Marketing Plan:A Weatherman Smart Umbrella

Executive Summary.

In order to convert leads into sales, Weatherman Company has developed a marketing plan for its primary product, the Weatherman Smart Umbrella. The umbrella presents a unique contemporary model of an earlier traditional umbrella that is innovated based on the Internet of Things environment. The umbrella is fitted with innovative features to substantially boost its usability. These features include windproof structure, android-based Bluetooth trackers for direction, an alarm for raining and loss prevention, and it also incorporates a system that attaches a LED light at the ends of the umbrella ribs that provide additional insights to the customer such as pointing and informing the direction to the customer. Additionally, the smartphone app consists of a Bluetooth controller for communication with the umbrella that integrates with the GPS controller and the user location information to guide in direction. This additional feature provides a more convenient navigation service with safety in addition to the integration of the umbrella with the smartphone screens. All these features serve to raise customer value and encourage the shift from the crap umbrellas to a modified, effective, and innovative model.

The plan examines the SWOT analysis of the product and how the variables would factor in enabling an effective plan for the new product’s success. The industry analysis, in terms of competitors in the market, such as the Swiss Tek, Kisha, and Senz, is analyzed in the plan for consideration. Customer analysis and company-based analysis is performed to ascertain the internal environment that surrounds the product development. The company’s vision and mission in relation to the new product (Smart umbrella) are assessed in the plan as well as the goals and objectives for the new product in the market. Marketing programs surrounding the product strategies, place strategies for the new product, price, and promotion strategies are specified in the plan to develop a full focus of the new product and its impact in the market as a factor of the strategies aligned behind it.

The products market segmentation and target in terms of the demographics and populations spread are developed to initiate a narrow focus by the marketing team on making informed decisions in terms of selling the product to the right groups of individuals and facilitate better forecasts of results. The financial plans and projection provided establish the benefits that are expected to be received from the product from the current year for a five-year period until 2024. However, assumptions are also stated in relation to the financial information provided. Finally, the plan stipulates on the monitoring and evaluation process to the strategies implemented as well as the control mechanisms to guide on the establishment of the plan, such as the budgets and target market share.

Introduction.

The smart weatherman umbrella has been designed to replace the crap umbrellas, which did not provide the market value that the evolving technology would sustain. The Weatherman smart umbrella not only comes out as a strong umbrella but also integrated with innovative features for weather prediction. It constitutes a Bluetooth tracker for detecting the forecast and provides alerts given that weather predictions are 100% right all the time. The smart umbrella gives an alarm for raining and loss prevention. As such, the umbrella is connected to the smartphone via an android app based on the IoT environment. The integration of the umbrella with the innovative features provides the product with an ability to prevent safety accidents that might occur due to operating the smartphone for navigating. Customers find it convenient due to their self-navigating properties.

Since its inception in 2017, the umbrella product has shown positive sales growth. Though the technology still appears new to be embraced with many targeted customers, the use of a marketing plan serves to establish guidelines and provide a roadmap for the success of the smart umbrella product in the market. A single umbrella market price ranges from $20 to $52.5, depending on the level of integration and technological sophistication. The brand’s performance has been showing positive growth in sales with this fiscal year targeting much more sales revenue.

Despite the market challenges relating to widespread adoption and effect of weather changes and climate limiting regional sales, the marketing department intends to establish more effective and practical methods to reach out to the global market and expand its production as well. However, the growing need for innovative products based on the Internet of Things environment serves as both an opportunity and strength for the new umbrella product.

Situational Analysis.

SWOT Analysis.

The Weatherman Smart Umbrella product is greatly distinguished in the market with its innovative integrated features that serve to provide customers with an on-time response to weather forecasts, safety accidents such as traffic accidents given its use of a smartphone as the customer focusses on the smartphone to operate it, and loss prevention usefulness.  Based on the IoT technology that makes it possible to associate a myriad of things that are installed with computing and network devices, the Weatherman Umbrella distinguishes itself with an extra advanced IoT integration that not only relies on the smartphone screen to find and identify its way. But it also incorporates a system that attaches a LED light at the ends of the umbrella ribs that provide additional insights to the customer, such as pointing and informing the direction to the customer. Additionally, the smartphone app consists of a Bluetooth controller for communication with the umbrella that integrates with the GPS controller and the user location information to guide in direction. This additional feature provides a more convenient navigation service with safety in addition to the integration of the umbrella with the smartphone screens. Unlike other umbrellas in the market, the architecture of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella that constitutes three control modules; articulation of azimuth with a magnetic field, Bluetooth enabled communication between the umbrella and the smartphone, and the eight LED lights for direction advantageously distinguish the product from competitors offer in the market.

Weaknesses.

The product encounters shortcomings relating to the unit cost. Due to the unit production cost of a single umbrella, the challenge escalates to the unit selling price that seems expensive to an average user. However, increasing the market for the product such that it gets to be accessed globally, will increase production quantities and thus would reduce the cost to an affordable level for many. Also., the increasing adoption of computing and networking devices serves as a promotion to overcome this challenge in the near future. Another weakness of the product lies with some tendency of a smartphone navigator failing to point in the same direction with the LED lighted rotating umbrella. However, a continuous updating of direction using an azimuth calculation module that updates the direction periodically by utilizing a 3-axis electronic compass sensors serve to mitigate the weakness to avoid misdirection to a customer.

Opportunities.

With the increasing demand for products based on the IoT environment, the Weatherman Smart Umbrella stands a chance to capture the market need. In doing so, the product intends to take advantage of online retailing to access a wider market. Customers to easily place an order to be shipped or delivered effectively to their doorsteps despite their location. With the growing use of the internet and social media, the use of digital marketing strategies will also shed more light on the adoption of the product. There is also a chance to be captured for massive growth of the product awareness and accessibility via the internet; these chances constitute the use of social media optimization and search engine optimization for creating awareness of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella. Additionally, developing a detachable umbrella module would serve to increase the usability of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella, given a constantly evolving market need for more innovative products.

Threats.

The product encounters external negativities or threats such as constant shifts of the market requirements that seem much tremendous on technological products. Climate patterns in different regions also do limit the sales of the product, particularly to areas that experience rainy seasons more than to those dry areas or warmer areas where rain is not a constant occurrence. Also, competitors’ reactions to the product necessitate a continual improvement to stay afloat, a development situation that sustains a costly production. The changing quality standards of the product in question (Smart Umbrella) keep changing, thus posing as a threat for it needs a constant change of the product to stay in the lead. Possible new market entries, too, pose threats to the smart umbrella industry.

Industry Analysis.

The production of the smart umbrella has also elicited the same response from other larger manufacturers and retailers such as Alibaba. But in relation to climate differences, evolving technological requirements, marketing strategies, and pricing costs, the umbrellas industry has suffered a significant impact, though it stills maintains a relatively optimistic growth. For the traditional umbrella, in the past few years, it still maintained a relatively average annual growth in sales at a rate of 2.06% from $3,362 million in the year 2014 to $3,574 million in 2017. Though analysts still believe that the rate of traditional umbrellas would maintain the same rate of growth by 2021, manufacturers and retailers of the new smart Umbrellas hold that the rate would stand to drop significantly upon a global adoption of the IoT products in the few coming years. The Smart Umbrella Industry producers and dealers estimating that by 2022, the market size of their product would have grown to reach $10,811 million.

Customer Analysis.

The main customers that have been moved with the smart products have been reported to constitute high-income earners—the majority of whom within the Northern United States. The marketing department intends to create awareness beyond these states to cover to the Southern states, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi to Texas, among other states that the company’s product need to amass clients for the smart product. Additionally, plans to capture international markets in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as through online retailers, serve as a great approach to access the wider customer market. To incorporate low-income earners to gain into the affordability of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella constitute plans to lower unit price relative to the production amount in order to gain price competitiveness.

Company Analysis.

The company leverages the innovative improvised features of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella to gain its competitive edge. Unlike competitors, the sustainability of the product lies with continual improvement in the usability of the product as a core competency (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg, & Holthof, 2018).  This has increased the awareness of the product raising its sales from $ 300,000 in 2017 to $1,456,00 in 2019. The company intends to make sales worth $ 2,500,000 as a target for the 2020 fiscal year. However, due to its limited scope of production, the company targets expansion of its market beyond its operating states and captures collaborations from renowned online retailers such as Alibaba, e-bay, Amazon, among others, to expand its scope of the market.  This would serve as a competitive advantage against its other producers like Swiss Tek, Kisha, Senz, Davek, and many others. Cost management stands out as an issue of consideration as well in the move to make the product affordable to all and easily accessible. It is our innovative product, strong manufacturing skills, product design skills, and experience in distributing consumer clocks that provide an opportunity for entry and growth in this market.

Strategic Focus and Plan.

Vision and Mission.

The Weatherman Smart Umbrella product promotes the company’s mission to provide innovative products that go beyond customer satisfaction to establish convenience, effectiveness, and efficiency based on the Internet of Things environment. The product management vision is to stay focused on continuous learning and innovation processes that advance the usability of the product to the evolving technological environment. The mission and the vision of the company enable its product to stay afloat and provide satisfaction required to the customers and clients.

Goals and Marketing Objectives.

The marketing objectives of the Smart Umbrella product is to create awareness within and beyond about the uniqueness, cost-effectiveness, and usability of the Weatherman Digital Umbrella that will enable the company gain a higher market share for the new product by 15 % and replace the traditional crap umbrellas with best innovative ones. Generally, the marketing strategies intend to encompass; penetration pricing approaches, extensive advertisements, expansion of distribution among others to raise the sales revenues, and foster growth rate ((De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg, & Holthof, 2018).

Market Product Focus

Target Market and Segmentation.

The Weatherman Smart Umbrella targets both the rich and the poor by leveraging effect on the unit cost. The company strives to maintain a balance between unit production cost and the unit selling cost to fully make the prevalence of the product to all economic classes of people. The customer demographics that affect umbrella use also stem out as a market target is given the purchase behaviors that female customers are more expected to purchase umbrellas with respect to their male counterparts. The purchase behavior also stands to differ among age segments and by gender as well. The young females indicate higher chances of being intense purchasers since they stand out as a very stylish-conscious group. The women in their 25 to about 35 of age show a second significant segment and are deemed to buy more smart umbrellas than any other age-sex segment. The market segmentation can be illustrated in a table as follows:

A consumer purchase of the innovative Smart Umbrellas also varies by region, as shown below.  An index of the relative smart umbrella by regions indicates that sales are slightly above average in the west north central, mid-Atlantic states, north-central, and east north-central states. Product introduction in these regions indicates the likelihood of being successful.

The customers are reached via five forms of outlets; however, we currently have three of the outlets, which represents 60% of the smart umbrella sales. Channel development and digital marketing outlet strategies are needed to reach out to the total smart umbrella market. The majority of our smart umbrellas are being accessed by our customers at our departmental stores. As we take advantage of the strong distribution channel via department stores, drug stores, and discounts to ensure widespread availability of smart umbrella, we intend to use additional channels that are more inventive and offer wider access to global markets. Such channels include the use of online retails that would probably initiate a collaboration between our company and the well-established retailers in the industry, such as Alibaba and Amazon.

Marketing Program.

Product strategy.

The Weatherman company, despite bold and unique move to develop ‘Weatherman Smart Umbrellas,’ it faces a challenge to from the product to fit its audience in terms of usability. However, considerable innovative moves on the product have placed the Weatherman Smart Umbrella at the top in comparison to competitors’ products in terms of durability, features, available sizes with its uniqueness as a differentiating factor that makes it stand out. The company focusses on making umbrellas that stand out in terms of fashion and innovation evolution environment. Due to these new designs as opposed to the old crap umbrellas, the marketing team intends to continue creating awareness and education on the product’s differentiator for the need to shift to a more convenient product, especially to the loyal customers of the old-fashioned umbrellas.

Additionally, the product strategy by the marketing team provides that the smart umbrellas’ market be split into three groups; a two-folding umbrella, a three-folding umbrella, and a five-folding umbrella. Also, the application of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella application diversified into men’s umbrella and female umbrellas in order to trap an extensive market. The product strategy will serve as a roadmap to guide decisions with respect to the product design, features and key characteristics, quality, target audience, branding, and positioning of the Weatherman Smart Umbrella.

Price Strategy.

The company has settled the prices of its umbrellas to depend on the features the specific type needed, for instance, an app-based umbrella without LED lights with GPRS system for direction navigation, a windproof one with all integrations and those with full feature integration by varying prices to range between $42 to 65.5 to $92.5 per product. Though to many users of traditional umbrellas, this price differentiation seems tough to initiate a shift in the purchase, the marketing department proposes a reduction in cost that the company now intends to apply cost reduction strategies in order to meet the requirements of the majority of customers. Expand its production levels and market distribution to gain more on economies of scale that would serve to reduce the unit selling price of the product.

Promotion Strategy.

In order to inform, persuade, remind, and influence the opinions of the customers on the new umbrella product, the market team has established a promotion mechanism or movement to elicit customers’ responses. The goal is to create awareness, attracting people to the products, provide product information, increase and retain loyal customers, increase the use of the mart umbrella products, identify the potential target clients, and offer teaching services to the potential service clients.

The marketing team would employ a promotion mix that would comprise traditional advertising, social media advertising like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others incorporated with the use of SMO and SEO strategies (Ben Othman, 2010), sales promotion, personal selling, public relation strategies, and e-commerce strategies to promote the smart umbrella product. The e-commerce strategies would encompass the use of the company’s website to generate sales, which would be done through interactive components such as games and other components, online ordering, information aligned with other elements of the website. Other promotional mechanisms in the plan, include, customer referrals incentives programs, point of sale promotion, End-Cap marketing, product giveaways, and samples, mail-order marketing, causes and charity, branded promotional gifts, customer appreciation events, after-sales customer surveys, and contests as promotional strategies as well.

Place Strategy.

The company has developed place strategies (distribution strategies) for the smart umbrella product. The strategies comprise both physical and online stores by which customers will get to be reached by the company. The marketing team plans to employ place or distribution strategies for the Smart umbrellas as follows; Use of direct sales, utilization of resellers for sales where third parties will be contracted to provide a wider reach of the product in the market, and the use of market coverage strategy where the team will establish how wide the products have to be distributed in the market. In using a market coverage strategy, the marketing team intends to apply the three types of strategy, that is, selective distribution market coverage, intensive distribution market coverage, and exclusive distribution market coverage.

Financial Data and Projection.

The tables below indicate financial information and projections targeted from the smart umbrella product. For the projection period, the company, as an assumption, does not plan nor expect any smart umbrella technology breakthrough. However, it keeps in mind the competition aspect and bases the competition on design, price, and achievement of widespread distribution.

Estimated annual costs and Sales.

The Income Statement.

Implementation, Plan, Evaluation, and Control.

Planned implementation strategies.

The Weatherman Smart Umbrella marketing team needs to follow a proper plan on the implementation of the product aspects herein. The implementation strategies would constitute setting the right expectations in alignment with the proper timing of results like, for instance, give a period of 6-12 months and gauge the results. The department has to build a strong marketing team and secure resources, the team established would lead through the projects an ensure efforts are in place to make the product as successful as possible. It will serve as an implementation team. Thirdly, a strategy to communicate the plan shall be delved with the implementation team to ensure that all the stakeholders are at per with the goals. For proper implementation of this marketing plan, the team in charge has to develop a timeline of tasks, to include detailed project timelines, in that the whole marketing plan is broken into smaller tasks and deadlines to be established. A dashboard shall be set up for tracking success with effective tools to measure the efforts. Monitoring of the plan to ensure that it is in check to be done regularly to identify the strategies working and those not working. The team to adapt the strategies to the targets and communicate the results for celebration as this intends to create a huge boost for morale and help stimulate the momentum of the company. The specific steps for implementing the plans include launching the websites, running ads, sending direct mails, doing promotions, among other activities, most preferably in accordance with the correct established timeline and sequence for success.

Evaluation and Control of the Marketing Plan.

This plan will focus on an analysis of both the qualitative and quantitative metrics with regard to implementation and strategy. The qualitative shall primarily focus on customer satisfaction. To evaluate the plan, the team shall examine whether or not the company achieved its marketing strategy objectives after implementation. If the company did meet, then the strategies to be replicated in the future, but If not, changes to be made to improvise the results. The control shall be necessary for the evaluation phase as they provide benchmarks for assessing how well the plan did accomplish its goals. The controls to put in place include the use of marketing budgets, establishing a target market share, among others.

Reference

Stevens, R. E., Loudon, D. L., & Nykiel, R. A. (2013). Marketing your business: a guide to developing a strategic marketing plan. Routledge.

Wong, H. Y. (2011). Building a marketing plan: a complete guide. Business Expert Press.

Reilly, R. L. (2011). Developing a Marketing Plan Using Design Thinking.

Ben Othman, A. (2010). Internet Marketing, SEM/SEO/SMO.

De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S., & Holthof, C. (2018). Digital marketing strategies, online reviews, and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, 47-55.