Perceptual Map Marketing Essay

The purpose of this document is to illustrate the information contained within the Perceptual Map Marketing simulation and relate to it’s information as practical and important. Contained in the simulation were three phases, each of significant importance. We will include in this document the situation, the recommended solutions and the results. We will discuss the multiple marketing aspects that were revealed within the simulation and we will attempt to create satisfactory responses to the various questions which arise out of the relationships between differentiation and positioning of products or services and what the impact of the product life cycle on marketing is. It is the hope that after reading this document there will be a clear concept of what the results of this simulation were and how they are applicable to the paper’s mission. All good things have a story and Cruiser Thorr was no exception. We learned about the meaning behind the bike. The simulation showed how to create and use a perceptual map using the bike as a primary example. When using the Perceptual Map it then became clearly more evident which direction the marketing goals should take to carry on it’s back the heart and soul of the Morotcycle brand. In selling thousands of motorcycles a year the Thorr Motocycle company has created a client base capable of supporting their imense variety of choice that is given to the consumer. Everything from the type of engine to how many people can ride the bike. They sell accessories such as protective gear, clothing and even little models for children. The services they offer to their customers are that you would expect from a first rate bike shop. Our task is to set up a positioning strategy, a perceptual map and create the parameters that will become vital to the product as it will be the customers only information before making a major purchase. For decades now the industry of motorized bikes have been on the ries. Even with this evident truth backed by consumer research the top selling item that Thorr Motorcycles is creating seems to be dwindeling. The logical conclusion that we are coming to to is that their target customers are in the decades of their 30s till almost 60s and through the proccess of life seem to have lost interests in what Thorr stands for. No longer are these men rebels or out to â€Å"be wild† as Steppenwolf would say. Any consumers who are younger are simply not capable of affording the high price tag associated with a Thorr bike which ranges in the high 20 to low 30 thousand dollar range. Younger riders are more apt to buy less expensive, quicker riding bikes that are the exact opposite of the image that Thorr stands for. We are going to solidify Cruiser thorr’s postion in the market by creating it’s Perceptual map. There are four basic parameters that are relevant to the entire scheme of biking industry which reflect the highest chances for Cruiser Thorr’s survival. These are the four parameters: lifestyle image, product design and styling, service offerings, and price. The selection of lifestyle image is almost a no brainer as it is the backbone of the Cruiser Thorr’s previous success. The entire bike’s thriving record is built upon a reputation that having their bike is a status symbol. The same reason that people buy Starbucks instead of simply brewing their own coffee at home. Unlike other industries, transportation specfically speaks to the identity of the person who has the item. They will spend much of their time utilizing their vehicle. In no vehicle type is this more relevant than in bikes where people will see the bike and there will be no windows, walls, or doors hiding the rider from the world. Everyone will see who the rder is and that is why Product Design nd Styling are so vital to it’s success. The bike and the rider are one. Man and machine moving along the pavement together. The service offerings are probably the most second important aspect to a vehicle other than the price. Maintanence and such can get very expensive very quickly. Assuring that you are taking care of you customers and looking out for their well being is primary in the grand scheme of all things. At the end of the thought of course is always the most important aspect. Cost and price. The price is affected by many, many things. Among these things is engineering, construction, materials, labor, transport of the bike itself. The whole purpose for this bike’s creation is ot make money. To make money you must have a clear marketing plan. Due to this obvious fact we have restructured Cruiser Thorr and decided to not create a new bike. It is imperative to keep the Cruiser Thorr in production if Thorr is going to keep making motorcycles. It is the bike that has built their empire. It would be as if Levi’s stopped selling 501 Jeans. We instead create a financing option that gives the consumers with less money an opportunity to own a Cruiser Thorr. With increased service options will be able to make rational sense of the high price that we will be able to keep at the same price. For advertising it would probably be a good idea to put some endorsements in race tracks, hook up with a popular drink brand like MONSTER and maybe make a â€Å"Monster Bike† that can ride around. We can also take a page out of the GM book and put our bikes into movies and on television for product placement. The current straegy is based on price, product, location, current pomotions and services offered. With the goal of repositioning the product in an attempt to remove the competions hold on the market because we will move the parameters into concurrent thought forms and proccesses making us and our strategies the same as the competition. We know that there are four key factors that are represented by stages in a products life cycle that are important for the marketing officer to know and understand. The four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Once a product reaches the stage of it’s full maturity it is time to revisit it with the hope of making improvements. If this is not done the product will very quickly enter the declining stages of it’s life cycle. This is the reason that Cruiser Thorr started to drop it’s sales figure. Their product had reached it’s maturity. Their current customers were old and any knew ones had no idea what Cruiser Thorr, the brand, stood for. For this reason we had to reinven and improve their bikes. It was necessary to compete. It is the hope that we have together reached and addressed the various key points necessary to form a graps of the information that was provided. We have described the three major phases in the simulation. The situation and the recommended solutions have been addressed along with what our results were. We have talked about the different marketing aspects and answered the different question sthat were arisen between the relationships of differentiation and positioning for each of the products and services and it’s impact. It was the desire of I to create a solid understanding of the purpose and use of Perceptual Maps in Marketing. References All information was taken from the Perceptual Map Marketing Simulation provided on the University of Phoenix website.