Entering a market is not an easy task, as it presupposes dealing with rather tough and uncompromising competition. Therefore, a company must be ready to take a range of costs and face various challenges in the market environment. The Markstart program was used in order to test the viability of a hypothetical firm’s entering into the global market. As the project in question shows rather low Savers and Shoppers indices, it is reasonable to adopt the promotion strategy based on branding and the analysis of the psychodynamics of the target market. Thus, the company will be capable of keeping its good reputation intact and at the same time benefit greatly in the realm of the global market.
The graph above shows that two of the segments (the Savers and the Shoppers ones) are clearly in their growth stage, whereas the other two (the Explorers and the Professionals) are obviously declining. High Earners, in their turn, are in the maturing stage, which means that the company may have some issues introducing the product to the target customers and attracting clientele. The graph, therefore, shows that a stronger emphasis must be put on the market research studies, which will allow for attracting Explorers and Professionals with new and original products.
It should be born in mind, though, that the costs for advertising are quite high already. Herein the complexity concerning the product promotion lies. The ROLL Sonites seem to have been enjoying the greatest popularity among the target audience so far. Therefore, it will be reasonable to make the promotion campaign revolve around the ROEXP, which has made the least amount of sales so far, and use the ROLL product as a means to forward ROEXP as a new brand. Likewise, a stronger emphasis must lie on the ROCK and ROMEO products. For this purpose, it will be reasonable to target Explorers and Professionals with the marketing strategy, explaining that ROCK, ROMEO and ROEXP are an extension of the ROLL brand and, therefore, allow for retaining the monopoly within the market in question.
The Explorer segment is currently at 51.13%, which is starting to mature and is most likely to start slowing down in its growth opportunities. The Shopper segment is at 30.25%, which is still considerably low, yet displaying an impressive potential for growth. The Professionals segment displays a 69.75%, which is also in a mature state that does not need further growth at present. The High Earners segment is at 181.67% and has very low room for growth because it has already reached its market potential. Finally, the Savers segment is at 22.88% and has very large room for growth.
The total estimated gross contribution for next period for the explorers segment is $34,725,000, which is a low profit margin in comparison to the other segments and proves it is in its declining stage. The shoppers segment has a total estimated gross contribution for period 6 of $75,180,000 which also aligns with its large room for growth. The professionals segment has an estimated gross contribution of $65,520,000 which proves that it is still possible to strive for high gross-profit margins even though the market is small. The high earners segment has an estimated $50,400,000 gross contribution for the next period, which is also lower than most of the other segments, so it coincides with its maturing stage, offering certain profit but definitely slowing down. Lastly, the savers segments’ estimated gross contribution is $122,500,000, which proves that the specified element has a large room for growth as well.
SDI (Period 4)
- ROCK= 3.98%
- ROLL= 2.4%
- MOST=10.36%
- MOVE=1.51%
- SDI (Period 5)
- ROCK= 1.1%
- ROLL=1.3%
- MOST=3.7%
- MOVE=.52%
Based on what the organization has achieved so far, it may be assumed that the multi-segment positioning should be used as the key towards succeeding in the target market. Indeed, seeing that the organization is yet to get in the good graces of the High Earners and the Professionals, it will be required that the strategy aimed at several different segments with different needs and demands should be developed.
A closer look at the organization’s assets will reveal that its R&D department, in fact, has a huge potential that is yet to be explored. Innovativeness and R&D potential are obviously the company’s assets, whereas the lack of competition and the current inability to attract Professionals and Savers may be viewed as the threats to the organization’s wellbeing and the minor weaknesses. Research and development can also be viewed as the area with the greatest amount of opportunities for the organization.
Seeing that the company will have to operate within the monopolistic market, it will be required to put a very strong emphasis on the promotion strategy in general and the advertisement and positioning of the target product in particular. As the possibility of several rivals emerging is rather high, it is crucial for the company to make sure that its position within the target market is secure and that it has a range of devoted customers that make the bulk of the market in question. To be more specific, the attraction of Shoppers and Savers into the ranks of the company’s customers is the top priority for the organization at present.
Herein the key to the company’s tactics lies. It is essential to show the target demographics that the organization is willing to expand and explore the existing opportunities further, therefore, perfecting the brand product and updating it in accordance with the technological advances of the 21st century. In other words, the R&D segment must be financed extensively so that the organization could attain success and gain the trust of the target population.
Table 1. Brand Management Decisions–Sonites Brands
As the table above shows, the current strategy of financing the R&D department is likely to lead to a rather impressive success. The fact that High Earners, Professionals and Explorers have been left out of the picture, though, seems a minor problem with the present-day course of the company. For the organization to retain its status within a monopolistic market, it is essential that the buyers defining the tendencies within the market in question should become the company’s loyal customers. More to the point, Shoppers and Savers will help define the organization’s reputation as quite high, which makes it necessary to make sure that the specified buyers are interested in what the organization has to offer.
Table 2. Sonites
The supposition regarding the necessity to incorporate modern media into the advertisement strategy and a stronger emphasis on the R&D process within the company can be proven by the fact that the amount of sonites in the specialty stores, mass merchandise and online stores remain at the mark “20”. The company clearly needs to put more effort in its development in order to retain its position within the monopolistic market.
The graph provided below, in its turn, proves that the organization will have to focus on retaining its current customers and at the same time targeting at a more diverse clientele. By incorporating the soft marketing approach together with a set of more rigid strategies, the organization will be capable of being registered on the consumer’s sales-pitch radar quite quickly and, therefore, increasing its sales on a regular basis.
In other words, the organization will have to reposition in order to make the product look more attractive to High earners. More to the point, retaining the monopoly , while seemingly reasonable at present, does not make much sense in the long run. Hence, the need to reinforce the organization’s R&D strategy and boost the promotion process. The competitors, in their turn, are most likely to win over the Professional type of clients, thus, bringing the company’s reputation down a few notches. Consequently, it is crucial that the organization should be innovative in its R&D process and promotion campaign so that the rivals could not make the firm look vulnerable.
Because of a rather high popularity with the High Earners and Professionals and a comparatively low rating among Shoppers and Savers, the company needs to be rather cautious in its choice of a promotion strategy. Hence, it is highly advisable that the company should comply with the principles of a multi-segment positioning. As a result, a steep rise in the company’s competitiveness and an impressive increase in the amount of customers can be expected, which will boost the firm’s growth.