Trap Ease Case Study

1. Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the

group would write its mission statement? How would you write it?

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity because the investors see this great potential. The idea is

great: to be able to get rid of a rodent problem without having to use poison, or deal with traps

that can be dangerous, let alone handling the mice. Investors saw the potential and figured that

people would buy it because it would be a product that would be an alternative to something that

is associated with something that is messy, toxic, and violent. The information needed to

evaluate the opportunity is the study of the market, competitors, and other products. Also the

buzz and awards surrounding Trap Ease helped investors see the high potential for this product.

Positioning is concerned around dead mice and this product. They value their product and want

to show its usefulness. Their mission statement, which I don’t think they really had, would be

something like “Easily trapping mice without the mess”. I would probably put something like,

“Ensuring a clean and safe environment through innovation”.

2. Has Martha identified the best target market for Trap-Ease? What other market segments

might the firm target?

Martha identified the target for Trap Ease as stay at home women. Women do not want to have

to deal with traps, poisons or the cleanup associated with removing mice. But it seemed that she

focused on a fast train of thought to come up with this conclusion, not statistics. There are more

women who are in the professional environment than ever before, and that number is growing.

Martha needs to market this product to more than the stay at home mom. She needs to market
businesses, restaurants and especially environmentalists. It’s easy, clean, safe, and will make

many targets happy. It is safe in a house with small children due to no poison or traps, easy to

dispose of without having to see the mouse or handle it.

3. How has the company positioned the Trap-Ease for the chosen target market? Could it

position the product in other ways?

The company positioned Trap Ease as this brand new, excellent mousetrap, based on the fame

and recognition that it received from trade shows, People Magazine, and talk shows. Her

confusion on why the product is not selling is based on her assumptions that Trap Ease is the best

on the market. The emphasis should be based on customers and their product. Trap Ease is not

just a great product, but it is easy, hassle free, safe, mess free, and you get value for money.

4. Describe the current marketing mix for Trap-Ease. Do you see any problems with this mix?

The marketing mix is a blend of only three of the four P’s. There is only one product, which is

great when starting a new company, but they need to think about updating features and variety.

The price is cheaper than similar products on the market. As they make new products, they can

set new prices. As for “Place”, they are selling in big retailers such as Kmart, hardware stores,

and grocery stores. It is a good place to start because there is a good mix of customers. The big

“P” problem is promotion. There is little to no advertising. There is $10000.00 to invest in

advertising but that has not been used effectively. She has only advertised in magazines. She

needs to expand that base to include department stores, TV, and the Internet. If she did this, Trap

Ease would have a stronger presence in the marketplace.

5. Who is Trap-Ease America’s competition?

The big competition is the traditional mousetrap. It has been in the market for over 100 years and

many competitors distribute them. This is the first solution that comes to mind when there is a

rodent problem in the house. Other companies use poison, and companies like Riddex use plug

in devices. Trap Ease has to fight its way through all this competition.

6. How would you change Trap-Ease’s marketing strategy? What kinds of control procedures

would you establish for this strategy?

Martha needs to hire a marketing team. Kudos to her for her work, but marketing strategy is too

big to tackle alone. You need many other people that focus on different areas that set up

marketing logic. The best control would be operating control, using it on a quarterly basis since

this is a start-up company. They need to set realistic goals, and make any necessary changes to

achieve those goals. Then have an annual assessment until they see that the quarterly assessment

is working. Then they can adjust to the annual goal.