Trap-Ease America - the Big Cheese of Mousetraps

Company Case

Trap-Ease America:  The Big Cheese of Mousetraps

1. Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the group would write its mission statement? How would you write it?

-Being said they experience an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I predict that they are talking about the potential for profit and growth. However, from this case it doesn’t demonstrate that Martha, the president of Trap-Ease had done sufficient research to accurately evaluate the demand for her product. Before launching any product, it should be needed to introduce test campaign to recognize the customers’ preferences, attitudes towards the trap ease. First she would categorize the customers’ requirements. Do they want or need the safety and extra features that the Trap-Ease delivers? It seems that Martha and the investors were too concentrated about amazing features of their product and not the actual needs or wants of the customers that would be buying it. If Trap-Ease where to follow a Societal Marketing Concept then they would probably more successful because they are marketing such a new and innovative product which in the long run creates less waist because it is re- usable and is more human because of the trap and release possibility. If they used the Societal Marketing Concept it would augment their products strengths.

I ponder that the group would probably write its mission statement centered around their innovative product because they are too concentrated on their product and also concentrated enough on their customer. They would probably write something like, “Our mission is to help you to get rid of mice.” They should take the concentration off of their product and concentrate on their customer. A better mission statement would go something like this and include text which satisfied customers’ needs or wants; “Our mission is to make your life better and comfortable”. This applies to their current product and gives them area to expand into other areas of insects’ control.

2. Has Martha identified the best target market for Trap-Ease? What other market segments might the firm target?

-Martha has identified women as a target group centered on her propositions that women
don’t like conventional method and thus they would be more enthusiastic to buy Trap-Ease. This is a good marketing segment to start off with but there are a couple of things that Martha could have improved on. First, she should have probably segmented women into a couple different groups. In today’s world all women don’t stay at home and take care of kids and at the same time these women are replaced by independent professionals. In effect, her marketing strategy fails to predict the target market. She could probably segment women into a couple different categories. For example: working women, single women, house wives, etc. There are also other markets which Martha could target.

The Trap-Ease mouse trap is re-useable and therefore creates less strain on the environment which would make it a very smart thing for environment concerned people who care about the world. The environmentalist market is also growing as people become more aware of global warming. Animal lovers would love the Trap-Ease mouse trap because it is innocuous and it doesn’t require poison or pose the risk of breaking closed on a paw or tongue of a pet. Corporate Businesses would probably like the Trap-Ease mouse trap because of its high quality more futuristic image and the fact that it would create as much of a mess. Families with children should be the primary market segment of Trap-Ease sighted as it will probably be their largest. Mouse traps and poison pose a very large risk to babies and caring mothers and fathers would probably happily buy a product that would ensure better protection to their children.

3. How has the company positioned the Trap-Ease for the chosen target market? Could it position the product in other ways?

-It is seen that the Trap-Ease mouse trap has located itself in the market as an innovative and well planned product. It has done by winning awards from trade shows and magazines. If it is perfectly able to connect these features of the mouse traps with the actual requirements of their target consumers then they should be able to generate a larger demand. They could also try to change its position a little bit.