Marketing Mix
The marketing mix refers to the set of actions, or tactics, that a company uses to promote its brand or product in the market. The 4Ps make up a typical marketing mix – Price, Product, Promotion and Place. E. Jerome McCarthy (McCarthy, J. 1960), was the first person to suggest the four P’s of marketing – price, promotion, product and place (distribution) – which constitute the most common variables used in constructing a marketing mix. According to McCarthy the marketers essentially have these four variables which they can use while crafting a marketing strategy and writing a marketing plan. In the long term, all four of the mix variables can be changed, but in the short term it is difficult to modify the product or the distribution channel.
6.2.1 Product
Product is an item that is built or produced to satisfy the needs people that is attached to their mobile phones and people that uses social networking sites for brand awareness and benefiting from the application itself. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of services or goods. However Snap and Earn provides a service where we allow any individual to be their own social media influencer by sharing and promoting the restaurants that they have been to. Besides sharing their photos and creating brand awareness for the restaurant / online shops, Snap and Earn also allow users to benefit from earning virtual coins, discounts and vouchers if they assist in promoting for the shop.
6.2.2 Promotion
This can include advertising, word of mouth, press reports, incentives, commissions and awards to the trade. It can also include consumer schemes, direct marketing, contests and prizes. Snap and Earn will host contest and prize giving at chosen places for consumers to earn more virtual coins that can be used to exchange for vouchers and we will be working towards exchanging the virtual coins that consumer has for cash or cash vouchers. This benefits social media influencer as well because our team includes a video team that will help film the social media influencer and also the restaurant that is involved. Restaurants will benefit from the amount of people that joins the application and the video team that will be given to them if they join Snap and Earn.
6.2.3 Price
Price refers to the value that is put for a product or service. It depends on costs of production, segment targeted, ability of the market to pay, supply – demand and a host of other direct and indirect factors. There can be several types of pricing strategies, each tied in with an overall business plan. Pricing can also be used a demarcation, to differentiate and enhance the image of a product.
However, the cost to join the application is free for users. Restaurants and online shops would have to pay in order for social media influencers to come and visit their shop and also a video team that is ready to help them promote their shop in a professional manner. Aside from that, Snap and Earn’s income will come from advertisements that choose to be promoted at our application.
6.2.4 Place
Place refers to the point of sale. In every industry, catching the eye of the consumer and making it easy for consumers to buy it is the main aim of a good distribution or ‘place’ strategy. As mentioned in the target market segmentation, Snap and Earn aims to locate this service in urban and suburban areas where most colleges or universities and companies are located, which will be easier for Snap and Earn to drive more users.
5.2.1 Strengths
Snap n’ Earn is a unique social media application, in which no app has done before. This lends to the strength of Snap n’ Earn to flourish in the market and catch the attention of future users. Our app also follows the trend of the rise of social media usage within these recent years (Aaron, 2018) and we believe we have the perfect timing to release our app. Snap n’ Earn also makes using social media much more beneficial with our rewards system, making our app more attractive to potential users.
5.2.2 Weaknesses
A weakness our app encounters is the difficulty to form partnerships and gain sponsors before the launch. As mentioned in Strengths, our app is the first of its kind, and this becomes something of a double edged sword, as while we have created a new niche and attraction point for ourselves, future sponsors and partners have no vantage point as to how well our app can grow, therefore making them hesitant to form partnerships if our app fails to get its footing in the ever fleeting market.
5.2.3 Opportunities
According to Figure 5.1, the usage of social media has been steadily rising as the years go by. This opens a gateway of opportunity to penetrate the market with Snap n’ Earn. Not only that, because more and more people use social media, people will be more willing to try out a new form of social media than in the past years, as they are used to the concept of social media applications and have a basic grasp on how to operate such an app.
5.2.4 Threats
One of the main threats for Snap n’ Earn is the possibility of the usage of social media waning along with the market fluctuating, therefore the growing threat of loss of interest. Not only that, there is the threat of copycats in the market, which happens when something new enters the market. Copycats can potentially be a threat of substitution and also take away revenue from the original application.