Undertaking Marketing Activities

Question: Discuss about the Undertaking Marketing Activities. Answer: Introduction The main aim of the report is to develop a marketing plan for a baby product and a website known as BabyRun.ie. The report emphasizes on situational analysis that is the external factors that affect the business and also discusses the opportunities and threats of the business. The company targets to sell the products to parents aged 25-35 in Ireland only and aim at earning a profit of 600,000 sales by December 2017. The e-Marketing plan follows the SOSTAC framework. The author develops an e marketing plan for the product so that it can capture the major share of the online market through promotions and social media. Pest analysis, marketing mix and Swot analysis is used in the report to develop an e marketing plan or the baby product (Armstrong et al. 2012). Situation Analysis The current trend shows that the demand for the baby products is on rise. The demand for baby buggies is also high as because of the emphasis of parents on care, safety and health. Conducting situation analysis that is the factors that is likely to affect the business is necessary before starting any business (Hollensen 2015). Pest Analysis: Political factors- before launching its website and product it is essential for the company to comply with the laws and regulations set by the government of Ireland. Government policies have a great impact on the business. Since Ireland is a democratic country the government is likely to have less influence on the business especially in case of an online transaction (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick 2012). Economic factors- the economic factors such as interest rate, economic growth, price and inflation also have an impact on the business. So it is essential for the business to conduct an analysis of an economy before entering the market. Social factors- analysis of social factors affecting business is essential. The social factors that are likely to affect the business are demography, lifestyle, age, population, and consumer behavior and consumer choice (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick 2012). Technological factors- since the company is planning to start an online business technology are one of the greatest factors that will affect the business. It is essential for the company to use the technologies that is updates so that it can compete with its competitors in the global market (Hollensen 2015). SwotAnalysis Strengths- the major strength for baby carriages is that it has a high demand in Ireland. The BabyRun.ie has an online store that is planning to deliver the product at door step with the facility of both cash and credit payment. The company is also planning to provide a wide range of products and varieties in baby buggies (Van Noort et al. 2015). Weaknesses- the main weakness is that from the competitors. The cost of providing the product is high. The market for the baby buggies is not well established. The website is not clearly understandable by the consumers. Opportunities- the company has an opportunity to capture the market as the product is not much popular in Ireland. The company can establish a competitive advantage by providing the product at lesser price that will give the company an opportunity to grow (Van Noort et al. 2015). Threats- the main threat is from its competitors. There are various other stores that provide the same baby products. Online business also has threats from fake business that can be dangerous for the business. Customer Analysis The main target market is the parents of Ireland aged twenty five to thirty five. The company specially targets at the women of Ireland that has an urge to stay active. The company should target at the audience that is technology friendly. The product is mainly for the women who are working and active and wants to stay fit (Wilson et al. 2012). As they do not want to spend the money by giving their child to baby sitter they prefer using baby carriages to carry the baby. Competitor Analysis The main competitors of BabyRun.ie are first cry, Amazon, flip kart, Baby zone, and premier stores in Ireland. It is essential to analyze the strategies adopted by the competitors of the product so that it can act accordingly (Krush et al. 2015). The price that the company charges should not be high when compared to its competitors price as this will discourage the sale of the product. The quality of the product that it provides should also be good and better than the products provided by the competitors in order to attract the customers. Objectives Marketing objectives are goals or the aims of the company to promote its products. The main objective of the BabyRun.ie is to sell the product online to women of Ireland. The company aims at selling the product through social media and promotions. Internet and social media is a new tool that the company uses to promote its products (Stokes 2015). The SMART objectives of the company should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. The main aim is to use digital marketing to sell its product. The main aim of the BabyRun.ie is to achieve 600,000 sales by December 2017. Marketing objectives of online internet marketing is defined by Chaffeys five S models. The original 5 S model of internet marketing includes Sell, Serve, Speak, Save and Sizzle. The 5 S has now changed to 6 S where the social media has been incorporated in the marketing objectives of online marketing (Chaffey and Smith 2013). E-Strategy Strategy defines the ways that helps the company achieve its objectives. Marketing mix approach is used to explain the strategies that should be used by the company for online marketing of the baby product. Marketing Mix The four Ps of marketing mix are price, promotion, place and product. Price- it is essential for the company to charge lower price initially during the launch to attract as many customers it can. The company charges a price such that it covers the cost of providing the good plus the profit margin that it wants (Kotler et al. 2015). Place- the place is the distribution channel that the company uses to provide the products to its customers. The place of distribution of the baby product is Ireland. The company aims at delivering the baby buggies to its customers at door step. Promotion- there are various ways that the company can use to promote the products. These include internet, social media, digital marketing, emails, word of mouth and direct sale. It is very essential to make the advertisements of the product attractive to attract the customers. Product- the product that the company is planning to sell is the baby buggies or baby carriers. The product comes in a wide range of colours, specifications and features (Kotler et al. 2015). It is essential for the company to not only sell the product online but also should have an offline store. To fulfil the marketing objective it is essential to conduct a proper market survey. Tactics Tactics are the ways that helps the firm implement its strategies to achieve the goals and objectives. The strategies and objectives by the company can be fulfilled by properly formulating the plan and using the marketing strategy tactics. The first step is to survey the market before laying the plan. The next step is to build a website that contains all the information. It is also essential for the company to create a facebook page to convey the information about its product. The next step is introducing e-commerce and a mobile application that is user friendly (Breznitz and Palermo 2013). A proper technician should be hired that have the knowledge of integrating the online activity with online store. The app created should be attractive and user friendly. The website should contain all the information. Actions The company plans to promote its products through advertisements that will be aired on televisions. To make the advertisement attractive the company hires stars that is loved by all. The other promotional activities is posting advertisement through banners and spreading information through email. The budget set for promotion activities is high as without promotion the company will not be able to sell the product (Gambetti and Giovanardi 2014). Risk analysis and management is necessary before the launch of the product. The manager of the company should analyze the risks that are attached with the launch of the product. The cost of providing the product is $ 200 per carrier and the seller plans to sell the product at $300 initially to attract customers. The price is chosen to juts to cover up the initially cost. Table: Time frame Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Creation of website Production of goods Packaging transportation Distribution Retailing Control A good plan is the one that demonstrates that the control systems in place determine the work efficiently. Laying financial plan before starting the project is essential. The budget should include cost of production. Sales, profit turnover, number of visitors, frequency of visitors, and number of goods produced and amount of product sold. A company should have control over its cost and price (De Mooij 2013). Conclusion A good marketing plan helps the company achieve success. The marketing activities include analysis of the factors that affect the business. This includes competitor analysis, pest analysis, and swot analysis. There are various strategies that the company uses to promote its product. The market for baby buggies is growing and so is the online marketing. References Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2012.Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Prentice-Hall, London. Breznitz, D. and Palermo, V., 2013. A strategic advantage with behavioral targeting? How can (and what) firms benefit from personal data-based online marketing strategies. InProceedings of the 35th DRUID Celebration Conference. Chaffey, D and Smith, P, (2013 E-Business and E-Commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice (5th Edition) Prentice Hall Available as eBook also De Mooij, M., 2013.Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications. Gambetti, R. and Giovanardi, M., 2014. Ambient marketing (guerrilla/street).Wiley Encyclopedia of Management. Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012.Principles and practice of marketing(No. 7th). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L. and Armstrong, G., 2015.Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU. Krush, M.T., Pennington, J.R., Fowler, A.R. and Mittelstaedt, J.D., 2015. Positive marketing: A new theoretical prototype of sharing in an online community.Journal of Business Research,68(12), pp.2503-2512. Stokes, R., 2015. eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing, v. 1.0. Van Noort, G., Willemsen, L.M., Kerkhof, P. and Verhoeven, J.W., 2015. Webcare as an integrative tool for customer care, reputation management, and online marketing: a literature review. InIntegrated Communications in the Postmodern Era(pp. 77-99). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. and Gremler, D.D., 2012.Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill.