Introduction
The rapid increase in the technology has made the life easy for the human or it can be said that it has made us lazy to some extent. People find it irritating to get up from the bed to turn off the lights and to overcome this hassle, a new product Superlight is made. The Superlight is a MIPOR LED light bulb with a voltage of 100~240V / 50~60 Hz. It can be operated through its software application that is made available on Google Play store for Android users and also on the Apple Store for iPhone users. The innovative product has a wireless range of 15 meters with a lifetime of 25,000 hours. The Superlight bulb can provide 16 million colours that can be changed through its app over the internet.
Marketing Mix (4Ps)
• Product
The product is innovative and has MIPOR LED technology. The light bulb can be controlled through smartphones with the help of an app. The most innovative part of Superlight is that the brightness level of the bulb can be increased or decreased as per the requirement of the users. The Superlight can change the colour and therefore can be used for several purposes especially for partying. It has speakers attached to it, and therefore, music can also be played on a Superlight through the smartphone. It is charged through solar power and will help the consumers in saving a lot of electricity (Richter, 2012).
• Price
The pricing strategy of Superlight is very cost effective, and the company plans to keep lowest profit and provide the product at a low price to attract more customers towards it. The price of each bulb is £30, and a pack of 3 bulbs will be available at a retail price of £90. The company is offering its customers a 10% discount on the purchase of 5 bulbs and a 30% discount on ten bulbs. The price of Superlight is far lower than that of its competitor. The main competitor of superlight is Hue by Philips, which is for £49.99 with no discount available for bulk buying.
• Place
The company plans to make its product available in retail stores in the United Kingdom. The company does not plan to sell its product in small stores because from the market analysis it is known that such bulbs are less likely to be sold in small stores. Moreover, the company also plans to sell Superlight online. The product is made available on Amazon for the customers.
• Promotion
The promotional strategy is one of the key factors for the success of the product. Effective marketing can help the company in selling their product in large quantity. The product will be mainly promoted through advertising on TV, newspaper, and magazines. Online marketing is also very effective and will play an important role to promote Superlight. The promotional activity will also deliver the message of 28 days money back guarantee that is the policy of the company. The Superlight will also be installed in parties and events to bring awareness to the people about the product.
PEST Analysis
The PEST Analysis is a part of the external analysis and is conducted to do market research. The political, economic, social, and technological factors are analysed in the PEST Analysis. The PEST Analysis of superlight is conducted below (Magretta, 2013).
• Political
The tax policy related to the manufacturing and selling is like other businesses. All the laws and regulations are the related to employment and environment. There are no special laws for such products. The UK is a part of the European Union that is a trade bloc. It means that the trade between the European countries is free for tariff and quotas. The United Kingdom is a politically stable country. Therefore, it can be said that the company does not face political challenges while doing this business (Magretta, 2013).
• Economic
The economic conditions are suitable for doing business in the UK. The economy of the country has expanded by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2016. The inflation rate in the county has dropped to 0.3%. These economic stats of the country indicate that it is a better place for the starting a business.
• Social
The social factors do not affect the business because of its nature. The product has no effect on the health of the people neither does it cause harm to the environment. The population growth rate of the UK is very low that is 0.6%. The age of the people in the UK is not a big factor because young adults and old population can use the product.
• Technological
Technological advancement is necessary for all the fields and after high investments made in the Research and Development (R&D), the company has been able to produce this product. The company has also invested in adopting new technology to manufacture this bulb that has enabled the company to reduce the cost of labour in the making of the product (Magretta, 2013).
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis is conducted to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a company. The SWOT analysis for Superlight is as follows (Ramaswamy, 2013).
• Strengths
The biggest strengths are that advanced technology is used to manufacture the bulb which is not available at almost all the lightbulb manufacturers. Moreover, the lightbulb in multifunctional and it can also play music while providing light in 16 million different colours. It is an innovative technology and similar products, or the substitutes of this product are not available in the market. Another strength of the company is that it has a wide customer base that can result in the growth of the company. Superlight being an LED bulb is a strength in itself (Ramaswamy, 2013).
• Weaknesses
There are two main weaknesses of the spirit that is its price and the brand name. The price of the product is high from other normal light bulbs that are a weakness because the customer will not prefer to purchase expensive bulbs. The brand name is not known in the market because it is a new brand. As it is a new brand, it will be difficult for the people to build trust in this brand and purchase its products (Ramaswamy, 2013).
• Opportunities
• Threats
The company faces some high threats in the market because the product can be easily imitated. The competitors of even the new entrants in the market can imitate the product and produce it for the same price or even at lower cost. It is a major threat as it can cause the company to lose its market share. The competitors of the company are also a big threat to the company. The biggest competitor of the company is Philips and is a major threat because it has been in the market for a very time and is trusted by the customers.
Market Circumstances
Marketing Strategies and Cultural Awareness
The marketing strategies must be drawn from the market research. The strategies must be focused towards the product mix that will help in achieving the maximum profit and bring sustainability in the business. The marketing strategies used for the new product are pull marketing and push marketing (Ferrell & Hartline, 2013).
Pull Marketing
Pull marketing is a strategy in which the company plans to draw customer’s attention towards the brand search engine optimization (SEO). The main focus of this approach is to bring awareness of the brand among customers because then the customers are more likely to purchase the products. To overcome the pull marketing strategy the company has opted for advertisement and activities. The company will bring awareness to the customer’s advertisement because it is the most effective way to reach out to a large group of people. In addition to it, the promotions done through activities like participating in the events is also helpful as it bring awareness to the main target audience of the company (Shimp, 2008).
Push Marketing
Push marketing is an approach in which the company promotes its products by taking them towards the customers. It is pushing the products on the customers so that they purchase it. In this approach, the company will use the face-to-face service technique. The sales teams will go to the customers and market the product. Proper training will be provided to the customers so that they market the products in an effective manner. The salesperson will deliver all the facilities for the product to the customers (Shimp, 2008).
Cultural Awareness
In order to market the product, it is very necessary for the company to bring awareness to the public. The cultural awareness is necessary because it brings awareness about the facilities of the product. It the duty of the marketing department of the company to ensure that the people must be aware that the new product launched in the market has a unique design. The customers must also be provided with the information that the product of the company has diverse functions. To bring awareness to the customers is an essential part of the marketing strategy because it influences the purchasing decision of the customers.
Financial Statements
The financial of two months are provided in the Income Statement. From the financial statement of the company, it is noted that the company has taken a loan of £50,000 from the bank in the month of November. The partners have brought a total of £30,000 in the month of November then again an investment with the similar amount is made in the month of December. The total receipts for the month of November are £80,000 and £30,000 in December. The total receipts by the end of two months are £110,000.
In the first month, the company has incurred a cost of £20,000. From the payments made it is observed that the company is making monthly payments of£10,000 every month. It is a good sign as it shows the company is investing in activities that can help the company to grow in future by improving the quality of their existing products and also making new innovative products. The overall wages and salaries expense of the company is £15,000. The equipment purchased by the company are of £20,000. The expense of equipment is made in the first month that is November. The activities of the company take place in a rented area for which the company pays £3,000 per month. The payment of rent is paid every month, and there is no amount of prepaid rent. The total payment of the company in the month of November is £68,000. It can be considered as a reasonable amount as it includes all the outflows of the company from the time of inception till the end of the first month. As the company is not bearing major outflows of cost and equipment, therefore, the total payment in the month of December is just £29,000. The net inflow of the company in the month of November is £12,000 that is a good sign for the business. In the second month, the net inflow of the company is £31,000. On comparing the net inflows it is observed that the net inflow in the second month has increased by £19,000. The total Net Inflow of both the months is £97,000.
Financial Statements
Conclusion
References
Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. (2013). Marketing Strategy, Text and Cases (6th ed.). Mason: Cengage Learning.
Magretta, J. (2013). Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Shimp, T. A. (2008). Advertising Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications (8th ed.). Mason: Cengage Learning.
Ramaswamy. (2013). Marketing Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Richter, T. (2012). International Marketing Mix Management: Theoretical Framework, Contingency Factors and Empirical Findings from World-Markets. Berlin: Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH.
