Presented by: Jagoda Vudragovic Jessica Weis Sherrelle Lawrence Pamela Wright MGT 300 Marketing Principles and Management July 12, 2012 1 Executive Team Jagoda Vudragovic – Prepared Sections Five Marketing Strategy and Six B Action Program: Pricing Jessica Weis – Prepared Sections Two Situational Analysis, Six C Action Program: Marketing Channels and Section Seven – Budgets, Control, and Accountability. Also prepared the PowerPoint presentation via Prezi Sherrelle Lawrence – Prepared Sections Four Market Selection & Target Market and Six D Action Program: Promotion Pamela Wright – Prepared Sections Three Marketing Objectives and Six A Action Plan: Product plus the Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Guide Book The Executive team collaborated to prepare and present the following: Section One – Executive Summary The design of the Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Bus Board of Directors TBD 2 Table of Content Section 1 Executive Summary Pages 4-7 SWOT Analysis Page 8 Section 2 Situational Analysis Pages 9-13 Internal Analysis External Environment Analysis Section 3 Marketing Objectives Page 14 Section 4 Market Selection & Target Market Pages 15-16 Section 5 Marketing Strategy Pages 17-25 Competitive Advantage of Northwestern Mutual Competitive Analysis Competitive Advantage of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Complete Positioning of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Section 6 The Marketing Mix Page 26-33 Action Plan: Product Action Program: Pricing Action Program: Marketing Channels Action Program: Promotion Section 7 Budgets, Control & Accountability Pages 34-36 References Page 37 ADDENDUM Pages 38-39 3 Section 1-Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Company Overview Wonders of Milwaukee Tours (WMT), located in Milwaukee, WI is a new sightseeing company that is sponsored and invested by Northwestern Mutual. (NM) We will provide an educational fun filled adventure of the Metropolitan Milwaukee area where we will visit 34 sites narrated by a knowledgeable tour guide. Our concept is a hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus tour that will service for two hours on the half hour at a price of twenty dollars. Primarily, the target market will include those who are age 31-51including families and business individuals. WMT will be the first official touring company in this area showcasing Milwaukee’s culturally rich history, diversity and beautiful landmarks for everyone’s enjoyment. Mission: The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s mission is to provide safe, educational and insightful tours to the visitors of Milwaukee as well as local residents, while enjoying a scenic view of Milwaukee. Operations: Our two hour tours are seasonal which starts the weekend before Memorial Day and concludes the weekend after Labor Day; Hours of operation, 10am – 6pm, Thursday through Sunday with tours starting on the half hour. Tickets are available at the major downtown hotels, internet sites, visitor’s bureau and selected local businesses. 4 Product and Services: WMT will provide daily sightseeing tours beginning the weekend prior to Memorial Day every Thursday through Sunday 10am to 6pm. We will visit such sites as the Calatrava (Milwaukee Art Museum), Pabst Mansion, Bayshore Township, Betty Brinn, Harley-Davison, and many other great sites. Our tours will conclude the weekend after Labor Day. The Competition: Our main competitor in the Metropolitan Milwaukee sightseeing market is Trolley Loop which is based in the downtown Milwaukee area and is run by Transit Express. It is sponsored by several well-known organizations/ company in Milwaukee and has been in business for several years. The Trolley Loop visibility has made their branding noticeable and their low cost attracts an audience who are more cost conscious. Marketing Objectives: Wonders of Milwaukee’s goals are to provide a positive perspective of Milwaukee, educate our customers, and support local businesses’ revenue stream by being a conduit between them and our customers. Target Market: Our target market is between the ages of 31-51 5 Marketing Strategies: To accomplish its growth goals, Wonders of Milwaukee Tour will direct its marketing activities toward the following strategies: Target Market Strategy: Based on our conducted survey, we chose to target individuals age 31-51 of both genders. Although all ages younger than 31 and older than 51 responded favorably, our target audience is most likely to include family members outside of our target age. In addition to our survey, we considered the sites included in our tour which will appeal to individuals seeking a family oriented activity. Positioning Strategy: WMT will position its service as the first-choice tour in the Milwaukee area for visitors as well as local residents by providing quality, uplifting and entertaining tours. Pricing Strategy: The current pricing of our competitor is significantly lower than our suggested price. WMT will charge twenty dollar for a tour and it will maintain the current pricing strategy for existing and new expanded tours in the future. Promotion Strategy: WMT will augment its service by promoting on TV, local news, cable. Trip Advisor website, magazine advertising, Facebook, restaurants, and billboards. Financials: Our first year of business we anticipate 60% capacity per trip but unfortunately will not see any profits due in part to the overhead costs we will incur, in particular the purchase of 4 tour buses gross profit (435,000). We will however recover during our second year, predicting a 40% increase in ticket sales resulting in 84% capacity per trip, a gross net profit of $302,000 6 Marketing Mix WMT product plan is to present our service as an all-inclusive tour without the hassle of organizing an individual’s visit, allowing our customers to partake in various stationary tours through-out the city and also enjoy our diverse dining and shopping areas. WMT Pricing Plan takes into consideration our competition’s cost. We approach our pricing with consideration to what we offer which is premium service. WMT marketing channel plan is to create accessibility to our customers. We will have our tickets available in the major downtown hotels, internet websites, visitor’s bureau and the Northwestern Mutual organization. WMT promotion plan includes cost effective ways to advertise our service. On-line forums such as Facebook, Twitter, Bing and LinkedIn are free forms of advertisement and are able to reach hundreds of potential customers daily by simply setting up a business profile or customized page. We will also utilize our downtown hotels by providing flyers and brochures for distribution. Northwestern Mutual is potentially our largest promotion incentive, considering thousands of employees attend their annual meeting. 7 Northwestern Mutual SWOT Analysis: Wonders of Milwaukee Tours Strengths (Internal) 2 hour Tour of Milwaukee Hop on/Hop off Ability to see multiple sites May stay on bus for entire ride Open concept, large windows Active in the community Opportunities (external) Expand route Provide year round tours Provide different tours for different audiences “Go Green” Weaknesses (Internal) No prior tour knowledge No equipment to get started May not know Milwaukee More expensive than other options Threats (external) Transit Express Trolley Edelweiss Historic Boat Tour Milwaukee Transit System with its Bus Pass offer Other transit systems starting tours in Milwaukee Economy 8 Section 2- Situational Analysis Internal Analysis Northwestern Mutual (NM) provides financial services such as life insurance, mutual funds, disability insurance, education funding, and much more (Northwestern mutual, 2012). The goal of NM is to provide financial stability for their customers and putting their consumers first. From January 1st through March 31st of 2012, NM has had an increase in sales and profit. The premium revenue has increased 4% compared to this same time period last year because of new premium sales, high persistency rates for renewal premium, increase in dividends, and increase in asset-based revenues (Northwestern Mutual, 2012). Also in that time period, NM has had an investment income of $2.3 billion, even with the decline in market interest rates, interest income from bonds, mortgage loans, and other investments (Northwestern Mutual, 2012). The total investment of NM has grown to $166.2 billion dollars just from the first quarter this year (Northwestern Mutual, 2012). NM has many competitors including New York Life Insurance Company, AEGON USA inc., Securian Financial Group inc., and many more. However, as a touring company the competition would be the Transit Express for a touring service. Transit Express already has a trolley that will provide transportation to Milwaukee residents and spectators in the summer months. The trolley is a great way to view parts of Milwaukee with a little bit of history using the trolley car. However, NM will be able to provide a tour to those who choose where an individual may hop on and hop off throughout the ride. This will allow for the passenger to explore Milwaukee and also learn about the culture and history of the city. The competition creates a challenge for our new idea to be introduced to the city, consumers will have two “hop 9 on/hop off touring” options, however, NM has a unique concept to entertain and educate partakers. The trolley would be much cheaper in price for a ride compared to the WMT tour and both routes would cover similar focal points. This would make it more difficult for NM to come in at first being it will be a higher price, but more is being offered from the tour itself. NM has many internal strengths, one being clients come first (Northwestern Mutual, 2012). When working with people all the time, customer satisfaction is crucial to growth and expansion. One expansion of NM would be to provide a tour service for Milwaukee. With this type of investment, clients must always come first. NM is loyal to their clients as well. NM will make sure to extend any changes and benefits that may change to current clients in order to make their customers happy. This is important for any business to succeed in a competitive world. NM also has skills with managing finances (Northwestern Mutual, 2012). Being able to manage finances is where many businesses succeed or fail. When money is not properly managed, the business may fail and NM has experience in this area which is a help when it comes to starting up a new business venture. NM has a few weaknesses as well. One weakness of NM is the fact that they are not currently in the touring business. Although NM was built on investment, touring is a new concept for the company and would be challenging to start with a new venture without prior knowledge. Also, NM does not have any of the required equipment needed to start a touring service such as busses. Busses are needed to transport the passengers from one point to another. Another weakness would include knowledge of Milwaukee. Although NM is active in the community, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they thoroughly know the history of Milwaukee in its entirety. This is a large part of the tour to highlight the current perks and history of Milwaukee. Wonders of Milwaukee Tours would also be more expensive than other forms of 10 transportation and some may not feel this is necessary. Although the tour offers a history lesson and more about the city, not everyone who lives here may want to pay for the tour. Northwestern Mutual would be well suited to invest into Wonders of Milwaukee Tours for multiple reasons. One major reason being the community involvement that NM has within Milwaukee. NM has been in Milwaukee since 1857 and is recognizable as a staple in Milwaukee and contributor to the community. Another great reason is the vast knowledge of finances and money they would be able to invest in the Wonders of Milwaukee Tours. With this knowledge, NM would have a head start into what is needed or expected and how to handle financial loss. NM has many qualities that are expected and needed to start up a new venture into Wonders of Milwaukee Tours. External Environment Analysis Wonders of Milwaukee Tours is a new concept we are bringing to Milwaukee. This leads to a disadvantage before the start. Tours are available in other major cities around the United States, and Milwaukee is often forgotten because it is not as large as cities such as New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles or Chicago. Because Milwaukee is on a smaller scale, most people tend to forget about the beauty of the city and what it really has to offer. Wonders of Milwaukee tours will provide the right mix of personality, entertainment and history of metropolitan Milwaukee, leaving our customers with an appreciation of the city. The competition includes the Transit Express Trolley and Edelweiss Boat tour. Both are very limited in what is offered and Edelweiss Boat tour would not allow for hop on/hop off and Transit Express does not include a detailed history of Milwaukee such as Wonders of Milwaukee Tour would allow. Since NM does not have a touring service, the buses would prove to be a 11 technical challenge. Our bus has been designed to provide extraordinary viewing while on the bus, but this would have to be designed properly and would cost a lot of money to create. There would also be a lot of legal issues that need to be addressed concerning driving passengers around the city. NM has a lot of legal experience, so this would be less of an issue. The main point of Wonders of Milwaukee Tours is to provide a service around Milwaukee and allow for an opportunity to learn more about the city than just the internet. Our service would be competitive with the Trolley because the Trolley is already a part of Milwaukee’s history and to try and bring in a new concept may be difficult. In order to start up this service, the cost to start a touring service due to equipment, budget, gas, insurance, and incentives from businesses that are along the tour’s route will show to be expensive to begin Wonders of Milwaukee Tours. Wonders of Milwaukee Tours have many opportunities in the future. One major opportunity would be to expand the route of the tour as well as offer different tours to accommodate a variety of audiences. Expanding the route could provide more tourism for the city of Milwaukee and surrounding cities. One possible expansion would be to expand to other cities in Wisconsin or offer a service to transport the individuals to the other cities around Wisconsin. In addition, providing other tours in Milwaukee itself such as a night life tour or a tour for just families would allow for a different audience to enjoy Milwaukee in their own way. This would allow for a more personalized trip through Milwaukee in specific interests of the city. “Go Green” would also be something that Wonders of Milwaukee Tours may provide in the near future. This is good to help the environment and keep up with the current issues, as well as helping with ticket costs. Although Wonders of Milwaukee Tours may be able to expand and grow, there are still threats in the area that may hinder the progress of the service. The Trolley service is a threat 12 because they are part of the history of Milwaukee as well as already available. Also, the Edelweiss attracts many guests to take a ride on the river. Any other bus company may come in and try to also provide our same service. Other threats would be the economy because if the economy drops more, fewer individuals will be traveling or willing to pay to learn more about a city they already live in. There are many reasons that pose threats to Wonders of Milwaukee Tours to be successful. 13 Section 3- Marketing Objectives Northwestern Mutual (NM) has a long history of giving back to local communities through the financial support of their foundation and the volunteer commitment of their employees and field force. The mission of the NM is to build strong, vibrant communities that serve as a legacy to future generations. From their home base in Milwaukee, WI, and all across America, for their business to succeed, the communities in which they operate need to be strong and provide a high quality of life for everyone. They focus on doing what they can to present future generations with a true foundation for life. NM main objectives are to develop the local economy by decreasing hunger and homelessness; increase access to health services, self-sufficiency through education and quality of life by creating a community where people want to visit, residents want to live and play, and businesses want to locate. Wonders of Milwaukee Tour goals are to provide a positive perception of Milwaukee by providing a unique experience of metropolitan Milwaukee through our tour. We are dedicated to educating visitors as well as local residents on the history of Milwaukee while providing a support revenue system to the local businesses in the surrounding areas. We will serve as a conduit between out of town visitors, local residents and Milwaukee for education, entertainment and business growth and opportunities. Northwestern Mutual Foundation and Wonders of Milwaukee share a common goal; we are focused on developing the local economy while creating a welcoming community environment in Milwaukee. 14 Section Four – Market Selection & Target Market Target marketing modifies a marketing mix for various segments identified by market segmentation. It is extremely difficult to satisfy customers by treating them alike. Therefore, one of the first steps in selecting a market is to utilize segmentation variables. Market segmentation is simply a process in which you identify parts of a market that are different from one another and to better satisfy the needs of potential customers. It assists the division of a larger market into smaller pieces based on one or more knowingly shared characteristic. Segmentation variables helps to better understand and satisfy the needs of the customer better than the competition. When a business currently exists and one of their goals is to target new markets based on a variety of demographic changes, the steps to reach those decisions are somewhat easier than a newly formed business. Wonders of Milwaukee Tours, being a newly formed business, concluded that one of the most important tasks in deciding what target market would be most interested in a tour was to create a marketing survey and eventually analyze the results. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s team utilized mass customization marketing strategies which takes on an approach that modifies a basic good or service to meet the needs of an individual. Demographics are a valuable and critical measurement of the aspects of a population such as size, age, gender, ethnic group, income, education, occupation and family structure. The collection of demographic data – via a survey – for the purpose of discovering our target market included age, gender, ethnic group, family structure, and proximity to Milwaukee, WI, how likely they were willing to participate in a tour of the Milwaukee area and how much they were willing to pay. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tours team distributed and collected a total of 108 surveys. 15 The survey was distributed randomly to various age groups, gender and ethnicities. According to the results from the marketing research survey and analysis, it was determined that the results of our survey combined “somewhat likely” and “very likely” to take a tour of Milwaukee in order to favorably accurately analyze and present our data to our investors, Northwestern Mutual. Based on the final analysis, the following was concluded: Somewhat/Very Likely (80.5%); Proximity to Milwaukee – 0-9 miles (29.6%), 9-18 miles (26.8%), 19-28 miles (10.2%), 29-37 miles (4.6%), out of state (9.3%); Gender – male (35.2%), female (45.3%; age - <18 (2%), 19-29 (25%), 30-40 (13.9%), 41-51 (25%), ˃52 (15.7%); Children in the Household – yes (36.1%), no (45.3%); Ethnicity – White (45.3%), Hispanic (7.4%), Asian (2%), African American (24.1%), Other 2%) Excluded from our survey, “household income” was not an option. However, how much each person would be willing to pay was included. The price range choices were: $10-$15, $20$25, $30-$35, and $40-$45. The largest group (14.80%) chose a price range of $20-$25. In summary, based on the information collected, at the start of business, the Wonders of Milwaukee Tours service would primarily market to Wisconsin residents, male and female, between the ages of 31 and up from all ethnic groups. Although the majority of the people surveyed did not have children, the percentage gap wasn’t significant enough to eliminate families with children from our target audience. In addition, we plan on building relationships with local downtown hotels to market our touring service to Milwaukee visitors. 16 Section Five-Marketing Strategy Two of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour (Northwestern Mutual) competitors are Transit Express with its Trolley Loop and Edelweiss Boats. These competitors offer tour services such as a historic Milwaukee tour, fireworks cruise, Thursday dinner, weekend margarita cruise, Third Ward RiverWalk, Milwaukee Theatre, Grand Avenue, Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Bradley Center. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour is a two hour hop on/hop off sightseeing tour that allows passengers to be entertained and educated about the sights they are visiting/viewing. The tour allows the visitors to be educated about the rich history, culture and traditions that wait in Milwaukee, not only is this for visitors but also for the locals. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour features many eye-popping adventures though the heart of Milwaukee, giving you the option of hopping on and off at selected stops to visit the best restaurants, museums, local shops, festivals, historical attractions, cultural and family attractions. While there is nothing like this service currently in Milwaukee, there are some substitute services that either Trolley Loop or Edelweiss Boats can offer the consumer in order to compete with our product. The Trolley Loop is operated by Transit Express; the Trolley Loop offers only one kind of tour that can be considered a competitive service with our new Wonders of Milwaukee tour. The Trolley Loop operates from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays and the tour is forty minutes long with twenty minute headways. The price of the Trolley Loop is a dollar per person round trip. The Trolley Loop offers thirty-two sights to be visited such as the Milwaukee Art Museum, City Hall, Third Ward, Milwaukee Theatre, and many more, but the chances of visiting all of the sights are very unlikely. On the trolley there is only a driver and not an actual tour guide, so there are times when passengers are not informed what sights they are seeing. Also 17 the trolley is mainly used by the locals to grab a bite to eat, head to a show or do a little shopping because it is an easy connector. Edelweiss Boats provides several different services but the one that is relevant to our service is the Historic Milwaukee Boat Tour which ultimately is a competitive service, even though it’s a boat tour. The Historic Milwaukee Boat Tour operates Wednesday through Sundays. On Saturdays, however, the boat departs at 1:00 p.m. from Port of Call Bistro and Beer Garden while other days it leaves at 3:00 p.m. The regular ticket price is sixteen dollars and for children its eight dollars and the tour is 1 hour and 20 minutes. The boat tour focuses on Milwaukee’s historical development contribution to manufacturing, federal laws and includes great views of the lakefront and downtown. While on the tour you get to learn about Milwaukee’s Brewing History, German Heritage, famous locals and its current “Renaissance” (Edelweiss, 2012). Competitive Advantage of Northwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual is one of the largest US life insurers, with more than one trillion in individual policies in force (Hoover, 2012). Their headquarters is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The mutual company offers financial services, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, annuities, mutual funds, and employee benefit services (NorthwesternMututal, 2012). Although Northwestern Mutual is not a transportation organization, it still serves as a great investor and a great sponsor for Wonders of Milwaukee Tour. Northwestern Mutual has several great characteristics to its organization besides the obvious one of insurance. Northwestern Mutual is highly involved in the community. Its employees donate over 23,000 hours to company-sponsored volunteer efforts that include: group 18 activities, several different programs for kids, mentoring, charity walks and collections, Habitat for Humanity, service and nonprofit boards, and so many other organizations and service (N.W.M Foundation, 2012).What is so unique and competitive about Northwestern Mutual is that it has been resided for more than 150 years in Milwaukee; it shows its longstanding commitment to the area but also shows what kind of organization it is. On any given day, Northwestern Mutual employees are engaged in serving our community as volunteers and ambassadors, in great part because employees of Northwestern Mutual has consistently been a proud partner and a top supporter of United Way of Greater Milwaukee since the nonprofit’s inception in 1909 (N.W.M. Foundation, 2012). “In the past ten years alone, the company and its employees and retirees have contributed almost $30 million in support of our hometown United Way. For the past five years, Northwestern Mutual and its employees have teamed as the sole corporation to provide more than $1 million in annual support of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), the largest organization of its type in the country (N.W.M Foundation, 2012).” Knowing that Northwestern Mutual is so involved with the community is a competitive advantage because it shows that it is reliable and that people can count on them, as well as Wonders of Milwaukee Tour. The consumers that are part of Northwestern Mutual already would likely take part in WMT. By them taking the tour, they would be form of advertising because they would spread the word about the tour that NM is investing in and sponsoring to their families, relatives and friends; who too are likely to take the tour if they hear good things about it. One of the goals of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour is to bring business in the community and help the community out which ties perfectly in with the values that Northwestern Mutual has. Besides the fact that Northwestern Mutual is a great contributor and helper to the community, another competitive advantage of it is that it has an annual meeting in downtown 19 Milwaukee, guaranteeing that Wonders of Milwaukee Tour will provide tours for the individuals, allowing them to spread the word to their relatives and friends about it which would generate more business. Global employees of Northwestern Mutual don’t only come once a year to Milwaukee for the annual meeting but rather they have several smaller meetings, which even than they can try out the tour. Northwestern is very well known, not only in Wisconsin, but across the United States and that is a competitive advantage because those who know about Northwestern Mutual and are its customers are likely to take the Wonders of Milwaukee tour because NM does sponsor it and the customers that come out of town are very likely to take the tour as well. Northwestern Mutual is a well-known insurance company and highly profitable one as well, which is a competitive advantage because as Wonders of Milwaukee expands, NM is in the position to expand their investment if necessary. Overall, Northwestern Mutual is a great sponsoring organization that will help us succeed with Wonders of Milwaukee Tour and we together will bring new life into the community. 20 Competitive Analysis Competitor’s SWOT Analysis: Trolley Loop Strengths (Internal) $1.00 per person for round trip Service sponsored by: Historic Third Ward Association, Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Downtown, BID#21, The Pfister Hotel, The shops of Grand Avenue, Transit Express, Usinger Foundation, VISIT Milwaukee, and Milwaukee Cheese Mart Staple in the City Recognizable Couple of trolleys Small group tour offered In business for a while Opportunities (external) Expand route Tap into resource and use its sponsors Offer amenities Utilize their sponsors “go-green” Weaknesses (Internal) It doesn’t offer a tour guide speaker Driver may or may not explain the sights being viewed 40 minute ride Can’t stop to look at any places or visit while on the tour Conducive to the weather Noisy Bumpy Uncomfortable Small Threats (external) Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Edwelweiss Historic Boat Tour Milwaukee Transit System with its Bus Pass offer Sponsors backing out 21 Trolley Loop is the only tour that is offered in Milwaukee that operates on land. The Trolley Loop is very well known in the downtown Milwaukee area. Most Milwaukeeans use the trolley as a form of transportation to get around the town at a low cost. Also, as soon as end of May approaches, Milwaukeeans know that they are able to ride the trolley all the way until September (MilwaukeeDowntown, 2012). The TL has been in business for a while now and it is much known in the neighborhood, especially recognizable by its red and green color and the “cling-cling” sound. Although the Milwaukeeans use the trolley to get around the town, the visitors to the city also use it to get to know Milwaukee. One of the competitive advantages that the Trolley Loop has is that it is the only “tour” available in the city. Therefore, if someone is interested, their only option is to take the trolley. But, since Milwaukeeans use it they recommend it to out-of-towners. One of the major advantages of the Trolley Loop is that it only charges a dollar per person per ride for forty minutes. It is a really good price and many people take that offer because it is such a low cost for a tour and the Milwaukeeans like the cost because it is cheaper than bus fair and allows them to get to certain place they want to go in the downtown area. Another advantage that the Trolley Loop has is that it is sponsored by a lot of well-known places in Milwaukee. Some places that sponsor the trolley are Hyatt, Hilton, Pfister, InterContinental, Milwaukee Art Museum, and so many other places; causing the sponsor to recommend the trolley to its customers that may be in Milwaukee for a business trip, family trip, or whatever the reason may be they are in Milwaukee. Although the Trolley Loop has several competitive advantages it also has several disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of the trolley is that the passengers do not get a talking tour guide to explain the places they are viewing. The driver of the trolley on the other hand explains the sights. But, the chances are that he/she may or may not always explain every sight 22 being seen, causing the tourist, out-of-towners, and even some Milwaukeeans to wonder what they may be viewing. A tour should be a comfortable ride and enjoyable. Even though the Trolley Loop has so many sponsors, the sponsor could do a lot more with the Trolley Loop; it could offer a real tour and not just a ride around the town for forty minutes. The trip is a forty minute ride which could be just enough for some people because they may not like long tours, which causes the Trolley Loop to be at an advantage. Its brand positioning is short trip for a dollar only for customers who want to view the city, but do not want to pay a lot of money. It offers just about the same amount of sights as Wonders of Milwaukee Tour would. If the Trolley Loop competes with Wonders of Milwaukee Tour, it could expand its market share, causing the sponsors to also compete with Northwestern Mutual. But not only that the sponsor most likely would want to expand the tour routes and be just as good as Wonders of Milwaukee, meaning that the Trolley Loop wouldn’t cost a dollar per person per ride anymore, which could upset its previous customers. Competitive Advantage of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Both the Edelweiss Boat Tour (Historic Milwaukee Boat Tour) and the Trolley Loop (TL) are competitors of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour, but the boat tour isn’t a major competitor as the Trolley Loop because it operates on water and the tour is limited to the amount of sights seen and visited. Although the Trolley Loop is a competitor and it offers a substitute service, Wonders of Milwaukee Tour still has a very strong competitive advantage and a better tour service provided than the Trolley Loop. The disadvantage of the trolley is that is does not have a tour guide speaker; rather you have the driver of the trolley explaining the sights that you are view or approaching. Not only is that a disadvantage but also really unsafe. If the driver of the trolley is explaining the sights you are viewing and will be approaching, he/she is not paying full 23 attention to the road which is a safety concern for the passengers. Another down fall to the TL is that the drivers do not always explain the sights you are viewing or approaching. Instead, you are looking out the window and guessing what it may be. There is a slight chance that the sight is being explained what it is and the history of it. The competitive advantage that Wonders of Milwaukee Tour has over the Trolley Loop is that it has an experienced, CDL Certified driver driving the bus and a tour guide speaker on board. You are at ease knowing that you are in a safe moving vehicle and you can sit back and enjoy the tour and not worry about your safety because the driver is talking. You are listening to an entertaining tour guide speaker explaining all of the sights that you will be viewing/approaching. Another advantage of WMT compared to TL is that WMT offers a hop on/hop off tour and the tour lasts for two hours and it headways ever thirty minutes, whereas the Trolley Loop is only forty minutes. With WMT’s bus you get to enjoy the wonderful sights of Milwaukee while sitting in a double-decker bus, with a see-through roof top, which allows you to catch a view in all possible directions and not just out the window, even the windows are not average sized bus windows. The windows are extra-large so that you can see a lot more which is great for picture taking. The bus is a double-decker and has comfortable seating where you don’t have to worry about a backache. Also, the bus has air conditioning, so nothing to worry about on a hot summer day in Milwaukee; whereas the trolley does not have windows, causing all the dust to come in; ending up to be an unpleasant ride. The trolley only drives around and most Milwaukeeans use it as form of transportation to get to certain places such as restaurants, shows, shops because it is an easy connector for them. Realistically the Trolley Loop is not a real tour and is not registered as a Milwaukee tour. With Wonders of Milwaukee Tour you get to experience a real tour of Milwaukee; you are informed and educated on the historical places, museums, restaurants, breweries, shops, and so much more. But one of 24 the greatest perks of WMT is the fact that you are able to hop on and hop off which means if you are approaching a sight that seems compelling to you, you may hop off and enjoy the site and hop back on after viewing the area and continue the tour. Therefore, you do not miss any sights at all and you are able to complete the entire tour. Another advantage that Wonders of Milwaukee Tour has; it offers discounts and coupons for local places in Milwaukee such as restaurants, cafes, breweries, etc and if the passengers are interested in any of those places they are given a coupon for a discount. The Trolley Loop doesn’t offer anything of this sort to its passengers, which caused WMT to be at an advantage. There isn’t anything like Wonders of Milwaukee Tour service offered in Milwaukee, so this is a great advantage for the city and its ability to provide tourism and get better known. Complete Positioning of Wonders of Milwaukee Tour Wonders of Milwaukee Tour seeks to position its service as the first-choice tour for the tourists, also including the locals, as we are the out-of-towners who are seeking to learn about Milwaukee’s history while enjoying the wonderful sights and destinations that it has to offer. The justification for this service is as follows: not many tours are offered in Milwaukee, besides the Trolley Tour and the historic boat tour; there isn’t a huge variety where consumers would not know which one to choose to tour with. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour provides a two hour hop on/hop off tour that views historical sites, entertainment sites, festivals, Bayshore Town Center, restaurants, and much, much more than what either one of the other tours has to offer. Wonders of Milwaukee Tour have developed its service to just about satisfy everyone’s needs that takes the tour. WMT also developed its service, pricing, packaging, and promotion to communicate a superior prestige image. Since Wonders of Milwaukee Tour would be an upscale 25 service and the only tour bus offered in Milwaukee the price would be higher than the current Trolley Loop’s price. Section Six- Marketing Mix Action Plan: Product Wonders of Milwaukee will offer a 2 hour tour of Metropolitan Milwaukee and surrounding areas to out of town guest and local residents, convention hotel occupants and any large or small group of individuals interested in learning about Milwaukee. Our tour will include a historical to present view of Milwaukee’s landmarks and new developments. During the tour, our guests will have the opportunity to depart our tour to participate in individual tours from various businesses such as; Miller Brewery, Harley Davidson, Mitchell Horticultural Park, and Pabst Mansion. Additionally, our guest will be able to enjoy live entertainment during the festival season at the Lake Front, shop at Third Ward and Bayshore Township shopping mall. In all WMT will visit 34 sites. Wonders of Milwaukee will run every 2 hours on the 1/2 hour with specific pick-up and drop off locations and various hotels in Milwaukee’s downtown area such as the Hyatt Regency, Milwaukee Hilton, Pfister, and Intercontinental Hotels. We will also pick-up and drop-off at specific businesses’ tour points; Harley Davidson, Third Ward, Bayshore Township, Lake Front, Pabst Mansion, Miller Brewery and Mitchell Horticultural Park. Each guest will receive a detail colorful pamphlet describing and capturing the 2 hour tour. Our package allows our guests to experience and learn about Milwaukee’s history. They will have a tour guide who explains the scenic view from our customized bus, which gives them a panoramic view as we drive them through Milwaukee’s landscape. Every guest will also have 26 an opportunity to purchase a business’ tour at a reduced rate - a gesture of thank you for taking our tour. This also serves as support to area businesses. Based on our survey, we concluded that our market is primarily people who are between the ages of 31 and 51 and possibly with a family. Our approach is to bridge the age gap by appeasing to baby boomers that are optimistic, and are the primary care givers for their parents as well as their children and Generation “Exers”, who are ethnically diverse with some college education and eager to learn. Ticket purchases will be available at several venues; area hotels, online purchases and area businesses with discount incentives. Milwaukee’s metropolitan area continues to grow, and as Milwaukee grows, Wonders of Milwaukee will stay up-to-date on the latest hot spots to include in our tour. Our marketing department has a continuous relationship with the visitor’s bureau and will be kept abreast of any new activity. We will conduct reviews and grading with hotel concierge before incorporating new businesses into our tour. There are several individual Milwaukee tours available; however Wonders of Milwaukee serves as a link to most Milwaukee tours. We have removed the hassle of transportation, parking and planning out your visit by providing an impactful, all-inclusive tour. Our guests can see Milwaukee and receive a wealth of knowledge all in two hours and at the end of our tour receive memorabilia as a keepsake. Action Program: Pricing Wonders of Milwaukee Tour is a service offering that is relatively new to the city and something that the city has never had before, it is important at this phase to emphasize the competitors’ pricing and perceived value to the customer. One of the things that we do not want 27 to do is emphasize the value of market-skimming price because we are providing a service tour, which is not a high end product that you want to set at a high price for and Wonders of Milwaukee Tour already has a substitute. But, initially we could go after market-skimming pricing (even though it is not a high end product) because WMT does provide a lot more than what Trolley Loop offers as a tour and if we get competition that is like our tour service than we can lower the price to catch other “low end buyers,” but it is risky to do that. Therefore, when setting up our pricing we want to focus on the pricing of our competitor, Trolley Loop and on our future customers. We are aware what Trolley Loop charges for its tour and what it offers and that puts us at an advantage to offer more but also charge more for our service; we also want to know what our customers a willing to pay for the service tour that Wonders of Milwaukee is proving because without them we do not have a business and we want to accommodate to them, by also make revenue for the business. Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s target market are individuals who like to take tours and are willing to learn new things, but also enjoy time visiting new places; they likely have a family or are business individuals and are between the ages of 31-51. Based on consumer surveys, the Wonders of Milwaukee Tour initial cost will be set at twenty dollars. Wonders of Milwaukee Tour is a prestige service and its aligned with the high quality high value reputation which resembles the same prestige that Northwestern Mutual has, causing the two be a great quality and competition in the community. The pricing structure of WMT does not really compare much to the pricing of the competitor. The competitors pricing for a tour is a dollar per person, but it is not a compete tour; the tour is very basic and limited. Also the service offering reflects a lesserknown company with a more inexpensive tour service, but not just that also the trolley itself is not appealing nor comfortable; it has few features and its nor sufficient for a tour that people 28 deserve to get when in Milwaukee. With the Trolley Loop, you essentially “get what you pay for” price position. The following table contains the market survey results depicting the data which translates to the corporate price position recommendations are outlined above. Count Row Percent Likelihood of Buying Not at all Amount Willing to Pay $10.00$15.00 $20.00$25.00 Very likely $40.00$45.00 Total Who Cares? Not very likely Somewhat likely $30.00$35.00 11 34 27 49.09 16 50 23 41.81 4 12.5 5 9.10 1 3.1 0 0 100.0 50.91 9.10 0 55 38 43.7 39 44.8 9 10.3 1 1.2 87 100.0 56.3 11.5 1.2 87 32 55 Cumulative Percent Somewhat and Very (combined) Cumulative Percent How to read the table: If you charge $40.00-$45.00, 0% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $30.00-$35.00, 9.10% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $20.00-$25.00, 50.91% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $10.00-$15.00, 100.0% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $40.00-$45.00, 1.2% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $30.00-$35.00, 11.5% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $20.00-$25.00, 56.3% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $10.00-$15.00, 100.0$ of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. Suggested Retail Price $20.00 29 As indicated by the market research data, the price positioning recommendation is based upon the target markets indication of what price they would pay to take the tour with Wonders of Milwaukee. The demand at this price could be high or low because it all depends on the amount of consumers we have who are willing to the tour, but realistically the demand at this price would be high because Wonders of Milwaukee is offering a hop on-hop off tour for two hours at a price of twenty dollars with discounts to certain restaurants, cafes and a few other places. The consumers would be getting a great deal which would cause the demand of the service to be high because they like what is offered at this price set. If the price of the tour service would to be lowered that would be that we would have to lay off workers because we would not be able to pay all of our expenses. Also if would probably mean that would have to cut down on buses because chances are that we could not afford gas at the demand of the price. If raising the price of the new tour service we would need to add more people to our staff because we possible would be adding more destinations to our packages. If our price is more than twenty dollars we could afford more places to be seen, but it is also risky because consumers might not want to pay more than twenty dollars, but if adding more to the package they very likely would pay the higher price, especially if they are visitors in Milwaukee. Competitor’s reaction to Wonders of Milwaukee Tour pricing strategy is likely to be one of adverse advertising such that they would position their advertising to reflect their “low price” as opposed to Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s “high” price. Also, they would express the fact they offer the same service as WMT, which they do not. But ones WMT gets in the market they would be competitive and take charge in creating a better service because currently the Trolley Loop has no competition. The Trolley Loop would advertise that WMT is too expensive and that 30 they are the better choice to go with for only a dollar per person. It is very crucial to maintain the service and the branding that WMT offers because we do not want to engage in price war advertising with our competition. If needed we will, but we don’t want to take that measure because that would demean the quality and integrity of our service that is being offered. Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s offers a quality tour service, meaning that it will be pricy but you “get what you pay for.” Action Program: Marketing Channels The current marketing distribution channels for NM would include directly to the customer. NM is an investment company so they are known for working directly with their consumer and providing insurance and other needs. The marketing distribution channel for Wonders of Milwaukee Tours would be done through a few different ways; directly to consumer and through a dealer (Marketing MO, 2012). One way would be directly to the consumer. The consumer would be able to come and purchase a ticket directly from the sales team that is available. Also, the consumer could purchase directly through the internet as a way to obtain a ticket for the touring service. A second way would be through the concierge at the local hotels. This would be through a dealer that would purchase our tickets and offer them to the consumers that stay at the hotel. Both channels would allow for consumers to be able to gain knowledge about the tour and purchase a ticket with ease. The service being provided does not need any other channels as of right now. Typically touring services provide their marketing directly to the consumer and not though another company because then the price would just drive up from there. Retail stores do not need to sell 31 to the consumers of a touring service because this would be handled at specific locations or though the concierge. The Trolley would have a similar distribution channel as Wonders of Milwaukee Tours. The main channel would be directly to the consumer as well because there is no need to go beyond the consumer to provide this type of service. Presently, there aren’t any other channels that the Trolley would be using that Wonders of Milwaukee Tours would be using. Wonders of Milwaukee Tours would provide more channels because of the added concierge helping aid to the consumer. Looking into the future, new developments may change the channels that are presently being used or possibly used. If Wonders of Milwaukee Tours grows and expands to other locations, then possibly retail or other channels may need to be looked into to keep up the growing market for this service. More venues to purchase tickets for the service would need to be added to keep up with the demand for the tour. Action Program: Promotion A simplified way to define promotion is “the coordination of marketing communication efforts to influence attitudes or behaviors.” However, the process of promoting a business or service – especially when it’s a new business – can be challenging. Therefore, a team must work together, be on the same page, respect proposed ideas, be patient and respect potential customers. In addition, a product or service must appear to be appealing enough to buy into your idea. Each and every aspect of promotional marketing is a way of communicating to as many people as possible. 32 Marketing communication informs consumers about new goods and services, reminds consumers to continue using certain brands, persuades consumers to choose one brand over another and builds relationships with customers. The Wonders of Milwaukee Tour’s team have discussed and decided on a number of ways to promote the Wonders of Milwaukee Tours. Although there are various types of tours around the city of Milwaukee, the Wonders of Milwaukee Tours is unique in its own way and effective promotional marketing will be one of our key successes. Personal contact with managers of hotels, restaurants, select businesses and concierge staff are some planned options to spread the word. Distributing flyers to a number of entities including households and word of mouth is another type of promotional advertising we will take advantage of. Initial plans to create a website have already begun. Once our website has been created and active, a listing of our business can be set up in search engine local directories. On-line forums such as Facebook, Twitter, Bing and LinkedIn are free forms of advertisement and are able to reach hundreds of potential customers daily by simply setting up a business profile or customized page. Business cards are a must. They can be easily distributed to people at various functions and meetings. 33 Section 7- Budgets, Control & Accountability WMT Pro-Forma Income Statement Fiscal 2013-2014 Gross Sales Ticket Sales Revenue from Businesses Total Net Sales Cost of Service Equipment Gas ($5.00/gal Diesel) Employees Maintenance License/Certification Uniforms Employee Benefits Insurance Total Cost of Service Gross Profit Selling Expenses Advertising Net Operating Profit Fiscal 2013 Fiscal 2013 Sales Qty Sales Dollars 25,000 3,000 28,000 % of Net Sales Fiscal 2014 Sales Qty $500,000 $15,000 515,000 97.000% 3.000% 100.000% 690,000 40,000 50,000 69,000 1,000 500 7,500 20,000 878,000 -363,000 35,000 5,000 40,000 % Net Fiscal 2014 Sales Sales Dollars 700,000 25,000 725,000 96.500% 3.000% 100.000% 133.981% 7.767% 9.709% 13.398% 0.194% 0.097% 1.456% 3.883% 170.485% -70.485% 170,000 40,000 55,000 103,500 1,000 500 8,000 25,000 403,000 322,000 23.448% 5.517% 7.586% 14.276% 0.138% 0.069% 1.103% 3.448% 55.586% 44.414% 10,000 1.942% 20,000 2.759% -373,000 -72.427% 302,000 41.655% The projected net sales for WMT would be $515,000 from ticket sales and revenue from other businesses. Businesses would pay our service to provide special advertisements along with the tour as well as possible promotions. We project to have about 60% of each bus being full at one time for each day of the season. When 60% full, our ticket sales would amount to about 25,000 tickets being sold for the season. Depending on what each business would want to provide for advertisement would adjust how much they would pay us. We plan on having major expenses at the beginning of this venture. To start off, four buses would need to be purchased to 34 accommodate the rounds of the tour. Along with buses, gas and maintenance would need to be added to the cost to operate the service. Maintenance was based on 10% of the cost of the buses. The cost to maintain a bus is very expensive and we need to consider anything that may happen such as oil changes, tire rotations/ changes, and much more. Also, benefits as well as wages are needed to be taken into consideration when thinking of how much the tour will cost to run regularly. For the first year, our gross profit will be a negative $373,000. This is expected for the first year because we will be starting from scratch and need to buy a lot of the equipment. For the second year, we plan on making some of our deficit back. We will pay for advertising through billboards, television, and flyers to get the word out of which we are. Without changing the price for a ticket we plan on having more sales and more guests on our bus each day. Also, more businesses will be aware of our service so they may be more inclined to pay for advertisement. Equipment for the second year should not be as much as the first, because we already will have purchased buses. There are possible chances that we might encounter some problems along the way, so we want to be on the safe side and be prepared to buy another bus if necessary. As we grow our employees will need to have an increase in pay with experience. Also, we plan on growing our service so more employees may need to be hired as well as trained to accommodate. We projected that price will go up for insurance as well as benefits because cost drives up each year and we want to be aware of this change. For the second year we project to have a profit of $302,000. 35 Timeline Year November Get 2012 approval from the city on the plan proposal 2013 December -Conduct interviews -Buy buses -Establish insurance January February March April May -All local business researched for historical data/landmarks/locations. -Get approval and confirmation with sites and locations are able to be used. -Make sure all state/city approvals are in place to run the business. -Hire employees -Send a letter out to visitor bureau and hotel chains addressed to concierge and NM -Design feedback tour -Provide a run/test tour to concierge and stakeholders. -Receive feedback on the experience of the tour -Create and implement advertisement for the WMT -The launch of the tour officially begins -Tours welcome for everyone. 36 References Edelweiss Boat Tour: Ukora e-commerce. (2012). The edelweiss, historic milwaukee boat tour. Retrieved from https://www.edelweissboats.com/public/cruise/historic-milwaukee-boat-tour-8/ Hoovers: Hoover. (2012). The northwestern mutual life insurance company,inc. Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com/company/The_Northwestern_Mutual_Life_Insurance_Company_Inc/cfycci1.html Marketing MO. (2012). Distribution channels. Retrieved from http://www.marketingmo.com/strategic-planning/how-to-develop-your-distribution-channels/ Milwaukee Downtown: Milwaukee trolley loop. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.milwaukeedowntown.com/categories/7parkingtransportation/documents/25-milwaukee-trolley-loop Northwestern Mutual: Northwestern mutual, company overview. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.northwesternmutual.com/about-northwestern-mutual/our-company/companyoverview.aspx Northwestern Mutual. (2012). About northwestern mutual. Retrieve from http://www.northwesternmutual.com/about-northwestern-mutual/default.aspx. Northwestern Mutual Foundation: Northwestern mutual. foundation. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.northwesternmutual.com/aboutnorthwestern-mutual/our-company/northwestern-mutual-foundation.aspx 37 Addendum Likelihood of Taking The Tour Demographic Characteristic Percent Very Likely Percent Very or Somewhat Likely TOTAL SAMPLE 29.6% 80.5% Compare other percents to these 0-8 miles 11.1% 29.6% 9-18miles 8.3% 26.8% 19-28 miles 2.8% 10.2% Distance is not an important segmenting variable because everyone is part of the target market. 29-37 miles 2.8% 4.6% Out of State 4.6% 9.3% Under age 18 0% 2% 19-29 12% 25% 30-40 3.7% 13.9% 41-51 10.2% 25% 52-over 4.6% 15.7% Yes 12% 36.1% No 18.5% 45.3% Male 13% 35.2% Female 16.7% 45.3% White 14.8% 45.3% Hispanic 3.7% 7.4% African American 0% 2% Asian 10.2% 24.1% Other 0.93% 2% Implications Distance from Milwaukee Age The individuals between the age 30-51 are in our target market because they are mostly likely to have kids and are business individuals. Children People with kids in target market Gender Gender is not an important segmenting variable. Both Male and Female are in our target Ethnicity Ethnicity is not an important segmenting variable. All ethnicity are in our target market. 38 Count Row Percent Likelihood of Buying Not at all Amount Willing to Pay $10.00$15.00 $20.00$25.00 Very likely $40.00$45.00 Total Who Cares? Not very likely Somewhat likely $30.00$35.00 11 34 27 49.09 16 50 23 41.81 4 12.5 5 9.10 1 3.1 0 0 100.0 50.91 9.10 0 55 38 43.7 39 44.8 9 10.3 1 1.2 87 100.0 56.3 11.5 1.2 87 32 55 Cumulative Percent Somewhat and Very (combined) Cumulative Percent How to read the table: If you charge $40.00-$45.00, 0% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $30.00-$35.00, 9.10% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $20.00-$25.00, 50.91% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $10.00-$15.00, 100.0% of those “very likely” to buy will buy it. If you charge $40.00-$45.00, 1.2% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $30.00-$35.00, 11.5% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $20.00-$25.00, 56.3% of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. If you charge $10.00-$15.00, 100.0$ of those “somewhat” likely to buy will buy it. Suggested Retail Price $20.00 39