A Managerial Approach to Marketing

Abstract

In this paper you will review the strategic marketing plan for the School House of Fun. The paper will review the company's mission statement, target customer, service being marketed and the core strategy for service induction to the market place. This paper will also show how the company will tie all these strategies together to use the proper channels of distribution and use a customer relationship measurement system to measure consumer & company interaction.

Strategic Marketing Plan:

School House of Fun

Introduction

In today's society when introducing a new product or service the company must take into account several factors when dealing with the consumer. Maslow's theory suggests that consumers buy based on one of several human needs. This research shows that of those human needs they need to be delivered at three different levels: primary, secondary and tertiary for making, distributing and advertising the product or service.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to make sure all parents understand that "Family-centered care is more of a journey than a destination. This journey is our mission, our passion, to provide quality childcare and relevant learning and development opportunities for our children and strengthen our relations with constituents. We seek to fulfill these aspirations through creating meaningful learning experiences by caring for and preparing our children for success; at the same time developing mutually beneficial partnerships and distinction by enhancing the reputation of the School House of Fun."

Objectives

The facilities business objectives in the first year are to provide service for 50 families five days a week. Of the families participating 25% take part in the instructor lead sports activities at a cost of $125/month. Meal plans are included in the price, which may vary based on meal plan selected. Each family will have a choice of what services they can take advantage of: child care at a cost of $125/week or $450/month per child, multiple children price is an additional $50 per child. Activity center cost is only $65/week or $235/month per child, multiple children price is an additional $30 per child to provide a secure place with mall amenities and outdoor activity. Provide learning atmosphere for 100 students that would have participated in afterschool or summer school programs paid for by the local education board at a cost of$250/child for 45 sessions after school or two months during the summer. Provide jobs for some adults and job skill development for children age 14 to 17.

The School House of Fun wants to have 25% market share of the child care market and 20% of the entertainment or extracurricular activity in the city. Expected revenue in this first year based on 50 families with one child would be $270K, with Unit 2 Analysis for Marketing Decisions (DB) Unit 2 Analysis for Marketing Decisions (DB) Unit 2 Analysis for Marketing Decisions (DB)25% participating in instructor lead activity being $75K. The activity center should produce $141K and education board should provide $50K. If all the objectives are met the facility has the potential to make $536K over a 12 month period during the first year of operation. Lastly, the facility will have to determine who are the current and potential customers for this service (Winer & Dhar, 2011)?

Customer Targets

The use of child care facilities are increasing every day in our society from the grandmother down the street, to the childcare facility 30 minutes away from home and work. There is a high potential consumer base for the proposed service in this area. The research findings show that our market strategy for this proposed plan is one with high potential. In reviewing data from the US census the marketing team has determined that the School House of Fun is a plan with high potential to meet the consumer needs of the area. The area has the needed employment rate for a sustained marketing strategy. The population of 16 years or more in the area has an employment rate of 60.2%. There is also an Armed forces base in the area that will constantly provide new potential consumers for this service. The population with less than 16 years in the area contributes 38% of the labor force. This data supports that the area could support this facility financially for the long term.

The data also tells us that70.8% of the parents is in the work force and requires some form of child care. Of the 70.8% of parents 100% of them have children between the ages of 6 to 17 years of age and 36.3% of the parents having children under the age of 5 years. Commuting to work each day the data shows that 95.1% of the parents commute to schools, day cares and their jobs five days a week; with 10.1% carpooling. The financial footprint in the area shows that 20.7% of the parents make between $50,000 to $74,999 dollars annually. This number easily allows parents to pay for child care and not affect the quality of their normal lives (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 206-2010). By using this data we can take a systematic approach to identifying the consumers' needs and use Maslow's theory to make sure we address the 5 needs of all humans. The strategy should focus on bringing maximum benefit to the customer in order to gain more market share and revenue.

Competitor Targets

There are a large number of competitions in the area for providing child care service and afterschool programs. The largest market players in the child care industry are Impact Aid, Foster Grandparent Program, National School Lunch Program, County 4-H Office and several local child care facilities and activity centers as the local parks, Big Brother and YMCA's. With the presence of these programs the School House of Fun will have to provide the service that our competitors don't. The market competition in child care will increase in the future with today's household leaning more toward two incomes; which require care facilities for the children. Each competitive source will offer something different to the consumer. This strategy will offer what the consumer needs by applying Maslow's theory.

There will be competition at every level of this strategy; but the afterschool programs might be the most competitive. After school programs have become a vital part of our children's development and parents want to take advantage of the out-of-school time to continue the development of a child. The demand for afterschool programs is strong; current estimates suggest that nearly 10 million