The research action plan is a set of executive points designed based on integrated practical research. This is to make a targeted change to a company, brand, or product. This plan describes the company's current situation, the target situation, and the necessary strategies.
Research background
The research plan was conducted on Apple, a leading company in the telecommunications and technology sector. Apple uses the concept of contemporary marketing on a large scale and is studying all the strategies necessary to maintain its significant position in this market. This is done by providing high-quality, environmentally friendly products and the best after-sales service.
Research goals
The objectives of marketing action plan are mainly based on several objectives, including increasing sales, acquiring new customers, increasing brand value and awareness, building customer loyalty for this brand, and increasing the company's market value and profits.
Research analysis:
Before starting the implementation steps and implementing business strategies, several necessary research analyses must be carried out, the most important of which are the following:
1. Micro-level analysis: It is the group of forces that affect the work of companies from the inside and its operational elements (Caruso, Di Battista & Gattone, 2020).
2. Macro-level analysis: It is a group of external forces that affect businesses, such as laws and regulations (Grovermann, Wossen, Muller & Nichterlein, 2019).
3. Consumer perception analysis: It is the opinions of customers about a product resulting from their feelings and beliefs about it or the brand (Lee, Kebede, Lusk, Mirosa & Oey, 2017).
4. Direct selling analysis: The company analyzes whether direct selling is the best option for marketing its products, and companies sell their products and services directly to customers without an intermediary.
5. Indirect selling analysis: Analyzing whether the company can sell its products through intermediaries and commercial agents.
6. Doing market research: Companies use these techniques and methods to collect information about their brand, products, and services.
Including interviews, Netnography, etc. (McDaniel Jr & Gates, 2018).
Proposed strategies
In this section, the implementation points that can be made based on the information obtained from previous research will be presented:
1. Market segmentation: it is the division of the population into groups according to their characteristics; This segmentation must be measurable for marketing purposes (Nagamia, 2015). This is included (Geographical segmentation - Demographic stratification - Psychographic segmentation - Behavioral Segmentation).
2. Pricing Strategies: Applying aggressive pricing strategies to maximize profitability and continuity, such as: (cost-based pricing - pricing based on the market and the competitive position of the product - value-based pricing - differentiated pricing - value-added pricing) (Baker & Edwards, 2018).
3. Promotion Plan: It is developed to target existing and potential customers. This comes through short-term initiatives such as discounts, gifts, and loyalty programs. Promotions can also be in person, face-to-face, or over the phone. Public announcements can also be broadcast via multimedia, such as the Internet, television, radio, and magazines (Allender & Richards, 2012).
4. E-marketing: marketing products and services via the Internet. Under this name, all methods and practices related to marketing via the Internet, including (Digital marketing - Mobile applications - Social media) (Natsir, Ardianto, Djawa, Lydia & Maseleno, 2020).
5. Global Marketing: It is the marketing and promotion of products and services in the global market that give the brand more significant cash flows and build a higher reputation and competitive advantage than its counterparts in the local market. This is done by working according to the company's comparative advantage among global peers and understanding the Product Trade Cycle (Peng, 2022).
The biggest challenges in marketing research
These challenges lie in poor planning or focusing on analysis more than focusing on a strategy that can be implemented on the ground. Also, there is difficulty in determining the appropriate market for the product if it is a new product and does not have an audience. There is also a difficulty in balancing the success criteria of the strategy; for example, is the target first increased profits or customer loyalty? The quality of the data obtained comes first; otherwise, everything planned will be wrong from the beginning. Conducting a realistic competitor analysis is very difficult, as not all information and internal strategies for companies are known or published. On the other hand, seeking to obtain them in crooked ways, such as espionage, leads to the collapse of the company's reputation.
Conclusion
Marketing plans aim to provide clear strategies to obtain a larger market share and work to increase profits, continuity, and sustainability. This comes after a deep and thoughtful understanding of the target market and how to sell the product.
References
Allender, W. J., & Richards, T. J. (2012). Brand loyalty and price promotion strategies: an empirical analysis. Journal of Retailing, 88(3), 323-342.
Baker, B. L., & Edwards, C. J. (2018). Bad Actors in the Distribution Channels: Conceptual Clarity, Demarcation & Antecedents of Abuse. International Journal of the Academic Business World, 12(1), 1–8. Retrieved from EBSCO Multi-search.
Caruso, G., Di Battista, T., & Gattone, S. A. (2020). A micro-level analysis of regional economic activity through a PCA approach. In The International Conference on Decision Economics (pp. 227-234). Springer, Cham.
Grovermann, C., Wossen, T., Muller, A., & Nichterlein, K. (2019). Eco-efficiency and agricultural innovation systems in developing countries: Evidence from macro-level analysis. PloS one, 14(4), e0214115.
Companies market cap. (2022). Market capitalization of Apple (AAPL) https://companiesmarketcap.com/apple/marketcap/
McDaniel Jr, C., & Gates, R. (2018). Marketing research. John Wiley & Sons. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Marketing+Research%2C+12th+Edition-p-9781119716310
Nagamia, N. K. A. (2015). Apple Inc-A Marketing Analysis Case Study. MacEwan University Student eJournal, 2(1).
Natsir, M., Ardianto, Y. T., Djawa, S. K., Lydia, E. L., & Maseleno, A. (2020). An Experimental Analysis on Impact of Digital Marketing on Business-To-Business Ecommerce. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(1), 1010–1020. https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v24i1/pr200206. Retrieved from EBSCO Multi-search
Peng, M. W. (2022). Global business. Cengage learning. https://www.cengage.com/c/global-business-5e-peng/9780357716403