Question 1 Fitbit is an interactive device to measure body functions such as heart rate, steps climbed or walked and other personal health data, like heart rate and quality of sleep. It is worn on your wrist or waist, depending on which Fitbit you are using. Fitbit is made by Fitbit, Inc. with their main office in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by James Park and Eric Friedman in 2007. As per Samuel Hum stated, “Fitbit went from almost going out of business 7 times to having sales of $745. 3 million in 5 years.
The company website, Fitbit, states that the company mission is “To empower and inspire you to live a healthier, more active life. We design products and experiences that fit seamlessly into your life so you can achieve your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be. ” Since their first product, The Fitbit Tracker, they have added a number of different products including Fitbit Ultra, Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Force, Fitbit Charge and Charge HR, Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Aria, Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Alta. They use Bluetooth technology to connected with over 200 different devices.
When using certain models, users can purchase fitness programs call Fitbit Premium or FitStar. These give the uses an interactive experience. You can connect to Facebook and Twitter, if you need to stay connected to friends. They have food trackers in some models so you can track your calorie intake. This feature is available to everyone on their website, where you have a Fitbit or not. By syncing your devices you can track your stats over time. If you wear the model with the sleep monitor, it will tell you if how many times you wake up and how well you slept that night. It also has a alarm to wake you up.
Fitbit Inc. was listed on the NYSE under the symbol “FIT” on June 18, 2015. The company is a global company with offices not only in San Francisco, CA and Boston, MA but in Dublin, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Minsk, New Delhi, and Tokyo. Their products are carried in over 50,000 stores in 63 countries as per their website. In 2015, Fitbit was ranks 37 out of 50 in the most innovated companies. Question 2. The Annual Report of Fitbit states the users of their devices are active users, performance uses and everyday users. The report defines everyday uses as the larges group of people who use the Fitbit.
They are people who want to add more activities to their daily routines. They do this by taking the stairs or walk more. The Fitbits that can measure steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes are the models that this group buys. The active users are people who exercise by running, use cardio equipment and play sports for fun. They want a model that monitors their heart rate in addition to an activity tracker. The performance users are people who train regularly and want to improve their personal best. This type of user wants a model with GPS tracking as well as speed, distance, heart rate, daily tracker and exercise routes.
The Fitbit Surge is marketed to this type of user. With so many different models of Fitbits, I can see how this devise would be markets to so many different kinds of users. They are very user friendly and have high tech features, so think they are also being marketed to computer savvy people who are into fitness. The company has tried to have a model for almost anyone, who wants to improve their health. They have models from the bare minimum with steps and heart rate to deluxe with phone, email and GPS. They are priced from approximately $59. 00 to $250. 00.
Question 3 Fitbit’s Marketing segmentation is based on Psychographic Segmentation. By marketing to users who are physically active and have a lifestyle that is active, they are marketing to the segment of the population who would most likely buy a Fitbit. Because of the different range of prices they do not market to just the rich. The motive of this type of user is fitness and physical active. They are also technically sawy and into owning the newest gadget. Question 4 The demographic factors that the company must look at when marketing the Fitbit are age, income, education, and fitness.
These factors help the company decide how to market the Fitbit. According to the annual report the company describes their advertising as follows: Our marketing and advertising programs are focused on building global brand awareness, increasing product adoption, and driving sales. Our marketing and advertising efforts target a wide range of consumers and leverage traditional advertising methods (including television, cinema, and print magazines), sponsorships and public relations, digital marketing, channel marketing, and endorsements by professional athletes and celebrities.
Question 5 The company is using a Patronage-oriented pricing strategy. That way they can maximize the number of customers that are using their products. They do this by having different kinds of Fitbits with different pricing and different features. The optional features of the are the Fitbit Premium at $49. 99 a year and the FitStar which can be paid monthly for $7. 99 or yearly at $39. 99. One of the promotional strategy used by the company using personal information sources, because they use celebrities to promote their products.
The company distributes their products in retail establishments, directly to the consumer through their website, and corporate wellness program, which is a employee wellness program that promote health behaviors. The company sells it directly to employers, health insurance companies or wellness program providers. The retail establishment that the company sells can be large retails stores, onlines stores like Amazon, sporting good stores and wireless carries such as ATT or Verison. Question 6 For the retail stores the company provides displays that can be freestanding, in-line or end cap point of service displays.
These have their marketing message on them, present the products and the features of each one. The displays give the company a change to send the message they want to the consumers. For ecommerce sales the are packaged in individual boxes and mail to the consumer. Question 7 Direct competitor for the Fitbit are health and fitness devices made by companies like Garwin, Jawbone, Adidis and Misfit. In addition to these companies, watch companies like Fossil and Movado, broad based consumer electric companies like Apple, Google, LG, Microsoft and Samsung. Apple has the Apple smartwatch which is a direct competitor of the company.
The are a lot of health and fitness apps that are indirect competitors of the company. The company states the competitive advantage is “By offering a broad range of products spanning styles and affordable price points and cross-platform compatibility, we empower a wide range of individuals with different fitness routines and goals that are difficult for other competitors to address. “2 Question 8 Because the company is a global company and does it manufacture in Asia, there are a number of environmental factors that could effect the production of their products.
Political, cultural and demo graphical because they are in an other country and they have to deal with there politics, customs and the distant to delivery the products. The technological and competitive factors could affect the company’s sales because another company could market a better product and out sell them. Question 9 Consumers who purchase this product are doing so because of psychological needs. The desire to be in better shape and to lose weight are two reasons why a person would purchase this product.
Question 10 The marketers are trying to diversification because they have a number of different products, each targeted to different consumers. By now offering Fitbits with watches, wifi, exercise programs and different apps, they are diversifying their products offered. The monthly charges for the FitStar services is another way the company is diversifying. The marketers are also using product development to increase sales, they do this by coming up with new Fitbits and with new apps for the products that they sell. Question 11 The company’s reputation is good, I reviewed their Facebook page and found very few negative things about the Fitbit.
Michael Sawh compared Fitbit Blaze and the Apple watch and had this to say, “Fitbit’s new design is a welcome change, and for activity tracking fans its focus on fitness is a winner. But for feature diversity the Apple Watch is hard to beat. ” Question 12 The company response to the customers on Facebook very fast. While reviewing the BBB site I could see that there were a few complaints from customer, but the company did respond to the customers and make it right. There were a total of 364 complaints and all cases were not closed.
The adjectives I would use are wearable, colorful, consumer friendly, tracking, fitness, activities, and syncable. The value of an item is determined by the beliefs of society. At this time the value of the Fitbits are what consumers are looking for. They want a consumer friendly wearable product to help them track their activities and fitness. The items need to be able to sync with the other devices they have. Because society is overweight and have become more health conscious, the Fitbit is selling very good but the tides of public opinion could change at anytime and the company would be in trouble.
