Fitbit
Fitbit
SUBMITTED BY
GROUP - 13
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FITBIT MARKETING PLAN
GROUP 13
PRESENTED TO:
Dr. JONES MATHEW
SUBMITTED BY:
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 4
Situation Analysis ............................................................................................................... 4
Market Summary ............................................................................................................... 4
About Fitbit .................................................................................................................... 4
Industry Background ...................................................................................................... 5
Competitors ................................................................................................................... 5
Next Release ................................................................................................................. 5
Future Goals .................................................................................................................. 5
Fitbit Product Portfolio.................................................................................................... 5
SWOT ............................................................................................................................... 6
PESTEL ............................................................................................................................ 7
PORTER’S 5 FORCES...................................................................................................... 8
Competition ...................................................................................................................... 9
Apple ............................................................................................................................. 9
Xiaomi............................................................................................................................ 9
Samsung ..................................................................................................................... 10
Product Offering ............................................................................................................. 10
Fitbit Versa 2................................................................................................................ 10
Fitbit Versa 3................................................................................................................ 11
Fitbit Sense .................................................................................................................. 13
Distribution ..................................................................................................................... 14
Marketing Strategies ......................................................................................................... 15
Marketing Objectives ....................................................................................................... 15
Target Markets ............................................................................................................... 16
Positioning ...................................................................................................................... 16
Segmentation............................................................................................................... 16
Targeting ..................................................................................................................... 17
Positioning ................................................................................................................... 17
Strategies ....................................................................................................................... 18
Marcomm Mix & Calendar .............................................................................................. 18
Marketing Research ....................................................................................................... 22
Financials ....................................................................................................................... 28
Controls .......................................................................................................................... 29
Implementation ............................................................................................................ 29
Marketing Organization ................................................................................................ 29
References ........................................................................................................................ 29
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Fitbit is the leading brand in the trackers and smart watch segment. The purpose of
this report is to suggest a Marketing plan for the Brand to expand and recover its
position in the local Indian market considering its recent performance.
As the industry is growing, smart watches are preferred over trackers and Fitbit is
pivoting on this trend. After its acquisition by Google for $2.1 Billion, it has
accelerated its move back into the competition which is favouring Samsung with its
Galaxy 4 watch and Apple with its series 8. In comparison to these products, Fitbit
lost 31% in sales and 20% in Revenue during the past year which needs to be
mended now that Alphabet is backing it. However, It has added active users i.e 29
million as of 2019. The competitive advantage that Fitbit watches offer is the battery
life which beats any of its competitors. With Google pushing its OS wear along with
the excellent battery life, Improvement in software and additional features of BIA
sensors and SpO2 Fitbit can turn heads.
The objective remains providing health and sports data to its consumers to maintain
motivation when it comes to health and fitness.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Market Summary
ABOUT FITBIT
From walls to our wrists, watches are getting smarter day by day and so the
American company FitBit is with its wide customer range and products. The
company, once owned by James Park, is now acquired by Google in 2021.
It produces Smart wearables to monitor fitness with activity trackers installed within
such as steps taken, pedometers etc with the facility to sync with the phones,
windows and MacOS.
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INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
Smartwatches are one of the most increasing and promising segments of the
wearable industry. In 2020, 10.6 million units of its product were sold worldwide. As
of 2020, there were 31 million active users of Fitbit all across. Products are sold in
39,000 retail stores and in over 100 countries and their net revenue is approximately
US$1.42 billion
COMPETITORS
Market analysis tells us that there are many competitors who have achieved success
over the past years such as: Apple, Xiaomi, Garmin, and Samsung.
NEXT RELEASE
Fitbit generally follows a release cycle of 2 years. The latest Fitbit Versa 3 has been
released in Aug 2020. Thus, it is expected that Versa 4 will be released in Aug 2022.
FUTURE GOALS
TRACKERS
ACCESSORIES
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SWOT
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
1. The company is into making 1. 68% of the people do not wear
watches and according to a survey watches regularly.
there are 32 percent of the 2. Millennials (age 25-40) who have
consumers that wear watches. money and spend on gadgets do not
wear watches.
2. If we go by the survey and put it
to the Indian market where the 3. People are using smartphones
population is 130 crores, there are because they are more functional than
the watches and now the phones come
41.6 crores people who wear
with all the functions of tracking health
watches. apps.
3. Fitbit has the second largest 4. Smartwatches have a very limited
health and fitness app on the google market as they are high in price and
play store. very low utility.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
1. The Indian watch market is set to 1. The competitors of the company
grow at a CAGR of 20.32% and FitBit are players like Apple also the market
can take advantage of that. leader in the segment with 33.5
percent of the market share, Huawei
2. There can be an advantage if with 8.4% market share, Samsung
FitBit comes into the B2B market by with 8% market share, Imoo with
providing health solutions to market 5.1% market share and then comes
leaders and companies in the Fitbit with 4.2 % market share.
luxurious smart watch business.
2. People losing jobs in the situation
3. People are getting more of Covid-19 is a threat as people have
conscious of their health since saved more and have cut down on
Covid-19 has hit the world and expenses and the Fitbit watch starts
people have started investing in at a price of ₹14,999 and goes up to
their health like never before. ₹22,999.
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PESTEL
•Fitbit is an American company therefore the major political environment of America will
affect the company’s growth and revenues.
•Also, another country which will affect it the most is China, since it is manufactured there.
Since it is sold in other countries apart from America and China, the political scenario of that
country will also affect it.
P •Also, in the year 2020, when there were some Indo-China tensions, since there were
shortages of goods in India.
•India is now an economically good country for the brands. It is around a 3 trillion economy
now and is set to reach 5 trillion somewhere around 2024-2025. People are willing to spend
more on products and services.
•According to primary research done by us approximately 41% of the people are willing to buy
watches from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 15000 and 30% of the people are ready to shed Rs. 15000 to Rs.
E 50000.
•The price of a Fitbit starts from Rs. 15000 to Rs. 23000, which means around 70% of people
surveyed can afford to buy.
•Trends in the market are always changing. There was a time when there were wall
clocks in every home, then when wrist watches came everyone used to wear one all
the time.
•Then came smartphones and with them came smartwatches. Most of the
consumers wear a smartwatch mainly because of its design and appearance.
S •When it comes to Fitbit, they make good designs and are somewhat similar to its
competitors.
•This is the environment which is always changing. As people are progressing technology is
changing constantly.
•To operate for a longer time or to stay in the game every company has to adapt to new
technology.
•Especially companies like Fitbit where the product is connected with technology, the
T company has to innovate constantly.
•The company came up with the tracker at first in 2009 and then in 2017 it came up with the
watch to compete with Apple’s iWatch series 3.
•A) Rethink Consumption: They are using recycled materials and stopped single use plastic to
make their products and they have improved on their product repairability to reduce waste
and reuse resources.
•B) Value Chain Responsibility: they are working towards building a traceable value chain and
are only working with suppliers who practice fair labour practices
E •C) Lower Impact Production Process: They are using safe chemistry, less fresh water and
more renewable sources of energy and in totality reducing the energy consumption to make
their production process less wasteful and hazardous.
•The companies working in different countries need to follow the laws of the
land they work in. Fitbit has had many lawsuits against it in the past in the
USA regarding the issues of privacy breach. In India, the IT Act 2000
L regulates any issue regarding data protection.
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PORTER’S 5 FORCES
Bargaining power of
suppliers - It’s using
different raw materials for
each of its product designs
so as to manage even if the
price of a particular raw
material increases. By using
an efficient supply chain/
Threat of substitute logistics with multiple
products - By Threats of new entrants - It
suppliers. has included creativity and
understanding the
customer needs and innovation in their products
wants, the company can so as to attract new
customers and show a reason
hold the existing for them to choose this brand
customers. Also, by being
“service oriented rather
than product oriented”,
PORTER'S against other competitors. By
building economies of scale
so that it can lower the fixed
which is the mission of cost per unit.
the company.
5 FORCES
Competitive rivalry - Fitbit
follows “differentiation
strategy” to increase the Bargaining power of
market size. By utilizing buyers - By
‘focused differentiation’ introducing a wide
and recognising unique variety of products
‘opportunity’, the and building a large
company has placed itself
base of customers.
into the corporate
wellness market.
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COMPETITION
• For any brand, having competition is inevitable. This is because the free market
will always have supply and demand forces and should be maintained in
equilibrium.
• FitBit is still one among the leading brands, although Apple, Samsung and
Xiaomi are having a better market share.
• FitBit is now entering into the healthcare system and is shifting towards the B2B
business model which is the greatest competitive advantage.
APPLE
The BRAND of Apple has made it distinguish from others and is the greatest strength.
The technology-oriented market and the brand are the 2 important factors for the
customers to buy such a product. But this watch is only suitable for people who already
own an apple watch because, apple smart watch can only pair up with Apple phone
and not with any other.
XIAOMI
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Xiaomi offers products that are value for money and has high customer perceived
value. Despite their competitive prices, they don’t compromise in the quality of the
product that they are offering and still they make profits for the company. But since the
products are Chinese, there is a wrong perception on the brand. Also, they are not the
market leaders in design & appearance.
SAMSUNG
Unlike the Apple, Samsung offers various products with different designs for wide
range of customers. The integration of open-source operating system and software is
the biggest asset for the company to grow. With all the strategies, Samsung managed
to top in the market for a while. But it always keeps a low profit market and the quality
of the products is little less when compared with Apple watches.
PRODUCT OFFERINGS
1. Fitbit Versa 2
FitBit Versa 2:
Launched in sept 2019
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3. Fitbit sense
Fitbit sense
FITNESS
HEALTH
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SMART
DESIGN
•Voice Assistant •6+ Day Battery
•· Calls From Your Wrist •· Fast Charging
•· Call, Text & App •· Biosensor Core
Notifications •· Leading Edge Design
•· Music Experience •· Infinity Band
•· Always-On Display Mode •· Accessories
•· Apps on Your Wrist •· Fitbit App
•· Find My Phone App
•· Clock Faces
DISTRIBUTION
Fitbit uses a mix of channels for distribution of its products. The Fitbit website is one
of the major ones as customers can browse through the site and place an order. It
also offers the products through online vendors like Amazon, Chroma, Reliance digital,
Flipkart etc.
Customers can purchase any of its products through this online retailer. Retail stores
such as Chroma, Reliance digital also offer Fitbit products. Thus, Fit bit makes sure
that there are a variety of channels for reaching its products to the customers.
The covid 19 pandemic has transformed the customer shopping behaviours
considerably and accelerated a shift towards a more digitized market and these
changes have a longing effect. This change however benefitted brands like Fitbit as
they already had a strong online presence which Fitbit could leverage at a time where
consumers started leaning towards a healthier style of living.
However, there will always be concerns about efficiently managing an online portal
with ever lingering threats of Cybercrime and consumer data protection.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current Channel Situation
The current distribution mix is a healthy fuse of various customer touchpoints making
the products accessible to all parts of the country by online channels as well as making
it physically available for display and engagement at various physical stores majorly
in tier 1 and tier 2 cities.
The online strategy however is somewhat of a conflicting approach as the same
product is at a different price value on different sites which makes it even more difficult
for the brand to keep a check on the price discounts. A lower price on sites other than
the namesake site would mean a commission cut and lower profits as compared to
the main site. Not only that, a lower price online would mean more competition for
retailers making the brand unfavourable among the front liners in its distribution
channel.
It creates confusion among the channels, which need to coordinate closely to extend
efficient operations to the customers. This will also lead to complex pricing, as the firm
employs will need to be clear on price to manage at retail outlets. This will make it
difficult to offer standardised service.
Irrespective of the age groups, most of them are preferring for 5000-15000
MARKETING STRATEGY
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Establishing the Marketing Objectives for Fitbit watches is the core to developing a
marketing strategy that exudes clearly outlined and defined actionable points that form
the baseline of the entire strategy, provide direction to the brand and lay down the map
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for its future growth. Objectives must project more than a ballpark; it must have an
outline of how to reach that endpoint and the impact of the said target on the
performance of the brand. It helps if the targets follow the SMART (Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and time based) approach.
1. Build brand awareness
a. Gain through Strategic collaborations
b. Create a buzz with Games, Apps and other social media tools
2. Lead generation
3. Develop Brand Loyalty
4. Build Industry Authority
TARGET MARKETS
The lead among the consumers is of the age 18-25 and of ages 55-64 as these are
the consumers most concerned about fitness and are trying to be healthy. According
to the survey the millennials and Generation X are the most health-conscious people
and to monitor their daily routine they tend to keep a track on it using smart devices.
FitBit thus targets a wide range of customers by providing them with a diverse
spectrum of products to choose from. The company also targets employees,
professionals and students by providing diverse services.
POSITIONING
Segmentation:
Market segmentation is done so that it gives the marketer a better understanding of
the customers’ needs and wants by dividing or segregating them into different groups.
It is usually done on the basis of demographics, age, sex, needs, wants, interests, etc.
It depends on the type of product and its relevance for the user. For Fitbit, segmenting
can be done on the basis of how health conscious a person is and what age group
he/she belongs to. The smartwatch market can be divided the into mainly on the basis:
Demographics - The market can be divided according to the age group to which they
belong. According to a survey, the people of age 25-34 are most likely to buy a
smartwatch. Also, they have the financial ability to buy it.
Geography - Demand for gadgets like these in India is mainly in the Urban area as
they are more aware of the products and they already use technology. In most of the
rural areas in India, people are still striving to fulfil their basic needs and technology is
not as much available there.
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Interests - Most of the people who are health conscious are willing to buy the
smartwatches as it helps them monitor their health and know more about the
effectiveness of their workout. Though, the people who are not that much into health
still buy smartwatches because of their design and looks.
Targeting:
Now that the market has been segmented into different segments, companies chose
a segment that they want to cater to. Since, we segmented the market for watches
according to three different categories i.e., Demographics, Geography and Interests,
Fitbit should make a mix of these and then choose its target audience. It should go for
people in the age of 25-40 who live in the urban area as these are the people who
have the money to buy the product and have the interest to buy it either for design and
looks of the watch or for utility. Also, post covid-19, they are willing to spend on the
instruments which will help them track their fitness and monitor their health.
Positioning:
After targeting, the next step is to position the brand in the minds of the customer.
Here the brand has to make a place in customers' minds by telling them the USPs of
their products and how different they are from their competitors’ products. It has
positioned itself in the minds of the customers as a brand that encourages its
customers or users to be healthier and more active. According to the survey we did,
Fitbit can also position itself as a premium brand just like its biggest competitor Apple
as people are willing to pay more but they need good brands as well. Fitbit can now
take advantage of Google’s brand image as it is now acquired by it and position itself
in the premium brand category.
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STRATEGIES – 4Ps
PRODUCT PRICE
Quality - Quality of products is very high and is
maintained at every level of value chain. This high
Pricing strategy - To attract a large customer
quality and delivery on time is a typical competitive base FitBit has used the Odd-Even pricing
advantage. strategy which tends to raise the perception
Ease of use - All the products are user-friendly for of affordability among the potential
all age groups and also they provide a user manual customers.
along with the product which has basic instructions Range - FitBit smartwatches range between
of how to use the product. 14k to 24k which caters to the needs of all
Portfolio broadness - It has a very wide range of the classes of the society.
variety in their products and this adds more value
to the Fitbit brand.
MARKETING
MIX
PLACE PROMOTION
FitBit currently uses extensive dual Personal Selling - Fitbit itself will not
distribution strategy i.e. Direct and Indirect use sales promotion to sell its
ways to reach out to the end users.
product but its large retailers would.
Direct - It sells its product directly from its
website to the end users. Seasonal offer - Almost all retailers
Indirect - Customers can purchase through and FitBit itself offers seasonal
various other online apps or through large pricing to attract the potential
retail stores. costomers.
As FitBit is a consumer product their marcomm mix should be advertising and sales
promotion. Using AIDA model- Attention, Interest, Desire & Action, FitBit should aim
to build customer relationships and generate sales ultimately. With the help of
advertisements and through mass media promotions, we can spread awareness to
increase the sales. FitBit should also collaborate in events and festivals as shown in
the calendar below to capitalize from the opportunity.
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MARKETING RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
Most of the smartwatch is being used by the age group between 16 to 25 which means
most of the target audience are young teen adults and it also defines most of the older
age group does not wear a smartwatch.
Recommendation:
Fitbit should also target the working-age audience and also the people who are health
cautious.
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56% of customer wears a smartwatch which means it has become part of the day to
day activities
This figure suggests the use of the product and a satisfied customer has the potential
to have a word of mouth of the watch he/she prefers.
Recommendation:
Use of brand reinforcement strategy to increase the market share.
According to the data half of the watch user prefers regular watch but smartwatch
users are increasing and are the second most preferable watch type, the reason may
be smartwatch makers have understood the needs and wants of its consumers.
Recommendation
Fitbit watches are mostly smartwatch it should remain focused on the same product
but should bring innovations to its product line. It can introduce value for money
smart watch to its product line.
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Half of the audience prefers to buy the watches in the retail store and others mostly
buy online
The reason is the retail store provides quality assurance and the consumers can feel
the experience of the watch while buying but the downside of this is that the retail store
does not provide discounts most of the time. But human beings are rational therefore
they are now preferring to buy watches online as the same product can be purchased
at the lower price
Recommendations:
Fitbit should open its smart stores in metro cities
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Price plays one of the major roles while purchasing a watch. Most consumer prefers
a watch that has a low price and a great feature and according to the data the price
range to buy a watch is between 2k-15k. The Fitbit has managed to manufacture its
product between the same range which fits with the preference of the consumers
Recommendations:
Fitbit should bring a smartwatch in the market that has a competitive advantage and
has a lower price
Fitbit has its e- presence and till present has no retail store and the data also define
nearly 41% of people had heard about Fitbit socially.
Recommendation
Use of digital marketing strategy, and use of structured search engine optimization
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Apple, Fitbit, and Fossil remain the most preferred brand for a smartwatch this trio is
considered to have great quality and features. while Samsung and Xiaomi has the
potential to increase their brand preference
Recommendation:
Should focus to increase brand loyalty, reduce churn rate and achieve customer
delight
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Fitbit is a smartwatch that monitors health conditions but it does not have all the
features to monitor health this may be one of the reasons that most of the consumer
prefer additional wearables to monitor the health
Recommendation
Include certain health monitoring features such as ECG, Blood Pressure
measurement, and sugar level.
Apple has a strong brand image and has a market share of more than 50 % and if the
price of apple drops the demand for apple watches can increase.
Recommendation:
Target android users as the android user have a market share of 86% (Gartner report)
Easy use of Fitbit app so that watches can make life easy and simple.
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FINANCIALS
Major findings from Income Statement:
· Cash and cash equivalents have reduced by 29% in FY2019 as compared to previous
year
In total the company’s books do not look good at all. We can see from the income
statement that the gross margins have decreased very sharply and that could be one
of the reasons that the revenues have fallen in the FY 2019 though the total units sold
has increased from FY 2018. Also, the company’s loss has increased by a huge
percentage. The balance sheet of the company also looks very weak as the total
assets have decreased and total liabilities have increased a lot.
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CONTROLS
1) IMPLEMENTATION
To achieve the set goal, FitBit needs to keep check on the following tabs: -
1. FitBit should post relevant pictures and videos frequently on its social media
which would help them develop a huge customer base.
2. Keep a check on the Customers Churn rate and minimize it as much as
possible.
3. Make it a point that at least 25% new customers are connected to the
company on a yearly basis.
4. To introduce online forums to get feedback from retailers regularly to see what
is the customer's response.
5. Surveys to be circulated to know the requirements of its customers and then
innovate accordingly.
2) MARKETING ORGANIZATION
Tim Rosa is the Chief Marketing Officer Of Fitbit who sets all the major marketing
strategies focussing on Brand Management for Fitbit followed by Vice President
of Platform Marketing Steve Marjon who is responsible for CRM marketing, e-
commerce etc. Then the marketing plan is passed on to the regional heads and
further.
REFERENCES
https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-article/most-consumers-dont-wear-a-watch-daily-
survey-finds/
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/wearables/news/apple-watch-smartwatch-market-lead-
global-market-grow-35-percent-yoy-q1-2021-counterpoint-2450529
https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/india-watch-market
https://www.edrawmax.com/article/fitbit-swot-analysis.html
https://www.techadvisor.com/feature/wearable-tech/fitbit-vs-apple-watch-3612954/
https://screenrant.com/differences-fitbit-apple-watch/
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https://assignmenthelp4me.com/strategic-analysis/fitbit.html
https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-article/most-consumers-dont-wear-a-watch-daily-
survey-finds/
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/wearables/news/apple-watch-smartwatch-market-lead-
global-market-grow-35-percent-yoy-q1-2021-counterpoint-2450529
https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/india-watch-market
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https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/sustainability
https://www.zippia.com/fitbit-careers-4549/history/
https://www.businessofapps.com/news/people-aged-between-25-and-34-shown-to-
be-most-likely-to-buy-a-smartwatch-in-the-next-6-months/
https://investor.fitbit.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2020/Fitbit-Reports-
2019-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Results/default.aspx
https://www.discoverci.com/companies/FIT/marketing-expense
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PLAGIARISM
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