The organization must undertake the indispensable academic work in Identifying an opportunity; a need to be filled, a want to be satisfied or a problem to be solved is the key to product development. This need or want is expressed in the strategic plan, categorizing the targeted market by geographic or cyber place; the location in which the product physically meets the customer and/or the consumer, portrayed in details of juridical borders, socioeconomic factors, and by time; seasonal events, and circumstances; political stability. Additionally, the targeted market must describe the actual end-users of the product, in the strategic plan, using consumer demographics, consisting of life style statistics, age, income levels, levels of disposable income and other common factors.
Next to the head of state, in front of cameras, is too late to get to know the audience, prior contact in a variety of events is crucial. Describing events; when the product is the event, capturing and holding the attention of a specific audience, or the product is piggybacking on the event. Government conferences, sector and industry meetings, sport and culture shows, designed and formatted as presentations, competitions or entertainment. The tourism sector, particularly hotel operations, offer venues for many types of conferences and trade missions to sell their rooms, while larger venues are engineered as multipurpose stadiums, able to host live performances and a few hours later, transforms to host sporting competition. Many types of products pay to be associated with such events and some even own the event, hence the need to describe the targeted market in terms of common interest.
The head of state message is ultimately directed at the home market, while distributors and other intermediaries respond only to customers’ demand. Driving promotional communications; by assessing the customer’s willingness and ability to purchase and the product’s capability to compete in the defined market. All promotional strategies must reach the intended audience defined by age and income bracket, with messages that fit their lifestyle, culture and religion, and the product must be accessible and affordable. Noting that, the market description can separate; targeted consumers, who will use the product, from the actual customers, who makes the purchase, such as, in the parent child relationship. Hence, targeting a child’s age group end-user market, may involve advertising to their parents, who have the purchasing power.
The organization must know its financial position and that of any potential partner to assess its risk. Current market data drives the present strategic plan which is used to produce a business plan for lenders and a prospectus for investors. Time sensitive documents that shows the operations viability. A statement on the current financial position; assets owned, liabilities owed and the structure of the existing ownership, will lead into the projections of income and expenditure to estimate funding requirements. The income generated from sales must be justified, convincingly, to support the scheduled repayment of debt and the projected returns on investment, by the detail analysis of market conditions, in which, the defined targeted market, based on currently available data is one element.
Once the targeted market is identified and the decision is made to penetrate, the product must be adjusted to please the end-users. Product creation or improvement is driven by identifying an opportunity to win and grow market share, until proven unviable. Research and development starts with an idea, to fill a need, satisfy a want or solve a problem, and continue throughout the marketable life span of the product, with improvements driven by consumer feedback. Very few products actually start from an original idea, in comparison to products, which are improvements on an existing product. Whether improving a good physical design or service delivery methods, altering the packaging or pricing formula, or changing the distribution channel or delivery system, the R&D saves time and money.
Economic Research is necessary to maintain an affordable price range, which will generate a profit and sustain long-term activities to benefit all stakeholders. Consumers must have access to a quality product and the supporting services essential to maintain the product’s performance over its life span. Customers must have timely access to products priced within their means. Suppliers profit from the sale of their goods. Intermediaries, professionals and venders will benefit from direct payments for their services. Employees benefit directly from sustainable work and through salaries and wages. Investors earn an attractive return on investment. Government revenues, through geography, industry, corporation and employment taxes, are preserved, which is the mission of the head of state.
Scientific market testing, with a controlled group, selected as test subjects by demographics (age, income, etc.) and monitored for reported and unreported reactions. Tasting, biochemical effects, interviews, written questionnaires, facial and body language reactions are some of the results that will drive product research, design and further development. Testing under controlled conditions, such as in a laboratory, and with specifically selected human subjects, who can or cannot react to or with each other, are different test to solicit various results. These results affect decisions, as to the product design, the type of individual to target and the very makeup of the targeted market.
The potential partners, in this new market, must also be made to feel comfortable. The corporate image, in large organizations, require and engage numerous persons in a public relations department, focusing on publicity and promotional events, working behind the scenes on investors relations meetings, long service awards presentations, family day activities, trade missions, product packaging design, employee dress code, corporate logo, stationery and website design, to name a few aspects. Smaller organizations may contract stand alone agencies to handle various aspects, such as new artwork for the corporate logo, related work to stage annual meetings, quarterly presentations, design advertising campaigns and issue media releases. The importance of imaging, no matter the size of the enterprise, affects all human interaction in the decision to buy or invest.
The organization is in this new market to ultimately compete. Competing for customers’ loyalty or repeat sales is to focus on a mix of positioning and pricing. Positioning the good where and when the customer expects to find it and locating or delivering the service geographically and conveniently for the customer is essential to generate repeat sales. Pricing the product competitively and within the customer’s available means is also important. Mixing positioning and pricing to promote and present a product that is both available and affordable to the customer will result in purchasing loyalty. It must be noted, that in many industries and sectors, promotional strategies are employed to introduce any changes to the positioning and pricing of the product, to reduce shifts in loyalty.
Familiarity with the competitions’ products offers a great opportunity to expose weaknesses. Advance Awareness of promotional campaigns allow for a counter move with an opposing promotion. Costing agreements negotiated with suppliers must remain highly confidential, if not, the terms and conditions will no longer offer a competitive advantage. Pricing strategies and the resulting product price ranges will position the products in terms of competing on quantity or quality, but if, the price is forced out of the targeted market range, making the product uncompetitive, organizational leaks maybe the reason.
Recording face-to-face meetings and telephone conversations have become a standard method of operation, similar to taking minutes, within an organization. Scrutinizing arrival and departure times, as was once done by time cards, now using video recordings or computer logs, with sign in passwords, is now acceptable. Electronic tracking of data entry, reports and communications are enabled on all computer based equipment to monitor productivity, including in cell phones and vehicles giving location, times and distance travelled. All such recordings within an organization, on or off premises, are agreed to in an employment contract, hence the more secrets or confidential data an employee is exposed to, the greater the level of surveillance.
Defending against aggressive competitors; bugs can be easily detected, tracing their origin however, will require more advance techniques, which can pinpoint infrared microphones or radio waves to a receiver, while coded communications are developed to misdirect and confuse, so that recorded conversations appear to be unimportant. The old methods of encrypted communications, using a cipher and key, is still commonly used and is best recognized and stopped by identifying the people involved in the transmitting stage, rather than attempting to decode.
Infiltration using human assets is much more likely – trained operators operating in plain sight – diverting suspicion by talking loosely but listening intensely, highly qualified but in a low level position, travelling modestly no expensive car and always being the poorest in the room. Transmitting information during industry or sector associations meetings or cocktail functions, clear to the person receiving the intelligence but encrypted to all others around, is the best way. Recruiting a discontented employee to pass prudent information is an ease as asking about a job. Are you happy with your current employer? If yes, are there any more openings, if no, well there may be an opportunity to earn some additional money.
Rationale
T.A.J & Associates Company Limited uses this occasion to comment on topics that have been covered, both academically and by the mainstream media, to add its opinion and point out investment opportunity, not to invoke any social action.
