Introduction
Starshots Glamour Company is a reputable retail photography business operating for the last 16 years across Australia. It has a wide-spread network of branches in the country that are known for top quality products and services in the region. The company has developed a touch on quality photographs and services. Starshot focuses on its clients, uses proven production methods and formula while embracing the modern state of art technology to gear its production to the future generational productivity. The network of franchise is locally owned giving the company a local touch. Their products and services are tailored to meet the community needs and expectations. 1
The company uses unique pricing strategy accompanied by practical promotions governed by honesty, integrity and ethical advertising. As a philosophy, the company endeavors in producing top quality perfect portraits of pictures for the clients. Starshot team is reputable in its uniqueness on customer relations and has a variety of choice products at the disposal of the clients. It provides a digital retouch to provide the customers with extra satisfaction to suit different requirements. The company’s quality standards have positioned it as the preferred choice photographer in the country. Starshot focuses on customer satisfaction and gives guarantee of replacing any item destroyed whether accidentally or not.
Based on its success, the company is planning to roll out a new product building on its portfolio and reputation in the photography industry. The need to maximize returns on their investment, has led to development of strategic market survey entailing market targeting, segmentation and positioning of its new product to realize a successful launch. This report details the process involved in achieving successful launch of the product in the market.
Market segmentation
Starshot should adopt a criterion that will make the product/service unique in its approach. This means that the new product should be distinct from the other ones of the company. It will utilize independent and unique methods of solving the needs that has not been addressed in photography industry. Further, it should demonstrate a degree of homogeneity with existing products. During product development, Starshot Company will ensure that the product will be readily acceptable especially when released in to the market. This process will involve splitting existing market base bringing differentiation to specific groups hoping to capture the untapped market for commercial advantage.
Being in photography industry for a long period of time, the company has various options of segmentation at its disposal. The client base involves various age groups having various needs and this will require brainstorming and judgment to appreciate the various needs that the consumers have. Any market segment should be different and unique as a tool of identification. To fully segment, it is important to understand the entire market. The product in question should be analyzed to bring out the true picture especially in finding out whether there is any near resemblance. Here, we consider why customers will buy the product while considering the main market triggers.2
The young children have interest in sport, cartoons, pets, games and other interesting areas. This is a prime market segment that if targeted can result into dramatic market response. The young children are fond of cartoons, fictional works and images. Starshot Company will provide tailored products to this group. This will include specialized photography of children with pets, role playing and when in games. The school children learn a lot from photographs as a teaching aid to enhance learning.
The company will provide facilities and opportunities of field photography that depict the world of science. This group will go along well with photo images of distant areas with their images embedded. The company therefore is to invest in international collections of physical features, celebrities and great leaders who are part and parcel of the learning process. The up coming world cup will be the prime focus considering the degree of its exposure to the world and therefore the children will buy photographs of the great footballers and other football gurus.
Children books and writers are major catchments in developing children materials like stories and fictions of ancient occurrence. Starshot Company will tap this market by developing a data bank of photographs with historical base that can be sold to them at a fair price. The company will develop a documentary site showing great features of the world like the 7 wonders of the world, the recent eruption in Europe among others.
This will captivate children to identify the company as a study collection centre that brings on board the world happenings at a glance. Considering the national wide distribution network of 16 branches, it will have a national presence driven by accessibility, communication and widespread networks.3The product will respond positively due to educational attachment and thus parents will provide money to buy, there-by promoting growth.
The children market is one that is continuously growing because learning is a process and teaching aid are being updated more often. The children market range is quite substantial making it a viable and profitable venture that will yield good returns. The company’s customer values, life style and attitude towards clients are based on respect and expertise in their work making it more admirable to children. 4
Starshot Company may consider the teenagers’ market whose needs are quite different from that of children, they love fun and socializing. The products should be aided towards satisfying their need. This will require a thorough understanding of their income, gender and the socio-economic status, while considering the culture and religious inclination. The demographic aspects in relation to movement are important to consider when they transit to colleges and university.
During this time, their social requirement change due to the new encounters and making of new friends. College life is characterized by groupings and this becomes an avenue of meeting new people with whom they take photographs. The company will therefore utilize its professional photographers to market the firm through top quality work and superior public relations. The colleges and universities being company’s corporate clients, will provide an arena of meeting customers by giving room of demonstrating their latest prime photo of superior quality.
The mid age group comprise of working class who are keen on professionalism. These groups are fond of partying, holding meetings and joining clubs. This group comprises those starting families, new life and investment. They constitute the wealthy people who wish to get value of their money. The company can develop a contract that can be based on added value and monetary gains. The introduction of members of different classes like gold, premium or silver can be important.
The firm will therefore develop programmes that will capture this market. Weddings parties, family get together, holidays, official visits, company photos and baby photos are mostly the areas to pay attention to. Being in the working class category, they are a high end market that values quality, efficiency and good public relations. Product pricing for this group will be diverse depending with the occasion, quantity, quality and the specifications of the customers. In this case, use of personalized service is encouraged like office or home delivery of goods coupled with different special offers of top quality, however our main focus is increasing sales and enhancing the corporate image of Starshot. Any strategy that we will employ must be fine tuned to suit the current market strategies the company is utilizing.
The elderly and the old people market segment is not as elaborate as the two mentioned above, therefore developing a product for them may not be viable, sustainable and profitable because its performance may be low. The values of the elderly, their attitude to photography coupled with their opinions and daily activities do not constitute a profitable market to invest in. This is because their consumption and purchase of photographs is limited. Having gone through the main stages of life and they may be in fantasy, and full of precious memories.
For a market segment to qualify for investment, it should be cost efficient and effective to venture in. The marketing tactics and campaign methods used should be affordable while considering the available capital outlay. The market segment adopted will help in gauging Starshot market position while detailing the perception of existing and potential customers. This new market must be justified by all branches, to qualify in size and span of operation.
It should be distinguished clearly from the other existing segment lines to avoid overlap and duplication of activities. At this stage Starshot must review the needs, desires and attitudes of each segment to weigh the one with more weight. It is important to develop specific names for each segment by relying on the dimension of each segment. Starshot Company will assess the market by estimating the actual size of each segment. This should be done carefully and correctly to gather as much data as possible for bench marking.
Target marketing
It involves concentrating in one or a few markets that has been identified in the segment. This will make creating awareness, product pricing and distribution to be cost effective. In this stage, the Starshot aims at understanding the main competitors. It will endeavor at noticing them while identifying the knowledge they have in photography. Sydney Photography Company is a specialist in real estate, property, and interior photography.
Photo IIona deals with advertising, portraits, commercial and photographs of architecture. The main competitor is the Michael Martin photo dealing with children, portraits and weddings. There are over 15 photography companies and numerous freelancer photographers in the country. However none of them equals the company’s strength and market share. It is important to take note of the recent trends in the market with a special emphasis of what the competitors are doing.
The company will carry out a market survey to study the marketing strategies being employed, the pricing strategy used and the market niche of the competitors. This will help in analyzing the market proactively and assist in decision making and the entry strategy to be employed. Starshot will use modern advertising methods that can reach the current and potential clients where they are. This will involve using mails, faxes, e – mail, social and trade magazines, newspapers, bulletins, electronic media like television, radio among others. 5
Further, trade shows and community outreach will be an icon of effective promotion. We will initiate a marketing campaign that will create a market base making the sales staff sell as much as they can. This involves developing impacting advertising messenges which are effective with long term effects.
The nature of the product and its core value are ingredients of success. The marketing department will position the product in the market with a cutting edge style that will create booming sale, ensuring they fully inform and demonstrate the worth of the product so that the benefits are well known such that attention will be focused to buying Starshot products. The experience from the existing market history of Starshot company is critical in effective marketing and will ensure that the company remain top of the industry by creating new and fresh products which will set the pace in the market.
By using the right tools of marketing, we will put the company a notch higher, making the firm remain abreast in photography industry and therefore, be able to sell effectively while providing necessary support to the sales people. It is important to consider the segment that is willing to pay a good price for the product or service so that the best reasonable returns can be realized. Upon identifying a market segment, Starshot will embark on strategies to improve its product which will help in adding value to the product making it more efficient. Ultimately this will reduce costs involved.
At this stage, we will be interested in designing a market structure that is product oriented to meet the clients’ expectations. The approach is to reach as many people as possible both potential and existing ones. The methods of promotion are buyer oriented. The marketing materials to be used will be appealing to ensure they reach the targeted clients. This will make the product we are selling memorable to the current and potential clients. In addition the company will evaluate the selling strategies success by conducting a mock survey aimed at understanding the effectiveness of the advertising methods used.
Further, it will involve developing short questionnaire that will ask simple questions. The current customers are to fill it out and upon analysis, we will know whether the strategies are effective or not. This will be followed by developing new marketing strategies to improve the existing ones or carry out an overhaul of the promotion techniques. Starshot Company will also utilize cohort and generational marketing that is consistent. It will involve strategies for people in different stages of life. Various stages in life of the people will be targeted especially child birth, graduating from one educational level to another, getting married, retiring, and death. Those in their prime of physical fitness like models and footballers are major catchments. 6
The company marketing policy will be flexible enough to adjust to the prevailing market conditions. The main process the firm will employ is to keep on re-examining the market to obtain feedback that will be essential in helping to adjust. It is imperative that our products are tailored to the specifications of the customers including branding for specific market group. Our research department will carry out a survey of the products and services that are appealing in every season so that we can satisfy the desires of the clients, whether modern or traditional.
Starshot will gap in by creating awareness of other products that go along with products like engagement photos, family re-union photo and other activities of such nature. This is an opportunity that will help our clients to identify with our products and services. It will be followed by several frequent tests as an on going process. We will develop our customer relationship by encouraging constructive dialogue to enhance feedback while understanding their needs, concerns and worries. The company will network with other complementary service providers like florists, bakers, venues providers, master of ceremonies, decoration vendors, boutiques and cloth malls. The information obtained will help us market and reach as many groups and clients as possible. 7
The marketing department will work towards ensuring the royalty of our customers and whether we can attain a bigger market that is able to command a sizeable profit for the company. We will keep assessing the growth rate and the actions of our competitors versus the amount spent in the promotions. The firm’s potential will be achieved as a result of total sales made while considering the budget allocated. When the market becomes large and more competitive, the company will patent the products to control counterfeit making its products the household name across Australia.
Product positioning
In this stage, the company will be concerned with the process of creating a permanent image of the product in the customers mind. If need be, it will endeavor in changing the products constantly based on the strategies of competitors. Starshot will major with the main market of our products. Our main buyers in this case are children, teenagers and the mature adults. These market groups are positioned such that their buying characteristics are suitable for the new product that we have introduced.
We intend to reach people who are not aware of what we sell and the product range of our company. When introducing the products, we will study their reactions and the comments that they will make. The marketing department will be interested with their facial expressions and comments both negative and positive, which will help us to reposition the product or de-reposition it to increase its portfolio. We will know the value we add to our clients when they buy our products and the new features that be added to increase the value.
In positioning our product, we are creating a mental picture in the mind of our customers that will always be visualized. Differentiation is the driving force in designing the company identity aiming at creating an image that is competitive and distinct, memorable in the mind of the clients. Positioning will help analyze the market situation of our product and the competition that is prevailing. Starshot will use pricing strategy and quality emphasis as a positioning tool.
It will be a distinct cutting point that will create a friendly price of top quality products. Our unique product quality and the exceptional features are a guide and driving force towards customer satisfaction. This will be an eye opener to the market. We will develop highly unique, distinct, important features and benefits that will help calculate our sporadic move towards realizing the market control and dominance of our product. Much more, Starshot marketing department will affiliate the products with great images, items, people or events that clients value and are familiar with. 8
The entire staff of our company will inculcate the marketing strategy in positioning, which will provide direction and show the ultimate course to follow in realizing the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the organization. We will train the workers on the new features that the product will exhibit. Further, we will strife to describe what our products offer to clients and the unique benefits that one can get. Our target is to demonstrate why we are the preferred company of choice than our competitors. We will outline our special benefits and features to the customers and this will give us a standing ovation among many products in the market.
The message we convey will be assessed frequently to ensure that it makes sense to the customers. We will provide evidence and prove as testimony of our difference in quality and standards. Our positioning strategy will be instrumental in developing communication methodology while integrating the entire market plan so that it convincing enough to maintain a large market. We will come up with a positioning statement that will be explicitly open and seen by all in our products, franchise, website, company vehicles and any other public commodity at our disposal. Our products will be a reference point for everyone and this will act as a reminder of the company future. Further it will promote consistency.
To ensure our products are fully known by many, we will describe all the attributes that show the strength. Starshot will explain the main features that include added advantages to our customers. The functions and specifications of the product will be made clear to reflect the ultimate purpose of the product. We will capture the interest of users by detailing the basic properties of our products. The idea is to ensure seamless marketing while realizing maximum publicity and awareness.
The marketing department will use the recent tools of marketing to ensure the product is well known. This will create a permanent impact in the mind of current and potential customers, because the idea behind positioning is to ensure the customer is thinking of our products whenever photography comes into their mind. We will however keep our antennae up to ensure we are familiar with the daily occurrence to gap into the activities of competitors who may change the market ideology Starshot has established. We will keep the research department upbeat to know the steps taken by our competitors. 9
Conclusion
For Starshot Company to effectively decide on the product to sell, the above mentioned points must be taken into consideration knowing that the effectiveness of the strategy will depend on the willingness of the company staff to execute the marketing strategies. Market segmentation requires a thorough analysis on the existing market. Where it is possible, during research, questionnaires should be used to determine the best product that suits the market.
The effectiveness of the segmentation will drive the company into a threshold of performance giving it a niche in profit maximization and better returns on investments. The franchisee should be informed and trained on the company‘s agenda especially the new products that are being rolled into the market. The whole process of the supply chain should be harmonized to achieve the expected goals.
The market targeting is an important factor that holds the product line into gear for performance. In this case, as the companies zero in identify the choice product, it is supposed to keep in mind the performance of the other brands. For the services offered, Starshot Company aims at ensuring there is ease in ordering the new products having learnt from the existing product and their performance. Timely delivery and good customer relations are the motto of Starshot.
The company will continue to offer tailor made goods and services that will be unique and special according to the clients it serves. We will offer after sale service and where applicable, provide free gifts and transport. This is an important tool of helping in realizing the vision, mission and objectives as well as satisfying the customers’ needs and expectations. The ultimate goal is to maximize returns most efficiently and increase the company capital base and resources. The market positioning will help Starshot to have a market focused on value with a clear picture of why the market should be able to buy our new product. This will promote the business agenda.
The market is volatile considering the number of freelancers. This may cut on the profit margin expected in the long run. However, stringent measures will be employed to caution the firm from the competition. A congenial working relation is important as it will assist in executing the responsibilities effectively. The management should be ready to take position in rallying the workers towards achieving the dream. The franchisee should embrace the new product and devote time and money for marketing the new brand. It is important to patent the product name to ensure protection of the market and the investment.
Bibliography
Jacobson, M & L, Mazur, Marketing Madness: A survival Guide for a Consumer Society. West view press, Denver, 1995.
Kress, G & J, Snyder, Forecasting and Market Analysis Techniques: A Practical Approach, Quorum books, Westport, 1994.
McDonald, M and I, Dunbar, Market Segmentation: How to do it, how to profit from it, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 2004.
Swenson, C, Selling to a Segmented Market: The Lifestyle Approach, Quorum books, New York, 1990.
Footnotes
- M Jacobson and Mazur, L, Marketing Madness: A survival Guide for a Consumer Society, West view press, Denver, 1995, p 67 – 72.
- M McDonald and Dunbar I, Market Segmentation: How to do it, how to profit from it, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 2004, p 56.
- McDonald and Dunbar, 89.
- Jacobson and Mazur, 104.
- G Kress and Snyder J, Forecasting and Market Analysis Techniques: A Practical Approach, Quorum books, Westport, 1994, p 3.
- Kress and Snyder, 39.
- C Swenson, Selling to a Segmented Market: The Lifestyle Approach, Quorum books, New York, 1990, p153.
- Jacobson and Mazur, 189.
- Kress and Snyder, 87.