Marketing is in itself a vast concept, where the major functionality is trades and transactions between sellers and buyers. Identification of the need for this trades and transactions reflects the true essence of the term marketing. Mere identification of this need does not serve the purpose, exposure of conscious and rationalistic approach is crucial in terms of attaining positive outcomes in marketing activities (Elenkov, 2014). The development of a marketing plan is one of a typical example of the conscious and rationalistic approach towards expansion of business. Planning helps the companies and organizations to systematize the business procedures according to the requirements.
This report also follows an integrated structure for providing an insight into the micro and macro environment of Central Queensland University. This insight is assistance in terms of developing the aims and objectives for providing better quality education to the students. Possession of a strategic vision towards this direction helps the report to analyze the competitors that might act as an obstacle in the business of the University (Cqu.edu.au, 2017). Apart from this, an insight into the financial aspect completes the infrastructural perspective of the University as a whole. This perspective enables the report to draw relevant conclusions and make recommendations for bringing improvements in the academic life of the students.
In the arrays of higher education in Australia, Central Queensland University has occupied a valuable position because geographically, it is located at a very candid position. There are many campuses of this university stretched in different cities of the country. They provide a class higher education for both the domestic and international students. The students are offered many affordable academic courses all through the year.
The growth of this university has been quite fantastic as it has made an alliance with the government and becoming the firm-regional university by accommodating students of different cultures and communities and expanding in several cities (Hollensen, 2015).
The university has aimed to gain the students from different countries through implementing their proper marketing strategies (Hollensen, 2015). The marketing team of the University works on to make successful strategies for succeeding in various purposes program based materials, high level information, campaigning strategies and website materials and branded pens. The marketing team also advises the staff about various things like publications and help to maintain its corporate identity. They have used several strategies like organizing educational fairs in different Asian countries to promote their university, as a part of their marketing strategy. They also collaborate with agencies for their internal education process.
In this scenario, it can be said that the desires of the students turn to demands when seen from the marketing aspects as they value their spent money. The demand of the consumers has to be understood in this context as they want full utilization of their invested money. They look for the products that will be most valuable for them without any losses, be it in terms of meeting their basic necessities or luxuries. The aspect of total market demand has to be understood that is a cross product of number of buyers, depending on maximum sales, environmental conditions and purchased quantity (Hildenbrand, 2014).
The target market segmentations have to be settled by the marketing managers in order to provide the company with sales benefits by applying proper segmentation strategies like concentration strategy and multi segment strategy (Solomon, 2014). The larger companies have to make smaller groups to deal with their customers. The company that adopts concentration strategy focuses on a single unit of the target market and the multi segment strategy focuses on multiple marketing strategies so that they could cater to the needs of their customers and their investments are high as well. The CQ University follows the multi segment strategy as they have different marketing strategies to help the domestic and international students. They also use publicity emails and educational programs and fairs for their publicity (Bondar et al., 2016).
The marketers use the marketing mix or the four Ps to achieve their goals (Gordon, 2012). These four Ps are price, product, promotion and place (Armstrong et al., 2014). The marketers have to analyze the entire prospect of the quality of the product, its cost, the way of presenting and distributing the products and the place where it has to be advertized. If the marketers can take appropriate decisions and improve their product quality, they can easily reach their target markets and achieve their goals (Cross, Belich & Rudelius, 2012). The consumers have to be satisfied in the process but they should invest huge amounts as they can become bankrupt.
The PEST analysis of this CQ University has to be done so that the various aspects like Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors working behind the welfare of this university can be understood (Yüksel, 2012). The political factors include the government policies and interferences, economic conditions include various macroeconomic environmental conditions including weather conditions, the social and demographic factors, technological factors, infrastructure all come under this scenario. This analysis is the general environment of the organization that helps in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.
The competitor analysis has to be done in regard to this organization so that the different rivals and their strategies can be assessed in determining the market position of the organization (Upson et al., 2012). Strategic group approach should be applied to analyze the different firms of the same industry. The strategic plans have to be analyzed in order to know the ways a university can compete.
Every organization uses the SWOT analysis to assess the products and their current market position so that their future growth process can be planned (Hollensen, 2015). In CQ University, its strength is the international students’ attraction and the highly qualified faculty who give best guidance to the students. The weakness of this university is the playground and campus shortage. Other universities are looking to improve on that factor and they are still lacking there. The external factors like opportunities and threats cannot be controlled (Burke, 2017).
In this part of the discussion, the value and the brand positioning of the CQ University has to be analyzed (Hassan & Craft, 2012). As discussed before, this university has been a very successful one in terms of their placement of the students in different reputed organizations. They have attracted several students from foreign countries to get admitted in their university. In order to do that, they have made many programs and taken up many strategies that have catered to achieve their goals. Their marketing strategy experts have made great marketing plans to arrange for educational fairs and programs in Asian countries like India, China and Nepal. There is a big amount of student resource in these countries and they have targeted them. Their student strengths have increased in this way and this has increased their brand value in the market. They have acquired a great deal of popularity within the country as well as across the globe. They have provided highly qualified faculty to their students who have been relentless in their efforts to teach their students. This has helped them to get top spots in the big organizations throughout the world.
The brand positioning of CQ University can be labeled as above the axis (Hassan & Craft, 2012). It has a good reputation among their target markets (Cross, Belich & Rudelius, 2012). The customers i.e. the students studying in this university have a positive opinion about the university. There must be some distinguished features about the company that will help them to stay ahead of their competitors in the competitive market. There are several universities in Australia who are their rivals but they have used several marketing strategies to gain the competitive advantage over others. They have used the multi segment strategy by which they have set their target markets over many sections. The CQ University has set up its position as a ‘strong brand’ and it has achieved a strong economical background in terms of investments (Hassan & Craft, 2012). They have offered scholarships for the students who have come from different countries. This has worked behind strong investments. They have acquired strong position in the education sector and it is very difficult to undermine them from that position. CQ University is a very powerful brand name that has helped many students in their quest for knowledge and excellence. This university has added a great value to the government as well. The Australian government has been benefitted from so much of international students. The charges they pay for living in the hostels and lodges, payment of their university fees have strengthened the national economy (Holton, 2013). These factors have influenced the growth of economical stability of the country and the moral up gradation, cross-cultural diversifications and many other factors and helped them to compete with their rival universities.
Marketing is an activity, which needs concrete planning for the achievement of positive outcomes. One wrong step can compel the companies and organizations to suffer losses, which make them, lag behind the contemporary brands amidst the competitive ambience of the market. Exposure of conscious and rationalistic approach towards the steps taken for execution of the business activities enables the personnel to achieve large scale customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, trust and dependence (Hollensen, 2015).
Application of theoretical perspectives adds value to the inner essence of the concepts. This is also applicable for development of aims and objectives. In-depth understanding about this direction can be achieved through the logic model or Theory of change. Taking into consideration the propositions of the logic model would enhance the clarity of the University personnel in terms of carrying out the business procedures. Possession of strategic vision towards the execution of the business activities would act as an agent for the personnel in terms of systematizing the allocated tasks according to their priority (Westwood, 2016). The “logic” here is the rational approach of the University personnel in terms of adopting the necessary changes for altering the business scenario. Taking into consideration, the past achievements would act as a wise step for the University managers in terms of changing the curriculum for the future years.
Taking a cue from the concept of change, some of the beneficial tools in this context are the identification of aims and objectives; creating road maps, developing action plans for fulfillment of the aims and objectives among others. Capability to identify the needs for change can be correlated with the first component of logical model, that is, purpose (Chernev, 2015). Herein, lays the effectiveness of mission, which in other terms is a short term goal for improving the focus of the University personnel. As a sequential step, taking into consideration the past events would help the personnel to set the ground for the change to take place. These aspects relates to the second component of the logical model, which is context. The resources to be used by the personnel for bringing the necessary change are the main subject matter of the third component. Provision of training to the staffs would result in their effective and judicious utilization of the organizational resources. This efficiency would lead to the achievement of infrastructural development (Vargas & Jimenez, 2016).
The fourth component of the logical model is the activities. As matter of specification, Central Queensland University organizes educational events and extracurricular activities. Apart from this, the University caters to the educational needs of the international students, landing in the threshold of Australia for fulfilling their dreams of higher education. Here, the logic is to organize events and programs, which uplifts the education standard and quality of the University.
The fifth component of the logical model is the output that is produced from the investments made for the betterment of the educational parameter. Here betterment is the immediate result, which upgrades the quality and standard of education for the University and makes it recommendable to the customers across the globe (Cqu.edu.au, 2017). The penultimate component is related to the fifth one. Specifically, the fifth and the sixth component are complementary to each other shedding light on the relationship between the cause and effect. Referring to efficient and effective sources for upgrading the quality and standard of education is a simultaneous upgradation in the academic performance of the students enrolled in the University. Based on these aspects:
Marketing aim: to indulge into partnerships, from where greater profit would be achieved for expansion of business.
Marketing objectives:
The word “mix” in the marketing mix reflects the experimentation capabilities of the personnel to lure the customers with the available products. In the first instances, the companies and organizations are bound to suffer losses in terms of competition from the contemporary brands. For averting this kind of situation, concrete planning is required for the personnel in terms of achieving positive outcomes in the marketing activities (Ritter, 2014). In the experimentation process, the life cycle of the products might get reduced; however, rational and conscious approach from the personnel is assistance in terms of averting these kinds of situations.
Possession of strategic vision towards the execution of marketing mix activity helps the companies and organizations to improve the focus. Herein lays the importance of the component “people” in the marketing mix. This should be the first activity of the university personnel in terms of carrying out the marketing activities. This is in reference to the fact that customers should be placed at the centre of the services regarding the marketing activities (Siguaw & Simpson, 2015). As a sequential step, next in importance is the product. Specifically, if strategic vision is adopted towards the adoption of cloud computing for storing and processing data, then a revolution would be created in the field of education in the Australian threshold as a whole.
Next in sequence is the place. Market research is crucial in terms of gaining an insight into the profitable sources of income. Within this, search engine optimization would take the University personnel directly into the latest technologies, which are in demand in the market. Selection of a technology is not all. Its effectiveness and feasibility needs to be assessed for achieving positive outcomes (Bickhoff, Hollensen & Opresnik, 2014). Further, regular and frequent evaluation is needed for examining the effect of the technology and its effect on the University activities. Advertising the adopted technology in the form of billboard, hoardings, pamphlets would make the students and the customers aware of the steps taken by the university personnel for upgrading their services. Demonstrating the features of the technology to the customers in the close proximity to the customers would help the University personnel to attract large number of customers especially students. Typical examples in this context are the supermarkets, office among others (Baker, 2014).
The third component is price. It is one of an important aspect, conscious approach to which would assist the University personnel to introduce special discounts, offers and schemes on the admissions. However, financial instabilities aggravate the complexities of the University personnel regarding the provision of quality education facilities to the students. Situations such as inflation, high exchange rates and fluctuating prices of the educational facilities within Australia are the typical examples in this direction. Inclusion of meetings and conferences with the stakeholders, shareholders and agency partners within the strategies would help the staffs to achieve negotiations for the instabilities (Wei, Samiee & Lee, 2014). This negotiation would be an address for the obstacles stalling the academic establishment of the students. Adopting premium pricing methods would be one of efficient methods for providing quality education to the students at a reasonable price.
The penultimate component is promotion. This is one of the means, which directly expands the business of companies and organizations. Inclusion of indulging in partnerships with the media personnel and advertising agencies would help the University personnel to make the students aware of the latest trends adopted for altering the business scenario (Cqu.edu.au, 2017). Possession of sponsorships for the programs and events would enhance the financial parameter of the University. Inclusion of social media marketing in the strategies would help the personnel to promote the diversity that exists within the University.
Competition is one of the means, which assess the position of a brand within the market. Taking a strategic standpoint for execution of the business activities helps the companies and organizations to sustain their market position. All these aspects seem true for Central Queensland University. As a matter of specification, inclusion of competitive policies within the strategies would help the university personnel to indulge in fair competition with the other universities, like Deakin, La Trobe among others. This fairness would, further, act as an agent in attaining trust, dependence and loyalty from the customers especially the students (Payne & Frow, 2014).
In the initial stages the University would encounter difficulties in the initial stages. This is due to the threat of substitutes. The effects of cloud computing are so widespread that each and every university of Australia would want to make the most of it. This technology is an answer to the cyber crimes, which results in the loss of the official data as well as the data of the customers. However, in terms of business expansion, the Central Queensland University needs to adopt innovation for standing out from the rest of the Universities. In terms of bringing innovation, preservation of traditionalism would add to the corporate social responsibility of the university personnel (Kinnear & Ogden, 2014). Exposure of rationalistic, conscious and measured attitude regarding the maintenance of security of the official data relates to the word “corporate”. Automatization of the business procedures, due to the effective utilization of cloud computing devices relates to the “social parameter”. Inclusion of training programs for the staffs in the strategies reflects the responsibility towards the upgradation of quality and standard of education in the Australian threshold as a whole (Harris & Short, 2014).
In-depth understanding regarding the competition analysis can be achieved from the 3C model. Typical components of this model are company, customers and competitors.
The native organization attempts to provide quality services to the customers in order to attain a better placement in the market as compared to the contemporary brands. This is a simplistic interpretation of the model. Critically reviewing the model, compromising with the needs, demands and requirements of the customers, in order to win the rat race is a distortion of the integrated structure of the model. Along with this, it also nullifies the statement that customers are the central position of the activities undertaken by the companies and organizations (Kotler et al., 2015). If this kind of attitude is exposed by the University personnel, it would lose its hard earned glory. As an example, there is a dearth of space in terms of organizing physical activities for the students. Here, the University lags behind Deakin and La Trobe in terms of ensuring the physical fitness of the students. Maintenance of consistency in this direction would attach an interrogative parameter for the angle of customers in the case of Central Queensland University.
Partnerships prove beneficial for the companies and organizations in terms of the efficient execution of the business activities. Indulging in partnerships brings coordination between the departmental units of the University (Kinnear & Ogden, 2014). This coordination would act as an agent in enhancing the stability between the departmental units. Herein, lays the importance of participative management style, which provides a platform to the students to interact with the principals, professors and deans about the issues that they are facing in their curriculum. Maintenance of frequency of these sessions would help the university personnel to reduce the instances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments. In order to preserve the diversity, the university needs to organize various and wide ranging cultural events. For this, media personnel are required. Within this, concrete planning is required (Payne & Frow, 2014). First, permission needs to be taken from the statutory bodies of law about the joint venture with the media personnel. Achieving the approval with the signature would add a legal touch to the promotional activities. This legality would result in the enhancement of the marketing activities of the university. Viewing it from other perspective, putting the news of the cultural events on the social networking sites would make the students aware of the latest trends adopted by the university. This would be successful only if there is adherence and compliance to the legislative framework by the university personnel (Cqu.edu.au, 2017).
Organizing cultural events without having the permission from the statutory bodies of law might prove fatal in terms of controlling the instances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments. Along with this, violation of the regulatory norms would compel the university personnel to encounter instances of customer turnover, which would add vulnerability in the market position of the university (Hollensen, 2015). Apart from this, using vulgar or slang language for advertising the news of the latest events, such as the adoption of the cloud computing, would adversely affect the grasping power of the students. Moreover, it would add a negative tone to the perception of the students about the reputation of the university. Utilization of simple, yet attractive language for advertising purpose would help the university personnel to attract large number of students including the international one as well. Organizing meetings and conferences with the media personnel regarding the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed plans would helps the university personnel to examine the progress in terms of the identified and the specified requirements (Kinnear & Ogden, 2014).
Financial flexibility would enable the university personnel to allocate media and advertising agencies for conveying the important information to the students. Herein, lays the importance of budget, which would help the university personnel to keep a track of the cash that is flowing from the internal environment to the outside sources. Herein, lays the importance of cloud computing, effective utilization of which would help the members of the accounts department of the University to store the budget and process it to the higher authorities (Kotler et al., 2015).
|
Activities |
Price |
|
Product marketing |
$350m |
|
Content |
$250m |
|
Recruitment of advertising agency |
$200m |
|
Public relations management |
$300m |
|
Creative branding |
$300m |
|
Organizing sponsorship events |
$350m |
|
Organizing cultural events |
$400m |
|
Searching for latest technology |
$450m |
|
Purchase of the selected technology |
$500m |
|
Total expenses |
$3250m |
Table 1: Budget for the advertising activities of Central Queensland University
This report has emerged successful in developing a marketing plan for Central Queensland University. Taking into consideration the past events of the University has assisted in the development of the aims and objectives of enhancing the standard and quality of education by engaging in partnerships with the media personnel and advertising agencies. Possession of a strategic vision towards the execution of marketing mix enables the University personnel to improve focus of the business procedures. Rather, it enhances the efficiency and productivity of the university. Optimization of the search to the adoption of cloud computing services proves beneficial for the University personnel in terms of storing and processing the official data and personal belongings of the students. The social media marketing can be considered as a medium between the internal and external environment of the university. Increasing the trafficking of the students towards the services of the students places the University as a brand on a higher pedestal. Utilization of simple yet attractive language for advertising the services adds firmness in the market position of the university. Carrying out market research for seeking latest security software for securing the secrecy of the official data and the personal information of the students bestows the opportunity of staying advanced than the contemporary universities like Deakin and La Trobe. Regular and consistent evaluation would help the University personnel to be aware of the potential drawbacks in the services. Spontaneity in this direction would upgrade the standard of education in the Australian threshold as a whole. This upgradation would simultaneously result in the academic establishment of the students across the globe.
References
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