Bareti Tong 95572462

At GM, STUXX is a brand that will drive you home, to school, and to anywhere you

want but will put a smile on your face when you disembark”

(Development Team Delta Inc. 2008)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION / BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF STUXX ............................................................................................1

ACTION PLAN .............................................................................................................................................................2

THE TARGET MARKET .............................................................................................................................................3

THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT .........................................................................................................................4

The Demographic Environment .....................................................................................................................................4

The Natural Environment ...............................................................................................................................................5

The Economical Environment ........................................................................................................................................5

The Technological Environment ....................................................................................................................................6

The Social and Cultural Environment ............................................................................................................................7

Market Research ............................................................................................................................................................7

3 LEVELS FOR STUXX ...............................................................................................................................................8

Core Product ..................................................................................................................................................................8

Actual Product ................................................................................................................................................................8

Augmented product ........................................................................................................................................................9

Product classifications ....................................................................................................................................................9

5 STAGES IN DEVELOPING PRODUCT AND SERVICE ATTRIBUTES ............................................................10

Product Attributes ........................................................................................................................................................10

Branding .......................................................................................................................................................................11

Packaging .....................................................................................................................................................................11

Labeling .......................................................................................................................................................................11

Product Support Services .............................................................................................................................................12

PRODUCT LINE DECISIONS (The Product Mix) ...................................................................................................12

4 major brand strategy decisions ..................................................................................................................................12

Positioning of Our Product ..........................................................................................................................................13

STUXX STRATEGIC PLANNING ............................................................................................................................14

The Business Portfolio .................................................................................................................................................15

MARKET STRATEGIES ADDRESSED ...................................................................................................................16

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The Value Chain ..........................................................................................................................................................17

The Service and Customer relationship .......................................................................................................................17

The Service Blue Print .................................................................................................................................................18

4P’s summarized ..........................................................................................................................................................19

CONCLUSIONS ..........................................................................................................................................................21

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................................22

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Introduction / Brief description of Stuxx

For the last 77 years GM has been number 1 in global industry sales, but in the first

quarter of 2008, Toyota recorded higher sales. Giving further details, in 2008 GM re-

ported a loss of $39 billion, which is the biggest loss of any U.S automaker.

For this reason, Development Team Delta has been assigned to assist GM by develop-

ing a new type of car. The car, Stuxx, designed for students in the age of 16 to 25 pro-

vides speed, safety, extensive design opportunities, fully customizability for middle

class and up, as well as for people going for a new trend.

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ACTION PLAN

Part A

Introduction / Brief description of Stuxx, Market Research, 3 levels for Stuxx, Core

Product, Actual Product, Augmented product, Product classifications, 5 Stages in de-

veloping Product and Service Attributes, Product Attributes, Branding, Packaging,

Labeling, Product Support Services, Product line decisions: Product Mix, 4 major

brand strategy decisions.

Part B

Target Market Analysis, Segmentation of the new product, Market Research, Brand

Strategy Decions, The Marketing Mix Variables(4 P’s Strategy),Product Position,

Summary.

Part C

The analysis of the macro marketing of Stuxx- such as the demographic, natural, eco-

nomical, technological and the social- cultural environment.

Part D

Stuxx Strategic Planning, MarketingStrategies adrressed, Mission and Goals,

Business Portfolio, The Value Chain, The Service Blue print, The Service and

Customer relationship, The 4Ps (Summarized).

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Target Markets

We have selected the product because nowadays, teenagers often consider automo-

biles which are more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly and safety. Furthermore,

we are targeting the United States market only. And maybe in the long run we would

be able to expand and market our product to other countries. And as one research con-

ducted by an American company called, Campus Party, which was hired by GM, con-

cluded that there was a potential spending power of $2 billion a year by college stu-

dents within the ages of 16~25.

The target markets for our product is concentrated on individuals who are technology

and media savvy, making college students the ideal target market within the range of

16 and 25 years of age. According to one research done by Mr. Youth, a research com-

pany based in the US, it said college students show extreme potential to become loyal

customers to companies. Also, on the psychographic view, lifestyles nowadays are

different within different demographics. So, we concentrated our product on targeting

the US market. Also, in consideration is the social class, for example, about 32% of

all working class citizens in the US are white collar working class.

Furthermore, the other reason why we have selected only the US as the only market is

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because it is an American brand. GM is renowned for its value and style of manufac-

turing in the minds of the American citizens. Also, as one of the statements from the

research states, “college students are more geographically stable and have an average

monthly disposable income of US$600 a year”. Thus, we have everything to believe

that our proposed product would be profitable, affordable and distinctive.

THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

The marketing environment will focus on the global environment such as demo-

graphic, natural, economical, technological, and the social-cultural environment. The

product is basically considered to be involved in these environmental factors. How-

ever, there might be other choices to consider but this kind of product is preferable to

the five marketing environment.

The Demographic Environment

The demographic position will be on the United States. Since, the target market is for

the middle class; it will provide a boost for the 32% of the total population. This

product will produce a superior value to customers who always value the brand. Also,

it will keep the popularity of the product at their trend. In this case, more and more

customers will be able to keep this product if it satisfies their condition. Additionally,

the middle class group will be loyal to this product brand and as generation goes by;

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this product will be there forever. On the other hand, this product is also designed for

students, and working class people. This is due to the fancy and environmental design.

Students will be so grateful to have fancy car while the working class group will tend

to afford such an affordable environmental car design.

The Natural Environment

This product is basically designed to reduce the carbon emission from fuels and help

to preserve our environment. It is very important to design such car to help decrease

the rate of carbon dioxide from the air and provide a better condition to tackle global

warming. This car will provide a boost to the natural environment because it is safer

and has an image to be friendlier to the environment itself. In this case, more and

more people will tend to buy such car to protect the environment by reducing the car-

bon emission to the air.

The Economical Environment

The world is facing a shortage of fuel and it has become an economical crisis to every

country. This is evidence as the price of fuel is increasing and the probability of the

price of a barrel to increase at any day is very high. Therefore, this product will help

customers to save money because it consumes less fuel. The fuel consumption is one

of the best criteria based on this product. On the other hand, customers will be able to

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satisfy with this kind of product because it is not too expensive and everybody has the

privilege to afford one.

This product will satisfy the superior value of all different customers since it has a

very good design to solve to fuel shortage, less expensive, and can be affordable to

anyone.

The Technological Environment

The fastest growing of information technology helps this product to be at its best. Its

design is basically provided with the help of information technology. Looking at its

design, this product benefits a lot from the technological sectors. This proves that this

product is favorable to the environment. Also, this product can be modified or even

upgraded to the standard where it will be suitable at any environmental condition. The

information technology is very effective in letting this product to be very efficient. In

this case, it helps customers to satisfy this kind of product in this technological envi-

ronment.

The Social and Cultural Environment

It is believed that protecting the environment is a great concern. Therefore, this prod-

uct is purposely designed to be environmentally friendly. As a result, most people in

the United States and elsewhere are willing to offer such kind of product to save the

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environment. If more and more people are keen to buy such kind of product then the

environment would be safe at any cost. Consequently, people will be more supportive

to save what is best for the communities and the environment.

Market Research

We have conducted a survey, involving 40 people, asking them to answer a few ques-

tions. Questions like “Do you want to buy a Stuxx?”, and “How much are you willing

to pay for a Stuxx?”

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3 levels for Stuxx

Core Product

Core Product is the problem solving services or benefits that consumers purchase the

product for, and by applying this concept to our Stuxx we can state that the core prod-

uct is speed, transportation, and freedom to go anywhere, easy traveling, and conve-

nience.

Actual Product

Actual product meaning the product’s parts, quality, features, design, brand name and

other attributes received. Now, if we use these things and combine it with our Stuxx

we can state that the actual product is: Stuxx, as the brand name, it matters little about

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the name, because GM is very famous already, people will recognize the brand in an

instance, and features such as the fact that the car is fully customizable, so you can

add most things to your car, i.e. Stereo, big speakers, rims for the tires, TV in seat etc.,

also design, where you can choose between a lot of colors, seat color, and fabrics, all

the things you can imagine. And of course the quality, the car will be regular GM

standard, meaning quality will be the same as for any other car made by GM, which is

high quality.

Augmented product

Augmented product is the additional consumer services and benefits built around the

core and actual product, as well as add value and differentiate the product from its

competition. The augmented product for Stuxx is after-sale services such as free

yearly check up, as well as a free oil check after 2 years, free installation of additional

features when you customize your car, and help with car insurance, and quick repair

services.

Product classifications

From the 4 product classifications, convenience, shopping, specialty and unsought,

the Stuxx is classified as a specialty good, since specialty goods are purchased infre-

quently, and most of the times, buyers make special purchasing effort. By listing some

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of the characteristics for specialty products we can say that substitutes are not ac-

cepted, and that the product is infrequently purchased, and since our Stuxx is a GM

we know that there are some brand loyalty as well. And if we look at the strategy, we

can note limited distribution, and consumers “might” seek our product regardless of

location, this is only an assumption since we can’t foresee the future.

5 STAGES IN DEVELOPING PRODUCT AND SERVICE ATTRIBUTES

Product Attributes

Product attributes consist of several categories, such as Product quality, Product fea-

tures, Product style and design. For Stuxx product quality is the performance quality,

because it can be used a lot and still last for a long time (Durability). And as for Prod-

uct style we know that Stuxx offers many colors and many styles used to attract atten-

tion from trendy consumers, and general consumers, the style however does not con-

tribute to better performance. For Product design, the car has a very special chassis

that allows many changes, making this a fully customizable car, where you are free to

alter appearance, features, construction, such as adding items on the back of the car,

lowering the car making it look more stylish like a race car.

Branding

There are several advantages for buyers when talking about branding, first of all prod-

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uct recognition, everyone knows GM, so if they know GM, then they know Stuxx as

well. Quality on Stuxx is same standard as the rest of GM‘s cars. There are. But not

only buyers have advantages, no, sellers as well. Here are a few examples, basis for

product’s quality, provides legal protection, helps to segment the markets.

Packaging

Since our product is a car, packaging might not be of much importance. Cars usually

don’t come in a box. However, since our car is made for students and older, we have

decided to make a big box, free of all charges, if the car is a gift for someone’s birth-

day. Stuxx is a good choice as a”first” car; parents can easily buy it as a gift for their

young teenagers/students.

Labeling

No labeling, however for curious users, there will be a small brochure about the “in-

gredients”/car parts, so they can see how exactly the car works, and what and where

the different parts are from.

Product Support Services

As for product support services, there are 3 things to know: Assess the value of cur-

rent services and obtain ideas for new services. Assess the cost of providing the extra

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services and putting together a package of services that delights the customers and

yields profits for the company. All these, are already applied to Stuxx if we look at

Augmented Product, which I wrote about earlier. Customers would be delighted about

those extra services, and might tell friends about them and in the end make more

profit for the company.

PRODUCT LINE DECISIONS (The Product Mix)

When it comes to product line decisions, and product mix to be exact; we will find

that there are 3 types, namely width, length and depth. As for Stuxx, it is definitely

width, because Stuxx is a different product line for GM.

4 major brand strategy decisions

Brand positioning, brand name selection, brand sponsorship and brand development

are all factors to achieve brand equity. For example, for brand name selection; we

have chosen to use Stuxx as the brand name, because it is easy to pronounce, recog-

nize and remember, and it can easily be used in most countries of the world and it is

also easy to register and legally protect. As for brand sponsorship, well, it’s a manu-

facturer’s brand, because it’s a car. For brand development, it is NEW – NEW, mean-

ing Product category new and Brand name new, concluding it to be “New Brand”.

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Positioning of Our Product

Before we position our product, we need to make one overriding decision, and that is,

Should we position our product, our company, or both when trying to position our

new product. For many years, GM always takes the product approach. And that is, it

positions its products. And it is defined by consumers on its important attributes rela-

tive to competing products. In fact, many buyers of Cadillac’s, Chevy and Buick,

which are brands that come under GM, don’t know they are buying a GM car. And

GM has done a good job branding individual products that rarely do you find a Cadil-

lac buyer who would also purchase a Chevy and vice versa.

So, from this style and techniques taken by GM to position its products in the minds

of consumers, we would use this when trying to position our brand on our target mar-

kets. We have also considered one of the three steps on Competitive Advantage Strat-

egy. And that is, choosing the right competitive advantage. We believe that or pro-

posed product would be Distinctive, Affordable and Profitable.

Furthermore, when considering our position of our brand, we have allowed our target

markets to be our guide. GM has different targets for different products so it makes

sense to position our new product.

STUXX STRATEGIC PLANNING

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The mission statement of Stuxx is “At GM, Stuxx is a brand that will drive you

home, to school, and to anywhere you want but will put a smile on your face

when you disembark”.

The mission statement, which has addressed the market, the environment, and most

specifically, the consumers or customers, has given great potential to the employees

and managers at GM to design a vehicle that not only satisfy its target market but also

work to be environmental-friendly- provided that Stuxx burns less fuel compared to

other common vehicle brands.

Stuxx, to be able to thrive in the marketing arena, is to accomplish its missions and

goals. The business is a vehicle that will put a smile on one’s face when disembarked,

but how have Stuxx accomplish this?

Firstly, the smoothness of the drive has been approved and agreed. You can almost

hear nothing because it is not too noisy – the design of the engine is great and does

not burn much fuel (fuel-efficient). In addition, the quality of the interior design of the

car is satisfying provided the stereo, air conditioning, comfortable seating...etc is just

perfect for Stuxx.

The Business Portfolio

The business portfolio or basically what makes up Stuxx. Stuxx has been analyzed

and decided upon which parts of the company GM as a whole to concentrate in the

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manufacturing Stuxx. Strategic Business Units (SBUs) included in the manufacturing

process and marketing are the following:

Stuxx-Development Unit: this part of division focuses on the developing of

Stuxx car design

Stuxx-Marketing Team: these are employees focusing on strategies to pro-

mote Stuxx

Stuxx-Environmental Team: for developing Stuxx environmental-friendly

features.

These SBUs made up Stuxx a whole working team, however have different tasks and

missions but they have a similar purpose as of directing the company to be more ef-

fective, efficient, and most importantly profitable.

MARKET STRATEGIES ADDRESSED

The company has tried to address a very vital part of its marketing strategy and this is

its market Penetration. Stuxx is a newly developed idea and for it to make profit, it

will need to produce more and to make it easier for the customers to access it. Stuxx

generally has come to the point where it needs to expand production. However, pro-

vided that this needs more promotion of the product, the promotion team is working

very hard to make improvements’…such strategy includes advertising, reasonable

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pricing, and also an excellent provision of service to the buyers/customers. Expansion

or establishing new stores has been hard though, given the limited production-line,

and which needs to be improved in the future, Stuxx is therefore only situated in the

US for the time being. It is aimed to expand production in other countries in the com-

ing 5 -7 years. Stuxx has not been able to diversify this early which is also good for

the company as diversification would be too risky.

Differentiating the product is also a feature of Stuxx; the Stuxx-Development Team

has come up with different proposals and which are to be considered in the future,

however apart from being fuel-efficient and environmental-friendly, Stuxx has a Logo

which had differentiated itself from GM the manufacturer. This is significant for

Stuxx, so to have more recognition and therefore customers.

The Value Chain

The Value-Chain Network within Stuxx is a significant medium for measuring the

products quality and performance, from Inbound Logistics-to- Operations-to-Out-

bound Logistics-to- Marketing/Sales-to-Service. As a manufacturing firm, GM that

produces Stuxx manufactures the vehicle and then distributes it to its store all over

USA. The whole team network has a common purpose in operation and that is to pro-

duce and to sell it to make the customer smiling when disembarking. This common

belief has brought a successful feedback to the overall sales and because providing the

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service for selling is considered an important task by the employees at Stuxx, it has

never failed. Stores are designed so that accommodating a customer is luxurious but

keeping his/her perception to as “not expensive”-sense.

The Service and Customer relationship

To illustrate an example let’s have a look at a typical Stuxx Store located near a Uni-

versity, targeting students and teachers of that big university.

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It is evident that Stuxx does have a living-room area that has a sofa and a counter

nearby. What this portray, is how stuxx attempts to make her customers feel at home

and as comfortable as possible so make that decision of buying the car or not. Cus-

tomers are driven this way as a matter of being respected of their wise decisions and

also they will feel the comfort of the interior design of the room or store and relate it

to the interior of the vehicle they’re about to buy. The store design was designed in

this manner so to serve this purpose.

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4P’s summarized

Stuxx is a new company and thinks big to achieve better feedback from marketing

strategy and which leads it to perfecting its employees to customer’s relationship.

Customers are most important and thus Stuxx has been able to develop strategies so to

have respect from the market, it can be categorized according to the 4ps existing in

every firm and to get the picture of Stuxx, firstly the product, it is not being a variety

type of product as it is only a single product that employees are working hard to im-

prove the designs and features of the vehicle. Packaging is not necessarily required

but as mentioned boxing of Stuxx can also be done.

The pricing has not been very harsh and as can be seen in the research graph showing

who would like to spend how much on Stuxx, it depicts that on average, average peo-

ple can still afford to buy Stuxx provided their income and lifestyles. Discounts are

also available and this happens in Stuxx once in a while for special customers, these

customers are regarded VIP’s and they are renewing their membership every year so

to benefit from the company’s other special services and clubs such as Stuxx cus-

tomers golf club where the company pays for the golf course.

Promotion is also a strategy that Stuxx has concentrated on improving, it is not easy

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advertising Stuxx because of the many vehicle brands, however Stuxx has won some

advantages and this was mainly because of its energy efficiency fuel feature. All of

the above are driving forces to market Stuxx and for it to thrive amongst other vehi-

cle-brands strategy.

The Silver-Grey StuxxV.2 2010

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, we have reason to believe that our new product, Stuxx, would be a top of

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the century car to suit young college students. From all the research we have done on

the marketing of our product and brand strategies of the product we have undertaken,

we trust that Stuxx have been projected to be affordable, distinct and profitable for the

company. Furthermore, Stuxx was considered on the fact that GM was not prospering

in terms of sale and profits. Research has shown that nowadays, people show more

concern for cars which are fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. And that is

where our team came in to give another view of car manufacturing in this 21st century.

On the other hand, studies have also shown that students are more willing to be loyal

customers and also, they are more emotionally connected with their parents. Thus, we

have come up with Stuxx.

So, it is our great pleasure to introduce to you all the greatness and uniqueness of this

new automobile which we believe would be one the new key products which would

take GM Corporation through the 21st century.

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REFERENCES

http://books.google.com.au/books?

id=h8NO_S9WZ3oC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=GM,

+target+marketing&source=web&ots=yt9A8f_sd5&sig=EtLWtFyj_f31iHRJuyiJWO

WXDqQ&hl=en#PPA147,M1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors

http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2006/11/14/

News/Gm.Sets.Sights.On.Students-2456938.shtml

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