Marketing a Pub Quiz Web Site
Marketing a Pub Quiz Web Site
INTRODUCTION
I have been asked to produce an analytical report on a marketing strategy for a new or existing product.
This strategy will need to include evidence and information about:
How the strategy is based on the principles of marketing,
How I have used sources of primary and secondary marketing information
How I have analysed the impact of the external environment on my marketing decisions.
How I analysed the marketing context and decided on an appropriate strategy.
How I developed a coherent mix of strategies to meet consumer needs
An evaluation of the reliability of the different marketing models used.
Within this project there will be explanations to what each aspect is then this will be applied to my
venture and reported on.
My Business Idea
My business idea is an interactive pub quiz web site run nationally for big cash prizes. This work was
initially produced in a group for a national young entrepreneur's competition. Just to tell you, we won.
METHODOLOGY
I propose to conduct my research by means of secondary information by using a variety of textbooks
including the Heinemann AVCE Adv. Business, Osborne Adv. Business textbooks plus another few.
These will be a means of looking up topics to primary ad to my report.
I will gather secondary data by going on the Internet using web sites to find out other relevant data
then I will print out relevant information then analysing it and reporting on it.
All this data will be analysed and commentated onto my investigation at hand giving me a variety of
sources.
Marketing
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer
requirements profitably.
Management process - successful marketing needs managerial input because it requires constant
information gathering, as well as data analysis, in order for decisions to be made. Therefore, for my
Dot.Com venture I would have to make important decisions for the making of the project, prospects for
the future and any problems that it would face if it existed today. I would ensure methods of constant
information gathering as well as data analysis in order for the big decisions to be made. Examples of this
are given further into the project.
Identifying - this involves these simple questions based towards the consumer: What, Where, When
and How? This way we can keep in touch with our thoughts and perceptions about this market. This
process plays a large role in this firm, as I will have to ask questions by the second to achieve the
correct information at the right time in order for the business to be a success. The marketing department
would look into market research, as this is the main factor of the project. Focus groups and other
methods of research will be undertaken in order to achieve a better understanding of my concept.
Anticipating - takes into account that consumer requirements are changing all the time. Hoping to
think like them so to meet their needs. When comparing the proposition to present ideas already on the
market, I would make certain to look further to the future as the idea is unique and has lots of potential
for entertainment purposes. When I want to expand the product overseas I would need to be careful as
some countries could see the idea as a gambling opportunity, and will perish the thought of breaking
the law (for example America).
Satisfying - involves meeting the consumers needs. Consumers want the right goods, at the right price,
at the right time and in the right place. According to plans, I will attempt to meet consumer
requirements. Before this is suggested, enough market research would need to be gathered to tackle the
problem.
Profitably - is the margin of profit that motivates organisations to supply goods to consumers in a
market? Profit may be simply one motive for supplying goods to a market. I would need to keep my
suggestions sensible as this idea could result in failure. The motive is to see if this idea will be effective.
If it is the next objective will be to collect the revenue and plan for the future.
Principles of Marketing
Marketing is essential in order for my business to be a success, I would need to meet the needs of my
actual and potential customers, whether for profit or not.
If a business's marketing is to be successful, it should understand:
Customer needs - Understanding this is done through the process of market research enabling a
company to understand their consumer and moulding around this image. My business does this by
gaining data collectively analysing and documenting any relevant issues.
Keeping ahead of the competition - in competitive business environment organisations are forced to
be on their toes. So we cannot let rivals gain advantages by offering lower prices or goods customers
perceive to be substantially better. In order to excel organisations will gear their activities to being
better than their competitions, and to keeping up with any improvements competitors make.
Andthewinneris.Com will be carrying out this by means of research, making sure we are keeping up with
technology, along with carrying out SWOT & PEST analysis to keep up with changing times for them
and the market.
Communication effectiveness with customers - an effective network of communication is essential for
any form of promotional activity. It enables an organisation not only to communicate with its customers
and satisfy their expectations but also to build an image with the world at large. Such an image will help
others to form a judgement about what the organisation stands for, and will influence their dealings with
it.
Dot.Com does this by using various tools to communicate effectively with customers to satisfy their
expectations within what is known as the promotional mix.
Satisfying customer needs - this is carried out to be competitive within my market segment, so to this
market research may be conducted asking questions to find out what THEY want.
Co-ordination of business functions to achieve marketing aims - business strategies is concerned with
the big decision organisations for the whole organisation and influences the future of a business for a
long time to come. An organisation with a strategy is concerned with identifying successfully so that
the organisation can meet a range of objectives.
Awareness of the constraints of marketing - Every organisation that has a marketing activity is faced
with a number of constraints that may limit their activity.
Internal constraints - relate to the resource capabilities of an organisation.
External constraints involve a series of factors within the business environment in which an
organisation operates that limit, in one way or another, the organisation's activities. These will include
the following,
Consumers - if my organisation is not market focused or if consumers are not interested in a product,
then it will be difficult to market.
Competitors - It may be difficult to market a product for which a competitor already has an advantage.
Economy - In a period of economic recession when consumers have declining incomes, it may make it
difficult to market a luxury product.
The law - There may be a number of laws constraining the activities of a business, which may make it
difficult for the business to do well.
This is relevant to the Dot.Com business at hand, as it is a market-focused company that will research all
these constraints fully and will try to find solutions that enable it to turn weaknesses into strengths and
threats into opportunities.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are anyone with an interest or 'stake' in the business. To a stakeholder, it matters what
the business does, and likewise, it matters to the business what the stakeholder thinks or does.
Stakeholders are normally categorised into two types, these being Internal stakeholders and external
stakeholders. Internal stakeholders includes employees, managers, and of course the owners. External
stakeholders include customers, suppliers, shareholders, lenders, pressure groups, the local community,
and the government, the Inland Revenue, and Customs & Excise.
The Dot.Com venture will have stakeholders these being from the moment the business is established.
The Internal stakeholders will include employees, managers (possibly), and, of course, me. External
stakeholders, who will include the customers (pubs and people participating in the quizzes), Suppliers of
the equipment i.e. of remote controls, The bank (if we take-out a loan), Inland Revenue (responsible for
Taxation), Customs & Excise (responsible for Value Added Tax) and the Government.
It is necessary for a business and the business at hand, to develop and maintain a relationship with its
stakeholders. This is the task of the Management of a business, to prioritise the objectives of the
business (some may conflict), in order to keep the majority of the stakeholders happy for most of the
time. Maintaining a relationship with your stakeholders is important because the business will want all
stakeholders to have and continue to have an interest/stake in the business. This is especially true with
the example of actual and potential customers.
If my business does not develop or maintain a good relationship with its customers, it is easy to see that
they will go elsewhere (to a substitute). As you can see, this would also be true for many other
stakeholders as well. If a business has creditors (suppliers) that it has not settled, the business will
develop a bad relationship with them, and consequently the supplier may not supply to them any more.
Market research
Market research is a way in which my business can understand and be aware of the activities of
competitors before I can develop my marketing strategy. Market research is categorised into two types
of research. One of these is Primary research (or field research).
Primary research - is the gathering of 'raw' data, designed to fit the business's research objectives and
requirements. One problem that many people see in primary research is the expense of it e.g. a survey.
One way to potentially get around this problem is syndicated research, where the 'information seekers'
join to carryout the research.
Another major type of research is secondary research, otherwise known as Desk research. This is the
gathering and analysis of already available information. Therefore, the company does not have to
actually carryout surveys etc, but just look up information that they need, this is where the Internet is
most useful! A big advantage of Desk research is that it saves both time and money for the company in
question. However, one common disadvantage with this type of research is that the information found
is not always the information that it needed.
Market research can obviously be of great help and benefit the business enormously, which is why it is
considered a very valuable tool to my business in achieving success and my objectives. Taking the
example of survey/questionnaires, you can see the benefits of it to the company. If I was thinking about
launching a new market and/or looking for a gap in the market, I could ask people what is needed. After
I have found out what is in demand by consumers, then I will then continue to carry out more research.
So the company will continue to use research until all of the research objectives have been satisfied. If
the company's research has been successful, I should know exactly where to head in the market next.
Market research can obviously help a business that is not doing very well, for example, making a loss. In
the case of 'Andthewinneris.Com the primary research should help to understand how the interactive
quizzes work, and what consumers think of them.
All businesses carrying out research have the worry about cost. So if it doesn't find out the information
that it needs and the objectives set out are not covered, then the research has obviously not been a
success and then my company has wasted valuable time and money.
In some cases, data is very hard to find or access. This would mainly be the case, in my opinion, with
secondary research. My firm may be looking for information via desk research, and not be able the find
it. I may find some information, but it is not detailed enough to cover my objectives. These are some of
the problems that this business will have to be aware of.
What my business and other businesses will also have to be aware whether the data is valid and
reliable. Firstly, if the data is not valid [suitable], then it will obviously be of no use to the company.
For example, the company may get some information, when conducting desk research, which is dated
983. This information may be too old for use, and therefore not valid. Therefore, this would be a
restraint to producing the final product.
Primary Research
(Field or Research) is the gathering of fresh information, specially tailored to the businesses own
requirements. The problem here is the expense of the survey. Syndicated research is one answer: here
the information seekers join to conduct the research. Alternatively, established research agencies may
undertake research and sell their findings to interest organisations. Below is an explanation of methods
of primary research explaining how they are carried out:
Interviews - This is increasingly common these days. It is a form of test or assessment. Interviews are
arranged for almost every kind of job. The process of looking through forms or letters and the
examination of references will mean that only a few of the applicants for the job will be interviewed. This
is because interviews take up the time of senior managers who have to carry them out, and this will be
costly for the business.
Focus Groups - This involves a group of customers being brought together on one or a number of
occasions. They area asked to discuss questions prepared by market researchers. The groups contain a
range of individuals who are thought to be representative often the customers of the business or
particular segment of customers. Focus groups are relatively cheap and are an easy way of gathering
market research information.
Panel Discussions - Another example of market research is to set up panels of consumers, which consist
of groups of consumers who agree to provide information about their attitudes and buying habits.
Another type of panel is a diary panel. With this type of panel, consumers record their purchases and
media habits, usually in a diary.
Surveys - These are the most common ways used to collect market research information. They use
market research methods, such as various types of interviews, to find out how respondents react to a
range of issues often contained within a questionnaire.
Questionnaires - The quality of the information obtained via the questionnaire is inextricably linked with
the survey. A good questionnaire will result in a smooth interview, giving the interviewer a precise
format to follow and ensuring he or she obtains exactly the information required in a format that is easy
for the researcher to analyse later.
Sampling - Businesses need to collect enough data to have a clear idea of the views of the consumers.
Taking a sample of the population can do this. This sample can group should be made up of consumers
that are representatives of all potential buyer of the product. Computers today can be used to produce
to produce a random list of numbers, which are then used as the basis for selecting a sample.
Testing - Test marketing involves selling a product in a restricted section of the market in order to
access consumer reaction to it. Test marketing usually takes place by making products available within a
particular geographical area.
Pilots - A pilot is a small-scale experiment, which is undertaken before something, is introduced on a
larger scale. If time and costs allow, a questionnaire should be piloted by trying out test respondents.
This may not involve great many respondents, perhaps 10 or 12 at most. A pilot is useful in identifying
any major problems with the questionnaire.
Field Trials - Selected consumers may be asked to test a product prior to its launch. The purpose of this
is to ensure the product performs according to expectations in the home environment, and it provides an
opportunity for problems to be sorted out.
Although primary research is a great way to gather and collect relevant and very useful information,
which companies can benefit from, it can be very time consuming for customers or participants
answering the questions. Also firms using ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
any major problems with the questionnaire.
Field Trials - Selected consumers may be asked to test a product prior to its launch. The purpose of this
is to ensure the product performs according to expectations in the home environment, and it provides an
opportunity for problems to be sorted out.
Although primary research is a great way to gather and collect relevant and very useful information,
which companies can benefit from, it can be very time consuming for customers or participants
answering the questions. Also firms using market research as a tool to gather relevant information can
waste a lot of money producing forms for people to fill out when they should be constructing broader
ideas to gain more market share for their company.
Primary Research Objectives
This business has many primary objectives. I intend to always ensure that I establish what it is, that I
need to find out. I need to choose a suitable data collection method of market research so that I do not
ask for the wrong things and get the blame for a bad idea later. Most importantly, I need to construct a
questionnaire to ask a publican about a time schedule, quizzes in general etc. Once the questionnaire is
completed, I will need to decide on sampling techniques to achieve the correct answers.
Once all the necessary data is collected, I shall collate, analyse and interpret the data and present our
findings with forecasts as required.
An examination of my own organisations internal records
In addition, a study of external publications complied by experts in various fields.
When looking closely at the primary, secondary and desk research I will have to know how accessible
carrying this out will be. I will conduct an interview with a local publican of a well known public house in
Borehamwood, and a collection of chartered related data from entertainment businesses such as
television game show 'Who wants to be a millionaire'? Also additional information from the Internet will
help achieve the right results to obtain data.
These objectives include:
The age of the customer
How much money is spent in pubs?
How people spend their evenings
How much would people be willing to pay for our product?
What people think about the idea?
Peak hours to show the quiz
How long people spend in pubs
And the suppliers of the remote control idea
Secondary research
This is the gathering and analysis of already available information. This is a natural starting point it is
quicker and cheaper and commercial organisations are always keen to save time and money. The
problem is that information already available is already partly out of date. It may not be precisely what is
required, either. Therefore, I will have to check its collection date and relevance.
The main sources of secondary data are Annual abstract statistical books (government)
Market research firms
Company Information
Newspapers
The Internet.
Some secondary data is free, whilst others are paid for.
A marketing database lists and carries information about people, or organisations, in any one market
E.g. a local supermarket will have a 'list' of its customers if they have applied for a loyalty card. Data can
be bought from professional agencies; this will give information on others firms in their same industry.
Bought-in lists have become so sophisticated that they are often linked together. There are many of
these firms, each trying more accurately to explain who and where the potential customers are, and what
they buy.
A marketing database helps to provide information on consumer behaviour, as research would have
been conducted into consumer preferences, buying patterns, sales trends and product substitution.
Data would be collected nation wide or even globally giving a wide area of scope to analyse.
In addition, information on the market would be issued, this being market share, segments and
competitor activities. This would be collective data conducted from financial accounts from firms within
a certain market, this way data can be analysed and consequently used appropriately.
The costs and benefits of using secondary data are as followed;
Costs
Benefits
Expensive
Quick and easy
Data given to you may not be what it is meant to.
Pay for work already conducted
Could be bias
Can be free (books)
Secondary research objectives
My secondary research objectives consist of:
How much money does the population in our area/ product/ service spend?
The circulation/ viewing figures that correspond towards our project.
Also, market size. To see if there is growth or decline within our sector
Research into how much money spent on alcohol and home entertainment annually.
To gather the information the sources we will consider using are as followed,
Statistics on Social trends,
Annual statistics book,
The Internet,
Business related textbooks
The data is easy to access as I'm already in possession of recent annual statistics: so I will look up the
relevant data and use it appropriately to the task at hand.
Over the Internet the easiest possible way to find out what I will be looking for, so by using search
engines to find web pages on statistics. From this I will search for the relevant data, this should be
simpler as I should be able to type in what I'm looking for and the data should come up.
By using, business related textbooks I should be able to find some of the relevant data within them,
using them appropriately. All the information collected will be explained so not to leave you in the dark,
explaining how it is relevant to the product at hand.
Conducting Primary Research
On The 17th March 2001, I visited a local public house to gather information to aid the interactive pub
quiz project.
I constructed a pub questionnaire to give the landlord to complete. I gathered lots of information from
my visit, all of which you can see on the finished questionnaire. After discussing many aspects of the
business preposition I found out that the publican was interested in pub quizzes in general, and said
that the idea has lots of potential for the entertainment market. I then went on to ask him to complete a
questionnaire. Below are things he replied.
From the publican's experience, the busiest nights of the week tended to be on a Friday and Saturday
night between 9-10pm. In this particular example, he said that Mondays were the least busy night of the
week. Therefore by running quizzes on this night (obviously on other nights too) this particular pub
would attract more customers and increase the pubs profits. So, it is not only we as a business that is
benefiting from the quizzes, but all the pubs/breweries that allow this quiz to run on their premises. In
order for our business to benefit the most from running these quizzes, I should run the quizzes at 9pm
for an hour to 10pm. We believe this because: from our market research the publican stated that the
busiest hour of the week was between 9-10pm.
I asked the landlord how much he would be willing to pay for the infrared remote control for teams to
use whilst playing the quiz. He answered between £4-5, which tells me that I should consider actually
pricing each remote at this price per night. As he probably has in-depth knowledge of what the
customers want, so I believe that this is a good amount, as I was also considering the price of around £5
anyway. I believe that for an hour worth of fun and trivia in a team, this is a very reasonable and in fact
good-value to the customers. If you take into consideration that for £5 you could have the chance to
win very high cash prizes e.g. £50,000, this quiz seems a very worthwhile activity.
Pub Questionnaire Analysis - Looking at some of the main rivals (although none are unique like us)
such as Bingo, I believe it would be more attractive to consumers, both economically and socially. One
reason for this is that you will have to pay just about, as much for a night of Bingo, but you cannot
have a chance to win such high cash prizes.
The Publican responding then went on to reply to the question asking whether there are any areas in
which he felt could be improved. To this, he felt that there were no aspects of the quiz that could be
improved, as his exact reply was "Not as such". His reply, therefore, reassured us me that the
proposition was right for the audience it is aimed at.
Although above you can see that the publican thought that there were no areas that could do with
improvement, he felt that there could be some potential problems with the quiz. One point that he made
was that "Not everybody would like to participate as they prefer to do other things". I believe that this
idea would be very attractive to the target audience. When my quiz is launched, I believe that people
will probably see it as a substitute for other activities or services in our market, and, hopefully, switch to
our product.
The other point he made was that not every pub has access to the Internet, and so this would face me
with a huge problem. However, he suggested that most Cyber Cafés would be very interested. This
brought a new possible idea to my attention, to not only use my product in pubs but in Cyber Cafés
also. This way we would not only have a wider market area but would get round the problem of some
public houses not having access to the Internet. However, we, decided to establish our selves as a
business and our product in our market segment first, then we could expand and diversify.
This Pub questionnaire accounted for part of the primary research, and I feel that it has reassured me
and satisfied my research objectives.
Conducting Secondary Research
I plan to collect a wide range of data from different sources; this is so I have different views over certain
aspects. Data will be gained from Internet sites by using search engines as a provider to narrow down
the information. As well as this, annual statistical books will be referred to as which are mainly issued
by the government. Other company's information will be handy, as they will be able to relate to what
the issues are. Newspaper articles will be relevant and up to date but the problem is will they have the
related data? The only main problem is that, if I contacted a market research firm, they would give me
the exact data I'm looking for but at a very high price, a price I am not going to pay [or can afford] as I
can do it myself.
Ref. 1 (Social Trends, 1998)
How money is spent by household.
Item
Percentage (%)
Housing (mortgage/rent)
7
Food
8
Clothing & footwear
6
Fuel, light & power
4
Motoring & fares
5
Household goods & services
3
Leisure goods & services
7
Alcohol & tobacco
2
Other
5
As my product is in the entertainment quiz market, this could be classed as Leisure goods and services.
As you can see from the graph on the next page, Leisure goods and services take a large portion of
consumer spending in proportion to other areas of spending.
Ref. 2 (Social Trends, 1998)
Day visits from home: by gender and main activity.
Males
Females
All
Eat/drink
21
5
8
Visit
friends
4
9
7
Walk/hill-
walk/ram
ble
6
4
5
Shop
9
5
2
Entertain
ment
5
7
6
Indoor
sport
7
4
5
Outdoor
sport
8
3
5
Hobby/s
pecial
interest
4
5
5
Drive/sig
htsee
3
3
3
Swimmin
g
2
3
3
Leisure
attraction
2
2
2
Watching
sport
2
2
Cycling/
mountain
biking
3
2
Informal
sport/ga
me
2
2
2
Other
2
5
3
Day visits are another popular leisure activity. The 1998 UK Day Visits Survey collected information on
round trips made for leisure purposes from home to locations anywhere in the United Kingdom. These
leisure day visits increased by 15 per cent between 1994 and 1998 to over 5.9 billion. Overall, the two
most popular reasons for taking day visits away from home in 1998 were going out for a meal or drink in
a café, restaurant or pub and visiting friends or relatives.
Ref. 3 (www.blra.co.uk 1998)
'The UK is one of the world's great brewing nations. Only in the USA, China, Germany, Japan and
Brazil is more beer brewed. British brewers, together brew more than 34.5 million barrels a year. The pub
is the place most British people drink their beer- with four out of every five pints consumed sold in a
pub. Most beer is sold on draught/tap.'
This tells me that Britain's population prefers to drink in a pub, spending time and money inside. On
average 4 out of 5 pints are sold through this way. This means many people in one place. This product
could survive this, as there is a constant supply of customers that could be willing to participate in the
quizzes.
Ref.4 (www.blra.co.uk 1998)
Foreign visitors' responses to specific questions. Comparing pubs to bars in their own country.
Foreign visitors thought those pubs:
Had a better range of draught/tap beers (71 recent)
Had a better atmosphere (64 percent)
Were more comfortable (57 percent)
Were friendlier (53 per cent)
Had better games facilities (52 percent)
This states that, abroad there are a possible market for our product. 52 percent is a large number, which
definitely means that gaming facilities need a look at abroad.
This data is useful as I could use it for expansion purposes.
Ref.5 (www.blra.co.uk 1998)
'Britain's brewers brew nearly 27 million pints a day. There are over 250 brewing companies operating.
In addition, about 150 pubs brew their own beer.'
Useful as it states how much is brewed. This could rise, as this product will pull in the punters, making
them stay for longer periods.
The fact that there are over 250 brewers, that gives me the possibility of having one of these as
sponsors.
Ref.6 (www.blra.co.uk 1998)
Total Pubs in the UK (end of 1998)
England & Wales
53,200
Scotland
5,200
Northern Ireland
,600
Total
60,000
60,000 pubs, that is a lot. I have a wide market, with thousands of possibilities. My product is more than
likely to be taken up. Imagine the profits I could make if the product became nation widely used.
Ref.7 (Social trends 1998: Family Expenditure Survey for National Statistics)
Subscription to satellite and cable television: by social class of head of household, 1998-99
According to the family expenditure survey, by the 1998-99, 13 per cent of households in the United
Kingdom were subscribers to satellite television, and 9 per cent subscribed to cable television. These
subscription patterns vary by social class.
These statistics could apply to my product, as on satellite and cable there are interactive games. This is
a niche I could possibly break into, expanding my market share and overall interactive gaming market.
Ref.8 (Social trends 1998: Family Expenditure Survey for National Statistics)
Percentage of households participating in the National Lottery: by social class of head of household,
998-99
The family expenditure survey (FES) collects data on, among other things, household expenditure on
the National Lottery in the United Kingdom. Between April 1998 and March 1999, 56 percent of
households participated in the Saturday or Wednesday night draws. According to the FES,
participating households in the United Kingdom spent an average of £3.80 a week on the National
Lottery draws I 1998-99. This data is relevant as it details how many people gamble on the lottery on a
weekly basis. The National Lottery will be one of the competitors. They have the same policy as I, so
then I will hopefully encourage more people to participate in the quizzes.
An analysis of my data - Looking over my research it is obvious to see that there is a market for my
product; this market if I tailor it could lead me into expansion even globalisation.
(Each reference of research has an analysis under it)
Linked back to research objectives - References 1, 2, 7 and 8 relate to how much money the population
spends in our area/ product/ service.
References 3-6 relate to how much money is spent on alcohol and in home entertainment.
PEST
The purpose behind PEST is to have a useful way of analysing the external environment, by grouping
external forces neatly into four areas using a PEST analysis; this can have an influence upon the
organisation in the coming months or years.
P Political/legal/fiscal
- Privatisation I must look at all aspects of law to
- Taxation sees what the affects are on company and product.
- Duties/levies
- Change of government
E Economic Though the economic environment is
- Inflation influenced by domestic policies, I'm also
dependent upon economical growth, inflation,
- Energy consumption's pattern, income distribution &
- Unemployment many other economic trends determine
the nature of my product and services required
consumers, as well as how difficult it becomes to
supply them.
S Social/culture To understand the social and cultural
- Demographic change environment involves a close analysis of society.
- Lifestyle changes demographic changes, such as population
- Changes to education movements and age distribution will be important
- Environmental changes as will changes in cultural values and social
trends such as family size and social behaviour.
T Technical
- New technologies I must be aware of new materials as well -
Changing material technologies as developments in manufacturing and
- New products business process so I must look at
- Energy-saving substitutes cost-effectiveness in addition,
performance of the competition.
Forces outside an organisation are rarely stable and many can alter quickly and dramatically. PEST
analysis helps to recognise that, while some of these are clearly harmful to marketing efforts, others help
to create new opportunities.
As stated above, PEST factors could affect businesses, and it can affect my market. As shown in the
above PEST, the 'P' stands for political factors. These could affect my market (Pub entertainment) in a
number of ways. An obvious political factor that could affect the market is, proposed to go into is
Taxation. If the government put up Tax, for example, there would generally be less consumer disposable
income and, therefore the people taking part in quizzes (and related activities) would probably go down.
This might not affect the market significantly, and it might be so small that it does not really affect this
market.
Looking at my market, an increase or decrease in Tax would not have any affects on my product to be
noticed in my opinion. This is because my product would only cost a small amount of money for a team
to play for an hour quiz (about £5). Therefore, if Tax went up, I doubt I would see a significant change
in the number of participants in our Interactive Pub quiz. However, if there were a large increase in Tax,
the number of participants would probably fall, but not by a lot, in my opinion.
As I'm in an entertainment quiz market, this could be classed as Leisure goods & services. As you can
see from the graph below, Leisure goods & services take a large portion of consumer spending in
proportion to other areas of spending.
(Social Trends, 1998)
Item
Percentage (%)
Housing (mortgage/rent)
7
Food
8
Clothing & footwear
6
Fuel, light & power
4
Motoring & Fares
5
Household goods & services
3
Leisure goods & services
7
Alcohol & Tobacco
2
Other
5
Another Political factor that could affect the market I'm proposing to operate in, are duties and laws. An
example of a thing that could affect the market is the legal age. Suppose the government put the legal
playing, age of Bingo up, the market would be affected. This is because more people would play bingo,
and therefore less in other areas of the quiz/entertainment markets (including fewer people playing my
quiz).
One law change that could affect the product, in particular if the legal drinking was reduced. This would
be in my benefit, as more people would go to Pubs throughout the country, resulting in more people
taking part in my quiz.
Various economical changes would also affect both my market and my product, one of these being
unemployment.
SWOT
SWOT is an abbreviation for the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a business. For
my business to be successful from my ideas the business prepositions are needed to analyse the
abbreviation better known as SWOT. Below is a list of my SWOT analysis, which is needed to analyse
in the project.
Strengths (Internal) -I have excellent IT skills, as I'm studying an intensive IT A level course. I can use
these skills in my project, discuss the future of the business, and relate this to the future of other
technology.
I also feel that this is a unique idea, which has strong potential for the future of this type of business
(quizzes and entertainment). Basically my business preposition consists of the target audience (pub
goers) paying a sum of money, to download an interactive quiz to answer a series of quick fire questions
for a large cash prize inside the participating pub.
I will have strong control over my product development as I know what my objectives are to purchase
on important items, which are an asset to the business (e.g. infra red remote controls and a box to active
the proposed answers to the quiz by the pub goers).
Once all of the equipment and complex technology is paid for, the pubs across the country will be
paying money to use the equipment I issue them with, and as a result this will be cost effective, as not a
lot of money will be needed to do this.
Finally, the only internal stock I'll have to produce is the web site and the questions I'm a going to ask
the pub goers. This way I can also save more money in the end.
Weaknesses (Internal) - As a small company, I will have a big problem with a limited budget. This
includes paying staff wages, company sponsors, web designer's etc. In the end, my decisions need to
be critical if I'm going to reach the targets.
Currently I have no customers to satisfy, as this is just a quiz for people that want to download the
questions at a small price (£5.00) for the equipment needed to play the quiz. This is also cost effective
for the business. However if I'm not going to achieve much revenue through the business whilst under
the making I will lose out on more money.
Finally, this can affect public concern when they see the quiz advertised. These days, competitions all
around the world can be devious, manipulative and money-grabbing opportunities for companies to
make more money. This is the way most people think when entering a quiz. They feel that just because
they are entering a quiz they will not be the winners as it is just a fraud to take the public society for
granted. Also people will not understand the rules or take no interest in the quiz as it is new and has no
record of being successful to the consumer. [This is were sponsorship could be most helpful]
Opportunities (External) - More and more people today are regular Pub visitors according to recent
government statistics. In fact, Pubs across Great Britain sell more alcohol than any other country
according to recent updated statistics. Therefore there is a growth in the market size and I'll have more
chance of getting the idea across to the public.
Also this is a new market segment in the market niche (gap in the market), and is a great opportunity for
my idea to be put forward as it has lots of potential (e.g. people will seek the chance to win £1000 in one
night). The publics are going to want to take a chance to win this sum of money. So my bingo type
interactive quiz is a unique new idea and will attract lots of customer's nation wide.
Threats (External) - Across the World (especially Britain) there is strong established competition in a
few areas. For example, television shows such as 'Who wants to be a millionaire'? This offers a similar
background of ideas as discussed in the project. Entertainment centres, which hold public bingo nights
across the country shares a similar idea as, mentioned in the business preposition. Books, PC games,
magazines and newspapers all show signs of an idea, which reflects my business idea. However, with a
very large market size and huge target audience, I feel that this idea will reach great heights.
New legislation's and regulation laws could be an issue I have to deal with. This is because technology
is changing by the day and breaking laws of the Internet could result in finishing me if I don't keep up
to date and apply these laws to the business.
Viruses also are a big issue. As my business is strictly technological, computer hackers and viruses
could frequently occur. To overcome these problems, each participating pub will be given a PIN number
to download the questions from the Net to prevent crimes like hacking. The landlord of the pubs will be
given strict rule to clarify this act and if this fails to work, the team entered will be disqualified. As for
the viruses, virus checkers will be stored on the Internet database where the questions will be held. I
hope that this will be a successful idea and attract many consumers in the future.
Constraints on Marketing Activities
In the past, some adverts have generally been considered to be to offending, and the opinion has been
that they are not to be seen. A well-known company that uses advertising or has done in the past is
Benetton. When I say advertising that offends it can mean it is not suitable for children, or that of
which is plainly misleading and untrue. Advertising like this is controlled by many
authorities/companies, some of which are listed below:
The Advertising Standards Authority
The British Code of Advertising practice
The Broadcast Advertising Clearance centre.
The Code of Advertising Practice (CAP) had rules that specifically covered alcohol, children, motoring,
environmental claims, health and beauty, slimming, financial services and sales promotions. So as you
can see, there were may constraints put upon advertising solely by the CAP.
In November 1999, the majority of UK web advertising fell under the control of the ASA (Advertising
Standards Authority). The ASA monitors about 10,000 complaints in a year, and approximately 90% of
these are coming from the public, and 10% from competitors or pressure groups.
Clearly, both of the Authorities mentioned above will affect my business in some way. The CAP might
affect because, as I have mentioned above, they cover financial services and sales promotions.
The ASA could most possibly have an affect on the business or a constraint. This is because it covers
UK Internet advertising, and as I've introduced an Internet business, this would be the closest
Authority to my area.
I should, therefore, as a business, be very aware of not only the above constraints, but also any over
Authorities and laws that could affect "Andthewinneris.Com". If I'm not aware of laws and authorities,
I could end up in a legal dilemma.
Ethical, Environmental and Social constraints
Moral principles or rules of conduct generally accepted by most members of society are known as
Ethics. To show the public that they operate in an ethical manner, most organisations today believe it is
necessary to take up this attitude. This is why cultures of companies can be influence by Ethical issues.
People may think that it is good for staff to get involved in creative work, rather than being dictated to.
Some ethics are reinforced through the legal system, and therefore provide a 'mandatory' constraint
upon business activities. An example of potential areas of concern for organisations include product
ethics, where issues such as genetically modified food may seriously and quickly affect demand.
Ethics that may apply to my business, and affect it are that people may think that the business is a form
of gambling and therefore unethical. Or they may think that I'm falsely advertising for cash prizes, seen
as unfair by the public.
In recent years environmental issues have been brought public interest because of the press. These
include accidents at chemical plants or at sea with Oil tankers. The image of the company involved can
be damaged, as well as damaging the wildlife and the environment. To try and stop, or at least cut down
on this, many tools have been introduced such as environmental impact assessments. These assess the
likely impact of major projects. This may affect my business because I could possibly consider using
these 'tools' as mentioned above. But, in relation to the business, these environmental issues would
not really affect me because it only uses the Internet.
Social issues could be anything that actually affects people I deal with, in anyway. If the customers
were unhappy with the product/service, this then would be the case. And, therefore I will avoid Social
issues. There are also social constraints that I have to bear in mind. One example of this is the legal
drinking age and the age people are allowing into Pubs. This would be a social constraint as if restricts
the possible customer profile, as there will only have over 18 year old playing legally.
Pressure groups represent public opinion about issues mentioned above. An example of this is Green-
peace, who protested when Shell Oil planned to sink an old Oil platform, which may have polluted the
Atlantic. In this case the public boycotted Shell Petrol stations until the company changed its mind. So
I don't think that Pressure groups could affect my business on such a large scale.
Stakeholders are anyone with an interest or 'stake' in the business. There are two categories of
stakeholders, Internal and External stakeholders. Internal stakeholders can include Managers, Owners,
and Employees. Whereas, external stakeholders include Customers, suppliers, Inland revenue, Customs
& Excise, Shareholders, lenders, and as mentioned above, Pressure groups. Stakeholders can affect my
business in many ways. An obvious example is that if there are low numbers of customers our profits
will be low. The Inland Revenue can also affect my business: for example, as they are responsible for
the collection of Taxation, depending on how many profits I make.
The Trades Description Act
The trade's descriptions act outlines that it is a criminal act to the following:
Apply a false trade's description to any goods, or to supply or offer to supply, any goods to which
false trade description is applied.
To give a false indication as to price
To make a false statement knowingly or recklessly as to the provision of a service e.g. 'TV's in all
rooms' if this is not.
To give a misleading indication that goods have been offered at a higher price, as in a shop sale, when
this is not the case.
Monopolies and Merging - At the opposite end of the competition barrier from perfectly competitive
markets is monopoly. This is the type of market, which is characterised by the complete absence of
competition. In a 'pure' monopoly unlike our idea, there will be a large number of buyers but only one
supplier of the service.
Other examples of monopolies from the past included major industries such as coal mining; steal and
public transport were all owned and controlled by the state. These former nationalised industries, which
today have been sold off to the private sector, became monopolies because no other businesses were
allowed to compete with them.
For businesses monopolies offer the prospect of high prices and high profits for relatively little effort.
Consumers may suffer from high prices and poor quality goods and services that are inefficiently
produced. However, as larger businesses gain greater market power, this means they have the potential
to restrict the supply of their products onto the market and are then able to increase prices.
Merging -In practice, businesses may find that the opportunities for internal expansion growth whereby
they attempt to merge with existing businesses.
Horizontal merging - The majority of mergers in the UK occur between businesses at the same stage of
the production process. These kinds of mergers are described as being horizontal. An example of this is
the Ford Motor Company's acquisition of Jaguar and Volvo.
Vertical Mergers - Some mergers are predominantly vertical in nature. Mergers- such as this one- often
takes place between firms at different stages of the production process.
In relation to my business, the trade's description act plays a very careful role in the business. If I'm to
make an advertisement, displaying the features of the idea, I need to analyse my product so that the
design is free from the following mentioned below:
Indecency
False Accusations
Violence
Nudity
False availability of the products and copyright
Imitation of other products
Sexual bias and racism
If I do unintentionally mention any of the above, I could be facing legal charges by other firms or
companies and organisations. However if my idea becomes successful and hopefully brings me lots of
profit so I gain market share, I should adapt and expand the business to other countries within and
outside the UK, and also possibly form a merger with an entertainment business. The possibility of
'Andthewinneris.Com' becoming a monopoly is high, as there is relatively no competition. The only
possible two that might try to take over, merge, or buy out would be Camelot and Bingo.
Market Strategies
Marketing Penetration - A key objective that many organisations have is to improve their levels of
market penetration. This involves making more sales to customers, without changing products in any
way.
Better marketing penetration thus helps organisations to improve their market share. In large markets
even a small increase in market share can create significant sales, and studies have shown there is a link
between market share and profitability.
New product development - A new product may be one that replaces an old product, opens up a new
market or even broadens an existing market.
It may involve an innovation, a technological breakthrough or simply is a line extension based upon a
modification. It is often said that only about 10% of new products are really new. In fact, it is often
possible to turn old products into new products simply by finding a new market for them.
There are six distinct stages in the development process for new products. These are:
Step 1 Ideas
All new products start from ideas. These ideas may be completely new or simply be an update of an
existing product. Ideas may come from the following sources: Research and development,
brainstorming, suggestion box, forced relations or competitors.
Step 2 Screening of ideas
Once ideas have been generated it is important to screen for the ideas likely to be successful and reject
the rest.
Considerations may include how well the product fits in with others in the product range, the unique
elements of any idea that make it competitive, the likely demand for the product and whether or not it
could be manufactured economically.
Step 3 Marketing analysis
Once the ideas have been screened, further marketing analysis begins. This involves a thorough
analysis of research helps to identify the market volume (units that could be sold) as well as the value of
sales expected. It may also help to identify market potential.
Step 4 Product development
Having come through the test of marketing analysis, it is now timed to translate the idea or product
concept into a product. Design, innovation and the uses of technology are very important in product
development. An assessment of packaging and branding may also be involved.
Step 5 Testing
Testing is a vital stage in the product development process. It may involve identifying valuable
information through further market research, which helps to fine-tune the venture. Testing marketing
may comprise testing one part of a consumer market or trailing the product to ensure it meets the
required standards.
Step 6 Launch and commercialisation
The launch is the most important day in the life of a product - it is finally revealed to customers. It may
involve rolling from one TV region to another TV region. Today, a common technique is to provide
sneak glimpses of new products before they are launched.
As new products go through each of these stages there is a mortality rate.
Entering new markets - One strategy for either existing or new products is to enter new markets. For
example, existing products could be offered to different markets. This may involve an analysis of
demographics to see if children, senior consumers, women or specialist groups might be interested in
buying the products by targeting a form of distribution that would make the products available to them.
Another alternative would be to consider marketing products more widely through international
markets. International marketing involves the marketing of products in two or more countries. There are
a number of ways of entering such markets. These include Indirect/ direct exporting and overseas
manufacturing.
Diversification - This is a strategy for growth that involves developing products or business areas that
are outside the organisation's markets. For example, a Jean manufacturer might decide to develop its
labels and brand strengths further by going into health foods. Some companies deliberately operate a
policy of diversification by always trying to identify the most attractive and rapidly developing
industries in which to engage. They feel the best business strategy to guarantee success is to enter
attractive and emerging industries, rather than stay in static and slow developing ones.
Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix is a useful tool for businesses aiming for growth. The Ansoff Matrix shown below
illustrates both existing and new products within existing and new markets. Four possible marketing
strategies to achieve growth are revealed by the Matrix.
Existing products
New products
Existing
Consolidation
Product
markets
Market penetration
development
New
markets
Market developments
Diversification
The Ansoff Matrix - Use the Ansoff Matrix to show which of the following strategies might be
appropriate to your business.
Marketing Penetration - A key objective that many organisations have is to improve their levels of
market penetration. This involves making more sales to customers, without changing products in any
way.
Better marketing penetration thus helps organisations to improve their market share. In large markets
even a small increase in market share can create significant sales, and studies have shown there is a link
between market share and profitability.
There are possible short cuts to this an example being, sponsors. If I were to be sponsored by a big
brewery, pubs will be more likely to look at my idea than if I were free lancers. I have explained other
ways of penetrating the market previously.
New Product development - My product is one that will be replacing an old product, which will open up
a new market or even broadens an existing market. This product is an innovation, a technological
breakthrough a line extension based upon a modification.
Key Concepts
For any business to be successful it needs to have the following key concepts:
Innovation - Technological progress usually takes place by means of invention. Creative people
'outside' business sometimes make inventions. Teams of people working for a business, university or
government carry out today most research.
In business, innovation is the commercial exploitation of an invention. An invention is not usually in the
form of a product, which consumers will buy. The product must be developed to meet consumer's
needs, so that it can be sold profitably by business.
Creativity - this plays another large role in a firm or business. Businesses need to seek an idea with as
much creativity and originality as possible to attract or persuade the consumers to purchase the
product. If a firm doesn't have creative employees with potential ideas, their products won't sell as
much as they would as other firms, because they will possibly have stronger ideas.
Insight - Firms need to look ahead at the future designs of their products and also other firm's ideas, so
they can keep ahead of rival competition and gain larger market share. This is very difficult to do as not
all employees working in the advertising business are clairvoyants, and also technology will get the
better of companies as it changing by the minute, so this endless impossible task will create havoc for
the product designers.
The three factors mentioned above can aid a business when developing new products. Innovation is a
great skill, which can bring firms lots of revenue if it used correctly on the product. The product must be
honest, legal and truthful if legal circumstances want to be avoided. Innovation helps bring firms to
larger conclusions and this leads to creativity.
Creativity can aid businesses because it develops the product making to make ideas more exciting. Also
if the idea is original and there is a gap in the market, the unique selling point could enable large market
share. Insight can bring the product to greater development. If firms know that other technology is
underway and ready for the future, they can take the product e.g. a microwave, and develop it to a
greater extent to meet consumer demand or gain larger market share.
The three factors can also help a businesses with a changing market because new ideas will be brought
up, and the products can be made more efficiently and a quicker rate. The innovation skills can bring a
brighter future for the designers of the product as skilled staff can create more ideas, and they can make
the product even better by using insight and developing the product to a greater extent.
My interactive online quiz will be affected by all of these factors. Technology is changing by the
minute, and I could update and make the web site more and more creative as the future rolls on. Also I
can look at similar companies with generally the same idea, and develop more designs and ideas in the
future.
Product Life Cycle
The period, over which a product appeals to customers, is referred to as the life of a product. Many
people will be able to think of goods that everyone once wanted, but they are now no longer in demand.
A good example of this is hot pants or kipper-ties, which were in demand in the 60's.
When any product is introduced into the market, its sales performance rises until it reaches a peak, and
then goes into decline, as shown below.
Most products have a limited life cycle. Firstly, the product may expand and grow, then the market will
mature, and eventually the product will move into decline.
It is important for businesses to understand the product life cycle as it offers organisations a 'blueprint'
for the present and future. Not only must a business have a range of products to offer the market, but
also they must have this and a range of time scales for product development. It is important for a firm to
know whether its product life scale shows growing or decline, and what is happening to the Sales and
profits. By understanding the product life cycle, a business might be helped to evaluate the current or
potential position of a product or service. This is because if their product life cycle is not launching fast
enough or their product life cycle is declining, and then the firm can act in as many ways as they can.
By acting, they could advertise more or do some market research, and in doing so, they may see a rise in
sales or profits.
Shown below is the product life cycle of our product I believe.
As you can see above, I thought that the introduction would be a quick one quite a short one, but with
not a very rapid increase in sales over time. I thought that it would be quite a short introduction/launch
as it is a brand new, unique idea; and should take-off and start to grow quite quickly.
The growing period of the product life cycle of my product is long as you can see from above.
Although, if the growth is a long passage of time, there is a rapid growth of sales. The growth is long
because it is such a good idea and should be around and growing for a very long time hopefully.
You can see that the saturation/peek period is a reasonable period of time for a peek. The peek should
be very high and will have increased a huge amount since its introduction. You can see that when the
decline period is beginning (on the graph above) is a relatively un-rapid process. This is because the
product should live for a long time and then very slowly lose interest. As the sales of our product drop
in the declining period shown and described above, profits will have been going down very un-steeply
for a while, but the sales will drop more rapidly.
Andthewinneris.Com is in the development stages. It will take 3 years to take off to reach maturity.
Boston Matrix
This Matrix is used to allow firms in the analysis of their existing products. This is quite useful in
deciding which products are doing well and which are not doing so well.
The Boston Matrix is split up into four categories, in which it is decided how well the product is really
doing. These categories are:
Star Products - This is where the product has successfully reached the growth stage in the life cycle.
These products are doing as good as they can possibly do. These are the products with a large share of
a high growth market.
Problem Children - This is usually where the product has just been launched. These products may
have a future potential because they are in growth markets, but their sales are not very good.
Cash Cows - Where the products have reached the maturity stage in their product life cycle and are now
'yielders'. These products are able to sell at a steady pace and maybe able to support other products, the
products have probably been around for a long time and have a stable market share.
Dog's -These is the products that are declining, it will probably generate a negative cash flow, and the
business should get rid of.
Market Growth
LOW
HIGH
HIGH Market Share
STAR
CASH COW
LOW Market Share
PROBLEM\CHILD
DOG
Businesses must ensure that they do not have to many products in the same category. Products in the
top half of the Boston matrixes are in the earlier stage of their product lifecycle and so are in high growth
markets. Those in the lower half of the markets where later stages and so are in markets where growth
will have slowed down or stopped.
Making judgements about the product portfolio of products marketed by my business.
It is important to have a balance of products at any one time. An organisation will require a number of
cash cows to provide its 'bread and butter'. At the same time, it is important to develop the cash cows of
the future by investigating in the problem children (question mark). Fortunately, the stars should pay
their own way. It is also important to identify the dogs and cut them out. This Matrix could be relevant
to my market / product as 'Problem child applies to me. The product will have just been launched. At
first the product will be thought of as a question mark but it is certain to take of and gain me lots of
lovely profit.
I could develop different types of quizzes to see which are popular and which are not etc.
Pricing Techniques
Businesses use pricing techniques to attract consumers to different products. Below are some of the
methods used in the process:
Penetration Pricing - This is used by businesses seeking to gain a foothold in a market, either with
new products or with established products being placed in new markets. It involves pricing a product at
a low level so that retailers and consumers are encouraged to purchase the product in larger quantities.
Market skimming - this involves changing a high price for a new limited period. The aim is to gain as
much profit as possible for a new product while it remains unique in the market. It usually means selling
a product to the most profitable segment of the market before it is sold to a wider market at a lower price.
Cost Plus Pricing - This involves setting a price by calculating the average cost of producing goods
and adding a MARK-UP for profit. If a business produces 10,000 goods costing £50,000, the average
cost would be £5.00. Retailers often use this method of pricing. For example, department stores buy
colour televisions from wholesalers for £200 and their mark up to allow the profit will be 100%. The retail
price for consumers will be £400.
Competitor based marketing - many businesses are finding that the markets in which they operate are
increasingly competitive. The increasing internalisation of the trade means that many markets that were
dominated by domestic business which are now open to foreign competition.
Market prices are set up where the plans of the consumers are matched with those of suppliers. The
point at which the demand and supply curves intersect is known as the equilibrium price.
Cost analysis and value involves detailed knowledge of the costs of machinery, workers and materials
will be needed before a strategy is can be chosen. It provides the exact costs incurred or manufacturing
product or providing service.
I feel that the most efficient method of pricing techniques would be to use cost plus pricing. In this way
I will be able to work out how much the price will have to be, from analysing my costs. Obviously I don't
want to make a loss. What I will have to do is workout how much the software/hardware is then add up
all my other costs and calculate a break even point. This is further explained in the finance/costs
section. £5.00 should cover it per team, £2.00 is deducted into Andthewinneris.Com account.
Methods of Promotion
The types of branding include:
Branding - This is a method of identifying one product or service from another by a name, term, design
or symbol (logo) which is unique to that product or service in your line of business. It creates an image,
which differentiates the product in the consumers' minds from the products of competitors. The
advantages of branding are that it gives an establishment, in other words its known as 'the product'.
To the consumer a brand name represents a known quality of product; the next one bought being the
same as the previous ones. To the manufactures branding allows brand loyalty to be established, i.e.
some consumers always specify and buy the same 'name'. They have a perception of the product,
which satisfies their needs.
Individual Brands- is those, which stand alone, with no reference to the maker's name, e.g. Persil
Family Brands- often carries the name of the company, e.g. Heinz, Boots, as a guarantee of quality. A
family brand allows new product to be established more easily but should one product gain a bad
reputation it may drag down all the rest.
Multi-brand Strategy - this involves the use of more than one brand in the same market segment to
increase the chances of a company product being selected, e.g. different soap powders manufactured
by the same firm.
House branding -'own' brands. This is the firm has their own version of consumer goods made
especially for them and they sell under the retailer's own name or a chosen alternative. Once a house
brand name has been established, it is customary to maintain the chosen quality or ''good value'' image.
Advertising - Producers and sellers often seek to manipulate demand through advertising and other
promotional techniques. For the producer, advertising is an important cost of production; this is
because advertising has a tremendous ability to shift demand curve for a product to the right.
It is a method of communicating with groups in the market place in order to achieve certain objectives.
Advertising can be defined as a paid for type of marketing communication that is non-personal but
aimed at a specific target audience through a mass media channel.
Within this purpose there may be a range of advertising objectives. These comprise of, promoting
goods and services, developing the image of the organisation, informative advertising, persuasive
advertising and reinforcement advertising.
Direct Mail - Direct mail is personally addressed advertising sent through the post. There has been a
massive increase in direct mail in recent years. By using direct mail an organisation establishes a direct
relationship with its consumers. The ability to direct mail to target precise market segments is cost
effective as it eliminates the supply of mail-shots to those unlikely to buy.
Public Relations - The forces in an organisation's external environment are capable of affecting it in a
variety of ways. These forces may be social, economical, political, local or environmental, and might be
represented by a variety of groups, such as customers, shareholders, employees and special groups.
Reacting positively to such forces and influences is very important.
Types of Public Relations:
Charitable donations and community relations,
Hospitality,
Press releases,
Visits and open days,
Sponsorship,
Lobbying,
Corporate videotapes,
Minor product changes
Sales Promotions - Sales promotions describe a category of techniques used to encourage customers to
make a purchase. These activities are effectively short term and may be used to increase sales, help
with personal selling, respond to the actions of competitors and are an effective alternative to
advertising.
The essential feature of a sales promotion is that it is a short-term inducement to encourage customers
to react quickly, whereas advertising is usually a process that develops the whole product or brand.
Features of Sales Promotions:
Dealer loaders,
Competitions,
Promotional gifts,
Price reductions and special offers,
Premium offers,
Charity promotions,
Loyalty incentives.
Sponsorship - a good way of increasing brand awareness which, in turn, helps to generate preference
and foster brand loyalty. Sponsorship is the material support of an event, activity or organisation by an
unrelated donor. A Company can reinforce awareness among its target market by sponsoring an event,
which attracts a similar target market.
Product Presentation -The form in which a product is presented, and the packaging in which it appears,
is an important part of the promotional mix, although its importance is often neglected. In recent years
packaging and other forms of product presentation, such as displays and merchandising, have
accounted for an increase amount of the total cost of goods.
Packaging functions
Identifies and promotes a brand,
Catches the consumers eye,
Identifies a line of related products,
Communicates information on ingredients, quality and product use,
Helps with the preservation, storage and safety of the products.
Direct selling - Personal or direct selling involves interaction between individuals or groups of
individuals. The objective of personal selling is to make a sale, and it is the culmination of all the
marketing activities that have taken place before hand.
It involves matching a customer's requirements with the goods or services on offer. The better the
match, the longer lasting the relationship between the seller and the buyer.
Examples of direct selling:
Product demonstrations,
Performance specifications,
Sales literature,
Samples,
A meeting to discuss details,
Credit facilities,
Sales promotions.
The Internet - This is of growing interest to businesses; it is worldwide, offers the opportunity for
businesses to advertise their products to countries throughout the world. Many well known companies
have their own web sites.
Branding, advertising, direct mail, sponsorship, direct selling and the Internet will be my methods of
promotion. This is because they get straight in there; no messing around it will be easier to target my
consumers letting them know of the product and me.
Branding - This will be useful as we want to be the 'known brand' e.g. The National Lottery' so my
product must compel consumers to use it. Once I'm at the top I can use this advantage for expansion
moving into new markets.
Advertising - This will be used as it is a paid for type of marketing communication that is non-personal
but aimed at a specific target audience through a mass media channel. Radio will be my main aim it is
cheap but effective.
Direct Mail - This will enable me to contact the landlord's nation wide directly to their door. They
should read it and contact back.
Sponsorship- This will be a good way of increasing brand awareness which, in turn, helps to generate
preference and foster brand loyalty. Prizes are included changing each time after there has been a
winner.
Direct selling - I can show how my product works, what it needs to works, benefits to the company.
Basically I have to talk or way through to make sales.
The Internet - My web site will give examples of what is at offer. The consumers will go on the web
page and browse about.
These methods are cost effective and allow me to promote the business in a supervised manner.
Place and Distribution
A traditional approach to marketing planning is the Marketing mix, which organises marketing into four
areas, better known as the four P's. These four areas are Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.
When planning its marketing, a business will ask a number of questions relating to place e.g. through
which outlets should we sell the product? Place or distribution policy is a huge, complicated decision
area that incorporates these three problems, and potentially more. The provider of a service normally
requires the customer to come to him/her e.g. the leisure centre, cinema etc. Therefore, a Place (choice
of site) policy is required.
As previously explained, I'm going to distribute the product nationally to pubs belonging to breweries.
This will be done via the Internet: as the pub will download the quiz from our web site prior to the time
of the quiz i.e. the night before. All pubs participating will carryout this process, and when they've
downloaded the quiz, they simply load it up when it is time for the quiz to start.
I believe this method is, and will be, effective in delivering my product to Pubs belonging to breweries
participating. This is because it is a very easy process (you just download the quiz for the next day via
the Internet), the Landlord of the pub doesn't have to go anywhere to get the product, and it is just
generally a hassle-free process.
Physical Environment and Resources
In order to supply my product (the quiz) to the pubs, I will have to have a specific Physical environment
and resources.
The Physical environment and resources will include a small office, writing room, and Management and
supervisor allocation. In the small office, there will be a few programmers and web designers, who will
be programming and putting the written and designed quizzes on the Internet ready to be downloaded
by the Pubs. There will probably have to be around 4 programmers/web designers, therefore working
on at least 4 computers. This room will also include a reasonable powerful and quite up to date
computer, which stores all or some of the quiz results and back-ups of recent quizzes. The designed
quizzes will have been written, researched and designed by about 5 or more researchers and quiz writers,
working their own, separate room/office.
Resources required by the Pubs involved in the quiz will include Internet access, wide-screen monitor or
screen and projector, and an up-to date computer (including video/media players, sound cards etc.).
Customer Service
An organisation's relation with its customers much is good, so that the customers keep coming back. A
major objective by an organisation must be achieving the customer's satisfaction. A customer-
orientated organisation with the correct products in the right place and at the correct prices will soon
achieve more market share. In most organisations increased sales and profit should absorb the costs of
customer service provision because the customers should stay loyal. Also the growth of loyalty cards
are increasing rapidly, therefore the organisations have a greater chance of gaining market share and
more profits.
Customer support - Most people entering a shop, or contacting a firm by letter or telephone, have
suggested the action that they require. It us the sales person's responsibility to try and turn the initial
contact into a sale. Customers may be uncertain as to their precise requirements, or wish to be made
aware of the options needed to examine items that advertising has told them are available. The duty of
the salesperson is to convert the inquirer into a regular customer, and not to try desperately for a sale at
any cost.
Staff training - Sales training is vital to any organisation. Time may be a crucial factor, in which case
quick and easy purchasing systems must exist. Clear and accurate information must be evident in the
form of signs, product brochures and helpful well-informed staff. The staff must be well motivated at all
times as this could create a bad image for any customer in the shop. Also if bad manners are persistent
throughout the course of the working day, some customers may take offence and will no longer shop at
the store.
When a customer purchases our product, a full coherent guarantee will be issued to them with the rules;
cost and any other relevant information will be listed on the brochure.
If a customer is thinking about buying our product, I will tell him or her that a full money back guarantee
will be confirmed if not satisfied with the product. I will train staff to present the idea in a pleasant and
professional manner, and finally I will support the customer on his or her views on the subject, and train
staff to negotiate and discuss the product. Once the customer is convinced that the product is suitable
for their enjoyment, the customer will feel the need to replay the game and spread the word about the
interactive quiz.
E-commerce
This is where many service businesses are trading on-line; 'premises' can become virtual. A web site
on a computer server can be a replace commercial premise. The front shop will be replaced by the web
site home page. This enables the service business owner to work wherever he/she can get on-line,
including from home. The practicalities of selling by e-commerce still require that the product is stored
and dispatched - so premises will be needed for handling the goods.
It is an effective method, as my revenue will come from the web site. The premise part will not affect me
as the orders for or product can be collected at the end of the week/month and ordered from the
retailers. This will cut costs gaining us higher profits.
Conclusion
I have found this investigation complex but enjoyable. I know that if we as a group were to develop this
idea, which I have a marketing proposal to head forward. I have learnt that a lot of initial planning has to
go into a business plan and that if it is effective then the launch of any product should go as planned.
All the modules used in the project were used as they are reliable and relevant to the firm. They are
reliable as all data was recent, and primary data had to be believed as mord of mouth. The Ansoff Matrix,
Boston Matrix were useful in analysing my market this resulted in my project moving forward. SWOT
and PEST analysis enabled me to find out relevant facts in conducting my idea, from legal issues to how
my idea coul be developed. This information was most useful as it gave me ideas in hoe i could
developethe task at hand. The product life cycle andthe markrting mix let me be able to analyse the
competion and how to act apon the market, their were certain limitations as they could only state what
each function was, and i had to apply it to my venture.
I've shown that this venture can be based on the principles of marketing, I conducted different methods
of research and analysed the impact of the external environment. This led me to an analysis of the
marketing context and thus a decision on an appropriate strategy. This strategy was developed with a
coherent mix to meet my potential customers. This strategy has been evaluated for reliability, because I
don't want to go broke, do I!
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