New Product Launch Marketing Plan, Part II

Development and marketing a new product requires a detailed marketing plan that will help companies deliver the product with superior value. “ In a hypercompetitive economy, with increasingly informed buyers faced with abundant choices, a company can win only by fine tuning the value delivery process and choosing, providing, and communicating superior value” (Kotler & Keller,2012). Every Second Counts Incorporated (ESC Inc) has adopted these values to meet the demands of the current generation. Learning Team C will discuss the necessary strategies in the product launch that will occur in Canada and plans to meet the demands of the international market in China.

Domestic Market

Market Needs

According to Thomas, 2011, “ Over 20 million Canadians own mobile devices, according to comScore's MobiLens 8 million, or 40%, of Canadians own a smart phone. This is among the greatest smart phone penetration in the world.” ESC Inc is providing additional improvement to the smart phones that will focus on improved capabilities, faster processing times, improved 3D interface, and improved customer support. Canada’s smart phone users make up about one third of the mobile phone consumers and have used their mobile device for texting or taking pictures. According to the Huffington Post, 2013, 40.6 per cent of mobile subscribers used apps, 35 per cent sought out news or information, 32.7 per cent used a web browser, and almost 30 per cent accessed email and 27 per cent played games. With the increasing demand for smart phones, ESC will be introducing products that will improve the quality of smart phones in the future and provide applications that are user friendly that will be enhanced with full customer service support. These smart phones will be priced at a lesser value but will continue to provide enhanced functionality that will meet the fast and changing lifestyle of this generation.

Market Growth

The market growth domestically has shown the same type of market growth as we are seeing internationally. “Since smartphones have surpassed feature phones in Q2 of 2012, Canada has seen a tremendous growth in smartphone adoption, especially during the holiday quarter. According to comScore’s most recent data, 62% of Canadians own a smartphone” (Fekete, 2007-2013). Canada is a good market to remain in domestically for the smartphone because it will only continue to bring growth throughout the years to come.

A Brief SWOT Analysis

Strengths of the smart phones that will be presented will have faster capability and will be sold at a lesser price. The company will strive for the best customer support and will be part of its values. Weakness of marketing smart phones in Canada includes the inability to market a new brand and difficulty to compete with existing companies. Opportunities exist in Canada as smart phone users account for 62% of smart phone users internationally. According to LaSalle, 2012, “cellphone users are doing less calling as they buy more smart phones and use the device for texting, emailing, web surfing, mobile apps, social networking and watching videos. And it's that surge in data use that Canada's telecom companies — big and small — are banking on as the revenue driver of the future.” Threats for this newly designed smart phone include the rapidly changing technology that may make this smart phone obsolete in a short period of time.

Potential Competition

The mobile phone market has been dominated by by Samsung and Apple. However , another competitor is Huawei overtaking LG’s spot, the future of another provider remains bright

Product Justification Domestic/International

The product has demonstrated that we have a strong market both domestically and internationally for the sustainability of the product. The product has also sold itself and has shown that the demand for the product is increasing each year by leaps and bounds with a high demand not only to the executives but the everyday person.

This product will meet the needs of all and the company should build continue to build this product because it is not only going to increase the customer base but meet the demand and needs and desires of the market. Statistically the demand has increased over the years by high percentages yielding a high ROI.

“Although Canada has a “rooting interest” in seeing BlackBerry succeed, the competition in the market is led by Android and iOS platforms. Android currently accounts for more than 40% of the Canadian mobile market, followed by iOS, which inches toward the 40% mark” (Fekete, 2007-2013). This leaves the product being the best for the domestic market.

International Market

Market Needs

In the global economy where every second matters, the use of smart phones will be a way of life from making decisions about what to eat , determining what products to buy , or just get some directions on where to go.“Worldwide smart phone shipments are forecast to grow 40.0% year over year to more than 1.0 billion units this year. Total smart phone shipments are forecast to reach 1.7 billion units in 2017” (IDC Press Release, 2013). ESC Inc. aims to provide smart phones that will have improved capabilities which include faster processing time, user friendly applications, better imaging and enhanced customer support.

Market Growth

The smartphone has shown a market growth internationally and domestically for the six systems. “Google’s Android operating system is dominating mobile operating system shipments according to both Gartner and IDC and will continue to lead the market through 2016” (Forbes, 2013). Below you will find the most sought out systems that are being sold around the world. Overall it is being estimated that the market will grow from 601m to 925m from now until 2016 and that the majority will purchase a smartphone during those years.

IDC has also reported that internationally the smartphone has shown market growth in China and India. China has had a steady growth over the years with no decline in sight over the next three years. According to Reitzin “ 147.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (62 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in September 2013” (Reitzin,2013).

A Brief SWOT Analysis

Strengths of the newly designed phones include enhanced capability with faster processing time. The creative and innovative teams of engineers of this phone have a variety of experience obtained from the creation of early mobile devices. In comparison to the current prices of existing smart phones in the market, ESC products promises to provide phones with better capacity at a lower cost. Weaknesses of ESC Inc. Include the reliance of an enormous capital from private financing to promote the growth of the business. Opportunities include the increasing amount of the Chinese population that has resorted to use of social media with the use of their mobile devices during their long commute time. The development of the Chinese smart phone generation consists of factory workers in their teens and early twenties, working in the outskirts of Beijing (Larson, 2013). Threats for any newly started company involve the existence of big and powerful competitors that may develop a better smart phone device faster than a startup company and the political and economic climate in China.

Potential Competition

The international and domestic market will encompass many potential competitors in this form of business. Blackberry messenger is a close potential competition for smartphones in the Canadian market. "BlackBerry Messenger has long been one of the most-loved parts of the Canadian phone company's service, letting fellow BlackBerry owners send free messages and know when someone had read a message, as well as start group chats" (Daro, 2013).

Product Offering and Product Definition

ESC Inc. will be offering a better smart phone in markets domestically, in Canada, and Internationally in China which has improved capabilities, enhancing the basic cell phone which are mainly used for texting and taking pictures. Consumers will be able to see the person they are talking to in real time with improved video processing times and improved 3D interface. This smart phone will have a stronger signal strength. Users will no longer have to find stronger signal cells but can be in the most comfortable position and not worry about losing reception strength. No more dropped calls and less freezing up of screens. Users no longer have to return to the home screen to get out of a frozen screen or dropped call. With the increased battery life the phone will not require charging as often as current cell phones on the market. The phone will be so user-friendly that consumers in the Baby-Boomer generations will have no difficulty maneuvering operations and applications (Gallagher, 2009). This is a phone young people and older generations will absolutely adore.

Conclusion

An effective marketing plan focuses on what consumers will buy and how the product is better than its competitors. A pricing and promotional strategy is formed and then a decision is made on how the product will be distributed and where the product will be distributed. Smartphones are getting more powerful every day and they are used worldwide. To understand the needs and wants about the buyers from a domestic market and an international market, surveys are given to smartphone consumers. It is important to understand the interests and needs of the customer. To stay competitive, surveys help find out what the consumer actually thinks about the product.

References