SMART Goals

The objectives that I wish to accomplish include the following.

Specific: I want to increase the profitability of the company by 30% in the next four months by providing superior services and high-quality products.

Measurable: Next year, the company will increase the number of its stores by 20% from 1,400 stores to 1,680 stores.

Attainable: The Company introduced a new software application to engage online customer communities, and I want my employees to train on how to conduct such discussions in the next two weeks.

Realistic: I wish to increase the company’s sales by 20% in the next five months.

Timely: The training program for the new technology introduced by the company will commence on Monday 20, 2016 and last for two weeks. Employees are expected to attend the training sessions until the end of the program on Monday, July 4, 2016.

The 3 C’s of a Marketing Strategy

Customer Targets

Cartridge World is targeting business and household customer in need of ink and toner, printers, service and supplies. Business customers that the company will target include medical centers, accounting firms, schools, banks, car dealers and insurance agencies (Cartridge World®, n.d). Household customers will include busy families, college students, and individuals that are 18 years and above and have home offices. As a marketing manager, I will persuade both the business and household customers, who wish to buy replacement cartridges, printer installation, monitoring and repair services. The company will target both the male and female customers by providing affordable printing supplies that will ensure they save their money.

Competitors

Cartridge World faces competition from companies that sell similar products to its household customer. The companies include Staples, Office Depot, and Amazon. Similarly, competitors for business customers include PC World and Wal-Mart. These companies will offer Cartridge World a strong competition that the company might overcome through effective marketing strategies.

Value Proposition

The value proposition for Cartridge World is “Buy Local. Find A Store Near You. Or Buy Online” (Cartridge World®, n.d). With such value proposition, customers will find it easy to purchase the products since they are locally available in the nearest stores. Also, the company’s value proposition communicate the availability of the products and services from the online stores, and customers will only need to log in and order the product or service. Similarly, the customer will purchase the product since the company offers free pickup and delivery services and this will appeal to the customers.

Marketing Mix for Consumer Market

First, Cartridge World offers its customers products that include remanufactured and original brand ink and toner cartridges. The products are of various colors such as black, yellow, green, gray, red and Cyan. It also offers single and multiple packages for their products.

Second, with the price, the company offers the lowest price for its products and services. Customers can pay for the ink and toner cartridges on a monthly basis. This will ensure the customer saves some percentage of money. Third, place as a marketing mix acts as a distribution channel to get to the target customers (Pride & Ferrell, 2010). The company provides direct sales of its products through retail stores and e-commerce methods. The market coverage for the company’s products will include intensive distribution on a global level. Fourth, with promotion as a marketing mix, the company will offer free pickup and delivery of the products ordered. There would be monthly special offers that will include a free ream of paper if the customer spends $50 or more on the company’s products.

Marketing mix for Business-to-Business Market

First, for business-to-business market, Cartridge World offers products that guarantee 100% high-performance ink and toner cartridges (Cartridge World®, n.d). The products related services include providing expert printer advice, printer monitoring, and installation. Second, with the price, Cartridge World would sell its products and services to businesses at the lowest price so that they can save up to 30% on printer cartridges (Cartridge World®, n.d). Moreover, businesses can also purchase the products and pay them in monthly installments. Third, place as marketing mix is essential and the company will use intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers to get to the target customers. The market coverage for the company’s products will include selective distribution. The company will narrow its distribution to a few businesses. Fourth, with promotion, Cartridge World will offer free next day delivery of the business’ supplies. To attract more customers, the company will provide expert printer advice through its online platforms that include official website and social media sites.

Quality-based Competitive Advantage

The issues on the quality of the products and service can ruin the company. The company will survive the competitiveness of the market if it offers its customers with a strong and consistent quality (Pride & Ferrell, 2010). A quality based competitive advantage is effective even in the long-term so long as the company maintains a certain quality level. Setting company standards, hiring quality staffs, training existing employees and using new technology will ensure that the company offers quality products and services to the customers. The presence of highly skilled workers, the use of state-of-art technology and the provision of complete printing solutions will appeal to the customers. Such attributes will make the customers perceive our products as an advantage over others.

Product Life Cycle

Product life cycle has four defined stages that include introduction stage, growth, maturity, and decline. Products in Cartridge World are in the maturity stage. At this stage, the products of the company are well established, and the company has a primary objective to maintain the market share they have built (Immonen & Saaksvuori, 2013). Cartridge World is a global leader, and its products are at this stage because the company has been in operation for more than 20 years. The products are distributed to more than 1,400 stores. Although the company is well established on the current stage of the product lifecycle, it is possible for the company to change to another stage. The company can use promotions and advertising campaigns to advance to the growth stage.

Increase Purchases: Consumers

The company will employ the following strategies to get the current customers of the product or service to purchase more. As a marketing manager, I will effectively listen and act upon feedbacks from the customers. By listening to both positive and negative feedbacks, customers would be satisfied because they would feel concerned by the company (Pride & Ferrell, 2010). Second, I employ Customer Relationship Management tool and understand my customers to know exactly what they want.

Increase Purchases: Business-to-Business

For the business-to-business market, the company will establish a reward program to get current customers to buy more. The company will offer greater rewards for the existing customers if they continue to do business with the company and the rewards will include future discounts or free travel. Second, the company will ensure customers participate in situations when a new product or service is introduced in the market. The company can issue newsletters and ask the customers to leave comments (Pride & Ferrell, 2010). Also, the company can email the customers and ask for their suggestions.

Reference

Cartridge World®. (n.d). Retrieved June 19, 2016, from https://www.cartridgeworld.com/main/

Immonen, A., & Saaksvuori, A. (2013). Product lifecycle management. Springer Science & Business Media.

Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2010). Marketing. Australia: South Western Cengage Learning.

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