Marketing Strategies To Increase Market Or Mind Share

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

BUSINESS PLAN

[Version 2.1/020709/TED/MDeC]

Name of Team

*Note: Kindly do not put your University Name or Logo in any part of this proposal

Contents

Section 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………

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Section 2.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY………………………

2.1 Company Background…………………………………………

2.2 Business Intent……………………………………………….

2.3 Growth Strategies……………………………………………….

2.3.1 Financial Strategies……………………………

2.3.2 Technology and Product Development Strategies………

2.3.3 Marketing Strategies to increase market or mind share

2.4 Target Markets………………………………………………..

2.5 Revenue Model………………………………………………………

2.6 Operational Setup………………………………………………

2.7 Long Term Goals of company…………………………………

2.8 Market & Competitors Information……………………………

2.9 Strength & Weaknesses or SWOT (if possible)……………… …

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Section 3.0 EMPLOYMENT OF KNOWLEDGE WORKERS……………………

3.1 Management Team………………………………………………..

3.2 Organizational Chart………………………………………………...

3.3 Human Resource Plan……………………………………………….

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Section 4.0 PRODUCT OR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT…………………………

4.1 Product / Service / Technology Overview……………………………

4.2 Research and Development (R&D)……………………………………

4.3 Benefits & Customer Value……………………………………………

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Section 5.0 MARKETING PROGRAMS………………………………………..

5.1 Marketing Overview………………………………………………

5.2 Marketing Programs…………………………………………….

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Section 6.0 FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS………………………………………

6.1 Financial Overview…………………………………………………….

6.2 Financial Qs to consider……………………………………………….

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Section 7.0 CONCLUSION or APPENDICES……………………………………

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Section 1.0 DEALSPIN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The executive summary is an independent element of the business plan. It should contain a brief overview of the most important aspects of the business plan. In particular, it should highlight the product or service, the value to the customer, the relevant markets, management expertise, financing requirements, and possible return on investment.

The reader should be able to read and comprehend the summary in ten minutes.

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Section 2.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY

2.1 Company Background

REVOZON NETWORK(002031144-D) started since 2010 from an individual, initial idea was to create a social commerce site to allow buyers and sellers to interact, also act as advertising platform so that merchants and website’s owners to create multiple backlinks that link to their site via Revozon.com.

I self-funded myself with the initial startup fund up to RM50,000. The purpose the site was built because I encountered a problem where most merchant faced, the site hard to found on search engine listing. By making the link more visible, website owners need to create as much backlinks as possible. Revozon.com is not only the site to create backlinks but also a social site to compare and comment products and prices, connection between sellers and buyers.

The initial traction was great and last for about 1 year, users begin leaving as the site getting "bored". Since then, I begin adding more features but the situation getting worse. After that, I thought of "pivot" the idea to become a social deal site. The site begins to improve but I am running out of cash. This is disastrous ended up the site crashed and burned.

Currently the company still exists and I would like to continue to persue the company’s mission "To make community lives rich and meaningful".

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2.2 Business Intent & Clear indication of intended business activities.

Please describe clearly the intended business activities of your company. A point-by-point description of the activity is highly encouraged. Details of the activities would be enumerated in Section 4. 1 Product or Service development.

An acceptable business intent write-up should consist of the following four elements (1) Product or services offered (2) market need (3) degree of innovation: Timer, contact/sms seller, reservation system (4) feasibility and profitability.

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2.3 Growth Strategies

Our growth stategies is to capture most market share, beat the competition and exploit the existing demand.

2.3.1 Differentiation Strategies

We capture most market share by differrentiation strategy from user segment and product.

For user segment, we will be focusing on internet users range from 17-30 years old, mostly female, central region. Assuming these users use the most of internet technology. We will scale our customer segment gradually until the demand of users and merchant towards our product is high.

We build our product based on feature and technology. Social feature that build on top of our product make our product entertaining. Social is the need of today’s generation.

Besides that, we offer bunch of new features that is useful for merchant to understand their customers and grow their business from learning bad reviews from their customers. We also offer features such as filter out their customers based on interest, age, reviews, etc. So, merchant can select which segments of existing customers are to be received the promotion or deal.

The technology build on the product itself is reservation system software that assist merchant to manage the number of customers he can accept during peak hours and number of customers he request during off-peak hours as merchant know the best of his business.

2.3.2 Technology and Product Development Strategies

To have flawless mobilization

To rapidly deploy the system integration by initially

To understudy closely with the

To invest consistently in potential experts.

To develop smart partnership with

To exploit the ready infrastructure

To extend into developing

To exploit the database for

2.3.3 Marketing Strategies to increase market or mind share.

To have flawless mobilization

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2.4 Target Markets

Our target market is double sided, meaning partner merchant and smartphone and internet users. For mechant, who are organisations or companies incorporate in Malaysia. For instance, stores, shops and restaurants that need the help to boost their sales, more understanding of their customers need and want and manage the number of customers during peak hours and off-peak hours using "Dealspin".

For internet users, we focus on smartphone users and internet users, who subscribe 3G mobile or use desktop and laptop to access internet. We target at those users only used to spend only when they think is the best deal and the right choice.

Following is the percentage of internet users in Malaysia

Chart 2.0

Malaysia currently has 17.5million internet users as of April 2012 according to Minister of Communication Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim and expected to reach 18.3million internet users in 2013.

Internet users breakdown in Malaysia, April 2012.

Total Audience: 100.0% of unique visitors

- Wireless Broadband: 54.4% stand 2.5million users.

- Broadband: 14.9% stand 5million users.

- Mobile 3G: 4.0% stand 10million users.

Following is the percentage of internet users by region.(percentage taken in year 2010)

Chart 2.1

In location wise, we will concentrate more on people in Central Region as Malaysian internet usage is driven primarily by people in Central Region. Will gradually scale to other region once the demand is high.

The Central region, which consists of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, led as the most dominant region for online usage, accounting for 54.4% of the total internet audience in Malaysia in August 2010, 51.3% of pages consumed and 52.6% of minutes spent online in the country, according to comScore.

Visitors in the Northern region (which includes Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Pulau Pinang) accounted for nearly 15% of visitors and more than 16% of total pages consumed and minutes spent. The Northern region was also home to the most-engaged users in August 2010, with an average visitor from this region spending 16.6 hours online during the month and consuming an average of 1,392 pages.

Regional breakdown in Malaysia, (Total Malaysia internet audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations):

Total Audience: 100.0% of unique visitors

- Central Region: 54.4%

- Southern Region: 14.9%

- East Coast: 4.0%

- Northern Region: 14.9%

- Sabah: 5.9%

- Sarawak: 5.9%

Our target internet users by age range from 17-30 years old as we target at mobile 3G subscibers and desktop and laptop internet users that prefer to enjoy the offer with no credit card or prepayment needed.

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2.5 Revenue Model

Most of our revenue streams are from partnered merchant. Dealspin charges merchant $50 or approx RM150 per month to run the service and also 5 percent on the customer’s minimum spend.

From user’s side, if they would like to extend the time of deal/voucher they got that interest them, we charges small fees of RM0.50 per day to allow them to extend the period to match their desired time.

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2.6 Operational Setup

Describe the extent of operational setup that your company would be undertaking.

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2.7 Long Term Goals of company

What is the aspiration of the company in the next 3 years at least? Where does management see the company heading?

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2.8 Market & Competitors Information

Our target market is double sided, meaning partner merchant and 3G mobile smartphone and internet users. Both need to grow simultaneouly.

Merchant has been using most of their time thinking ways to grow their business. They have been using television, radio, flyers, newspapers, magazines and other advertisement channel to market their products and services.

In this modern world, merchant has transferred their marketing channel concentrate on internet. Using internet technology, they can targetted at different segment of customers range from age, gender, location, etc. Finding suitable marketing channel is crucial. Business without growing is dying. Now, merchant start questioning themselves the following:

How to understand target at right customers?

How to convert new visitors to loyal customers?

How to convince customers to visit my store again after leaving with bad impression?

How to target at different market?

How to maintain the relationship with existing customers?

We hope our solution can solve these major questions for merchant.

In today’s market, users will only go for products and services that are useful to them while entertaining. The formula to create good platform as follows:

Useful + Entertaining = Valuable

According to Behavior Model from BJ FOGG, without an appropriate trigger, behavior will not occur even if both motivation and ability are high. For right trigger, need right time.

Users will hope the product and service offered in the right time. Following is the basic points that user expected in the right time:

The need and want

Clear information of specific product or service

Promotion

Pictures and images

Reviews/feedbacks from other users(Trust)

Factors that affect the platform including distribution channel, social factor and personal factor.

For distribution channel, we distribute our services through multiple channels, "Get What You Need and Want" campaign, increase our site’s SEO ranking, and through third party channel such as journalist or bloggers.

"Get What You Need and Want" campaign brings awareness to end users to know about what they really need and want. For instance, low price mobile phones, nice apparels, japanese food, etc. This campaign will need to split into 2 groups namely, end users and merchant. End users will list out what they need and want while merchant will fulfill user’s need and want by providing the direction, the price, the brand, feedback from customers to convince end user to visit the store. After user visited the item he/she really wants, is up to them to buy or leave the store, they will give feedbacks/reviews to merchant. Those feedbacks are important for merchant to improve their sales. From this campaign, we introduce our product and service to the market that there is better way of doing this by using our site and application.

SEO ranking is crucial to improve the site’s visibility. By providing more contents, promotions, deals, vouchers, videos. The site’s ranking will improve naturally as more users use the site to save more bucks. Our site will also provide site linking to download our mobile application.

Journalists and bloggers place an important role in providing updated news and deals of our services in their websites or blogs as they are the influencers. These influencers will influence their readers to take action to visit our site or download our mobile app or merchant to try our service.

Social factors, such as family, social roles, social groups and social status influence consumer to take action to use our service. Families, workplaces, religions and schools are examples of these types of factors. These types of groups often influence an individual attitude towards many different consumer products, such as clothing, vehicles and housing. An example of this is when a person decides he needs a specific brand of dress to attend ceremony.

A consumer's age, occupation, lifestyle and phase in life influences his buying behavior and the market as well. Most people tend to change their buying behaviors and tastes throughout their lifetimes. Specific items are important to one demographic but not to another. An example is the aggressive marketing effort of clothing and music companies directed toward teenagers and young adults who often have much disposable income.

These factors put us a challenge on develop feature or technology to enhance the user and merchant experience using our platform.

Our main competitor is Pirq, the company based in United State. Pirq is a free smartphone app that provides consumers with a convenient, digital way to earn amazing rewards and get instant deals at your favorite local businesses. Pirq allows user to manage their punch cards and search nearby deals in real time.

At the same time, Pirq delivers tremendous value to merchants through enhancing customer loyalty, increasing customer frequency, and optimizing off-peak hours to add profit to their bottom line.

The company launched the service since November 2012 in Malaysia. The growth in Malaysia is slow, recently seeking additional fund to build payment gateway on its mobile app. The company target markets are students, young families, and young professionals using mobile phones.

Pirq

Strength

Concentrate mainly on mobile.

Uses an algorithm to measure when restaurants are less busy.

Provide loyalty program to merchant’s existing customers.

Implement "Dell on the Go" using mobile app.

Weakness

Does not know what user’s needs and wants.

Tend to ignore merchant’s customers experience towards the deal offer lead to merchant do not know whether the deal offered satisfied their customers.

Customers will only land on retailer store once there are great discount.

What makes us different from Pirq.

Pirq

Dealspin

Target Market

Mobile Phones

Desktop/Laptop/Mobile Phones

Software system

Uses an algorithm to measure when restaurants are less busy.

Uses reservation software system to allow merchant manage the numbers of customers he can deal with during peak and off-peak period on each day.

Way to assist merchant market their product/

service

Provide loyalty component/service to users to accumulate loyalty punches and earn rewards

Provide real time group chat feature to allow merchant to involve in discussion or answer the questions rise up by group of targeted users in real time.

User Engagement

By offering great deals

By using timer and reviews/feedbacks/answers from other users/merchants

How to help merchant grow their business

Increase loyalty, increase frequency of existing customer visits, and increase new customer visits during peak and off-peak hours.

Feedbacks/reviews from customers, merchant able to improve or make amendment before he starts losing more customers.

Also help to bring back old customers to visit merchant’s store once there are latest deal that interest them.

Collect customer information

Collect customer’s email.

Collect customer’s email, the need and want from customers so the deals/offers/vouchers are to target at specific customers. (not wide range)

Revenue Stream

Charges merchant $50 per month to run the service and collects 10 percent on the customer's minimum spend.

Charges merchant $50 per month to run the service. Small fees on customer when they request to extend the time limit on the deal interest them, and also 5 percent on the customer’s minimum spend.

Define the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Evaluate your major potential competitors using the same criteria, e.g. sales volume and revenues (pricing), growth, market share, cost positioning, product lines, customer support, target groups, and distribution channels.

Evaluate your own company according to these same criteria, and make a comparison as to how sustainable your competitive advantage will be.

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2.9 Strength & Weaknesses or SWOT (if possible)

There are few competitors in Malaysia market. Namely, Groupon, Mydeal, LivingSocial or other group buying companies and Pirq. All of these companies offer deals to customers.

Group Buying Companies

Strength

Large customer and Merchant base.

Aggressively expanding its emerging markets.

Helps merchant to boost sales with proven result.

Implement "Deal on the Go" using mobile app.

Weakness

Lack of network effect.

No technology barrier to entry.

Tend to ignore merchant’s customers experience towards the deal offer lead to merchant do not know whether the deal offered satisfied their customers.

The deal targeted at wrong customers causing their inbox is full of expired deal and left out important emails.

Customers will only land on retailer store once there are great discount.

Pirq

Strength

Concentrate mainly on mobile.

Uses an algorithm to measure when restaurants are less busy.

Provide loyalty program to merchant’s existing customers.

Implement "Dell on the Go" using mobile app.

Weakness

Does not know what user’s needs and wants.

Tend to ignore merchant’s customers experience towards the deal offer lead to merchant do not know whether the deal offered satisfied their customers.

Customers will only land on retailer store once there are great discount.

Broadly, list the competitors in your market segment, and briefly describe the strength and weaknesses against your product or services.

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Section 3.0 Employment of Knowledge Workers

3.1 Management Team

The management section is often the essential part of the plan.

Elements that we look for are:

• Education background

• Experience or involvement in the industry

• Designation and Role in the applying company

It would be good if you could provide a brief resume of the key management staff.

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3.2 Organizational Chart

Sample of an organizational structure can be shown as follows:

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3.3 Human Resource Plan

Describe the type of people, expertise and training that your company has planned for the staff.

Please fill in 3 year projected human resource plan, segregated by knowledge and non-knowledge (support) staff. Example in table below:

Position/Role

Y1

Y2

Y3

Chairman/CEO

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1

1

Chairman/CEO

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1

1

CEO

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1

1

Technical Advisor

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Executive Secretary

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Position/Role

Y1

Y2

Y3

Technical Division

 

 

CTO

 

 

Technical Development Director

 

 

Technical Consultant

 

 

System Engineer

 

 

Technical Engineer

 

 

 

 

Bus. Dev. Division

 

 

CMO

 

 

Business Development Manager

 

 

Account Executive

 

 

 

 

Finance and Admin.

 

 

CFO

 

 

Financial & Admin. Assistant

 

 

Dispatch & Office Assistant

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total No. Of Worker

 

 

Total Knowledge Workers

 

 

Total Foreign Knowledge Workers

 

 

 

 

 

% Of Knowledge workers

 

 

Section 4.0 PRODUCT OR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

4.1 Product / Service / Technology Overview

By enhancing user’s experience, more merchant will seek us naturally because we not only offer path for users to get notice of latest deal, we offer a platform for users to get feedbacks and reviews from other users in real time whether to go for the deal or not to. Merchant will get involve in the group chat reviews and feedbacks in real time to convince their existing customers or future customers.

Those feedbacks and reviews are important for merchant to improve or enhance their current service or product for the future growth of their company or organisation while maintain the relationship with existing customers.

By using current technology such as "Group Chat", customers will get review from other customers in real time. Unlike review left from previous customers for months or even years. Those reviews are most likely outdated and misleading.

This section should explain the nature, extent of design, development or establishment of your products and services over both the short and long term.

Essentially, the following are good elements to include:

1. Core technologies

2. Current development or R&D status

3. Product strategy for current or future products

4. Intellectual property

This is a KEY section, where you describe the technologies, services and solutions that your company is best at, and central to the success of your business.

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4.2 Research and Development (R&D)

Forecast Development as part of solution improvement or technology Change

Also if possible describe R&D Strategies and Milestones

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4. 3 Benefits & Customer Value

Most of our customers are merchants and small portion are end users as our customers.

For merchants, Dealspin assists them to boost their sales through build a stronger relationship between merchant and customers. These can be done by providing them a marketing platform to target at specific customers from the need and want that provided by users themselves.

Dealspin’s marketing platform uses time and real time group chat to makes users engage. Time constraint causing users to act fast in order to get the deal/voucher they want. Real time group chat allows a group of common interest users to gather in a room to talk, to ask and to get feedback from other users when they redeemed the similar coupon at specific time offerred. The room also allows merchant to get involve to deal with the questions, the misconception, and to convince the users to visit their store. Our feature also helps merchant to filter their customers based on age, gender, product bought and bad/good reviews so that merchant can target at their existing customers more accurately.

Besides that, Dealspin marketing platform also provide reservation system software for merchant to manage the number of customers he can accept during peak hours and number of customers he request during off-peak hours as merchant know the best of his business. Once set-up, our system will automatically arrange the time and number of users allowable to reserve their deal using our app or website.

For end users, Dealspin provide deals/vouchers/coupons that provided from merchant to users that never seen before anywhere. We will distribute the deals based on the need and want from the user so that the deal is what users wish for. Besides that, we also offer real time group chat feature allows users to comment, to talk, to ask about deal they received while merchant are there to assist them. From this, users got reviews and answers before proceeding to the store which saves them time and money.

Our deal are limited offer only, in other words, "while stocks last" basis. Meaning, the deal is open for users to redeem until the limit set by merchant reached. So, some user might have redeemed the deal and some might not. This maybe happened to some user’s friends and family that they wish to get the deal. If user had redeemed, what the user can do is to give away the deal he had to third party or to invite them to enjoy the deal together. This builds stronger relationship between friends and family. Also a way to know new people.

On top of that, accumulation of points allows users to convert to credit so users can pay their deal using virtual credit or exchange with cash once the credit reaches certain amount.

Your innovative product or services should have its benefits to the end customer. It is important to indicate how your product differs from others that are now or will be on the market.

Discuss the function of your product or services and the value in which the customer will gain from it.

If comparable products, technology or services are already available from your competitors you must convincingly substantiate the added value your customers will receive. If you are offering a range of innovative products or services, categorize them and describe how the integrated products will benefit consumers.

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Section 5.0 MARKETING PROGRAMS

5.1 Marketing Overview

This section should describe how the sales projections you are making in your financials will be attained in terms of positioning, marketing activities and promotional campaigns.

This section is actually a representation of the overall content of your more detailed company Marketing plan, only in a much more condensed fashion.

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5.2 Marketing Programs

It should include:

1. Your overall marketing strategies, incl. Events, materials and primary tactics

2. Your pricing strategy (this could also be covered in Revenue Model segment)

3. Your marketing and sales messages

4. Your promotional strategy

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Section 6.0 FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

6.1 Financial Overview

This section represents the conservative, achievable and management projections of revenue, cost, expenses and cash flow.

For convenience, you are suggested to use the sample financial template given to you by the MSC Assessor.

These includes

1. P&L projections for 3 years (in RM)

2. Cash flow projections for 3 years (in RM)

3. Performa Balance Sheet for 3 years (in RM)

4. Major capital requirements or expenditure

5. Breakdown of sales (in detail)

6. Breakdown of R&D expenditure in detail

7. Last 3 Years Revenue and Profit after tax (should your company already been in operation the last 3 years)

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6.2 Financial Qs to consider

Key questions that can be observed:

• How will your revenues and expenses develop?

• What assumptions underlie your financial planning?

• What sources of capital are available to you to sustain operations?

• How will you realize profits?

• What can an investor expect should they invest in your company?

By adopting the above program it is expected that the usage of XYZ SB products and services will exhilarate. It is foreseen that the provision of the gateway and the services by XYZ SB will accelerate the development of mobile commerce and E-business in various economic and business environment in Malaysia that will contribute to the development of multimedia and IT business.

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Section 7.0 CONCLUSION or APPENDICES

Everything else that you wish to include.

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