WMKT101 Marketing Fundamentals

Marketing refers to the actions or thee processes which are used to promote or sell a specific product or service.  In the marketing process, the marketers examine the needs and the interest of the customers and align them with the products and services offered by them. The marketing strategies contain the actions which can increase the customer base of the organization and attract the customers towards different products and services. The present portfolio presents six different examples in which different marketing tactics are used for product promotion.

1. Market Research and Its Use in a Marketing Plan: The market research is essential in component of the marketing process. A business organization needs to conduct thorough research of the customers and their inclination. This information can be used for the development of the marketing strategy which can attract a large number of customers. The marketing strategies so that they can connect with the customers and make them to buy thee products or the services of the organization. Therefore, the market research assists the organizations in understanding the customers and develop; effective marketing objectives. The Fuelled by Love advertisement campaign of British Airways has received baffling response from the viewers. It is the result of the thorough market research of the organization. The company examined the nature of the Indian customers and arrived at the conclusion that the Indian viewers are emotional and will get attracted towards an emotional advertisement campaign (Singh, 2016). Moreover, the organization also analyzed that Indian customers are attached to their families and have strong emotional ties. It used this feature to develop an attractive emotional advertisement for the customers.
2. The Competitors of the Favorite product: Apple iPhone is my favorite product. It has created a unique brand image for itself. In the recent years, the emergence of several telecommunication companies has modified the marketing objectives of the organization. Apple constantly innovates and adds new features in its device. In addition to it, it regularly launches new phones so that it remains visible in the eyes of the customers. The major competitors of Apple are Samsung, Lenovo, HTC and Nokia. These companies also regularly launched mobile phones with new features to retain their customer base and attract new customers. As a result, Apple also has to launch products with additional features to attract the customer. The company has adopted premium pricing strategy; therefore, it requires selling a better product for a given price.
3. PESTEL and how this affects the introduction of a new product or service: PESTEL analysis is the analysis of the external environment of the organization. Several external factors such as the economy, demography and the political structure of the market impacts on the business of an organization. The market entry of Huawei in India can be used as an example of the impact of external analysis on the entry modes. In the present, Huawei can be considered as the second largest supplier of the telecommunication equipment in the world. India was a potential market in its international expansion plan; however, it has to make a number of changes in its marketing strategy to become successful.

Impact of political factors: Although the Indo-China war is a history, there still exits an enmity between both the countries.  In this regard, the company presented itself as a reliable partner and showed that it can provide quality products at low cost.

Impact of the economic Factors:  It also created a research and development to create more jobs on the local market so that it can contribute to the local economy. The Indian population is attracted towards low-cost products, as a result, the company tried to provide the telecommunication products at the lowest cost to the customers.

Impact of the Social Factors: In India, the people are attracted towards innovative products which are available at the lowest cost.  In the recent years, the country has developed drastically and resulted in the attraction of the people towards new technology and products. It has launched several innovative products to tap the Indian customer base.

Technological Impact: The Indian government has brought numerous infrastructural changes which has attracted a large number of foreign companies in the country. Huawei has established its second largest base in India after China due to the advancements of the communication system and infrastructure (Witzel and Goswami, 2012).

1. SWOT analysis and its Use in Marketing Plan: The SWOT analysis can be used as an effective tool to analyze the internal strengths and the weaknesses of the company. On the basis of this evaluation, the companies can identify the external opportunities and the weaknesses. BMW cars are one of the most luxurious cars in the world. The companies sell the most comfortable, safe ad luxury cars. The products are attractive, beautiful and safe. It has created a unique brand image of the company. The strength of the company is it unique brand image. The company is using the brand image in manufacturing the most expensive cars in the world. With its brand image, it is trying to explore the luxury markets in other parts of the world too. The affluent customers are attracted towards the company’s cars. It launches cars with additional and luxurious features to appeal to the senses of these customers. However, the weakness of the company is its limited customer base. The products of the organization are brought by only a few people. In the recent years, several other companies are also venturing into the luxury car market which has increased the competition in the particular customer segment. The major competitors of the company are Audi and Porsche. Lexus and Jaguar are also entering into the luxury car market to give competition to the company. BMW has a long history; however, it used to tap the luxury market in these years. Over the years, there has been drastic economic growth all across the globe. It has expanded the affluent customer base and attracted new market entrants. It is a major threat to the company (DeMattia, 2015).
2. Segmentation, targeting and positioning in marketing (STP): The STP or segmentation, targeting and positioning are the basis principles of marketing. The segmentation refers to the division of the customer base into different sections so that there interest and needs can be identified accurately and a proper marketing strategy can be developed to appeal to them. The telecommunication industry is the most dynamic industry in the contemporary times. In the mobile industry, regularly new competitors and companies are emerging. In addition to it, the companies are also launching regularly new products and features to attract the customers and maintain their interest in the organization.  In order to understand the segmentation, targeting and positioning, the examples of Apple and Samsung can be taken. Both the companies are the leading companies in the telecommunication market; however, they have created a niche market for themselves. Apple Inc. has tapped the luxury market and the technology enthusiasts. On the other hand, Samsung has attained the middle-class market. These companies have developed their marketing strategies accordingly. For instance, Apple Inc  has developed marketing strategy which is focused on the high class and luxury market. It keeps the product design simple and unique which give the perception of simple yet classy. Although the design of the phones is simple, the phones are embedded with a lot of features which shows makes it useful for the business man and the technology enthusiasts. Apple does not spend a large amount of money in the product branding or promotion which creates a high brand perception in the mind of the customers. On the other hand, the customer base of Samsung is the middle-class customer base. The competition in this customer segment is high. The people are attracted towards the new products and visible brands. Therefore, the company regularly launches new advertisement campaigns. In addition to it, the company also uses social media, Facebook, twitter and Yuotube to attract a large number of customers (Stoller, 2017).
3. New product/service launches or Brand Management:  It can be critiqued that during the launch of new product or services, the companies need to conduct a comprehensive market research so that the product appeals to the customers. Recently, with the advent of social media and social community, several business organizations have ventured in the same. Ello is a social media website which guaranteed to assist the customers who have fed up of Facebook. It had some attractive features like no advertisements, no personal data mining and flexible registration. The users can register used pseudonym without publishing their name and other personal information on the social media. The company was launched in August and invited the customers on an invite only basis. However, the company failed after running for a few months. It has a counterintuitive interface and it cannot beat Facebook and alike companies with its significantly plain features (McHugh, 2014).  The corolla model launched by Toyota can be considered as one of the most popular model launched in the recent years. The company added a large amount of features in this model and created a unique advertising campaign to attract the customers. It promoted the product as a lifestyle experience and which uplifts the standard of the people and makes their life comfortable. The company used a number of marketing and social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to promote the company. As a result, it became the leading car organization (Crimaldi, 2014).  

It can be concluded that marketing tactics are essential in the growth and development of the organization. In developing an attractive and engaging marketing strategy, the company needs to examine the needs and the preference of the customers. The business organization can examine the customer preference with the help of marketing strategies. The companies can conduct market research with the help of situational analysis tools such as PESTL analysis or SWOT analysis.

Crimaldi, L. (2014). Most memorable product launches of the last year. Retrieved on 3 July 2017 from https://www.boston.com/news/business/2014/02/07/most-memorable-product-launches-of-the-last-year 

DeMattia, N. (2015). Who is BMW’s biggest competitor now? BMW Blog. Retrieved on 3 July 2017 from https://www.bmwblog.com/2015/03/02/who-is-bmws-biggest-competitor-now/ 

McHugh, S. (2014). ECONOMY 8 Biggest Product Fails. Alternet. Retrieved on 3 July 2017 from https://www.alternet.org/economy/8-biggest-product-fails-2014 

Singh, A.N. (2016). British Airways ad’s viral response is Fuelled by Love. Hindustan Times. Retrieved on 3 July 2027 from https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/british-airways-ad-s-viral-response-is-fuelled-by-love/story-rs5fh4PKmQWOaDTIxOwxNP.html  

Stoller, K. (2017). The World’s Largest Tech Companies 2017: Apple And Samsung Lead, Facebook Rises. Retrieved on 3 July 2017 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinstoller/2017/05/24/the-worlds-largest-tech-companies-2017-apple-and-samsung-lead-facebook-rises/#4ec86fedd140 

WARC. (2017). Huawei faces uphill battle in India. Retrieved on 3 July 2027 from https://www.warc.com/NewsAndOpinion/News/37478 

Witzel, M., & Goswami, T. (2012). The case study: Huawei’s entry to India. Financial Times. Retrieved on 3 July 2027 from https://www.ft.com/content/a7c4d656-fe89-11e1-8028-00144feabdc0?mhq5j=e1