Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Marketing - Essay Example The cost for a normal unit is only $349 and the buyer sees an instant saving of both time and money. Most women recoup the cost of the IMA within a year. When introduced, the IMA was not advertised or placed in retail locations. The promotional tool used was a social-networking epidemic campaign that grew out of the â€Å"Maven-Connector-Salesman† theory first proposed at the turn of the century by Malcolm Gladwell in his book â€Å"The Tipping Point.† (Gladwell) Mavens in the area of beauty were first identified and then carefully introduced to important connectors to establish the network focus points. It was believed that personification of the product (Emma) was a key to selling to women and so â€Å"Emma† was given a personal webpage. In the beginning, â€Å"she† was present only to establish a presence, personify the product and offer a brand identity. A simple form for ordering was the only indication that the product was available. The personificat ion of the product was the third point of the strategy and a careful search had been made to find the perfect saleswoman who would personify the IMA and become Emma. Emma became the face of, and personified, the brand. Mavens were identified with carefully placed Maven-traps and the Connectors and salesmen were identified by genetic algorithm driven social networking spiders. A careful social engineering campaign was launched to develop relationships with Mavens and introducing them to Connectors. This was accomplished by one team and another team focused on developing relationships between Connectors and Salesmen. While the preparations for product launch were under way, production was working out the bugs in the manufacturing and support division. When the marketing team felt the network was ready to start the campaign, Mavens were provided with IMA’s to test in order to get their opinion. They were cautioned that the product was still in the early stages of production and were cautioned to only discuss it with close friends or if asked about it. Connectors who had been previously introduced to Mavens were quietly told about this new and revolutionary product, that it was in limited production and the company was keeping it quiet. The Connectors consulted their Mavens, received confirmation and validation and began telling their friends, some of whom were the Salesmen the team had identified. This caused an underground word-of-mouth campaign within social networks that generated an exponential demand with no advertising cost. The oversupply of childbearing age women as compared to men and the difficulty of women in finding a mate resulted in the desire of women to have a â€Å"secret weapon† that would give them an advantage over other women. The ability of a woman to put on, repair or rapidly change her makeup was noticeable and caused curiosity. Most women were in the workforce and their social lives revolved around their free time away from work. Women discovered a small change in their wardrobe and a change of makeup meant they could practically change personalities during a 45-minute lunch-break and be