Marketing Plan for Eleftria Tablet Latest Changes In Red Text

Marketing Plan for Eleftria Tablet PC

The Eleftria Tablet PC is a revolutionary product in that it combines the latest developments in networking technologies, open source operating systems to keep costs low, and the ability to act as a central scheduling device for busy households. As of September, 2011 there are no tablets or low-end smart phones that have the ability to synchronize to multiple schedules while also being able to communicate over Wi-Fi to all devices in a household. As this Tablet PC can also be used for managing a household's many tasks and drastically reducing trips and time spent coordinating with other household members around key tasks and activities. As this device will be able to interact and integrate with all other Wi-Fi networks in the home, enhancements could be built that would take inventory of commonly depleted items including milk, bread, cereal or frozen dinners. The ability to click on a single icon on the tablet while out shopping to see what is needed could save hundreds of trips over a year. The Eleftria Tablet PC will also have EV-DO technology included on the motherboard, ensuring the device can stay connected to the Internet regardless of location or the need for a Wi-Fi signal (Apple Investor Relations, 2011) . The unique value proposition of the Eleftria is to communicate convenience, efficiency and cost savings by communicating better throughout a home. There will need to be a customized version of the Google Android operating system created specifically to support this device. As Google has made the adoption of their operating system a priority, this will most likely be achievable quickly. In defining and marketing the Eleftria PC, it's important to ensure it aligns with the company's mission statement. The mission statement is "Our passion is improving the quality of life for our customers through the use of innovative designs and state-of-the-art electronics, freeing them to live life how they choose. Eleftria!"

Product Support of Mission Statement

Freeing our customers to live the life they want begins with a tablet PC that can literally be used anywhere, anytime, by anyone in the family. The Eleftria Tablet PC, which will serve as an information appliance, giving those keeping a household running all the software applications they need to keep a busy household running smoothly. In supporting the mission statement from a product standpoint, the Eleftria will include an EV-DO chipset that when configured during production can turn the entire PC into a mobile hotspot (Apple Investor Relations, 2011). Supporting the entire tablet PC will be a specially designed version of the Google Android operating system, supporting multi-role based access, securing and heavy emphasis on data synchronization to Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Mail and other e-mail clients that are popular today. The proven use of secured Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies throughout home environments will also be relied on for ensuring real-time integration with other systems and devices throughout the home (Cooke, Buckley, 2008). The Eleftria will also be sold through a build-to-order program, ensuring families can customize it to their unique needs.

Marketing Objectives

Target Market

The Eleftria is designed to meet the specific needs of the largest and fastest growing segments of the tablet PC market globally. Apple tracks the sales of their iPads globally by demographic group, and reports them to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Form 10Q and 10Ks (Apple Investor Relations, 2011). As Apple has well over 80% of the tablet market today, their estimates of demographics are very representative of the total market. These analyses Apple has provided show that the male 18 -- 45 segment is where the majority of tablet are sold today, primarily as gaming and business productivity machines. Closely following this segment is the female 18- to 45-year-old segment, many of which are working mothers. The Eleftria table PC is designed for those women and their families, giving them the freedom to coordinate both work and home scheduling, tasks, deadlines and application use across both roles. The EV-DO technology included in the Eleftria frees them from having to stay connected to a Wi-Fi site.

Figure 1: Smartphone and Tablet PC Demographics, 2010

Market Segment

Share

Males 18-45

37.0%

Females 18-45

28.0%

Males 45

2.0%

Based on an analysis of sources: (Einhorn, 2011) (Apple Investor Relations, 2011) (Franke, Schreier, 2010)

Marketing Objectives By Area of the Marketing Mix

Product Objective

The best goal any new product can set is to be revolutionary and redefine an entire market. This is what the goal of the Eleftria Tablet PC is, supported by an innovate build-to-order strategy that allows consumers to build whatever model they choose.

Price Objective

There is a clear price/quality relationship in all products, and the Eleftria must be priced high enough to provide for profitable sales while at the same time communicating high value and exclusivity. The pricing will be above the iPad and below the traditional PCs, at $500 for the fully featured unit with full EV-DO technology, with is $100 less than the current pricing of the iPad2 with a contract commitment. EV-DO...

Discount outlets including Costco and Sam's Club will also be offering the Eleftria. It will also be sold online as well, where customers can configure their specific model of choice.
Promotion Objective

In Greek, Eleftria means freedom, and that is exactly how this device is going to be promoted and sold. The freedom from having to always have a strong Wi-Fi signal, freedom from paper calendars at home not syncing up with calendars at work, and freedom to communicate with family members anywhere in the world at any time all will be key promotional points. There will also be a heavy focus one vents that underscore the freedom messaging and a full set of social networking strategies including Facebook fan pages for the Eleftria, it's fans and its applications. The promotional slogan "Take back your freedom with Eleftria!" will be used throughout all materials.

Competitive Situation Analysis

Consumer Product Classification

The most critical factors to the success of the Eleftria include its ability to deliver consistently high levels of reliable, secured communications across all family remembers regardless of locations globally, and the trust early adopters have in the technology overall. The most critical success factors or consumer factors for enabling this to happen include defining aggressive yet profitable pricing, a series of customer success stories and examples of how it has been successfully used, underscoring the time savings achieved. These factors are all meant to accelerate the buying process. Being able to customize the Eleftria for the specific needs of a family will also increase its value drastically over time. Product customization will give families flexibility in defining just the right type of tablet PC that can truly be an indispensible communications command set for the family, supporting all necessary EV-DO and Wi-Fi communications platforms and technologies (Einkorn, 2011). Please see Appendix A for a full competitive comparison and analysis. Table 1 provides an analysis of the Eleftria Tablet using the three-way consumers product classification system. While the Eleftria Table fits across all of these categories, it is predominately a mainstream product.

Table 1:

Analysis of the Eleftria Tablet Using the Three-Way

Consumer Products Classification System

Eleftria as a Convenience Product

Eleftria as a mainstream Shopping Product

Eleftria as a Specialty Product

Consumer Factors

1. Planning time involved in Purchase

2. Purchase frequency

3. Importance of convenient

Location

4. Comparison of price and quality

Slight time requirement due to the pricing and decision to purchase

One every 12 mos.

Very important

Slight due to this being a mid-priced items

Considerable; as the Eleftria Tablet will be sold with bundled configurations through this channel

Once every 18 mos.

Less frequent

Important

Considerable

Extensive as this is the channel the Eleftria will be sold through as a build-to-order system

Once every two years

Unimportant

Very little as this is the build-to-order Eleftria Model

Marketing Mix Factors

1. Price

2. Importance of seller's image

3. Distribution channel

Length

4. Number sales outlets

5. Promotion

Mid-Level

Unimportant

Long

Any BestBuy or Costco (low end unit)

Advertising and promotion through market development funds (MDF) with the retailers

Relatively high

Very important

Relatively short

BestBuy, Costco and online retailers including Amazon.com

Market Development Funds and heavy promotion on e-commerce websites as well

Very High

Extremely Important

Very short - Eleftria resellers have a direct link to the production center to streamline customization

Highly customized sales experiences of potential Eleftria stores and locations

Market Development, advertising and testimonials as well from customers who have had their tablets customized

Analysis of Competition using Porter's 5 Forces Model

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The three core strengths of Eleftria Wireless include engineering expertise, ability to create stable supply chains for high-demand electronics components, and distribution channel alliances and partnerships throughout North America and Europe. Each of these three strengths is directly applicable to the marketing of the new Tablet PC, as each has a direct impact on the marketability, availability, pricing and sales of the product.

Engineering Expertise

Eleftria has recruited engineering talent from local universities who have an understanding of how to manage the many subsystems that comprise the tablet PC architectures it has patented. This engineering expertise…