Product Handbook Marketing

8/6/2019 Product Handbook Marketing

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Product Manager HandbookDetailed Analysis & Product Marketing Plan


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.........Table of Contents

Background Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................1

Business Assessment..............................................................................................................................................1

Market Analysis ............................................................................................................................................ ..... ......1

Performance History ........................................................................................................................................ ..... ...3

Competitive Analysis ................................................................................................................................................4

Market Attractiveness ...............................................................................................................................................6

Product Portfolio Analysis ................................................................................................................................... ......9

Trend Dynamics .............................................................................................................................. .............. ..... ...10

Synthesis .....................................................................................................................................................................11

Problems and Opportunities ........................................................................................................................ ...........11

Sales forecasts/goals ................................................................................................................................... ..... .....11

Product Marketing Objectives ................................................................................................................. ..... ...........11

Positioning Strategy ............................................................................................................................... ..... ...........12

Action Plan ............................................................................................................................................................. .....12

Marketing Program/Action Plan ........................................................................................................... ..... ..............13

Appendices ..................................................................................................................................................................16

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Chapter

1

Product Marketing Plan

Background Analysis

Business Assessment

Monsters vision is bringing people together to advance their lives. The corporate strategy is _____________________ and will leverage Monsters core capabilities in ______________ and

development of capabilities in _________________________________.

Hierarchy of Strategies

Market Analysis

Study of the current and potential customers for a product or product line and then putting them intocategories or segments. The segments are groups of customers with common demographics,common needs, and/or common uses for the product. Deliver a manageable number of customersegments (3-7) ranked based on fit with company resources, fit with long-term strategy, cost to reach,

and risk to serve.

Goals:

1) Provide better understanding of aggregate market including how and why customers buy

2) Ensure better allocation of resources because benefits that specific groups are looking for

are better understood

Vision

Corporate Strategy

Divisional Strategy

Product/Marketing Strategy

Marketing Tactics

Customer Satisfaction

Focus oncustomer-specific needs.

Focus ondeveloping andleveraging corecompetencies.

Vision

Corporate Strategy

Divisional Strategy


Marketing Tactics


Vision

Corporate Strategy

Divisional Strategy


Marketing Tactics


Focus oncustomer-specific needs.

Focus ondeveloping andleveraging corecompetencies.


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3) Build competitive edges into products for specific segments

4) Exploit opportunities by uncovering hidden niches

Segmentation Factors

Select segmentation factors appropriate for our industry- common factors are below:

Demographic IndustryGeographic LocationCompany SizeFunctional decision makerProfitabilityRisk Categories

Use of Product ApplicationImportance of purchaseVolumeFrequency of purchase

Benefits Performance requirements

Support serviceDesired featuresService requirements

Product Segmentation by Key Buying Factors

Define Key Buying Factors and importance to each segment; sampled filled in below:

Segment A Segment B Segment C Segment D

Common

purchase-decision

criteria

Large customers

Price-sensitive

Customizedproducts

Ability to brand

Create own

database

Large purchases

Price

Quality/features

Service support

Sales coverage

????

Market size

Share

$xxx million

xx%

Average order size

Industry average

$xxx,xxx

$xxx,xxx

Key to importance of buying factors:

1 2 3 4 5

Least Important Most Important

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Performance History

Existing Customers

How well a product performed in a given segment over time and relative to plan. Questions to answerinclude:

1) Is there a group of heavy users of the product? What percentage of purchasers do they

constitute?

2) Is the primary target market growing, stable, or declining?

3) Under what circumstances do customers purchase the product(s)?

4) How and why is geographical coverage limited?

5) What percentage of customers are national accounts?

6) Are most customers new or repeat buyers?

7) Are the customers end-users? If not, what information is available about the end-user?

8) Are your customers progressive? Traditional? Passive?

9) How sensitive have customers been to past price changes?

10) Does the customer base consist of a few large customers or many small buyers?

The Product

1) What does the name of the product imply? Can it be branded?

2) Which of the features are distinguishable by the customer?

3) For each feature, ask So What? to identify the benefits from the customers point of view.

4) If a numeric rating were given to the product quality (with 1 being low and 7 being high)

what would that rating be? Would the rating be the same from the customers?

5) What does each item in the product line contribute to sales and profits? To customer

satisfaction? Can some of the products be pruned?

6) How does the product line rate of return compare with the companys overall rate of

return?

7) Is the product design conducive to an efficient delivery process?

8) Are product guarantees competitive?

9) What would happen if the products were more standardized? More customized?

10) What is the approach to private labeling?

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The Sales Force

1) Is the current sales force structure appropriate for achieving the product objectives?

2) Are the target customers being reached in the most effective manner?

3) How effective has the product/sales training been?

4) What sales tools do the salespeople actually use to sell the product?

5) Has the sales force been taught how to help customers visualize the benefits of the

product?

Pricing

1) Have significant amounts of business been lost because of product prices?

2) Are errors frequently made in pricing?

3) What is the perceived cost of buying the product?

4) Are we a price leader or a price follower?

5) What is the pricing policy of the company?

6) What types of discounts are offered? How does that compare with the competition?

Promotional Campaigns

1) What is the current image customers have of the product? Is it consistent with the

advertising?

2) Have prior advertising strategies worked? Why or why not?

3) What non-advertising promotion has been tried? How well did it work?

Competitive Analysis

Competitive review of product performance by segment. Questions to answer include:

1) To which competitors have you lost business and from which have you gained business?

2) Where (in what regions, applications, industries, etc) is competition the strongest?

3) What are the corporate competencies of the companies that own competing products?

What is the relationship between the competencies and the products?

4) What are the list prices of the competing products? The actual prices?

5) What is the market perception of the competing products? Awareness level? Customer

loyalty?

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6) Are there any specific product features that are best-in-class against which your product

should be benchmarked?

7) In the competing product a small percentage of its companys business, or is it the main

product of the company? How important are the sales to the competitor, and how much isthe company willing to invest to protect these sales?

Competitive Analysis Worksheet

General Information for FY2004

Division: Monster Product Line: Jobs Market: Segment A

Monster CareerBuilder HotJobs Newspaper

Sales volume

(units)

Sales revenue

Profit

Market Share

Target market

Generalproduct

strategy

Product

differentiation

Customer

image

General price

strategy

Average/list

price

General

promotion

strategy

General sales

strategy

Sales force

size

Sales force

strengths

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Market Attractiveness

Determine which customers offer the best future return on investment.

Customer Analysis Process

Starting with the highest level of segmentation, the first step is to determine what needs are distinctlydifferent among the segments. Group the markets into need segments and review 1) how attractivethe segments are as a whole and 2) whether Monster has any competitive advantages in addressingsegment needs. The analysis should include customers and non-customers to take into accountgrowth potential.

To compile this information, sales records should be correlated with demographic characteristics to

determine which variables most closely relate to profitability. Does company size, geographic location,type of product, or any other variable help to predict sales? Once the variables are identified, these canbe extrapolated to non-customers to estimate market and growth potential. The deliverable from thisanalysis is a summary of the drivers of loyalty and defining profitable customer segments.

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Identify and profile best customers

Develop customer value profiles

Attract new customers who have asimilar profile

Enhance the profitability of the existingcustomers

Increase the amountof business they do

Extend the length ofthe relationship

Flow Chart of Customer Analysis













Flow Chart of Customer Analysis


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Attractiveness Ratings for Customer Segments

Answer the following questions to gauge attractiveness of market segments. Summarize in tablebelow.

1) What is the market size- total number of customers?

2) What is the growth rate?

3) What is the strength of the competition?

4) What is the price sensitivity of customers?

5) What is the revenue and profitability of existing customers?

6) What is the demand in each segment for the product?

7) What is the products penetration?

8) How many prospects are there in segments that purchase only competitive products?

9) Why do they purchase only competitive products?

10) Is Monster gaining or losing share?

11) Is Monster participating in the most profitable segments in the industry?

Market Segment

Percent of

Monster

Sales

Percent of

Industry Sales

Characteristics of Market

Attractiveness (size, growth rate,

purchase volumes, etc.)

Rating

(1-5)Segment A

Segment B

Segment C

Segment D

Rating of 1 indicates attractive and 5 indicates unattractive

Ability-to-Serve Ratings for Customer Segments

Appraise whether Monster has any competitive advantages in addressing the segment specific needs.Identify changes that would need to be made to address needs. Rank Monster based on how well itcan meet the needs of customers relative to competitors.

Market

Segment

Needs Requirements to satisfy needs

(new products, enhancements skills set, locations,

costs, etc.)

Rating

(1-5)

Segment A

Segment B

Segment C

Segment D

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Rating of 1 indicates strong competitors with strong ability to satisfy needs; 3 competition is equal to Monstercapability; 5 Monster is significantly superior to competition

Combine the data from the 2 charts above to form a Market Attractiveness Matrix. The best targetmarket(s) would be in the upper right quadrant where Monster has determined it has a highly attractivecustomer segment and a high competitive advantage in serving the segment. There may be no

segments that fall solidly in this quadrant and in that case, Monster would target the most attractivesegment that exists and work on developing product and skills to move the segment to the rightquadrant. Some segments that may be unattractive on an absolute basis might turn out to be attractiveif they are underserved by the competition.

Balancing Customer Retention and Acquisition

Identifying the means to grow customer equity through a combination of a) increasing the profitability ofexisting customers, b) attracting new customers with the potential for high-value business, or c) firinglow potential customers. Identify the activities necessary to get existing customers to spend more withMonster, to get good customers to become more loyal, and to get secondary customers converted intoprimary customers. This section will be addressed in the Synthesis and Action Plan.

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Ability to Satisfy Needs (better thancompetition)

1 2 3 4 5

low high

1

2

3

4

5

Ability to Satisfy Needs (better thancompetition)

1 2 3 4 5

low high

1

2

3

4

5

MarketAttractiveness

low

high

Market Attractiveness Matrix


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Product Portfolio Analysis

Product Performance Evaluation

Have customers list and rank most important attributes in terms of priority and to assess how significantthose attributes truly are in terms of affecting their purchase decisions. Evaluate most important

attributes relative to the competitors. Example below uses market leadership and ease of use.

Review of features/benefits and relative importance to the market

Evaluate the cost of the factors that are important to customers to better evaluate decisions aroundproduct strategy.

Features/Attributes Benefits

Importance toMarket

CompetitivePerformance Relative Cost

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Not perceived as a leader

Easy to use

Competitive Matrix (Perceptual Map)

Perceived as a leader

Difficult to use

Not perceived as a leader

Easy to use

Competitive Matrix (Perceptual Map)

Perceived as a leader

Difficult to use


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Benchmarking

After identifying features that deserve detailed examination, benchmark these features against thebest-in-class. Benchmarking is not limited to the competition, and it does not have to be limited to theproduct features- it could pertain to processes used to deliver service for example.

Add Value to Existing Products

Provision of benefits that are highly important to the market should be from features that are at leastequal to or better than the competition in terms of performance. If this is not the case, features must beimproved. If features provide benefits that are not important to customers, the relative cost should below. Otherwise, the feature should be eliminated or provided at as low a cost as possible.

Questions to ask?

1) What would happen if certain features were magnified?

2) What if a new feature replaced an old one?

3) Can two existing products be combined to provide 1 with more value to the customer? e.g.

postings plus automated database results equals new product

4) Can certain elements be modified- product features or service?

5) Can the development process be reengineered to reduce overall cost of producing the product

or service?

6) Can the traditional approach be changed: e.g. can the Internet replace the traditional methodof selling the product?

Increase Market Penetration

Number of customers/users can be increased by winning competitors customers, entering new marketsegments, and/or converting nonusers to users. Collect data on 1) why competitors customers buyfrom the competition; 2) what, if anything, could convince nonusers to become users of the product; 3)what market segments are attractive and accessible.

Trend Dynamics

Identify external trends that have a direct bearing on market potential.

1) What technological changes are likely? How might they impact product sales within the next

several years?

2) What have been the industry trends in the following areas:

o Product changes

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o Price levels/policies

o Distribution changes

o Mergers/acquisitions/divestitures

o Power shifts in channel

3) What leading indicators correspond with product sales?

4) What are the basic trends and changes in the economy?

5) Are there regulatory or political forces that could impact product sales? What are their trends?

What is the probability of occurrence? What impact do these have on products?

Synthesis

Based on information gathered in Situation Analysis- develop problems and opportunities that need tobe addressed in the annual plan. Build forecast of sales volume, the marketing objectives that specifythe market segments from which the volume will be generated, and the positioning of the product in thecustomers minds.

Problems and Opportunities

Draw conclusions based on the segmentation analysis that drive achievement of financial andcustomer satisfaction goals.

Sales forecasts/goals

Time Series Forecast: Based on historical projections estimate sales for coming year

Compiled Forecast: Average market share over time multiplied by projected industry sales for 2004

Causal Forecast: Relationship between sales and other variables- ad expenditure, number ofsalespeople, price changes, Help Wanted index

Product Marketing Objectives

What do we need to do to achieve the sales forecast? Justify objectives by providing rationale from thecustomer analysis.

Retention: Achieve sales of $xxx million by increasing retention rates of existing segment Acustomers over the next 12 months.

Expansion: Achieve sales of $xx million from segment A by increasing average order size from $x,xxxto $x,xxx.

Acquisition: Achieve sales of $xx million from segment A by acquiring xx,xxx new customers at anaverage order size of $x,xxx.

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Other Objective: Achieve sales of $xx million from segment A by acquiring xx,xxx new customers atan average order size of $x,xxx.

Positioning Strategy

How the product is to be perceived in the minds of the customer relative to the competition. Identify the

attributes customers are looking for when they buy from the product category, and find out howimportant each attribute is. Use Walker or other survey data to determine how customers rate theproduct versus the competition along the important attributes.

Segment APositioning:

To Segment A, Monster is the brand of Job Postings that offers _______________.

To Segment A, Monster is the brand of Resume Search that offers ____________.

Segment BPositioning:

To Segment B, Monster is the brand of Job Postings that offers _______________.

Segment CPositioning:

To Segment C, Monster is the brand of Job Postings that offers _______________.

Segment DPositioning:

To Segment D, Monster is the brand of Job Postings that offers _______________.

Action Plan

Summarize the products historical performance, problems and opportunities, sales forecasts/goals anda summary table of the impact on P&L, marketing objectives, concise strategies for accomplishing theobjectives, and financial exhibits that permit a quick assessment of the product program and its impact.

Summary of Background Analysis and Synthesis

1) Product Performance

2) Background

3) Long-Term Objectives

4) Problems/Opportunities

5) Sales Forecasts/Goals

6) Marketing Objectives

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Marketing Program/Action Plan

Positioning Statement

Positioning statement for how the product is perceived in the customers mind relative to thecompetition.

Target Market

Describe and justify primary and secondary target markets/segments.

Product Strategy

Brief product description indicating competitive differences along with a table of the products inthe line

Product objectives including enhancements, repositioning, bundling, extensions/modifications,new product introductions, etc.

Discuss effect of other products on the product line and/or the effect of the line on thecompany product mix

Product Strategy/Roadmap

Rationale

Job Postings Objective & Strategy Summary

Segment Objective Strategy Rationale

Segment A

Segment B

Segment C

Segment D

Pricing Strategy

General statement of pricing strategy used for the product. Incorporate planned changed in price,discounts, guarantees, terms and conditions, and expected impact on profit and performance.

Description Objective

Strategy Rationale Impact Table

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Advertising Strategy

Incorporate details as well as media calendar for plan to support annual plan.

National Advertising

1) Competitive differentiation to be included in messaging

2) Media plan and calendar

3) Cost/Spend

Description Objective Strategy Rationale Implementation Supporting Tables

Other Advertising

1) Competitive differentiation to be included in messaging

2) Media plan and calendar

3) Cost/Spend

Description Objective Strategy Rationale Implementation Supporting Tables

Promotion Strategy

Summary of sales promotions, support materials, trade show plans, and other non-advertisingpromotions that are part of the marketing plan. Indicate objectives and strategies for each.

Sales Strategy

Summarize and include any information that directly impacts the product or its marketing plan. Forexample, any training or incentive program programs that are required to support objectives.

Distribution Strategy

Recommendations regarding dealing with intermediaries- agencies, franchise groups, etc.

Product Support

Recommendations regarding guarantee for the product, customer service changes, or any otherproduct support issues that affect the achievement of product objectives.

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Training Requirements

Customer service; sales; customers

Marketing Research Requirements

Research requests including proposal attachments.

Financial Summary

Pro-forma P&L

Timelines

Action schedule indicating ownership and timing with room for signatures to sign and dateagreement.

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Appendices

1) Business Assessment Worksheet

1) Attractiveness Ratings of Customer Segments

2) Ability-to-Serve Ratings for Customer Segments

3) Competitive Analysis

4) Performance History

5) Marketing Objectives and Strategies

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Schedule 1: Business Assessment Worksheet

Describe the corporate vision, strategies, and core competencies that might affect product programs.

List the strengths and weaknesses of Monster that could directly affect the product or product line.

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Describe the role your product/line plays in accomplishing Monsters strategy.

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Schedule 2: Attractiveness Ratings for Customer Segments

Market Segment

Percent of

Monster

Sales

Percent of

Industry

Sales

Characteristics of Market

Attractiveness (size, growth rate,

purchase volumes, etc.)

Rating

(1-5)

Segment A

Segment BSegment C

Segment D

Schedule 3: Ability-to-Serve Ratings for Customer Segments

Market Segment Needs Requirements to satisfy needs

(products, skills set, locations, costs, etc.)

Rating (1-5)

Segment A

Segment B

Segment C

Segment D

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Schedule 4: Competitive Overview

General Information for FY2004

Division: Monster Product Line: Jobs Market: Segment A

Monster CareerBuilder HotJobs Newspaper

Sales volume

Sales revenue

Profit

Market Share

Target market

General

product

strategy

Product

differentiation

Customer

image

General price

strategyAverage/list

price

General

promotion

strategy

General sales

strategy

Sales force

size

Sales force

strengths

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Schedule 6: Marketing Objectives and Strategies

Division: Monster Group: Sourcing Line: Job Postings Market: Segment AGeneral marketing objective(s):

Rationale for objective(s):

Positioning Statement:To_________________, Monster is the brand of Job Postings that __________________________.

Division: Monster Group: Sourcing Line: Job Postings Market: Segment BGeneral marketing objective(s):



Division: Monster Group: Sourcing Line: Job Postings Market: Segment CGeneral marketing objective(s):



Division: Monster Group: Sourcing Line: Job Postings Market: Segment DGeneral marketing objective(s):



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Product Handbook Marketing

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