B-Plan for a wireless home theatre system

Abstract

The home theatre segment is growing in number. With disposable income on the rise, home theatres are no longer a luxury product. They are slowly replacing other audio players. Some of the leading players in the home theatre segment are Bose, Philips, and Sony. Other brands include Yamaha, Onkyo, Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Sharp. None of the home theatre systems available in the market have a complete wireless system, though some brands have rear-only wireless systems. Zeu is a new brand of home theatre which offers a fully wireless model. The speakers and subwoofers are designed aesthetically, in the form of a light bulb. It can be easily plugged in to a bulb socket, which will act as the power source. Through this project, we have developed a marketing strategy for Zeu through primary research. We have also done financial analysis and risk evaluation to analyze the breakeven period, as well as the challenges involved for Zeu to succeed in the market. Through exploratory research we have determined the attributes deemed important by a home theatre buyer. The technique of conjoint analysis has been used to assess the utility attached by the consumers to different attributes of a home theatre system. This was primarily to understand the buying behaviour of consumers, and to determine their optimal product. This would help us fix an optimum price for Zeu. The survey was carried out after a demo of the product. The survey analysis highlighted 3 different segments of consumers - price sensitive segment, brand conscious segment, and a segment which attached maximum utility to the wireless feature. The last segment is the largest in number, and is the ideal target segment for Zeu. The optimum pricing for Zeuin this segment has been determined. Zeu will have to be sold through multi brand outlets to achieve maximum reach. However, own sales people are required at the stores, as the concept is new and requires knowledgeable sales persons. At the determined price, the company might break even within 3 years. However, there are some challenges involved. After Zeu is launched, there is the chance of competitors coming up with similar products. The more difficult challenge would be convincing the consumers about the quality, as Zeu is a lesser known brand. Brand building through appropriate marketing strategies is thus required.