Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Tana, I think your product is very nice, your website clean, easy to navigate and the names for your lines are great- I also believe that your target market could be a tad older. If you take a look at the over 45 market of women, who are working and will be working for the next 20 years you've got a huge number. I'm launching a website geared towards this demographics and your product is definitely something that would appeal to my audience. I know that doesn't help you right now -- (the advice you've seen from mprofs so far is all really good advice) just think about keeping this group in mind as you continue.
Good luck and good work on your PR you landed some nice press!
PT

Just a comment - your website features these stylish bags, and then ... the women in jeans and bare feet? And a tank? It just doesn't fit. It seems like the business woman would be a busy, fashionable woman who HAS to carry a laptop ... I'm leaning toward Harry's question of your target audience and how it's reflected in your website (and possibly other advertising efforts) ...

My first impression was that the models didn't fit the product. Something to think about, anyway.

Best Wishes,

Jennifer
XPRT Creative

The bags look great! Alongwith great features! Maybe you need to change from the Henry-Ford-isque all black into few other colors. When one buys a bag as an accessory its nice to have choice even if I buy black!

Maybe a consumer insight would help here. Most working womyn executives get their laptops from their own organizations. The bags come with the product. If you tear a laptop bag all you need to put in a requisition and get another one. So in terms of investing in a smart great looking laptop carrier even at 30% discount doesnt appeal to womyn executives because somewhere the ownership factor is missing. An official laptop is a responsibility more than a possesion.

So change the email marketing target segment to men- position it as a festive season gift along with your great discount offer. Time bound the offer- that should help.

Also buy a list of 1000 womyn- 'own business owners'/ self employed running own businesses- their laptops are their own possesion. Let me know if you get a response rate there.

In terms of long term strategy- tie up with 1 laptop seller and market your bag through that distribution in 2/3 cities- check out what your consumers are saying. Hold on for the magazine subscribers to call back- they will dilly dally but they will bite!

Pls give 10 odds laptop bags to working womyn of all ages and ask them to use it for a month- then ask them what are the customisations they would want- you might be surprised to find they need more pockets/ wider straps,cosmetics pouch( given that its a habdbag + laptop bag) umbrella pouch etc. Add them to your design and market it on those benefits.

Hope this helps.

Hi

Getting straight to the point, the fact is that now you cannot change any of the product attributes like the design or the colors since the bags have already been manufactured. The only thing that can be done is to the selling now...

When someone visits your website to purchase a bag one should be able to view and feel all the features and the looks of the bags from different angles instantaneously. You say that one of the characteristics of your targets is that they are "busy". Also that an interest on the internet in a product is generated within 5 to 10 seconds of ones looking at a product. To have a look at the different pictures of your bags one has to traverse through links and this takes more time than a busy woman would have.

My suggestion is to include the different photographs on the first page of a particular kind of bag itself to attract the customer to purchase your bags. Women are generally more interested in the features, space available inside the bag. More pictures depicting this are essential right upfront.

Putting up banner advertisements on some frequently visited websites by your target group is also a good idea.

Although I have not given a complete plan as to how to go about it in total, but I feel that implementing these two suggestions should make an impact and not cost you much either.

Best of luck...

T -- The list is long! Lots of internet sites for women out there -- more.com is a spin off of Ladies Home Journal targeting the over 40 market -- www.eons.com is another targeting the "boom" generation 50 and up (Includes men). some interesting sites where you may get reader response from include: stylehive.com,socialdivia.com,thisnext.com(very cool site).

I will also strongly agree with gunjitgen -- I tried to find out what the bag looked like inside and had too many clicks away to find it-- once I found it I liked what I saw (I also would recommend changing the fabric inside (when you can - next round!) to some really nice designs -- paisleys, retro -- geometrics (like the belts) -- what a nice surprise to find that inside (while the outside is "business").

Love the idea of an "advisory board" who better than your clients to help you with your product!

I agree also about models to reflect your clients and "busy, stylish women" -- there was some disconnect there for me.

I know you will do well --- (I'll be buying one when I get my first sale!)

PT

My initial reaction is the same as Jennifer's... I fully expected to see a female corporate CEO or at least a vice president or sales person with your bag... and I expected to see the bag in use... the picture should be in a boardroom or in an airport, the model should be older, she should be wearing shoes...

I'd stress both the practical and the stylish aspects... the person who can afford this bag and who should buy this bag is probably a pretty sharp cookie, and I'm guessing she is on the go quite a bit.

I'm a telemarketing guy, not an advertising guy, but if I were planning images for this site, I'd consider a contrast of two women at a business presentation: one with a bulky bag and a jumble of stuff with cell phones and cables and PDAs hanging out... and one a stylish and sharp professional... who gets the order? Who has the most fun doing it?

Clearly I'd promote this to business travelers... if it were me, I'd visit airports to see if vendors there could pick it up... I'd go to a trade show with a fishbowl, a poster and one of these laptop cases - I'd approach someone who has a mediocre trade show booth, and I'd have a drawing (or daily drawing) to give away one of the bags, and I'd share the trade show leads. If you pick a trade show which lots of business women attend, this could get you exposure, leads, and give you a chance to get honest feedback from folks in your primary target market.

Emails will work if they are opted in to receive fashion information like on Socail Diva. It is certainly cheap enough to test anyway. I would also remeber that all your target is not Executive level. Many are saleswomen and other jobs that have needs for traveling laptops. And they can pay what you are asking.

Good luck with your product.

Are you also selling wholesale to stores?

i agree with the previous poster.. the big market for your product is the woman sales person. I would try to get an article placed in Sales and Marketing Management Magazine.... They have a section on fashion.. and after work.. this applies

Shoghosh and proeditor give great advice -- find a way to get this in their hands (mens) to purchase for gifts.
There certainly is alot of dialogue about your product -- take note -- its a hot topic!

Hi

I think you're doing all the right things in terms of a push promotion. The product seems fine too. However, I think your campaign is lacking in terms of pull. With a limited budget I think the best approach is to try and meet the consumer face to face at the grass roots level yourself, or with a small team. Micro-marketing I guess, in order to build your local market. This would involve concentrating time and effort on your local and regional market and the key consumers within it. The trade shows are a good step and so are the boutiques. At the risk of stating the obvious....

Try and generate word of mouth. Mediaedge (UK consultancy) found that over 70% of purchase decisions were mainly influenced by wom. In terms of communication around 10% of individuals act as opinion leaders. Their suggestions influence the remainder in terms of opinion forming, and ultimately purchase behaviour. Targeting the HR professionals was a great idea, but I think they need to be targeted in the right way. In general people don't respond well to unsolicted e-mail, many don't even open it. Theres' a higher response rate if it comes from people they know. Try to personalise contact. Do some research into the key players among your local business community. Ideally your PR firm will have done that. Many execs have blogs or a web-presence that would be good for an initial one-2-one approach. If they like your product they may mention it online, generating further buzz. You might also want to consider retaining an agency that specialises in guerilla marketing.

It was mentioned before: Sending out free samples to opinion leaders is a good idea. Bring them on board in terms of feedback and suggestions. Try to get people to invest time and energy in what you're doing, they're more likely to talk about it within their social networks then. Use your own contacts and the contacts of your PR firm to try to spread the word at a personal, social level. Where do your key consumers hang out during lunch break ? Could you set up some sort of exhibition there? A stall maybe? Get as close as possible, and personalise the experience for potential consumers. This in turn would tie-in well with the overall image of your product as a designer executive accessory.

Hope this is helpful and best of luck!

Ranjana