Specific Task:

A new tourist experience/activity is about to be launched worldwide (when things go back to normal!). The activity is an underwater submarine tour where a sub-marine is towed behind a boat which pulls the submarine over a coral reef. Four guests at any one time will be able to view the spectacular underwater world without having to know how to swim, snorkel, scuba dive, or breathe differently. Guests will experience the sensation of going underwater and having water splash over a 7 & ½ ( 20 cm) inch acrylic dome that sits on top of the submarine, before then being towed and going to a depth of 30 – 50 feet (approx. 9 metres to 14 metres) underneath the ocean’s surface. In what is seen as an environmentally sensitive design feature, the submarine will be tied to a boat by a 160 foot (approx. 45 metre) tow rope. The four guests will be hosted by a guide, who sits in a pilot style seat in the submarine. The submarine guide will educate the guests on the corals and fish they encounter underwater.

The length of the trip will be about 20 minutes inside the submarine, and around 60 minutes on the boat that is tethered to the submarine. The tourism experience will be launched initially in a South East Pacific Country, before spreading to other tropical destinations around the globe. In total, looking at some 60 locations within the next 8 years.

PART A:

 Learning Outcomes: Market research; Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning, Consumer Behaviour, Pricing strategy

Conduct market research and:

1. Determine the product’s primary target market/s. Who are they and why will they purchase the product? Develop customer profiles for the key customers within the target market/s.

2. Identify the key competing activities and providers in the marketplace that you think are closest to this service.

3. Determine the company’s position in the market (using a gap map – see instructional video on Moodle)

2. What are the key attributes of the product?

3. What should the Value Proposition be?

4. Identify and justify a suitable price point for the product

5. Based on your work above draw multiple positioning maps for this service against what you consider are the key competitors. Briefly explain why you have drawn the maps the way you have.

PART B:

Learning Outcomes: Products & Branding; Market Testing; Promotion

1. Create a brand for the new product. Justify each of your choices, explaining why you chose the branding that you did. Include:

1. A company/brand name

2. A tagline to accompany the brand name in advertising material

3. Branding elements: consider colours, elements of a possible logo, staff uniforms, tone of voice for marketing communications etc.

4. Don’t forget to consider things like language considerations and cultural beliefs of your target market when you come up with a brand name and colours.

5. Explain what methods you used to determine the cultural suitability of your branding.

2. If possible conduct informal market research to determine customer acceptance of your chosen branding e.g., a simple online survey with Facebook family and friends, or a quick a short phone or online interview.

3. Report on the outcomes. Did you need to make changes to take in to account the feedback and needs of the market.

1. If so, include what changes you made and why – this is a great learning experience and can make all the difference to the success of the product in market!

2. Develop two advertisements for the product and explain how your advertisements meet the customer benefits sought. Ads can be either traditional or digital advertising mediums – get creative!