Product and its primary characteristics
Joy Daycare center offers full and part time day care services to toddlers between the ages of three to five years. Thus, the product is day care service, which is sold to working parents within middle-upper market economic bracket. Fundamentally, marketing scholars have identified four key characteristics associated with service products, commonly referred to as the four ‘I’s (Kotler & Keller, 2009).
- Intangibility –Parents can only estimate the nature of services after they enroll their children to the programs. However, Palmer (2000) highlight that service products possesses some tangible element. For instance, by visiting the premises parents can evaluate the center’s ability to care for their children depending on the status of the equipments and other physical features.
- Inseparability –Our service depends on whether parents bring their children to interact with the service product. Kotler and Keller (2009) accentuate that this characteristic poses several challenges for marketers because customers measure the value of a service depending on the mode of delivery. Joy Daycare business strives towards excellent customer service delivery.
- Inventory/Perishability- this characteristic presume that if a certain percentage of the service offered for sale is not consumed at that particular time, it cannot be offered for sale in future (Palmer, 2000). In relation to Joy Daycare, this implies that we have to ensure that the facilities are fully operational at all times. This can be done by aggressive marketing in combination with strategic product branding.
- Variability/Inconsistency- Palmer (2000) accentuate that it is difficult to achieve consistency in service delivery because of the variability nature of employees. However, at Joy Daycare we strive to achieve consistency by offering standardized training to the care givers.
Product branding strategy
Palmer (2000) underscores that branding appeals to consumers emotive element, hence effective branding increase the chances of purchase. The above implies that, parents are likely to choose daycare centers that share their values regarding the needs of their children. Against this background, Joy Daycare branding strategy will emphasize on its differentiation strategy. At Joy Daycare, we understand that most parents are concerned about the emotional, physical and intellectual development of their children. As a result, branding strategy will dwell on communicating about Joy Daycare ability to meet these needs. Moreover, specialized training of caregivers will also be communicated to the target market in order to promote brand reputation among parents.
Joy Daycare services Product line and the depth and breadth of the line
Since the business deals with a single product, the product line is also singular since we do not have multiple products that need to be grouped together. Consequently, since we are not dealing with multiple products the aspect of product line depth is not applicable to this daycare business. In addition, this product has no limitations in terms of product depth since there are no other competing products within the particular product line.
How product and target market strategies fit with the organizational strategy
Fundamentally, Joy Daycare product strategy strives to ensure that Joy Daycare becomes a preferred brand name within the identified target market. Concurrently, target market strategy aims at providing reliable daycare services to parents within the middle-upper economic bracket. This market segment shows some potential for growth and sustainability. This is because these parents have stable income and are willing to spend extra to ensure that their children access better services. Noticeably, both product and target market strategy fits with organization projection of 10% annual growth. By promoting the brand, Joy Daycare market share is expected to respond positively. Similarly, the stability of this target market will ensure that the organization achieve the targeted growth rate.
References
- Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2009). Marketing management (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
- Palmer, A. (2000). The principles of services marketing (3rd ed.).London: McGraw–Hill.