The invent electronics is a manufacturing company of small appliances with the use of the brand name. The small appliances will be created and designed to fit the needs of households. The company has a vision and mission statements to guide the company in achieving its objective.
- Vision statement: To enable the household to access household appliances at a low cost.
- Mission Statement: The mission statement should embody the core principles of the company and the market positioning it aims to project.
In this regard, the mission statement goes as follows: “Invent electronics is a quality-conscious electronics and appliance company that aims to produce and distribute innovative, high value, reliable and affordable appliances that satisfy the discriminating tastes of household customers.”
- The company objectives: Highly productive and people-oriented.
- Innovative, competitive, and strongly focused on customers satisfaction.
- Be an international leader in the electronics industry.
The company has identified competitors whose marketing strategy has been carefully analyzed to give the small appliances an edge throughout the competition. The estimated electronic industry is said to be generating approximately over a trillion dollars in sales revenue worldwide per year. The company has done comprehensive research on both its strong points and the weakness. The company plans to.
- Improve the work on the threats in the SWOT analysis and eliminate the weak spots in the company
- Ensure and maintain good customer relations
- Play a smart and creative to overcome the competitor’s tactics
- Invest in the management and staff training so as to ensure talent retention poaching from the competitors.
The company has identified three market segments which will be the target market of the small appliance; hence all the brand awareness and marketing campaigns will emphasize all the attention to the target markets. The company will use various communication tools for example website formation, use of publicity, sales promotion as advertising so as to create more awareness about the brand. The channels of distribution will be via four ways, i.e. through manufacturers to retailers, direct marketing, online shopping especially where the stores don’t have small appliances, and use of salesforce. All the integrated marketing communications will direct its customers to these four ways of distribution.
The start-up capital for the company will be $300,000 which will cover all the operating costs.
The expected income of the first year will be as follows:
- Add: sales and revenue forecasts 1,000,000
- Projected growth 10%
- Expected profitability 600,000
Introduction
Invent Electronics has invested in a new line of small appliances that are aesthetically rich, highly functional, and cost-competitive. The objective is to develop a marketing plan to successfully distribute the products in households given a three-year time frame. The industry the company operates under can be described as a broad sector that encompasses numerous product lines and therefore highly competitive.
To begin the new marketing plan, it is best to establish a clear mission statement for the company that reflects the strategic intentions of the firm (Armstrong G. & Kotler P. 2007).
Description of the venture
This business venture is under the electronic industry which has very many competitors. The success of the business will relate to the ways strategies are formulated and executed. Strategies can be rational and deliberate or can be those that are creative and emergent. Many companies stay with the first option, as they are time-tested and least risky. However, with the changing global business scenario, this may not be very effective in distinguishing between the successful and the also-ran. Small appliances that will be manufactured by our invented electronics will be used in households (Schaik J.L., 2002).
Industry
The electronic industry has many competitors such as sang sung, Artech, Sony, general electric, Ramones, LG, and many others. The industry is involved in the designing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing of all appliances that are used in homes and offices.
Competitors will try as much as possible to produce the same or similar products with features similar to the features of the small appliance but are minimal. Competitors target in most cases will be the same target market as that of the invent electronics product market, this means that they will also target the USA households and will try to develop their product or add product features with the aim of taking over the target market and to deal with them, there should be the development of quality products and develop the sense of the high-quality image. The use of highly knowledgeable and well-trained sellers and dealers, having an excellent service network that consumers know they will get quick repair services (Kerin and Peterson,2007).
Customers’ understanding is also very important through face-to-face encounters and discussions with them. This is also possible through market research to understand how they feel about the product features added to the product and what influences their patterns of purchase and what motivates them to buy the product. Major competitors are identified and described in terms of size goals, market share, product quality, strategies, and this enables us to understand their intentions and behaviors (Armstrong G. & Kotler P., 2007).
Future of the electronics: From a strategic perspective, the industry is growing and new products are invented annually, and invent electronics is should respond to fast-paced trends and sudden shifts in market preferences. However, this can be rectified by further streamlining the company’s structure and business units. In the final analysis, one thing going for industry players is that their strategic plan is never final are gets altered annually. This is the reason why the company should invest heavily in its R&D and human resources training to make sure it can recalibrate strategies when needed (Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R.,2006).
At the end of the day, I believe that the company’s strategic mindset will steer the company through the current economic crisis like it consistently did in the past.
Market Plan
Target market
The specific target market or customers for Invent electronics involves families and households in America. As the main decision-makers in a family, the primary target customers are parents or housewives who use small appliances regularly to maintain their homes and care for their families. The typical customer can be the neighborly housewife of the doting father living in middle to upper-class neighborhoods with children to take care of(Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R., 2006).
Competition Analysis
Consumer Product Classification: According to the North American Industry Classification System or NAICS (2009), the three-way consumer product classification involves three possible definitions for the small appliance products namely: a) market-oriented or demand-based classification that groups together products or commodities in the same purpose or market, b) the intrinsic nature or physical characteristic of the product, and c) the industry of origin approach that defines products and commodities in clearly stated industry groups. For the purposes of simplicity and clarity, we shall adhere to the NAICS classification of small appliances (i.e. 33521) which is defined as “establishments primarily engaged in the manufacturing of small electric appliances and electric housewares, household type fans, household-type vacuum cleaners, and other electric house-hold type floor care machines (NAICS, 2009).”
Analysis of the Competition (Porter’s 5-Forces Model)
Competitive Rivalry: The small appliance industry is populated by a large number of manufacturers, distributors, sub-distributors, agents, and retail chains involved in the production and marketing of a variety of electric appliances. The sheer volume of players in the industry makes it highly competitive, with companies competing in terms of product quality, functionality, and cost.
As the economic environment becomes unstable, the main battle lines will inevitably focus on product value and cost.
Therefore, a player that wishes to compete effectively in this market will have to consider pricing and product attributes in developing its marketing strategies (Armstrong G. & Kotler P., 2007).
The threat of New Entrants: The industry is dependent on adequate investments in R&D, manufacturing, and technology assets. Furthermore, companies who intend to compete effectively in this industry need to employ highly competent, technical, yet innovative people. Therefore, entering the industry is not that easy. However, driven by population growth, the rising demand from households for small appliances might still entice new entrants to try it out in the industry (Armstrong G. & Kotler P. 2007).
Threat from Buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is very strong considering that they have a lot of options to buy products from. Customers can easily scout products from an array of companies, choose the best value, and decide based on the lowest cost. Therefore, in the small appliance industry, the customer reigns supreme (Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R., 2006).
Threat from suppliers: Suppliers in the industry have significant influence in that they dictate raw material and parts costs. Moreover, the fact that there are many manufacturers of small appliances also allows suppliers to choose which to cater to. However, there are also a large number of suppliers, which is advantageous to manufacturers because they can likewise choose which supplier to purchase materials from. Fundamentally, suppliers tend to gravitate towards high reputable manufacturers so Invent electronics enjoys a certain degree of leverage of many suppliers (Armstrong G. & Kotler P. 2007).
The threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes may come from independent outfits or enterprises that do the household chores for families. In effect, instead of the housewife or the dad buying the appliance and using this manually, they can opt to hire a cleaning company to do the job itself. However, buying the appliance is significantly lower than availing of the cleaning services so the threat of substitutes is not so great (Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R. 2006).
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis
The company can be examined in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). In terms of strengths, Invent electronics has produced a superior, high value, and cost-competitive small appliance line that is very marketable.
The company achieved this because it possesses strong manufacturing and R&D capability, which accords its existing products with a good brand image. Furthermore, the company also enjoys good relationships with its current suppliers. In terms of weaknesses, the company’s products are still new to the market and therefore need to be introduced properly. The fact that its current marketing plan is ineffective makes the entry strategy more difficult to undertake. Consequently, new suppliers would also be needed by the company. On the positive side, the small appliance environment seems to be growing, as population growth rates expand the market base.
There are also opportunities to tap the growing cost-conscious buyers due to the economic recession and to tap supportive suppliers for better credit terms. Meanwhile, the threats that the company will face include intense competition, the need to hurdle customer unfamiliarity with its new products, and the need to source new raw materials. Table 1 below enumerates the SWOT factors (Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R. 2006).
Table 1: Invent electronics SWOT Analysis
Marketing Strategies
Product: The product to be offered by Invent electronics will be positioned as a high quality, durable and reliable appliance product. Given the industry analysis, the company can implement three product strategies and these are:
- Differentiate the products by highlighting quality, reliability, durability, and ease of use as product features;
- Package the products in stylish designs in a variety of pleasant, eye-catching colors;
- Attach unbeatable warranties on the products(Kotler, P. 2005).
Placing: The main objective is to distribute the product to many customers as possible in the target market. Hence, the product shall be distributed in strategic, high-traffic areas such as appliance and electronic goods stores, home depot outlets, and other retail channels that families frequent. Consequently, the products shall be located in highly populated, urban areas that are very accessible to residential customers. In terms of distribution strategies, the following are the key initiatives:
- Secure lease space in high traffic, accessible retail outlets in department stores and malls;
- Distribute products to well-known specialty retail stores that focus primarily on consumer goods and small appliances;
- Support distribution locations with adequate, attractive, and highly visible marketing collaterals, signage, and product catalogs( Kerin and Peterson, 2007).
Pricing: The price objective is to secure affordability. The product is definitely high in value, but should be cost competitive. This is the key strategy considering that the target market will definitely maximize their budgets and save on costs considering the current economic recession. Therefore, although the products are artistic, and project a high-quality, premium image, the more prudent strategy is to harp on the product’s durability, reliability, and “value for money” positioning. The main pricing strategies are as follows:
- Pursue an “value for money” low cost strategy to gain rapid sales and market share;
- Provide discounts to volume purchases;
- Offer flexible, payment terms especially for price sensitive buyers (Kotler, P. 2005)
Promotions: Invent electronics will pursue a promotions objective of generating high awareness and visibility for its products. Thus, it will utilize all viable media channels and undertake effective promotional activities. The key promotions strategies are the following:
- Utilize various traditional media and new media channels to advertise the company’s products. Traditional media promotions include TV plugs, radio announcements; print advertising, while new media promotions include Web-marketing (i.e. Internet marketing) and cell phone text marketing;
- Provide sustained marketing materials in designated store locations, booths, and lease spaces (i.e. flyers, brochures, catalogs, signage, etc.);
- Harness well-trained, highly articulate sales representatives to demonstrate and explain the company’s product features to customers in malls, specialty appliance stores and other retail outlets (Kerin and Peterson,2007).
Tactics and Actions Plans
The specific tactics and action plan are designed to be responsive, yet deliberate. The key consideration is time to market since new products are constantly being developed and manufactured in the small appliance industry. Hence, new products need to be manufactured and launched quickly, yet strategically in order to keep ahead of the competition. Another key consideration is the three-year timeframe. Therefore, the company’s tactics and action plan would have to be geared for towards the medium to long-term scenarios (Armstrong G. & Kotler P. 2007).
Product Action Plan: The recommended product action plans are as follows:
Table 2: Product Tactics and Action Plans
Financial projections
All in the excel:
Business Management and qualifications
Manager: – the role of business management shall be taken by the owner manager. The owner manager will bring various things into the business management. First new technology shall be employed. The business shall exploit the latest technology in its undertakings.
The owner manager will give employees a positive attitude towards work. This will be done through the introduction of profit sharing plans with the workers so as to encourage increased productivity. He will ensure that each and every employee specializes in a given section to be able to improve the quality products offered to customers. As the business will be growing he will ensure that the business is segmented to different departments has diversified into different parts of the town. This will ensure that a wider market is covered.
Experience: The owner manager has attained a three year experience through attachment in related fields.
Skills: conversant with technical, managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Competence: – able to lay measures of coping with competition:
- Able to coordinate the staff for maximum productivity.
- Competent in offering quality services.
Education: The owner manager holds a masters degree in business administration
Knowledge: The owner manager has got a wide knowledge of the requirement of the business falling under this industry.
Assistant manager
The manager role and responsibility of the assistant manager will be to take over the management of the business while the owner manager will be out. The assistant manager shall also help the manager in the day to day running of the business. The assistant must be must be holder of a master’s degree
Competence: – be able to influence workers to offer quality services.
Skills: – must have technical, entrepreneurial and managerial skills.
References
Armstrong G. & Kotler P. (2007). Consumer Markets: Influences on consumer behavior, Principles of Marketing.
Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R. (2006); Exploring Corporate Strategy, Prentice Hall, 7 th Enhanced Media Edition,
Kerin and Peterson (2007); Strategic Marketing Problems: Cases and Comments, 11th ed., Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. ISBN 0131871528
Kotler, P. (2005); Principles of Marketing. New York.Melbourne Press
North American Industry Classification System (2009). United States Census Bureau. Web.
Schaik J.L., (2002); The Task of Marketing Management; J.L. van Schaik (Pity) ltd.