A Significance of Well Trained Staff and a Good Marketing Plan for a Successful Product Launch - Term Paper Example

 WINNING THE MARKET THROUGH MARKET – ORIENTED PLANNING. Outline: i. Executive summary ii. Introduction iii. Objectives for the launch iv. General framework and the marketing planning process v. Analysis and the importance of planning vi. Conclusion and recommendations Executive summary This paper reviews the strategies considered while planning a market launch for a product. It looks at planning, organising and reviews of marketing events and operations related to product promotion. The paper analyses the basis on which marketing should be carried out, it spells out some of the pertinent objectives a firm needs to lay down as pertains product marketing, and lastly, the general framework of marketing considering the different stakeholder interests and significance of communication to the success of marketing. This paper observes that a marketing strategy operates as a base allowing interaction of clients with products. It is the foundation on which an understanding of the market dynamics stems, and complements market management skills. To provide a better focus and strategic direction, there is need to clearly state the business’ goals, review the potentiality of the product in flourishing in the market, consider time factors. Understand customer’s behaviour and the degree of customer preference for the product. On product analysis, this paper considered the SWORT, PEST and other analytical tools. SWOT analysis is considered useful in studying new products in the market. This protects it from unexpected market erosion. By considering the strengths and weaknesses, internal environment , including stakeholder interests, are studied. Market opportunities and potential external threats are also studied. Such analyses offer room for adjustments enabling presentation of a product that is not only relevant to the market but also competitive. PEST factors in product analysis provide knowledge on potential promoters or constraints in the market. Introduction Many marketers dive into the business world without a good direction of what their product aims to achieve. They jump from one strategy to another without sticking to one long enough to see if it is going to work. They don’t know what customer need to satisfy and what value will satisfy it (Malcolm, MacDonald and Warren 2002) and most importantly how to create this value. This is what we want to be the difference between us and our competitors who also offer technology solutions but lack what we have as an asset; our strategic market planning. Market strategic planning is the management function whose is to develop, maintain and sustain a viable synch between a product and the customer’s needs while utilizing the company’s skills and resources with market opportunities in mind. The effect of this is that it will reshape our new product so that it yields the target value, growth and most importantly profit. Malcolm, MacDonald and Warren (2002) say that it should lay out clearly prioritization of marketing objectives and strategies together with financial consequences. This helps a company to organize its product in a way that will keep it healthy even when the unexpected events in the market upset the product thus it must create a superior value vis-à-vis competitors (Malcolm, MacDonald and Warren 2002). To achieve such value, a company must develop a good marketing strategy. According to Malcolm, MacDonald and Warren (2002), the central idea of marketing is to match the capabilities of a company with the needs and wants of its customers to achieve a mutually beneficial relationship. Therefore, let us not just throw our product in the market without a clear knowledge of our customers, their needs and the changing nature of their spending behaviour. As Teas & Palan (1997) put it, focusing on the customer behaviour over different times is an inevitable practice in business. We must understand our customer’s needs so as to develop an effective marketing strategy that will help us get where we want to be. Objectives of the launch Plan the strategy for our product launch Evaluate the value it brings to our clients using various models (SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, the General Electric model and the Pelsmacker’s model in planning Outline key stages in the planning process Evaluation and its importance Main findings Gerry & Kevan (2010) say that strategy determines the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, and they say that it should determine how resources should be configured to meet the needs of markets and stakeholders. A good strategy goes hand-in-hand with good marketing management skills. According to Karl et al (2010) marketing management is the application of marketing related strategies and tactics to meet the organization’s stated goals. In planning for business success, the following are important:- a. We need to identify clear and attainable goals b. We need a good research. For instance, the market demand. We need to identify if our product is ready and thoroughly tested, is our product’ price range high enough to be profitable? c. We need to assess if our product will cannibalize into a profitable product just like Android phones and Nexus phones for instance? Have we thoroughly researched on our competitors and is the timing right since timing is crucial to success. d. We need to create a time plan as well as an exit strategy if the product launch fails just like how Google Nexus did before their losses became too deep e. We need to find out if we have done enough anticipation campaigns in the market through advertising and promotions? Models in product analysis Main models for analyzing the product; the marketing strategy and the models for market planning and analysis The SWOT analysis This technique will help in understanding our product’s strengths and weaknesses while at the same time helping us identify both the opportunities and threats the product may face in the market. This is clearly will aid in coming up with a sustainable planning process for the product that will uncover opportunities to exploit in the market as well as managing and mitigating the threats that the product would face in the market given that it is a new product amid heavy competition from our competitors. This model, originated by Albert S Humphrey in the 1960s, is useful for a new product’s analysis before it is caught unawares in the market. In analyzing the strengths, its important that we look at our organization as a whole; the stakeholders involved, the advantages we have over our competitors, the resources available that can meet the needs of our target customers/market and produce profits since according to goals (Nigel 1990; Wayne & Deborah 2008), in the field of marketing and also in the entire corporate sector, it is extremely important that marketers should always formulate strategies that are geared towards enhancing the realization and/or fulfilment of the organizational. Stakeholders are also very important and their commitment to our organization has helped us be where we are today. Stakeholders rely on their emotional gut-feeling when forming attitudes and making decisions (Sabrina et al 2011) so this product should seek to maintaining their loyalty and commitment and in so doing, this will guarantee our competitive edge in the market. Identifying our weaknesses is important especially in relation to our competitors since it helps us plan a strategy for introducing our product to fill the gap that our competitors leave in failing to satisfy the customer’s needs. It helps us know what to improve and what to avoid especially on mistakes that both our competitors and us have done in the past. This will help us face the anticipated challenges before we launch our product. Identifying opportunities is also very important including trends in the market, changes in technology, regulations and policy. For instance, the weaknesses our competitors face in failing to satisfy our client’s needs for technological solutions to basic life problems is a great opportunity for us. Anticipating threats posed to our product is as important as manufacturing it, it helps us not only identify obstacles but also gives product-intelligence us to what our competitors are doing. Clearly with such preparation, then we can say we are good to go in as far as our product launch is concerned. The General Electric (GE) This model looks at the desirability of markets in terms of products and organization’s competitive position or its strength. A market is considered attractive if it is large, growing and if it offers large profit. Is our product up to task based on the level of competition and the financial considerations? This model will help us think more creatively and strategically, help in pin-pointing important gaps and invest in more promising business based on our market share and technology position. For instance, if there is a gap arising from the strategic planning gap, we can either develop or acquire new a business product to fill this gap by adopting strategies like:- Intensive growth opportunities which can see our product achieve growth within the company’s current businesses Integrative growth opportunities which can see our product seek to fill gaps related to our company’s current business Diversification growth opportunities where we can exploit opportunities that are unrelated to our company’s current businesses using the SWOT analysis In light of this, we can deduce that our product and business is strong since we have the advantage of a large market share and we are leaders in provision of quality technological solutions. A second aim of marketing is to retain customers (Karl et al 2010) and with a good GE analysis, this aim can be achieved. PEST analysis: This is important in understanding the ‘bigger’ picture of where our product will operate from including the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment. It creates a vision of the future. For instance, by using the PEST Analysis, we can ensure that we align our product with changes in our client’s needs which are dynamic and by taking advantage of change; we are more likely to be successful. Good use of PEST Analysis will help to ensure that our product is not a failure since it helps break free from assumptions and help in operating in realities of the market for our new product. Brainstorming on the: political environment including existing regulations, environmental protection laws; the economic environment including labour costs, inflation rates, income distribution and the likely impact of the technology on the economy; the social environment like age structure of our target client’s population, health, employment patterns, job market freedoms and lifestyle choices; and the technological environment which may include emerging technologies will greatly position our new product to a competitive placing over our competitors. In summary, with the above models for analyzing our product and the market impact, important things call for attention. That a product must meet the needs of the client and in so doing, this ensures customer loyalty. It is worth noting that the most committed buyers only constitute a small percentage in the loyalty pyramid thus customer loyalty must be guarded at all times. Stages in market planning process: The market plan Situation analysis (SWOT, PEST, GE model and the pelsmacker’s model Objective setting and target market selection Marketing strategy Product strategy Pricing strategy Promotion strategy Distribution strategy objectives objectives objectives objectives strategies strategies strategies strategies tactics tactics tactics tactics Implementation Evaluation Conclusion and recommendations Now that the new product is on the way, we all have to be ready for the product launch. It is important that our staff is well trained so that they not only offer solutions to customers but also be able to provide more information on its usefulness. A well trained staff and a good marketing plan is all that is required for a product launch so as to make it successful. Also adequate preparation in terms of contingency plans for what if the product fails is also important, this may include renovation strategies of the product so as to make it successful. And this does not stop there, it will also involve mapping out a product tree for future improvements so as to advance the product to meet the changing nature of the technology industry. After all, business, like any game, a winner must plan many moves ahead so as to remain ahead of his/her competitors. Reference list Gerry, J., Kevan, S. & Richard, W. 2010. Exploring corporate strategy, Prentice hall: London. Karl, M.& Niketh, p., 2010. Marketing: the basics, 2nd ed. Routledge: Abingdon. Malcolm, MacDonald & Warren, J, K., 2002. Marketing plans that work, 2nd ed. Elsevier: Nigel, P. 1990. "Marketing Concepts and Actions: Implementing Marketing-led Strategic Change", European Journal of Marketing, 24: 2. pp.24 – 42. Sabrina, H., Kerstin, L., Christopher, S., 2011. Reputation management, Springer: Netherlands. Teas, K.R and Palan, K.M. 1997. The Realms of Scientific Meaning Framework for Constructing Theoretically Meaningful Nominal Definitions of Marketing Concepts. Journal of Marketing, 61:2. pp49-61. Wayne D., Deborah, J.M. 2008. Consumer behaviour. 5th ed. OH: South Western. Read More