The Challenge of a Software-Producing Company - Coursework Example

Marketing Plan 00.   Executive Summary As a software producing company, we always aim at producing products that will help our s, especially those in business, to achieve a good competitive advantage and run their daily operations smoothly and more efficiently. It is for these reasons that our company, through its Research and Development department, has come up with a new product that will serve the mentioned purposes. This business plan outlines the company’s present position and business environment, and its objectives for the product. It also outlines the product’s market segment, distribution and promotion channels, marketing strategy, pricing and its short-term and long-term projections. 2.1   The Challenge The newly developed product being addressed by this marketing plan is software with about 95% accuracy in predicting products that customers are likely to buy in the next 30 days. The software is a tool for obtaining information on buying habits from customers and their unmet needs and therefore, it accurately predicts future purchases. The software will enable businesses to obtain information concerning expected changes in customer taste or general demand trends for the various products they sale. The information collected can be utilized by businesses for timely matching of products supply with customer demand. English (2004) agrees that quality information is required for meeting customer satisfaction. 3.0 Situation Analysis 3.1 Company Analysis The main goal of the company is to develop products that are timely in meeting customer needs and enhance their capacity to achieve their own goals. The company focuses more on software that addresses marketing and production needs and this is well achieved because of the company’s culture. Our culture as a company is to be a mile ahead in developing products for customers before they can request for them. As a result of this, the company dominates about 40% of the software market share due to timely product launching. Despite competition, the company has been able to maintain good profit margins due to its unique and timely products, a good marketing strategies and high level of customer satisfaction. Krell (2005) explains that efforts to achieve customer satisfaction will also enable a business to attain customer loyalty without much effort, fear for competition or customers shifting to substitute products despite changes in prices. Our company holds to a similar point of view and so customer satisfaction is the main value driver for the company. 3.2 Customer Analysis The main target customers for this product are businesses. This customer base is large due to the special role played by businesses in dissemination of various products to the final consumers. The market comprises customers with good purchasing power and who are ready to appreciate new products that promise them improved output. Decision making by these customers is mainly influenced by existing trends in the market which calls for tactics to survive competition in the business world (Jennings and Wattam 1998). Examples include more efficient marketing, operation and customer satisfaction tactics. 3.3 Competitor Analysis The company faces tight global competition from other software companies who occupy 60% of the market share. Considering their numbers, the company cannot be said to have a strong market competitor. The main strengths of the competitors that have enabled them maintain their market share is formation of partnerships and specialisation. This also becomes a weakness to them considering our company’s diverse range of products. 3.4 Collaborators The main collaborators of the company in its business dealings are members if its supply chain for example distributors. The company also has subsidiaries across the globe for production and marketing operations in those regions. This has enabled the company to produce or modify products to fit the multicultural global software market. 3.5 Climate 3.5.1 PEST analysis Rarely has our company’s operations been grossly disadvantaged by political and legal factors in its main and subsidiaries operation points due to the company’s compliance with all legal requirements. The company does not face any significant trade restrictions as well within the country. The existing global economic situation has not affected the company’s profit margins due to the unavoidability of its products for economic stability and competition. The company has managed to cope and satisfy market social factors globally through regional conduction of market and needs analysis. Continuous technological improvement has led to improved production efficiency in the company. 3.5.2 SWOT Analysis The main strengths of the company are high levels of customer needs analysis, timely production of products and launching at the market. The company has not formed partnerships and this clearly marks off its products and sales operations. However, the company does not have such a good supply chain compared to that of partnering software companies. The major opportunity for the company is the increased need in businesses to attain a good competitive position because it will be a good marketing point for the new product. There is also an increase in E-commerce and hence a wider section of the target market will be reached cost-effectively. 4.0 Objectives According to Miles (2003), a marketing plan should have an elaborate objective or set of objectives. The purpose of this objective(s) is to form an assessment point of gauging if the business strategy is successful or not. The main objective of this marketing plan is to come up with good marketing strategy that will ensure that the new product penetrates well into the market segment and make good sales. The company expects 50% market penetration within the first eight months after the product launching. 5.0 Market 5.1 Definition Cohen (2005) defines a market as the people and/or organisations that are interested in the company’s products. Our market is composed of businesses, companies, offices, corporate organisations and individuals. These types of customers are those that need software that will help them manage or adopt new production strategies, manage new marketing or operation modes/management strategies, and attain/maintain a competitive position. 5.2 Market Segmentation The market segment for the new product is businesses. This is specifically those that sell products of a wide range and brands directly to their customers for example large grocers, supermarkets, wholesalers, shopping malls and other businesses. They will use this product to predict products that their customers are more likely to but in the next 30 days including switching between substitute products. Customers in this segment of the market are always aiming at making better sales than their competitors through timely demand-supply matching. The new software will be easily incorporated into their existing business management software at varied prices. The best way to reach the market is through internet advertisement and direct marketing at the lower levels of the supply chain. According to Hellofs and Jacobson (1999), customers are more likely to appreciate the expected benefits of using a product despite its cost. Therefore, the company does not expect to meet a lot of resistance due to price factor when the product will be released to the market. 6.0 Marketing Strategy Since the company is the first to develop the product, market dominance, specifically a leader type of marketing strategy will be appropriate. This also owes to its significant dominance in the software market. The product will be distributed to the customers through its supply chain mainly composed of distributors and retailers who make direct sales to offices, companies, corporate organizations and individuals. Promotions will be made through television channels and through the internet due to increased e-commerce and general internet use. The company expects to conduct promotional programs using sampled businesses globally for a period two months alongside the TV and internet promotions. According to Abell (1980), a good marketing strategy makes competition irrelevant. 7.0 The product and pricing The new product, whose brand name will be “Customer Taste Forerunner”, will be installed by our company staff or the various members of the supply chain. Customers will also be given a warranty of 18 months upon the purchase of the new software. Any necessary adjustments will made by the company’s specialist workforce. The price of installing the software will vary depending on the type and size of the business. Discounts will also be offered for those businesses that will make large purchases for example chain shops, exhibitions or supermarkets. Leasing options are available for small scale businesses at 40% of the price annually. 8.0 Short and Long-Term Projections The company projects that the selected marketing strategy will enable the product achieve its targeted 50% penetration within the first eight months. According to Boyden (1984), going ahead of the rest allows a business to capture a bigger market share and gives it time to make necessary upgrading/refinement of its product. Therefore the company expects to capture a larger market share before other software companies can introduce similar products. This will also ensure that the product achieves the projected long term market dominance. According to France Telecom (2010), it is important that companies have a process of monitoring the progress of their product in the market and levels of customer satisfaction. The company has therefore come up with standards and targets that will ensure that the product records more sales and achieves customer satisfaction. Tapping et al (2002) explains that this mainly involves regular monitoring of its functioning and efficiency. The company expects to do this within the first six months using willing customers. 9.0 Conclusion The company is pleased to announce expected development of this unique product that will stun businesses. The company is optimistic that the product will become the darling software of focused businesses as they will be able to successfully match their products with customer demand all year round. References Abell Derek (1980). Defining the Business: The starting point of strategic planning. New Jersey. Prentice-hall. Boyden Lamb (1984). Competitive strategic management. Prentice-Hall. New Jersey. Cohen Wiliam (2005). The Marketing Plan. John Wiley and Sons. New York. English Larry (2004). “Information Quality: Meeting customer needs”. INFORMATION IMPACT newsletter. (1) pp 16. France Telecom (2010). After the commercial launch: analysing use to understand the customer. Online:http://www.francetelecom.com/sirius/rd/en/ddm/en/technologies/ddm200411/techfiche3.php. Viewed on 11th April, 2011. Hellofs Linda and Jacobson Robert. (1999). “Market share and customers’ perceptions of quality: When can firms grow their way to higher versus lower quality?” Journal of Marketing. (1) pp 16. Jennings David and Wattam Stuart (1998) “Decision Making: An Integrated Approach”, Pitman Publications. London . Krell Eric (2005). Differentiate a satisfied customer from a loyal one. Online: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid11_gci1093440,00.html. Viewed on 11th April, 2011. Miles Raymond (2003). Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process. Stanford University Press. Stanford. Tapping Don, Luyster Tom, Shuker Tom (2002) “Value Stream Management” Online. http://www.marifuture.org/Publications/Papers/developing_competitive_advantage_through_cooperative_decision_making.pdf. Viewed on 11th April, 2011. Read More