Marketing 

Research methods and Results

Research methods and results How did you conduct your primary AND secondary market research? Why did you undertake it in these ways (and how will that help the business succeed)? What were the significant results of your research? How are you using this information and how will it impact on your success?

Target Market

Target market A target market is a specific group of customers that a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise towards. Why can’t you market to everyone? – Not everybody has the time, money, opportunity, or interest to buy your product/service. – To save time & money you only want to market to the people who may want to buy your product AND are able to do so.

Factors to help identify a target market Age (e.g. From 15 – 25 yr olds) Gender Martial status Income Access Tastes/preferences Lifestyle Occupation Any other demographics that are relevant (e.g. Culture).

Basic example E.g. Toy Soul-utions is selling superhero action figures – To male 4 to 12 year olds who are part of a family with medium levels of income ($40k-$50k) in the central Auckland area.

Continued... This product will appeal to our target market because our primary research shows that year old males are typically attracted to superhero movies and TV shows (evidence/data will be referred to here). Our research also shows that there is an opportunity in the market for superhero action figures that is not currently being filled.

Continued... The target market includes a 2 child family with a medium income range ($40k-$50k) as our product is of a quality that will appeal to those in this income bracket and not in a higher one. Our product may be too expensive for those in a higher bracket. We are selling to those in the central Auckland area as this significantly lowers our transport costs.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT?

Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths [Internal] Weaknesses [Internal] These are things that your business idea/firm do well and will be a source of competitive advantage. These are things that the business does or does not do which make it vulnerable and, over which you should be able to overcome. For example, poor planning or unable to meet deadlines. INTERNAL to your business. Things that come from inside it.

Opportunities [External] Threats [External] These offer opportunities for growth and market development. Where can you take this product? “What if we….?” “Could we....?” These will adversely affect a business. A business must be aware of possible threats and plan to avoid or minimise effects if they occur. What could cripple your product/firm? What will you do to avoid this? Opportunities and Threats EXTERNAL to your business. Things that happen outside your business.

Example (Not achieved as not explained) Strengths We have a wide variety of skilled individuals that involves hard workers, skills in Business, Creativity, Maths, and Accounting. We have reasonable communication levels. We all have a will to make money from the business. We have a Gilmores card that will give us access to discounted goods. We will have the school brand to help us with our product Weaknesses Although we are ambitious to learn, we don’t have much prior experience with selling products at any market We also don’t have any prior skills in being a general salesperson or handling money particularly well We are younger, so some may not take us seriously As teenagers we are more likely to be unrealistic e.g. optimistic or idealistic in how well we are going to sell things Opportunities  We have the opportunity to sell all of our products and therefore get a profit  We have the opportunity to get continue to run our stall in the future if it goes well this time, this would allow us to make money to help us with the future.  Running this stall will give us experience for future market and business experiences  We have the opportunity, if we are not quite the most successful, to see other successful stalls and see why they are successful Threats The weather may start to rain, or be worse than we first anticipated, trying combat this, we will hire a gazebo. The council may decide to shut down the market; in that case, we will try and move to Takapuna market place. We may sell out of stock early or not sell out of stock at all, as we may have priced it better. Many other business studies classes from Rangitoto College will be trying to sell their products at the same area using some of the same strategies (e.g.. using the school brand). In trying to combat this, we will be making our stall look unique and eye- catching to draw attention away from the others.

Marketing mix (4 Ps)

Product What is your product - include designs, prototype photos, descriptions of size(s)/colour(s)/feature(s)/community well being/packaging/Product life cycle/etc. Unique selling point (USP) – how is your product special/different. Why is it different and/or better than similar products in the market?

Price Pricing strategy(s) – See IGCSE Business Studies pgs 307 – 310 – Relate your strategy or strategies to your target market and brand Competitor price analysis – You may include bar graphs of prices of competitors products and analyse their pricing strategies.

Promotion Explain your brand Promotional methods – Advertising (Posters, leaflets, Internet/viral, signage, newspapers/magazines, direct mail, etc.) with designs! Other promotion – Gifts, competitions, displays/demonstrations, samples, coupons, etc. with designs. Personal selling – Sales techniques and customer service All should relate to your target market and goal(s)/mission/brand!

Place Physical place of sale – Which market will you choose to sell at? Why? – Where at the market should you position? (include diagram if you can)

Place Distribution channel

Marketplace information

Competitors – Who are they? What products do they sell that are similar to yours? How will you overcome this? Trends – Any relevant information on your product/market. E.g. Is it increasing in popularity? (Google trends useful for this) How will you use this?