Introducing a New Product to the Market
Company Overview
The product selected for introduction to the market is a reading map kit. Included within the package will be a world map that includes demarcation of countries and states within the U.S., 100 pushpins in red, 100 pushpins in blue, 50 feet of yellow twine, a pair of hand scissors, and instructions. The proposed product is unlike anything currently available on the market, and the book merchandise market is in its growth stages, with new products entering the market and being consumed daily. The unique nature of this proposed product and the physical representation of reading books will appeal to many readers, allowing for identification of literary travels in a non-digital format and creating a work of art and a conversation piece at the same time.
Objectives and Goals
To make an international product used by inexperienced traveler, to the most advanced world destination seekers. The goal is produce a kit simple enough to use to for daily use. As well as a product that is sustainable and durable for daily or weekly uses. In addition, adding new inventory to the initial product as time progresses to keep the product viable and fresh.
Situational Analysis
To ultimately make this a global product, research needs to be conducted to see as to which products are more favorable among the consumers as well as where the product should be purchased. Conducting research over the course of 6 months in two test fields, one in books stores and the other at hobby stores, such as crafting to determine, where the market will favor more.
Segmentation
When exploring the characteristics of the book reading population in the U.S. based on age ranges, between the years of 2011 and 2016, seventy-two to seventy-nine percent of polled individuals stated that they had read at least one book within the past twelve months (Statista, 2018). Of those who indicated book consumption, between 81 – 86% of participants stated that they had a college degree, and results showed that women read more than men, with 77% of the females polled reporting that they read at least one book within the past twelve months, as compared to 68% of male respondents (Statista, 2018). Using this information, the market segment considered should be females with college degrees aged 18 or older.
Targeting
This target market is particularly attractive due to the rise in book and book themed or book related products that have entered the market in recent years. The increased drive for book specific products, book-themed products, and book-related products, all hereafter referred to collectively as book merchandise, has become so great that publishing houses are recommending new authors use book merchandise as a means of increasing sales and generating a wider audience
Positioning
While there are scratch off posters that allow readers to scrape off the gold or silver coating over a book cover to indicate which books they have read, and while there are travel maps that would enable the traveler to scratch off the gold or silver coating over a country to indicate which countries they have traveled to, there is no product currently available that allows the reader to mark off or highlight his or her literary travels, in spite of the fact that a large quantity of book merchandise incorporates quotes referring to the trips of the reader or the lifetimes the reader has experienced through the pages of a book.
Marketing Mix
Product: The World is Your Oyster.
Price: Initial Map Kit $25.00 various add ons ranging $10-$15.
Promotion: Advertising in book and crafts stores.
Place: Physical locations with future to add Apps on smart devices.
Reference
Statista. (2018). Book readers in the U.S. by age 2018.