Marketing plan development from SWOT analysis through performance evaluation

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

1. Low-cost transportation services

One of the key strengths of Bonfire Transit is that the transportation services rendered by the company will be low-cost and economical to the consumers. Therefore, this is bound to make the company become the to-go-to and relied upon means of transportation.

2. High-Quality

Bonfire Transit prides itself in using transportation means of high quality. Not only are the vehicles imported and of the best quality, the vehicles used for transportation are constantly checked for effectiveness and taken through servicing. This guarantees that the vehicles are not only road-worthy but also safe and effective.

3. Consumer satisfaction

Bonfire Transit provides quality transportation services with a great satisfaction. Bonfire Transit drivers together with the management staff truthfully care about their clients and go to great lengths and ordeals to satisfy the needs of the passengers. It is imperative to note that this high magnitude of service quality is a significant factor in the provision of transportation service in such a remote setting. The consumers have to be self-assured that the transportation providers will not leave them stranded when in need of services.

4. Loyalty in ridership

One of the key strengths of Bonfire Transit includes the loyalty in enjoys in ridership. At the present moment, the community in this rural region does not have any accessibility to public transportation. The area lacks buses, taxis, trains as well as light rail. More specifically, 5 percent of the populace in the college comprises of international students who do not drive and also reside within the vicinities of the campus. Therefore, the college students as well as the staff are largely reliant on the transportation services rendered by Bonfire Transit.

Weaknesses

1. Perception of services rendered

One of the key shortcomings faced by the company takes into account the double-edged sword of one of the strong suits. Despite the fact that college students constitute the fundamental consumer base and passengers of Bonfire Transit, there is a likelihood that expansion of the prospective passengers will be limited by the community’s perspective of the services rendered as a college-student service only.

2. Restriction in service use

The services rendered by Bonfire Transit will evolve and develop around the interests, demands, inclinations and necessities for travelling for the college students and personnel within Versailles College, which is a limitation to the usefulness of the transportation service to additional transport consumer markets.

3. Lack of funding

In order to provide and make available the transportation service that will be satisfactory to both prevailing and prospective passengers, Bonfire Transit will necessitate considerably prolonged streams of revenue. The company does not have significant capital for the expansion of its business operations.

4. Lack of community awareness

Another weakness that Bonfire Transit faces is an overall lack of community awareness. A majority of the residents within the college vicinity are not cognizant with the local transit services accessible to them by the company. This limits the extent of ridership for the transportation in a daily and weekly basis and therefore limiting the revenue generated

Opportunities

1. Lack of public transport

At the moment, the college does not have any public means of transportation. There are no buses, taxis, trains, or light rail. Bonfire Transit has the opportunity to maximize this transport absence to become the sole public transportation means within the vicinity

2. On-Campus Students

The college comprises of international students who make up 5 percent of the total population of the students. These students live within the campus and do not have any vehicles for personal transportation. Therefore, these are consumers that will rely on the transportation means made available by Bonfire Transit

3. Lack of public amenities

The college does not have any shopping malls, grocery stores, cinemas and other public amenities within walking distance. The inference of this is that this is a prime prospect for Bonfire Transit to provide transportation service to both students and teachers living within the area to the main town where such amenities are located.

4. Huge population

The town has a population of 3,200 people in total. Of this number, 1,300 comprises of students. This implies that more than 30 percent of the town population is in need of public transportation to the main center where public amenities are easily accessible.

5. Business Expansion

The company has the prospect of business expansion into the markets in the greater mile radius of the remote town as they have a significantly large consumer base and this is a prospect for increased sales and revenues. There is a likelihood that there are prospective consumers that do not have adequate transportation services owing to the remoteness of the region and therefore this is an opportunity for Bonfire Transit to expand its operations.

6. Changing Business Setting

A changing business setting in the present day is another market prospect for the company. Being in the transportation business, Bonfire Transit is facing the increasing prospect of consumers being more inclined to transit service. Taking into consideration that the area does not have other transportation options, the company is in a prime position of increasing transportation prospects such as taxis for consumers such as staff and also the general public. In addition, aside from providing services to college students and staff, Bonfire Transit has the opportunity to increase its business prospects to other consumers such as general public transportation.

Threats

1. Potential market entrants

One of the key threats that Bonfire Transit faces is the ease to market entry. Presently, the market is ripe and easy for new companies to enter and also begin providing transportation services. Not only does this imply competition for the company, but it can also lead to the loss of market share. As a result, it becomes possible for new competitors and market entrants to get the opportunity to penetrate the market and cut in the market share.

2. College Transportation

At the present moment, the college population comprises of 1,300 individuals. What is more, the college is situated 10 miles off the closest accessible transportation means. The college might decide to purchase buses for student transportation services, which might hamper the services rendered by Bonfire Transit.

Marketing Objectives

Quantitative marketing goals and objectives lay emphasis on measuring aspects of markets. On the other hand, qualitative marketing goals and objectives lay emphasis on intangible aspects that impact the correlation between consumers and products, particular brands and also businesses in their entirety. Bonfire Transit is in the business of providing transportation services to consumers. Aside from formulating a marketing-focused and consumer-oriented mission and vision statement, Bonfire Transit ought to establish objectives to achieve such vision. To realize its marketing objectives, Bonfire Transit ought to develop standards and points of reference to measure advancement. Consistent appraisals of these objectives will provide response and conceivable remedial actions on a timely basis. The following are the qualitative and quantitative marketing objective measures for Bonfire Transit:

Quantitative Measures

1. Sales

One of the marketing objectives of Bonfire Transit is to accomplish sales revenues of $300,000 for the first financial year

2. Profit

The marketing objective of Bonfire Transit is to generate a profit margin of 20 percent in the first financial year’

3. Consumer Base

Another quantitative objective of the marketing plan is to increase the consumer base by 10 percent after the financial year

Qualitative Measures

1. Build awareness of the transit service capabilities

Build the awareness of Bonfire Transit services not only in the college but also in the town at large. The college comprises of 1,300 students and the town has a population of 3,200 people in total. Through the increase in awareness, the company will be able to increase its consumer base and also the revenues generated.

2. Improve user friendliness

The objective is to obtain a better understanding of the requirements and satisfaction of existing customers and augment user friendliness. To take advantage of on its success with existing clients, benchmarks ought to be instituted to comprehend the manner in which Bonfire Transit can improve the products it now offers through knowledge of its customers’ requirements and particular prospects for new product offerings.

3. Increase Bonfire Transit’s visibility

The main objective of the marketing plan is to increase the company’s perceptibility amongst the consumer base. This will facilitate the inclination to the use of the transportation services rendered by the company

4. Augment general public’s accessibility to services

Another objective of the company is to ensure that the general public is able to gain accessibility to the transport services rendered by Bonfire Transit

Marketing Strategies

Target Market

The target market for the bus services can be delineated as follows:

1. Young – 90% of the bus riders will be young as they comprise of the population in the college

2. Students – The target market will include the students that study within the college. It is imperative to note that the college students will make up more than 70% of the total ridership

3. Ethnically diverse – The target market will comprise of individuals from different ethnicities and diversities. The riders will include individuals of Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American ethnicities

4. Transit dependent – Majority of the individuals using the bus services will be reliant on public transportation and will be in lack of private means of transportation.

5. Frequent users – In tandem with their reliance on transit, 60 percent of the bus riders will make use of the service five days every week whereas the remaining 40 percent will make use of the service three or four days of the week

Through the creation of differentiation of products, services, distribution channels and brand image, Bonfire Transit positions itself in the market in a most effective and efficacious manner as compared to its competitors in the transportation sector. Within the marketplace the positioning of the Bonfire Transit brand is that of high quality and cost-effective transportation. In particular, this will provide the company a significant competitive advantage over imminent market rivals owing to consumer loyalty. In addition, owing to the lack of other transport option, this will facilitate the company to gain market share.

Marketing Mix

Marketing mix is a mixture of marketing approaches and activities, assimilated into a marketing programme to accomplish marketing goals and objectives through the addressing and satisfying of consumer needs and demands in a market. A marketing mix comprises of four key elements including the decisions on products or services, decisions on the price of such products and services, decisions on promotion, and the decisions on the distribution of such products and services to the consumers’ place. The following is a comprehensive marketing mix for Bonfire Transit within the marketplace.

Product

Efficacious marketing endeavors give rise to products that become part of day-to-day life. The product variable as a component of the marketing mix encompasses researching the needs and wants of the consumers and designing a product that is satisfactory to them. The product variable also encompasses generating and altering brand names and packaging, and it may comprise of decisions concerning modifications. These decisions and associated activities are significant for the reason that they are directly involved with the formation of products that satisfy the needs and wants of consumers (Pride and Ferrell, 2016). The services provided by Bonfire Transit will encompass bus transportation services for college students at Versailles, which is a rural college situated in the United States, from the college vicinity to the main town that comprises of the different public amenities. At the present moment, the community in this rural region does not have any accessibility to public transportation. The area lacks buses, taxis, trains as well as light rail.

Bonfire Transit provides consumers with curb-to-curb transportation services from the collage to the main parts of the town where grocery stores and shopping malls are situated. The transportation services will be operations from Monday to Sunday from 8.30 am to 10 p.m. The transportation services will also be available during the various holidays such as Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Luther King Day, and Independence Day. The buses providing the transportation services will operate concurrently. This is in the sense that some of the buses will move from the college to the main business district whereas the other buses will also run from the main business district to the college. The Bonfire Transit fleet comprises of six buses each with a capacity of 30 passengers. In addition, the buses will have accommodations for three wheelchair slots. Three of the buses will be used for transportation from the town to the college whereas the other three will run from the college to the town. All six buses are wheelchair accessible.

Price

The price charged for a product or service aids in the establishment of their value. The established pricing goals, objectives and policies of an organization aid in the determination of the prices of the products and services. Imperatively, price is a pivotal constituent of the marketing mix for the reason that consumers are apprehensive about benefits, roles, and costs. The product or service price is a significant competitive tool that hands the organization an advantage. Pricing is the most malleable marketing mix component and can be altered significantly fast. In addition, the price of the services and products multiplies by the quantity in terms of the number of passengers establishes the revenues generated, which is the culpability of the company’s marketing function (Pride and Ferrell, 2016). Bonfire Transit will partake in low-cost pricing compared to the competitors and other companies in the marketplace. This is largely for the reason that majority of the consumer target market comprises of college students who do not have incomes. In addition, with respect to pricing, the fare structure instituted by Bonfire Transit will be set to promote ridership and encourage longstanding goals and objectives of the system. In this regard, the fare structures of the company will be periodically assessed and altered to mirror service needs. In addition, the low-cost prices are equitable to the consumers.

Promotion

Bonfire Transit will make use of different promotional approaches to facilitate awareness of the brand and increase in the use of the transportation services rendered. To begin with, the company will make use of brochures. The Bonfire Transit schedule brochure will be the most routine aspect of marketing material that will be created. This really signifies the indication piece together with the buses, which constitutes the perspective of the community regarding the service. Imperatively, not only will the schedule for general image for the transportation service rendered, it also offers a significant amount of comprehensive information regarding its capabilities. The Bonfire Transit brochure will be updated when necessary to mirror alterations in the transit services, fares charged and the bus schedules. A second promotional approach employed by the company will be through presentations to staff and administration. Imperatively, presentation to the local organization will be the most cost effective approach to promote Bonfire Transit service, offer comprehensive information to potential consumers, alter the public image of the service and augment the perceptibility of Bonfire Transit. The marketing material will be easily personalized for the audience and specific questions or details will be provided by the company personnel.

Third, Bonfire Transit will make use of posters to facilitate its marketing endeavors. The posters will be used for the introduction of the company’s new service charges or programs in addition to the distribution of pertinent information. In addition, Bonfire Transit service for special events lends itself to marketing and advertising through posters. The advantage of this is that these sorts of posters have a tendency of going beyond the date of the event in question and as a result offer protracted promotion. Aside from posters, Bonfire Transit will also make use of roadside billboards. Taking into consideration the travel patters within the remote expanse, billboards signify an exceptional low-cost prospect to make available image building and overall information on Bonfire Transit. By focusing on advertisements targeted at ridership that is presently under-served, Bonfire Transit can inspire and hearten individuals to try the service. In addition, the positioning of the billboard ads will be selected carefully in order to attain the highest level of exposure. What is more, the billboard advertisements used by the company will be altered on a quarterly basis every year to ensure that the message conveyed is fresh.

Bonfire Transit will also capitalize on promotional events to facilitate promotion. Events within the communities are an exceptional approach for the company to alter the awareness and opinion of the prospective riders on the capabilities of the transit services. Owing to the fact that the college will have promotional events such as fares and games and others, these events will be an amazing way for the company to distribute comprehensive information regarding the services rendered. In addition, the company can create its own promotional event to increase the level of awareness. For instance, Bonfire Transit can create free-ride day where the company will provide free rides to the college students and staff in an endeavor to encourage them to test the transit services. Most of all, the company will make use of websites and social media platforms. The Bonfire Transit website will make it possible for the company to disseminate information regarding the services rendered through the internet. In addition, this will prove beneficial in the company’s expansion endeavors as prospective clients will easily gain business information from the website. Bonfire Transit will also employ social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to reach its target market. In the contemporary, these platforms are more common with the youth and therefore the company will be able to reach its target market. The company will not only use social media advertisements but also display and update information on its services and fares on the official social media pages.

Place

To begin with, distribution of the brochure schedule is a pivotal element to the efficacy of the marketing program. Bonfire Transit will place the brochures in the college offices and around the college vicinity. This is to guarantee that the information will be easily accessible to the college students and staff who are the target market for the company. More imperatively, distribution during any event within the college or presentation events will provide extra market penetration of Bonfire Transit services into prospective ridership groups. In addition, the brochures will be distributed in the central district where most of the social amenities such as grocery stores and shopping malls are situated. This will prove beneficial as the residents frequently visit these parts for shopping or enjoying purposes. In addition, the billboards will be distributed and interchanged throughout the region to guarantee exposure.

Marketing Implementation

Marketing organization

The marketing organization for Bonfire Transit is outlined as follows:

The organization of Bonfire Transit’s marketing department will comprise of three levels that are hierarchical. On top of the hierarchy is the marketing manager who will be responsible for overseeing the marketing department. The marketing manager is liable for conducting the major decisions within the department and communicating the marketing progress to the chief executive officer of the company. The subsequent level of the hierarchy is the assistant marketing manager. Imperatively, the marketing department will comprise of four assistant marketing managers. The individuals holding these positions will facilitate the duties and responsibility of the marketing manager. Notably, the assistant managers will be responsible for the day to day management of the sales representatives. Moreover, the marketing department will comprise of marketing representatives. These are personnel responsible for conducting the groundwork marketing tasks and reporting the outcomes to the assistant marketing manager. The marketing sales representatives for Bonfire Transit will be empowered to make important decisions that will increase the satisfaction of the consumers of the company. The marketing organization of the company will facilitate the transit services to not only be creative and flexible in satisfying consumer needs. In the same manner, this marketing organization will facilitate Bonfire Transit to overcome the issue of lacking diversification within the consumer base and product lines. Moreover, this marketing organization will provide Bonfire Transit with a better chance for monitoring the activities of competitors.

Activities and Responsibilities and Implementation Timetable

The different activities set to be carried out are supposed to start in the forthcoming financial year, which begins on September 1. The following is the timeline delineating the activities to be undertaken:

· On September 1, the business position of marketing manager will be created together with four slots for assistant marketing managers for the organization. Specifically, the responsibility of the marketing manager will be to operate as the project leader of Bonfire Transit’s business analysis team. This particular team will comprise of 10 personnel from a range of departmental positions within the organization.

· By September 20, four members of the business analysis team will be apportioned to each of the following company projects for achieving the marketing plan:

i. Research and development of prospective new product and service offerings in addition to the research, development, and analysis of the prospective markets and consumers

ii. Examine the prevailing billing sequence together with billing procedures

iii. Come up with and advance a consumer survey for the analysis of the consumer target market

It is the responsibility of Bonfire’s marketing manager to conduct these tasks and responsibilities

· By October 31, the different project groups that will have been formed will be expected to provide a comprehensive report of their examinations and analyses. Subsequently, the entire business analysis team will examine and appraise all of the suggestions given