Marketing Plan Assignment: Market Analysis of Smart Luggage by Antler

Question

Task: Assessment Brief:
Topic: Development of a Marketing Plan
This marketing plan assignment requires students to write a Marketing Plan. It must address the topics related to what was taught in this course on the marketing management within the digitalization of marketing processes. Students must show they understand key concepts, tools and theories, and provide a critical analysis of the brands, competition and expansion by exposing problems and perspectives of marketing management.

1. Every student must work on a different Brand/Case which they must identify and present to the professor.
2. Each student will decide on a consumer product or service for an existing brand they wish to bring to market.
3. Each student will research and develop a Marketing Plan which will reflect a new market launch or address a major challenge or issue that the chosen brand/company, or the chosen consumer product or service faces in a particular market.

Answer

Introduction
The background
Antler is a British company that has been manufacturing and designing luggage since 1914. This luggage company is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The company has announced it was out of administration in 2020, as registered brands ATR Ltd trading as Antler. The new luggage company is headquartered in London.

The purpose
This study aims to emerge from Antler and expand their market by involving a new product. This product will help the brand to get more recognition and will spread awareness regarding their product range.

The scope
Antler is a British luggage brand that will diversify its business by involving a new product in its product range. It is smart luggage that contains a circuit board and a battery that helps to keep the devices charged during long journeys. It can remotely track the luggage and can prevent identity theft.

The method of investigation
Market research will be conducted to see the demand of the customer. It analyses the prospect of a successful marketing situation of a product before it is being launched (Alsalami and Al-Zaman, 2021). This research method will also help to learn about the competitors of the brand and the strategies they follow.

Body of Analysis and Plan
Situational analysis:
Market review
In 2020, the luggage market will be valued at approximately 17 billion U.S dollars worldwide. However, it decreased from around 21 billion dollars in the last year due to the sudden outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic. To return to the market Antler has come up with a new idea for the passengers or the travelers. Demand for luggage in the United Kingdom is expected to surge at a major robust CAFR of more than 7.2%, according to the research of the luggage industry. The 2020 outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic forced that broader population not to travel, owing to lockdown and travel restrictions (Sofronov, 2019). The luggage organisation has been greeted with heat by the pandemic. Currently, the scenarios are changing slowly and the situations are improving. The spending patterns of customers strengthened as well as the market is expected to regain the potential as the economic condition of the United Kingdom has improved. Analysing the entire situation, Antler will introduce ‘Smart Luggage’ due to the increasing business travel and economic improvements in Uk markets.

The target market for the company is the UK travelers, ad customers who like technology based lifestyle products
The segment that the company wants to capture is the tech savvy young adults and middle to hg come groups. The target market of the company is to be divided into two segments: one of the age of customers which is from 24-40 year and into the income groups which includes middle to high income level.

Competitive Review
The luggage market has been highly competitive. The U.K market has several key players who are competing for greater market share as well as small regional players catering to small regions to capture the market share. Some well-known brands in the market are known as Samsonite, VIP, American Tourister and International SA. The key strategy that Antle has adopted in the market is by adding a new launch of ‘Smart Luggage’ with innovative features and designs, followed by acquisitions and mergers. Numerous luggage brands in the market have different and unique gestures in their product (DO, 2021). However, Antlers has come up with an entirely new idea to expand their customer base all over the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, the market is dominated by several unorganized players who are selling duplicate products at low prices. By contrast, the enhancement in demand for luggage bags is considered directly proportionate to the growing tourism and travel industry. The tourism industry and global travel have witnessed significant growth and development. Each of these aspects is interrelated to one another, and the demand of the luggage industry will likely increase in the years to come.

Product or Service Review
Antler has come up with a new and innovative product named 'Smart Luggage'. This is an entirely new concept, and it includes different features and designs. Smart Luggage contains a battery that is used to recharge or power other devices. 'Smart' mainly refers to several additional capabilities that a bag offers, resulting from having luggage access to the power supply (Doan, 2021). Batteries in luggage can cause several issues for airline companies when lithium ion or lithium metal batteries. An additional feature that Antler has included is that anyone can easily remove the battery from the smart luggage or bag. And, then they can travel with the luggage without any kind of battery installed in the bag. This 'Smart Luggage' can be tethered through Bluetooth to an application that allows the user to calculate the exact weight of the luggage (Wu, 2020). The application linked with the respective bag will give detailed information about the TSA wait times, weather conditions, traffic alerts and flight status. This smart luggage can be used in both functional and durable ways to take on a trip. Travel bags or luggage can often be easily lost and hefty. Therefore Antler has taken the initiative to change this by introducing a line of app-connected and designed focused suitcases. Antler smart pieces of luggage are integrated with a 7800 mAH battery. This states that travelers can track their registered luggage if it does not happen to get lost.

SWOT analysis

BCG
To place the product in the BCG matrix is not a viable option. As the product is yet to be launched, there needs a significant amount of market reports that need to be concluded to get the real idea. The new product thus can be placed in the high sales low share which will mean a question mark. Once there is rough data on the product's sales, the matrix can be used to further decision-making.

Figure 1: BCG matrix
(Source: https://images.edrawmind.com, 2021)

Ansoff Matrix
The company has taken a product development strategy. As competitors have populated the market for luggage bags and the entry to the market is relatively easy, existing companies need to innovate. The company has invested in the R&D process, which has generated the new innovative product in the form of a smart luggage bag.

Figure: Ansoff matrix
Source: www.miro.medium.com, 2021

PLC
The product is in the introduction stage of the product life cycle. The company will introduce the new product from the existing production process. This is the initial stage of the product life cycle. In this stage, there is no growth expected, the customers get aware of the product, and the initial sales start.

Figure: Product Life Cycle
(Source: www.business-to-you.com, 2021)

Goals and Objectives
The goal of smart luggage is to provide a better travel experience to the customers. With the help of smart luggage, travel will be more secure.

The objective of smart luggage is to provide a GPS to travelers to find their luggage easily. The objective is to provide a USB port charger for the smart luggage along with solar-powered batteries. The objective is to provide a remote lock system to the luggage and make the travel industry smarter. The company's mission is to achieve strong growth and awareness by the end of the year. The company's vision for the smart luggage bag is to be the market leader in technology-based lifestyle products.

Sales Objective
The sales objectives are:
To enhance profit and sales of smart luggage in the company by 25%.
To enhance the number of customers and their attraction towards the Antler company within one year.
To enhance the sales process of smart luggage in Antler to upto€100000 within a year
To enhance cross-sells and upsells in the company.

Marketing Objectives
The marketing objectives of Antler are:
To enhance brand awareness towards the company to 45% by Q3
To achieve a 20% trial rate in H1.
To increase the rate buying of the existing customers y 25%

Strategies: 7P’s
Product
Smart luggage is the key product of Antler, and this makes the tourism experience better. Here this product is smart Because it has a GPS, and it will be easier for travelers to find their goods from the airport and any other location (Burkiewicz and Kawa, 2021). This luggage can measure the weight automatically and it can charge itself with the solar system. By connecting smart luggage with a phone, it can walk with a passenger automatically and an individual does not have to touch the luggage.

price
The price of smart luggage will be around $245 to $600 (Mallik and Farhan, 2018). Here the customer will be getting a discount as well, depending on the size of luggage they purchase. Smart luggage will cost a little bit higher than normal luggage.

promotion
For promoting smart luggage, the company will be using a social media marketing strategy. There are a lot of travel bloggers and travel influencers on social media like Instagram and YouTube. Collaborating with social media influencers will help promote smart luggage.

Place
Antler Is a British company hymn. The key promotion will be in the UK. On the other hand, customers from different parts of the world can purchase the product online (Mallik and Farhan, 2018). The smart luggage will be Promoted in the shopping malls in England where a lot of people gather. Also in different upgraded areas of Europe will be a part of the chosen place for smart luggage.

People
The targeted people are the travelers who often go to different places. Also, the high-class people will be targeted customers who always look for smart Gadgets and newly invented things in the market.

Process
The customers will be able to buy this product online. The retailers like Amazon, eBay and so on online companies will be selling smart luggage. Also, the customers can buy smart luggage from the supermarkets. Antler companies owned websites will also be available for selling this product.

Physical Evidence
The customers will try this product by themselves if they buy smart luggage from the supermarkets (Ariyani et al., 2019). on the other hand, the customers will be receiving a facility to return the goods if they find any issue while purchasing the product online. There will be a guarantee and warranty for the product as well.

Action plan and implementation

Implementation
The implementation process for any product is the lifeline for its success. A good implementation and evaluation plan is required to measure the success of the new product. An already established company is launching the product. Implementation of the action plan is necessary. The company needs to create a different team that can oversee the product's launch, from the marketing analysis to prototype development testing, sales marketing and follow up of the product (Paurova and Nadanyiova, 2020). The marketing analysis needs to be conducted to understand the need for the product and also for prototype testing. That shall give an idea of the sales target and the production that needs to be maintained. Apart from this marketing is again an essential process for providing the information to the clients and in placing the product for a competitive advantage in the market

Market analysis
To evaluate the market analysis process reports including data for demand, competitor analysis needs to be available. Based on this, the next steps will be determined as to the quantity of production and sales target.

Marketing
The company's marketing objective is to increase the sales rate by 25% above the existing members (Paurova and Nadanyiova, 2020). The company needs to attract more customers and with the new launch, the company is targeting a different age group to be part of the growing genre of Antler.

Production
The production of the new item will depend on the market reports. Initially, a target of 50,000 bags has been drawn for the first three months. Thus, the production of the gas shall b maintained at 20,00 units at launch and 10,000 units per month for the first quarter

Evaluation: How the results will be tracked and measured?

Conclusion
Antler has the expertise to develop a new product that is based on the new technological framework. This shall give the company an edge in the industries which new and old companies populate. Entry into the industry is easy, and thus, there are many companies and sellers. This has led to huge competition and aggressive pricing. Thus to have an edge above all, the company needs to evolve and bring in new and unique innovation constantly. It is recommended that the company first analyze the market and test the product through various channels before launching. Apart from this social media is the most suitable channel for marketing the product. Segmentation and the targeted customer base needs to be selected carefully in order to pass the information and ultimately make sales.

References
Alsalami, W.K.O.A. and Al-Zaman, Q., 2021.The role of media and public relations departments in effective tourism marketing in Sharjah.Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(S3), pp.133-143.
Ariyani, R., Yusnitasari, T., Oswari, T., Kusumawati, R.D. and Mittal, S., 2019. Consumer behaviour analysis in online music purchases in Indonesia by implementing 7P’s marketing strategy using quality function deployment (QFD). American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 4(3), pp.57-65.
Burkiewicz, and Kawa, M., 2021.Marketing in Culture.Management Tourism Culture, p.9. DO, T., 2021. Marketing Plan.Marketing.
Doan, T.H.Y., 2021. Digital Marketing Plan for an Asian Market in Finland.Marketing plan assignment Case study: Mokka market.
Mallik, A. and Farhan, S.N., 2018. Customer Centric Approach Using 7ps of Marketing Mix.International Journal of Innovative Knowledge Concepts, 6(11), pp.136-149. Paurova, V. and Nadanyiova, M., 2020. MARKETING MIX AS PART OF MARKETING STRATEGY USED IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRIES. Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings, pp.649-657.

Sofronov, B., 2019. The Development of Marketing in Tourism Industry.Annals of SpiruHaret University.Economic Series, 19(1), pp.117-127. Tafesse, W. and Wien, A., 2018.Implementing social media marketing strategically: an empirical assessment.Journal of Marketing Management, 34(9-10), pp.732-749. Wu, M.Y., 2020. Exploring Organizational Use of Social Media Marketing: A Global Perspective.China Media Research, 16(1).