3. Marketing Mix
Marketing theory is made up of the 4-Ps, Product, Place, Price and Promotion
3.1 Product
The name of the magazine is “Hong Kong Discovery”, it is a bi-monthly magazine published by a non-profit organization which inherit the same name as “Hong Kong Discovery”. Thus the major target groups are the members of such organization, or non-members that interest in hiking or natural environment. Each issue composes of a 100-pages main issue with 2 supplementary booklets(appendix 5), one mainly about outdoor equipments for example stylish hiking boot or valise, while another introduces hiking destinations. It is bilingual and therefore target not only local residents but also citizens. It also published a composed volume collection (appendix 6) for a particular period, each consist of 6 issue and only this magazine offer volume collection among all genre of local published magazines.
Consider the magazine name “Hong Kong Discovery”, it gives readers the impression that there is something in Hong Kong that is unique, mysterious, mostly neglected and needs to be discovery, this arouse reader interest and make them think how Hong Kong is so mysterious, this initiate customers to buy one to find out the answer.
This is supposed to be a product-lead publication but not consumer-lead as it the pioneer magazine of such a genre that not just satisfy the market needs and wants but also aimed at promoting a specific idea which shows the natural beauty of Hong Kong, this magazine also give warning to public that environmental awareness is very important and people should protect the environment, otherwise the natural beauty will be eliminated by pollution. Its linkage between the professional organizations increase the truthful image and accuracy of the magazine which always attract people with high education level to buy the product. As it is product-lead, professional image is very important.
The cover design of the magazine also show its uniqueness, unlike youth magazines, it is lack of exotic, exaggerated or arbitrary slogans to sustain its professional image, instead it use beautiful pictures showing mountains, stream or beaches to give reader a harmonious feeling, this give a room for Hong Kong people escape from hustling reality and one the other hand attract them to buy for relaxing their mind.
Focusing on the content of the magazine, it composes of about 100 pages which half of them are advertisements, this can conclude that the main source of income of such magazine is from advertising. In order to maintain the professional image of such magazine, the advertisements are mostly about outdoor equipments for example hiking boot or valise, the articles inside are news about pollution and environmental issue, and articles are written by experience climbers, hikers and travelers, this also helps to increase its professional image.
3.2 Price
The price of such magazine is HK$28 each and the composed volume is collection HK$188 each. This is about twice the price of some local youth and public affair magazine and is comparatively expensive for full-time students and low-income citizens, however, the target group of this magazine are local hikers and foreign tourists who generally belonged middle class and are mature citizens with their own occupations and affordable to pay such a price if they are interested.
As it is associated with an non-profit organization, it offers 90% discounts to members who buy the magazine, it results in a join promotion which on one hand boost the selling of magazine and one the other hand attract more members joining their organization. Apart from the targeted readers, the magazine also has strategies to attract non-members, it offer a lower price for online subscriptions generally 90-95% discounts depends on how much customers ordered. The “Hong Kong Discovery” Association also hold a price cutting campaign either buy 2 get 1 free or 90-95% discount each year in the Hong Kong Book Fair and that will also attract non-members’ attention. According to the recent sales statistics(appendix 3), the magazine generally sales 300,000 copies per issue and they obtain the greatest sales during the Hong Kong Book Fair period.
3.3 Place
As this is quite an academic magazine, its marketing threshold is much larger than other types of magazine as it can not only be found in tradition media for example bookstand or kiosk but also in large bookstores for example Commercial Press or Joint Publishing. This maintain a flexible pricing strategy as different book stores organize different discount rate and at different periods.
Customers can also use the non-traditional ways to buy the magazine, they can subscript the magazine by filling the ordering form(appendix 7)or download the subscription form via their homepage. Customer can also use the homepage to view abstract of the magazine as well. By using the internet, the magazine can spread their threshold from local to overseas market and increase its popularity around the world.
3.4 Promotion
The promotional work of “Hong Kong Discovery”Magazine is usually done by the associated organization by cross promotion. It seldom post advertisement on other forms of media such as TV, radio, or other publications, as it unlikely to afford such a high advertising expenses, however, with the help of the organization, it can offer a two-sided cross promotion. On one hand the organization offer members’ activity for example eco-cultural tour, visits, seminars, exhibitions and courses regularly that helps to increase the awareness and popularity of the magazine and promote their publications as members have to buy the magazine in order to catch up with the activities organized, on the other hand the magazine helps to promote the club’s activities telling the club’s news and activities organized by the club on the last few pages. This is also the only commercial magazine using this promotional strategy as well.
Word-of-mouth is another important strategy of this magazine as it does not have much personal selling, however, it is very popular among hiker and outdoor enthusiasts as it provide lots of useful information about the hiking equipments and destination analysis, therefore the goodwill is important. In order to maintain its goodwill, the magazine organize exhibitions or talks by experienced travelers, for example Dr. Rebecca Lee Lok Sze Founder, China Polar Museum Foundation held talks periodically, it also organize lots of courses and eco-tour to attract the public attention. With this strategy, the magazine ca increase the loyalty of existing customers, as this is also a peer pressure to catch up with the club’s recent updates.
3.5 Strategies and Tactics
Apart from the strategies using 4-Ps, the magazine also use some different form of promotional tools.
3.5.1 Advertising
This magazine actually does not much emphasis traditional method of advertising through TV commercials or written advertisements, however it develops strategic co-operations with lots of environmental organizations such as Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and Hong Kong Underwater Association, these relations is similar to the cross-promotion mentioned in promotion section(3.4 Promotion), however, it is financed individually by different society, thus one hand increase its popularity and on the other hand lower its expenses.
3.5.2 Sales Promotion
Sales Promotion of the magazine usually done in July every year in the Hong Kong Book Fair, during this time, discounts are offered and dolls or models will be distributed as a gift for large purchases, this act as an incentive to promotion the magazine and boost the selling.
3.5.3 Public Relations
The magazine offer activity for example eco-cultural tour, visits, seminars, exhibitions and courses regularly that helps to increase the awareness and popularity. It also helps to maintain a professional and trustful image of the magazine as the speakers and lecturer are well known travelers. It builds up a good image to customers especially in the middle class to replace the use of advertisements.
3.5.4 Personal Selling
This usually achieved by word-of-mouth from the public, however, as the magazine also organize seminars and courses, this can also helps to spread its popularity by the speaker or lectures of such activities.
4. Situation Analysis
4.1 SWOT Analysis
The Magazine recognizes the following internal factors including strengths, weaknesses and external factors including opportunities, threats.
4.1.1 Strengths:
Firstly, the magazine can achieve community commitment as it is associated with a non-profit organization that discussed before(see Promotion section)which can offer cross promotion and increase its goodwill and popularity. Although the magazine only published for three years, it is organized by many experienced travelers and hikers, their professional knowledge helps maintaining the high standard and thus can attract readers searching for professional traveling knowledge and increase customers’ loyalty. Thirdly, its target market not only in Hong Kong but also foreign country as it is bilingual, therefore they can maximize their market catchment and attract as many customers as possible. Finally, unlike many other genre, this type of academic magazine can be sold wherever there are bookshops, it is very eligible to the citizens, it also brings a certain message that is important to all people around the world.
4.1.2 Weaknesses:
Its weaknesses include limited cash, consider the product life cycle(appendix 4), the magazine is still in its beginners stage, it need to spend a lot on sales, promotion and personal selling, therefore, initial and ongoing financing may be difficult. Another weakness is there is little experience with local politics, as eco-tourism is also still in beginning stage in Hong Kong, people do not have much understanding about this issue thus the target audience is very narrow, although the market is not very small and there is not much legislative benefit from the government, also the living style is also the main concern as it affect the readers’ interest.
4.1.3 Opportunities:
As it is mentioned before that this is the only local published and commercialized magazine within its genre, there are no well-focused or well-marketed competition because others mainly published as free membership publications for example WWF newsletters, the market is far below saturation level, there is still a large room for development. The cost of Internet and other direct marketing opportunities have decreased in recent years owning to the unstable economic environment, less expenses will be spent on promotion, this increase the opportunity for the magazine to explore in others field. Thirdly, climbers and hikers are not as price-sensitive as other outdoor enthusiasts, therefore they are eager to spend more on their habits and get information on this area, this provide a large potential market for this type of magazine.
4.1.4 Threats:
Although Hong Kong people concern pollution, however many of them do not have the sense of environmental protection, this is a threat to the sales of this magazine as less people consider this as a problem. As this hiking magazine is closely associate with eco-tourism which acquire a large place of land, and Hong Kong is only a small city, locals are very sensitive to land use, if the governments no longer support eco-tourism, this magazine also cannot survive in the market.
4.2 PEST Analysis
PEST Analysis is not very important for this magazine, however, it still have some minor effects. For Political analysis, the reason why this magazine arises is that the Hong Kong Government start to promote eco-cultural tourism in Hong Kong, therefore people begins to aware the importance of natural environment, thus Political legislation is the initiative of the magazine. Economic prospect is the most important in PEST for this magazine, because environment protection is a need but eco-tourism is just a wants. If the Economic environment is uncertain, no one will care what eco-tourism is, it directly affects the existence or style of the magazine. Social factors affect the consumer behaviors of this magazine, as most people in Hong Kong belong to the middle class families, the market of this magazine is being considered as large, but still a minority compare to other types of magazine. Finally, technology help much on promotion, the magazine can interest the threshold from local to international by using internet, it also greatly increase the sales of such magazine.
4.3 Competitor Analysis
The “Hong Kong Discovery” magazine do not have local competitors because the market for such a genre is, yet has limited choices all others similar magazine exist in the form of free membership booklet for example WWF, Hong Kong and Bird Watching Society publications, however, the major competitor is the Chinese version of National Geographic, as both of them focus in cultural and environmental issue. Therefore, the point of difference is very important for survival of the magazine. There is difference in target market, although both are target middle class readers, however National Geographic is in global aspect and Hong Kong Discovery consider local environment, therefore, Hong Kong Discovery is more familiar to Hong Kong people and meet the actually needs of local market than National Geographic, “Hong Kong Discovery” provide a distinctive, high-quality publication for the local market and express local qualities and values that attract a larger local market. The sales promotion of “Hong Kong Discovery” focus in the needs of Hong Kong as it is closely alliances with many local environmental organizations and held a lot of tour, courses and exhibitions for local residents which National Geographic not able to do
Fulfilling various customer needs is the main focus of the strategies.
5. Conclusion
The “Hong Kong Discovery” magazine is a special type as it does not have much competitors among the same genre, however, marketing strategies are still important as the function of this magazine is to introduce a certain message to the public and these strategy help it to arouse the public concern and awareness. Thus marketing is critical for success and future profitability. Another important factor is that although it do not have competitor in the same group, but it have to compete with books in other genre, therefore, how to make it famous is really important. The Hong Kong Discovery magazine also use some specific type of promotional tools like the Hong Kong Book Fair promotion and Organization promotion that other types of magazines are not able to use, this is also interesting to investigate.
Reference
Hong Kong Government (1999) Annual Report 1999, Government Information Services.
Appendix 1 Hong Kong Discovery Homepage
Appendix 2 First issue Cover
Appendix3 Questionnaire to Hong Kong Discovery Magazine by e-mail
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am a study of Hong Kong and I am doing research on the marketing strategies of your Hong Kong Discovery Magazine, could you please share a few minutes answering the following question? That’s will help me a lot, Thank you very much.
1. What are your target readers?
2. What are the objectives of Hong Kong Discovery magazine?
3. What are you marketing goals?
4. Could you give me the statistics about the sales of your magazine?
5. What factors do you think will bring the success of your magazine?
6. What are the difficulties your magazine needs to face?
Yours faithfully,
John Leung
Abstract of Reply from the Magazine
- Our primary customers are hikers, according to our research done in 2003, 71% of the viewers are in the medium to high income levels, with 61% indicating they had secondary education or higher, the primary appeal of the show focused on viewers in the 35-plus age category. 12% readers are non-Chinese.
- Promote hiking and eco-tourism in Hong Kong
3. We focus in building up professional image, loyalty of readers is important. We are the only local magazine about environment in the market, thus it is a point of difference to other similar magazine
4. The sales varies from 300000 to 500000 copies for each issue depends on the contents, mostly sell during July in the Hong Kong Book Fair.
5. The penetration to local market is our strength. Our main marketing strategy is to focus on the overall experience needed by each customer. Some of our customers will seek a friendly gathering place to discuss climbs and prospects. Therefore, our strategy is to fulfill these various customer needs while minimizing possible friction between these customers. That is our focus.
6. We face a lot of problems for examples Government policies, reader’s habit etc.
Appendix 4 Product life cycle
Appendix 5
Appendix 6 Cover of collection
Appendix 7 Subscription Order form
