Let Emerging Market Customers Be Your Teachers - Case Study Example

Segmentation and Strategy Report Name Course Lecture Date Introduction Digital cameras are the modern day cameras that encode digital videos and image digitally and also stores them for them to be produced later. Most cameras that are in the market today are digital and their digital cameras are also incorporated in a broad range of devices such as in mobile phones PDA and also in vehicles (Armstrong 2000). In this context, digital cameras are termed as consumer electronics that are mainly built with the aim of capturing both video and pictures. The increasing demand for mobile phones seems to pose a significant risk to the digital camera industry; nevertheless the industry has been performing well. This research sets out to produce a research report describing digital camera and how the market can be segmented. This will down in various steps as follows: Explanation of the digital camera industry area Description of product segments offered within the market Identification of target segment The marketing mix and Trends in the business environment that are affecting the digital camera industry. Industry Overview With the growing popularity of social networking and the emerging trend of sharing of images over a wide range platforms, have eventually led to the numerous growth of the digital camera industry. The market of digital cameras in the UK has been evolving steadily over the years. The company to be used, in this case, is Canon (GFK 2011). Canon is a leading company in the business world. Since the time that the company was established, it has always aimed at being in the forefront of technological advancement and this is done by continuously building on its achievement through the creation of new lifestyles for individuals. Size Canon is a famous Japanese company that engages in the production of digital cameras.60 % of Canon digital cameras are made in Japan. Canon global network includes 300 companies with an employee base of about 200,000 people (Canon Annual Report 2009). The company is a world leader in digital imaging technologies and office automation. The company also seems to be more concerned with technological advancements and 10% of the company’s revenue is dedicated to Research and Development (R&D). The company is guided by the Kyosei philosophy that tends to focus more on living and working together for a common good. Canon, therefore, delivers user-friendly and high-performance solutions and products so as to improve efficiency in home and office environment. Financial information Canon is a global leader and has revenue that totals to $49.8 billion as of may 2015. The company has also been rated as being among the financial sound organisations (Canon Press Release 2009). Number of competitors When companies have no competitors they tend to exploit the consumers with high prices and they may also offer inferior products to the customers. Competitors play an essential role in driving innovation so as to keep up with new procedures and ideas that are likely to move organisations to greater heights (Worthington & Britton 2003). In relation to the digital camera segment, Canon has many competitors which includes but are not limited to Eastman, Kodak, Sony, Panasonic and Nikon. In relation to this, Canon needs to keep up and always manufacture high quality and innovative digital cameras so as to meet their consumer’s needs. Canon will have no option but to offer their target customers with the latest and most advanced digital cameras so as to attract and retain them (Kay and Fogg 2012). Product segments Canon Inc. Manufactures wide range of products such as the consumer imaging products that include binoculars, scanner, printer, film SLR, digital SLR and compact digital cameras, as well as lenses and video camcorders. The company also has a business solution division which offer a broad range of multifunctional printer which are coloured and some that are black and white, scanners, large format printers and software that provides support for these products. Additional there are also other Canon products that are lesser known such as optical, medical and broadcast products which include x-ray devices and ophthalmic, semiconductors, broadcast menses, handy terminals and digital microfilm scanners. Target segments Segmentation is an essential marketing strategy for organisational success. Segmentation is the process of dividing the market unto relatively similar, meaningful and identifiable groups or segments (Burlington et al. 2010). The target market for Canon can be grouped into two major segments that are psychographic segmentation and demographic segmentation. Under the psychographic segmentations are the highly skilled amateurs and professional photographers. This is based on the fact that, they have and follow the following variables motives, personality, lifestyles and geo-demographics. The demographic segments will include families and an individual who make use of their cameras to illustrate and capture memorable moments (Kotler & Keller 2006). Marketing mix Product A product is termed as anything that is offered to the market with acquisition, attention, consumption or use with the aim of meeting a need or a want (Armstrong 2001). The digital cameras are available in various models and they include the EOS, power shot and SLR just to mention a few. The model to be marketed to the UK market is the Hybrid DSLR. The cameras are also available in various colours thus offering the consumers with a broad range of colours to choose from such as grey and black. The Canon Hybrid DSLR is designed in an excellent way with less weight and size when compared to other digital cameras such as the conventional DSLR. The camera also has more capability in that it supports many lenses. The camera also offers perfect results when coupled with the ability of making use of the GPS and image transfer and this is achieved through the utilization of the Bluetooth to other devices thus offering more convenience to the users (Song & Chintagunta 2003). The digital cameras have all the functions as well as capabilities that customer want in the modern day digital cameras. The product is durable, reliable and excellent in terms of style. Additionally, full warranty is offered as after sales and at the same time, online support is offered to enable troubleshooting. This instils more confidence in consumers since some other products do not offer after sales support (Payne 2006). Price Price is related to how much money a customer is ready to pay for a product. The buying decision is mainly affected by how highly or lowly rated a product is. Some consumers are of the perception that, lowly priced items are fake and will not last for long; thus they usually shun away from purchasing such items (Koichi 2014). Highly priced items also possess a threat to low-income earners. The launch of the product will enable Canon to improve its profits making in the UK, sustain its already existing marketing share in the market and increase its market share by attracting new customers in the potential markets. The urgent demand for DSLR has increased over time due to its quality results and the option of making use of different supporting lens. Canon cameras are offered at lower prices when compared to their major competitors that are Sony and Nikon. Place Place is the third "p" in the marketing mix and it refers to how the product to be purchased gets to the people who will buy it and at times it is referred to as the distribution strategy. In regard to this, Canon will offer a wide range of options on where customers can get the products and spare parts in case the camera is damaged. The Canon website is very resourceful since it is well designed and offer details on specifications, prices, pictures of products and the latest deals. Through the use of the website, customers are able to make a comparison of the various cameras and choose the one they want based on the picture quality and price (Kim & Mauborgne 2005). Canon also needs to offer a list of official dealers that sell their genuine products and spare parts in the UK. Canon will also rely on the already existing networks and procedure. The product will also be sold through the UK Canon online stores, eBay, authorised E tailors of Canon, local distributors and EOS professional network. The cameras will also be shipped in bulk to the various distribution centres based on forecast and demand in the different regions in the UK (Digi Times 2010). By doing so, they will be able to meet the requirements of the customers on a timely basis as opposed to making orders when customers need the products. Promotion Promotion is a marketing strategy that entails selling, advertising, public relations, direct mail; trade shows that other communication techniques. Successful promotion changes the beliefs and at the same time increases consumers awareness and knowledge and the purchasing intention of the potential buyer (Peter & Donnelly 2007). The digital camera will be promoted through TV ads, sponsorship, PR, billboards, consumer magazines and also through newspapers. The purpose of the promotion will be to attract customers, increase the profit margins of the company and sustain a considerable market share. The Canon website will also be used for promotion. The product will also be promoted and sold through the company website and also through sources of promotion such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, Twitter, direct emails and also product review blogs (Hasouneh & Alqeed 2010). A push strategy will also be applied and this will offer sponsorship opportunities to the product for example, they can aim at sponsoring major sporting events such as the next Olympic. The company will also make use of personal relation and it brand name in promoting the digital camera and the product is part and parcel of the environmental awareness program (Harvard Business Review 2000). The product offers a great number of benefits in saving the environment for the next generation. By sponsoring such events, it is likely to succeed in the market since it will attract a wide range of consumers from all over the globe. Major trends affecting digital camera industry The digital camera industry is affected by two major trends in the business environment. The first trend that affects the industry is technological advancements. Technology is advancing significantly and this makes the products produced for example in one or two years to be absolute since new ones have been developed which have greater advantages as compared to the earlier ones. This trends affects the industry in that, Canon needs to keep on developing newer products that are advanced so as to keep up with the technological advancement and to meet the growing need for new experiences by the customers (Hart 2008). Another trend that is affecting the industry relates to the social aspect. With the development of the internet, people tend to be more connected unlike in the previous years. Through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, individuals around the globe are sharing their photos and videos more easily. This affects the industry in that, for companies to be successful, they need to manufacture digital cameras to enable them share their photos and videos more easily through the use of applications such as Bluetooth. This is likely to affect the sales of digital cameras and thus Canon and other digital camera manufacturers will have a greater customer base to sell their products to (Guidry 2011). Conclusion In conclusion, Canon Inc can base their operations in the UK. In regard to these, they need to market the DSLR camera to the two primary target groups; the home users and the professionals. By doing so, they are likely to make greater sales as individuals and practitioners are in need of digital cameras that have a high resolution and that produce quality pictures. Canon also needs to make good use of the marketing mix so as to achieve their targeted sales levels. The products to be marketed have the qualities that are needed by modern day consumers thus they need to focus more on place and promotion and pricing. By pricing their commodities relatively, they will attract their target group. Awareness also needs to be made through various promotion strategies such as advertising, PR, use of social media and sponsorship. Additionally they need to make their products readily available to the customers. References Armstrong, L 2000, ‘A Picture-Perfect Digital Camera.’, Business week, vol. 3694, pp. 22. Armstrong, L 2001, ‘Digital Cameras That You Can Afford’, Business week, vol. 3737, pp. 152-153. Burlington, M, Andrea, G, Marcotte, D & Morrison, G 2010, ‘Let Emerging Market Customers Be Your Teachers’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 12. Canon Annual Report 2009, Canon Annual Report, viewed 29 May 2015, . 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