Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e
- Developing Innovative
Marketing Plans
Text © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2002Developing Innovative Marketing Plans 605Coverage of other parts was two years, and a year on labor. The plan also specified
a way to further differentiate Neptune with an unprecedented level of after-sale sup-
port. Neptune buyers would get Priority One Service that offers dedicated toll-free
assistance and priority scheduling should any in-home calls be required. The plan
also got down to details: The easy-to-remember toll-free number is 888-4-MAYTAG.
In stores, the washer is displayed out of the carton, so the plan focused on a pack-
age designed to protect the product during handling and, by using bar codes and
clear model labels, make logistics in the channel more efficient. But the thrust of
the packaging was to protect, not promote.
While our focus here is on the washer, the plan also considered product-line
issues. It called for a matching dryer designed so that the length of wash and dry
cycles would be virtually the same. This means that a user can move load after load
from washer to dryer without the waiting that’s typical with conventional laundry
pairs. What’s more, the dryer handles Neptune’s extra large loads with ease and uses
the same angled styling—so transferring a load to the dryer is easier than ever.
To reduce start-up costs and keep the effort focused, the initial plan called for
only one model of the Neptune washer. However, a full-sized stacked version of a
combination washer/dryer was planned for later.
The plan called for a national rollout using Maytag’s established dealers. Making
a product available in so many places at once added difficulties, but it was consis-
tent with the plan of using national promotion to give the product a big
introduction.
To help coordinate efforts in the channel, Maytag released stories in Merchan-
diser, a magazine it publishes for dealers. As channel captain, Maytag kept dealers
informed about the specific timing of the program, including when stock would be
available. Maytag salespeople got dealers’ orders and helped them to plan their own
strategies.
The plan anticipated that product availability could be a constraint if the intro-
duction went extremely well. So dealers could participate in a program that allowed
consumers to reserve one of the early units off the production line. This preselling
activity improved inventory management, reduced stock-outs, and got sales early in
the program.
Even with these efforts at coordination, the promotion portion of the plan was
developed recognizing that some independent dealers were skeptical about carrying
and promoting a premium-price front-loader. So the plan called for a mix of push
and pull promotion.
Details of promotion planning was handled as a team effort by Maytag and Leo
Burnett, its Chicago agency. The plan called for integrated marketing communica-
tions. To make it easy for the sales force, dealers, customers, and potential customers
to remember all of Neptune’s benefits, the promotion effort consistently focused on
Neptune’s four Cs—Cleaning, Convenience, Clothes Care, and Conservation. (You
can probably figure out where a group of marketing folks got the idea of using a
catchy acronym like that.)
The plan relied on different promotion methods to emphasize different benefits
and objectives. For example, much of the prerelease publicity focused on conserva-
tion of water, energy, and related costs. Then initial advertising focused on
availability and cleaning benefits. The marketing plan also specified tests by inde-
pendent laboratories so that there would be evidence to support claims of superiority.
The distinctive advantages of the Neptune offered a particularly good opportu-
nity to use publicity to create broad awareness and generate interest. Thus, the plan
set out an extensive set of public relations events, including a glitzy media launch
at New York’s Lincoln Center. It featured famous TV moms talking about the
Maytag washer they used—followed by the introduction of the Neptune, “the
washer for the next millennium.” This garnered widespread media attention just a
few weeks before the product launch.