Mazda 3 Car Marketing Mix - Case Study Example

Mazda 3 Car Name Institution Name Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Product Description 3 Marketing Mix 4 Product Type (3 Levels of the Product) 4 Placement (Distribution) 5 Channel structure 5 Distribution intensity 6 Promotion 7 Promotional Tools 7 Positioning 9 Unique brand positioning 10 Factors Affecting the Marketing Mix 10 Competitive Environment 10 Product Life Cycle 10 Other factors 11 Creative Development (Creative for Marketing Mix) 11 Reflection 12 References 14 Product Description Mazda 3 car is a product of Mazda Motor Corporation; the company was established in 1920 in Japan. The company’s vision is to create new value, excite and delight customers through best automotive products and services. For approximately 100 years that the company has been operational, it has vastly expanded into becoming one of impressive global empires (Mazda, 2014). Mazda 3 car is a recently manufactured car models that excellent benefit to the customer including security; the company is one of major global organization. The company has a market leader status and which Mazda is continuously working to retain. Accordingly, the buyer will realize the value of money. Additionally, the car is stylishly designed thus giving the customer the comfort, ambiance, and superior touch. Consequently, the car was engineered using superior technology; Skyactive technology. Mazda is one of the most coveted cars in Australia, for instance in 2013, of the 104,000 units of cars that were sold in the country, 31,000 were Mazda cars; Australia is one of the extremely important Mazda markets (Mazda, 2014). The Mazda 3 is a stylish 2 litre comfortable sedan classified as a small car which designed superbly with comfort in the mind for multiple and dissimilar users and/or passengers (Mazda, 2014). As aforementioned the car is equipped with Skyactive technology comprising of fuel efficient technologies including light weight metals and fuel consumption monitoring give the customer greater driver confidence together with smaller carbon footprint. Mazda 3 provides customers pleasure and outstanding environment as well as safety performance. Marketing Mix Product Type (3 Levels of the Product) There is an interesting concept of benefit building for a product; for instance a product is viewed in three distinct levels that help manufacturers extract all the benefits that the product offers. These three levels include: Level one: Core Product: this is the simplest and most basic level; at this stage the manufacturer identifies what the customer is set out to purchases and the benefits that the producer would like the buyer to get (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). In this regard, when the company defines its core products, it can easily achieve marketing excellence (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2011). These products; core products are also referred to as benefits and they are generally intangible in nature. Mazda Motor Corporation’s core products when developing the Mazda 3 car are: Convenience and flexibility Status symbol Comfort for people of all ages and sexes Reassuring and offering confidence Level two: Actual Product: this level involves translating core product benefits into a product that customers finally buy. Although competitors may be offering the same product with the same benefits, the aim of the producer should be designing a product that will appeal or persuade customers to purchase the product over that of the competitors (Mazda, 2014). This may include quality level, product and service features, styling, packaging and branding. The Mazda 3 car actual products include: Skyactive technology 2 litre four-cylinder-engine as compared to 1.6 and 1.8 litre engines for Honda civic and Toyota Corolla respectively 16-inch steel wheels Blue tooth Cruise control Push-button engine start All gender and age car Level three: Augmented product: at this level, the product producer may decide to add additional non tangible benefits which the product can offer (Garland, 2010). In this regard, things like after sale services, warranties, help lines, and free/cheap delivery can be used. Things that are not related to the product or those that the product cannot offer but the customers are likely to find them useful. Augmented products offer the customer peace of mind as well as demonstrate that producer has faith in the product’s quality. Mazda 3 car augmented products include: Post-purchase fixed price servicing Follow-up phone call to obtain customer satisfaction Warrant Placement (Distribution) Channel structure Distribution is a critical entity in marketing; in essence marketing is always all about making sure that the right products, in the right quantity, get to the right place at the right time (Lamb, 2012). In this regard it is significantly important for marketers to focus on how to reach the target market. This may be affected by factors such as, location of the business, location of your target market, how to reach the target market, warehousing your stock, transportation of your stock (Mazda, 2014). Distribution channel structure is defined by whether the company is retailing its products directly to the customers or working through intermediaries (Mazda, 2014). Mazda 3 is a car that is distributed through multiple channels; Mazda Australia which company’s main subsidiary can distribute the car directly to the customer. For instance, through the company’s website www.mazda.com.au not only helps facilitates the investigative stage of purchase, but also looks to give reason for prospective buyers to come back. The company gives information including videos, pictures and comments which helps customers to have a 3600 interaction with a car that no dealership environment can achieve. Similarly, the company use other car dealers including online retailers like Carpoint.com.au to help in the distribution. Distribution intensity This refers to the scale of distribution network together with the appropriate selection of location (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). Mazda Australia uses intensive distribution and selective distribution, whereby its products are stocked in the majority of selected outlets. Intensive distribution provides convenience and availability to the customer while at the same time increasing brand performance and loyalty. Selective distribution on the other hand, the company only relies on a few intermediaries to carry their products something that is essential in maintaining company credibility (Mazda, 2014). Promotion Promotional Tools Promotional mix is the medium through which the company communicates the product to the target market (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). There are various forms of promotional tools including: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations. Mazda Australia is regarded to have used the most expensive marketing campaign in launching and promoting the Mazda 3 car. For instance, the following tools to promote the Mazda 3 car. Advertising: a paid form of communication which identifies an organization or brand and promotes it to a wide audience at one time (Siegel & Lotenberg, 2007). Some of the typical channels that organizations use for advertising include television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards and the internet. The company used TV, Magazine, Newspaper and online advertising to inform its customers about the new car model; Mazda 3 (Mazda, 2014). The following are advantages and disadvantages of advertising: Advantages Disadvantages It helped the company to build product awareness They reached a wider audience Repetition of Mazda 3 helped in product positioning as well as helped to build customer trust. It is impersonal and thus cannot answer all customer questions It is not the effective way of making the customer make the final purchasing decision Personal Selling: an interactive paid form of marketing communication that involves the buyer and the seller. The interaction between these two entities can occur in person, by phone or through any other technologies. This involves interacting directly with the customer and helping in their purchase decision making process. Advantages Disadvantages It highly interactive The company communicate complex and/or detailed product information and features Building of relationship It is costly Not suitable in the event of many customers Sales promotion: marketing activities that provide an added value or incentive to the marketing personnel, distributors or final consumers and has the potential of attracting immediate sales. This involves the use of incentives with singular objectives of increasing sales quickly. Advantages Disadvantages Stimulate quick sales increases It is a good tactical tool on short term If used for a longer time customers may get used to the effect Too much promotion can damage the brand image. Public relations: a communication tool mainly used to improve the organization’s image and products through attaching a positive aspect on company news stories. Public relations is regarded as a management function that evaluates the attitudes of the public, identifies problems and policies that an individual or organization has with the public interest and executes a program of actions to earn public acceptance as well as understanding. Mazda Australia sponsored the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne. Advantages Disadvantages Improve the credibility of the company It is a cheap way of communicating to many customers Risk of loosing control. Positioning This refers to communicating the essential benefits of the product to potential customers (Fifield, 2012). In marketing, there are various factors that affect the company’s product price such as the competitors’ rates and products (Mazda, 2014). In this regard, the company must come up with a price positioning strategy that will position its brand relative to the competitors. The Price Value matrix is usually used in this instance. Mazda Australia positioned the Mazda 3 car as low priced and high quality car. For instance, different models of Mazda 3 are priced from $20,490 to $38,190 (Mazda, 2014). Perceptual Map This is a visual representation of how the average target market consumer understands the positioning of the competing products in the marketplace (Mazda, 2014). It is an essential tool for measuring how products are positioned in the consumer’s mind and showing these perceptions on a graph whose axes are formed by product attributes. The following is the perceptual map for Mazda 3 Unique brand positioning Pricing Strategy: Mazda Australia used the penetrative price positioning strategy that is extremely aggressive in nature. Regardless of the fact the Mazda 3 car is a high quality car, the company decided to lowly price it in order to attract more customers. Factors Affecting the Marketing Mix Competitive Environment Mazda 3 car entered and extremely competitive environment (Mazda, 2014). For instance, there are other well established rivals including Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla; these cars have strong market presence and thus Mazda Australia must use heavy market promotional activities to ensure the gains a market position that will displace its competitors. Product Life Cycle Mazda 3 is entering its early growth stage; and for this reason there is need for extensive promotion to create awareness in the marketplace. For instance, customers are unlikely to purchase a product that they have no knowledge of. Other factors Budget available Type of product and type of purchase decision Target market characteristics and consumers’ readiness to purchase Consumers’ preference for various media Regulations, and environmental factors Availability of media Creative Development (Creative for Marketing Mix) In order for Mazda Australia to achieve the coveted market position for Mazda 3 car, the company should employ the use of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012). This approach used by organizations to brand and coordinate their communication efforts (McDonald, 2007). It is a concept that understands the added value of a comprehensive method that evaluates the strategic roles of various communication disciplines, combining them to provide clarity, consistency together with maximum communication impact (Mazda, 2014). From the above discussion, the paper has extensively tackled various aspects of marketing mix; for instance, the paper has discussed 4Ps. Employing the IMC tools in their marketing mix; using promotional tools such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations/publicity, personal selling, direct marketing, and internet marketing and making sure that they work together as a unified force rather than working in isolation. This will help Mazda Australia to have a massive impact at the marketplace thus in creasing the sales of the Mazda 3 car. Reflection Strengths This paper using Mazda 3 car as the subject, expansively help the reader to understand various aspects of marketing (Mazda, 2014). For instance, the product marketing mix provides a clear description of the product, placement/distribution channels, promotional activities, and price strategy. In essence, the paper is describes Mazda 3 marketing strategy. Weaknesses The paper does not provide a holistic picture of Mazda Australia marketing strategy; it is only narrowed to a single product (Mazda, 2014). Learning style The main learning styles used were auditory and visual; for instance listening to lectures as well as seeing; graphics, watching demonstrations, and/or reading were the main styles used. Resources Online resources were extremely helpful in tackling all the paper requirements. References Boone, L., & Kurtz, D. (2011). Contemporary marketing, 15th Ed. London: Cengage Learning Ferrell, O., & Hartline, M. (2012). Marketing strategy, 6th Ed. London: Cengage Learning Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing Strategy, 2nd Ed. London: Routledge Publishers Garland, D. (2010). Smarter, faster, cheaper: Non-boring, fluff-free strategies for marketing and promoting your business. New York: John Wiley & Sons Lamb, C. (2012). Marketing. Sydney: Cengage Learning Lamb, C., Hair, J., & McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing, 7th Ed. London: Cengage Learning Mazda. (2014). Home. Retrieved from www.mazda.com.au McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing plans: How to prepare them, how to use them. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann Publishers Shimp, T., & Andrews, J. (2013). Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated marketing communications, 9th Ed. London: Cengage Learning Siegel, M., & Lotenberg, L. (2007). Marketing public health: Strategies to promote social change. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning Read More