Discuss about the Marketing Management for Only Selling Products.
Most of the people consider marketing as the process of selling products or services. But in actual marketing is much more than only selling products. According to Kotler et al. (2015), marketing is the process of delivering the correct product to the right people at a correct price at a correct place. And Marketing Management refers to the process of developing and execution of the marketing strategies. Marketing strategies include the strategies regarding the product, price, place and promotion. To launch a new product in the market, the marketing managers need to develop proper marketing strategies which include the above four factors.
La Trobe University is one of the largest universities in Australia. This is a multi-camp public research university. La Trobe was situated in the year of 1964. The original Campus of this university is situated in Melbourne. This university offers a various range of courses like arts & communication, business & commerce, teaching, health, IT & engineering, law and science in graduate & post-graduate level. La Trobe was ranked under fifty in the best hundred universities in the world. The main courses that La Trobe offers are in the area of arts and humanity (www.latrobe.edu.au 2016).
This report is about the marketing management of La Trobe University. La Trobe is going to launch a new Master of Management online course. An effective marketing strategy is needed to be suggested for this purpose. This study has been done in different parts. A situational analysis has been done on the internal environment and the customers. After that, a SWOT Analysis and Porter’s 5 Forces analysis have been done. Then the marketing strategies about the potential target market and the marketing mix have been suggested. At last, a conclusion has been drawn based on the whole study.
Internal Market Analysis
La Trobe University is going to launch its new product i.e. online Master in Management course. It is quite clear that La Trobe University operates in the education sector of Australia. Their newly launched product is for those people who want to pursue their career in the area of management. As this is an online course, working people can also pursue this course while doing their jobs (www.latrobe.edu.au 2016).
The educational sector in Australia has been growing at a very fast pace. About 60 years ago, the arrival of international students in Australia was 570, but today the number has become around 5,100. Right now, Australia is providing a huge number of scholarships to the students and as a result people from all over the world are coming to Australia for higher education. Most of them are from Asian countries (internationaleducation.gov.au. 2016).
There are some macroeconomic forces which have a great impact on the education sector of Australia. People from all over the world come to Australia, so there is a linguistic problem exists. As it the product is an online course, there is a huge impact of technology on the internal environment of the industry.
The potential customers of La Trobe’s Online Master of Management course are the management students and the people who are working but want to pursue study in the area of management. The course is built to cater to the needs of students irrespective of geographical, social, cultural factors. As it is an online course, the geographical factor is not an issue (latrobe.edu.au. 2016).
The course has certain benefits which will attract the students to purse this course. Firstly, the fees structure is affordable for all class of students. Secondly, one can pursue the course while doing a job. Thirdly, probably the best feature is a student can stop the course for a certain period and after that he/she can again resume the course. Due to being an online course, a lot of people can pursue the course. People can set their timing to pursue the course as per their requirements (Hämäläinen, Hilmola and Hetemäki 2015).
Besides the regular students, working people can also avail this course. So the two important target segments are the regular graduate management students and the working management employees who want to be future mangers (Wedel and Kamakura 2012).
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT Analysis of La Trobe University’s online Master of Management course is discussed below:
|
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
Ø As Master of Management is an online course, the geographical factor is not an issue. Ø The fees structure is affordable for all. Ø Working people can avail the course easily. Ø The drop-in-drop-out mode is very convenient as one can stop the study for reasons and again resume it. Ø Various ranges of courses give the students option to choose the best for them. |
Ø As the course is fully online based, the reliability is less. Ø Other top ranks universities offer a better course to the students. Ø This is not a conventional mode of study; it can be a drawback. |
|
Opportunities |
Threats |
|
Ø In the era of internet, this online course can set the future of the university. Ø There is an opportunity for the expansion of the university in near future. |
Ø The entrance of new competitors can be a threat. Ø Other universities may come up with more modified courses; it is a future threat. |
Table: SWOT Analysis
Source: www.latrobe.edu.au
Bargaining Power Of Suppliers
According to Porter, the power of the suppliers is a threat to La Trobe University. There should be fewer suppliers in the process as the suppliers have the power to control the price of the product. If the number of suppliers is less, then the price of the product will be in control.
Bargaining Power Of Buyers
The bargaining power of the customers is a threat to La Trobe University. If there are many similar courses that La Trobe is offering, then the customers will bargain the price of the course. So the course should be unique (Heimeshoff and Klein 2013).
Threat Of New Entrance
New entered competitors are a threat to La Trobe University as the new companies can come up with the different attractive course. New entrances can have the power to steal the customers from La Trobe University (Angelaki et al. 2013).
Threat Of Substitutes
The threat of substitute is another threat to La Trobe University. Better-ranked universities offer the same type of courses with better variables. Students will go to those universities where they can find the better attractive course.
Threat Of Rivalry
The intensity of rivalries determines the success of an organization. La Trobe should design the course in such a way that it is different from others and also attractive. It will give La Trobe the competitive edge than its competitors (Rothaermel 2016).
Target Market
La Trobe University in addition to focusing on segmentation of the market also extensively understands the need for target and mass marketing. As stated by Armstrong et al. (2014), the management of the institution takes into consideration the purchasing pattern and the students reaction to cost and quality of the offered product. With a launch of online management course, the management greatly emphasizes on developing a beneficial student market not only in Sydney but also worldwide (David and David 2016).
Despite an increasing popularity of the worldwide web, the 21st-century people prefer leisure and ease of access to anything else. Concerning product sales, La Trobe management primarily targets students and company employees who want to study further. With a strategy of differential and concentrated marketing mix the university aims to attract new and loyal customers. Further, emphasize on the full market and not specifically a single segment would prove to be fruitful.
Like any other educational institution, to influence the study market La Trobe University looks forward to the launch of a well developed online management course. In addition to the developer’s idea of providing customers with an all-in-one product, professors greatly highlight the need for an online exam for the students. Moreover, purchasers would also be able to contact university professors direct over the website. Also, with an option of 24*7 accesses and an addition of choosing from 10 major subjects the managers of the institution strongly believes to enjoy competitive advantage over its competitors (www.latrobe.edu.au 2016).
The topic of price evaluation for the extraordinary product turned out to be a debatable topic for the decision makers. Students of the University can start with the course anytime they want to pay a minimal amount. Furthermore, the total cost of the course was decided to be $53,250 without any discrimination of the student’s location. Students pay a fee of $4,437.50 per subject for the nine months course (www.latrobe.edu.au 2016).
Choosing social media as the primary promotion medium was one of the most beneficial decisions ever taken by university members. According to Harmon (2015), professors are in a continuous touch with the students to let them understand the need for post graduation studies. Word of mouth and posts made on social and university websites also contribute efficiently towards publication of the product (Tulloch et al. 2015). Promotional strategies also include organizing of programs and exhibition of ideas in the campus.
La Trobe being geographically located in Sydney principally targets the rest of Australia, New Zealand, and international markets. For expected revenue generation, the university greatly focuses on the positioning of its product. The online MBA course provides registered users with a hardcopy of study material, documents and receipt of the paid fees. Setting up a productive distribution channel in Australia and New Zealand is equivalent important. Concerning international students managers promise a delivery of the goods within a period of 15 days paying a significant amount to courier services.
Charles Sturt University (CSU)
Located in NSW, Victory and Australia is a multi-campus institution providing the students with several arts, business and science courses. With a population of 39,093 students, CSU ranks over 700 worldwide. On the contrary, La Trobe with stands 386 with a student count of 36,278 (Network 2016). In addition to an option to innovative study process, CSU opens up options for overseas education. Moreover, being located in the same state both the institutions are in a continuous rivalry to each other.
A recent development in faculty and placement by the CSU workforce has affected the performance of La Trobe. Despite possessing features of MBA programs, CSU lacks promotional and marketing strategies. Also, the university works for a more social good and environmental sustainability as compared to La Trobe that maintains a balance between business and communal welfare. The launching of the new online business administration course has effectively affected CSU revenues (https://www.csu.edu.au/ 2016).
Established in 1985, AIB is an educational institution of its kind. Specializing in business courses the university is best suited for students who want to study business. Ranging from a bachelors degree to Ph.D., AIB has successfully maintained its reputation not only in Adelaide but also the whole of Australia and parts of New Zealand. The private business continuously produces new and exclusive products as compared to the public university that diversifies in its course streams. Despite a difference in location of the two institutions, AIB and La Trobe face tough competition from each other. A similarity in offering scholarships consequently leads to benefiting students the most.
Comparing the faculties of the two brands it is seen AIB employees DBA and Ph.D. holders only. Also with a large amount of investment, students of the university enjoy a well designed and advanced campus. Though there are similarities in the distance learning, online courses, fees pattern and teaching centers between the two concerned universities, the business institution of Australia immensely focuses on internships and work-oriented learning (aib.edu.au. 2016).
According to Goh (2012), USQ and La Trobe maintain a cold relation to each other in every aspect. In addition to offering the people of Queensland with courses as similar to that of La Trobe, the university also provides with the law and engineering courses. Owning three medium-sized campuses spread all over Australia, the University was awarded the Australia`s best university award in 2001. Diversifying in research institutes the board of members focuses on several important issues. In comparison to La Trobe, the University overpowers in distance education. Further, with a group of experts and developmental schemes prove to be a factor for competitive advantage.
Students of Australia regard AIB`s education process to be more intense than La Trobe. Also with an advantage of leveraging technology, University of Southern Queensland reaches out to the students and people of the world more effectively than any other institution. On the other hand, to ensure a sustainable career of the students La Trobe maintains a firm relation with high turnover business companies (Usq.edu.au. 2016).
Recommendation & Conclusion
Analyzing the current situation of the La Trobe University and looking at the increasing student market in Australia, managers of the institution understand the need for a development of products and segmentation of the market. With a launch in online business management course, the educational institution further needs to scrutinize and bring in changes for a success of the newly developed course. Further depending upon the SWOT analysis of the university, alterations are highly recommended. The following are the recommendation based on the study done above.
In terms of recommendations to the university regarding business sustainability, the workforce needs to work effectively to eliminate weaknesses and threats. Also, managers need to work towards developing promotional strategies and channelizing of the product.
To maintain dominance on the market and also protect its reputation La Trobe it is recommended that the institution emphasize on the safety of its students.
According to the Australia`s market report, education proves to be one of the most influential business. In response to the growing competition, it is recommended that La Trobe University needs to reconsider its marketing mix.
Students complain about the high price of the course and also about the slow processing website. Regarding, the website of the university it is recommended that developers control traffic, lower cache files and also increase fluency in its functioning.
In addition to the great response by the people of Australia, the institution needs to set up a separate group of individuals who would cater to after-sales issues.
Being one of the most renowned universities in Australia, management bodies need to undertake necessary changes not only to increase revenue but also to benefit the society.
Concerning discipline in activities of the institution an approval to a set up rules and regulations are relatively essential.
From the above discussions, it can be concluded that to launch a new product in the market; marketing managers should employ an effective marketing mix strategy. The reason is that every step in launching a new product requires a proper marketing strategy. There are four types of marketing strategy i.e. marketing strategy about price, product, place and promotion. Another aspect is one need to analyze the market before launching a product. Analyzing the market refers to the analysis of internal factors and analyzes the customers. A proper marketing strategy leads to a successful product which satisfies the needs of the customers.
References
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Angelaki, E., Baltas, G., Baourakis, G. and Zopounidis, C., 2013. The Entrance of New Products in the Cretan Market. EDITORIAL, 22, pp.74-85.
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014. Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia.
David, F. and David, F.R., 2016. Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases.
Goh, S.C., 2012. A qualitative study into the innovation and technology transfer process of a micro-manufacturer within a university-industry collaboration context in regional South-East Queensland (D. Eng.) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Queensland).
Hämäläinen, E., Hilmola, O.P. and Hetemäki, L., 2015. Fluctuating demand and its impacts to a paper producer: customer analysis. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(13), pp.5779-5788.
Harmon, G., 2015. Australia as an higher education exporter. International Higher Education, (42).
Heimeshoff, U. and Klein, G.J., 2013. Bargaining Power and Local Heroes. Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
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