Super Eyes to the Management of Toyota Australia - Case Study Example

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name: Course: Date of submission: \ Executive summary Driving has become a necessity in our modern world is it is a way of getting from one destination to another. Unfortunately, to drive you need to see and hence the visually impaired are at a disadvantage as far as driving is concerned. This report will analyze a customized car for the blind that will allow them to drive safely on the roads without having to depend on other persons. The product is known as Super eyes and this product idea is being sold to the management of Toyota Australia which is a prominent automobile brand in Australia and outline how the brand will be accessed by the consumers. 1.0 Introduction In the modern society, driving a car has become a necessity as it is a means of getting someone to different destinations at whichever time, driving a car is also fun and others even view it as an expression of power depending on the type of car one can afford to drive. Of importance, having a car and being able to sit behind the wheel gives you a sense of freedom and independence. Adults with their sight myself include are able to drive each and every day and sometimes we do take this for granted. One of the tests that a driver must pass before they can be given a driving license is the sight test. Unfortunately, due to visual impairment, the blind and those who are partially visually impaired cannot enjoy this privilege. However, visual impairment should not prevent the affected from leaving a fulfilling and successful life. It is for this reason that a new product is being developed to bring the visually impaired back to the world and allow them to enjoy a opportunity that they otherwise though they had lost forever (Heimbuch, 2014). This report will analyze a product that will help the visually impaired get the ability to drive. The product is a car that is customized for the blind. The product will be known as Super Eyes and will be designed for Toyota Inc. 2.0 Product description The car will specifically be customized to meet the unique needs of the target group. Super eyes will have programmed addresses and sets of coordinates where the visually impaired can automatically be taken to their preferred destination. It will work in a similar way as the GPS. Some of the unique features of this car will include: Sensors which will be able to measure the acceleration This car will be fitted with four radars, and other sensors on the rear bumpers and front bumpers which will enable the vehicle to “see” far enough and hence be able to deal with the traffic on the high ways. Fitted cameras that will be able to detect the lanes of the roads Some cameras will also be fitted near the rear view mirror which will allow the vehicle to detect the traffic lights GPS, wheel encoder and an inertial measurement unit All of which will help determining the location of the vehicle and allow easy tracking incase of any problems. Laser range finders The device has the ability to generate a 3D map with details of the environment. The device also comes with laser measurement units and high resolution maps of the whole world allow it to produce different data that will allow the car to avoid obstacles and reflect all traffic rules. Special gloves for the driver These gloves are fitted with vibrating elements that will assist the visually impaired drivers to control the steering wheel Massage chair for the driver This special seat will give information to the driver regarding the speed of the vehicle and about how to use the brake and gas pedal when need be. 3.0 Marketing concept Marketing concept refers to the guideline or philosophy that marketers are going to use to get the product to the consumers. The first concept is known as production concept that argues that consumers prefer those products that are widely available. The second concept is the product concept which argues that consumers prefer products that are of high quality, have innovative features and have good performance. The third concept is known as the selling concept which argues that consumers will not buy enough until aggressive promotion effort is conducted. The fourth marketing concept is known as the marketing concept which argues that in order to achieve the goals of the organization the company has to ensure that they are doing their business better than their competitors in developing, delivering and communicating the value of the product to its customer (Kotler & Keller,2009). Super Eyes will use the marketing concept to market its product. This is because, the Company has started by looking at what the consumer needs and will be developing what the consumer needs. This concept builds on four main pillars: Identifying target market-the company started out by looking at a niche market for vehicles. The target market for Super Eyes is the visually impaired who in a long time have not been privileged to drive a car. Identification of the customer needs- For a long time, the needs of the visually impaired in owning a car had been ignored and efforts t do so were rendered as pointless. Super Eyes is the product that will address the problems of the visually impaired in driving head on. Integrated Marketing-this will take place in two levels with the first level requiring that all market function of the Company work together including advertising, sales force, customer service, marketing research and product management. The second level of integrated marketing will require that the marketing function embrace other functional department if it is to be successful including Human resource, Finance, Procurement and ICT. Profitability-having sold the Super eyes to our consumers; we expect to make a good profit from the revenues (Kotler,2011). 4.0 Marketing objectives To sell at least 300000 Super Eyes cars by the first year in order to break even. To gain a market share of 5% for Customized car for the blind in the first year. To become the dominant market player in the Automobile for the visually impaired market share by year 5. 4.1 financial objectives To break even by year 1. Increase the sales revenue by 10% for year 2 5.0 SWOT Analysis Strengths Brand Loyalty-Toyota, the company to whom Super Eyes is being sold to have build a strong brand name that consumers can relate with (Toyota Australia,2014). unique features in Super Eyes will attract our target customers Weaknesses The power for us to set the market price is weak, since Super Max is still a relatively new product The prices of component products are quite expensive and this may reflect in the final product of the price which may turn off our target customers. Opportunities New product for a market that has not been served before means that Super Max have a ready market for the products Considering it is the first customized car for the visually impaired, Super Max will sell at a competitive price Threats It is a new product for the visually impaired. There is the threat that it may not be accepted by the other members of the society who may feel that having the blind of the roads is risky. Other companies may quickly copy our idea, which could lead to a loss of potential market share. 6.0 Situational Analysis This refers both internal and external factors that affect operation of a business. Some of the internal factors that will affect the operation of Toyota include all the stakeholders including: Customers-the product Super Eyes is being developed for use by the visually impaired. It is important that you involve the consumers in production of product as they are the ones who will eventually use the product. Super Eyes involved a number of Visually impaired persons and representatives from National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in developing Super Eyes (National Federation of the Blind,2014).. Competitors- our main competitors are Google Inc who are developing a self-driven car with similar features as those of Super eyes although it has not yet defined its market (Guizzo,2011). Company – Super Eyes will be marketed by Toyota Inc Australia which currently takes 18% of the total market share. It has a strong brand name which the consumers will be able to easily identify with (Toyota Australia, 2014). In regards to external factors, these are factors beyond the control of the organization some of the external factors that will affect marketing of super eyes include: Demographic factors-this refers to the social economic description of the target population (Kotler, 2000). This product will be marketed to the young adults aged between 22 years and 35 years of both male and female. The population will comprise for middle income earners who are visually impaired and are working and hence need a car to drive them around. The population will also comprise of young teenagers aged between 18years and 21 years who also need cars to drive to school as well as visit other places. Economic factors refer to factors such as interest rate, GDP, Tax rates and other economic factors of a country (Kotler, 2000). Despite the global financial crisis that struck in 2007, Australia was still able to grow and develop its economy significantly (OECD, 2012). Environmental Factors- Environmental laws Australia are very strict and expect the operators to adhere to environmental issues including how safe the operations of that particular business are to the environment (Toomey, 2011). 7.0 Segmentation This can be defined as breaking a market into different categories known as segments and then focusing on one or more of those market segments. Markets can be segmented in accordance to different geographic locations, demographic factors such as age, income and other measurable statistics and based on psychological factors such as lifestyle preferences (Kotler, 2000). For Super Eyes, Toyota Australia, the segmentation is on the basis of Demographic factor: The target market will comprise of: Young Adults aged between 18yrs-21 years. This group of visual impaired consumers will need the cars to go to school, go shopping and other activities that other young adults like themselves enjoy Adults Adults aged between 22-35 years will form our second market segments. These groups of consumers need vehicles to go to work go for shopping and enjoy other activities that sighted adults enjoy. For Super eyes product, a concentrated strategy will be used to target our market segment comprising of visually impaired adults but using one marketing mix. This will be of advantage to Toyota Inc as it will allow them to analyze the needs of this special group and focus all its efforts on fulfilling the needs of this niche market. 8.0 Market positioning Considering that the product is still new, the perceptual map will be based on the assumption that the competitors of Toyota will develop a similar product to compete with Toyota’s Super eyes. It will be on the basis of two factor: Affordability/classy and sporty / conservative. The first factor is on the basis of the prices of different brands and the second attribute is on the basis of how stylish or flashy different brands are. The Perceptual map was as shown in the figure below. 9.0 Marketing Mix 9.1 Product The product that is being presented is Super Eyes which is a customized car for the blind that will allow the visually impaired to drive something that they would otherwise not be able to do. The product lifecycle of Super Eyes is as follows: 9.1.1 Introductory stage At this stage the Super Eyes is new in the market. The market is small and consumers are not used to the product and as such sales are low and product awareness campaigns take a large chunk of advertisement expenses. A skimming or penetration pricing strategy may be adopted at this stage (Walker & Mullins, 2010). 9.1.2 Growth stage At this stage Super eyes will already be established in the market. More competitors will appear in the market. There will increased revenue and expanding market. More versions of the product may be introduced (Fifield, 2012). The pricing strategy is one meant to gain more market share and achieve growth. Promotional activities are in top gear to deal with growing competition (Walker & Mullins, 2010). 9.1.3 Maturity stage The product at this stage is well known to the consumers and has gained a considerable market share. The main effort is to maintain the market share and grow it minimally. There are a limited number of strong players in the industry and pricing is a competitive model meant to retain market share. Products features and not function are regularly updated to package the product differently (Walker, & Mullins, 2011). 9.1.4 Decline This is the final stage in a product lifecycle where the product sales start to dip due to consumer indifference to the product or market saturation by competitors. Efforts are usually made to ensure the business survives by keeping its expenses low. Bestselling products are retained and promotion is minimal ( Walker & Mullins, 2010). 9.2 Place This refers to the means through which the consumers will have access to the products. Super Eyes will be distributed through the various motor dealers and retailers of Toyota Australia. Toyota has specific outlets who supply their brands directly to the consumers 9.3 Promotion Super Eyes should try as much to attract both the target market through appropriate media channels. I believe both target markets can be reached through TVs, radios and issuing flyers. The message should be focused on positioning Super Eyes as the Customized Car of choice for the visually impaired adults and also a trendy brand to attract the young adults who are visually impaired by promising quality, variety and convenience. 9.4 Price Price is the value for our product. our price will be the unit cost plus margin. From the high prices of the raw materials and other associated costs as indicated in the budget on the Appendix, the prices per unit will range from $20000-30000 10.0 Marketing Strategies The main objective is to position Super Eyes in the market. The marketing strategies will seek first create customer awareness of the company’s product and then develop the customer base. The message will create a clear message for consumers that Super Eyes is safe for use by visually impaired persons. Since our product is currently in the introduction stage, our objective is to build awareness amongst customers and encourage trying of our product. Thus, we will adopt a push strategy. Media selection: 10.1 Advertising: 10.1.1 Designing the advertisements Our target markets are both young adults aged between 18-21 years and adults aged between 22 and 25 years. . Our ads, however, will aim to draw the target group’s attention. Since we are dealing with visually impaired persons, the advert will be mainly audio. However, we are still going to use TV adverts as visually impaired persons also have relatives and friends who can better explain to them how the vehicles look like and the benefits of our product. The promotion efforts will also be taken to where our target customers are. The company will seek collaboration from National Federation for the blind to reach out to the consumers. The organization has been advocating for the automobile companies to design a product that can specifically be used by the blind. Super Eyes is that unique product. Super Eyes will also be advertised in the schools of visually impaired to target the young adults who are in college. Conclusion From the above analysis, we can conclude that Toyota will benefit from adopting Super Eyes which is a new product that has been created to serve a niche market who comprise of visually impaired person who have not been able to drive in the past but with this product, they will be able to do that. Toyota stands to reap a lot of benefit especially during the first year before its competitors join this market. References Heimbuch J. (2014). High-Tech Car Puts the Blind Behind The Wheel (Safely). Retrieved on 11th May 2014 from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/high-tech-car-puts-the-blind-behind-the-wheel-safely.htm Hong D.W (2014), Why we made a car for blind drivers. Retrieved on 11th May 2014 from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/17/hong.car.blind.drivers/ National Federation of the Blind (2014). Products and Technology. Retrieved on 11th May 2014 from https://nfb.org/products-and-technology Guizzo E (2011). How Google's Self-Driving Car Works. Retrieved on 11th May 2014 from http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/how-google-self-driving-car-works Kotler P., & Keller K. L.(2009). A framework for Marketing Management (4TH Ed) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (2000) Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Kotler P. (2011). Marketing Insights From A to Z: 80 Concepts every manager needs to know. London: John Wiley and Sons. Toyota Australia. (2014). About the company: Toyota. Retrieved on 11th May 2014 from http://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/company?WT.ac=ToyotaOverview_Home_Company_FindOutMore Toomey, (2011). Safety, security, health and environmental Law. Annandale, NSW:Federation Press Walker, O. C., Gountas, I. J., Mavondo, T. F., & Mullins, W. J. (2011). Marketing Strategy: A decision-focused approach (2 ed.). North Ryde: McGraw-Hill. Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing Strategy (3 ed.). Routledge. Appendix Implementation time frame Table 1: Table of time frame for the marketing strategies Introduction of the product Start to sell in Toyotas outlets 06/08/2014 Start to sell the product in other Motor Dealers Outlets 06/12/2014 Pricing Offer a discount of 25% for the first purchase 06/08/2014-30/12/2014 Return to normal pricing After 01/01/2015 Advertising: We hope to reach our target audience using a medium that they all can understand. Radio advertisement will be the most appropriate in this case. However, we are still going to use TV adverts as visually impaired persons also have relatives and friends who can better explain to them how the vehicles look like and the benefits of our product. We will also develop some flyers that can be read using the Braille system and distribute them to our consumers. Radio and TV Advertisement ABC Radio National: After Lunch Time News-1 minute 06/06/2014-06/08/2014 ABC1-10 seconds, 1.p.m and 9 p.m 06/06/2014-06/08/2014 Flyers 50, 000 flyers to be distribute in Schools For The Blind 06/06/2014-06/08/2014 50,000 flyers to be distributed with the help of National Federation for the blind 06/06/2014-06/08/2014 Appendix ii Budget Description Cost (AUD$) Research and development 20,000 Marketing costs 50,000 Fixed Cost 1,000,000 Legal and regulatory costs 10000 Components and parts 12,000,000 Labor costs 1,000,000 Miscellaneous Expenses 50000 Total Costs 14,130,000 Read More