Week 4 – My Activities and Thoughts

Week 4 saw a lot of collaborative efforts from our teams on the marketing plan. We had inter team meetings where we discussed the marketing plan deliverable. In the beginning, it was not very clear as to how all this will fall in place. But as we started to see drafts of the plan being formed, the direction seemed to get less foggier. I definitely see value in these team activities where we get to see and discuss the different perspectives and come to a consensus, as opposed to us just jotting down our single point of view from the limited research that can be done with the limited time. It was also interesting to see multiple folks in different teams coming up with the same researches and links – this was also reassuring in that we were all headed in similar directions, which I hope is positive, given that most of us do not have a marketing back ground. J

I also read the article on Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning – This helps to validate the struggle I experienced as I tried to put my thoughts together on the marketing plan. As Prof. Talbott pointed out in one of the articles that was shared,  “today's firms are awash in data but short on insights”. With internet and all other media around us, there is so much data that it makes you dizzy. Some of the data  from multiple research firms is even contradictory, as we discover in our own research. Also, in today’s world of extreme global competition, it is extremely difficult to find that key differentiator that sets you and your products or services apart in the market. Many companies attempt to differentiate themselves in a crowded market place and this in turn results in an intense price war that results in many businesses going bankrupt as they cannot sustain the model.

In the wireless telecom industry, price wars are not uncommon. A few years back Sprint was struggling to find that key differentiator and Dan Hesse the CEO introduced the ‘Simple Everything’ wireless plan that was a saving grace and key differentiator for Sprint. Details can be found in this article – http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=614, an excerpt of which is pasted below:

The move to unlimited pricing that includes data signifies a turning point for the wireless industry. Nationally accepted measures of voice quality now show very little, if any, difference among the top wireless providers.

"All major carriers have good voice networks," Hesse said. "Our network is about more than voice and more than just being the largest wireless data network. It is about allowing customers to connect with people, information and entertainment. It is about simplicity, usability and real value. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan eliminates overage surprises and provides a worry-free environment.

"Our investments in innovation and speed are becoming the new areas of differentiation. These are the areas where we perform best and where we can deliver a wireless advantage for our customers."