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Academy of Economic Studies

Faculty of Business Administration, English Section

Strategic Marketing

2009

DUMITRESCU ELIZA

ADMINISTRATION

(English teaching)

FABIZ, Group 2

Marketing Plan

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Marketing Plan: The Insurance Institute 2009

Confidentiality Agreement

The undersigned reader acknowledges that the information provided by Dumitrescu Eliza in this

marketing plan is confidential; therefore, reader agrees not to disclose it without the express

written permission of the Insurance Institute.

It is acknowledged by reader that information to be furnished in this marketing plan is in all

respects confidential in nature, other than information which is in the public domain through

other means and that any disclosure or use of same by reader may cause serious harm or damage

to Insurance Institute.

Upon request, this document is to be immediately returned to the Insurance Institute.

___________________

Signature

Dumitrescu Eliza

Name (typed or printed)

26 May 2009

Date

This is a marketing plan. It does not imply an offering of securities!

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Table of Contents

Confidentiality Agreement.............................................................................................................2

Executive Summary........................................................................................................................5

Introduction....................................................................................................................................6

1. Marketing Planning...............................................................................................................6

2. Marketing Plan.......................................................................................................................7

3. Company presentation............................................................................................................7

3.1 Projects concluded...........................................................................................................8

3.2 The management of Insurance Institute........................................................................9

I. Situation Analysis.....................................................................................................................10

I.1 Industry analysis.................................................................................................................10

I.2 Sales analysis......................................................................................................................13

I.2.1. Courses........................................................................................................................13

I.2.2. Master Risk Management and Actuarial Techniques (MRACT).........................13

I.2.3. Events..........................................................................................................................14

I.2.4. Caravan.......................................................................................................................14 I.3 Competitive analysis...........................................................................................................15

I.4 SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................................16

I.4.1 Strengths......................................................................................................................16

I.4.2 Weaknesses..................................................................................................................17

I.4.3 Opportunities...............................................................................................................18

I.4.4 Threats.........................................................................................................................19

II. Objectives.................................................................................................................................21

II.1 Corporate objectives..........................................................................................................21

II.1.1 Training Programs....................................................................................................22

II.2 Marketing objectives.........................................................................................................24

II.2.1 Future projects...........................................................................................................25

II.2.2 Market Trends...........................................................................................................26

II.2.3 Market Growth..........................................................................................................26

III. Marketing Strategy................................................................................................................28

III.1 Market Segmentation Strategy........................................................................................28 III.2.Market Demographics.....................................................................................................29

III.3 Market Needs...................................................................................................................30

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III.4 Targeting Strategy...........................................................................................................30

III.5 Product Life-Cycle...........................................................................................................31

a. Idea Generation and screening:.....................................................................................31b. Initial concept testing:.....................................................................................................31

c. Business analysis:.............................................................................................................31

d. Design Prototype:............................................................................................................31

e. Market testing..................................................................................................................32

f. Commercialization...........................................................................................................32

IV. Marketing Programs..............................................................................................................33

IV.1 Strategy Pyramids.............................................................................................................33

IV.3 Marketing Mix..................................................................................................................34

IV.4 Marketing Research.........................................................................................................34

IV.5 Loyalty Programs.............................................................................................................35

IV.6 Customer Service and Support........................................................................................35

IV.7 Trust and credibility.........................................................................................................35

IV.8 Trade promotions.............................................................................................................35

V. Implementation plan................................................................................................................36

V.1 Scheduling GANTT...........................................................................................................36 V.2 Marketing Organization....................................................................................................36

V.3 Contingency Planning.......................................................................................................36

V.4 Performance Evaluation and Monitoring........................................................................37

VI. Financial Information...........................................................................................................38

VI.1 Budgets.............................................................................................................................38

VI.2 Sales Projections for 5 years............................................................................................39

Conclusions.................................................................................................................................41

References.....................................................................................................................................42

Annexes.........................................................................................................................................43

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Executive Summary

The Romanian Insurance Institute is a training company that offers seminar and training

programs to medium and large size companies. The company can rapidly gain market share and

long-term customers; it covers training for adults and not only in the insurance field.

The programs will be offered in seminar format (audience as observers) and training program

format (audience as participants) around the country. Even in economic downturns, successful

companies recognize the value in investing in human capital through training

programs/professional development.

The target market includes medium to large companies with 50+ employees, with training needs

best served through a qualified, outside training resource.

The Institutes mission is to provide companies with high quality training seminars. The Institute

exists to attract and maintain customers. When it adheres to this maxim, everything else will fall

into place. Its services will exceed the expectations of its customers.

Marketing strategy will include public seminars and the leveraging of Institutes books and

printed materials. These activities will create awareness, establish credibility, and secure clientsfor their initial experience with the Institute.

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2. Marketing Plan

Marketing plans generally cover a full year, although some (especially those covering new

product introductions) may project activities and anticipate results farther into the future. The

marketing planning process starts at least several months before the marketing plan is scheduled

to go into operation; this allows sufficient time for thorough research and analysis, management

review and revision, and coordination of resources among departments and business units.

The marketing plan documents the results of the marketing planning process and serves an

important coordination function. With internal consensus, it provides for employees and

managers; encourages collaboration; outline resources allocation; and delineates the tasks,

schedules, and responsibilities planned to accomplish objectives.

The six broad steps presented before are the base for marketing purposes, for which marketers

need a number of professional and organizational strengths and the know-how to create an

effective marketing mix supplemented by customer service and internal marketing. Five broad

guiding principles for marketing planning are to expect change, emphasize relationships, involveeveryone, seek alliances, and be innovative.

3. Company presentation

This Institute is actually an independent federation established by four other organizations. These

organizations are:

The National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies from Romania(UNSAR);

The National Union of Insurance Brokerage and Consultancy Societiesfrom Romania (UNSICAR);

The Actuarial Association in Romania (ARA);

The Right Association of Insurance in Romania (ADAR).

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The Insurance Institute was registered in Foundations Special Ledger no. 32/02 October 2001

and it acts as a non-profit legal person, non-political institution and non-governmental institution

as well.

3.1 Projects concluded

During the last year, among other projects, the Insurance Institute organized a series of courses

for actuaries . The seven modules of courses included subjects such as: Financial Mathematics,

Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Business Finance, Actuarial Mathematics, Investment

Management, Actuarial Finance, Statistics, Life products development, Reinsurance.

The courses were attended by specialized personnel from Romanian insurance companies - 35

persons - and were taught by American and Romanian professors. The series of courses were

supported by Financial Services Volunteer Corps (USA) with financial and logistic means.

It also organized courses of Finance and Accounting in Insurance The new Accounting

standards , which were attended by the accountants of insurance companies eager to find out the

new way of order in Accounting. The courses were developed in collaboration with specialists

from the Insurance Supervisory Commission.

Also, it concluded a protocol with the Insurance Supervisory Commission through which the

Insurance Institute is the only organization authorized to award certificates and diplomas in the

field of insurance. The Insurance Institute will organize courses of specialization for theRomanian insurance industry.

The training will be based on the market needs. In this respect, the Insurance Institute developed

a close collaboration with the other industry major players such as: National Union of Insurance

and Reinsurance Companies from Romania, Insurance Supervision Commission, Romanian

Actuarial Association, Romanian Insurance Law Association, National Union of Intermediation

and Consulting Companies in Insurance from Romania, representatives of the insurance

companies, brokers and agents.

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It has opened a Test Center in collaboration with American Institute for CPCU/ IIA where

students from South-Eastern Europe can give their examinations.

3.2 The management of Insurance Institute

The executive management of the Insurance Institute is represented by the General Assembly

and by the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors includes seven members, namely:

President Prof. Dumitru G. Badea PhD.

Vice-president Bogdan Andriescu - President UNSICAR

Vice-president vacant

Members Cristian Constantinescu - President UNSAR

Mihaela Tudor - President ADAR

Prof. Dumitru G. Badea PhD. Executive Director of

Insurance Institute

Telephone : 021-318.55.95

Fax : 021-3179570

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The Insurance Institute is the first organization that provides professional training in the field of

insurance at a national level. But it is in direct competition with private companies and the in-

house training companies on the market. But the biggest asset of the Institute is that it is actuallythe oldest provider of vocational training on the insurance market, and that it has courses which

have the lowest cost, but which are also extremely focused on the industry terms and exercises.

Forced by the financial crisis, in 2009, companies will apply the following philosophy in

selecting programs for training their employees "first the essentials that we need, leaving on the

second step the" soft-skills "(inter-personal communication, team-buildings) and focusing on the

training, which emphasizes the development of essential skills at the workplace.

The training market in Romania has continued to grow significantly in 2008, while effects on the

financial crisis are yet least visible, because, Horvath & Partners explains that the budgets have

been set since 2007 or early 2008 for the current year. Experts estimated that by the end of 2007

an increase of 30% for local market training in 2008 was forecasted that, the representatives of

APT considered it was fulfilled. But they are skeptical of evolution in the demand for personal

and professional trainings for 2009.

We now take a look at the internal environment which is at hand for the Insurance Institute. First

of all whilst looking at the mission of the company we can easily determine the appropriate

strategies and programs. Thus we can understand the Institutes focus, how it will add value for

its customers and outline the future predictions and steps to be taken.

The true mission of the company is to provide training in the insurance filed,

for different persons or other institutions. It is a not-for-profit organization,

and at the same time a non-governmental organization. This Institute is the

sole institution on the market at the present moment that is able to supply the

training necessary for an estimated market segment worth almost 3 billion.

The fact is that even if this market segment is this large, the Institute is currently covering almost

2% of this entire segment.

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The actual wish of the Institute just for this year is to reach a staggering 5% coverage of the

market. But the fact is that competition is growing right now, but still the Institute is not affected,

because the fact is that it is the sole institution that provides the graduates of its courses adiploma or a certificate, which is recognized by the legal authority, lets say, in the field of

training in the insurance and reinsurance industry, The Insurance Supervisory Commission

(CSA).

But still a lot of effort is put into what is considered to be the development of extremely good

quality courses, coaching, training and personal and professional continuous education. The

Institute has different programs established for each customer. Thus the courses are customized

to the maximum, and this requires effort, time and commitment, resources that the Institute does

not have. This being in part that the number of total employees is FOUR.

Further on we need to look at the good use or miss use of the resources that are at the hand of the

Institute. We can start with the bad use of the human resources, due to the fact that there are only

4 employees who are overcrowded with tasks and responsibilities. Thus a real expansion for thecompany is needed in order to survive the competition and the merciless crisis is needed. There

is good intention when developing a marketing plan from the employees part, only I consider

this to be mainly superficial due to the large number of tasks due every day.

Next are the financial resources which are plentiful for the Institute if only it had a clear vision of

what to do with them. The Institute is self-sufficient, and is able to resist for approximately 2

years paying full salaries and expenses at the current value, with only what it has in its accounts,

and no future cashing in. But this could also be a bad thing because the management does not

actually know what to invest the money in, in order to be successful. There are enough resources

for funding a good and steady marketing plan.

The next resources are the informational resources. The Institute has enough data needed to

address the market in which it operates and the challenges that come with this market. The

information is gathered by our personal questionnaires at the previous courses in order to focus

on future expectations from the clients in what concerns different types of courses needed.

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The supply resources are at the hand of the Institute, because we print and bind our selves the

manuals; make all the promotional materials, also the certificates given at the end of the course

which are recognized by CSA. And not only this, we also make our own newsletters, update thesite permanently, and implement new courses all the time.

I.2 Sales analysis

Now the offerings from the Institutes part are of four types, and these types are: courses,

masters program, events and Caravan.

I.2.1. Courses

The training is aimed at all levels within the insurance industry - whether entry level or higher -

and cover a wide spectrum of individual and organizational interests, and individual needs of the

family life such as relationship management with children.

The Institute courses aim to provide:

Professionals in certain areas, acting as tutors;

Quality, through the courses and the mode of delivery thereof;

Less theory and more practical applications, based on experience guardians;

Memorable Experiences of both the environment where the training and the relationship

with the other participants.

To ensure an exceptional quality of the seminars:

Tutors and guests were not born consultants - they are practitioners with experience and a

solid education;

Information contained in course materials and case studies is clear, relevant and structured;

The approach is effective and intensive.

I.2.2. Master Risk Management and Actuarial Techniques (MRACT)It is an international master's program at the fifth edition which offers specialization in actuarial

techniques and risk management.

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The Institute Masters Program aim to provide:

Partnership with ASE Bucharest - faculties FABBV and

CSIE

Organized in collaboration with several universities in the

country and abroad (Austria, Germany, Great Britain,

Portugal)

A new program for 2 years, starting in October 2009, including 4 semesters.

Lecturers from ASE and professionals from insurance, reinsurance, banking, consulting

risk.

The completion of the program is represented by presenting a work on a dissertation paper,

for which a master's degree is issued by ASE Bucharest.

I.2.3. Events

Various seminars, conferences and the monthly event SEARA FOCUS on the last Thursday of

each month.

I.2.4. Caravan

The Insurance Caravan is an educational event similar to a professional training day.

The Caravans purpose is to facilitate the access to a large number of people in the country to the

newest methods of training in insurance.

Theme Event

The functioning mechanism of an insurance policy

Elements of legislative nature of the insurance policy

Tools for organizing effective sales and business management in insurance

Identify incentives for buying insurance policies

Techniques in insurance sales

Techniques for negotiating in insurance

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Methods of portfolio development / customer loyalty: cross-selling, up-selling

Previous results

As I have mentioned before the Institute organized 50 courses within the past 10 months with

total revenue of more that 40000 lei. Out of which the Institute paid the trainers, administrative

facts, like the rooms, beverages, lunch break, issued materials, certificates, and also organized

events with free access for participants, for example the conference for the education for adults

in December of last year.

I cant talk about sales analysis because we offer services, which are customized. Basically eachcourse has a different target and a different price, a different teaching period, different trainers

and so on. Thus the open-house courses adapt to each demanders necessities, and in the end you

cant take the lump sum and divided it between the clients and say that this course expenses is

this sum. It all depends on the number of clients, the companies that hired us, the services

provided, the trainers and many, many other factors.

I.3 Competitive analysis

In order to better understand the strategy of the Institute we also need to look

at the competitive analysis. Now we all know about Porters five forces:

Industry Competitors, Potential Entrants, Substitutes, Suppliers and Buyers.

But order to better understand where the Institute is located in the field we

need to analyze all the competitors. Basically any training company or in-

house training program within a company is a competitor for the Institute.

But in fact because of the age of the Institute is holds a high position on

the market because of its use o all three strategies available:

Cost leadership strategy: by keeping its costs at a minimum, for example whilst a course

at the Institute is around 500 to 800 RON, a general course at a competitor is of around

300-400 EUR.

Differentiation strategy: by which the Institute created a unique differentiation by making

available courses at the demand of the customer, using what ever the customer asks.

Focus strategy: by focusing not only the general public, but mainly on big companies and

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establishing long training contracts for many of the clients employees, but also by going

national.

I.4 SWOT Analysis

Now for a look inside the Institute a SWOT analysis is

the best method of reaching a clear understanding of what

the Institute actually does. SW represents the strengths

and weaknesses that come from within the environment

of the company itself. OT represents the opportunities

and threats that are foreseen from the external

environment and the entire industry.

I.4.1 Strengths

Basically the Strengths of the Institute are the following:

Less costs with personnel;

The flow of information is smoother;

Communication is extremely fast;

Strong relationships, amongst all employees and external customers;

Oldest company on the market with a big history base;

It has many relationships with internal and external companies that are in the insurance

field;

It is considered a benchmark within its field.

Superior, specialized service offerings. Well-trained, enthusiastic employees.

Strong relationships with complementary service providers.

Now besides clear and obvious Strengths that arise from this facts there is also the fact that for a

company with this profile, ensuring courses within the insurance field, a HR department is no

longer necessary, because employees within this Institute do not revolve or migrate very often, I

mean the eldest employee within the Institute has been here since the establishment of the

Institute in 2001. And of course the youngest in the company is me, meaning I have been herefor almost a year now.

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Another Strength, is the fact that because the employees are all generalized. Thus if in any case

anyone of the other 3 employees has a problem and is not able to make it to work in a certain

day, the others can fulfill the tasks that that employee had to do. In fact this is a great fact for theInstitute mainly because everybody knows what the others are doing at any given time, the

information is passed instantly from one to the other and everybody gives a helping hand if

needed.

Another not so obvious Strength is the fact that because the large number of courses that the

Institute has offered, the marketing plan for a new course is a very easy process, that has been

already established and needs no more thought, just a quick implementation.

I.4.2 Weaknesses

The Weaknesses of the Institute in this context are:

The lack of a good advice from a qualified

company;

The lack of a HR department;

Vulnerability if the course demonstrates to

be bad from the beginning;

To much time spend on customization;

High quality at a cheap price;

Big expectations leads to disappointment;

The concentration of a small niche of the market that will limit the potential size of the

market.

The difficulty of generating awareness and visibility of the company in its first few years

of operation.

The inability to rapidly scale to meet large, unexpected increases in demand.

But mainly the Weaknesses that assist the Institute are quite hidden. The fact is that the biggest

problem with this is that the courses are based on past requests and do not come to meet the

future expectations of the market. This is a bad move within a market that is changing every 5

minutes.

Now another Weakness, more or less connected with this fact is that there are no real

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assessments made in order to compute true productivity of the course. For example there are

periods like 2 months in summer when there are no courses done at the Institute. Another fact is

that employees are not supervised with the quality of the work. This is bad for the company because the flow of information is partially distorted, and nobody knows what he is to work on, a

total misuse of resource, if you ask me.

There are also other factors that come from the inside of the Institute, for example, the fact that

there is a flexible schedule, everybody can deal with other personal thing in due time, but this

means that the Institute has a loss of resources.

I.4.3 Opportunities

I will now talk about the factors from the outside, which affect the Institute.

I will start with the Opportunities of the Institute which are:

Direct contact with any employee by any one from the outside;

Good adaptability to sudden change; European Funds which are to be used for a better development of the training market, in

order to establish a minimum required level for each employee within an insurance

company;

The fact that every company within this industry is aware of what the Institute is doing,

give it a competitive advantage;

Previous implementations of marketing plans for different courses;

A growing market of companies that are outsourcing training services; Being one of the first service providers concentrating on this specific market;

Relatively low overhead.

There are also other facts that are more beneath the surface in this category. An example of an

Opportunity is the image of the Institute, because everybody knows that is has only 4 employees

and yet we appear to be flying within the industry.

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Another fact is that because the employees stay longer within the company they gain a growing

experience and also continuous learning of what this whole Institute is about. This is a great plus

for the Institute when implementing a new curriculum due to the fact that the personnel caneasily react to change and is able to focus on what needs to be done.

I.4.4 Threats

Now, despite all the wonderful Opportunities at the grasp of the Institute, the Threats, even if

they are less, have a greater impact.

The Threats are:

Resistance to change from the market;

Pressures from the ever-growing market;

Competition;

Technological improvements that we

cant keep the pace with;

Bad decision of a course for a company;

Time consuming customization and in

the end a general course is chose;

A slump in the economy that could have a ripple effect on service providers.

Future competition from existing service providers competing in different but

complimentary market spaces.

The inability to find qualified, high quality employees.

Together with these Threats there are also some that are hidden from the eye of the outsider. For

example the fact that there are no true market researches done, affects the fact that we organize

courses that are not adequate for the demand on the market.

Another big problem is that we are now loosing clients to competition, who is now focusing on

courses that no longer are just theory; they are also, practical and far more interesting then our

courses.

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In fact the existence of the Institute is at threat due to the fact that the founding members

established a 5 year strategy that is truly not reachable in the present conditions, due mainly to

the fact that there are not enough employees, and that work is based only on past experiences.

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II. Objectives

II.1 Corporate objectives

Since 2001, when starting its activity the Institute has organized

courses regarding personal and professional training in various

areas of the insurance industry.

In 2004 and 2009 two General Assemblies were held, in which the Institute's performance in

recent years were assessed and aims to be achieved at the end of the new mandate wereestablished.

In 2006, the new Headquarters (HQ) were established, which is also the HQ today. At the same

time the foundation of a new professional training method was established by using some

European funds from DEG Germany and permanent endowment was provided with a wide range

of fixed assets and inventory items necessary for the activity.

The courses are not held at the HQ, rooms for these courses are leased from different companies

that have appropriate rooms.

From 2001 until now, the Institute has organized more than 400 courses, of which nearly 50

courses just in the last 10 months. Meanwhile the Institute in collaboration with the Academy of

Economic Studies in Bucharest and other foreign universities has organized 4 series of Masters

Programs, namely Master MRACT (Risk Management and Actuarial Techniques).

Since 2006 until February 2009 using the EU funds 2186 to agents in insurance were certified, a

manual for complex insurance sales was published and in addition 40 trainers in sales were also

trained.

In January 2009 an external audit was executed in the Institute, which represented the final stepin what the use of European funds meant.

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The Insurance Institute has as main objective the training and education in the insurance field

and related activities (Accounting in insurance, insurance laws and regulation, IT in insurance,

private pensions etc.).

This entity intends to provide qualifications for those working or those interested in the

insurance field. These qualifications will be in line with the requirements imposed by the

Insurance Supervisory Commission and the international professional standards.

II.1.1 Training Programs

The training is structured on different platforms, based on the level of knowledge and expertise

of the participants.

At present, the Insurance Institute has the following structure of training:

1st Platform: Insurance Basics (beginner and medium level) : the purpose is to provide

a basic knowledge of the fundamentals of insurance (concepts, activities etc). The

modules of this series of courses will refer to:

o Basics of Insurance (the principles of insurance, the risk management process, theinsurance market);

o Marketing and sales techniques in insurance;

o Personal insurance products;

o General insurance products a.s.o.

2nd Platform: Focused Training for Specialists: the purpose is to provide a more in-

depth training in respect of financial, actuarial and insurance operation issues. The

platform will concentrate among others on the following:

o Marketing in insurance;

o Negotiation and administration of contracts;

o General insurance products;

o Third party liability insurance;

o Personal insurance products;

o Credit and bonds insurance;

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o Property insurance

o Technical insurance;

o Marine and aviation insurance;

o Motor insurance;

o Bank-assurance;

o Reinsurance;

o Claims settlement;

o Financial risks insurance;

o Social insurance general and occupational retiring funds;

o Insurance of catastrophic risks

o Financial Management in insurance a.s.o.

3rd Platform: Training for the Middle and Top Management . The third platform

includes different issues related to:

o Financial Management in insurance;

o Ethics in insurance;

o Fraud in insurance;

o Human Resources Management;

o Middle and Top Management in insurance industry a.s.o.

Besides these platforms, the Insurance Institute organizes different courses related to

insurance area of activity, namely:

o The Romanian legal provisions in insurance;

o The new system of accounts in insurance;

o The financial and informatics management in insurance companies;

o

Fiscal elements in insurance;

o The new system of occupational retiring funds a.s.o.

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According to Protocol no. 19723/02.10.2002, signed between the Insurance Institute and the

Romanian Insurance Supervisory Commission, the Insurance Institute is authorized to issue

certificates and/or graduate diplomas, based on tests passing.

II.2 Marketing objectives

Increase the number of clients by 15% a year.

Obtain 10% of revenues from repeat customers.

The utilization of the Insurance Institute by at

least five of the top 100 companies as ranked by

XPRIMM magazine.

Financial Objectives

Develop a sustainable business that achieves profitability within the next two years.

Decrease production costs by 3% every two quarters.

Grow the business to the point where support staff is needed.

The current marketing objectives include the use of marketing in order to manage key

relationships and activities. For example: Customer relationships, channel relationships, market

share, order fulfillment, brand awareness.

According to the industry direction right now, mission, and available resources the targets set by

the Institute are to quire new customers, retain old ones, increase customer loyalty, and

satisfaction.

Being a nonprofit company the Institute also establishes additional objectives for managing

relations with members and contributors, as well as for attracting European Funds, but also new

product development and market share. But for this actual marketing plan the objective at hand

is releasing a new course on the market related with Training and amicable consisted in whatconcerns automobile accidents, on the basis of order 12 and 21 issued by CSA. Together with

this marketing plan of reaching a number of 1000 trained applicants, from all over the country,

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there is also a financial plan of not stepping over the expenses. We are currently at our 6 th course

that will take place next weekend in Vatra Dornei.

In order to achieve these marketing objectives there is also a need for a planning marketing

support. This is closely related to all the stages involving the selling of the service the Institute

assures. Before, during and after the establishment of the final training program, and sustaining

the course entirely.

II.2.1 Future projects

The experience helped the Institute to realize the actual need of the market regarding the

education in insurance both for the ones already working in the industry and for the ones wishing

to enter this area of activity.

Among its future projects, I can mention:

Intensifying the Train the Trainers project so that the team of lectures would improve its

level of knowledge and would be able to provide a high quality education for the ones

interested in the insurance industry;

Continuing the acquisition of the equipment (software and hardware, multimedia

equipment etc) necessary to organize high quality courses;

Creating a documentation center/ library for the entire Romanian market there is a

scarcity of materials related to this domain and acquiring such materials from abroad,

from countries with a developed insurance industry would be of significant help both for

trainers and for the personnel from the insurance market;

Strengthening the relationships with similar Institutes from countries with tradition and

experience in insurance;

On the long run, the Insurance Institute intends to become an authorized high education

institution that would be in charge with the formation of specialists in insurance market,

awarding bachelors degree in Actuarial science, Accounting& Finance in Insurance,

Marketing, Life and Non-life products a.s.o.

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II.2.2 Market Trends

The Institute has observed two differing trends within the training industry.

1. Seemingly short-sighted companies tend to cut back on training during economic downturns.

2. More holistic companies adopt a proactive attitude that recognizes the value in their

employees and do not trim the company budget through massive cuts in the HR department

training budget.

These two patterns of behavior are fairly indicative of the differentiation between surviving or

withering companies, and companies that excel.

Despite the growing recognition that cutting the HR budget during downturns is a

counterproductive idea; in practice it is still quite common. Fortunately for the Institute, the

customers that it prizes are the ones that are most likely to make it through economic downturns.

II.2.3 Market Growth

The national seminar/training industry has grown

into a 987 million euro industry in the last ten years.

The last four years have seen a 4.5% industry growth

rate. This growth can be explained by several

phenomena:

The recognition of value in developing human

capital.

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The increased usage of out-sourced service providers, a switch from the previous use of

in-house staff.

The adoption of forward-looking ways of generating operating efficiencies through the

application of continuous training.

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III. Marketing Strategy

Competition

There are many different competitors in this space:

Seminar production companies that act only as producers of the events, they do not

make the actual training. These companies typically have a list of different presenters that

they use.

Independent seminar trainers.

Independent training program trainers.

Both trainers and promoters - like the Institute.

The competition is on a national scale. Being local is insignificant in this industry. Companies

will fly a speaker in from wherever they are in the country. Buying habits are based on word-of-

mouth referrals, reputation, topic/skill needed, availability, etc.

III.1 Market Segmentation Strategy

This new course will be based on superior innovation, high

quality and customization, the image and status of the

Institute.

Now after the right definition market segmentation is the

process of grouping customers within a market according to

similar needs, or habits, or attitudes that can be addressed

through marketing. As a consequence the institute will focus

in identifying distinct segments, in different groups of consumers or business consumers with

similarities. In this response the Institute will segment the consumer and business markets using

demographic factors such as income, behavior, and benefits sought. Through the strategies, the

Institute will target selected segments for initial entry and then add secondary segments later on

(for example managers of the damages department within an insurance company).

Indeed a clear segmentation cant be presented here because training is considered nowadays a

means of assuring ones future, and this specific course is open for everybody willing but more

focused on the experts in the field of damage report for a motor accident.

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The Institute is more focused on demographic segmentation which implies the fact that these

courses are to be followed after a certain prior experience in the field and thus the age ismedium. Mostly the parsons that will sustain these courses are going to be men, but this does not

mean that the Institute discriminates and there are lighter versions of the course, only for

regular people and in his category anybody can be considered a client.

At the same time the Institute is using Geographic segmentation, because it focuses mainly in

Bucharest and in cities next to Bucharest. This is due mainly to the fact that the trainers are from

Bucharest. But this course is different. First there will be a training session with clients fromaround the country, and after this initial establishment of the trainers, we will organize courses in

the cities and towns of the trainers origin, and thus reduce costs drastically.

The Institute also uses Behavioral and Attitudinal segmentation, because the behavior of one

person establishes the expected benefits from that course and loyalty status, and in the end they

become frequent clients to the Institutes courses, because we tend to bend around the demands of

the client.

Besides sole customers, we mainly work with businesses, companies and large groups. This is

why this course is successful right now. Due to the necessity reached on the market because of

the 2 orders, 12 and 21, issued by CSA, the companies established a contract so that they will

have certified experts within their company and have a competitive advantage against the other

companies.

III.2.Market Demographics

The profile for Advanced Linguistic Pontificators' target market consists of the following

geographic, demographic, and behavior factors:

Geographics

The immediate geographic target is the city of Bucharest, with a population of

2.0 million.

The total targeted population is 8,000 companies.

Demographics

Medium and large companies.

Medium companies are companies with 50 to 100 employees.29

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Large companies have more than 100 employees.

Have substantial training budgets.

Behavior Factors Act in a way that recognizes a long-term strategy toward business.

Attempt to act proactively rather than reactively to business issues.

Recognize the vast intellectual capital that the company holds and participate in

activities that develop and capture this capital.

III.3 Market Needs

The Institute is providing its customers with several different seminars and training courses for medium to large size companies. It seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to

customers.

Expert-level knowledge - This is extremely important to customers since they

are spending a fair amount of money on the training services.

Useful topics - There is little reason to spend money on training seminars if the

topics of the training are not helpful for the day-to-day activities of the company.

Customer-centric services - The service provider must have flexibility and a

customer focus in order to truly meet the needs of each individual customer.

III.4 Targeting Strategy

After identifying which segments make up the market, the Institute now focuses on targeting

those segments that are in direct link with the course itself. Basically for this course the business

sector has a big priority, because it is not so attractive for the common person. It is a very

technical course and requires experience and knowledge of specific terms and practices, in

damage assessment. And of course according to this target the Institute established means of

attracting and positioning itself for

the potential clients. But in fact not

also these companies, but also a

niche segment that is considered to

be made up of individual trainers

that need to be able to present this

information within an in-house

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III.5 Product Life-Cycle

This is one of the elements that come together in order to ensure a good product strategy and

marketing strategy at the same time. Together with high quality of the information within thecourse, the presentation of the course, the features, services and benefits that arrive with the

course, the product life-cycle, influences the movement if the information from the trainer to the

trainee.

There are four stages for the product life-cycle and these are: Introduction, growth, maturity and

decline. It is difficult to estimate the life-cycle of a course, because of the limits applicability of

the theory in this case.

Thus for this course I am going to try to estimate what and how long it took to establish

everything.

a. Idea Generation and screening:

o Based on customer needs and wants, we identified the new idea for this course

o Screen out any unsuitable ideas, for example hiring a trainer from Bucharest and sending

him to Vatra Dornei.

b. Initial concept testing:

o Research customer value of the course concepts, discuss with an expert the accuracy of

the information

o Refine the concept based on research, make modifications according to the experts

responses

c. Business analysis:

o Estimate development, production and marketing mix costs, in our case, we needed to

estimate the actual costs of renting rooms, lunches, coffee-breaks and the wage of the

trainer.

o Compare costs with potential share, sales, profitability to identify good candidates; this

means if it was a good idea to lunch such a revolutionary and new course on the market.

d. Design Prototype:

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o Design and produce working prototypes, this means establishing the curriculum of the

course and the composition of the final exam.

o Test the prototype functionality, customer appeal, in our case this means getting theapproval from the CSA to hold the course, as it is the authority that can say that the

course is not suitable for the market.

e. Market testing which in our case is not necessary due to the fact that the course is also

established at the demand of expert companies.

f. Commercializationo Plan targeting and timing of launch, in our case it was launched right after the

establishment of the 2 orders.

o Plan production and marketing mix support for launch;

1. Introduction the actual first course held in order to establish the future trainers

2. Growth - the faze in which it is right now, this means that the course is spreading

through the entire country;

3. Maturity will be established once the target is reached (the 1000 damage experts);4. Decline try to implement a new course in order to cover the market saturation of

damage experts.

This whole life-cycle reached a staggering 6 months at the present moment and we are still in the

growth period, and we still have a great long time till we reach the maturity stage.

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IV. Marketing Programs

The Institute has a multi-part strategy for targeting the two chosen segments.The first part is through public seminars and open-house trainings. A public seminar is a

presentation on a subject that is offered to the general public. They are typically held in a library

or some other public building. The open-house trainings are complex seminars that are done in

accordance with a certain demand

While public seminars and open-house trainings are not big money makers and sometimes will

lose money, they bring together a diverse audience to view the seminar. This is quite valuable because within this diverse crowd are people that work in companies that would otherwise never

have heard about the Institute. It becomes a wonderful advertising tool.

The second way the Institute will reach its target market is through visibility of printed material,

specifically leaflets and manuals. These manuals are typically designed for managers so it is not

unusual that a manager will have read the book and then become inspired to have the author

come and provide a training session for the company.

The third method of reaching the target market will be advertisements in several industry

journals. Most of the journals will be HR-based and insurance magazines and sites. This will

develop good visibility as it is, more often than not, the Human Resources department's

responsibility for bringing in people for training seminars.

Lastly, it will utilize a robust website to market their services.

IV.1 Strategy Pyramids

The single objective for the Institute is to become the most respected training company in the

fields of insurance and damage assessment in automotive accidents. The marketing strategy will

seek to first create customer awareness regarding the offered services, second, develop the

customer base, and then work toward building customer loyalty and referrals.

The message that it will communicate is that they are the most advanced and professional

training company available. This message will be communicated by various methods.

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The first method will be through the use of public seminars and training courses. The second

method will be through promotion of the materials. The third method will be with

advertisements. The ads will be placed in a couple of industry publications, primarily HR journals and insurance magazines and sites. These journals are well read by the respective

professionals and are referred to as a good source of service providers. The last method will be a

website that will offer general information in addition to examples of training courses.

IV.3 Marketing Mix

The Institutes marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution,

advertising and promotion, and customer service. Pricing - The pricing scheme is generally based on an event fee. The Institute will,

however, offer flexible pricing schemes such as a yearly charge that offers services

throughout the year.

Distribution - Seminars and training are generally offered at the client company's

facilities.

Advertising and promotion - The

marketing campaign will employseveral efforts including journal

advertisements, public seminars

and a robust website.

Customer service - A customer-

centric business model will be

employed ensuring that customer's

expectations are exceeded.

IV.4 Marketing Research

In order to gain insight into the market, it conducted market research in the form of

questionnaires. The questionnaires were given to the decision makers within 100 different

prospective companies. The return rate for the questionnaire was 42%, significantly above the

rate of return that is generally expected. The quality and relevance of the questionnaire was

ensured by employing a graduate student in statistics for the production of the questionnaire.

The results of the questionnaire were quite insightful. While some of the responses served to

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confirm already held assumptions, some of the results provided new information and insight for

the Institute

IV.5 Loyalty ProgramsThe companies that send to our courses employees generally benefit from a discount based on

the history and on the number of entrants it sent. On the other hand more significant discounts

are offered for the companies that sign up contracts with the Insurance Institute, for example

specific mainly focusing on life insurance. This is a good plus when trying to be the best within a

market whilst being the benchmark for every other candidate.

IV.6 Customer Service and Support The customer support is fairly inexistent because every employee within this company knows

with who they are talking on the phone. Thus the customers are offered the best quality there is

on this market. But the customer actually is present every step of the way, making the best out of

this experience.

IV.7 Trust and credibility

Being the oldest company on the market there is no further need to explain this point because we

have the most market share almost 87% of all trainings within the insurance field. The contracts

established with all the major companies on the market and the experience with European funds

tell the fact that the company is the most trusted company on the market.

IV.8 Trade promotions

Except the discounts offered regularly, the company

also offers free trainings in the beginning of each

season. It also offers entrance to an event per month at

the price of only 21 lei. And it also offers places for

internships for students which are not paid but are at

work with exceptional trainers from Romania and

from abroad.

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V. Implementation plan

The following milestones identify the key marketing programs. It is important to accomplish

each one on time and on budget.

V.1 Scheduling GANTT

V.2 Marketing Organization

The employees will be responsible for the marketing activities. As an outsource provider of

expertise themselves, they will recognize and support their own service industry, and so, will use

outside providers for tasks that are beyond their acknowledge skill set.

For website development he will utilize the expert knowledge of Extended Solutions and E-

commerce Consultants. As a full-service consultancy and provider, Extended Solutions offers

website design and development, site hosting, as well as the all important search engine

submission and placement.

V.3 Contingency Planning

Difficulties and risks: Problems generating visibility.

Overly aggressive and debilitating actions by competitors.

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Problems with the general economic climate.

Worst case risks may include:

Determining that the business cannot support itself on an ongoing basis. Having to liquidate equipment or intellectual property to cover liabilities

V.4 Performance Evaluation and Monitoring

The purpose of the Insurance Institute marketing plan is to serve as a plan and guidepost for the

organization. The plan will act as a map to chart future activities as well as a mechanism to track

progress.

The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance: Customer satisfaction.

Revenue from repeat customers

New customer acquisition costs and effectiveness.

Revenue- Both monthly as well as annual tracking.

Margins- A relative comparison between the types of services offered.

Percentage of new business relative to repeat customers.

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VI. Financial Information

VI.1 Budgets

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VI.2 Sales Projections for 5 years

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

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Conclusions

After carefuly going over the figures from the bugets and the

expected sales and expenses we can learly see that the marketing plan was indeed a ggod intrument in what concerns the

development of a good strategy for a long run or short run

program for this company.

Due to the European funds the institute became renowned

throughout Romania and now it has a basis for implemnting the

new course and not only the new course but also the new events.The marketing plan has as a basis predictions and future expectations on the premisis of past

experiences and support from the older customers.

The filed of insurance training is fairly a virgine teritory but with this plan at hand the Insurance

Institute can focus on the real mission, vision and objectives on the long run for a better

domination of the market. This comes in a day a perrils and crisis but also a boom in what

concerns personal and profesionnal education, and with this needs the expansion of new and

better companies is established and with it might come the downfall of the Institute if it does not

focus on the targets already established.

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References

1. Marian Burk Wood (2005) The Marketing Plan Handbook, Second Edition, Pearson Prentice

Hall

2. Amundson, N. (2005). Active Engagement and the Influence of Constructivism. M. McMahon

and W. Patton (Eds), Career Counseling: Constructivist Approaches. Rutledge.

3. Kidd, J. M. (2006). Theories of Career Decision-Making . Kidd, J. M. (2006). Understanding

Career Counseling. Sage Publications, London, pg. 13-32.

4. Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire, accessible online at the following address:

http://kivunim.huji.ac.il/cddq/cddqinfo.htm

5. OECD (2004). Career Guidance. A Handbook for Policy Makers. (pg. 40-60, 65), accessible

online at the following address: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/53/34060761.pdf

6. http://www.iasig.ro

7. http://www.csa-isc.ro

8. http://www.unsar.ro

9. http://www.xprimm.ro

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Annexes:

1. Specimen Fiscal Invoice;

2. Cover of the manual published in collaboration with DEG Germany;

3. Specimen of Graduation Certificate of the course, on the back the specimen of the

diploma supplement;

4. Specimen course graduation recognition paper;

5. Offer master MRACT;

6. Flyer SEARA FOCUS event;

7. Offer Caravan;

8. Course manual;

9. Flyer courses.

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