Introduction
This report is a marketing plan for the new product ‘Magic pen’ of Office Depot. The company is already well flourished in office equipment products. Office Depot is the world’s largest office equipment company. “Office Depot, Inc. is a global supplier of office products and services.” (Office Depot, Overview, 2007). As a new product line the company has planned to launch its new product Magic Pen. Office Depot intends to market the new product to every group of customers ranging from students to working officials.
One of the peculiarities of this product is that it has steady demand for the whole year. When Magic Pen succeeds in the market it will add value to the product line and profitability of the company. This report clearly enumerates the strategies to be adopted by Office Depot in order to market Magic Pen in the best possible way.
Main body
The most important factors to be considered in every marketing pan are Place, Promotion and Price. The marketing strategies for Magic Pen are detailed below.
Place and promotional strategy
Place is an important factor while marketing a product. Here, place refers to the market to which Magic Pen will be marketed or supplied. Since the company intends to sell Magic Pen to every segment of customers, it can be marketed to almost all the cities in the country. The product should be available in the shops that are closer to all the major schools, universities and other educational institutions. Office Depot can attain this by agreeing on a strategic alliance with major distributors in the country. Inorder to focus on the working people it should be made available in major cities. It is highly advantageous for Office Depot when the companies and other institutions located in the cities take bulk orders for the company in meeting their stationery needs.
Advertising is the primary promotional activity that the company should focus on. The company can launch Magic Pen in different models depending upon its targeted customers. The model that is aimed at the students can be of varied colors. It is also better to introduce freaky designs in that as the students will develop a fascination for the pen. The model that is focused on the working class can be of formal designs.
The advertisement campaigning of Magic Pen must cover wide range of media’s. Inorder to target students, the advertisement have to be telecasted in between the programs and shows targeted at the students. Inorder to focus on working class the advertisements have to be telecasted in between news, business shows, and other programs that are focused on the working class people. Similar strategies have to be adopted in internet and print media advertisements also. Banners and other advertisement charts can be hanged in the major retail stores. These items are to be supplied properly to the major distributors and retailers.
Magic pen should be reasonably priced so that the customers feel that the product is worth the price. Magic Pen is not intended to be placed among the luxury goods segment. Instead it is intended for the regular use of the people. Normally the students and working class will go for a reasonably priced pen for daily use. Not much difference in the price should be done between the two models though the model that is aimed at the working class can be charged a bit higher than the other one.
Product distribution
Distribution strategy of the company has great influence on its profitability. In the initial stage the company can adopt selective distribution. “Selective distribution involves a producer using a limited number of outlets in a geographical area to sell products” (Distribution, selective distribution, tutor2u, 2008). When Magic Pen starts generating more demand, the company can shift to intensive distribution.
Office Depot should make Magic Pen available in the market through all the major retailers. It can agree with the WalMart to monitor the distribution in US and in other countries where Walmart is actively involved. Inorder to make Magic Pen available in other countries, it can first form an alliance with major retailer or distributor of a particular company. This will help the company to ship the goods directly to the retailer or distributor thereby helping the company to save the cost of middle man.
Conclusion
The given marketing plan is very much suitable for Office Depot in marketing Magic Pen. The stated marketing plan had focused on cost cutting as well as target marketing. If the company use this marketing plan for the initial stage it can attain better growth prospective in the future.
References
(Office Depot, Overview, 2007). Web.
(Distribution, selective distribution, tutor2u, 2008). Web.