Analysing Marketing Opportunities Mar11

Analysing Marketing Opportunities

The Ergopen is a new, specialist pen to be released by ‘Got An Inkling Australia’.   ‘Got An Inkling’ has been primarily producing high quality refillable and specialist pens for niche corporate and education markets.   The Ergopen combines their high quality pen production with a physiologically designed sleeve that uses bio-ceramic technology to harness nature’s far infrared thermal energy (www.farinfraredmedical.org).   This may serve to relieve pain associated with long periods of writing and arthritis, rheumatism, and carpal tunnel syndrome.   The target market for this pen includes professionals, workplace health and safety, remedial/rehabilitative occupational therapy, academics, and school students.

The following information serves as foundation research into the potential impacts of manufacturing the Ergopen.   This company will be looking into macro environmental trends that help identify possible opportunities and threats that are outside the control of the company.   In nature, these macro environments are economic, demographic, technological, cultural, natural and political.

Economic

“The economic environment consists of all factors such as salary levels, credit trends, and pricing patterns that affect consumer spending habits and purchasing power” (www.allbusiness.com, 4954903-1).
With 64% of students studying full time (Australian Bureau of Statistics, media release 6227.0); it is likely that a large proportion of this target market will fall into the low income earning bracket.   The Ergopen, whilst kept in an affordable price range, will be considerably more expensive than standard pens.   It is, however, a one time purchase with the refillable cartridges being the consumable product.

Other economic areas to consider are the rising costs of material for manufacture, high operating costs, and the costs of releasing any new product into a market.   The company, being Australian owned and operated, also...