Please confirm the executive summary point on the basis of the below-mentioned information.

Introduction

Norton is an online safety platform for parents and enterprises which was launched in 2015. Their goal is to fulfill their customers' online protection obligations. The product has 6 features, including website blocking, browsing history, customized alerts, screen time management, nudity detection, and social media monitoring respectively, the company also launched an illustrated e-book for kids that tackle common online issues that kids need to be aware of. In 2018 Norton won the Technology Innovator of the year award at the UK Charity Technology Award. They recently announced their cooperation with "The Good Source" internet provider company which was launched in September 2022.

Norton as a brand has several strengths such as its large database, high technology, positive customer feedback, and a clear brand purpose and vision. However, Norton still has a number of weaknesses such as its undifferentiated visual brand, the lack of strategic brand direction, brand awareness, and brand positioning in the market which prevent the company from overcoming the challenges it faces such as the competitors and industry leaders, lack of funding, and not being mentioned as an option through the governmental legislation for web filtering list.

Market analysis

Proposing practical and efficient solutions for Norton requires a thorough understanding of the various elements of marketing that shape and define the brand's positioning and equity, these elements fall within the broad understanding of the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) concept.

- Segmentation:

Norton is a UK company that is currently focused on the local market due to the lack of funding and a clear marketing strategy. The current and potential customer segments for Norton are divided into two categories: parents or families with children (B2C), and internet providers which are B2B businesses.

1- Parents or families with children:

This means that children are the main consumers of the product or service, so creating brand awareness for parents will be based on activating the need for protecting their children. Yet the presence of many large competitors in the market requires an efficient marketing strategy to target and create a brand relationship with a larger segment of parents and their children.

Targeting local parents with children falls under a demographical segmentation basis, a wider analysis of this segmentation basis may provide a better understanding of the customers' needs and expectations, helps to define the target segment more accurately, and create a better brand positioning.

UK society in general has a close relationship with its roots, and the indigenous people, the White 81%, Asians 7%, and mixed 12% of the local community according to UK government 2021 statistics. As a company that started its business as a charitable association, Norton certainly understands the necessity of creating a bond with the local community and a clear understanding of its customers' behaviors, yet its website and marketing strategy do not reflect that kind of connection. This may form an entry for a successful targeting strategy.

2- Internet providers:

There are approximately 92 internet providers in UK Local companies. The largest internet provider in UK based on 2020 first quarter statistics is "Spark" with 40% of the market share, and Vodafone with 21% of the market share. Both companies have their own ISP protection software. This leaves less than 40% of the market for Norton and other competitors.

On the other hand, Norton has many big competitors, some of which are supported by the government such as the Netsafe schools' program which is a free program for schools. Another big competitor is the Family Zone program is offered at a 6.99-euro monthly subscription, which is lower than Norton's monthly fees, McAfee is another competitor that obtained the best popular label for Antivirus websites, its price ranges from 50.47 euro to 77.97 euro per year, and Nanny 360 has a 4.6 score rate on Google Play, it offers between 35% to 50% discount for the first year. In addition, the online safety page of the Department of Internal Affairs of the UK government has provided some information and suggestions of other existing similar products and their website, which affect Norton's chance to be the parent's first choice. This shows the difficulty for Norton to create a permanent partnership with well-known internet providers. Therefore, the company's orientation toward launching a partnership with a new internet provider company was the most convenient solution.

- Targeting

One of Norton's major strengths is its ability to clearly identify its customers' segment, and its ability to reach and satisfy current customers through providing a developed technology and a large database. However, the company's sustainability and profitability, and its ability to surpass weaknesses and challenges can be achieved by targeting other potential customers by activating their AIDA (awareness, interest, desire, and action). This can be achieved by improving the company's marketing mix which is:

- Product

Norton online safety is a high-technology software that scored a high rating (3.9 - 4.4 stars) on Google play from more than four thousand reviews. The application was downloaded by more than five hundred thousand customers, which indicates the product's efficiency and high quality.

Another product offered by Norton is an illustrated e-book for children which tackles common online issues such as screen time, bullying, being kind online,identity protection, and pornography.

- Price & promotions

Norton provides its services for families for 7.99 euros per month, and 85.99 euros per year, which is a higher rate than other competitors. Although the price is not the main determinant for targeting customers, the fact that well-known competitors provide their services at relatively lower prices certainly constitutes an obstacle for Norton to target more customers. Promotions are also an effective element to target customers. Norton offers seven days free trial on both monthly and yearly subscriptions, with a 10% reduction on the yearly subscription costs. Whereas other competitors in the market offer frequent discounts and promotions. Norton can use promotions instead of changing their prices to activate an instant incentive for customers to act such as end-of-the-year offers, first-year discounts, loyal customers offers and discounts. These promotions also aim to reduce the financial risk factor that customers may feel before taking a decision to choose a product other than the most popular products in the market.

- Place

Norton is an electronic services platform, so they do not need a physical place to offer services. However, the physical environment reflected in their website and media pages and the experience or process that customers go through is essential in targeting their customers.

- Physical Environment

Based on personal observation, Norton's website information appears cluttered, and the information display method is closer to the technology companies than to a service product provider. For parents and students to associate with the company the content needs to be simplified to show them what the product benefits are in their personal life. The website design features can also be modified to create a sense of connection and unity with the local community to establish a kind of relationship with customers. There is no information on the top panel about the company.

-Process

Reviews of various comments indicate that users are experiencing issues with the application software. It may be difficult for them to reactivate an application that was mistakenly turned off, for instance. In addition, even if blocked websites are not provided, they can be accessed if users click on photos of such content. As a result, Norton must enhance its technology and update its software.

- People

Norton has no direct interaction with its customers, instead, the company offers other online channels for communication such as an online chat on the company's website, and email. Norton activities on social media are so limited which appears from the very low number of followers. Part of the suggested solutions recommends direct interaction with parents and students as part of the company's advertising campaign and marketing strategy to create a relationship with customers.

Positioning

Based on the current market analysis of the UKTelecom market and the number of existing competitors that have strong brand recognition and trust, in addition to the limited financial andmarketing support from the competent legislator authorities, our suggestions for Norton toreinforce their brand positioning is to focus on building a brand's niche relationship with its current and potential customers that emerges from the local community characteristics. Creating such a strong relationship can be the source of the company's sustainable competitive advantage and will provide the required support and fund for future expansion outside UK. This can be achieved by applying several strategies to their two main customer categories, parents B2C, and internet providers B2B.

B2C - Parents and Norton:

1- Create brand-customer symbolic personal relationship:

Parents need to perceive a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity through their relationship with Norton, feelings that a friendship relationship offers. Creating a sense of nostalgia and belonging will also strengthen the bond between the brand and customers. Adding local features to the company's website and marketing approach will create that kind of relationship.

UK society has a special social identity and structure, its welcoming nature encourages people from different ethnicities to settle in the country.

Technically, the page layout also needs to be improved to facilitate the quick communication of the company's product information to website visitors so that traffic data can be captured effectively via digital marketing campaigns. Their marketing plans should be based on the customer behavior data which they have captured. Data displayed in the data display box below for children's network security needs to be adjusted to change the data content to the local data of UK, rather than the current US data. Maybe creating sub-pages on the same website, one for each of their segments will help the prospect navigate straight to the page which concerns him rather than search for information on a combined website.

2- Implement a social integration strategy such as a "Norton community":

To create such a community, Norton needs to collaborate with schools in UK. One way of doing this is by conducting periodic road shows in the schools with a value add an educational workshop on a sensitive yet key topicex internet safety. This is where they can also show a demo of their product so its benefits stand out, the outcome of which should be parents signing up. Here they can offer a complimentary trial to interested parents, so they get acquainted with their product before purchasing. They can also simultaneously create visually engaging and informative collaterals for distribution across schools with a QR code to capture interfered leads. Of course, work on building a strong sales team so follow-up and closures happen. To have a breakthrough in the education industry only a long-term engagement approach works. Having a corporate quarterly newsletter will help Norton to be seen in this sensitive space and will show the values they are genuinely attempting to create within the parent and student community and not just being seen as a technology company. They can create a detailed manual to reach a wider audience. These print and digital manuals can be handed over to parents during school events or even to their customers who visit their website or on-site. These manuals should not look purely product related but should be more about creating awareness. Conducting information webinars is another good way of spreading awareness of their product but it needs to be linked to a related topic of interest, so people join the webinar.

3- Create a unique positioning statement:

Creating an image of the brand in the minds of its targeted customers through a unique positioning statement is an effective way to a strong brand positioning, for Norton we suggest this statement and advertising approach:

B2B- Internet provider companies:

Based on the available information, creating a partnership with internet providers in UK is subject to a strong competition which makes the startup internet provider companies such as "The Good Source" the best choice for Norton.

Electronic platforms like LinkedIn can be effective to communicate with businesses as they can connect and introduce their product to their B2B segment which is heads of schools, boarding schools, internet providers, and small education companies who will value their product. At the same time, they can also reach out to their B2C segment of parents on this platform. Their campaign will have to have a common connecting message yet speak a different language for their two diverse target segments.