Business Plan

This Blog post is made up of a Business Plan that was developed by The Irish Observer for a new Marketing concept, it is hoped that sharing this information may help others to find employment in what are difficult times. This is the original work of The Irish Observer unless otherwise stated. ©


Executive Summary

This Business Plan is provided for Market-Sweeping a business concept developed by The Irish Observer. This Business Plan will use a number of research methods including primary and secondary research to produce a realistic road map for Market-Sweeping going forward including financial projections.

This report will begin by explaining what Marketing-Sweeping is in terms of a business concept. The background to this business concept will be clearly explained in terms of idea generation, idea screening, concept developing and testing, marketing strategy, business analysis, product service development, test marketing and commercialisation. This report will then go on to explain at which stage of the product life cycle Market-Sweeping has reached at the time of this report being compiled. The characteristics of the life cycle stage will be discussed and what strategy will be used for this particular stage of the life cycle.

In effect this report will examine, investigate and offer a comprehensive analyse of the Marketing Mix for Market-Sweeping in terms of Product, Price, Place and Promotion. This report will then draw conclusions and make recommendations in relation to the best possible marketing mix package for Market-Sweeping.



Statement of Purpose

1. Determine if a market exists for Market-Sweeping

2. To determine the most effective way to meet market needs

3. To establish the costs associated with servicing this niche market

4. Determining the best method of marketing Market-Sweeping

5. To develop a business plan that offers least risk in servicing this market niche

6. To develop a plan of action for Market-Sweeping

7. To identify competition and how that competition is operating in the market place

8. To establish who is operating in the market, who has failed in the market and why they failed

9. To use various business tools to test the market place and demand for the service of Marekt-Sweeping.

10. To establish financial evaluations and projections for Market-Sweeping.



Proposed Business Description

Phase 1

The proposed business is the provision of an e-Marketing concept known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ to various business models including and particularly the Hotel and Hospitality Industry. The business name will be Market-Sweeping an internet based business that will provide an e-Marketing service to various business models based on a primary single e-Marketing package known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’.

Market-Sweeping will initially offer an e-Marketing package that will include the establishment and management of social networking sites for a number of clients who operate within the Hotel and Hospitality Industry. The e-Marketing concept known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ has been developed by The Irish Observer.

This e-Marketing concept proposes to use social networking sites to sweep the net in order to drive traffic and potential customers to the generic sites of the client group.

Phase 2

To provide a website building service to customers using Word Press, Word Press has been chosen as it is less complicated than traditional HTML web building. It is hoped that by this stage of MarketSweeping.ie development a comprehensive e-Marketing package will be made available to clients, this premium package will offer a linked e-Marketing package including social networking sites and a freshly launched generic site build from Word Press tools.

Phase 3

To move beyond the domestic Irish market and offer a range of products and services to a European Clientele, this international dimension would mean that Market-Sweeping would launch a recruitment drive to recruit people who understand the aims and objectives of Market-Sweeping as an organic home grown business concept that is driven by a desire to get best value for money while marketing on the net and to see the growth of e-Business/e-Commerce in Ireland.

Phase 4

This phase would involve further expansion of the business model at which point significant infrastructural investment would be added to the business portfolio. It would be envisaged that the Headquarters for Market-Sweeping would be developed on an industrial site. This new expansion of the business model would see Market-Sweeping working in partnership with other businesses and other local training agencies in order to retrain and hire in locally sourced labour in order to impact on the high levels of unemployment in Ireland.

Proposed Service Description

The proposed business is the provision of an e-Marketing concept known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ to various business models including and particularly the Hotel and Hospitality Industry. The business name will be Market-Sweeping an internet based business that will provide an e-Marketing service to various business models based on a single e-Marketing package known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’.

MarketSweeping.ie will initially offer an e-Marketing package that will include the establishment and management of social networking sites for a number of clients who operate within the Hotel and Hospitality Industry. The e-Marketing concept known as ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ has been developed by The Irish Observer.

This e-Marketing concept proposes to use social networking sites to sweep the net in order to drive traffic and potential customers to the generic sites of the client group.



Form of Proprietorship

Initially the business will be solely owned by The Irish Observer and will trade as a Sole Trader. As the business grows it is expected that the business will become a Limited Company. Market-Sweeping will initially be funded by a long term Bank loan, Credit Union loan and a small grant from the Enterprise Board.

Registration

As Market-Sweeping will initially operate as a sole trader that is not exclusively in the name of the owner its name will be registered with the Companies Office and Revenue.

Mission Statement

Market-Sweeping will bring a new and innovative e-Marketing concept to a range of clients and industries with the hope of producing a competitive edge for those companies that have a vision for the future. The advantage will come from increased traffic and potential customers being driven to the generic websites of the client group. Increased profits will be realised as new customers become aware of the products and services being offered by the client group.

Background

The Irish Observer was made redundant as a Foreman/Health and Safety Officer with the collapse of the building industry in Ireland. In order to get back into the work place The Irish Observer decided that he needed to retrain/up-skill and so sought a place on the e-Business program. This e-Business course delivers a combination of up-skilling tools over a year long program. The program covers marketing, e-Business, Start Your Own Business, Accounting, Communication, Internet, Web-authoring, Work-positive, Work-experience and Mathematics.

Several weeks into the e-Business course The Irish Observer was approached by a business person and asked if he could come up with an e-Marketing idea for the Hotel/Hospitality industry in order that new and potential customers could be drawn to the generic web-sites of a number of Hotels, restaurants and so forth, The Irish Observer agreed to research and develop an e-Marketing strategy that could help drive new and potential customers to the generic web-sites of the businesses concerned.

What is e-Marketing

E-marketing is a vehicle for using digital technologies to help a business to sell their goods or services on line. Such new technologies are an essential addition to traditional marketing methods whatever the size of the business style.

Principles of traditional marketing remain the same; a business must create a strategy to deliver the right messages to the right people. The one thing that has changed is the number of options now available to any business. Businesses will continue to use traditional marketing methods, such as media advertising, direct mail and Public Relations. However, e-marketing adds a revolutionary new element to the marketing mix of any business. Businesses are producing additional results with e-marketing and its flexible and cost-effective nature makes it particularly suitable for small and medium sized businesses.

MarketSweeping.ie

This new e-Marketing strategy involved establishing accounts for each one of the client group on social net-working sites. These social networking sites included Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, Blogger, Hubpages and 90 second virals on YouTube. The idea behind the ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ e-Marketing concept was to use social networking sites in a strategic and coordinated manner as a means to draw new and potential customers to the generic web-sites of the client base.

The idea was to up-date each social networking site or combination of social networking sites on a weekly basis in order to maximise keyword search and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The idea was to use pictures taken by The Irish Observer so that no licensing or copy right issues could arise. These pictures would be uploaded on the Blogger sites and then notified to the other social networking sites, using keywords, mega-tags, tags and maximising Search Engine Optimisation.

Words and phrases such as Hotels, Short breaks, holidays, Christmas shopping, eating out and so forth were used as tags so that Search Engine Optimization could be achieved. These keywords and phrases were integrated into Blogs and posts so that the SEO would be maximised.

So why is there a need for such a business concept as MarketSweeping.ie

During the boom years of Ireland’s unprecedented economic growth known as the years of the Celtic Tiger, traditional businesses were collectively pushed into spending hundreds of millions of Euros on establishing and developing generic websites for their businesses.

Business executives signed off on large sums of money to newly established IT businesses in order to have websites established. Business executives and boards of directors were told that they would be left behind if they did not throw vast sums of money at establishing an e-Business/e-Commerce aspect to their traditional high street businesses.

In the aftermath of the boom years and now well into economic recession in June 2011 much of that e-Business investment has been exposed as a black-hole. Many companies have been left with nothing more than black holes in cyber space; these businesses do not have and cannot afford the staff necessary to ensure the regular up dating, management and maintenance of their generic websites. Market-Sweeping hopes to be able to offer a value for money service in this niche market.

This dilemma is not simply typical of small and medium sized companies; a cursory browse of the Internet will show that many large companies have websites best described as white elephants. Clicking links on many business websites is like walking through a cyber-ghost estate. Now businesses are being told that social networking sites such as Facebook are the place to have their businesses sited, with 500 million users and a projected 1 Billion users for the end of 2011, Facebook certainly has marketing potential for products and services, however, Facebook must not be, the be all and end all, of any e-Business/e-Commerce marketing strategy.

The Advertising Concept Book from author Peter Barry, the by-line of this book ‘Think now buy later’ Barry suggests that advertising is only great if its roots are in insight-led ideas. This is certainly the case when dealing with social networking, do the thinking first and then decide what you are going to invest on your e-Marketing strategy.

This is not the time to spend tight budgets on salaries to IT companies to set up and maintain social networking sites for your company. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are free and with some in-house training or small consultancy investment, staff members could be up skilled to service this aspect of your e-Marketing strategy. However, if you do insist on spending time and money on establishing social networking sites for your business, you must ensure that you get value for your money. Market Sweeping on the Net is a concept that involves establishing several social networking sites in the name of your business, for example, an account for Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, YouTube, Hubpages and so forth.

The type of accounts you establish will depend on your business, for example, if you are an hotelier it will not be possible for people to book into your hotel on Facebook, Twitter or Blogger. However, if you are an Hotelier, Market Sweeping on the Net is ideal for your business. Market Sweeping on the Net does exactly what it says on the tin, you use your various social networking accounts to sweep the net in order to drive potential customers to your generic website where those new and potential customers can book rooms, make restaurant reservations, make inquiries or simply learn more about your business.

It is important to note that your business type will determine the type and number of social networking sites that you should sign up for. You may ask what possible value a Twitter account can have for your business as it only allows 140 characters to be published at any given time. The fact is that Twitter is a free service that allows you to put your brand name into a new market place that is now being shared by over 200 Million registered users worldwide. It is worth remembering that it was a 140 character tweet by a politician that almost brought down the Irish Government in 2010, when that politician used his 140 characters to describe the conduct of Brian Cowen TD on RTE’s Morning Ireland show.

If someone views the name of your Hotel on Twitter and you’re presenting a special offer, that person is only a click away from your generic site. Facebook, Blogger, YouTube and other social networking sites offer similar opportunities for your business. It must be stressed that you need to be certain that you will be able to manage and maintain these accounts once the initial euphoria is over. Facebook is a worldwide social networking phenomena with 500 Million registered users, you must ask yourself will Facebook be worth the time, energy and more importantly the money you will inevitably spend, the answer can be found in the stats from your generic site. If you are not getting the hits can you justify the cost?

Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, Goggle Buzz and all other social networking accounts will not produce an overnight success story, these accounts take time to build, and potential customers will only visit your generic site if it is presented as interesting and up to date.

You must ask yourself, why someone would visit your site rather than the hundreds of millions of other sites on the net. Your sites must be regularly up dated, they must be interesting and they must have Keyword Research at their heart. You must have good quality links both to and from your generic site. Keyword Research is not a science; if you are in the hotel business then your posts must contain Keywords relating to your business, both the pages on your generic website and your regular postings must contain Keywords that will be picked up by the search engines.

Search engine optimisation is important in promoting your business on the net, again it is not rocket science and don’t let anyone tell you that it is. Keep your page and post titles short and to the point, describe who you are, what you are selling and where you are selling it. For example, ‘Europa Hotel Belfast, rooms from £59, luxury you can afford’ (56 characters), you can say so much in so few words. Make sure your tags are relevant to your site/post content.

Continuing with the hotel industry, Market Sweeping on the Net, is ideal, you use every opportunity possible to sweep the net and draw potential customers to your generic site where they can view your range of products, services and special offers. Experiments carried out by Market-Sweeping with ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ have shown that an increase of up to 30% potential customers can be drawn to generic sites, a 30% increase in potential customers is very significant in the new economic dispensation.

Businesses can no longer afford to spend money on the worthless and the useless, every Dollar/Euro spent must show a return. If applied correctly ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ could bring significant new numbers of potential customers to your generic site.



S.W.O.T. Analysis of MarketSweeping.ie

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (S.W.O.T.) is an analytical tool used by businesses to gauge their position in a time and place. S.W.O.T. is a tool for planning a business idea or concept. S.W.O.T. is a tool for establishing the viability of the objectives of any given business or business idea. Both the Internal and external dynamics of a business must be examined in order to establish what will help and what will hinder any business when it sets out to achieve its set objectives. The S.W.O.T. tool was developed by Albert Humphrey in the 1960s/70s while he attended Stanford University.



All S.W.O.T analysis must begin with a clear understanding of the desired objectives of the business enterprise under consideration. Any business with a strategic plan in place must incorporate a S.W.O.T. analysis into the plan. The key components of the S.W.O.T. can be broken down as follows:



1. All characteristics of any business idea or concept that give it a leading edge over its competitors could be described as strength of that business.

2. Any characteristic of any business idea or concept that places it at a disadvantage can be described as a weakness.

3. Any opportunity presented to any business idea or concept in the external market that will increase sales and profitability can be described as an opportunity.

4. The world of business is constantly under threat and in the SWOT analysis that threat is identified as any threat in the external business environment that affects a business idea or concept.

The role of the SWOT analysis in the strategic planning of any business idea or concept is central to analysing the potential for that business to succeed or fail in the business world.

The SWOT analysis will give a snap shot of any business idea or concept at a given time and place of the business development process. If the S.W.O.T. analysis shows that the business objectives are not obtainable for that particular business idea or concept then new objectives must be set or the business scrapped.

For the purposes of this report S.W.O.T. will be applied to MarketSweeping.ie which is a business idea being developed by The Irish Observer. This business idea has come about due to new learning and up-skilling of The Irish Observer on the e-Business course.

Primary Research 1

The key primary research for the SWOT aspect of this Business Plan is based on the statistical analysis for page views/hits for those Blogs set up for the client group of xxxxxx.com including xxxxxx.com by Market-Sweeping. As Administrator for these sites it is possible to use Google Analytics to access important and updated market research relating to each site.

For Example: Page views by Browsers for xxxxxx.blogspot.com

Internet Explorer-1,727 (88%) Firefox-169 (8%)

Chrome-20 (1%) Safari-15 (<1%)

Mobile-6 (<1%)



The statistical analysis of the Blogs will give a clear indication as to the volume of traffic, source of traffic, geographical spread of traffic, peak times for traffic, low traffic and correlation between posting and traffic distribution.

On the first page ‘Country of origin by Hotel, it is clear that all five Blogs including xxxxxx.com derived their main traffic sources from Ireland and the USA, this finding was not unexpected as Ireland’s main tourist/holiday traffic comes from both Ireland and the USA (FailteIreland.ie). Both the xxxxxx.com and xxxxxx.com Blogs have the greatest volume of traffic, again this is not unexpected as the xxxxxx.com is a brand name in many countries, and xxxxxx.com has been given most attention during the set up process of Market Sweeping on the Net, more activity, more posts, equals more traffic.

It is very significant that all four Blogs excluding xxxxxx.com have a consistent level of traffic from Ireland; this may be explained as they have a low profile on line and are simply being picked up by internet trawlers, people who simply trawl through the net and are not necessarily looking for the first site that appears on their search.

The majority of page-views/hits for xxxxxxx.com, xxxxxx, xxxxxx, xxxxxx and the xxxxxx are fairly sporadic with the exception of the Ireland and USA hits, it all appears as fairly hit and miss. This sporadic aspect of the statistics can be explained by the fact that each of the Blogs was only being up dated once per week until the system was fully established.

In order to compare the figures for all five Blogs established for xxxxxx.com, the Statistics for a much more active Blog are presented. The Irish Observer is a news Blog that deals with current and political affairs in Ireland, this Blog in 2011 has over 20,000 page views/hits per month. These statistics are significantly different from the five Blogs established for xxxxxx.com and their client group.

The main reason for the statistical difference is the fact that The Irish Observer is up dated several times per day and offers readers Blogs on topical matters such as politics, business and news. It is this regular refreshing and updating coupled with keyword research, appropriate mega tags and tags, content, that gain Search Engine Optimisation for The Irish Observer.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the tool developed by webmasters in the mid-1990s and is used for ensuring that your website has good visibility on the Internet. SEO is the organic means by which you ensure good visibility for you site. Some companies will pay Google ads or Yahoo in order to have their site artificially positioned higher in the rankings for certain keywords or phrases, however, with hard work, innovation and good keyword research a site can be well placed by organic means.

If a site is high on search result pages then it will get greater volumes of traffic and therefore greater volumes of potential customers. The SEO can search for images, videos, and local or business/industry specific search. SEO presents a website with an opportunity to improve its web presence on the Internet.

Effectively SEO determines how search engines operate and determine what people are searching for, it is therefore essential that any web operator maximises their presence on the Internet by using the correct content that is relevant and up to date, using the correct tags, and where relevant ensuring that all links to and from their site are active. Many companies and web users had and continue to manipulate SEO by using keywords in their posts that are not relevant to their post but will help rank them higher in the search engines. However, Google and Yahoo have made changes to ensure that fresh content is ranked quickly in the search listings. Those who try to abuse the SEO will be punished, in 2006 BMW in Germany were banned from Google’s search list for using deceptive practices. According to Hitwise.com Google have about 90% of search engine hits in the UK and Ireland.

For those e-Businesses wishing to trade outside of Ireland will need to ensure that translation is addressed effectively, that their domain name is registered with a top domain name in the target country, and their web hosting should have a localised IP address. Having addressed these key points the SEO will be equal no matter what the language or country targeted.

The five Blogs established by Market-Sweeping for xxxxxx.com are only up dated on a weekly basis, with the exception of the three weeks 10-28 January 2011 when The Irish Observer was on work placement with xxxxxx.com and are limited in terms of keyword research and therefore Search Engine Optimisation.

A clear correlation has been established between regular site up-dates and traffic volume. Those sites that are only up dated once per week will have much less traffic than a site that is up dated on a daily basis. Sites will also bring more traffic if the posts are topical, interesting and up to date.

It is fair to conclude from this primary research that an opportunity exists for an innovative site that carries both regularly up dated features and a booking element such as xxxxxx.com. While Market Sweeping on the net can be used as a tool to drive increased traffic flow and therefore potential customers to the generic sites of the client group, it is clear from this research that for maximisation of traffic and potential customers, a single focused generic site should be established. This site could be a reconfiguration of xxxxxx.com or a totally new site.

On Line Community

There is a great temptation in the business world to get quick fix solutions to certain Marketing problems or concerns when they arise on the net. In relation to social networking sites there is a perception that you need to have thousands of followers/friends in order to get your goods or services marketed on the net, some companies have went for the easy option and used middlemen to buy ‘lists’ that are presently available on the net.

However, those who follow this trend of creating/purchasing artificial lists are buying a pig in a poke. If a business is serious about using social networking sites as an e-Marketing tool then they must be patient, they must build their online community organically. This will mean hard and often tedious work. This will mean sending follow up e-mails/texts to customers who have already used your product or service, it will mean making special offers and competitions available on line to potential new customers, it will make up dating and refreshing your sites regularly, it will mean answering customer queries and complaints within a short window. All of this activity will help build a sustainable organic online community.

Facebook: Primary Research 2

Do not be tempted by the quick fix solutions, allow your social networking e-Marketing strategy to build a sustainable community, rather than invest in what is effectively illegal spam. It is also worth remembering that social networking giants such as Yahoo are now in decline and so your investment must be measured when it relates to social networking:

Yahoo warned revenue will again slide this quarter as it bleeds traffic to Google and Facebook and a much-touted search partnership with Microsoft followed that with a declaration it is preparing its biggest year of hiring ever in 2011.

Yahoo reported its third consecutive quarter of declining page views on its websites. CEO Carol Bartz, who after two years in charge is facing increasing pressure to turn the once-dominant internet portal around, promised investors revenue growth will return in 2011's second half once its tie-up with Microsoft takes off. (irishtimes.com, 26/1/2011)

While using Facebook businesses will want to build an organic community of friends/followers, as stated above some companies have went for the easy and illegal option of buying lists through middlemen. It is totally against Facebook rules for any registered user to ‘request’ others on Facebook to be ‘friends’ if they do not know the person whom they are requesting. As a primary research experiment to test this rule on Facebook, Market-Sweeping made 50 friend requests to 50 people not known to Market-Sweeping on Facebook, all 50 people accepted the friend request.

The majority of these friend requests were sent to foreign companies and in reality to have them as friends or followers is a complete waste of time and energy. This is effectively how some companies are building their artificial ‘friend’ base, while other companies are simply buying lists on the cyber black market. Equally some companies are still spending vast amounts of money on advertising on line without any real or tangible results, for example, in their report for the fourth quarter of 2010 which was presented in January 2011, Google said:

Fourth-quarter profit topped analysts' estimates as optimism about the economy led companies to boost spending for online advertising.



Customers on Line: Primary Research 3

It is now becoming common for customers or potential customers to post questions about customer service on social networking sites where businesses have established a presence. This is where businesses who have established social networking sites, but who do not maintain and refresh these sites lose out badly. If a customer or potential customer has a complaint or a query and you don’t answer it then they will go elsewhere, your site if one of millions on the Internet. Customer relationship management processes must be seamless and not frayed. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) tells us that:

Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.

Many businesses have starting using social networking sites without actually considering the reality of what they are engaging in. If you do not have the time, staff or resource to manage these sites then you are potentially damaging your business. Social networking sites should be used to build visibility, awareness of your business, build an organic community and draw potential and actual customers to your business. It is essential that social networking is not simply viewed as a cheap means of advertising; this approach is doomed to failure if customer service follow up is not build in to your social networking marketing strategy.

Market-Sweeping carried out primary research to establish what customers’ expectations are in relation to social networking sites that are used as marketing tools by businesses. Market-Sweeping surveyed 100 people to establish what potential/actual customers expect from businesses who use social networking sites to sell their goods or services.

In order to establish a number of key points in relation to people using the Internet including when they log-in, their likes and dislikes about business sites, how they make a complaint and how quickly they expect to have their complaints answered, this SWOT Report used an e-mail questionnaire. Due to the low response rate to e-mail questionnaires, this SWOT Report decided to send a large number of e-mails to former customers of the client group of xxxxxx.com.

In order to ensure a significant return this SWOT sent 400 questionnaires to former customers of the xxxxxx.com client group; these customers had previously given their permission for the client group to send up dates and special offers by e-mail. This SWOT Report decided that the first one hundred questionnaires returned would be used as the sample group for the primary research.

The reason that e-mail questionnaires were chosen for this primary research was due to the fact that an e-mail list for the client group existed, it involved no expenditure, it was quick and due to the fact that most bookings for Hotel rooms are now made on line the likely hood was that most if not all of the client group were computer literate.

The e-mail was sent by way of a customer satisfaction/improvement tool and those returning the e-mail questionnaire would benefit from a 10% discount on their next stay with the xxxxxx.com client group if they were signed up as ‘friends’ to the client group on Facebook, this is already a standard discount for ‘friends’ of the client group on Facebook.

Logging On

Facebook and other social networking sites are similar to the M50 (main road into Dublin City), there are times when they are quiet such as 6am on a Sunday morning and there are times when they are busy like 4pm on a Friday afternoon. It is therefore important to be on line when the traffic is there to engage with potential customers or simply to expose your service or product. The jury remains out on the news feed feature of Facebook which for many is nothing more than accepted spam?

Market-Sweeping found in their research that there are significant numbers of people who will log on to social networking sites during the day when the opportunity is presented. However, it was clearly established that 43% of respondents check their social networking sites before they retire for the night, that 20% check their social networking sites first thing in the morning and that women are the most prolific users during lunch breaks.

Customers and potential customers have their likes and dislikes about advertising and communication on social networking sites and so it is important that businesses understand these like and dislikes.

Customers and potential customers according to the respondents are attracted to competitions and give-a-ways and have the potential to attract an organic community on your social networking site/s. However, in these difficult economic times can businesses simply give stuff away? Your social networking content plan should constantly test the needs, wants and desires of your online community. Respondents said they were looking for products and services to be professional, friendly, creative, respectful and innovative.

So how do customers complain about products or services?

The one-hundred respondents when asked how they complained about a product or service said that 46% of them would complain on the businesses generic website, 26% said they would complain on the phone, the remainder of the respondents said they would complain by a letter, social networking site or discussion forum. The good news is that 20% of respondents had never made a complaint.

Respondents had this to say about response time to their complaint

Respondents were very clear that they do not like to be kept waiting for an answer to their complaint when they lodge such a complaint. Most respondents expect a reply within one day; they did not distinguish between working days and weekends. This was extended to three days depending on the type of complaint lodged. 27% said that three days was reasonable on social networking sites, 16% said three days was acceptable on Twitter.

20% of all respondents said that they would expect a response within one hour if they lodged their complaint on Twitter or Facebook. It is clear from this survey that businesses must have a plan of action to manage customer complaints queries on their social networking sites.

It is clear from this research that any e-Marketing strategy must include a customer service element. If any business thinks that they can simply establish a presence on social networking sites and ignore their customer service responsibilities they are badly mistaken and it will in the long term do damage to their business and reputation. On line purchasing may be easier than traditional high street shopping; however, it is also a place where reputations can be damaged irrefutably at the click of a button.

Initially it is envisaged that Marketing-Sweeping will begin life with a client base of five Hotels, each client being charged one-hundred-euro per week for the basic Market-Sweeping package. This charge for the basic package will generate an estimated 500 Euro per week or 2000 Euro per month as set out in the projected cash flow.

It is expected that Market-Sweeping will be funded by a long term bank loan of 5000 Euro, a 3000 Euro Credit Union loan and it is expected that a 1000 Euro grant will be received from the Enterprise Board for website development.

It is expected that rent and rates will cost 200 Euro per month with the renting of a small office space. Light, heat and power are expected to be in the region of 100 Euro per month. Telephone, post, selling are costs not expected to exceed to 90 Euro per month. Distribution and selling are expected to remain at a level not exceeding 50 Euro per month. Travel will be a significant cost and is estimated to be in the region of 100 Euro per month. Loan repayments and interest are expected to be in the region of 60 Euro and 30 Euro respectively per month.

It is estimated that in Phase 1 Market-Sweeping will have an annual income of 24,000 Euro per year and it is not known if VAT registration will be desirable or necessary. PRSI will be paid in order that the Sole Trader continues to pay into the national fund.

It is estimated that Market-Sweeping will be able to operate in Phase 1 with the Sole Trader as the only employee in the company; it is expected and anticipated that as Market-Sweeping gains market share that the company and the number of employees will expand accordingly. It is expected that drawings from the company during Phase 1 will be limited to 400 Euro per month.

There is also a significant marketing mix attachment to this Business Plan if you would like it posted here just ask in the comments.













Marketing Strategy for MarketSweeping.ie



Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. What is MarketSweeping.ie 1-2

3. Product 2-3

4. Price 3

5. Place 3-4

6. Promotion 4

7. 8 Elements of Marketing Communication Process 5-7

8. Communication Programme for MarketSweeping.ie 7

9. Conclusion 8

10. Recommendations 9

11. Bibliography and References 10-12

Introduction

This report will begin by explaining what MarketingSweeping.ie is in terms of a business concept. The background to this business concept will be clearly explained in terms of idea generation, idea screening, concept developing and testing, marketing strategy, business analysis, product service development, test marketing and commercialisation. This report will then go on to explain at which stage of the product life cycle MarketSweeping.ie has reached at the time of this report being compiled. The characteristics of the life cycle stage will be discussed and what strategy will be used for this particular stage of the life cycle.

In effect this report will examine investigate and analyse the Marketing Mix for MarketSweeping.ie in terms of Product, Price, Place and Promotion. This report will then draw conclusions and make recommendations in relation to the best possible marketing mix package for MarketSweeping.ie.



What is MarketSweeping.ie?

Vincent McKenna was made redundant as a Foreman/Health and Safety Officer with the collapse of the building industry in Ireland. In order to get back into the work place Vincent McKenna decided that he needed to retrain/up-skill and so sought a place on the e-Business program being delivered by VTOS in partnership with Meath VEC, in Navan, County Meath. This e-Business course delivers a combination of up-skilling tools over a year long program. The program covers Marketing, e-Business, Start Your Own Business, Accounting, Communication, Internet, Web-authoring, Work-positive, Work-experience and Mathematics.

Several weeks into the e-Business course Vincent McKenna was approached by a business person and asked if he could come up with an e-Marketing idea for the Hotel/Hospitality industry in order that new and potential customers could be drawn to the generic web-sites of a number of Hotels, restaurants and so forth, Vincent McKenna agreed to research and develop an e-Marketing strategy that could help drive new and potential customers to the generic web-sites of the businesses concerned.

Before continuing to explain the idea generation for MarketSweeping.ie it is important that the term e-Marketing is understood. E-marketing is a vehicle for using digital technologies to help a business to sell their goods or services on line. Such new technologies are an essential addition to traditional marketing methods whatever the size of the business style.

Principles of traditional marketing remain the same; a business must create a strategy to deliver the right messages to the right people. The one thing that has changed is the number of options now available to any business. Businesses will continue to use traditional marketing methods, such as media advertising, direct mail and Public Relations. However, e-marketing adds a revolutionary new element to the marketing mix of any business. Businesses are producing additional results with e-marketing and its flexible and cost-effective nature makes it particularly suitable for small and medium sized businesses.

Following a great deal of research Vincent McKenna developed an e-marketing strategy for the Hotel/Hospitality industry. This new e-Marketing strategy was named ‘Market Sweeping on the Net, a cost-effective marketing tool for the Hotel/hospitality industry’.

This new e-Marketing strategy involved establishing accounts for each one of the client group on social net-working sites. These social networking sites included Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, Blogger, Hubpages and 90 second virals on YouTube. The idea behind the ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ e-Marketing concept was to use social networking sites in a strategic and coordinated manner as a means to draw new and potential customers to the generic web-sites of the client base.







The initial sites established were Dashhotels.blogspot.com, Elizalodge.blogspot.com, AnchorHouse.blogspot.com, CentralHotel.blogspot.com and TheMercantileHotel.blogspot.com. As well as establishing Blogs for each of the client base Twitter, Google Buzz, Hubpages, YouTube and Facebook accounts were established.

The idea was to up-date each social networking site or combination of social networking sites on a weekly basis in order to maximise keyword search and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The idea was to use pictures taken by Vincent McKenna so that no licensing or copy right issues could arise. These pictures would be uploaded on the Blogger sites and then notified to the other social networking sites, using keywords, mega-tags, tags and maximising Search Engine Optimisation.

Words and phrases such as Hotels, Short breaks, holidays, Christmas shopping, eating out and so forth were used as tags so that Search Engine Optimization could be achieved. These keywords and phrases were integrated into Blogs and posts so that the SEO would be maximised.

Product

The e-Marketing idea generated by Vincent McKenna for the Hotel/Hospitality industry in order that new and potential customers could be drawn to the generic web-sites of a number of Hotels, restaurants and so forth was named ‘Market Sweeping on the Net, a cost-effective marketing tool for the Hotel/hospitality industry’ and this idea would be created within a business Brand name MarketSweeping.ie. This idea was screened applying a very intensive SWOT analysis of MarketSweeping.ie as can be seen in this report.

This new e-Marketing strategy involved establishing accounts for each one of the client group on social net-working sites. These social networking sites included Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, Blogger, Hubpages and 90 second virals on YouTube. The idea behind the ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’ e-Marketing concept was to use social networking sites in a strategic and coordinated manner as a means to draw new and potential customers to the generic web-sites of the client base.

The concept development and testing relating to MarketSweeping.ie can be seen in the SWOT analysis contained in this report, from this concept developing and testing it was decided that the most effective marketing strategy for MarketSweeping.ie would be to apply the Market Sweeping on the Net marketing concept; in effect Market Sweeping would become one of its own clients. MarketSweeping.ie was analysed by way of a SWOT analysis and the product service was tested by way of presenting a number of packages to the client group.

The products and services of MarketSweeping.ie were fully tested during a three week work placement 10-28 January 2011 with dashhotels.com. As MarketSweeping.ie is only at the birth stage of the life cycle it has not yet been launched as a fully commercialised entity. The commercialisation of MarketSweeping.ie will follow the completion of an e-Business course which is presently being attended by Vincent McKenna.

Price

Cost based pricing would appear to be the most effective costing strategy for MarketSweeping.ie. Cost based pricing involves setting prices based on the costs of producing, distributing and selling the product/service; this cost base would be accompanied by a calculated mark-up or percentage margin, so that profits could be achieved. The main external factor that will affect MarketSweeping.ie is the significant downturn in the Irish Hotels industry, while MarketSweeping.ie can fit most business models it is expected to launch with a focus on the Hotel/Hospitality Industry.

This cost based pricing strategy presents the best option for MarketSweeping.ie as pricing has been a real issue for MarketSweeping.ie. MarketSweeping.ie which is a new business idea has no real competitors in the market place in terms of direct duplication of product/service. While there are a number of businesses in the market place offering a variety of e-Marketing tools that are directly related to e-Marketing on social networking sites, the reality is that for MarketSweeping.ie the core of the e-Marketing strategy relates to creativity and idea generation, rather than the daily routine of tried, tested and tired e-Marketing concepts.

For example rather than constantly copying and pasting “Rooms 39.99 this week”, MarketSweeping.ie has established that greater traffic generation can be gained by posting “O Driscoll might miss Ireland game”, this type of popular posting surrounded by direct marketing in relation to the particular hotel or business has proven much more fruitful.

Place

A Marketing channel which is also known as a distribution channel and is a set of interdependent organisations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user (Aoife Farrelly, Marketing notes, 2011). There are a number of key functions performed by the various channel members including information exchange, negotiation, promotion of product/service/business, distribution of goods or services, contact, financing, matching or risk taking.

Many modern companies engage with a range of marketing channels from the basic model of manufacturer to consumer to a more complicated model of manufacturer to wholesaler to jobber to retailer to consumer. MarketSweeping.ie will be delivering a direct internet e-Business/e-Marketing service to a number of clients by way of their social networking accounts and generic websites. This vertical marketing channel between MarketSweeping.ie and its client base will mean that if disputes arise in relation to artistic design or idea generation, MarketSweeping.ie will have to design a strategy for such potential conflict.

These marketing channels are a set of practices or activities necessary to transfer the ownership of products/services, and to move goods or deliver services, from the point of production/activity to the point of consumption and delivery, and as such, the marketing channels makeup of all of the marketing activities. The various channel members engage in a range of essential activities including providing links from business to consumer.

The promotion channel ensures that sales, advertising and promotion are maximised by way of effective communication of the business message. Those channels dealing directly with the product/services of any company must take into consideration such elements as branding, pricing policies and consumer preferences.

The channels that will be designed and created by MarketSweeping.ie must be effective and efficient or market share could be lost to new competitors who will most certainly enter the market with a duplicate product/service.

Promotion

A company will normally employ some form of communication mix in order to target a niche market or broader market audience. This communication mix will be used to create awareness in relation to a product or service being offered. Potential customers or repeat customers will be encouraged to use or continue to use the product or service that is on offer. Customers or potential customers will constantly be reminded of the benefits of using the said product or service being offered.

Effective communication is central in any business environment and effective communication is delivered when the sender of any message communicates that message effectively to the receiver. Dibb et al informs us that:

Marketing communications is the communication of information which facilitates or expedites the exchange process (Dibb et al, Marketing notes Aoife Farrelly, 2011).

MarketSweeping.ie will be using its own services package as a communication programme and marketing mix strategy to promote its services and products on line. Messages for MarketSweeping.ie will be designed and developed using a range of creative tools including word art, these messages will then be transmitted using both a generic website and a range of social networking sites, in a coordinated and strategic manner to ensure that the overall objectives of MarketSweeping.ie are meet.



8 Elements of Marketing Communication Process

There are eight clear elements in the Marketing Communications Process and these eight elements will now be explained before describing the communication programme being developed for MarketSweeping.ie.

The source of a message in the business environment will be the business who is marketing their product or service to a particular niche market audience or a broader audience. The receiver of the message is the person or persons who make up that target audience. The source or business will be the developer of any communications programme.



If for example a sole trader were to set up business in Navan fixing computers, it is likely that such a business could use the Meath Chronicle, leafleting and social networking to promote their service. If a large multi-national company were to open in Navan selling products or services on a worldwide scale that company would have a much more complicated communication mix, including multi-national adverts that would have to be translated in various languages. It would have to have multi-language websites and social networking sites in the host countries being targeted so that language, cultural and legal issues could be addressed.

The message is that which the source or business wants its target audience to hear as a result of its communication strategy, this message can be a combinations of words, pictures, videos, symbols, catch phrases. It is essential that any message is not confused by way of language barriers, cultural differences or legal consideration. For example, one would not advertise bacon fries in a Muslim country or Guinness in Saudi Arabia. The other side of the coin is that some companies set out to cause controversy and public outcry in order to get their message to as wide and audience as possible, for example, Ryan Air and Hunky Dories have generated massive publicity around their products and services by developing posters or campaigns that are intended to cause public consternation and media attention that derives from that consternation.

The receiver of any business generated message is the target audience, that target audience can be as simple and as accessible as those people who will wish to attend the Kings of Leon concert in Slane in 2011 or that audience may be as difficult and diverse as those people being targeted in a campaign for healthier living.

The source has to research and identify its audience before it can invest in any significant way in the communication process. There are many examples of mass budgets being wasted on poorly thought out communications campaigns, the Sinclair C5 and the De Lorean Car are two that come to mind, although it is fair to say that the product was as poorly thought out as the communications strategy.

The message will always be communicated through a communications channel, that communications channel can be traditional media such as radio, television, print, personal selling or the most effective communication channel of the 21st Century, the Internet. With 2.9 Billion being spent on Google advertising in the last quarter of 2010 it is clear that many businesses now view the Internet as an effective communications channel.

It is also worth noting that social networking sites such as Facebook have over 500 million registered users with projections of 1 Billion users by the year end 2011, however, the effectiveness of using Facebook as a marketing channel remains to be established. However in January 2011, Google.com Profit Report said:

Fourth-quarter profit topped analysts' estimates as optimism about the economy led companies to boost spending for online advertising (Google.com, 2011).

In the modern age encoding is now a buzz word mainly associated with privacy, confidentiality and security on the Internet. E-mail marketing strategies or e-Mail newsletters are two of the main encoded channels of communication being used and developed by businesses in their communication mix. This encoding can also be used in terms of sending messages that are signed by digital signatures. Decoding these messages is the process used by the receiver to turn the encoded messages into back into an idea. It is important for those sending such encoded messages to remember that those who receive the message can interpret them very differently, this is due to cultural, religious and value belief systems. Remember that people are complicated beings with a range of intake filters as can be seen from the diagram below.

At the base of any effective communication strategy will be feedback; this is a measure of how the receiver responds to the message that has been communicated. In certain instances it can be clear how the receiver has responded, for example, in the January sales when large stores offer computers or large televisions for knock down prices the receiver can be seen queuing for several hours to try and get the desired product.

However, if the message is more complicated, for example, the Department of Education trying to encourage healthier eating among children then a great deal of pre and post campaign surveys and research will have to be carried out to establish how effective the message has been. The channel of communication will also have a significant bearing on the feedback received; mass campaigns on Television or radio are difficult to measure as feedback is slow and hard to collect. Surveys and questionnaires are also costly depending on the target audience; however, they present direct information and feedback.

In all communication strategies noise will always be a concern, noise is the effect that distorts the message being received. If the message received is different from that intended by the source then this generates problems and the noise must be identified and eliminated. Noise is not simply construction workers in the background when you are trying to compose your message; it is any activity that distorts the communication process. Noise can be people talking while a message is being received; noise causes confusion and distraction from the communication process and must be eliminated so that the receiver understands the intended message.

This has been a comprehensive explanation of the eight core elements of the Marketing Communication Process; however, each business/source must develop a Marketing mix that will best convey their message to the target audience. This report will now set out the communication programme to be employed by MarketSweeping.ie.









Communication Programme for MarketSweeping.ie

MarketSweeping.ie will be using its own services package as a communication programme to promote its services and products on line. Messages for MarketSweeping.ie will be designed and developed using a range of creative tools including word art, these messages will then be transmitted using both a generic website and a range of social networking sites.

The messages that will be designed and created by MarketSweeping.ie will be clear, concise and professional and will be specifically targeted at those client groups who may wish to benefit from the products and services being delivered by MarketSweeping.ie. While the vast majority of communications for MarketSweeping.ie will be delivered by way of the Internet and other communications technology such as text marketing, there will also be some direct selling to the client group.

It will be essential that all messages delivered on behalf of MarketSweeping.ie are clear and effective the process of encoding and decoding messages will be researched and investigated until the correct message is conveyed to the receiver. Feedback will be an essential tool in the communication mix for MarketSweeping.ie and this process will be followed through by way of sending questionnaires to the client group (hotel owners) and also sending e-Mails to the retail customers of the client group (hotel guests). This direct feedback will help establish if the communication mix and its messages are being conveyed effectively.

At all times MarketSweeping.ie will be aware of the need to ensure that noise has minimum impact on the message being conveyed to the target audience. The communication channels will be constantly reviewed and analysed to ensure best practice in the communication process.



Conclusions

This Business Plan has set out to test the ability of MarketSweeping.ie to reach its objectives in terms of having life beyond the e-Business classroom and presenting a business opportunity for e-Business student Vincent McKenna. A significant number of the weaknesses identified in the SWOT analysis of MarketSweeping.ie have been greatly addressed by the Work Experience carried out by Vincent McKenna with dashhotels.com 10-28 January 2011. It was due to this work experience opportunity that Vincent McKenna was able to both practically and theoretically test most aspects of MarketSweeping.ie and the e-Marketing concept ‘Market Sweeping on the Net’.

The three stands of primary research carried out during this Business Plan have addressed a number of important issues. It is clear from the first primary research data that MarketSweeping.ie using ‘Market Sweeping on the net’ can generate traffic for the generic sites and gain much needed Internet presence for the client group of dashhotels.com.



However, it is equally clear that a great deal of time and energy is needed in order to get maximum Internet exposure for a given site/sites or business. It is also clear that many businesses and internet users are taking short cuts to gaining internet presence, including paid listing, paid advertising, list buying, ‘friend’ clicks and so forth. These short cuts pose a serious threat to a business idea such as MarketSweeping.ie who wishes to build sites and traffic using organic and legal methods.

It is clear from primary research two that the friends’ tool on Facebook is easily abused and can create artificial lists of mainly useless ‘friends’ ‘followers’, this can be compared to The Irish Observer who does not display a ‘friends’ tool and has in excess of 20,000 page views per month.

The third piece of Primary research related to customer expectations on line. This piece of primary research clearly highlights the need for e-Marketing strategies to have a customer service element build in to their e-Marketing Plan. It is not enough to place a business on social networking sites such as Facebook in order just to have a presence, that presence must be worked and followed up with hard work and innovation. Customers expect to have quick responses to their queries and complaints, if a business is not delivering this customer service follow up then they are wasting their time using social networking as an e-Marketing tool.

It is clear from the SWOT analysis, the three strands of primary research and the work experience of Vincent Mc Kenna that there is a real potential for MarketSweeping.ie to reach its objectives, however, several recommendations follow.

This report has clearly explained the business concept MarketingSweeping.ie in terms of its place of its birth on the product/service life cycle. The background to this business concept has been clearly explained in terms of idea generation, idea screening, concept developing and testing, marketing strategy, business analysis, product service development, test marketing and commercialisation. In effect this report has examined, investigated and analysed the Marketing Mix for MarketSweeping.ie in terms of Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

The eight elements of the marketing communications process has been comprehensively examined in order that MarketSweeping.ie can benefit from this knowledge as it goes from birth on the product/service life cycle to a commercialisation process that will see growth over the first next twelve to eighteen months. The communication programme for MarketSweeping.ie has been clearly set out and will be almost exclusively focused on new communications technologies such as the Internet and text marketing to mobile phones.

It is clear from this report that feedback will play a central role in the marketing mix and communications strategy employed by MarketSweeping.ie this feedback will be the spring board for the development of any marketing or communications strategy going forward as it will be clear whether the overall objectives of MarketSweeping.ie are being achieved. Product, Price, Place and Promotion will be core themes for MarketSweeping.ie as it makes its way along the product/service life cycle, MarketSweeping.ie will have to regularly analysis and evaluate its performance.

Recommendations

1. MarketSweeping.ie has a real opportunity to become an actual business, however, there remains significant information gaps in relation to customer potential, MarketSweeping.ie needs to carry out further primary research in relation to businesses who would be prepared to invest in the e-Marketing concept, ‘Market Sweeping on the net’.

2. Vincent McKenna needs to learn more about e-Marketing and e-Business in general

3. There needs to be a clearer understanding of pageviews on social networking sites and actual business generated.

4. Social networking sites should not simply be created to create a presence.

5. Sites must be regularly updated, be innovative and interesting.

6. Sites must be professional in presentation and follow up.

7. Customer queries and complaints need to be answered within a set time frame and this time frame should be stated clearly on all sites.

8. No money should be invested in MarketSweeping.ie until much more primary and secondary research is carried out.

9. Never use artificial concepts to get followers/friends; this does not have long term value.

10. Lists of Followers/friends are best created by e-mailing past guests and using word of mouth to build real and actual followers/friends by way of organic processes.

11. There is no benefit to any business by having 2,000 followers who were artificially created, this is a waste of time and money and leads to complacency.

12. Followers/friends will come by means of knowledge of the business i.e. former guests, customers and word of mouth

13. New and potential customers will be drawn to the generic site of a business if that site if regularly updated, interesting and offers something different including but not exclusively special offers.

14. There is no substitute for hard work, those who seek quick fixes such as paying someone to attach large numbers of ‘virtual’ followers to their site will not benefit from such costly short cuts.

15. If a business does not have a staff member who is able to dedicate time to the social networking concept then a small consultancy fee should be paid for that service to be delivered.

16. It is essential that sites and the stats of those sites are constantly reviewed to establish if value for money is being obtained

17. MarketSweeping.ie should further research and analysis its communication programme.

18. MarketSweeping.ie needs to be fully conversed with its target market.

19. Feedback systems need to be put in place in order to establish if the message being sent forward by MarketSweeping.ie is clearly understood.

20. MarketSweeping.ie needs to have clear pricing strategy.

21. MarketSweeping.ie needs to produce a clear presentation of its products or services so that clients can understand what exactly is being offered.

22. Distribution channels for MarketSweeping.ie need to be established with a view to presenting best practice in product/service distribution.

23. At all times MarketSweeping.ie must be fully aware of the eight elements of the marketing communication process, so that goals and objectives can be met.

24. It must be remembered that there is no clearly defined research in relation to return per investment in on-line advertising, all investment must be clearly monitored in terms of return.

25. MarketSweeping.ie will have to regularly analysis and evaluate its performance.



























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data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBhQSEBITExMRFRQWGBYSFxYWFhcVEhMXFxQXFhYbExgZHygfGB4kGhgVITEgIycpLSwuFh4xNTAtNSgrLCkBCQoKBQUFDQUFDSkYEhgpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKSkpKf [accessed 11/April/2011]

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http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/

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Fax Marketing Leading the way in fax marketing since 1992. Competitive Prices. www.centralmessaging.co.uk

SWOT Analysis Diagrams Easy SWOT Diagram Software Includes Templates. Free Download! www.SmartDraw.com

Masters in Marketing & Advertising, 8 Specialisations, Top for Jobs, 100% Online Course, Apply! StudyInterActive.org/MSc-Marketing

Internet Marketing Blogs

Is the Internet Undermining Customer Value?

Online Retailers Brace for Sales Tax Collection

How and What Websites Know About Visitors

Tracking Research Draws U.S. Government Interest

New Research Journal Focuses on What Works Online and It’s Free!

The Right Way to Compare Web Advertisements

To Regain Importance MySpace Tries a Repositioning Strategy

Mobile Marketing is Finally Reaching the Big Time

Drilling Down to the Problems with Web Analytics

For Advertising Networks an Icon Worth Considering

The New York Times Takes a Stand Against Free Content, Others Could Follow

Is Google Really This Nice?

Another Attempt to Solve the Micro-Payments Puzzle

Using Cookies to Track Customers

More on Marketing Through Mobile Devices

Marketers Are Now Believing That Mobile Commerce is Finally Ready to Take Off

Big Companies Still Trying to Figure Out Value of Facebook

How Companies Are Successful With Low-Cost Marketing Strategy

Considerations in Naming Products and Companies

Trade Show Booth Designs, Reader's Digest Repositions and Private Label Product Growth

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Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.

January 2011, Google.com Profit Report said:

Fourth-quarter profit topped analysts' estimates as optimism about the economy led companies to boost spending for online advertising.

irishtimes.com, 26/1/2011

The Advertising Concept Book from author Peter Barry, the by-line of this book ‘Think now buy later’ Barry suggests that advertising is only great if its roots are in insight-led ideas.

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