Marketing Plan for a new eBook lending app called "Lend-a-book". This is the final submission for an Internship under Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.

1. “Lend-a-book”: An
eBook lending App
MARKETING PLAN
Presented by:
Prathamesh Mahesh Saygaonkar
Pune Institute of ComputerTechnology, Pune

2. Lend-a-book in short:
• Search and Browse through a large library of eBooks and borrow
eBooks for a fixed duration at a nominal charge.
• Read on multiple devices including – mobiles, laptops and
tablets.
• Substantial lower costs than purchasing an eBook or a hard copy.
• Synchronize reading across devices, books are stored over cloud.
• Renew leases on the go – Say Goodbye to Physical Libraries.
• No more Late fees – Auto lease expiry and return.
• Environment Friendly.

3. Company Overview
• New Product Category – First to introduce lending
of eBooks.
• Partnerships with more than 125 book publishers
and distributors.
• Currently hosts more than 90,000 books for rent.
(increasing day by day)
• Free samples of more than 15,000 books available.
• Series A funding of 15 million rupees at an
evaluation of 50 million by Signature Venture
Capitalists.

4. Market Overview
• Although eBooks comprise only 12.3% of the global
book sales, it is one of the fastest rising sales category
in the world.
• Current eBook readers offer a huge library of books to
read on multiple devices without the need to buy
dedicated hardware.
• Some old classics are made available to read for free,
while other comparatively new books have to be
bought. Although free samples are available for the
same.
• Magazines, Newspapers and Tabloids are also made
available.
Sales of Books vs eBooks
eBooks Hard Copies

5. Current Market Share:
• Currently Amazon’s Kindle occupies 74% of the
US eBook share by volume and 71% of the same
by revenue.
• Other major players in this field (by volume) are –
• Apple iBooks (11%)
• B&N Nook (8%)
• Kobo US (3%)
• Google Play Books (2%)
• Amazon’s early adaptation and entry into this
domain has enabled it to capture the maximum
market share in the country.
• Its beginnings as a “online bookstore” also helped
in proving its credentials.

6. Goals
• To focus on increasing market pervasiveness and awareness amongst frequent
eBook readers about the concept of “eBook Lending” offered by Lend-a-Book.
Focus on increasing awareness of the advantages offered over purchasing the
eBook.
Goals for Quarter 1 Specifics
Total Monthly Users 10,000
ReturningActive Monthly Users 7,500
Number of Users opting for monthly
subscription
Number of Users opting for half yearly
subscription
Number of Users opting for yearly
subscription
NetTargeted Revenue for Q1.
Number ofTargeted Books in Inventory

7. Target Customers
• One time readers of books : People who don’t
re-read books, don’t find value in purchasing of
books at a substantially high cost.
• Low Budget Audiences: Also, eBooks in their
current form are only marginally cheaper than
their hardcopy counterparts, hence people may
prefer to buy hard copies than read the eBooks.
eBooks can be lent at a substantially lower cost.
• Students: Students cant afford the high cost of
books , hence can borrow books at a nominal
cost.
• Library enthusiasts who don’t like the
inconveniences of Libraries: People on the go,
lazy people etc.

8. Collaborators
• Strategic Partnerships with Book Distributors and
Publishers.
• Fixed Percentage royalty offered to publishers on per
book per unit time.
• Publicity and Marketing to be managed by AB
Rockwell Publicity – the masterminds behind Barnes
and Noble’s marketing campaign.
Stakeholder Goals
Book Distributors and Publishers To increase revenue from other
mediums to compensate for falling
hard copy book revenues.
AB Rockwell Publicity To make the Lend-a-book publicity
campaign as hit as the Barnes and
Noble campaign.To be the driving force
behind a new and upcoming product
and market category.

9. Company
• A specially anointed BDU, with Mr. Rakesh
Sharma ( Former Strategy Manager, Zinga Cabs)
at the helm.
• Mr. Rakesh Sharma is only answerable to the
CEO.
• Board of directors :
1. Rohan Joshi – Managing Director, Pendant
Publication.
2. Manish Jain – Marketing Director, Johnson &
Co.
3. Mamta Singh – Logistics Officer, Mapdeal.com
Key Stakeholders
Working Customers
Students
Channel and distribution
managers
Publishers
Book Clubs
Libraries

10. Competitors
• Amazon Kindle the largest eBook seller in the
world is soon launching a similar product
offering through its kindle app. But that will be
only available in the United States and in
limited locations only.
• Apple iBook Store and Google Play Book apps
are already preinstalled in 82% of worlds tablets
and mobile phones.
• Traditional Libraries due to their cheap
membership fees.
• Amazon leads eBook sales over all other
platforms.

11. Socio-Techno-Economical Context.
• eBooks are only marginally cheaper than real
books, hence “buying” eBooks doesn’t make a
lot of economic sense.
• Rising environmental awareness is pushing
people away from papers and books towards
an electronics based platform.This promotes
the use of eBooks.
• Books are bulky, inconvenient to carry. 78% of
avid book readers now own either a
Computer, Mobile orTablet. Hence carrying
multiple eBooks makes more sense.

12. Value Proposition
• Define the offering's value proposition for target customers, collaborators, and the
company.
• - Customer value. Define the offering's value proposition, positioning strategy, and
positioning statement for target customers.
• - Collaborator value. Define the offering's value proposition, positioning strategy, and
positioning statement for collaborators.
• - Company value. Outline the offering's value proposition, positioning strategy, and
positioning statement for company stakeholders and employees.
•

13. CustomerValue
• No need to buy costly eBooks, when you can rent
it for nominal cost.
• No strict reissue/return timings. Automatically
returned after lease expires.
• Under “LendUnlimited” scheme, unlimited books
can be borrowed from the library in a year and up
to 20 books at a time.
• Borrow books at your convenience, no need to
visit the library.
• No more fixed library timings.
• Seamless reading experience over multiple
devices.

14. CollaboratorValue:
• Alternative source of income

15. CompanyValue:

16. Tactics
• Outline the key aspects of the offering's marketing mix.
• 5.1. Product. Define relevant product characteristics (attributes, benefits, and costs).
•
5.2. Service. Identify relevant service characteristics (attributes, benefits, and costs).
•
5.3. Brand. Determine the key elements (name, logo, symbol, slogan, jingle) and the meaning of the offering's brand.
•
5.4. Price. Identify the price(s) at which the offering is provided to customers and channel members.
•
5.5. Incentives. Define the incentives offered to customers (e.g., price reductions), collaborators (e.g., trade allowances), and company personnel (e.g., bonuses).
•
5.6. Communication. Identify the manner in which the key aspects of the offering (i.e., product, service, brand, price, and incentives) are communicated to target
customers, collaborators, and company personnel and stakeholders.
•
5.7. Distribution. Describe the manner in which the key aspects of the offering (i.e. product, service, brand, price, and incentives) are delivered to target customers,
collaborators, and company personnel and stakeholders.
•

17. Product Attributes

18. Product Benefits and Costs:

19. BrandValue:

20. Brand Equity:

21. Incentives
Sr. No Customers Collaborators Personnel

22. Advertisement Campaigns

23. Distribution

24. Pricing Strategy

25. Implementation
•
Define the offering's implementation plan.
•

26. Infrastructure
• 6.1. Infrastructure. Outline the organizational structure of the business unit
managing the offering and its relationship with collaborators.

27. Processes
• 6.2. Processes. Outline the business processes involved in implementing the
comp. ny's strategy and tactics,

28. Schedule
Sr. No Milestone Deadline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

29. This PowerPoint presentation has been created by Mr. Prathamesh
Mahesh Saygaonkar, Pune Institute of Computer Technology, during an
internship under Professor Sameer Mathur , IIM Lucknow.
Professor Sameer Mathur
IIM Lucknow
Prathamesh Mahesh Saygaonkar
PICT, Pune
prathamesh8296@gmail.com
+91 9561961831