Sixto Colon III, Research Paper Example

Introduction

arketing is a unique and complex process that requires a business to take charge of its own destiny through creativity in order to produce sales growth.  Marketing for a technology-based product must evolve in such a way that reflects the advantages of the product over all other alternatives.  This requires a strategy that will attract consumers and produce effective outcomes in the competitive marketplace.  Selling the product in the mass marketplace at competitive prices provides the company with opportunities to attract new customers to their larger product lines, which may lead to even greater sales growth over the long term.

Definition of Marketing

Marketing is the summation of actions implicated in persuading consumers to purchase a company’s commodities consequently creating value for both consumer and company.

Introduction of Product/Service

The Transcend Store Jet is a convenient-mobile hard-drive that unites the shockproof technology with the newest and fastest transfer rates with the use of USB 3.0 and is backward compatible with previous generation USB 2.0 interface.  In addition, the Store Jet is outfitted with an enormously handy single click button for automatic backups.  Additionally, their drives are consistently built with high-grade military exterior for one of the lowest cost per gigabyte in the industry.  A three-year warranty is also included.

The colors and styling of Transcends drives is one of the most enticing features along with the box that is easy to read, vibrant and informative.  Their products seem to have adapted over the last few years to persuade younger and newer consumers that their products are the ones to buy.  The young female character on the front of the box illustrates this marketing focus as well.

Situation Analysis – Marketing Environment Forces Impacting Product/Service

Sales of external hard drives are dependent on increasing shopper wages as well as commercial earnings.  If consumers feel that their pay is weak, they will often put off a hard drive purchase off until they feel that they are in a stronger financial position.

There are always new technologies introduced into the market, resulting in the obsoleteness of competitive products.  Consequently, computer products, particularly external hard drives, have a relatively short life cycle.  Opposition can hastily surpass companies, which lack access to innovative technologies, which lower production cost as well as end user cost.  In addition, the demand for the product can quickly shift or decline, leaving a company with outdated stock.

Marketing Strategy: Target Market(s) & Positioning

The first target market, or buyer is between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five who are on the go but need access to music, movies, and educational documents anywhere they go.  Clients are characteristically single, male, and possess or have access to a house PC.  Several are adolescents who live with parents or are college students or recent college graduates and have a broad array of disposable income.

The second target market would be technology-minded individual’s ages twenty-five to forty-five that are concerned with security and leaving data at a workstation, which can be accessed by many users.  In addition, this target market would include individuals that need a product for quick and easy backups of sensitive data in case of hard drive failure.  Customers are typically male, have a large amount of disposable income, and possess or have access to a house PC.

All the features and benefits of the Transcend external hard-drive offer value to each of the target markets.  In current market research studies, 61% of males ages 15-45 buy technology related products more than four times a year in the United States.  Another study states that 71% of US homes have access or own computers.

Positioning-Transcend are the only external hard drive makers to offer USB 3.0 speeds bundled with a free USB 3.0 controller card by ASUS.

Product/Service Overview and Strategies to Consider

The Transcend external hard drive is classified under Shopping Product because of the massive information that consumers use to compare and buy an external hard drive.  A major consideration for consumers is the capacity of the drive because external hard drives can range anywhere from twenty gigabytes all the way to five hundred gigabytes, respectively and should be based on the needs of the user.

The speed and performance of the drive for a majority of potential buyers are the most significant criteria.  In addition, consumers may be interested in the recovery capabilities of the hard drive, such as bundled software.  Warranty, reliability, as well as suitability of an external drive are additionally research factors for consumers.

Lastly, consumers want a product that is compatible with their current PC setup as well as other systems where they may want to access the drive, whether on a PC, MAC, or Linux platform.  Commonly, these are the most important features of the external drive to consumers.  However, many more trendy or younger consumers may look for an innovative exterior design as well.

The Transcend product is USB 3.0 and 2.0 compatible, which is currently unheard of by the competition.  Furthermore, the competition is left in the dust with speeds that cripple current external hard drives.  As well, Transcend is looking at bundling a free Asus USB 3.0 since the majority of consumers do not own this relatively new interface with no additional cost to the consumer.  Transcend will build upon the faster speeds and backward compatibility.  As mentioned earlier, consumers interested in buying an external hard drive solution are extremely persuaded by speed and backwards compatibility.  In addition, the Store Jet is outfitted with an enormously handy single click button for automatic backups.  A three-year warranty is also offered.

The price of Transcend external hard drives are in-line with competition and cannot be lowered without lowering costs associated with the manufacturing of the drives.  Although, with the additional speed and the free interface card offered by Transcend drives, it is by far the best value.  In order to usurp the competition, Transcend will offer discounts for bulk purchases from wholesalers and large retailers.

The Transcend drive will be available through a multitude of online retailers as well as directly from the vendor.  In addition, traditional brick and mortar retailers will also have the ability to sell Transcend external drives.  Transportation, warehousing, and inventory management are handled overseas with a third party corporation.  The corporation has been collaborating with Transcend for over five years with great success.

The drive is primarily promoted through technology, business, and men’s- focused publications, TV shows, and online sites.  However, in order to be recognized by the younger shoppers Transcend drive will market the drive through social network channels and other channels.  In addition, Transcend will collaborate with a third party marketing research firm to evaluate its younger generation penetration.  There is also a promotion planned to offset the launch of a new external drive offering from Iomega in January 2011.

Pricing Strategy

Bundle pricing is used to circumvent assembly cost alterations on the chief product for apprehension that doing so might influence the merchandise’s superficial quality level.  The seller might decide to present modification on another related or complementary product.  Of note, price bundling can encourage the sale of a product; however, the charge for the bundle should be small enough to make the package enticing.

Distribution Channels

The Transcend Store Jet will be distributed to stores that regularly sell external hard drives and related products, including such popular retailers as Best Buy.  In addition, a wide variety of online retailers will stock these products for sale to their vast customer bases.  Price points and sales as needed in order to attract consumers and new sales to these businesses will distinguish these efforts.

Integrated Marketing Communications

The process of marketing the Transcend Store Jet requires a comprehensive and integrated marketing communications strategy that will accommodate the needs of consumers and their potential interest in this product.  Therefore, for online retailers, the key features of the product and its primary advantages will be listed on the website, accompanied by prices and shipping alternatives.  In physical retail outlets, product marketing and communications will be established through sales flyers and website promotions that feature this product at competitive prices.  Communicating the marketing strategy will also require Transcend to adapt to change and demand as the market warrants.

Promotion Mix Strategy

Explain if you will use a push or pull strategy or both and why (pages 356-358)

The promotional mix strategy for the product requires retailers and distributors to promote the product via several alternatives, including but not limited to online features regarding the product’s key strengths, as well as other factors that emphasize the importance of the product’s value to the consumer.  This may include color photographs of the product, coupled with bullet point features in an eye-catching manner. The strategy will utilize a push concept, whereby Transcend will utilize existing retail channels to market and distribute its products, which will attract consumers and create a unique level of demand for the product. This is the most optimal choice because the product is not a new concept, and it already provides value to the consumer in other products with similar features.

Message Strategy

The Transcend website states that Transcend is “among an elite group of Hi-Tech firms capable of serving the global needs of a constantly expanding technology industry (“Company profile – sales & marketing,” 2010).”  Transcend is highly branded throughout the world.  Transcend reports the use of a “comprehensive marketing strategy” in the maximization of recognition of the Transcend brand as well as driving the efficiency of Transcends marketing promotions (“Company profile – sales & marketing,” 2010).  This will be accomplished specifically through the establishment of marketing coops with Transcends chief clientele.

A marketing co-op is stated to be an arrangement “with Transcends customers to “…feature the products in marketing material and advertising campaigns.”  Consequently, this is an indirect marketing channel through which intermediaries on behalf of Transcend package, advertise, and sell Transcends external hard drive (“Marketing mix: Place,” 2008).

The reason that the indirect marketing channel has been chosen are the customers of Transcend drives who serve, as intermediaries truly comprehend what their customers prefer.  Consequently, this makes this form of distribution channel the channel that will most effectively market Transcends external hard drive.  There is yet another channel that would be posited for use in marketing the Transcend external hard drive and that is online Internet sales to individuals, which already know that they want to purchase the Transcend external hard drive.  This marketing strategy is one that utilizes direct contact with individual consumers via Transcends homepage.  In addition, for an effective marketing of the Transcend external hard drives is the use of intermediaries such as online distributors who are characterized by membership requirements, which enable the singular user or business to make such purchases via the Internet (Vitez, 2010).

Promotion Tool #1

• Promotion Mix (chapters 12, 13 & 14) – choose at least three (3) promotional tools (advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations or direct marketing). For each include:
  • Why this promotional tool was chosen.
  • Which forms of the promotional tool you will use and why (for example, in advertising you can use TV, radio, magazine, etc. and in direct marketing you can use direct mail, telemarketing, catalogs, etc.).
  • Discussion of how your message strategy will be implemented using this promotional tool and the execution style.

Promoting the product requires several alternatives, including a website feature that will emphasize the product’s key strengths, as well as its competitive price for a given retailer. This tool has been selected because it will offer additional detailed information regarding the product and its key features. A website promotion will be used to attract online traffic to the site on a regular basis. The message to be conveyed through this tool will provide a message that the product is unique and distinct from others in its group, and that its value cannot be undermined.

Promotion Tool #2

Another tool to consider is the creation of links to the product and the company’s website from retailer websites, which will emphasize the product and the company’s other featured products for sale. These links are critical because they lead to even greater product exposure from different and even unexpected sides. This online strategy will enable consumers to obtain information regarding Transcend from other websites offering technology-based products and services. This strategy will improve brand and product exposure through a cross-branding effort across different websites.

Promotion Tool #3

Another tool is that of distributing the product to retailers with tie-in promotions with products from other companies.  These can be related products or unrelated, as long as they attract consumers and retain their interest. This alternative is useful because it exposes consumers to products that might not have been considered without the tie-in. This could be achieved through in-store promotional endcaps, radio or television spots, or online advertisements. This concept tells the consumer that the established brand is willing to take a chance on the lesser known brand because it recognizes its value to the consumer, and can earn profits from the tie-in strategy.

Conclusion

The Transcend Store Jet is a product that is worthy of further consideration and evaluation for its unique features and specifications.  Since external hard drives are very popular among the consumer population, it is necessary for the company to maximize its marketing efforts in order to provide consumers with a product that will meet their needs and specifications, while recognizing the nature of this competitive marketplace.

References

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