14 Aug MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSMarketing Plan for Mountain RidersKatherine Dr

MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSMarketing Plan for Mountain RidersKatherine DruinMarketing 500Professor Colbert1MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSExecutive SummaryMountain Riders is a biggest wholesale distributor which is serving the individual user as well asthe retail bicycle industries of Louisville. The company has employee strength of 500 which arecontinuously working to make product offering innovative and effective. Company offers a widerange of high end mountain bikes, BMX, Triathlon, Touring Bikes and accessories of world’stop most brands like Ibis, Niner, Orbea, Pivot, Santa Cruz, Yeti etc. As prices continue to rise,company’s occasional and seasonal discounts and special deals are attracted people to findinggood deals. Increased number of applications submitted to University of Louisville and othercolleges as per March 2014 issue of The Educational Times and current market trends showingthe great profit for Mountain Riders to achieve their targets. Expected profit will reach to $70000by this year.Environment AnalysisEconomic Analysis:The national economy has been strong and gaining momentum for the last two years. The localunemployment rate has been hovering at around 6.4%, a relatively low level, for two years. Mostexperts featured on the High Street Panel in the March 2014 issue of Economic Trends Todayforecast stable and increasing corporate earnings. On the city level, Louisville continues toexperience rapid expansion and prosperity. Being one of the most populous cities in UnitedStates it has become more business focused. The younger generation has especially taken interestto the Louisville. According to the March 2014 issue of The Educational Times, the averagenumber of applications submitted to University of Louisville and other colleges in Louisville hasincreased by 10% over the last year. The increase is expected to rise more over the next fiveyears.2MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSLegal and Political Analysis:Like every outdoor sport the sport of by-cycling may cause many type of injuries if safetyinstruction were not followed. Several bike stores have faced many cases in recent years. In theselawsuits the percentage of child injuries are higher than the other reasons Mountain Ridersbelieves its current full service approach and emphasis on safety gear provides protection frompotential suits related to safety. In the past years many states have passed legislation requiring allbikers to wear head gear and the trend seems to be increasing. Mountain Riders is an outspokensupporter of head gear legislation. To promote this Mountain Riders offers safety gears at arelatively low price.Competitive Analysis: The major competitors are:Ride High: This is a state level distributor having several warehouses across the state.Ride high sells high end mountain bikes and dirt bikes; however these sells are very smallpart of their business.Winder Co.: This is a high end bike national wholesaler but they have only onewarehouse in the state.Socio-Cultural Analysis:In the last years a definite awareness towards outdoor sporting and environmental issue likeglobal warming has emerged .With this increasing awareness of the physical risks associatedwith stress, more and more people are getting involved in outdoor activities. Biking has becomea popular means for accomplish both the physical fitness and reducing global warming ,asecondary source for local transportation, and a way for the average person to get involved in thethrill of sporting competition. The biking trend has seen a favorable increase over the last yearsand is broadening to include new market segments, such as the female market. A recent market3MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSanalysis has shown that the bikes are getting popular in all age groups. With the ongoingenhancements to the design and comfort level of bicycles, retailers are keeping their eye on thesenew market segments.Technological Analysis:The design of high end bikes is constantly evolving. The designers and suppliers in the bikingindustry continually survey and fulfill the market’s needs; the biking vendors endeavor to keepup with the improvements in biking design. The outcome of these efforts is lightweight handling,comfort, fast speed and better performance bikes. These technological advances affect both thelow and high end bike lines which keep the price variance constant Mountain Riders just in time(JIT) inventory structure is a direct result of the ongoing technological advances in the industry.The fewer inventories they have, the less they will find it necessary to discount prices to sellobsolete merchandise.Primary and secondary target markets for your company. Be sure to cover the 4Ps, 5Csand STP.Primary and Secondary Target Markets:There are two segments of the market which Mountain Riders will be targeting on:1. University and college Students:These are under graduate and college students, they will ensure at least constant 25%turnover. There is a new enthusiasm seen among them for feature rich high end bikes2. University/college professor and daily commuters:4MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSThe group of the professor and teacher is small but the group is pretty stable, on the otherhand there are daily commuters but the both groups want a bike which looks decent andcomfortable for daily use, these groups look for personalized service.Positioning: Mount Riders is the only bike shop in the city that takes care of the students as wellas daily commuter and professors/teachers, through discount programs, student financing,recycled packaging, sales promotions and colored employee shirts in the university colors,Mount Riders will succeed in its endeavor to be the shop of choice among students andprofessors/teachers.Segmentation: Segmentation is the marketing concepts in which market places are segmentedinto the parts and Mountain rider have the marketing strategy for each segment of the market.Each market segment has some unique opportunity and need some specific effort to settlebusiness in particular market segment. For the effective business it is required to make thesegment centric marketing approach to offer something lucrative for customer in each marketsegment.Products Offered: Mount Riders provides a wide range of brands for high end bikes for both theuniversity persons and daily commuters. These brands are mostly demanded and recommendedby the professional bikers. The brands currently offered are:IbisNinerOrbeaPivotSanta CruzYeti5MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSPricing: Considering both the targeted markets the bikes are offered on reasonable prices .Theprice range for the bikes is $250 to $550, depending on the quality of the bike and accessoriesranges from $9 to $99. The customer has an option for one year financing at 15% finance charge.Promotion: Mountain Riders’ promotion efforts include monthly newspaper ads (local anduniversity), radio spots on local stations, print advertising in the brochures and flyers which arehoused in the student union on campus and distributed to student mail boxes.. To better reach theincreasing number of students, Mountain Riders would like to expand their efforts by creating anInternet web site (which is a cost effective way to reach a large number of customers). Seasonalbiking events will be organized from time to time to promote the bike riding.5C’s Concept of the marketing: 5C’s concept of marketing is customer, company, context,collaboration and competitor. Each marketing strategy should be based on the customer centricapproach in which dedicated group of customer should be targeted to achieve the high marketshare. Marketing strategy should be based in the collaboration, and when any good businessopportunity come by the collaboration then company have to grab it to create the business. Inmarketing strategy competitor offering and competency should be taken care so that a betterproduct than the competitor can be offered to its customer.Performance analysis with set benchmarks of 50% to 75% per annualized planMetricsWebsite visitorsIncreases in market shareTracking downloads ofWebsite contentMargin50% Benchmark1000004%7500075% Benchmark1500006%12500020%30%6MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSAbove statistical analysis of the Mountain rider bikes is based on the marketing strategy of thecompany. Target of the Mountain Rider bikes is achievable due to its strong market analysisbased on the market scenario and customer centric approach of the marketing.In terms of the qualitative approach Mountain Rider need to incorporate the qualityproduct I its portfolio with the engagement of customer in the process. Customer can freelyprovide its feedback and suggestion to company so that it can take care of their suggestion andprovide the effective product to our customer. Mountain bike Rider need to make its websitecapable enough to provide the effective information about its product portfolio and user caneasily download the product broacher for the effective information about the company andproduct.SWOT AnalysisThe following swat analysis captures the key strengths, existing weaknesses, opportunities andpossible threats that may be faced by Mountain Riders.Strengths:Having strong and good relationship with manufacturers, which may result innegotiated distribution deals?Staff that are well trained and have appealing looks which promotes enthusiasticbiking.A wide range of high end mountain bikes.Offers limited time maintenance on the purchased bikes.Offers excellent customer service and training manualOnly store in the city which offers customization of the bikes as per customers’needs.7MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSStore is located in the center of the city which results in increase of foot traffic.Weakness:Prices of high end mountain bikes are relatively highBeing a seasonal business, sales may not be linear and may experience up anddowns throughout the year.Predicting which product has a higher rate of sale if difficult.Opportunities:Increasing trend of environmental awareness and active life style.University of Louisville is just 2 miles away from the store.Most of the industries are affected by the nature of the economy and bike industryis no exception but the economy doesn’t impact the sales as there are many peoplewho will ride bikes regardless of the economy.Profit margins can be increased by spreading the fixed cost over a large area assales increase.Threats: Below are listed some threats which can hamper the business opportunity of theMountain Rider BikesOnline retail store and catalogue salesPressure from large discount chainsA new trend where the manufacturers show interest in selling their products directly tomail order houses instead of selling them to wholesalers.8MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSCompany introduction and Mission StatementMountain Riders is new edge bicycle distributor which offers high end mountain bikes, racingbikes and all the accessories. Company also offers customized bicycles as per customerrequirements. Mission of Mountain Riders is “To provide high quality cost effective bicycles thatprovide value to their customers and to educate and motivate them for the safe use of bicycles asa viable, affordable and eco -friendly means of transportation and personal fitness withinsociety”. Purpose of company is to make this world healthier and pollution free day by day.Positioning Statement of Mountain Riders“Mountain Riders is an experience and innovative bicycle manufacture and provider that offerwide range of bicycles for all age group and to generating awareness towards the effective use ofbicycle as a safe transport mean. Mountain Riders is the only company that is offering thecustomize cycles to their customers as per their need along with two year service and partrepairing warrantee”.Company offered a new commuter specific bike in market for everyone. To achieve its startinggoals, Easy Ride for Every One, company will need around 1 year to make bike available foreveryone in Louisville and to target each university. After that proper evaluation of sales will bedone to measure the success, to find out scoop of improvement and feedback will be shared withbike manufactures.Branding Strategy for ProductLatest offering of company is Commuter Bicycle with all the advance features including fendersand braze ons for bike racks. Mountain Riders will be used as brand name and slogan will be“get a commuter Bi CYCLE… gets more out of your Life CYCLE. The brand extension is9MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSused as name given to the bicycle is “Bike for all”. Company added a slogan “Ridding to TheFuture” for branding of this product.“Drive and Burn your fat”, “Ride with pride, save environment”, “Ride cycle daily or Stay Ill”,“You Healthy, We Happy” are the few tag lines through which company will show its vision andwill connected to the all students and other customers.Marketing Strategy of Mountain Riders“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fitshim and sells itself”( Peter Drucker).Company will target these two segments.-Individual customers – Those who use exercise cycles and high end ride bike foradventure trips-University/college students and daily commuters – Daily commuters and college studentswho travel daily to their offices or college will go for decent looking and affordable bike.4 P’s of Marketing – In order to make sure product gets sold, Company will promote theirquality commuter cycles as a must have product in reasonable price. Main targets are individualcustomer, students of universities and daily commuters. The price range for the bikes is $200 to$350. To attract students an option for one year financing at 10% finance charge will be given.Company will use all source of online marketing like promotional videos, Advertisement on e –commerce sites, NEWS sites, social media, flash sales, YouTube ads andsearch engineoptimization (SEO) techniques to promote its. Ads in print media, Flyers, Banner will be used todo the local marketing.10MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSMountain Riders will also organize a cycle racing competition with collaboration of Universityof Louisville to promote cycling in the area.Along with above marketing medium company will use below innovative ideas to identify theircustomer and to reach them directly.Effective Market Research – “Market research feeds the knowledge base of an organizationwhether it is a commercial one or one that is not for profit”( Callingham, 2004). Company willuse market research as it focuses on understanding the customer, the competition and the featuresof required product needed to customers. Few surveys are Market Description, Market ProfilingSegmentation, Customer Intention – Purchase Analysis, Customer Attitudes and Expectations,New Product Concept Analysis, Habits and Uses Survey.Customer’s Social Profile – Marketing strategy will include normal person’s personal profile(on Linkedin, Facebook and etc) to gain information about the customer’s behavior, interest andcustomer requirements and current trends. “You can really get to know his or her needs throughsocial listening. It’s a great way to research a market and initiate conversation leading to a sale”(Smith J., 2014). Company will directly will be able to send mails, offer, new productsinformation to students or professionals ones this database will be ready. “Once you have thesocial profiles of your customer database, you can really take it to the nth degree” (Smith M.,2014). As direct communication will increase the trust and understanding of customer, soinformation for any enhancement if required will be available early.By these techniques, company will be able understand their customers and their buying habits /needs and will manufacture products as per market requirement and it will give an advantage11MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSover other competitors. Sell of products will increase and it will reflect in company profitabilityand growth.Appropriate Time to Implement this Strategy Mountain Riders is offering new commuter bicycle in market to target students and dailycommute professionals. As a phase 1, Company will implement this Strategy for marketing ofthese products. “A marketing audit is an effective tool for both a marketer and an organization,because it allows you to determine and evaluate the effectiveness of your company’s marketingefforts” (Bennett, 2014). After 3 months company will do the evaluation of this with the numberof equipments sold in market, customer feedback about the product, is right customer targeted ornot , market value of company , demand of product. If Company will find any issue, it willresolve that with the help of feedback, surveys and direct communications with customer. ThenPhase 2 will include the launch of new products with enhanced marketing strategy on the basis oflast quarter success. Customer experience for these products in first 3 months will be used forfurther marketing, “The periodic strategic meetings should discuss strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and threats (or SWOT). They can help executives determine if the strategy’ssoundness in light of changes within the organization, industry and economy” (Torres, 2014). Itwill be making sure that all the quarter results are properly evaluated and appropriate steps aretaken to make sure company growth as a revenue basis along with high customer satisfactionincluding innovative ideas for making Louisville health and fit.Examination of Customer Behavior for the ProductDefinition of consumer behavior is "The process and activities people engage in when searchingfor, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to12MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSsatisfy their needs and desires"(Belch and Belch, 2007). Customer’s behavior of purchasing forproduct depends on these points –Company message about product – Mountain Riders is communicating with a great powerfulmessage of Riding to the future, to their customer. Their mission itself makes connection with allcustomers irrespective of financial status or culture barriers. "Run to the FUTURE" inspirescustomer to buy the product and make themselves healthy lifelong.Evaluation with other competitor – Mountain Rider motivating their customer to buy as it isoffering innovative, cost effective and highly quality daily use cycle. Two competitors are RideHigh and Winder Co., both are currently focusing on high end bikes and sharing a smart part ofmarket.Purchase decision- Before purchasing customer looks for past records and services offered.Company has already offered bikes in high end segments for adventure trips those were wellappreciated in the students.Experience of used product and feedbacks – As a promotional ads company is showingexisting customers experience about product and services. It will make a positive image aboutthe product in market.Mountain Rider is offering their product after proper market research and promoting as a musthave products for customers, as a result High probability is there that customer will buy thisadvance daily commuter bike to save money, environment and to keep themselves fit.13MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERSReferencesTorres, J. (2014 ). 4 Steps to Successful Execution of a Strategy. Retrieved fromhttp://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237005Smith, J. (2014). How To Use Social Media To Make Sales. Retrieved fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2014/01/10/how-to-use-social-media-to-make-sales2014/Belch, GE & Belch MA 2007, Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated MarketingCommunication Perspective (7th ed.), McGraw Hill/Irwin, New York.Callingham, M. (2004). Market Intelligence: How and why Organizations Use Market Research(1st ed.). Kogan Page Limited.Smith, M. (2014). The New Relationship Marketing.Franses, P., & Paap, R. (2004). Quantitative Models in Marketing Research. CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY PRESS.Farris, P., Bendle, N., Pfeifer, P., & Reibstein, D. (2010). Marketing Metrics. Pearson Education.McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, how to Use Them (Sixth Editioned.). Elsevier.A Brief History of the Mountain Bike by Jobst Brandt (A Brief History of the Mountain Bike byJobst Brandt). Retrieved from, http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/mtb-history.htmlSecondary Research – Mountain Biking Market Profiles. (2010).14MARKETING PLAN FOR MOUNTAIN RIDERS15

Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Ask A Question and we will direct you to our Order Page at WriteDemy. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.