BLUSTIK MARKETING PLAN

Executive summary

Introduction

Situational Analysis

For BLUSTIK, Questionnaire method and focus group analysis is been used to

obtain the information such as which segment to target, how many products to

offer and which product to offer in which segment

Fig 1.1 explain the current situation relating to the following graph.

Questionnaire.
Graph 1.1 represents the percentage of people accept the new technology and

gives us the people who can get easily adapted to the technology.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Product Strengths:

The main advantages of BLUSTIK are: i) Users can now transfer data freely

without depending on computers, ii) Users can now use the USB stick as a

storage device, Bluetooth dongle and transferring device, III) User can receive

data through other Bluetooth enabled devices with just a press of a button, iv)

BLUSTIK will come the era of petite storage device.

Product Weakness:

BLUSTIK can only receive data wirelessly but cannot send anything and it

contains standard Bluetooth’s transfer speed so transferring huge amount of

data is time consuming.

Products Threats:

There are some threats for BLUSTIK to penetrate in to the market, such as cell

phones with high storage capacity and advanced technology, Existing storage

devices in market with high storage capacity and advanced technology, Price

based advantages of existing thumb drive in market, because there are some

low cost thumb drive available in market, Quality based advantage of the

existing storage device in market.

Competitors Analysis:
The main competitors with the high brand image in the market, serving the same

target groups as BLUSTIK are Sony, Transcend, Scandisk, Samsung and LG which

can launch advanced technology on the BLUSTIK with a low price.

Competitor’s strength:

The major strength of the competitors are i) Brand image ii) R&D capability iii)

Customer Services offered IV) Delivering Quality product, v) Good Financial

capability

General Segmentation Strategy:

The BLUSTIK market mainly targets the people who are interested in new

technology and who can get benefit from the product.

The process of market segmentation mainly involves determining the

characteristics of the segments in the segment and is to identify if the market

segment is large enough to support the product. Technology based

marketing strategy

Since blue stick device come under technology based market, the segmentation

is been done based on the customer characteristic of Innovation and customer

perceiving the rick differently as suggested by Winner (2007). BLUSTIK segment

focus for the customers who can see the relative advantage of the technology

and the people who can adopt the innovation sooner. The focus group analysis is

been used for the identifying the segments for BLUSTIK. The survey been

conducted according to the age and occupation.

BLUSTIK targets the students, Academic staff, and business people. The result of

the analysis gives a clear indication of the market segmentation for BLUSTIK. The
survey report provides an input for making decisions in product positioning,

promotion, pricing and mainly to make feature decisions on the new product

enhancement .The survey results are been represented graphically.

Characteristics of Target Market:

Graph 1.2

Fig 1.2 indicates the acceptance of blue stick based on the age criteria

.Analysing the acceptance ratio and the age intervals the market segmentation

for the BLUSTIK is been targeted Educational establishments like colleges,

universities, schools and Corporate world.

Product Strengths:

The main advantages of BLUSTIK are i) Users can now transfer data freely

without depending on computers,ii) Users can now use the USB stick as a
storage device, Bluetooth dongle and transferring device, III) User can receive

data through other Bluetooth enabled devices with just a press of a button ,iv)

BLUSTIK will come the era of petite storage device.

Product Weakness:

BLUSTIK can only receive data wirelessly but cannot send anything and it

contains standard Bluetooth’s transfer speed so transferring huge amount of

data is time consuming.

Products Threats:

There are some threats for BLUSTIK to penetrate in to the market, such as cell

phones with high storage capacity and advanced technology, Existing storage

devices in market with high storage capacity and advanced technology, Price

based advantages of existing thumb drive in market, because there are some

low cost thumb drive available in market, Quality based advantage of the

existing storage device in market.

Analysis for Product Feature Decisions:

Since electronic devices have a high competitive market the blue stick device

needs to be enhanced and has to be launched in to the market at the regular

interval. The focus group result provides a set of new improvements and ides

that can be incorporated into the blue stick device. These new enhancements for

the blue stick will help in increasing the market share goal of the new product.
The new enhancements like LCD Display, Send and receive functionality, Multi

colour BLUSTIK, Increasing the BLUSTIK transfer speed.

Focus Group Analysis for Price and addition featurs of the BLUSTIK:

Graph 2.1 Graph 2.2

 PRODUCT POSITIONING STRATEGY

The purpose of this section is to describe a positioning strategy for BLUSTIK.

The value proposition:

For USB stick users who need not rely on computers to transfer their data, the
BLUSTIK is the answer that allows you to receive data wirelessly onto the stick
with the help of Bluetooth. Unlike, traditional USB sticks, BLUSTIK lets you
accept or deny file transfers wirelessly.

In essence, we want to position it the market where it will be most favourably received, standing apart
from competing brands (Jain, year, p. 359). The BLUSTIK is a two-in-one device combining the
functions of Bluetooth and data storage into a single stick, allowing customers to dispel of one item to
carry around each day. This hybrid functionality makes it distinct from all competing products in the
market at this moment. In the remainder of this section positioning strategies for five separate aspects
of the product are described: attributes, features and customer satisfaction; price/quality; product user;
product class; competitor.

2.1 Attributes, features and customer satisfaction

Attributes:

1. This product is mini slim, colorful flash drive and embedded with Bluetooth.
2. Slim storage device and mini portable carrier which can transfer the data over a range of
10 meter.
3. Store, carry and transfer wirelessly up to 8GB of your favorite music, photos of friends
and family, gaming scores, school assignments, reports and web site designs in an
affordable, convenient device.
Features:

1. Interlink between Bluetooth and storage functionality (Direct transfer of data from external
source instead of transferring data using Bluetooth to the computer and then to the flash drive,
one can directly transfer a file from an external source to the storage in our device).

2. High speed connection and data transfer rate of 3 Mbit/s.

3. Data back up.

4. Easy Plug
 5. Glows in dark (radium sticker)

Customer’s satisfaction:

1. Two-year warranty and free tech support.

2. Available in different colors.

2.2 Price

As can be seen in table 1, the price/quality attribute is very positive for the BLUSTIK. Products of
competitor Kingston are clearly inferior to the BLUSTIK, while a comparison with Scandisk
indicated that we offer Bluetooth at a £2.99 premium, which is quite a bargain.

2.3 Product user

The BLUSTIK is positioned towards relatively young consumers who tend to use Bluetooth and USB
sticks in their daily lives, and who are attracted to the practical advantages of owning this hybrid
product. Graph 1 gives a graphical representation of the expected percentage of users from each
stratum of age.

Graph 1

50

40

30
User percentage
20

10

0
16-30 30-55 55-80

2.4 Product class

This product could be part of several product classes, but the main class is economical high-tech
products.
2.5 Competitor

Compared with both competitors in the product class the BLUSTIK is superior to both Scandisk and
Kingston USB sticks. This fact can be used in the strategic positioning.

Pricing Strategy

The pricing of a product plays a key strategic role in Kingston Technologies as it

provides us with opportunities to strengthen out market position. Price also acts
as a measure for our customers to analyse the quality of our products when they
have a hard time choosing one out of a whole. (Cravens and Piercy, 2003)

Pricing Objectives:

BLUSTIK 8GB will be launched in order to gain market position and replace
existing traditional USB sticks.
 • Gain Market position

BLUSTIK will be launched at an effective 30 % increase over traditional

USB sticks, this will capture the market significantly.

• Achieve financial performance

Products are launched at a specific price (high end) to recover the costs at
a higher rate and to raise the profit level for the company. BLUSTIK will not
be priced at a higher level as the idea is to gain brand image in customer’s
mind in the initial stage.

Skimming pricing strategy

BLUSTIK will be launched at a remarkable price of £30.99 as majority of

computer users today desire and need portable storage device however, they
are limited to its features. BLUSTIK will provide additional features with less
security flaws. BLUSTIK will not only provide wireless transfer of data but also a
breakthrough to technology.

• The premium price charged is not so large that it would attract

competitors

• The segment of the market is ready to pay slightly higher for a new
technology coming their way

• Kingston has a brand image and with this pricing tactic it will maintain its
image.

Looking at the following figure, Kingston has decided to maintain the path of
technological advances where it would provide customers with innovation at a
slightly higher price in order to gain the market of USB stick users.
 Chart: Break-even Analysis
Average Revenue/Unit $15
Estimated Monthly Fixed
Costs $100,000
Average Variable Cost/Unit $10

Monthly Units Breakeven 20000

Monthly Revenue Breakeven $300,000

Breakeven Graph Data

Units Revenue
0 -$100,000
2000 -$90,000
4000 -$80,000
6000 -$70,000
8000 -$60,000
10000 -$50,000
12000 -$40,000
14000 -$30,000
16000 -$20,000
18000 -$10,000
20000 $0
22000 $10,000
24000 $20,000
26000 $30,000
28000 $40,000
30000 $50,000
 32000 $60,000
34000 $70,000
36000 $80,000
38000 $90,000
40000 $100,000

USB 2.0 Memory Stick prices (current)

 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY.
In designing BLUSTIK’s distribution strategy, we took into account the external
environmental factors and the other marketing mix policies of our company;
namely, pricing, product and promotion. We maintained a consistency and an
optimum mix of all the variables as shown in fig ...... The focus is on customer
satisfaction to be manifested in:

• Speed

• Reliability

• Availability

• Accuracy

This criterion covers both handling of information and the physical product
(BLUSTIK).

Product

Policies

Promotio
Pricing
n
Strategy
Strategy

DISTRIBUTIO
N

Distribution STRATEGY Distribution

Density Logistics

Channel Channel
Alignment Length

Fig: ....... : Distribution Strategy.

Source: Gillespie et al. 2007:402.

 Decision Strategy decision are not independent thus giving Kingston the
flexibility to manage growth and changes in the market as we found out,
adaptability and flexibility are the cornerstone of marketing in the Information
Technology (IT) industry. We maintained an optimal mix of the policies listed
above.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL CONFIGURATION

KINGSTON
COMPANY

Independent Franchised Departmental Kingston

Computer Computer Stores stores Distribution
Stores Centre

Large Businesses
CUSTOME Small Businesses

RS
Fig. ..............

Our distribution channel is a key element in our approach to long-term strategies

on competitive advantage.

A distribution channel is the means by which the products are moved from
producer to the ultimate consumer. (Grant et al, 2005: 12). We aim to maintain a
close physical and psychological relationship with our customers.

In our distribution strategy, we are going to use four kinds of distributors made
up of: Independent computer stores, franchised computer stores, Departmental
stores, and our dedicated customer distribution centre. They are going to be
represented in the densely populated areas and vast business districts in the
United Kingdom. We will make sure that our distributors have a wide
geographical coverage to cover our customer reach.

The advantages of using distributors lie in tapping from their expertise which
includes:

• To make BLUSTIK available in places closer to the customers

• To make BLUSTIK available in quantities and volumes adapted to users

purchasing habits
 • To make BLUSTIK available at the time of consumption, thereby reducing
our inventory cost through the elimination of warehousing

• To establish personalised relationships with our customers who are

numerous, diverse and remote

• To collect and disseminate information about market needs, and products

• To add to our advertising and promotion through their organized point of

sales promotion

Keeping our customers’ loyalty and satisfaction is paramount thus, we will

maintain dedicated Kingston Distribution/Business centres in the cities so as to
maintain a direct contact and support services to them. They will also serve as
our “image maker”, offering public relations roles. We will keep a strong tab on
them knowing that customer services are hard to duplicate by competitors. This
is one of our strategic resources.

Bearing in mind that distribution costs represents a high proportion of the overall
BLUSTIK cost, we want to maintain an efficient distribution strategy to cover our
target market while at the same time keeping our eye on changes in the market.

We opted for a Selective distribution strategy: choosing a number of

intermediaries for each area to be covered (Czinkota, M. et al, 2006: 423). The
distributors will offer BLUSTIK a brand preferential treatment unlike in intensive
or exclusive distribution strategies. Selective distribution strategy according to
(Berman, B., 1996) offers the advantage of a balance between channel member
competition and market coverage thus offering a better shopper convenience.

Selection of Distributors is base on:

1. Credit worthiness and financial standing

2. Selling capability and performance

3. Reputation in the community and

4. Market coverage

We also aim to build a lasting relationship with our Distributors through:

1. Training of their sales personnel

2. Giving them management aids through workshops and manuals

3. Advertising and sales promotion programmes

4. Other assistance in the conduct of sales analysis like giving them market
data, economic forecasts, and other business indicators
Performance is to be kept on check through regular monitoring and evaluation of
actual against expected performance and analyzing “gaps” where they exist.
Comparison will be made against; on-time delivery, response speed to
emergencies, delivery time variability, response to customer enquiries and other
value-adding services.

Information flow between the channel members including our vendors is of great
importance to us as we tend to be an adaptive and sufficiently flexible company.
Therefore information flow will be real-time. We are using Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) and the internet to manage information. EDI (the systematic
sharing of sales and inventory data between channel members) was noted by
Berman, B. (1996:81) allows for a quick response between the manufacturer and
other stakeholders in the distribution channel. This will be complemented by the
internet especially for our customers who may not have access to our database.

Texts:

International marketing

Czinkota, Michael R.

Ronkainen, Ilkka A.

Mason, OH : Thomson South-western, c2007.

8th ed.

Marketing channels

Berman, Barry.

New York : Wiley, 1996.

 BLUSTIK PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING STRATEGIES

The BLUSTIK promotion and advertising strategies will be based upon our initial
positioning statement that describes how the BLUSTIK is differentiated from our other
key competitors. (POSITIONING STATEMENT) This lays the foundations for our selling
proposal to both the person who ultimately buys the BLUSTIK, as well as those who
decide what product will be bought, and those who influence product purchases i.e.
children, spouse and friends.

BLUSTIK promotions will consists of four major areas of communication – advertising,

sales promotion, public relations and personal selling. We have decided to use a
combination of all three methods to attain the most effective and widespread
communications.

To enable the promotional communication of BLUSTIK to be effective and consistent we

are going to establish the correct mix and quantities of these communication strategies
to implement. The Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) illustrates this where
messages need to be coordinated and consistent to reinforce what each is saying to
prevent confusion from conflicting messages (Winer, 2007).

BLUSTIK Advertising Objectives:

• To build a general awareness/inquiries/traffic of the BLUSTIK product

• Encourage product trial of BLUSTIK

• Shift awareness (e.g., change attitude of current security/ connectivity problems

associated with current USB sticks)

• Respond to our competitors’ promotions

• Increase the use or purchase rate of BLUSTIK

• Support other market decisions (e.g., support sales force)

• General corporate/product image building of Kingston and BLUSTIK

Our main advertising campaign methods will be through mass mediums such as:

• National and regional daily and weekly newspapers

 • Computer/ technological monthly magazines

• Internet advertisements

• Kingston website advertisements

The mediums for these advertising communications is based upon that which is
financially in reach and most likely to reach our target audience. We will schedule the
broadcasting of advertising depending on the media vehicle. For example: Every day on
the website/ internet/ daily newspapers; Monthly newspapers advertisements/ business
conventions.

Spending Summary:

BLUSTIK Sales Promotion Objectives:

• To build inquires and traffic

• Increase BLUSTIK product trial

• Encourage repurchase of BLUSTIK

• Gain distribution channels to give customers access to the BLUSTIK product

• Encourage handling of the new BLUSTIK product by retailers/ salespersons

• Encourage inventory building in retailers through introduction of the BLUSTIK

• Obtain the assistance of potential and current BLUSTIK distributors

The methods that we will use in BLUSTIK sales promotions will be:

• Trade Promotions (potential retailers/ distributors include retail and internet

shops e.g. PC World, Curry’s, Staples, Argos, flashbay.com)

o Short-term trade allowances - to get initial interest from channel member

to distribute BLUSTIK and inducement to advertise the BLUSTIK

o Promotional incentives given to retailer’s sales force

o Advertising support programs

• Consumer Promotions

o Samples with small storage space given to specific potential target market
areas to stimulate word of mouth e.g. distributed at
Career/University/Business conventions.
 o Point Of Purchase displays

o Demonstrations of use

o Free downloads of music or movies on BLUSTIK upon purchase

• Manufacturing Promotions

o Encourage Kingston to a limited trial of the BLUSTIK by giving some away

free with the purchase an existing product e.g. laptop

The initial duration of our sales promotion and advertising ideas will be one month.
This is to educate and infiltrate the market with our new more technically advanced
product. Once we have successfully done this we will look into broadening our
distribution and retailer base to endorse and sell the product throughout the UK.

Spending Summary:

In order to track the success of the BLUSTIK and progress with our marketing
campaign objectives we will evaluate the effectiveness of our sales promotions
through the attainment of our goals. Once our initial objectives have been achieved
we can look into personal selling and public relations.

Personal Selling will be implemented on more long-term bases once the product has
proven to be successful in its first stages. The objectives will then be directed
towards: new account development, account support/ maintenance, to encourage
purchase/ repurchase and inventory building.

Public Relations will also be considered upon completion of the products initial
success. Objectives will be to: build general awareness/ inquiries/ traffic, encourage
distribution trial, shift awareness if required, respond to negative news/perception,
image building, prepare markets for future activity (e.g., new developments of the
BLUSTIK product).

Interrelation of four promotional areas

Explain how advertising supports sales promotion

Spending Summary/ Marketing Budget

Spending and timetables

sub-divided by: type e.g., ad spending, sales force compensation

Timetables will be produced for the promotions since certain types of promotions (e.g., magazine
ads, trade shows) require long lead times.

Most information in this section can be shown in tables and graphs. Each of the
four promotion areas is separated out, however, some planners find it easier to
combine the areas. For instance, the promotional areas could be combined
within special promotion programs, such as Holiday Promotion Program, Summer
Promotion Program, etc. (Length: 1-4 pages)