Forecasting Sales and Product Evolution †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Forecasting Sales and Product Evolution. Answer: Introduction Innovation in the field of electrical engineering is one of the most significant factors behind seeking the attention of the new customer base as well as economic development. Electrical engineering can be understand as a sub-disciplinary branch of engineering which is associated with the practical application of electricity particularly when it is associated with the power distribution and operation and design of the machine related equipment. The key objective of this paper is to design a marketing strategy for a pioneering and innovative technology in the field of electrical engineering (Nykvist and Nilsson, 2015). For this, there has been selected Tesla Motors which is a renowned and leading American automaker well known for its initiatives related to solar panel manufacturing and energy storages. The company was established in the year 2003 in Palo Alto, California having specialization in the residential photovoltaic panels, lithium-ion battery energy storage and electric cars. Tesla is one of the global manufacturers of the electric vehicles which are recognized for its continuous efforts in the field of electric innovations. The organisation initiated with its fully electric sports car and then has its huge presence in the field of battery based electric vehicles (Berdichevsky, et al., 2006). In the field of electrical engineering s well as electricity based vehicles, there are a number of initiatives taken by the companies by taking use of the newly emerged technologies. In the era of globalisation, the continuous technological advancements have resulted in huge developments in the automobile industry. And out of all, the one most pioneering and best aspect id BEV i.e. Battery Electric Vehicles. In the current scenario, where the companies are required to pose huge emphasis on the environmental protection as well as global warming are taking use of the new initiative of the automobile industry of Battery Electric Vehicles. There are some of the globally recognized brands that are investing extensive amount of capital in the production of vehicles based upon the BEV technology (Botsford and Szczepanek, 2009). The one of the most renowned brand in the field of sustainable operations Tesla has stick to its key objective of manufacturing premium category electric cars based on the concept of green driving. The newly emerging technology which is the USP i.e. the Unique Selling Proposition of Tesla is its enthusiasm and initiative of manufacturing high quality BEVs. The company works on the philosophy of manufacturing unique products to achieve attention of the masses and wants to accomplish its aim of Drive Different as its motive behind the creation and development of BEVs. The emerging technology of Tesla is focused on the accelerating the advent of the sustainable transportation by developing and marketing electric cars to the masses (Moses, et al., 2010). The new technology in the electric cars of Tesla will include factors such as the long distance battery, battery and charge function and luxury inclusions. All these aspects will help in developing a more technological and innovative electrical product for fetching the attention of the masses (Mangram, 2012). Tesla not only offers electricity based products but also a strong brand value to its cust omers as it is a globally recognized brand in the field of automobile industry with a mission of developing sustainable products through the use of electricity and saving the natural resources. Thus, it is the unique selling proposition of Tesla to serve the masses with a more improved and innovative electricity based cars so that there can be reduced or no consumption of the natural resources as well as the negative impact on the sustainability of the environment is reduced (Masoum, et al., 2010). Target Customers The target customers of the newly designed and innovative battery electric cars of Tesla Motors can be categorized on the basis of two factors i.e. demographic profile and psychographic profile. The demographic based segmentation of the target customers include those individuals or potential customers which are targeted on the basis of their age and gender, income and education (Chen and Perez, 2015). The primary target customers on the age factor of demographic profile are those which come under the age group of 25 to 50 as the people under this age group have a higher purchasing power than other people. In respect with the gender and income perspective, the male members of the society are more likely to purchase these cars as they have a higher income level as well as such technology is first available in the sports cars thus, the male customers are more attracted towards them in comparison with the female customers (Orbach and Fruchter, 2011). And from the education perspective, p eople who are educated and are more concerned with the environmental sustainability are likely to purchase such cars. Secondly, the target customers are segmented or targeted on the basis of the psychographic profile which comprises of factor such as lifestyle, values, interest, etc. On the basis of lifestyle, the people who are of upper class and have a more luxurious lifestyle are more likely to be the target customers (Lee and Lovellette, 2011). On the basis of interest and values, the individuals who possess a certain kind of responsibility towards the environment and its sustainability can be the targeted customer group of Tesla Motor cars based on the newly developed BEV technology. These set of individuals believe in purchasing those automobiles which does not pose any kind of threat to their living environment and are more responsible in saving the resources of the nation. From the interest factor, the individuals who have higher attraction towards the battery based electric vehicles are also the targeted customers of Tesla for the newly developed cars (Hardman, Shiu and Steinberger-Wilckens, 2015). Pricing Positioning Strategy For the brand positioning of Tesla of the new technology and innovative products of Tesla Motors of using BEV, the company carry some specific and unique characteristics comprising of eco-friendly, attractive, reliable and high-tech. With all such features of the newly launched cars of Tesla, there can be positioning of the Battery electric vehicles and the products can be targeted on the basis of positioning the products on the basis of segment of the individuals who have faith on the well-being as well as futuristic approach. In order to have positioning of Tesla as the first mover or the initiator of the electric vehicle manufacturers, there is required to have extensive media coverage so that there can be strengthening of the public associations, indulging in environmentally practices and following the federal guidelines. All these will support Tesla in positioning the brand by the means of the strong media coverage and high word of mouth as well as by saving the cost of advertis ements (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater, 2009). To have effective positioning there is also essential that the team members must have their participation in these superior electric vehicles; various land exclusive magazines as well as to have launch pf exclusive magazines. For achieving this position, there is a need to have effective pricing strategies for supporting the business. The pricing of the new technology cars of Tesla based on the BEVs will be high and premium only. In present time, there is not much demand of such products and because of this reason the company have to keep the prices high so that they can also earn from those products. But once the demand will high and the cost of production low, the prices can be little minimized so that these can be easily affordable by larger customer base (Rimmer, 2014). To have an increased customer base and extended market share, there is a need to have effective and strong distribution plan Tesla being one of the most recognized brand in the automobile industry will also take use of a robust and efficient distribution plan for its new technology based products to attract a higher customer base and gain increased market share (Vynakov, Savolova and Skrynnyk, 2016). The distribution plan or strategy used by Tesla is very much different in comparison with other automobile companies such as General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, etc. as Tesla does not work upon a distribution strategy based on a dealer network. There is a differential distribution plan used by Tesla. The first most differentiated strategy in the distribution plan is selling cars through the company owned stores. There are a total of 17 stores of Tesla Motors across the world for selling its cars. For having a strong distribution network, Tesla open its stores on those places where there is high number of visits by the people on a regular and continuous basis so that the there can be better attention gained from the potential customers (Karamitsios, 2013). There is another key benefit of these company owned stores i.e. the interaction with the potential customers which helps in solving the queries and questions of the customers and influence them in making a purchase of the product. The second key distribution strategy in the distribution plan is the online sales (Ramsey, 2015). In this, the buyers or the customers can purchase the car online without visiting the stores and any of the dealers. It offers a good accessibility to the customers to the cars newly launched and also reduces the issues because of the regional based demographic factors in purchasing the cars. The third and one of the potential distribution strategies of Tesla is test drives. The company offers its potential customers with the option of test drives so that it can help Tesla in getting a customer contact point as well as in developing the interest of the potential customers (Van den Steen, 2015). To attract the potential customers and to have upsurge sales of the newly launched cars of Tesla, there will also be used a number of offers or promotional offers to attract the customers. The offer includes free trials i.e. the free of cost test drives to the buyers so that they can satisfy themselves by resting the quality of the car and can make a decision of purchases. The other offers include money-back guarantees such as in the one month of purchase, if the customers face any kind of difficulty in the parts of the car or any other technical or operational issue, then there will be an offer of guaranteed money return so that the customers can be retained and can purchase a new product instead of switching to any other brand. There will also be discount offers which will be given on First come first serve basis as the first 500 customers will get a special discount of additional ten percent. Such offer helps in making the sales fast and developing the interest of the buyers as th ey are required to pay less for the product. These offers are used by Tesla for retaining the existing customers as well as to regularly fetch the attention of the new customers. Such offers will help Tesla in generating measures which will support in fetching short terms ales benefit and having a good customer base in the initial level of the marketing and distribution of the products (Crane, 2014). Marketing Materials In order to have effective and increased sales of the Battery Electric Vehicles, there is a need that Tesla must take effective use of the marketing channels for communicating marketing messages and have increased brand visibility in the consumer market. There are number of marketing materials which will be used by Tesla for educating the targeted customers regarding the benefits and the advantages of the newly designed BEVs over other various available options as well as to convince and influence the customers that these features of the products will effectively meet the needs of the customers (Mariasiu, 2012). The marketing material which will be used by Tesla Motors will comprise of catalogues, business cards, media kit, print brochures and website. There will be used catalogues by Tesla in which all details and description of the products will be mentioned so that the potential customers can fetch the information from those catalogues and can also finalize the colour and design b y comparing different models. The one of the most effective and adequate marketing material is thee companys website itself (Jugenheimer, et al., 2014). Tesla will post all the info and various new details on the websites so that the customers can be aware of the offerings of Tesla and its new technological initiatives of BEVs. The website of the organisation is the best source of attracting customers and making them aware of the products to be launched in the market. The strong media coverage in the forms of videos, news, articles, blogs, etc. are also some of the best possible marketing materials under media kit for having more potential customers and to have a strong visibility in the market. With such media related aspect, more number of people can have better and improved attention towards the product (Adn and Barray, 2008). Marketing Promotions Strategy For any business and new product, there is a need to have effective marketing and promotional strategies for achieving effective sales and customer base. Unlike others, Tesla does not spend huge capital or money on running various ad campaigns rather Tesla will take use of a standardized practice towards the promotion and advertisement for reaching an extended customer base in various countries. For the promotion of the newly launched BEVs, Tesla will be using conferences and special events for the marketing of the unique features of the cars. The company will take use of public relations as one of its promotional marketing strategies as strengthening the public relations will help in having a reliable and strong customer base through word of mouth publicity and strong media coverage and advertisements (De Mooij, 2013). The company will also take use of a number of other techniques including event marketing, online advertising, press releases, trade show marketing and the television advertisements for reaching the target customers (Rodrigues, et al., 2015). There are number of social media platforms by which Tesla can perform online advertising such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. The individuals have an increased presence on these social media platforms and it can become one of the best ways to fetch the attention of the customers. The other way of covering extensive number of customer base is television advertisements. Tesla can have advertisements on television featuring the unique characteristics of the cars and developing interest of the masses. All these marketing and promotional techniques will help in getting a larger market share and customer base (Moritz, et al., 2015). To have a better expansion in the global market and the overseas regions, there is a need to have better partnerships and joint ventures so that there can be effective sales and customer base in the overseas regions. Tesla will take use of joint venture and partnership both to have successful sales in the foreign countries. Tesla will have a joint venture with automobile companies present in the overseas countries so that there distribution and acquisition of the customers can be easy. There are number of benefits of using joint venture as a technique to enter the overseas markets as joint ventures help in developing a good brand image as the existing organisations already have an established name and brand recognition which can help Tesla in gaining a number of customers. With the help of the partnerships with the existing companies, there can be developed synergy as there can be a combined use of technologies which will help the company in having pioneering and innovative use of te chnologies in the manufacturing of the products (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2013). Thus, Tesla can have a number of competitive benefits and advantages through joint venturing and partnership with the existing companies in the foreign countries. The distribution network also strengthens and expands through these partnerships and there is generation of improved sales. Financial Projections Following are the new products of Tesla which will be offered by the company based on its newly emerged technology based on BEVs. Product BEV Models Timeline Model Competition Summary Tesla 1 Yes(Hydrogen based) 2018 Range Priced at $59000 Range: 300 with single refueling that take around 5 minutes 8 year/100,000 miles warranty A seating capacity of four passengers Tesla 2 Yes 2019 I0 Price-$50000 to $60000, A seating capacity of five passengers Range of 200 miles from a single charge Tesla 3 Yes 2020 Mission Y Four wheel steering Estimated price similar to Tesla's model S Range: 310 miles per charge Tesla 4 Yes 2019 FX15 Price$300,000- $500,000 Powered: hydrogen fueled BEV engine (Vynakov, Savolova and Skrynnyk 2016) On the basis of these product offerings, the marketing expenses and the promotional expenses following is the financial projection: Marketing Expense Budget (In Billion) 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 Advertising and Promotion $90 $80 $80 Other (Marketing activities) $20 $25 $25 Other Expenses $0 $0 $0 ------------ ------------ ------------ Total Sales and Marketing Expenses $110 $105 $105 The company will have all these expenditure to gain a strong market share as well as sales in the domestic as well as the international markets. The targeted sales in units are estimated 500,000 in a combined view of all the four models (Ramsey, 2015). Conclusion From this paper, it can be concluded that there is an efficient need of the electricity based vehicles that are run through batteries in the present time so that the negative impact posed on eth environment acne b reduced. And thus, the intuitive of Tesla of BEVs cars can be an effective step in earning a strong market share and increased environments sustainability. The report concludes that with effective marketing strategies and implementation plan and correct financial projections there acne b gained huge revenues by Tesla as well as can also take benefit of first mover advantage with such new technology and eco-friendly cars. References Adn, E., Barray, A. (2008). Go Green in the Automotive Industry: Open and Networked Innovation applied by Tesla Motors and Renault. Berdichevsky, G., Kelty, K., Straubel, J. B., Toomre, E. (2006). 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