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Assignment #3 – Marketing Plan and Management Plan

She-ra Newell

Bus-Strat-Comp-Adv-Cap-Summer-I-2021

BUSU-640

Diane Singer

1st Feb 2021

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Assignment #3

Marketing Plan:

The 5 P’s of Marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Place, and People – are key marketing

elements used to position a business strategically. The 5 P’s of Marketing, also known as the

marketing mix, are variables that managers and owners’ control to satisfy customers in their

target market, add value to their business, and help differentiate their business from competitors.

The product I will be working on, i.e. the online application to call in psychologists and

therapists for PTSD being faced by the clients. My idea is to develop an application, which will

allow these patients to access psychologist through this application and book an appointment for

consultation at the place of their convenience. It can be their home or any café they deem

possible (Athuraliya, 2020). This way, the stigma of visiting a shrink will not get attached to

them but they will still receive help that they require. The marketing Mix for my product is as

follows:

Product:

The product in this case is actually a service being provided in the form of customized

appointments by the therapists and psychologists. The users will be given an application to book

the appointment as they find favorable for them. Several options regarding the name, gender,

timing and the place of the appointment and the therapist would be given to the clients. Since the

product is not tangible, the features of the application would be focused on completely to ensure

customer satisfaction. The application interface would be the focus of point to ensure the

customers do not face any issue placing an appointment and it is user friendly (Elflein, 2019).
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Price:

Different pricing options would be available for the clients. They will have the option to select

whichever psychologist suit their needs best and whichever is more feasible for them according

to the pricing. They will also be given special discount on booking several therapy sessions with

the same therapist over the span of a month. On average the pricing would begin from $100 per

dollar depending on the expertise of the therapist and the type being selected too (DeAngelis,

2012).

Place:

The product being offered does not have a physical place being offered to the clients. The whole

purchase cycle will take place virtually. From signing up on the application to selecting the

therapist you like to see and paying them. All the tasks and actions of the purchase activity

would be online and digital (Carter, 2019).

Promotion:

The application is digital hence the whole promotion plan would be digitized as well. The

application and the idea as a whole would be advertised and promoted through social media

platform. Informative videos made by the therapists would be added to the social media pages as

well as YouTube and the application itself to promote mental health awareness. Client

testimonies would be added to all social media platforms to ensure the credibility and

accountability is presented in front of the existing and potential clients (Rtor, 2021).
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Word of mouth would also be used to create awareness of the services and the importance of

mental health altogether. The clients would be requested to give a review on the social media

pages to illustrate their trust and build the community further (McGahey, 2014).

People:

A customer service tab would be added to the application as well as a number would be

generated that would be used to cater to any customer complaints and queries. A newsletter

would also be generated to ensure any new offers and promotional pamphlets are distributed

amongst the existing and potential clients. The main focus would be to ensure no client faces any

difficulty with the whole process. Hence, the main emphasis would be on customer care and after

services provided to those opting for the therapy sessions (APA, Survey says: More Americans

are seeking mental health treatment, 2004).

Product
Place
Intangible service
No physical existence
offered

Promotion Price
Social media and Per hour pricing with
digital promotion Discounts

People
Customer service and
after service care
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The figure above illustrates one important factor from each Marketing Mix P. It identifies

the five most important factors overall in the marketing mix, that would be focused on the most

for the product being offered. For the first P which is Product, the focus would be on the

intangibility of the product and how this can be improved to ensure the customer experience

overall is improved. On the other hand, for Place, the emphasis will be on the fact that there is no

physical existence of the product and hence the experience has to be smooth from the signing up

to availing the service till end.

For promotion, the emphasis would be on promoting the product completely digitally

supporting the mantra of the service itself which is eliminating the need to go and see a

phycologist physically. For pricing, several per hour pricing strategies would be emphasized on

and discounts would be offered. Last but not the least for People, the most important factor that

would be operationalized would be the customer care and after service care to ensure the

customers are satisfied to the fullest and they come back as well as recommend it to others.

FMOT and SMOT:

The FMOT would be when the users would open the application and identify the types of

therapy sessions and counsellors available to them on the basis of affordable pricing. The SMOT

would be when they would actually purchase one of the options for themselves and experience

the amazing service provided to them.

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The graphic illustration shows how each of the Marketing Mix P would be used to position the

product in the minds of the consumers. The attributes of the product would be used to position

the product as unique and innovation. It will create a position of a product which does not exist

currently. The place factor would be positioned to create the impact that the product believes in

creating comfort at the place of the consumer’s own preference. The promotion would add the

point that the product itself is digital and modern and hence provides a modern solution to the

modern problems of people. The pricing would position the product as competitive yet

affordable and the people factor would position the product as customer based in the minds of

the customers. They will get an idea that the product is placed and positioned to solve the

problems of the customers only.

The value proposition elements for the business that I am working on, which is the

application that allows you to book a remote consultation with any therapy consultant or

psychologist that you wished for, are listed below.

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Management Plan:

Internal and External network and Staffing:

Since the application is a tech based idea, the website developer would be the only person

working at the back end. He will be handling the IT related problems and queries. The

qualifications required for this job includes a degree in information systems and knowledge of

coding and application building.

As the business expands, it will have all the important designations that are required to make a

company successful. Following is the chart that represents the hierarchy of the business in the

future.

Compensation management:

The business will utilize a compensation management process. It is when for the employees the
salaries and any bonus remains competitive. It is a significant part of my business because it will
help me retain the employees and hiring an engaged team.

Types of Compensation:
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There are two types of compensation:

1. Direct compensation: This is also called financial compensation. This is most popular
and important compensation that is given in the form of money. Employees can be
compensated by wages or salaries and bonuses
2. Indirect compensation: This is also called non financial compensation. The most
popular and Indirect compensation methods are social security, works man or workers
compensation, retirement plans, paid holidays, paid vacations, job security recognition,
participation.

Components of Salary:

1. Wages and salaries: Hourly and monthly

2. Incentives: Individual and group based
3. Fringe benefits: Medical, provident fund
4. Non monetary benefits : Growth, decision making
5. Pre requisites: Stock options, car house.

Factors influencing salary/ Remuneration:

Internal factors:

 Organization strategy
 Employees
 Job evaluation
 Performance appraisal.

External factors:

 Economy
 Society
 Cost of living
 Legislation

Remuneration model:
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Job description

Job evaluation

Job hierarchy

Pay survey

Pricing jobs

Skill based pay and Job based pay

I will use skill based pay, which is a compensation system. This pay system allows the
employees to get rewarded in the form of additional pay for the mastery of their skills and their
competencies.

On the other hand, job based pay structure will also be used for some of the employees in the
business. It will be based on the compensable factors that are highlighted by the job itself.
Basically, employees will get paid for the responsibilities that are allotted to them and the
working conditions they are working in.

Operation Plan:

The product is not in a tangible form and hence there is no need for the supply chain or

logistics to be evaluated for it. However, it can have the following operation management

concepts applied.
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Logistics Evaluation:

The supplier the case of my business would be the therapists and psychologists. It is

important to ensure their scrutiny is done on continues basis to ensure the supply chain for the

business is not disrupted. The following steps mentioned above will be used for the scrutiny of

the supply chain for my business.

The following image illustrates the supply chain process for one of the physical

assessment issues that require the therapists to be assigned to the patients. This scenario

illustrates that the application will identify the onboard patient and make a pre-visit. After that a

home visit will be conducted to assess and prescribe the number of sessions required. Next, the

training cycle will begin followed by the assessment cycle and finally the whole programme will

be reviewed to assess the effectiveness and the patient assessment.

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Product: The product will be launched in the form of an application.

Price: It will allow the users to select a therapist as per the pricing which is appropriate and

affordable for them.

Place: The application would be launched on digital media and it will be a technology based

product but once the product takes a kick start, a physical location would be allotted for the

customer care.

Promotion: The promotion would be done digitally since the product itself is digital.

People: The product will solve the mental issues faced by the people without having them feel

conscious about it. It will be entirely technology based and the privacy of the clients will be

maintained at the highest priority.

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Works Cited
Academy, P. (n.d.). MARKETING THEORIES – PESTEL ANALYSIS. Retrieved from Professional Academy :
https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---pestel-analysis

APA. (2004). Survey says: More Americans are seeking mental health treatment. Retrieved from APA:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/survey

APA. (2014, June ). How many psychologists are licensed in the United States? Retrieved from APA’s
Center for Workforce Studies: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/06/datapoint#:~:text=An
%20estimated%20106%2C500%20psychologists%20possess%20current%20licenses%20in
%20the%20United%20States.&text=California%20(17%2C890)%20New%20York%20(,
(190)%20have%20the%20fewest.

Athuraliya, A. (2020, December 7). The Easy Guide to Performing an Effective Situation Analysis.
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%20is%20basically%20the,your%20organization%2C%20service%20or%20product.

Cabassa, A. M. (2013). Public Stigma of Mental Illness in the United States: A Systematic Literature
Review. Adm Policy Ment Health.

Carter, E. (2019, January 22). Mental Health Stigma in America: What it is, and How to Help. Retrieved
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and-how-to-help/#:~:text=Stigma%2C%20or%20the%20negative%20stereotype,negative
%20effect%20on%20their%20lives.

DeAngelis, T. (2012, March ). Practicing distance therapy, legally and ethically. Retrieved from APA:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/03/virtual

Elflein, J. (2019, October 18). U.S. Mental Health Issues - Statistics & Facts. Retrieved from Statista :
https://www.statista.com/topics/1298/mental-health-issues/

Gosnell, K. (2020, January 25). Environmental Scanning: How CEOs Can Stay Ahead of the Curve and
Beat the Competition. Retrieved from Business. com: https://www.business.com/articles/what-
is-environmental-scanning/#:~:text=Environmental%20scanning%20allows%20the
%20leader,changes%20and%20new%20customer%20expectations.

Hanlon, P. (2017, April 1). Mobile psychologists: House calls making a comeback. Retrieved from
Psychologist: https://www.nepsy.com/articles/leading-stories/mobile-psychologists-house-calls-
making-a-comeback/

McGahey, J. T. (2014, August 7). House call counselors. Retrieved from Counseling Today :
https://ct.counseling.org/2014/08/house-call-counselors/

Rtor. (2021). Mental Health Resources in California. Retrieved from Rtor :

https://www.rtor.org/directory/mental-health-california/#:~:text=California%20has%20a
%20population%20of,bipolar%20disorder%2C%20and%20major%20depression.
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Wiener, J. (2019, April 30). Breakdown: California’s mental health system, explained. Retrieved from Call
Matter : https://calmatters.org/explainers/breakdown-californias-mental-health-system-
explained/