3. MARKETING PLAN PHASE II 3
Marketing Plan, Phase II
Introduction
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Identify the segmentation criteria that will affect your target market selection. Identify your
target market.
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Describe the organizational buyers and consumers of your product or service and the factors
that influence their purchasing decisions. Discuss how these factors will affect your
marketing strategy.
Two categories exist, the buyers market, the consumer market. The consumer markets
consist of individuals who purchase items for private use. For Example, most family use certain
items to maintain the home like detergent, filters, and cleaning products. The business market
consist of entities that purchase items for production or for resale or renting products to
individuals for a profit with some sort of mark up attached to the price.
Unlike consumer markets, business markets have a lesser amount of large buyers. Four
types of behaviors influence buying from consumers: cultural, social, personal, and
psychological. Based on the four influences the characteristics through decision-making may
differ. “Cultural factors have the broadest influence, because they constitute a stable set of
values, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors that have been learned by the consumer
throughout life. For example, in Western cultures consumption is often driven by a consumer’s
need to express individuality, while in Eastern cultures consumers are more interested in
4. MARKETING PLAN PHASE II 4
conforming to group norms. In addition to the influence of a dominant culture, consumers may
also be influenced by several subcultures” (Britannica).
Team A, will use a content marketing strategy to engage the target audience and drive profitable
action to the business. Buyers ranging from individual consumers to conglomerate consumers are
distinct from one another based on consuming behavior. “Content marketing is using relevant
and valuable information to attract potential customers” (CNN). This product benefit consumers
who live in apartments, duplexes, those without large laundry rooms, laundry mats, busy
individuals or families which do not have time to listen for bells. Content marketing can be used
in various areas within the marketing strategy. The areas used by Team A are: online, print, and
media. The website markets the bells and whistles of acquiring a washer machine that feeds
clothes to the dryer without having the consumer to do it. In comparison to other marketing
strategy, content marketing has proved to be more valuable than traditional marketing. Unlike
content marketing, traditional marketing will place a significant amount of motivation on
Whirlpool as a company. The company is fixed in its reputation. Therefore, content marketing
will promote more visibility of the product and the consumer interest to save on time and energy
in this environment friendly era.
Analyze current competitors and define the competitive landscape for your product or service
Two major companies that may be identified as having competitive products are LG and
Samsung. Finding a quality all-in-one washer and dryer combination unit may pick up in the
United States as people are downsizing in the economy and moving into smaller spaces such as
condominiums and apartments. This type of product may not only suit the younger generation
and the elderly, but also be suited for anyone looking to cut their laundry time in half, as
previous models have been unable to do.
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The LG and Samsung models are similar in the fact that they are space-saving, as they
are one unit, and therefore are well-known currently in Europe and Asia (LG Electronics, 2010).
The issue with these models are that they have reduced capacity, meaning they hold less clothes
than regular units, and they have an increased cycle time of about 2-3 hours (HowStuffWorks,
2010). The savings in space should not have to mean a large sacrifice in time. The Whirlpool
model will capitalize on where the other models failed to meet consumer demand and design a
unit that holds a greater capacity while still saving on time.
The Whirlpool model that is being introduced differs by the competition because it is not
being marketed as a space-saver, but as a time-saver. The Whirlpool model will not have a
reduced bucket capacity allowing consumers to complete full loads of laundry in half the time
than it would take to complete a regular load with a regular washer and dryer unit. Although the
Whirlpool model will not be able to boast the same amount of energy and water savings as the
competitors models, it will still save on energy and water by having the front load design.
Conclusion
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References:
Britannica, LLC. (2009, October 28). Marketing. Britannica.com, Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/365730/marketing/27231/Consumer-
customers
CNN. (2008, April 12). Content Marketing. CNN.com, Retrieved from
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143356
How Stuff Works. (2010). How Washer Dryer Combos Work.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/appliances/all-in-one-products/washer-dryer-
combos.htm/printable
LG Electronics. "LG Washer/Dryer Combo." (Feb. 8, 2010)
http://www.lge.com/us/appliances/washer-dryer-combos/index.jsp
Samsung. (2010). "Washers and Dryers." Retrieved
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/appliances/washers-dryers/index.idx?
pagetype=type
