The Components Of The Marketing Process Using An Example Of An EV Company

Introduction:

In this assessment I will explain the components of the marketing process using an example of an EV company, tying in a detailed and referenced PESTEL analysis on the EV market.

Following on from this I will then explain the marking mix 7Ps and show how the development of the extended marketing mix could contribute to the effective marketing planning for the new concept.

Moving on to section 2, where I will outline the differences between segmentation of the B2B and the B2C markets referencing electric vehicles and explaining the term ‘positioning’ regarding an electric vehicle in the consumer market.

Section 1 – Marketing Environment and Planning Process

A) Explain the components of the marketing planning process in terms of EV marketing, with particular reference to the role/importance of adopting a marketing orientation and its application to the EV business.

All over the world we are seeing a rapid increase in sales within the electric vehicle market with it almost becoming a mainstream product, from America to the United Kingdom companies are competing to build the most economically efficient vehicle, most businesses will create a market plan, this is an assessment of the potential risks, opportunities and to identify the market trends for the expected audience.

Consumers play an enormous role in the planning stages of a product the company will follow the needs and wants of the potential customer, EV sales grew to more than two million units globally in 2018, this equates to a 63% increase ( House of Commons, Electric Vehicles: driving the transition fourteenth report of session 2017-19).

The UK government has set ambitions to ensure that almost every car and van in the UK us a zero emission vehicle by 2050 according to the recent publication, they plan on executing this by identifying the key opportunities and barriers for the development of the EV market (P13)

• To access the adequacy of existing policy to address these barriers and maximise opportunities and:
• To investigate the particular challenges of developing new charging infrastructure.

There are two marketing orientations, but we are going to focus on the marketing section, companies especially in the market of electric vehicles must follow the needs of potential consumers and to design a new product accordingly.

B) Carry out an environmental audit in the form of a PESTEL analysis for EV market ensuring that you detail specific market/organisational related facts that are fully referenced where possible. Additionally, you should highlight relevant micro-environmental aspects such as dominant competitors within the industry and recent competitor activity.

Political factors:

• Expressed by the act of governments on an industry or activity by applying such as laws, tax, policy, trade restrictions, environmental laws and tariffs ( International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS), ISSN: 2394-3601, Volume 5, Issue – 2, February 2018, P. 3)
• Major competitors range from Tesla in the United States of America to Ford Motor Company here in the United Kingdom, Deloitee explains their latest outlook showing EV sales over doubling in the last couple of years and predicting a large increase over the next few years ( IEA, HIS, Deloitte analysis, P. 6, New market, New entrants, New challenges, Battery Electric Vehicles )

Economic factors:

• local governments showing an increased interest in global economy by gradually increasing the relevant market, this also in turns increase labour costs, out of ten countries included in a survey by Deloitte Global Automotives customers concerns for cost/price premium is one of the highest in the United Kingdom compared with other relevant countries, with Germany taking the top spot (pg8)

Social factors:

• millennials play a big part in today’s economic market with more and more opting for an economically efficient vehicle, maybe this is due to pollution becoming more evident in todays society, the news and journalists covering more of the world and showing the damaging issues.
• Majority of consumers needing vehicles for longer distances and show that an EV vehicle is the most popular way to go, down to the lesser of the harsher choices, choosing one that is helping todays world become more green, also being able to recharge vehicles at home makes it and interesting player globally.

I for one as a millennial believe it is now our job to help save the earth as much as we can, this can be the first step for many, it also seems to be more of a social statement amongst classes.

Technological factors:

• the range for the battery can be a small concern
• Not enough charging stations
• EV’s are more friendly to the environment

Environmental factors:

According to energy usage there are four main reasons why environmentally changing to an electric vehicle:

• High efficiency compared to gas powered cars.
• EV’s require a lot less maintenance
• Can also reduce consumers depended of fossil fuels

(www.energysage.com/electric-vehicles/advantages-of-evs/evs-environmental-impact)

Legal factors:

• Governments must follow implemented laws and regulations regarding CO2 emissions
• According to Ofgem the increasing usage and purchases of electric vehicles could potentially have serious implications for the energy system, (Ofgem’s future insights, implication of the transition to electric vehicles, p, 1.)

C) Outline the extended marketing mix 7Ps and explain how the development of the extended marketing mix could contribute to effective marketing planning for the new concept.

The basic 4Ps marketing mix was based on an early idea by Cullinton (Borden, 1984) by adding physical evidence, processes and people extending it to the 7Ps, “the marketing mix, the set of controllable tactical marketing tools – product, price, place, promotion – that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market” ( Kotler and Armstrong 2010 )

Section 2

A) Outline the distinctions between segmentation of the B2B and B2C markets with reference to electric vehicles.

A B2B (Business to business) is the marketing of products to business and other companies, so this could be down to labouring costs, materials between different organisations, regards to the building process of electric vehicles, so for example a wholesaler selling bulk products to For Motors for a reduces rate means costs will be kept as low as possible.

A B2C (Business to Customer) market tackles the best tactics to use in terms of promoting certain products among the vast amount of potential consumers, so this could be Ford promoting their new energy vehicles on a social media site, pictures, clips of the vehicle being used, the description of all the parts used and why they should buy the product, marketing the new Mustang Mach-E, how do they want it to look, the costs of production and finally being able to draw new and past customers in.

B) Discuss targeting for EITHER the B2B or B2C market and who you would primarily target with an EV promotion in terms of characteristic including demographics, behavioural, benefits sought and lifestyle for the B2C and other factors related to B2B including the size of the organisation, benefits sought etc.

Primarily the B2B market would target differentiating micro factors, the suppliers, resellers and the competition.

Some major variables that could influence the B2B market could be the interest and exchange rates, inflation and government legislation, all business and SME’s face multiply challenges shown by the current economic climate in the UK as economic factors do have a direct impact on consumers.

Characteristics including the macro factors, demographics this term refers to the study of human populations ( Kotler and Armstrong, 2016) the EV promotion would be based on the different demographic variables, age, gender, family size, income, occupation, education, religion, race, nationality and social class.

In the UK the biggest consumer group of the electric vehicles are the younger generation (millennials) according to the BBC only one in four people would consider buying a EV in the next for years, this study was based on Motorists Test driving an electric vw e-golf hatchback and a standard internal combustion engine vw golf hatch back GT edition.

Consumers and their behavioural needs or segmentation, what does the consumer want or needs from the company, surveys and questionnaires are what start any product before it goes into production, how will the customer benefit, what has been shown time and time again is people want what is deemed virtually impossible a product that is cheap but has the best of products used, to be able to do this is to buy material in bulk from countries like China and to get it shipped to the UK, the positive would be the costs saved, the negatives would be he quality of the materials.

Products can be made cheaply but they wouldn’t be sustainable, especially if the product is an electric car, health and safety protocols would need to be followed strictly.

C) Explain what is meant by the term ‘positioning’ and suggest how an electric vehicle would be positioned in the consumer OR business market.

The position of any organisation shows how their brand is unique, why a potential consumer should buy from them, using Brian McCarthy’s marketing, positioning, differentiation and value proposition shows the steps of successful positioning in the consumer and business market.

• Strategic Goals –

• to place a product in the relevant market successfully, for example, using Ford Motors new electric vehicle that is about to be released in a few months’ time. Ford is using a range of marketing tools to place this vehicle in the consumer fore front, advertisements, social media, google, Ford website.

By using these tools will mean the electric vehicle will reach a wider audience especially in different target audiences.

• Segmentation and Targeting

• using segmentation is a useful tool to have, to be able to extract the relevant information needed to find the target audience that will benefit from the marketing used in the new release of the Ford motor, making it more tailored to fit individual groups, for example Electric Vehicles tend to attract the eco friendly people, younger generations and people that need to use there vehicles for a longer distance.

To be able to find the relevant target market most businesses uses, demographics and lifestyle amongst other fields to determine who to attract.

• Targeting

• once Ford has successfully segmented the relevant audience it is then pushed to form a targeting plan this consists of separating individuals and tailoring singular campaigns, this will depend on different marketing groups.

• Positioning and Differentiation

• Ford Motors can actually position themselves in multiple areas of the marketplace, the first thing you would think about when you hear Ford is good motors not Electric vehicles this has been a recent development but one that has increased rapidly over the previous years, So they can be positioned in the middle of eco-friendly, traditional and Safety. By using a simple positioning tool below, we can see where strategically Ford motors would be places.
• Eco – Friendly
• Safety Performance
• Traditional

I actually struggled to place this due to Ford following a few different measures, Eco friendly in terms of their up and coming take over on the economic market for Electric vehicles, following harsh safety measures, traditional systems and a great performance survey on the new electric vehicle. Hence why I placed it very close to the middle of all four.

• Differentiation

• making a product unique in a booming market like the Electric vehicle market, Differentiation is very similar to Targeting but with this section we whittle down the different features of an individual product to make it viable, in this case Ford created a new electric vehicle stated above called the Mustang Mach-E what makes this different than most EVs that are in the market today would be the higher range of battery life compared to similar products, also the performance according to the official Ford website, this new EV goes from 0-60MPH in less than five seconds, (https://www.ford.co.uk/cars/mustang-mach-e).

• Value Proposition

• showing exactly why potential consumers should buy your product, by simply showing the different benefits you can offer, Ford claims that they offer a wide range of colours, a better performance, longer lasting battery, sleeker designs and increased safety.

• Product and Service

• The product would be the new Mustang Mach-E from Ford Motors in the United Kingdom, this is the physical side of the two point marketing set this is important and needs to be targeted to the correct audience, the 4ps earlier on that was explained can help cover this.

• Service

• this is the invisible side, you can’t touch or feel a service but you can create a strong service towards the intended target market, this will help create a good relationship with consumers this is also covered by the 7Ps.

• Channel

• Finding the best place to market the intended product, an Electric vehicle would be placed in the Economic Friendly market, also the different marketing channels Ford will need to go down to successful place the new product.

• Price

• to determine a price of product a lot of different calculations have to be made, cost of labour, materials, staff, competitor prices, etc. it is important to create a price that is good for consumers and against competitors.

• Promotion

• the important factor to remember is without promotion there is no product, promotion is there to help boost the interest In the relevant product, Ford places a lot of different advertisements over the internet as well as the televisions as well as pairing up with segmentation, promoting a product is vital to the sales as well.

• Brand and Customer

• these can be placed together unofficially, the consumers are what make the brand a vital player in the Eco Friendly market, if the company do not advertise correctly then the Brand does not get shown to a wider audience, the sales do not increase. It is enormously important to create a good marketing strategy that works with the rapidly increased market of EV’s, Ford Motors are a serious competitor in this field so using a unique plan that brings the brand to the customer.

Section 3 -Marketing Mix Analysis

Using the table below provide ‘creative’ details of the extended (7Ps) marketing mix for a chosen target market from your discussion in Section 2b above, whilst explicitly taking into account the environmental factors identified in Section 1 in order to justify your approach.

Electric/Hybrid Cars

Product

Explain how products are developed to sustain competitive advantage – consider the market, trends and competition here. Products are developed for the relevant market based on surveys and past market patterns, it is always the goal of the company to beat competitors, so it is important to gather data from potential consumers on what they want or need.

Place

Explain how distribution is arranged to maximise customer numbers and revenue, and the expected catchment area for the organisation. Once surveys are done, the company will be able to tell what individual markets they will follow for maximum exposure.

Price

Explain how prices are set to reflect an organisation’s objectives and market conditions It is important to not over charge for the product your producing, but to charge nicely compared to competitors, the company still needs to make money and to do this they will need to create strategic plans that follow there objectives in the relevant market.

Promotion

Illustrate how promotional activity is integrated to achieve marketing objectives – the communications mix including social media. Using sales promotions and direct marketing to achieve there goals, advertising their message to consumers using social media, social media has become one of the best forms of communication with consumers, using deals to entise customers in to purchase the product this can also be used in B2B markets for trade deals.

Analyse the additional elements of the extended marketing mix:

People

How important are the staff to the brand purpose and brand image (even if they are not all customer facing?) Staff and consumers can be classed as one of the most important parts of the marketing mix, without the staff being trained to a high standard, they cannot do their jobs in the correct manner, employees bring the consumers in.

Physical Evidence

What significance will the visible elements of the brand take to ensure positioning and consistency? People like visual components, they like to see what is on offer, the brand and uniqueness can acquire new consumers to the company as well as positioning it so the correct target audience can see exactly what they are buying, showing exactly why they should purchase it, relevant information and why it is better than the competitors.

Process

Think of the importance of customer convenience in this sense in booking, etc Using different processes for the best outcome is vital to any business, under going research and creating surveys to build the best EV for the market is crucial, focusing on what the customer wants and producing a product that follows the focus of the consumer, customers invest in the whole process.

Reference list

1. House of Commons, Electric Vehicles: driving the transition fourteenth report of session 2017-19.
2. International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS), ISSN: 2394-3601, Volume 5, Issue – 2, February 2018, P. 3
3. IEA, HIS, Deloitte analysis, P. 6, New market, New entrants, New challenges, Battery Electric Vehicles
4. www.energysage.com/electric-vehicles/advantages-of-evs/evs-environmental-impact
5. Ofgem’s future insights, implication of the transition to electric vehicles, p, 1
6. Kotler and Armstrong 2010
7. 1998 in Groucutt, 2005, P.168
8. Solomon et al, 2009
9. Zeithaml et al, 2008
10. Kotler and Armstrong, 2016
11. https://www.ford.co.uk/cars/mustang-mach-e