New Product Launch Marketing Plan Part III With Milestone Implementation Chart

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1 Running head: NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH MARKETING PLAN New Product Launch Marketing Plan, Part III Lily Peck, Pamela Boyd, Pat Parker, Rebecca Mott, & Ronald Metz MKT/571 November 9, 2015 Prof. Ismael Hau-Rosa

Transcript of New Product Launch Marketing Plan Part III With Milestone Implementation Chart

Page 1: New Product Launch Marketing Plan Part III With Milestone Implementation Chart

1Running head: NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH MARKETING PLAN

New Product Launch Marketing Plan, Part III

Lily Peck, Pamela Boyd, Pat Parker, Rebecca Mott, & Ronald Metz

MKT/571

November 9, 2015

Prof. Ismael Hau-Rosa

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Executive Summary

Today's business professionals, both domestically and internationally, are often

challenged to maintain a professional appearance in a dress shoe, with the comfort, fit and

support that most athletic shoes offer. Universally, many professionals in the workplace are

trending towards healthier habits, by personal choice or motivation to reduce the cost of health

plans. Professional Comfort shoes are specifically targeted to the working professional both here

in the United States and in select international markets- to include China, Brazil, and European

countries in the Mediterranean. The Professional Comfort shoe is designed to offer benefits of a

great athletic shoe, for the fashion forward professional, with the added benefit of pedometer

technology. Professional Comfort incorporates Flex-Fit with pedometer technology. The shoe is

lightweight and offers a diverse selection of styles for both men and women, with tempered

modifications to meet both cultural and stylish needs for the health conscious business

professional globally. The idea of merging style and comfort is not a novel idea. However the

idea of marrying style and comfort, with the use of pedometer technology is a market in the shoe

industry that has yet to be explored.

The implementation plan will be executed in parts: preparation for manufacturing,

marketing, and selling the product both domestically and abroad. Manufacturing will involve the

modification of existing facilities and training of personnel to mass-produce product. Raw

materials will be purchased in bulk to manage cost. In marketing and distributing the marketers

and knowledgably salespersons will be hired to fully understand the needs of consumers in the

markets served. To promote the product select targeted consumers will be given sample product

to demonstrate the benefits of the merchandise in the workplace. The total projected cost for the

manufacturing a pair of shoes is nine to twelve American dollars, prior to markup. Professional

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Comfort shoes are the newest product to be introduced to wellness-oriented consumer, that have

an insatiable need for products that promote and support healthy habits.

Situational Analysis

The Professional Comfort concept was birth by two corporate professionals that were fed

up with “packing out” to carry two sets of shoes, professional dress shoes that were beyond

uncomfortable and a second set of comfortable athletic shoes for the commute and walking

during lunch hours. The two pioneers pitched their idea to create a comfortable shoe for the work

environment to venture capitalist and a group of engineers, which gave birth to the Professional

comfort shoe. The Professional Comfort shoe is one that employs “Flex Fit” technology, with the

use of pedometer technology. The technology will work with Android and Apple smart devices,

and will have the added value of lowering the overall cost of health care.

Despite intense competition in the shoe market, the unique marriage of fashion, comfort,

and technology will allow the manufacturers of Professional Comfort to differentiate and carve a

unique niche in the shoe market. Moreover, the product’s unveiling will be based on favorable

healthy product market trends, new technology, market penetration due to favorable pricing,

selective distribution in domestic and international markets, in depth understanding of consumer

behavior in select markets, knowledge of competitors, and disciplined marketing controls. To

encapsulate the product situational analysis, the marketing team will utilize a SWOT analysis

(see Appendix 1).

Market Growth Potential and Competitive Analysis

Market Growth Potential

The prospective growth for a new ergonomically designed dress shoe for the professional

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workplace, targeting the “wellness-oriented” consumer for both United States and international

consumers abroad, has a large potential growth. This will be tempered in various markets, based

on cultural influences. Although the United States’ market is fairly inundated with different types

of sneakers, few employ the inclusion of fashion and technology associated with today’s

business professional. Trends for the healthy minded consumer, both domestically and

internationally, reflect empirical data of a growing number of consumers who can no longer

escape the awareness for the need of products and services that will benefit and support

individual health and fitness. In the year 2011, The United States’ apparel market was the largest

in the world, comprising about -28% of the global total and had a market value of about 331

billion dollars” [sic] (U.S. apparel market: Statistics & facts, 2011). Within this economy, there

is potential growth for viable sales that will be sustained by an insatiable thirst for products and

services that seek to meet the needs of health conscious consumers in the professional workplace

environment, both domestic and abroad.

“Germany may be the home of bratwurst and strudel, but it's no secret that America is

waging its own war on obesity and the costs of providing medical care for obesity-related

illness.” (Freeman, 2010). America is not alone or unique in its efforts to create a more health

conscious consumer. Countries such as China are also getting in on rewards for the “wellness

oriented” consumer. Initiatives such as these are creating a surge in demand for products that are

intended to meet the needs of the “wellness-oriented” consumer. Market Growth is essential for

the viability of Professional Comfort. In increase in domestic and international product demand

has to be measurable and evaluated over time. If the art and science of marketing is a mastered

discipline, it is anticipated that market growth will be high due to the consumers finding good

value in the Professional Comfort product. It is expected that for the first three years in the

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market, gross sales will increase. Therefore, an organizational goal would be for sales to grow by

a factor of 1.2 each fiscal year.

Competitive Analysis

The shoe market is fiercely competitive therefore this presents a maximum potential.

Leading shoe competitors such as Nike, Rebook, Adidas and Cole Hann are vast and worldwide,

and have financial stability and opportunities that a new start-up company would not. The

consumer has choices in their product selections and with the use of the Internet can use those

choices to purchase products from anywhere in the world.

Some of the top players in the global footwear market are Nike, Adidas, Ascis, Puma, VF

Corp, Sketchers and New Balance among others. At present, among the top players in the

global footwear market, Nike is the leading footwear company followed by Adidas and

Ascis (Footwear market: Global industry analysis and forecast 2014 – 2020, 2014).

The consumer has choices in their product selections and with the use of the Internet can

use those choices to purchase products from anywhere in the world. However, there are no

products on the market that combine the comfort and performance of an athletic shoe with the

style that is appropriate for the business professional- to include pedometer technology.

Therefore, Professional Comfort has the opportunity to carve a unique niche in the shoe industry.

Segmentation

Research identified a distinct group of potential consumers who would fit our profile of

wanting and needing our product, Professional Comfort shoes. These shoes will have the fit and

comfort of a running shoe, be in a wide variety of sizes and styles. With the added value of a

pedometer built in to satisfy their wellness-oriented lifestyles (Boyd, Metz, Mott, Parker, Peck,

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2015). Profiling of potential customers was based on geographic, demographic, psychographic,

behavioral, age, and income statistics.

Target Market

From this information we concluded that the target market for sales of Professional

Comfort shoes is young women and women professionals in the workforce, who “dress for

success”. The target market will encompass 100% of United States, and international areas.

These young professionals will range in age from 20 to 69 years of age, earn an average of

$65,000 a year, completed college, or have some marketable skill, and have an annual budget of

$1,700 to spend on health and fitness related products.

Professional Comfort realizes that their product will not be for every buyer, and careful

consideration on shoe design will be specific to each given market. Cultural factors generic to

the specific markets will play an important role in satisfying, and keeping the consumer’s wants

and needs in mind. These statistics are all contained in Professional Comfort Launch Marketing

Plan I. This gives a lot of insight into the type of consumers, who will need and want our

product. The consumer database will contain potential customers, who constantly strive to have

healthy life styles, are very concerned with their nutrition, environment, fitness, and stress levels.

Their personal health interests make them a very good customer base in which to offer health-

oriented products and services (Barton, 1993). Daily walking and running is good for the heart,

as well as the fact that it decreases calories, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and increases HDL (good)

cholesterol (Rantini, 2014). Exercise is key in safeguarding the heart (Bouchez, 2003).

Globally, business professionals make sure they are making intelligent choices to have a

more than health-oriented culture. Health and wellness products, or those offering specific

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healthy benefits are trending, in the fact that they are gearing their sales towards historic worth.

Emerging markets like Brazil and China alone boasted sales of $15,000,000 (fifteen billion

dollars) in product sales. Expectations of 7.2% real term growth continuing through 2017, with

health-oriented sales, that are globally impacted and leaning toward a record high of

$1,000,000,000 (one trillion dollars) by 2017, make the potential of Professional Comfort shoes

going global a profitable reality (Health and Wellness The Trillion-Dollar Industry in 2017,

2012).

Positioning

Positioning outlines what a business should do to market its products or services.

Professional Comfort’s marketing department will create a product image based on its targeted

customers. They will create this image by using promotion, place, price, and product. The more

intensive they are with this strategy, the more effective it will be. Good positioning increases the

marketing efforts, and helps move the buyer from knowing about a product to purchasing it

(Lynn, n.d.).

Professional Comfort’s objective is to drive or position their product into the minds of

the customer. This approach is needed because customers are bombarded continuously with

numerous advertising from many competitors, twenty four hours a day, seven (7) days a week.

Heavy exposure to this type of advertising literally drives a specific product into the consumer’s

mind. Based on this saturation effort, customers may be inclined to purchase the product,

contingent on the number of times they actually see it. The use of positioning techniques will

give Professional Comfort a vehicle in which to show off what product they are selling thus,

pushing the consumer towards buying their product.

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Professional Comfort Shoes will position itself as a company that sells shoes, that are

endowed with that “professional” look, are comfortable (with the feel of running shoes), and

have the added value of contributing to a healthy lifestyle (pedometer built in to measure the

distance walked) (Ries&Trout, n.d.).

Slogan:

Professional Comfort Shoes.

“Look Good! Be Comfortable! Be Healthy!

Pricing and distribution strategies

Professional Comfort understands the importance of pricing a new product that is

entering the market. Introducing a new product into the market needs to be comparable to

other products as well as fairness in price (Kuester, Feurer, Schuhmacher, & Reinartz, 2015).

Professional Comfort also understands that the price of new shoes needs to help the company

survive, so that it is not plagued with over capacity, intense competition, or changing in

consumers wants (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Professional Comfort wants to maximize profits

for the company. It can accomplish this by establishing the demand and cost along with

alternative pricing to determine the maximum profit. This can only be a projection because

it’s hard to determine the foreseen demand (Kotler & Keller, 2012).

Professional Comfort has a quality product that proposes special features that can allow

the company to negotiate a higher price than competitors. A higher price can be perceived as

a higher quality product than other brands. Professional Comfort also offers the quality

features of a pedometer and the comfort of a running shoe, that competitors do not offer as of

yet. Competitors can enter the market offering a similar product like Professional Comfort,

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but with Professional Comfort’s fairness in price, the competitors will only continue the

process of consumers returning to Profession Comfort for all their dress attire shoes.

Professional Comfort can distribute shoes through several different vendors, including

fitness clubs, doctor offices, and an online retail store. Fitness clubs will allow Professional

Comfort to reach consumers that are already health conscious. Allowing consumers that are

already taking steps to better their health, see the benefits of continuing to track their health

outside of the gym. Displaying Professional Comfort shoes at doctors’ offices can allow

consumers that are worried about their health to take the first steps to tracking their

movements and steps in the work place. With an online retail store front, Professional

Comfort will be able to reach consumers around the world. Brick and mortar store fronts will

allow Professional Comfort to reach the local community.

Marketing communication Plan

The objective that Professional Comfort needs to communicate to the public is that it is a

superior form of dress shoe that serves the domestic and international shoe market. The

marketing communication strategy of Professional Comfort is to inform the consumer base of

competitors that Professional Comfort offers a quality dress shoe with the comfort of a running

shoe with the options of a pedometer. The message can be delivered using the official

Professional Comfort website, which can deliver a stronger message of what the shoes have to

offer the consumer, and inform consumers how to use the pedometer to the maximum efficiency,

along with allowing the consumer to purchase a style of dress shoe to their likings.

Another marketing communication plan is to advertise within health stores, fitness stores,

magazines, and fitness centers. This approach will reach the consumer base that is health

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conscious and are already tracking their calories and body movements. Printed ads can be

delivered to the customer via the daily paper, or through a mailing list of established customers

as another marketing communication tool. These approaches allow Professional Comfort to

reach large audiences who have fitness in mind.

Financial Information

To create a marketing budget the company has to decide how much money to allocate to

marketing and promotion of Professional Comfort. The company then works with the budget to

determine marketing strategies that align with the marketing budget. Lenders may review the

company financial information to evaluate funding, thus it is essential to keep this information

current. The financial information should include the following to maintain financial viability:

Forecasting Demand—100 percent of expected sales spreading the estimates out

over 12 months showing the projection for each month.

Break-Even Analysis—Estimate how much sales are needed to pay back the

initial investment along with how long it will take.

o Break-even point = Fixed Cost / (Unit Selling Price – Variable Cost).

Sales—Include the cost of sales.

Promotional Budget—Establish how much it will cost to promote the product.

Marketing Budget—Establish how much it will cost to market the product.

An analysis of product viability shows how Professional Comfort will make a profit, fit in with

the company’s other product lines and how the product can open up new markets (Johnston,

2015).

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Marketing Objectives

Professional Comfort’s vision as industry leaders is to strategically entrench the business

in this trillion-dollar industry and to meet the needs of wellness-oriented business professionals

across the globe. Professional Comfort’s specific aim is to carve a unique niche in the domestic

and international shoe market through offering the stylish look of today’s professional business

environment; constructed to meet the needs of the wellness-oriented professional (Boyd, Metz,

Mott, Parker, & Peck, 2015). Combining the convenience of this product with a reasonable price

will contribute to a successful product launch in China and the United States. To achieve this

Professional Comfort’s objectives include:

1. Product awareness increase by 30% among target audience in one year;

2. Target audience is informed about the benefits, features and the products

competitive advantage increasing sales by 10% in one year;

3. Consumer resistance to buying Professional Comfort decreased or removed

increasing sales that are closed in six months or less by 20%;

4. Enhance store image in all markets within a one year period, leading to a 5%

increase in sales.

Improving the quality of human life through enabling individuals to feel better and do

more as they live longer is a mission that is challenging and inspiring for Professional Comfort

(X-Rates, 2015).

In just a year’s time, a single marketing campaign can be completed. For offline

advertising, this new product and development can be seen in magazines, newspapers,

geographical and occasional campaigns, and billboards. On the other hand, AdSense, email

marketing, and social media advertising are what make online promotion.

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In a matter of years, Professional Comfort dress shoe is fully developed. It is also in this

period where various consumer feedback are gathered and completely analyzed. Direct selling is

utilized by the company to be able to get the reaction of the target market about the product that

is about to be launched in the global market.

During the third year of product development, Professional Comfort is now ready for

launching since its features are updated and improved based on what consumers need and want.

These surpass all the limitations that other existing products failed to overcome. For the current

year, expansion and mass promotional campaigns are expected to happen

Professional Comfort Shoes’ Milestone Implementation

Marketing for Professional Comfort Shoes Product Launch III will begin on November 9,

2015, with research into the demographic, geographic, psychographic, buying behaviors, age,

sex, and global aspects of attracting potential customers. Research reports should be submitted

no later than November 30, 2015. Phase III should take approximately six months to complete,

with advertising to start on February 22nd. The company website is scheduled to begin

construction on March 9th, though it won’t be finished until March 26th, advertising to the public

will already have started (we will put a construction sign onsite to let consumers know the

website will be ready soon. Professional Comfort Shoes wants to start advertising as soon as

possible (See Attachment I).

Evaluation, Control Metrics, and Methodology to Measure Performance

We are providing a snapshot of our progress toward all of our goals, targets, and

commitments. One of the best ways to evaluate our goals, targets and commitments is through

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the comparison of products. Continuous evaluation and revision of metrics will be essential as

some of our goals may be difficult to meet.

Sales Metrics

Sales growth is an essential part of growth projections and is instrumental in strategic

decision-making. Sales growth is a key metric to monitor over multiple time periods to obtain an

indication of growth trends and normalized values. This will help to account for quarterly spikes

either high or low in revenue. Sales will be monitored quarterly for indications of growth or

recession. This metric will aid in the determination of the target market growth and the market

share.

Customer Readiness to Buy Metrics

The Professional Comfort brand should be recognizable. The standard measure is

awareness. A weakness in awareness implies the need to get the name out, which can be

accomplished through advertising. The Professional Comfort brand will be memorable and

favorable to consumers. Through the use of the classic survey measurement for gauging of this

metric for excellence rating but the inclusion of “best in class” status and brand recognition

metrics provides additional context for tracking purposes. The classic survey will be given to

each customer upon purchase and will be accessible through an online survey. An additional

question on the survey will be “how likely to repurchase Professional Comfort’s would you be”.

Data from all questions on the survey will be collated monthly and provided to employees and

board membership at monthly meetings. Through quality and exemplary customer service, the

Professional Comfort brand will be preferred among current and prospective buyers.

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Customer Metrics

Carpenter (2014) says, "Investing to improve your business’s customer experience (CX)

can be the difference between its success and its failure." Get to know our customers at

Professional Comfort, ask the question where they get their information (i.e. social media, the

web, printed material or television). Development of touchpoints for Professional Comfort’s

customers. The first touchpoint for a Professional Comfort customer is coming into one of our

stores would be with the sales person. Staff should be courteous, and quick to identify a need

and assist in solving the need. Professional Comfort will be developing a dashboard with key

performance indicators such as we have increased or decreased the number of customers, do we

have an increasing or decreasing number of new customers or return customers, the number of

satisfied customers and the number of customer complaints.

Distribution Metrics

The distribution metrics to be included on the Professional Comfort’s dashboard are:

Cost per unit for shipping and processing.

Transport cost per unit.

The number of times product on back order.

Inventory turnover rate.

The cost of carrying inventory.

The number of day’s inventory is on hand.

Distribution cost as a percentage of sales

How frequently is inventory damaged?

The cost of damaged goods.

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Number of customer returns.

The cost of goods being returned.

The rate of accurate v. inaccurate invoicing.

The rate of damage-free v. damaged product received by customer.

The rate of on-time delivery.

Number of times order filled to perfection

Number of orders filled.

Out of stock inventory rate.

Number of times product on back order.

Contingency Planning

A contingency plan for all possible disasters that Professional Comfort might encounter is

on ongoing process. One factor is determining if Professional Comfort cannot

support itself on an ongoing basis. If sales fail to grow Professional Comfort,

expand the product line, reduce long-term obligations or Professional

Comfort can entertain a joint venture with a larger organization, or finally

liquidate equipment/inventory to cover liabilities.

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Attachment I

Milestone Implementation Chart

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Product

*Professional Comfort shoes Product Launch III strategies will start on November 9, 2015 and last through April 22, 2015. It is scheduled to take 6 months. All milestones, and tasks are pictured in the above chart.

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References

Boyd, Metz, Mott, Parker, Peck (2015). Professional Comfort (PCs) Launch Marketing Plan

Part I

Barton, W. (1993). Identifying the Health Conscious Consumer. Retrieved from:

http://www.ncbi.nle.nih.gov/pubmed/10129812

Bouchez, C. (2006). WebMD: Fitness and Exercise Guide Healthy Heart

Retrieved from:

http://webmd.com/fitness-exercise-baby-boomer-heart-healing –fitness

Boyd, P., Metz, R., Mott, R., Parker, P., Peck, L. (2015), Professional Comfort (PC’s) New

Product Launch Marketing Part II

Carpenter, R. (2014) How to Calculate Customer Experience. Retrieved from

http://www.evergage.com/blog/how-calculate-customer-experience/

Comparing the incomparable? How consumers judge the price fairness of new products. (2015,

September ). International Journal of Research in Marketing, 32(3), 272-283.

Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/science/article/

pii/S0167811615000026

Hudson, E. (2012). Health and Wellness the Trillion-Dollar Industry in 2017

Retrieved from: http://blog.euromonitor.com/2012/11/health-and-wellness-the-trillion

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-dollar-industry-in-2017-key-research-highlights.html

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Prentice Hall.

Johnston, K. (2015) What content is included in the finance section of a marketing plan.

Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/content-included-finance-section-

marketing-plan-26319.html

Rantini, M. (2014) WebMD: Fitness and Exercixe Baby Boomer Heart Health

Retrieved from: http://webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/heartyhealthy

X-Rates.com (2015). Retrieved from http://www.x-rates.com/calculator/