Introduction
After product development and having done a thorough scrutiny of the target market, the next step is to develop a product launch plan. This plan will address the necessary steps that will help increase production, develop marketing strategies, develop programs for training of sales personnel, and preparation of how to set up or support the product. A well-prepared product launch plan results in faster and more effective marketing and coordination of activities (Lodato, 2008). Having a product launch plan is very crucial for the success of every business. The product launch plan of Sun Block cream for both local and international markets (United States and Kenya, Africa) will have the following approach.
Understanding the target market
Under review of the product launch process; there are certain things that should be put into consideration such as identification of needed activities, system requirement, and organizational responsibilities. A clear understanding of the target market is necessary in any product launch plan. This is because products launched on markets where most of the audience are not interested results in terrible failures (Lodato, 2008). One has to have a thorough understanding of his audience. From the previous research on the target market (United States and Kenya) it has shown that the targeted audience (both male and female) are interested on the new sun block cream. From the recent past, people especially Kenyan citizen are becoming more concerned about their beauty and they are almost ready to test every product that comes into the market. Demand is still high in both markets and therefore the producers of this product should put more emphases on its quality so as to fetch a bigger market share when it is finally launched. The sun block for male and female need to be tested and certified before it is launched in the market. In Kenya it has to go through Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) before it is allowed into the market. Manuals on how to use the product have to be prepared and attached on the product. A design of sales and distribution should be prepared as well as performing a market testing.
Process improvement
After reviewing the product launch process, the next step is to develop a process improvement. This involves making improvement on the marketing strategies, organization responsibilities, and design of the product. In order to achieve an effective improvement process, the best way to go about this is to market and pre-sell the sun block products in the targeted markets before the actual date of launching (Lodato, 2008). Different methods of advertising may be used to drive the message home. The aim of this pre-selling is to help the product developers get some feedback from the audience of which that they can be able to make the necessary adjustments before launching the product.
Integrate organization
Once the process has been reviewed and necessary improvements done, the next step of the product launch is to redesign the organization integration. This integration is done among the product launch team members who are responsible for its development. Responsibilities are distributed among the team members, and necessary changes made which then helps to facilitate the launch activities. Trainings are offered to the team members in order to equip them with the necessary skills required in this job.
Design the product launch approach
The team responsible for carrying out the launch should come up with attractive gifts alongside the product; they can offer free samples to the first group of audience who actually purchase the product. Sales promotion have been found to do well especially in new businesses and such a promotion can be for every two packets of sun block purchased, the buyer gets an extra one. All this should be included in the budget and cost should be kept as low as possible. Another strategy that has been found to make product launch process successful is the offer of cheap prices after a product has been launched. The Sun Block Cream Company should lower the prices of these products during and after the product launch especially in the foreign market-Kenya. This will help attract a bigger section of the market. However, these prices should be increased with time to their normal prices (Lodato, 2008).
Internal analysis
Before the products are launched, there is need to carry out a SWOT analysis for the company in the two target markets (United States and Kenya). SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Locally (in U.S), the company has strength in that it is already established and has a good reputation. This makes it easy for the launching of sun block cream in the market. The beauty industry is already developed and thus the company may face stiff competition from the rival industries against its product. It may become even harder to convince clients to try the sun block products because they are used to other product. Despite the threat of competition there is still an opportunity that U.S being a developed country the company has opportunities for expansion and growth.
In Kenya, the government regulations for both local and foreign markets are supple and aim to protect the business owners. The import regulations have less legal requirement making it easy for foreigners to venture into the market. Kenya has less political interference, and business policies are friendly to both local and foreign investors. All this favors the Sun Block Cream Company in its entry to the Kenyan market. The company will be allowed to repatriate some of its profit to its local country although such profits are highly taxed. Kenya has trade agreement policies with the United States which will help in protecting the company’s products against fraud, and malpractices in the Kenyan market. One of the weaknesses of the company in Kenyan market is that it does not have a subsidiary firm in Kenya; this will make it hard to market the products. The solution to this is for the company to form a subsidiary firm with the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Kenya. Kenyan market is still growing especially the beauty industry; more people have migrated to the urban centers leading to an increase in their purchasing power. The company will have an opportunity of getting sun block cream to the right audience in the urban centers. The beauty industry in Kenya is very young and the varieties of the products are not many. This will act as an advantage to the company for the Sun Block products.
Most of the manufactures of beauty products in Kenya are foreigners. This poses a major threat of competition to the company and in order to fight with this competition, the company has to liaise with many consultants in the country who will serve as their sales representative.
After carrying out the necessary analysis for the product launch, the product launch team is left with the responsibility of designing the plan. The plan should include the quantities of the product to be manufactured, channels of distribution to be used, the sale representatives, method of advertisement to be adopted, projected budget among others. The plan should be cost effective and cost should be kept as low as possible. After successfully launching the product, the team should monitor closely the progress of the sun block cream, get feedback from the users and decide when to raise or lower the prices.
Reference
Lodato, M. W. (2008). Management of New Product Launches and Other Marketing Projects. New York: AuthorHouse.