Marketing Audit - Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera - Case Study Example

Marketing Audit Report (Cannon) Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction This report is aimed at taking a critical look on Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera which is a product of Cannon Plc by discussing the company’s target market for the product, its marketing mix, the competitive advantage for the company and the effectiveness of its marketing alongside the determination of the success by the company in selling the product. Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera is camera is recognized for its ability to take high quality pictures especially from the automotive mode. A.1 The Australian target market. Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera has very important features that make it very useful in the field of photography. Cannon has taken the initiative to develop a product that is a compact system that can highly be regarded because of its size, power in taking high quality photos, and high level of simplicity without having to cause any harm to the EOS quality. The camera is also very preferred in the creative auto mode where the EOS is used for creative shooting (Cannon 2012a). With these features and many others, the company has got numerous target markets which it feels that have a need to be served and the major target markets include researchers, commercial photographers, journalists and news reporters, tourists and household users. Commercial photographers The commercial photographers form the largest market in the industry with about 45%. This group is characterized by the fact that they attend different public functions, take photos and sell them back to the owners. The people in this target market are more interested in durability, high level technology and camera that can produce quality pictures and above a commercially viable camera in terms of cost to operate and maintain. They also demand for assurance in form of warranty if the product fails to function as ought to have been. Researchers The researchers in this case include academic researchers as well as private researchers who sought to carry out a study on their own to understand a given phenomenon in the environment and therefore like the case of commercial photographers, this group is in demand of high quality cameras with the high power to take very clear and quality photos from both near and far distances. Price and availability of the product is also important as this group may use the product only for a short-while. Journalists and news reporters This is a target market that is highly characterized with the need to transmit and deliver quality pictures to public through different media houses. Above on the list of the customer expectations, is the cost, maintenance and data security. This is because this target market is also relatively big within the Australia filming industry. Tourists and household users The family people can be a good target market for the industry and the company in general. This is because a majority of families could wish to have their own cameras that they could use to take photos in various functions including birthdays, weddings and even burial ceremonies. Important expectation among this target market is actually cost since not in anyway they will engage in commercial activities (Cannon 2012a). Further, simplicity in use is another expectation in this target because any person can use the product. Availability is also very essential. A.2 The marketing mix 1. The product. The product that has been chosen for this study is the Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera. This is a product by Cannon Plc. the company over years has taken an initiative to develop what can be best for the market and therefore has managed to develop a wide range of products for various categories including digital cameras, desktop printers, and digital SLR cameras, calculators, binoculars, and accessories, lenses, digital video cameras and Cinema EOS System. The Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera is among the digital video cameras that have been developed by the company (Cannon 2012a). The customer needs that the product meets As shown in appendix 1 below, Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera has vey many characteristics that make it more suitable to a majority of the target markets. The physical size and physical decorations make the camera friendlier to use by the customer. The Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera with the compact system that has been developed within is known to satisfy the customer demands for its premium image quality which portrays high level of quality and fun as shown in appendix 1 below. To make sure that the camera is more suitable for the market, it has been developed in such away that it contains the new EOS 650D digital SLR which contain different components including that of 18 megapixel APS-C with on-chip phase detection AF and DIG!C image processor (Cannon 2012a). Further, the camera has also been structured in away that the mirrorbox can assembly and viewfinder its operation that can allow the camera to be around 50% lighter and more significantly smaller while the same time can maintain the same high quality images. The other features that make the camera friendlier and more suitable for the market is its performance features which include outstanding low-light shooting which has an ISO range of 100 to 12800 and can be expanded to about 25600 (H), and the 4.3 frame-per-second high-speed burst picture capturing with a One SHOT AF. Finally, the camera is characterized with its simplicity features, weight and size making it more comfortable to carry along and use for different functions ranging from commercial to private through to household use (Cannon 2012a). Type of product Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera as presented in this case can be identified as a shopping product. This product category has been chosen because the camera is so important in one’s daily life. However, before one makes the final decision to purchase it, he must take sometime to inquire on the product features, quality and price so as to make informed decision. In the category are also cars, high-end bicycles and diamonds. Product attributes Size, weight, less features, general use and simplicity in use Core product A core product is described as the benefit or even the satisfaction a consumer gets from the product or service that he purchases. Actual product The actual product can be described as those tangible aspects of a particular product like the brand name, style, quality level and designs as well as features that tend to make the product more attractive to the customer. Augmented product An augmented product is the one that contains both the primary attributes which are physical and the non-physical attributes are important in increasing the value of a product. Brand effectiveness Despite the numerous positive features for the product, the product brand is not strong and therefore not effective. This is because the company has numerous brands and one such brand is Digital SLR Cameras. This is where Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera falls and consequently cannot clearly identify with its own brand. Packaging of the product The product comes in different sizes. However, what can be termed as the significant difference in packaging is the red rubber rub that is used to cover the rest of the body while a small cover is to protect the lens. The important package feature is the labeling of the packing case with the type of product and its features something will talk more about the product as shown in appendix 1 below. Functions of the product package The rubber package is used for protective functions from any physical harm that may be caused to the camera either by falling or by any other means. Further, the labeling of the camera with its name and brand is also used for secondary function which is promoting the product in the market and trying to identify it form the rest of the products from rival companies which almost serve functions. Packaging and differentiation Even though the packaging is showing the company name, it is less effective in ensuring that the product is differentiated from the rest companies’ products. This is because it is not talking about such issues as quality, price and value to the customer. Product life cycle Any new product that is brought into market goes through various stages before it reaches maturity and then decline. With the case of Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera, it can be said that the product is at the earlier stage. This is because it is among the latest digital cameras that have been developed by Cannon. Second the product is not well known in the market and lastly, its features that entail the compact camera body that can use EF AND EF-S are very new in the market (Cannon 2012a). As a matter of fact, what the company is trying to do to have the product make the impact in the market is by using the brand Cannon to market the brand. This makes it very difficult to identify the product from the other products of the company, thus making it very difficult to shop by the customer (Anita 2007). This also does not give good promotional strategy. However, the approach to use the company chain distribution through established retail stores has helped the company place the product in various markets. Finally, the pricing strategy where each and every product from the company is charged for its own price empowers the company to demonstrate the quality and the value of the product by charging slightly higher than the standard prices (Kalpana 2006). Product adoption process The product adoption process is using three different groups to get the product into the market and they include the professionals and enthusiast to catch the market. This is a very good technique for the product since the market is likely to be adapted first to the product once they learn of the product from the people who they see as professionals. 1.2 Promotion Promotion is an important aspect that the company has employed to have the product perform well in the market. The major promotional strategy Cannon is using is online means. This can be learnt from the case of the 2012 EOS Photo competition that was aimed at promoting cameras that the company is manufacturing. This competition was characterized by voting online by the customers throughout the years in order to vote for the best quality photos by different cameras (Anita 2007). This was an opportunity for the market to identify which brand was best suited for their needs. Prior to the promotion, company magazines, fliers and billboards were used to list the different products under promotion. The online voting was especially preferred because it ensured that as many individuals participated and the participation can be tracked to establish where the company had more presence and perhaps determine what strategies to employee to promote the business (Cannon 2012b). Important feature with the company about its communication is that it is uses its communication tools which include magazines, internet and fliers for providing information about the business and also to promote its products. The tools for communication are used to communicate about the company activities, products and where they can be found and any general information that the company can deem necessary like use and quality of the products as well their prices. This is a weak approach by the company given that the product is still at an earlier stage. This is because it does not give the market the power it deserves to adopt the market (Kalpana 2006). 1.3 Place. Cannon has a wide distribution of physical retail branches across the world that it uses to distribute its products. This provides an important avenue for the company to ensure that the new product has been made available in the market. The strategy of using the company already established retail outlets is important in satisfying the customers and the target market because their concerns about quality, availability, technical issues, delivery and prices could direct be addressed to the company staff and not the middlemen who may not have as adequate information as possible (Cannon 2012b). For the new product like Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera, this strategy may not so good since the market already knows different products that from the company and therefore may not notice so easily thus giving the product a slow and weak start from earlier stages in the product life cycle. 1.4 Price The company’s pricing strategy is differentiation based on the quality of the product and its features as well as its functions. The company therefore charges different prices for different products which are under same brand like is the case of the digital SLR Camera. Pricing differently gives the company a competitive edge because it will always have room to revise on its prices to meet the expectations of the customers and also compete favorably with other brands like Sony and Samsung. While at Cannon differentiated pricing strategy is being used, the different prices for different products are as result of the feature the product has and quality of service to the customer (Kalpana 2006). The variations in prices for different products as a strategy, is aimed at ensuring that each product gets the best promotion to sale in the market as possible (Cannon 2012b). A.3 Competitive Advantage The company in its marketing mix has tried to demonstrate how it will do its pricing, delivery to the market, promotion and product development. One product feature that would be used to excite the customers is the ability to use the camera for specialties and also for general use through minor adjustments. Using company established retail shops would also play a very significant role in making the consumer get attracted to the product because of the loyalty that is likely to be established because of direct interaction (Kalpana 2006). Quality is key here also. Finally, using promotions that involve all the customers makes them feel part of the company will like to be associated with the brand. A.4 Assessment of the firm’s success and conclusion Given the already established situation of the company, it can be argued that Cannon is yet to be successful in establishing a well different marketing mix for its customers and therefore can be said that customer expectations are yet to be made. This is because one, the company is not giving as much attention to using technology to facilitating product placement; second, promotional activities are still very minimal and third, pricing that does not take into account the expectations of the customers, are among the factors that can be used to argue that the company is yet to have a marketing mix that can attract the market. With this regard therefore, it can be concluded that the business is very much below the competition in the market and for the product to grow and reach maturity, a lot has to be done on its marketing mix. References Anita, S. (2007). “Quality of service parameters in cellular mobile communication”, international journal of mobile communications, 5(1), 89-123. Ball, D.A., Wendell, H., Paul, L., Michael, J. & Michael, S. (2002). International Business. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Cannon. (2012a). Digital SLR Cameras, retrieved on 15th December 2012, available at: http://www.canon.com.au/For-You/EOS-Digital-SLR-Cameras Cannon. (2012b). Cannon brands, retrieved on 15th December 2012, available at: http://www.canon.com.au/For-You/EOS-Digital-SLR-Cameras Cannon. (2012c). EOS Cameras pricing, retrieved on 15th December 2012, available at: http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/subCategory_10051_10051_- 1_12164 Kalpana, C. (2006). “Promotional strategies of cellular services: A customer perspective”, Indian Journal of marketing, p.29. Appendix 1 Read More