CARbonga Online Marketing Plan

Proposed: March 30, 2011Brooke McDaniel

SummaryThe following marketing plan forms the basis for the promotion of CARbonga, allowing us to outline the best strategies to follow for the achievement of SpeedEmission’s sales goals. CARbonga will be marketed as a unique, innovative, highly functional and relevant iPhone and iTouch application, seeking to expand the reach that has previously been established. Success will be reflected by a measurable increase in sales of the application as will be outlined below.

Situation Analysis CARbonga Overview:As per the existing information on the CARbonga website, the application tests the following aspects of car functionality: anti-lock brakes, stability control, airbags, tire pressure monitoring systems, seat and shoulder belts, emissions, engine, transmission, body and chassis. By purchasing the $4.99 app and the ~$100 cable, the user is able to register an account on the CARbonga website (carbonga.com) and proceed to check all mentioned aspects of their car. In under a minute, the app alerts the user to any problems including why warning lights are on.

Users shopping for pre-owned cars will get a clear overview of the condition of the car they are considering, the issues with it, the work that has been performed on it, and whether or not the maintenance is up to date in a more complete fashion than other available means. As we move toward a more digital age, CARbonga is a more reliable record-keeper than car owners when it comes to receipts and documentation of maintenance.

Car owners will also have access to records of Technical Service Bulletins and Recall Notices relevant to their vehicle that they otherwise may not be aware of. Users will be made aware of these bulletins and notices that could create safety concerns if not addressed and they will be able to provide documented support to their mechanic of exactly what on their car needs to be fixed in a time frame that will mean the car manufacturer will be responsible for the costs to repair and while the customer will not incur the charges, they will still reap the benefits of a safe and up to date car.

Overview of Perceived Customers:

Segmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for Customers

Main Dimensions Variables BreakdownBreakdown

Demographic

Age16-25 year olds (college/young adults)

40-60 year olds (parents with driving/college aged children)

Demographic

Income

Relying on parents for financial support or self sufficient enough to consider this an important expense.

Comfortable--enough to not consider $100 a burdening expense

Demographic

Occupation Emphasis on students

Also consider people in the auto industry such as mechanics who would benefit from using the app in a professional setting and workers who spend a significant portion of their workday driving

Demographic

Car Owners/Renters

Owners are more likely to be concerned with the upkeep of their carAlso target people in the market for used cars

Behavioral

Personality

Reliant on someone else, likely their parents, for maintenance of their car. Generally has extremely limited knowledge of autos.

Responsible, but likely not exhaustive enough to keep perfect records of their car or to check up on recalls and TSBs. Women who take issue with not having the control or knowledge of cars to recognize when they are (unfortunately) being financially taken advantage of by mechanics

Segmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for CustomersSegmentation Breakdown for Customers

BehavioralLifestyle

High schoolers driving to and from school, possibly a job or trips with friends.College students driving to school from home, possibly extremely long distances.

Parents that are concerned about the condition of their children's cars. Mechanics or drivers looking for a way to streamline their job functions

Behavioral

Benefits Sought

Awareness:-Connection between safety of car and health of driver-Organize maintenance information for reference-Knowledge of issues before they become severe and issues that may not have otherwise been foundFinancial:-Catching issues before they become severe -Ability to have recalls and TSBs fixed before the financial coverage for them expiresSafety:-Avoiding the unknown-Being confident that car is in the best condition possible while carrying “precious cargo”

Awareness:-Connection between safety of car and health of driver-Organize maintenance information for reference-Knowledge of issues before they become severe and issues that may not have otherwise been foundFinancial:-Catching issues before they become severe -Ability to have recalls and TSBs fixed before the financial coverage for them expiresSafety:-Avoiding the unknown-Being confident that car is in the best condition possible while carrying “precious cargo”

Marketing ProgramGuidelines:Create online brand awareness for... -users that are concerned about auto safety for themselves or their family -users seeking knowledge when buying or selling a car -companies that rely heavily on cars that could benefit from a more cohesive reporting toolGet attention by... -making people curious and getting them to think about what they DON’T know about the condition and upkeep of their cars -making a distinct connection between car maintenance and awareness with safety and value of automobile -gathering information about car maintenance and issues that the average driver is unaware of and aligning it with how CARbonga addresses the issue -decreasing the intimidation factor associated with automobile maintenanceHave information available via...

-CARbonga Website: Provide all basic information about the app, it’s functionality, how to purchase and use it. Should serve as the hub of all information that goes out--covering everything that is covered on the following outlets as well. Should maintain interactive views of app, external links (but expand to reflect the following), and CARbonga mentions in the news -Facebook: Daily status updates linking to information about car maintenance and aligning it with how CARbonga addresses the issue. Also an outlet for customers to comment on statuses, links, photos and other media (screenshots of CARbonga, videos, etc.) with questions or personal experience. Companies that CARbonga and SpeedEmissions has partnerships with will be able to link to our page providing instant mutual support -Twitter: Linked to Facebook status updates. Will serve a similar function with information and responding to followers -”Just the Facts Ma’am” Blog: Will be hosted on main CARbonga website and will be updated (daily or a main focus weekly) expanding on the short posts made on Facebook and Twitter. Blog posts will be anywhere from 2-4 paragraphs depending on the content and will make the information personal, interesting, and will spark motivation for the reader to purchase and use the appNetwork with... -Car Experts that can provide testimonial -Companies that could benefit from CARbonga or a partnership (to be determined by Rich/Gina) -High schools seeking to enhance driver’s education programs -(Parent Teacher Association) PTA programs that would present the app to parents of driving-aged children -Privately owned driver’s education programs -Car dealerships -Mechanics -Websites such as Buzzfeed.com, Lifehacker.com, Likecool.com (etc.) that feature products that would interest Technology-Savvy internet users in the hopes that they would feature the app as something that would benefit their users

Goals: -Reach a steady growth of _ sales at a checkpoint of every _ -Expand marketing to other ( _ ) forms of media -More?

Implementation ExpectationsIntern will... -Weekly: Prepare ahead of time the articles and posts that will be used for the upcoming week to be approved by staff (Rich/Gina). If it is decided that the blog will only be updated once a week featuring the most interesting or strong piece of information the intern finds, staff will select the feature from the submitted articles and intern will resubmit the blog post 24 hours before it is slated to be posted for approval -Daily: (M-F) update social media as described above. Making such updates will involve perusing the internet for current trending topics regarding automobiles, linking them to a function of CARbonga and wording them to fit the medium. Each Facebook and Twitter post is anticipated to take about an hour including researching articles and each blog post is anticipated to take an additional hour -Bi-Weekly: Expect feedback from CARbonga staff outlining how expectations are being met or not being met. New ideas for marketing should also be discussed at this time, preferably on the phone to allow the best opportunity to communicate -Constantly: respond to communication from staff in a timely manner (< 3 hours during business day, <18 hours otherwise) with the understanding that the intern will be in work and classes and alert the staff to any times this may be difficultStaff will... -Weekly: Approve of information that intern plans to update social media mediums with and select focus posts to be featured on the blog -Bi-Weekly: “Meet” with intern via email, phone call or occasionally in person to give feedback and brainstorm ways to improve marketing and performance -Constantly: be able to expect performance from intern that is “up to par” with expectations as clearly outlined by both parties