In terms of its consumers, Bio-Mac seeks to target on mostly individuals coming form a higher income group. They may also include professionals such as registered practitioners and therapists within the healing discipline who posse the knowledge on bodily functions. They will tend to understand more easily why Bio-Mag is a worthwhile choice; cheap and effective as compared to medications or consultations. These professionally specialised individuals may include homeopaths, chiropractors, physiotherapists, reflexologists, osteopaths, massage therapists, medical doctors, surgeons, dentists etc. Apart from that, Bio-Life Ltd also seeks to reach out to consumers coming for the middle to upper income group. For the fact that Bio-Mag is a highly specialised product containing vast amount of information, most consumers will need to have at least a certain level of education in order to understand its contents and functions. For these consumers to do such, they are more likely to be individuals from a higher income group since their knowledge will usually allows them to get a better paid job. Besides, they are also the ones who will maximise the use of Bio-Mag and appreciates it more.
POSITIONING AND DIFFERENTIATING
Marketing strategies for a new product, Bio-Mac Bracelet is principally important in reaching the target market effectively. The marketing strategy of the product is based on segmentation, targeting and positioning. The targeted market of the product, Bio-Mac Bracelet is people who need natural healing in pain relief; based on magnetic fields, increase blood circulation, reduces inflammation and recovery speeded up from injuries. It is positioned in offering and imaging as a health product to engage a distinctive place in the mind of the target market. Meanwhile, the value-proposition of Bio-Mac Bracelet to target customers is quality, styling and pain relief. Marketing mix: Promotion, Price, Place and People, also play a major role in strongly supporting the market segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. Bio-Mac Bracelet promotes its great styling and best quality, as with the unique selling proposition, it will be easier for communication to the target market, employees, and easier to align the whole organization with the central positioning (Kotler, 2003: 310). Besides that, as a new product to promote into Australia market, our company choose to have high-quality, use and application positioning, as Bio-Mac Bracelet position itself for the people who suffered from pain where Bio-Mac Bracelet can help in natural healing and pain relief without drugs. According to the research (Cralle, 1997: 1), magnetic therapy is a method of applying magnetic fields to the body for therapeutic purposes; it speeds up the recovery and natural healing process, provides natural pain relief, and improves sleep without any adverse side effects.
In addition, our company, Bio-Life Ltd is posed in a excellence quality focus health care industry. Thus, the new product, Bio-Mac Bracelet will be base on our foundational positioning in quality-based category, with the positioning statement of:
“Keep your health on your hand.”
Moreover, quality of the product also communicated through other marketing elements. Therefore, Bio-Mac Bracelet will be promoted as a high price range product with excellent packaging, advertising and promotion campaign to build up the image of the product.
Bio-Mac Bracelet is a new product for Australia market although there are some rivalries brand such as Bio-Magnetic and MagnetEZe; but both companies do not promote magnetic jewellery as their main product. Secondly, both competitors had over positioning the magnetic jewellery products as the price are mainly high.
“Differentiation” of the product Bio-Mac Bracelet is also one of the important elements in marketing strategy building; it is the process of adding a set of meaningful and valued differences to distinguish the company’s offering from competitors’ offerings (Kotler, 2003: 315). Physical product like Bio-Mac Bracelet differentiated in its product features and service from other competitors. Bio-Mac Bracelet offered with features of one size fits all and it can also be wear in any way the customer wants, which supplement the product’s basic function of the products. Besides that, another attraction of the product is that Bio-Mac Bracelet comes in many different colors which can suites to customer’s needs. In addition, Bio-Life Ltd accepts special orders for Bio-Mac Bracelet and offered maintenance services to their valuable customers with lifetime warranty and low-priced repair fees.
However, every product has it product life-cycle in four stages: Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline stage. Bio-Mac Bracelet is in the introduction stage where sales growth will be negative or slow at this stage; promotional expenditure are at their ratio to sales (Kotler, 2003: 330). Besides that, in the introduction stage, the new product Bio-Mac Bracelet needs to go through stages in the adoption process: Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial and Adoption. There are some factors in influencing the adoption process, which is differences in individual readiness to try new products; the effect of personal influence; differing rates of adoption; and differences in organizations’ readiness to try new products (Kotler, 2003:376). In growth stage, sales of the product will be in a rapid expansion; new consumers and competitors will come in. however, in maturity stage, the sales growth will become slower but last longer than both previous stages and poses difficult challenges to marketing managers; and lastly, the decline stage, where sales may drop to a lower level.
DEVELOPING NEW MARKETS
In near future, our company will attempt to set up an internet website to attract more potential local and international markets. Delivery will be free for local markets and charges will be applied once it involves leaving the country territory via ship or air. The Delivery fess will be charge according to the distance travelled. As such, neighbouring countries such as South Pacific Countries and South East Asia will tend to be cheaper than countries in North America or Europe. Bio-Life will base our approach on occasional exporting and indirect exporting, provided the foreign markets are responding positively. Inconvenience will be imposed if marketers needs to leave Australia in the midst of evaluating some important issues; decision as to whether or not to leave the country; deciding on which market to enter and how, deciding on whichever marketing program to adopt as well as coming up with the decision on the marketing organization (Kotler, 2003: 384).
MARKETING MIX
Product
“A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need” (Kotler 2003:407). They can be classified into physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organization, information, and ideas. In our case, our product (the magnetic therapy bracelet) is a physical good named Bio-Mag which is meant to be worn around the wrist to give relief to any pain which is mainly experienced around the arthritis on the hands and wrist (immediate effect) although the “pain-remedy effect” will subsequently covers the entire body.
Relieving pain is the core benefit of Bio-Mag, which belongs to the most fundamental level of the customer value hierarchy out of the five levels (core benefit, basic product, expected product, augmented product, potential product). In other words, the core benefit can be seen as the main objective or deciding factor when any customer wish to purchase this product of ours. This core benefit is being used to produce a range of pain relieving basic products (knee strap, bracelet, necklace, water wand, pillow, mattress cover, etc.) and our company had chosen the bracelet among the rest as the type of product our company wants to get involved in.
The expected product for which our company has for the magnetic therapy bracelet is a pain relieving item that is made out of the most suitable and best quality materials (e.g. pure stainless steel which is zinc free meant for individuals whose skin has allergy to cheap quality steel) and provides good and long-lasting pain relief. To turn the expected product into an augmented product that exceeds customer expectations, Bio-Life Ltd had also seek to bring various designs to the market which gives customers a greater range to choose from.
At Bio-Life Ltd, our company also offers altering services to satisfy consumer who wish to change, add or alter certain parts of the bracelet to match their taste. The vision that we Bio-Life Ltd had for Bio-Mag is to be able to reach in being a potential product that any customers will be able to design their own bracelet and have a vision of the actual product via advance graphic editing programs before they made the actual purchase. Perhaps, if technology allows, Bio-Life Ltd might even consider coming out with a magnetic therapy bracelet which can heal those pain and illnesses over time instead of just relieving the affected area. Lastly, Bio-Life Ltd will also look forward having a wide range of accessories apart from just the sale of magnetic therapy bracelets.
Furthermore, it also comes with a one year warranty which compensates consumers if the faults are on the materials or function; only faults coming due to negligence on the part of the consumer are not covered. On the whole, Bio-Mag can be classified as a form of durable and speciality good which survives repetitive usage and targets at individuals who made the purchase only if they are experiencing symptoms of relevant pain.
Place
Place is definitely a factor not to be underestimated for the sale of Bio-Mag to be successful. Place mainly includes elements such as channels, coverage, assortments, locations, inventory and transport (Kotler, 20033:16). Since Bio-Mag is relatively a new type of product which still has not manage to have its concept laid in the minds of consumers (no solid and firm foundations), we reckon the best location we should choose for this product is in big shopping malls or more prestigious and well known area. As a way of generating awareness, these locations will have a higher chance of catching the attention of people; there are more people and most who like widow shopping also tend to visit these places. Just like jewelleries and fashion accessories, these items also tend to be found in malls rather than isolated area, not to mention that it is still a fairly new product with a new concept.
At the moment, since Bio-Life Ltd is a newly established company in a fairly new market, Australia will be our first trial country. Depending on how the business progress, we will base our decision of expanding our business overseas only if our business operations are successful. This vision will not be feasible in the next few years as for investments overseas, Bio-Life Ltd will need a huge sum of capital and other resources including knowledge thorough accumulated experience in order to take such big step forward. Bio-Life Ltd has also decided to obtain our inventory from China due to its low labour (manufacturing) costs and as well as the low exchange rate; an Australian dollar will have a higher purchasing power in China and this helps cut down the costs greatly. Beside, China will also be able to offer a wide variety of selections which is essential for coming up with more designs for our product.
With respect to transportation, the best and most practical solution is to get the products over to Australia via sea or air. Depending on the urgency of the situation, the duration of delivery via shipping will be longer with cost being lower while air transport will take a shorter delivery time with cost being higher. For distribution throughout outlets within Australia, the best mode of transport will be the use of both the railway as well as trucks. As the market of magnetic therapy bracelet is still young and small, the best marketing channel to adopt will be through direct liaison with the manufacturer, bypassing the role of wholesaler which act as an intermediary. This again will help save more time and costs.
People
Here at Bio-Life Ltd, we will focus our attention on consumers coming from the middle to upper income group. For the fact that the product (Bio-Mag) our company is selling is a highly specialised one, apart from the price, the ones who will tend to understand the purpose as well as appreciated the product more are more likely to be individuals who received at least a certain level of education; knowledge to comprehend the contents or functions. Among those consumers that Bio-Life Ltd also includes professional who comes from different specialised areas within the medical field or profession; homeopaths, chiropractors, physiotherapists, teleologists, osteopaths, massage therapists, medical doctors, surgeons, dentists are just some of the examples. Despite the fact that Bio-Mag is less costly as compared to most medical consultation or medications, for any consumers to afford or be willing to purchase it will have to b ones coming from a good income background; Bio-Mag is no doubt still an upper-end product.
Price
According to Kolter P. (2003), price setting should follow six essential steps:
- Selecting the pricing objective
- Determining demand
- Estimating costs
- Analysing competitors’ costs, prices and offers
- Selecting a pricing method
- Pricing the product.
The price of our magnetic therapy bracelet is going to range between AUD $ 59 to AUD $109. This price is slightly higher than the one set by one of our current competitors located in Queensland, which had their price range between AUD $49 to AUD $87. The price which our company (Bio-Life) sets is close to most of those set by most companies operating in the same market within Australia. The reason behind most companies having similar prices might attribute to the reason that all are using the Nine Price-Quality Strategy to determine the price of the product (magnetic therapy bracelet). Since the magnetic therapy bracelet is still a new product with a new concept in the eyes of most Australian consumers, they might not be able to differentiate Bio-Mag from the normal accessories or bracelets one tend to find in most jewellery shops. Bio-Life Ltd also tends to set the price for Bio-Mag a little higher than the most competitors due to the quality of the materials which is used to manufacture the product. As compared to the rest of the competitors, Bio-Mag not only comes in more varieties (design), more importantly, it includes functions which most common magnetic therapy bracelets sold by competitor lack. According to Nine Price-Quality Strategy, a product with a high quality and high price will follow the Premium Strategy (Kolter, 2003:472). Another reason for the higher price of Bio-Mag also attributes to the huge effort and resources Bio-Life Ltd intend to put into promoting Bio-Mag which our competitors aren’t aware of, in hope of covering part the costs incurred in this promotion. Such strategy follows the third and fourth steps in the Pricing Policy which involves estimating the costs while at the same time also analysing the competitors’ costs, prices and offers. This price that we set also allows consumers to own market shares in magnetic therapy products.
To achieve the best possible price for Bio-Mag, Bio-Life will adopt some of the pricing strategy namely, geographical pricing, promotional pricing and discriminatory pricing. For best results, Canberra and Sydney’s suburb named Parramatta will be our first trial areas. Prices will tend to varies slightly in these two areas due to the differences in population, needs and lifestyle involved. Promotional pricing will be used during the national launch of our Bio-Mag. Bio-Life Ltd seeks to give promotional price during the first three months of launching Bio-Life to attract customers and generate awareness. Discriminatory pricing will be our final pricing strategy Bio-Life Ltd intend to adopt in order to retain loyal consumers and establish a reputation (increase our brand value) in the magnetic therapy product market.
Promotion
Reich (1997:392) stated that “Promotion refers to decisions on how the business will communicate its offering to its customers”. Promotion plays an important role in this marketing plan and it will determine whether or not our first launch of the magnetic therapy product will achieve effectiveness, efficiency and ultimately success.
In general, the main objective of any companies in having an informative advertising campaign or effort is to aim at creating public awareness and knowledge about the product (Kolter 2003:591); so is our company Bio-Life Ltd. In the advertisement, we seek in bringing about the message of “low price, high effect” across to the public in that, Bio-Mag is a cheap and effective source of alternative treatment to pain apart from medications. Besides, it is easy to put on and it is also looks exactly as beautiful as any other usual accessories that one puts on. The advertisement also contains all information and scientific studies which includes the proof of its effectiveness. Information covering across areas such as the high quality of Bio-Mag materials, unique design, price range, consumers’ satisfaction guarantee policy will be the essence of better understanding Bio-Mag for potential buyers.
Being a newly established company, Bio-Life Ltd had decided to spend more on advertising as the importance of generating public awareness for a product with a new concept definitely cannot be overlooked. The television, radio and direct mail will be the best sources to go through in promoting Bio-Mag given the coverage they can achieve as well as the popularity of such sources. For greater coverage, Bio-Mag will also be advertised on newspaper, health magazine, printing brochures and the internet which includes all the relevant and useful information required for any individuals to get a good idea of the product before even having any intention of purchasing. Internet is the cheapest yet effective way to promote Bio-Mag given its popularity and low cost. Compare to most of our current competitors, we promote our magnetic therapy bracelet via all form of media whereas most of our competitors only do it through the internet. Besides the ability in increasing the number of aware individuals in our product, there might also exist the possibility of Bio-Life Ltd being the first company to introduce the concept of a magnetic therapy bracelet to them. Hence, Bio-Life also will have a higher chance of gaining more market shares if Bio-Mag managed to convince and capture the trust of consumers.
Public Relation is yet another effective way to promote Bio-Mag and establishing Bio-Life Ltd image. Public awareness can be achieved via Bio-Life Ltd involvements in sponsoring fundraising activities relating to health. All these are steps towards the achievement of Bio-Life Ltd as the leading company in the market of Magnetic Health Products and thus giving Bio-Life a positive company image. But due to the huge cost involved in sponsorship, Public Relation will only be feasible in the future after which the company had laid its foundation in the market or save enough capital to do so.
SWOT
To examine the internal and external environment is an important element of marketing strategy planning process. Internal environmental factors to the firm usually can be classified as strength(S) or weakness (W), and those external environmental aspects can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). SWOT Analysis is a very effective way of identifying our Strengths and Weaknesses, and of examining the Opportunities and Threats of the new product. Carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework helps us to focus on our activities into areas where the strong and greatest opportunities lie.
Strengths
A firm’s strengths are its resources and capabilities are the basic of developing competitive advantages. Our product, Bio-Mag Bracelet is a high technological product, with magnetic therapy purposes. The product is fashionably-designed and it utilizes reflexology points on the wrist; this stunningly beautiful bracelet comes in a 9ct gold or stainless steel. The bracelet can be worn by both men and women of any age group and are highly fashionable at the moment. Furthermore, it is very realistic for customer to have one for natural healing while it is also fashionable to wear it as ornaments. Besides that, it is convenient to wear on in any occasion and everyday. Moreover, with over 25 years of diligent magnetic research and testing, evidence shows that magnets have remarkable results in natural healing and pain relief. (Stuck On You, 2005).Besides, these magnetic therapy products are far cheaper when compared with the costs of medications or consultation; it also can be used for lifetime and nickel free with 9ct gold or stainless steel. Also, health equipments are expensive in Australia. And rivalry in Australia will be low as magnetic therapy products is a fairly new marketing this country. Such will serve as a form of competitive advantage over the rest of the competitors
Weaknesses
The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. It appeared that there are no brand advantages as Bio-Life Ltd is a fairly new company. Therefore, the company needs a large sum of capital and time to build up a strong brand image. Branding is one of the most important sales elements nowadays, as consumers are mostly make decision on high reputation products and recognized products. Bio-Life Ltd also faces strong competition from big brands in health product such as OSIM etc. In addition, the company’s distribution system is one of the weaknesses; which is not completely constructed yet. Thus, the company could not reached of all potential consumers, and obtain feedbacks from our customers, too.
Opportunity
Health has become a major concern for the modern people. People concerned and get alarmed of their health status when their standard of living upgraded. With this opportunity, the new product might have a good stand in Australia local market.
Threat
However, in Australia, most people are new to the product, and have not been well exposed to the usage of the product. Thus, it is a main disadvantage for Bio-Life Ltd in building up sales. Nevertheless, Bio-Mag Bracelet also faced great competition from other health products such as massage machine and so forth; which there are many different health products in the market.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barrett S., 2001 ‘magnet therapy’ available online at
Cralle, R. (1997). Therionresearch.com: Magnetic Therapy.
(Accessed 18th May 2005).
Kotler, P. (2003) Marketing Management. Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey, United States.
No Author. (2005) Stuck On You: Magnetic Therapy Supplier.
(Accessed 15th May 2005).
No Author. No Date. Magnetic Therapy History.
(Accessed 18th May 2005).
No Author. No Date. The Scientific Basis For Magnet Therapy Analytical Research Report.
(Accessed 18th May 2005).
Competitors’ Company’s Website:
Magnet-EZe: http://magnet-eze.com.au
Australian Magnet Therapy:
Bio-Magnetic Therapy: