This section focuses on launching Marketing Initiatives to reinforce your overall marketing efforts. You have to click on an initiative for a complete description and to decide to implement it. All initiatives will be available as of Period 1, and some events will have a specific seasonality. For instance, an event taking place every 4 years will take place in years 1, 5, 9 etc.
Sponsorship
• Football World Cup – One of the biggest sport’s competitions in the world, the Football World Cup is contested by national teams of International Football Federation members every 4 years. It is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world attracting an audience in the billions across all generations. The Football World Cup attracts many global sponsors from different B2C industry sectors. There is no event quite like the Football World Cup that will give you the opportunity to reach such a large audience and profoundly raise product awareness and engagement of your global product.
• World’s Fair – The World’s Fair, also called World Expo or Universal Exposition, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase achievements of nations. Sponsoring this event allows companies to spread their name and reinforce their relationship with existing customers. This exhibition takes place every 4 years and is visited up to 10s of millions of people mostly by an audience of over 40 years of age.
• eSports World Convention – The Electronic Sports World Convention (ESWC) is an international professional gaming championship. This yearly event has been praised for its organization and ability to put on a good show for spectators, who are mostly from the younger generation or tech savvy adults. It is recognized as an interesting event to communicate on the company image to a well targeted audience.
Promotion
• Distributors’ End Year Sales – Sales promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy your product. It is used as a short-term tactic to boost sales but doesn’t necessarily build long-term customer loyalty. Investing in the end of year promotions will provide a great opportunity to help your company reach out to price-sensitive customers and encourage an end of year spike in sales.
• eStore Trade-in offers – To encourage customers to buy your latest models, you may initiate Trade-In offers on your eStore. Examples of trade-in offers include discounts on upgrading to new model or providing a special offer on returning an old model to have it upgraded. This type of initiative should have an immediate effect on your sales, any time of the year.
• Product Bundle – Bundling your products into a single offer is generally done to create greater value and therefore enhance the offering to the customer. This type of initiative will lead price sensitive customers to purchase and increase the average basket price. It can however push back some customers who cannot afford the purchase of multiple products at once.
Partnership
• Contribution to Education – Your firm can partner with an Educational Institution by providing selected high schools and colleges with your company’s technological products at a discounted price of for free. Showing an engagement and commitment to the education sector will boost your company’s corporate social responsibility image and potentially result in a more loyal customer base who are proud of the company’s involvement in such an initiative.
• Product Training in Shops – Invite your distributors to train customers on your products directly in the shops. Customers who usually have difficulty adopting the latest technologies will certainly appreciate this precious help and it will help distributors raise interest for your products and probably encourage purchase.
User Experience
• Company Ecosystem, Tools & Services – Developing an ecosystem around your products will allow you to encourage purchase of associated products, tools and services. It will particularly raise interest among tech enthusiasts, but also reinforce their commitment to your company products.
Viral
• Viral Advertising Initiative – Viral advertising is a business strategy that utilizes your firm’s social networks to promote your company name or your products. Spread your message further by developing an advertisement campaign with a celebrity and raise global awareness and interest among customers who use social media.
Product Placement
• Blockbuster Movie – Product placement is the inclusion of a producted product in media, usually without explicit reference to the product. Blockbuster movies usually attract people from all generations and are appreciated for their high-quality production. Investing in product placement in Blockbuster movies should raise your awareness among all types of customers and enhance the image of your products.
• Series – Product placement is the inclusion of a producted product in media, usually without explicit reference to the product. The practice is considered a type of pull marketing, designed to increase consumer awareness of the product and product. Reach a mostly younger audience by placing your product in a popular TV series.
Influencers
• YouTubers & Bloggers – Align your company and products with influential people who have a strong following on social media with your target market. Once you’ve identified individuals who have influence over potential customers, your company will be able to launch specific marketing activities around these influencers, with the objective that they will raise a strong interest among their followers.
Additional Services
• Extended Warranty – By offering a prolonged warranty to your consumers, in addition to the standard warranty, you will reinforce customers’ trust in the high quality of your products and reassure them that they are taking low risk by purchasing your products. It will attract potential customers to consider your products and will have a direct impact on sales.
• Free Shipping – By offering free shipping for online purchases to your customers, you will provide an overall lower basket price to you end-customer. It will be an appreciated gesture to very price sensitive customers, considering that they are happy with your products attributes and benefits.