PCHS Vision Productions

PCHS Vision Productions

Mrs. Sandra Ballina

Grace Eder, Joyce Eder, Dawn Hashimoto,

Shannon Tanabe, Danielle Trinidad

Professional Mentor: Mr. Brandt Farias

Principal: Mr. Suyama

Pearl City High School

2100 Hookiekie Street

Pearl City, Hawaii 96782

20 April 2004

Marketing Plan – “PCHS Vision Productions”

Skittles – Dani, Grace, Joyce, Shannon, Dawn

Executive Summary

At Pearl City High School, there is a new student-based company called PCHS Vision Productions, consisting of the advanced photography students. This year will be their first year to produce a video yearbook for the school. Our goal for writing this plan on the PCHS Vision Productions is to make a marketing plan that will advertise their new product so that students will buy it and PCHS Vision Productions will be able to do this project again for years to come.

Being that this product is in the introductory stage, our main goal was to research the potential customers, what the customers would want in a video yearbook, and setting the price range. We figured these things out by setting up a survey. We then cross tabulated the results of the survey. It turned out that our target customers are seniors and juniors. Some of the school events that the students would want in the video yearbook are Prom, Homecoming, Winterball, assemblies, and other school functions. The price that the majority of the students voted on was $13-$15.

We also had to consider the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the company has. Although the staff is experienced, there are only a little of then in that photography class. But it is an advantage that our peers are making the product because they have an idea of what the customers want. There are also many opportunities to advertise the product, such as in the school newspaper and the morning bulletin. Some threats are the regular yearbook, and CD burners.

Therefore, based on the research we found, we recommend PCHS Vision Productions to follow our marketing plan.

Marketing Environment

Demographics

Demographics are important when introducing a new product. The information found needs to be taken into consideration. According to the census, there are approximately 2150 students enrolled at Pearl City High School. Of the 2,150 students, around 15.9% have geographic exceptions, which is about 342 students. The enrollment over the past three years has been consistent and stable.

Economic Environment

According to Pearl City High School’s last accreditation report and the U.S. Census bureau, the median household income is approximately $51,499. However, the median income for the entire state of Hawaii was $38,829. About 3.8% of the households in Pearl City receive public assistance income versus 6.8% of households in the state of Hawaii. This income data is an important factor to consider when pricing the video yearbook. It assists in producing a sufficient pricing range suitable for potential customers (students) because this gives parents more money to give the students more money, which increases their purchasing power.

Natural Environment

In the process of making the video yearbook, the video productions class travels around the campus video taping the various school activities. Therefore, the location of the class is not significant. However, location is important when distributing the product to the students. The distribution location plays a key role in the amount of sales. For example, the courtyard between A and B buildings is a place where it is convenient for the students and the sales will be higher than in an inconvenient place like the gym. Thus, the distribution location is significant.

Technological Environment

PCHS Vision Productions will have a broad technological environment. They will be using a Sony Camcorder to record the video footage. A digital camera will provide the still photos. They will be putting the video together on a G4 Macintosh with an I-movie program. This is the technological environment that the PCHS Vision Productions staff will be working with.

Political/Legal Environment

The political/legal environment of PCHS Vision Productions includes the DOE and school administration, and copyright laws. All DOE and school policies for financing must be followed. When raising money, thePCHS Vision Productions staffmust have an account with the school. If music is used in the video, permission to use the music must first be obtained from the copyright holder. There are also "educational fair use" laws that govern the school's use of copyrighted software. In addition, there is a rule that requires waivers that need to be filled out and signed by students who are featured in the video yearbook. Therefore, paying attention to the political and legal environment is important.

Consumer Market Analysis

Knowing the customer behavior will help determine the primary target market. This will enable us to focus in on particular people and aim the advertising towards those people. The following studies show some of the buying behavior of teenagers and the influences that help make them make those decisions.

According to the Teenage Marketing and Lifestyle survey, the average teen spends $56 of their own money while they spend $28 of their parents’ money. The 1999 Roper Youth Report states that teens spend more on discretionary products, such as video games and movies, than adults do.

According to The Teen Factor, 71% of teens have purchased one full-length CD, 33% have purchased a CD single in the three-month period preceding the study. This shows that teens are willing to spend money on entertainment. “Fifty-five percent of teens ages 12 to 17 cite their friends as the biggest influence on how they spend their money” (1999Roper Youth Report). Therefore, peer pressure affects the decisions teens make when it comes to their buying behavior.

Advertising also influences the spending habits of teens. Researchers asked children ages 8 to 17 if they had purchased or asked their parents to purchase a certain item in the last 30 days after seeing it advertised. Twenty eight percent of the children rented a movie, and 29% bought CDs, all after seeing the ad. (1999 Roper Youth Report).

According to our marketing survey, 594 Pearl City High School students were polled. Our results showed that 48.8% of those surveyed were juniors and seniors. The cross tabulation showed that juniors and seniors are more willing to purchase a video yearbook than freshmen and sophomores. This could be because more juniors and seniors participate in more school clubs and activities than the underclassmen. According to the survey taken, there is a high correlation of juniors and seniors participating in clubs and activities because they feel that they should be more active in their latter years of high school. There is no correlation between Juniors and Seniors with participation in a sport because the survey showed that the underclassmen also play sports because most students who play sports play for all four years. Out of 103 students who participated in at least one club and a sport and 56 of them were juniors and seniors. Juniors and seniors who participate in at least one sport or club have a correlation with purchase.

In conclusion, after all of our research, we have found that teens are mostly influenced by their peers into what products to buy. They rely on their parents to buy some, but not all of what they want. PCHS Vision Productions has now determined our target market as juniors and seniors.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Strengths

-Experienced staff- Because the video yearbook will be produced by the advanced photography class, the students know what to do. These students already have a year of experience and are qualified to work all the equipment properly. They are aware of what needs to be accomplished and how to get it done correctly.

-Done by our peers- The fact that our peers will produce the video is an important fact that should be deeply considered. It is a good benefit for students who purchase the video because our peers know what we want and are able to include it in the video.

-Nothing to compare it with; no expectations- This video has never been produced before, presenting no high expectations for the product. Students may be curious about the video and decide to purchase it just to see what it’s about.

-Various activities to include- There are several school activities that will be included within the video yearbook, such as Prom, Winter Ball, Homecoming, and sports. This will attract more students to buy the product since there is something for everyone.

Weaknesses

-Lack of staffing- This can be considered a weakness because there is only one class with less than twenty students working on this video. The lack of staff will hurt the video because there is not enough students to take video of the various school events so, the video may not include everything as promised.

-Lack of commitment- The commitment of the students can be considered a weakness. Being the only class that will be working on this project, the students will have to commit heavily. They will have to come in before school, after school, and during lunch. Some students have other obligations such as a job and may not be as committed as others.

-Lack of equipment- The lack of equipment is definitely a weakness. Since the video is going to be worked on mostly at school and using the school equipment, there is only a limited amount that is available. There are only a few computers with the proper software. So, when the students have to go out and take video footage there might only be one camera when there are two events going on. This means that one event will have to be dropped and will not be included in the video. It might also mean that the video will take a longer time to make.

-In Introductory Stage- Having the video in the introductory stage is a weakness. It can be considered a weakness because being new a lot of people are not aware of the video. So, many of our target market will not buy the product because they didn't know it existed.

Opportunities

• Sales promotion/advertisement in regular yearbook- Another opportunity for this project is to promote the product in various ways, such as in the regular yearbook, which is more popular with the students. Ads could also be put in the school newspaper to promote the video yearbook.
• Include as an option with school fees- By including the video yearbook as an option with school fees at the beginning of the year, it will draw attention to it. This will also inform the students that this is available in addition to or in place of the regular yearbook.
• Discount if pre-ordered/ paid with school fees- This will encourage the students and the parents to buy the yearbook earlier rather than later when it will cost more.
• Specialize in specific school activities- Because many students are involved in various activities at school, they would want these activities to be featured in the yearbook. This will draw a larger target market.
• School partnerships- The PCHS Vision Productions could partner up with another school club or activity to produce one product that will be beneficial for both.

Threats

-Regular Yearbook: Instead of buying the video yearbook people may buy the regular yearbook because they may think that it is the same thing. They may think that the regular yearbook and the video yearbook will have the same pictures and that it is made by the same people. Other people may want to stick to the more traditional way of capturing memories.

-Graduation/PG Video: The video yearbook will include the graduation ceremony and project graduation (PG). Since the students may not be able to purchase both videos they may opt to buy the Graduation/PG video instead, depending on what’s most important to them.

-DVD burners/CD burners: If the cost of the video yearbook is too high then people will not purchase it. Instead they may just borrow a friend’s video yearbook and burn it. There is also a threat of CD burners, which has recently become a trend amongst teenagers. For example, someone will buy one music CD and let their friends copy it, free of charge.

Marketing Problem:

PCHS Vision Productions is a new company that was started this year. It is a student-based company that deals with the compilation of school events and activities. It captures the precious moments of the students during the school year.

Since this company is in the introductory stage, the problem is that it is unknown to the student population of Pearl City High School. The success of the product is also up in the air because nothing like this has been done before. The students working on the product may be experienced but not to a full extent. There is also a lack of staffing since the class doing the video is the advanced photography class, which is small. This means that the students will have to work extra hard to meet the deadlines. Having all this pressure will give the students stress, which will affect their work.

The limited financial background is also a problem factor in the company’s success. So the company must not over invest in the first year of production. They must be able to sell all of the videos they produce in order to make a profit. If too much money is invested and too much videos are made, then the company will have wasted precious money. The sales will not be as high as we would like since it is an unknown product. Students will not purchase it because they will be unsure of the product. The price might be too high for the student, which will make them rethink if it’s worth it. In order to make sure the target market is aware of the product, promotion is key.

The product may not meet some student’s expectations so they may not want to purchase it. The events or activities included in the video may not be what the students want. For instance, Homecoming may not be included or assembly pep rallies. To some students these are important things that should be included. Another problem is that the length of the covered events may be too long or too short.

Since the product price is unknown, we need to find a specific price that will maximize our profits while also making it affordable to students. To determine this we need to take into consideration how much the product took to produce so that profits will be made and also how much the students are willing to spend. Being a luxury, some parents might not find it necessary to purchase it especially if it is too high priced.

The promotion of the product is vital in the first year. We need to capture the attention of the students so that they are aware of the product. We want to know what the students want so we can promote the product properly.

The target market for this video is the students of PCHS but the direct target is unknown. At this time, it isn’t certain who the primary target market is. If offered to only the seniors, the other classes may get offended or jealous. If the primary target market is not clearly defined then the risk of the product and the company failing is high.

Therefore, there are a lot of problems that we face. To solve these problems will take a lot of hard work and determination.

Marketing Strategies Proposal

Product

The video yearbook will be produced in the form of a DVD since it is what the majority of the students surveyed chose when given the option. Being in a DVD format will give the buyer a higher quality. It has several chapters with the different events so students will be able to skip the parts they don't want to watch. This video will include activities such as Prom, Homecoming, Winter Ball, sports, and assemblies. This year the video will only include the senior class but for future reference the student body will like the video to include the entire school.

Price

We feel that a reasonable price for this video yearbook will be $15, because the cost to produce the product is $ 13 so we will receive a $2 profit from each video sold. According to the survey that the students took, about 30% of them would be willing to spend between $13-15. When asked if they were more likely to purchase the video if it was an option on the school fees, 59% said yes. The students who purchase the video yearbook will be satisfied with the affordable price and in return, PCHS Video Productions will receive a sufficient profit for their work efforts.

Promotion

The promotion for the video yearbook is simple. There are a variety of ways that PCHS Vision Productions will promote this product. All the advertising will be focused towards our target market, which is the senior class. One way to promote the video yearbook is through advertisements in the school newspaper, the school bulletin, and the senior newsletter. PCHS Vision Productions will also hand out flyers during classes and we will put up posters around campus.