Executive Summary
The Ultimate Battlefield Simulator is a gaming product designed based on military war games in order to present an intriguing battlefield condition. The battlefield simulator includes specific features to present real war combat conditions. Thus, it is a gaming product that is designed to ensure the target customers receive great combat experience. The target market for the product includes entertainment businesses, which provide gaming services, families, and individual fans of First-Person Shooter (FPS) games. In order to gain competitive advantage, the product is provided in packages that meet the needs of the target customers.
The packages combined with other market forces dictate the prices. In addition, Ultimate Battlefield Simulator presents the FPS lovers with excellent graphics and a platform for single player or multi-players. This formed the basis for gaining competitive advantage and differentiation. The value proposition statement is “The Ultimate Battlefield Simulator provides you with 100% stunning time of real combat action. It leaves you gasping and eager to explore the next moves”.
The anticipated market share is 20% at the first month. This is expected to increase to 43% by the fourth month. The anticipated sales in the first month are $20,000, $24,000 for the second month and $28, 800 for the third month. The strategy to be used to gain the market penetration will include the application of the 4P’s of marketing i.e. product, place, price, and promotion.
Value Proposition and Positioning
A good marketing strategy is very important if a business is to withstand competition, attract and retain customers. Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman, and Hansen (2009) noted that both value proposition and positioning are critical marketing strategies designed to differentiate a product from the competing products. As a result, a value proposition helps in outlining the functional and emotional benefits of a product. In relation to the ultimate battlefield simulator, the functional benefits are linked to fun time while the emotional benefits relate to the ease of use and clarity. The value proposition statement “The Ultimate Battlefield Simulator provides you with 100% stunning time of real combat action.
It leaves you gasping and eager to explore the next moves”. On the other hand, positioning entails making the buyer cross from knowledge to actual usage of the product and how it compares to the competing products. The positioning of the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator will be based on the 4Ps of market mix. This will help in the market segmentation.
Tactics
The main objective of the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator is to provide the best gaming experience that will ensure that the customers gain value for their money. The target customers will include businesses that specialise in providing entertainment, family members, and FPS fans. In the identification of the target market, the main factor that will be put under consideration is the attractiveness of each segment. Thus, the product will be in packages that suit each segment based on the 4P’s of marketing mix of the product, price, promotion, and place.
Product
A successful marketing strategy entails finding out what the customer needs and then developing a product to solve the problem of the customer. It is through the product that a business is able to enter the market and entice customers (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The attributes of the product act as the competing tool that makes the customer prefer a specific brand over the competing brands (Larsen, 2010). The Ultimate Battlefield Simulator is designed using highly specified technology in order to appeal to mass audience. In addition, the simulator integrates modern technology to deliver stunning graphics.
Price
Price is the worth of the product; it represents what the customers pay for the product. Price generates revenue and should be set to ensure that there are returns on investments (ROI) (Armstrong & Kotler, 2005). The factors that will determine the price for the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator will include the market segment, forces of demand and supply, and the competing products.
Place
Place entails availing the product to a location that customers can access. Place represents the locality where the product is to be sold (Kotler et al., 2009). Availing the product at the strategic points where the target customers can reach easily is a strategy used by many organizations to reach customers. Therefore, the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator will be on the internet, game shops, and trusted local and international distributors.
Promotion
Promotion entails the communication methods that a marketer uses to create awareness about the product. According to Mullin (2006), promotion entails informing the target customers about the products or services that are being offered by the business. To acquire the projected market share, advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing and interactive marketing will be used.
Advertising
Advertising is a type of communication that is designed to entice the target customers to buy a specific product or service over that of a competitor (Larsen, 2010). Kotler et al. (2009) noted that successful advertising entails strategies that make a product be positively identified by the intended customers. Various media can be used for the purpose of advertisement. This depends on the aim, the market segment, and budget. The Ultimate battle simulator will be advertised by use of the internet, press advertising, social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, television, and radio.
Personal selling
This is a promotional method in which a salesperson applies skills and techniques to build relationships aimed at making the target customer to purchase a product. The marketer meets face to face with the customer and hence explains the advantages of using the product and answers questions that may be raised by the potential customer. The sales people will be employed, trained and then dispatched to the target customers. Their role will be to create awareness about the battlefield simulator.
Sales promotion
The sales promotion will include both the push and pool strategies. The push strategies will entail the use of premiums, wholesale discounts and buy-back guarantees that will be offered to the selected distributors. On the other hand, the pull sales strategies will entail campaigns to excite the target about the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator, hence create anticipation. This will be through the use of print and electronic advertising options. The combination of the two strategies will help bolster sales and market penetration.
Public relations
Public relations entails the spread of information about a specific product between the marketer and the public. “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (Nijssen & Frambach, 2010, p. 21). In the contemporary society, electronic games have gained prominence. As a result, there is the need for public to know the value of the gaming product and their social implications. Therefore, public relations will involve informative articles about the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator.
Direct marketing
This entails making direct contact with the potential customers in order to promote the product and services. In the respect to the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator, direct marketing will involve personalised. For example, short message services, emails, and telephone calls will be used to communicate with targeted customers such as entertainment houses. This will ensure more focus on where there is likelihood to get positive results. It will also be used as a means of building customer loyalty, and recapturing new business.
Interactive marketing
Interactive marketing is a promotional strategy that entails a conversation process. This is contrary to the traditional transactional based marketing. It entails creating a platform in which customers can raise their concerns about a product, and the marketer can provide timely responses. Therefore, an online platform interlinked with social media such as Facebook and Twitter will be used.
Budget and Controls
The success of a marketing plan rests on the implementation process. As a result, there is the need for a programme of activities and a clear budget to guide the implementation and control. The following section presents an outline for budget and controls for the marketing of the Ultimate Battlefield Simulator.
Sales, expenses and marketing budgets
It is worth noting that the anticipated sales are expected to increase at a rate of 20% for the first three months. After the third month, the product will have reached most of the target customers and exponential growth of at least 32% is expected. The cost of promotion is anticipated to reduce as time progresses. This will be due to referral purchasing, and hence costs such as sales promotion will significantly reduce.
Contingency plans and risk management
The business expects to gain revenue from the anticipated sales. However, the sales will be based on market research and assumptions. It is worth noting that there are eventualities that may not be catered in the assumptions (Nijssen & Frambach, 2010). Examples include the likelihood of similar competing products, legal issues, attrition of sales personnel, and regulatory actions. To overcome, the uncertainty, risk assessment will be combined with impact analysis. A value will be assigned to the parameters to determine the events that may threaten the projected targets. On the other hand, risk management will entail classification of the risks.
This will assist in putting in place structured strategies to mitigate the risks. The common high impact marketing risks will include legal, operational and financial costs. Thus, measures will be put in place to address the possible risks. For instance, the financial risks will be overcome by setting aside contingency funds. The provided contingency fund will be 32% of the total estimated expenditure. The fund will be used in case of a shortfall in the projected sales and the enhancement of the skills of the human resource capital.
Priorities, responsibilities and time frames
In order to implement the marketing plan, there are various actions will be rated as high, medium and low. This will form the basis of prioritization. The following table is a summary of the priorities, responsibilities and time frames.
References
Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2005). Marketing: An introduction. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P., Keller, K., Brady, M., Goodman, M., & Hansen, T. (2009). Marketing management. London: Pearson Education.
Larsen. N. (2010). Market segmentation: A framework for determining the right target customers. London: Sage Publishers.
Mullin, R. (2006). Creating a marketing strategy: Marketing development. Engineering Management, 16(6), 40-41.
Nijssen, E., & Frambach, R. (2010). Creating customer value through strategic marketing planning: A management approach. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Pickton, D., & Broderick, A. (2005). Identifying target audiences and profiling target markets. Integrated Marketing Communications, 2(1), 371-398.