1. Martha and the Trap-Ease America investors believe they face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What information do they need to evaluate this opportunity? How do you think the group would write its mission statement? How would you write it?
2. Has Martha identified the best target market for Trap-Ease? What other market segments might the firm target?
3. How has the company positioned the Trap-Ease for the chosen target market? Could it position the product in other ways?
4. Describe the current marketing mix for Trap-Ease. Do you see any problems with this mix?
5. Who is Trap-Ease America’s competition?
6. How would you change Trap-Ease’s marketing strategy? What kinds of control procedures would you establish for this strategy?
One April morning, Martha House, president of Trap-Ease America, entered her office in Costa Mesa, California. She paused for a moment to contemplate the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that she had framed and hung near her desk:
If a man [can] . . . make a better mousetrap than his neighbor . . . the world will make a beaten path to his door.
Perhaps, she mused, Emerson knew something that she didn’t. She had the better mousetrap—Trap-Ease—but the world didn’t seem all that excited about it.