Mortein Insect Spray Fast Knockdown - Case Study Example

Mortein spray insect killer Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction The main purpose of this report is to unfold the findings of the research concerning the marketing of mortein insect killer knockout. This report also tries to find out who are the target customers of the product. In this report, the market has been differentiated in terms of segments (Baker 2000). Marketing mix of mortein insect killer knockout will also be assessed to know how the product can be improved so as to meet the customer demands. The marketing elements analyzed are; product, price, place and price of the product. Eventually, the report discusses the competitiveness of the product and what can be done by the firm to improve its value to the customers. A.1 Target market of mortein insect killer knockout The main target groups which will provide the markets for mortein insect killer are people of 24 years of age and above. Also this target group has some sources of income therefore they can afford to purchase the product for the household. The target market will be divided into people of age between 24 years and 35 years and then 36 years and above. People of 35 years and above provide the highest market for the market reason being that they have invested in houses and compounds which need to be protected from the insects. The target also will be divided further into segments. The first segment will be based on the geographical distribution of the customers (Aacker & Joachimstheler 2000). There will be rural areas segment and the urban segment. Further, the target market will be segmented based on the demographic factors which income, age and the education level of the customers. Low income earners like the casual employees will under the same segment while high income earners like the business men and the civil servants will be segmented into one market. Finally, the target market will be segmented as per the cultural values and attitudes (Aacker & Joachimstheler 2000). Communities who believe that they can control the spread of insects than spreading the mortein insect killer, will be segmented into one market while those who believe that the only way to eliminate the insects is to spray the mortein spray will also be put under one market. The expectations and needs of the customers include, getting the product at the least cost possible, they expect the mortein spray to eliminate the insects, getting the product at convenient places through effective channels of distributing the product by the firm and they also expect that the product will be of high quality. A.2 The marketing of mortein spray killer The marketing mix of mortein spray killer takes into account the 4Ps which are the product, place, promotion and pricing. This 4Ps are further illustrated in table A2 in the appendix below. 1.1 The product This research was conducted on the performance of mortein spray killer which is a spray for killing insects. The product will be of high quality so as to meet the requirements of the customers who need quality product so their quality requirement will be met (Hoyer & Maclnnis 2001). On the same note the product will be of different designs and quantities. This will help the firm to meet the different requirements of different customers. Mortein spray killer will be of different sizes so as to meet the needs of different customers because some may need the product in bigger quantities while others will need the product in small quantities thus their different quantity needs will be met. Mortein spray insect killer knockout is a convenient product because it needs some comparison before buying it. A customer has to plan that he or she is going to buy the product and has to seek it. This product will be differentiated from other product in terms of quality, different sizes, appropriate pricing according to different segments where high income earners are charged higher than low income earners (Randall2001). The core product of mortein spray is the quality satisfaction by the customers. The actual product is the decision to buy the product among many in the market and augmented product is the after sale services of buying mortein spray killer like free instructions on how to use the product ( Proctor 2000). Mortein spray killer is at the growth stage in the product as shown in the appendix A1 below. This is because it has been in the market for some time despite its poor performance Packaging of the product will be done in tins of different sizes of 250 grams, 500grams and 1000 grams. These different packaging sizes will cater for customers’ different desires. On top, the tins will be closed by very tight lids to ensure there is no overflowing of the spray which is hazardous to the environment. 1.2 Promotion of the product The firm will apply various methods of promoting the product. The impersonal communications that the firm will use in promoting the product is through use of Television network (Jobber et al 1998). The Television channel that will be used to promote the product is the seven networks. The Television network was chosen as a mode of communication because it will reach a wide range of people wherever they will be. Posters were also placed at specific points where the passersby will have to look at the poster and what entails and in the process the firm will have created awareness of mortein spray killer. Personal selling will also be applied to promote the product from house to house. This form of communication is most preferable because the promoters who are the salesmen and women can demonstrate how mortein spray works and convince the buyer more. The customer will also have the opportunity to ask questions if any. Finally, direct communication will also be employed to communicate the product to the customers (Randall 2001). Customers who want to know more about mortein spray insect killer will go to the retail shops of the product and will be issued with a manual that explains how the product was manufactured and its ingredients. The information which will be included in the communication includes the quality of the product, the price and variety of the mortein spray killer. The price should be tagged in a way that will attract customers. Different forms of promotion are conducted differently at various for example at the introduction stage promotion is done to attract and create awareness of the product while at majority stage promotion is done to explain the improved features of the product with the aim of making more profits. 1.3 Place The most appropriate distribution strategy to be used is the selective strategy (Randall 2001). With this strategy, a few outlets are chosen to distribute the product to customers. The main outlet will at the capital city Sydney and other outlets at the cities of Wollongong, Orange and Parramatta. This selection strategy was selected as the most because the demand for the product had not gone too high hence the customers were not many. This strategy also enhances communication between the customers and the firm because the consumer’s demands can be easily communicated due to less number of middlemen who could otherwise make the whole process long. This strategy of distributing the product will help the firm to meet the customer demands by ensuring that customer demands are quickly responded to because the channel of distribution is short. This strategy of distributing the product also improves the quality of the product as a result of less hands through which the product passes before it reaches the consumer. Fewer hands mean that there are little damages to the product when handling it hence the quality demands of the customer will be met. Finally, this strategy ensures that there is a faster supply of the mortein spray insect killer due to the fact that the channel of distribution is short (Dev & Schultz 2005). Therefore the customers’ demands of getting the product at his or her disposal will be met. Sometimes customers will order their special requirements and this strategy will be able to handle that in that communication is faster between the firm and the customers as there are fewer middlemen who could otherwise delay the communication process thus the special requirements of the customer will be met. 1.4 The pricing strategy This firm will choose a customer oriented pricing strategy (Dev & Schultz 2005). This strategy considers the customers first before the profits or competition. This strategy will enable firms to capture and maintain new customers. However the price should not be too low for the firm to make losses but should make only normal profits for it to continue being in the business. The prices will be varying from one segment to another. For instance the segment of high income earners will be charged higher than low income earners because of their potentiality to pay for the product. In urban areas the price for 250 grams of mortein spray will be slightly higher than the price for the same quantity in rural areas because their income is less than those in urban areas. A.3 Competitive advantage In order for the firm to have competitive advantage, the quality of the product must high than those of the competitors (Ertimur & Venkatesh 2010). High quality will ensure that the customers get satisfied with the product thus they will be purchasing mortein spray killer instead of other competitive products. The firm will apply relevant technology in manufacturing mortein spray killer to ensure the product is of high quality so as to achieve competitive advantage over other firms. A customer oriented pricing strategy also can help the firm to have a competitive advantage over other firms (Ertimur & Venkatesh 2010). This is because the customers will purchase mortein spray from this firm because of the lower but sustaining price and forgo other firms’ products because of higher price hence the firm will have a competitive advantage. Product promotion on the other hand can lead to competitive advantage. The firm will use appropriate technology to promote the product thus outdoing the competitors. For example using television network and personal selling helps the organization to have more customers than other firms whose promotional strategies are not appropriate. In this approach, the firm will have a competitive advantage over others. Lastly, the product and its components will enable the firm to have a competitive advantage (Joseph 2011). Mortein spray will be of different sizes so as to meet the different demand of different customers. The smallest size of 250 grams will be afforded by low income earners. This will lead to a competitive advantage because other firms do not consider low income earners and manufacture products they will afford thus this firm will have many customers than other firms. A.4 Assessment of the possibility of success Considering all the above elements of marketing, the firm is likely to succeed in the market by differentiating mortein spray killer from other products of the competitors. High quality of the mortein spray killer will attract and maintain customers. Pricing of the product on the other hand will improve the customer attraction because of the attractive prices of the product (Joseph 2011). Lower pricing of the product leads to better customer satisfaction in terms of the monetary value of the product. Effective promotions also improve the sales of the product. This is because promotions create awareness of the existence of the product and the features that differentiate it from other products. These efforts led to increased sales of mortein spray insect killer. The firm has also been able to meet the different requirements in the market. For example it has been able to manufacture different sizes of mortein spray killer so as to meet the different demands of the customers. High income earners will purchase the product in large quantity while low income earners buy the product in small quantities hence the firm stands at a possibility of success as a result of meeting the customer requirements. Conclusion Conducting market research is very important for any organization which wants to succeed in the market. Market research helps a firm to decide on the strategies to improve the performance of the organization by increasing profits. In this research, the firm has high chances of succeeding in the market because it has observed all the strategies for improving the performance of the firm. Marketing mix is important to discuss and come up with viable ideas from the 4Ps which are the product, place, price and promotions. This firm will succeed because research has been conducted about the mortein spray killer and effective strategies have been derived hence the firm will have a competitive advantage in the market. References Aaker, D & Joachimsthaler, E 2000, Brand leadership, New York, The Free Press. Baker, M. 2000, Marketing Management and Strategy, London, Macmillan Business. Dev, S & Schultz, D 2005, Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing, Vol.14, No.2, p. 36- 42. Ertimur, B & Venkatesh, A 2010, Opportunism in co-production: Implications for Value Co-creation, Australasian Marketing Journal, Vol.18, p. 256–263. Hoyer, W.D & MacInnis, D. J 2001, Consumer Behavior, USA, Houghton Mifflin Company Jobber, K. David, M. Simpson, W & Paul, T 1988, Analysis of selected marketing Journals. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 137–142. Joseph, K 2011, Integrated Marketing Communication: A Catalyst for the growth of business management, The Social Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 64-73. Proctor, T 2000, Essentials of Marketing research, UK: Financial Times-Prentice Hall. Randall, G 2ed 2001, Principles of Marketing, London, Thomson Learning. Appendices Diagram A1 product life cycle Diagram A2 marketing mix for mortein spray insect killer Read More