Assignment:
We have big goals and dreams for our users. Find My Car strives to provide a simple, affordable, and reliable way to reduce the chances of losing your car in a parking lot. This Marketing Plan covers the three questions below:
Where is Find My Car now?
Find My Car is a new name in the marketplace currently marketing to anyone that owns a car. From business to entertainment, people understand the logistics of not remembering where they parked their cars. The market test has done well and Find My Car is expecting some great growth in the next calendar year.
Where does Find My Car want to go?
Find My Car wants to be the one item that people always put in their car before heading out for the day. Find My Car wants to help its buyers to be at ease, wherever they may be, with knowing the exact location of his/her car. Find My Car will give the owner confidence in recovering their vehicle.
How does Find My Car want to get there?
Initially Find My Car will be available online through the manufacturer's website and Amazon.com. Find My Car will also get some ad space in car magazines such as Car and Driver and Motor Trend. After a positive sales trend, Find My Car will be available in retail stores such as Target and Wal-Mart. Once the company hears of successful stories where cars being located through Find My Car and its user-friendly app, the stories will be published on the website and included in ads. Long-term goals of partnerships with car manufacturers could only improve the ability to locate a car that is lost in a concrete jungle.
Although there are other companies out there with similar technology, they do not have the one feature we have created to set us apart. That feature is the USB port which eliminates having to remember to push the button on your phone to pin your location. Our product is far more reliable and convenient for those who are always on the go.
The main obstacle that Find My Car will come across is that some people never lose their car in a parking lot. People who have experienced a disruption in their day by hunting wrong deck levels or color-coated sections know how devastating it can be. With the busy schedules in people's lives, Find My Car can help lower the stress. Being able to find your car as soon as you leave the office building, athletic field, airport, or even the mall, will help with the flow to the next place on your schedule.
Conclusively, this company has the foreground to reach a large audience and provide peace of mind to frequent drivers. Not to mention that the product is portable and can be moved from one car to another. With a product that is reliable, a strong message communicating the likelihood that this can happen to anyone and an affordable price point, great profits are bound for Find My Car's company.
Introduction
Current Market Situation
Find My Car will strive to have full customer's support and complete success in the market. To do so, a situation analysis will be conducted to better understand the current and potential environment in which Find My Car will be marketed to. We will focus on organizational resources to examine our internal strengths and weaknesses, and we will conduct an environmental scanning to examine our external opportunities and threats.
What are Find My Car's strengths?
Find My Car is anticipated to have high demands with little competition from competitors that are not living up to their expectations. Also, from the packaging of the product all the way down to the installation, Find My Car will be a user-friendly product. It will sell at a reasonable price and provide peace of mind to drivers that they wont have a hard time in finding their car in a crowded parking lot ever again.
What are Find My Car's Weaknesses?
The current mentality that "forgetting where I parked my car won't happen to me" is a weakness of the product. It will take a lot of emphasis on the product's strengths to convince people otherwise.
What are Find My Car's Opportunities?
Find My Car is the first reliable product of its kind because there is nothing like it available at this time. The endorsement from car manufacturers and dealers could result in profit for both the car manufacturer/dealer and Find My Car. The product's website will have a place where users can share stories about their experience with Find My Car.
What are Find My Car's Threats?
Find My Car will have threats that will begin at the startup phase and continue down the road. Funding will be the first threat the product will face, because of the high start up cost and advertising. Dealing with regulatory agencies will also be a threat because it will require Find My Car to meet strict requirements. If Find My Car becomes successful, high competition will be an inevitable threat down the road.
How will Find My Car's Internal strengths and weaknesses be examined?
Find My Car's internal strengths and weaknesses will be examined by focusing on organizational resources. We will seek investors to fund our product; they will be the first people that will need to pleased and the first people that will express their opinions and concerns regarding Find My Car. We will proceed by conducting a market research to determine if a product such as "Find My Car" is needed. After the decision has been made, we will hire motivated and talented employees that believe in our product. Hiring employees that believe in our company and product will be good initial marketing, because they will talk wonders about our ideas and products. We want the company's brand image to be associated with American Culture. We want consumers to believe that we want the best for them and our economy by knowing that our product will be 100% American made.
How will Find My Car's external opportunities and threats be examined?
To examine our opportunities and threats we will conduct an environmental scan on the external marketing environment. Since we can't control the elements of the external environment, we must understand how it is changing and how it impacts the target market. The Political and legal forces are big impacts to the environment because anything that has to do with transportation has strict guidelines, rules, and requirements a company must meet. Find My Car will have to meet the requirements of the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and other regulatory agencies before we can start marketing the product. To understand the social and demographic factors, the consumers will do the first test of the market. Also, further research and marketing will be conducted through social media, online and mobile technology. This will give us an accurate idea of the demographic pattern that will be using Find My Car. This research will determine the debuted price of Find My Car. The price will eventually be adjusted after determining the number and the kind of people that are buying our product. Although initially our competition is very little, with the success of Find My Car our competition will grow. The looming of competitors will be very influential towards the environment of our company, and will eventually influence price and the overall marketing strategy. .
Marketing Goals and Objectives
The main goal of Find My Car is to become a product that is used in every vehicle nationwide, and especially in the larger US cities. We have established objectives and a set of short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals to guide us and keep us motivated.
What are Find My Car's short-term goals?
Find My Car wants to accomplish their short-term goals within one year of the launching of the product. The first short-term goal of Find My Car is to become a well-known product in larger cities where remembering where a vehicle was parked is an everyday struggle. The second short-term goal of the company is to sell at least 20,000 units to cover the necessary funding. The third short-term goal is to have retailers like Target, auto part stores like pep boy, and electronic stores like Best Buy interested in carrying Find My Car.
How will Find My Car reach their short-term goals?
Find My Car has four objectives to reach its short-term goals. The first objective is to place 15 kiosks in busy parking areas, such as the parking decks in airports. The second objective is to place ads in three of the best selling magazines to reach every kind of consumer. The third objective is to make the product's website as user friendly with information, frequently asked questions, and the option to purchase the product online. The fourth and last objective of the company is to have at least one sponsored listing for Find My Car on Amazon.com or ebay.com.
What are Find My Car's mid-term goals?
If Find My Car turns out to be a success, we would like to reach our Mid-Term Goals within three years of the launching of the product. To continue with the company's foundation of the basis of American Culture, the first Mid-Term Goal is to get endorsed by the three major US car manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors). The second mid-term goal is to increase sales by a minimum of 150% from year 2.
How will Find My Car reach their mid-term goals?
The main objective to reach these mid-term goals would be to publish the results of the conducted research. We will use "tried and true" examples of users that have saved time and money because they use Find My Car. This objective will result in in awareness that forgetting where you parked your car is very common and it could happen to anyone. Also, with the received feedback from consumers we will have our product improved.
What are Find My Car's long-term goals?
By year five, Find My Car expects to have many competitors, but at that point we plan on being the best product of its kind in the market.
How will Find My Car reach their long-term goals?
We will have extensive advertisement and endorsement by major airports, car manufacturers, and car dealers. Through all the endorsements, competition will not stand a chance.
Target Market:
What is Find My Car's targeted market?
Find My Car is the product that has the potential of attracting every driver or individual who owns or could potentially desire a vehicle. Teen drivers, mothers with restless little ones, the daily commuter, the concert goer, the global jetsetter and as well as the weekend mall shoppers at some point, will wander aimlessly in a parking lot to locate his/her vehicle. The minimal purchase of the Find My Car locator is an asset to the existence of the driver. This inexpensive security measure reduces the amount of time in finding your vehicle and the possibility of the driver encountering dangerous situations.
What is Find My Car's market segmentation?
Find My Car's customer base will consist of consumers with varied lifestyles, backgrounds and economic levels, resulting in an undifferentiated strategic focus. Quality, reliability, affordability and simplicity are the four key selling points of each potential owner of Find My Car's user-friendly locator. As owners of Find My Car, we are afforded a marketing advantage for saving in the areas of production and marketing.
What is Find My Car's product positioning?
No one likes to leave a location and return to a parking lot, not being able to locate his/her vehicle. Find My Car will attribute an added reassurance to the consumer's ability of immediately locating his/her vehicle. The brand's awareness of our brand, we can provide the consumer with added reassurance of being able to immediately locate his/her vehicle.
Marketing Strategy:
What is Find My Car's initial product introduction?
We will begin our marketing mix with our first phase (6 - 9 months) being a pre-introduction of our brand in the market place with product placement in local convenience/gas stores, travel agencies, social media and web site pull strategies to advertise and sale our product. Promotional materials will be channeled to the consumer by way of flyers, magazines, television, and radio in phase II. Placement of products in airport vendors locations and mall kiosk will also occur during the second phase.
What is Find My Car's long range plan?
There is a need for Find My Car in today's local and global market. Find My Car's will be distinguished from other similar products in the onset. This is based on its design featuring quality, reliability, affordability and simplicity, to deliver the benefits of a safety product that consumer needs and desire in today's communities where crime has become commonplace. We are creating a product with brand equity that will be of benefit to generations to come.
What is Find My Car's competitive positioning?
With similar products existing in the market place, we will maintain a competitive edge by offering discounted and value pricing to the customer. Some offers will include:
• Buy one Find My Car locator and receive a second Find My Car at a third of its price.
• When purchased in the airport customers would receive discounted parking rate.
• When purchased at the gas stations with car washing available, the consumer will have the option of receiving $2.00 off the elite car wash offer.
Implementation Controls
What are Find My Car's measurements?
Parking lots and garages are like jungle maze and getting lost there can happen to anyone. Our product is set apart from the other smartphone apps. With the completion, you must remember to push a button to locate your car. With the Find My Car, you only have to plug in an USB charger and the app will read the signal and find your car. This feature helps with people that might be in a hurry or just plain forget to push the button on their phone. This product is great for locations at hotels, sporting events, bus stops, airports, or any other location you would like to easily return to later.
Find My Car features would include, arrow points you to car's location, easily choose between feet, yards or meters, provides walking
distance back to your car's location, time you have been parked and choose between map or satellite view. The USB port for locating your car plugs into your car's 12-volt power outlet. It provides 4.2 amps, which will allow you to charge other mobile devices. This USB port fits into the auxiliary/cigarette lighter socket. It provides two 5VDC USB charging ports, both with up to 2.1A charging power. This product also has a battery that will help with locating app. When the app is activated, the sensor in the USB will begin to charge, which will then read back to the app to help locate the car. For cars that do not charge when off, the battery located into the USB port will activate as well.
What is Find My Car's expenditure?
Find My Car estimates that the fixed costs the first year will be: Rent at $96,000.00, Salaries at $300,000.00, and Advertising at $200,000.00. Find My Car estimates that the fixed costs each year will increase by about 15% due to inflation as well as increases in units produced. It is also estimated that variable costs will increase by 2% each year due to inflation.
As sales increase each year, the operating income will get stronger and stronger. With sales forecast of 40,000, 60,000, 120,000, 240,000, and 500,000 units in years 1 through 5. Find My Car will see the margins increase each year until year 5, when they will level off around 25%. They steadily increase as the unit fixed costs goes down due to the increasing units.
What are Find My Car's focus groups?
The Find My Car would appeal to any age group that uses transportation. Business people that travel to offices with parking decks to people that go to a football game. Anyone that uses the Find My Car could ease their mind by knowing they will be able to return to their car without frustration.
What are Find My Car's sample/test marketing?
Examples for promotional materials to be used are found online, store flyers, and car magazines. Online advertising would consist of push ads through Amazon. Stores such as Target and Wal-Mart would place the item in sale flyers. Car magazines like Car and Driver and Motor Trend would also feature the item.
What is Find My Car's product management and planning strategy?
The five owners of Find My Car will manage the evaluation of the company to ensure proper control is in place immediately reporting to the loan bank. A survey will be sent out to all customers that register the product. This will be sent through email, which the customer will receive 2-3 months after purchase. The survey will give level feedback and comments can be made where management can figure out the future tweaks that can be made. We hope to receive 40% of surveys from all that purchase.
A sales analysis of the sales goals will compare to the actual sales, which will be done in house among the five owners. This will take place approximately every 6 months. A comparison of the projected sales and the actual sales will happen every 6 months. In July of each year the sales should be 45% f the annual projected sales. If they fall below this, a price reduction should be considered.
Price Determination
FMC's price was determined using the demand oriented pricing. FMC will introduce its product to the market at $19.99 and it will be introduced using the price skimming method. FMC's competitors are currently selling equivalent 2.4 amp, duel high speed USB car chargers for $20.00 to $40.00. Comparatively, the least expensive car GPS car-tracking device is being sold for $39.99. (not including installation) FMC is a combination of both of these productions for a fraction of the price.
Although it is difficult to estimate the demand of a new product, combining a common car electronic with common issues and concerns among car owners across the world more than likely will yield good results. The quantity demanded in the first year is estimated at 30,000 units, which are the estimated sales for year 1 of FMC in the marketplace. Although FMC is competing against multiple products in multiple markets, it is believed consumers will get behind FMC due to the differences in the product.
Estimated Costs
The production costs of the FMC product are broken up into four separate parts. These four costs being: USB duel charger, GPS locating chip, micro rechargeable battery, and assembly. (note the assembly does not include assembly for both the USB duel charger and GPS locating chip, the assembly is the cost for combining the GPS locating chip and micro rechargeable battery with the USB duel charger) The breakdowns for these three costs are as followed: $0.97 for the USB duel charger, $0.93 for the GPS locating chip, $1.03 for the micro rechargeable battery, and $0.96 for assembly. This leads to a final production cost for FMC of $4.03.
The production for FMC is extremely low because the FMC USB charger is able to charge and power the GPS locating chip while charging any phone or tablet. This eliminates many extra parts and electronics that are built into other GPS's on the market.
Budgets by Activity
For the first year of operation FMC will produce 30,000 units. Based on this production, FMC will budget $87,900 for Direct Materials. Direct materials consist of any raw materials that have a direct correlation to producing the end product. In this case direct materials are the USB duel charger ($0.97 per unit), the GPS locating chip ($0.93 per unit), and the micro rechargeable battery ($1.03). This brings the total cost for direct materials per unit to $2.93. $2.93 multiplied by the 30,000 units FMC will produce equals a total of $87,900.
Direct Labor is any labor directly correlated to producing the product. Since assembly costs $0.96 per unit, the amount budgeted to direct labor is 28,800. This was found by taking the 30,000 units multiplied by the $0.96 it costs to assemble each unit.
Manufacturing overhead refers to indirect factory-related costs that are incurred when a product is manufactured. Rent is included in overhead and totals $96,000.
Additionally salaries for the year will be $300,000 and Marketing expenses will be $200,000.
After the first year of operation FMC will incur $712,700 in total costs. However if all 30,000 units are sold they will have sales revenue of $599,700. This means FMC will have a net income of BLANK