Assignment Taken

Prepare a market entry, distribution strategy and brand building plan.

Case Understanding

Our brand E-VECH SAVIOR (EVS) is planning to make entry into the automobile industry of India, specifically in the electric infrastructure domain. Our team’s engineers have already created and designed the prototype of the product we intend to offer to the market- an “e-vehicle’s ambulance”. The product is developed to serve all the functions of a charging station and servicing station combined but on wheels, in a single e-van and hence with add on benefits of more mobility and reach. The inspiration behind this product idea are the vast opportunities in the underdeveloped e-infrastructure of India which can be tapped to meet the requirements of the ever-growing e-automobile industry of India having around 230 million registered vehicles and counting. Moreover, to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, the government of India is taking reformist measures including efforts to promote electrical vehicle usage in the country. This further elevates the scope for e-vehicle industry in India, making electric vehicles “tomorrow’s future” and ultimately raising the demand of a better developed e-infrastructure. The challenges we face in our path of foraying into this business venture of e-infra are majorly the barriers arising out of capital requirements. Some of them being- 1- Low target market coverage- Due to being short on financial resources, we can only afford to operate our business at a small scale. We can for now, only afford to employ one “e-vehicle’s ambulance” for providing our services and can only cover limited regions of in and around Bangalore. 2- - Staff shortage- We cannot afford to employ a large number of staff due to our shortage of funds, which will hamper our efficiency. 3- Infrastructure, machinery, R&D and advertising- requires considerable investment of funds which may again be adversely affected due to the shortage of funds.

BCS Solution Summary

1- Determining the most appropriate strategy of making entry in the market by considering the financial, technical and legal restraints 2- Satisfying all the legal, technical and other statutory requirements concerned with the process of making market entry. 3- Planning, designing and formulating a distribution strategy best suited to our brand as per our target market, target location, nature of service offered and other crucial factors. 4- Designing a robust brand building plan to create brand awareness, establish a positive perception towards our brand and make a strong foothold in the automobile industry.

Solution

                  MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY

Market entry strategy is a planned distribution and delivery method of goods or services to a new target market. Some of the most common market entry strategies are: directly by setup of an entity in the market, directly exporting products, indirectly exporting using a reseller, distributor, or sales outsourcing, and producing products in the target market. The market entry strategy that our brand intends to opt for is market entry through our product innovation.

Our talented team engineers have self-designed and created the prototype of the revolutionary product that our brand E-VECH SAVIOR (EVS) intends to offer to the market and which we like to call an e-vehicle’s ambulance. Our product will provide services which are as usual as charging e-vehicle’s chargers, retrofitting and fixing a vast range of technical glitches in e-vehicles but in locations which are as unusual and deserted as where it becomes nearly impossible to seek technical assistance from professionals. We aim to reach those stranded customers on one phone call. Moreover, our product will have the vast potential to serve the needs of almost every kind of e-vehicle ever built ranging from an e-scooter to an e-bus. The protype of our e-vehicle’s ambulance has been explained in detail in our “Product Development Plan”.

The process that our brand EVS is required to go through to get our product patented in India as per the guidelines of Patent Attorneys and Agents in India involves following steps-

Step 1:  Provide all the information about our invention (e-vehicle’s ambulance) with as much details as possible.

It has to include every relevant detail of our invention such as-

• Area of invention
• Description of the invention what it does
• How does it work
• Advantages of the invention

 As we have worked on the invention during research and development phase, we would also be expected to have call lab record duly signed with date by us and respective authority.

Step 2:  Include drawings, diagrams or sketches explaining working of invention

The drawings and diagrams should be designed so as to explain the working of the invention in better way with visual illustrations. They play an important role in patent application.

The prototype of EVS’s product, the “e-vehicle’s ambulance” has been explained in detail in our “PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PLAN”

Step 3: check whether the invention is patentable subject matter

All inventions may not be patentable, as per Indian patent act there are certain inventions that are not patentable. We have to check whether our invention, the e-vehicle’s ambulance satisfies the eligibility patentability.

Step 4a: Patentability search

The next step would be finding out whether our invention meets all patentability criteria as per Indian patent act. That is, 

• Novelty
• Non-obviousness
• Industrial application
• Enabling 

Step 5: Draft (write) patent application

In case, one is at very early stage in the research and development for their invention, then they can go for provisional application. But since we have our prototype and experimental results to prove our inventive step, we will file complete specification with patent application.

Step 6: Publication of the application

Up on filing the complete specification along with application for patent, the application will be published after 18 months of first filing.

Step 7: Request for examination

The patent application is examined only after receiving request for examination that is RFE.  Up on receiving this request the controller will give our patent application to a patent examiner who will examine the patent application with different patentability criteria and then create a first examination report of the patent application upon reviewing it.

Step 8: respond to objections

It is highly likely that we will receive some type of objections based on examination report. The best thing to do will be to analyse the examination report with patent professional (patent agent) and creating a response to the objections raised in the examination report.

Step 9: clearing all objections

This communication between controller and us is to ensure that all objections raised in the patent application are resolved. (if not, the patent will not be granted) and we have our fair chance to prove our point and establish novelty and inventive step over existing prior arts.

Up on finding the patent application in order of grant, it will be granted to us as early as possible.

Step 10: Grant of patent

The application would be placed in order for grant once it is found to be meeting all patentability requirements. The grant of patent will be notified in the patent journal which is published time to time.

This completes our process to get our product patented. Owing to this we can have a complete monopoly and competitive advantage. We can-

•   own our invention for given time (20 years)
•  can use it to build a business as we intend to do.
• Rent it (in this case license it) to existing businesses.
• Exclude all others for using, selling, offering for sale and importing our invention in your country.
•  completely sell the patent to other company.

Management principle involved- first P of the marketing mix- Product Innovation- The Product should fit the task consumers want it for, it should work and it should be what the consumers are expecting to get.

                

 

 

                DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

Distribution strategy is a comprehensive process of making products and services available to businesses and target customers for their use. Implementing the most efficient distribution method for our business is key to obtaining revenue and retaining customer loyalty.

 

 

. There are mainly two channels through which distribution of products and services take place – direct and indirect channel.

In a direct channel, the producer works directly with the consumer. An indirect channel, on the other hand, incorporates intermediaries into the sales flow.

            There are further four levels that break down the flow between manufacturers and consumers- Level Zero, Level One, Level Two and Level Three.

Selecting the correct distribution strategy for a business depends on factors such as the type of item we are creating, our customer base, warehouse capabilities and logistics support.

 

The distribution strategy that EVS will employ for the purpose of its services distribution is distribution through Level Zero of DIRECT CHANNEL.

      EVS is a technical and professional services provider of urgent times. It carries out direct distribution of its services to the customers on demand and supply basis.

 Hence, LEVEL ZERO distribution channel being the simplest and involving a direct sale from manufacturers to customers without any intermediary is the best suited for EVV’s distribution strategy.

Additionally, for all these reasons, direct distribution might be the best option for us:

• As we are just starting out, we have low demand and financial resources.
•  We sell a low volume of a high-value service.
•  The nature our service lets us focus on a local market, target a specialized one, and cultivate a base of repeat customers.

 

Reasons why should EVS distribute its services directly and not involve intermediaries-

 

• Handling everything ourselves avoids the mark-up a distributor would charge. 
• Staying closer to our customers encourages them to engage with your brand, and can give us the information and access we need to drive repeat business.
• Direct access to customers gives us greater control over the service experience.
• We can better understand what our customers need, want, like, and dislike.

 

 

 

The other parameters we need to take into consideration while planning our distribution strategy are-

 

• Location of business

 EVS has got its one and only office situated in floor-2 of Kripa Tower, Kamala Nagar, Bangalore city. The company’s office accommodates working stations for its core management staff i.e. the team of its eight founding members, working stations for its customer care employees and a parking lot in the building to park our e-vehicle’s ambulance.

• Location of target market

EVS’s target audience is Bangalore based or within operating e-vehicle household drivers, e-cab services and e-vehicle employing goods transportation services. Hence, with only one e-vehicle’s ambulance on road, our services and target market are limited to in and around the Bangalore city for now. However, we intend to expand our service coverage and target market to other cities as well in future.

• Reaching the target market

 Since EVS provides urgent technical and professional assistance to e-vehicle drivers, we aim to reach our customers within 30 minutes of being reached out by our them and intend to reduce this time in future by employing more e-vehicle’s ambulances for providing our services.

• Warehousing

EVS being a technical and professional service provider brand does not maintain a warehouse for its product. Instead, we have got a parking lot to park our e-vehicle’s ambulance, in the same building hosting our company’s only office.

• Logistic support

Logistics and in this context, specifically distribution logistics will be effectively managed by EVS and will be made sure that the services reach our customers in the best, fast and convenient way possible.

Management principle involved- Efficient Management of one of the 4 P of marketing mix-Place. This principle states that a product or service should be available where our customer finds it easiest to consume.

SIGNING CONTRACTS WITH OTHER BRANDS AND BUSINESS HOUSES-Apart from targeting the household e-vehicle drivers, EVS also plans to provide its services to other brands and business houses of the country indulged in the human and goods transportation business such as OLA, UBER, POSTAL VANS, ATM VANS etc employing e-vehicles for providing their services. Since these service providers are 24 hours running services, it would not be shocking if we get a majority demand of our services from them. Moreover, problems with their vehicles for even 1 percent of their total operating time, would create more demand of our services than entire household drivers combined.  Thus, this is a target audience which we cannot afford to lose out on and with no other mobile e-vehicle maintenance company in market, an effective strategic planning and offer can turn these business houses to our potential customers.

 

 

         BRAND BUILDING PLAN

The definition of brand building is to generate awareness about your business using marketing strategies and campaigns with the goal of creating a unique and lasting image in the marketplace.

Positive impression + standing out = brand success.

How to Build a Brand-

Brand development is the process of creating and strengthening our professional services brand. A robust Brand development plan divides the process into three phases-

• The first phase is getting our brand strategy right and aligned with our business objectives.
• Second is developing all the tools we will need to communicate the brand, such as our logo, tagline and website.
• Finally, there is the phase of strengthening our newly developed or updated brand with the help of right marketing tools.

1. Consider our overall business strategy.

A strong, well differentiated brand will make growing our firm much easier. If we are clear about where we want to take our firm, our brand will help us get there.

There are four questions, answers to which we should have in our mind while creating our brand building plan and defining our brand purpose:

• Why do we exist?

EVS is formed with the objective of filling the gap between the e-infrastructure that India has today and the e-infrastructure is required to fulfil the demands of our ever-increasing e-automobile industry.

• What differentiates us?

The factor that makes our product a pathbreaking innovation and differentiates us with any traditional charging or servicing station is our mobility and reach. Our product is capable to providing all the function of charging and servicing centres combined, at any time, any place no matter how far or remote it is within no time. All it takes is one call.

• What problem do we solve?

We solve every problem that is possible to arise with an e-vehicle ranging from flat tyres, broken starter motor, squeaking or grinding brakes, worn brake pads, radiator leaks, cracked windshield with special focus on charging or battery problems. The reason being obvious that is almost every other issue can wait, but if your battery dies or runs out of charge, there is no escape. Hence, if such urgent and unpredictable situations E-Vech Savior comes to the rescue.

• Why should people care?

When a person is stranded in the middle of nowhere with his dead battery vehicle and it gets nearly impossible to seek technical help from professionals, reaching out to us can save the person from considerable trouble.

                We will use these ideas to inform the foundation of our branding, through a tagline, slogans, voice, messaging, stories, visuals and more

2-IDENTIFYING TARGET AUDIENCE - The foundation for building a brand is to determine the target audience that we will be focusing on. Afterall, we can’t be everything to everyone. Thus, while brand building, it is crucial to keep in mind who exactly we are trying to reach. We’ll tailor our mission and message to meet their exact needs. The narrower the focus, the faster the growth. The more diverse the target audience, the more diluted our marketing efforts will be.

Hence, the key is to be specific.

E-Vech Savior’s target audience will be-

1. Adults (18+ years of age) of Bangalore owning any and every kind of e-vehicle.
2. Cab service companies like Ola and Uber using e-vehicles for providing their services.
3. Transportation and goods carrier service businesses employing e-vehicles for their operations.

3-RESEARCHING TARGET CLIENT GROUP- Research helps us understand our target client’s perspective and priorities, anticipate their needs and put our message in language that resonates with them. It also tells us how they view our firm’s strengths and our current brand. As such, it dramatically lowers the marketing risk associated with brand development.

Hence, EVS needs to carry out intensive research of its target audience in order to figure out key insights such as-

1-The other types of technical glitches faced by e-vehicle drivers during their journey than charging issues. This can be a crucial insight to predict the scope of expanding our services in other aspects of e-vehicle maintenance as well in future.

2-The frequency of issues like battery running out of charge- It is essential to know the estimated frequency of problems occurrence which we exist to solve. It also helps us to get an insight of aspects like customer retention, reoccurring demands, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and others.

3-An intensive research on the number and locations of charging stations in and around Bangalore. Even our e-vehicle’s ambulance being an innovative and revolutionary offering to the automobile industry, doesn’t rule out the competition we may face from the traditional charging stations and servicing centres. Thus, it is necessary to research well in the market competition aspect.

4-To figure out the average time that customers can spare to wait for help to arrive and till the problem get fixed. It is important to know whether our potential customers (e-vehicle drivers) would prefer to spare some of their valuable time to get their vehicles fixed or would rather prefer to get their vehicles towed and sent to a service centre to be picked up later.

5-The fees charged by the charging stations and brand owned service centres to provide the services similar to ours. It is essential to know the price charged by the competitors for their services to plan our pricing policies accordingly.

4. Develop your brand positioning –

A positioning statement is typically three to five sentences in length and captures the essence of our brand positioning. It must be grounded in reality, as we will have to deliver on what we promise. It must also be a bit aspirational so we have something to strive for.

E-Vech Savior intends to position itself as-

“A brand that you can count on, when there is nobody else by your side. A call is what all it will take. For problems as usual as dead battery at places as unusual as highways, we have got your back.”

YOUR E- VEHICLE GOT A PROBLEM? NOT A PROBLEM.

 YOUR VEHICLE SAVES THE NATURE; WE SAVE YOUR VEHICLE.

E-vech savior. A brand committed to your rescue. ANYTIME. ANYWHERE.

5-DEVELOPING BRAND NAME, LOGO AND TAGLINE-

A brand’s name, logo and tagline are a part of our brand identity, the ways to communicate or symbolize our brand. They will appear on everything that relates to our business. They will become our identity, calling card, and the visual recognition of our promise. Thus, we must live it to make it real.

1-Brand Name- E-VECH SAVIOR

The thought behind this brand name is of our brand aspiring to serve as saviours to those stranded e-vehicles which are mostly not able to seek technical assistance due to being stuck in the middle of nowhere. Here, E-VECH stands for any and every e-vehicle ever built out there.

2-Brand Tagline-   You save Nature. We save You.

The inspiration behind this tagline is the brand’s mission and the purpose of its existence. Through our services, we intend to assist our customers in their efforts of saving the environment by trying to make their journeys as pleasurable and uninterruptable as possible.

3-Brand Logo- Our brand logo is made up of the abbreviation of our Brand name; our tagline and a picture of an e-vehicle connected to a charging cable. While the letters EVS stand for the initials of our brand E –Vech Savior ,through the picture, we aim to send this message that with E-Vech Savior, your vehicles are always connected to the charging point and are always good to go, no matter in which part of the city you are, no matter how far from the charging station you are.

6-DEVELOPING BRAND’S WEBSITE-

Our website is the most important marketing tool we have for business growth and brand building. It is the place where all our audiences turn to learn what we do, how we do it and who our clients are. Further, our website will be home to our valuable content. That content will become the focus of our search engine optimization (SEO) efforts so that our prospects, potential employees, and referral sources will find us and learn about our firm. Online content is central to any modern brand development strategy.

It’s important to have all the right pieces in place when first launching our website, from domain name registration to web hosting, to the right content management system.

 EVS’s website will showcase-

1-The company’s vision, mission and other crucial information about the company.

 2-The range of services we offer.

3- Fees charged by us for each of the services offered.

1. Time taken by us to execute our different services.
2. The areas we cover.
3. Customer’s testimonials and reviews
4. Company’s contact information.
5. Images and videos of our mechanics providing their services.
6. Call to action.

10-Frequently asked questions.

It has to be specially taken care of that our website is mobile friendly i.e. fast loading webpages and images on the website. As most of our potential customers will look for the services we offer when they are stuck in the mid of their journey or are on a go, majority of our search traffic is expected to come from mobile devices which makes having a responsive web design necessary.

7-Develop your content marketing strategy

Content marketing is particularly well suited to professional services firms in the Internet age. It does all things traditional marketing does but it does them more efficiently. It uses valuable educational content to attract, nurture and qualify prospects.

1-SEO & SEM – This is undoubtably the most important part of our marketing campaign. As our services are most likely to be needed by e- vehicle drivers stuck in the mid of their journeys, seeking immediate technical and professional assistance it is crucial for our brand information to show up on the search engine result page (SERP) when they look up online for kinds of services we provide. For achieving this goal, we need to invest well in our search engine campaigns, both in terms of relevant, quality content and bidding amount on the keywords.

Effective management of these two factors will not only enhance our brand’s visibility in the organic results (SEO) but also increase our chances of winning top spots on the SERP’s paid results (SEM).

2-Paid Advertising

Building a successful paid advertising campaign can help our brand building process considerably by creating and establishing our brand awareness. A strong paid ads campaign on platforms such as Google Ads or Facebook relies heavily on:

• Smart paid advertising goals
• A well-defined target audience
• Clear organization / campaign structure
• Tracking performance meticulously

3-DISPLAY ADVERTISING- Short videos showing our technical assistants providing their services to our customers will not only give our target audience a peek into what we do and how we do it but can also be comparatively more engaging than traditional ad formats. We can place our digital marketing campaigns (short, relevant, informative pictures graphics and videos) at relevant and high traffic receiving websites of brands selling or dealing with e-vehicles, e-vehicle’s spare parts and accessories, vehicle batteries etc. We can also place our display campaigns on relevant and informative YouTube channels for better reach.

4-SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING- Social media be it earlier mentioned ones like YouTube or others such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram and others are great tools for creating and expanding brand awareness to a vast population in matter of no time. They are cheap, fast and effective which makes them a perfect tool in the marketing campaign for an upcoming start-up like ours with financial restraints.

 

8-Implement, track, and adjust

This final step in the brand development process may be one of the most important. A winning brand development strategy doesn’t do much good if it is never implemented. Thus, we need to track both the implementation of the plan as well as results. Only by tracking the entire process can we make sure we are drawing the right conclusions and making the right adjustments.

Management principle- Effective management of another P of the marketing mix- PROMOTION. This principle states that Advertising, PR, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling and, in more recent times, Social Media are all key communication tools for an organisation. These tools should be used to put across the organisation’s message to the correct audiences in the manner they would most like to hear, whether it be informative or appealing to their emotions.

                  

Conclusion

- With the right market entry strategy, an effective distribution strategy and a robust brand building plan, even as a small business as ours can compete against big brands with devoted customers and unlimited marketing budgets. It is essential to have the basic foundation such as these strategies right, to make a strong entry into the competitive market cum battlefield, serve and satisfy your customers to the best of our abilities, create and expand brand awareness, establish positive perception of our brand and thus retain and keep making new customers in the long run.

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