Marketing plan

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Economic success and eventual accumulation is what each and every human being strives for. It is the hope that all those late night at work and cold mornings will be generously rewarded. With all conditions at their optimum you will accumulate considerable wealth but then another question will arise. How do I keep myself and my newly found wealth safe? Think about it critically and it’s clear to all, not only the rich need security. Everyone on this wide world needs security and this is where we come in.

Company’s branding, pricing, and distribution strategy

We are Copernico Security Solutions…. Beyond expectations. Our mission is to ensure that you are safe wherever you are, be it in a public or private space. For eight years since 2007 we have been making sure of this on a daily basis. We are general security contractors; serving both the public and private sectors in Kenya. Our long term goal is to become the leading security services contractor in Kenya and with that in mind we have decided to enhance our company’s brand as we work towards the greater future. The new company logo is simply a C and S in block. The C is imprinted with details of our scope of operations which includes a homestead, a public space and vehicles. The S on the other side is an impression of a secure fingerprint. Below the two letters is the word security. The rebrand explains what we are all about- ensuring Kenyans are safe wherever they are. The logo has been integrated to all aspects of the business. All security equipment and vehicles carry the new logo and so do all security uniforms. Even letterheads and stationery in our offices have not been left in the past; the new CS brand is everywhere. All this is meant to build on our gradually increasing reputation. All company vehicles have been standardized to the same model and older ones put up for sale as we drive towards a new era of efficiency and effectiveness. During the first quarter of the year, we started an expansion strategy into six new towns in Kenya. The expansion ensures that our offices are distributed all over the country. The new offices are in, Garissa, Lamu, Kapenguria, Kisii, Marsabit and Lodwar. All regions in Kenya are now fully covered by our company.

With time we have diversified our security services to include: CS Premier Security Officers for VIPs and Security officers to man banks, colleges and warehouses. Due to the variety in nature of security services offered, we have been forced to adjust prices accordingly. Premier Security Officers attract a higher fee since they are exclusively former Army officers with unmatchable experience in security matters. The $400 per agent for a month applies to officers deployed to banks and colleges. Agents hired for crowd control and other public security jobs attract a $200 daily fee per agent due to the sheer effort involved in such jobs. For homesteads and smaller establishments such as shops we charge of $300 per agent for a month. The new prices were determined in a bid to make our security services more affordable going hand in hand with the establishment of offices in more upcountry regions. As Copernico Security, a canine unit is also in the pipeline. This would greatly diversify the kind of contracts we can bid for and attract higher prices for the business. We have also analyzed our options and the market since we intend to diversify operations to courier services.

Company’s major competitors as inter- or intra-competitors, their strengths and weakness

Competition in the Private Security industry is exclusively between firms in the same type of business. As such all of our competitors can be referred to as intra competitors. The private security industry is a growing one with a couple of players joining in the past two years. Major competitors however include: G4S Security, BM Security, KK Security and Lavington Security. G4S is arguably the largest competitor which can be attributed to its large size and experience in the industry for more than 20 years. The scale of the business is one of the major strengths of G4S as a business. The presence of G4S in the Kenyan market has enabled it to gain the trust of the public which is what any private security company desires. It has also diversified its business activities into even firefighting. It has a 24 hour G4S fire brigade which currently runs five fire stations around the Kenyan capital city, Nairobi. This adds to its highly lucrative courier services. With strengths come weaknesses and G4S has a share of its own. Of late there have been cases G4S security agents collaborating with criminals in the perpetration of a string of robberies. This is a big hit on its credibility and in this business it’s all about what people think about your brand. Do they think that your company will offer the required security? Most of the other players for example Lavington Security majorly cater for the high end market. This leaves a large hole in provision of security as the majority of Kenyans cannot have their security needs catered for. As a private security company, gaining a large market share is important since it will have a large bearing in the awarding of public security contracts. The rebranding was the beginning of a major change in direction for our business. Next is the all important differentiation strategy.

Differentiation strategy in relation to the closest competitor

What is a differentiation strategy? It is the development of a product or service that offers unique attributes that are valued by customers and that customers perceive to be better than or different from the products of the competition (QuickMBA, 2010). The private security industry is becoming more sophisticated with time all thanks to technology. A firm therefore needs to offer security products that are differentiated from those of competitors which will enable them to retain the market share and grow in the process. One strategy that differentiates Copernico Security from its competitors is the focus on public security. We have established ourselves in this sector that in the previous financial year we won all contracts to provide ourselves during public ceremonies. The public ceremonies we offered our services include: Labor day, Independence day, Heroes day and Jamhuri day. Another contribution to public welfare is seen in our private patrol contracts for neighborhoods. With the growth of the Kenyan economy, the real estate sector has really grown particularly gated communities which span for miles. Such private contracts enable us cater for hundreds of citizens in such neighborhoods. No other company in the industry has ventured into such security arrangements. As the head of the company, I also run a security blog. The blog increases recognition for both me as the blogger and the security company. The blog offers security tips, news and company information and shares news about awards and other company achievements. The blog has differentiated us from the rest of the market players and increased the number of potential customers. By appearing highly knowledgeable on security matters, the public will gain confidence in the company run by such an individual.

Company’s intention

As at now, the company is a slight market leader ahead of G4S Security. The position is not secure so we must always improve on the quality of operations and keep up with the dynamic technology. With G4S hot on our heels, we must ensure that complacency does not creep in. With the whole rebranding and diversification done with, we expect to increase our market share by a considerable percentage. In the future, the plan is to diversify into the rest of East Africa but of now the intention is to maximize our operations in the Kenyan private security industry.

Two (2) social media and / or media tools that I would use as you develop my plan

With the continuous growth in technology, the business community has readily joined the bandwagon and started using technology to do their advertising. Social Media enables interaction of people online and Kenya has not been left behind with 3 out of 5 individuals having used a form of social media in their lifetime. There are many social networking platforms, among them Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. As a security firm though, social media should be approached with caution.

First, it is important to determine the message the company want to determine the message they want to convey to prospective clientele. We should also realize that we cannot possibly use all platforms so the best option is to use Facebook and Twitter which are arguably the biggest social media networks in the world. The social media platforms also realize the advertising needs of many companies and so have come up with many tools that individuals can use at their discretion. One of the tools would be using the Hashtag strategy. The Hashtag craze started with twitter but soon the rest of social media caught up with the new style. Hashtags are an effective tool for driving and attracting people interested in a particular theme or topic. This therefore can be a great way to increase brand awareness which is important for such an ambitious company as ours. A hashtag should be short and memorable. The application of hashtags is justifiable in our case since our target market includes both individuals and corporations. Most corporations use Twitter to provide news and alerts and also manage public relations. As such you can spread the word to both individuals and corporations who can be clients in the future. A trending hashtag every week would do a lot of good to our company’s image. Twitter offers an option for advertisers to sponsor a hashtag. The company can sponsor a hashtag each week which will greatly boost its online presence. Facebook on the other hand offers full online advertisements for companies. Facebook’s advertising solutions are the best since they allow a business to focus on particular target markets and drive more traffic to the company’s pages. The money spent on such a tool is definitely worth it. Any potential client for instance, will view our advertisement once he/she logs in his facebook account which is important in informing the public and garnering attention.

Integrated marketing communications that are most relevant for this marketing plan

Integrated Marketing Communications is a very important aspect to any business. According to the American Marketing Association (2010), it is a planning process which is meant to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time. Several types of Integrated Marketing Communications can apply to our business model. One of the IMC’s is Internal Marketing Integration where you strive to keep your employees excited about new developments in the company. With rebranding and diversification, a lot of new things are happening in our company. Remaining upbeat ensures the mood around the company is good; optimism is infectious. Horizontal integration is also important where all sections of the company work together and communicate frequently. As Copernico Security, the ultimate goal is to become a runaway leader in the private security sector in Kenya. Keeping interaction between different sectors of the company open is important since any glitches are discovered early enough and ironed out promptly too. Horizontal integration would greatly impact on the quality of our customer service and even reaction time in terms of emergency calls.

With the strategies for the company, our future looks bright. Optimizing our potential in the Kenyan market is what we are after in the short term. This will enable reduce our operating costs while at the same time offering quality and diverse security products. This will be followed by an eventual penetration into the East African market and later into the larger African market. After all we all need security, we are entitled to security; As Copernico Limited we are here to fulfill your needs beyond your wildest expectations.

REFERENCES

1. American Marketing Association. (2010). What is Integrated Marketing Communications?

2. Gregorio, J. (2014). How to boost Brand awareness Using Social Media

3. Johansson, A. (2015). 5 tips for increasing brand awareness with Social Media.

4. Khemani, R.S & Shapiro, D.M.(1993). Glossary of Industrial organizational economics and competition law.

5. MMC Learning. (2009). What is IMC?

6. QuickMBA (2010). Porter’s Generic strategies.

7. Williams, J. (2015). The basics of Branding.