Introduction to Marketing Case Study 1 – Evolve Skateboards Assessment

Section One: Pricing (3 questions - 30 marks total).

Price can be defined as the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product. Pricing decisions are subject to an incredibly complex array of company, environmental, and competitive forces. Evolve Skateboards must consider all these factors when setting the price for a new product to ensure that their product is both viable and will sell.

(Suggested word count guide - approximately 750 -900 words / 1½ - 2 pages in total or about 250- 300 words per question).

1a) How would you determine the floor and ceiling prices for a new Evolve electric skateboard they are planning to release in the near future? (Note: you do not need to calculate the actual prices, but you need to discuss the process for how they would be determined). (10 marks)

1b) Since Evolve Skateboards’ products are often priced higher than those of the main competitors who sell a similar range of boards, explain how competition-based pricing applies to Evolve Skateboards. (10 marks)

1c) If Evolve Skateboards was considering a permanent decrease in the price of its complete range of boards, explain TWO (2) external reactions to price changes that they should take into account when considering the new lower prices. (10 marks)

Section Two: Distribution (3 questions - 30 marks total).

Evolve Skateboards sells their products across the world through their own outlets, and a wide range of distributors and retailers and even co-opts customers to act as a salesforce by referring their products to friends in the company’s “Refer a friend” program.

(Suggested word count guide - approximately 750 -900 words / 1½ - 2 pages in total or about 250- 300 words per question).

2a) Explain what a multichannel distribution system is and outline the channels that Evolve Skateboards is using to reach a range of customer segments and the benefits the approach provides the company. (10 marks)

2b) In making products and services available to consumers, channel members add value.

Among the channels the company uses, Evolve Skateboards works with both distributors and retailers. Discuss TWO (2) functions that each of these two intermediaries perform to add value in the process of making Evolve Skateboards available to the consumer. (10 marks)

2c) Torpedo7 is New Zealand’s top outdoor adventure retailer with the best in bike, snow, camping, water gear, outdoor clothing and more and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Warehouse Group Limited and operates 24 physical stores across New Zealand alongside a successful webstore.

Explain which distribution strategy you believe Evolve Skateboards uses, and discuss why Torpedo7 would, or would not, be an appropriate intermediary for Evolve Skateboards in the New Zealand market. (10 marks)

Section Three: Integrated Marketing Communications (4 questions - 40 marks total).

Imagine that based on insights derived from marketing research, Evolve Skateboards is introducing a new electric skateboard that is not only faster than any of its previous models, but also has the longest range of any board they have ever produced. You have been asked to develop a marketing plan for this new product launch. You know that Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) includes the following tools: advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct and digital marketing, and personal selling. The main objective of your IMC strategy is to increase awareness of the new product around the world.

(Suggested word count approximately 900 - 1000 words / 1 ½- 2 pages or roughly about 300-350 words per question)

3a) Choose THREE (3) IMC tools that you believe will be most effective to achieve your objective, briefly describing an example of how Evolve would use each tool and provide a justification for each tool you have chosen. (14 marks)

3b) Discuss TWO (2) reasons why Evolve Skateboards would benefit from an integrated marketing communications approach to its promotion efforts for their new electric skateboard. (10 marks)

3c) Like most brands, Evolve Skateboards uses a combination of paid, earned, and owned media channels. Provide ONE (1) example of a media channel for each of these categories (paid, earned, and owned) that Evolve Skateboards uses or could use. (10 marks)

3d) One of the challenges for any company that sells products internationally is that sometimes you must operate across multiple legal jurisdictions. Evolve Skateboards regularly uses email marketing to communicate with and promote to customers. When obtaining and managing an individual’s personal and email details what law in Europe, what law in California, and what two laws in New Zealand Evolve Skateboards must adhere to when they are email marketing? (6 marks)