Marketing Management. Peter Drucker - Essay Example

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs buyer's needs vary from physiological to self actualization. A product like car, is required to fulfill the needs like social needs and esteem needs. Brand image and value plays a very crucial role as a decider in fulfilling such needs. Buyer behavior is deeply rooted in psychology guided by dashes of sociology. A product is therefore priced, placed, promoted depending upon the kind of market the company envisages for the product. A company like Nissan will therefore give more thought to the needs of its customers within its most potential markets.

Nissan envisions 'Enriching people's lives', while working with a mission statement stating, "Nissan provides unique and innovative automotive products and services that deliver superior measurable values to all stakeholders in alliance with Renault." A brand like Nissan also brings with it the qualities like reliability and prestige, which forms the core of making buying decisions. In today's market driven economy, the role of media and promotion has also become very crucial. With increasing competition and decreasing profit margins, a balanced marketing communication campaign forms the back-bone of company's marketing strategy.

Nissan Motor Company Limited (Nissan) is engaged in the planning, developing, manufacturing and selling of passenger automobiles, automobile parts, and forklifts. Company's potential markets are Japan, Canada, Australia, the US, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Middle East and some parts of Asia. North America accounted for 43.5% of its total revenues in the fiscal year 2006, while Japan, Nissan Motor's largest geographical market, accounted for 28.4% with Europe accounting for 15%. Therefore, over the years, the company has developed an expertise in understanding the buyer behavior of these two markets in general.

Company was established in 1933 to manufacture and sell small Datsun passenger cars and auto parts. It is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In the annual ranking of top 100 global brands by BusinessWeek and Interbrand in 2006, Nissan figured at the 90th position. The company may not be quite upbeat with this ranking because, its ranking has come down gradually over the years with more competitors entering into the fray thanks to the globalisation and liberalization of economies. The value of brand is equally important in influencing the buyer behavior and providing a winning edge over the competitors.

The Nissan brand was valued at $3,108 million in 2006. However, the company's position continues to be threatened by rising raw material prices, which could adversely impact its operating margins. Innovation with regular inputs from R&D is another feature for influencing the buyer behavior, as it helps the company in taking care of the growing needs and concerns of customers and the environment. It is an established fact that needs of consumer keep changing over time. Today's society has also become more caring for the environment and there's a growing concern for preserving the ecological balance by way of minimizing the pollution and using less harmful fuels to keep the ozone layer intact.

This calls for continuous inputs into Research and Development activities. Nissan motors has the distinctive advantage of being in the top 50 organisations1 having invested in R&D activities. Incidentally, amongst the top 50