Words: 2810
P Jones MARKETING AND THE MARKETING STRATEGIES IN TWO FAMOUS COMPANIES Many businesses aim to grow and improve by the way they market their products this is called growth strategy. One of the best know descriptions is the Ansoff Matrix, created by Igor Ansoff in 1957. The Ansoff matrix consists of four main points: Market Penetration A business will penetrate an existing market with a new product that is related to an existing product that is successful in that market. Market Development By aiming your product at a completely new range of customers without changing the product at all.
Businesses do this to attract customers from rival companies. Product Development A company will have an existing product and adapt problems of the previous version to meet customer need. Diversification A business will diversify by creating a brand new product and marketing it is already familiar market or in a completely new market altogether. Branding This is the process of creating a unique name and image that keeps consumers remembering the product. Often these names or logos are trademarked to prevent competitors from using similar branding. A classic example of great branding is Heinz.
The slogan ‘beanz meanz Heinz’ was used originally in 1967. It is considered to be one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever because of the way it influenced buyer behaviour. Huge numbers of adults still relate to the slogan 35 years on. Brand Building takes time and effort, the company has to decide the brand’s values. For example, Mercedes cars branding is that their cars stand for high performance, safety and prestige. How does a company convey the values? A consistent style, very specific, using specific fonts in adverts, training staff to present a specific image, a product that is both of good quality and can be relied upon.
Hewlett Packard produces good quality computers. Once they had established their place in the market the company were confident the could rebrand their products with the branding ‘HP. ‘ Everyone knew what HP stood for, knew the quality was good and liked the HP logo. It has gone from strength to strength. Branding can be used to strengthen the chances of a new product by bringing it into the market as an extension to the other products under the same Branding. For example, BMW has moved into the small car market. It can do this because it can still market these new models under the normal BMW value of quality.
Relationship Marketing A Company has to think long term and take its customers with them and make sure they keep those customers. It also needs to consider how to gain other segments of consumer groups. Banks do this. For example they give money away and give free services to all students, thereby hoping that once the student is using them and is happy with the service being given then they stay with that bank ??? sometimes for life. Supermarkets need high turnover to make profit. They know that customers even have habits even when it comes to which shop they do their grocery shopping in.
Morrison’s has been well known for having really big reductions in the prices of some of items. These loss leaders pull in customers looking for a bargain but they become hooked on looking for bargains each week and then do all their shopping in the same shop. Survival Strategy Whereas some businesses are trying to grow, some struggle to break-even and have to take major action to survive: Terminating less profitable products, reducing the size of the business, and make employees redundant to reduce costs on the business. Two Global Companies that do not have this issue are Coca Cola and Apple.
They lead the way in the marketing of their different Products and are considered fine examples of how marketing strategies can keep their products selling so well against their competitors Coca-Cola Mission Statement: To maximise shareowner value over time. The Coca Cola Company is huge. It is the market leader in the Soft Drink Industry with 59% of the world market. But the Company will not stop trying to increase its size. It knows that the Carbonated Soft Drink market has one of the largest growths in the retail market. And Coca Cola wants as much of that growth as possible.
For example it knows that it has 16 million Retail Customers who then sell Coke Products to Billions of consumers. But the company knows that there are 6 million more potential Retail customers who can then sell the products to even more consumers. The phrase ‘Coca Cola’ is the second most understood word in the World after ‘OK. ‘ The Company has used this fame to good use by diversifying into many other areas. Firstly it has produced new carbonated drinks e. g Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, and Coke Classic. However it has also is a world leader in the production of bottled water.
Coca Cola’s brand ‘Ciel’ is the best selling in Mexico and ‘Bonaque’ is the best selling in Russia. Coca Cola’s green Tea brand ‘Monaque’ is the best selling in Japan. In key markets the Company has created new packaging sizes. It found that Mexican families regularly lunched together at home and drank an average of 2. 5 litres of Coca Cola soft drinks. However the largest bottle size available was 2 litres. So the Company added a new bottle size of 2. 5 litres to make it more convenient for its consumers. In its key market in the U. S. the Company found that consumers were often adding a slice of lemon.
So they ‘bottled’ the concept by adding some lemon to their Diet Coke product. Both of these ideas helped to increase sales. Coca Cola keeps a promise of keeping its products “simple, solid and timeless. ” The company considers itself to be an “us” brand ??? made for sharing/togetherness. Its advertising often has this focus within them e. g. the song ‘I’d like to build’ in the TV advert from the 1970s. Coca Cola knows its competitors. Its main one being Pepsi. There is a feeling that when a consumer goes into a cafe or bar wanting to buy a soft drink they do not necessarily care whether they are getting a Coke or a Pepsi.
Therefore Coca Cola provides more chillers and freezers, free of charge, to more outlets in the world than any other competitor thereby making sure their product is the one being available to the consumer in these outlets. The company believes that ‘collaborative’ and creative content to their advertising will to double their business over the next decade. For example, they will broadcast live TV programming during the London 2012 Olympics ??? thereby inspiring their young audience to get involved in Sport and possibly lead into using Coca Cola’s Sports drinks. Also the Company has an ‘established Music Brand. It has had links with Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. It arranges Concerts around the world including a 24 hour one by Maroon 5 in Australia and huge concerts sponsored by them in Pakistan. Coca Cola’s Vice President of Global advertising, John Mildenhall, recently explained how the company no longer relies on traditional Ad Agencies. They want a “disproportional share of Popular culture. ” To get this constantly happening and to get the “fat and fertile ideas” then the company is engaging with the consumers to get the feedback they need to shape the creativity of the future.
They use Facebook and Twitter and Crowd Sourcing to get the ideas and then work directly with artists in music and film to create a “storytelling” content. APPLE Another huge Global corporation that has been enormous over a relatively short timescale. The secret lies beyond their product line and design standards; it lies beyond even Steve Jobs’ emphatic adherence to Apple’s core philosophy, which is that the user doesn’t always know what they want. It also is due to their Marketing strategy which has 7 main aspects to it. 1. Ignore Your Critics
As an entrepreneur, you’ll hear a lot of people tell you that you need to reach out and figure out what people want, which means listening to your critics, often times more patiently than you’d like. Apple decides to flip the script and instead focus on building what they want to build, no matter the perceived cost. When Steve Jobs debuted the iPad, the critics stood in line, throwing every insult they could muster. The critics said that the iPad would fail. The vast numbers of sales proved them wrong. 2. Turn the ordinary into something beautiful
They’ve been pioneering not only the features of standard operating systems and computer systems, but simultaneously reinventing the design standards as well. As a result, we have the remarkable iMac, Macbook Air, and iPhone 4. Where others focus on one aspect of the equation, Apple focuses on the entire product, and it shows. 3. Justify Your Price We’re in a time when pricing strategies are all over the place. People don’t know what to charge, and in many cases, prefer to race to the bottom instead of pricing strategically to a market that can bear the cost.
Once more, Apple ignores the standard by pricing their technology often at twice the price that their competitors charge. How can they get away with it? Firstly they build great looking products for an audience that loves them passionately. Secondly, they justify their price with features and benefits that can’t be matched. For example, no other software can match what iTunes brings to the table. Also, no laptop is as thin as the Macbook Air. Apple is often considered the Rolls Royce of the technology and design world, and their customers will gladly pay a premium because of it. 4.
Communicate in the Language of Your Audience Many IT consumers do not relate to words like megabytes, gigahertz, and processing power. Take a look at any Apple product page and you’ll find that though they do discuss product specifications and technical information, it’s hidden behind the benefits that their audience is truly after. Instead of display resolution, you’ll see phrases like “edge to edge glass,” “retina display,” and “LED backlighting. ” The jargon is there for those that need it, but it’s presented in a readable manner. 5. Extend the Experience Have you ever heard of an ‘unboxing? Consumers are so pleased with the packaging and the experience of unwrapping their Apple product that they film the experience and often place it on YouTube! Apple does this by making sure that the experience doesn’t end at the cash register. They take great care in designing a user experience from browsing to unwrapping, which relies on incredible packaging and installation procedures. 6. Build a Tribe It’s no secret that Apple has built one of the most hardcore fan bases of any product. Apple embraces this audience. The company wants this group to grow and grow whilst they discuss the joys of owning an Apple product. 7.
Become “The Name” You don’t buy tissues, you buy Kleenex. You did not buy a vacuum cleaner, you bought a Hoover. Likewise, you don’t buy MP3 players, you buy an iPod. You don’t buy a smartphone, you buy an iPhone. Apple isn’t content with being a leader in sales alone, they want to own the market itself. From here on out, everything will be compared to the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and iTunes. How’s it done? 1. A clear head start in terms of being first to market. Or 2. A USP that differentiates your product in a way that makes people wish it were first. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE 2 MARKETING STRATEGIES * Coca Cola uses its Brand history.
The original drink has been available on the market for nearly 100 years and the company has a lot of history to fall back on. It regularly brings older styles of bottles and iconic adverts to still market the product today. Apple is a far more recently set up company. It has no history and therefore does not use rose tinted memories of the past. It thinks and markets itself for the present and the future. * Coca Cola drink and all its associated drink products are relatively cheap. However, even though it is the market leader and a quality product, it must maintain a retail price relatively close to its competitors.
Apple has proved that in the IT market a product that is innovative, is top quality and looks great can attract a much higher price than its competitors in the same market. * Coca Cola looks carefully at the market to see what it wants ??? researches it and then produces products. It now produces Green tea and bottled water because the market was showing that there is more of a demand for these in the market. Apple is renowned for not not doing this. When Steve Jobs was asked what market research he had done to see if an iPad would sell he famously said that he had done no research at all because people did not know what they wanted. Packaging is important to Coca Cola in that it is all part of the branding. However, Apple have taken packaging to new heights. It is part of the product and the design. It is part of the reason that consumers buy the product. * Coca Cola has marketed its brand and products in a way that consumers consider ‘sharing’ the product with others. Families share a bottle of Fanta or a bottle of Sprite. A group of people sit in a cafe and each of them have a coke each but share in the enjoyment of having the cokes together. Apple works on the individual. A person wants to purchase an Apple product for themselves.
The individual enjoys the ‘unboxing’ and the individual enjoys the setting up process. The product may help the consumer communicate better with others but it the individual who enjoys the actual product. * Coca Cola has an enormous advertising budget ??? working across all types of media ??? making sure that the brand is constantly being reminded to consumers about the companies many products. Apple does not advertise so heavily across all types of media. It does not have to. It has managed to get to a stage where its products are so good that consumers talk to eah other about them.
Word of mouth can even work for a global company to sell each products and keep its advertising costs down a bit. IS APPLE ABLE TO IMPROVE ITS MARKETING STRATEGY? Apple is an incredibly successful Company. Apple’s core competence is delivering exceptional experience through superb user interfaces. The company’s product strategy is based around this, with iTunes, the iPhone with it’s touch screen “gestures” that are re-used on the iPad, and the Apple Apps store all playing key roles. Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions.
The Apple brand is about lifestyle; imagination; innovation; dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people’s lives; people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers. So if you have products that are so good they sell themselves then do you need to do more? The answer is probably yes. Over the last 3 decades the Apple company has used too many different trademarks and logos. It is all a bit jumbled.
The company needs a logo like Coca Cola ??? something that is instantly recognisable so that these great products are always at the forefront when a consumer considers buying something in their market. Coca Cola advertises massively in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc. Apple, on the other hand, does not advertise that heavily. Maybe the company knows that it does not have to. It controls such a good portion of the market that it would be money poorly spent as those consumers wanting quality, design and fashionable goods are already considering buying an Apple product. But what about growth? What about maintaining your market share?
What about being worried about competitors catching up with design and quality? What about breaking into other consumer groups? There is still a huge number of the older generations who are still not using the Worldwide Web. Or they are using PCs in Libraries or on college courses etc. whilst they decide whether to buy one. What do these older consumers consider a priority? Quality. They will possibly accept the Apple prices if they know they are getting something they can rely on. But they need to be advertised to. Apple needs to keep telling all consumers just how great their products are in some big advertising campaigns.