Q.

1
Answer:

Introduction
In today’s market careful planning and a good product strategy are essential to help you
succeeding in the market. Companies everywhere are competing more than ever to develop
new and unique products or services and gain a higher position in the market. Companies
develop a high number of new products every year. Most of these products fail to secure
competitive advantages and end up being just another high cost for the company.
Discussion
To launch a new product in the market is a very complex task. One needs to perform various
tasks. As a product manager at Balaji wafers, I would suggest the company various ways for
launching a new product.
Idea Generation for new Products
The ideation activity that a company undertakes to generate a set of product concept
represents the concept generation. As a stage in product development process the concept
generation serves to bring to the company as many concepts as possible, review the
concepts and determine the best options which should be considered for further product
development. A good or bad product idea can determine the success of a project, as the
ideas generation will lead to the new products which can be offered to the customers. There
are many ideas that a company can work on, but the quality of the ideas is usually low
quality or low-value. For this fact it is important that a company structures a process for
generating new ideas which would help in creating new successful products. It is very
important to have a product strategy which defines the areas of the strategic focus deciding
which areas you want to search for new developments. These clear specifications, will help
to generate more clear and effective ideas which are difficult to get from a scattered search.
Product Value Analyse and Identifying market trends are two other methods that use value
of customer to develop new products. In this method customers interact with aspects of
company´s product, and then express his concerns, views and difficulties. This method helps
the companies to be in interaction with the customer and solve problems which concern
them. The second method is identifying the market trends and needs by conducting
customer surveys or focus groups. After defining the trends and needs, the company forma
a group of experts to discusses the problems or possible solutions. Internal search is another
method which uses team knowledge and creativity to generate new ideas. This method is
often called brainstorming. Another Source of generating new ideas are technical
universities, where you can gather information regarding the latest development.
Scoping
Scoping is the first stage of the new product development and launch process. In this stage
firstly a preliminary market assessment is done. During the preliminary assessment a quick
scoping of the market prospects for the product is essential. Such assessment includes; the
potential of the product, market acceptance and the requirements for the product. This
process is not a detailed market research but a desk research which is based only in the
existing recourses. Secondly a preliminary technical assessment is conducted and is focused
on the conceptual assessment and 14 technical feasibility, manufacturing process
assessment, intellectual properties and technical solutions. A preliminary financial and
business assessment is the final check before the recommendations are given. In this phase
only a surficial check of business rationale and financial prospects is done. The information
gathered from the assessments above will provide the ground to justify the elimination of
some projects and acceptance of some others. As After reviewing the results the
gatekeepers, should give their decision on the project. When a project has been approved
the project team together with the gate keepers should propose an action plan for the
continuation of the product development.
Development
A product can exist as a concept passing all the business tests mentioned above. However,
the product concept needs to go to the next stage that is the development. In this phase,
the R&D team start developing the concept into a physical product. An important part of the
development is to build a prototype and start the testing with the customers as soon as
possible. During this stage is vital to seek customer feedback and input continuously. The
customer feedback will help to maintain the product development in the right direction,
meeting all customer requirements. Rapid development is also very important during this
stage. The product should reach the market as fast as possible in order to gain competitive
advantage and receive faster revenue. Moreover, business review have analysed several
interesting myths on product development. Such myths can influence the product
development and launch process. Firstly, from the economics point of view the authors are
arguing that when purchasing components for a project it should be done in small amounts
and tested in each process without creating batches. This process will help in improving
cycle time, efficiency and quality. Secondly, for organizing the resources the authors are
recommending the managers to not concentrate all resources in one project as this would
not fasten the product development process but create queue in other projects at the same
time it is also recommended to avoid starting the development too early as such action will
not increase the development speed if the company is practically not ready for starting it.
Once the product's first prototype has been developed and tested with the customers,
continuous improvement is necessary. The development team should always give priority to
customer feedback and features that bring value to the customer and not the product itself.
Moreover, a post launch plan is very important to be developed in parallel with the product
development.
Launching product onto the market
The final stage of the product development and launch process is the introduction of the
product into the market. On this stage the role of marketing and sales is crucial. For
instance, developing a marketing plan is very essential activity in this stage. For better
understanding of the content of a marketing plan, the appendix three present the content
of marketing plan, a common definition of marketing is, putting the right product, in the
right place, at the right price, at the right time. If one of the previous stages is
underestimated or not considered the launch of the new product can be a failure.
Defining the Marketing Strategy
In a product launch process, the company's mission and objectives are defined by the
company since the beginning of product planning. The goal of Marketing is to create value
for the customers and ensure a profitable relationship with the customers. To accomplish
this, a marketing strategy is necessary. The marketing strategy defines which is the group of
the customers company will serve and how will it be served to this customer group. The
group of customers is defined through segmentation and targeting and the answer on how
the company will serve to its customers comes via differentiation and positioning. A market
segment consists of a group of customers which have similar needs and respond very
similarly to the marketing activities. The marketing target involves the analysing of each
market and selecting one or more segments as potential customers.
Defining the marketing mix
After defining the marketing strategy, the company should prepare the marketing mix. The
marketing mix is the most important set of marketing tools which companies can use to
influence the demand of the customers for its products. This set of tools is collected into a
group called the four P´s of marketing. The four P´s stand for product, place, price and
promotion.

PRODUCT

MARKETING
PROMOTION
MIX PLACE

PRICE
Product is the article which has been developed by a company or manufacturer which
desires to sell it to the customer. Product is the main competing item of the company and it
is considered to be the heart of marketing mix. If a product does not fulfil the customer
needs, or satisfaction, the price, promotion and place will not be able to achieve the
marketing target.
Price of the product defines the value of the product to the customer. It is the most
important factor which influences the marketing. Price can be determined by several factors
such as; product manufacturing cost, market share, target customers, type of the product
etc.
Promotion is all about defining the way how the company will communicate with the
customers. The core message is delivered to the customers via defined promotion tools
used in sales and marketing. Promotional activities help to differentiate the product from
competitors, and create a good relationship with the customers.
Place is considered as distribution channel which is used to deliver the products to
customers. However, the type of product, which a company offers, influence the way how it
should be distributed.
Launch and Commercialisation

This represents the end of the development process, and the full-scale introduction of the
finished product to the marketplace. The resource costs and risks attending this stage are
significant.
The commercial risks riding on any major launch justify the careful analyses, tests and
preparations involved in the development process, and also the marketing professionalism
required to support market entry. Competitive realities should ensure that the company
makes objective decisions based on test-market results – even if the decision is to abort or
delay product launch.

Post launch review

To measure the success or the failure of the product launch it is necessary to conduct a post
launch review. In a post launch review it is important to discuss what went well during the
launch of the product and what can be improved in the next product launch. A typical post
launch review should be held within two months as the team members have all the
information still fresh in mind. The launch process is recommended to take place in a
friendly environment, with continuous constructive feedback without blaming team
members for things that have gone wrong. However, a product post launch review is held
between three to six months after the launch. In authors opinion the example shows that
the time of post launch review can be applied differently by companies according to their
business type or industry. The author supports the idea that the industry and the type of the
product which company is offering influences the timing in which a company can receive
reliable results from its product launch.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that the new product development process is really important for the
success of a business. To conclude, I have shown the most important activities relating to
product launches. The message is that these activities are necessary to increase the level of
awareness of new products. In addition I have demonstrated that product launches are very
time-consuming and to evaluate in terms of success. Paying proper attention to the steps of
the product development process is very important for manufacturing the best product that
can fulfil the demands of your target customers.

Q.2

Answer:

Introduction

An important way to maintain your personal health is to have a healthy diet. A

healthy diet includes a variety of plant-based and animal-based foods that
provide nutrients to your body. Such nutrients give you energy and keep your body
running. Nutrients help build and strengthen bones, muscles, and tendons and also
regulate body processes. In this particular study, the name of the new start up
company is Habit: Health and Nutrition, which is a producer or manufacturer
of healthy as well as nutritious food items, that have zero side effects on the
health of its respective consumers as well as customers. Even the main focus
of the company is to serve each and every class or section of the society
along with a good and healthy as well as nutritious food at a very low cost, in
order to be affordable by all.

Discussion

In order to launch a new product, different market strategies and

segmentation needs to be considered. Let us see how market segmentation,
targeting and positioning can be done in order to launch a new product in the
market. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning are nothing but are
collectively known as marketing strategy.
The development of a successful marketing strategy begins with an understanding of
the market for the good or service. A market is composed of people or institutions
with need, sufficient purchasing power and willingness to buy. The market place is
heterogeneous with differing wants and varying purchase power.

The heterogeneous marketplace can be divided into many homogeneous customer

segments along several segmentation variables. The division of the total market into
smaller relatively homogeneous groups is called Market Segmentation.

We will discuss the following:

 The logic of segmentation

 Segmentation analysis
 Segmentation variables for consumer markets and industrial markets
 Targeting approaches
 Positioning identities
 Differentiation across the consumption chain

The concept of market segmentation has helped marketing decision making since
the evolution of marketing. The goal of market segmentation is to partition the total
market for a product or service into smaller groups of customer segments based on
their characteristics, their potential as customers for the specific product or service in
question and their differential reactions to marketing programs.

Because segmentation seeks to isolate significant differences among groups of

individuals in the market, it can aid marketing decision making in at least four ways:

 Segmentation helps the marketer by identifying groups of customers to whom

he could more effectively ‘target’ marketing efforts for the product or service
 Segmentation helps the marketer avoid ‘trial-and-error’ methods of strategy
formulation by providing an understanding of these customers upon which he
can tailor the strategy
 In helping the marketer to address and satisfy customer needs more
effectively, segmentation aids in the implementation of the marketing concept
 On-going customer analysis and market segmentation provides important
data on which long-range planning (for market growth or product
development) can be based.

Segmentation using consumer background characteristics

Segmentation Some examples of Comments

variables variable measured
Geography  Region of product Geographic
distribution segmentation is one of
 Cultural the oldest and most
differences basic of market
 Mobility of descriptors. In most
consumers cases, it alone is note
sufficient for a
meaningful consumer
 segmentation.
Demographic  Age Also basic and included
 Sex as a variable in most
 Income segmentation analyses.
 Educational level Demographic profiles of
 Social status segments are important
especially when making
later advertising media
decisions.
psychographic  Personality traits Psychographic
 Perceptual styles variables are more
 Attitudes useful because there is
 Reference groups often no direct link
 Social roles between demographic
and market behaviour
variables. These
consumer profiles are
often tied more directly
to purchase motivation
and product usage.
General life style  Correlation of Provides a rich, multi-
demographic and dimensional profile of
psychographic consumers that
variables integrates individual
 Activities and variables into a clearer
interests pattern that describes
the consumer’s routines
and general ‘way of life’.

Segmentation using consumers’ market history

Segmentation variable Some examples of Comments

variables measured

Product usage  Frequency of Segmenting the market

brand/product use into heavy, medium, light
 Brand loyalty and non-users gives a
 Attitudes toward good understanding of the
product present situation in the
market

Product benefit  Expectations of Very useful if the product

product can be positioned in a
performance number of ways. The
 Needs product primary use of this
must fill variable segments the
 Perceptions of market into groups that
brands look for different product
 Satisfaction benefits
(dissatisfaction
 measures)

Decision-process  Shopping patterns Use of this variable

 Media-use patterns segments the market into
 Product price/non-price sensitive,
information shoppers/impulse buyers
searches and other segments
 Sensitivities to which characterize the
price, to the market behaviour of each
promotion and to group. Must be used in
place (channel) conjunction with analysis
of consumer
characteristics to allow
identification of the
individuals involved

Targeting Approaches

Target market selection is the next logical step following segmentation. Once the
market-segment opportunities have been identified, the organization got to decide
how many and which ones to target. Lot of marketing effort is dedicated to
developing strategies that will best match the firm’s product offerings to the needs of
particular target segments. The firm should look for a match between the value
requirements of each segment and its distinctive capabilities. Marketers have
identified four basic approaches to do this:

Undifferentiated Marketing
A firm may produce only one product or product line and offer it to all customers with
a single marketing mix. Such a firm is said to practice undifferentiated marketing,
also called mass marketing. It used to be much more common in the past than it is
today.

Differentiated Marketing
Firms that promote numerous products with different marketing mixes designed to
satisfy smaller segments are said to practice differentiated marketing.

Concentrated Marketing
Rather than trying to market its products separately to several segments, a firm may
opt for a concentrated marketing approach. With concentrated marketing (also
known as niche marketing), a firm focuses its efforts on profitably satisfying only one
market segment. It may be a small segment, but a profitable segment.

This approach can appeal to a small firm that lacks the financial resources of its
competitors and to a company that offers highly specialized good and services.

Micro Marketing
This approach is still more narrowly focused than concentrated marketing.
Micromarketing involves targeting potential customers at a very basic level, such
as by the postal code, specific occupation or lifestyle. Ultimately, micromarketing
may even target individuals themselves. It is referred to as marketing to segments of
one. The internet allows marketers to boost the effectiveness of micromarketing.

With the ability to customize (individualization attempts by the firm) and to

personalize (individualization attempts by the customer), the internet offers the
benefit of mass customization – by reaching the mass market with individualized
offers for the customers.

Positioning
Having chosen an approach for reaching the firm’s target segment, marketers must
then decide how best to position the product in the market. The concept of
positioning seeks to place a product in a certain ‘position’ in the minds of the
prospective buyers. Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offer so that it
occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customers’ minds. In a world that is
getting more and more homogenized, differentiation and positioning hold the key to
marketing success!

One way to think about positioning is to imagine a triangle, with the baseline
anchored by the organization and competitor concerns and the apex, the customers.
The marketer’s job is to find a positioning of the product or service that is both
possible and compatible with organization constraints which uniquely places the
product/service among competitive offerings so as to be most suitable to one or a
number of segments of customers.

Positioning can be done along with different possibilities. Attribute positioning is

when the positioning is based on some attribute of the product. Benefit positioning is
when a derived benefit is highlighted as a unique selling proposition. Competitor
positioning is when a comparison is drawn with the competitor and a differentiation
from the competitor is emphasized. Product category positioning is when a product is
positioned to belong to a particular category and not another category which
probably is crowded.

Quality/price positioning is when the product is positioned as the best value for
money.

In the positioning decision, caution must be taken to avoid certain positioning errors:
Under positioning is done when a unique, but not so important attribute is
highlighted. As a result, the customer does not see any value in such a position.

Over positioning is done when the product performance does not justify the tall
claims of positioning. Confused positioning is when the customer fails to categorize
the product correctly and the product ends up being perceived differently from what
was intended.

Doubtful positioning is when the customer finds it difficult to believe the positioning
claims.
The positioning map is a valuable tool to help marketers position products by
graphically illustrating consumers’ perceptions of competing products within an
industry.

For instance, a positioning map might present two different characteristics, price and
quality, and show how consumers view a product and its major competitors based on
these traits. Marketers can create a competitive positioning map from information
solicited from consumers or from their accumulated knowledge about a market.

Conclusion

Q.3 (a)

Answer:

Introduction

Yes, I do think that the brand name “Clingers Gold” is right for the top end segment because
the company or the business organisations, the unique industries has an existing brand of
shorts as well as tops, named as the Clingers, which is one of the most favourite brands of
shirts in the overall country. The brand is very popular amongst the target audience. Now
the question arises here is that, how do we choose a segment to target? Now for that we
need to study about the same. Choosing the right segment to target can make or break a
new business venture or growth initiative.
- Choosing a segment to target is important because it can help you improve competitive
positioning while avoiding unnecessary competition
- Defining your current customer segment helps you ask tough questions that ultimately
can enable you to better serve and retain your customers
- Great companies create customer segments but better companies ask for feedback and
validate their assumptions
- Most companies need to overlay segmenting criteria (like geography, preferences, and
personal aspirations) to orchestrate an effective customer profile
- Ultimately, segmenting and reaching customers will help enterprises grow and remain
focused on serving customers the way they would like to be served. Otherwise, middle
platform brokers may take as much as 30% of your revenues, as seen in the restaurant
industry.
Discussion
-Choosing the right market segment can help create an improved and sustainable market
positioning for your team. It also helps you strategically choose a competitive arena to
operate in, which has led to create entirely new industries and failure to do so - led to the
demise of household brands. Most industries like local enterprises may feel they are not
affected by poor segment targeting because they have also had a referral network of
business. Yet the greatest threat is not technology or a new start up - the most prominent
risk facing local businesses is losing touch with their core customer base or failing to
recognize an upcoming demographic that they could serve. In this article, we explore the
strategies that can help companies segment existing customers to better serve them and
ways to position themselves to new segments.
-Defining your market segment is a challenging task because it forces an enterprise to try
and empathize and understand who they are serving. To define your market segment, an
enterprise must answer these questions.

1. Why the customer works with our team?

2. What is the customer trying to accomplish with our product and services?
3. What about our product or service retains the customers?
4. What are things that can make the customer leave?

Once these 4 questions are answered, an enterprise can create a customer segment profile.
Forward thinking companies will create a segment profile, but great companies will take
their initial sketches of their segment and test it against actual customers. Market leaders
would have a conversation about each of these areas and understand their customer base
by asking them these questions that they themselves may not consider. The second benefit
to this is that this is an opportunity to have customers be affirmed in their aspirations - as in
this example, where a customer's aspiration is about client and family comfort.
If you are considering a new business or expanding your sales efforts, identifying new
market segments to target is a prudent way to plan and supplement business strategies and
market entry initiatives. Business Dictionary expands on market segmentation by
approaching the topic in 5 dimensions:
Approaches to subdivision of a market or population into segments with defined similar
characteristics. Five major segmentation strategies are (1) behaviour
segmentation, (2) benefit segmentation, (3) demographic segmentation, (4) geographic
segmentation, and (5) psychographic segmentation.
Behaviour segmentation is how a consumer interacts with your product or service.
Benefit segmentation is defining pools of customers based on what advantages are
afforded.
Demographic segmentation is a classification of a customer or prospect base by age or
economic standing.
Psychographic segmentation denotes how prospects/customers view or value the service
based on their worldview or cultures.
Focus on ways to add value to your existing customers by orchestraing and sequencing
segmentation dimensions.
-Identifying a segment is tough but well worth the sweat and trials because finding
profitable target segments helps a company define a competitive advantage.
A common approach to innovation marketing or segmentation is utilizing existing resources
in new applications. Finding new customers to target with your existing resources and
equipment can be a great alternative to edge a crowded market. This is particularly
impactful for who is finding that his market is highly competitive and also cyclical, which
makes growing his business tough during the off seasons. Here are the steps to looking at
how to market services to new customers:

1. Inventory the different resources on hand

2. Other customers who may need property or surfaces cleaned
3. Determine the profitability of this segment

Conclusion

Determining which segment to target is great way to begin the process of growing your
business. Yet, without experience and proven results, business owners can often
be discouraged from venturing beyond their current markets or sales channels. As we've
learned, however, from the restaurant industry, one cannot hide from innovation but rather
should be open to experimenting and growing their sales through keen understanding of
their customers and offering new ways to provide value to them.

Q.3 (b)

Answer:

Introduction

Arguably, one of the most important aspects of growing your business is your marketing
strategy. With an effective marketing plan in place, you’ll be able to flesh out such things as
potential new growth opportunities, who your actual customers are versus who you thought
they were, how to acquire more customers, and where best to spend future marketing
dollars.

Discussion

Here are five factors that can make or break your marketing strategy.

1. Your Understanding Of Your Target Market

Every marketing strategy has a target market that you want to reach. Even if you’re not
certain who you should target, start by inputting information that you do know. Figuring out
the demographics of your target audience is a great place to start. Once you nail down the
demographics, you’ll want to create a buyer’s persona.

The buyer’s persona is the secret weapon used by successful marketing companies. The
buyer’s persona includes information such things as age, gender, and income. Depending on
your needs, it can include details like what they enjoy eating, how many kids they have, or
even what sports teams they cheer for.

The point is, you need to understand your target market, so you know where you can target
them, how they behave, and what kind of interests they have. If you don’t understand your
target market you can’t possibly expect to reach them.
2. Communicating the Value To Your Customers

The most impressive marketing strategies in the world won’t work unless you communicate
the value of your product or service to your customers. You need to clearly communicate
exactly what your product offers. If they can purchase a similar good or service elsewhere,
you need to communicate what makes yours different—and better—than your competition.
In this competitive business, marketing is more about effective communication than
anything else.”

3. Watching the Data

In these days of Google Analytics, a free marketing data tool, there’s no excuse for not
keeping a close eye on the data. With the availability of marketing data, companies can
track which web pages are generating the most clicks, how long visitors are staying on
pages, where site visitors are coming from, and much, much more. Failure to spend the time
needed to watch data can mean the failure of the entire marketing strategy.

4. Focus

The best companies out there focus on helping customers, not on making money. It isn’t an
intuitive idea, the thought of putting customers ahead of profits, but it works. As soon as
your company starts focusing on giving value to customers, there is an almost organic
growth that occurs that is almost inexplicable.

The practice of placing more value on money rather than the human component sabotages
any kind of effort you make to grow your business. Good businesses don’t just work that
way. To achieve this kind of focus, be sure to include your marketing team on meetings
about R&D and find other ways your company can add value to people’s lives. This will help
remind your marketing team of the real mission of the business.

5. Passion

Never underestimate the power of passion in any business venture. If you care—or don’t
care—about a project, it will show in the final product. Whether you’re selling a hair care
product or bananas, you need to be passionate about your company, your product or
service, and your marketing strategy. Business is a long-term investment you need to find a
strong motivator at the beginning. If you don’t have passion at the outset, you’ll never be
able to keep it going in the long run.

Eventually, your lack of enthusiasm will manifest itself, whether in the quality of the
product, the lack of direction in your marketing campaign, or in the way you handle
customer interactions on social media and online forums. Simply stated, people can tell
when a company doesn’t care about its customers, and eventually, they will stop caring,
too.

If you’ve lost passion for your business or marketing strategy, consider changing it up in a
way that generates renewed interest. This may mean adding a new product line, altering
how you interact with customers, or even moving your marketing business to a new agency.
Conclusion

Of course, the first step in ensuring the success of your marketing strategy is to have a good
plan set in place to begin with. Get your marketing wheels in motion by implementing these
ideas today.