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    RIYASHREE KUKREJA
    Prosper is facing challenges retaining customers and effectively using social media marketing and brand positioning. Its business plan to offer some free services and charge for premium offerings was impacted by financial restrictions requiring price increases. However, its corporate capabilities were disorganized, preventing it from executing its market expansion strategy effectively. Specifically, it lacked focus on social media promotion and a clear strategy around working with institutions versus pursuing individual customers. Moving forward, strengthening partnerships with universities could be beneficial by providing a steady stream of potential new customers each year at a lower customer acquisition cost than direct-to-consumer marketing.

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    Case

    Uploaded by

    RIYASHREE KUKREJA
    204 views3 pages
    Prosper is facing challenges retaining customers and effectively using social media marketing and brand positioning. Its business plan to offer some free services and charge for premium offerings was impacted by financial restrictions requiring price increases. However, its corporate capabilities were disorganized, preventing it from executing its market expansion strategy effectively. Specifically, it lacked focus on social media promotion and a clear strategy around working with institutions versus pursuing individual customers. Moving forward, strengthening partnerships with universities could be beneficial by providing a steady stream of potential new customers each year at a lower customer acquisition cost than direct-to-consumer marketing.

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    Prosper is facing challenges retaining customers and effectively using social media marketing and brand positioning. Its business plan to offer some free services and charge for premium offerings was impacted by financial restrictions requiring price increases. However, its corporate capabilities were disorganized, preventing it from executing its market expansion strategy effectively. Specifically, it lacked focus on social media promotion and a clear strategy around working with institutions versus pursuing individual customers. Moving forward, strengthening partnerships with universities could be beneficial by providing a steady stream of potential new customers each year at a lower customer acquisition cost than direct-to-consumer marketing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    204 views3 pages

    Case

    Uploaded by

    RIYASHREE KUKREJA
    Prosper is facing challenges retaining customers and effectively using social media marketing and brand positioning. Its business plan to offer some free services and charge for premium offerings was impacted by financial restrictions requiring price increases. However, its corporate capabilities were disorganized, preventing it from executing its market expansion strategy effectively. Specifically, it lacked focus on social media promotion and a clear strategy around working with institutions versus pursuing individual customers. Moving forward, strengthening partnerships with universities could be beneficial by providing a steady stream of potential new customers each year at a lower customer acquisition cost than direct-to-consumer marketing.

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    You are on page 1of 3

    Case: Prosper: Marketing Fit

    Q1. What marketing challenge is Harrison and Thain-Blonk


    facing?
    Ans. Marketing’s most important objectives are positioning your
    brand, acquiring customers and retaining them.
    Harrison and Thain-Blonk are facing various marketing challenges that
    are stopping them from achieving these objectives. They are:
     Retaining Customers- Prosper’s business model does not allow
    them to have repeat customers. If a customer clears their
    interview round, they’d be repeating after years, probably when
    switching jobs. On the other hand, customers unable to crack
    their interviews would give Prosper bad reviews, also, they’d not
    be returning.
    However, successful customers can be asked to give
    testimonials, which will help in marketing on social media, and
    will cost nothing.
     Social Media Marketing- Harrison decided to not spend on
    SMM, as a new venture presence on SMM is even more
    important. SMM presence not only helps a business grow and
    reach more and more people but will help in better ranking.
     Brand Positioning- Prosper has not been able to position itself
    rightly, this is evident from the fact that it is still struggling to
    compete with other businesses, whose model is similar to
    Prosper, with slight uniqueness, but it is not enough to place
    your brand in the head of customers.
    Q2. Assess Prosper’s corporate capabilities and its Business
    Plan prepared by them?
    Ans. Business Strategy:
    Prosper initially used a "freemium" business strategy, offering users a
    limited number of services for free while luring them to subscribe to a
    more expensive version with access to the entire suite of services.
    Later, as a result of financial restrictions, they raised their pricing.
    Additionally, they concentrated on the Switchers and University
    Students categories. These two divisions made significant
    contributions to the company. The SaaS-based Prosper firm partnered
    with institutions and charged by the user.

    Prosper's corporate capabilities, in my opinion, were poorly organised,


    which prevented them from carrying out their market expansion
    strategy. They weren't very concerned with social media promotion,
    weren't sure if they should stick with institutions or pursue B2B, etc.
    Q3. Is the Business Plan well-aligned with their corporate
    capabilities?
    Ans. No, even though they have a good idea, they are not able to
    implement it properly.
    Prosper is not able to make an identity for itself. This is because of a
    lack of planning and strategizing. I believe that Prosper's corporate
    capabilities were disorganised, which impeded them from
    implementing their market expansion strategy. They weren't very
    concerned with social media promotion, unsure of whether to continue
    with institutions or seek B2B, etc.
    Q4. What should be the broad marketing plan for Harrison and
    Thain-Blonk for greater success?
    Ans. Harrison and Thain-Blonk will have to do something unique so
    that their business stands out from the crowd they can either work on
    their product end or service end.
    They can add some USP to their product or give services that are very
    high-end, this will not only help them acquire more customers but
    positive feedback will help them reach and acquire more customers.
    Word-of-mouth plays a very important role for any business, and good
    customer service will help Harrison and Thain-Blonk gain more
    customers.
    Feedback campaigns can be run, this will help us know Prosper’s
    strengths and weaknesses and will give more scope for
    improvement and trying out new ideas for the business.

    Q5. Referring to the strategic alternatives in the case, select one


    alternative that Prosper should pursue. Justify your choice.
    Ans. Focus on Institutions is one possibility I would pick because
    strengthening its B2B linkages with universities and colleges will be
    very beneficial in the long run. As each year brings a fresh group of
    students, the number of students that can be converted from these
    schools will be very significant. As a result, more money will be made
    than under the B2C model. Additionally, since the institution would
    handle the marketing on our behalf, there will be less pressure.

    Q6. Discuss about the customer of Prosper?


    Ans. Parents of University Students comprise more than half of
    Prosper’s customers. Students can be further divided into two
    groups the serious ones and the not-so-serious ones. The serious
    ones are the ones who are extremely ambitious and have a well-laid-
    out plan. And the not-so-serious ones are the procrastinators who
    like to leave everything for the end. As a next pricing step, prices can
    be hiked for last-minute enrollers.
    The other category is Job Switchers, who are switching their job from
    one field to another, they also need guidance to excel in new ventures
    for their life.

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