Disruptive Marketing Plan
As the company under consideration, China’s Alibaba Corporation will be reviewed, and the target product to analyze is electrical equipment the brand sells online. A proposal to optimize the company’s work will be assessed on the example of the marketing mix framework, and changes in interaction with the target market will be presented. The role of appropriate transformation initiatives is to create more sustainable and profitable sales mechanisms through more flexible promotion solutions.
Disruptive Brand Plan
Alibaba is one of the largest global brands selling worldwide. According to Kim and Ji (2021), the company has always been involved in consumer interaction, and its numerous corporate social responsibility initiatives confirm this. At the same time, given the expansion of innovation capabilities and the increase in marketplaces globally, the sphere of e-commerce is growing, and the previously industry-leading Alibaba is now facing strong competition. To optimize the sale of electrical equipment, attention should be paid to green manufacturing principles. As Pomat and Keowkanya (2018) state, Jack Ma, the creator and mastermind of Alibaba, has always advocated the conservation of nature in his public speeches. The adoption of specific measures to optimize the sales of electrical equipment by the company in question can be based on a strategy for moving towards environmentally friendly manufacturing solutions and popularizing this idea in its marketing plan.
Marketing Mix
Product
The electrical equipment that Alibaba offers consumers to buy online falls into different categories. According to the descriptions provided on the company’s official website, the standard labels of the respective products are presented, as well as their purpose (“Wholesale electrical equipment,” 2022). To make goods more attractive to consumers and create more effective buying intentions, the corporation should transform the way it manufactures. Introducing more sustainable materials and reflecting relevant changes in product descriptions can increase buyer interest. By following the green manufacturing trend, Alibaba can improve the technical performance of its electrical products while optimizing demand performance.
Price
Because Alibaba offers affordable electrical equipment, the pricing policy is democratic. For instance, on the official website, a simple electrical box costs $0.09-0.10, indicating that consumers can find the items they need at the lowest price (“Wholesale electrical equipment,” 2022). However, selling even in a wholesale format is not a guarantee of sufficient profits. The optimization of production based on the transition to green principles can raise prices, which is an important condition for ensuring profits necessary for business development. The cost of products is unlikely to increase significantly, and this will not be a significant barrier for buyers because prices on the Alibaba marketplace are significantly lower than on many other sites. As a result, a slight increase in price with a parallel improvement in quality can benefit the company.
Distribution (Place)
Given Alibaba’s trading exclusively online, the corporation limits itself to the potential opportunities to popularize the product in question. Going green means engaging with more target buyers in different places. As Wright et al. (2022) state, in their business strategy, Jack Ma strives to realize a knowledge-based economy through appropriate optimization initiatives and smart decisions. One of the alternatives would be to open physical points of sale where consumers could purchase the goods they need. Along with online shopping, this mode can help increase market coverage since not all buyers are ready to order electrical equipment online.
Promotion/Communications
Today, the Alibaba brand promotes its products through advertising integrations in partnerships with other companies. In addition, permanent discounts are offered on special holidays and memorable dates, including product delivery discounts (“Wholesale electrical equipment,” 2022). At the same time, for a wider audience coverage, additional solutions are needed to be based, among other things, on a strategy to promote the transition to green production. Alibaba can forge partnerships with large corporations doing business in the environmental industry. Personalized messages should be sent to customers and notify them of a change in the production policy. The more people know about optimization in the company, the more successful promotion in target markets will be. Therefore, the expansion of partnerships and personalized marketing are significant intervention initiatives.
Target Market
At the moment, the target market for the sale of electrical equipment is based on addressing individual applications for wholesale and retail orders. As a rule, due to the affordable prices, customers worldwide leave orders on the marketplace, which is convenient and does not require additional costs, although delivery times may vary (“Wholesale electrical equipment,” 2022). The transition to green manufacturing as a disruptive marketing solution may mean expanding the coverage of the target market. Keller and Alsdorf (2012) emphasize the accumulation of capital and the building of entrepreneurial power as the main objectives of any business. About Alibaba, in the case of transforming the production of the goods in question, more partners may appear, including in the industrial sector. The green manufacturing trend is global, and along with individual buyers, corporate customers can be attracted. All this speaks in favor of the implementation of the optimization strategy under consideration.
References
Keller, T. & Alsdorf, K. (2012). Every good endeavor: Connecting your work to God’s work. Penguin Random House.
Kim, S., & Ji, Y. (2021). Positive ripple effects of corporate leaders’ CSR donations amid COVID-19 on corporate and country reputations: Multi-level reputational benefits of CSR focusing on Bill Gates and Jack Ma. Public Relations Review, 47(4), 102073. Web.
Pomat, N., & Keowkanya, S. (2018). Critical discourse analysis of Jack Ma’s selected speeches: Language of new capitalism. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Surin Rajabhat University, 20(2), 117-131.
Wholesale electrical equipment. (2022). Alibaba. Web.
Wright, E., Feng, S., & Zheng, Y. (2022). Unemployed graduate to the next Jack Ma? A counter-narrative to the entrepreneurship movement in higher education. Higher Education, 83(4), 863-880. Web.