Effective Marketing Strategies for EMR Innovation: Case Study Report

This report presents an analysis of the EMR Innovation case study, focusing on the marketing challenges faced by the company, which produces a device for Recreational Vehicle awnings. The report highlights the lack of business training of the owner and its impact on market research, sales forecasts, and pricing strategy. The analysis includes PEST, industry, and SWOT analyses, along with Porter's Five Forces and competitor analysis. The report identifies weaknesses such as insufficient market research and recommends that EMR Innovation focus on market research to identify competitors and marketing strategies to increase product recognition among the target audience, particularly the Workamping and Baby Boomer demographics. The report emphasizes the importance of a well-defined marketing strategy for business success.

Effective marketing
EMR INNOVATION

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 1
1. Executive Summary
This report is being presented to review the case study of EMR Innovations that are involved
in the production of a device for Recreational Vehicle awnings. The business idea is good but
is not just the only aspect that has been discussed in the case. The report has highlighted that
the owner of the business does not hold any type of business training or knowledge due to
which the business lacked in market research, vague sales forecast and missing pricing
strategy.
Based on the case analysis, there were several issues in the case. Some of them are lack
market research, the use of technology that was being done is easily reproducible, the absence
of pricing strategy, and lack of business knowledge. It is known that market research is one of
the most important aspects before starting a business because it helps in providing an
effective pricing strategy and positioning strategy.
Moreover, in the end, it has been recommended that the owners of the business need to focus
on market research to identify the possible substitute products and competitors in the market.
Besides this, they also have to focus on the marketing of their product to increase product
recognition among the target audience.

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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary...............................................................................................................1
2. Appropriate Analysis.............................................................................................................3
PEST Analysis....................................................................................................................3
Industry Analysis....................................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis..................................................................................................................4
3. Conclusion and Recommendations........................................................................................6
4. Industry and Target Market Analysis.....................................................................................6
Porter Five force analysis.......................................................................................................6
Competitor Analysis...........................................................................................................6
The threat of New Entrant..................................................................................................6
Threat of substitute product................................................................................................7
Bargaining power of customers..........................................................................................7
The target market for Lock-Awn-Billowing Device..............................................................8
The decision related to Marketing Strategy............................................................................9
Target market and Positioning Strategy.................................................................................9
Marketing Mix........................................................................................................................9
Funding.................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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2. Appropriate Analysis
PEST Analysis
Political and Legal – As per the case study, on September 11th there were some
political and legal issues that were impacting the business. One example of the issue was
RIVA standards that were imposed to be strictly followed. RIVA is considered to be the
national trade association that represents around 300 manufacturers and suppliers producing
around 98% of all the RVs that are produced in the US (Palan, 2020).
Economic – In the year 2002, there were a number of things that were changing in the
US economic environment and one example is that the country’s economy was improving
from the small recession that took place after September 11th. The rate of unemployment was
declining but the wage amount was very low that was being paid to the employees (Palan,
2020). But, the spending of the customer was considered healthy and the market for RV was
anticipated to increase.
Social and cultural – As per the analysis of the case, it has been identified that
during this time the number of RV lovers was increasing. This was the time when the baby
boomer generation was getting retire which revealed that there was an increased number of
older adults in the market who were purchasing and traveling in RVs. At that time, people
were also taking interest in the domestic ground travel, this is major because the air industry
was negatively impacted after September 11 and people were worried about traveling through
planes. In addition to this, a new trend arrived in the market that was of movies like About
Schmidt. This movie picturized adult purchasing or renting RVs to travel and live.
Technology – It is known that with time there is a change in technology to make life
better for the human. Considering the case study, RV is a new technology that was gaining
the attention of most of the older adults in the market.

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Industry Analysis
EMR innovation is considered to be part of the Recreational Vehicle industry. RVs
are one of those vehicles that were temporarily issued for living, camping, travel, and
recreation. The time transportation through road was enhanced in the 1920s, the culture of
RV was introduced, but the term RV was coined in the 1960s. By the year 2000, there were
around 135 RV manufacturers and 200 suppliers for the services and parts. As per the data
presented by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, in the year 2002, there were
around 7.5 million households that purchased RVs in the United States. Most of the
customers were baby boomers who were purchasing an RV near to their retirement. The
desire to purchase RV was fueling due to low-interest-rate during 2001 in the US (Palan,
2020).
SWOT Analysis
Strength
As per the analysis of the case study, it can be observed that the business is doing well
for innovating its designs. It has been proved by the design of their Lock-Awn that their
services can be differentiated from the services that are being offered by other players in the
industry.
The owners of the business have properly positioned their products in the market as
the leader of innovation and quality. Besides this, the products that are being offered in the
market by other players have some of the flaws in their design that have been addressed by
the Lock-Awn system of Eric and Mary Reynolds that holds the potential to meet the needs
of the market.

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 5
Weakness
The major weakness of the business is that they have not focused on conducting the
research of the market that can impact the forecasted sales figures because they are no
dependent on any of the tangible research.
Opportunity
As per the economic forecast presented in the case study for the RV industry, it seems
to be positive for the company. As the economic position of the country will improve, people
will have increased disposable income to spend them to purchase these RVs.
As per the analysis presented in the case study, it has been identified that in the year
2001, were over 30 million RV lovers in the United States, whereas out of them only 7
million had RV (Palan, 2020). As per the projection, by the year 2010, there would be around
8.5 million households that will own RV. The chat rooms that are web-based connected the
users of RV. Hence, the introduction of the new RV can be early communicated in the entire
country.
In addition to this, at that time there were many of the RV users who show their
interest to improve their vehicles with the products developed. RV accessories and gadgets
were also sold and accepted by the users of RV.
Threat
It has been observed that the number of competitors in this industry is not much more,
but the procedure of developing the product is very easy that can even be produced by the
customers.
The major threat for the Lock-Awn that people in the US market preferred to make
use of homemade Awning Locks that can be prepared with minimal costs if there was no
such difference in making use of awning lock that was purchased from the market. The
manufacturing cost of the awning lock was not high and also does not require expert skills to

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 6
manufacture it (Palan, 2020). This led to increasing the chances of increasing competition in
the market.
3. Conclusion and Recommendations
From the above analysis, it has been identified that in order to design the marketing
strategies for the business or introducing any business in the market it requires proper and
detailed market research otherwise business can fail. Besides this, it has also been identified
that most of the customers of RV belong to the baby boomer generation that is older age
people who purchase RV for their retirement period.
The recommendation that can be provided to Eric and Marry Reynolds is to conduct
market research to identify the competitor’s strengths and strategies to design their strategies
for making improvements in the product. In addition to this, they also need to increase the
marketing of their product in order to attract more customers for purchasing their product.
4. Industry and Target Market Analysis
Porter Five force analysis
Competitor Analysis
A company named as Texas was involved in manufacturing Awning Locks, the
‘AwningSaver’. It was involved in selling mail orders (Palan, 2020). The brake clamp at the
time could be easily opened with the use of standard awning wand. But the product did not
work well in the market because it was unable to attract the attention of the EMR Innovations
founders and it was also overpriced at around $59.95 with an additional cost of shipping that
is of $7.50.
The threat of New Entrant
Awning locks are not considered to be a big innovation. This is because it does not
require any type of great knowledge related to technology for manufacturing it. Eric and
Marry Reynolds never attended college and even do not hold any knowledge or

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 7
understanding of the business. So, it is not so tough to manufacture Awning locks for the
person who is interested in doing this. Besides this, it does not require any type of high
facilities for manufacturing the Awning Locks. In addition to this, this product also does not
require much high budget to manufacture (Palan, 2020). Therefore, if the industry of Awning
Lock earned the profit, there will be increased chances and the threat that the number of the
manufacturer or new entrants to take entry in the industry to gain the profit.
Threat of substitute product
From the analysis of the case study, it has been identified that there are no many
substitute manufacturers or products in the market except ‘AwningSaver’ (Palan, 2020).
Besides this, there are some other substitutes that are also called to be the homemade versions
of Awning Locks. Some of the things that were used as the substitute for Awning locks are
metal strap devices, dog collar, and rope. But all these products were a lack of appearance,
effectiveness, and ease of operations.
The information related to a supplier is not available.
Bargaining power of customers
A high percentage of the users of RV was belonging from the baby boomer generation
that is older age people who are planning their retirement. As per the analysis, 10% of the
users of RV were from the age group of 55 years or older, whereas there were only 8.9%
users who belong from the age group of 35-54 years. The study conducted by the University
of Michigan in the year 2001, revealed that the users of RV will increase in the coming
future. In the year 2001, it was identified that every household had at least 1 RV (Palan,
2020). Generally, the owner of the RV was 49 years old, with a house, married, old, and with
a yearly income of around $56,000. The owners of the RV spend their disposable income on
average 4500miles/year and 28-35-days/ year. It has also been identified that two-third of the
users of RV purchased a second-hand vehicle with an average age of 11.6 years. Besides this,

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it has also been identified that nearly 25% of the owners of RV owned and maintained their
vehicles for more than 10 years (Palan, 2020).
The target market for Lock-Awn-Billowing Device
The most appropriate target market for the Lock-Awn-Billowing Device is
Workamping. In the US market, Workamping is the term given to those people who are
involved in working and camping.
Needs- The initial step in this procedure is to introduce the market and target market.
Here, the company gets involved in identifying the need or demand in the market. In the
above case, the demand for Lock-Awn-Billowing Device will be identified.
Identification- This is the second step of the procedure, where the market mapping is
done to identify the potential target market available in the market (Marketing Wit, 2020). In
the above case, the possible target market is Workamping and Baby boomer generation.
Attractiveness- This is the third step of the procedure which is based on the customer
because their demand and suggestion are majorly considered for designing the product. Here,
the company will identify those customers whose demand will be closely related to the
product that is Lock-Awn-Billowing Device.
Profitability- This is the fourth step of the procedure where the shaping of the actual
target market is done with similar demands. Besides this, the business also considers those
who can spend their disposable income to purchase the product. Here, the most suitable target
market is the Workamping group.
Positioning- This is the last step of the procedure, in which the company positions its
product in the mind of the customer. To do so, Eric and Mary Reynolds will promote the
benefits and features of their product with the use of different promotional elements such as
advertising, etc.

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 9
The decision related to Marketing Strategy
If I would be at the position of Eric and Mary Reynolds, the decision for a marketing
strategy that would have been decided to make use of STP analysis that is Segmentation,
Targeting, and Positioning of the product.
Target market and Positioning Strategy
The target market strategy that I think is most suitable for selling the product is Focus
or Concentrated Targeting. Under this strategy, I would have only focused on the
Workamping segment because they are the ones who mostly travel from one place to another,
due to which they require devices like Lock-Awn-Billowing Device in order to protect
themselves from accidents.
The positioning strategy that I think suitable is Product Characteristics or Customer
benefits. This is because it focusses on the product characteristics and defines the benefits of
the product to attract a maximum number of customers (Cho & Park, 2010).
Marketing Mix
Product – Under this, the Lock-Awn-Billowing Device is the product that Eric and
Mary Reynolds desires to sell.
Price – The pricing strategy that can be adopted for selling Lock-Awn-Billowing
Device is competitive pricing. Under this strategy, the price of the product is set considering
the market rate of the product (Smith, 2011).
Place – Under this, the distribution strategy that can be used is to attract individual
deals from the Workampers group. This is because the group is comprised of 70,000
members who live full time in their RVs.

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Promotion – The promotion strategy that I could have used is advertising the product
in the popular RV magazines like Trailer Life and Motor Home. This is because the overall
circulation of these two magazines was around 1.5 million.
Funding
The start-up money or funding that Reynolds can arrange is from Bank Loan. As this
is the most convenient and safer option to start a business. Under bank funding, a usual
procedure is followed that is of sharing the valuation details and business plan along with
project report depending on which the loan is sanctioned (Lin, Ma, Malatesta & Xuan, 2012).

EFFECTIVE MARKETING 11
References
Cho, Y.J. & Park, C.G. (2010). A Startegy to Improve Customer Satisfaction in Mutuality
Bank: Focus on Suhyup. The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics, 23(5), pp.799-812.
Lin, C., Ma, Y., Malatesta, P. & Xuan, Y. (2012). Corporate ownership structure and bank
loan syndicate structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 104(1), pp.1-22.
Marketing Wit. (2020). 5 Easy Steps to Understand Onerous Process of Market
Segmentation. Retrieved from https://marketingwit.com/market-segmentation-process
Palan, M.K. (2020). EMR Innovations. Case Study.
Smith, T. (2011). Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts and
Establishing Price Structures 1st ed. U.S: Cengage Learning.