MARKETING PLANAALIA AMEEN

MKTG630-1204A-03 : APPLIED MANAGERIAL MARKETING

DR PERRY HAANOCTOBER 8, 2012

Global Growth Industries (GGI)

Profiling:

GGI is going to target the generation Y segment of the market

The VALS (Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles) categorization can be used to profile this segment.

Based on psychological attributes and resources, the VALS system identifies eight different consumer groups:

Actualizers

Fulfilleds

Believers

Achievers

Strivers

Experinecers

Makers

Strivers

Profiling:

To identify the target segment’s psychological attributes and resources for use in profiling, GGI will conduct marketing research through focus groups.

The following five questions will be asked:

What are the values of the target audience? Do they value self-image and expression or functional and durable products? Are they status oriented or action oriented?

What is their level of education?

What are their income levels?

How old are the members of the target segment?

Where do they buy from?

Packaging:

GGI will adopt a differentiation strategy, where the product will be marketed on the basis of high quality, exceptional service and unique styling.

Branding will aim to reinforce this image and will be achieved in part through packaging.

For that reason, the brown plain wrappers will be replaced by eco-friendly, highly functional and eye-catching packages.

Packaging:

Advantages of the new packaging strategy:

It will enhance product visibility and attract new customers It will help demonstrate GGI’s commitment to social responsibility It will help to reinforce the brand value

Disadvantages of the new packaging strategy:

It will result into extra costs It’s design and implementation will consume a lot of time and lead to

lost productivity No demonstrated return to costs or impact on ROI

Pricing:

Four pricing strategies can be adopted by GGI: premium, economy, penetration, or skimming pricing strategies.

GGI should adopt a premium pricing strategy because:

It is the pricing strategy that best complements the firm’s differentiation, branding and packaging strategy

Given GGI’s modest financial resources, it cannot sustain price wars that are likely to ensue from following an economy pricing strategy

The strategy gives GGI the opportunity to get higher margins and profits

Placement:

GGI will follow a selective distribution strategy

GGI will use the traditional distribution models (discount stores, specialty stores and home centers / hardware stores) since most of the houseware industry sales are made through these outlets

The southern and western states of Texas and California, and cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco are some potential strategic locations for the outlets.

Partnership:

Cooperative marketing will be used since GGI does not have an adequate budget to self-finance its marketing plan.

Part of this will involve cooperative advertising, where the firm will tap into funds set aside by the manufacturer for marketing purposes

GGI can also make use of joint purchases and logistics with other firms in the industry as a way of cutting costs.

Promotion:

GGI will make use of a pull rather than push strategy.

The main elements of the promotional mix that will be used will include advertising, sales promotion and public relations.

Some common advertising channels that will be made use of are the internet, television, and newspapers.

Promotion:

These tie in with the attributes of generation Y who show a high affinity for technology (internet advertising), are educated, and seek for independent sources of information.

The firm will also tie its public relations campaigns to issues that members of the generation Y identify with such as environmental conscious activities and healthy lifestyles.

References:

Boone, L.E., and Kurtz, D.L. 1992. Contemporary Marketing. Dryden Press, 1992. ISBN: 0030540186, 9780030540189.

Business Wire. 2005, May 16. Generation Y Drives Home Improvement Marketplace with Focus on Technology, Functionality, Style; Future Homeowners with Massive Purchasing Power Present Huge Opportunity. Retrieved on 9 Oct 2008 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_n13718856.

Doyle, M. 1996. Packaging Strategy: Winning the Consumer. CRC Press. ISBN: 1566762987, 9781566762984.

Hillstrom, K and Collier, H.L. 2002. "Cooperative Advertising." Encyclopedia of Small Business. Eds.  Vol. 1, 2 pp. 2 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Apollo Library. 31 Oct. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.Gale Document Number : CX3404300136

Marketing Teacher. 2000. Pricing Strategies. Retrieved on 29 Oct 2008 from http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_pricing.htm

Morton, L.P. 1999. “Segmenting Publics by Lifestyle.” Public Relations Quarterly. Retrieved on Nov 3 2008 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5515/is_199910/ai_n21446065?tag=untagged

Nickels, W.G., McHugh, J.M., and McHugh, S.M. 2002. Understanding Business. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0072320540, 9780072320541

Spingola, L., Trade Resources, Jiambalvo, J., and Kairos Business Partners. 2007. Business Guide to the United States’ Home & Housewares Market. Retrieved on Oct 22 2008 from http://www.housewares.org/pdf/usbizguide.pdf

US Census Bureau. 2000. Women in the United States: March 2000 (PPL-121).Retrieved on 16 Oct 2008 from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/ppl-121.html.

West, T. 2008. Cooperative Marketing: What does it take? Is It for You? Retrieved on 30th Oct 2008 from http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/pdf/Cooperative_marketing.pdf.