a lifestyle coaching component (jawbone.com, 2014:n.p.). The device occurs in a range of colours that can allow an individual to mix and match it with a variety of accessories and fashion clothing. According to Stables (2014), there are several factors that need to be considered when assessing the right fitness tracking device for an individual, including its appearance, level of discreteness, the level of accuracy of the device and the time its battery will last before recharging (n.p.). Further features that needs to be considered when assessing the right fitness tracking device to purchase include the component features such that of counting movement steps, measuring the distance moved, measuring the heart rate or telling the duration of sleep or the exact time of the day (Geggel, 2014:n.p.). Further considerations that customers make while assessing the suitability of a fitness tracking device include whether the device is reasonably cheap for a wide range of income-differentiated customer to afford, and whether the device changes into different activity modes such as sleeping mode, biking mode or running mode, or whether it will require the user to fiddle with it all the time (Stables, 2014:n.p.). Nevertheless, while the above factors account for the customers’ preference of a tracking device, there are numerous other factors that determine the level of acceptability and the duration of the lifecycle of a product in the market. The major factors that determines the lifespan of a product in the market place include the brand, the quality of the brand, the economic status of the consumers, the level of existence of other competing or substitute products, as well as the product life-cycle management strategy (CNET, 2014:n.p.). The length of a product lifecycle is significant in determining both the rate and the duration of returns that the owner of the products will receive from the product in the course of its lifespan in the market. Therefore, managing the product lifecycle effectively has the effect of ensuring that the product owner will generate sufficient returns from the product, in the course of its lifespan in the market (Eadicicco, 2014:n.p.). Thus, the four-marketing mix elements namely the product, price, place and promotion play a vital role in shaping the lifecycle of a product in the market. Objectives 1. To establish the probable lifespan of the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker in the European market, which will help determine the productive financial period of the product before it can be phased-off the market, based on the European market’s perception of the product. 2. To establish the perceptions and feelings of the European market customers on the price of Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker, thus determine the chances of the product surviving in the European market and the chances of the product generating sufficient returns for the company during its lifespan. 3. To determine the most appropriate strategies for communicating the market information related to the Jawbone’s UP Move tracker in the European market, so as to increase the product acceptability in the European market. 4. To determine the most appropriate strategy for availing and distributing Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker in the European market, to increase convenience and accessibility of the product to the customers. Method Research Design The marketing consultancy research will apply a mixed research design method, which allows for tackling of the research questions from any relevant angle (Bell, 1999:36). The choice of a mixed research design is informed by the fact that; it allows for the combination of both qualitative and quantitative research designs in a single research study (Creswell, 2011:47).The application of a pure quantitative study would have been advantageous to this study, since it is a number and statistics-based, thus providing results that are more reliable (Brewer, 2006:77). Additionally, the application of a pure quantitative research design will have been advantageous for this study, owing to the fact that it would have produced results that are more generalizable in different environments related to the subject of study (USCL, 2014:n.p.). However, the application of a purely quantitative research design has been rejected, because it does not offer a more in-depth analysis of the subject of study. On the other hand, the application of a purely qualitative research design will have been advantageous for this study, due to the fact that it produces a more in-depth analysis of the subject of study (Niehaus, 2009:45). Additionally, the application of a purely qualitative research design would have been advantageous for this study, since it allows for both unstructured and semi-structured responses from the respondents, thus most suitable for application where intangible and unquantifiable research phenomena such as feelings, perceptions and attitudes towards a subject are being measured in a study (Johnson, 2007:127). Nevertheless, a purely qualitative research design was rejected in this study, due to the fact that it is less suitable for generalizing and inference, while at the same time being very highly prone to the subjectivity of the researcher (Patton, 1990:23). Therefore, this marketing consultancy research will apply the Historical Research Design, which is a type of research design that is used to collect, verify and then synthesize evidence from a certain period in the past, so as to establish the facts that are associated with defending or refuting a given hypothesis (USCL, 2014:n.p.). A Historical Research Design is most suitable for this study, due to the fact that it will venture into the performance of the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker product in the European market, and try to establish the feelings and perceptions of different aspects of the product such as its price, desirability of its product features and functionality, promotion strategies and convenience of accessibility. The Historical Research Design has been selected as the most appropriate research design for this study, owing to the fact that it is a design that combines both primary and secondary sources as the sources of information desired in the research (USCL, 2014:n.p.). Thus, while secondary sources such as newspaper articles and online sources describing the product and its performance in the European market will be considered, the study will also use other primary sources of information such as the diaries and bookkeeping records maintained by the sellers of the product (USCL, 2014:n.p.). Additionally, the application of the Historical Research Design is advantageous since it allows for the combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods in the study (USCL, 2014:n.p.). Qualitative study will entail the review of literature on both the primary and secondary sources of information related to the product. On the other hand, quantitative research will entail interviewing the consumers and sellers of the product through the use of questionnaires and then analyzing the data quantitatively to arrive at the facts related to the product. Method – Sample Purposive sampling will be applied as the sampling method for this study. Purposive sampling has been selected as the most suitable method of selecting the participants in this study, owing to the fact that purposive sampling is the most appropriate method of sampling where high intensity information such as good product/poor product or above average/below average phenomena are measured (Patton, 1990:12). Considering that this study seeks to measure the feelings and perceptions of the customers in the European market regarding the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker, this sampling method will be more suitable. Purposive sampling is also suitable for maximum variation research studies, which entails diverse variations for example feelings, emotions, perceptions and attitudes, to arrive at the most common typical, normal or average phenomena (Patton, 1990:21). Thus, since this study entails studying a wide range of variation in perceptions, feelings and attitudes towards the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker product, purposive sampling becomes the most suitable method for selecting participants to the study. Additionally, purposive sampling offers the opportunistic advantage, through being highly flexible, such that it allows for taking advantage of flexibility under unexpected circumstances of research difficulties (Patton, 1990:33). The random and stratified sampling would have been rejected in this study, due to the fact that they are highly unspecific in targeting the desired category or profiling the desired participants to the study (Marshall, 1996:524). Deliverables / Timing / Budget Deliverables The deliverables of this research include the attitude, feelings and perceptions of both the customers and sellers of the Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker regarding its price, method of promotion, location and distribution channels, as well as on the features of the product and how suitable they are for the intended purpose. Thus, the examples of issues that the customers and sellers will be responding to through the Questionnaire include: 1. Do you know about Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker? If yes, how did you get to know about it? Do you think the promotional strategy applied for advertising Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker is effective? 2. What do you like and what don’t you like about Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker? 3. What is your attitude/feeling/perception towards Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker product? 4. What is your attitude/feeling/perception towards the price of Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker? 5. Where did you purchase your Jawbone’s UP MOVE tracker? What do you think about the accessibility of the location and the convenience of the distribution channels of the product? Timing The Marketing Consultancy Research will be undertaken for a period of 3 months starting March 10, 2015 to May 10, 2015, which will enable the Jawbone Company to implement the strategies based on the findings and recommendations of the study, starting the second-half of the 2015 financial year in June. Budget Recruiting professional researchers- £8,000 Transport-£21,000 Passport and other travel requirements-£7,000 Meals & Accommodation-£16,000 Research materials-£5,000 Miscellaneous expenses-£3,000 Budget total=£60,000 References Bell, J. (1999). Doing your research project. Buckingham: OUP. Brewer, J. (2006). Foundations of multi-method research: Synthesizing styles. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. CNET. (2014). Jawbone up Move review: A $50 ticket to a great fitness app. CBS Interactive Inc. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < http://www.cnet.com/products/jawbone-up-move/> Creswell, J. W. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Eadicicco, L. (Dec. 27, 2014). Jawbones Newest Fitness Tracker Is Dirt Cheap, But Doesnt Feel Like It. Business Insider. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < www.businessinsider.com/jawbone-up-move-review-2014-12> Geggel, L. (2014). Jawbone UP Move Fitness Tracker Review. Live science. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < http://www.livescience.com/49208-jawbone-up-move-review.html> Gorard, S. (2013). Research Design: Robust approaches for the social sciences. London: SAGE. jawbone.com. (2014). Up Move: Move more. Get fit. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < https://jawbone.com/store/buy/upmove> Johnson, R. B. (2007). Toward a Definition Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 1, 112-133. Marshall, N. (1996). Sampling for Qualitative Research. Family Practice 13: 522–526. Robson, C. (1993). Real-world research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner – researchers. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Niehaus, L. (2009). Mixed methods design: Principles and procedures. Left Coast Press. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Stables, J. (2014).​ Jawbone UP Move review. Wareable. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < http://www.wareable.com/jawbone/jawbone-up-move-review> University of Southern California Libraries (USCL). (2014). Types of Research Designs. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?pid=83009&sid=818072> Read More