MRKT11029 Marketing Fundamentals

Briefly describe the new productchosen, outliningitsfeatures and benefits plus any optional extras (if applicable).  Secondly, you are to describethe current market conditions in Australia by examining relevant business trends, customer needs and other factors in the marketing environment that may affect consumer purchasing,including the main competitors,so as to determine market attractiveness.

FitOn is a watch that combines the features of three, which are Fitness Tracker, Smart watch and Personal health guide. The watch is the world`s 1st Blood Oxygen Saturation Smart watch. It tracks the vital conditions of the body along with other complex features in brief (Best, 2012). The watch comes along with an application, which helps to track the progress made along the period (Refer to Appendix 1). The product is priced at $49.

Characteristics of the Product:

• It is affordable and portable.
• The watch has a water resistance of IP68. This means it can be used for shallow water activities like swimming. However, the product cannot be used for skiing and other high intensity facilities
• The product has an ability to track Oxygen Saturation which is up to 99% correct
• The watch has a facility by which it can be operate a phone so that one may not be interrupted in their exercise (Hollensen, 2015).
• It is a three in one wellness and fitness product, which is good for the body.
• The rich data in the product can help individuals to formulize their schedule.

Features of the Product:

• The product has a message notification whereby it can support more than 150 languages and communicate with various communication applications. The user does not need to use the phone and can simply understand the context on the watch.
• The product also comes with a speedy hang up system whereby the commercial calls can be avoided and time can be saved (Refer to Appendix 2).
• The watch also has a system of snapping a photograph from a distance and helps to save money one spends on a selfie stick.
• The watch also prevents the struggle of looking out for a phone with the help of a Bluetooth connection. Through this, one can avoid the struggles of finding a phone.
• The watch comes with a smart palming control whereby the screen of the phone can be lit by lifting one`s palm wrist (FitOn: World's 1st Blood Oxygen Saturation Smart watch., 2017).
• The FitOn also helps to track the times of one`s daily exercise just like a stopwatch.

The various other additional features offered by the watch are:

• It helps to analyze one`s work out data. One can understand what he/she has been doing using fitness apps on the phone connected as well.
• It automatically records the run time, which then helps to reflect the pace count. The watch also suggests routes and stats.
• One can also monitor the sitting time and avoid it as it leads to sedentary diseases
• It also helps in improving working efficiency and managing one`s stress level.
• It analysis sleep quality and helps in the following manner. (Refer to Appendix 3).
• It helps in HRV Testing.HRV testing refers to Heart Rate variability is the variation in the time interval between the various heartbeats.
• It also provides various signs notification

Market Analysis:

External Market Analysis

The market analysis of the product will be done with the help of PESTLE Analysis. PESTLE analysis can be described as a strategic management tool, which helps to analyze the market. For FitOn, the given factors will be analyzed.

Economical factors

Australia has a strong economy with a high per capita income. The country is abundant in natural resources and therefore the country attracts good foreign investments. It also includes extensive reserves of iron ore, copper, gold and renewable energy resources. Trade and other factors are also good in the country.  The standard of living of the people is high and therefore, they will be able to afford the given product (FitOn: World's 1st Blood Oxygen Saturation Smartwatch. ,2017).

Demographic factors

 The people in the country are health conscious and tend to worry about their well-being. Hence, it can be stated that this product is perfect for them. By using this product, the people will be able to keep a track of their daily activities and will be able to look after weight and other relevant issues. The design of the watch is very stylish which will be suitable for the people of Australia who are fashion oriented and classy.

Technological factors

There are millions of active Internet subscribers present in the country of Australia. The country is extremely advanced in terms of technology and therefore the country will be good at adapting to the FitOn watch (FitOn: World's first Blood Oxygen Saturation Smart watch.2017). The watch is a hi-technology product, which can be linked to the phone and will be preferred by the nationals of the country.

Internal Environmental Analysis

The internal environment analysis is conducted in order to understand the players within the particular domain of business that will have an impact on one`s business. The internal analysis will be done using Michael Porter`s five forces model (Kotler, 2012). The model throws light on five main components of the internal environment analysis and they are competitors, suppliers, customers, substitutes and entry barriers. The forces, which are relevant in the given scenario, are:

• Bargaining power of customers-, bargaining power of the consumers decreases where the product is a great hit and the consumers tend to show great demand for the product. This product is presently new in the market however due to the great features of the product, it is in great demand therefore the bargaining power of the consumers tend to decrease and the manufacturer can state their desired price for the product.
• Threat of competitors- The competitors also play a key role. If the threat of the competition is high then the conducting of business becomes extremely difficult.  The main competitor of the FitOn is the fit bit, which provides similar services. The fit bit also tracks the movements of the wearer and tends to provide acute information. However, its design is not good when compared to that of FitOn hence; the competition of the product is not that intense (Mullins, Walker & Boyd Jr, 2012).
• Threat of substitution- Since people have been becoming more health conscious, smaller startups have come up with a similar kind of product whereby providing cheaper options to attract customers

SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis can be described as the study f the internal mechanism of the business whereby, the strengths and weaknesses of the working of the business is identified. The opportunities and threats of the company that lie within its external environment are also identified thereby helping the company by providing it with an opportunity to flourish in the external market. (Refer to Appendix 6)

In the given section the SWOT Analysis of Fit bit will be done:

Strengths- strength can be described as an internal opportunity whereby a company makes use of its capacity to achieve the goal (Hutt & Speh, 2012). The strengths of Fit On are:

• Choices of products- The Company offers a variety of options and offers to buy the product, which can be utilized in order to attract all kinds of customers and budgets.
• Exceptional features- As discussed earlier the product has excellent features, which can be utilized in order to gain competitive advantage.
• Good customer support- The Company provides good consumer support, which helps the company to become popular among the large masses.
• Increasing customer base- The company`s base of consumers has been increasing.

 Weaknesses- A weakness can be described as an internal inability whereby the company cannot perform well in the market. The weakness of FitOn has been described as follows:

• The display screen is smaller- The display screen of the watch is comparatively smaller
• It does not have a huge customer base- The watch`s consumer base is comparatively new not a huge one
• It does not have a first mover advantage- The Fit Bit has the advantage of the first mover as it came early into the market.

Opportunity- An opportunity can be described as a situation in the external environment of the business whereby the company can gain an exceptional advantage and succeed (Sheth & Sisodia, 2015). The opportunities for FitOn are provided below:

• Alliance with various health centers- The company can form an alliance with various health centers to promote its business
• Global market – The company can also expand its business into markets outside of Australia
• New lifestyle- It can promote the benefits of the product by highlighting a new lifestyle
• Collaboration with various smart phone companies- It can collaborate with various smart phone companies in order to promote itself

Threats-A threat can be described as the presence of a factor in the external factor in the business, which has the potential of providing harm to the business.

The threat to Fit On is given below:

• Growing popularity of products like Fit bit, which have a wider consumer base- As discussed earlier, Fit bit, has a strong base of consumers (Armstrong et al., 2015).

Nature, scope and the concept of marketing

Marketing has evolved greatly during the last few decades. It began with the simple concept of trading and selling the goods to the consumers and has now reached a phase whereby it involves long lasting and sustainable relationship with the consumers. (Refer to Appendix 4).

The key activities involved in marketing are given below: If we break up this definition, we can say the marketing management involves following activities:

1. Developing the product after market research

The duty of development of the product idea also lies in the hands of the marketer (Economides & Tåg, 2012). He must research the market properly, then understand the retirement, and thereby give his input.

2. Choosing the target market

The activities in marketing also involve choosing a target market and understanding how to satisfy the chosen market for the particular service or a product.  

3. Growing the consumers in a target market

The next task involves increasing the consumers in the chosen target market. The target market has a variety of customers and not all can be pleased. Therefore, it is important for the firm to extend their consumer base.

Another relevant activity involves Creating Superior value. It involves adding extra value to the given product and thereby making the customer happy.

Concept of marketing

Marketing can be defined as an activity, which involves the creation of new ideas for the firm and finding the right target market (Silina & Haddadi, 2015). Once this is developed, it involves, convincing that target market to purchase the given product to increase the sales and developing long-term relationships with the customers.

Market Research Techniques and its importance

There are mainly two techniques involved in the marketing research. These are primary methods and secondary methods of research. The secondary method is taking another person`s work and referring whereas the primary research is the first hand research and can be of the following types:

• Surveys- Surveys are conducted by the researchers in order to understand the view of the audience. Certain questions are asked however, the identity of the researcher remains anonymous.
• Focus Groups- In focus groups, certain people are called for discussion and their discussions are observed.
• Interviews- Face to face or telephonic interviews are conducted in order to understand the needs of the consumers (McGrath & Scanaill, 2013).
• Experiments and Trial Fields- Many times certain experiments are conducted with respect to certain products in order to understand the needs of the consumers
• Observation- The purchasing pattern of the consumers is observed.(Refer to appendix 7)

The research technique is important as it helps to understand the various patterns in which the consumer buys the product. It helps to understand their demands and their buying behaviour.

The marketing mix and extended marketing mix

The marketing mix can be referred to as the techniques whereby the right product is given to the right customers at the right time. It involves understanding the various aspects one one`s product and also how these must be utilized by forming the product and delivering it to the consumer (van Wijngaarden, Scholten & van Wijk, 2012). The traditional marketing mix consisted of the 4Ps with product, place, and promotion and pricing strategies, however, the new marketing mix consists of 7ps where Physical evidence, People and promotion have been added.

• Product- consists of the good or service and its specifications
• Promotion-Consists of the various promotional activities
• Price-Consists of the pricing strategy of the firm
• Place- talks about the place of distribution and marketing (Kumar, 2015).
• The additional Ps.
• Physical evidence- talks about the evidence of delivery
• People -consists of the people involved in the process of marketing
• Process- talks about the physical process involved in bringing the product to the market.(Refer to Appendix 5)

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Best, R. (2012). Market-based management. Pearson Higher Ed.

Economides, N., & Tåg, J. (2012). Network neutrality on the Internet: A two-sided market analysis. Information Economics and Policy, 24(2), 91-104.

FitOn: World's 1st Blood Oxygen Saturation Smartwatch. (2017). Kickstarter. Retrieved 17 December 2017, from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567949755/fiton-worlds-1st-blood-oxygen-saturation-smartwatc

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Hutt, M. D., & Speh, T. W. (2012). Business marketing management: B2B. Cengage Learning.

Kotler, P. (2012). Marketing Management, millenium edition: Custom Edition for University of Phoenix.

Kumar, V. (2015). Evolution of marketing as a discipline: What has happened and what to look out for. Journal of Marketing, 79(1), 1-9.

McGrath, M. J., & Scanaill, C. N. (2013). Wellness, fitness, and lifestyle sensing applications. In Sensor Technologies (pp. 217-248). Apress.

Mullins, J., Walker, O. C., & Boyd Jr, H. W. (2012). Marketing management: A strategic decision-making approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Sheth, J. N., & Sisodia, R. S. (2015). Does marketing need reform?: Fresh perspectives on the future. Routledge.

Silina, Y., & Haddadi, H. (2015, September). New directions in jewelry: a close look at emerging trends & developments in jewelry-like wearable devices. In Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (pp. 49-56). ACM.

van Wijngaarden, J. D., Scholten, G. R., & van Wijk, K. P. (2012). Strategic analysis for health care organizations: the suitability of the SWOT?analysis. The International journal of health planning and management, 27(1), 34-49.

Wilson, R. M., & Gilligan, C. (2012). Strategic marketing management. Routledge.