Thorr Motorcycles

Instructions: Complete a five year simulation, and answer the following questions on the actual approach you used for the simulation. You may type your answers directly on this form, but the completed document must be 2-3 pages in length (please do not change the margins). Due November 25, 11:59pm

With the shift in the end customers demographics, it would be wise for Stihl to consider alternative strategies to supplement their current reliance on independent specialty dealers. A company must always address who the end customer is, when you forget or choose to ignore who the customer is, then you tend to not be able to reach them. The marketing mix (product, price, placement, and promotion) has to be in tune with who the end customer is and what their economic situation might be. The case breaks down the changes or shift in demographics in the form of predictables and unpredictibles.

Motorcycle Cruisers is known for creating a stream of customers who are an elite bunch of people and have their own level of desire for motorcycle. The main objective of Motorcycle Cruisers has been to maintain the brand image in the eye of the consumer so that the customers don’t ever feel the image to be diluted. It is the experience that the customer goes through makes the bond special. Company has integrated its supply chain so well that consumers gets to interact directly with the suppliers and get the motorcycle as per his requirements. It creates a long term bond towards the company from the customer side. This is the single most important strategy adopted by Motorcycle Cruisers to create successful relationship marketing with the customer. It makes the customer loyal towards the brand. Marketing personnel’s of the company are very well trained so that they can understand the actual needs and want of the customer, and assure the desired output from the supply side of the company. It is said that the company does not only sell motorcycle but they sell a complete ownership experience. This is possible only because of the employees of the company

The objective of the simulation was to maximise profits of Universal Car Rental Company. The simulation was run across three cities in Florida; Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

Thorr has decided to launch RRoth. $12,649,000 is spent out of allotted $13 million dollars for the marketing plan. Keeping the young people and their salary range in mind, new motorcycle will be priced between $13000 and $15000. Wide range of promotional techniques will be used including sponsoring mega events like Daytona and getting celebrity endorsements. It also included insurance facility, protection offerings, and featuring of RRoth in Hollywood movies. Movies were specially focused because of young target audience. Dealers will sell the motorcycle all over the country. Official website will give complete information about the product including financing options. Planned services include customization options, club memberships and dealer training program. Financing option will ensure the customer from lower income group. Thorr is performing much better after the implementation of all the recommendations. Now, young people are opting for the new product enhancing company’s market position as well as sales.

Since quarter one was the first quarter of this simulation, I was unaware of how difficult it was going to be to make all the different decisions. Firstly, I had to choose a Company name. Because I was selling computers, I thought that the name “Dev-Tech” was a perfect fit being that this simulation was about development and technology. Next, I had to choose a target segment. I knew going into this simulation that it would be better to invest in the more expensive goods as it would benefit me in the end. The segment that didn’t care about price was Mercedes, so that is the segment that I made my first priority.

Initially, our firm’s business position was at a healthy position. In the beginning of the simulation, our overall market share for the automobile industry was 28.2%; the highest in the market. We realized that our primary strength from product contribution came from our economy car Alec with 63.5% market share for economy cars, and from our utility car, awesome with a 48.5% market share for its vehicle class. Thus, it was evident what we needed to do; maintain high market share of our leading cars while conforming our least profitable vehicle class sustainably to coordinate to customer demand.

Select one (1) of the types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger touring class motorcycles. Outline the process steps that your company would take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide a rationale for the response.

However, marketers should not become complacent and they may seek to inject new life into the brand to prolong the growth stage and put off the onset of maturity. A mature product may need a facelift, and marketers must decide whether to support a declining brand or let it die a natural death.

Other important factors to consider when it comes to product analysis includes the position of their products and services on the product/service life-cycle, how advantageous these companies are to one another with respect to the products they offer, and the benefits provided by these products and services to the consumer and other parties in the decision process. An important characteristic about the PC industry is that products have short life cycles. This characteristic results in the products and services offered by the two firms going through the life cycle stages quickly, spending the most time in the declining stage.

Currently, Thorr's price, lifestyle image, product design, and lack of service offerings are not commensurate with the needs of the coveted 25-35 year old demographic. Thorr must make substantive efforts to change these perceptions while still holding fast to a carefully built brand image within the wider industry. It must reposition itself without fundamentally tarnishing its reputation. It must hold onto its shrinking base of older customers but expand its outreach to the exploding market of younger consumers.

The product itself is arguably the most important part of the marketing mix because this is what the customer is actually going to buy, so it is very important that it meets the demands of customers. By taking a customer centric approach, a business can ensure that the product meets the customers demands rather than a product centric approach as this wont meet all of the target markets needs. “Customers want a product which is both environmentally friendly and safe” (Gbadamosi, n.d.) By providing these two things when a product is being launched, would help ensure that a product launch has been successful. However in some cases, some businesses will struggle to meet this for example a motor vehicle. Due to the fact that cars release emissions, cars are not going to be environmentally friendly, however if the company is able to show that the business is improving on what they previously offered in terms of reducing emissions from their cars, customers are more likely to be pleased and therefore makes it likely that the product is going to have a successful product launch.

Regardless of the value of every product, they all progress through a product life cycle. The phase starts with the introduction of the product and gradually moves to growth, maturity and finally be replaced by new improved products or naturally decline. Each of these stages of product life cycle requires a different marketing mix and research.

Introduction: This paper aims at analysing the usefulness of the Product Life Cycle (PLC) concept to the marketers. It will describe the different stages of the PLC concept and their respective implications on the marketing mix and the strategies which can be adopted during the different phases.

The product life cycle should also be considered. The life cycle of a product includes its introduction to the market, growth, maturity and final decline. New goods should make more use of promotion since the marketers would want people to know that that product is on the market. During the growth stage promotion efforts should be even more vigorous due to the fact that competition has entered the picture. When the product has matured competition has probably stabilized and its consumer demand has decreased this is when marketers should use elements of the promotion mix such as advertising to remind or reinforce consumers attitudes about the product. The decline stage of the lifecycle marketers should set a much smaller promotion budget so as to secure all possible profit (Bennett, 1988, p.521).