Marketing management concepts and strategies

Marketing Management

Anticipated Critical Issues

MBA 5220 Marketing Management

Indiana Tech

Product Marketed: _e-reader__ Student:

List the key issues that you will need to address as you plan to market your product.

PRODUCT

Determine the needs of the market - It is not enough to have an idea you like, it has to be something the market needs

Determine the features the customers need

Do a cost/benefit analysis on the features to determine what you can market at a fair price

Find production sites

Determine materials specs

Determine software specs

Determine size/weight/screen needs

DISTRIBUTION

Determine online distribution channels

Determine offline distribution channels

Determine price points -- how much will distribution costs be

Inbound distribution methods?

Will the company pay for shipping?

PROMOTIONS

Should there be pricing differences?

Which audiences are the most profitable to target?

Determine the promotional budget

Allocate promotional monies to the different target areas

How much money should be spent on promotions via the retail channels?

Is there any value in non-web promotions?

To what extent should social media be used? Should it be used only for promotional, or also for customer service?

PRICING

What are the costs of production?

What are the competing products?

What do these competing products cost?

What pricing strategy should we have?

What is a fair price point?

Will there be discounts for groups?

Customer Buying Patterns

MBA 5220 Marketing Management

Indiana Tech

Industry/Market: ____e-reader

Segment: this is an e-reader plus digital library

How does the customer decide to buy?

The product is new to the market in this form, so the buying characteristics are unknown. E-readers generally are purchased by customers who like the format. The customer basically self-selects. The customer buys published material either via recommendations or by surfing/scrolling on their own to determine what interests them.

What are the steps the buyer takes in his or her buying decision?

1. Determines need

2. Examines the different alternatives in the market. Often looks at online reviews

3. Asks friends and family for recommendations

4. Often purchases the same product that friends/family already owns

5. Significant credence is paid to references and brand reputation

6. Examines channels for purchasing.

How does our firm impact a customer during each step above?

1. Has to convince consumers they have a need

2. Has to ensure that our product is in the conversation, and reviews well

3. The more customers we have, the more likely we will be recommended

4. Ditto

5. Build a strong brand reputation in order to garner greater customer interest

6. Ensure that the product is available through multiple channels.

Where do customers gather information about (our) products?

1. Online via our marketing

2. Family & friends

3. Online via product review sites

4. At the retail level

Where & how do our competitors have an advantage over our firm in the customers' buying process?

1. They are bigger

2. They are more established

3. They have channels, product reputations and brands

Where & how do we have an advantage over our competitors in the customers' buying process?

1. On distribution, none -- we are new

2. On branding, none -- a new product is unknown in the marketplace

3. We might position the library concept as having unique value

Which tactics have worked best for our competitors?

1. Have good products

2. Have well established brands

3. Sell below cost -- worked for the Kindle

Which tactics have worked best for our firm?

1. We don't exist, so nothing has worked in the past

2. We don't exist, so maybe in the future something might work

3. We don't exist

List your major tactics and rate their success.

*All of this is in the future, so success cannot be rated. Remember, we don't exist yet.