Situational Analysis for BMWi to Identify Main Issues for the Marketing Plan - Essay Example

? A situational analysis for BMWi that will help identify the main issues and considerations for the marketing plan. BMWi has the advantage of drawing heavily from brand BMW in terms of customer loyalty. Additionally, the new series has taken a holistic approach in addressing the future needs of the increasingly mobile and technically savvy end user. It has gone the extra mile to painfully invent future concept car that considers sustainability and energy efficiency as the core of its design considerations. BMWi3 Megacity vehicle, set to be launched in 2013, is an electric car that has zero emissions and is environment friendly. It uses cutting-edge material, custom built architectures with future production technologies (Case study: BMWi, 2011). The brand presence is global and has a niche market with dealers representing almost every corner of the world. The company has a loyal database of customers and it also expects an older segment (53 years old) to constitute the majority (84 percent) of their new customers (for BMWi) as against the younger (49 years old) audience for the earlier versions of BMW. However, the average age of its customer base is expected to be lesser than its competitors in Audi and Mercedes. The company constantly engages its loyal customer base through a range of media including TV, YouTube, Facebook, Email, Phone and Website among others. Its social media initiatives for BMWi through its ‘join the conversation’ invitation and a set of about 50 mobile apps through its ‘MyCityWay’ apps initiative to keep the customer updated with the local information is another innovative approach to constantly communicate with their customers. The company also has tied up with the London Olympics, 2012 as an automotive partner to leverage higher exposure for the brand and the new concept car (Case study: BMWi, 2011). Figure 1: Logo- BMW. Source: https://www.bmwcenternet.com The eco-friendly design is priced at ?35,000 with a government grant of ?5,000. 15 percent of its existing customers finance through BMW and 30 percent of customers are self-financed while the remaining pay outright. The company expects to generate 5,000 leads in the first year, starting June 2012 with a 10 percent conversion rate. The new BMWi3 is available for test drive starting January 2013. The company plans to engage its target segment through direct and digital marketing with a ?400, 000 budget allocated for the purpose (Case study: BMWi, 2011). Figure 2: Model overview of BMW335i Coupe. Source: https://www.bmwcenternet.com Strategies to generate the 5,000 leads. Acquiring a new type of customer for BMWi- BMWi is a concept car which promises zero emission and is environment friendly. It also has a government approval for a ?5,000 grant that their customers can avail. As more than 50 percent of the target segment for BMWi are set to avail finance either from BMW or others, the grant from the government can be advertised with sufficient emphasis as it can help in subtly drive across the patronizing support from the government due its high fuel efficiency and eco friendly design and manufacture. This information can be communicated to the target customers through trade-shows, occasional TV and print advertisements and social media. In addition, the company can leverage its ‘join the conversation’ initiative to gather sufficient new leads as loyal customers and prospects are bound to network extensively on social media. The 5Cs of real-time marketing: content, conversation, context, continuity and commerce need to be constantly put in focus to reflect the brand (Leonard, 2011). Further, the online presence of the company must be readily leveraged in all aspects to actively engage the customers while giving them quality experience through seamless integration of its systems. Creative engagement needs to be fostered through the company’s as well as the dealer websites to actively listen to customer preferences. A live chat on the company and dealer websites can also help generate sufficient leads of new customers. Migrating existing customers and prospects, from conventional combustion engines (petrol/diesel), to this new type of electric vehicle, without harming the brand's performance and quality heritage- The fact that the brand attracts loyal customers makes it important for the company to sustain its brand and quality heritage, and it can be more feasible for it to utilize its brand to enhance its image as a pioneer in eco friendly concept cars; with its governmental patronizing and commitment to provide ‘the ultimate driving machine’ and experience by introducing fuel efficient BMWi. The company’s focus on its corporate identity by maintaining uniformity in its tone and voice in all its communications under the parent company and its dealership, seamless integration of its offices and encouraging stakeholder engagement and innovative thinking and exploration through enhanced research capabilities can help efficient decision making by its customers which in turn can translate to a smooth transition of existing customers of BMW to BMWi. Prospective customers can be roped in to test drive the new innovation and can also be provided hassle free registering, financing and support for future customizations. Since the prospects are new to the brand, they need to be guided through the process with a committed sales support. Outline of database strategy for migration of existing potentially interested BMW customers and prospects from the database to BMWi. Does the database need to be supplemented with externally generated leads, if so how? What will the BMWi database look like and how will it be used in the marketing plan? How will the leads be qualified and passed on for the dealerships to convert? Exclusive trade-shows for existing 1.5 million customers with additional loyalty schemes for additional leads leveraged through networking can help migrate prospective customers to the new BMWi database. Since it is always feasible to showcase innovation and expand customer base, prospective customer database needs to include externally generated leads too, to the extent possible, within the means of the marketing budget. Equal focus on all kinds of customers in the database (new car purchaser, used car purchaser, lapsed customers and prospects) can help leverage its existing database to full extent. The new database can record details of customer name, age, address, details of test drive registered, contact, probable date of buying decision, finance options, any required customization, dealer contact, additional buy and other accessories. Important personal and professional details for future communication of brand loyalty programs can also be captured in the database. Segmentation and targeting, direct marketing plans, media and creative recommendations for the campaign. Leverage the current digital presence that BMWi has and influence the opinion leaders who will generate online interest in BMWi. The customer database for BMWi can be sorted based on age, existing customers, year of purchase, next targeted purchase, date of test drive for BMWi, frequency of communication of customer through any of the communication channels, prospects keen on customization, prospects who have decided on the finance option after requesting a quote and prospects responding to any form of advertisement and requesting additional information. These different customers can be targeted through the various communication channels like TV, print, billboards, sponsorships, social media, website, etc. through special marketing drive to launch BMWi. Social media can be leverage efficiently by attracting new subscribers into the network and engaging forum discussion on the most relevant topics like concept cars, innovative technology, eco friendly car designs, governmental patronizing of fuel efficient designs and innovations, customization of design and manufacturing, etc. Gaming can be incorporated into the websites to give a vicarious experience and also to foster word of mouth that is seen to attract the most loyal of customers through networks. Linking of all partner websites to enable online customization by the customers and online communication of preferences and registrations to be followed with personal communication can be a great idea for extending real-time support through the company’s digital presence. Testing and metrics used to track and measure the campaign- The return on investment (ROI) can be a useful metric at the end of the year as well as at regular intervals of monthly, quarterly and half yearly with the marketing budget evenly distributed across all months throughout the year. Tracking of leads generated based on location, dealer and sales force can also help measure the campaign for success. Clear statistics of leads generated from existing database, which can be further differentiated based on the database attributes, and new prospects generated externally can also help assess the brand equity for BMW and market penetration for BMWi. The number of test drive registrations and brochure requests per month and the trend in the same can also be captured and assessed to measure the success of the marketing campaign for BMWi. A 12-month media mix budget allocating the ?400,000 for the campaign is included below: Table 1: Media mix budget allocation for June 2012 to May 2013 for the launch of BMWi3 Megacity vehicle in June 2013. Month Activity/ Media Budget 1 Website development, integration and testing ?5,000 2 TV, print, billboard, social media advertising ?65,000 3 Trade shows ?45,000 4 Dealer promotion and brand building programs like launching gaming consoles ?5,000 5 TV, print, billboard, social media advertising ?65,000 6 Customer loyalty programs ?15,000 7 Dealer promotion and brand building programs like launching gaming consoles ?5,000 8 TV, print, billboard, social media advertising ?65,000 9 Customer loyalty programs ?15,000 10 TV, print, billboard, social media advertising ?55,000 11 TV, print, billboard, social media advertising ?25,000 12 Exclusive trade show ?35,000 References Case study: BMWi. 2011. IDM Student Competition 2012. The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing. Leonard, A. 2011. Are You Embracing the 5C's? Clickz. Available online: Accessed on: 21st February 2012. Read More