Introduction
Marketing is an essential tool in increasing the revenue of any business enterprise. It is also necessary for a product to compete in the market. Business Managements work out different strategies that help position their products in the market. Perceptual maps are fundamental in establishing positioning or repositioning strategies. Certain parameters are necessary to set up perceptual maps of products: lifestyle image, price, services, target population, environmental impact of the product, safety, and the quality of the product. To ensure that sales revenue of products is increased, it is necessary to consider the product situation and include the necessary parameters to be used in the marketing strategy.
Product Situation
Rover Motorcycle Company has produced Rolleston motorcycle brand for more than 30 years. Most of its past market has been presented by consumers aged between 30 to 50 years. The company has noted a decline in total revenue for the last five years. This has forced the management to strategize on repositioning the brand to stop the decline. In order to make the right choice, the management has improved several initiatives to increase sales. Rolleston brand had several defects as compared to similar brands from immediate competitors. It was also noted that consumers’ tastes and preferences were changing.
The first challenge in repositioning the product was the price. The price was slightly lower than that of close competitors. The design of Rolleston motorcycles was outdated as it dated back to 1990s model. Service offered were not inclusive enough to increase the awareness about the product, since current means of advertising have not been fully established to capture audience’s attention, especially the youth. Quality of Rolleston engineering and its safety measures have also been a contributing factor to the declining sales of the brand.
Recommended Solutions
Rovers Motorcycles Company management has decided to engage in repositioning Rolleston brand to increase sales volume of the company. It aims at repositioning parameters and establishes the best perceptual map that can ensure sustainable profits. Quality of engineering will significantly enhance and improve the bike’s fuel consumption. The brand has to be redesigned to meet the current consumer tastes and preferences. Other improvement that should be made in relation to services is creation of a communication link between consumers and management. This will ensure that consumers are able to provide first hand information about their expectations of the brand. The price of the Rolleston new brand was raised to cater for all improvements and vigorous promotional campaigns through the media (Myers, 1996). The management of Rovers Company decided that change of the target market to 20-35 year was necessary. All improvements efforts were aimed at raising consumer appeal and having an edge over competitors’ brands and ultimately raising revenue.
Results
After the company adopted new positioning strategies, it has recorded an increase in sales revenue by 13% of the annual total earning. The image of Rolleston motorcycle has been enhanced significantly through improvement in the design and internal functioning of the bike. Rolleston new model is more powerful than its previous version. This has resulted in increased awareness of consumers and increased levels of satisfaction and ability of the brand to sustain competition. Despite the increase in price of the Rolleston brand, revenues have increased, because of improved market. Change in the target group resulted in a wide coverage of the consumer population.
The Relationship between Differentiation and Positioning of the Product
Differentiation and repositioning of the product is vital for improvement of the image and expansion of the market of Rolleston. The management team of the company applied various differentiation strategies to capture the target market and raise the revenue. It increased the price of the brand from $ 25 to $ 30. This move was aimed at raising enough capital to refurbish the brand and enhance advertising. A special launch of the product was organized, where the company invited top media to air the proceedings. Public exhibition in various locations and discounts to 500 hundred first buyers were initiated to promote the brand (Myers, 1996). Improved customer service was implemented through training company sales personnel to use the latest sales strategies in the market. Positioning of the product dealt with engaging lifestyle image, quality engineering and price parameters to come up with the best perceptual maps that could help improve the performance and the market scenario of the brand.
After repositioning of the product, Rovers Company recorded a significant rise in the total revenue. Nevertheless, the rise was not concurrent with the targeted market range, and thus the mangers considered adjusting some of the positions taken, such as reducing the price of the bike (Myers, 1996). Other companies stepped in production of similar bikes. Competition has become stiffer, and consequently has necessitated reducing the price of the Rolleston new brand. Because of the previous brand image, customers were slow to adjust to the new product and thus lowered expected return. Most young people age 20 to 35 years found the brand attractive but lacked sufficient means to purchase the product.
Effect of Product Life Cycle in Marketing
Product life cycle has a number of effects in marketing. A product passes through various stages from the production phase to the final consumption. The transition is made possible by various strategies applied by the business management. Some of the most prevalent effects of product life cycle is based on product quality, cost, sales revenue, environmental impacts. Business management must take into consideration all factors before releasing a new product in the market since it might produce either positive or negative effect.
Product life cycle of Rolleston had various effects on the producers, consumers and environment. To producers, sales revenue was increased after differentiation strategies that led to repositioning of the product. Cost of the product also went up after improving brand and image through a series of promotions and advertising strategies (Myers, 1996). The quality of Rolleston bike was significantly improved. It has added features that made it perform better than the previous product. However, the product had negative effect to the environment since the increased sale of the product resulted in a high consumption of petrol than before. In the future, the company is planning to produce brands that are more environmentally friendly to reduce the contamination of the air though emissions.
References
Myers, J. H. (1996). Segmentation and positioning for strategic marketing decisions. Chicago: American Marketing Association.