TrackIt First Band by Fitness First - Case Study Example

Table of Contents

1.1. Project Overview and Description of Product

1.2. Rationale and Need for the Plan

1.3. Identification of Target Market

1.4. Opportunities and challenges addressed by the product

1.5. Rationale for developing the marketing plan

2.1. SWOT Analysis

2.2. Marketing plan, structure and timeline

2.3. Behaviour of potential customer

2.4. Customer behaviour and buying patterns

3.1. 5 reasons to support the use of electronic media

3.2. Market sub groups

3.3. Mass marketing and differentiated marketing

3.4. Criteria to create product image

4.1. Product

4.2. Price

4.3. Promotion

4.4. Online Marketing

4.5. Place

4.6. Approach to manage customer relations

5.1. Create Technology based tool

Marketing Plan for ‘TrackIt First’

1.1. Project Overview and Description of Product

The essay aims to propose a marketing plan for an innovative product ‘‘TrackIt First’’ by ‘Fitness First’. The innovative product ‘TrackIt First’ is a unique product to match the fitness requirements of the contemporary world. The product has been launched by Fitness First that is the largest worldwide operating health group that has established chain of over 370 clubs in 16 countries. There are almost 28 fitness first clubs in UK and it has widely been established itself as the most prominent and reputable name of the physical fitness world. The plan proposes that since the company has already become a renowned name in the fitness world, the fitness tracking device from Fitness First could soon become a preferable choice of the people due to the company name and experience.

The proposed product ‘TrackIt First’ is basically a fitness tracking brand that has been features with unique, styles and attractive attributes that is being positions as a product that people can wear anywhere at any time. There are various important features in the product that can keep the customers and users engaged with it like sleep trackers, movement reminders, monitoring steps of all movements and workout etc. The marketing plan describes the target audiences, SWOT analysis of the product and the marketing mix for Fitness First product and proposed the use of electronic means of marketing for the promotion of this unique and innovative product.

1.2. Rationale and Need for the Plan

The marketing plan is the most important requirement for the company and the product at the moment. The product is trendy and has great marketing opportunities to explore in the fitness conscious society of the present day world. With the help of an effective marketing plan, the company could become able to position its product as a fitness assistance that keeps the individuals engaged and motivated towards the fitness related activities.

Fitness First clubs have marked their presence in 16 countries of the world and it would be easy for the company to promote the product at these locations. In addition, it is also proposed that the company should also offer the product worldwide and even in those countries where the clubs are not present; the ‘TrackIt First’ could be made available through online order and worldwide shipping system. For this, it is important to run an effective marketing campaign that can help it in maintaining global brand identity in field of fitness tracking products. In addition, the marketing plan is needed to position the new product as a combination of fashion and fitness supporting product rather simply a fitness tracker because through its design and sleek style it tends to attract customers with the fashion appeal as well. Fitness first don’t want to limit the product as simply a tracking tool but it want the customers to see the product as companion of their daily lives that can help them in maintaining fitness while looking trendy and fashionable.

Evidence:

The peer reviewed data regarding the consumer demand or effectiveness of the tracking products in limited and there are no scientific research studies conducted to quantify the consumer behavior of fitness tracking bands however, there was a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin where 51 overweight people were monitored. It was going that the people wearing the bands become more connected with the fitness websites and fitness topics and within a month they show increase in the time that they spent on the fitness related activities (Fleming, 2015). It shows that there are high level of motivation attached with the use of this band and based on this small scale research it could be said that there are positive signs about the significance of this product. Moreover the sale of twenty five fitness tracker worldwide during 2015 (Fleming, 2015) also affirm that there is great demand for this product in the market and people are looking towards this tracking product to get motivation in their workouts.

1.3. Identification of Target Market

The main target market for this product are the man and women belonging to young g to middle age group means from 25 to 45 years because this is the age group that is found to be highly conscious about the health and fitness issue and have shown their motivation towards living healthy lifestyle (Civic Science, 2015). The people regularly involved in the gym and athletic activities are also the main target of this product. Based on the price, the product will target the customers that will have modest salary and have awareness regarding health and fitness issues. Since, the companyis present in 16 countries of the world, the marketing plan will strive to attract customers from all countries and communities by giving them appeal of fitness and health while taking the advantage of worldwide recognition of the brand image of the company.

1.4. Opportunities and challenges addressed by the product

The product will provide vast opportunities to match with the life style of the current generation. It will not have a complicated system neither it will occupy much space but it would be a light weight simple band easy to carry and operate. The product will provide the opportunity of maintaining the fitness workout progress carried out by the individuals with the help of utilizing the sensor technology that keeps keen eye upon each and every movement of the users and calculated the data to show how much the user has walk, slept and workout. It will also show the calculation of the calories burnt by the user on daily basis and will help them in managing their activities to reach their target calories loss. Since the product would be wireless it will offer great ease of use.

The changing lifestyles of people of the current age are getting complicated due to various issues like environmental damage, increase in use of processed food, irregular eating habits and negligence towards physical and outdoor activities. In this context it has become a great challenge for the people to start and maintain their workout efforts while keeping them up to a reasonable and required limit. This product helps people in meeting this challenge as it provides the users with data and also supports them in accessing their progress in numbers and units easily.

1.5. Rationale for developing the marketing plan

The main rationale of the marketing plan is to introduce the product in the global market place in first place and then to face high level of market competition. Keeping in view the ongoing trend of fitness spread across the society, there have been some companies launching such products to cater the fitness conscious target market. Along with some new names, the established market brands like Nike and Apple have also introduced the similar type of product including iWatch and Fuelband etc. The presence of these technology giant and market leaders in this field shows that the product launched by Fitness First will need effective marketing planning to compete with these high level brands.

2.1. SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis results in the identification of the strength weaknesses opportunities and threats that have been faced by the product in the market place.

Strength:

The unique and innovative design of the product would be its main strength. The experience of the company in operating within this field for fitness worldwide for many years also adds to the strength of the product. Since people at large are already aware of the name of the company it would be easy for the product to make place in the market and in the minds of the people easily since they will associated it with the company and will recognize it soon as ‘fitness first’s tracking band’.

Weakness:

The weakness of the product could be seen in the questionable accuracy of the workout stats that could be provided by the product. It could be questioned that the product would mainly rely on the pulse monitoring using a sensor to calculate the calories loss and workout output however, the intake of the person might cover the calories loss up to greater level and at the end of the day the user may have unrealistic stats about their fitness workout because the monitoring is limited in nature.

Opportunities:

The opportunity that the product could explore is the growing trend of the fitness activities. The people are getting more and more concerns about their physical wellbeing and fitness and the product could explore this opportunity by offering them a convenient way of tracking their process. The product can explore this market opportunity by offering them a tracking product that comes from a renowned name of the fitness world.

Threat:

The threat faced by the company is the presence of high level and well established brands in the market. Apple and Nike have been providing similar type of products in the market and this high level competition acts as the major threat to Fitbit product. There are several other companies like LG, Sony and Samsung who have introduced this type of brand so Fitness First have to face the threat of intense competition with the help of effective marketing strategy.

External and Internal Factors

The SWOT analysis shows that the most important external factor affecting the product is intense market competition whereas the most influential internal factor is the worldwide presence of the company that will provide effective support to the product.

2.2. Marketing plan, structure and timeline

There are certain important elements that are going to play vital role in defining the dimension of the marketing plan of ‘TrackIt First’ band. The plan includes the use of digital marketing techniques, innovative management program and development of a system to promote the product at local and international level. The core elements of the marketing plan of ‘TrackIt First’ are as follow:

Plan Objectives:

The marketing plan has the objective of introducing the product worldwide. In the first phase it will be introduced at online stores and fitness clubs across UK. After a month of initial launch, it is being provided across the globe with the help of online ordering and delivery system and the established chain of Fitness First Clubs. Online retailers would also be contracted to offer the product online to the customers.

Marketing Mix:

The marketing plan highlights the strategies that the company is going to adopt related with the price, promotion, product and place. These elements are discussed in detailed in the later sections.

Timeline for the Marketing Plan

The marketing plan proposes that the product would be launched in UK at first. The fitness clubs would be provided with the ‘‘TrackIt First’’ band and initially it would be offered exclusively to the members of the Fitness First club at discounted price. In a month, it would be made available worldwide online and at the Fitness First club network across the 16 countries of the world. The promotional strategies would be launched right from the initial launch of the product in UK and by the time it will be provided and offered worldwide, the promotional activities would already have worked for making product identical. Launching the product in two phases will stimulate the excitement among the customers to get the product form Fitness First at soonest.

2.3. Behaviour of potential customer

The potential customers of the product look towards the innovative products to add ease and attractiveness in their lives. They want to adopt the trendy products that can help them in following the society trends like physical fitness while adding interest and attractiveness to their personalities. The potential customers look for the innovative products that they come with customization and personalization options and also want the product to be easy to use and easy to carry. These behaviours are usually found in the young generation on 20-24 years that’s why this group has been focused as the main sub market for the product.

2.4. Customer behaviour and buying patterns

The product is not a daily consumption product so the normal buying or consumer good buying behaviour could not be applied for this product. ‘TrackIt First’ is a product that would be usually bought by the customers at once and kept with them to monitor their fitness efforts for long period of time and until and unless there comes the advanced version offering more features with high quality and reasonable price then it is possible that the customers will replace the product but the price range of the product in general do not encourage substitution at short intervals.

3.1. 5 reasons to support the use of electronic media

• The biggest advantage of using electronic media for advertising purpose is that it allows the companies to get connected with the potential and existing customers in less time and with great impact. If '‘TrackIt First’' will use electronic channel to reach its potential customers, it would become able to demonstrate the features of the product in very less time with greater reach possible due to the popularity of certain electronic marketing channels including digital marketing options
• The electronic marketing is fast and reaches the homes and lives of people in a matter of second (Swing, Gentile & Anderson, 2010). The use of electronic media for '‘TrackIt First’' marketing will allow the company to reach its target customers quickly as well as effectively without seeking any particular arrangement or setting because electronic media has already become part of lives of the people at large.
• The users usually have easy access to the electronic sources of advertising like program breaks etc. so it is easy for the companies to cater their particular customer group through their electronic advertisements (Johnson et al, 2007). Since the main target market of the product including people from 25 to 45 years various sports and entertainment programs could be used to market the product in between whereas the social media websites could also be used to reach this particular group of people (Nielson Company, 2009).
• The electronic advertising including web and mobile based marketing allows the companies to reach the customers very closely and frequently because these channels are not become integral part of the daily lives of the people across the globe (Singhal et al, 2004).
• Keeping in view the impact of the electronic media and its reach to the people, it proves to be a relatively less expensive medium of marketing because with a single ad the companies become able to reach limitless number of customers. The company has make use of these channels specially the digital marketing means to have greater impact in relatively lesser cost as compared with the traditional marketing channels.

3.2. Market sub groups

As discussed above, the main target market of the product in 25-45 however when the market is divided into the subgroups based on demographics, psychographics and behavior, the major secondary target audience would be the men and women belonging to the age group of 20 to 24 years of age. The college and university students would be the main target area of the products because this group is found even more conscious towards these issues due to peer pressure and their urge to remain update with the trends ongoing in the surrounding (Civic Science, 2015). Their motivation level is usually high that could be maintained through offering this tracking product. According to income group, the medium to high level income people would be the target market for the product. Keeping in view the psychographic issue, it is revealed that the people having intentions and consciousness towards fitness with high level of concern are the target group of the product because these people not only get involve in the physical fitness activities but also look for the ways through which they can track their progress and could be assured that they have been putting enough efforts for fitness. From behavioral aspect, the product '‘TrackIt First’' will target the customer group that look for innovative yet easy to use product and look for flexibility and customization options in the products. In this way, the product will target the sub market consisting of people of 20-24 years of age, having concern for the tracking of their fitness efforts and having the behavior of buying customized, unique and convenient products.

3.3. Mass marketing and differentiated marketing

There are two basic types of marketing strategies that the company might adopt for determining the features of its marketing plan; these include mass marketing and differentiated marketing. The mass marketing is the strategy in which the companies market the same products to maximum number of people without focusing upon the needs of any single group of customers (Langlais, 2012). It is intended to create the demand for the product in the market without differentiating the customers. On the other hand, the differentiating marketing strategy is the one, in which the company targets specific group of people by offering them the product that meet their unique demand rather marketing the product to the overall consumer market. The differentiating marketing strategy helps in focusing in the specific group of customers (Lynne, Daniel & Norman, 2005). In the case of '‘TrackIt First’', it has been found that it target a group of customers that has some specific features in terms of demographics, psychographics and behaviour so the differentiating strategy could best serve the marketing plan objectives of Fitbit to reach its target group by focusing upon their unique needs. The product is not a mass consumption product in nature so it would not be a suitable strategy to market it to reach maximum number of people without differentiating them.

3.4. Criteria to create product image

The tagline of the product would be ‘‘TrackIt First’ to Get it First’ and it will clearly identify that despite the slim and sleek fashionable design the main image of the image as intended by the company is the fitness companion and fitness tracking assistance rather a fashion assessor. Hence, while creating the product image, the first criteria is that that the image must clearly demonstrate that the product is a fitness motivator and assistant. In addition, the product must be positioned as the high level and top quality product that comes from an experienced and competent name of the fitness world that could be trusted for the provision of such products due to their market image and experience in same field. The marketing plan aims to position the product on the basis of product differentiation and not as a low price leader so that it can stand in front of the international technology brands and position the product competitive with their products.

4.1. Product

The product '‘TrackIt First’' offered by the Fitness First is very unique and innovative. It is very attractive due to its slim and sleek design and easy to use due to the wristband style. The customization and personalization options are also provided with the product to keep it according to the required fit for all the users. In marketing plan, these features would be highlighted and along with this, the marketing plan will focus on the easy associated with the product use that it makes the work out tracking easy and effortless. Moreover, its design combines the fashion and style with high functionality using a very fine design coupled with high quality material. The marketing will present it as a fitness workout companion that will keep the users motivated to continue their workout, see their progress and stay active with the help of the progress track that they will get from this product. Since, the company will design and produce all of its products at its own facility without getting the supply from any other manufacturer, it is very important that the market must be studied carefully to assure that there is excess or shortage of the products in the market.

4.2. Price

The price of the '‘TrackIt First’' has been kept according to the market trend. Since there are Apple and Nike products of same type available. The high level brand offer these products at high price and Fitness First has also decided to keep its products at the same level and decided not to be a low-price market leader. Rather it will offer the product at competitive price while focusing on the product differentiation strategy. The quality and attributes of the products would be highlight in the marketing plan to attract customers towards the products that is available to them at the competitive price. The low price strategy could not only damage the brand image and position but can also affect the credibility and quality perception about the product.

4.3. Promotion

The company will make use of electronic media specifically the social media for the promotion of the product. The social media sites like Facebook and Twitter etc. would be used to inform people about the launch of 'TrackIt First' from the house of Fitness First. Moreover, some interactive consumer engaging campaigns would also be run by Fitness First to keep the potential customers engaged with the product and company. These campaigns would be run through the website and social media sites. In addition, the fitness clubs across the globe would be used as the site for point of the sale promotion. Various banners and advertising material would be provided at these clubs to make the members aware of the product and it will be made available to them at special price that is set for members only.

4.4. Online Marketing

Online marketing has become the integral part of the present day world and Fitbit will also make use of online marketing as its major marketing channel because the target age group of the product is found heavily engaged in the online activities especially their engagement with the social media is higher than all other age groups (Civic Science, 2015). As discussed above, social media and website of the company would be the major tools for online marketing of the product.

4.5. Place

Fitness first is the company that has the advantage of being a prominent name of the fitness world however, when it comes to fitness tracking bands, there is increase in the competition and there are various similar products available in market like Misfit, Underarmor, Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Moovnow (Stern, 2016). Fitness First will arrange for the sale of its product 'TrackIt First' from BestBuy, eBay, Amazon, AT&T, Walmart, Target and various online and retail stores located worldwide. The fitness first clubs would also act as the retail point of 'TrackIt First’. The online purchase option has added to the widespread availability of the product. The marketing plan suggests that along with assuring the availability of the product at the above mentioned existing places, the company will contract with some more online retailers to assure that the product could be made available worldwide.

4.6. Approach to manage customer relations

The customer service plays important role in the marketing plan of 'TrackIt First' because it is a technology based product and the customers must be properly demonstrated about its features and usability before and after the purchase. For this purpose, the 'TrackIt First' helpline would be created right along with the launch of the product in UK. Moreover, the market plan proposes that the company will offer warranty of three months to make people comfortable and confident while buying the product. A short time money back guarantee would also be provided to the customers with some terms and conditions to maintain good and trustworthy relations with the customers. The employees at the Fitness First stores as well as the online customer service team would be provided with adequate training so that they can deal with the customers more competently and can satisfy them with full information about the product.

5.1. Create Technology based tool

As soon as the product would be launch, some blogs featuring 'TrackIt First' could be published at popular blogging sites. The first blog that will appear online is as under:

'TrackIt First' and Get it First – A call for motivation from Fitness First

People are getting crazy about being fit and now they are becoming even crazier to track their fitness because they want to know what actual outcome of their activities is. The fitness tracking bands being offered by various manufacturers have already got place in the customers’ wrists at large. In this fitness conscious world, the news about the launch of fitness tracking band from the house of Fitness First is interesting and catchy news. The clubs of Fitness First are providing fitness to the people across the globe and coming out the fitness tracker from the same brand is a positive thing that is likely to get positive response from the customers. This is expected because people will see that the tracker are coming from the people who are already helping them out in maintaining fitness so they tend to trust more on the Fitness First for getting the tracking band as compared with the other brands that are not leaders of the fitness world. Just few days left for its launch in UK and there is excitement among customers about it. Let’s see how the product will enter and perform in the market place. All the best to the 'TrackIt First' and also the customers who can 'TrackIt First' to get it first.