Key Approaches Used in Incorporating Branding Activities
The Notebook is a new product that is little known in the global market. It is important to find appropriate approaches that can be used to incorporate branding and co-branding opportunities. The first approach that the marketing unit will need to employ is the Social Media Strategy.
This product will target a technology conscious populations that are below 50 years, as these people are very active in social media. This firm should take advantage of this fact and introduce the product using a specialized platform. Facebook has a fan base of about one billion people that use the website regularly.
Tweeter and YouTube also have over 700 million followers visiting their websites regularly. This does not eliminate the need to use mass media, such as television and radio to reach to the target group. Developing appropriate commercials and releasing them through these platforms will increase the popularity of this new product.
Lenovo is a brand that enjoys popularity in various markets. The marketing unit will use the popularity of this brand to leverage the position of this new Notebook in a new market. The marketing management unit will need to use the strength of the Lenovo Brand to enhance competitiveness of this product in the market.
According to Cook (2005), it is always important to determine if a new project is being managed properly. It is important to make some predictions of the future performance in order to determine if the project is viable. This can be done using the Expected Value Calculator.
In this section, we will conduct a cost/benefit ratio:
Cost/Benefit ratio= Project ECV/Resources allocated on the project
Assuming that: Project EVC- 195 units
Implementation cost- 5 units
Cost/Benefit ratio= 390
If the above estimates were to be used, then the marketing unit can be confident that the project will yield good returns.
Strategy for Marketing the New Notebook
According to Jain (2011), marketing strategies define the ability of a firm to penetrate new markets, especially when dealing with new products. The Lenovo’s Notebook is a new product that is just getting into the market. The management has considered it appropriate to introduce it in the global market.
As mentioned in the above section, this firm should use a multi-channel strategy when introducing the new product. However, the marketing unit should avoid using standardized adverts because different world markets have different tastes and preferences.
There are also social events that happen in different parts of the world that may define the purchasing pattern. For instance, in 2008 the United States attached emotions to the word ‘change’ because they were tired with the current system.
Introducing an advertisement that promises people a change from the current boring system under such environmental conditions would be very relevant. For this reason, the management will need to customize its advertisements in order to enhance its relevance.
Market Segmentation in New Markets
The new market that the management of Lenovo should consider will be the United States. According to Aaker (2009), the United Sates is the leading consumer market for electronic products. This can be explained by analyzing the geographic, psychographic, and demographic factors. The United States is the third largest country in the world.
This means that Lenovo will need a comprehensive distribution channel that will ensure that its products reach every corner of the country within the desired period. The psychographic factors in this country are unique, making it one of the most attractive markets in the world.
Americans love technology, and they do not mind paying an extra cost as long as the product promises an extra value. Demographic factors also boost the attractiveness of this country. The United States is a developed country with a very high human development index (Knight, 2006).
This means that the purchasing power of the consumers is relatively high. It is important to note that this market may need a comprehensive advertisement strategy and product delivery approach that may be very costly to the firm at first. However, the expected profitability makes it worth incurring these expenses. The graph below shows the cost/benefit analysis of this new product.
Source (Developed by the researcher)
As shown in the diagram above, the profitability of the new Notebook will be increasing, while its associated costs (cost of advertisements and product delivery) will be reducing. As the firm continues to understand the new market, the costs will be reduced as the management introduces better operational strategies. On the other hand, the profitability will be increasing as the market share for the new product expands.
Company Pricing Strategies
The pricing strategies used by a firm will always define the popularity of the product in different markets. Setting high prices has its merits and demerits. Highly priced new products are always considered to be of high value. However, they limit the number of people who can purchase the product.
On the other hand, cheap products have a wide customer base because of their affordability. However, such products are always perceived to be of poor quality. In order to develop an appropriate pricing strategy, the marketing unit will need to conduct a market research on different market segments.
The segment for the rich wants high valued products irrespective of the price charged (Nash, 2000). In fact, they prefer highly priced products that cannot be afforded by people of the lower social status. On the other hand, the segments with people in the lower social status do not care much about the additional features as long as the product has the basics.
In order to achieve success, the management should ensure that its pricing strategy is based on these factors. Each market should be given the products they need at the prices they can afford.
Appropriate Distribution Channels
Choosing appropriate distribution channels is critical in defining the ability of the product to penetrate the global market at the desired speed. According to Temporal (2010), the nature of the product will always define the appropriate channel that should be used.
Based on the nature of this Notebook, a multi-channel approach will be necessary. The first approach that this firm will use when entering a highly sensitive market such as the United States will be through specialty shops. When entering a new market, the need to explain to the customers about the uniqueness and functionality of the product is always high.
Consumers will want to ask questions about this product, and the best environment where this can happen is through specialty shops. The agents of this firm will be responsible for the management of these shops. This producer-consumer strategy will be used in a few selected markets.
The management will then resort to a producer-retailer-consumer strategy or producer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer strategy depending on the nature of the market in order to create utility for the current and potential customers.
Using Global Strategy for the New Notebook
When introducing this new Notebook in the market, it will be important to use a global strategy in order to counter the problem of counterfeit products. By ensuring that its products are available in the global market within the shortest time possible will help ensure that the products of the counterfeiters do not enter any new market ahead of its genuine products.
According to Keegan and Green (2013), when counterfeit products are introduced into the market ahead of the genuine products, the market develops negative attitudes towards such a product because of the horrific experience they have with the counterfeits. Counterfeiters always give little or no attention to the experience that consumers will have when they use a given product.
Their interest is always to get quick profits before the market can realize that the product is not genuine. Using a global strategy will give the global consumers an opportunity to experience the uniqueness of the original Notebook before such fake products are introduced into the market.
This strategy will help the customers to identify the counterfeits when they are finally introduced into the market. Lenovo has the financial strength to use this global strategy. Although the strategy may be financially involving, it will help address the problem of counterfeits in case it arises.
References
Aaker, D.A. (2009). Strategic Market Planning. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Cook, J. (2005). Understanding Marketing Strategy and Differential Advantage. Journal of Business Strategy, 49(2), 137-142.
Jain, S. (2011). Marketing Planning and Strategy. Mason: Thompson Publishing.
Keegan, W. J., & Green, M. C. (2013). Global Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall / Pearson.
Knight, G. (2006). Entrepreneurship and Marketing Strategy. Journal of International Marketing, 8(2), 12- 32.
Nash, E. L. (2000). Direct marketing: Strategy, planning, execution. New York: McGraw Hill.
Temporal, P. (2010). Advanced brand management: Managing brands in a changing world. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.