SWOT Anaylsis for Marketing Plan

SWOT is the Strengths, weaknessses, opportunities, and threats of our company. The strengths of our company would be offering an innovative, environmentally friendly car and hybrid car, while providing up-to-date safety features, and developing a reliable car with a longer battery life. The weaknesses would include a lack of brand awareness becuase we are a new car company, and thus, our competitors would have an advantage over us. Some opportunities include targeting the performance and hybrid market because this market has been widely ignored by our competitors (ford, ect). A threat would be with increased competition in the future, there may be a downward pressure on pricing.

Marketing Plan for Car Company

In my marketing 301 class, my group is working on a marketing research plan for our imaginary car company. We want to market economically friendly cars, which are both fast and comfortable. We want to make a hybrid and a performance car. For the hybrid car, we want to target the environmently concerned, middle-aged consumer group who want a car that will get them to and from work. For the performance car, we want to target younger consumers, who care about the environment, but want a fast car. This consumer group would be the generation Yers. Also, we want to target our cars to warmer climates because a performance car and a hybrid would not be a good choice for the winter time.

India as a large consumer economy

India is supposed to be the 5th largest economy in the world by 2025. I find this interesting because I do not hear much about India's economic activities. One reason why India's economy is growing is because of the growth of the Middle Class. Currently, the middle class makes up 5 percent, but it will reach 41 percent by 2020. Supposedly, another reason for the rapid growth of the economy is that most of the upper class are the richest in the world. Also, globalization is contributing to the economy as more Information Technology jobs are avaiable.

Goodwill Industries

Goodwill has over 2,100 retail stores, including the Internet. Its retail sales in 2006 was $1.8 billion. What I find interesting is that 83 percent of Goodwill's profits/revenues are used for education and community programs. Also, Goodwill trains employees for other types of jobs. Employers can contact Goodwill if they need employees with certain skills. The job placements services for people averaged 362, 584. For example, Goodwill trains employees for banking, manufacturing, and hospitality. If Goodwill were to locate in India, it would provide a good source of employment opportunities (Goodwill.org).

Establishing a Goodwill in India

The goal of our collaborative project is to determine the feasibiltiy of establishing a Goodwill in India. One reason for setting up a Goodwill is to help serve those who cannot aford clothing. With the shift in the trend of modern clothing, mainly the upper class can afford these clothes. Therefore, establishing a Goodwill might allow people to buy these types of clothing at a lower price, but still look trendy. Also, competition will not be as intense because there are currently no other Goodwill-types of businesses. Moreover, establishing a Goodwill will bring in more job opportunities.

Shifting the Trend in India

Tradition is very important to the people in India. Their customs have not changed for centuries, until now. Recently, the trend in clothing has been shifting. People are starting to wear European and Western clothes, instead of the traditional saris. The upper class are mostly wearing these clothes because they are so expensive. Some of the popular designers in India include Gucci, Hilfiger, and Armani. One reason for the shift of trend is globalization. Information technology is allowing people to be exposed to other parts of the world. Moreover, the government has been changing their policies to allow direct foreign investment.

Group Collaboration

For our group research report, we are going to target Mumbai, India. This would be a good city because it is starting to become developed. Since the middle class is becoming larger, consumption is on the rise. India is supposed to have the 5th largest economy in the world by 2025. Moreover, competition is not very intense yet, but it will continue to grow. Recently, Wal-mart was introduced in India, but overall, establishing a retail business will not be as difficult. Also, the government in India is starting to change their policies in order to allow direct foreign investment. This will make it easier to establish a business. The only problem would be dealing with the taxes.