Words: 1998
Marketing Plan Outline The product that most deserves to be introduced into the market is the self charging battery. There have been several variations or attempts on producing such a device, but none have quite made the jump into common everyday purchases made by consumers. The setbacks have been price, desire and practicality. Many people will not pay $20. 00 for a battery to stick into a five dollar product. Rechargeable batteries have had a little more success, although those too get lost, cost more and cost money to recharge.
Manufacturers do not want to go out of business so development of this type of product has not found adequate funding. Many too are not practical. Like the solar powered self charging battery being used in some cell phones. Nice idea, but impractical as one may be in a call and lose their charge for their phone. Now instead of putting in another battery or plugging into the nearest wall socket (which either may not be available), you simply need to take it out and let it charge under the sun…for 30 minutes to make your next call.
There are several features that this outline will demonstrate the superior performance, durability and quality of these batteries in a very competitive market. The self charging battery we will offer requires no electrical outlet for recharging, it sounds an alarm when low to start the recharging cycle and it is designed to replace all standard battery types at an economical cost. I. Market analysis A. The consumer spending on batteries (the battery market) is about $50 billion in the U. S. alone, of which roughly $5. 5 billion is allocated to rechargeable (secondary) batteries.
The growth is estimated at 6% annually. (Bozzo, 2008) 1. Alkaline batteries are the primary battery market leaders. Others industry leaders will be lithium and zinc-air. Alkaline batteries can be stored up to 10 years and have a larger consumer base than the other alternative batteries. 2. Lead-acid will account for nearly half of the demand of rechargeables. This battery is mainly used for automotives and other types of industrial or standby types of equipment, such as used by the phone companies to back up their lines in case of an electrical power outage.
These type of batteries are cheap, economical and can look forward to many more years of productive service until the world demands a more electrical type of vehicle or standby power source which would require a more powerful battery than the existing lead-acid ones currently in use. 3. Hybrid vehicles require a high voltage battery of about 150V, which is currently provided by connecting nickel-metal-hydride cells in series. These are expensive to replace and still ineffective to the overall ability of self charging batteries. . With the high prices and lack of longevity, rechargeable batteries will not be in the greatest demand. 5 Fuel cells still need a battery backup and therefore are not considered rechargeable or practical for home use at this time. B. Worldwide market to outspend U. S. 1. “Worldwide primary and secondary battery demand is projected to rise at a nearly 7% annual pace through 2010 to $73. 6 billion, according to a study published in August 2006 by The Freedonia Group” (Penton, 2007) Item |2000 |2005 |2010 |Annual growth (%) | | | | | |May 2000 |October 2005 | | | | | |North America |10,325 |12,100 |15,250 |3. 2 |4. 7 | | | | | |Western Europe |9630 |11,400 |13,950 |3. |4. 1 | | | | | |Asia/Pacific |12,850 |21,300 |33,100 |10. 6 |9. 2 | | | | | |Other regions |5495 |7800 |11,300 |7. 3 |7. 7 | | | | | |World battery demand (millions of U. S. dollars). Source: The Freedonia Group. (Power Electronics Technology) | | | | | II. Potential Competitors
A. Energizer Energizer is the domestic leader in home battery sales. They will obviously try to market a similar item if they do not purchase the rights to manufacture this product from our company. With the prospect of losing millions worldwide this company promises to be a very aggressive competitor. B. Duracell Duracell offers the same amount of competition. Duracell is more business oriented than Energizer and offers more competition in that area rather than domestic homes and individuals.
Both Companies are aggressive and may either offer competition or even offer a buyout if the product is that profitable. C. Knockoffs There will be many companies around the world that will offer a less powerful, cheap imitation to this product. It will be impossible to stop companies in countries that do not enforce copyright protection. These competitors can only be held off by having a low introductory price. This will make their reverse engineering efforts have to develop a knockoff in a shorter period of time, thereby ensuring an even poorer quality of product from them.
This will in turn lead to more profits for our product as every person that tries theirs and ours will realize the difference and be sure to come back to our product. III. Product Introduction Marketing Strategy A. We will first determine our primary customer focus for the product launch. Although this will grow rapidly in the world market, everyone is not our first concern. Individuals in the retail stores will be our primary customers. They will offer enough feedback and build our reputation. This will allow the company to spread to other markets with different designs.
Our primary product will be in the standard home battery sizes (AAAA through D) and cell phone replacements. 1. Initially we will market our company as a standalone product that we make and manufacture ourselves. We will be open to a merger or buyout or even partnering our company and product to increase sales revenue if the need arises. Licenses to manufacture the product will be available for purchase as well. There will be provisions that our company name and logo be mentioned on all products and a small royalty from each battery sold will be given to the company too. . Upon introduction the product will be sold in conjunction with various electronic devices and toys with a guarantee of lasting 75 times longer than the regular battery 3. Market Research Phase. A. Research market size and potential. This has already been done before introduction. B. Interview end users, retailers, wholesalers and sales representatives as necessary for the specific product. We will also have a return card available in every introductory package for consumers to send in. It will also contain information if they choose instead to reply online. 4.
Analysis and development of the marketing plan. From research the company will be able to determine the best course of action regarding the product. This research will include determining strategies used by competitors and what worked and failed for them. Responses from our test markets and the four Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) that have worked for similar products in the past will be applied to this one as well. 5. Execute the Plan and launch the product: A. Collateral may need to be raised and investors sought out to acquire all the necessary materials for sale of batteries.
B. We will start out with releasing video results of test marketed customers responses to the product Radio and television ads showing the effectiveness of the product will also be used to get the product desire built. C. All previous glitches from test marketing will have to be addressed before product launch D. Review and revise plan as necessary along the way with the new information gathered from all the resources available. E. Repeat process of refining and perfecting product through feedback until sold F.
Explore relationship extensions with new partner(s) for before during and after product launch in order to get our product as visible as possible. IV. Pricing Product will have to be comparative to existing batteries in order to attain quantitative sales. Product is guaranteed to last longer than normal batteries and will cost a little more as well. We will be charging no more than 1/3 more than the standard disposable batteries. This will attract the maximum number of consumers that will be willing to spend a little more for a lot more.
The pricing will be different than normal products that have an outlandishly high price upon launch and only lower through time and competition. Introductory price will reflect estimated price after fiscal year. This will not lead to a negative profit margin. It will lead to a lower front end profit margin and longer sustained profits from future sales and loyal customers. V. Promotion Upon product launch we will have many different means of promoting our product. We will sponsor local, national and world events ensuring national recognition.
There will be direct sales discounts, volume discounts, coupons and free trials through mail. The free trial will be the most common battery type: AA. There will be two shipped to one million homes throughout the world. In conjunction to the media promotions as well we will also include our product in combination with other respected name brands. Celebrity testimonials will be used as well as scientist’s evaluation of the product. VI. Distribution A. Distribution will be done in every method possible for this product. B.
Selling direct (the previously mentioned online and mailed products). This will show the customers that we are personable, reachable and a friendly company with a product that sells itself. C. Local distribution will be employed as we will have regional factories producing the product for a lowered transportation cost. This will also ensure that supplies will not run out as with some products. D. The local distributors (wholesalers or even warehousing companies) will get a bonus for every retailer they ship product to.
This will encourage the distributor to get the product to as many stores as they possibly can. E. Retailers will be given bonuses as well for prime product placement in stores and quantity sold. This will get the extra push from them to recommend our product over the competitor. F. End users will be deluged with coupons, mail-away’s, combination offers, discounts and multiple media advertisements for our product. VII. Sales Support A. Our company will provide the finest sales support; it will be filled with personnel that have a comprehensive training background.
B. We will have online support tools, booths at trade shows, an extensive collection of printed collateral, on-going press releases about new products (more battery types and when they will be available), everything a consumer would need to hold and look at as some customers need to see printed facts and figures for their interests. C. Every individual that purchase the product is a sale that we will guarantee the product life for. Our marketing will get the attention the masses and our sales support will cater to the individual.
This will be accomplished by having an actual customer representative answer the phones, easy return policies, and online and mail in surveys. With this type of marketing strategy the product will be sure to sell. It will reach the maximum number of people and attract the maximum number of the targeted audience. If the product is superior and does its own self charging as promised, this product will sell as fast as it will be made allowing for expansion in other areas and applications for other devices for the future of the company, including merging or buyouts.
References Edwards, J (2008). Marketing planning and strategy. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from Knowthis. com Web site: http://www. knowthis. com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/marketing-planning-and-strategy/12. htm No author, (2008). Don’t confuse sales support with marketing: a case for buyer persona profiling. Retrieved July 13, 2008, from Pragmatic Marketing. com Web site: http://www. pragmaticmarketing. com/publications/magazine/3/4/0508ar Penton Media, (2006, Oct 1). China to overtake united states in battery market.
Retrieved July 17, 2008, from Power Electronics Technology Web site: http://powerelectronics. com/portable_power_management/batteries/power_china_o vertake_united/ Bozzo, A (2008 18 Apr ). ZPower recharges pc battery market. Retrieved July 18, 2008, from CNBC Web site: http://www. cnbc. com/id/24065023 Shanthi, K (2003 24 Jun ). A tale of two batteries – Primary and Secondary Alkaline Battery. Retrieved July 18, 2008, from Frost & Sullivan Web site: http://powersupplies. frost. com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top. pag? docid=3854295=FcmCtx5=FcmCtx6 [pic][pic]