The Box Frame: Marketing Plan (Term Paper Sample)

The Box Frame: DRAFT Marketing Plan
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Table of Contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc420399398 \h 42.0Situation Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399399 \h 52.1Mission PAGEREF _Toc420399400 \h 52.2Product or Service Description PAGEREF _Toc420399401 \h 52.3Value Proposition PAGEREF _Toc420399402 \h 62.4SWOT PAGEREF _Toc420399403 \h 62.4.1Strengths PAGEREF _Toc420399404 \h 62.4.2Weaknesses PAGEREF _Toc420399405 \h 72.4.3Opportunities PAGEREF _Toc420399406 \h 72.4.4Threats PAGEREF _Toc420399407 \h 72.5Critical Issues PAGEREF _Toc420399408 \h 83.0Market Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399409 \h 93.1Macro Environment PAGEREF _Toc420399410 \h 93.2Market Size and Growth PAGEREF _Toc420399411 \h 103.3Market Trends PAGEREF _Toc420399412 \h 113.4Target Market Segments PAGEREF _Toc420399413 \h 133.5Customer Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399414 \h 163.6Need Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399415 \h 163.7Competitive Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399416 \h 173.7.1Direct Competition PAGEREF _Toc420399417 \h 173.7.2Indirect Competition PAGEREF _Toc420399418 \h 184.0Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399419 \h 194.1Marketing Objectives PAGEREF _Toc420399420 \h 194.2Financial Objectives PAGEREF _Toc420399421 \h 204.3Positioning Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399422 \h 224.4Product Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399423 \h 224.5Price Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399424 \h 244.6Distribution Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399425 \h 254.7Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy PAGEREF _Toc420399426 \h 254.8Branding PAGEREF _Toc420399427 \h 264.9Marketing Research PAGEREF _Toc420399428 \h 265.0Financial Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399429 \h 265.1Break-Even Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399430 \h 265.2Sales Forecast PAGEREF _Toc420399431 \h 275.3Expense Forecast PAGEREF _Toc420399432 \h 286.0Implementation and Control PAGEREF _Toc420399433 \h 286.1Implementation PAGEREF _Toc420399434 \h 286.2Controls PAGEREF _Toc420399435 \h 286.3Marketing Organization PAGEREF _Toc420399436 \h 286.4Contingency Planning PAGEREF _Toc420399437 \h 31Appendix A: Product Description PAGEREF _Toc420399438 \h 32Appendix B: Financial Data PAGEREF _Toc420399439 \h 33Appendix C: Break Even Chart PAGEREF _Toc420399440 \h 34Appendix D: Expense Forecast PAGEREF _Toc420399441 \h 35Appendix D: Continued PAGEREF _Toc420399442 \h 36References PAGEREF _Toc420399443 \h 37
List of Tables
TOC \h \z \c "Table" Table 1: Market Analysis PAGEREF _Toc420399446 \h 15
Table 2: Sales Forecast PAGEREF _Toc420399447 \h 28
List of Figures
TOC \h \z \c "Figure" Figure 1: Organizational Structure PAGEREF _Toc420399448 \h 29
Executive Summary
To be complete Week 10
Situation Analysis
1 Mission
Mattress Mart is the world’s all inclusive beddingsupplier. Box Frame combines ease and quality to insure that sleep comes to everyone, everywhere. Whether you are living in a college apartment or redecorating your guest bedroom, the Box Frame will offer assistance. Through the development of premium products, research and dedication of every Mattress Mart employee, a quality night’s sleep will be neatly packaged in our premium Box Frame, as it has been in all of our quality mattress, frame and box spring products.
2 Product or Service Description
Box Frame combines the standard bed frame and box spring used to support a mattress into one product. Box Frame take’s the standard wooden box spring and mounts 2 inches wide by 1/5 inch thick of stainless steel to the bottom frame for general weight support. There are two steel support beams across the bottom of the Box Frame. Box Frame’s size varies based on the size mattress purchased. The stainless steel is attached by 14 bolts, 8 on the corners and 6 down the side. Box Frame comes is available in twin, full, queen, and king mattress sets. The product is built with folding and height adjustable legs. They extend from all four corners and have maximum adjustable heights of 2.5 feet. The legs are built with a locking mechanism when legs reach the 90 degree mark. The legs have locking mechanisms and push point lever for adjustment. The Box Frame assures the legs fold in flush to the bottom of the Box Frame. Reference Appendix ## for a visual representation.
3 Value Proposition
Mattress Mart manufactures a durable product and no hassle assembly which sets itself apart from the nearest competitor because of price, comfort ability, convenience of storage and no eight year rule.
4 SWOT
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a tool used for in-depth analysis to identify internal (Strengths and weakness) and external (Opportunities and Threats) factors to support strategic decision making. It allows companies to compare opportunities and threats along with strengthens and weaknesses (Hong, Wang, & Gao, 2014).
1 Strengths
* As a first mover in the market, Mattress Mart will gain a competitive advantage and ultimately brand recognition and customer loyalty. This attention can increase sales and customer base for the Box Frame product line and other product lines (Chron, 2015).
* The Box frame brand creates high efficiency for customers. Customers could utilize floor space when the bed is not in use.
* Mattress Mart has skillful and talented professionals who are highly experience in the industry. The company understands the value of its employees; as such it ensures that employees receive adequate training and all necessary materials to carry out their daily duties timely and efficiently.
* Customers have the flexibility to make purchases online or in store. The Box Frame will be easy and cheap to ship to customers.
* The Box Frame model shows a projection of 10% annual sales growth in the coming three to five years.
2 Weaknesses
* The Box Frame product line will incur a high startup cost (Chron, 2015).
* Currently, the Box Frame has no competition. However, aggressive followers will find ways to replicate the idea once the product is on the market. As a result, there is definitely potential competition underway.
* The Box Frame product line could hurt other product lines. As such, Mattress Mart could see a decline in sales for other product lines (Assicurazioni Generali, 2015).
3 Opportunities
* As a trendy and cutting edge bed that has foldable legs which is easy to transport; the Box Frame has high potential to be successful in the market. Mattress Mart should take advantage of its first mover advantage to grow demand by providing excellent customers service (Business plan, 2015).
* Mattress Mart should consider going global to increase profit margins. International presence can help the company win a large part of market share.
* The company should consider building partnerships with other businesses to sell the Box Frame for a quick turnaround of its inventory (Chron, 2015).
4 Threats
* Rising cost of raw materials in the market could be a thread to the Box Frame product line. Higher prices of raw materials will cause the company to increase prices of the Box Frame.
* Too many government regulations can be a threat on profits. Among many other regulations, Mattress Mart is required to adhere to the 1972 Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads. Companies must carry out a test on its mattress and mattress pads to ensure there is an ignition resistance when exposed to a lighted cigarette (Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2012).
5 Critical Issues
Upon implementation of a new product such as the Box Frame, there will always be advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage to implementing Box Frame is that box springs have lost their value in the current market and has lost value in selling both the bed frame and box spring combination. Therefore, mattress companies end up giving them away for free. A second disadvantage is that companies have since created a wooden bed frame support for mattress in order to replace the bulky box spring and they cost less but they can easily break. Another disadvantage according to stlbeds, is that platform beds have been created without a box spring that were made low profile but can be very expensive to ship (2015). However, one advantage of this new innovated Box Frame product is that it will consist of a foldable bed frame attached to the box spring with storage space. According to Kotler & Keller (2012), this would ensure that the needs of the customer are valued an example of compatibility. This would be an example of compatibility by ensuring that the needs of the customer are matched. A second advantage is that is less expensive to purchase a set rather than purchasing wooden boards to be used as frames that might break or low profile expensive beds. Another advantage is that previously, box springs were sold separately and this idea will ensure to consist both the bed frame/box spring combination at a reasonable affordable cost. A strategy that could be implemented is to ensure that the Box Frame is not as bulky as the previous ones, lower to ensure safety, and a modern aspect. Another strategy is to offer a product that will not take up much room but will assist the buyer with storage needs. Another strategy would be to ensure that the box spring weight is light and can be shipped at a reasonable cost. The implementation of these ideas could have leverage over their competitor that is known as a relative advantage according to Kotler & Keller (2012). Also, another strategy that could be used is that a mattress could be ruin quicker without a box spring for instance by sleeping on it or kids jumping on them. The idea of implementing the Box Frame will help with protecting and preserving the mattress.
Market Analysis
1 Macro Environment
Macro environmental analysis is arguably the preliminary stage in the development of market plans used in market operations of i...