Marketing plan development and strategy

Marketing Plan

First of all, it is appropriate to enumerate some of the behavioral variables that define market segmentation for the product we are launching. As the digital camera is addressing consumers aged between 24 and 50, we are, first of all, addressing the active and involved. The consumers we are targeting are persons who enjoy having souvenirs of places they have visited, people they have met, their friends, their family and any other elements in their lives. They are likely to be travelers and to enjoy a vacation at least once a year. They are also likely to have a group of friends and have a higher than average active social life.

The behavioral elements presented previously can be combined with some of the other factors that determine the targeted market. The age variable is quite important (24 to 50 in our case), but we shouldn't be ignoring the income variable. Even if digital cameras are more or less available for all nowadays, with the additional features that might be included in the basic model, we are likely to be addressing middle income individuals.

If we look at this brief description of the category of consumers we will be addressing, it is clear that the demographic and psychographic/behavioral consumer factors are essential in determining the exact group of people the product will be targeting. These are active people, with an active social life, aged 24 to 50 and with $50,000 to $75,000 a year.

Referring a little to the external environment and the main factors that are likely to affect the launched product, in terms of threats, the most important, in my opinion, is the threat of competition, especially from countries in Asia such as Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or China. Companies from these countries produce at much lower costs, mainly due to cheaper workforce. This allows than to remain competitive at the same profit margins and come with a lower product price on the Western markets.

There is, however, one thing that can be speculated and that represents the competitive advantage that a Western firm launching a digital camera has: quality. In all markets and particularly in the hi-tech market we are involved in, there is a general impression that many companies have somewhat renounced the quality principle in order to obtain lower costs. Products made in the countries of South-East Asia may be cheaper, but the consumers will know they are cheaper because the quality differs.

In this sense, the marketing campaign should emphasize quality. Again, it is important to note, this time as a behavioral observation, that the customer we are targeting is almost certainly not interested in buying an exceptionally cheap product. His income level is reasonable enough to allow him to afford to buy a product that is at least average priced.

Another threat that needs to be dealt with is the fact that the age category we are addressing is most predisposed to change. People in this age group have a tendency to change their car once every a couple of years, change the electronics around the house, change the computer, etc. Compared with the over 55 category, much more conservatory, the consumers we are targeting have lower customer retention indicators and consistent additional effort needs to be made in this sense.

The third threat from the market that needs to be mentioned is related to technological obsoleteness and the implications deriving here from. One of the causes of the customer retention indicator I have previously mentioned is related to the fact that new technological features constantly appear in short period of time after an innovation is launched. The market provides, in this sense, a significant challenge for any company to keep up with the pace of change. Any company will need to invest heavily in the research and development activities in order to be able to remain competitive.

In terms of opportunities, there are several worth mentioning as well. First of all, there are advantages deriving from the fact that the company is a start-up. For the beginning at least, larger companies are less likely to pay attention to a new comer and will probably react less to its presence on the market.