An effective marketing strategy is a combination of distinct pricing strategy, placement strategy, promotion strategy, product strategy along with segmentation, profiling, targeted market and competition (Smith, 2016). Marketing mix is an effective tool for covering every aspect of product development. Marketing does not start when a product is ready and it is brought in front of customers for purchasing. The marketing process starts way before the product development phase. It initiates with idea validation when it is conceived that there is a gap in the market or an unmet need or unresolved problem for which a new product or services can be introduced. This idea is refined and assessed in terms of its production, resources needed for its production, their effectiveness and efficiency through the process of product validation. Furthermore, market assessment is done to learn whether or not there are enough customers to buy the product. After idea validation, product validation and market validation, the production phase starts which also incorporates the features, styles and in-detail assessment of the product. Along with it, the pricing strategy is decided which is based on numerous factors. To begin with, the cost incurred on the manufacturing is considered along with the competitive process, micro and macro factors. The third P of placement answers the question where the product or service will be placed through stores, retails, online purchase etc. The final P is the answer to how the potential customers will know about the product and be convinced to buy it. This process is extensive and it covers the exchange process from every side. Although the marketing mix of 4 Ps is an old process yet its effectiveness is still significant.
Product or Service Strategy:
The product strategy of the world of Warcraft has remained very clear in its initial years and this was the reason that it was a huge success till 2016 after which the number of customer base started decreasing. The online gaming industry was in its initial stages at the time of launch of the game and with an innovative idea, the game was readily accepted by the gamers. However, over the years the gaming industry has changed and it is still changing as it is an ever-changing industry due to technological improvements and changes in techniques. With every passing day, new design philosophies are created and new features are added. These features and new design remained an important part of the world of Warcraft's product strategy but these features are not up to the standard. The new games coming in the market have much better graphics and new features. Hence it is crucial that if the world of Warcraft wants to capture more customer base and also retain its current customers it is mandatory that they develop new graphics and add new features which are according to the trends of the market (Smith, 2016).
Pricing strategy
The pricing strategy is very crucial for any product and service because it determines the value exchange process. The pricing strategy is always very sensitive because wrong pricing strategy can result in failure of the conniving customer to buy a particular product because they believe that they are getting more than the expected value of the product and service. This is why the pricing strategy of the world of Warcraft is very significant. The previous pricing strategy was a one-time purchase as the customer bought the game and they will get a month free trial but they have to pay later on. The one-time price was a little high for price-sensitive customers. It is important to understand here that there are two types of customer, one those who are not sensitive to price. This segment includes those who are young and do not have many responsibilities. They spend either their parent's money if they are too young from 14-18 years of age and if they are older they have their own money but young people spend their money openly on entertainment. But this is not true for these who are in their early 30s. These people might be married and have a lot more responsibility. These people find it hard to pay a lump-sum amount at the start. Hence the better strategy is the shift from a one-time purchase to an online subscription model where the customers start playing without paying anything at all at the start but once they get addicted to it, they either pay on monthly subscriptions or make in-app purchases for next levels. Both options are feasible but the option of in-app purchase is more suitable because it does not burden those how do not want to play further but those who are addicted will pay as per their choice. This model is more suitable.
Promotional Strategy (advertising, online, etc.)
Promotional strategy is an integral part of brand awareness, brand perception and positing. It is the key to gaining and retaining customers. Promotion is one of four Ps of the marketing mix and it constitutes of primarily promotional activities which are advertising, public relations, events, sponsorships etc. For World of Warcraft, promotion played an important role in developing the current customer base. For its promotional activities, the world of Warcraft employs an integrated marketing strategy with a utility of multiple marketing channels. These channels could be a zero-level channel, reverse-flow channel and one-two-three-level channel. For World of Warcraft, the most appropriate promotional strategy is direct promotion through their website. Blizzard Entertainment has the game available on its official website. Customers can very easily download the game from the website and install it. Similarly, the retailers can do the same, they are given access to the game and have a contract with the manufacturer. For an effective promotional strategy, a combination of advertising and sales promotion is used. For advertising, social media advertising is the most feasible option based on the fact that the young potential customers of the game are also an active user of social media. Furthermore, sales promotion is also used for attracting customers. For effective sales promotion, discounts can be provided and offers can be given on in-app purchase. Another aspect of promotional activities is through customer service. Furthermore, the game can reach out to its customer for promotion through gamer sponsorship, product placement at fast-food chains, and twitch streaming Ads.
Social Media
Social media can be effectively sued by the world of Warcraft for its promotional strategy. It is the most effective tool for reaching out to potential customers. First, the social media platforms develop segments based on the interest of their users, these interest groups can be sued by the team of the world of Warcraft to understand their interest and targeted the accordingly. Furthermore, these promotional activities can be extended to all the potential customers across the globe. In addition to that, the social media advertising has more reach for young customers because those who play games are also a very active user of social media. Hence the social media can be used. E-mail marketing can also be a type of social media marketing (LI, 2011).
Distribution:
Distribution and placement is the fourth pillar of the marketing mix. It is important for making it accessible to customers. With excellent promotional strategy and most refined features at the best price cannot yield the result if the customers cannot have access to the product. The distribution strategy could of various types including exclusive distribution, intensive distribution and selective distribution. The most suitable distribution strategy for World of Warcraft is exclusive distribution. They should make it accessible for their customers through certain retailers. Granting a license to certain retailers is a safe option because it secures the smuggled versions. Furthermore, the game should be made accessible through the gaming market and particular websites where all other games are available. Moreover, since the market is growing and customers are present in faraway places and in other parts of the world, this is crucial that games are available at faraway places as well. For this, the safest option is through website download. As discussed above that the pricing strategy ought to be shifted to in-app purchases hence it is feasible that game can be downloaded free of cost from the website of the blizzard entertainment and then for in-app purchase credit details can be added.
Financials
Marketing Budget and sales forecast
For the past three years since 2016, the number of registered users has not seen a positive trajectory. The firm has been using the same marketing budget it was using previously but this budget and marketing efforts could not provide to be fruitful. If the registered users could not have increased, at least it could have helped in sustaining them but unfortunately, the number of users has been on the decrease. This might be because of innovative new rivals and same graphics ad outdated features of the world of Warcraft. Now there could be two options, as it is planned above that the firm will improve its graphics, add new features and come with a new approach of customers. For communicating this approach to customers, either the same budget can be used or it can be increased. The right approach should be to employ the same budget for time being but use effective mediums like social media marketing. Since social marketing cost less and reach out to more customers, this will be an effective strategy. Furthermore, those practices which are a burden and do not yield enough customer must be drop. Based on these new efforts, sales can be increased especially in terms of this lockdown situation. Those who can afford it will increase their involvement in the game because they have plenty of time at hand but those who were price sensitive previously will quit it because of economic recession (Wood, 2013).
Implementation:
Marketing Calendar (Promotional Schedule）
· The foremost important aspect of marketing calendar of the World of Warcraft is innovation in its product. If the world of Warcraft wants to capture more customer base and also retain its current customers it is mandatory that they develop new graphics and add new features which are according to the trends of the market.
· The pricing strategy also needs to be changed from a one-time purchase to in-app purchases to attract more and more customers by removing the primary hindrance of purchase and once the customers are addicted to the game based on its quality, they make the purchase for next levels.
· For its distributional activities, the world of Warcraft employs an integrated strategy with a utility of multiple distribution channels. These channels could be a zero-level channel, reverse-flow channel and one-two-three-level channel. For World of Warcraft, the most appropriate placement strategy is direct download through their website. Blizzard Entertainment has the game available on its official website. Customers can very easily download the game from the website and install it. The most suitable distribution strategy for World of Warcraft is exclusive distribution. They should make it accessible for their customers through certain retailers.
· For its promotional activities, World of Warcraft employs an integrated marketing strategy with the utility of multiple marketing channels. For an effective promotional strategy, a combination of advertising and sales promotion is used.
· For advertising, social media advertising is the most feasible option based on the fact that the young potential customers of the game are also an active user of social media. Social media also provides the opportunity to target the customers based on their interest which provides better segmentation opportunities for targeting the right segments for more fruitful results.
· Furthermore, sales promotion is also used for attracting customers. For effective sales promotion, discounts can be provided and offers can be given on in-app purchase. These discounts offers can attract price-sensitive customers.
· Another aspect of promotional activities is through customer service.
· Furthermore, the game can reach out to its customer for promotion through gamer sponsorship, product placement at fast-food chains, and twitch streaming Ads. These platforms can be effectively used to interact with game enthusiast through more direct interaction (Klaus, 2020).
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