T Mobile Marketing Plan

Target Markets and Positioning
T-Mobile's plan will target the millennial and younger generations, predominantly in urban and suburban areas. This target market is definable enough that the company can develop promotional campaigns for it. The key element in this market is the way that these two generations work with technology. They are the most digitally-engaged market and are driving smartphone usage (Lipman, 2017). They are the most mobile-forward generations, having essentially come of age in the digital age and in the mobile age respectively. These markets are heavy data users, but not so attached to the phone aspect, something that can be built into the promotional plans. T-Mobile will position itself as the mobile company for youth, the one for people who live mobile,.
Product Strategies
The way that T-Mobile structures its plans will determine, ultimately, how appealing the company is to this market. This is the most desired market in the industry, but the reality is that the target market uses data differently, more as an integral part of their lives. That means that the plans have to incorporate the latest smartphone technology, app usage, data usage and mobile usage statistics. The plans should also be priced in line with this – basically offering data-heavy plans at reasonable prices, with solid discounts on the phones that most appeal to this target market. T-Mobile will basically have to develop plans that undercut some of the major competitors, and give this target market the mobile, digital freedom that it needs (Nielsen, 2016).
The focus on urban and suburban companies aligns with the ability of T-Mobile to service these areas. The larger companies have more comprehensive coverage than T-Mobile, but that coverage comes at a higher price. While T-Mobile has very good coverage, the fact that there are gaps in less-densely populated areas means that T-Mobile can and should focus on the more populous urban centers and their surrounding suburbs.
Pricing Strategies
To reach the millennial market and younger, T-Mobile has to price in line with their earnings. For the most part, these are not the highest-earning generations because they are young and have not reached peak earning power yet. As such, the key to T-Mobile's approach has to be a penetration strategy, where it undercuts the major competitors on price in order to gain market share (Investopedia, 2017). This approach will allow T-Mobile to win a larger share of a more lucrative market, to its benefit. Penetration pricing means pricing based on what competitors are pricing, which runs the risk of price wars, so T-Mobile will have to be cognizant of competitive response from the market leaders, and have a strategy for managing this, in order to continue winning share away.
Distribution Strategy
While the most common approach to distribution in the industry is still through retail outlets and kiosks, and T-Mobile needs to respect that by maintaining its network of retail channels, the company should also pursue a greater degree of online distribution. This is more easily scalable, and allows the company to reach the target market, which lives digitally. The online strategy will rely a little more heavily on inbound marketing to drive traffic – aggressive social spend, for example.
Promotional Strategy
The messaging for promotion will be around the "Live Mobile" campaign, leveraging the company's brand name and the idea that mobile living is a lifestyle, which the target market lives. The idea here is that a lot of promotion will be strictly digital, including the best deals, and there will be a certain viral component to quirky social advertising campaigns. The promotional strategy will deliver a much more creative set of ads to the market than competitors, with more of a lifestyle focus, in order to align T-Mobile with the "live mobile" lifestyle elements.


References

Investopedia (2017). Penetration pricing. Investopedia. Retrieved December 1, 2017 from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/penetration-pricing.asp

Lipman, A. (2017). 5 interesting facts about millennials' mobile app usage from the 2017 US mobile app report. Comscore. Retrieved December 1, 2017 from https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/5-Interesting-Facts-About-Millennials-Mobile-App-Usage-from-The-2017-US-Mobile-App-Report

Nielsen (2016) Millennials are top smartphone users. Nielsen. Retrieved December 1, 2017 from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2016/millennials-are-top-smartphone-users.html