Proactiv target market

Natisha N. Young

Marketing Principles/310, Section,

Summer 2014)

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ProActiv

Be specific, e.g. Ford Taurus, Apple iPad, Tide Detergent with Bleach, etc. It is important to know if you are preparing a marketing plan for a single product or an entire product line.

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Executive Summary

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Prepare this slide last and submit with your finished product at the end of the semester.

An executive summary should include:

Summary of key findings in t16he analysis of the current marketing situation

Briefly state your marketing mix recommendations for the coming year.

(See Appendix 1, pg 612 in the text 15th ed. or find the related appendix in the online version for example, but be sure to frame it as a Power Point, not prose)

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Table of Contents

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Market description

Segmentation (describe target market using segmentation characteristics) 5-6

Marketing targeting strategy 7

Value proposition 8

Factors influencing consumer behavior of the primary target market 9

Buyer decision process of the primary target market 10-11

Product review 12

Levels of product/service 12

Type of product/service 13

Product/service life cycle 14

Benefits/features analysis 15

Differentiation 16

Branding strategy 17

Competitive review 18

Competitive analysis 18

Market share 19

Competitive positions and roles 20

Strategic sweet spot 21

Positioning 22

Distribution review 23

Current supply chain members and roles 23

Value-delivery network analysis 24

Current type of distribution strategy 25

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis (SWOT) 26

Microenvironments 27

Macroenvironments 28

Prepare this slide twice: 1. When you are ready to submit Part 1, prepare your Table of Contents for Part 1

2. When you are ready to submit Part 2, prepare your final Table of Contents for both Part 1 and Part 2

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Section A Current Marketing Situation

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A.1.a. Market Description Description of market segments

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ProActiv primary target is between the ages of 24 and 65. They are female urban professionals with at least some college. This consumer has an active lifestyle. They are concerned about social and environmental issues. Mind and body wellness are important to them. They belong to a health club; take yoga, Pilate's or tai chi lessons. The effects of aging and the maintenance of a youthful appearance are a part of their life.

The secondary target market is females between the ages of 18 and 30, at both secondary and post-secondary education levels. Students and recent graduates, located in major urban markets are important for this target market because the majority of students are situated in the more populated areas of cities. This target market would be more inclined to utilize untraditional media for information, in the way of social media and online advertisements

The third market that is trying to be reached is professional single men between the ages of 20-45 with a gross household income of $45,000 to $85,000. These men are concerned with impressing not only the opposite sex, but their employers within the workplace. These professionals earn middle to upper class incomes and live in urban and suburban areas. They are trendsetters that want to be the first out of their friends to try new products.

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A.1.b. Market Description Current Marketing Targeting Strategy

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Paid media- ProActiv will shift their commercials from mainstream shows like Glee to more male- dominate shows like ESPN First Take. The commercials will demonstrate how young men were able to clear up their skin and get the girl that they had been chasing for a date, how happier the man is because his social life is thriving after his acne cleared up, and show professional athletes of all sports claiming that they suffered with acne and how it affected their livelihood, prior to using ProActiv. An example of this is when ProActiv previously sponsored the longtime acne sufferer, 21 year old NASCAR driver, Danny Efland to drive the ProActiv Chevy Impala during NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, FL on Friday, July 2, 2010 (Unknown, 2010).

Earned media- ProActiv gains this from the work of mouth that celebrities offer when they are being interviewed and the interviewer inquires about how great their skin looks. They also achieve this from every day average people that get complimented on their complexion and the person mentions that they use ProActiv. More male actors and celebrities should be endorsing the product which will increase the machismo of the product.

Owned media- ProActiv has its own website and displays women and their life changing stories. Men should have a presence on the website and their success stories will be listed. The website also has websites for most countries in their native language. There is a toggle on the bottom right side of the website for consumers to pick the country that they are in and the website will load in their language. ProActiv also has millions in hits on YouTube and thousands of Facebook fans and Twitter followers that are worldwide. They are gaining promotional leverage from all their young hot celebrities that have millions of fans following them on their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and other social media websites.

Shared media- ProActiv has an interactive link on their website and their social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for fans to express their experiences with the products, whether it is positive or negative. It gives the consumer a chance to tell their aspect of the product and the products effectiveness to either counteract or support the claims that are made by ProActiv. There will be a more gender unspecific viewpoints to draw in the male audience. ProActiv will increase their presence in social networks and blogs with main concepts of sports discussion.

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A.1.c. Market Description Value Proposition

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The company’s time-tested unique selling proposition has been its promise to deliver blemish-free skin with a product that is characterized by its ease of use and that does not dry out your countenance, unlike some competitors’ products devised to treat acne.

ProActiv has traditionally relied on celebrity endorsers claiming that they owe their clear skin to or maintain it with ProActiv. This helps pull younger prospects, including teens, especially as they are the ones who are likely to suffer most from an outbreak of acne. The product relies on the buzz created when youngsters who don’t have their own credit cards ask their parents to buy ProActiv.

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A.1.d. Market description Factors influencing consumer behavior

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Sociocultural Forces. One potential competitive advantage for ProActiv is that it is targeted toward s the upper middle class market as a prestige product that is exclusively researched, provides consistent results, and can be customized to their individual preferences. Targeting to this market keeps the company stable because they are less likely to be affected by the economic slowdown and can afford to keep purchasing the product.

Based on the characteristics of your primary target market, what are the major factors influencing their buying behavior?

Hints:

Use Chapter 5, Figure 5.2 for a framework.

Do not need to address each factor, but those factors you believe are part of the consumer’s ‘black box’ for this purchase.

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A.1.e. Market description Buyer decision process

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Consumer behavior can be defined as the buying behavior of final consumers-individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption. Consumer behavior is strongly influenced by many uncontrollable factors namely cultural, social, personal and psychological. Marketers cannot control these factors, but it is a must to take them into consideration (Enderson, 2013).

People purchase the Facial Treatment Essence is normally based on the complex buying behavior. The price of this essence is expensive if compare with many other brands of its kind, thus it is quite risky to purchase. The consumer usually will get loads of information about this product from many sources before purchase.

The significant difference of this product is the unique ingredient called Pitera. Pitera is the secret to flawless skin which can only found in ProActiv products. It is a naturally-occurring liquid from the yeast fermentation process uses exclusive yeast which differs from other skin care brands that based on yeast from beer (Enderson, 2013).

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Continued

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Research suggests that a consumer passes through five stages of buyer decision process as shown in figure 1. Generally, consumers of ProActiv follow this theory. The first stage is problem recognition. At this stage, the consumer recognizes the need of a skin care product. The second stage is information search which is when the consumer tries to search for some alternatives skin care’s brands. Next stage is evaluation of alternatives. The consumer will evaluate the value of different brands, products and services. The following step is the purchase decision. The consumer makes a decision and selects ProActiv to solve the problem. On the post-purchase evaluation stage, the consumer will continue to use the same product if satisfied with the product. However, sometimes consumers may not follow the sequence of the buyer decision process or may not go through all the process in the real world.

A.2.a. Product Review Levels of product/service

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The persistence with three phases of cleansing, toning and refining is indicative of how the company has stuck with the same design for 17 years, despite some modification of the formula. An unchanged product has its attractions, as it tells a prospective buyer that the manufacturer got it right the first time. Although there are negative reviews about the product and its ordering process, ProActiv has its loyal repeat buyers who have helped the product remain a viable commercial proposition for nearly two decades.

No acne product works uniformly on every user, every time. And a manufacturer will want to get it right most of the time. That said, ProActiv does not do anything differently, as compared with other competitive products, and uses benzoyl peroxide for acne treatment. How ProActiv differentiates itself from competitors is in its ease of application and its non-irritability.

User reviewers of ProActiv are split evenly between those who rave about the product and those who deny that it works. The apparent reason for such mixed reviews is benzoyl peroxide which suits some people and doesn’t suit others, who are allergic to it.

The company also offers a gentle version, with salicyclic peroxide, for those users who are allergic to benzoyl peroxide.

We also have to take into account those users who do not follow the manufacturer’s instructions religiously and so may not be deriving optimal benefit from using ProActiv. Such users might complain about the non-effectiveness of the product.

Additionally there are many types of acne some of which might not respond to ProActiv and could need the active intervention of a dermatologist and prescriptive drugs to treat them.

But if you don’t get your hopes up by taking the claims made in ProActiv infomercials literally, you could end up appreciative of any results you might see, rather than having unrealistic expectations and ending up disappointed.

It is not possible to get a guarantee from any acne treatment company that its product is sure to produce results for every user. However, ProActiv gives a guarantee of refund if you are unhappy with the product and return it to the company. Some user reviewers have complained about the company’s auto-ship policy. But if you understand the ordering process, you will find that you can cancel your order and ensure that such automatic shipping does not take place.

If you have tried other acne treatment products to no avail, you should try ProActiv. The large majority of users have found it to produce positive results, and it might work for you as well.

This begins your description of your product/service as it currently exists.

To complete this topic, skip ahead to Chapter 8, specifically Figure 8.1, Three levels of product. Describe your product/service in terms of each of these levels.

Hints:

Be sure you understand each of the three levels as this will be important in assessing and developing marketing strategy.

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A.2.b. Product Review Type of product/service

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Specialty Consumer product

Customer buying behavior- strong brand preference

Price-products are at the top of the price scale for their category in the industry. ProActiv mostly uses psychological pricing to see their products.

Distrubution- uses the intermediaries of direct marketing and selling to distribute their products. It is exclusively distributed. It can only be purchased online, over the phone, mall kiosk or from a vending machine

Promotion-new media will be to 65% traditional media and 35% new media.

Examples-toner, astringent, and masks

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A.2.c. Product review Product/service lifecycle

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Expanding product awareness and develop a market for the product

Introduction

Seek to build brand preference and incease market share

Growth

Defend market while sharing maximisng profits

Maturity

Adding new features

Reduced costs

Decline

A.2.d. Product Review Benefits/features analysis

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Targted Segment Customer Need Corresponding Benefits

Skin smooting exfoliator Clear pore clogging imprities Renew skin surface

Complexion Hydrator Moisturizer Even tones

Pore targeting treament Fight acne Protects skin’s surface

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A.2.e. Product Review Differentiation

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The Product differentiation in the positioning strategy of ProActive that sets it apart from its competitors is its distinct reputation for effective and noticeable results, also accentuated by the positive endorsements given by various celebrities. This is part of the strategy of positioning ProActive on product attributes, on the basis of its blemish fighting performance. What to have in the words of P.diddy "silky smooth, cocca-butter skin?" How? Just ask Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields. Celebrity endorsement have been a popular promotional tool for ProActive, as using someone known and trusted gives consumers the impression they are more trustworthy and adds weight to their testimonials. Why use celebrities? Celebrity endorsement have been a popular promotional tool for ProActive, as using someone known and trusted gives consumers the impression they are more trustworthy and adds weight to their testimonials. Along with this today's society has glorified and celebrities through the media and many people may look up to celebrities as idols or many be greatly influenced by what they purchase and in turn purchase similar things to be like them. An example of this would be using the teen sensation Justin Beiber in there testimonials using the influence of his targeted audience which largely consists of teen girls in which also fit’s ProActiv’s demographic. Other forms of promotion Other forms of promotion undertaken for ProActive include personal selling methods such as stalls in shopping centers and also through mass media advertising mainly through television. ProActive was founded by two Stanford university students while they were studying dermatology. The two dermatologists came about the idea while they were discussing how they want to improve skin tone, blemishes blackheads as well as whiteheads. Thus a 3 step system was designed to prevent acne and future breakouts on a daily basis.

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