Harry potter, running a marketing campaign for a new book

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MARKTING - HARRY POTTER
POSTING 28482

SOME MARKETING BASICS

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

Marketing objectives of any organization should lead to sales. They should be clear, measurable and have a stated time frame for achievement. If there are multiple objectives, they should be consistent and not conflict with each other. The remaining components of the marketing plan should support the marketing objectives. A few of the remaining components are - the marketing strategy, budget, action programs, controls and measures.

THE 4 Ps.

The 4Ps of marketing are as follows:

• Product. A product can be a physical item, service or an idea. This includes features, accessories, installation, instructions, service, warranty, packaging and brand names.
• Price. List the price of your products. Set a price that serves the customers well and maximize profits. This includes price flexibility, level pricing, introductory pricing, discounts, allowances and geographic terms.
• Promotion. A promotion plan describes the tools or tactics used to accomplish your marketing objectives. Here is where you communicate with the customer through personal selling, mass selling, sales promotions, and advertising.
• Placement. This relates to Sales and Distribution and should describe how your products and customers come together through sales and distribution.

A marketing plan should take understand and characterize the market, the customer and the environment in which you are doing business. There are controllable and uncontrollable factors to consider. Uncontrollable factors relates to the current economic environment and includes elements such as consumer confidence, unemployment, and new technologies that threaten to displace the organization's product, competitors and government regulations. Controllable factors depend upon 'givens' such as the budget, personnel, and creativity of the personnel of the organization.

PRODUCT

Products may be described in terms of their features and benefits. Features are product characteristics such as size, color, horsepower, functionality, design, fabric content, etc. Benefits answer the customer's question: what's in it for me. Product features are usually easy to detect and describe but product benefits are intangible. The most compelling benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. To identify the product's benefits, the customer's viewpoint must be considered. A company differentiates its products when it sets them apart from the competitors' products in the minds of the customer.

PRICING

This is the most important business decision to be made. Products should be offered for a price that the target market is willing to pay and one that produces a profit for the company. There is a difference between price and cost. Cost is the total of the fixed and variable expenses to manufacture or offer the product or service. Price is the selling price per unit the customer pays for the product or service. Before a fair price of the product can be decided upon, the organization needs to know how much it is costing to prude it. Once the costs are identified, the break-even point can be determined. This is the point where the organization neither makes nor loses money in producing this produce or delivering a service. Once the break-even point has been established, several strategies exist for establishing pricing. These strategies includes:

• Establishing a high price to make high profits initially. This strategy is used to recover high R&D costs or to maximize profits before competitors enter the market
• Setting a low price to make quick sales to support another product in development.
• Setting prices to meet a desired profit goal.

PROMOTION

A promotion plan outlines the promotional tools or tactics that will be used to accomplish the marketing objectives. Some of the components that should go into the promotion plan include:

• A description of the promotional tactics. Some promotional tools are:
o Marketing Collateral - brochures, newsletters, fliers and posters
o Promotional Activities - sponsoring special events, participating in community projects, trade shows
o Public Speaking and Conferences
o Publications
o Media Related Campaigns - this is the overall plan for contacting and staying in touch with targeted members of the media
• The projected costs for the year - costs should be estimated as accurately as possible.
• An explanation of how the promotional tactics will support the marketing objectives. A specific objective will state what you want to do by when and is measurable. It should also show how you would accomplish the objective, and
• A description of the promotional adjustments for cyclical businesses. Explain how the promotional plan will be adjusted for the slow and peak seasons.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

There needs to be a well thought out plan of conducting the sale and delivering of the product to the customer. Some of the major categories are:

• Direct Sales. The company sells directly to the customer or end user of the product. There is no agent between the company and the customer.
• Indirect Sales. The company sells to a retailer whose salespeople then sell to the customer or the company sells to a wholesales or agent who sell products to retailers. The company may also sell directly to customers and other sales people that have been recruited to sell products.

PLACEMENT

It is often better to be more selective, perhaps even exclusive, about sales locations for your product.
For wide intense distribution, use all suitable distribution channels. For wide selective distribution - use channels that meet certain criteria. For a product that will have limited availability, exclusive distribution should be used. For example, body shop products are available only in their stores or their catalogs.

MEASUREMENT CRITERIA

A sound marketing plan should include market research, the location of the organization, the targeted customer group, the competition, positioning, the product itself. Effective marketing, planning and promotion begin with current information about the market place.

1. Define the business.
 The product or service
 The geographic marketing area
 The competition
 How the organization differs from the competition
 The price
 The competition's promotion methods
 The organization's promotional methods
 The organizations distribution methods or business location
2. Define your customer.
 The current customer base: age, sex, income, neighborhood
 How will the customer learn about the product
 What are the patterns and habits of your current and potential customer
 What qualities do your customer value most - selection, convenience, service, ...