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Off The Grid Solar Energy: Marketing Plan for Off The Grid Solar Energy Elizabeth Wolfe Minnesota School of Business

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Table of Contents Introduction Situation/SWOT Analysis Marketing Objectives Market Segmentation Target Market Marketing Mix Strategy 3 5 6 7 8 9

Implementation and Timeline 13 References 15

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Overview of Off The Grid Off The Grid Solar Energy is pushing forward in a tough economy to provide clients with affordable solar modules by renting the units on an individual basis. Now single family homes and small businesses alike will be able to take part in reducing carbon emissions at an affordable cost.

Mission Statement It is our goal at Off The Grid Solar Energy to provide our customers with the cleanest form of energy by offering units at a low fixed rate. By renting photovoltaic units customers are able to get off the grid, save money, and better their environment by reducing their CO2 emissions. We see our customers and the sites they are located as individual and unique; all units are custom fitted to best work with whatever situation you are in. We strive for providing the best service in the industry; when renting one of our units you can be assured that all maintenance and grievances will be handled quickly and efficiently at no additional cost. Our photovoltaic panels are manufactured by one of the leading manufacturers in the industry. We have the panels shipped all the way in from China to our company so that our customers have the very top of the line in technologies. In contributing to Chinas economy as well as our

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own we feel we are pushing into an age of innovations that unites the worlds technologies so our planet can strive to be and have the very best. Cutting our CO2 emissions will greatly contribute to the health of our planet so we can share the earth that we know and love with generations to come. It is so important right now to protect the integrity of our land, air, and water reserves that our company furthers our impact in reducing waste by choosing eco-friendly waste removal and packaging all of our products in recyclable materials.

Plan Overview Our present situation is that the present market wants to be eco-friendly; we have no direct competitors in the way we distribute our product, which the company considers an opportunity; we need capital to make the initial investment; indirect competition is vast and well established; however, we feel that our standard of customer service and integrity will establish us in this growing market. We feel our company is on the right track with our strengths and opportunities and we are taking steps to address threats and weaknesses. Major objectives are to gain market share immediately when upon entering the market, provide fast and reliable customer service, reduce waste, and offer the lowest prices in rental our company can afford. Right now it is safe to say the product is in the growth stage of the products life cycle and while early adopters have pulled this product out of a 40 year slump the early majority has yet to be addressed. The segments that would be most likely to have early majority would be those who live in single family homes and own small businesses. Our marketing mix strategy focuses on how to benefit our company and our target market to provide a win-win situation through our product, method of distribution, promotions, and pricing.

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Situation/SWOT Analysis The environment the product will be marketed in is showing signs of an eco/green trend. Unfortunately the economy is not in a good state and although people would be willing to pay more for an eco-friendly product in a lot of cases they cannot afford to. Strengths The internal strengths of Off the Grid Solar Modules are that we care about our customers and will respond accordingly, have ingenuity and creativity in our approach to marketing and methods of distribution. Weaknesses Weaknesses include lack of intelligence in technologies and lack of capital. Opportunities External opportunities are that as of right now we have no direct competition, approach to pricing and method of distribution are friendly to the present economy for all prospects, and the trend in green will motivate consumers to rent our units. Threats Our major threats are indirect competition is very well established and possible copycats with more capital to spend on the market.

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Competitive Advantage The firms competitive advantage is that our method of distribution is different; we are able to offer solar modules to families and businesses that otherwise would not be able to afford them by renting them to our customers as opposed to selling them for ownership.

Marketing Objectives We will gain 10% market share in the overall market for photovoltaic module units in Minnesota within the first year. We will recycle 95% of waste produced within the company by the end of the first year; at the end of the first quarter we will be recycling at least 75% of our waste. We will handle 100% of customer inquiries in 24 hours or less by the end of the first year; by the end of the first quarter customers calls will be handled in 24 hours or less 85% of the time or better. We will install systems more efficiently by pushing the installation time down to 2 days within the first year, after the first quarter we will have an installation time frame of 3 days or less. We will have all field managers trained and accredited by the IREC by the end of the first year.

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Market Segmentation Segment 1 Middle class income families in single family homes: These families are price shoppers who would like to go green but generally cannot afford to when it comes to photovoltaic systems. Most have children and are between the ages of 27-45. Families in this segment usually live in dual-career households if they are married. Middle class families would be the best choice for the product life cycle stage the market is in; they would most likely take the early majority with no problem. They are high school educated and have some college education. Typically they are mid-level white collar and top level blue collar. When a product reaches a growth stage these families for the most part would be the early majority. Segment 2 Upper-middle class income families in single family homes: These families prefer designer things and nicer things. They typically have one breadwinner of the family and a stay at home homemaker. They may already own a photovoltaic system as they were part of the early adopters in residential areas. They are college educated. They are the upper management, professionals, and mid-level business owners of the commercial community. These families are usually early adopters as they have the money to stay up on the trends. Segment 3 Working class income families in single family homes: These families make less than the national average and typically will have a smaller home as well. Most also have children and are between the ages of 24-40. These families may be late adopters because they may be more

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speculative of where there money goes. They are usually high school educated. They are midlevel blue collar and lower level white collar workers.

Segment 4 Small business: Small business owners generally do not have a lot of capital to spend on utilities but it is becoming more desirable for businesses to do their part in contributing to a healthier planet, with that being said small businesses would be a wonderful way to go B2B with our company and pick up on the early majority.

Target Market A Middle class income families who own single family homes make the most sense for our target market at the given time. After the recession in 2008 a lot of middle class families lost their homes, those who were able to push through the recession with their homes intact are still on a tight budget to keep them. With inflation running rampant in our economy today it is imperative for these families to be able to make purchasing decisions while still keeping a sound mind. The middle class would make a great target market because they have the purchasing power to rent our units without having to be concerned about costs getting too high. Our company will give the target market a quote in the form of a monthly fee that they will pay and that fee will not change from month to month, this fixed utility price will be affordable and will appeal to their segment. The marketing strategy is on a one-to-one base because each individual and sight has its own specifications and Off The Grid will treat them accordingly, offering a wide variety of electrical systems that will suit their needs including free standing systems, grid tie systems, off grid

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systems with a backup battery etc. The PV units themselves are also on a person to person basis some homes may need more modules to suit their needs and some less.

Target Market B Getting involved with small businesses is of great importance at this time. Media attention has been focused on businesses that go green and small businesses are gathering in the drones to pick up on this new trend. Small businesses have never been known for having a lot of money but most can factor in the cost of utilities, which is why they can factor in the cost of one of our rental units and they will. Small businesses have special needs just like their residential counterparts they should be treated on an individual bases.

Marketing Mix Strategy Product Tangibles When a customer rents our product they are paying for far more than a photovoltaic module system. They receive a state of the art electrical system that they can access from anywhere via their mobile devices. They are offered a database where they can see how many pounds of carbon emissions they personally have reduced from being released into the atmosphere; on the database they can also see where battery levels are at and how the output/input levels of the system are functioning, they may also pay bills directly from the database. All of our systems are shipped to the home in recyclable protective packaging. Intangibles

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Our services also go far and beyond, after installation a trained service representative gives each customer an orientation for the customer to learn a little more about their system. Service representatives are available by phone 24 hours a day to address concerns having to do with the PV systems. Being that our customers do not own the system it is our responsibility to address maintenance concerns if something should happen to the modules. From hail to the neighbors baseball we will be there to fix it. Product Life Cycle The invention of PV in the 1950s sparked its introductory stage. It was used primarily on satellites because of the cost to manufacture it. As prices fell PV was then installed in off-grid systems and free-standing systems (Sherwood, 2011). Not until the early millennium was enough research done to lower the cost and make PV more cost efficient. At this point there was an incline in installations and early adopters began to get on board. Grid-tied PV installations doubled in 2010 compared to the installations in 2009. The capacity of systems installed in 2010 was over 8 times the capacity of the installations in 2006(Sherwood, 2011). Its obvious that this product is now in the midst of a growth cycle. With the early majority beginning to involve themselves in this market as well we will see even more of an incline in the overall installation of PV in the coming decade. The late majority will begin installations about half way through the growth stage this will give us a better idea of how long it will be before PV reaches a stage of maturity. The maturity stage of PVs life cycle is not soon approaching; however, when PV does reach its maturity stage it will be in maturity for a very long time; people are installing PV across the globe and so the process of getting off the grid will be a lengthy one.

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For PV to go into a stage of decline a new technology would have to be invented that is cleaner and even more cost effective than PV. Humanity has dedicated a great amount of time in its efforts to strengthen capacity and lower the cost of manufacturing for PV, it is doubtful that humankind would be willing to let PV go for a new trend unless it really was that much better. Distribution Our product will be manufactured by a Suntech Power Holdings who we will work with to achieve a contract manufacturing agreement. From there the products will be shipped to our warehouse facilities which we plan on outsourcing to a neighboring warehouse provider in our geographic area. These two strategies will cut costs for our company and allow us to focus more on our marketing and service efforts. When our representatives establish a new customer we take action on having the proper components transported directly to the sight. Our transporting needs will also be outsourced. We will outsource to offer 24 hour emergency customer service representatives; however we will also have an in house staff of customer service representatives who will cover the day to day operations of customer needs. From our company we will have a direct channel to the customer. Because the systems need to be installed almost as if they were industrial products they will need to be delivered to the customers sight location and assembled on the spot. The prospects are located in geographic areas so direct selling through a sales force would be the most effective.

Promotion Advertising and media The most effective ways to promote the company through advertising would be through mailers that go directly to familys homes as well brochures placed within the doors of homes in specific

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locations. To target small businesses taking out an advertisement in the Star Tribunes Business section and creating an advertisement that is appealing to their demographics would be a great way to target small businesses. We will also have a website where customers can come to see what we are all about. We can target our target market by also using social media to get word of mouth to travel more quickly by placing ourselves on Facebook and Twitter. Public Relations To first get involved in public relations we want our business to be accredited by the IREC (Interstate Renewable Energy Council), this shows that we have high expectations of ourselves and that our customers should expect the same of us. Another way to get involved in public relations is to join the IREC. After the first year we will also share our marketing reports with the Star Tribune and hope our article gets published. This article will also be available on our website. We will also sponsor the Taste of Minnesota with all of their electrical needs by setting up our Stand Alone PV systems for tents to use throughout the event. Sales Promotions The new federal energy tax credit will save customers 30% when applied to their federal returns this is a major sales promotion and we plan to use it. Another sales promotion we will use is to give our customers a free consultation and monthly quote with no purchase necessary. We will also offer a sales promotion where if you choose to rent our units you will get the first month free. By driving down costs we will be penetrating our market. Personal Selling Our sales force will go to prospects homes by appointment only to give consultations on what will meet our customers specific need; our sales people can then give customers a monthly

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quote and take down an order. The selling will be on an individual basis and will be customized to fit our customers and their sight locations.

Price We would like to be able to offer our customers a price that would reflect a payment of $0.75/Kwh at full capacity use. However the determinants of the overall pricing will be varied by the style of the system chosen and the quantity of modules needed.

Implementation and Timeline Month One In the first month we will need to get involved with outsourcing and fill out proper contracts for outsourcing with Suntech Power Holdings, Transportation Company, customer service agency, and warehousing specialists. We will also need to send new field managers to training with the IREC to start the accreditation process. We will build our company website and design mailers, brochures, and advertisements. We will also hire a competent sales force, customer service representatives, and field staff who will double as our electricians. Find a recycling company to haul waste products. Month Two We should order all components and have them shipped to our warehousing specialists. In the second month we will need to take out advertising in the Star Tribune, contract a mailer group, and pick specified locations to go door to door delivering brochures. Talk to Taste of Minnesota Representatives and fill out the application to take part in the sponsorship of solar energy to the event. Set up social networking accounts.

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Month Three We will need to measure objectives and make adjustments as needed. Continuing to deliver brochures and advertising through the mail and in the newspaper. Month Six We will once again be measuring our objectives and monitoring social media to see how we are fending in the market. We will at this point be collecting as much data as possible about our customers and our market figures. Month Nine We will measure objectives against the past nine months to make any last needed adjustments before the years end. Look to see how our Target market is responding to advertisements and check our share in the market. Monitor social media comments and take action accordingly. Right an article of primary marketing information collected thus far of our businesses marketing activities for the first year. Month Twelve Measure all data and compare to objectives. We will then follow-up on data by surveying employees on plans failing (if applicable). Compile final market share figures and finish writing article and report to submit to the Star Tribune.

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References Sherwood, L. (2011). Photovoltaic Trends. U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010. Retrieved from www.irecusa.org