Marketing Strategy Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategy Essay Discuss the type of product the company will offer and identify its primary characteristics The type of product the company will offer is a bracelet called Life Alert band. The characteristics of this device are size and the ease of use along with a lifetime guarantee. The Life Alert band is light and portable that no one will even know it’s on his or her wrist. It’s the size of a thick rubber band and comes in different wrist sizes. It has one easy to access button with an emergency icon that only needs to be pushed once to alert the Life Alert call center in the event of an emergency. The bracelet has several hidden sensors that monitor a person’s pulse and blood sugar and wirelessly sends this information to the Life Alert monitoring centers. If a change is detected in any of the monitors the bracelets sends a signal to the centers for immediate action. The Life Alert medical counselors immediately call the patient to see if they are ok. If no response is received they dispatch emergency responders right away. The bracelets uses flash memory to keep the device slim and flexible. It has a flexible band that can bend slightly. The material of the bracelet is a made of hard rubber that protects the electronics and its sensors. The bracelet requires a one-time setup much like a cell phone has to be programmed by Life Alert in order to ensure communication is occurring with their monitoring centers. The device has wifi built in for local communication. Users who have a wireless network can browse directly to the bracelet using a web browser. This gives them access to all the information the bracelet is recording. Discuss the product branding strategy Entrepreneur magazine states that a branding strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy (Enterpreneur, 2011). In this case a brand is name that consumers associate with a device or service. Life Alert has many devices, all which bare its name on it. For example wireless companies such ATT sell cell phones from different manufactures but all of them have the name ATT on them and their logo. This goes for any large company that sells multiple products even if the products are manufactured by another company. Another good example is Apple. Apple has mp3 players, desktops, laptops, and other computer peripherals, all have the Apple logo on them. Therefore, the branding approach for the Life Alert bracelet will be the umbrella branding approach. The umbrella approach will help Life Alert in promoting their popular name even further. In a survey taken by ACNielsen International Research, 87% of Life Alert members said that Life Alert’s protection is a main or important factor in their decision to keep living at home rather than going to a retirement institution (lifealert911, 2011). Life Alert members on an average spend 6 more years living alone because of their services. The bracelet will not only enhance their product line but attract more customers. The introduction of this bracelet will increase their customer base and maybe appeal to those who have a serious illness. The bracelet will become the main entity of the product line with Life Alert’s name and logo. Discuss how the product fits within a product line and the depth and breadth of the line. Life Alert’s bracelet is a unique product that has carved a niche in the medical devices industry. It fits into health care products that offer emergency services for monitoring and addressing health related issues. It addresses a void in the industry and aims to support independence in aged adults by providing state of the art monitoring and emergency services. The distinctive aspect of the Life Alert bracelet is that it is both broadens and intensifies in scope in terms of its breadth and depth. It fits well into the product line Life Alert offers. It’s an extension of the current product offerings. Some of the functionality the bracelet offers cross’s over to other product categories. For example the bracelet now becomes competitive with blood glucose meters. Regardless, the bracelet extends the depth and breadth of the company. Explain how the product and target market strategies fit with the organizational strategy. The organizational strategy is based around a few key factors. The company’s business domain is clearly defined and is focused towards Mature 50+ adults who wish to live an independent lifestyle. The factors that are considered are mainly geographical location, age, retirement lifestyle and medical needs. The strategy is effective as it concentrates on a few key product and ervices. Life alert employs niche marketing to devise a product strategy aimed at that targets mature 50+ adults residing mostly in Florida, which is a popular retirement destination, who are currently living a retired lifestyle and desire a degree of independence and who may or may not have specific medical needs. The Life Alert bracelet fits into the organizational strategy for Life Alert. Introducing the bracelet will solidify the stance in the market. The organizational strategy for Life Alert is to be most innovative company in assisting the elderly. Life Alert can take advantage of its existing organizational strategy to support and market the bracelet. The company can further expand its diversified portfolio of services by using its existing infrastructure and the multifaceted use of its core resources. By including and expanding on existing product offerings the company can reduce cost and maximize return on resources. Life alert bracelet can utilize the infrastructure for Life Alert Necklace, security, monitoring and emergency response services with minor additions. All of these services employ the same core organizational set up, which is the monitoring center, which maximizes service offering with minimal investment. The marketing strategy includes Ads in local newspapers or niche publications, Opt-in web sites that make use of keywords to connect with potential customers, direct mail campaigns, as well publicity through Television developed for mature audiences. The bracelet can be incorporated under these existing marketing tools since it’s directed towards the same target audience. The ease of competitors’ entry into Life Alert’s market segment is minimal as the company employs a profitable business model where users pay an initial set-up charge for the systems and the company generates revenues each month through subscription-based monitoring costs. The company also distributes medical alert system to more than 300 resellers and is one of the largest wholesale medical alarm distributors in the nation, with over 200,000 medical alert devices in service. The bracelet can be an adjunct to the existing portfolio and use the same monitoring system and distribution strategies in use. The business strategy also supports innovation and product development and at present only a couple companies offer a medical alarm with two-way voice. With an additional service such as the bracelet the company will be a step ahead of its competitors and can utilize its RD budget to support the new product. The company’s ability to customize services and marketing different price points for packages will allow customers to use the bracelet with other Life Alert products and services. The new product aligns well with the company’s organizational strategy and the same marketing strategy can be applied towards the Life Alert bracelet.