KIAI Marketing Plan

* Executive summary
Kiai Marketing Group (Kiai), which is founded by Roger Mills who are a student at the University of Western Ontario (Western), London, Ontario, is a newly small firm aimed at providing innovative marketing solutions to London business. With the development of the technology, the university class now has changed a lot than before. Laptop replaced paper and pen as to become a common tool for taking notes and searching information during the university class. Mills has founded that a majority of Western’s 30,000 students used laptops in the classroom and around campus. Based on these potential advertising media, our firm’s product is to take advantage of the blank backing of laptop lids which were unused advertising space by using a laptop skin that is designed by Mills. Our firm’s goal is reaching a profit of $5,000 for the first year, let 80% students know Kiai and 50% students putting ads in their laptop lids.

* Current marketing situation
Market description
As the 10th largest city in Canada and the 6th largest city in Ontario, the population in London is over 430,000. What is more, for the reason of its location and is also a major hub for health care in Southwestern Ontario and home to both the University of Western Ontario (Western) and Fanshawe College, it attracted a large amount of students around the world. In other words, the more students in London, the more laptops here, the more advertising we can put on the laptop lips. Additionally, the local small business in London got the extremely supporting by the municipal and provincial governments. This will really benefit for our group which is direct targeting of students at Western. In fact, our product is a creative product that is unprecedented. The market is always attracted by the new things, also, our product can make profits both for the advertiser and the students.

Product review
Our product is pretty easy to produce and got from our customers. We’ve already contacted with a small, one-person operation in downtown, London to produce a laminate material, it can easily be applied and removed from laptop lids by using a white adhesive backing. Not only is it convenient for students to put it on their laptop lids, but help the advertiser to save the costs.

Competition
There are a lot of advertising media in London, some of them are outside of the university such as the London Free Press. It is the London’s major daily newspaper which attracted almost 226,000 readers each weekday, 250,000 on Saturdays and 140,000 on Sundays. Although it has numerous readers and the pricing information of it is confidential, the cost of posting advertising on it is so high that is not suitable for business targeting for students. Because the power of university students’ consumption is not very high, the product that sold to them would not be so expensive, so it is not cost-effective for a firm that targeting university students by advertising on London Free Press. Some of the competitors are around the university such as Western news, The Gazette, Orientation Week Packages and Immobile Poster Campaigns. The similarity of these media is they are easier to reach out the students.

However, the price of advertising is not cheap. The price in the Western News is ranged from $31.64 for a two-inch-wide advertisement to $497.20 for a full half page. Advertising in the Gazatte for one week ranged from $120.40 for one 16th of a page to $1,430 for a full page. A cost for “Welcome to Western” and placed business’s logo on the 5,000 laundry bags given to first-year students is $3,000. The cost of immobile poster campaigns in the Western is $110 per month due to the number of frames and specific locations. Compared to these traditional advertising media, not only does our product is creative, but we also save costs. Generally, university students are fond of new things, this kind of advertising would attracted more meaningful impressions compared to the standard. Moreover, Kiai is a company which has an excellent research of the Western students including demographic of the Western, it will be a strong advantage to those firms which experienced little to the Western.

Distribution
There are 5 different ways of distribution for our company’s product. First, a trade show called Bridge to Better Business would be held in London for two days in August. It provides local small business owner to exhibit their products to around 500 to 1500 attendees. Mills would have to prepare our own display, lighting and signage at an estimated cost of $250. Secondly, the Small Business Center (SBC) in London, provides business owners some business activities that we really need. But the cost of membership at the SBC is not cheap and we have to print off informational brochures and business cards. So this could be the alternative.

However, the SBC also hold workshops, networking events, seminars and meet-and-greet events for local business owners to discuss. Mills will attend a minimum of 20 sessions to “get his name and the business out there”, and he would also print off business cards to prospective clients. Then, we use the most traditional method which is direct sales. Mills would bring at least 100 copies of informational pamphlet and 250 business cards, pitching to local business owners face-to-face or cold-calling them. At last, we will develop a professional website for potential client, on account of we are a new company professional website would help us get much-need credibility for future development.

* Threat and opportunity analysis
The threat would be the cost of running a group. All of the prophase cost will be purchased ourselves. In addition, the team is not so big that we don’t have enough manpower to implement all parts of our business. The traditional advertising media such as newspaper, TV, broadcasting station would be a big challenge for us. For opportunity analysis, on the one hand, the service we provide is unique, no one does before, it is a creative things which could attract more attention in university students. On the other hand, we got an excellent research of the Western students demographic. We could contact and understand more than other companies outside of the Western.

* Objectives and positioning strategy
In the next 1 year after starting the Kiai business, reaching a profit goal of $5,000 for the year, be familiar with at least 80% Western students and let them know Kiai’s services, at least 50% students putting ads in their laptop lids. Our services is unique, the university students would easier to accept this kind of advertisement. It is distinctive and profitable for both the students and the advertiser.

* Marketing strategy and tactics
Although it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of a new advertising campaign, we are confident that Kiai’s form of advertising would make more meaningful impressions compared to the standard, more traditional advertisements offered by the competition. For the reason those companies experienced difficulty reaching the university demographic, which Kiai has got. We plan to cover over 50% popularity at the Western, over 30% in London, attract more than 100 advertisers, research new technology that could applied and removed more convenient than now.

* Action program
– Find advertiser according to the distribution of the marketing plan. – Advertise in the Western including putting up posters, handing out business cards, advertise on the facebook twitter and university’s website, telling friends and students at the Western. – Running the business with the advertiser and students, act as an intermediary businessman.

* Budgets
Trade shows $250
Small Business Centre Networking $360
Websites $750
Informational brochures $50
Copies of poster (50 x 0.5 + 50 x 0.25) $37.5
Business cards $50
Hire employees (4 x 500) $2,000
Others $1,000
Total $4497.5

* Controls
Following close to the line of the budget that listed above, don’t excess the budget, maximizing the benefits.