4.2 PEST Analysis

Political forces: The development of a full legislation within the advertising field has yet to become a complete process. Recent efforts have however limited the operations of advertising campaigns in the meaning of having eliminated all features that are not compatible with the product or which promise unrealistic outcomes, such as the tremendous loss of weight. Other issues regulated by the new laws refer to truth-in-advertising, product labeling requirements, online advertising and marketing, the advertising of specific products, telemarketing and direct marketing, and finally, regulations relative to environmental marketing (The Official Business Link to the U.S. Government, 2009). The new Obama administration has yet to take a new stand on advertising, but the current President has clearly established other goals and modifications in advertising legislation are less likely to occur in the immediate future.

Economic forces: Any company has to consider hedging against currency risk exchange, but since Creativity Sure only collaborates with national partners, the used currency is always the dollar and we do not need to consider hedging operations. An economic force that could however impact us is given by the contemporaneous financial crisis, which could materialize in both opportunities as well as threats (further detailed in the SWOT analysis section).

Socio-cultural forces: The American population is highly focused on consumption, meaning that advertising is just a step in pointing the already interested audience in the direction desired by the manufacturers and service providers (our customers). The demands of individuals clients have however significantly increased, meaning that the advertisements and other marketing endeavors will not only have to adjusted to the needs of the customer SMEs, but also to the individual customers of these small and medium size entities.

Technological forces: The media supporting advertisements has significantly enlarged throughout the past years, with the internet playing a crucial part. Marketing and advertising companies create and promote their campaigns with the usage of cutting edge technologies and mostly on the internet. However, a study of the industry reveals that the customers are not always online and that, while technology is important, it should harmoniously blend in with more traditional approaches (LeClaire, 2000).

5. Marketing Analysis

Conducting the marketing analyses is a most important part in planning a business as it allows the organization to view the features of the industry in which it activates, including the competition, and develop the most suitable strategies in response to these characteristics.

5.1 Target Market

Creativity Sure is able to offer all types of marketing and advertising products and services. However, due to its relatively limited size and resources, the ability to simultaneously offer them to numerous customers is limited. Also, its limitations come from the increased demands of large size corporate clients, which might at one time generate an order that would engage all of Creativity's staff and financial resources. Therefore, in light of the material constraints associated with a small size entity, Creativity Sure will for now address the target market formed from small and medium size companies in the local region. There is a total of 500 SMEs in the region, some working with either Karina Advertising, Falling Agency or Dorna PLC, or internally dealing with the marketing needs. The number of potential customers is expected to increase in the future years due to two reasons. First of all, the number of SMEs will grow; secondly, Creativity Sure will strengthen its position and increase its resources and will reconsider its initially established target market.

5.2 SWOT Analysis

Internal Strengths

The team at Creativity Sure is young, strong, capable and easily adaptable, we are creative and committed to fully satisfying our customers

The owners of the company possess sufficient financial resources to get the business running and their favorable credentials and references will allow the company to contract advantageous bank loans

We have already developed partnerships with some potential customers, as well as partners, such as purveyors

Since we are in the advertising business, promotion of our brand and the attraction of SME customers will not generate additional expenditures

Internal Weaknesses

Despite our abilities and commitment, we are faced with the limitations of small size companies, mostly increased start-up costs, lack of brand recognition and a yet unformed customer palette

External Opportunities

The financial crisis could mean that the SMEs unaffected by it strive harder to succeed in a context in which their competition faces intensified challenges, materializing as such in increased demands for the services of Creativity Sure

Despite its constituting an unfortunate event, the financial crisis has also forced advertising companies...

Foremost, if we succeed in offering agency services to our customers, it is likely that in the future we raise the interest of major players that possess more resources and will likely win the battle
5.3 Marketing Mix

The analysis of the marketing mix is necessary to make the controllable decisions in terms of product, price, promotions and distribution (Net MBA, 2007).

Product

The products and services will be sold under the Creativity Sure brand name, with the specification that this brand will be mostly familiar to the SME customers; the individual customers will be presented with the brand name of the SME, as they are the ones interested in promoting their interests. However, small inscriptions will also be available within the realized products (billboards, fliers, commercials and so on) stating the Creativity Sure brand name

The functionality of each product or service in the offering is that of promoting the interests of the SME customers (brand recognition, product promotion and so on); each offer will however meet specific functionality requirements, based on the characteristics of the respective products and/or service as well as the unique demands of each customer

The styling of the advertisements is by all means tasteful, but other characteristics are agreed upon discussions with the customers as some might prefer a more modern approach, whilst others would rather an "antique" look

Regardless of the features customized to customer demands, all Creativity products and services share the commonality of high quality

The material products, such as the billboards, have a warranty of three months, during which time the company will replace or restore any damaged goods

The warranty feature is more difficult to apply relative to the services, but it is being replaced with an acceptance to add three modifications to the initial design, if the customer is unsatisfied with the final outcome

Price

Given that the company possesses sufficient financial resources, we will implement a penetration pricing strategy throughout the first three months of operations; this approach will ensure that we attract customers with our low price and promotional prices and convince them of the high quality of our products and services

Starting with the fourth month of operations, we will implement a variable pricing strategy, in the meaning that our retail prices will be real, similar to those of the competition and will suffer modifications whenever we come across changes in the expenditure incurred in our product manufacturing or service delivery

Loyal customers will receive discounts; it is however impossible to establish an actual percentage in the discount offering as this will be established based on the particularities of each individual customer-company relationship; the figures for discount sales for loyal customers could be between 5 and 25%

It is difficult at this time to offer a suggested retail price as this will vary based on the characteristics of each order, products, service, as well as the unique demands of each customer

Place

The marketing consultancy and advertising operations will occur at both Creativity Sure's offices as well as in the offices of our customers and in the street, whenever necessary

We will use numerous medias to distribute our products and services

Given that we mostly offer services and that the products we create are easy to handle, logistics concerns (such as inventory management, transportation or warehousing) are insignificant

Promotion

We will use numerous media channels to promote both our services, as well as the interest of our customers; the most prominent means of promoting interests include television, radio, the internet, specialized magazines and journals, street fliers and banners

Throughout the first three months of operations, we will offer our services at a 30% off promotional price

We will create our own advertisements to promote Creativity Sure and this will not only have the benefit of reduced costs, but also of the development of a campaign that is best able to reveal the core competencies of Creativity Sure

Our managers will also engage in public…