Describe about the Marketing Management for Zawawi Trading Company.
Zawawi trading company is the distributor for Mercedes Benz in the country of Oman. The company has a fair place in the Oman market and Mercedes Benz is one of their main products that have kept up their place in the market. They have utilized the brand value of Mercedes which has worked to their advantage and have resulted in them becoming one of the biggest trading companies in Oman. Mercedes-Benz is one of the most popular manufacturers in the automobile Industry. Through their long run in their industry, they have created a brand image for themselves that is associated with class and style. This has been achieved through their policy of ensuring that the customer experience is of the best quality at every level. Their customer services policy has developed to such an extent that it has now evolved to become a model that us being followed by newer entrants in the industry. Form what can be seen, Mercedes-Benz has been able to keep up its customer base owing to its service quality. As a result, the customer expectations are naturally supposed to rise in terms of future directions in the enhancement of consumer experience. As a result, the organization must undergo a system of continuous improvement in order to maintain its place in the market. The company is a division of the German automobile manufacturer Daimler AG. It was founded in 1926 and since then has expanded its business worldwide. While it initially focussed on premium customers, it soon found out that it could focus its attention more towards the customer oriented segment. As a result, it began manufacturing for a wider customer base. It has since expanded its business to manufacturing buses, coaches and trucks as well. The following assignment is an idea of the various segmentation and marketing strategies that the Zawawi company has used over the years in its promotion of Mercedes Benz in Oman and how it should act in the future to keep up this place in the market.
Competitors
The Zawawi works in a competitive atmosphere and faces constant competition as there are a number of Industry giants that are being utilized by other distributors. The competitors to the company are many and they are all equally fierce in their strategies and marketing plans(Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2001). This puts enormous pressure on Zawawi at all times to keep up with its competitors. The competitors all utilize brands that possess an enormous brand value as well and as a result, it is a challenge for Zawawi to keep up with the competition. The biggest competitors for Mercedes-Benz include BMW, Porsche, Ashton Martin, Volkswagen, Audi, and Jaguar among other such industry giants that are being utilized by the other trading companies.
Now, the consumer behavior in the contemporary market has shifted a lot. The consumer preferences are in a constant state of flux and as a result, the competition between these brands is seen quite often(Armstrong and Kotler, 2000). However, it can be seen that the rising purchasing power and the growing world economy has increased the customers for premium quality personal vehicles(Kerin, 2006). In such a case, Zawawi needs to focus on quality and customer service above all else for its Mercedes Benz products.
The SWOT analysis of the company, in this case, is extremely important if we are to move on to the segment where we discuss how to improve the overall strategy of the organization in the future. The strengths of Mercedes Benz is what is important to be taken into account. This is because, the Zawawi trading company is based on the Brand value of Mercedes as it is that what is projected to the target customer base. First of all, the strengths of the company include its high brand value among customers(Kotler, 2000). It is also ranked among one of the largest premium car manufacturers. Secondly, the company does not face constraints in the matter of finance. Meaning, it can always invest in the development sphere. As a result, it has been a leader in innovation as it was the first company to develop diesel engines among other developments. Owing to their availability of funds, they have allocated $ 12 billion for their Future R&D(Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). Also, their strong presence in the motorsport under McLaren has improved their visibility to a large extent on the global level. However, the primary weakness that can be seen is the high maintenance cost that comes along with the Mercedes-Benz cars. However, there are certain opportunities with the brand as they have been making innovations in their sector for a long time(Lamb, 2004). They have developed hybrid and fuel efficient cars for the future; they have also tapped into the large international market which has made them one of the fastest growing companies in this segment. However, they face certain threats in the form of the changing government policies all over the world for the automobile industry(Luther, 2001). Also, they face continuous pressure from the competitors. The rising oil prices have also added to the slowdown of the automobile industry.
The STP analysis of the firm reveals that the firm is segmented towards the high-income group of Oman. Since Oman has seen a steady rise in the general income, the company has managed to create a pretty strong market for itself in the country. Mercedes-Benz is essentially into the luxury car segment where it manufactures luxury cars and sedans(Pride and Ferrell, 2008). As a result, the company has been able to create a large market for itself in Oman. This is because, along with the rising income levels, there has been an increase in demand for luxury vehicles within the country. The Zawawi trading company saw this as a potential for marketing Mercedes Cars in the country and they made full use of that situation. Also, the primary customers have always been the business professionals, the likes of which are seen in plenty in Oman. The positioning analysis of the company reveals that Mercedes-Benz is placed among the best luxury car makers in the world(Richter, 2002). This position needs to be held on to in the future.
As it has been discussed earlier, the primary objective of this project is to develop a marketing plan for the organization. The objectives of the plan need to be extremely clear in what it is trying to achieve. First and foremost, the plan needs to keep in mind that its primary objective is to enhance customer satisfaction and experience over the next two years. Mercedes-Benz has been able to keep up this image of delivering world class customer experience and as such, the objectives of Zawawi should focus on improving even more on what it already has(Sheehan, 2011). The customer experiences have been good so far and as a result, the expectations from the customers’ side are also expected to rise. As a result, the focus should be on improving the overall experience. The objectives should also be specific in other means. That is to say, the customer response should be taken into account after the new plans have been put into implementation(Smilansky, 2009). The increase in the target customer base in Oman should also be taken into account while deciding on how much the plan has succeeded. The objective of the plan should be to ensure satisfaction in such a manner that an increase in the customer base by at least 10% is noticed in the coming year. The goals should follow the SMART parameters and as such, the specific objective should be to gather more and more positive reviews about the products of the brand. The realistic aspect of the goal is that it is possible to increase by 30% in the next two years and it can be achieved only when there is an increase in the customer base by 10% within a period of one year.
Product
The product is of prime importance in this regard. The products of Mercedes-Benz have always been performance oriented vehicles along with being luxury class. This is an important point to take note. Because in developing the marketing plan for the future, the points that have made the company successful need to be taken into account. The strength in this place is the high quality of the Mercedes vehicles. As a result, the quality of the products should be given topmost priority(Wood, 2003). The products need to be extremely efficient and performance oriented along with providing the luxury that the brand is primarily associated with. The business class vehicles are what drive the biggest segment of the brand. Hence, that part needs to be given special attention(Van der Westhuyzen and Van der Merwe, 2001). That is also the segment where the customer experience matters the most. The product in Oman thus needs to develop in a manner where the new and improved models are developed with a fast pace and the customers would be eager for the next models to hit the market.
The pricing of the vehicles would not pose much of a problem to the company. This is because; the brand depends majorly on the business class customers. The price is not much of a concern but the quality is. A competitive pricing strategy would also not work in the segment that the brand works. In a segment like luxury cars, what matters is a brand value and the position associated with the brand. In such a case, the strategy should be more focussed on providing a value for money. That is to say, the brand should work on a line where there is a continuous development. The brand must work on providing more to the customers in a particular price range than its customers. This is the strategy when it comes to pricing.
The promotions are one of those spheres where Zawawi trading company needs to focus if it needs to promote the products in their country. The promotions should focus on maintaining the current level of promotional activities and association in high places. The promotional activities do not need to change other than what Mercedes already has created. However, the new promotional activities should focus on the change of its products. That is to say, the new promotional activities could show how their new products have new features and how they provide more value for money than any other cars in their class. The promotional activities should also continue its presence in the essential places like the significant presence of the brand in the formula one circuit(Westwood, 2011). This is because the brand needs to keep up its brand value to its customers. The customer experience would thus receive an enhancement because of psychological reasons as the customers would love to associate with a brand that has such a significant brand value.
Zawawi must work on maintaining the place of Mercedes Benz in the market. The brand already has a significant market presence in Oman. However, it faces a lot of competitors who have an equal presence in the market. The place needs to be secured by creating an image of themselves among the customers(Winer, 2000). As a result, the place has to be created as one that provides the best in class services to its customers along with being one that has a significant brand value.
The primary focus of the marketing plan should be on preserving and improving the brand value of the brand. Since the company has thrived through the tough competition on the basis of its brand value, the primary focus should be moving in a direction that improves their relations with their customers and also makes them one of the most sought after brand that any customer would readily associate with.
The evaluation of the new marketing plans would be made on the basis of an increase in market share. The increase in market share and the positive reviews from the customers would prove beneficial in understanding if the company is really being successful in achieving its goals. The company gains an additional 7-8 % of the market share every year in Oman. However, the new marketing plan needs to work in a manner where it would gain at least 10% of the market share within 1 year of its implementation. Also, the plan aims to increase its market share by at least 30% within the next two years. The monitoring of the process would be effective by facilitating a system of receiving customer feedback. There needs to be an increase in the number of service centers for Mercedes-Benz by around 15% which would facilitate smooth consumer feedback and would also address the needs and preferences of the customers. This would ensure that the marketing plan is being carried out by all the employees of the company and would also facilitate any further developments in the customer experience department that might be needed.
The budget won’t be much of a problem for Mercedes-Benz as it has been discussed earlier. The company has already allocated $12 billion for its R&D and hence, it should be used for the development of new models which provide best in class service and features. The Budget for the Zawawi trading company, should only focus on the cost associated with transportation and promotion. The pricing would not be much of a problem as it has been discussed earlier and hence, in this case, the budget that goes into the R&D would help it in designing models that are best in class and provide the best service to its customers. The pricing would focus not on the basis of competitive pricing strategy but instead, would provide the best value for money. The promotional activities should continue on the same level and hence, would require the same budget that is being allocated. However, an increase in the budget by 15% can be recommended owing to the rising prices and the increasing importance of promotional activities in order to create a product differentiation. The budget allocated for the place should also be increased by 20% as the place is very important if it needs to take care of its growth in the customer base.
References
Aaker, D., Kumar, V. and Day, G. (2001). Marketing research. 1st ed. New York: Wiley.
Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kerin, R. (2006). Marketing. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing management. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2006). Principles of marketing. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Lamb, C. (2004). Marketing. Cape Town, S.A.: Oxford University Press.
Luther, W. (2001). The marketing plan. 1st ed. New York: AMACOM.
Pride, W. and Ferrell, O. (2008). Marketing. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Richter, T. (2002). Marketing mix standardisation in international marketing. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Sheehan, B. (2011). Marketing management. 1st ed. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Pub.
Smilansky, S. (2009). Experiential marketing. London: Kogan Page.
Van der Westhuyzen, B. and Van der Merwe, J. (2001). The marketing mix. Observatory, South Africa: Future Managers.
Westwood, J. (2011). How to write a marketing plan. 1st ed. London: Kogan Page.
Winer, R. (2000). Marketing management. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Wood, M. (2003). The marketing plan. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wood, M. (2005). The marketing plan handbook. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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