Marketing Mix for Cornflower Blue - Case Study Example

Customer name Grade course Professor’s name Date: Marketing Principles Marketing mix for "Cornflower Blue" There are many factors that an investor should consider when developing a marketing plan. The factors to be put into consideration are all related and failing to put one factor into consideration would result in the management making decisions that are not fully backed by all the facts prevailing. In this case, a company is seeking to introduce a new product in the market, “Cornflower Blue”. Marketing mix elements are considered which would result in the company attaining and even surpassing its initial objectives. A. Product. A Company is only able to sell products that consumers prefer to purchase. It is therefore important that marketers should carry out studies to establish the needs and wants of consumers. Through studies on what consumers prefer or would need, a company is able to develop products which suit the desires of the consumers. Cornflower Blue is a type of dye whose shade is medium to light blue. Cornflower blue is the color of the sapphires that are most valued. A product has a life cycle. This cycle involve growth maturity and then the final phase where sales decline. In marketing Cornflower Blue, it is important to get relevant information such as the longevity of the product's life cycle (Bowman & Hubert 43). It is important to anticipate problems that could arise during the product's movement. In market Cornflower Blue, it is important to put into consideration the product mix. It is critical that the product is positioned in such a way that the company is able to exploit the brand. The company should develop strategies on how to develop the product. Before introducing Cornflower Blue to the market, the company needs to consider a number of issues. The people that the company targets with the product, the benefits that the customers are likely to derive from the product, how the firm seeks to position the product in the market and the advantage that the product will offer to the customers that other products do not have. According to Kotler (45), a product ought to be seen in three levels. The company should determine what benefits that customers derive from Cornflower blue. It could be that it can be used by artists to achieve excellent result in painting. The second level revolves around the actual product. The company should make sure that customers only purchase Cornflower Blue and not any other dye. This would require proper branding, and increasing the benefits. The third level is the augmented product. The company should focus on additional benefits to the customers. These benefits could include delivery as well as warranties for certain duration. B. Distribution. Distribution refers the process of availing products at places which are convenient for customers who are willing to purchase the same. Channels are involved in distribution of products. Channels are organizations which are interlinked and they each play a role in ensuring that the product is availed to the consumer. In marketing Cornflower Blue, the company would preferably use merchants as well as brokers and agents. A mixture of the two will ensure that the product reaches as many people as possible (Bowman & Hubert 60). The company could also introduce a virtual retail outlet where customers can purchase products online through the use of credit cards and have such products delivered to their homes. The company should therefore make use of level zero and level one for marketing. Level zero involves the company selling directly to the consumers. Level one would include one intermediary who is the retailer in this case. The company should make use of intensive distribution where Cornflower Blue should be placed in as many outlets as it possibly can. C. Pricing. This refers to the amount of money that customers have to pay in order to buy a product. Price plays a very critical role as it determines whether the company shall post profits or losses and eventually whether the company survives or not. There are factors that the company should put into consideration when setting the price for Cornflower Blue. One important factor is what the company has used in producing the product. The company should also put into consideration what the consumers perceive to be the value of the Cornflower Blue. The company should consider what objectives it seeks to achieve through the pricing (Baker & Hart 48). It is important to determine whether there is going to be a uniform cost for all the products. It is possible to have the company determine that those customers purchasing the products online could pay a little less than the others in terms of the cost of the products and such customers would receive free transport within a given radius from a store. The company should also consider whether the Cornflower Blue should be sold at different prices at different geographical areas. This would be informed by factors such as the cost of transporting the products to such areas as well as taxation regimes especially where cross border business is envisaged. The company should be alive to the fact that there must be other competitors who could be selling products which are substitutes to Cornflower Blue. In pricing the product, the company needs to factor in the amount of money that the competitors are charging for their products. In many cases, customers benefit from purchasing goods and services in bulk. Customers purchasing Cornflower Blue in bulk should be in a position to benefit from quantity discounts. D. Promotion: This refers to the methods that the company would use to pass information to the people who would be interested in buying Cornflower Blue. Promotion seeks to achieve a number of objectives such as presenting information to the consumers and other parties. Other objectives of promotion are to show how a product is different from others in the market as well as increasing demand for the product. In promoting Cornflower Blue, the company should use different means (Kotler 65). Marketing through the internet is very popular in modern times. It would be advisable for the company to have a presence in the internet through creation of a website. Since many people make use of the social media, it is vital that the company does promote Cornflower Blue through social sites such as twitter and facebook. The company could also seek endorsements from various celebrities. These celebrities would increase top artists as well as sports personalities. Where the products are used by school, it would be a big boost to gain endorsements from schools which are famous for producing highly successful people in the society. Establishing loyalty schemes is a good way of retaining customers where such loyal customers are able to purchase products at a subsidized fee and earn promotional points which would also benefit them in other ways such as paid trips. All in all, the company should seek to ensure that all the right people are speaking of the good qualities of Cornflower Blue. E. There are other elements of marketing mix which could be very critical for the success of Cornflower Blue in the future. These elements are consumer, circumstances, and Corporation. With respect to corporation, the company in producing the Cornflower Blue should place compliance and accountably very highly (Baker & Hart 72). It is very vital that the company followed the laid down rules and ensure that all the necessary registrations are effected before the company can be allowed to operate. Complying with the laid down legal regime ensures that the company does not get bad and unwanted publicity which would take away consumer confidence. Accountability is important. The company should be transparent in its dealing. It is important that the authorities and the shareholders get to know the actual performance of the company. Doctoring records leads to loss of investor confidence and could lead to a host of penalties from government authorities. The consumer should perhaps be the most important person that the company should be concerned about. The company should be concerned about the needs, wants, security and education of the consumers. Consumers cannot make use of products that they have little knowledge on how to use. The products made should meet the needs of consumers and should also be safe to use (Kotler 68). In addition to meeting the needs of the consumers, it is important that products satisfy what the consumers want. A company operates in an environment where there are external factors which affect its operation. There are economic, social and cultural, weather as well as National and international factors such as politics, laws as well as ethical considerations. A company should therefore be braced to tackle these challenges if it has to survive the turbulence. Where a company cannot control the surrounding conditions, then it should develop mechanisms to mitigate negative effects and thus be in a position to cope and even thrive. Works Cited Baker, Michael and Hart Susan. The Marketing Book. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. Print. Bowman, Douglas, and Hubert Gatignon. Market Response and Marketing Mix Models: Trends and Research Opportunities. Boston: now, 2010. Print. Kotler, Philip. Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print. Read More