To get the most out of my market research I should also change the methods or approached in which I take to do this. Each time being focused on a different factor, in which I may feel unaware of. These factors may include:
-Competitors
-Changes in ‘Fashion’
-Product lifecycle
From completing my market research I was able to design an marketing mix this included analysis of product, price, place and promotional factors of my product and how I was going to adapt my product to these factors.
Product
From analysing the Xbox 360 itself, I found out that it was currently in the early maturity stages of the product life cycle, in order to maintain its position I will need to use other factors of the marketing mix such as promotion to attract new customers or even new markets. The established brand, Microsoft itself, will also help the Xbox 360 maintain its position and is the reason for its previous massively popular launch. From completing market research I found out that the gaming industry is now the second most popular and widely growing industry of 2007. With the application of new marketing methods my product, can adapt to the widely growing market to also help maintain its position and delay the decline.
Price
After analysis of the different pricing strategies, I have chosen to use the competitor pricing in order to be constantly competing with competition as efficiently as possible. From my market research I found out that the majority of the market would like to see the Xbox 360 retailing between £201 and £250, therefore I will aim to provide my product at this price. Although changes in other factors like laws, could affect production prices therefore prices may have to rise.
Promotion
100 of the people that I questioned, in my survey, 90 already knew Microsoft as an established brand. Also the most popular age category was both 10-19 and 20-29. Therefore I have chosen TV as it appeals to both there age categories especially the younger ones, I will try to advertise the Xbox 360, during prime time TV, this is where the most popular programmes are on therefore I will be appealing to more people, although the cost of advertising during this time period will be expensive, cost benefit analysis shows that the money used to advertise will be made up on the sales that it gains. Advertising on prime time tv is not always the best option for products, as they do not have the finance to support it, more importantly than this the brand is not already established therefore leading to less interest in the product, these types of product would be better off advertising during the day at a lower cost. I will also be usingd magazines, usually of the gaming category of which the Xbox 360 will be advertised in will mostly appeal to the younger group. By using these types of promotional methods it will help boost my product or help it maintain its position in the product life cycle. At the same time it will help me increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.
Place
From analysing the place factor in which lies upon the Xbox 360 I found out that the Xbox 360, lies within the traditional method of distribution. Place is a very rapidly changing factor within the marketing mix and is sometimes hard to find the best place, therefore I will need to constantly update my primary research in order to find the current ‘hot spots’ which will help benefit my product, I will take advantage of the current hot spots, which lie within online gaming, I will promote my product specifically showing the online gaming features, this will help my product boost sales, as more people are interested in this current feature more than anything else. This will help me move into new markets, and increase sales by penetrating these markets, overall helping the Xbox 360 maintain its position in its life cycle.
Conclusion
Overall I think that after completing my marketing mix, using the information provided through my research I can feel confident that the Xbox 360 will be able to maintain its position in the life cycle, for a longer period of time, by completing everything that has been suggested. Without completing the marketing mix, the Xbox 360 would have taken a much quicker decline as changes in important factors would have led to this. To support my product I must keep on researching into the market, to delay as far as possible the decline stages.
