Week 9 Discussion
The Four P’s and Your Learning from the Tio case
This week Austin talked about what he learned from the stories of previous product launches that came from other cultures, such as hummus and Greek yogurt. In preparation for this week’s Discussion, think about the Tio Gazpacho story that you have been following throughout this course and what lessons you have learned from it.
Also, before writing your post this week, review The Four P’s of Marketing document in your Assignment 3 Resources. It defines the Four P’s as: (1) Product or Service, (2) Place, (3) Price, and (4) Promotion. Use the questions in the document to help you define the Four P’s for the product or service in your Business Plan.
For your initial post, answer the following questions:
- Briefly describe and define the Four P’s of your Marketing Plan.
- What is the most important lesson that you learned from the Tio case study?
tio Gazpacho: Taking on PepsiCo
This week Austin talks about a risk that is always in the back of his mind: the threat the PepsiCo could enter the U.S. market with their existing Spanish product, Avalle, a soup similar to the Tio brand. PepsiCo is the largest producer of gazpacho soup in the world and has dominated the Spanish market for about 15 years. Austin doesn’t know why PepsiCo hasn’t brought their product to the U.S. already, but he knows that Tio’s success has opened up a new market for drinkable soups that other companies could enter at any time. He thinks it is really important for him to make a splash with Tio to dominate the U.S. market early, before some powerful competitor like PepsiCo enters the same space.
Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.
1st person to respond to
1 day ago
Dear Dr. A. and Class,
Briefly describe and define the Four P’s of your Marketing Plan.
Product
Diamond Effect group coaching program helps service-based women solopreneurs sign clients consistently and generate predictable and growing income. Women start their service-based businesses because they want to do what they are passionate about, which becomes the service delivered (Castrillon, 1). Those skills allow them to serve their clients but are not the ones that enable them to run a successful business. That’s where the Diamond Effect coaching program comes in. The program teaches them how to confidently run a profitable business through online video training, weekly individualized coaching sessions, and the Dream-Plan-Do journal. Its core focuses on three pillars:
- Emotional intelligence such as self-awareness, confidence, effective communication, and decision-making skills (Goleman, 2).
- Hard business skills such as marketing and sales, online content creation and copywriting, basics of branding and finance. Along with ith coaching, this knowledge helps them create a simple business strategy and plan that the clients can easily understand and implement consistently.
- High-performance, i.e., effective time management and good habits, creates harmony between business and personal life (Covey,3).
Place
The diamond Effect coaching program will be delivered and mostly marketed online through main social media channels where women entrepreneurs gather Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Online presence and delivery allow me to reach an international audience and create flexibility for the clients and my business in many areas: delivery and learning, scaling, convenience.
Price
Market research has shown me that there are many coaching propositions that clients pay for nowadays: one-on-one coaching, small and larger group coaching programs, and fully automated, video-based online programs without coaching support. The prices range widely from $100 to $25,000 and more depending on the program delivery model, quality, the support provided, length, etc. The Diamond Effect coaching program is priced at $5,000. I have found it a competitive price on the market for the value proposition the program offers. It has already been validated with a couple of Beta testing clients.
Promotion
The program promotion will happen through a few channels, most of them being online. The primary social media are Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, with LinkedIn and Clubhouse being added in January 2022. On Facebook outside of my business account, I have created a community for women entrepreneurs (Facebook, 4) that has become an effective platform to promote the program and sales events such as webinars and workshops.
One of the new digital channels I have added this year is the Diamond Effect podcast, which is a long-term strategy for establishing expertise, building an audience, and promoting the coaching program (Perotin, 5).
As the sales expand and income is generated, I will also promote the program via paid online advertising, for example, Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram ads.
Outside of social media and digital space, other channels that I will use to promote my service are networking events and partnerships. I am part of a few networking groups that meet online and when allowed in person, where I can expand and build my network of relationships and promote my offer. Thanks to the win-win partnerships with networking communities and other organizations, such as BACD (6), I have an opportunity to offer value to their members by leading training or workshops, and in return, gain the ability to promote my services.
Last by not least, in the long-term, another promotional strategy could be a PR strategy for exposure in traditional media as a contributing expert, for example.
What is the most important lesson that you learned from the Tio case study?
I think the most important lesson I have learned from Tio’s case study is two-fold. On the one hand, as a business owner, you need to clearly understand your clients, the value your product/ service offers, and the brand you want to create. You need to believe in all that and have the resilience to put it out in and promote it in the market. At the same time, you need to be flexible enough to be open to change and innovation so you can respond quickly and strategically to what you learn in the process (Welch, 7). The learning can come in many ways: market research, the results you create with the offer, partners you work with, competition. For example, Tio started with the idea of being more of a drink, and as they observed the market and learned, they moved to meal substitute positioning, which changed how they promoted the products. It also started producing its products as organic, but with the partnership of General Mills and realizing the cost of production, it moved away from this strategy. Knowing and observing your competition and preparing for risks coming from that also is part of being proactive, flexible, and willing to change (JWI 575, 8).
Thank you,
Maggie
References:
- Caroline Castrillon. 2019. Why More Women Are Turning To Entrepreneurship. Forbes.
- Daniel Goleman. 2000. Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review.
- Stephen R. Covey. 1989. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Simon & Schuster.
- Facebook groups – Women Entrepreneurs with Passion 4 Life.
- Maggie Perotin. Diamond Effect Podcast.
- Jack and Suzy Welch. 2005. Winning. Harper Collins.
- JWI 575. Week 1-9. Tio Gazpacho case study. Retrieved from:
2nd person to respond to
Kirk Hanson RE: Week 9 Discussion
Greetings.
Briefly describe and define the Four P’s of your Marketing Plan.
Product of service: NUsurface XX branded as the industry-only patient-specific medial meniscus replacement patient device capable of delivering pain medication to arthritic knees while slowing the arthritic process.
Place: Patients obtain NUsurface XX only through their orthopedic surgeon as a medical treatment for debilitating knee pain. surface XX is an additional product category designed for the small percentage of patients whose anatomical variances are not compatible with surface. surface XX will be added to the social media patient education outlets and global websites.
Price: The ASP is not calculated for NUsurface XX; however, the anticipation will be a double-digit percentage more expensive than surface due to the added value of patient-specific and mediation delivery. Pricing is a complex topic because the price must be acceptable within the surgical coding procedural reimbursement value.
Promotion: NUsurface XX promotion via trade shows, articular cartilage restoration specialty meetings, radio promotions, and center of excellence programs for specific surgeon clinics, which includes visiting surgeon programs, sales rep training programs. surface and surface XX monopolize the market, and neither product has been FDA cleared. The need for these products becomes urgent by the day.
What is the most important lesson that you learned from the Tio case study?
The product placement strategy as a competitive advantage in the Gazpacho industry directs how Tio messages its brand. Tio took a deep dive into the other product categories investigating how they fared in the competitive landscape. Tio evaluated Hawaii Ottawa Gazpacho’s placement and assessed why PepsiCo had not expanded their product offering when Hawaii Ottawa was considered the most underplayed product in PepsiCo’s portfolio.
Competitive landscape assessment in the market segment is a strategical technique underplayed in the positioning of a brand. The prominent players have the resources to purchase shelf space and increase barriers to market entrance. It is these maneuvers that I find exciting to counter and invade without extensive company knowledge.
Tio brought up the Galanti Greek Yogurt example, how they could position themselves against the saturated yogurt sector.
Value, taste, or other customer-centric concerns were met; basically, Galanti did their research and listened to the customer. I believe the failure to listen is one Achilles heel to large companies; others include complacency, ego, and revenue over service.
If a small company listens to the customer, the company will hear screams of customer complaints. Companies I feel have a hero complex, where the company exists as the hero, versus creating a culture, strategy as the customer hero, and work backward to the company.
A company’s goal for revenue starts small and gains momentum. The momentum allows the company to grow internally with the increasing sales to keep the customer hero engaged and resist making illogical policies that benefit the company versus satisfying the customer.
Assessing the competitive playing field, listening and hearing the customers’ needs, addressing the needs, solving the customers’ internal issues, and creating a brand where people always feel the company is the customers’ advocate will drive loyalty and sustainably to the brand.
Kirk
References
1. JWI575 Week 9 lecture notes
2. G. Kawaski. The Art of The Start. Penguin Publishing
3. D. Breznitz & M. Murphree. 2016. What the U.S. Should Be Doing To Protect Intellectual Property. Havard Business Review.
