MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Marketing Management



Marketing Management

Introduction

In today's globalized and highly competitive market, the successful launch of a new product or service involves meticulous planning, thorough market research, painstaking strategizing, rigorous pre-launch testing and extensive marketing. These are the essential prerequisites that considerably guarantee a healthy response from the group of customers it is intended to target. Modern business marketers have devised a wide range of marketing tools that facilitate the launch of new products and services.

The “marketing mix” is a comprehensive and highly useful tool for business strategists seeking to launch a new product or service into the market. By classifying the marketing strategy into four important aspects - product, planning, pricing and distribution - the marketing mix provides businesses with a detailed framework on how to successfully launch new products and services as well as how customers will eventually learn about it (Kotler, 2008, p. 45). This paper discusses the marketing mix for Corsair, a new state-of-the-art fourth-generation touch-based multimedia smartphone powered by the latest version of Android OS that is currently in its developmental stage.

Discussion

The global market for smartphones, while being highly competitive, is also subject to rapid paradigm shifts in terms of unrelenting technological advancements. This phenomenon has forced international smartphone manufacturers to stay abreast with the constant evolution of marketing trends and consumer preferences that have played a dominant role in the success and failure of products.

As result, the successful development and eventual launch of the Corsair into the target market demands meticulous planning, thorough market research, painstaking strategizing, rigorous testing and aggressive marketing (Pride et al., 2012, p. 344). The four P's of the marketing mix, i.e. Product, Price, Place and Promotion, can facilitate the product launch of the Corsair in the following ways:

Product

This aspect of the marketing mix deals with the product itself, taking into account the range of features that that are intended to be its unique selling points such as its company image, brand name, packaging (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009, p. 295). In the case of the Corsair, the most important features that need to be considered when designing the product are:

Functionality

Arguably, the most important aspect of smarpthones that determines their popularity is their functionality and usage. It is common for a majority of smartphones available in the market today to be loaded with extensive features that help to increase their functionality. Therefore, it is advisable that the Corsair is powered by the Android OS, as this would allow it to essentially address concerns regarding software-specific functionality. Powering the device with the Android OS, while enhancing the device's functionality, would also eliminate the likelihood of compatibility issues with the latest software programs. However, equal attention needs to be drawn to the smartphone's hardware-based features, especially the more pressing functionalities that are related to phone's camera and connectivity. To ensure a successful product launch, it is imperative that hardware functionalities are in line with emerging market trends and consumer preferences.

Aesthetics

Adequate attention should be given to Corsair's aesthetics or its physical ...