Question

The Clay Corporation manufactures a line of duck hunting decoys that are placed on ponds and lakes. Wally Clay, the head of marketing, has decided the firm should market decoys for deer hunting since several of his competitors are also selling these. If Clay decides to come out with this new product Clay’s strategy can best be described as introducing.

Answer 1

STRATEGY FOR PRODUCT LAUNCHING

Ø  Conducting research to find out the needs and wants of the customers.

Ø  Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning.

Ø  Developing the marketing mix program that consists of taking decision on product, price, place (distribution), and promotion.

Ø  Implementation of the marketing plan and program.

Ø  Control and evaluation of the marketing program.

Definition of Product

Product is one of the four elements of the marketing mix; the other three being price, place and promotion, which are all geared towards serving and satisfying the target market.

We Should describe our clay toys features as whether they are tangible or not, their intrinsic features, extrinsic characteristics, and its intangibles associations.

So, to a consumer, the product is anything, which satisfies his needs and wants while to a marketer, the product is a bundle of attributes that can bring returns through satisfaction of customers. It is also pertinent to note that in marketing, the concept of a product covers goods, services, ideas, people, places, and organizations except otherwise specified.

Product features

To understand the concept of a product well, it is pertinent to consider the issue of product features. These features help to give a vivid description of a product and what a buyer is really buying in a given product. The important features of product are:

Tangible features

A tangible product has some physical features that can be seen and handled, such as shape, size, color, weight, etc. It can be touched and its physical presence can be felt. It is made up of materials like plastic, metals, iron, or wood. We should define the features as the clay decoy for deer hunting.

Intangible attributes

The core aspect of the product such as its performance, quality, dependability, and reliability are often built in the product or service and therefore intangible. These key attributes cannot be seen, but rather can be felt and experienced after using the product or patronizing the service.

New product development process

New product development (NPD) is a complete process of creating and bringing a new product to market. New product development is the process of exploiting market opportunity by turning it into a product or service available for sale. A good understanding of customer needs and wants, the competitive environment and continuous practices, and strategies to better satisfy the customer requirements and increase their market share regulate development of new products. We should lure the customers to buy our product by showcasing its features and attributes.

There are eight steps involved in new product development namely:

Ø  Idea generation

Ø  Idea screening

Ø  Concept development and testing

Ø  Business analysis

Ø  Marketing strategy development

Ø  Product development

Ø  Test marketing

Ø  Commercialization

Introduction Stage: Once a product is launched in the market, it enters into the introduction stage. This is the first stage in an ideal product life cycle. It is characterized by high promotion and intensive distribution especially for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

the main challenge in this stage is that when a new product is launched, there is typically small market which translates into low sales. There is high cost associated with research and development, marketing, and promotion. These costs notwithstanding, most companies will see negative profits in this stage with limited competition especially if the product is entirely new in the market.

A company can adopt any of the four product introduction strategies; rapid skimming strategy using high promotion with higher initial price, rapid penetration strategy (involving high promotion with low price), slow penetration strategy (using low promotion with associated lower price), and slow skimming strategy (involving low promotion with higher initial price). Each of these strategies is built upon the objectives of the company of either market penetration or market skimming, i.e., higher profit. This, in turn, depends on how price sensitive the market is. In any case, it is always better to adopt penetration strategy in order to encourage more product adoption which produces higher sales volume.

We should plan and finalise the launching of our new clay decoy by satisfying the customer and making a good place in the market.