Sirius XML Holdings Incorporated is a satellite radio company that started as a company called Satellite CD Radio Incorporated in the early asses. It was not until 2002 that Sirius began operating as it does today. In 2001 XML launched. XML radio was founded in 1988 and was called American Mobile Satellite Corp.. As the Sirius Company grew they were not nearly as successful as XML radio. “By June 2003, Sirius had attracted 75,000 subscribers, far less than Ism’s 500,000…. By January 2004, Sirius had 261 ,OHO subscribers, compared with Ism’s 1. 36 million” (Peterson, 2005).
After competing for a few years the two companies decided to merge and in 2008 the FCC approved the XML-Sirius merger. “It’s being touted as a merger of equals, but in fact, Sirius is eying XML for nearly $4. 6 billion in stock” (Beseeches, 2007). Currently Sirius operates in the United States and has not tackled moving internationally except with just a small presence internationally with Sirius Canada and northern Mexico. Sirius has done an amazing Job operating in the United States and there are a lot of opportunities by moving internationally and gaining some of the European market.
Financial Overview Sirius XML Holdings Inc. Trades on the NASDAQ as Sir. Sirius was incorporated on May 17, 1990 as Satellite CD Radio Inc. The name changed to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. On November 9, 1999. The name changed to Sirius Radio Inc. On August 5, 2008. In late 2013 the name then changed to what it is today – Sirius XML Holdings Inc. The company went public on September 13, 1994. (Sirius XML, 2014) According to Yahoo Finance, on April 17, 2014 the current stock price was $3. 14. In the past year the range of the stock price has been $2. 97 – $4. 18.
Viewing the financial statements shows on Yahoo Finance one can see that at the end of 2013 fiscal year the revenue was $3. 80 billion, gross profit was $1. 91 billion, total cash was $138. 45 million, and total debt was $3. 60 billion. (Yahoo Finance, n. D. ) According to the recommendations area on the NASDAQ website there is a consensus recommendation currently to buy SIR stock. Of the 10 analyst firms providing recommendations seven say the stock is a strong buy, two say to hold the Marketing Plan Sirius XML Copy By Lauren-Grossman stock, and only one says to sell.
The analysts believe that the stock price will continue to rise throughout the year and move closer and beyond the highest stock price of the past year and be closer to $4. 50. In comparison to the rest of the industry the analysts believe that SIR will out perform the competition in both earnings growth ND Price/Earnings (NASDAQ, 2014). Overall by reviewing the research and recommendations from the ten analysts it appears that SIR is a good stock to currently buy and should perform better this year than they did last year.
If one looks at past performance then SIR should continue to do well. Consistently each year since the Sirius and XML merger the stock price has grown. In 2009 it was $. 60, 2010 $1. 63, 2011 $1. 82, 2012 $2. 89, and 2013 $3. 49 (Sinus XML, 2014) As SIR continues to grow and do better in the United States they should seek out ways to grow internationally and expand their global footprint. If revenues are projected to increase they will have more funds available to expand and to develop deals and partnerships with the European markets.
Situational Analysis (S. W. O. T. ) Sirius Holdings Inc. SOOT Analysis Strengths Monopoly over satellite Exclusive content Free trials with new cars Revenue is from subscriptions so it can be predictable Partnerships with car companies High barriers to entry Channel lineup Exclusive deals with sports leagues Weaknesses Price Salary for popular hosts (Howard Stern and Martha Stewart) Satellite costs Dependent on car sales Opportunities Global expansion beyond Canada
Expansion into other markets Satellite video in cars Threats Competition is free – AM/FM Substitutes – tunes radio, Spottily, Pandora Royalty agreements are rising Economy Premium hosts have a lot of negotiating power with salary Sirius has many strengths in the market due to having essentially a monopoly over satellite radio. One thing that has really helped them is the great partnerships that they have established with car companies. With the purchase of many new cars the capability to have Sirius radio in the vehicle is built in and then a free trial for the service is offered.
According to Sirius website they have “arrangements with every major automaker for installation of satellite radio in their vehicles, be it at the factory or your local dealer” (Sirius XML, 2014). The free trials that are offered with new cars does bring in a lot of business for the company. According to the 2013 Annual Report the new vehicle consumer conversion rate in 2011 was 45%, 2012 was 45%, and 2013 was 44% (Sirius XML Holdings Inc, 2013) Market Summary / Recommendation Sirius has done a great Job growing the company by signing deals with all major sports leagues and exclusive premium content with hosts such as Howard Stern and
Martha Stewart but as they move forward they need to think of new ways to grow. They have also expanded into internet radio by offering the ability to listen to the radio through their website and smartened APS and allowing subscribers to listen on demand to shows that have already broadcasted. It seems that the company has conquered the United States and Canada and a move that could make a lot of sense and a large increase in revenues would to expand globally, first with the English speaking countries in Europe. By Sirius expanding into the global market they will be able to increase revenues and program offerings.
They have conquered the North American satellite radio space so it only makes sense now to take it international. By expanding they will be able to expand the program offerings because of the programs that the European market will demand. Not all content that is offered in the North American market will be demanded by the European subscribers so new content will have to be added. Sirius has many deals with professional sports and offers broadcasts of the NIL, NFG, ML, NAB, VGA Tour and MASCARA. By moving into the international market sports that they want, such as the English Premier League, can be added into the programming.
The company will be given more competitive advantage by moving internationally because they already have a proven service and product that works. The service Just needs to be tweaked to meet the needs and demands of different markets. There are going to be international laws that will have to be followed, but once Sirius is into the market they should be able to move quickly. Marketing Budget To determine the marketing budget for Sirius for the year 2014 it can be determined by using three percent of the projected revenue.
In the 2013 Annual Report the year end revenue reported was $3,800,000,000 so the marketing budget or 2014 will be $114,000,000. There are various methods that a company can use to market their product and Sirius will use many to market the product in the United States, Canada, and Europe. For marketing the product in Europe allocating 33% of the total marketing budget for the company will be used. Therefore the total marketing budget tort Europe will be S The marketing methods that will be used by Sirius XML Holdings Inc. Or Europe will be through relationships with car manufactures, events, web advertisements, billboards, radio, search engine marketing, brochures and email. The budget will be broken up as followed: Marketing Budget Marketing Method Percentage of Budget $ Amount of Budget Events (car dealership events and festivals) 25% Car manufacturer relationship Billboards Radio Web advertisements Search engine marketing 5% Social Media Email Brochures Total 100% Market Research The European market will not be the exactly same as the North American market and because of that research needs to be done to determine the needs and demands of the Europeans.
Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research will be necessary to make the product and service the best it can be. The quantity methods used will be customer surveys and census information. The qualitative methods used will be focus groups and interviews. Surveys will need to be done to determine what is needed to meet the demands of a new customer base. To conduct these surveys they can be done in person. Sirius will go to popular car brand dealerships and meet and talk to potential subscribers.
Asking them questions about what programming they would be interested in and what prices they are willing to pay will provide a lot of information that is needed to make the best product. By creating relationships with the car manufacturers they can also provide surveys to potential subscribers and then have he information sent to Sirius. At the events that will be held to promote the Sirius product it will be crucial to collect information from anyone that is spoken to. By collecting contact information and demographics from each person the company will be able to figure out exactly who they should be targeting in the market.
Just by talking to the people a lot of information about the market will be able to be determined. Another useful market research tool that should be utilized is focus groups. Participants can be offered a free trial subscription in exchange for their participation in the focus groups. The questions that will be asked will be used to determine what programming from the North American programming list would be desired in the European market and what additional programming they would like to hear. Also the pricing of the service will be discussed.
The subscription in the North American market that includes everything that Sirius offers is $199 a year plus royalty fees. It needs to be determined if that same price is something that the market will be willing to pay. Market Segmentation The market that Sirius targets could be huge because so many of the United States population listens to the radio. A few years ago Brian Skater, one of the hosts on the VGA Tour Sirius station put together some research on the demographics of Sirius subscribers and compared it to the US Population.
In conclusion from the research he determined that the subscribers are wealthy married professionals. Some of the key stats that they found were 55% of the listeners were male while 45% were female. 48% of the listeners has a household income over $100,000 or more whereas only 25% of the US population fell into that category. The average household income of subscribers was $110,600 and the median age was 44 years old. 2% of the listeners were college graduates in comparison to only 27% of the US population was. 82% of listeners owned their home whereas 70% of the US population owns their homes.
Also 69% of subscribers were married and 44% of the listeners had households with children younger than 18. (Skater, n. D. ) All of the research above was for the United States market but I believe that the demographics will be similar in the European market. Therefore Sirius should sell satellite radio to first wealthy married professionals, but also target the younger single professionals. The segment will consist of both males and females, ages 25-50, college educated, has a household income of over 73,000 Euros or individual income to over 3 000 Euros.
They should also target the young professionals who are in the market for a new car due to the very successful consumer conversion rate that the company has in the United States for free trials in new vehicles. Marketing Mix Sirius needs to being expanding internationally. They have succeeded so well within North American countries. The area that they should expand to will be Europe, specifically the English speaking countries first. The price that will be charged for the service will depend on what stations the market is interested in, which will be determined by the market research.
The prices will be comparable to the prices of the North American markets. Currently in the existing plans there are various prices that can be paid based on what programming the customer demands. The yearly subscription where a customer receives everything that Sirius offers in the United States is $199. There are lower priced subscriptions where the customer does not get the ability to listen to programming through their smart phones or the internet. There are also plans where the customer can choose certain stations that they want to have access to instead of having every station that is offered.
The product will be sold in various ways. The radios themselves will be sold from car dealerships, electronics stores, and directly from the Sirius website. The radio service will be activated over the telephone or internet, Just as it is in the North American markets. To promote the products and services there will be many different advertising campaigns used. One of the most effective ways that Sirius will get business is by partnering with the car manufactures. By being able to partner with them, when a consumer purchases a new vehicle they will be offered Sirius radio as an add-on with the vehicle.
It can be installed at the dealership before they drive the car off of the lot. This is something that has been very successful in the North American market and it should continue to be successful internationally. With the purchase of a new vehicle customers will receive a free 90 day trial of Sirius radio with the hope that they will turn into repeat subscribers. In addition to offering the product available in the vehicles, events will be held at dealerships of the most popular car rand’s to introduce the product.
Another partnership that will be useful to Sirius is partnering with car rental companies. This is a successful partnership that the company has in the United States. They are able to offer the product in their rental cars which then could then turn a rental car customer into a potential Sirius subscriber. Not everyone is in the market for a new vehicle so Sirius needs to use advertising campaigns that can be seen and heard by all areas. Social media is a very powerful way to gain the attention of the younger generation.
The market segmentation in the United States has shown that the majority of Sirius bickerers are aged 25-55. To get to the 25 – 30 year olds social media should be able to achieve that. Another way to appeal to that generation is through events. Hosting music festivals for people to attend that are exclusive to subscribers should be able to gain attention and users. Sirius likes to be radio that plays exclusive music and music that you would hear there before anywhere else. They need to use that to their advantage and bring those artists to testicles so that subscribers can see them in person.
Other methods that will be used to reach potential subscribers will e web ads, radio, search engine marketing, billboards in top markets, brochures and email. The emails will be targeted to current subscribers and people who at one point were a subscriber or had a free trial after purchasing a new vehicle and no longer are subscribers. Incentives will be offered to existing subscribers for referring new customers and special prices will be offered to try to get old subscribers back. Most people listen to radio in their vehicles so that is why billboards in the top markets make sense.
Advertising there so people who are driving down the road can e advertised commercial free music and entertainment as they are listening to the standard radio that is full of commercials and very little music and entertainment. Marketing Calendar Below is the marketing calendar for the months May, June, July, and August. Some of the highlights on the calendar are: Each month there will be updates on social media happening bi-weekly. We want to be able to keep followers on social media informed about what is going on within the Sirius world in Europe.
A twitter account and Backbone page will be created for Sirius Europe for these updates. Also events will take place at car dealerships to meet the consumers and inform them about the product and services that Sirius XML can offer them. These events will be held at dealerships of the most popular cars in the area. The biggest event that will take place during these months will be a music festival that will be free for subscribers. Others can attend but will have to pay for the event.
