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The Forgotten Group Member

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Graves Enterprises

MM 522 – Marketing Management

Prepared by
Ekaterina Pyankova

Session
Spring session A 2011

Professor
Steven Harris

Date: January 18th , 2011
Decision You Make:
Graves Enterprises specializes on good class carpet cleaning products that are potentially competitive in the market. Therefore, the company needs to work on developing marketing strategy with emphasis on effective promotions competitive differences. Second aim is to increase sales. That is why, I carefully reviewed written reports from marketing directors and now familiar with current situation on the market.
Joshua Edwards’ ( Marketing Director, Consumer Products) conclusions are that “our target market consists of homeowners, females 29-59, with a household income of $75 - $150K”, and “our primary competitors are rented carpet steam cleaners, Kleen Floor Spray 'n Vac and Kleen Floor Spot Cleaner, and folks who do nothing to clean carpets.”
We do have distinct viable differences like unique, proprietary chemical cleaner that cleans "dry", the Graves product that reduce mold, products that utilize environmentally friendly chemistry, contain “Scotchgard” for continued stain protection, are hypoallergenic, and offer a pleasant citrus aroma for up to three months after used. So, the mission is to make consumers both personal and commercial know about this advantages. Mr. Edward made a suggestion to develop “a new product line that is promoted as "safe, effective, and eco-friendly." His plan is to “to price it at 1.5X the price for the eco-friendly aspect, manufacture our container packaging from recycled plastics, which costs less and complements the overall ‘eco-friendly’ unique selling proposition”, and he estimates that “this should net a 2X profit increase”.
Before to make this kind of decision, let’s analyze Mr. Matthews findings that say “Consumers ranked

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