...Home » Business & Economy » Marketing & Advertising Trap-Ease America: the Big Cheese of Mousetraps By vareemon | September 2010 Zoom InZoom Out Page 1 of 4 Trap-Ease America: The Big Cheese of Mousetraps 1. Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? The information they need to evaluate this opportunity is their market share compare to the whole mousetrap market. They can also scope down and use the following information: -Check whether their marking plan is efficient and effective. -Check with retailer and distributors whether sales are increasing or not. They might need to conduct a research to evaluate bottom line reasons of decreasing in sales. -Monitor their customers, competitors, and suppliers. They could evaluate the competitors in terms of their marketing mix and their customer. -Monitor internal organization personal. -Research whether demand for the product is steady, increasing, or decline. -Perform a SWOT analysis. -Do research on customer needs and demand. -Evaluate customer complains and customer relationship. -Evaluate the skill and effectiveness of salespeople. -Evaluate whether product has served customer wants How would you write a mission statement? I would write a mission statement by emphasizing the strength of the product. We strive to be a leader in innovative, user friendly and safety, and quality mousetrap. We provide hygienic...
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...Trap Ease Case Study 1. Martha and the investors in the Trap Ease seem to face a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the investor group would write the mission statement? How would you write it? Trap Ease America has obtained worldwide rights to market an innovative mousetrap which had won the title of “best new product” at a National Hardware Show in Chicago. In order to evaluate this once in a lifetime opportunity the investors at Trap- Ease need to understand the market place in which they will be operating in terms of customer needs, customer wants and demands in order to create value for customers and build a strong customer relationship to capture value from their potential customers in return. This will help Trap Ease to identify who will be the best target market for their product and what would be the best market offering, how your target market makes purchasing decisions, how your competition positions their products and what your product has to offer. B) I think that the investor group would write a product oriented mission statement stating the product that they offer for example “ we sell an innovate mousetraps” where as I would write a market oriented mission statement geared towards satisfying the customer basic needs. 2. How is the product positioned relative to the selected target market in the case? Are there other ways to position the product? Trap –Ease America’s research...
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...1) Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the group would write its mission statement? How would you write it? Martha and Trap-Ease America have an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a new mousetrap but in order to capitalize on this opportunity they need to evaluate the 4-Cs of marketing. Focusing on the customer’s solution, cost, convenience and communication will enable Trap-Ease America to effectively market their new innovative mousetrap. The mission statement from Martha and the investors would be something like “We make a mousetrap that is safe, easy to use and less mess.” This is because they were focused more on the product than on the customer. My mission statement would focus on the customer: “We help you remove your un-wanted pests--easier, safer and with less mess.” 2) Has Martha identified the best target market for Trap-Ease? What other market segments might the firm target? Martha has identified one of the best target customer for Trap-Ease by choosing women. Most women do not want to use or handle the old mousetraps. Trap-Ease would be a great product for them. Another market she could add to Trap-Ease is animal lovers. This trap would allow this market to release mice into a field or other uninhabited area. It also will not cause non-fatal injuries to a mouse. Because this product is reusable, she could...
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...Q1. Martha and the Trap-Ease investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the group would write its mission statement? How would you write it? A1. To evaluate some potential opportunity, investors usually use the “Market Opportunity Analysis” method. This method helps in determining the attractiveness and chances of success of that opportunity. To do that, we need to gather information that helps us answer five main questions: 1. Can we clearly express the benefits of our solution to the defined target markets? 2. Can we reach those target markets with media and trade channels? Can we do it effectively cost-wise? 3. Do we possess or can we acquire the resources and capabilities needed to be able to deliver the customer benefits? 4. Can we deliver the benefits better than any current or potential competitor? 5. Will the expected “return on investment” meet or exceed the investor’s required threshold for investment? Regarding the mission, for a company to write a good mission statement, the statement should have some major characteristics. First, it should focus on a limited number of goals. A large number of goals is usually a sign of distraction and a vague vision. Second, the statement should stress the company’s core values and major policies. Third, the statement should provide a long-term view of the future. Forth, the statement should be short and memorable...
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..."mission statement": We produce a trap that you could use safer and easier than the traditional one, with no risk of catching your fingers while loading it. I would have written the mission statement in a very similar way. However, I would have included the fact that your children are not in danger with the new trap as they are with the traditional one to show the disadvantages of the competitor's products. 2) I think Martha has identified the best target market: "Women" because they care about mice. The firm could also try to target men, although they are more willingness to buy the traditional trap. They should try to emphasize the children's safety. 3) They had positioned the product by mentioning that it is safer and easier to use than the competitors' products, and that there is no risk of catching one's finger while loading it. I think they can add that the trap is no dangerous for small children at home. 4) The marketing mix is the following: Product: the mousetrap. Price: $ 2.49 five to ten times more expensive than standard trap. Place: they decide to distribute the product direct to grocery, hardware and drug chains (retailers) avoiding any wholesaler or other intermediaries. Promotion: they are going to spend $10,000 on advertising. The only problem that appears in the mix is the higher price compare with the competitors. 5) Trap- Ease American's competition are those organizations that produce and sell or distribute conventional traps. 6) I would change the marketing...
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...Trap Ease only has a onceinalifetime opportunity because the investors see that this product has big potential since the idea is great. The investors saw the product and automatically saw that people would buy it since it is such an easy and clean solution to something associated with messy and violent. The information needed to evaluate the opportunity is the study of the market, competitors, and other products. Also, the awards and buzz surrounding the TrapEase also helped the investors see this as a high potential. The positioning of TrapEase is centered around dead mice and the product. They really value their product and want to show its usefulness. The group’s mission statement would be similar to their slogan “Easily trapping mice without a mess.” If the main target is people who stay home, then my mission statement’s point would not be about dead mice but about the peace of an environment that is rodentfree. The mission statement would read like this: “Ensuring a clean and safe environment for our customers through innovation.” 2. Martha has identified that the best target for the TrapEase is women since they do not enjoy the cleanup that happens with the original mousetrap and stay at home. It seems like Martha has used a fast train of thought to come up with this conclusion and not statistics. This is not the best market target. The number of women who study and have a professional life is growing. Martha would have to market the product...
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...1. Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. First they need to evaluate the product and see if there is anything they can do that could improve it. Second they need to make sure to target the right customers so they can sell as many as possible. Third they need to be able to look at the packaging and shipping so that the product will get to the customers fast but at a reasonable rate. Last would be the mission statement there’s would be like this, “We produce a trap that you could use safer and easier than the traditional trap, with no risk of catching your fingers while loading it”. My mission statement would have been something similar but I would compare my product to others to separate myself from others but I would have included how much safer it is for your family to use. 2. Martha has identified the best target market for the Trap-Ease. Women usually stay home more than men do so this product would be easier for women to handle. Men usually do not care about how it gets trapped as long as it does so this product does work very well and believe Martha should market it for everyone because it makes every bodies life easier by using these traps. 3. The company has put itself in a great position to expand and be high in demand since the traps are so successful. I think they should try to position it towards the elderly because this is an easier way of trapping mice than ever before. 4. The Product mousetrap...
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...Trap-Ease America: The Big Cheese of Mousetraps Trap Ease America is the number “ONE” mouse trap that has been in the market for many years. Is easy and safety to use. User can dispose of the mouse while is still alive, or the user could leave it alone for a few hours to suffocate inside the trap. Trap Ease had won a contest and beat 300 new products. According to people magazine, Trap Ease has brought a lot of attention and therefore they have a high demand. But Trap Ease had not actualized the demand. A group of investors invested into Trap Ease and hired a retired rancher and Martha to serve as president to develop and manage the Trap Ease America organization. Questions for Discussion 1. The first step Martha and her team need is the 4 C’s. The 4 C’s consists of Customer Needs & want, Cost to customer, Convenience and Communication ( Robert L). My mission statement would be “to catch a mouse, NOW is “Safe and Easier”. To catch a mouse is “Cheaper and faster”, Trap Ease is the Solution to the mouse problems and child proof. 2. Martha has identified a few market segments (Women/ concern about mouse), but in my opinion; she has not been productive about it. In fact, Martha is having issues with building strong customer relationship. One market segment I will build will be a partner relationship management team. This team not only will recognize the 4c’s but also build an organizational culture for Trap Ease America organization. This team’s strategy will study...
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...Marketing Company case Trap ease American: The Big Cheese of Mousetraps Presented for: Luis Fernando Correa Presented by: Andrés Felipe Doblado Paula Andrea Buitrago Luis Miguel Ramos Valentina Ramirez University of La Sabana Febrary 07 of 2014 BACKGROUND In 1987, a group of investors had formed Trap-Ease America in January after it had obtained worldwide rights to market the innovative mousetrap. In return for marketing rights, the group agreed to pay the inventor and patent holder, a retired rancher, a royalty fee for each trap sold. The group, then hired Martha House to serve as president and to develop and manage the Trap-Ease America organization. Martha had initially forecasted Trap-Ease’s first-year sales at five million units. Through April, however, the company had only sold several hundred thousand units. Martha wondered if most new products got off to such a slow start, or if she was doing something wrong. She had detected some problems, although none seemed overly serious. For one, there had not been enough repeat buying. For another, she had noted that many of the retailers upon whom she called kept their sample mousetraps on their desks as conversation pieces and she wanted the traps to be used and demonstrated. Martha wondered if consumers were also buying the traps as novelties rather than as solutions to their mouse problems. In these first few months, Martha had learned that marketing anew product was not an easy task. Some customers...
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...Company Case: Trap-Ease America Answer 1: Martha and the investors believed that the product they had was of excellent quality and it should be readily bought in the market. However there seems to be no evidence whatsoever to whether the investors had thought anything out about neither the marketing strategy they would follow nor the fulfilling of the customers’ needs and wants. Not even was there any effort seen to research out information about the market or the needs of the potential consumers. Many organizations develop formal mission statements. A mission statement is a statement of the organizations purpose- what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. Some companies define their mission myopically in product or technology terms. But I think the group’s mission statement should be market oriented and defined in terms of satisfying basic customer needs. Answer 2: The best target market mean a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve since it’ll give maximum profit. The case study tells us that Trap Ease is targeting housewives since they are reluctant to set and bait traditional spring loads. As they are concerned about the health and safety of the children, and cleanliness of their homes Trap Ease would be a better product to use. There are other markets the company could possibly target. Segmenting the market we can find any business that handles food storage or production using Trap Ease for their benefit...
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...Trap-Ease If a man [can]? make a better mousetrap than his neighbor?the world will make a beaten path to his door. True, but only if the world perceives more value in it than the next door neighbor's. Statement of the Problem The problem Martha's currently encountering is the fact that despite the publicity and the proven uniqueness of Trap-Ease mousetrap, both demand and sales fall radically short of expectations. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the root of the problem and how it can possibly be solved. Price It was stated in the article that the Trap-Ease was approximately five to ten times more expensive than the standard traps already present in the market. This is largely due to the innovative concept of trapping mice in a mess-free method, and not as a consequence of more expensive raw materials. Trap-Ease utilizes plastic that is generally less costly than wood, thin steel metals and springs which compose the traditional mousetrap. No matter how much more expensive the cost of a new product is, it must not cost higher than the existing unless it possessed mechanics incredibly special, inevitably making customers feel that they are getting the value for their money. Since the innovative plastic mousetrap aims to reach the market with its new concept (something abstract), it will take much more than a low price for buyers to realize its value. Decreasing the introductory price, among other factors, will help increase sales by attracting new...
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...Ronald Mistica Paredes 132-C V. Cruz St. Malibay, Pasay City, Philippines, 1300 Phone No.: (63) 910-8011 Mobile No.: (63921) 285-4468 Email Add: infomercan@gmail.com PERSONAL INFORMATION Permanent Address : 132-C V. Cruz St. Malibay, Pasay City, Philippines, 1300 Birthdate : October 28, 1978 Birth Place : Pasay City, Manila Height : 5’5 ft. Weight : 120 lbs. Sex : Male Civil Status : Married Religion : Roman Catholic Nationality : Filipino BENEFICIARY Beneficiary Name : Paredes, Kathy Llorente Relationship : Spouse Permanent Address : 132-C V. Cruz St. Malibay, Pasay City, Philippines 1300 Tel. No. : (63) 918-8012 CHILDREN Paredes, Rowena Llorente Birthday: August 14, 1985 Birth Place: Bascaran Daraga Albay Civil Status: Single Occupation: Student Paredes, Leo Llorente Birthday: January 14, 1980 Birth Place: Bascaran Daraga Albay Civil Status: Single Occupation: Mechanical Engineer DEPENDENTS: Father: Paredes, Alberto Mistica Birthday: August 14, 1960 Birth Place: Bascaran Daraga Albay Occupation: Carpenter Mother: Paredes, Rowena Mistica Birthday: June 15, 1960 Birth Place: Bascaran Daraga Albay Occupation: Housewife BROTHERS / SISTERS Brother: Paredes, Dennis Mistica Birthday: September 11, 1980 Birth Place: Bascaran Daraga Albay Civil Status: Single ...
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...Case Analysis of Trap-Ease America A group of investors had formed Trap-Ease America after obtaining the worldwide rights to sell a patented and innovative mousetrap from an inventor. The group hired Martha as president to develop and manage the company. Trap-Ease America regarded housewives as the best target market. Because the company believed that women will be attracted to the safety and cleanliness that the traps offer. Unlike traditional spring-loaded traps or poisons, the tarp lures the mouse into a square tube in which it will be trapped alive. There is no danger in baiting and setting trap. It can also avoid the “mess” resulted by the traditional trap’s operation. Martha sold the trap directly to large retailers such as Safeway, Kmart, and CB Drug. The traps sold in packages of two, with a suggested price of $ 2.49, about five to ten times more expensive than the traditional trap. Martha promoted the mousetrap mainly through trade show and personal selling. Despite the innovativeness of the trap and its success at gaining public attention, sales are disappointingly slow. Following are analysis of the problem Trap-Ease faced and some suggestions. Martha and the investors believe they face an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the patented mousetrap will bring huge profits. But things were not going on well in the start-off. We know that in order to evaluate any investment opportunity investors need to conduct a detailed analysis concerning a variety of different issues...
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...Executive Summary: Trap-Ease America has the patent to a revolutionary new mouse trap. Trap-Ease America expected the revolutionary mouse trap to sell like hot cakes unfortunately things have not progressed as predicted so far. A few major problems can be identified with the overall business strategy of Trap-Ease America. First of all, the President of the company happens to be the only sales person as well for the product. Secondly, there seems to be a wrong selection in terms of market segmentation. Even though the product is a revolutionary one, however it is still only an improvement of an age-old device. Regardless of how much promotion the product has received from third party reviewers, the consumers still need to be educated on why this more expensive mouse trap is better than the conventional ones. Thus it is imperative that the President hires experienced sales people in order to reach and educate more potential consumers. Apart from that, it is also important to change focus in terms of target market, since the current strategy is targeting women. The target market should be anybody facing the issue of mice in their household. With the right marketing and positioning strategy, along with a strong sales force, Trap-Ease America can definitely capitalize on the revolutionary product. SWOT Analysis: Strengths • Very innovative and engineered product • Highly environmental • Long lasting product because of re-usability Weaknesses • High price • Less...
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...NEGOCIOS SIMULACIÓN EMPRESARIAL PROFESOR: DARIO A. RAMOS V. SIMULACIÓN EMPRESARIAL Caso 2: Trap-Ease América: El gran queso de las ratoneras Ciudad de Panamá, febrero 2014 ESTUDIO DE CASO Trap-Ease América: El gran queso de las ratoneras HECHOS RELEVANTES A Martha le ha sido encomendada la tarea de presidir la empresa dueña de la patente de un producto innovador en diseño y funcionalidad. El Trap-Ease es una trampa para ratones que está realizada para romper con el paradigma de los pegamentos y las trampas comunes. El producto cuenta con el aval de varios premios, apariciones en revistas y respaldo de la crítica. Lo que pareciera ser la fórmula perfecta para generar interés entre los consumidores y alcanzar altas ventas en un periodo de corto plazo. Está por finalizar el periodo económico y a pesar de las expectativas generadas por el producto y la expectativa financiera marcada por los inversores y por Martha resulta que el panorama es totalmente yuxtapuesto y no satisface a ninguno. La empresa se encuentra con un problema complejo de promoción. Siguen con altas expectativas pero no encuentran la salida más eficiente para que el producto despegue. 1. OBJETIVO Evaluar las causas que han generado unas ventas muy lentas de las ratoneras Trap-Ease América y desarrollar posibles alternativas que mejoren esta situación. 2. PROBLEMA CENTRAL O PRINCIPAL * Trap-Ease América como empresa nueva y con un producto innovador (aclamado por la crítica y ganador...
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