Marketing Plan 3D printing Essay

Objective of this marketing plan for 3D printing is to create awareness to new customers in education industry, increase market share, and provide customized value-added solution to current users. 3D printing is considered a new technology in Singapore, so to achieve the objectives, we proposes Stratasys to make use the lateral diversification strategy. The reason of adopting this strategy is to improve its profitability and sustainability of the organization. The objective may be achieved through 3 phases. In the short-term (1 year), the objective is to create awareness through newspapers, online advertising and live demonstration will be conducted at institutes’ open house events, and where the new students will be introduced to this new technology together. Stratasys can also select some institutes to trial on this printer for 6 months which will helps to augment its marketability and school’s perception of the product. In the mid to long term (2 to 4 year) the objective is to provide customization and value-added solution to institutes that have been consistently using our products and services. Customization will be offered to meet institutes’ requirement and we can offered includes product training and customer consultation on the printers that are offered to them. Stratasys can also provide maintenance, repair service and improving product safety as an additional value-added solution. This will aid in promoting more institutes to use 3D printing in product development through word-of-mouth recommendation. In the long term (4 years onwards) the technology will be well recognized in the minds of the most institution, and this will enable Stratasys to gain loyal customers. With an increase in market share, Stratasys will be able to fine-tune on the price offered to make it affordable to allow more users to explore the technology, and also created more applications for it. For example, smaller printers will be produced to cater to small companies, and sector specific types for dental, aerospace, and medical. Ultimate goal will be gaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. Marketing Mix Marketing mix was designed as a simple way to focus attention on the main elements of marketing for a business and to create a marketing strategy to  the business, products or services. The traditional of marketing mix consists of four main elements which is product, price, place and promotion. They are the combination of marketing efforts that to meet and satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. But in a modern world, marketers have developed to seven P’s of marketing mix, which comprises the former 4P’s and added people, physical evidence and process. (Valuebasedmanagement.net, 2013) Products Stratasys has three main series of printers which is cater for different purposes. Idea Series printers bring 3D printers to smaller teams and individual, which allows them to utilize 3D printer within their financial budget. For this series of printers, it will be suitable for institutes that offered jewellery designs course. As for design series printers, it helps to improve on communication, collaboration and problem solving. With the use of photopolymer materials, it helps to create flexibility and confidence in product presentation. It is definitely more suitable for institutes that have offered product design offered. This will helps the students in completing and exhibiting their final products. Lastly is production series, it provides speed, accuracy and efficiency at an affordable cost. As for this series, it will be catering for engineering students. Each series of 3D printers will benefit institutes in reducing time, cost and increase of accuracy and efficiency. Apart from individual printer purchase, we do offer customized bundle packages for customers who wish to purchase more than a printer. Price Pricing plays an important role as it determines the revenue generated, therefore, price has to be attractive and affordable. Price of 3D printers that Stratasys offered depends on the size and purpose of the printers. The price strategy used is differential pricing strategy. Stratasys can adjust pricing based on various situations and circumstances. Price for new consumers will always start high and gradually lower if bundle packages are purchased or bulk buying. Price that customers are paying is not only for printer, but also the after-service. Offering discounts or additional value-added service will make the business more attractive to the business. Stratasys can offer more affordable 3D printers and bundle package offering  to institutes that purchase more printers and materials. Processes This is the process element how the service is delivered to the customers. Stratasys can implement a customer service to help monitor on new customers’ progress on the products and offer provides servicing to all new customers before their warranty for the printers are expiring. This will make customers feel importance and this will help to build up their confidence in our products and services offered. Promotion A Online Marketing – Facebook and You tube The main objective of promotion is to create awareness of a product or service. Promotion is the communicating information about your product or  service to generate a positive response from your customer. Online marketing is critical to business in this current society. With reference to Chart B, currently approximately 90% of Singapore resident are users in Facebook. It is important that Stratasys will use this medium to create communication on 3D printing technology. Most students in Singapore have a Facebook account, thus they are able to view Facebook Chart B – Facebook Users in Singapore B Event Road Show This is a different marketing strategy, compared to digital marketing. This marketing strategy requires physical demonstration and explanation of 3D printers at an event. This will attract the curiosity of potential customer that is new and curious to this technology. For such events, well-trained staffs will be present to demonstrate the advantage of 3D printing technology and help to resolve on consumers’ questions. C Youtube Youtube is an online media streaming website which users are able to access internationally. It is considered an inexpensive advertisement media to market products and services as the resources require are only computers, video camera and internet connection. Stratasys can upload videos on 3D printing into Youtube which will create more awareness internationally. Users will then use mouth-of-words to share this video with their families and friends, thus it will broaden the publicity of 3D printers to new customers.