Marketing Launch Plan for Branded Lantern Lanport Sample Assignment

Marketing Launch Plan for Branded Lantern Lanport in Hulhumale Island, Maldives

1. Introduction

Westwood (2013) stated in the research that marketing plan is a comprehensive document which helps to outline the efforts that a company plans to put in terms of the process of advertising in the future. With the help of the process of marketing, the company aims to accomplish the set of set objectives for a specific period. The different commodities demand different types of marketing plan in order to achieve success in the highly competitive market. The following marketing plan is about a branded lantern, called Lanport which is about to launch in the heartland of Hulhumale, one of the islands of Maldives.

Lanterns are defined as a type of lighting which has a protective enclosure in order to use it as an outdoor lighting source (Leon-Saval, Argyros and Bland-Hawthorn, 2013). In spite of the fact that the use of lanterns has considerably reduced in the modern sphere as an outdoor source of lighting, the use of it as a decorative piece has remained intact. The launch of Lanport is to be done in the reclaimed island of Hulhumale which is one of the formed artificial islands, located in the south of North Male Atoll, Maldives.

2. Body of the Marketing Plan of Lanport, LED lantern of Hulhumale

2.1 Product and Services

The product that is to be marketed is the portable branded lantern, Lanport. The speciality of the lantern is that it can run both on solar power as well as batteries. The lantern is light-weight, easily portable and has a sleek design which can be used both as an outdoor lighting medium and as a decorative piece. The lantern can emit a number of colours of lights, with the use of LED technology from a replaceable bulb. There is also an option for lighting candles within the outer frame of the lantern and hang it to enhance decoration.

2.2 Vision and Mission Statements

The mission of Lanport is to enhance the sales of lantern in the island of Hulhumale which will help in maximising profit for the company. The company further wishes to extend the use of lantern to the different sectors of the country and make use of it in different hotels and restaurants as a decorative piece.

The vision of Lanport is to reduce the use of electricity by the use of normal lightings in the island of Hulhumale. By using the new and innovative lanterns, the amount of electrical use can be comparatively reduced as well as the beautification of the hotels and restaurants can be done. The major vision is to provide a sustainable environmental situation the island of Hulhumale.

2.3 Marketing Objectives

The marketing objectives for Lanport in its expansion to the island of Hulhumale are as follows:

The improvement of sales of the branded lanterns called Lanport in the island of Hulhumale by a major amount of 10% in order to lessen the use of electricity in the country, through the use of solar power and batteries within a time frame of 1 year.

2.4 Research and Analysis

2.4.1 Competition

Lantern is one of the items which have lost its heritage and usage in the current world. There is lack of companies which want to take up the product as their item for business. Most of the companies are majorly involved in the production and utilisation of electric lights and tries to innovate different forms and techniques for the same. Hulhumale is one of the developed man-made islands of Maldives and a number of industries have been developed (Kundur, 2012). Therefore, the competition for lantern in Maldives market is not at all high and therefore, the emergence of the industry related to lantern can have a better market propensity.

2.4.2 Competitive Advantage

Competitive advantage of a company is regarded as the type of circumstances that put a business in superior position than the competitors. David and David (2013) states that different industries and product lines have different levels of competition in the market which gives them varied amount of competitive advantage. Lanport, the LED lantern is on the greater side of the competitive advantage as the amount of competition in the island of Hulhumale is less. There are no specific lantern brands available in the island and the only possible competition is with the local markets and the artisans who produce local lanterns. However, due to a great amount of electricity problem in the province of Hulhumale, the market for lanterns is on a rise. Maldives has recorded great issues related to the electricity supply and power cuts which have made the people look for substitute options of electric bulbs (ABC Bank, 2019). The innovation of a lantern which is run on solar power as well as batteries have therefore made the market of Hulhumale one of the possible markets for achieving great sales and optimum growth. All these factors have made the competitive advantage of the lantern in the province of Hulhumale one of the greatest and has given the company one of the possible high places in the market.

2.4.3 PESTLE of Maldives

The following are the external environmental analytical factors of Maldives which has helped the country to achieve great heights for its industries. The following section analyses the political, economical, social, technological, legal and the environmental analysis of the brand.

Political	Maldives is one of the smallest island countries in the world with a very small amount of population. However, Maldives in terms of political structure is one of a presidential republic in which the president is the head of the government as well as the head of the state (Harrison, Bosse and Phillips, 2010). The election of the president is done every five years by the assembly or parliamentarian representatives who are elected by the common people. In terms of the political situation of the country, Maldives is not in a very stable condition. There are large emergences of small political parties who have been in the state for a long run. However, recently, the state has been in peace and there is no issue of political disturbance in the state. The government of Maldives have always shown a positive sign for the industrialisation of the country and have contributed significantly in the reduction of taxes and providing subsidy for the same. Overall, the current political scenario of Maldives in terms of political condition is fair and stable for the expansion of a brand into the country.
Economical	Maldives is one of the countries whose primary economy lies on the departments of tourism, fishing and shipping. According to the research of Scheyvens (2011), tourism is the biggest department in the country and contributes up to 30% of the GDP of the country. Even more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts are contributed by the departments of tourism in the country. The GDP growth of Maldives is at a rate of 7.5% a year in the fiscal year 2017-2018. The country has expected a GDP of over $3.578 billion in the year 2017 which has given the country a rank of 155^th nation in the world (Adam, 2013). As per the standard of the size of the country, the amount of GDP growth is really good. However, in spite of the significant amount of GDP growth, due to the huge amount of unequal income levels, Maldives is considered as one of the poorest countries in the world. This can give the brand which is being expanded one of the cheapest labour sources which can help in expansion (Hassan and Gharleghi, 2015). Therefore, the economical condition of Maldives is average for the expansion of foreign brands; however, the type of product will determine the level of success.
Social	The people of Maldives are very poor in terms of their standard of living. The country has a low level of per capita income which give the residents low level of purchasing power. However, due to the lack of electricity supply in large parts of the country, the use of lanterns has not reduced (Mohit and Azim, 2012). Moreover, due to hotel and resort business, the country has experienced increased demand for vintage decorative pieces. Therefore, the social condition of Maldives for lanterns is positive.
Technological	Maldives is not a technologically advanced country as most of the people still remain dependent on the traditional forms of production. Therefore, the industries and brands which require great technological knowledge in order to be flourishing in an economy have little chances of success in Maldives (Zahir and Gharleghi, 2015). Lanport, the portable LED lantern however does not require great technological knowledge for which its expansion is on the positive side in Maldives.
Legal	The legal boundary of Maldives is expanding on a great pace. The government of Maldives has formulated laws that are in favour of industrialisation in the small country. This is the very reason that the government of Maldives has reduced the amount of corporate tax to mere 15% in the country in order to increase the expansion of industries (Rogers, 2016). There are certain other laws that have helped the different industries to flourish in Maldives.
Environmental	Maldives is a country which is bounded by ocean on all sides which makes the environmental position of Maldives one of the best. There is lack of pollution and great ecological balance for the growth and expansion of any sort of industries. However, the laws of the country in regards to environment are not rigid which makes the industries have a casual attitude for the protection of the environment (Cowburn, et al. 2018). Therefore, the environmental condition of Maldives needs to be protected by the industries to maintain the ecological balance of the country.

2.4.4 SWOT of Lanport, the portable LED lantern company

SWOT analysis of a company refers to the internal analysis of a company for measuring the internal defects and benefits of the company. The analysis of the possibilities and the probable issues that can be faced in future are also assessed. The SWOT analysis for Lanport as a company is as follows:

Strength	One of the primary strengths of Lanport, the portable LED lantern is the concept of the product. The product is run on both solar energy and batteries which makes it non dependent on electricity. Moreover, as the product emits LED lights of different colours, it can be used both a decorative piece and lighting system. The two-way use of the product is the primary strength of the company. Another major strength is the need for the product in the market of Hulhumale. Being an island which has greater number of tourist places and resorts, the lantern can act both as a system of lighting and even decorative piece in the company.
Weakness	The primary weakness of the organization is the price of the product. Due to the use of a number of technologies, the price of the product is on the higher side. The majority of the population of Maldives being on the poorer side cannot afford such high cost product which can significantly reduce the sales of the brand.
Opportunity	There are a number of opportunities which can be seen for the brand. One of the primary opportunities is being the replacement of generators and invertors. As the cost of lantern is comparatively lower than the installation of generators and due to the shortage of electric power supply all year round, the lanterns can prove to be an effective replacement for generators and invertors in hotels and resorts. The resorts can also use the lighting item for decorating their province and giving the place a different theme altogether. Due to a large number of resorts and hotels in Maldives, the lantern brand can find a great market for their sales of the product.
Threat	One of the primary threats of the brand is the lack of proper continuous customer base for the product. Due to the higher cost, the local people will not be able to purchase it and the hotels can look for other cheaper alternatives of the brand. The other major threat includes the geographical location of the island which can make the island prone to loses in natural calamities. This can significantly make the brands expanding there, prone to lose.

2.4.5 Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of Customers

The model of Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of a brand includes the ways in which the brand assesses the probable customer base. This is a form of marketing technique in which the brand understands and differentiates its probable customer base from the general population.

Segmentation

Demographic: The lantern can be used by people from all ages and both the genders. However, the income of the people should be from medium-high level due to the cost of the lantern being high. The product is ethnicity, marital status and education neutral as all the people can use the product.

Psychographic: The persons who will be willing to purchase the LED lanterns either belong to the group which likes to decorate their houses with beautiful items or are looking forward to products that can substitute generators and invertors.

Geographic: The lantern is supposed to be sold in the island of Hulhumale, Maldives

Behavioural: The usage of the lantern is very simple as it can be run both on solar and battery power. However, the benefits are not long lasting as it will not provide permanent solution for electricity supply issue in Maldives

Targeting

The target markets are the local residents of Hulhumale who can afford to buy the portable LED lantern and the hotels where it can be used as a decorative item.

Positioning

The positioning of Lanport, the LED lantern is to be done in the segment of medium-high priced family utility product. The company which is hoping to expand Lanport into Hulhumale into Maldives can place the company in medium-high income zone with high utility base.

2.4.6 Marketing 7P’s Breakdown

Product	The product is the LED portable lantern which can emit a number of lights. The product is sleek and has a great design which words both on batteries and solar power. The product can be used both as a decorative items and outdoor lighting source items. Moreover, the product is unique in its own terms as lanterns have never been innovated at such a great rate like Lanport.
Price	Lanport LED lantern has been priced in the medium-high level.
Promotion	The lantern is promoted both in online and offline mode. Both online and offline marketing sources have been used with special importance to social media marketing.
Place	The place of offline market will be Hulhumale, an island in Maldives. The online promotion will be done in the official website of the product as well as in local online sales market. Even social media channels will be utilised.
Packaging	The packaging of the product will be done in a cardboard sleek packaging to make sure that the people who will purchase the items can use the items for a longer time. All the information relate to the product will be written on the package as well as the warranty card of the product.
Positioning	The positioning of the product will be done in the family utility product ranging in the medium-high price range.
People	The people who will be using the product will be customers belonging to both middle and upper middle class. The resort and hotel owners can also use it for their decoration.

2.4.7 Ways of marketing

There are two ways of marketing of Lanport, the LED portable lantern namely online and offline marketing. In the online marketing, all the social media channels are targeted as well as the promotion is done through the official website and SEO marketing (Tiago and Veríssimo, 2014). In the offline marketing, the promotion is done through press releases and advertisements in news papers (Hoffman and Fodor, 2010). Even television advertisements are also used as the marketing techniques for promotion to a number of customers. The ways of marketing are different; however, all aim towards the profit making of Lanport.

2.4.8 Marketing Budget

In order to market a product into a specific region, budgetary considerations have to be analysed. The motive of assessing a fixed budget for the marketing of the product is to make sure that the company does not increase the cost of the product and can gain sufficient amount of profit from the sales. Ai, Du and Hu (2010) states that there are two types of costs in the marketing of a product namely fixed costs and variable cost. In the marketing of a product, there are certain fixed costs and certain variable costs.

In the production of Lanport, the fixed costs include the infrastructural necessities namely instruments of production, labour cost, electricity cost of factory, factory overhead cost, rent of land and building. The variable cost of Lanport includes cost of online marketing, offline sales and promotion, government taxation, advertisement costs, local marketing cost including newspapers, in-store marketing, press releases and others.

3. Conclusion

At the end of the market research, it can be stated that Lanport, the portable LED lantern is one of the unique ideas that can be expanded in Hulhumale, one of the islands of Maldives. Both the internal and external conditions are favourable for the expansion of the company into the small island state of Maldives. The brand targets the customers from middle and upper middle class with a good income base. Moreover, the marketing cost and ways are different so that there are no problems in the marketing of the product. Overall, it can be stated that the expansion of Lanport into Hulhumale in Maldives is one of the better ideas for the company.

Reference List

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