VZT 1-Year Marketing Plan. Essay. Company G

Introduction Company G, a well-established firm in the electronics market and provider of quality small-appliances, is proud to present their next game changing product, the ultimate in cooler mobility, the “Tanker-ator 5000”. Product Description and Classification The Tanker-ator 5000® is a fun and sturdy ice chest that can be driven over sandy or rugged terrain. Driven remotely via an app on the user’s smart phone, the Tanker-ator allows the user to calmly stroll across the beach, without the hassle of dragging a heavy cooler with them. Built sturdy to withstand the elements, theTanker-ator’s “Dual Motor Drive” DMD Technology® transports your frosty beverages and tasty treats up to 5 miles on a single charge. The powerful motors combined with rugged tank treads easily transport a full cooler, plus an additional 100 lbs. of gear strapped to the top. The dual wall construction and ThermoTech Insulation® ensures your beverage bounty will be frosty cold when arriving at the party, and for many more hours. ThermoTech Insulation contains no CFCs, HFCs, and HCFCs to help protect your food and the environment. The Tanker-ator 5000 is the fun, travel cooler for beach parties, camping, tailgating, backyard BBQs, and more. Make the party even more portable with the Tanker-ator 5000. Company G Mission Statement “We enable consumers to improve the quality and convenience of their lives by providing high-quality, innovative electronics solutions.” Support of Missions Statement 3 Reports by the U.S. Forest Service state roughly 50% of the American population participates in outdoor activities such as visiting beaches, camping, and fishing. In the same study the U.S. Government estimates Americans spent 11.16 billion days participating in outdoor activity (Cordell, 2010). Water weighs 2 lbs. per quart. Coolers range in size from 20 to 150 qts, equating to 40 to 300 lbs. of food and beverage. While coolers are sometimes used at home, most of the time they are utilized away from the home, and many times in environments not conducive to standard transportation. While some manufacturers have added wheels to portable coolers, they still do not simplify the movement across rugged or sandy terrain. Use of tank treads allows the cooler to glide over the rugged and sandy terrain. The addition of electric motors, and Bluetooth technology allow the cooler to be driven remotely via an app on the user’s smartphone. The Tanker-ator improves the quality and convenience of people’s lives by removing the need to carry heavy coolers long distances when participating in outdoor activities. High quality components and sturdy construction allows the user to strap additional items to the top of Tanker-ator such as lawn chairs, umbrellas, tackle boxes, etc., further negating the need for users to carry heavy items long distances. Innovative and easy to use electronics allow the consumer to blissfully drive their cooler from their vehicle to their recreation destination. Consumer Product Classification The Tanker-ator is a shopping product. Although few customers may purchase the Tanker-ator on impulse, we feel the consumer will need more time to plan and purchase. The Tanker-ator will carry a relatively high price tag due to the nature of it being a cooler and remote control vehicle in one. As this is a venture into a new category, we feel the customer will be able to visually perceive the value of the product implied in the price tag. The product will benefit from being in brick-and-mortar outlets, allowing the consumer to touch, feel, and see the rugged construction. Remote Control drones (cameras mounted on helicopters) are priced between $100 to $2000 and were sold in the millions during the 2015 holiday season. We feel that the consumer market is now desensitized enough to the remote control vehicle market to justify the $349 MSRP for the product. As the product will not have an installed camera, we do not feel there will be an association with the negative aspects of the term “drone”. Distribution will be relatively short as the two main body parts will be dual sourced from suppliers here in the US. The drive train and power assembly will be manufactured and installed in Company G’s production facility. The product will be sold via Target’s 1,800 U.S. locations with additional, with additional distribution channels opening up within 6 months. Target Market The target consumer for the Tanker-ator 5000 is males and females 35-50 years old, with or without families, and typically have an average household income of $75,000+. The target customer is social in nature and takes a minimum of one or two trips per year with family or friends to the beach, the park, or camping. The target consumer enjoys technology and owns a smartphone. The majority of customers will live within 100 miles of an ocean or substantial body of water, or may own an RV, camper, or boat. 4 Competitive Situation Analysis Analysis of Competition using Porter’s Five Forces Model Competitive Rivalry: The portable cooler market is saturated with competition from plastics manufacturers and outdoor equipment providers, but there is not currently an electronics company in this space. As well, none of the current portable coolers provided on the market offer a remote controlled “all terrain vehicle” type of cooler we are proposing. Because of this, our product is the first of it’s kind and is creating a brand new category. As of now, there is no competitive rivalry and the threat is extremely low. Potential New Entrants: Because of the high competitive rivalry in the portable cooler market, we estimate there will be some “second mover” competition. Although, since Company G is an electronics manufacturer, and cooler manufacturers core competency is in plastics molding, we feel any second movers would be delayed in educating themselves to the electronics market. Solidifying design patents can prevent second movers and keep current competition at bay while Company G firmly establishes the market. This is a medium threat, but can be minimized with successfully acquiring patents. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Since competition in the portable cooler market is high, there are many factories capable of roto-molding the plastics necessary for producing the cooler body. As well, many competent providers of the plastic bodies will make dual sourcing the product even easier. Buyers will be able to leverage factories against one another. A bidding strategy can be utilized to keep the costs down and will minimize shortages should one provider fail to deliver. We feel this is a minimal, to very low threat to the business. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: As noted above, there are currently more than 20 factories in the U.S. providing roto-molding of plastics, so there is no shortage of sources for our cooler bodies. This has a significant advantage for Company G reducing the threat from any one plastics supplier. Also for second movers, there are currently 3 factories in China we know of capable of producing a rolling chassis similar to Company G’s. If any of the competitors from the portable cooler market decide to follow Company G’s lead, they will be able to find a chassis, but it will still take time for these companies to develop the electronics needed to drive the chassis, as well as the programming of the driver interface and app for the smartphone to make the system complete. Both of the situations described above pose very minimal threats. Substitutes: Substitute products exist today in standard coolers and coolers with wheels sold in the millions each year. Both of these products solve the need for keeping food and beverage cold while on the go. Although only the wheeled coolers offer any type of mobility assistance, the wheels built into the coolers are typically not substantial for off-road use or movement over sand. Other alternatives exist in food vendors with locations relatively close to recreation destinations. Although food vendors can be commonplace at some outdoor activity locations like parks and 5 beaches, we feel the higher prices of these vendors combined with often lower quality food and