Swot Playstation free essay sample

A well-structured and user-friendly online appearance reflects the identity of a successful company and its products. Thus, e-marketing has to be combined with the classic marketing tools in order to develop an effective marketing strategy. The aim of this report is to compile an e-marketing plan for an existing company and to state and describe the core aspects of the company’s existing Internet marketing strategy as well as to analyse and evaluate the company’s current position and identify opportunities for improvement. By using Sony PlayStation as a relevant industrial example the implications of the analysis will be discussed, as well as the evaluation, planning for practitioners and marketing decision-makers. 2. E-Marketing First of all, the term ‘e-marketing’ has to be defined in this context. The notation ‘electronic marketing’ â€Å"refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet† (Quirk. biz, 2006). There is lots of evidence that e-marketing is a very important field, if not even â€Å"at the heart of e-business† as and Smith (2008, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Swot Playstation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3) claim. Although, it can be related differently to e-commerce and e-business, namely, overlapping, replacing or involving, its principal task is to provide direct access to the customer in order to obtain a better understanding of their needs and get closer to them. Moreover, adding value to products and widening distribution channels to boost sales, for instance, represent further functions of e-marketing (Chaffey and Smith, 2008). Therefore, its components are intimately connected with those of marketing in general but based on the Internet (Quirk. iz, 2006). â€Å"(†¦) eMarketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing its brand identity. † (Quirk. biz, 2006) So, as this quote summarises, the internet helps over all small firms to reach a huge international audience in a short time and a relatively cost-effective way. Furthermore, this two-way communic ation channel allows interaction with the customer, while conventional marketing is largely about advertising the brand only (Quirk. biz, 2006). Another advantageous difference to traditional marketing represents amongst others the independence of the location where the business takes place. The internet enables the supplier to communicate with the customers make a deal without being physically present (Bach, 2007). 3. Marketing Mix The marketing mix is a well-established framework with which marketers can plan their approach to their target market. The model became famous in the 1960s when Jerome McCarthy talked the first time about the â€Å"4P’s† in marketing: product, place, price and promotion. Those are elements, which should help to plan the marketing strategy. The above mentioned model was extended by Booms and Bitner (1981), because in their point of view the model was only suitable for products, but not for the service industry. So they created the â€Å"7P’s†, which means they added three more â€Å"P’s†; physical evidence, people and process to the existing model. As a company you should sell only a product, which is affordable, can be delivered, and which has a high qualitative standard. In the online world there is always the opportunity for launching new versions, or slightly different variations and even new products. Within the internet industry the prices change minute-by-minute, so they put the market prices under pressure, with methods like price comparison and auctions, the internet business can reach a reduction in the offline market prices. Changes in the place of distribution, promotion, purchase and usage of products are considered, when the place is specified as an element of mix. It is same online and offline: increasing the presentation and making it widely accessible to the customers and is the principle. Online, there are a lot of options to promote a product from advertisements, PR, selling, direct mail, merchandising, exhibitions, sponsorship and packaging to word of mouth and all should be reviewed for the promoting part of the marketing mix. There are also some devising key issues, for example, integration, creativity and globalisation for the promotional mix. People are online and offline a significant contributor, and in case they make the difference. A company has to find the balance between automatic online customer service and traditional human service, for providing the clients the service and quality and, while they also need to minimize the service costs. For online distribution companies, the quality of the site is the physical evidence, so it is very important to reassure, that the customers who buys intangible services online, through a site that is meeting acceptable standards of speed and an which is easy use. On the one hand, a company can create an advantage in the competitive market with good processes and systems, but on the other, poor processes can damage the brand or kill the sales. Briefly summarized, all processes impact customers in terms of product and service quality. (Cp. Chaffey and Smith 2008, pp. 50-89) 4. Target market According to Internet World Stats (2011) the most import online markets are North America, Oceania / Australia and Europe. Therefore, around 80 per cent of the North American households have access to the World Wide Web, followed by Oceania / Australia as well as Europe with around 60 per cent of Internet users. These figures show clearly the importance of an online presence and, therefore, an elaborated e-marketing plan in these countries. Although the main focus of e-marketing concentrates on the well-developed countries, Asia and Africa are highly proposed to become big future players (Internet World Stats, 2011). 5. Sony PlayStation According playstation-presse. e (2011) Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), with the headquarter in London, is responsible for distribution, marketing and sales for the hardware as well as for the software for the products of PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PlayStation Network in 99 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania / Australia. In addition, Sony PlayStation develops, publishes, promotes and distributes game softwa re for these formats and accounts third party programs for the platforms of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe territories. Since the launch from the PlayStation 3 gaming console in November 2006 over 55. 5 million units were sold. With more than 153. 6 sold units PlayStation 2 still belongs to the most successful consumer electronics products in history. Since the launch by end of 2004 more than 73 million units of PlayStation portable gaming consoles were sold worldwide, which highlights the importance of the portable gaming. Throughout the increasing interest and the growth of network applications and network-gaming, over 1. 91 billion downloads of more than 90 million users could be registered at the interactive and free PlayStation Network. . Homepage 6. 1 Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) The PlayStation homepage is easily accessible through search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Therefore, the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) gives the user the possibility to enter the sub pages directly. The first impression of the landing page gives a well-structured overview of all the different sections. Throug h the graphical elements such as pictures, animations and videos consumers are attracted and curious about the content of the page, whereas other pages overwhelm the consumers by presenting too much text. Therefore, visitors are more likely to stay on the page and spend time by informing themselves about the different products. The website provides the latest information about Sony products. Moreover, this page is linked to a PlayStation Blog where the producers introduce their new technical innovations. The header is divided into two parts. The upper part provides all significant links to the diverse products such as PlayStation Network, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2. The lower bar focuses on the social aspects such as the Forums or the PlayStation Blog. Every link leads to subpages, which are again divided into different sections to gain an insight into the different products and services. The footer, placed on the bottom of the page, has a very clear design and is easy to navigate throughout the sections mentioned before. One of the main focuses of the homepage lies on social networks, where a significant part of the landing page deals with a Facebook integration. Users will find the ‘Facebook-Recommend’-button on news, support and competition pages on eu. playstation. com. By clicking on this button, users can quickly and easily let their friends know which PlayStation content they like. Users can post comments and share all the latest PlayStation happenings on the Wall along with the rest of the PlayStation community and their friends. Furthermore, they can share their excitement and enthusiasm with the community by letting them know exactly how much they want to play an upcoming release on PlayStation, rate any game that they already own on PS3 and PSP and find out, if their friends own it too. By further investigation a ‘Twitter’- and ‘Google+’-button are placed on one of the sub-pages. Compared to the Facebook Integration window the other social media links are not set on the landing page and, therefore, hard to find. Another significant part the of the landing page deals with the gaming software by providing the visitors with information on gaming software regarding release date, general information about the games, multiplayer experiences and add-ons. Furthermore, every game is linked to a specially designed subpage which also leads to the official product site. Moreover, users have the possibility to follow certain games on Facebook by ‘liking’ the link provided on these gaming sub sites. 7. E-Marketing Plan 7. 1 SWOT Analysis SWOT is an â€Å"acronym where the letters stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treatsâ€Å", as shown in table 1 (Evans et al. , 2003, p. 196). Its aim is to visualise the possible results and effects of an intended project, for instance, after an analysis has been carried out. Thus, it â€Å"provides a platform for going on to formulate the strategy for the futureâ€Å" (Evans et al. , 2003, p. 197). StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreats well-structuredtoo many linksimplementation of a keyword searchpage seems confusing ? visitors are leaving the site visual contentrequires a lot of RAMsimpler animationscapacity overload ? browser crashes product presentation and informationno direct sale via online shopsetting up an official PlayStation online shopSkipping retailers ? loss of sales partners Table 1: SWOT analysis by the authors (2011) According to the SWOT analysis the page is well-structured, but has too many links which may confuse the visitors while navigating through the site. Eventually, this could cause a loss of traffic. A possible solution would be an implementation of a keyword search in order to help the user to find the requested information easier and faster. A further strength represents the visual content, which attracts lots of visitors to stay longer on the site by providing many pictures and recent videos of the latest products. Although the website is well-designed and modern, the majority of the flash animations require a high random access memory (RAM) as well as a fast internet connection. Otherwise, the animations are rather stalled than flowing and it may cause a capacity overload followed by a crash of the browser. This problem could be prevented by providing a simple hypertext mark-up language (HTML) view. Although the product presentation and information on the web page is well-arranged, a direct sale opportunity via an online shop is missing. Skipping retailers by creating an official online store could increase the sales on the one hand, but on the other it may cause a loss of sales partners. Through the comparison of the results gained from the SWOT analysis a more specific marketing strategy is provided by the following SOSTAC analysis, which is a commonly used method to create a marketing plan. 7. 2 SOSTAC Model The SOSTAC-acronym stands for Situation analysis, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Action and Control and derives from Smith in the 1990s. The initial situation analysis, which can carried out, for example, by a SWOT analysis, defines the present position of the company. Afterwards, the aim and its objectives were formulated followed by a strategy, including the definition of the target market. In addition, the concrete tactic must be determined by defining the tools of the strategy in more detail. Finally, the specific actions required for the implementation must be identified. To conclude, the whole process, the success or failure must be evaluated by reviewing, updating and modifying. (Cp. Smith 1998 paraphrased in Businessballs 2006) Thus, this model is well applicable to create an e-marketing plan for Sony PlayStation: Situation: At the moment the PlayStation homepage is well-structured, informative and product related. Objectives: Through integrating an official online store traffic should be increased and, consequently, the product sales should rise. Strategy: Set up an official online store run by Sony PlayStation. Tactics: Every visitor of the homepage is more likely to become a customer by providing special offers via an online store. Action: Hiring a company (web designer) which develops and implements the PlayStation online shop. Control: Maintenance – this means to control the traffic on the website in order to analyse and improve the online appearance. 8. Conclusion To summarise, the customers represent the number one priority within a company and, therefore, the company’s main task is to attract, keep and maintain their loyalty. This can be done by developing an in-depth marketing plan including an e-marketing plan. As demonstrated above, the implementation of the SWOT-analysis and the SOSTAC-model is the initial framework to create a strategy plan. In the case of Sony PlayStation, this means adding an option for online sales to their already well-designed homepage might increase their overall product sales and, consequently, their business volume. For the implementation of an online store a web designer might be required. As mentioned before, the whole process needs to be monitored constantly, which includes obtaining regularly the customers’ feedback. All in all, related to the results of the analysis an e-marketing plan represents an essential tool for developing a successful webpage. References Bach, B. (2007) Implications of Enabling Technologies for Apple Inc. : Cybermarketing and enabling technologies. Googlebooks [Online]. Available at: http://books. google. co. uk/books? l=enlr=id=yJbwFr1M4HUCoi=fndpg=PA2dq=emarketing+independence+of+location+ots=j7bgNOf78asig=jQRagQ8cBrj0cpskyc2B2lM00M#v=onepageq=independence%20of%20locationf=false (Accessed: 16 November 2011). Chaffey, D. Smith, P. R. (2008) eMarketing eXcellence: Planning and optimising your digital marketing. 3rd edn. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Chapman, A. (2006) Businessballs [Online]. Available at: http://www. businessballs. com/pr_smiths_ sostac_plan ning_method. htm (Accessed: 16 November 2011). Evans, N. , Campbell, D. Stonehouse, G. (2003) Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism. EBLIB [Online]. Available at: