Strength And Weaknesses Of The Existing Product Marketing Essay

The product is a cooling spray. It can be used for cooling hot cars or as a body cooler and freshener. Its name is Magicool. Magicool is a British invention described as your very own personal air-conditioning system in a can”. It was created by scientists at France Med in the UK. Basically it is a magic cool spray used for cooling hot air and hot surfaces.

Strength and weaknesses of the existing product

It is used as a cooling device

It is safe to use on the face and skin and will not discolour clothes

It does not cause cold shock or discomfort

Weaknesses

It does not last long

Mostly used in cars and air-conditioning

It is unscented

Not many people know about it

Our proposal

We have decided to modify the existing spray by making it last for a very long time and it only wears off when you wash it. All you have to do is spray it on your garment and your body and it stays on for long. You can go clubbing partying or even walk in the sun for as long as you want and you will still stay cool, smell good as it is scented and not sweat. Also you will stay very fresh. It has got different scents for both females and males and at the same time it has sun screen and also acts as a mosquito repellent.

It is meant for hot places like Africa, Malaysia, tropical places. You can spray yourself and go to the beach or walk around and you won’t get burnt. It is portable and comes in different sizes. It Is also very environmentally friendly

and completely safe, non-toxic, non-flammable, free from CFC and alcohol.

Swot analysis

Strengths

Lasts longer

Scented

Favours all skin types

Safe

Has sun screen

Portable and affordable

Weaknesses

Not recommended for babies

Not to be used by pregnant women thus we are losing two target groups

Opportunities

It is a worldwide product

In certain places the market is going to be sold all year round e.g. Malaysia because it is continuously hot

Threats

There’s already an existing product so people might opt to stick to it rather than buy ours as some people aren’t big fans of change

Idea Screening

Our target market is people from the ages of 5 years and above. We do not recommend the product to people below the ages of 5 years as they are still too young to be exposed to some of the contents of our product and we will like to avoid any complications what so ever. We also advice that people with breathing problems such as asthma or others use the spray with caution. We do however guarantee that the users of our product will benefit highly in that they will be able to stay cool and at the same time smell good. They will also be able to use the spray for different purposes such as for protection from the sun and or as a mosquito repellent.

The size of our target market is reasonably large looking at the fact that the product can be used by everybody and only a small segment which is of the ages below 5 years cannot use the spray. We expect our target market to grow or increase a lot every year as people grow and more and more start to use our product. Also with the promotional strategies we have put in place we expect to well inform a considerable number of people about our product leading them to want to try it out.

Our current completion is the old magicool spray which we have decided to take and innovate and add other characteristics which it does not have at the moment. By doing so we will be able to attract more and more people to buy it who feels it really has a lot to offer all in one bottle.

We have looked at all the manufacturing processes and have examined them thoroughly and have seen that it is technically possible to manufacture the product at very reasonable costs. After completing the product success forecast we have seen that the product will prove to be very successful when manufactured and distributed to our customers at the target price we have set.

Our likely estimated price will be RM 35.00.

Concept development and testing enas

Our target market would be all countries that are hot around the year “ex. Africa, Malaysia, tropical islands, etc.”

 Everyone will be able to purchase the product, it’s safe to use and wouldn’t cause any skin irritation, and in fact it calms down itchy skin too.

Breeze is provided in “spray, cream, and sunscreen”

It will make the consumers feel cool as long as they want till they wash it off, no matter where they are or what activities they are doing.

It’s a very useful product, if customers use it once they will never stop using it

Develop the marketing and engineering details

Investigate intellectual property issues and search patent data bases

Who is the target market and who is the decision maker in the purchasing process?

What product features must the product incorporate?

What benefits will the product provide?

How will consumers react to the product?

How will the product be produced most cost effectively?

Prove feasibility through virtual computer aided rendering, and rapid prototyping

What will it cost to produce it?

Testing the Concept by asking a sample of prospective customers what they think of the idea. Usually via Choice Modelling.

Business analysis

Estimate likely selling price based upon competition and customer feedback

Magic cool 200ml can according to customer feedback went up for sale in the UK at £10(RM 48.72) but has since been reduced to £ 5.99 (RM 29.20)

Magic cool embarked on a moderate advertising plan mainly through their site and television ads that gave them enough exposure to attract initiating buyers who in turn spread the word about the product. After a thorough analysis of consumer feedback, deduction of Magic cool’s exposure can be attributed to the following.

Factoring in modification costs of Breeze as well as the intense advertising cost to our competitors, the likely estimated price will be RM 35.00 which is a fair balance between RM 48.72 and RM 29.20.

Estimate sales volume

Sales after the introduction of Breeze on the market, we expect a slow peak in sales before a drop. This will prompt the new sales campaign to be launched and the trend will gradually pick up by year 2 of Breeze on the market.

Although actual numbers cannot be offered at the moment, the graph below following a time line gives an illustration on how much we seek to benefit from sales as a result of demand following Breeze’s intense advertising campaign.

Volume Sales vs. Timeline

Volume

Time line

The blue region indicates the peak during the introduction of Breeze and the most important section is the peak during maturity when Breeze can fully maximize profits.

Factoring in a fixed cost of an estimated $ 500 (RM 1598.17),the estimated variable unit cost of $5 (RM 15.98) and the selling price of a unit $ 10 (RM 32), we were able to deduce the breakeven point at 100 units on a monthly basis which is favorable for Breeze since it’s a new-to-the-world product.

Beta testing and market testing

Produce a physical prototype or mock-up

Test the product (and its packaging) in typical usage situations

Conduct focus group customer interviews or introduce at trade show

Make adjustments where necessary

Produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to determine customer acceptance

Technical implementation

Quality management system

A quality management review system will occur once annually and will involve the following activities;

Results of audits

Customer feedback

Status of preventive and corrective actions

Employee feedback

Recommendations for improvements

Follow up from previous reviews.

Supplier collaboration

Magic cool collaborated with leading pharmacy store; Boots UK limited and reaped profits as a result. Similarly Breeze will target Watsons Pharmacy since it has a larger international presence which includes Indonesia, Singapore, China, Philippines and South Korea where our product would provide use to its consumers due to the tropical nature of the climate.

Logistics plan

The internal Logistics team will ensure that the supply chain and inventory is controlled and handled efficiently.

The plan will entail the following factors i.e. service requirements and goals, efficient processes of productivity, cost budget and structure, potential opportunities and problems, technology and automation.

Commercialization

When it comes to commercializing our product we have come up with different ways of doing it.

Launch product

Our product will be launched nationally and after it has penetrated the market we will expand it internationally. Nationally will be a way to introduce a product and to make our customers aware.

Promotion

Advertising

This is going to be our main way of commercializing our product. We will have flyers, billboards of our products and also information related to the use of our product

Television commercials

Advertising our product by showing how to use it and the benefits of using it. This is to attract a large audience and explain to them why we think our product should be purchased

Internet

This will be used to further advertise our product and at the same time customers can order online and also give us a feedback about what they think about it.

Direct selling

This form of advertising will be to get the expressions of our consumers and to know how they perceive it. Will be having stalls in shopping complexes to attract more consumers.

Distribution

The distribution would be to distribute directly to retailers as this is where most customers purchase their products. When we are satisfied with the sales and the way our market is progressing we may opt to sell directly to sportspeople as one of the elements is a cooling effect all day long and they are people who exercise vigorously

Some of our slogans

“Party like a rock star with ice cool breeze”

“Be cool with ice cool breeze”

New product pricing

Penetration pricing will be used as we introducing our product and also to gain entry. After a while price skimming strategy will be implemented after our product has penetrated the market and this will be used to stop competitors from entering the market.

Impact of new product on the entire product portfolio

Value Analysis (internal & external)

Competition and alternative competitive technologies

Differing value segments (price, value, and need)

Product Costs (fixed & variable)

Forecast of unit volumes, revenue, and profit