Question

Having been stuck at home for the last few months, your friend Ben is excited by a new business idea. He asks for your feedback on the sales section of his new business plan. Ben’s Bears will create custom teddy-bears, that will include a small chip holding a selection of recorded voices. When grandparents or other loved ones order the bear, they can upload some short recordings of their voices which the children will hear when they press a button on the bear. Whist some other companies offer custom clothing and lettering on bears, no others allow custom voices to be included. Each bear will sell for $250. The bears will be sold via amazon.com.au This is a trusted website and will therefore allow customers to buy the bears with confidence. Over time, positive reviews will mean that more and more people purchase a custom bear. Required: Question 1: Explain the most important features of a sales plan, with reference to the ‘Four Ps’. . Question 2: Provide four (4) comments as to the strengths and weaknesses of the above sales plan. Your comments should include at least one strength and one weakness. . Question 3: Provide two (2) recommendations for improving the plan AND one low-cost way that the business idea could be tested before launching. .

Answer 1

The marketing mix is a tool used to help brands understand what elements must be combined in order to meet their marketing goals and objectives. Ultimately, this includes the 4 Ps of marketing: product, price, place and promotion.

Product

A product refers to any item that intends to satisfy the needs and wants of a target customer. It can be a tangible good.Marketers must always have a clear concept of what their products stand for, and what differentiates them from the competition, before they can be marketed successfully.

Price

Pricing strategy is an art and a science, in that it involves both market data and careful calculations, as well as skillfully balancing between pricing that is too high or too low, and understanding how skewing either way might damage the brand.

Price not only refers to the monetary value of a product, but also the time or effort the customer is willing to expend to acquire it. Determining this will be a critical factor in revenue for the brand as it will impact profit, supply, demand, and how much marketers should spend on a promotion or marketing strategy. This, in and of itself, is why this ‘P’ is one of the most important. If a product is priced too high or too low, the product – and brand – could fail.

Place

The internet age has introduced new challenges when it comes to reaching your customers. Place refers to providing customers access to the product, and it also calls into play convenience for the customer. Marketing, through digital means or otherwise, is about putting the right product, in the right place, at the right price, at the right time, in front of the customer.

Some key questions that marketers need to answer include:

Where are target customers shopping?

Are they using desktops or mobile devices?

Are they shopping for similar products online, or in brick-and-mortar stores?

Where are they engaging on social media?

Promotion

Now, how to make an audience aware of the product? Within the framework of the four Ps, promotion refers primarily to marketing communications.

These communications use channels such as public relations, advertising, direct marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, or sales promotions; think of it as any way marketers disseminate relevant product information to their target customers.

Promotion is the area that has arguably seen the greatest growth and change as a result of the digital age. With the exceptional access offered by B2C marketing solutions, marketers can now promote products easier, more effectively, and with more personalization than ever before, thus leading to greater outcomes and ever-increasing expectations.

2. 4 Comments

I)Strength - The product being sold is a unique product which is not being sold by anyone in the market. Which attracts the customers.

Weakness - However until you gain market share, you might need to spend more on marketing.

II)Strength - As it follows differentiation strategy the company is allowed to charge price higher than others.

Weakness - You might need to sell your product at break-even or at a loss for a short time to introduce yourself to customers.

III)Strength - Your strengths might include your price, perceived value, customer service, unique features, online or retail store availability or a warranty.

Weakness - Your competitor has an advantage to overcome.

IV) Strength - As the sales are made throught the trusted website, it gains customer loyalty and confidence. Try to study the reviews constantly

Weakness - In case of genuine error in product, company has to be ready to exchange the product.

3. Recommendations and Low cost

Define Your Target Audience

Understand your target audience. This is critical because the language, channels and information you use to communicate with and appeal to one demographic may not be as effective with another. Clearly defining your target audience gives you direction in your marketing, facilitates more consistency in your messaging and allows you to authentically connect with your customers.

Secure Your Online Identity

In today's world, we have seen numerous cybersquatters try to take advantage of clients who did not secure their domain name, trademark, social media accounts, etc. It is critical to secure all these before launching anywhere. Oftentimes your domain name and other critical marketing vehicles can be held for a very expensive price – and having to get attorneys involved is never cheap!

Price Skimming is more suggestable in case of new products.

Low cost - It can invest more in research and development, allowing it to improve the performance of its product.