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: - A group of investors in order to market the innovative mouse trap formed trap ease America in January.
They hired Martha to serve as president and manage the organization. But in spite of the clever design and
efficiency, the product did not bring profits to the company. The demand and sales always fell radically short of
expectations. Though the trap won the first place among all the new products in a trade show, it could not attract the
customers. Martha detected some problems but none seemed serious. We are doing this case study to analyze what
factors are responsible for this situation and suggest some strategies that will help Martha to sustain in the business
and keep the investors happy.

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? Martha followed the „

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? jhe thought that the ¦
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 of the product will bring along the customers without much
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. The product was easy to use and designed keeping the safety of the customers in mind. Its
uniqueness lies in its re-usability.
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c —umerous talk shows and trade publications had featured the uniqueness of the
product. jhe promoted the product through trade shows.
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 Martha has targeted the women specially the house wives to buy the product.
? jhe 
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in magazines to attract the house keepers.
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c jhe sold the traps directly to large retailers.

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 =ery innovative product and engineered well.
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 ºong lasting product because of its re-usability.
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 ºess risk involved
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 Ñighly environmental

  

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c „ Ñigh price
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 ºess promotion
? £roduct oriented strategies.
? —ot customer driven
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 ºack of time management

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c „ rnique product ,so high potential market
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 ºess competitors
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? Traditional marketers
? chemicals or pesticides

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? The targeting should have been done within a broader demographic area.
? jlums, warehouses, go downs, docks, kirana shops, retail stores, restaurant, canteens and cold storages
must be targeted for potential customers.
? The segmenting must avail wholesalers and the intermediaries too apart from the retailers.
? Marketing channels like Toll-free numbers, newspaper, television, radio and mobile marketing must be
used effectively to target ME—.
? £est control companies must be primarily targeted and a joint venture can be planned if necessary.
? We should target to environmentalists, animal lovers and corporate business.

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? When two traps are sold in a single package it might not be appealing to the customers who are ready to
experiment. jo it should be one at a time.
? The cost must be cut down as low as possible at least for initial days because the customers are driven to
products that are freely available for fewer prices. Ñere the packaging plays a prominent role.
? Rree samples to the agencies must be initially given so that they get the customers acquainted to the product
in order to gain a good name in the market.
? There should be mass distribution of the product and free demo services must be provided.
? The marketing network within the organization must be increased, instead of Martha being the single sales-
person. There must be door-to-door salesperson to make the sales effective.
? The administrative costs must be cut down and more money should be spent in promotional activities like
advertising in movie theatres, showing a demo in the retail shops, approaching government to promote in
railways and bus-stands as a social cause and environment savior.
? A brand ambassador must be endorsed to promote the product in order to attract the customers.
? Money back promise should be made to the customers if the products are found defective. This way they
will gain the trust of the customers.

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? Though there¶s value in terms of quality, satisfaction of the customers from the product is less because of
its high price.
? And proper feedbacks must be taken from the customers as well as the retailers in order to assess the true
position of the product.
? Œnline booking facilities must be provided so that more customers can know the details about the product
and buy it easily. The cost and communication of the four 4c¶s concept must be kept in mind. The safety
and re-usability aspects of the product must be communicated well to the customers.
? !etaining customers is very important and that can be done only through quality service
 ? customers are gods and promises made to them should be kept. They lost an order because of time the
management and Martha doesn¶t seem to learn from the mistake. The goodwill of the organization is
necessary for any product to remain for a long time.

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? A proper market research is necessary to understand the wants of customers.

? Timely adjustments must be done based on the marketing environment.
? There must be a backup plan always when the target sales and profits are not achieved.
? When the sales have gone down in April, the marketing strategy must be immediately changed. The
administrative costs must be cut down heavily.
? Also the reasons for why the product is not bought the second time must be found out and necessary
changes made to the product as per customer benefits. !epeat buying will happen only when the services
provided are beneficial to the customers.
? When the trade shows haven¶t bought enough sales, the costs should be cut down there and allocate more
money for advertising.