Nokia Marketing Mix - Case Study Example

Nokia Name: Institution: Word Count: 2, 143 15th September 2013 Introduction Nokia is rated as being one of the globes largest manufactures of telecommunication equipments. Its headquarters are located in Espoo in Finland and it is highly recognized because of its wide range of mobile phones, mobile phone infrastructure as well other telecommunication equipments. This report sets out to critically analyse the marketing mix of Nokia by the use of relevant theory. The report will also identify and discuss two of environmental trends that will have an impact on Nokia in the future and how Nokia ought to improve its marketing mix in response the emerging trends. The last section will offer a concluding statement for the report. Nokia marketing mix The marketing mix of a company can be best defined by the company’s price, promotion, distribution and product (Fill 2009). For companies to be successful in the various markets that they are targeting they need to ensure that their products are of good quality, pricing is right and suitable for the customers, products are in the right place and during the right time so as not to cause inconvenience and the customers ought to be made aware of the available products. Product In the past, people usually thought that a good product will sell itself. However with the highly competitive markets that exists today there is usually no room for bad products and customers have been offered with laws that enables them to return products if they perceive them as being bad (Armstrong et al. 2012). The product seems to be at the core of the marketing mix while all the other P’s are solely based on it. Customers usually purchase an organization's services and goods due to a number of reasons and thus organizations need to be well informed of the needs of the customers when selling the products. Thus organizations are tasked with the duty of creating what the customers want. This may include aspects such as brand, warranty, quality, packaging, appearance and support. Nokia has over time improved its mobile phone segment and increased its consumer offering and this has been through the introduction of new models of phones. For instance there has been the introduction of Nokia Asha, Nokia slide phones and Nokia 8800 just to mention a few. Nokia is commonly termed as the leading global brand when it comes to phones and their products are of high quality (Fill 2009). Nokia has also increased its efforts in the understanding of the various needs of their customers such as those with sensory, physical or cognitive limitations. In relation to this Nokia offer visual user guides to aid the illiterate and semiliterate people in using of their mobile phones. The products also seem to be less hazardous to the surrounding environment and they can be recycled. When manufacturing their products Nokia mainly target different kinds of customers for their products. For the youths Nokia have manufactures phones that seems to be stylish and which also have entertainment devices. And for the working people Nokia has been able to develop various phones and they are designed in a sophisticated way, chic look and technologically savvy (Jobber 2004). The design of the mobile phones also seems to be a crucial aspect in the manufacture of products. Nokia was the first mobile manufacturing company to launch N-gauge series that was also complemented with game pads for the users who liked gaming. Nokia phones are also available in various designs like the candy bar, slide, fold, touch screen, classic and QWERTY phones. Also Nokia is known are well recognized for their durability and long lasting batteries. Nokia also has various innovative and user friendly products which have a great impact on the market (Jobber 2004). So far, Nokia has over fifty types of mobile phones with different features. Thus the core aim of Nokia products seems to the socioeconomic groups. Price Price is commonly viewed as being a major aspect in the marketing mix since it creates revenue through sales for the organization. Price usually has two major and noteworthy impacts on the choices of brands that a customer may choose from. The first effect is that some may be looking at the lowest priced product due to their financial factor and the other effect is the highest price for the highest quality of product (Armstrong et al. 2012). Thus in the marketing mix, price seems to play a major and leading role since it is being termed as the highly visible factor of all the factors in the marketing mix and it is distinct as well. Price of product usually detects the various socioeconomic groups in a market. Thus in the aim of achieving a competitive advantage, there ought to be a balance between the price and the product. Nokia seems to have a healthy approach when it comes to all the various groups of their target consumer groups (Jobber 2004). This seems to be the main reason why Nokia has a wide array of products which are offered at affordable rates. Nokia usually applies price skimming strategy in selling its products. For example if the customer is in need of a unique phone and is also willing to pay for a higher price Nokia has the Nokia 6. This decision on pricing seems to be an important aspect that needs to be considered. Place A place usually refers to a company chosen outlet to sell its products or services and for a product to be successful in today’s competitive market it must be in a place that is easy to access. Companies need to find and determine a better place where customers can be able to find their products at the right time and in the right quantity and this will ensure the success of the product in the market (Jobber 2004). Nokia seems to have a worldwide presence in that its products are usually used by a wide range of customers from all corners of the world. In making sure that the products are available in various countries. Nokia has made connection with various local phone suppliers and distributors to store their products in their stores for them to be easily reachable by their clients (Armstrong et al. 2012). In other areas Nokia has opted to create their own retail stores and this meets the needs of their customers since they can easily access the products with ease and at the right time. Promotion Promotion mainly aims at making the company’s known to the various consumers. It is usually necessary for a company to engage in promotion so as to be able to gain a competitive advantage in its industry. Through promotion organization such as Nokia are able to offer helpful information to their customers with the aim of enticing them, to buy their products (Fill 2009). It is evident that the value that is usually associated with promotion in most instances represents an ample share of the preferred cost of producing a product. Nokia uses various forms of promotions so as to reach its customers with the major one being advertised. The major media types that Nokia usually uses for its advertisement are magazines, newspapers, internet and televisions. Through advertisement Nokia is able to draw the attention of the public and make its products known and thus promoting the sales of the company. Through its commonly recited slogan “technology connecting people” Nokia has been able to make unchanging concept in the minds of its customers. When Nokia started selling Nokia 8810, it preferred the use of the internet to sell it and by then it was the first company to adopt intercreative advertisement. Nokia also held a number of celebrity salons with the core theme being “the upper life” so as to make Nokia 8800 more known to its customers. Nokia also used public relations in promoting its products further. Public relations are being usually more concerned with the establishment of good and lasting relations with the public and this is usually through good reputation and maintaining a favourable image of the company (Kotler et al. 2007). With the aim of developing relationship promotion, Nokia usually places so measures in place for it to be viewed as being an outstanding enterprise and it does this by sponsoring various projects aimed at developing the society. Two environmental trends that you believe will impact upon Nokia in the future For various numbers of years there has been noteworthy technical transformation and data and information waves have in a way led to high growth in the telecommunication industry. However the future seems to be an age that is characterized by saturated telecom penetration and the industry will soon face a brand new position (Foedermayr & Diamantopoulos 2008). In looking into the environmental trend in the future, the telecom industry will in a way have to adopt and adjust it with the aim of meeting the requirements as well as the needs that are associated with the new age and the changed environment. Nokia is currently being affected by a number of environmental factors when operating in the current business world that is the macro and micro environmental factors. Irrespective of these there also exist a number of factors that are likely to have an impact on Nokia in the future. Social factor Surpassing population growth and the ultimate development of new subscribers This trend will ultimately be based on the concept of the internet, and thus the internet will open a door to a great number of opportunities in the future. The current developments that are occurring in the mobile industry and most especially to ever increasing services and products that are offered by Nokia when coupled with the internet will facilitate the global village that is approaching (Hooley, Nicoulaud & Piercy 2011). In various developed countries such as the US and Russia, the mobile saturation rate has reached and surpassed the rate of 100%. Based on the fact that the population of the world is bound to increase, the number of users will also increase dramatically and the network will sustain 80% of the global inhabitants. Nevertheless, it seemed to be a long way from the achievement of the goal of connecting almost all people in the globe and at the same time make use of the intelligence of people. In the current world we are faced by multiple types of similar problems. For instance there are times when the globe suffers from shortages in energy though on the other end people seem to be wasting a lot of energy (Kerin & Berkowitz 2006). For example based on research that conducted by the US Department of energy, energy loss that is related to electrical energy mainly accounts for a 67% of the total energy that is usually produced. This seems to be a high level of energy loss and measures ought to be put in place so as to solve the problem associated with loss of energy. Through this, the globe will not be dealing with problems of energy loss and energy shortage at the same time. Science and technology that have been use have improved peoples' lives, although on the other hand it also has serious problems and those that are mostly related to environmental pollution. Statistics that were offered by the Asian Development Bank shows that a great number of the people in the globe do not have access to safe water and at the same time they do not have access to adequate and efficient health care facilities (Onkvisit & Shaw 2008).. Thus it is clearly evident that since science and technology usually improves the peoples live, their lives need also to be changed in that science and technology needs to be applied so as to get clean and safe water and access to adequate medical care. The internet of things seems to fit well in this category. The core aspect of the internet of things is to make greater use of ICT (information and communication technology) in all the industries in the world and thus there will be an ultimate realization of the intelligent perception and control and thus will be achieved through the adoption and use of ICT (Onkvisit & Shaw 2008). There will also be the achievement of the idea of efficiency improvement and saving costs to support the advance as well as the expansion of the society from being an electronic society to a ubiquitous society. Hence, the internet of things illustrates unparalleled blueprint in industries such as the IT industries and the telecommunication industry and more precisely to companies such as Nokia which are grouped under the telecommunication industry (Onkvisit & Shaw 2008). It has been predicted that in the future the proportion amid machine communications and the human type communication will eventually reach the ration of 30:1; this will therefore allow the operators such as Nokia to have an increase in the number of users of their mobile phones and services from about 6 billion to 50 million. This will eventually pave way new and improved services as the core aspect for surpassing the population and developing newer list of subscribers and users in the industry. The above social trend calls for various changes and adjustments in the marketing mix of Nokia. In relation to the product, Nokia needs to increase the number of products that they offer to their customers and thus the need for better and improved products to cater for the future. In terms of the price, they need to vary the prices of their wide range of products, this will ensure that they are able to reach every customer since the customers will be able to purchase their products based on the price that fits them best (Foedermayr & Diamantopoulos 2008). They also need to conduct various kinds of advertisement in the future with the aim of reaching the widest customer base of the future and this will enable them to make greater sales since the customers will be well informed of the products being offered by Nokia. In relation to placement, Nokia needs will need to increase its presence in the markets for a greater number of customers to be able to access their products easily. Technological factor The cost of voice services has been saturated or at times even declined and this can be greatly attributed to the development and advancement of itinerant communication in the preceding decade. Over the last five years, the revenue generated from the fixed voice services has been on the decrease (Kerin & Berkowitz 2006). This was also in the case in the emerging markets. At one fell swoop, the mobile communication industry is entering into a golden age in terms of development and thus the human society is being brought to a new and better height of ubiquity. It is likely that the number of users of mobile phones will increase drastically and it will reach 3 billion in the next couple of years (Kerin & Berkowitz 2006). However it has been noted that, the users and providers of mobile broadband have not utilized it fully and this needs the joint efforts of all the players in the industry. Irrespective of the fact that the new and advanced network technologies can be able to offer support to the cost effectiveness of the mobile broadband development, there seems to be a great number of challenges that are will be based on the fact that there will be a thousand fold traffic augment of the mobile broadband over the next years (Kotler 2003). Novel and innovative kinds of iphones such as the ones manufactured by Nokia tend to offer convenient interactions between the humans and the machines, so far, the high price that is usually charged when it comes to the purchase of such phones seem to be the greatest and biggest blockage that restricts and impends the use and popularity of these kinds of smart phones. WOA technology, which is symbolized by "Widget", can be able to shift the Internet and industry services to the mobile phones, significantly by elevating and increasing the services as well as the applications for mobile broadband users for the next decade (Kotler et al. 2007). At present, an open and diverse ecological setting that comprises of the network, terminal and service which are centered on broadband skill seems to be on its initial stages (Jobber & Fahy 2006). With the problems imposed by traffic and cost being conquered, it seems unsurprising that essentially the mobile broadband will ultimately become the most noteworthy and momentous force in promoting the development of the industry. Operators such as Nokia can be able to realize sustainable expansion in the near future based on this technological trend and thus Nokia needs to make great use of this for it’s to conquer its competitors in the future. In relation to this technological change Nokia will also need to adjust its marketing mix for it to be able to compete with its future competitors in the industry. In relation to the products, Nokia will need to develop technological advanced phones and through these phones they will be able to reach a wide customer base (Foedermayr & Diamantopoulos 2008). They are also supposed to make the product access easier this can be through additional partnering with businessmen in their industry and they can also open new outlets in areas that have high populations. In relation to the price, Nokia needs price their products in a way that ensures that quality in provided to their customers. For those phones that are technologically advanced they need to charge a higher cost (Hooley, Nicoulaud & Piercy 2011). Nokia also needs to enhance its advertisement. Nokia will need to make great use of new and advanced advertising methods that will be available. For example Nokia can make great use of the internet for them to be able to target the young people since they tend to use the internet most of the times. Conclusion The current marketing mix at Nokia seems to be compatible with the current environmental trends. Thus based on the fact that they will be focusing on the future they will need to make a number of changes in relation to their marketing mix. Through the change they will be able to capture the mobile phone industry for the future and thus reap the benefits associated with population growth and advancement in technology that seems to be inevitable environmental trends in the near future of the mobile industry. References Armstrong, G, Adam, S, Denize S & Kotler, P 2012, Principles of Marketing, 5th edn., Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, Australia. Fill, C 2009, Marketing communications, Pearson Education, New Jersey. Foedermayr, EK & Diamantopoulos, A 2008, ‘Market Segmentation in Practice: Review of Empirical Studies, Methodological Assessment, and Agenda for Future Research’, Journal of Strategic Marketing vol.16, no.3, pp.223-265. Hooley, G, Nicoulaud, B & Piercy, N 2011, Marketing strategy and competitive positioning, Pearson Education, New Jersey. Jobber, D & Fahy, J 2006, Foundations of Marketing, 2nd Edn, McGraw-Hill Education, Berkshire. Jobber, D 2004, Principles and Practice of Marketing, 4th edn, McGraw-Hill International ltd, Berkshire. Kerin, H & Berkowitz, R 2006, Marketing. 8th Ed, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York. Kotler, P 2003, Marketing Management, 11th edn, Pearson Education, New Jersey. Kotler, P., Brown, L., Adam, S., Burton, S. and Armstrong, G. 2007, Marketing. 7th edn, Pearson Education Australia, Sydney. Onkvisit, S & Shaw, J 2008, International Marketing: Analysis and Strategy, Routledge, New York Read More