6. Market Approach – 5 P’s of the value proposition
Place
We are following a niche market strategy, thus we do not want to lose our market focus. Using the internet is a good idea. Internet can allow us to differentiate ourselves and allow us to focus more effectively on market segments (universities). E-commerce overcomes barriers by bypassing retail distributors. One large benefit of e-commerce is the sharing of information with customers. Customers can learn about our product (features, specifications, prices) and can also make feedbacks. We can be contacted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (expanded service capability). The internet allows geographical barriers to be put down, especially because we are such a small company with limited boundaries (in terms of money, time, employees, and network). The design of the website is highly important -, as it must be easy to navigate and must provide a sense of community. [1][2]
Promotion
Customers must be convinced and word of mouth can take a while. We can advertise on related websites. We can also carry out interactive marketing (one-to-one interaction with customers) but the person who promotes has to have the right personality to market. We can directly promote to universities and demonstrate the product’s capabilities. From there word of mouth and recommendations should generate if the promotion succeeds. [1]
Price
We are competing on differentiation not price like many small firms do because they think they are not unique enough on the other P’s. We are a niche player, meaning high differentiation, high price and focused market. We want the price to be high because customers see price as an indication of value and differentiation. Hence we want to charge a premium price and are going for a skimming strategy. The demand should be inelastic because we are targeting universities like Imperial College that receives many sponsors and we are confident that our product provides superior value, it is...