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Hence there is a gap between corporate objectives and corporate communication strategy. Further current strategy is more outward looking as a result it has neglected the internal dimensions of the company such as direct costs, staff recruitment’s and extent of deriving funds from Dialog to invest on cost centers such as Dialog TV and Dialog Broadband. The current strategic choice is based on strategic options such as increasing market share, core competencies, values and cost reduction and it has neglected on building a sustainable competitive advantage.
Further the acceptability of the current strategy by stakeholders is uncertain due to downsizing of company resources, revenue losses and lack of Job security for employees. The current strategy selection revolves around competitive, positioning and product market strategies. Accordingly the current competitive strategy is achieved through product and service differentiation mainly focusing on value added revise (VASS). The key weakness of this strategy is that due to lack of communication customers are not aware about the VASS.
Hence in order to overcome the weaknesses of the current strategy this report has recommended to redevelop the existing product market strategy in a way that is more market oriented and operations are more focused on customers by adapting a market oriented culture. The report has evaluated the impact of implementing the market oriented strategy on Dialog and its culture. Accordingly this report has identified the internal resource requirements, limitations and impact on Dialogs internal communication and culture.
As per the findings; in order to create a market oriented Dialog culture; the company should focus on staff intelligence and knowledge management skills. Further Dialog should shape the internal culture through value creation. On the other hand to make sure that all internal stakeholders adapt a market oriented culture Dialog should develop internal communication to inform regarding the change and expected objectives.
At the same time should establish relationships through communication and ensure that internal stakeholders position Dialog as a high quality affordable brand. Also Dialog should use effective external communication mediums such as TV, Radio and press to communicate and position Dialog as a high quality affordable brand and simultaneously Dialog should assess competitor communication strategies such as hard hitting advertising campaigns to capture customers’ attention and stimulate sales.
In conclusion the key objective of redeveloping the product market oriented strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Further in order to overcome the current strategic gaps and achieve positive revenue growth it’s important to tragically position Dialog as a high quality affordable brand and this could be achieved through hard hitting advertising campaigns. Based on the findings of this strategic report; a strategic plan will be introduced for Marketing Director’s and Board of Director’s consent. 1. Introduction The key objective of this report is to evaluate the current Marketing Strategy of Dialog Telecoms Pl (Dialog) and make recommendations to re develop the marketing strategy in order to establish a market oriented culture which aligns with the Dialogs core vision and values. This report has also proposed a marketing plan for redevelopment of the Marketing strategy and has conducted an in-depth analysis on implications, potential difficulties and barriers which Dialog could encounter when implementing the said plan. . 0 Findings of Dialogs existing Strategy Based on the Strategic audit analysis on Appendix B Of this report; following key aspects have been identified in the current strategy. 2. 1 Corporate Mission and Vision Dialog has a clear mission which describes the organizational beliefs and values and what business it operates. Further it captures the functions of the mission as it gives a direction, motivation and legalization and most importantly space for strategic change.
Vision statement outlines the future direction of the company and current mission and vision statement applies to the entire group. Both the mission and vision statements are align with the corporate strategy. However it doesn’t capture the key corporate objective of providing affordable services to its customers and cost efficiency aspect. This is a significant drawback of the current strategy as it has led to a strategic gap. 2.
Corporate Strategy and Marketing Strategy The corporate strategy and market strategy are linked together since corporate strategy involves decisions and directions for all Dialog functions of the business operation whilst the marketing strategy includes decisions relating to the positioning of the marketing mix in order to exploit and develop product and market opportunities. (BP, 2009) Hence the marketing strategy is a part of the corporate strategy.
The current corporate strategy is more outward looking and as a result it has neglected the internal dimensions such as direct costs, staff recruitment’s, necessary cost on sponsorships, restructuring costs, extent of deriving funds (from profitable strategic business units (SUB)) to invest on cost centers and to support other Subs such as DTV and DB. This has led to revenue loss and frequent restructuring of organization and downsizing of resources. Hence in future Dialog should adopt inward looking corporate strategy whilst focusing on outward looking aspects.
This could be achieved through synergistic planning process since it enables to determine future actions based on realistic consideration of the present Dialog situation and expected outcome. BP, 2009) Despite the fact that dialog group has a coherent corporate Mission and Vision there is gap between the corporate objectives and corporate communication strategy. The reason is at the inception of Dialog operations in 1995, it was positioned as an exclusive or as a high quality and high price brand.
Due to aggressive competition and affects of global recession on local consumers purchasing pattern and Dialog Group restructuring has resulted to position Dialog as an inclusive or a high quality affordable brand; and through customized low tariff packages Dialog has captured he market as the leader still customers perceive Dialog telecoms as a high price brand since it has been positioned as such for over 12 years. This is evident from the brand perceptual map on Appendix B Further the Dialog mobile customer retention rate has declined by 10%. And revenue has declined by 2 %. TTL, 2009) This indicates that there is a strategic gap between the corporate objectives and strategy. 2. 3 Current Strategic Choice The current strategic choice is based on strategic options such as increasing the market share, concentrating on organizations core competencies, values and educing costs. The current strategy is suitable for a certain extent since it has been able to defend the market share, but it doesn’t address all the key strategic issues identified in Appendix B, such as how to increase revenue and how to create a sustainable competitive advantage and etc.
This strategy is feasible since Dialog has the necessary resources to implement and develop but there is limitation due to downsizing of resources. However the acceptability of the current strategy is uncertain since it has not been able to satisfy Dialogs stakeholders expectations. Especially shareholders have not gain a significant return on their investment due to revenue loss, there is no Job security for employees due to downsizing of company resources. 2. Current Strategy Selection The current strategy has adopted several marketing strategies as follows: competitive strategy, Positioning strategy, Product and Market strategies. Refer Appendix B to view the analysis of the captioned above strategies. As identified in the strategic audit the current competitive strategy is achieved through product and service differentiation. This strategy is aligned with the mission ND the core competencies of Dialog. The company has consistently delivered breakthrough technology products (such as song catcher, ex. pay, discount zone and etc. Which are unmatched by the competition. However the major weakness of this strategy is that customers are not aware about the valued added services (VASS) since Dialog has constraints on advertising budgets. Dialog Telecoms currently adopts the market leadership strategy as the positioning strategy and it’s aligned with the current corporate objectives, vision, mission and marketing objectives. Hence the key challenge is to defend the existing market share f (TTL, 2009) and remain as the undisputed leader of the mobile telecommunication market in Sir Lankan.
As illustrated in Appendix B of the strategic audit currently Dialog adopts the Amazons product market growth matrix strategy. This marketing strategy links with the corporate and marketing objectives of the organization. Dialog has the ability to penetrate the existing market through VASS and product differentiation. Further there is an emerging trend for technology savvy culture market. This will be a good opportunity to penetrate the existing market by making the customers to switch from competitor products.
Despite resource limitations and cost reducing policies Dialog has continued to use the product development strategy by applying its core competencies. 3. 0 Arguments for Redevelopment of Market Oriented Strategy It’s recommended to redevelop a competitive market oriented strategy since there are several weaknesses and disadvantages in the current marketing strategy as identified above. The current corporate strategy is focused on entire Dialog exact Group operations, but the degree of market oriented strategy should vary across Sub’s, further it should be positively associated with individuals attitudes towards heir work.
Further the current marketing strategy mainly focuses on Product and service differentiation to gain a competitive advantage and attract customers instead of actual focus on customers. As a result Dialog has failed to retain customers and made significant revenue losses within the last three years. Hence considering the identified reasons Dialog should redevelop a competitive market oriented strategy which aligns with its marketing objectives, core vision and values. Ideally Dialog should adopt a marketing oriented culture. This is addressed in latter section of the report.
Marketing orientation strategy focuses on customers and based on customer requirements organizations change its operation. (BP, 2009) According to Asker (2004) an organization to consistently achieve above normal market performance it should create a sustainable competitive advantage. To achieve this, company must create sustainable superior value to its customers and this could be achieved via competitive market oriented strategy. As depicted below market orientation consists of three behavioral components. (Source: Nerve & Slater, 1990) The above components should be effectively planned and coordinated to deliver customer satisfaction.
Further market oriented strategies emphasis on the importance of value creation it provides each employee in every division the independence and encouragement which is necessary to adapt to customer needs in a way that is superior to the competition. Further developing and maintaining market oriented strategy will be a valuable learning experience to Dialog. (Nerve & Slater, 1990) 3. 1 Recommended Market Oriented Strategy As identified above Market Oriented strategy focus on three components; customers, competitors and inter functional coordination.
Hence it’s recommended to redevelop he existing product -market strategy in a way that it’s more market oriented and operations are more focused on customers by adapting a market oriented organizational culture. The reason is differentiation strategy and positioning strategies focus more on product differentiation and competition whilst the product market strategy enables to identify customer needs and wants and develop products which satisfy customers demand. Accordingly Dialog should redevelop the product – market strategy to create customer value.
Further this enables Dialog to convince and convert inactive or dormant customers to use Dialog mobile services. Dialogs market penetration should be achieved through market oriented strategy. Simultaneously product market strategy enables to increase the usage of existing customers and identify new segments and markets. As identified in PESTLE and SOOT analysis on Appendix B Dialog has several opportunities to attract customers and exploit new markets. This is another reason this report has recommended product market strategy as a market oriented strategy.
Also it is aligned with the Dialogs corporate mission and vision statements and marketing objectives which looks at adding value to customers and BIB markets. Hence considering above aspects product market strategy is the most suitable strategy to redevelop as market oriented strategy. 3. 2 How to redevelop the Product Market Strategy into a Market Oriented Strategy 3. 2. 1 . Market Penetration As illustrated in Appendix B diagram; the current penetration strategy focuses on VASS to increase sales in the existing markets by making an effort to switch customers and activate dormant customers.
This strategy is correct for certain extent, but it’s important to identify if these VASS are actually satisfying customer expectations or if it’s customized according to different segments requirements and if the correct pricing strategy has been adopted. To address these questions Dialog should adapt a market oriented approach by conducting a customer research to identify the weaknesses of the services and understand what the customer expects and design VASS according to their preferences in a way that provides value to customers.
Dialog could also penetrate the market by improving and redeveloping the regional sales processes and developing a process where back office employees support frontline ales and customer service staff to stimulate sales in the existing markets. Further in order to align this strategy with corporate and marketing objectives, Dialog should launch hard hitting advertising campaigns instead of always focusing on core competency related advertising campaigns.
Should make customers aware about low cost products and how Dialog empowers and enrich customers and BIB operations that align with corporate Mission, and in future how dialog could be seen as an affordable brand instead of an expensive brand. The reason is new market entrants such as distillates and Irritate have used hard hitting advertising campaigns to position their brands as low cost products whilst Dialog advertises on core competencies. On the other hand customers are more concerned regarding value for money offers instead of product differentiation.
As identified in SOOT analysis Dialog has the Sir Land’s largest mobile based loyalty program, but the customer awareness is low regarding the program. So if the correct marketing communication tools such as TV, press, Radio are used could increase customer awareness and retain customers and stimulate sales in the existing markets by using loyalty. . 2. 2. Product Development According to social trends there is an emerging trend toward technology sax. N. Y culture; this is an opportunity to exploit the existing market with new products. The current strategy focuses on new product development, quality and products upgrades.
This approach should be market oriented as follows: should be clear on what customer expect from new product and upgrades and quality, since Dialog corporate objective focus on downsizing need to plan how to utilize limited resources on product development especially should undertake financial analysis including reawaken analysis, should use compatible customer oriented pricing strategy and promotional strategy, also need to focus on competitive response and ways (such as patents, copy rights) to delay competition from entering the market with substitutes and develop products for BBC as well as BIB to be linked to corporate vision.
The said approaches will enable Dialog to gain profits and discourage new entrants to develop substitutes. 3. 2. 3. Market Development The current market development strategy focus on new distribution channels development, new segments and geographic areas. This should have a market oriented approach as follows: Should focus on competitive approach and how the new channel partners could be attracted through value creation, establishing sustainable relationships through special commissions, discounts, rewards and recognition for sales volumes.
Also focus on different needs and wants of customers based on different geographical locations. For instance North east & Western province customers have simple requirements hence should use differential pricing policies and focus on customer values and beliefs to communicate promotional messages and attract new segments and provide VASS. 3. 2. 4. Marketing Oriented Culture As identified earlier while redeveloping the above Product Market strategies in to market oriented strategy it is recommended to adopt a marketing oriented culture.
The reason is Market oriented culture should be the Dialog culture since it is aimed at maintaining a high level of performance by effectively and efficiently executing activities required to obtain customer value. (Nerve & Slater, 1990) A marketing oriented culture could be created through intelligence and knowledge, value creation and communication. (BP, 2009) It ensures that the Dialog senior management’s key operations have been focused on the needs and wants of the elected target markets which will lead to make profits.
Further when adapting market oriented culture Dialog will also adapt its core values such as Quality, Creativity, Originality, Service, Learning, integrity, Trust and respect. (BP, 2009) The said values are already a part of the Dialogs corporate values, and align with the mission statement. The reason is Dialog focus on commitment to task and excellent customer service and it has an open culture which welcomes creativity, learning and respect. However Dialog focuses mainly on differentiation and technology thus would adopt a market oriented culture to be more focus on customers, competition and internal functions.