Marketing Paper 2 Full - Professor Bob Akin. Required Business Core requirement for all TCU Business PDF

Preview

Summary

Professor Bob Akin. Required Business Core requirement for all TCU Business majors....

Description

MARKETING REPORT II

A brief description of the Marketing Team’s plan to promote Holiday Powersports

Bianca Feliciano Megan Schmidt Patrick LaCour Heidi Nguyen Mary Pate

Marketing Program Product The heart of any marketing plan lies in the product. Without quality wares, business will fail no matter how groundbreaking the campaign. Holiday Powersports offers a wide range of ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles, and Personal Water Crafts that rival the bigger competitors. Holiday does not limit itself when it comes to brands, as the company carries several different highly regarded brands of power sport vehicles. Holiday prides itself on customer satisfaction, bringing as many opportunities to personalize the vehicle as possible. For example, Holiday carries 13 different varieties of motorcycle which allows the company cater to every individual customer’s needs. Holiday understands that potential customers may turn to other companies if they cannot find the exact product they are searching for. One way to further improve customer satisfaction in regard to product is by employing a survey on the Facebook page or other comparable social media site asking what specific brands customers wish we would carry. This would increase involvement and we believe will result in increased sales as customers will feel more loyal to a company that listens to them and their needs. Price One aspect of the marketing mix that is fairly limited is the price of the products sold. It is much more challenging to promote a product based on the price, as a successful business has to have a healthy profit margin. This can be done either by increasing total revenue or by decreasing costs. We recommend doing both simultaneously; for example, Holiday can implement a referral program where if the referee makes a purchase, both the referee and the referrer will receive some type of discount. This can come in the form of lower interest rates for financing, half-price additions to their purchase, or even a direct discount on a future purchase. The team believes that this program will drive those customers who might have not made the trip to the Sherman location while also increasing the number of return customers. The price of selling coupons and raffle tickets will be relatively low. Custom merchandise like sunglass straps, beer openers, and koozies is cheaper if Holiday purchases in bulk. The standard price for a 4' x 6' banner is $139.99. If Holiday chooses to advertise in local magazines like the Fort Worth Magazine, Holiday should expect to pay between $500--$1000 depending on the size of the ad and location within the magazine. Place Holiday Powersports’ biggest selling point is the experience it gives. Locating Holiday Powersports’ products near potential customers is a key portion of the marketing program. Holiday should take advantage of their personable employees and place them in strategic areas near customers. Employees can interact with potential customers in comfortable settings where the customer does not feel like they are being sold to. Potential locations include Lake Texoma, Texas Motor Speedway, and other local areas.

2

Promotion Promotion may not be the heart of the marketing plan in the same way that the product is, but promotion is the brain of the plan. Promotion is the main variable when it comes to endorsing the product and offers very diverse avenues for a company to explore. The marketing team has come up with several different promotional ideas and the team is confident that the implementation of one—or all—of the ideas will result in increased sales and overall brand value. The first idea is to combine the dependable concept of a trade show with the more unique, targetmarket-associated location of Texas Motor Speedway. The team suggests renting a space in the parking lot to advertise the wares of Holiday. Texas Motor Speedway has a history of partnering with Duck Commander, making it an ideal place to show off Holiday’s inventory. After partnering with Polaris, Holiday Powersports can raffle off a camouflage Polaris ATV or UTV with the proceeds of the raffle benefitting the Grayson County Sheriff’s Department. Not only does this idea bring the product into the customer’s view, but it also associates Holiday’s brand with philanthropy. This can all be done with minimal cost to Holiday resulting in the potential for a large return on investment. The raffle does not have to stop benefitting the company after the ATV has been raffled off; the raffle tickets also can double as coupons for those who make the trip to Sherman to see the inventory in person. If a customer comes with proof of attending the event at Texas Motor Speedway, he or she can receive certain accessories free with the purchase of a power sport vehicle. The team suggests making these coupons contingent upon the customer coming to the brick and mortar Holiday store location within 60 days of the event. This will result in a sense of urgency for the customer and can increase the total number of customers that make the trip up to Sherman. The motor speedway event also provides customers with the opportunity to form a positive opinion about Holiday. The marketing team suggests that a select number of high achieving salespeople should be the face of Holiday at this event. Preferably, these employees should have experience and knowledge of various outdoor activities and be able to converse easily about NASCAR and various events occurring at Texas Motor Speedway. The team believes that this will allow the potential customers to form relationships with the sales people. These relationships, alone, can increase the probability of sales. A logistical issue with this idea is convincing potential customers to actually come over to the Holiday tent. Making the space as enticing as possible will address this matter. Setting up various lawn games around the space, playing popular music on speakers, and providing cold beverages to customers are just a few ideas on attracting people to Holiday’s tent area. One tactic that the team suggests in particular is to hand out various items such as koozies, croakies, bottle openers, keychains, etc. that are branded with both Holiday’s logo and the logo of the particular vehicle that is being raffled off. All of these items are cheap and serve the purpose of keeping Holiday in the customer’s mind for the foreseeable future. An additional idea to go with the Texas Motor Speedway event is that Holiday can host an exciting and family-friendly Memorial Day event. The event will be held on-site in Sherman, TX. The consulting team suggests that the marketing committee support the partnering with local restaurants, breweries, and bands which will make the event entertaining and enjoyable. Local

3

food trucks such as Cackle & Oink Barbeque and La Placita Mexican Cuisine will be invited to come to the event. Another promotional idea that Holiday Powersport should consider is a jet ski demonstration event at Lake Texoma in the summertime from the end of May to the beginning of September. Similar to the idea of setting up a booth in the Texas Motor Speedway, a jet ski demonstration will include several interactive activities that allow the customers to learn about Holiday Powersport and its friendly customer service. Jet ski demonstrations serve as a great personal selling tool for the company to directly interact with and impress potential customers in the Sherman area. Holiday Powersport should bring jet skis to the demonstrations to offer trials to potential customers and convince customers about its high-quality products. During the event, Holiday Powersport can also host a social media competition to involve more people and spread awareness of the event. For instance, the person whose picture (with a Holiday Powersport’s hashtag) has the most “likes” on Facebook or Instagram will win a special prize. The prizes can be add-on accessories that go hand-in-hand with jet skis, such as life jackets. Another way that Holiday Powersport can increase its presence on social media is to livestream its jet ski demonstrations on social media. The consulting team strongly believes that interactive events are the most effective way for Holiday Powersports to promote itself to potential customers because these events emphasize the company’s efforts to create convenient and fun experience for its customers. There will be a raffle for a free Hisun Motors ATV. This raffle will incorporate public relations by donating all of the proceeds to a local charity, Grayson County Juvenile Alternatives. This charity serves the homeless youth and their families and works with them to better their lives. Since this Memorial Day event is tailored to families, the recommended charity is a great one to support. Similar to the Texas Motor Speedway event, coupons that offer a free accessory and a rebate will be passed out. These will only be redeemable if customers make a purchase on the day of the event to create a sense of urgency and encourage them to commit to purchasing a vehicle while they are at Holiday Powersports that day. Freebies such as beer openers, koozies, and sunglasses straps with the company logo will be passed out. For the kids, there will be an inflatable bounce house, UTV rides, and other kid-friendly activities. There will be a remote-control ATV race for the kids. The race winner will get to take home a remote-controlled ATV. This event will be advertised in an ad run in the Fort Worth Magazine as well as on local radio stations. It will also be promoted on social media, specifically on Facebook by posting videos that advertise all of the different aspects of the event. Initially, the team recommends investing in a Facebook blast so that people in the target location will all see the video. After the initial blast, the team anticipates that people will share our videos and do some of our advertising work for us. Similar to a lake event, Holiday can organize a tribute to local firefighters and/or police officers along with their families. The event would give locals an opportunity to test Holiday’s different products and come together to celebrate great leaders of the community. In addition to testing the products, Holiday can put together a competition of firefighters against police officers. The

4

competition can utilize some of the safer Holiday products like ATVs but also include simple, interactive outdoor games. Although this does not necessarily link the customer to the product directly, customers will still be able remember the experience they had with Holiday and be willing to go back to Holiday when they want the experience again. Pictures and videos of the competition would be posted on social media after consent from the participants. The event provides a public relations opportunity where Holiday could invest in trending to spread the word. Hashtags could be used to see who viewers believe the winner will be. The goal is to encourage viewers to repost and share the posts to create earned value. Holiday can promote themselves without holding specific events as well. There are several high schools in Cook and Grayson counties with a lot of attendance at football games. Holiday can pay for ad space in the programs that they hand out each game. Holiday can also hang a banner near the field promoting upcoming events and deals. Additionally, Holiday can create a raffle and give away free merchandise with the Holiday logo on it. These advertisement opportunities are relatively inexpensive and would not require represents. Implementation Plan Holiday will need to budget and account for all of the costs necessary for this project to succeed. Holiday will need to budget for transportation costs and the cost that comes with hauling its vehicles off-site to events at Texas Motor Speedway, Lake Texoma, or other sites. Holiday will also need to determine how much advertising it wishes to do. In other words, Holiday needs to establish the size of the radius in which it advertises an event such as a commemoration for firefighters and police officers so that too many people do not attend the event. This should not be difficult as Holiday must remain in its DMA (Demographic Marketing Area). However, Holiday can use methods such as radio advertisements or social media ads to promote itself outside of the DMA without violating any laws. With all of these ideas for events and additional promotional tactics, some changes will need to be made to the company. However, the culture of being able to help the customer determine what he/she needs and wants is already established at Holiday; so this can remain the same. Plus, Holiday has built strong relationships with customers and businesses near the stores location. This “positive image” will work to the company’s advantage off-site. Changes that can be implemented are encouraging employees to stay in-tune with happenings and events in Sherman area. This will be beneficial in identifying which employees are selected to represent the company at Texas Motor Speedway and other off-site events in which employees must have knowledge about the product, the event, and current situations in the surrounding area. Investments in technology are a necessity for this plan to succeed as well. Holiday will need to invest in devices such as tablets that can directly connect to the company’s inventory and other data. This will allow customers to either make purchases at off-site events and receive the vehicle at a later date; or the information will spark an interest in customers and influence them to come to the Sherman store and figure out what type of specific vehicle they wish to purchase. Relating to actual vehicles, Holiday should also invest in technology that allows its customers to take a look at the vehicles and see what differentiates them from other similar products. The technology can come in the form of an electronic diagram able to be displayed on a laptop, computer, tablet, or television screen. Allowing customers to see a digital image will assist the 5

customers in better understanding the products’ various features as well as their distinguishing components. Challenges that Holiday Powersports might face when implementing this marketing plan are the ineffective planning of promotional events and ineffective collaboration of cross-functional employees. To maximize success, Holiday Powersports needs to thoroughly plan the promotional events in terms of schedule, funding, and human resources. Because the proposed promotional mix contains various initiatives, it is important that the company has a thorough plan to ensure these promotional events complement each other. For instance, to ensure each event reaches its maximum impact on potential customers, Holiday Powersports needs to create an annual marketing schedule for all upcoming promotional events. After having an annual marketing schedule, Holiday Powersports should also plan adequate funding for each promotional event. Due to the budget limit, funding should be carefully planned to ensure that each event runs. Another issue that Holiday Powersports might face in the implementation phase of this marketing plan is the ineffective collaboration of cross-functional employees. Because of the comprehensive nature of this marketing plan, implementing this plan requires the collaboration of various departments across the company. Without effective cross-functional teamwork and clear communication, Holiday Powersports will not be able to implement the plan. Therefore, management should communicate its commitment to implement this plan clearly to all employees to ask for their commitment to work together and create remarkable business results.

6

Proforma Income Statement Holiday Powersports For the year of 2018 Debit

Credit

Revenue $635,388.77 Marketing $95,308.32

Total Budget Expenses Facebook Promotion

$1,200.00

Referall Discount

$14,000.00

Trade Show Costs

$7,500.00

Catering Cost

$10,075.00

Band Cost

$7,500.00

Texas Motor Speedway

$7,000.00

Branded Free Item

$5,500.00

Marina Shows

$9,750.00

Accessory Discount

$4,675.00

Radio Advertising

$7,500.00

Children's Activities Cost

$2,250.00

High School Football Adverts.

$7,500.00

Travel Costs

$1,200.00

Traditional Advertisment

$6,450.00

Total Expenses

$92,100.00 $3,208.32

Dollars in Reserve Sales Forecast

The numbers above have been prepared through the use of estimations. Sales comes from the estimation that 6 units will be sold per month at an average cost of around $9,000.00 each. The total marketing budget is 15% of total sales. The expenses come from raw estimations. The team has left about $3,200 in reserve in the case of any unexpected costs. 7...