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New Product Launch Part 3

Elizabeth Berger, Constanza Pierre, Diana Velez

MKT571

November 24, 2014

William Riecken

Table of Contents

Executive Summary Page 3

Company Description Page 3

Mission and Goals Page 4

Core Competencies Page 4

Situational Analysis Page 5

Market Growth and Competitive Analysis Page 5

Segmentation, Target Marketing, and Positioning Page 6

Pricing and Distribution Strategies Page 8

Marketing Communication Plan Page 8

Financial Information Page 9

Intended Marketing Objectives ….. Page10

Evaluation, Control Metrics, and Methodology Page11

Contingency Plan Page11

Summary Page12

New Product Launch Part 3

Executive summary

The five-year marketing plan for Halo, Inc. has been created to provide a snapshot of the company’s current status and direction of the new product launch. The Halo will provide database storage database for personal or professional use. Our intention is to launch our product in the domestic and international markets. Although our company will be launching a product that has been introduced by other companies, we do believe there is an opportunity for our product to successful within this market. The market for this type of product is steadily increasing and entering the market now will prove to be an advantage for our company and its investors. Over the next five years, our storage database will offer consumers a choice for storing information that best fits their needs with prices that are more inexpensive than our competitors.

Company Description

The Halo is a database storage application for all devices with internet access. It can store photos, documents, music, and files. Halo can store information from your phone, tablet or computer, with information accessible and with download capabilities from the website.

The Halo application provides convenience to all users irrespective of the devices they own are using at any particular time. The Halo product is available in different versions and ready for installation on phones, tablets, and PCs to cater for all your data needs. It allows for synchronization of your devices for ease of access to your document files from anywhere. Depending on your domestic data consumption needs, the app is available in varied packages to serve your interest. The price of each package is concordant to the size of the package that interests you. You can take advantage of free trials for the product before deciding to commit to our subscription plans (Marketing Minds, 2014).

Halo’s Mission and Goals

Our mission is to be the leading provider of storage database systems for domestic and international markets by allowing consumers to customize the service needed for storing information and by also making that information accessible through the internet. In addition, Halo will strive to offer the top of the line security and privacy setting for our customers.

During the five-year plan, Halo Storage Database Application wants to achieve the following financial and nonfinancial goals:

· Financial Goal

· Obtain financing to enter domestic and international markets

· Develop strategic pricing strategies that will set Halo apart from its competitors.

· Have a revenue increase each year after the third year. Since most companies typically see an increase in revenues until after the second year.

· Nonfinancial goal

· Customize a logo for the Halo Application

· Enter domestic and international markets

· Develop an Internet site, for customers to access store information outside of the application

Core Competencies

Halo plans to use it core competencies to be competitive in both, domestic and international markets by providing its customers with competitive storage pricing plans that its competitors are unable to offer. We will offer our (1) multiple storage plans, (2) competitive pricing plans, and (3) top of the line security and privacy settings for protection.

Situational Analysis

Introducing a product into the domestic and international markets can be risky but at the successful. This product is not a new product. There are companies that have been successful with database storage; however there are some changes we look to implement to make our product standout amongst the rest. To assist in making this happen, we have performed an SWOT analysis, for both domestic and international markets (Apple, Inc., 2014). With the marketing environment for storage databases being fairly new, it provides Halo with an opportunity of becoming a successful competitor. The Table listed below, Table A, provides an SWOT analysis of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities ad threats for domestic and international markets.

Table A: Strengths	Weaknesses
Innovation of Research and Development Competitive Pricing and Plan availability	Limited experience in the industry Brand awareness
Opportunities	Threats
Growth opportunities in a growing industry Partnerships with other companies (i.e. cellular)	Present/Future competition Security & Privacy

Our strengths include the innovative research and development and our competitive pricing plans available to the consumer. Because we are emerging into and industry and market that are already steadily growing, we have to remain ahead of other companies when it comes to innovation while remaining competitive in pricing. Our weakness is our limited experience in the industry. Because we are a new and young company, entering an industry that is pre-occupied with well-known brands like Apple and Microsoft, we may have some difficulty establishing brand awareness. We expect the Halo product to be successful because of the growth opportunities within the industry. We look forward to the possibility of partnering up with cellular or computer companies. With more introductions of database storage companies, it could lead to threats of future competition, offering cheaper pricing, but it could also increase security and privacy issues.

Market growth potential and competitive analysis

The estimated growth of the market for both domestic and international data storage varies from 27.3% for servers to 61.4% for storage by 2015 (International Data Corporation, 2012). There is a growing demand for storage systems that functions as archiving storage. Halo would be able to accommodate the archiving needs of consumers. In 2015, the number of intelligence communicating devices will outnumber IT devices. It will increase the amount of storage needed both domestically and internationally (International Data Corporation, 2012).

The potential domestic and international competitors include Apple’s iCloud, Dropbox, Goggle Cloud, and Microsoft Cloud. These companies provide services, in both, the domestic and international markets. The differences between these companies are pricing. Pricing is determined by the plan (amount of storage) chosen by the consumers.

Segmentation, target market, and positioning

The market segmentation is the process of defining a group, meeting the needs of prospective buyers and their responses to marketing actions. The areas needed to identify the segment are distinction, reaction, and common needs (Kotler & Keller 2012). Halo’s marketing segmentation will be financial and government businesses that need shared business accounts and private database storage. The business accounts will enable a company to link and group Halo ID’s for sharing resources within the business. The Halo ID’s are private data storage which allows these businesses to have their own Halo server managed by their company. Many businesses hesitate to purchase data base storage because they are unable to manage it themselves. Halo will provide this for the prospective buyer based on their feedback to competitors. This will add an extra layer of protection against hackers.

The target market for Halo will include the customers that competitors are unable to provide the services needed. For example, Apple doesn’t have a business data base or business group sharing capabilities. This is the market that Halo will target and provide the needed services. The target market will include financial and government businesses that are in need of private databases and group sharing capabilities.

Halo positioning is for financial and government businesses who need a private database server and group sharing. Halo provides servers based on the need of the company and the group sharing capabilities. Unlike, iCloud the Halo is ahead of the growing demand for private database storage. Halo will continue to invest in the needs of financial and government businesses that need an extra layer of privacy and protection.

Pricing and distribution strategies

The Halo pricing strategy will be cost-plus pricing. This will allow Halo to determine the break-even price for the private data base storage and the business group sharing (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The production, marketing, and distribution will be calculated and a mark-up for each service will be set based on the calculations. An audit will be done to determine the profit for the company, the sales objective, and a price the customers will pay.

The distribution strategy will be direct distribution. This will give Halo control over all products. Halo will provide the products directly to the consumers. Direct distribution will allow Halo to interact directly with the consumers (Kotler & Keller, 2012). This is important when dealing with business consumers. Halo will have an opportunity to send a sales representative to each consumer which will allow them to have a personalize relationship. This will allow Halo the opportunity to observe trends and consumer preferences.

Marketing Communication Plan

Marketing communication is critical to the activities of marketing. The right audience and the right message are obtained through effective marketing communication (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Halo’s marketing communication plan will be differentiation from the competitors. Halo will accomplish this though several communication tools including advertising, websites, social media, and email. Halo will provide information on how they differ from the competitors. The target audience will notice the first differentiation will be the business component that includes private storage data bases, and group sharing with personalize Halo ID’s. The customer service that Halo provides will set us apart from competitor with providing a personal sales representative for each business that purchases a Halo private storage data base package.

Financial Information

The financial information and charts for Halo include the forecasting for expenses, sales, promotional budget, marketing expenses, and break-even analysis. The break even analysis for Halo will show the amount needed in monthly revenue to reach a break-even point. Halo will experience low activity for the first year. The second year will have a sales increase but not significantly. The third year Halo will be able to make further investments due to 15% increase in market shares and a 5% national increase in sales.

Sales Forecast
	2015	2016	2017
Sales
Financial Business Customer	$52,318	$70,588	$83,774
Gov't Business Customer	$85,422	$96,543	$111,234
Total Sales	$137,740	$167,131	$195,008
Direct Cost of Sales	2015	2016	2017
Financial Business Customer	$14,905	$31,298	$35,132
Gov't Business Customer	$18,627	$48,963	$53,370
Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales	$33,532	$80,261	$88,502

20152016

Monthly

Unit

$6,000 $8,000

Monthly

Sales

$1,200 $1,500

Assumptio

ns

Average

per Unit

Revenue

$225 $300

Average

Per Unit

Variable

Cost

$150$200

Average

per Unit

Revenue

80,500$90,050

$375

$250

100,600

$10,000

$2,000

Break-Even Analysis

2017

Marketing Expense Budget
	2015	2016	2017
Ads	$6,000	$8,000	$10,000
Social Media	$1,200	$1,500
Other	$500	$700	$900
Total Sales and Marketing Expenses	$7,700	$10,200	$12,900

Intended marketing objectives for Y1, Y2, and Y3

By the end of the first year, the product will gain 10% of the international market share and 20% of the national share. In the second year, the organization intends to gain another 18% of the international market share and 8% of the national share. That will increase the revenues from the sales of the products in a competitive market. In the third year, the marketing objective is to gain another 15% of the market share and another 5% of the national market share.

Implementation milestones

In order to gain the shares in the first year, the identified segment will be targeted effectively (Lodato, 2008).  The general targeted group will be provided with cheaper Halo products as compared to the competitors' products. The international market share is achievable by the use of an efficient internet platform. Despite the attractive pricing strategy and internet marketing, the security and privacy needs will be guaranteed in the products.

We are also looking to gain the shares in the second year of the product launch, improvements in the features of Halo application and making it more efficient in comparison to competing products. In addition to the improvement of the features, the product will be effectively marketed through the online platform and offering of trial products. The trial products will be available to the customers for trial purposes for a month. Within that period, the target groups will indeed approve of the product's quality. In the improvement of the features, it will be done according to the market needs which change rapidly. In order to gain shares in the third through fifth year, further investments will be done on the research and design department. From the feedback got after online interviews and questionnaires, the products of the company will be diversified to other ones that meet the needs of the market at the time. That will mean more products other than the halo app and the antivirus will be made available but under the same category.

Evaluation and control metrics and methodology to measure performance

Accordingly, the financial records will be kept according to GAAP, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (McDonald, 2007).  A regular audit from internal, as well as external auditors will be carried out on a regular basis. Expected standards of performance will be set basing on the dictates of the prior discussed marketing plan objectives.

The environment in which the operations are carried out will also be used to control the marketing activities. The laws of the various countries in which the product will be used will be studied and understood. The laws will be used as guidelines to the actions of the company. For instance, there are strict laws in many developed countries requiring the providers of data storage to guarantee the customers of security and privacy to their information.

The feedback and reactions of the market to the product will also be used as a control and measure of performance of the company and the product. The feedback, if negative, will send an alarm, and swift control measures will rectify the complaints. If positive, it will trigger some enhancements and thereafter give an edge to the company and the product in relation to the competing products.

Contingency planning

Due to the uncertainty in the technology market, we have to be prepared to make changes. A professional team, made up of computer programmers and software developers, will focus on the trends in the industry, and also carry out a constant observation of the changing developments of competitors. The software developers and programmers will work hand in hand with the entire marketing department. They will be giving regular reports of their research and recommendations of the emergency marketing steps to be taken so as to ensure that the product retains its relevancy in the dynamic market.

Summary (Tentative)

In summary, the plan will incorporate the marketing objectives, which will in turn give mental direction to the marketing team to ensure that the entire product launch is a success. The objectives are precise of the intentions of the plan. They are also measurable in the sense that they can be quantified so as to check constantly on the level of success of the plan. The objectives are also achievable, realistic and time-specific. The implementation of the milestones will focus on the mission and vision of the marketing department which is in tandem with that of the product launch. Since there are risks associated with the product launch, a contingency plan is availed so as to deal with the risk and guarantee a successful product launch.

References

Apple, Inc. SWOT Analysis . Mar2014, p1-10. 10p.

International Data Corporation. (2012, March). Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services. Retrieved from http://www.icd.com/bigdata

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Lodato, M. W. (2008). Management of new product launches and other marketing projects. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing plans: How to prepare them, how to use them. Oxford [u.a.: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Marketing Minds. Objectivity, Insights, Expertise. Copyright 2014 Marketing Minds. http://www.marketingminds.com.au/apple_branding_strategy.html