NDU Term Paper | Marketing Fundamentals - Fastlink by Naja Faysal

1. Notre Dame University
Course #: MRK201
Instructor: Goerge Ghaleb
NDU – Fall 2003/2004
Prepared By:
NAJA FAYSAL
MAHER BOU DIAB
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2. Our new company is a cellular phone company. It manufactures
cellular phones and concentrates on developing current models, introduce
new models for modern ways especially to be connected to the Internet. Our
company is named: Fastlink company.
Cellular phones nowadays became an important product. Primarily
businessmen originally used cellular phones for mobility and accessibility,
but even teenagers now have them. The growth in the market of cellular
phones has promotes our top management to start a new company.
As a new company we should penetrate the market with a big idea
that makes our product special than other original products. The new cellular
phone will have a card connected to Internet, a small size and new options
that facilitate the usage of our product.
The market information system of Fastlink have studied the customer
needs and decided to manufacture this new product based on technical
devices and special features and design in order to satisfy the market needs.
The mission of Fastlink is to manufacture a product that satisfies the needs
of economical class.
Fastlink intended to produce its new product as a unique product that
has a competitive advantage on other products. A large advertising campaign
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3. will introduce the product to the market, in order to create a clear idea about
the product in the consumer’s mind.
Fastlink Company is taking in consideration the marketing
environment that includes the micro and macro environment forces.Each
force has a large impact on the relation between the company and its
customers. Starting with the microenvironment forces. The company by its
managers and employees are important factors that should be satisfied in
their work by giving them the right salaries. The right salaries given push the
employees to produce the best quality and give a good reputation about the
company. Our top management used to settle new strategies and marketing
plans were the managers have chosen the best strategy based on their
experience.
Concerning suppliers our company have made contracts with many
suppliers to have the opportunity to choose the cheapest resources for
manufacturing.
Fastlink focused on having a good relation with our intermediaries. A
discount is given to our financial intermediaries for a certain amount of sales
(3% on the price of each cellular phone). That’s why our relation with our
marketing intermediaries is excellent which push them to give a good image
about our product for our customers.
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4. The most important factor in our marketing plan is the customer who
is purchasing our product. In order to keep our customer in satisfaction our
company is working hard to produce a product with a good quality at a fair
price. This strategy “marketing penetration” tends to increase the market
share in order to gain more profit.
Publics also are a factor found in the microenvironment that should be
taken in consideration. Fastlink is trying hard as a new company to satisfy
government rules concerning product’s safety and truth advertising. Besides,
Fastlink has submitted a budget of 200,000$ for media publics that have an
important role in promoting customers to purchase their product. In fact, our
company is concentrating on these public types that they are the key for the
whole public.
When Fastlink took the risk of starting a new company, the company
was aware of the competitor’s products, plans and media. The MIS of
Fastlink have studied the cellular phones found in the market and found an
important segment that they can reach. Most of the companies nowadays are
focusing in delivering the high product quality with a high price, which leads
to a decrease in the amount of sales and profit. These companies are
marketing their product by using several medias such as:
Radio/TV, newspapers, magazines and Internet websites
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5. The price of their phones is considered high with respect to the bad
economic situation found. The price of the competitors cellular phones is
among 150 to 200$ per one unit that is considered expensive for economical
class market.
Rather than making a complete analysis on the microenvironment
forces, Fastlink has studied the macro environment forces of the marketing
environment:
Demography: The size of our human population in Lebanon is about 3
million that is considered good for a new company that have limited
resources. The capital of Lebanon “Beirut” shows the largest density of
people that pushed Fastlink to focus on this city as an important place for
distributing its cellular phones.
Geography: Lebanon is the geographical place that our company has
chosen to start manufacturing new cellular phones in order to spread its
product to the whole world.
The current state of technology: Due to the rapid change in the
technological environment, our company is staying in touch with all new
techniques in order to stay in contact with new market needs. Fastlink has
given instructions to the managers to keep online with every technological
change, which gives the company a clear idea about new customer’s needs.
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6. The manager of our company always says: Being the first company in
finding the new needs of the market permits our company to have the
competitive advantage.
Political environment: Rules oblige cellular phone companies to have
a competition based on truth in advertising and giving convincing prices.
Where government rules prevent companies to put prices bellow the
manufacturing costs. This force encouraged our company to enter the market
where unfair competition isn’t allowed.
Economic conditions: Studying the economic situation of the
market helped company to determine the price of its new product.
Our target is to segment the economical class and not the whole market since
it is impossible for a new company to manufacture a product that satisfies all
the needs. Fastlink MIS have shown that the income of our segment is
among 700 $ per month which fits with the price of our product.
Sociocultural aspects: Our company has taken in consideration all the
society’s basic values, perceptions and behaviors. The rings that are found in
our cellular phone have the eastern musical style. Many interviews were
done by our focus groups to study the cultural aspects of our market. The
studies have shown that a large number of our segment is still affected by
the music style that is related to the eastern music.
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7. Stakeholders interests: Some businessmen started investing in our
company. Our top management has made contracts with the stakeholders. A
certain percentage of the sales are given as an interest to the stakeholders. As
our company follows this strategy there is no fear of any bankrupt. Besides
stakeholders will give a good reputation about the company. These
stakeholders have various relationships which promise that our company
will spread by time due to the investment of other businessmen.
Fastlink is trying to take an advantage of the opportunities the
environment provides. Our top management is settling its new strategies
based on the environmental change and rapid technology development.
Demand trends: Our new product is designed to meet market trends.
The MIS of our company have shown that most of the market is looking for
the product depending on its style and not its quality. That’s why our
product has been designed with a fashionable look.
Fastlink Company has taken an advantage from the marketing
environment. Our company has collected good information about the
environment that helps in determining the design of the product in addition
to its price. The advertising campaign will include most of the medias:
Internet, newspapers, magazines, and radio/TV. A new website on the
Internet www.Fastlink.com will be found to give a clear idea about the
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8. product concerning its features, options, price and other information. Our top
management is studying all the promotions given about Fastlink product in
all its medias. Truth in advertising is taken in consideration where all the
characteristics that are shown in the promotion are really found in Fastlink
product.
With respect to the objectives, our top management is working hard
to settle smart objectives about the whole marketing plan.
Fastlink intends to introduce itself to the market as a strong company
able to specify its objectives and achieve it with a limited time. The
contracts made by the company and the suppliers facilitate the company’s
mission in finding the resources to manufacture its product. Our objectives
are to produce a cellular phone manufactured with new designs and features.
The characteristics are added to give our product a fashionable look. Our
goal is to achieve a 20% of the market share. There are many customers who
are loyal to a product in addition to many consumers who don’t respond
quickly to new products “late majority”. That’s why we should be realistic in
the percentage of the market share the company is intending to achieve. All
the resources for manufacturing the new cellular are available.
There are 100 machines in our company, where each one is
responsible to manufacture a part of the cellular phone. The company now
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9. contains 450 employees, which are classified into groups of work with
different salaries. Our objective will be achieved completely at Dec 01-2006.
Fastlink Company saw that its resources couldn’t afford to produce a
product that satisfies all the needs; moreover, it cannot plan for a mass
marketing especially at the introduction stage of its brands in the market. It
found that market segmentation could do a better job to achieve the
companies mission and objectives.
Fastlink, and according to its MIS, found that there is a gab in the
market for the middle social class especially those who cannot afford more
than 700$ a month, and those who are still students at the university and
willing to buy a good quality cellular phones with all the new and
technological features in an affordable price.
Fastlink decided to target consumers under 700$ income, including
small business men, business women, university students, free workers,
small employees… this target market can be interested in having a fancy
cellular phones with all the new features that they can found in cellular
phones that are more expensive.
Using advertisements showing university students and small
businessmen can be one of the ways to create our image. In addition, the
price of our product could automatically segment the market especially
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10. when doing sales promotions and a good communication plan. Generating
the message of our product, which should be clear and differentiated to be
used in advertising, is also a very beneficial way to segment the market.
Fastlink also can use groups and subgroups in its segments and target
them by different brands satisfying their special needs. For example
university students varies between the official universities and the private
universities and between the sciences students and humanities students and
every subgroup could be targeted with different brands. We can also target
students by their personalities; some students are romantic and use cellular
phones to chat with their friends and some use cellular phones for different
usage.
Fastlink chooses this segment and not others since it’s research found
that there is a gab in satisfying this group of people who have a low income
and like to have a good cellular phone with the new features provided by
more expensive brands. Moreover, we found that this segment is reliable for
new brands and like to be stylish and go for fashion. Usually teenagers have
many things in common and mostly they imitate each others, so penetration
to this market will increase our market share, position, and sales.
Our segment is mostly built on teenagers and under 30 years old
people from both sexes. Our consumers are from middle and low social
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11. class. We should position ourselves as a good quality product with the new
features in a very reasonable price.
One of the most important stages in our marketing strategy is the
marketing mix or the marketing tactics. The product, price, place, and
promotion are being taken in a special care especially in the operation stage
of Fastlink. Fastlink developed its marketing strategies in all directions; it
developed it pricing strategy as well as the product, place, and promotion.
Product development: We as manufacturers care about delivering a
good quality for our brands, even more than they expected and more than we
promote. We also care to have a good design with all new features and
accessibility to the technological population. New features are an important
factor in the world of cellular phones; each day there are new cellular phones
with new features. Fastlink take this into a lot of consideration, it is paying
for employees and managers to just be always online and aware for new
technologies not only in cellular phones but in all electronics field, this can
made Fastlink aware for all the technology in the world and be able to
introduce the new technologies when it sees the right time to do so.
Moreover, in Fastlink there is a creative section specialized in creating new
features to make them unique in their features and have a real competitive
advantage.
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12. Fastlink always make sure to have a good packaging for its products
in order to convince its consumers about its image. Our top management is
working to satisfy all the needs
Fastlink believes that a good relation ship with customers and with the
intermediaries benefit. It worked on building a good relation with the
consumers and gain trust so than it will gain the potential consumers to be
initial consumers. It built an after selling service or warranty for their
products.
Fastlink was willing to enter the market and make a shock. It didn’t
aim for immediate profit; it was just want to hit, to gain a wide market share
from the beginning. So, it worked on a pricing strategy than can fulfill the
manufacture’s and promotion’s investment. It includes in its strategy to
make discounts, cash or early payment discounts, price discrimination, price
flexibility…
Fastlink believes that its brands should be deliver for the right
segment of the market in the right place at the right time. It made sure to
have a great coverage and wide distribution channels that support a large
number of ware houses in most villages and cities across Lebanon at a fast
time and good quality transportation.Promoting its brands is a major issue in
Fastlink. Public relations were needed to build the image of the company
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13. and make it aware by the public. Advertising was also as important, they
concentrated on their ads in which they deliver the companies image by a
creative messages and ideas using very known media. They also have
created a net of sales force, telemarketing and personal selling employees.
Moreover, they used well-known TVs, radio stations, sales force, and
sponsorship. The new web site www.Fastlink.com will provide all the
information about our products for the customer that helps in marketing our
product.
When the product will be introduced to the market. Our top
management will control all the costs required for manufacturing its product.
Salaries that will be given to the employees in the company in addition to
the distribution costs and interests paid to the stakeholders will be
calculated. The sales manager of the company will study the market share
after month of distribution.
The percentage of the market share will be studied by our top
management whether it is compatible to the company’s objectives or not.
When people are aware of our products our focus group will ask the
interviewers about our product. Interviewers will be asked many questions:
whether they are buying our product or not, what is the feature that they
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14. have liked in our cellular phone and what are the defaults in our product that
should be developed.
References:
• www.google.com: key word: “marketing strategy of cellular phones”
• A:Network Marketing Strategies.htm
• A:Reactivating Lost Cellular Phone Customers.htm
• A:ComTrue Technologies, Inc_ Products.htm
• A:cellphone.htm
• A:Search Results for Marketing Strategy.htm
• A:Successful Marketing Strategy Goes For What Women Want.htm
• A:Cell Phones - Helping Consumer Make Sense of the Market.htm
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