Case: Prosper: Marketing Fit

Q1. What marketing challenge is Harrison and Thain-Blonk

facing?
Ans. Marketing’s most important objectives are positioning your
brand, acquiring customers and retaining them.
Harrison and Thain-Blonk are facing various marketing challenges that
are stopping them from achieving these objectives. They are:
 Retaining Customers- Prosper’s business model does not allow
them to have repeat customers. If a customer clears their
interview round, they’d be repeating after years, probably when
switching jobs. On the other hand, customers unable to crack
their interviews would give Prosper bad reviews, also, they’d not
be returning.
However, successful customers can be asked to give
testimonials, which will help in marketing on social media, and
will cost nothing.
 Social Media Marketing- Harrison decided to not spend on
SMM, as a new venture presence on SMM is even more
important. SMM presence not only helps a business grow and
reach more and more people but will help in better ranking.
 Brand Positioning- Prosper has not been able to position itself
rightly, this is evident from the fact that it is still struggling to
compete with other businesses, whose model is similar to
Prosper, with slight uniqueness, but it is not enough to place
your brand in the head of customers.
Q2. Assess Prosper’s corporate capabilities and its Business
Plan prepared by them?
Ans. Business Strategy:
Prosper initially used a "freemium" business strategy, offering users a
limited number of services for free while luring them to subscribe to a
more expensive version with access to the entire suite of services.
Later, as a result of financial restrictions, they raised their pricing.
Additionally, they concentrated on the Switchers and University
Students categories. These two divisions made significant
contributions to the company. The SaaS-based Prosper firm partnered
with institutions and charged by the user.

Prosper's corporate capabilities, in my opinion, were poorly organised,

which prevented them from carrying out their market expansion
strategy. They weren't very concerned with social media promotion,
weren't sure if they should stick with institutions or pursue B2B, etc.
Q3. Is the Business Plan well-aligned with their corporate
capabilities?
Ans. No, even though they have a good idea, they are not able to
implement it properly.
Prosper is not able to make an identity for itself. This is because of a
lack of planning and strategizing. I believe that Prosper's corporate
capabilities were disorganised, which impeded them from
implementing their market expansion strategy. They weren't very
concerned with social media promotion, unsure of whether to continue
with institutions or seek B2B, etc.
Q4. What should be the broad marketing plan for Harrison and
Thain-Blonk for greater success?
Ans. Harrison and Thain-Blonk will have to do something unique so
that their business stands out from the crowd they can either work on
their product end or service end.
They can add some USP to their product or give services that are very
high-end, this will not only help them acquire more customers but
positive feedback will help them reach and acquire more customers.
Word-of-mouth plays a very important role for any business, and good
customer service will help Harrison and Thain-Blonk gain more
customers.
Feedback campaigns can be run, this will help us know Prosper’s
strengths and weaknesses and will give more scope for
improvement and trying out new ideas for the business.

Q5. Referring to the strategic alternatives in the case, select one

alternative that Prosper should pursue. Justify your choice.
Ans. Focus on Institutions is one possibility I would pick because
strengthening its B2B linkages with universities and colleges will be
very beneficial in the long run. As each year brings a fresh group of
students, the number of students that can be converted from these
schools will be very significant. As a result, more money will be made
than under the B2C model. Additionally, since the institution would
handle the marketing on our behalf, there will be less pressure.

Q6. Discuss about the customer of Prosper?

Ans. Parents of University Students comprise more than half of
Prosper’s customers. Students can be further divided into two
groups the serious ones and the not-so-serious ones. The serious
ones are the ones who are extremely ambitious and have a well-laid-
out plan. And the not-so-serious ones are the procrastinators who
like to leave everything for the end. As a next pricing step, prices can
be hiked for last-minute enrollers.
The other category is Job Switchers, who are switching their job from
one field to another, they also need guidance to excel in new ventures
for their life.