Internet Security

Executive Summary

The security software market is expected to grow to $4.4 billion by 2007 . In order to gain market share in this space, security software offered to the market must contain virus research, tracking, alerting, and clean-up services. This marketing plan will evaluate the marketplace and propose product components, promotion, and price in order to meet a sales forecast which will put Encore as one of the top three security segment products by 2008.

The primary target market for security software is internet users. Internet usage has grown dramatically in the past 10 years. Today, 70% of US households are online, and this population is expected to grow to 95% by 2010. Due to the large percentage of households which are online, there is little customer differentiation in age, income, gender, or national origin. There are differences on the populations' primary usage of the internet; therefore, this plan focuses on meeting customers' needs based on a behavioral based customer segmentation.

The primary marketing strategy discussed in this marketing plan will be one of differentiation. By 2008, Encore will sell 400,000 units annually with gross revenues of $30M and a contribution margin of 52%. Encore will be able to differentiate itself from its competitors by offering one of the highest quality products in the security software space. In order to be successful, Encore's high quality must resonate in its product reviews, from user experience, and the product packaging. This plan will show the necessary steps that Encore must take to be in the top three security suite sales in the market.

1 Situation Analysis

1.1 Product offering

Encore, a top 10 PC software publisher, offers a portfolio of software products in retail outlets such as Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, and CompUSA across the United States. Encore has historically been known for its family entertainment, productivity, and education software. Most recently, Encore entered the PC security software segment with its top rated Spyware Doctor product. This product is aimed to detect, clear-up, and block unwanted Spyware on PCs caused by consumers' internet browsing behavior. As the market for PC security software grows and stand-alone security software product offerings in the market are replaced by security suites, Encore will follow suit with this its own robust security suite offering. Encore's security suite product will include the following protection features:

* Virus scanning

* Spyware protection

* Personal Firewall

* Pop-up blocker

* Parental controls

* Free Email Technical support

Evaluating the high penetration of the US population online and the wide range of overlap of internet uses, Encore's security suite meets the needs of the following consumer segments online which we call the:

* "Searchers"

* "Financially Focused"

* "Leisurers"

Since the population online mimics the US population demographics, our marketing segments for the security suite are instead focused toward internet usage behaviors. The "searchers" are frequent users of internet search engines to find information. Those visiting unknown websites using search engines online expose themselves at a higher frequency to viruses and spyware. These customers need virus and Spyware protection and personal firewall. The "financially focused" are frequent users of banking, bill-pay, and/or stock trading online. These users are increasingly concerned of protecting their financial information from key logging activities and need protection from viruses, Spyware, and personal firewall. Finally, the "leisurers" use the internet for entertainment and educational purposes. A high percentage of leisurers use the internet for shopping, gaming, travel, and children's education. These consumers visit shopping, gaming, and educational sites. Leisurers transact purchases online and expose themselves to pop-ups at a rate than the searchers and the financially focused. The Leisurers are wary of protecting their credit card information, spend a higher portion of their time online, and have the highest penetration of children under 18 years of age online. These users need most features contained in a security suite including: virus and spyware protection, personal firewall, pop-up blocker, and parental controls.

Each of these segments and overlap will be described and analyzed in great depth in the Market Summary section. Catering toward the needs of these market segments with Encore's new robust security suite offering will help drive the company to be ranked in the top three security suite products by 2008.

2 Marketing Summary - Consumer

This report analyzes the security suite software market, part of the PC security software market, in the United States. The PC security software market accounted for over $500M in sales in 2005, and included software in the following five categories:

* general security

* internet filters and blockers

* virus detection

* firewall

* security suites

In addition, this report will focus on security suite software sold through retail outlets in the United States. In spite of continued growth in internet shopping and purchases made online, this report will also recommend tactics to drive consumers to retail outlets to purchase security suite software.

Positive drivers to market growth for retail security suite software includes number of Americans online, replacement of stand-alone software with suite products, diminishing retail shelf space, increased consumer awareness of security threats, increased frequency of time spent online, and increased frequency and number of internet security threats. Negative drivers to market growth include nearing market saturation of households online, bundling of security software with new PC purchase, slowing growth of new PC purchases, slowing growth of computer hardware and software purchases, and increase in amount of purchases made on-line.

Industry growth and resilience is a function of amount of time, type of transactions consumers