Final Project: Marketing Plan

University of Phoenix MKT 230

Jose A Torres

Sunday, August 19, 2012

In my marketing plan, I will combine a few different services but concentrate on two to three services but the concept of the company being promoted is a different kind of customer Service Company. The company would offer photo/video services, paralegal services for attorneys, notarizing signing agents, consumer bankruptcy petition preparation, and a joint venture with bankruptcy attorney Sean Fleming to provide a complete debt elimination credit-rebuilding program. That is why I am calling the company "The Torres Networking Group" or TNG, LLC because it will be more of a consulting company with these services. This is a real world example; it is a company that I am launching, and by the beginning of 2013 when I receive my small business, funding the company should have a fully functional interactive website and a retail location in Elgin, Illinois (Welcome to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2011). My marketing plan is not just a project and an exercise it is a personal dream of mine that I have wanted to realize since 2006. Based on the research I have performed and the analysis I have decided to provide these services in the first marketplace such as Kane County in Elgin, Illinois. This would be a retail location with a photo and video studio included for consumers.

At this location, we would offer services such as photo shoots, photo printing, and videos. In addition, I would tap into the wedding and sweet sixteen and the Latino sweet fifteen consumers. One of the reasons for offering the photo/video service is my background in photography and videography going back to when I attended Columbia College Chicago, which is a great school for world famous filmmakers and photographers (Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Illinois, 2011). In addition, I received a certification in videography and editing from the Illinois Center for Broadcasting. During that time, I was also an intern/production assistant at Fox News Chicago where I learned a great deal from video camera operators, editors, photographers, reporters and producers. When I attended Columbia College for a couple of years, I learned the principles and concepts of videography and photography from some great industry professionals. Therefore, because of my previous experience, I have been working as a freelance photographer, videographer and video editor for the last four years and working on various different projects for consumers and businesses (Create your marketing strategy, 2011). Even though there will be different services provided the main service that I will be marketing to consumers in this area will be photography and videography services. I have dealt with consumers, businesses and organization working on anything from wedding photos, music videos to commercials for businesses to filming a music festival in Chicago during the summer. So naturally, I wanted to take these skills and experience that I have been working on and improving the last few years and use it for a business venture such as opening a photo, video studio service, and a retail location to go along with it. My concept is very simple and straightforward there are customers in this Chicago suburb who do not have access to affordable and quality photography and videography services. Most customers have the time to drive thirty to fifty miles into the city in order to find a company that offers them a wide variety of photography and videography services for their personal, family or corporate events.

In the process of conducting and performing a detailed research process on how to maximize profit margins in this type of business and in the area that is going to be launched for opening. I have chosen a location that has a lot of foot traffic. It is an indoor flea market but management is allowing us to construct a freestanding studio and office at very affordable rate of $500-$750 per month, which includes electricity. In addition, next to the location there is a banquet hall with many possible leads for new business. The location is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday and it gives me an opportunity to continue working my full time job during the week. I might have to hire a receptionist for one day a week two but for the most part, I would be able to be involved in the business. One of my advantages versus my competitors is that I have a wholesale and distribution agreement with an online company in Canada called Photstockplus where I get the very lowest price for printing photos and shipping them to customers (Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Illinois, 2011). Therefore, I feel that I have an advantage in being able to be competitive and offer the lowest prices for photo and video packages in the area where I will be opening the retail location. I have calculated my expenses and overhead and between using my own cell line for the business line my wireless modem for internet access and electricity being included in the monthly rent; I can use most of my budget for marketing and advertising and really take it to the competition. Since I am a small business, I am concentrating on print media such as ads in local Spanish and bilingual newspapers that are more affordable than radio and TV ads. I have concentrated my efforts into pursuing the specific demographic of Spanish Latinos Hispanics that are middle to lower class and are on a budget in this particular market in Elgin, Illinois and the Chicago suburbs.

My business will serve all customers in the area but the retail location has a predominantly Hispanic customer base. Therefore, I have to be proactive and tailor my marketing strategies, policies, pricing, packages and service to the specific demographic in the area where I will have my retail location set up. My target market strategy is still the same as week 4 and the statistics are the same, the difference is that I am not offering legal services instead its photography and videography services because of my background in this area. The retail location in Elgin Illinois has 95% of the customers speaking mostly Spanish and English as a second language so my demographic is mostly Latino customers who mostly speak Spanish but are bilingual to a certain extent. According to the 2010 census there is about 700, 000 Latinos in Chicago and another 1.4 million in all the surrounding suburbs. This is an ideal situation for the photography and videography services in this market because not only am I trying to reach consumers but also businesses (Welcome to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2011). This consumer data is instrumental in understanding the specific market in Elgin Illinois and the Chicago area and suburbs. I did not purposely and intentionally seek out this market of Hispanic consumers who mainly speak Spanish and very little English and a small percentage are bilingual but this is the customer base in this area. So I have to adjust and react to this increasing demographic and this demographic is not isolated to the Chicago area and suburbs. Many parts of the US have areas such as Elgin and Chicago suburbs. Latinos and Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the country and you notice it whenever you call a customer service number for most companies there is always a Spanish option.

In addition, I could not afford to open a studio/retail location in an area where the consumer demographic is more widespread and not concentrated to Latinos, but I could not afford the rent and expenses. The location selected has a lower operating cost and as result, the budget for pricing, promotion, distribution and sales support to correspond to the sales environment in this particular demographic is more flexible. The US census bureau and other sources indicate that the specific consumer group that I am trying to reach is very limited with its financial resources and is very concerned with saving money. The statistics show that only 10-12% of the 2million plus Hispanics in Illinois has a per capita income of $23,104 so the majority of this customer base may be considered under the poverty level or at that level (Nielsen Reveals Hispanic Consumer Shopping BehaviorInsights. | Business News and Press Releases from AllBusiness.com, 2011). Because of these numbers, these Hispanic consumers sometimes are underserved or there are not enough companies offering custom photography and videography services at an affordable price. The consumer behaviors of the specific consumers in the metropolitan Chicago land area in the specific demographic of customers are favorable for the service being offered to these customers. The common denominators in this area in Chicago and the Chicago land suburbs is that Hispanic customers are in need of these service because of the number of them that have family events but need affordable photo printing and delivery, DVD/Blue ray duplication, videography services (How to Create a Marketing Plan | Entrepreneur.com. (2011). Not to exploit and point out the negative but the statistics show that 76% of White, customers are above poverty level and only 12% of Hispanics are above the poverty level. Therefore, that puts my business on the spot of having to come up with competitive pricing but also making sure that there is a profit margin.

In this target market strategy I have identified the main targeted demographic which are native Spanish speaking Latinos/Hispanic consumers in the Chicagoland area? Of course, we will not turn other customers down that include Whites, African-Americans, Asians or other demographics (Create your marketing strategy | Business Link, 2011.). However, the focus is English and Spanish speaking Hispanic customers who are bilingual that is why I am offering professional photography and videography services at very affordable rates on average our service rates are about 500-800 less than photography and videography companies in Chicago. There are companies that have promotions that are about $200 more or $200 less but the overall packages, services and additional bonus services such as mobile studios or a photo shoot prior to the event. In my specify market the Latino based companies such as Illinois Latino, Digital E99 Studio, Gaby’s Studio & Darias Pro Digital just too mention a few. After reviewing these competing companies, I found that our package was more affordable and included more overall service and value that most of our competitors (Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan, 2011). One of our advantages was that we found a very reliable dependable and affordable supplier and distributor for all our printing needs. This enables us to compete with any other photographer or Studio Company. The other competitive advantage is that I own all the equipment so there are not expensive equipment rental and maintenance expensive fees and our overhead is very low, only our rent and marketing are the main costs of doing business, I only use contractors and pay them with a 1099.

The marketing strategies that I will utilize in regards to pricing and promotion are to place ads in the Spanish newspapers in the Chicagoland area, which are affordable and can be cancelled at any time. Also, distribute business cards, postcards, fliers and brochures maybe an occasional TV or radio ad and reach out to online customers on social networking sites. Also on Yahoo when a customer types in photography and videography services in Spanish in Chicago we will come up as one of top five search results (Develop Marketing Plans, 2011). Maybe utilize Google’s pay for click option in order to get more hits on the company website. The main marketing strategy for our pricing is to offer not the lowest or highest price but the best affordable price with the most value and service (Create your marketing strategy | Business Link, 2011). Ultimately, the main message and theme regarding pricing that will be communicated to customers is that if you are looking for professional, quality and affordable photography and videography then you need to hire PMV Group in Elgin Illinois? Unlike some of my peers in this class, I am already using a business model as freelance photographer and videographer as matter of fact just finished shooting photos and filming a sweet sixteen yesterday (How to Create a Marketing Plan | Entrepreneur.com. (2011). I have not taken it to the next step such as opening a retail office location but in the future I will and this class has taught me a great lesson about the creation, process, implementation and execution of marketing campaigns.

The marketing strategies that I will utilize in regards to distribution and sales support are simple. When it comes to distribution, we have set up photo ordering website that is very user friendly. The vendor, supplier and distributor, which are providing us wholesale prices allowing us to mark up the pricing not that drastically, are hosting the website but enough for us to ensure there is a profit margin (Develop Marketing Plans - Create Marketing Plan, 2011). However, the distribution website starts as a link from the company’s original website then you are linked to the ordering site. There is banner with a message for customers asking them to select the name and main picture for their event and select their pictures, photo books and frames or any other products they might need from our photo-shoots. In addition, we have a DVD replication company in Minnesota and a graphic designer that helps finish the postproduction of the DVD and have agreed to give us affordable rates for these contracting services (Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan, 2011). I do the actual work of photographing and filming or trained professional contractors that have agreed to do the work for a specific rate. The bottom-line is that distribution has been structured to be cost effective, that reflects in our prices, and customers appreciate the savings.

The marketing strategy that will be used for sales support is the concept that we will sell customers on the fact that they can do business with us easily and conveniently. In all our ads, we emphasize to customers that we provide excellent sales support. For example if they need to pay for our services, make a reservation or order their pictures. If they need to see photos, we post them online for the customer to view and order (Create your marketing strategy, 2011). If a customer needs to view a sample DVD then they can online on YouTube or video and review it. The constant theme in the sales support marketing strategy is that PMV Group will give the customer the most complete and professional support before the sales during and after we sell our service. We will always do our very best to deliver the service and products to the customer with best quality and most competitive pricing.

REFERENCES

Demographic Profile of Hispanics in Illinois. (2011). Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://pewhispanic.org/states/?stateid=IL

Welcome to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. (2011). Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.ihccbusiness.net/ec.html

Nielsen Reveals Hispanic Consumer Shopping BehaviorInsights. | Business News and Press Releases from AllBusiness.com. (2011). Small Business Advice | Business News & Articles | AllBusiness.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/human-resources-personnel-management/5280774-1.html

How to Create a Marketing Plan | Entrepreneur.com. (2011). Business & Small Business | News, Advice, Strategy | Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/43018

Create your marketing strategy | Business Link. (2011.). Business Support, Information and Advice | Business Link. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073900352

Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan. (2011). StartupNation - Source for Small Business Advice, Help Starting a Business, Entrepreneur Forum. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/1263/1/strategic-marketing-plan.asp

Develop Marketing Plans - Create Marketing Plan. (2011). Small Business Marketing Firm, Boston, MA - Outsourced Marketing. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.precisionmarketinggroup.com/marketing-plan/