Marketing Plan Of EE Sample Assignment

Porter’s Five Forces – Competitive Analysis

Competition between major network operators in UK- high risk

Figure 3: Mobile Network Provider Consumers Use Nov, 2016

Source 3: Noori, 2015, p.30

From the above market share scenario of major telecom players of UK it is evident that the competition is very intense and market is almost saturated and all the players have strong competitive advantage in their respective areas (Ishaya and Folarin, 2012, p.280). However EE performs best in the above ranking but there are some issues of customer dissatisfaction with this major player of UK telecom industry. It could make EE’s position vulnerable as O2 is not far behind of EE (from figure 1).

Threat of new entrant- Low risk

Competition in UK telecom market is very intense and already saturated as the main players like EE, Vodafone, O2 have already established in the market with their lucrative product segregation. They all have strong customer bases with their exclusive offers and service categorization. For instance, EE is pioneer in serving 4G networking facilities with LTE advanced to its customers whereas other telecom players are focussing on standard network provision (Wu, 2013, p.370).

Buyers Bargaining Power -- Medium Risk

In UK customers have the right to change their respective network providers to get the best suitable offer, this makes the competition more intensified among telecom operators of UK. This forces the company to introduce new services and offers to retain their customers, though the number portability is not easy in UK as the customers need to inform their operators prior to cancellation of contracts, so the bargaining power of customers are low.

Suppliers Bargaining Power- High Risk

EE is the market leader in 4G market; still it is facing intense competition from its competitors. EE has upgraded its 4G network, but their double speed services are limited to restricted locations. The company needs to be consistent in its high level performance by relying on high quality technology of suppliers. The bargaining power is strong of the suppliers, so EE needs to maintain a good relationship with its suppliers to retain customer loyalty and competitive advantage in the market (Bigliardi et al. 2012, p.50).

Threat of Alternative Products and services- Medium risk

With the emergence of Skype, Viber, Whatsapp , mobile network operators have lost their exclusivity in providing voice communication and messaging services to its customers. The main advantage the mobile network operators have against these new services is interoperability. Mobile network is the simplest way for customers to interact and talk to each other (Battistella, 2014, p.67).

SWOT analysis:

Objectives:

As per the above analysis it is noticed that EE needs to focus on their customer service and retain its leadership position in the telecom market. In this regard, two objectives of the company are-

Objective 1: Increase number of satisfied customers by 40% in the next one year

Objective 2: Increase 4G subscriber by 35% within next one year

S.M.A.R.T of EE

Strategy:

Ansoff Matrix on EE

Intensive strategies

Figure 4: Ansoff Matrix of EE

Source 4: Created by author

Table 2: Intensive Strategies of EE

Source 2: Created by Author

Diversification Strategies:

Figure 5: Diversification strategies of EE

Source: Created by Author

Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP):

Segmentation means dividing the market in small segments as per their characteristics and analyse consumer behaviours of these small segments accordingly ("American Marketing Association", 2017). After segmenting the market, EE needs to choose one or two segments as their target market with their offers. It is important to find a profitable customer group from T-mobile and Orange. To do this, EE could adopt customer lifeline value assessment proposed by Bayer. Within the chosen market EE needs to develop a positioning strategy to segregate itself from its competitors. EE could claim itself as a premium brand compared to the Vodafone and O2 who have more value for money proposition. To retain their customer base and leadership position in the market ("CIM | Qualifications, Training and Membership", 2017), EE should focus on improving its customer service quality and upgrade product quality.

Tactics & Action:

Budget:

Marketing Budget Plan of EE for FY17

Control:

Key Performance Indicators of EE:

All the tactics and actions should be taken in tight monitoring and controlling measures to achieve maximum results. When the objectives of the organization are fulfilled then the successful achievement of objectives will be recognised.

Conclusion:

EE has many advantages compared to its competitors; still the company has few drawbacks that could become a threat for EE to retain its leadership position. With this recommended strategies and actions EE could recover its deficiency in customer service and regain its brand image by retaining customer base and penetrating new market. This will help the company to fully utilize its 4G potential and increase profit margin by maximising its efficiency.

5. Reference List:

Journal:

Al-Dmour, H., Al-Zu’bi, Z.M. and Kakeesh, D., 2013. The effect of services marketing mix elements on customer-based brand equity: An empirical study on mobile telecom service recipients in Jordan. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(11), pp.13-26.

Battistella, C., 2014. The organisation of Corporate Foresight: A multiple case study in the telecommunication industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 87, pp.60-79.

Bigliardi, B., Ivo Dormio, A. and Galati, F., 2012. The adoption of open innovation within the telecommunication industry. European Journal of Innovation Management, 15(1), pp.27-54.

Edward, M. and Sahadev, S., 2011. Role of switching costs in the service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and customer retention linkage. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23(3), pp.327-345.

Ishaya, T. and Folarin, M., 2012. A service oriented approach to Business Intelligence in Telecoms industry. Telematics and Informatics, 29(3), pp.273-285.

Jurisic, B. and Azevedo, A., 2011. Building customer–brand relationships in the mobile communications market: The role of brand tribalism and brand reputation. Journal of Brand Management, 18(4-5), pp.349-366.

Kim, J.H. and Hyun, Y.J., 2011. A model to investigate the influence of marketing-mix efforts and corporate image on brand equity in the IT software sector. Industrial marketing management, 40(3), pp.424-438.

Noori, B., 2015. Developing a CBR system for marketing mix planning and weighting method selection using fuzzy AHP. Applied Artificial Intelligence, 29(1), pp.1-32.

Shahzad Khan, S.A., 2012. Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Telecom Industry; A Study of Telecom industry Peshawar KPK Pakistan. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, vol, 2(12), pp.12833-12840.

Wu, H.C., 2013. An empirical study of the effects of service quality, perceived value, corporate image, and customer satisfaction on behavioral intentions in the Taiwan quick service restaurant industry. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 14(4), pp.364-390.

Website:

American Marketing Association. (2017). Ama.org. Retrieved 17 April 2017, from https://www.ama.org/Pages/default.aspx

CIM | Qualifications, Training and Membership. (2017). Cim.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2017, from http://www.cim.co.uk/