Magellan Boatworks Marketing Strategy

interoffice memorandum

to:        WALT ROBINSON

from:        AKSHAT SATI

subject:     MAGELLAN BOATWORKS MARKETING STRATEGY

date:        11/01/16

In the face of political and economic uncertainty in late 2016, Magellan Boatworks is witnessing diminishing sales and the marketing department is faced with a dilemma whether to change the company’s marketing message. I recommend Magellan Boatworks to shift from its existing marketing message which is “product-centric” to focus more towards the benefits of yacht ownership. The marketing budget should remain the same but needs to be reallocated so that the company can increase sales even with a lower budget.

In 2015, Magellan’s salesforce which is highly paid received a lot of prospects but the conversion rate was just 4%. On the other hand, the two best salesmen of the company had a conversion rate of 7%. Taking the learnings from the best salesmen, the company should narrow the market by focusing more towards successful entrepreneurs who have taken risks and are looking for a big adventure. Qualifying the prospects early on will help us focus our marketing efforts on the right customers. The marketing message should focus on the benefits and the status symbol of owning a yacht. This will help us connect with the potential customers on an emotional level. Once we get an initial meeting with the prospects leveraging the emotional benefits, Magellan’s sales team will bring light to the product-centric features. MB allocates appropriate amount to marketing efforts but some communications methods need more spending and we need to reduce the spending in some of them depending upon the changing trends.

The company should price the product a little bit higher which will reflect the prestige of a premium product. MB should include an extended warranty, docking, storage and maintenance services along with the high priced premium product. MB should continue to upgrade its product and incorporate more green technologies which will reduce company’s carbon footprint and portray MB as an environment friendly company. Magellan’s promotion activities should start with spreading the updated company’s message via print ads and ramping up our digital footprint on google and social networking websites. MB must encourage the sales team to conduct the initial meeting on the boat itself to create a bigger impact so that they can get them on board for the second meeting. Progressing from the second meeting stage is the point in the selling stage where we lose most of our customers and based on 2015 data only 34% of the customers progressed ahead to further meetings or to a purchase commitment. To avoid this, MB should invest more in boat cocktail parties. Along with the potential customers, the existing owners of MB boats should also be invited. The outcome of this will be twofold. First, it will allow MB to maintain a strong relationship with their existing clientele which will encourage more referrals. Second, potential customers will get to hear what it’s like to own an MB luxury boat from the owners. This strong word of mouth will add much value to the hard work MB’s sales team is already doing. A drawback of this approach will be if a disgruntled customer comes up to the party to voice out his grievances. MB wants to avoid negative publicity. Since these cocktail parties will come at a cost, half of the budget from new boat exhibitions should be moved to Cocktail parties. The budget for Local print advertising and regional magazines should be allocated to a single global economic magazine such as Wallstreet Journal. These magazines are usually read by all the senior executives, entrepreneurs and hardworking self-made men, the exact audience we want to target. Magellan should continue to operate in the five regions in the southeastern coast of United States and should ensure that each model is present at every port. Following this marketing mix, Magellan Boatworks will be able to increase sales without increasing their marketing budget.