Executive Summary
EduTot is a company that was started in the 1990s to provide a completely integrated education system to students through provision of toys, programs and plays that incorporate play and growth. This is an advertising plan for the company in order to increase its competitiveness in the domestic market and aid the efforts of the company to go global.
The research entails an understanding of the company’s products, the competitor and the strategies used by the company against those used by the competitors. A marketing strategy, marketing rationale and marketing objectives are also considered.
Then the advertising strategy in terms of media mix, media choice, seasonality, tone, geographical considerations and other factors are developed. The budget for the advertising is drawn on monthly basis and then the strategy, methodology and objectives of advertising evaluation determined.
Situation Analysis
Current Users
This section explores the users of a company’s products. A good understanding of the users is important since it enables the company to formulate better marketing strategies that will appeal to the customers (Hackley 23).
The understanding of the customers can be achieved by looking at the demographic features of the customer such as occupation, marital status, ethnicity, education levels, income brackets, age brackets and number of children among other demographic considerations.
The psychographic features such as lifestyle of the users, tastes and preferences also provide a good understanding of the users. After this understanding, one is able to come up with a prospect definition for the customers.
Demographic Profile
- Occupation – the users of the products of EduTot come from various occupational backgrounds. This is because the company manufactures toys and other programs for use in teaching of young children. The customers for the products are the parents of students who come from different occupations. However, a great percentage of the users are schools and teachers thus the main occupation of the users of the products of EduTot is teachers or education specialists and specifically early childhood educationists.
- Marital status – the users of the products of EduTot are married, single, divorced, separated or widowed. In other words, there is no specific target in terms of marital status for the products of the company
- Ethnic background- the users of the products of EduTot are from diverse ethnic backgrounds although many users are Americans. This is because the company was started in America and that is the country of operation.
- Education- the products for the company are most appropriate to teachers and educationists whose education level varies from university graduates to college graduates.
- Age – the users are not of a specific age group, but the most common users who are teachers are adults.
- Income – the EduTot’s products target the middle class people in the society with moderate income. There income is neither low now high.
- Children – the number of children is not applicable for users of products of EduTot.
Psychographics/ Lifestyle
VALS in marketing stands for Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles and it is a tool used for establishing the psychographic factors of the customers (Hackley, p. 35).
People can be grouped into different VAL categories depending on things that motivate them and resources available to them. The users targeted by EduTot Company are achievers and strivers because they are teachers, parents and educational centers who strive to achieve academic excellence for their children.
Prospect Definition
The prospect definition is a statement that identifies potential customers to be targeted. Because EduTot Company has been successful in America, it is good for the company to explore other international markets (Sutherland and Sylvester 67). Thus, the prospect definition for the company is new customers of middle-income class in Britain and Japan.
Geographic emphasis
The products from EduTot Company do not have a strict geographical emphasis. The targeted geographical areas are the urban areas since they have high population and thus more education centers.
Seasonality
Seasonality refers to the occurrence of high sales and low sales in business. Seasonality is a factor to EduTot Company products. The company records high sales when schools are about to open and lower sales later. This is because when schools are about to be opened, that is when most schools, educationists and parents look for the required materials for education.
Product evaluation
Under the product evaluation, issues related to the products of EduTot Company will be discussed and they include history of the products; sales history, pricing and distribution channels currently employed by the company to sale its products and the brand character.
EduTot was started in the early 1990s in United States of America with the aim of providing education aids, which would ensure a completely integrated learning process in the early stages of children’s growth.
The company started producing toys, games and computer software that could provide values such as analysis skills and problem solving skills in children. Since its inception, the sales of the company have been in an upward trend and in 2009; the company recorded a record US $ 120 million.
The pricing strategy in use by the Company is cost plus pricing. The company sets a price that enables it to cover the production, services cost, and a profit margin on top of the cost of production. The distribution channels used by the company is use of wholesalers and retailers who sale the products to the consumers.
The targeted wholesalers and retailers are those who sale education materials and bookstores. This channel is more effective since it involves lower cost of distribution and it ensures high market penetration. EduTot estimates that it has made a penetration of 4% in market outlets in US.
The products are placed in shelves facing customers and places where the customers can have easy access to the products. The EduTot Company commands respect from retailers and wholesalers in the market due to quality of products and thus they readily allow space for products.
Some retailers however face out of stock problems due to distribution problems by wholesalers. EduTot highly employs the push strategy to promote goods and services since the products are still new in the market.
It is also good to evaluate the brand character of the products of EduTot limited. The current pricing is acceptable and affordable to many customers since the profit margin added is no too high. The products are of high quality since the toys are durably made of bright colors, safe for children use and they promote learning.
The computers software and other learning programs are user friendly and reliable to the consumers. The packaging is also attractive protects the quality of the products. It also enhances convenience in transportation since the toys are parked in cartons.
Compared to the products of competitors, the products of EduTot Company are more reputable. The problems that the products solve are lack of an education system that promotes wholesome growth and learning. The overwhelming benefits to the users are achievement of completely integrated growth of their children while at the same time enhancing their safety.
Production of the toys, software and other education programs require creativity in order to make use of the changing technology. EduTot is thus required to continually look for ways to improve on their products in terms of technological advancements, changing education requirements and safety.
There are no notable competitors to EduTot in provision of childcare toys and education programs. The competitors are small and they are still in the infancy stages thus they command a minimal share of the market. The competitors are few in number and they target specific states in US.
Most of the competitors use the pull strategy to promote their products because they target a smaller market. They do not have good reputation with retailers and wholesalers because their products are too localized, are of low quality and high priced.
The pricing strategies used by the competitors are penetration strategies since the competitors are new in the market. The products are of poorer quality than EduTot’s products in terms of performance, durability and safety.
Their packaging is similar to that of the EduTot’s products hence it can be concluded that the products from EduTot are superior to those of competitors. The mode of advertising used by the companies is use of newspapers and posters. Their weakness is lack of appropriate slogan for their brands hence their brands are not more recognized than EduTot’s brands.
Research
Objective
The research objective of this paper is to determine the advertising marketing strategies applicable to EduTot Company in order to maintain and increase their market share and enter into the global business scene.
Strategy
The strategy for the advertising and product campaign is promotion of the customer benefits, increase of brand awareness and promotion of the differentiating features of the EduTot’s products. The advertising will be aimed at improving the brand image of EduTot Company.
Methodology
In development of the advertising strategy and the product campaign strategy for EduTot Company, the background information about the products is sought. The product history, current marketing strategies, distribution channels and pricing strategies is provided.
In addition, an overview of the competition in terms of product quality, distribution and pricing is done. The media mix is then decided, the marketing objective or aim established and the advertising strategy developed.
Summary Of Findings
The advertising strategy more suitable for the products of EduTot Company is an aggressive campaign with a global outlook and one that makes use of a good media mix is appropriate for the products of the company.
It is also found out that the advertising strategy should be aimed at informing the customers on benefits and features of the products and changes in prices. Other needs for the advertising strategy are to persuade customers to buy the products from the company.
Problem: Opportunity Statement
EduTot Company has been successful in the United States of America for over twenty years. The company has created and maintained a big market share and it has continued to recorder increasing sales.
Over the past ten years, competition has been growing in the education sector and this has been caused by introduction of small companies who provide accessories to certain states in US. This has forced the EduTot Company to formulate long-term strategies in order to maintain market share and find other markets. The company decided to embrace globalization strategy.
The research problem or opportunity statement for this paper is thus to develop an effective advertising strategy that will help EduTot Company to maintain market share as well as to get new markets internationally.
Marketing Objective
The marketing objectives for EduTot Company’s products are:
- To maintain market share.
- To get new markets in the global market.
- To satisfy the needs of the customers.
- To ensure the products are within customers’ reach.
- To develop affordable and quality products to consumers.
Marketing Rationale
The marketing rationale for this company is to identify the customer needs and satisfy those needs well than the competitors. Another rationale is to identify potential markets and penetrate into the markets. The company also seeks to create new markets through exploration of international markets.
Advertising Creative
Creative advertising strategies used to promote the brand image of a product, persuade the customers to buy and use the product. It employs the use of slogans, good publicity and other sales promotion strategies. The creative advertising strategies can be weak, semi-strong or strong depending on their intensity.
The big idea is to show the main features of the products of EduTot. The support for the main idea is accessibility, durability and other features such as information on price changes. The tone used is persuasive but also aggressive in nature and the emphasis is on sampling of customers who have experienced the products.
Advertising Media
Media refers to the channels that can be used to pass the information to the users. A choice of media is made depending on the target audience, coverage, marketing objective, cost and other factors.
Objective
The objective of the advertising media is to reach the target market effectively. This means that the media should pass the information without distortions and that the media should be cost effective. The target audience for EduTot Company is the elite who are involved in education sector.
A media chosen should create an appeal to the elite. Because the company has chose Britain and Japan for international business, the media should be able to cover those two markets in addition to addressing the market in America.
There is seasonality in advertising for the products of EduTot Company since the company expects to sell more when the schools are about to open. The media used should reach the targeted group but it should not be so frequent. This is to cut down on advertising costs and to avoid boredom. The media should take into consideration technological advancements and lifestyles of the targeted group of customers.
Strategies
This means the media mix, types of media, geographical use and seasonality of media considerations in advertising. For EduTot, a mix of both print and electronic media is recommended. The company should advertise through newspapers, televisions, posters and most importantly, online. It should therefore develop a website for use in marketing the products.
The website should be interactive and it should allow customers and other people to contribute to the development of the product. The types of media for use are not limited. The company can use any media that has a national and international appeal.
Because of technological advancements and diversity of users, the media formats to be used are not limited (Brainmass 2). The company can use short plays, songs, pictures and other formats as long as they pass the message and appeal to the targeted customers.
The media to be used should reach the international markets (Britain and Japan) as well as all the states of US. Advertising should be continuous but its aggressiveness should vary with seasonality of demand.
Tactics
The tactics to be employed by EduTot should be to for the company to identify itself with customers, make the customers believe that the company understands their needs and ensure that the message is aggressively delivered to the customers.
Multimedia recommendations
Objective
Multimedia refers to use of more media to pass the same information, either at the same time or at different times. The objectives of multimedia use for EduTot Company should be:
- Pass the information in a cost effective manner.
- Create easy understanding of the message.
- Well customized to address different time and place situations.
- Enhance quality of the message being delivered.
Strategy
To enhance the choice of multimedia that addresses all the objectives above, EduTot should come up with adverts that employ the use of pictures, sound, short movies or videos as well as pictures. These will be effective since they will help the company to pass the information in a cost effective manner.
Methodology
The best methodology would be to play audio adverts when the people are relatively busy, like when they are travelling or working. When the people are at home, video and music adverts will be better because people are relaxed and they have time to listen to them.
Flowcharts And Schedules
The following should be the flow chart for the establishment of the advertising campaign:
Budget
Advertising budget for EduTot Company.
Campaign Evaluation/ Testing
The advertising strategy chosen should be tested, implemented, and then reviewed to know whether it is effective. The objective of campaign evaluation or testing is to ascertain the effectiveness and suitability of the chosen strategy to know whether it needs to be revised or not.
Another objective is to keep track of all the costs and schedules to ensure that everything goes according to plan. The strategy or methodology for evaluation of strategy is gathering of data regarding the expenditure and results and then comparing them with the targets. This will show the extent to which the advertising strategy has accomplished the targets hence its effectiveness.
Works Cited
Brainmass. The four P’s of marketing for EduTot in Germany and Japan. 2010. Web.
Hackley, Christopher. Advertising and Promotion: Communicating Brands. London: SAGE, 2005. Print.
Sutherland, Max and Alice Sylvester. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2009. Print.