Marketing Plan for Graco Travel Buddy

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Porter’s Five Forces

Supplier power would be high on this product. The parts and pieces would be unique and more than likely custom. We run the risk of putting a lot of power in the supplier’s hands with this product. A proper part diagram and a list would have to be created to ensure that we are researching current elements offered in order to stay away from too many custom parts as this could hurt our pricing structure. We are basing this product from the general car seat that we already manufacture, how many of these parts could we reuse in the manufacturing of this product.

Buyer power would be in the medium range for this product. It is a unique product meaning that buyers have to come to us for this product. With no absolute competition, it means that we can price this product based on profit margin. The customer has the effect on whether we make it affordable or not. Once released the customer should not have a lot of power on the pricing.

Competitive rivalry would be something to constantly keep an eye on. There are many competitors that have the ability to provide a similar product if they should choose to at any time. This market appears to be one of always trying to outdo your competitor. Competitors will more than likely hit the market with something similar quickly after product release.

The threat of substitution is closely tied with the competitor rivalry on this product. We should assume based on the market that a similar offering will show up in time. In the analysis of child car seats, it appears that the constant technology and specification changes will highly affect our ability to remain the sole distributor of this product.

A threat of new entry is likely. As with substitution and competition, we are looking at a constantly changing market. The constant changes in specification requirement are an indicator that a new market entry is likely for products such as ours. Our ability to stay ahead of government regulation and technology could highly affect the ability of new entry in our market.

Market Segmentation

When marketing a new product, having a strategy in place is essential to the products implementation into the market. Having a clear idea of who exists within this market is important, as it ensures product promotion and adoption tactics are focused on the correct groups. Market segmentation allows companies like Graco to do just that. With the Travel Buddy, the first step in identifying the target market is to understand what the product is being designed for, and then who this product is to benefit. In the preliminary research into creating this product, it was discovered that frequent bathroom stops or vehicle accidents among toddlers on road trips was quite prevalent. A few members of the team had personal testimonies involving similar occurrences with their children. With that in mind, it becomes evident that one group within our target market will be parents to toddlers and children that have or continue in the process of being potty trained.

In the case of the Travel Buddy, which is being released by Graco, we already have a current customer base- mainly comprised of the parents of infant children all the way to the parents of children that are just past the toddler stages. With the development of this new product, having the numbers on who purchases products that are similar to what is being proposed will help with the final selection of our targeted market (including the breakdown of the geographical, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors). Since people who come from a lower economic background tend to get used car seats or free care seats as opposed to purchasing new ones, they would not be included as a primary focus in the marketing of the Travel Buddy (Sutherlin, 2012). Though this product’s appeal is its ease of use features, coupled with the convenience of not having to make frequent bathroom stops on road trips, we must also be mindful of the costs and what groups of people can afford to purchase this product.

Target Market

Most new parents will spend money on almost much anything if it is advertised as something that they cannot do without for their children. One member of the team admitted to doing this with her daughter. The fear of doing something wrong or not doing enough drives parents to seek out products that remedy this. According to Baby Center, up to 70 percent of child seats are improperly installed (Haiken, 2015). Most of this is due to parents rushing to secure the child and make it to a destination on time, or perhaps they just don’t understand how the contraption works. In an attempt to grab the attention of the parents that struggle with such issues, the Travel Buddy has been designed to provide an Secureeasy safety setup. With the push of a button, the seat secures itself into the vehicle. Another feature is that the seat transforms into a portable potty without having to unharness one’s toddler. For parents who are always on the go, or families that are taking long road trips, this feature can make traveling less stressful for both parents and their little ones. The Travel Buddy is designed for toddler use and is being primarily marketed within the working middle-class family demographic. The parents of toddlers in this group are often stressed when traveling due to rushed schedules and limited help. The range is from single parents to families that have young children and are frequently traveling or vacationing.

Emotional needs that make this product attractive to the target market is ability to relax and enjoy the time with the family while not being stressed about frequent stops or the need to interrupt the potty training schedule. Potty training is a significant learning milestone for young children, and any interruption can be disturbing to their mental and physical health (Largo & Stutzle, 2007, p. 603). It is a critical need for parents to be able to travel without the worry of disrupting their child’s bathroom needs. These emotional needs lead to the logical aspect of purchasing this product in that it will guarantee peace of mind during travels from the viewpoint of potty training and less stressful travel.

Positioning Statement

For the on the go parents of toddlers who deal with the issue of having to make frequent restroom stops while they travel, we have found a solution. Our product, the Travel Buddy, is at the cutting edge of innovative designs when it comes to safety, comfort, affordability and ease of use. This transformable car seat to potty chair, is designed to allow children to use the restroom in their seat as their