The main role of marketing is to bring the product and the consumer together. This does not only entail advertising; it also involves creating product value, capturing that value in the price, and delivering our product to the customer. These four aspects are also referred to as the four “P”s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. . My role as our company’s sole marketer will be to develop and implement a market plan, to create strategies that will allow our business to succeed and grow in our new online presence, and also to plan possible scenarios and ways we can react to certain situations that commonly arise. For example, as part of promotion, I use SocialGreg to boost our social media presence and reach more people with our promotional content online. 

Here at Quality Mini Computers (QMC), we need to focus on our online strategies in hopes to switch over to a solely online business. This conversion is a smart move, since we can reach a wider range of customers this way. We will also reduce our costs by reducing the need to employ offline sales associates, and thus be able to focus more finances on our marketing strategies. There are many different factors we need to examine in order to succeed. As I mentioned before, the four Ps in marketing will be of great help. As for promotional considerations; our product must be aimed at the consumer group most likely to purchase from us. The price must be affordable, but high enough to bypass the stereotype of lacking quality. The main place we will be marketing our product has already been discussed-the internet. Our product must be tailored to meet the conveniences of all potential customers.

The target area that we need to focus on is the younger generations. They are the major consumers of technology today. “…although Gen Y is a small generation of 18- to 28-year-olds, comprising only 38 million US adults, it sets the pace for technology adoption. Nine in 10 Gen Yers own a PC, and 82 percent own a mobile phone.” This generation is on the move, has a short attention span, and are the experts of our multitasking society. Efforts must be made to ease their purchase and to focus advertising efforts on what is ‘in style’. In order to cater to our younger consumers, we must remember the trends of our current economy. Although Generation Y is cutting costs, Gen X will still spend on new ‘toys’. We need to make sure our product is affordable to all consumers. Yet, we need to keep prices in line with similar products from our competitors. A lot of people tend to bypass an inexpensive product, reasoning that it will lack in quality.

Our main challenge will be our competition with much smaller products that have internet access; such as the iPhone by our competitors at Apple. Consumers already have convenient access to internet services, so we must focus our attention on other software for our computer that can be compacted in a convenient, portable size. Our product must be able to offer a high-quality gaming experience, photo-editing software, an office suite program, and much more. This younger generation does not want to be tied down at home–they need to be able to easily transport all of these features wherever they go.

This is only a start to our marketing considerations. These are just some things to consider as I illustrate the role as a marketer. I hope you all will share any ideas you may have, and work with me in my efforts to make our products at QMC a success in the marketplace.