Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Before I can formulate an answer to your above question, I would be interested to know the type of sunglass you are planning to launch. Will the collection be fashion oriented or sport oriented. Are you licensing an established brand or introducing a new brand to the market. Are you targeting a price under or over $50 per pair. What types of frame materials and lenses will you feature. The answers to these questions will guide what type of retail locations will be most receptive to your products and what type of strategy you need to formulate to reach your target consumer.

From your question, I see that you have not completed the marketing strategy. The marketing strategy answers your questions concerning (and more)

Here is the process to build a marketing strategy and plan:

Understand the market

• How big is the market (revenue, units, average selling price)?


• Who are the customers?


• What are their needs?


• How can you segment these customers by needs and/or demographics and how big is each segment?


• How can you best reach these customers (what media, what message, etc)?


• What are the best sales channels to use to reach these customers - retailers, wholesalers, distributors? Map this out

Understand the competition

• Who are the competitors?


• What share does each of the competitors have or what segments


• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor?


• How well does each of the competitors meet the needs of the customers (by segment)


• What is the sales channel for each of the competitors – retailers, wholesalers, distributors?

Understand your company

• Conduct a SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your company


• Comparing your SWOT versus the competitive analysis, how can you use your strengths to attack the competitors' weaknesses, how can you turn your weaknesses into strengths, how can you take advantage of the opportunities, and how can you avoid the threats?


• How can you position your product/service to better meet the customers needs versus the competition?


• For which segments do you have the best compelling unique selling point (USP)? Also, what are the pricing needs for each based on the value you bring to the customers?

Positioning

• Create a position statement. The position statement is a part of the strategy and communicates to those inside the company the any and all of the following:
  • Placement within a market segment
  • Placement of the product relative to other products/services categories and application
  • Placement versus competitors' products/services
  • Placement of the product/services in terms of features and benefits

Product and service definition
Based on the position statement and market understanding, the next task is to define the product or service

• What are the product/service features? Features are the tangible characteristics – shapes, dimensions, specifications, terms and conditions, steps involved, etc


• What are the advantages of the product/service? How can it solve the problem better than the competitive solutions?


• What are the benefits of the product or service? What do the features and advantages mean to the customer in terms of saving time or money, realizing more pleasure or decreasing displeasure, etc.

Product/service launch plan
The product launch plan interweaves with the product development plan, the production plan, and the marketing communications plan. Time scales assume the product/service development hasn’t been started and may have to be adjusted to the specific situation. Since this plan is general in nature, some areas may be deleted if inappropriate.

• 9-18 months before launch
• Features and benefits defined
• Value proposition formulated
• Advanced data sheets and brochures prepared
• Segmentation complete
• Target customers defined
• Channel strategy developed
• Marketing communications plan defined
• Branding plan established
• Reliability, quality needs, and regulatory needs established
• Technology press release completed

• 6 months before launch
• Begin customer contact – 1-3 customers
• Define Alpha and Beta customers
• Market price established
• Competitive benchmark completed
• Update marketing communications plan and branding plan

• 3 to 6 months before launch
• Samples sent or pilot services launched to Alpha and Beta customers
• Application notes written
• Field applications/service engineers trained
• Channel strategy implemented
• Sales presentations completed to sales channel participants
• Press tour completed

• 3 months before launch
• Inventory plan established
• Sample plan established
• Direct mail campaign completed
• Sales personnel trained

• LAUNCH
Inventory in place
• Press release(s) completed
• All sales tools completed
• Final featured/benefits completed
• Final value proposition completed
• Reliability reports complete
• Regulatory compliant completed (FCC, UL, FDA, etc)
• Seminars set up

Brand strategy
Using the position statement, create the brand strategy.

• Name (both company and product)


• Logo


• Product/service characteristics - colors, features, quality


• Packaging and packaging characteristics (colors, font styling, logo and logo placement)


• tag lines