Marketing Communications Plan Small Car for Leading Company - Research Paper Example

?The idea is to market a new brand of small car in the UK market, a place where there are existing renowned brands of small cars like the Citroen C1.It is therefore a challenging point for this new brand to compete in the industry and so some relevant marketing communication plan is necessary in the first place. However, prior to the generation of a marketing communication plan, there are important data or ideas that will also have to be taken into account. Thus, the need to understand customers’ needs and preferences and anlyse the market are important moves prior to the actual marketing communication plan. The work at hand considers this point, and in the later sections, the discussion of the importance of complete and detailed communication plan is included. Furthermore, the smart marketing and marketing communication objective has also been discussed. Next to this, the latest developments in marketing communications planning are discussed. In addition, the effective methods of measuring and controlling progress against the marketing communication plan are included. Background on customer’s preference for small cars It is important to consider the essential factors that are driving customers to small cars. Two of the most important factors are gas prices increase and improved vehicle quality (Mintel, 2012). These are the two significant factors particularly in the US small car market because of their link to lifestyle component. As projected, the small car market in the US is expected to pick up 15% in 2014, and it is anticipated to grow 55.8% in unit sales between 2014 and 2017 (Mintel, 2012). One of the most important ideas in these data or information is the thought that the entire world market for cars has strongly been influenced by the US market. US market has become the leading venue for the car industry in coming up with the latest innovation or models with particular impact on socio-economic and political factors. The rising price for car fuel is one important consideration of the choice for a new design of car with substantial benefits. Citroen C1 is a small car, ideal for city driving (Citroen). City driving may not require long distances for the car to travel, and so it is important to have at least a small one for driving that will not be able to consume more fuel for energy. Improved vehicle quality is another consideration of the consumers. Small cars like Citroen C1 have highly improved quality, making them prominent in the small car market. It is not just about their being ideal for city driving, but these cars are also made to stand out when it comes to their featured quality. Certainly, there are various reasons of the remarkable choices of the target customers for cars, but the bottom line of them all is the idea of acquiring the benefits that they guarantee or offer. Customers are therefore sophisticated when it comes to knowing what cars they need. They know what they want, and they have established needs that car manufacturers will have to address. Customers’ needs are essential consideration most importantly in marketing activities (Haig, 2011; Kotler et al., 1999; Boone & Kurtz, 2006). The bottom line of creating market strategies like product differentiation and innovation is to address the prevailing customers’ needs (Porter, 1998; Schnaars, 1998). However, unknowingly the emancipation of highly differentiated product offerings results to the creation of needs itself. The justification of this claim is quite evident in the cases of product offerings in the market today that are highly differentiated and created significant needs as shown in the level of demand that they have generated and so enjoyed for now. The car manufacturing industry is a special case under this issue because this industry tries to connect their decisions to some important concerns taking place in the market or external environment. For instance, the car industry in the UK began to produce hybrid cars in relation to the prevailing issue linked to the environment. In order to at least alleviate the level of greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere, the need to come up with a solution and alternative options is a must. This remarkably resulted to the creation and acceptance of electric cars that are not necessarily for long-distance driving. This leads to the idea that small cars may be necessary, because they are not going to consume more fuel, and therefore less emission of hazardous gases to the atmosphere. The car industry however is not going to directly take the plunge into this idea, because there are also other important considerations that they will have to take into account at the same time. One important consideration is of course the kind of profit that they will have to achieve in order to continue or sustain their business operation. This profit will only be realised if there is a prevailing strong demand for whatever product offerings they will introduce in the market. In this case, it will always matter to the car manufacturing company to consider the level of demand that the actual product may be capable of achieving in the event that it is out in the market. Products with no substantial demand are vulnerable to achieve low level of profitability and worst, a significant profit and investment loss. Thus, it is always important to take a look at the prevailing demand. However, there are essential factors that may potentially affect this demand, and this is another crucial point that the marketer or manufacturing company needs to consider. In the case of the car manufacturing industry, the manufacturers are keen to observe other important factors. One factor they constantly look at is the prevailing economic condition. The reason why Toyota ended up promoting low-cost automobiles was because of the economic crunch in the US. Cars like the ones that Toyota Company produces may be a form of luxury at some point, and so people will have to go for what is practical and enough for them to address their needs especially in the moment when financial consideration is a great contributing factor in the buying decision. On the other hand, the car manufacturing industry is also influenced by the political factors. Government always has the crucial role that influences every business activity. For instance, the prevailing policies are expected to affect firms that try to promote certain product or service offerings. In the advent of environmental issue like weather change due to global warming issue, the UK government announced to control or cut off at least a certain portion of the carbon dioxide emission. One way to do so is to encourage the public to use public vehicles that do not require burning too much fuel, or at some point those that might use other alternative energy source like electricity or batteries. To make this become feasible, the car industry needs to come up with certain designs that will eventually address the government’s prevailing policy. This is the reason why major car manufacturing companies will have to also consider the prevailing policy that the government promotes. Cars in UK It is also of important point to consider the car industry in the UK in general. The market sizes for cars in the UK consist of major segments like large, medium, multiple use vehicles, small, and sport utility vehicles (Mintel, 2013). These segments are based on the actual need or specification of the customers. Major industries in the UK with various business offers are more likely to go for large, medium and multiple use vehicles for the sake of achieving productivity and business efficiency output. On the other hand, small and sport utility vehicles are more for personal use and even luxury. However, in the case of a small car like Citroen C1, the idea is for the customers to achieve the ideal city driving. Aside from it is small; it has received the recognition of being the second-best fuel economy. This car is a joint venture between Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citroen. In other words, it is a product of marketing strategy in order to generate a relevant competitive advantage. Doing this is an indication that the car industry in the UK is a very competitive to the extent that to come up with a relevant strategy is a must. Such is the case of the joint project between Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citroen. Car purchasing process in the UK in 2013 Buyers are said to return to the new car market in the UK. As reported, the total registrations in 2012 were around 100,000 to 2.04 million with 7.4% uplift in Q1 2013 unlike with Q1 2012 (Mintel, 2013). This means that buyers are once again beginning to embrace the idea of buying cars. However, buyers remain to wait longer before replacing their vehicles, but Minstrel reported that short-term car purchases in the coming 12 months are set to strengthen. Today, buyers are having high acceptance for individual models, with particular consideration of the price, reliability, low fuel consumption and safety (Mintel, 2013). Price seems to be the primary factor in the purchasing process and Mintel reported that two-third of the owned cars now in the UK are bought for only less than ?10,000. On the other hand, the retailing of cars in the UK is also a significant point to consider. The distribution channels in the UK include: franchise new car dealers, multi-franchise new car dealers, independents, car supermarkets, and used-casual sales (Mintel, 2013). Understanding buyers’ preference for small cars It is of great importance to understand the buyers’ decision-making behavior. It must be a primary consideration to analyse buyers’ preferences prior to creating new products that will suit their prevailing needs and establishing actual advertising or promotional efforts after the entire manufacturing process (Belch and Belch, 1998; Belch and Belch, 2011). As already discussed, price, reliability, low fuel consumption and safety are major factors affecting customers’ preferences on cars. The idea concerning small cars is revealed and as based on the presented report an increasing number of car buyers in the UK for small and luxury models are remarkable. Concerning this point, a good way to start securing information relevant to the marketing strategy of the company that will try to compete in the small car segment in the car industry in the UK is to analyse the customers’ preferences. This is a remarkable point prior to determining the positioning strategy or segmentation analysis. In this activity, there is a good point to understand more of the customers’ lifestyle, purchase motivation, and demographic differences (Schnaars, 1998; Ko et al., 2012). These are all essential factors linked to segmentation, but it is important to know them because they are the fundamental issues that will determine the buyers’ actual preferences for certain products. In the case of small cars, the decision to buy such model will be clearly elaborated further by the prevailing way of life of the customers, the actual motivating factors that will ignite the decision to purchase and the differences linked to some demographic considerations. This therefore will call for a thorough marketing research in order to identify the essential information that will lead to understanding of the buyers’ preferences. In this case, it is easy to determine whether there is a good perception for small cars and in knowing so, the actual marketing strategy will not be difficult to formulate, because it will be established based on the prevailing needs of the customers. In other words, the emancipation of the actual message for the product offering will not be a significant problem because the message will be designed based on what the customers expect to hear or achieve. There are many important ways on how to know the customers’ preferences, but prior to that, a marketing team has to be established, which will involve people who are capable of finding potential data that will provide the necessary information prior to communicating something about the product. The marketing team will have to investigate the buyers’ different purchase motivations or varying attributes ratings. For this reason, investigating the ideal brand and branding strategy are necessary (Tuskej et al., 2013; Hartmann and Ibanez, 2012). Market researchers will have to identify what is the ideal brand and in this case, the most renowned brand like Citroen C1 for small cars, as it may be the brand that customers will most likely define as the preferred brand. Setting this, the market researchers will then have to set brands that can be imagined but does not yet exist. This is the case where the imagined brand will most likely be the brand that has to be produced in the future to compete with Citroen C1. It is important to know the level of buyers’ preference for this imagined brand, with substantial consideration of its features that will remarkably compete with the renowned existing brand. With the above justification, it is therefore of meaningful value to understand customers’ preferences for small cars. The entire idea is set entirely in the buyers’ point of view, so it is reliable as the basis of what is the next thing to do especially in formulating marketing strategies that will stand above the other prior to generating the competitive advantage. For this reason, the move that will have to do next is to develop the marketing planning program. After the initial understanding of the buyers’ preferences, the marketing team will have to understand the prevailing target customers or specific segments, and this will give the idea which customers to focus, and what needs to attempt to satisfy (Belch and Belch, 1998). These are essential elements or components of the marketing planning program. It seeks to integrate the idea in line with the buying preferences of the target segments in an attempt to satisfy the prevailing needs. Of course, this will not be made possible if the marketing team does not initiate the actual move to find out the existing preferences of the target segments. As stated, the preferences for small cars in the UK have great connection with the existing lifestyle of the people or even economic concerns. In order to justify this claim, the marketing research activity will have to be initiated and have to be integrated in the actual marketing planning program. The marketing planning program is a general but a starting point in the marketing activity, as it seeks to identify the prevailing objectives that will have to be addressed. For this reason, it is essential to promote the most specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound goals. The ultimate move that will enable the measurement to work is to identify the actual target segments by which the marketing research activity will have to be employed. In this case, the measurement necessary to evaluate the level of preferences for small cars and the imagined brand will be remarkable, as the target respondents will have to provide their choices or preferences and other essential information. The moment they will have provided their preferences and other major information, the marketing team will generate the idea as to how much will be the level of preference that will be placed for the imagined brand that will compete with existing brands for small cars like the Citroen C1. This is just a sort of testing the market prior to the actual engagement of producing small car products that will compete with the Citroen C1. Of course, there must be other relevant marketing consideration that will have to be taken into account, but understanding the buyers’ preferences alone is a good way to start because this will help the marketing team evaluate if there might be an actual need or demand for the product. Segmentation plan and analysis In the previous section, it has been discussed that the need to understand customers’ preferences is an essential program prior to positioning and segmentation. These considerations are important marketing information because they will provide the most essential foundation as to which the actual products should be marketed in order to gain acceptance because of an existing demand. Segmentation is a very important point in order to ensure the actual market for the brand of small cars that will have to challenge those existing brands with established demand. Segmentation requires differentiation after all (Schnaars, 1998). This is the reason why a certain firm will have to initiate change for a certain product in order to provide products that are appealing to a segment. This means that a firm will have to provide a different product offering, which must be significantly different from those sold to other groups of consumers. This therefore provides the justification why understanding the target market’s preferences is important from the start. The ultimate goal of that activity is to measure how the imagined difference of a certain brand with the existing ones is making a difference to the point that it creates a remarkable appeal that if it is already out in the market then buyers will have to consider it as a choice. Segmentation plan is therefore important. However, it cannot be realised without the idea of customers’ preferences. Everything must be in line with the customers’ preferences prior to the actual segmentation plan because within this, there is a need to understand how far the other relevant factors will impact the customers’ actual choice of purchase. After all, in segmentation avoiding competition is necessary and this can only be realised if a marketer will focus on the part of the market where the competition has not strong interest of reacting and where large competitors cannot possibly react because of some important considerations (Schnaars, 1998). The ultimate therefore of segmentation is to lower the level of rivalry. However, considering that a new model of small car will have to compete with the existing related cars like Citroen C1, the idea of segmentation will eventually provide an opportunity for this brand not to engage itself in the rivalry within a specific segment where the said existing brands performs. A good way is to find for a specific market niche that is not yet catered by Citroen C1, because there are some potential preferences that are not met. Here where the relevance of marketing research that will have to be initiated prior to segmentation and positioning will be tested at its best. In the case of the brand that will compete with Citroen C1, the starting point is to integrate understanding buyers’ preferences and segmentation analysis in order to define a specific market niche where there is less or no competition at all that will take place, even if the same category of product will be offered in the market. Pricing plan to ensure purchase In order to create a remarkable interest for the new brand of small car in the UK market, pricing strategy is necessary to entice potential buyers. As already stated, price is one primary criterion of buyers in their purchase of the car. There are two potential options in this case. The first point is to consider a price that is strikingly lower than the competitors. However, wise buyers will have to consider the quality too. In this case, in order to remarkably create high quality but with low-cost product offering, the challenging brand will have to save on certain cost along the value chain. This is the potential case by which Toyota and Citroen created an affiliate program to market Citroen C1 because such partnership has been proven to reduce cost because of potential access to resources or raw materials and skills. Partnership is known to be advantageous especially in acquiring skills and further resources (Sun et al., 2012; Preble, 2000). The second point is to challenge existing price of the existing brand by the reduction of price of the challenging brand. This is the same with the first point, but the ultimate difference is the presence of higher volume of production in order to save on the fixed cost (Garrison and Noreen, 2000). This in return will provide opportunity for the challenging brand to hold on to the large scale, which can be a significant competitive advantage. After all, there are some brands that have been successful because of their ability to achieve a large scale where they can achieve discounts and so on for their advantage (Haig, 2011). Advertising and promotions plan Advertising and promotions are effective tools in order to communicate ideas or information concerning a certain product (Stafford and Faber, 2005). Promotion is a remarkable component of the marketing mix by which there is a need to communicate the actual product. To communicate something about the product is necessary because it is here where the target market will be informed. In the case of Citroen C1, the market has already been informed about its existing. However, the challenging brands will have to face the challenge of convincing the market and as to why they should be preferred over the existing brands. For this reason, it is of great importance to consider advertising and promotional plan for the new challenging brands of small cars. Advertising will have to be allocated with budget in the first place, but in order to save on cost; the social media will be used for this matter, where it will be free to promote product or service offerings. The promotional plan will have to make use of cheaper alternative, but effective to convey information or ideas about a certain new brand or product. To employ bloggers to conduct review about the new brand of small car is another essential strategy in order to gain specific positive reputation for the brand, but in a cheapest way possible. The above options are modern approach and there are major firms in varying industries that try to employ them and have become successful (Belch and Belch, 2011). The employment of magazines linked to cars will be a great idea, but it should be initiated in a way not too costly, but enough to catch significant attention of the target market. It is also of a good strategy to initiate press conference in order to know the existence of the newly launched brand of small car. This will even create a potential attention from the target customer. Now that the technicalities related to the marketing communication plan for the desired brand of small car that will soon be out in the UK market has been considered, the importance of complete and detailed communication plan is to be evaluated. Importance of a complete and detailed communication plan In the case of the brand of small car that will soon to compete with Citroen C1 in the UK market, a complete and detailed communication plan prior to launching it is proven necessary, as far as the ideas presented in the previous sections are concerned. A complete and detailed communication plan as presented is a way to provide the right path on what exactly needs to be done. It establishes the point by which the marketer will have to generate the right course of actions and those that are effective to ensure success (Go and Go, 2012). A communication plan is necessary because it establishes the right information and even guidance on what needs to be done or what else needs to be fulfilled. It explores the possibility of holding on to a specific goal or objective that will work for a certain firm carrying a specific brand or product that will have to compete with other existing products or brands that have long been out in the market. For this reason, the complete and detailed communication plan is essential because it leads to the point by which a challenging new brand or product will have be spontaneous in its entry and how it must communicate the essential ideas to its target or potential market segment. The communication plan will guarantee that the segmentation and positioning strategies will have to be implemented the right way. Without the presence of this communication plan, it will be harder for a certain brand or product to establish a meaningful image in the target market. SMART marketing and marketing communications objective In the case of the new brand for small car that will compete with Citroen C1, a smart marketing and marketing communication objective is necessary. What this product is all about is the most essential information that it can convey to the existing market. The reason is clear. There is a need to allow the market to know what the new product is all about and its potential difference from the existing ones. It is here where the target buyers will be provided with the information as to how it operates and functions and above all, the relevant value of its linked benefits. It is interesting to note that target buyers are after of knowing the right information, and if they do know that something could benefit them, then that must be in line with addressing their prevailing needs. It is therefore important to consider the idea of providing a clear message about the product as the most important marketing communication objective for the new brand of small car in the UK market. The next point of consideration is to find for the right channel as to which the message will have to be sent to the target market. This has to be initiated in a way that is effective and will have to reach to the target with potential feedback in return. Next to this is to wait for the response from the customer. A successful marketing communication will have to generate response (Pickton and Broderick, 2001). Therefore, to achieve a specific response is a necessary marketing communication objective, because it definitely will help gauge the effectiveness of the marketing communication input. Latest developments in marketing communications planning There are many developments nowadays in marketing communications planning. One is in line with the need to employ the help of other departments aside from the marketing department alone. In the age of advanced information technology, the marketing department will have easy access to the relevant information coming from the other department in order to achieve or employ the right decision. This is important in order to make use of other relevant information in order to formulate plans that are enough to cover the most essential, but effective at some certain level. Therefore, the marketing communications planning nowadays is becoming dynamic and is trying to engage the entire team in an organisation. This makes marketing communication planning to encompass other major activities in the firms. Marketing communications planning is not only dynamic, but also have become sophisticated (Go and Go, 2012). The reason of its sophistication is the employment of other field of expertise within the firm in order to function not just as a sole marketing communication plan, but something that will also link to the entire plan of the firm. In other words, marketing communications planning has become too complex to consider, but it in essence is very systematic. Effective methods of measuring and controlling progress against the marketing communication plan One of the effective methods of measuring and controlling progress against the marketing communication plan is to know the actual level of response of the target audience. This method is about measurement of the response level and the coverage or scope of the information as planned. In the case of a new brand of small car, the idea will be to know how many people have finally heard about the new brand just after its successful launching in the market. In this case, a market research is once again necessary, and here where the idea of understanding the importance of marketing communication plan is essential (Ouwersloot and Duncan, 2008). Next to knowing the actual level of response and the coverage of audience reached by the marketing communication, is to know how much potential earning will be generated. This method is about knowing the monetary value linked to the actual result of the plan. In this case, the entire plan will have to be checked, monitored or controlled because a certain measurable result is at hand. If the intended standard is not met based on as planned, then corrective actions or measures are essential. Conclusion In a nutshell, the work at hand just presented the relevant points associated with marketing communication plan particularly in the case of a small car that will have to compete with existing brands in the market. The work at hand just remarkably showed the importance of having marketing communication plan that is based on the relevant data from the external environment. The goal of this marketing communication plan is to create the right moves that at some point will lead to the emancipation of goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. In other words, with the right essential marketing communication plan, the marketer will be guided on what to do next. References Belch, G., and Belch, M. (2011) Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. 9th ed. New York: McGraw Hill. Belch, G., and Belch, M. (1998) Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. 4th ed. 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