https://virgool.ir/feed/@mitraferdowsMitra Ferdows was born on 28 Feb 1996.fa2026-11-11 20:53:52https://files.virgool.ir/upload/users/659342/avatar/wGl6Iu.jpeghttps://virgool.ir/@mitraferdowshttps://virgool.ir/@mitraferdows/product-promotional-strategies-uvmjaum6umvvMitra Ferdows, Business Management graduate from the United States Loyola Marymount University and consultant in start-ups, expresses her point of view on product promotional advantages and strategies. Mitra Ferdows stated that understanding the significance of promotional and marketing strategies helps a business develop in a number of ways. Business promoting is an active process which has to be closely scrutinized for obtaining the best results. The manpower can be utilized to the fullest to come up with strategies to promote a business and let it flourish. Promotional strategies and marketing are closely linked as marketing of your brand or product entails various aspects of manufacturing, promoting and selling products. Promotion is a key element in conveying the benefits or impression of a product or service to the customers. In fact well-designed marketing and promotional strategies will ensure long-term success, draw more customers and ensure profitability for businesses.What is the Role of Promotion?Mitra Ferdows added that promotion is the voice through which a business is heard in the market and made clear to the audience in the ever-so-competitive market. It is the image by which a business is known. There are many platforms such as television, radio, shopping outlets, billboards, magazines and social media to promote a business or a brand. These platforms implement various promotional strategies to promote and market your business depending on the goals, objectives and priorities. Without promotions, a business would not be able to garner the attention of pre-occupied customers. Promoting a brand will help businesses in many ways. First and foremost, it helps increase brand awareness and provides appropriate information. Promoting a brand leads to spreading information about a company or brand. In addition, promoting will increase Customer Traffic as well as building sales and profits.Promoting Helps Increase Customer TrafficMitra Ferdows pointed out the importance of promoting by focusing on customer traffic which will increase following brand promotion using various tools even by offering free samples. It helps customers know more about your product or service and be more interested. She stated that these days when social media is the most effective tool on the online platform, promotional strategies need to extend beyond conventional means of conveying messages. If a company fails to promote a product, especially a new one, it probably will not gain much attention. According to Harward Business School some 30,000 new consumer products are released annually but as many as 95% of those products will fail to make significant sales. Similarly, there are numerous cases where a product has no flaws and is a perfect fit for customers but unluckily it fails due to poor product promotion.Some Product Promotion StrategiesMitra Ferdows outlined some product promotion strategies like contests, social media promotions, mail order marketing, product giveaway and samples, point-of-sale promotion and end-cap marketing, customer referral incentive program, causes and charity, branded promotional gifts, customer appreciation events, and after-sale customer surveys.Mitra Ferdows redefined the concept and stated that product promotion means disseminating the information about the product line, brand and company to the perspective buyers with the intention of generating sales and developing a brand loyalty. She considered promotion as the fourth element of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) being a mode of communication that a business adopts for achieving a set of objectives.Promoting helps to provide information about the availability of features and uses of the product to the perspective buyers. Furthermore, it stimulates demand for a product by creating awareness and interest among customers. By creating the brand loyalty, promoting helps to differentiate the product from the competitor’s product and by highlighting the importance and features of the product sales stabilization will be gained.Kinds of Promotions Companies AdoptMitra Ferdows stressed that basically, there are four types of promotion that companies adopt: Informative promotion, persuasive promotion, reminder promotion, and buyer behavior modifications. Persuading customers to buy is the primary purpose of promotion. Advertising, personal selling and sales promotion are among the many sales activities. The importance of product promotion lies in the fact that no firm can survive in the market without reaching the customers effectively and cannot be able to win the competitions with other market players if no unique benefits are offered to the customers. There are several types of promotions such as above line promotions (like advertising, press releases, schemes, and discounts) and below the line promotions (trade discounts, freebies, awards, etc.).Promotion MixMitra Ferdows emphasized the importance of promotion mix and stated that promotion mix is the integration of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing. Marketers need to have a balanced blend of these promotional tools. She noticed that through advertising, the marketer makes an effort to build a pull strategy. The customer is instigated to try the product at least once. Personal selling which is the traditional form among promoting tools is targeted at influencing the customer to make a purchase by directly visiting them but in the modern world of business it seems rather unreachable. Mitra Ferdows pointed out that sales promotion-the short term incentive given to the customers to have an increased sale for a given period- focuses on the increased short-term profits and attracts both the existing and the new customers by offering discounts, coupons, payback offers, freebies, etc. she expressed that public relations is of paramount importance as the marketers try to build a favorable image by creating relations with the general public (e.g. customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, shareholders, government and society as a whole) either directly or indirectly. In addition, through publicity which is a form of public relations a company brings newsworthy information to the public.Mitra Ferdows concluded that nowadays by virtue of technology, it has been made possible for the companies to reach customers without any intermediaries or paid medium using direct marketing tools such as emails, text messages, fax, etc. Thus, using any tool of the promotion mix based on the overall objective of the enterprise as well as the nature of the product/service, the companies can take advantage of the promotion mix to move their business forward and be able to compete in the market.Mitra FerdowsMitra FerdowsFri, 14 May 2021 02:48:48 +0430https://virgool.ir/@mitraferdows/brand-positioning-and-branding-strategy-ouemtrpwmmdoMitra Ferdows, business Management graduate from the United States Loyola Marymount University and consultant in start-ups, expresses her point of view on brand positioning and branding strategy. Mitra Ferdows stated that the principal goal of positioning a brand is to create a unique impression in the minds of the customers and at the market place. Effective brand positioning empowers a firm’s brand to be readily discernible from competing brands in the market. The brand distinguished from other brands can be in terms of associated brand attributes, benefits to users, and/or market segment emphasis along with other factors. Efficacious brand positioning further spotlights elements of superiority along one or more distinguishing dimensions which are valued by customers. Mitra Ferdows added that organizations setting up a new brand need to follow the essential steps to position their brands. These steps include identifying the current standing and the direct competition, understanding the standing of the competitor brands, identifying the uniqueness of the company, developing the unique selling proposition, and formulating the messaging statements.How to Build a BrandMitra Ferdows stated that in order for a brand to be built and positioned there are several important steps to be taken. Researching target audience and competitors is the first and foremost factor to be taken into consideration. She added that before you start making any decisions about your brand, you need to understand the current market, i.e., who your potential customers and current competitors are. Searching the product or services, brand settlers can analyze the direct and indirect competitors that would come up. Brand positioning departments need to take into account who their lowest hanging fruit customers and top-of-mind competitors are.Mitra Ferdows Points out Steps to Create Brand PositionPinpoint Your Current StandingMitra Ferdows reiterated that in order to create brand position we need to identify the current standing except for the brands which are new to the market. She clarified by stating that identifying the current standing is vital for the brands which are already an established player in the market and wish to resurrect its brand positioning and the overall brand architecture. It is the responsibility of the management and the branding department to scrutinize and identify the current positioning of the brand; its attainment of the overall business aims and objectives. Then after the loopholes are identified, the management of the company needs to determine whether there is a need for repositioning of the brand.Identify the Direct Competitors and Standing of the Competitor BrandsMitra Ferdows considers identifying the direct competitors as one of the most significant steps in the line of creating the position of a brand in the market. There are some brands which would mainly pose a direct threat to the brand. This can be done clearly by analyzing and understanding the core value, brand strengths, nature of products and services offered, ethos, and fundamentals of the competitive brands plus spotting their unique selling propositions. It is also crucial to consider factors that make brands different and unique in the market and in the minds of the customers. To understand the positioning of the competitor brands, branding departments basically need to figure out their vision statement, mission statement, core values, brand fundamentals, and the entire architecture of the competitors. Intricately studying the competitor brands positioning and strategies sheds lights on the positioning and thus will give a competitive edge in the market.Determine What Makes the Company Unique and Develop the Uniqueness Selling PropositionMitra Ferdows stressed that one major step to help with positioning a brand is to determine the uniqueness of the company through the in-depth introspection of the brand within the company along with identifying the core values, fundamentals on which the brand is formulated, strengths, value propositions, long-term vision, and the features and attributes that make the brand unique and distinguishable from the rest of the brands in the market (who offer the same lines of products and services). Furthermore, depending on the features, objectives, attributes, core values, etc., the company needs to develop the unique selling propositions.Contrive the Messaging StatementThe messaging statement like mission statement, vision statement, and the tagline or the brand slogan attached with the official logo of the brands is next on the line. Mitra Ferdows emphasized that the messaging statements should be clear, crisp, and unique in line with the attributes and inherent nature of the brand. Mitra Ferdows pointed out that a clear messaging statement is significant for two main reasons: the first is that you need it to connect with customers, investors, potential employees, the press, etc., and the second reason is that without a simple, compelling message, no one bothers to identify your brand.Why Brand Positioning and Strategy is ImportantMitra Ferdows stated that market differentiation, justification of the pricing strategy, having a competitive advantage, and making the brands more creative are among the outcomes of positioning your brand in the market.Brand Positioning and Market DifferentiationUnique and creative brand positioning will not only pave the way for the brand in the market but also gives the factor of differentiation to the brand as compared to its competitors be it direct or indirect. It helps making the brand stand out in the market and in the customers mind with its unique selling proposition. This, undoubtedly, will get the brand ingrained in customers minds and work as a recall factor.Brand Positioning will Help Justify the Pricing StrategyJustification of pricing strategy is another chief advantage of brand positioning. It helps the management of the company in justifying the pricing strategies. If the pricing of the products offered by the brand is high on account of the feature of quality and class, and the brand positioning is formulated in such a way that showcases the factors of quality and class, the pricing part gets automatically justified in the minds of the customers. It is also applicable for the products that are reasonable and affordable in nature and the positioning strategy is planned and executed accordingly.Brand Positioning and Competitive AdvantageMitra Ferdows stated that every business aspires to accomplish the objectives of higher sales, increased market share, customer loyalty, attracting the new sets of customers and elevated profits. A well-founded brand positioning that tactfully and strategically highlights the core values, strengths, attributes and the unique selling propositions of the brand enjoys the facet of competitive advantage. In addition, brand positioning will help making the brand different and unique from other products by being innovative. Mitra Ferdows reiterated that novelty and creativity are in harmony with brand positioning so when a brand is more creative it can find the top position in the market being valued by customers and admired by stakeholders.Mitra FerdowsMitra FerdowsThu, 25 Mar 2021 14:53:30 +0430https://virgool.ir/@mitraferdows/mitra-ferdowss-speech-on-startups-bfuooi4nosoxMitra Ferdows's speech on Best Organizational Structures Ensuring Startups Sustainable SuccessMitra Ferdows, business management graduate from the United States Loyola Marymount University and consultant in start-ups, has given speech on the best organizational structures ensuring sustainable development. Mitra Ferdows elaborated that many startups seem to be on the right track in the early stages of their birth; however, the achievement does mean different for different organizations as the startups are not all identical and follow the same road map. One of the most critical aspects persuading a organization's achievement is how it is managed and how its position is sustained. A business organizational structure not only affects the future success of the organization it also affects the way customers take the business and the overall culture a business possesses. This means the organizational structure needs to be cleverly chosen keeping many factors in mind. Mitra Ferdows added that studies illustrate that most corporations first use the horizontal organizational structure and with passage of time and growth of the business, they desire using hierarchical structures. Organizational structure defines how information is flown in an organization as well as helping in overall organization of the company along with the nature of leadership. Be it mechanistic or organic, horizontal or hierarchical, organizational structures need to be considered highly decisive for a business’s future victory.Mitra Ferdows defines differences between Organic vs. Mechanistic Organizational Structure for StartupsMitra Ferdows pointed out that organic organizational structure is beneficial to the mechanistic organizational structure because due to high levels of rivalry in an unstable market environment in the recent years, most startups need more inventive and creative members to ensure their future success. Mitra stated that in a top-down mechanistic organizational structure where creativity is stifled, a startup’s chief goal which is to sustain success will not be achieved. In general, in the early years of a startup a flat organizational structure is adopted which turns out to be worthwhile. With complex layers of management, they develop three to four times faster than their competitors. The issue becomes of more concern when the company grows to be a matured organization while the organizational chart remains untouched. Mitra Ferdows contributed that company owners do not intend to change the chart and assume the management system to be the inhibitor of creativity and flexibility. What happens is that this wrong decision will finally pull the quick growth to halt and ultimately disrupts the organization. The best sustainable successful organizational structured are defined based on the stages the company stays in.Mitra Ferdows elaborates types of organizational structures to fit for startups as hereunderMitra Ferdows restated that there are a number of factors influencing organizational structures namely, hierarchy, communication establishment, employee development, practical tools, shared company vision, strong values, and transparency.Mitra Ferdows continued that hierarchy is the most noteworthy factor shaping up an organizational structure in terms of teams building up according to the roles such as marketing, product development, etc. For a startup business, leaders can profit more from a rather flat, organic organizational structure instead of a top-down structure to leave more room for more creativity. The next vital factor is how you establish communication to make the information flow and put everyone on the same page. Next factor to be measured is how you help employees grow by developing a clear understanding of the goals of the employees in coherence with the company and granting them a purpose. Next factor indirectly impacting an organizational structure is a company's shared vision, it has always been a good idea to share your vision of the company with your employees, state your values and centralize your team and be transparent in terms of short-term and long-term goals of the organization.Mitra Ferdows explains Horizontal or Hierarchical Organizational StructuresMitra Ferdows explained that a horizontal or flat organizational structure is defined as the one with no or fewer management levels where the top-level managers can directly give orders to the lower levels. A hierarchical organization, on the other hand, is rather different and contains many management levels. In this structure the message is not directly conveyed from the top-level managers to the lower level employees but it is passed through many levels to reach the lower level. In fact, both flat and hierarchical structures are different, they also have their advantages as well as negative points.The Advantages of Horizontal Organizational StructureMitra Ferdows stressed that a horizontal organizational structure is regarded as quick decisions are made promptly as there are no or fewer levels of management and any unnecessary levels are removed at the same time it helps in inspiring the level of responsibility of an employee. Mitra Ferdows continued that apart from the rapid process of decision making, organizational structure also helps in budget reductions as it employs fewer people thus less salary.The Advantages of Hierarchical Organizational StructureMitra Ferdows further pointed out that the bright side of a hierarchical organization is when employees are given equal opportunities to get promoted and advance beyond in their career. Developing a tendency to narrow down their field to become an expert, many employees will become experts or specialists in this type of structure. In addition, people who work in hierarchical organizational structured corporations are more loyal to their departments compared to those who work in a horizontal organizational structure.Mitra Ferdows defines which Organizational Structure Is Best for a Startup?Mitra Ferdows elaborated that with both the organizational structures having their advantages and faults, the decision of choosing one specific organizational structure over the other depends on the corporate's future goals, plan and milestones. For instance, if a company intends to develop its market in the future, it is well recommended to select a hierarchical structure whereas if its priority is to reduce its budget, it is best to choose a horizontal organizational structure. As one of the main reasons startups fail is the problem with investment, the horizontal structure is given more preference to spend the budget on more significant segments and save budget for upcoming growth. To put it more precisely, among many structures organizations adopt, matrix and hybrid structures are used by many successful startups nowadays. In a matrix structure, the team members are given more autonomy and expected to take on more accountability for their work. This enhances the productivity of the team, fosters greater innovation and creativity, and allows managers to cooperatively solve decision-making problems. Furthermore, a matrix organizational structure has a hierarchy divided according to product or project teams. This more flexible conductive approach paves the way for better communication which is different from a top-down functional structure of a flat structure with few levels of hierarchy. Mitra Ferdows concluded that each organizational structure has pros and cons and one should take into account what outcome the startup is expecting for and base their businesses on the proper foundations.Mitra FerdowsMitra FerdowsSat, 13 Mar 2021 20:01:30 +0330https://virgool.ir/@mitraferdows/reasons-why-start-ups-fail-d3npclrgvjl6Mitra Ferdows stated that studies illustrate that the failure rate of start-ups is 90% which depicts that a great number of start-ups end in a fail rather than a success. At the first glance when start-up managers plan to start the business might seem a little more optimistic to think the business should definitely go in the right direction which they wish to be. By studying why start-ups fail, one may learn lessons and offer guidance to the potential entrepreneur and this area is not fully accessible compared to the studies that have been done about successful start-ups. There might not be access to data for all start-ups that fail or they would not provide us with the information due to confidentiality of their work or their aspiration to reopen the business in the long run. However, there are great numbers of failed start-ups that have been studied and the reasons why they failed is outlined in this article. The question to be answered is why they fail and what lessons can be learned from failure stories. There are a number of reasons including vague idea with vague business model, failure to build a good team, lack of market demand, leadership and management crisis, poor decision making, lack of the necessary capital, being out competed, contradicting goals and ambitions.Mitra Ferdows continued that the first and most significant ground that start-ups fail is that they have vague ideas and vague business models. What makes a start-up successful is the actual idea which means it needs to be precise, straightforward and that it needs to be studied for a long time to solve a market problem. Vague ideas would end in vague business models and therefore the continuity of the business would not be ensured. A masterly business model must generate revenue and fortify the business survival. Many businesses fail to propose efficient plans ignoring the demands of the market and thus every step they take would set the seal on a fail instead of success. The reason would lie in the hasty decisions and extreme optimism prior to start the business that might stem in thwarted ambitions entrepreneurs have had for long. Another disregarded key issue that makes start-ups failures is failure to build a good team. It seems to be an easy task at first but when the work starts problems pop up. Mitra Ferdows added that owners of start-ups need organized, goal-driven and well-motivated teams in place. Many start-ups fail to put together the right team, essential for the success of the business. Some are able to gather technical experts but building a topnotch business team is neglected. It is critical to have an assorted team with different skill sets for any start-up to become successful. Businesses that do not give certain amounts of equity to people, the leaders aren’t aware of themselves, and are not good at conflict management would finally sink in. Mitra Ferdows stressed that in addition to the two above mentioned reasons, here comes one of the most controversial and critical issues in start-up failures to be mentioned lack of market demand. Start-ups with vague ideas and no philosophy to fulfill a market demand are drone to failure. Studies show that 42% of start-ups fail because they do not tend to answer a market demand. Many start-up entrepreneurs work on the technical aspect of their business while neglecting the most important factor to succeed that is the real demands of the market. It is crucial to understand market dynamics and trends in advance to launch a start-up since it provides an in-depth insight of the audience behavior as well as the nature of available competitors. Start-up owners seem rather to focus on what interest them instead of what needs to be given to the market therefore they fail to profit and in the end they fail. Mitra Ferdows reiterated that the next ignored issue is that start-up specialists are mostly specialists in the area they have worked so far and the lack necessary managerial skills which mean how to manage the market, the team and so on and so forth. They lack leadership qualities and that must be another key factor which causes start-ups to fail. Poor decision making comes next among factors that fails start-ups. This means many of them fail to balance what needs to be prioritized which entraps the company’s vulnerability and a fail comes next. The snap, rapid, right and wrong nature of making decisions all will have a negative impact on the success or failure of the business if not carefully examined and thought of which will cause opportunities to slip away.Mitra Ferdows concluded that the final failure reason of start-ups to be considered here is lack of necessary capital. As the final outcome of a start-up is to earn substantial profit, raising capital is one of the most grueling yet problematic issues to many businesses at large. Entrepreneurs do not start a business to fail; however, sketchy access to working capital and other financing options is a principal contributor to a business’s lack of success and ultimate failure. The fact is that lack of enough working capital emerges from a low credit source and lacking strategies to borrow from traditional financing sources while many would argue that operational issues affecting cash comes in and out of the business also matters.Mitra Ferdows stressed that, all businesses, be it a start-up or a conventional run business, if employers fail to plan then they will plan to fail. Learning from businesses mistakes, taking demands of the market into consideration and prioritizing what efficient teams will do are the keys to stop a start-up from future failures.Mitra FerdowsMitra FerdowsMon, 08 Mar 2021 18:43:09 +0330https://virgool.ir/@mitraferdows/about-mitra-ferdows-pcpwxy9vpz5sMitra Ferdows was born in 28 Feb 1996. Mitra Ferdows is a business management graduate with a law concentration from Loyola Marymount University in the United States and is one of the outstanding activists supporting startups. Mitra Ferdows is also an advisor in many startup companies that are usually based on risky ideas, and their business models needs robust strategic planning.Biography of Mitra FerdowsMitra Ferdows has given several speeches on different types of startups growth rate and global trends like Insurtech, Fintech and Improving CRM and company performance through social media. Mitra Ferdows believes that the business model is at the heart of any successful startup. Because no matter how unique and original your idea may be, a startup should have a practical way of generating profit that is valuable enough to invest in the future and also keep the startup afloat. Many startup founders use the term "business model" when discussing their business plans and strategies. Mitra Ferdows defines that a successful business model represents a better way than existing options that can offer more value to a separate group of customers and return more benefits to the company. Mitra Ferdows explains that a business model is an abstract representation of an organization, which can be a textual, or graphical concept of the core architecture, operations, and current and future financial arrangements of an organization designed and developed, as well as all core products or services, the strategic and objective goals that the organization offers, or will offer, are based on this plan. A significant share of the success of knowledge-based companies is related to the design of their business model." Mitra Ferdows thinks that start-ups fail due to various reasons such as lack of market need, efficient team work, and capital. Mitra Ferdows presumes that startups which fail did not properly utilize their own networks or investor connection as well as implementing vague business models and ideas which ultimately guarantee a start up fail instead of success.Mitra Ferdows is a women empowerment supporter as Mitra believes that women are one of the most vulnerable groups in society, who constitute a significant amount of the population. This group is of special importance in discourse development and planning due to their multiple roles and the important task of providing for the family. Empowering and improving the quality and quantity of their lives can provide the grounds for reducing poverty, diminishing gender inequality, expanding socio-economic independence and so on. She is interested in empowering women by providing them with opportunities to work and flourish. Mitra Ferdows thinks women can have equal right to participate in education, society, economy as well as politically. She believes that women can involve in society as they are content to choose their language, work, religion and other activities. Mitra Ferdows thinks giving women equal education opportunities will lead to a better future for all individuals in a society.Mitra FerdowsMitra FerdowsSat, 20 Feb 2021 12:27:55 +0330