Marketing Strategy for Virgin Media's New Wearable

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes Virgin Media's VM wristband marketing plan.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
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Executive Summary
In the present study importance of marketing has been analyzed. In order to gain
deeper insights of marketing the individual has chosen an organisation known as Virgin
Media. Marketing is a [process through which products are being promoted among the
targeted customers so that profit margin of the organizations can be enhanced. In this
study launch of Wrist band has been dealt with. Initially in this study, functions of
marketing have been put forwarded. Further, marketing mix and launching stages have
also been decided. Lastly a recommendation and conclusion has been provided so that
marketing of the wrist Band can be done in an effective manner.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................5
Task 2.......................................................................................................................................13
Figure 3: Recommendations.................................................................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
References...............................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Virgin Media is one of the leading organizations operating in the telecommunications
sector. The organization deals in providing effective telecommunication, television as
well as internet services to the candidates of the United Kingdom. The organization has
been in the sector for quite a long time and is considered as one of the most successful
organizations in its genre. Currently for enjoying a competitive edge in the market, the
organization has planned to launch the wearable range of products (virginmedia.com,
2019). The current project will focus on the theoretical framework that is to be followed
for the new product, the product overview and the features along with the marketing mix
of the product. The core marketing deliverables and the launch stages have also been
included in the below sections.
Figure 1: Company logo
(Source: virginmedia.com, 2019)
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Task 1
Theoretical framework for new product development
In the words of Leonard (2017), developing a product that is successful and effective in
all aspects is of course one of the critical and the significant factors ensuring a firm’s
success. There are indeed a number of factors that are to be considered in this regard.
The theoretical framework for the new product development will provide a clear
overview of the entire new product development. The new product development (NPD)
is the process that is mostly involved in materializing a product in the market. The
stages that are involved in the process are
1. Market analysis - The stage where Virgin Media needs to conduct a proper market
research to determine the ideas that may help them to achieve desired position in the
market.
2. Idea generation- The stage where the ideas are actually scanned and filtered for
determining the best idea among them. In the words of Takeuchi and Nonaka (2016),
this forms the most critical stage and hence Virgin Mobile needs to emphasize on this
stage with utmost importance.
3. Defining the concepts- the concept is analyzed considering the ideas such as the
technical feasibility of the product, the expected customer acceptance of the product as
well as the market potential of the product
4. Designing the product and testing it- This is the stage, where the products are
developed in the form of a pilot project. At this stage, Virgin Mobile develops the product
the “VM wrist band” and considers it for testing purpose. Once the product survives the
testing phase, then decisions are taken for launching it in the market.
5. Product launch- The final stage, where all of the tastings have been done and “VM
wrist band” has passed all of the stages. The product is finally launched into the market
with the help of proper promotional campaigns.
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Market analysis
Idea generation
Defining the concepts
Designing the product and testing
it
Product launch
Theoretical framework
Figure 1: Theoretical Framework
(Source: created by researcher)
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Product overview and product features
Virgin Media has finally planned to launch its new range of wearable products “VM”. The
VM will be an emergency alert wrist band that has been devised by Virgin Media. It has
been confirmed on the side of Virgin media that the product will be basically used as
security device that can be used by the customers while moving on. Some of the
significant features of the product include the
SOS alert- This will allow the users to share their location within 3 seconds to the
designated contacts of pressing the button on the side of the wrist watch.
Fall detector – The emergency contacts will also be considered once the wearable
band falls from the hands of the detector.
Water resistant- The “VM” band is water resistant and can be worn most of the time
including the shower bath as well as in the swimming pools.
Design and dimensions- The design is extremely wearable and easy to handle. It will
have a lens of 2.2*3.5 dimensions and is quite adjustable in size and can be wearable in
any wrist size.
Battery Alerts- The battery alerts will be shown once the battery goes below the
capacity of 5 hours. The overall battery capacity is 250 milliamp hour.
The greatest advantage of the products is that it can be used by any age groups. In the
words of
Gronroos (2017), the technology is easy to understand and there are almost no
complications in using this technology. It is also expected that this particular product will
be useful in helping Virgin Media securing a suitable position in the market and also
enjoying the competitive advantage over its two significant competitors Vodafone and
British Telecommunications
Target audience and the market segmentation
Target Audience
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The target audience of the “VM security band” will be any of the individuals between the
age group of 5- 65. Considering the increasing questions of women security in the
contemporary times, the product have been developed particularly targeting the women
of the country.
Market segmentation
Demographics – The product has been developed for the age group of 18-65
particularly for the women of the country.
Economy- The price of the product is kept reasonable such that all sections of the
society can afford it
Customer profile
Age 18-65
Sex Female
Economic
conditions
All people from
the varying
economic strata
Marketing mix
The marketing mix forms a significant part of the entire new product launch and
development program.
Product- The product that will be launched is “VM security bands “. It is expected that
the product will be able to give Virgin Media the desired competitive advantages.
Price- Most of the products and the services that are provided by Virgin Media are
always available at affordable rates. For this product, Virgin Media has planned to
adopt the low pricing strategies (Borden, 2016).
Place- the product will be made available through the online as well as the offline
platforms.
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Promotion- For promoting the “VM security bands”, the organization has planned to
promote the products through the extensive promotional platforms. The organization will
use both the online as well as the offline platforms for promoting the products. Even the
social media platforms will also be used for promotional purpose (Wilson et al., 2015).
Core marketing deliveries
The management of the organisation needs to promote the products among the
customers so that the productivity of the organisation can be increased to a greater
extent. The wrist band will be produced for the customers between 18-65 years. The
price of the product will be 12 pounds so that middle-class customers can also be
attracted. The wrist brand needs to be promoted widely among female customers so
that they can live a secured life.
Further, it has been mentioned that the bands will start functioning when an individual is
out for their house. On the contrary, a green light will be automatically switched on when
the individual will be in danger. Further notification will be sent to the auto saved
contacts stating that the individual is in danger. However, when the victim is out of
danger, then the green light will change to red, and an auto-generated message will be
sent to the auto saved contacts. As per the report presented by independent, the
quarterly revenue of Virgin margin can be increased by 2.7% after the launch of the
safety Brand. However, it has been noted that after launching the TV cable the profit of
the organisation has been reduced by 4.2% (independent.co.uk, 2019). Thus, it can be
mentioned that the launching of the band can be either beneficial or challenging for the
organisation (independent.co.uk, 2019).
Launch stages
Marketing Champaign helps to promote the commodities effectively so that the ventures
can earn a high rate of margin in the market. At the time of launching the marketing
campaign of the product, the management of the organisation needs to analyse the
taste and preference of the customers so that position of the launched product within
the market can be enhanced. Presently due to the advent of technology the
organisation conducts the market analysis through social media platforms such as
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Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For instance, the administration of Virgin media has
promoted the alert Wrist Brand through social media platform so that it can reach to
the targeted customers on time. At the time of launching the product in the market the
management of the organisation need to follow specific steps that have been discussed
below:
Market analysis
At the time of starting a new product in the market, the organisations needs to conduct
market analysis in order to gain knowledge about the products that are being delivered
by the competitors. In addition to that quality of the products needs to be maintained so
that customer’s retention rate can be enhanced. For instance, before launching the wrist
band, the management of Virgin media can conduct a market analysis so that they can
predict the products delivered by competitors such as British Telecom and Digicel.
Knowledge about the product
The management of the organisations needs to gain understanding about the products
so that they can efficiently attract customers. For instance, Virgin media has mentioned
the features of alert Wristband on their company website and social media platform
such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so that the targeted customers can gain more
profound insights about the Alert Wristband (McDonald and Wilson, 2018). Further, the
marketing team of the organisations need to fix the targeted group along with their
income so that the competitive position of the product can be improved. For instance,
Virgin Media has targeted customers from 18-65 years. They have kept the price of the
Wristband 12 pounds so that customers from middle income to high income can afford
the product.
Promotional activities
The promotional technique is the last step of launching a product in the market. At the
time of starting the products, the management needs to use effective media so that the
product can reach to a maximum number of customers. For instance, virgin media has
launched the wristband through their official website (Lu, 2017). Moreover, they have
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also promoted the product through print media and electronic media. They have also
distributed brochure among the targeted customers so that they can understand the
features of the Wrist Band. Lastly, it has been noted that the management of Virgin
media has featured the wristband on their Facebook and Instagram page so that it can
reach the mass (Segal et al. 2017).
Figure 2: steps of Product launch
(Source: Created by the Learner)
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Task 2
Recommendation
The steps that are being taken by the management of Virgin Media to improve the band
have been discussed below:
Demo of the product
After launching the product, it can be noted that customers between the age 50-65
years may not be able to use the band effectively due to technological lack backs.
Therefore, it is suggested that the marketing team need to provide demo services to the
customers of the concerned age group so that they can use it efficiently.
Promotional activities
It is suggested that the management of the organisation has failed to promote the
product among the middle-class people. Therefore, it is recommended that the
marketing team of Virgin mobile need to use social media channels like Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram so that it can be promoted among the mass. In addition to that,
they can use the Google search engine to improve the product. Lastly, it has been
noted that the management of the organisation needs to send promotional mail so that it
can be developed among the mass (Stolze et al. 2016).
Highlight the features
To distribute the product effectively in the market, the management of the organisation
can prepare brochures to highlight the characteristics of the product so that the number
of customers can be attracted.
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