Marketing Project

Date Prepared: November 25, 2014

Professor Thanos

Craig Wallace

Course: Marketing

Section: 100-024

Product Name: Move’n’Charge

Consumers today are finding that phone battery-life is a common issue among all

smartphone users. Many consumers are utilizing the newest trend and ever-growing solution to

this dilemma, which are Smartphone Battery Cases. The idea is to use the case that protects the

phone from damage while charging the phone when needed using the rechargeable battery,

which is built into the case. In the past, consumers had to bring their wall chargers on the go.

Have you ever been out of town on a camping trip, or just had your phone die while you

were in the middle of doing something? Running franticly around asking any and everyone you

see “Do you have a charger I can borrow?” Then you always get that one person that only has a

charger but not the one that works with your smartphone. With a rechargeable phone case you

have nothing to worry about, your phone will last for hours, right? Well, maybe you forgot to

charge your phone and the phone case and you're all out of juice, what now? For some people

they're dependent on their phones not only for silly games and “Selfies” but also for emergency

situations.

According to the situation above, the solution would be a kinetic energy powered phone

case. Our product “Move’n’Charge" will eliminate the phone dying in the first place. Kinetic

energy is energy produced by movement. Other brands like Infinity Cell require you to shake

your phone for 30 minutes, for a mere 20 percent battery life and up to 4 hours for a full battery.

This is a major inconvenience.

Based on a study from Qualcomm, a telecommunications company, it states that 29% of

Americans look at their wireless devices first and last thing everyday. 68% of people in major

countries such as Brazil, China, South Korea, India, United Kingdom, and the United States

sleep with their phones next to their bed. Also, 66% of the population also would rather take

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their mobile devices with them to work rather than their lunch. With such dependence on mobile

devices, having your phone die on you is definitely an issue.

The smartphone case is produced with a durable, lightweight, and shockproof exterior.

These will not only help keep the phone protected through everyday tasks but also keeping the

phones weight to a minimum. The interior of the phone case is produced with a rechargeable

lithium battery, a coil and spring mechanism (made from aluminum for its lightweight quality, a

magnet, and copper wiring). The battery is like any normal smartphone battery, which can hold a

charge keeping a phone working for up to 12 hours. The coil and spring mechanism is what

recharges the battery. An electrical current is generated each time the magnet slides in the case,

which charges the capacitor. Like any other case, there is a dedicated On/Off switch, which will

reduce the likely hood of the case over charging the phones primary battery cells.

Price is the only segment in the marketing mix is that generates revenue. Therefore, it is

crucial and important to price the kinetic battery case offering to meet our marketing objectives.

Therefore, the complexity of determining the appropriate price can make a company succeed or

fail. Given the market’s uncertainty of our innovative breakthrough kinetic battery case, it is

important that we accomplish four main objectives. The four objectives are survival, profit,

volume and quality.

Our company is a start up and staying in business will guarantee a challenge. Therefore,

pricing consideration in order to survive in the market would lead us to price our product so that

it would cover variable and some fixed cost. Additionally, the initial price offering will be kept

low but not too low that it may affect the way our product quality may be perceived (i.e.: If a

customer sees a low costly product they may view it as its poorly made product.)

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Our profit objective is to choose a price that can maximize profits. We want to ensure

that a target return or mark up profit is gained every time we sell one battery case. This will

allow us to keep the price and cost in line so that a profit margin can be established.

Keeping prices low will allow us to meet the volume objective. With a lower price than

our competitors (i.e.: Mophie and Infinity Cell), volume is expected to increase. With more

volume in sales, it will helps increase consumer awareness of our product. Furthermore, low

prices will create obstacles for competitors if they cannot lower their price in order to capture our

market share.

Our future goal from pricing perspective is to gradually increase pricing to develop an

image of quality and exclusivity (e.g. Beats Audio Headphone). To achieve this, we will utilize

the method of pricing called Market Penetration Pricing.

New product Pricing/Tactics/Changes:

Our new product pricing strategy will initially introduce at a lower price and increase the price as

its demand in the market increases. Market penetration price methodology was selected over

skimming because of the following.

1. Initial low prices will help secure help volumes.

2. Keeps the product out of the competition for a longer time.

3. Good to capture new market.

The overall cost of components and manufacturing cost for each of the Move’n’Charge

cases will be approximately $25.00 USD. Our final initial price offering will be $59.99 USD.

Our products will sell for $59.99 instead of $60.00 because $59.99 is less. This pushes our

product into the $40-$59.99 price bracket so it appears to cost much less than $60. Additionally,

Cost-Plus pricing also known as mark-up pricing where cost + mark-up = selling price, $25.00 +

$34.99 = $59.99 (140% profit margin!)

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This approach sets prices that cover the cost of our production and provide sufficient profit

margin for our firm to reach its target rate of return. Current leading competitors sell battery

cases in the price range of $80.00-$120.00 USD. Average cost for non-battery cellphone cases

range between $5.00-$50.00. From a consumer reference value, our product will be the lowest

price compared to top battery cellphone case makers while making it affordable for consumer

that buys high end non-battery cellphone cases.

Future price changes will occur. Price cuts will be determined and offered via single

discounts or bundle pricing if new models are introduced, excess supply over demand, current

model is not selling well, and company decides to increase market share. Price increase will be

determined when our product goes viral, if demand is greater than supply and if there is a cost

inflation. Price increase will follow the market penetrating methodology with price increase

gradually. Additionally, this will be when we offer premium pricing on newer models to reflect

product and brand exclusiveness.

Environmental analysis

In political segment, there is little evidence showing that political and legal elements are

strongly influence the opportunity and threat toward “Move’n’Charge”.

We plan on selling our product worldwide to all iPhone and Samsung smartphone users.

With majority of the consumers who use those devices being Generation X, Millennials, and

those who are frequently On-The-Go this charging case will be targeted to this demographic

segments.

In economic segment, the commodity of consumers with smartphones mainly from Apple

or Samsung has proven that consumers will spend a little more to be satisfied with their newest

technology. A study from JD Power & Associates, shows that on average consumers spend

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$56.18 per smartphone accessory. With this market booming over the last 5 years we expect

large amount of revenue to be generated from our product. Being that the mobile battery packs

(rechargeable battery mobile devices) market has been lead primarily by Mophie, BoostCase,

and Lenmar for a few years our competition is fierce. The entire industry has been running into

an era that only the strong survive or in better terms only those with the longest battery survive.

But the popularization of being mobile and not being stuck to a power outlet has driven

consumers to want an actual mobile charger that really charges without a power cord.

In a tech savvy generation, we are hyper-dependent on our smartphones. According to a

survey conducted by Time Magazine, studies show that 84% of respondents cannot go a single

day without their smartphones, 50% of Americans sleep with their phones next to them like a

teddy bear, and 20% of the respondents check their phone every 10 minutes. Over 5,000 people

of various demographics and psychographics took this survey.

These target markets are in need of a product like ours. Being that social media is a great

tool for brand awareness, creating ads on Facebook and YouTube, and various social media

forums, would be integral in spreading brand awareness. An Instagram account would be

essential for communication with potential consumers as well as showing different media of how

Move’n’Charge can be used.

In terms of cost, this is a fairly appealing and low cost avenue. To advertise while a

YouTube video is buffering, for example, would be an effective way to reach our target

demographic. This will be low in costs. Another method of reaching our consumers would be to

use a search-engine affiliated network. There are many, like Google AdSense, Google

AdWords, and Yahoo! Advertising Network. Many of these networks only charge per click on

an advertisement, or give you the ability to optimize ads for specific users using Yahoo!’s user-

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data proprietary ad technology. There are many smaller venues available as well, like

PocketCents, where each time a customer clicks on an advertisement, the advertiser is charged

25 cents. Using the Microsoft AdNetwork, an advertiser can create a custom campaign from

Microsoft’s network of brands, like search advertising, or display advertising, which gives an

advertiser the ability to target an ad directly to our potential customers.

After establishing a name for the product, an optimum avenue to use for our product

would be to land on shelves in widely known electronic distributors like RadioShack, and Best

Buy as well as wireless providers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The possibility for

distribution for our product is great, because we feel it would have a wide and successful reach.

This case is made to work with Apple and Samsung mobile devices, which are the two

leaders in the smartphone market. We plan to market our product to lower end retail store before

reaching our target consumers. Getting this product to shelves will not be an easy task. First, we

will have our product in lower end retail shops before reaching big named electronic stores such

as Best Buy and RadioShack. Most large electronic retailers approve new emerging accessory

products if they prove to yield a profit. Once this product is recognized as a useful and profitable

item companies will be coming to us for shelf space.

We will also be pushing for sales into sporting goods and hiking retail shops, for example

Dicks Sporting Goods. In states like Oregon where hiking is very popular over 100 people are

lost and die in this one state due being lost in the woods with a loss of communication. Nearly

1000 search and rescue missions occur in Oregon yearly. With our smartphone case this number

should decrease drastically. Our hiking consumers should never experience a dead phone while

out in the woods.

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We plan on outsourcing our products by having them produced in a factory in China for

lower labor and production costs. We also plan to have products shipped over seas, which will

have a lower cost than other transportation means. This case will be sold heavily worldwide.

Move’n’Charge is a kinetic charger case that is designed to continuously provide power to

your smartphone as you move. The Move’n’Charge case is an essential product to our potential

consumers. Smartphones today die at the worst moments even with the best charging case.

Move’n’Charge cases will give users the ultimate battery life possible. Say goodbye to wall

chargers and dead batteries!

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Work Cite

60% people 'can't live without their smart phones' | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis. (2012, February 12). Retrieved from http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-60-people-can-t-live-without-their-smart-phones-1649074

Duerson, M. (2012, August 2012). 84% people can't spend a day without their phone. Retrieved from http://nydailynews.com/life-style/addicted-phones-84-worldwide-couldn-single-day-mobile-device-hand-article-1.1137811

Durando, J. (2014, June 30). 47% of adults couldn't last a day without smartphone, survey says. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/06/30/consumers-cell-phones-americans/11780165/

Ferner, M. (2011, April 20). 25 Advertising Networks for Online Businesses. Retrieved from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2728-25-Advertising-Networks-for-Online-Businesses

Gibbs, N. (2012, August 16). Your Life Is Fully Mobile | TIME.com. Retrieved from http://techland.time.com/2012/08/16/your-life-is-fully-mobile/

Gibbs, N. (2012, August 16). Your Wireless Life: Results of TIME's Mobility Poll. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2122187,00.html

Gilbert, J. (2012, August 16). Smartphone Addiction: Staggering Percentage Of Humans Couldn't Go One Day Without Their Phone. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/smartphone-addiction-time-survey_n_1791790.html

Graham, J. (2013, August 17). Consumer wish list for new iPhone: Better battery. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/talkingtech/2013/08/17/consumers-sound-off-on-new- iphone/2661257/

Mobile Devices: Next Generation Batteries and Chargers. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1018990-mobile-devices-next-generation-batteries-a/

Mobile Phone and Tablet Accessories - US - May 2012. (2012, May 1). Retrieved from http://store.mintel.com/mobile-phone-and-tablet-accessories-us-may-2012

Tews, J. (2012, March 15). 2012 U.S. Wireless Smartphone and Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction Studies--Volume 1 | J.D. Power. Retrieved from http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2012-us-wireless-smartphone-and-traditional-mobile-phone-satisfaction-studies-volume

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Tews, J. (2012, March 15). 2012 U.S. Wireless Smartphone and Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction Studies--Volume 1 | J.D. Power. Retrieved from http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2012-us-wireless-smartphone-and-traditional-mobile-phone-satisfaction-studies-volume

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