Brand Extensions The Good - The Bad And The Ugly Free Solution

Question: Discuss about the Brand Extensions for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Answer: Introduction Dutch team has designed a wallet that cannot be lost, as losing wallet is always one of the massive headaches both for the financial loss and hassle involved in cancelling the cards. Therefore, in order to prevent this hassle and such type of incidents, a Dutch innovation team has created a smart wallet range with the facility of the wireless technology and it is 100 percent secure. In this particular research work, focus would be shed on conducting simulated test marketing for the Ekster wallet and a suggestion would be made on double marginalization. It has been seen that EKSTER is special in nature as this wallet features a tracker that operates on Bluetooth 4.0 low energy. From the product, it can be seen that the EKSTER range takes into account two options and these are the wallets and the card holders and for which the tracker is optional. One of the concerns of this product was to avoid bulkiness, so both of them are slimmer than the conventional wallets (Eksterwallets.com 201 6). Conducting simulated test marketing Aaker (2012) has stated that simulated test marketing is one of the most important test marketing, as the suppliers claim to have an average accuracy within +/-10% of the original forecast up to 90% of the actual time. Moreover, it is important to mention that simulated test marketing gets the new products and the services off on the right foot and thus for the Ekster wallet, this type of test marketing is highly required. Some of the steps are required to follow and these have been mentioned here (De Mooij 2013). Test market: It is no doubt to say that the product is one of the innovative products and require medium capital investment and there exist a high risk in the product itself as well as the marketing of the product (Indiegogo 2016). Commercial Evaluation: It has been seen that may online shopping websites have supported this innovative product and thus the company has used the social media marketing in order to reach a wider section of target population in small time (Kapferer 2012). Introductory Tracking: Preference and the attitude of the users were tracked through awareness after promotion and it has been found that all have keen interest in using this innovative product (Kapferer 2012). Regional Division of Target Population of Ekster Wallet Sales by geographic region 2015 2016 (Expected) Europe $20000 $25000 North America $29000 $32000 Other parts of the world $34000 $41000 From the above table, it can be found that the company is expected to expand their business and the above table states that point accurately. The company has been planning to revise their existing marketing policy in order to reach a wider section of population. In this part, it is important to mention the target population and the marketing plan is required to plan based on this target population (Kickstarter 2016). Target Population of Ekster Wallet Target population Probability of purchase Young population, aged 22 years to 30 years This particular population use any innovative technology at the highest level and thus the management of the company designs their marketing plan keeping in mind this specified population (Lusch and Vargo 2014) Middle aged population, aged 31 years to 40 years This particular population most of the times suffers most due to loss of wallet and thus they need this application at their daily life Aged population, aged above 40 years This population is also in the marketing plan of the company and at the initial level, the company has been planning to provide some extra benefits to this age group (Solomon 2014) Basic DNA effects in trail The manufacturing team of the company believes in introducing such a product that has to be highly efficient, slim, secure as well as adjusted to the regular needs. The Ekster is like flick-knife of the wallet world and one just need to click a button and then a spring-loaded mechanism pops the cards out in a staggered arrangement so one can easily and quickly pick the required card. The wallet has RFID/NFC blocking tech to stop stealing the cards information and this is slim and thus one is not required to bulk the pocket. Therefore, it can be stated that the technology used in case of Ekster wallet does not affect the DNA largely (Terpstra et al. 2012). Design packaging Ekster wallet is an ultra-slim track able that gives instant and easy card access at a single click of a button and this would help a person to rescues their lost wallet. The Ekster wallet allows one to access the cards at the click of a button using a spring loaded mechanism. The innovated tracking application prevents one from losing the wallet that indicates the distance between the wallet and the person who has lost the wallet. The Ekster wallet uses micro-usb rechargeable battery and this causes no harm to the user (Eksterwallets.com 2016). The device is designed in such a manner that when the person who has lost the wallet press the tracking button on the wallet, the phone starts ringing, even if it is in the silent mode. However, from the product details, it can be seen that the RFID/NFC blocking smart wallets protect the cards from the wireless skimming and private data theft. Therefore, the detailed structure of the Ekster wallet has been understood (Lusch and Vargo 2014). Channels solving double marginalization De Mooij (2013) has said that double marginalization is such an incident in which different firms in the same industry. That has their respective market powers but at several vertical levels in the supply chain. It can be stated that Ekster wallet is one of the most innovative products and thus it has not such strong competitors. Therefore, the company has not been concentrating on the double marginalization. In this part, it is highly important to mention the channels through which the company is required to sell their products. In the present day, different social media sites are becoming one of the strong platforms that have the potentiality to reach a wide section of population within a short time period. Proper and attractive advertisements are required to design for the promotion of Ekster wallet. Distributions of the products are required to make through multiple channels in order to reach a huge population and this part is required to look at from the sells department of the company (De Mooij 2013). In this part, simulated test marketing has made because this is one of the ever growing field that is both cost effective and time effective. It is required to state that the marketers are required to design the plans in such a way that the products and the services perform as much as possible. Reports have stated that faulty marketing plans affect the business in a negative form and thus, the management is required to look at this part sincerely. Prior selling the products in the market, the company is recommended to prepare a thorough review of the existing multi channels and make the marketing plans accordingly. Conclusion After conduction of the entire study, it can be said that the company, Ekster wallet has manufactured an ultra slim as well as easily track able wallet that gives instant card access at one click of a button. This enables the users not to use their wallet. This particular research work has suggested the way to conduct simulated test marketing and apart from that, some channels through which company can sell their products have been analyzed. References Aaker, D.A., 2012. Brand extensions: the good, the bad and the ugly.Sloan management review,31(4). De Mooij, M., 2013.Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. Sage Publications. Eksterwallets.com. 2016. EKSTER | The Next Generation Wallet. [online] Available at: https://eksterwallets.com/ [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. Indiegogo. 2016. CLICK HERE to support EKSTER: The Next Generation Wallet. [online] Available at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ekster-the-next-generation-wallet--2#/ [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. Kapferer, J.N., 2012.The luxury strategy: Break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands. Kogan Page Publishers. Kapferer, J.N., 2012.The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. Kogan page publishers. Kickstarter. 2016. Ekster Wallets: The next Generation Wallet. [online] Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eksterwallets/ekster-wallets-a-new-payment-experience [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., 2014.The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Routledge. Solomon, M.R., 2014.Consumer behavior: buying, having, and being. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Terpstra, V., Foley, J. and Sarathy, R., 2012.International marketing. Naper Press.