a marketing plan, for a mobile application

TREAD - TO READ

A MARKETING PLAN

AN OPEN PUBLIC PLATFORM, WHICH ALLOWS PEOPLE TO BORROW AND SHARE BOOKS. HELPING THEM TO MEET PEOPLE WITH SAME DISPOSITION.

VISION

SOMETIMES BOOKS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE, AND MANY TIMES READER CANNOT DECIDE WHETHER THE BOOK IS WORTH SPENDING FOR. HELPING AVID READERS, WHO FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BUY EACH AND EVERY BOOK, TO FULFIL THEIR UNSTATED NEED. FURTHER, CONNECTING THEM WITH THE PEOPLE OF SAME MINDSET.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

AN AVERAGE INDIAN SPEND AROUND 10 HOURS PER WEEK READING BOOKS, WHICH MAKE INDIANS THE BIGGEST BOOKWORMS IN THE WORLD.

INDIA IS THE WORLD'S THIRD-LARGEST MARKET FOR ENGLISH BOOKS, AND ITS ENTIRE BOOK MARKET—IN ENGLISH, AS WELL AS REGIONAL LANGUAGES—IS ESTIMATED TO GENERATE RS. 10,000 CRORE ANNUALLY.

THE ONLINE BOOK MARKET IN INDIA IS EXPECTED TO GROW AT 30–35% ANNUALLY FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

MARKET COMPETITION

BIGGEST COMPETITION IS FROM THE APP, BORROW MY BOOK, WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO MAINTAIN A BOOKSHELF, AND MAKE REQUEST, AND SHARE BOOKS WITH YOUR CONTACTS.WEBSITES AND LIBRARIES THAT RENT BOOKS ALSO PROVIDE A MAJOR COMPETITION.

TARGET CUSTOMERS

60% INDIANS PREFER READING OVER SOCIALISING OR PLAYING GAMES. AND 62% OF THOSE READERS PREFER PRINTED MATERIAL OVER EBOOKS(92% COLLEGE STUDENTS PREFER PRINTED MATERIAL).

AVID READERS(INCLUDING COLLEGE STUDENTS), AND INTELLECTUAL PERSONALITIES, IN THE AGE GROUP OF 18-30.

PRICING

PEOPLE WILL NEED TO PAY ONLY TO SEE WHO OWN THE BOOK THEY REQUESTED, EVERYTHING ELSE WILL BE A FREE FEATURE.

PEOPLE ASSOCIATE DIFFERENT VALUES WITH DIFFERENT BOOKS. SO LETTING PEOPLE CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT TO PAY, DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH THEY VALUE THE BOOK, IS A SENSIBLE PRICING MODEL. A MINIMUM BASE PRICE 30Rs WILL BE CHARGED ON EVERY TRADE.

STRENGTH-

- INCENTIVE FOR SHARING BOOKS.- FUNCTIONAL AND POWERFUL

ALGORITHMS FOR FINDING MATCHES. - UNIQUE POSITIONING AND VALUES.- PAY WHAT YOU WANT TO PAY MODEL.- KEEPING A TRACK OF PREVIOUS TRADES

FOR TRUST ISSUES.

WEAKNESS-

- PEOPLE’S RELUCTANCE TO SHARE.- ZERO-BUDGET.- MANAGEMENT OF BIG DATA SERVERS AND

BIG DATABASES. - EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST

METER.

OPPORTUNITY-

- GROWTH IN THE ONLINE BOOK MARKET CAN OPEN MANY NEW HORIZONS.

- CAN FURTHER TAKE IN ACCOUNT FACTORS LIKE HOBBIES, MUSIC TO FIND A MATCH.

- WITH GROWING USER, WE CAN PROMOTES VALUES LIKE “NO LIMITED STOCK” AND

“BOOKS FOR EVERYONE”.

THREAT-

- RISING NUMBER OF BOOK RENTING WEBSITES AND LIBRARIES.

- PAY WHAT YOU WANT TO PAY MODEL CAN LEAD TO HEAVY LOSSES.

- RISING TREND OF EBOOKS.- PEOPLE CAN UPLOAD THE NAME OF

BOOKS THEY DON’T HAVE.

OBJECTIVES

IN FIRST SIX MONTHS..

- 10,000 ACTIVE USERS.- REACH 100,000 PEOPLE.- ABOUT 5000 SUCCESSFUL

TRADES.

STRATEGY

BRAND POSITIONING

POSITION AS AN OPEN PUBLIC LIBRARY(OF PUBLIC, FOR PUBLIC, BY PUBLIC) AND AS A SOCIAL NETWORKING APP FOR INTELLECTUALS.

POINTS OF PARITY-

- ALLOWING PEOPLE TO FIND AND BORROW BOOKS.

- BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS AND BOOK REVIEWS.

- MANAGING A BOOKSHELF.

- CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE.

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE-

- ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT TO PAY.

- INCENTIVES ON SHARING BOOKS.

- ALLOWING THEM TO FIND PEOPLE BASED ON MANY FACTORS.

- NO WORRIES ABOUT LATE RETURN.

VALUE PROPOSITION

- BORROWING BOOKS WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT PRICES OR LATE FINES.

- INCENTIVES FOR SHARING BOOKS.- CONNECTING SAME MINDED PEOPLE.- RECOMMENDING BOOKS, USING

POWERFUL ALGORITHMS.- TRUST METER SO THAT YOU CAN SHARE

BOOKS SAFELY.

TACTICS

PROMOTION

- SENDING PERSONAL EMAILS TO AN EXTENSIVE AND REFINED LIST OF READERS.

- BEING ACTIVE ON COLLEGE OR READERS GROUP ON FACEBOOK.

- PROMOTING IT ON VARIOUS BLOGS AND FORUMS.

- SETTING UP A CATCHY AND FUNCTIONAL WEBSITE.

- USING WORD-OF-MOUTH COMMUNICATION.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

- MAJOR APP STORES LIKE GOOGLE PLAY AND ITUNE.

- ALTERNATIVE APP STORES LIKE AMAZON APP STORE, GETJAR AND OTHER…

- THROUGH THE WEBSITE.- REFERRING THE APP TO COLLEAGUES

FOR ENTICING INCENTIVES.

MONITORING

- KEEPING TRACK OF DOWNLOADS AND SUCCESSFUL TRADES.

- KEEPING TRACK OF NUMBER OF REFERRALS.

- MONITORING WHICH ARE THE MOST ACTIVE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND IMPROVING PRESENCE THERE.

- TOTAL NUMBER OF BOOKS UPLOADED.

DISCLAIMER:

THIS PRESENTATION WAS MADE BY MEHUL JAIN, ISM DHANBAD, DURING A MARKETING INTERNSHIP UNDER PROF. SAMEER MATHUR, IIM LUCKNOW.