American Marketing Association - Term Paper Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Toyota 2 Marketing Plan 3 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Success or failure of a global organization is heavily dependent on the marketing strategies that are adopted by the company. Marketing, today, is one of the most important functions in a company. Various experts and organizations have defined the term differently. American Marketing Association said that “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large” (American Marketing Association, n.d.). O'Shaughnessy in his “Competitive marketing: a strategic approach” wrote that “Marketing covers those activities that relate the organization to those parts of the outside world that use, buy, sell or influence the outputs it produces and the benefits and services it offers” (O'Shaughnessy, 1995). Marketing, in case of a global organization is influenced by several macro as well as micro environmental factors. Furthermore when a company decides to enter into a new market, it has to prepare a proper marketing plan. In this process all the external and internal factors that are likely to influence the company’s performance, are needed to be taken into consideration. This report includes a well structured marketing plan that can be used by a global organization for launching one of its products in a particular market. The chosen company is Toyota and the chosen product is the Prius car of the company. India is chosen as the target country where the product will be launched. Toyota The Japan based Toyota is one of the largest automobile companies in the world. It’s headquarter is located in Tokyo. According to the information provided by the company in its main website, it was established in the year 1937. Currently the company employs almost 320,808 people throughout the world. The company is mainly known for automobile production and sales. Apart from car manufacturing, the company has its presence in the industries like financial service, housing, Marine, biotechnology etc. (Toyota-b, n.d.). Toyota’s total capital is found to be 397.05 billion yen. According to the company’s financial results, its total sales in the last financial year, was 20,529.5 million yen. In the financial year 2008-09 the company sold almost 1,945,000 cars in the home country and almost 5,622,000 cars in all the foreign markets (Toyota-a, n.d.). Major brands of the company include corolla, camry, land cruiser, prius, high lander, tundra etc. (Toyota, n.d.).Among these brands Prius is one of the newest cars that are not present in the Indian market. Marketing Plan A proper marketing needs to be prepared before launching a product in the new market. Marketing plan for a product of an automobile company can be prepared on the basis of SOSTAC format. In this format first a situation analysis is conducted, then objectives are defined and strategies are formed, then tactics are decided. Based on this strategies and tactics actions are taken and these actions are then properly controlled. Situation analysis of Toyota The situation analysis includes the analysis of both micro and macro environment that influence the company’s performance. PEST model can be used for the analysis of the macro environment of the company. Political As far as India is concerned, the country’s political scenario is not very stable. There are several political parties like Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Nationalist Congress Party etc. (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). All these parties have the power to influence the company’s decisions. Moreover trade unions are also very active in the country. They interfere in all the decisions regarding, recruitment, wage, working hour and environment, job cut etc. Economic Condition Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In 2009 when global financial meltdown affected the world economy, Indian economy has still managed to have a GDP growth rate of almost 6.5%. In the same year the country’s GDP was almost 3.56 trillion dollar (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). So, it is quite clear that it is not only one of the fastest growing economies, but it is one of the biggest economies in the world. It is found that India is the fourth major automobile market among all the major automobile markets (PRlog, 2009). With the fast growing economy, people’s purchasing power is also increasing in the country. As a result people are likely to spend more and more amount of money in purchasing cars. Social Condition It is found that only 29% of the country’s total population lives in urban area. Furthermore most of the people fall in the age group of 15-40 years. It is also observed that 61% of the total population is officially literate and the country’s population is growing at a rate of 1.407% (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). India is known for its unique culture. People in this country are very much family oriented. Moreover there are large numbers of languages that are spoken in the country. Such a social structure is likely to be considered very attractive for any automobile company that is about to launch a new product. Technology India is gradually adopting advanced technology. Number of people using internet is continuously increasing. According to a research that was conducted by IMRB International in 2008, almost 45.3 million people use internet in the country. Out of these, almost 42 million people live in urban areas (Wharton University, 2009). Organizations are also using modern technologies in order to improve their offerings and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of their daily operations. SWOT Analysis Strengths Toyota’s main strength is its huge experience as it is been over 70 years that the company is operating in the car industry. With this vast experience the company can make more effective business decisions. Toyota is the largest company in the industry in terms of total sales. Such a dominating position is a huge advantage for the company. Another major strength of Toyota is its brand image. It is considered as one of the premium car brands among the consumers. Toyota is also renowned for the quality of its cars. Over the year Toyota has produced high quality automobiles. The company is also renowned for its efficient supply chain system. Toyota is one of those few companies that have successfully implemented concepts like TQM and JIT. Weaknesses Recently Toyota’s brand image is badly hurt as the company has recalled over 5 million cars. The main reason behind such massive recall was defective floor mats, accelerator pedals, and brakes (The Independent, 2010). Opportunities With its excellent financial condition and vast knowledge of the market, Toyota can increase its market share by focusing more on emerging markets like India and Brazil. Moreover the company can develop new models that will be powered by new advanced technologies. Threats Global financial turmoil can be considered as a major threat for the company. This is mainly because this turmoil has badly affected the overall demand of commercial cars throughout the world. In addition to this there is intense competition. There are some big competitors like General Motors, Ford, and Honda that can anytime beat the company with their innovative marketing strategies and advanced products. Objectives In the target market of India Toyota’s main objective will be to increase its current market share by launching Prius. Prius is a luxury car brand; as a result the company will be targeting the upper and upper-middle class people in the country. It is found that the company has almost 3% market share in India (Press Trust of India, 2010). With the help of Prius the company will target to increase its market share up to 7% within the next financial year. Another major marketing objective of the company will be to increase its brand equity in the Indian market. Strategy Toyota will focus on heavy promotion to make its Prius brand popular in the Indian market. The company will advertise the brand in the electronic and print media. Television and internet will be mainly used for this purpose. Most importantly there will be separate network of dealers who will be selling Prius and providing the after sales services to the target customers. Popular sports stars and movie stars will be hired as brand ambassadors of the brand. Free after sales services will be provided to the first hundred customers and it will be provided for the entire life span of the car. Competitive pricing strategies will be adopted and in this process price of other luxury brands like Mercedes and BMW will considered. Discounts will be given to those customers who will be purchasing the car in the first one month. Tactics Tactics will be decided on the basis of the strategies. Since Prius will be positioned as a luxury car, those TV channels and magazines that are followed by business class people, will be chosen for promotion. Moreover the car will be available only in the three metro cities of the country. Customers will be given the chance to take a test drive so that they can experience the benefits of the car before making the purchasing decision. Moreover the company will be providing financial support to the customers. Short term credit will be given to them to facilitate the purchasing process. Action All these strategies are needed to be properly implemented. A special marketing team will be formed in order to look after the entire execution process. The advertising part will be given to a renowned advertising agency to look after. Experienced sales people will be either newly hired or transferred from other brands. Preference will be given to those who know both local language as well as English language. Existing dealers will be given chance to set up new outlets for Prius, but at the same time new organizations can also become the dealer. During this entire process, the company will take all the necessary permissions from the local government and all the legal issues will be given required importance. Control Implementation or execution is not the last stage of a marketing plan. After all the strategies are implemented, the entire process is needed to be properly controlled. If such a big process is not properly controlled, there will be huge lose of all the valuable resources. All the human efforts, money and time will be of no use if the process is not strictly controlled. Both middle and top level management will be mainly responsible for controlling the actions. Conclusion Preparing a proper marketing plan is a very important task for a company that is going to launch a new product in a new market. While preparing this plan all those factors that are likely to have impact over Toyota’s marketing and sales activities, are needed to be analyzed. Two main strategic tools that are used for conducting this analysis are SWOT and PEST. Based on this analysis and its findings marketing strategies are adopted. These strategies are needed to be appropriately implemented and controlled. References American Marketing Association, No Date, Marketing, Definition of Marketing, [online] Available at: http://www.amaboston.org/definition-of-marketing.html [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Central Intelligence Agency, No Date, India, World Fact Book, [online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html [Accessed on April 27, 2010] PRlog, 2009, Automobile Industry in India, Latest Press Releases, [online] Available at: http://www.prlog.org/10241784-automobile-industry-in-india.html [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Press Trust of India, 2010, Toyota eyes 10% market share in 6-7 yrs, Times of India, [online] Available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/biz/india-business/Toyota-eyes-10-market-share-in-6-7-yrs/articleshow/5680490.cms [Accessed on April 27, 2010] O'Shaughnessy, J. 1995, Competitive marketing: a strategic approach, Routledge The Independent, 8 February 2010, Facts and figures on Toyota's massive recalls, [Online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/facts-and-figures-on-toyotas-massive-recalls-1893216.html [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Toyota, No Date, All Vehicles, Toyota – Moving Forward, [Online] Available at: http://www.toyota.com/modelselector/ [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Toyota-a, No Date, Overview, Company Profile, [Online] Available at: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/overview/ [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Toyota-b, No Date, Business Activities, [Online] Available at: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/business_field/index.html [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Wharton University, 2009, From Carpentry to Couriers: India's Rural Job Portals Are Taking Off, Human Resources, [Online] Available at: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4412 [Accessed on April 27, 2010] Read More