Marketing Plan: B2K Integrated Phone Solutions

Executive Summary

Due to fierce competition in the modern business environment among other prohibitive factors, companies are formulating, implementing, and evaluating marketing plans in a bid to achieve set company goals and objectives. By adopting a variety of marketing principles, tools, and techniques organized into winning strategies, the company B2K Integrated Phone Solutions will provide the iPhone with a special design, incorporating a computer-like user interface. The company’s main target market includes educational institutions, higher education students, and lecturers among other consumers, especially business professionals and general consumers. B2K Integrated Phone Solutions has three major outlets in two countries, where the iPhone will be sold. Additionally, it has a minimal number of employees ranging from 50 to 100, over six departments including finance, human resource, administration, and marketing among others, and guided by the goal of recording a 50 percent growth in sales. The company is planning its entry into the design and manufacturing of more consumer electronic products, such as laptops, projectors, and televisions among many other products. Essentially, the formulation, implementation, as well as evaluation of this marketing plan will provide ways toward market leadership, and establish a consistent market niche, in addition to increasing the company’s sales.

Strategic Focus, Plan, and Mission Statement

The strategic focus, plan, and mission statement sets the strategic direction for the entire organization. Through the diversification and synergy analyses, businesses are able to strategically organize all essential functions so as to maximize innovation, coordination, and cooperation of available resources in the achievement of the company’s goals. This is aided by formulating and communicating the company’s mission and vision statements as part of the corporate strategy, which by outlining the company’s purpose and goals, serves to align personnel commitment, motivation, and direction towards achievement of the company’s goals (Cady, Wheeler, DeWolf, and Brodke, 2011). B2K Integrated Phone Solutions’ strategic mission statement highlights the business in terms of establishing as the best phone and consumer electronics business while demonstrating commitment towards customer satisfaction through provision of quality products and services. This will be augmented by the company’s strategic vision, which seeks to make the company, the world leader in the provision of quality IPhone among other consumer electronic products, services and solutions to all the esteemed customers. The strategic thinking behind this idea is hinged on the observed trend in technological and societal changes that creates a demand for the company’s product. This is because technology is changing everyday, where harnessing these technologies into the business, supported by societal changes, especially the transformation into a knowledge-based society necessitates the provision of the company’s product in the long term.

Foreign Target Market

The foreign market chosen for the company’s product is Britain, where education forms a major component of consumer electronics consumption including the IPhone. Essentially, the main target market includes educational institutions, higher education students and lecturers. Other consumers including various business professionals and general consumers will enhance the company’s consumer base. The continuous emphasis laid on the acquisition of education, in addition to the rising needs of the general and specific consumer as a consequence of dynamic technological changes has created a need for the company’s product in Britain. This trend involving the adoption of technological products seems to be a long term trend and, therefore, the company will be the provider for the iPhone as the British society continues to change into a more enhanced knowledge-based society. This explains why Britain is the ideal foreign market for the company’s products, especially when the nature of the society is embracing education more and more. This necessitates new products, like the company’s tailored IPhone, a must have for many education students as well as other related stakeholders.

Marketing Plan, Potential Audiences and Needs Assessment

Generally, the potential audiences for marketing plans include stakeholders, such as public and private sector organizations in various industries, especially education as well as policy makers and leaders. For public sector organizations in various industries, such as health care and education, the need for a marketing plan is highlighted by significant declines in consumption of related products and services. For instance, health care organizations would formulate and implement a marketing plan as a way to attract more patients from different market segments, in a bid to achieve overall organizational goals and objectives. This also applies especially to private sector organizations in various industries due to the dynamic business environment that is full of fierce competitors and which necessitates formulation of marketing plans in a bid to create unique market niches and competitive advantage. For policy makers and leaders, especially in business, the marketing plan provides a basis for policy formulation and implementation geared towards the achievement of set organizational goals and objectives. This highlights the needs that the potential audiences for marketing plans, including public and private organizations as well as policy makers and leaders, in various industries seek to accomplish through the plan’s guidance.

Product Market Segments

Essentially, B2K Integrated Phone Solutions’ main market segments include educational institutions, higher education students and lecturers with additional consumers, including various business professionals and general consumers enhancing the company’s consumer base. Therefore, the product’s main market segment includes educational institutions, higher education students as well as instructors. With homogeneity or distinct common needs, distinction involving uniqueness of a specific group from others and reaction indicating a similarity of response by consumers identifying market segments, the company’s market segments are quite distinct. Primarily, with research indicating that many people are embracing telecommunication technologies; especially with reports highlighting that many youths spend over six hours on social media, provision of the company product will be readily accepted by the higher education student market segment. This is because the product provides for quality and convenience for entertainment while satisfying the consumer’s educational needs. For the educational institutions and instructors market segment, the rationale for their inclusion as a distinct market segment on its own lies in the need to utilize faster, convenient, portable and multipurpose technology in the accomplishment of duties. Primarily, the consumers’ needs are changing towards massive adoption of telecommunication products, especially with the emphasis laid on the importance of education and its management, which requires the company’s products for searching information.

Target Market Identification

B2K Integrated Phone Solutions’ main target market includes higher education students and the educational institutions, as well as their instructors, especially lecturers. Primarily, popular media has indicated for a long time that many people, especially the young generation as well as business people, are embracing telecommunication technologies. For many youths, who spend over six hours on social media, it is highlighted that the provision for this product will essentially satisfy their multiple needs, especially when it provides convenience and quality in terms of educational needs as well as entertainment. For the educational institutions and instructors’ market segment, the rationale for their inclusion as the company’s main target markets is shown by the need for adoption of new technologies that embody faster, convenient, portable and multipurpose use of technology in the accomplishment of varied responsibilities. This target market, due to the requirements of their responsibilities that require updating of their knowledge and skills, highlights the shift of modern society to a highly sophisticated information-based society.

SWOT Analysis

Conducting a situational analysis enables a company to take stock of its past and present performance in relation to achievement of the company’s goals as well as assessment of the company’s capabilities in accomplishing objectives towards future company success. This process is carried out by utilizing a strategic management tool, the SWOT Analysis, which lays a basis for accomplishing company goals by understanding influences of the company’s strength and external opportunities as well as between company weaknesses and external threats (Helms & Nixon, 2010). The acronym SWOT is used to describe and analyze an organization’s internal Strengths and Weaknesses and its external Opportunities and Threats, which present a firm foundation for the identification of appropriate actions to be set out in the marketing plan.

Internal Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Management commitment

Product uniqueness and quality

Formulated research and development plans

Reliable suppliers and relatively cheap resources

Weaknesses

Potentially weak returns

No market share

Limited expansion in new markets

Rising costs of production

The company will hire highly qualified management and personnel committed towards the achievement of the company’s objectives, leading to enhanced productivity while the products’ quality and uniqueness will promote customer loyalty. Formulated research and development plans as well as agreements with reliable suppliers for relatively cheap raw materials will prove to be a major strength to the company. The company will harness these strengths towards exploitation of new market opportunities while accomplishing set company’s objectives in addition to providing direction in formulating and implementing this marketing plan by factoring in potential pitfalls due to the company’s weaknesses. Being a start-up business, the company’s weaknesses include potentially weak returns, no market share, limited expansion in new markets, as well as the rising costs of production. To address the stated company weaknesses, the company will start gradually enhance its position in the market.

External Opportunities and Threats

Various situations in the market environment affect a company’s operations and can be assessed in various domains including technological, economic, competitive, regulatory and social cultural among others (Cheverton, 2005).

Opportunities

Rise of new markets (competitive)

International expansion (competitive)

Rising economy (economic/social)

Dynamic technological changes (technological)

Threats

Fierce competition (competitive)

Fluctuations of the currency (economic)

Potential decrease in economic growth (economic)

The opportunities that the company will leverage in relation to its strengths include the rise of new and upcoming lucrative markets, such as Brazil and China, which have many potential consumers. International expansion also represents an avenue that the company can profit from where the rising economy worldwide will enhance consumer confidence in the company’s product. The dynamic changes in technology, especially in the manufacture of telecommunication products, represent a viable opportunity for the company to further distinguish itself from its competitors. Potential threats include fierce competition, which when coupled with their expansion into new markets and the potential increase in the entry of new potential competitors, is bound to saturate the market and hence low revenues. Fluctuations of currencies will decrease the company’s profitability in addition to potential for a further decrease in economic growth, which will decrease consumer purchases dynamic trend and hence reduced sales and the company growth. Effective management of the potential threats and exploiting the potential opportunities will be reflected in the marketing plan.

Market Product Positioning

Fundamentally, a product’s unique points of difference are communicated by way of a positioning strategy. Due to the different market segments, the positioning strategy will involve providing the product to medium and high-priced market segments. Through this, the company will be able to provide the product to the various company customers according to the various specifications, product price and quality. By utilizing this strategy, the company will further distinguish itself from its competitors, who offer their products to the medium-priced market. This will be augmented by the provision of reliable and extensive after-sale customer service in support of the positioning strategy. Additionally, market penetration will be achieved through aggressive marketing strategies, such as using wide distribution networks among others including the three major outlets by creating a product brand that communicates simplicity and sophistication. By choosing a market position for the product involving a price-based (medium and high-priced) market segment positioning approach, B2K Integrated Phone Solutions will acquire a distinct market niche and competitive edge. This is due to the company’s targeting of two price-based market segments, distinct from the competitors’ middle-priced segment, highlighting a major point of differentiation for B2K Integrated Phone Solutions. All in all, integrating these directions into an action plan, I believe B2K Integrated Phone Solutions management can acquire a market niche and competitive advantage against their competitors as well as an accomplishment of their organizational goals.