The Current Marketing Communication in the UK Car Market - Case Study Example

Management & Marketing Table of Contents Management & Marketing An analysis of the current marketing communication 3 Situational analysis and the issues must be considered before implementing the marketing communication strategy 4 SMART Marketing Communication Strategies 5 Appropriate Marketing Strategies: Identification of push, pull and profile strategies 6 An efficient and effective integrated marketing communication 9 Evaluation and control mechanisms 10 Reference 12 Bibliography 13 An analysis of the current marketing communication It is quite strange to see that the ad agencies are still called by their names when most of the progressive organisations have started to integrate their marketing communication efforts. In the standard marketing literatures, communication is a much appraised technique to convey a message to the consumers (Smith, Berry & Pulford, 2002). It is often used to refer to the promotion element in both the product marketing and service marketing mix. Integrated marketing communication is the latest but significant communication trend opted by the organisations. In the UK car market, there has been a high number of big automotive profiles, so it is of utmost significance that any car manufacturer invests a huge amount of capital in the marketing communication to develop a high brand awareness and sustain the same. Back in the year 2005, the expenditure in the UK media has been £ 600 m which contributed 2 % of the total sales. Due to the high competitive prices, longer product life cycle of the new cars, competition from the second hand automobiles, having a brand identity at the front position is important for the success of the automobile manufacturer. Looking at the current UK automobile market scenario, mass market media like television and press have been considerably significant in the marketing communication mix to attract more customers. However in the current market scenario, significance of other communication media is growing gradually. Organisations must frame and introduce programs to apply and promote the brand positions, the organisation has opted for. If a car manufacturer wants to establish itself as manufacturr of premium quality cars at a high price, it needs to have in house production facilities to sustain the high quality. At the same time, they need to communicate this quality to their customers in order to rationalize the premium pricing for their products (Oxford University Press, 2004). Situational analysis and the issues must be considered before implementing the marketing communication strategy Before considering and implementing the integrated marketing communication strategy, Land Rover must investigate into a number of issues which can impact on the organisation. There can be a number of issues in this automobile industry; few of them have been discussed here. High purchasing and running cost of the automobiles: The purchasing and running cost of the cars has been quite on higher range. A number of factors have been influential to decide on the cost incurred for the same. While some of the costs may not be so new for the consumers, some other new additions have raised the concern. Some of the costs include purchasing cost, taxation, insurance, repairing, maintenance and running cost of the cars. Land Rover cars have high amount of fuel consumption. As the market has experienced a hike in the oil prices, the consumers are suffering high running costs. Adding to it, the introduction of congestion charges has badly impacted the car consumers. A research report has shown that, the congestion charges have helped to reduce the traffic volumes in London. Looking at the same, some other cities are expected to introduce the same scheme on their roads to reduce the increasing traffic levels. The environment: In the light of recent environment awareness, the car manufacturers are facing a number of issues which are creating threats for the organisations. The automobiles are known as ‘gas guzzlers’ and now the government is showing its concern to introduce legislation for the car manufacturers to reduce the carbon emission by minimizing the UK’s carbon footprint. A range of rules and regulations have been introduced to reduce the car utilization and encourage them to focus on the public transport. The rules include rising tax amount on the fuel, variety of car taxation based upon the type of fuel and composition of the same, automobile excise duty based on the carbon emission and the environmental specifications. Company also has to pay taxed based on their carbon-di-oxide emission. These issues need to be considered to frame the strategies in alignment to reduce the present and future threats and move towards successful implementation of the integrated marketing communication. SMART Marketing Communication Strategies Objectives are those which drive the organisation to successfully form the strategies. They can be termed as ‘where we want to be’ of any organisational venture (Egan, 2007). The firm objectives need to be SMART, means they need to be strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. The marketing objectives are derived from the organisational goals which, in consequence, would assist in effective communication. The objectives need to be specific; they must specify what the organisation is intended to attain. The objectives need to be measurable to get a track of the successful implementation of the strategies to attain the objectives. It is of no use to define such objectives which cannot be achieved in the pre specified timeline; the objectives must be feasible enough to achieve. The defined objectives must be realistic and achievable with the existing resources a company has and the resources, the organisation can acquire. The timelines specifications are really important to form the objectives. A number of marketing communication tools such as sales promotion, direct selling are the actions which are of direct action nature. In a number of cases, sales objectives can be termed as the appropriate goal as those can be measurable in numbers. Other marketing communication tools such as public relations, advertising are not quite measurable directly through the short term sales, but can take proxy measures for appraisal. Source: Egan, 2007. The communication objectives cascade down from the corporate objectives and are made in alignment with the mission statement to attain the corporate goals. Appropriate Marketing Strategies: Identification of push, pull and profile strategies A well developed communication strategy must take into account well expressed communication objectives; the message, which is supposed to be communicated, must be delivered clearly. Communication strategy relates to the strategies through which the firm is going to deliver its objectives and other messages to their customers. The company must consider the consumers and the market before selecting their media strategies. Effective usage of the marketing strategies would let the organisation become success in its marketing efforts. In a push strategy the organisation promotes its product and services directly to the wholesalers and retailers and convinces them to stock and market their products. A combination of promotional mix strategies, including direct mail and personal selling, aims to attract the retailers. The product is pushed towards the retailers to promote sales. Land Rover can take ‘push strategy’ to enhance their selling and encouraging demand among the consumers. A pull strategy, on the other hand, considers the end consumers and organisation directly communicate with them to attract them towards their product. In this case consumers go to the retailers and ask for the products. This strategy is used to create demand among the retailers and wholesalers. This can be done through mass advertising and various sales promotional activities. (Source: mba2007, n.d.) The market structure would define which strategies need to opted for. Land Rover can use mix of both of them depending on the UK automobile market Achievement the goals of an organisation through the development of communication strategy is known as the ‘profile strategy’. This considers the requirements of all the stakeholders which would include even the supporting network members. The perception, attitude and awareness of the stakeholders regarding the brand must be appropriately realized and framed to act on the same. This can be achieved by proper continual communication leading to the environment of trust and commitment. It is significant to get the approval from the stakeholders; so that they can appraise the objectives and flourish that with the help of proper strategic implementation. An efficient and effective integrated marketing communication An efficient and valuable integrated marketing communication is to communicate properly to the existing as well as the new markets. The four components of any marketing mix are product, price, place and promotion. However these are done in alignment with the business objectives. To create the new market, the communication objectives are required to focus on the development of the customer base. If felt necessary, the organisation can use communication diversification (Masterman & Wood, 2005). On the other hand, the communication strategy for the exiting consumer base would depend upon certain other issues, different from that of the new ones. Integrating all the communication components to effectively manage the marketing and promotion of the products is what is needed to get ahead in this competitive world. Television, press, radio and some other outdoor activities have been the significant tools of advertisement. Direct marketing, public relationship management, sponsorship of various significant events can offer good revenue for the organisation. Introduction of new media such as online websites, e-newsletters and online campaigns are increasingly gaining popularity among the consumers. Large number of exhibitions, trade shows and other events are aimed to attract the dealers as well as the consumers. The communication mix must be developed in a way to convey the appropriate message to the consumers, dealers and the stakeholders. Appropriate communication mix is intended to establish the brand image in alignment with the corporate objectives. Evaluation and control mechanisms In the near future, all the automobile companies are supposed to experience a number of key issues due to the rising environmental regulations and increasing purchasing and running cost of the car usage. There has been increasing pressure on the car manufacturers to attract the consumers, which, in turn has encouraged the manufacturers to reduce their car prices. Land Rover has started focusing on the vehicles for the lower end. They want to establish the product as small premium vehicles. The organisation must convey this message through their integrated marketing communication, so that consumers start viewing the brand as the organisation wants to present it. At the same time they have got some challenges as their cars consume high amount of fuel; this is an issue for the consumers and may put hindrance in the revenue generation for the company. Land Rover must work in this regard and at the same time advertise and promote to change the consumers’ perspectives of the brand. In the light of environmental awareness, the car manufacturer has already forwarded its footsteps. However this also needs appropriate communication of the same, so that consumers can perceive the cars as environment friendly ones. Undoubtedly, recent financial downturn has put a negative impact on the company financials. Looking at the competitive pricing in the automobile market, the organisation must effectively use its funding and produce the cars in a cost effective way. The organisation can introduce competitive pricing in the market to attract more consumers, which, in turn, would raise the revenue. The worldwide automotive industry is supposed has been growing at around 2.5 % annually (SMMT, 2010). In the UK automobile market, there are a number of high profile automobile brands. It is of utmost significance for Land Rover to clearly present its brand characteristics, so that the consumers can have a clear idea about the brand image. Integrated marketing communication strategies would assist Land Rover to develop new brand image, alter the consumers’ perceptions, and remove certain negative images to make the company able to fetch success in this competitive car market. Reference Egan, J. Marketing Communications. London: Thomson Learning, 2007. Masterman, G. & Wood, H., E. Innovative marketing communication. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005. MBA2007. No Date. Push/Pull/Profile Strategies. Available at: mba2007.co.uk/dba/studies/Pushpullprofile.ppt [Accessed on July 12, 2010]. Oxford University Press. 2004. Developing the marketing mix. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199266272/palmerch06.pdf [Accessed on July 12, 2010]. Smith, P., Berry, C. & Pulford, A. Strategic marketing communication. UK: Kogan Page Limited, 2002. SMMT. 2010. An Independent Report on the Future of the Automotive Industry in the UK. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file51139.pdf [Accessed on July 12, 2010]. Bibliography Ace, C. Successful marketing communication. UK: Butterworth Heinemann, 2001. Dahlen, M., Lange, F. & Smith, T. Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach. SA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2010. LearnMarketing. No Date. Promotion Strategies. Available at: http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotion.htm [Accessed on July 12, 2010]. Varey, J., R. Marketing communication: principles and practice. London: Routledge, 2002. Read More