MCOM4040 Marketing and Communications Management

Task 3: Marketing strategies

The Marketing Director has announced a new objective for the company: To grow the Addison Lee car service business by 3% by targeting a younger demographic of 16 – 25-year olds by June 2018.

1. Explain the concept of market segmentation and its importance in planning a marketing strategy for Addison Lee
2. Discuss two (2) segmentation approaches that Addison Lee could adopt when segmenting the market for 16 – 25-year olds

Task 4: Marketing mix

1. Using the 7ps, Identify and describe Addison Lee’s current marketing mix using appropriate examples for each of the 7P’s
2. Recommend changes to the Product, Price and Promotion element of Addison Lee’s marketing mix (7ps) which will enable the business to achieve its desired objective, of 3% growth in their car service business by targeting 16-25-year olds

Questions:

Introduction

Marketing is the mechanism which can be adopted by the business corporation for promoting and spreading awareness about the products and services of the entity. Marketing enhances the brand equity and the market share of the concerned products (Baker, 2014). This hike in the market share gets reflected in the increased sales and profitability of the firm. The business entity should develop appropriate marketing plans and strategies and accordingly communicate the same to the target audience. Proper communication is very essential in the process of marketing hence it will develop a clear idea about the products and services in the minds of the targeted consumers and which will aid in the generation of will to purchase. The communication process assists the concept of marketing in several aspects. The communication process has been considered as the medium which conveys the details of the concerned products and services to the target market and consumers. Transferring the required details of the products to the consumers has been considered as a crucial and significant concept for the process of marketing. The communication or the messages stimulate the decision making of the consumers and tends them to buy the marketed product. The below-executed report has been analyzed for Addison Lee which is a private hire services provider company. The business entity has been planning to expand business in London and hence the below-presented report has been analyzed for evaluating the approaches and concept of marketing and communication.

Task 1 Evolution of marketing 

Marketing orientations concepts

The concept of marketing orientation has been concerned with the philosophy of a company which has been made focused on discovering and meeting the requirements of the customers. The below mentioned are the integral concepts of marketing orientation (Bukhari and Kazi, 2016).

Production concept: This concept is mainly concerned with the production process and the product. The prime idea of the concept is that the target consumer will buy the product which is easily available and is also affordable. So as per this concept, Addison Lee should have an objective of enhancing the production and distribution efficiency.

Product concept: This concept is totally focused towards the product, making it better, nicer and cheaper. The concept ignores the customers’ needs as it directly starts from product and the entity makes the attempts to sell the product to the consumers. The main aim of the concept is to improve the product.

Selling concept: The selling concept is concerned to the selling of the products and services to the consumers (Chang, 2016). Less significance is given to the consumers or their types and requirements. The concept starts from promoting the products and later focus is on searching the potential consumers.

Marketing concept: This approach is concerned with fulfilling the needs of the marketing strategy. The concept also focuses on developing long-term relations with the consumers and knowing the needs and wants of the consumers and fulfillment of the same is also done. The promotion and advertisement of the products is the main concern of the concept (Chernev, 2014).

Orientation adopted by Addison Lee

On the basis of the research, it has been observed that the business entity has been making use of the Marketing orientation concept. The business entity has been focusing towards development and improvements in the products (Coronel  and Morris, 2016). This has to be done for enhancing the customer experience.  Heavy investments have been made by Addison Lee in reflecting the specializations of Uber London. The below mentioned are the examples which determine the adoption of the product orientation concept by Addison Lee:

The business entity has mainly focused on bringing advancements in the products and the services. Heavy investments have been made by the entity in reflecting the features of Uber London. The features are off-peak weekend fares, sharing ETA and driver tipping.

The organization also unveiled new feel and a premium look. The new logo and a color palette in yellow, black and slate were introduced which signified commitment of offering quality and services to the passengers.

Task 2 Marketing environments

Marketing environment analysis 

The term marketing environment analysis has been made concerned to the process of identification of the internal and the external elements which are liable in stimulating the business environment of the organization (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2013). The analysis also entails the assessment of the intensity of the threats and the upcoming opportunities. This analysis aids the entity in the decision making process and alignment of the strategies is also done on the basis of this analysis. Addison Lee will be benefited by analyzing the marketing environment on various aspects. The below mentioned are some of the benefits which will be gained by Addison Lee after analyzing the marketing environment:

• The business entity will be able to identify the present strengths and weakness and also the upcoming threats and available opportunities if any.
• The firm will also be able to get a clear idea about the available resources and also how to make optimum utilization of the available resources (Dunning, 2012).
• A systematic analysis if conduct will enable the entity to bring a boost to the strengths, minimize the weakness, grabbing the opportunities and tackling the rivals. This all will enable the firm to survive and grow in the business environment.

Macro environment of Addison Lee

The macro environmental analysis will enable the entity with the factor or the elements which can be considered as liable in stimulating the organization and the operations.

Economic factors: As UK shares a strong economic position and also has a high GDP (Dunning, 2014). There is varied range of elements which will affect the marketing decisions of Addison Lee. A Large population with the diversified and strong economy can be considered as one of the economic factors which will aid the entity and will also be proven beneficial while making marketing decisions. Large population and that too with a strong economic condition will enable the entity to have large target markets and diverse consumer segments. This can be considered as an opportunity for the business corporation.

Sociocultural factors: This factor is one of the significant aspects of the macro environment. The entity has `high social standards in the UK which leads to better and all-round circumstances (Hollensen, 2015). The economy is densely populated with 64.1 million inhabitants and high standard of living is the two sociocultural factors which are positively supporting the marketing decisions at Addison Lee.   

Key competitors

Competitors have been considered as an integral element in the business environment who are capable of stimulating the marketing trends of a competing business entity (Laudon and Laudon, 2016). The below mentioned are the prime competitors of Addison Lee and are also considered as liable in imposing impacts on the business of the firm:

Uber is one of the well-renowned name in the sector of transport services and has also been observed that it is one of the biggest competing brand name of Addison Lee. Uber has high standards in offering services and diverse range of well-trained and verified drivers. Moreover, Uber Black is one of the high standard services. These all elements of the business can be considered as the threat for Addison Lee.

Chicago Messenger Service, Inc. is another brand name which has been considered one of the top competitor of the business corporation (Lusch and Vargo, 2014). Chicago Messenger Service has been offering transportation services in the Midwest region. The popularity and the quality of the service are the two factors which can be considered as the threats for Addison Lee.

Internal environmental factors  

The below mentioned are two key internal factors which are held liable for stimulating the business environment of Addison Lee:

Customers: The term has the greatest significance for any of the business entity and is also held liable in stimulating the business environment of the entity. Addison Lee shares the huge amount of benefit due to this factor which is present in the internal environment. Due to the high density of population, the business corporation has large consumers segments and which has enabled the firm with a greater market share (Meyerson, 2015). Moreover, due to a strong GDP, the standard of living of the population is high which entails them to enjoy a good livelihood. And this internal factor can be considered as the strength for the business firm.

Workforce and the unions: The business entity has been operating the business functions throughout the UK (Meyerson, 2015). A high density of population offers the entity with a diverse range of workforce which are well-trained and verified and can also be considered as the strength of the business corporation.  

Task 3 Marketing strategies 

Market segmentation and its importance 

The term marketing segmentation is the business approach which can be adopted by the business corporation for creating a division in the consumer (Pasquier and Villeneuve, 2017). This segmentation develops a divide between the potential customers so as to aid the entity to target the products as per the features and the requirements of the cons0umrs inn the different segments. The biggest benefit is offered to the marketing team as this process aids the team in developing a customized marketing mix for the products of the company. The marketing segmentation is the process which enables and the entity to reach the precisely to a specific group of consumers as per their needs and wants (Peck et al., 2013). This mechanism also aids the entity for the longer run as it makes optimum utilization of the available resources and makes better strategic marketing decisions.

Segmentation approaches

The mechanism of marketing segmentation has been considered as the key input for the marketing planning process of a business corporation. Identifying the market segments has been considered as a crucial issue (Terpstra, Foley and Sarathy, 2012). There are no best ways to develop market segmentation and hence the managerial staff of the firm is expected to adopt the segmentation approaches for developing marketing segmentation. The below mentioned are the two marketing segmentation approaches which can be adopted by Addison Lee for creating marketing segmentation:

Figure 1 Segmentation approaches

(Source- Segmentation approaches, 2017)

Consumer characteristic approach

This segmentation approach has been made focused and is based on the characteristics of the potential consumers. Consumer characteristics or personal segments are totally based on the factors like geographic, psychographic and demographic (Verbeke, 2013).  These segments are based on the features of the consumers which are related to the Location of the consumers, what they are and about their behavior. The below mentioned is the description of the characteristics of the consumers:

Consumer response approach

This approach has been considered as one of the most integrated approaches for the concept of marketing segmentation which can be adopted by the business corporation while developing the consumer segmentation. This approach is also same as the consumer characteristics approach. The approach is totally based on the consumer responses and feedbacks are based on various elements which are considered as integral for the consumer. The main focus is provided on the question that why the consumer is buying the product (West, Ford and Ibrahim, 2015). Consumer response has been considered as very much significant while creating marketing segments. The whole concept is based on the responses such as benefits, usage, occasions, and loyalty.

Task 4 Marketing mix

Identification of 7p’s 

The marketing mix is the strategy which can be adopted by the business corporation and it can also be termed as the set of actions or tactics which can be used by the company for promoting the products and services in the market (Zhu and Geng, 2013). The main components of the marketing mix strategy are products, price, place, and promotion. Moreover, the extended marketing mix strategy consists of the people, process, and physical evidence.

• Products: Car services, courier, airport transfers and transportation services are some of the major services offered by the business corporation. The business entity has expanded the business to a greater limit and offers a varied range of services in the UK and other regions too. The products and services are easily accessible and this offers the consumers a high level of convenience.
• Price: As the business entity offers a varied range of services there is a variance found in the prices of the services offered by the firm. For instance, the cab services offer normal prices whereas the executive services are quite expensive in comparison.
• Place: This term refers to the distribution of the services by the firm. Addison Lee offers the various services mainly in the UK and has been expanding the business operations in the other regions all over the globe (Addisonlee 2017).
• Promotion: Business Corporation has been making use of contemporary means of promotional tools and mediums for marketing the services all over the globe. For instance, digital media and internet can be utilized by Addison Lee for promoting the services.
• People: Due to a highly dense population the business entity has a varied and diverse range of workforce. For instance, the cab drivers are well-trained and verified.
• Process: The business corporation is majorly involved in the process of offering transportation services to the service users.
• Physical evidence: The entity operates the business operations through the offices in the main cities of UK, but most of the business is carried out through the applications .i.e. online.  

Recommendations to marketing mix

The below are the changes or the recommendations which are required to be implemented by Addison Lee for attaining the target of 3% growth in their car service business by targeting 16-25 years old.

• Product: The quality of services should be kept in focus and improvements should be made regularly so as to enhance the customer satisfaction level. Diversification should be expanded and new products line should be introduced by the business corporation, for instance, new segments in the cab services should be introduced such as share cabs which will be easily affordable by the middle and low-income group people.
• Price: Already the business entity has been offering the services at affordable price range but then also the firm can adopt some additional pricing strategies for attaining the goal of the increase of 3% in the car service business. Offering discount coupons and schemes will be proven a beneficial change in the pricing strategy.
• Promotion: The firm should start making use of local mediums of promotion and advertisement so as grab the attention of the locales. This change can be added to the list of attainment for the attainment of the pre-determined goal.  

Conclusion

After summing up the above-presented report it has been inferred that marketing and communication are the two integral components which are considered as very much significant for the success and growth of the business corporation. The above report has been made focused on Addison Lee which is a multinational brand name of the UK which specializes in offering transportation and other related services to the service users.

References

Addisonlee, 2017, Addison Lee, Assessed on 16^th November 2017, https://www.addisonlee.com/services/standard-cars/.

Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Bukhari, A.N. and Kazi, R., 2016. CRM triggers effectiveness through Customer Selection Orientation, Business Cycle Orientation, Cross-Functional Integration and Dual Value Creation: Myth or Reality. Journal of Marketing Management, 4(1), pp.163-171.

Chang, J.F., 2016. Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press.

Chernev, A., 2014. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.

Coronel, C. and Morris, S., 2016. Database systems: design, implementation, & management. Cengage Learning.

Czinkota, M.R. and Ronkainen, I.A., 2013. International marketing. Cengage Learning.

Dunning, J.H., 2012. International Production and the Multinational Enterprise (RLE International Business). Routledge.

Dunning, J.H., 2014. The Globalization of Business (Routledge Revivals): The Challenge of the 1990s. Routledge.

Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education India.

Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., 2014. The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Routledge.

Meyerson, M., 2015. Success secrets of the online marketing superstars. Entrepreneur Press.

Meyerson, M., 2015. Success secrets of the online marketing superstars. Entrepreneur Press.

Pasquier, M. and Villeneuve, J.P., 2017. Marketing management and communications in the public sector. Routledge.

Peck, H., Christopher, M., Clark, M. and Payne, A., 2013. Relationship marketing. Taylor & Francis.

Terpstra, V., Foley, J. and Sarathy, R., 2012. International marketing. Naper Press.

Verbeke, A., 2013. International business strategy. Cambridge University Press.

West, D.C., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press, USA.

Zhu, Q. and Geng, Y., 2013. Drivers and barriers of extended supply chain practices for energy saving and emission reduction among Chinese manufacturers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 40, pp.6-12.