In virtually all aspects of business competition is involved and bearing this In mind Surf N’ Slurp must always be one step ahead of its competitors. For this to happen I must find out as much as I can about different Internet cafes within the region. Example. Their products, services, prices etc.
Finally this report will end with a very crucial task which will be a marketing plan for Surf N’ Slurp.
In this marketing plan I will explain the main ways on how to promote and advertise Surf N’ Slurp and how legal constraints can affect these ways.
Introduction
“Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, services, organizations and events to create and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”
As marketing manager of surf and slurp it is in my best interest to ensure the customers with state of the art technology and refined luxury at an outstandingly affordable price.
I want Surf ‘N’ Slurp to be a place for people who not only want to play computer games and surf the web, but also a place for people not wanting to use a PC to have an enjoyable time.
Once Surf ‘N’ Slurp is opened, the duties of I the marketing manager will be to:
Organize and analyze surveys, questionnaires and reports on products, customers and sales.
Study my competitors’ products, market trends and customer demands.
Keep track of what is being sold or used and what isn’t.
Add new products and services.
Advertise and display in different ways to attract customer attention.
Produce a detailed marketing plan, which includes graphs and charts.
Only in the last 50 years has there been a big rise to the importance of marketing and market research. After all market research is what will tell you weather there is a need for the product or service you are offering and if so then where to locate your company, how to price your products, the best ways to promote it and what products are in demand.
There are two main types of market research:
- Field research
- Desk research
Field research- Information that is gathered for a specific purpose through direct investigation such as observations or surveys and through experiment, also commonly known as primary data.
Desk research- information that already exists due to other people’s research, also known as secondary data.
Target market - Target Market is the specific group of customers that a company aims to capture. They have been identified as people with needs or wants that can be met with the products or services from Surf ‘N’ Slurp. Therefore are main focus should be on our target market because they will be our main customers.
It is extremely vital to make sure there is a gap in the market regarding Internet cafés, because if there isn’t then Surf ‘N’ Slurp will not be in demand and so therefore people wont come (people wouldn’t even need to come).
To find out if there is room in the market I will do field research in the form of a questionnaire.
With a questionnaire I can get useful information regarding whether of not there is a demand for Surf ‘N’ Slurp and it will also help me decide how to promote and advertise Surf ‘N’ Slurp.
As marketing manager I will produce a fully feasible report with substantial evidence to show that this marketing campaign has great potential and that opening Surf ‘N’ Slurp will be a huge success. All information and working that is collected will be added in this report, including all definitions, graphs, charts, etc.
This report will then be handed to the marketing director, who, if approves will take further action.
Objectives
In order to succeed every large and determined company will always set itself objectives. By doing this the company will know exactly what they are trying to achieve.
As the marketing manager of Surf ‘N’ Slurp it is my duty to produce a list of key objectives, which, if achieved, will make Surf ‘N’ Slurp thrive rather then just survive.
The objectives set for Surf ‘N’ Slurp are:
- Within two months of opening, Surf ‘N’ Slurp should be a well established brand name (locally)
- To be able find out the entire customer needs and wants by using numerous methods.
- Continuously scrutinize competitors.
- Within three to four months Surf ‘N’ Slurp should have a large market share.
Creating objectives will most certainly influence the rest of the company. That’s why it’s always important to create achievable and realistic objectives, which the staff believe in.
Objectives influence the:
Sales department- if the objectives are reached then sales will definitely rise.
Production department- with a huge increase in customers, those in charge of production will have to work harder to produce more services to satisfy customers.
Logistics- with a rise in popularity and a well established name things will have to happen when expected and nothing should go wrong. E.g. Assets must arrive on time and food items delivered regularly.
When setting objectives one must always bear in mind that there may be a few constraints (internally or externally) that may stop the company from succeeding in a particular objective.
Fortunately there are many methods and resources available to help Surf ‘N’ Slurp carry out its plans.
Some of these methods are:
Market research- such as questionnaires- this is an easy and efficient way of finding out exactly what customers need and want.
S.W.O.T.T.- strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends
The 4 P’s- products/services, price, promotion and place.
Customer Needs
Market Segmentation- To divide a market by a strategy directed at gaining a major portion of sales to a subgroup in a category, rather than a more limited share of purchases by all category users.
Marketing departments segment the market so that they can focus on providing products and services to different people with different needs and wants. The market can be segmented in many different ways:
- By age
- By gender
- By level of education or occupation
- By social class
- By income
- By religion
- By ethnic grouping
- By family characteristics
- By political voting preferences
- By geographical region
- By personality and lifestyle
- By purchase
The Internet itself cannot be segmented because it is so vast and consists of virtually all information that can be easily accessed.
Internet cafes can be segmented in the following ways:
- By age- games room targeting teenagers where as the quiet lounge created for grown ups just looking to surf the web, create documents, chat to family and friends etc.
- By gender- a certain percentage of female customers here in the U.A.E may feel more comfortable if there was some small separate section for women. If by segregating Surf ‘N’ Slurp would make profit then we would have a small section for women. And the rest mixed. In this case segmenting by gender also collaborates with religion.
- By income- the wealthier upper class people may prefer to be in a more luxurious surrounding while playing network games (e.g. sofa’s instead of chairs). If this was the case then Surf ‘N’ slurp could have small V.I.P sections available to all who are willing to pay extra. Features like this are best considered according to who your target market is and what there personalities and lifestyles are like.
After visiting a few Internet cafes and researching online I have come to the conclusion that the target market for Surf ‘N’ Slurp will be mainly middle class teenagers and young adults. I have chosen these categories of people because nowadays they are the majority found in Internet cafes playing network games and surfing the web trying to do research or just chatting to friends and enjoying the benefits of the Internet.
