write a Marketing Plan for Popular Bookstore (Singapore) To Research both the Industry and the Company itself when Preparing for the Assignment: Marketing Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Marketing Plan for Popular Bookstore (Singapore)

The assignment is about creating a marketing plan for a Popular bookstore based in Singapore, critique their current marketing plan, and revamping it to a new one. The website of the bookstore:

To write a marketing plan for Popular Bookstore (Singapore). To research both the industry and the company itself when preparing for the assignment. To critique the existing marketing plan that they have could be better executed supported by theories and framework.

We are required to recommend a more appropriate marketing plan with objectives fulfilled. The headings & Subheadings for the report as follows (Popular bookstore)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Star Software, Inc., is a small, family-owned corporation in the first year of a transition from first-generation to second-generation leadership. Star Software sells custom-made calendar programs and related items to about 400 businesses, which use the software mainly for promotion.

star’s 18 employees face scheduling challenges, as Star’s business is highly seasonal, with its greatest demand during October, November, and December. In other months, the equipment and staff are sometimes idle. A major challenge facing Star Software is how to increase profits and make better use of its resources during the off-season.

An evaluation of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats served as the foundation for this strategic analysis and marketing plan. The plan focuses on the company’s growth strategy, suggesting ways in which it can build on existing customer relationships, and on the development of new products and/or services targeted to specific customer niches. Since Star Software markets a product used primarily as a promotional tool by its clients, it currently is considered a business-to-business marketer.

II. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Founded as a commercial printing company, Star Software, Inc., has evolved into a marketer of high-quality, custom-made calendar software and related business-to-business specialty items.

In the mid-1960s, Bob McLemore purchased the company and through his full-time commitment, turned it into a very successful family-run operation. In the near future, McLemore’s 37-year-old son, Jonathan, will take over as Star Software’s president and allow the elder McLemore to scale back his involvement.

A. The Marketing Environment

1. Competitive forces. The competition in the specialty advertising industry is very strong on a local and regional basis but somewhat weak nationally. Sales figures for the industry as a whole are difficult to obtain since very little business is conducted on a national scale.

Target Marketing

By focusing on commitment to service and quality. Star Software has effectively implemented a niche differentiation strategy in a somewhat diverse marketplace. Its ability to differentiate its product has contributed to superior annual returns.

Its target market consists of manufacturers or manufacturing divisions of large corporations that move their products through dealers, distributors, or brokers. Its most profitable product is a software program for a PC-based calendar, which can be tailored to meet client needs by means of artwork, logos, and text.

Clients use this calendar software as a promotional tool, providing a disk to their customers as an advertising premium. The calendar software is not produced for resale. The calendar software began as an ancillary product to Star’s commercial printing business.

However, due to the proliferation of PCs and the growth in technology, the computer calendar soon became more profitable for Star than its wall and desktop paper calendars. This led to the sale of the commercial printing plant and equipment to employees.

Star Software has maintained a long-term relationship with these former employees, who have added capabilities to reproduce computer disks and whose company serves as Star’s primary supplier of finished goods. Star’s staff focuses on the further development and marketing of the software.

C. Current Marketing Objectives and Performance

Star Software’s sales representatives call on potential clients and, using a template demonstration disk, help them create a calendar concept. Once the sale has been finalized, Star completes the concept, including design, copywriting, and customization of the demonstration disk. Specifications are then sent to the supplier, located about a thousand miles away, where the disks are produced.

Perhaps what most differentiates Star from its competitors is its high level of service. Disks can be shipped to any location the buyer specifies. Since product development and customization of this type can require significant amounts of time and effort, particularly during the product’s first year, Star deliberately pursues a strategy of steady, managed growth.