Abstract
This research paper gives a proposal of a marketing strategy that can be successfully implemented by Carter’s Shop, a clothes merchandise store that intends to introduce new baby’s cloth in the market. The research paper begins by defining concepts and terminologies applicable in the field of marketing. It further gives the various concepts that Carter’s Shop could use to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. The paper then goes on to stating the various problem statements to this research study with a detailed research purpose to enumerate the reason as to why this report is significant.
Either, the paper then gives the design upon which the research study is to be carried out that categorically states that the usage of questionnaires would not be necessary as most of the information will be obtained through literature reviews and interviewing professionals who have wide range of knowledge in this field. The actual literature review then is enumerated, which is followed by a discussion section on the strategies to be adopted by the store. The study concludes that the marketing strategy to be adopted must address issues concerning the target market, products price, and products branding the kind of distribution channels that the store will establish.
Introduction
The term marketing generally refers to the various processes that involves the communication of the value of a given product or service for the sole purpose of ensuring that the product of service whose qualities and values has been communicated is sold. Marketing can be looked at from various perspectives (Rogers, 2001). From the societal perspective, the term marketing refers to the various links that exists between the economic patterns within a society and the material requirements within the same society. It is argued to satisfy various needs of the society and the wants of the societal members through the usage of a process that involves the building of relationships that last for a longer time period. It involves processes that lead to the communication of the vital qualities of a product to the consumers through positioning the consumers to whom the product’s qualities are to be communicated.
Marketing can also be looked at as a function of organizations. As a function carried out by the organizations, market is a process that involves the creation of a product’s values that are then delivered to the right audience through mechanisms that can communicate it effectively. It also involves the managing of expectations by the customers through the establishment of relationships that will benefit the organization as a whole and its stakeholders too. Some scholars have defined the term marketing as the science that involves the choosing of target markets by carrying out a market analysis and segmentation. Either, it will require the understanding of the buying patterns and behaviors of the consumers that will enable the organizations provide product value that is superior within their markets.
In any kind of organizational competition, organizations depend on various strategies to stay ahead. These strategies of competition helps the organizations gain a competitive edge over their rivals when it comes to the production of goods and services (Mcleish, 2011). The strategic concepts are the production concepts, selling concepts and marketing concepts that are holistic. The holistic marketing concepts are further subdivided into four major groups that are the integrated marketing, internal marketing, relationship marketing and the social responsive marketing. For a marketing strategy to be considered as being successful it must be able to capture the various insights within the market, it must be able to connect very well with the customers, it must be able to build product brands that are very strong and generally shape what the market is offering. The strategies must also be able to communicate the products’ values and deliver the communicate values themselves. This will ensure that they are capable of creating structures that will allow for loner term growths within the economies through the development of additional marketing strategies and plans that will further be implemented to strengthen the current strategies.
Marketing a product involves various activities that have to be undertaken by the organizational staff and is found to significantly differ with other marketing jobs. Product marketing does not necessarily involve processes such as marketing communications, advertisement, online marketing or even public relations when a new market id pitched to the general public, the whole process is known as product marketing with the target audience being referred to as the product market (Dobkin, 2008). Research studies have to be carried out before any new product is actually brought in to the market so that its level of acceptability is ascertained. This will enable the persons or organization that is introducing a new market to the market establish or determine the possible performance of the new product way before it is actually released to the market. In the event the general performance of the new product is low, decisions have to be made as to whether to release the new product into the market or not.
The concept of product marketing derives is definition from the term product market that generally focuses on aspects that are narrow. The aspects that the concept focuses on are the type of the product, the various needs of the customers which are otherwise referred to as the functional needs, the type of the customer that the new product is to be introduced to and the general geographical area that is to be covered in the process of product introduction to the new or existing market. This research paper, therefore, develops a marketing proposal for a clothes line merchandise shop that wants to introduce a new baby’s cloth within the market. This proposal highlights the various strategies that the merchandise shops can adopt to market its new product.
Problem Statement
The general problem to this research proposal is that a large number of organizations have over the years been faced with the challenge of introducing new products with the already established markets that they operate in or introduce their products to totally new markets. Most of these organizations have employed various strategies that have not proven successful in the long run. Faced with such challenges in the long run, they are usually forced to seek professional help so that clear and workable strategies are crafted for them to enable them carry out proper marketing activities for their products.
With this challenge in mind that organizations face, the specific problem to this research proposal becomes clearer. The Carter’s Shop merchandise is faced with the challenge of coming up with workable marketing strategies that it can use in introducing its new product with effectiveness and efficiency. The research work is therefore tasked with the responsibility of proposing a marketing strategy that the merchandise store can use in the introduction of their new product which is a new baby’s clothe through communicating the values and qualities of this new product to its target customers so that it can gain acceptance and thus being able to sell like the other products it has in the market.
Purpose of Study
This research proposal is very significant in many ways. The major significance of this research proposal is that it will develop a marketing strategy for the organization that will enable it to introduce a new product in the market (Rogers, 2001). Through developing of a new strategy, the research proposal will in effect highlight both the weaker points that the merchandise store is supposed to avoid and enumerate the stronger strategies that the merchandise store can adopt. The study findings are also vital as the organizations can use it a basis to further develop new versions of marketing strategies for other products that it might want to introduce in the market in the future.
The research findings are also significant in that they can be used for purposes of academic learning. The research findings do form a basis upon which future research findings can be carried out. This is very significant in the field of academic research as it will help in the analysis of various hypotheses that are developed on the subject matter of marketing. The research findings are also significant in that they will provide critical information about the market structure that will be helpful to the organizational management in their efforts to implement the proposed marketing strategy. Either, the buying behavior and pattern of the target customers will also be availed to the organization. Information about the buying pattern and behavior of the customers will be very vital to the merchandise store management team that is initiating the marketing plan and activities. This will help them segment the market that will allow concentrate their advertisement more on the region with relatively higher frequencies of buying behavior that could see higher sales of their products. This will, in the long run, ensure that they do not carry on with marketing activities in areas that it is automatic that they would not be able to make any significant sales or market penetration however much they market. This will save them some costs.
Research Design
The research study is designed in a manner that makes it qualitative. Te research study will heavily rely on the reviewing of available material that is rich with information on this particular subject topic. Most of the materials that will be reviewed are the journals that contain other research findings on the same topic in this research study (Dobkin, 2008). The study will also rely on interviews it will carry out on certain targeted individuals who are deemed to have sufficient knowledge necessary for the carrying out of this research proposal. The research seeks to obtain two categories of information that are the primary information and the secondary information. The primary information will be obtained from primary sources of information and in this case it will be obtained through the interviews that will be carried out. The secondary information will be obtained from the secondary sources of information which in this case will be the various literature materials that will be reviewed that have information on the topic of study. Previous research studies will also be relied upon to provide vital informational insight in the area of study as they will also act as a source of secondary information.
Literature Review
There are a number of research studies that have so far been done on the topic of marketing strategies. These studies have come up varying findings that attempt propose different strategies that can be used in marketing (Mcleish, 2011). The findings by these research studies are very vital as they give insight to this research proposal that tries to propose various marketing strategies that can be employed when introducing a new product in the market and more so the marketing strategies that can be employed by the clothe merchandising store that aims at introducing a new baby’s cloth within the market.
One of such studies was carried out by Global Business Union, and it that sought to find out the various marketing strategies that could be used in the supply and distribution of goods and services by organizations. The study was meant for the small scale and medium sized businesses to have a clear understanding of the market so that they could be able to carry out studies that would enable them evaluate and implement appropriate marketing strategies that would enable them compete within the market that getting a sizeable share of the market in which they operate in. The study found out that the process of developing a marketing strategy involved five key stages that are divided as follows. The first involved the analysis of the customers whereby the organization wishing to operate within any given market has to identify the market in which it wants to operates in and then starts the process of analyzing the end users that are found within the identified market.
The organization has to carry out a proper data collection process that will lead to the segmentation of the market that will then allow the company to understand the various needs, behavior and tastes of the customer (Rogers, 2001). With the available data, the company has to analyze them and then develop marketing campaigns that will enable it reach its target market group and then forecast the demand levels within the market. The second strategy involves the development of the product where the organizations must undertake rapid advancements in the technologies that they have to use in the production of goods. The organization must also advance the type of materials that they use in the production of these goods and services that will eventually see them reduce their product life cycle due to the efficiency and effectiveness that they would be facing.
The pricing of commodities is another strategy that organization can also use in marketing their products. The organizations have to set optimal prices that can make them compete successfully within the market without scaring away its customers. Pricing of commodities is argued to be one of the most important elements of the marketing mix. The price indicate the quality of the products the organizations have to set the product prices in consideration of the price benchmarks within the market that the prices are to be set. The setting of prices for an organization’s product prices allows the organization to realize sales margin that is maximum. Another strategy that the organizations can use is that of branding.
The research reveals that this very important for a company that wants to start up and is looking forward to entering the new markets (Dobkin, 2008). The organizations must take it as their responsibility to develop brands that are stronger. It goes further to state that the brand that the new company has built will definitely act as the link between the value of the product that the company is trying to introduce in the market and the organization’s costumers. In the event that the organizations develop stronger brands, their products will easily become recognizable as their will be some kinds of emotional connections between the product and the customer. This will eventually lead to instances of customer loyalty that will lead to lower prices. In the long run, the business will be able to retention their customers.
The final strategy will involve the sales and distribution of a company’s products. A good product brand is said not to be good enough if it is not possible of reaching the intended customers. Organizations must always develop extensive networks that they use to sell their products. The networks do involve sales representatives, wholesalers, distributors and agents who deal with the toughest responsibility of managing the distribution channels on behalf of the organizations. The research study concludes that for organizations to become successful in their activities, they must always undertake these responsibilities in a clear and precise manner. Other research studies have also be carried out that have revealed that the organization must develop marketing strategies that are similar or close to the ones that have been discussed herein so that they be able to introduce their new products within the intended market.
Discussion
Based on the above facts, the Carter’s Shop must take certain steps towards the development of a proper marketing strategy that it will use to successfully introduce its new product (Mcleish, 2011). The store has to take these vital steps towards the realization of a proper strategy. The organization must first identify its target market and then critically analyze the targeted market so that it identifies the intended users of the product to be introduced in the market. This is very crucial as it will help the clothes stores to identify the specific needs of its customers, understand their probable buying behavior and strategize of the campaign methods it will use to access the markets.
The store line must then take to working out the price range upon which the new products will be sold. The prices that the store line must come up with are supposed to be competitive enough as it will have a reflection of the quality of the products within the minds of the customers. The price must be optimal enough to enable the stores line to achieve its revenue expectations while at the same time operating under the benchmarks of prices as set out within the economy. The price must not scare the intended customers as it is supposed to be reasonable while at the same time ensure that the store realizes its sales margins.
Branding is another strategy that the clothes store can use to attract more customers for its new product. It has to come up with superior branding system that will be appealing to its customers while at the same time be cost conscious (Rogers, 2001). The store should not take to branding its new products in extremely expensive manner that will not reflect the true worth of the product. The choice of branding material and color should also be appealing to the customers as branding that is not appealing to them will mostly drive them to competitor’s products. The distribution channels that the store has to rely on for the delivery of its new product must also be reliable and efficient so that deliveries are done in the right manner free from delays and damages to the products. The distributors must also be in a position to understand certain aspects of the products that would make them answer certain questions concerning the products.
Conclusion
The marketing to be adopted by the clothes merchandise has to be people oriented that must focus its analysis on the market, price, branding and the individuals who will distribute the new products to the market (Dobkin, 2008). With such a strategy, the store will be able to successfully introduce its new baby’s cloth within the targeted market in an efficient and effective manner without variations. The distribution channels will also ensure that the products are delivered in the right manner in which they are packed. The prices are to be more attractive to the customers thus not scaring them away.
Works Cited
Mcleish, Barry. Successful Marketing Strategies For Nonprofit Organizations: Winning In The Age Of The Elusive Donor. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2011 Print
Rogers, Stuart C. Marketing Strategies, Tactics, And Techniques: A Handbook For Practitioners. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books, 2001 Print.
Dobkin, Jeffrey. Direct Marketing Strategies. Merion Station, PA: Danielle Adams Publishers. 2008 Print.
