Company And Industry Description Alpha Audio example essay topic

ALPHA AUDIO Executive Summary ALPHA Audio, a leading global electronics manufacturer, is going to produce the innovative and exciting car audio compact disk recorder and receiver. This product will be capable of recording music off the radio and engraving it onto a compact disk for later listening enjoyment. When the consumer hears a song on the radio that they like, they will press the red, clearly labeled RECORD button on the receiver. For efficiency, a 40-second anti-skip chip has been added, allowing the car driver to record the song in its entirety.

This ensures safer driving, reducing the chance of hastily taking eyes off the road to search for a button. Recording songs off the radio is attractive to people of all ages, as there are several different radio stations of listening choice. This product is anticipated to supersede the past innovations of SONY in sales, which was the first company to produce a compact disc, as well as a vehicular compact disk player. Company and Industry Description ALPHA Audio is one of the largest companies in the audio and video equipment industry, holding 26% of the market share, having a strong foothold on a relatively large industry. Like all technology industries the audio industry is constantly growing. Last years revenues of the industry were nearly 200 billion dollars.

Competitors ALPHA Audio is the leader in their industry concentrating on all most all aspects of its market, from high to low end equipment and still backing it up with ALPHA name and quality. However they are not alone in this industry. In this industry there are about thirty other companies, and even with all these companies ALPHA holds the highest market capitalization by 180 billion US dollars. Some of the larger companies are Matsushita Electric, NEC, and Sharp. They hold approximately 25, 6, and 8 percent respectively of the market share.

Matsushita Electric is second to ALPHA in the market overall and their revenues have been declining over the past five years. NEC holds a small share of the market operating at a tenth the scale of ALPHA. Sharp on the other hand operates with the smallest revenues of the three and with a higher market share than NEC. It is clear that Sharp operates better than NEC and still manages to control part of the market with other revenues. Overall, ALPHA is the largest and holds the largest market share, which the rest of the industry hardly compares to. Target Market The primary target market for our product would be the public ages of 16 to 25.

A secondary market would be the public from ages 26 to 32. These two ranges are the perfect targets for a product such as this one. Distribution through key retailers and with ALPHA's catchy marketing these markets could easily be reached. Demographics and Psychographics The stereotypical APHA enthusiast follows a wide, clearly defined category. It includes teenagers through Generation Y or the! SS Net Generation.

!" These people were born after 1976, and influence much of music, sports, video games, general pop culture, and more importantly, technology. A typical demographic group consists of single males living in suburbs or cities of middle to upper-middle income homes. The psychographic aspect of the typical ALPHA consumer is somewhat defined. This is more often a male in his teenage to middle-aged years.

His values equate high quality to high spending; therefor, ALPHA's established name in the electronics industry is of high appeal. As the man gets older and older moving up in the social ladder, his tastes become more prudent to higher monetary amounts being spent. The typical! SS early adopter!" enjoys getting into mechanical items and fiddling around with them, takes joy from not having necessarily to consult an instruction manual for his new! SS toy, !" and is attracted to sleek surfaces, modern looks, and cutting edge technology. With advances in technology everyday, new equipment is bought frequently.

ALPHA Audio knows its consumers very well. Whether male or female, young or old, technologically inclined or not. This new product is sure to be a hit with all fans of audio equipment and technology. Environmental Forces A second analysis that the managers of the company can conduct would involve the five E-Forces, which include social forces, economic forces, technological forces, competitive forces, and political forces. Social Forces Social forces include demographics and psychographics. Demographics is important because based on this the company can decide their target market and also make decisions like which field has the best potential for growth.

For example if 40% of the population were elderly one would certainly not market a CD player to that group. The United States population at this time has reached around 280,000,000 people. This constitutes about 30% of the population. This is also the age that is growing the most in recent years.

For our purposes this is a very good thing because the more people the larger our target or the more sales we will be able to make. Psychographics, as mentioned above, is a very important factor as well, as the United States has a very diverse culture. Each one of us has different ideals, morals, and values that we bring in our community. Companies have to take this into consideration since one of their major goals is consumer satisfaction. However, all of us have one thing in common and that is the need and want for more technological advances.

Our product saves time as well as brings enjoyment to our consumers. Economic Forces Economic forces include gross income, disposable income, and discretionary income. Most of the consumers in our target market are single. That means that there purchasing power is greater compared to others because they have no families or kids to worry about. Also, today teenagers have more purchasing power because more of them are in the labor force and they don! |t have as many utility expenses like food, or shelter because their parents provide that for them. Technological Forces Technological forces involve the different industries.

Today's leading industries include petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, and most of all electronics. The demand for electronics, as well as the technology for electronics, in the recent years has grown immensely. Competitive Forces Competition is a very crucial aspect for any company especially in electronics. One of ALPHA's major competition is Panasonic. ALPHA has leading position in market share, which gives it an advantage in competition because they are able to control a larger share of the industry than other companies in the same industry. Political Forces The last force branches into external and internal regulations.

There are some major regulatory forces that should be thought of in relation to this product. Such as copyright laws and any problems in the music industry. To account for such problems a small proceed from the sales will be contributed to some of the major record labels. ALPHA Audio will be an international company to allow for lower manufacturing costs. Therefor, there might be some child labor regulations to contend with. In order to expand ALPHA Audio's revenues it is believed that the rapid launch of such a product is needed for the success of such a product in this industry.

Marketing Mix Product: A car audio compact disk recorder and receiver. Which will be capable of recording music off the radio and burning it onto a CD for later listening enjoyment. Price: The ALPHA Audio Corporation will follow the demand-orientated approach of pricing with the skimming technique. This will include setting a high initial price and allow the price lower in a series of steps due to the demand by individuals (innovators, & early adopters) that would pay the higher price. ALPHA products will be priced higher than competitor prices to perhaps portray that higher quality works hand in hand with higher prices.

Promotion: Much of ALPHA Audio's promotion will be done through retailers, yet their will be television and magazine advertisements which will gear more towards the younger generation. Other promotional tactics can be driven through the company's website, be offering things like downloadable music samples to help grasp the consumers attention. Place: Many of ALPHA's products will be available on the company's website, although they are predominantly sold within retail stores, such as Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Target, and Best-Buy. SWOT Analysis Strengths: ALPHA is the leading audio-visual electronics and information technology company in the United States. Weaknesses: ALPHA does not have a specialization or focus within the electronics and media industry; no real niche.

Opportunity: ALPHA has the opportunity to create a younger target market with innovations such as the CD recorder. The corporation has the ability to expand and broaden its segment markets with new products. Threats: Competition from competitors such as Panasonic, JVC, Aiwa, and Sony have the ability to overcome ALPHA at any moment if they come up with innovative new ideas and more appealing designs for consumers at cost-effective prices. Recommendations To Upper Management Price: To many, ALPHA stands for high quality products but unfortunately at a fairly high price. Granted the ALPHA Corporation would not and should not jeopardize the quality and performance of their products, but one controllable force that ALPHA should take a closer look at would be the price for which they are selling their products.

There are not many 16-25 year olds that have the money to lay down thousands of dollars for a product such as this. So, in keeping with ALPHA's demand-orientated pricing strategy we believe that the cost for our product should be around $300-$400. Attempting to skim the market in which is in demand for this high technology CD recorder, there will definitely be consumers who are willing to pay this high initial price. Place: Largely populated cities are always key targets for marketing high-tech devices such as the recorder. Therefor, it is important to expand into less populated cities as well. A recommendation for placement for the CD recorder should stay consistent with the ALPHA Corporation.

As the 4 P's stated, placement for the product revolves primarily around retail outlets like Best Buy and Circuit City. Product: The suggested CD recorder is a simplified version of the already popular average CD player. With the only exception of having the ability to burn directly to a CD. An advantage to this product is the accessibility it will allow to songs that are heard while, for instance, driving around. Promotion: ALPHA Audio's main form of promotion will be wide spread commercial advertisements that will introduce our products to mass amounts of viewers at once while saving costs. These ads will help to generate interest and awareness.

Advertisements in car and stereo magazines, will be sure to put emphasis on the low price and the high quality of the ALPHA CD recorder. In store ads will give the interested consumer more detailed information on our product. A trial version of the product will be given to all major distributors to further guide the potential consumer into the final stage of the buying process, the purchase. To further satisfy the consumers post-purchase behavior, included in the box will be a registration card. Offering a 1-year unlimited warranty on all defects and parts, along with a coupon for 5 free CDR / RW's. Finally we will be introducing this product to several colleges in the Boston area, including Northeastern, for a limited time.

This will serve as our test market and allow us to cover a broad range of students. Conclusion ALPHA's proposed new product is unique and highly marketable in every aspect. What may be termed a point of difference is that by investing in the CD recorder, money is saved by not having to purchase music independently. The pricing is true to the psychographics population in that although the CD recorder will be reasonably priced, technology is an industry that often demands high prices for high-end goods and high quality. Furthermore, the concept of! SS recording!" is not so perplexing, which caters to those people whose breadth of technological knowledge is not so vast.

Given our wide target market and efficient catering to specialized demographic and psychographic groups, the introduction of the car audio compact disc recorder and receiver will generate more sales for the company, resulting in a high profit margin. This product is expected to more than satisfy the needs and wants of the consumer markets involved, as it will be innovative in style, function, and quality. It has always been the goal of ALPHA to develop high-end products that will elicit enjoyment from the general public, which this product certainly aims to achieve.