Paper#1

Principles of Marketing

(MKT 3013)

Written Assignment-3

This file contains copyright material. Copying, website posting, reproducing, and

distributing in any form is strictly prohibited. Total Points: 35. Due Date: Sunday, November 20 at 11:59 PM. Submission via Blackboard. Please note that the due date has been extended from November 6 to November 20. This assignment is to be completed individually.

Please carefully review and follow these instructions.

• Page Length: 2 pages, single-spaced (excluding cover page).

• No Research references required for this assignment.

• The cover page must list your name and the topic (e.g., Written Assignment-3) and the student’s name.

• Use page numbers.

• For this assignment, students are required to meet the content-match threshold of 30% match or less. The plagiarism tool (SafeAssign) is already integrated in Blackboard and it will show the match percentage after the paper is uploaded. Sometimes the application may take a little time to process the score. If that happens, you should log out of Blackboard and log back in a short while later. Please avoid using direct quotes from the research sources. The write-up MUST be in your words/your own work. Papers exceeding the 10% content-match threshold will be assessed a penalty.

• Only one submission is allowed per student.

• Late submissions not allowed/will not be accepted.

• Due date extensions and or make-ups not available, therefore, please plan ahead and submit the work within the above-listed due date.

This activity requires students to apply learning from various topics including consumer behavior; segmentation, targeting, and positioning; product marketing; new product development; pricing; and integrated marketing communications.

Marketing Campaign for a Smart HVAC Thermostat Scenario As a consumer electronics company, Acme Company manufactures and markets smart home products such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) thermostats, video surveillance, and other similar products. These products are sold to consumers through a variety of direct and indirect channels including company website, home improvement retailers (such as Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards), consumer electronics and appliance outlets (such as Best Buy), as well as several online marketplaces (such as Amazon). These products can be self-installed, or customers have the option to utilize authorized third-party installers many of whom are also affiliated with the manufacturer and retailers. From a marketing standpoint, the company employs traditional and digital channels/platforms to promote or advertise its products to consumers across the US. One of Acme’s flagship products is a line of technologically advanced, smart HVAC thermostats (similar to Google Nest) which can be connected to the Internet through in- home Wi-Fi and ranges in price from $129 - $299 per unit. These smart thermostats offer a variety of options to consumers including being able to program, monitor, and control the device through an embedded interface as well as a mobile app. Furthermore, these smart thermostats can also be integrated with other household devices such as digital assistants which allows users to change settings via voice commands. The smart thermostats also provide users with a plethora of information including energy consumption by day of the week as well as monthly usage trends, temperature across different zones in the house, etc. The smart thermostat product has been around for a few years and is currently in the growth stage of its life cycle. Moreover, the smart thermostats account for a growing portion of Acme’s home automation product line revenue and profitability and are increasingly being sought by consumers for various reasons including their energy efficiency benefits, convenience, contemporary style and aesthetic appeal, etc. Acme has just launched a third-generation model and is trying to attract new customers while also encouraging existing ones to upgrade to the new product. Acme has decided to utilize its existing channel and independent installer network to launch the new product while also persuading existing customers to upgrade to the newer product which retails for $299/unit. As the product manager for Acme, you have completed your internal research and planning and found that you have a large installed base of first generation thermostat users as many never upgraded to the second version for various reasons such as hassles of installing a new device, higher pricing for the newer version, perceived lack of need to upgrade on the part of the customer, etc. Your research also shows that the smart thermostat market is becoming increasingly competitive as several companies have launched lower-cost devices which offer many of the same features and functionality as

your products. However, since many of these competitors are new to the market, they do not have a legacy customer base, nor do they face the same marketing challenges of supporting multiple product versions. ASSIGNMENT Develop a consumer-focused email (minimum 2-pages) which is to be sent to existing product owners, both first and second generation smart thermostat customers. Assume you have their contact information from when they purchased or registered the product. The email should focus on accomplishing the following objectives:

a) Persuades recipient to open the email. b) Provides information about the new product. c) Prompts specific action such as visiting your website or clicking on certain links

to find more information about the new product. d) Persuades customers to upgrade to the new product.

MUST HAVE ELEMENTS FOR THE EMAIL

1. Subject line: A compelling/creative header (the goal is to cut through the email fatigue many consumers already face from getting inundated by email marketers)

2. Email Body: Mix of text and visual content, e.g., an image (the objective is to keep the audience engaged with the email) which provides product and other pertinent information.

3. Email Body: Call to action – e.g., some sort of embedded buttons or images, etc., that consumers are encouraged to click to obtain additional information or to go to a specific landing page/micro-site where they can purchase the product.

4. The lay-out must mimic an actual email.

OTHER INFORMATION

• You must use Acme as your brand. However, you have the freedom to design your own Acme logo.

• You are allowed to use existing product images from the Internet. Please cite source underneath each image you include.

• You are not required to use any live URLs or embed actual URLs in the email.

• You are expected to use sales incentive/promotion to persuade customers to purchase the product.