Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

Book of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................... 2 2. Product Life Cycle.....................................................................................................3 2.1 Product Life Cycle Graph for the Nintendo Wii..........................................3 2.2 Product Life Cycle for the Nintendo Wii.....................................................3 3. Promotion of the Product...........................................................................................5 3.1 Identifying and describing market for the Nintendo Wii.............................5 3.2 Target market segment and target market profile........................................5 3.3 Social media landscape element used to communicate with the target market segment..................................................................................................5 3.4 Benefits of YouTube and why it suits chosen market target segment.........6 4. Conclusions................................................................................................................8 5. Reflective statement...................................................................................................9 6. Bibliography.............................................................................................................10

Graphs and charts

Figure 1- Product Life Cycle for the Nintendo Wii.......3

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Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

1. Introduction
There is a potential relationship between market research and successfulness of the product. Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller (2011) wrote that Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs. This report will concentrate on the Nintendo Wii. The console was introduced to the European market on the 8th of December 2006. Since it was launched, Wii became the most successful gaming console with over 8,3 million users in UK (Chart-Track, 2010). The console is unique, as it offers games for people in all ages and with different interests. The report will conduct the research on the Nintendo Wii Product Life Cycle. Next, it will discuss the market target for the gaming console. Finally, the report will cover the use of the social media landscape and justify its effectiveness.

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Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

2. Product Life Cycle

2.1 Product Life Cycle Graph for the Nintendo Wii

Product Life Cycle for the Nintendo Wii

Sales Sales Current sales Predicted PLC For Wii U will This dot indicates where the Growth product is now Introduction Maturity Decline

2006 2.2 Product Life Cycle for the Nintendo Wii

2012

Time

Figure 1

Product life cycle is the period between the appearance of the product on the market and its withdrawal. By identifying current stage of the product, the business can make the future plans. Nintendo Wii was very quickly adapted to the market, as during first 12 hours from the launching the sales reached around 50,000 units sold according to the Nintendo. Therefore, the introducing stage was very short. Promoting a new product is important at this stage, so potential customers would know about its existence and advantages over similar products that already exist on the market. Product sales figures need to be monitor at this stage. As the product came to the growth stage very quickly, costs related to the introduction stage were quickly turned into a profit. In May 2007, the demand for the console was still growing and the sale reached 438,000 units sold in the UK, according to David Yarnton-Nintendo boss in the UK. Gfk Charttrack report shown, that on 2nd of February 2008, sales reached Page | 3

Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion 2,200,000 units. During this stage, it is important to invest into advertising as well as in previous stage, to persuade consumers to buy the Wii product over competitors. (Perner, N.D.) Wii has gone to its maturity stage in 2008, as 4,900,000 units were sold up to 3rd of January 2009 (Gameindustry.biz, 2009) and the majority of customers were gained. The product was well known on the market, the costs were low, but adding new features and accessories was important to differentiate it from the competitors product. Promoting the product at this stage was also important, to help the product to sustain on the market. However, 2009 was not a good year for the product, as console faced the decline stage, where most customers were gained and the profit starts to drop down. At this stage the price may be lower down to sell as many products as possible to avoid overproduction. There is also no need to invest money into excessive advertising. On the 3rd of December 2009 Chart TrackGfK announced that 6,000,000 Wiis officially has been sold. MCVUK identified, that the sale of the Nintendo Wii has gone down by 36,5% in 2009 compared to 2008. On 4th of October 2010 Nintendo declared that one in three households owned the Nintendo Wii console, this means that there were approximately 8,300,000 consoles sold in the UK. On the graph there is also a dotted line, which shows predicted sales of next generation console- Wii U or Wii 2. The successor is predicted to be introduced to the market in 2012. Nintendo is aiming for the new console to be at least as successful as its predecessor.

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Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

3. Promotion of the Wii Console

3.1 Identifying and describing market for the Nintendo Wii Since Nintendo Wii was introduced to the audience, many people fell in love with it. Consoles aim is to let people benefit from spending time together regardless to their age, gender or interests. By using a unique remote controller, Wii allow players to enjoy controlling the game in the new way while minimising the number of buttons used, and at the same time increasing the comfort of playing. This is a perfect solution for older generation people, like grandparents who can play with their families and with each others. With many types of games to choose from, everybody will find something that they are interested, whether it is a simple Mario game, sports game, girl games or RPG. As Nintendo Wii came with a new price of 79,99 (MCVUK, 2011), it is now cheaper and affordable to most people, which makes it the best console to choose. (Nintendo, 2011) 3.2 Target market segment and target market profile The target market for Wii should include both, genders as constantly the number of female players increase (The Guardian, 2009). According to OnlineEducation half of the players are age 18-49, however the other half spreads between age up to 18 and above 50. In this case demographic, psychographic and product segmentation should be used (Baines, Fill and Page, 2008). Wii produce games suitable for the children, adult and older people or even people with special needs like disabled or those that aim to lose weight (Forbes, 2010). With such a big differentiation of games to choose from, everybody will find something for themselves. Furthermore, potential customers will be people who like modern technological products, love video games, spending time and having fun with friends and relatives and will prefer to stay time at home rather than going out. 3.3 Social media landscape element used to communicate with the target market segment According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), social media landscapes can be divided into 6 types, which include: internet blogs and microblogs (Tumblr), collaborative projects (Wikipedia) , social networking sites (MySpace), content communities, virtual game worlds (MMO Games) and virtual social worlds (digital worlds). However, with 3 billion video views per week worldwide (YouTube, 2011), YouTube has been chosen as the most appropriate. Company can create a branded channel where they can set up many features to interest viewers, for example pictures, links and banners to advertise products. They can also upload videos and create playlists. They are not only there to advertise and entertain but also Page | 5

Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion to inform about the product, while the business can get an instant response because viewers can write comments. Videos can be great to show the Wii players tips and guides of how to use the console and its features. In addition, YouTube offer captions and subtitles for the videos, this would benefits people with disabilities, for example with hearing problems. Moreover, external links can be used to re-direct to other websites like companys homepage or particular product page. Furthermore, YouTube offer the special advertising options: advertising videos and channels on the homepage, partner watch program, or more classical, pay-per-click advertising. This internet service has a very good and simple to use searching engine, therefore a good video name may increase the chance of viewing the video. YouTube is second place where people are looking for the company information when they want to know it better, so it gives the opportunity to show the business from the best side. 3.4 Benefits of YouTube and why it suits chosen market target segment Since the YouTube was launched in 2005 it reached 17 million users who linked their account with any other social service. It is very simple to use for people in all ages and they dont need to create account to watch videos (except for adult content videos). Viewers who have accounts can add friends, write comments and become more active with the business, which makes it two-way communication process. YouTube service offers a great help and step by step guide in 43 languages for all users. (YouTube, 2011) Moreover, YouTube service is better for advertising then television adverts for many reasons. Main one is that uploading videos on YouTube is free of costs, as well as running a channel. It is also more effective, because people use television adverts as a break to leave the room. There is no limit of when and how often people can watch a video, while with television adverts people will see only adverts for the specify amount of time. Finally, YouTube videos can be watch even when people are not at home but they have an internet access. (Reelseo, 2011) Comparing to Facebook, YouTube has many advantages. Major is that with Facebook users need to have an accounts, while YouTube is available to anyone. People who are looking for videos will use YT over facebook and GEO modifiers will help with better searching engines. YT links can be shared across many social websites, whereas Facebook videos only on Facebook. (Reelseo, 2011) Twitter is like a micro blog in which a company can includes the most important information. However, the business cannot put any videos or pictures on Twitter; they can only put external links and news about the business and products. In addition, Twitter is not as broadcasted as YouTube. Page | 6

Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

4. Conclusions
To conclude, in order to increase successfulness of any product it is important to know the market as well as potential customers. Conducting a detailed research and monitoring the product life cycle of the products support the decision making process, and gives directions of when it is needed to take the next step to increase the sales, or even can indicate when the production should stop. Identifying appropriate social media landscape to advertise can increase the sales of the product and help with the communication process with the consumers. Wii has became the most successful console, because Nintendo fulfil all above conditions and now is working on the next generation console, which the firm is hoping to be at least as successful as the current generation. (1548words)

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Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

5. Reflective Statement
During this term, I participated in a Marketing and Business Operation module. This module was divided into two parts- integrative assessment which was a group elevator pitch and an individual portfolio. I needed to write a business report on a chosen by me technological product and then describe a Product Life Cycle and a promotion of chosen product. The module ran from the basics such as describing what a market is and the importance of marketing. I had a problem with finding sales figures, for the product that I have chosen to conduct a product life cycle model. The lecture about market data research was very useful for both, individual and integrated assignments as a detailed research was needed to find

information about the product for the individual report as well as conduct a detailed market research for the group assignment. The lectures were very helpful in my learning process and in writing details business report for my individual assignment. I had a chance to learn more about buyers and how to use this knowledge in practise to gain customers. I have learnt that, there are many different ways to identify customers and their behaviours before introducing a new product to the market. This module was also helpful in a decision making process for the integrated assignment. Before lecture about new product development, I did not know that that there are many types of new products. Lectures were presented in an interesting way as different media were used like presentations, videos and in class tasks. Also, I have learnt about the promotion of the product and the importance of choosing the appropriate media landscape to reach the target group. Planning advertising campaign is significant for the business, because if the advertising method would be chosen incorrect it would not reach the potential customers and the money would be wasted. To conclude, this assignment was useful to understand the importance of knowing the market, competitors and potential customers, to increase the chances for the business to succeed. Moreover, the knowledge gained during this module will help me in my further study. (350 words)

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Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion

6. Bibliography
Baines P, Fill C, Page K (2008). Marketing. New York: OUP Oxford. Blake. (2009). YouTube vs. Twitter vs. Facebook vs. Blog. Available: http://www.inqbation.com/youtube-vs-twitter-vs-facebook-vs-blog/. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Creating a Branded Channel. (2011). Available: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en&answer=94526. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Croft, Michael J. (1994). Market Segmentation: A Step-By-Step Guide to Profitable New Business. London: Routledge. Dring C. (2011). Retail prepared to reduce new Wii to 79.99. Available: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/retail-prepared-to-reduce-new-wii-to-pound-79-99/083711. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Gibson E. (2006). Wii becomes UK's fastest-selling videogames console ever. Available: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/wii-becomes-uks-fastest-selling-videogames-consoleever. Last accessed 06th Nov 2010. Ivan T. (2010). 1 in 3 UK households owns a Wii. Available: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/267913/1-in-3-uk-households-owns-a-wii/. Last accessed 08th Nov 2011. Jackson M. (2007). UK Wii sales figures revealed. Available: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/163772/uk-wii-sales-figures-revealed/. Last accessed 06th Nov 2010. Kaplan A, Haenlein M (2010). Users of the World, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Paris: ESCP Europe. p59-68. Khurana A. (2011). 10 Reasons Why YouTube Is Better Than TV For Marketers & Advertisers. Available: http://www.reelseo.com/10-reasons-youtube-tv/. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Kotler P. Keller K. (2011) Marketing Management, Published By: Pearson Education. Marentis C. (2011). Facebook vs. YouTube Which Is Better For Video SEO? Available: http://www.reelseo.com/facebook-vs-youtube-seo/. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Perner L. (N.D.). Introduction to Marketing. Available: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/marketing_introduction.html. Last accessed 07th Nov 2011. Page | 9

Malwina Mroczkowska-11724911, Group I Marketing & Business Operations Module: Product & Promotion Riley J. (N.D.). Products - product life cycle. Available: http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/products_lifecycle.asp. Last accessed 08th Nov 2011. Robinson A. (2009). UK current-gen consoles hit 24.2 Million. Available: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/218724/uk-current-gen-consoles-hit-242-million/. Last accessed 06th Nov 2011. Ruberg B. (2009). The Truth About Wii Fit And Weight Loss. Available: http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/29/video-games-wii-technology-personaltech_0129_wii.html. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Stuart K. (2009). Game trends: female players and popular movie tie-ins.... Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/jun/29/games-gameculture. Last accessed 08th Nov 2011. The CMO's Guide to: THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE. (2011). Available: http://www.cmo.com/sites/default/files/CMOcom-SocialMediaLandscape2011.pdf. Last accessed 09th Nov 2011. Videogame Statistics. (2011). Available: http://www.onlineeducation.net/videogame. Last accessed 10th Nov 2011. Wii sales in UK top six million in less than three years. (2009), Available: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2009/wii_sales_in_uk_top_six_million_in_less _than_three_years_15296.html. Last accessed 06th Nov 2010. 360 sells more than Wii and DS in UK's 2009. (2009). Available: http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news-story/2009/7/2/360-sells-more-than-wii-and-ds-in-uk-s2009-u. Last accessed 06th Nov 2011.

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