Marketing Theory Of Products And Brands

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Theory Of Products And Brands. Answer: Introduction The purpose of this task is to provide a brief overview about the marketing techniques which the organization Volvo shall use in order to promote their product in the target market. Volvo is a well renowned company which is based in trading automobile vehicles in the market. Trucks, buses, marine, construction equipment, industrial engines etc.; all types of machines are supplied by the company worldwide. It was founded in year 1927 by Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson. Volvo has high revenue of 301.914 billion kr which shows that the company is running their business in large scale. Further the company wants to introduce their product Volvo XC 90, 2017 model in the market (Volvo 2018). So, the below mentioned task discusses about the marketing strategy and the target market which the company shall select to adequately position their product in the target market. Market Segmentation and target market product Segmentation Segmentation refers to the process of creating segments in the market on the basis of many factors which create differentiation in choice of people for a particular product. It is an activity which is referred as general brainstorming activity. Under this activity on the basis of geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavior factor, the customers are segregated and then targeted in the market. Further the basic motto of the company to segment their customers so as to create stronger brand name, greater market share and cross selling solutions in the business process of the company (Volvo 2018). Segmentation of the Volvo XC 90, 2017 model is discussed below: Demographics: Under this aspect the company identified the customers on the basis of age, gender, ethnicity, culture, education etc. factors. By looking at the sagacity lifestyle model, the company targeted the pre-family and family. This helped the company to provide services to the company who actually wised for it. Psychographic: Under this segmentation the company evaluated the lifestyle of the customers. This helped them to place their product correctly in the market by identifying the actual customers of the company. The company preferred to sell the products to the people who have high standards of living and likes buying luxury cars (Volvo Car Group 2018). Behavioral: Under behavioral segmentation, the company analyzed the mindset of customers while purchasing the products of their company. On the basis of attitude, Volvo targeted the customers who prefer purchasing cars to fulfill their esteem need and create position in the society. So, basically depending upon the attitude of people the company segmented them of the basis of their needs to purchase the car (von Bismarck, and Zheng 2016). Geographic: Lastly, geographic segmentation divides the market on the basis of geographical division and environmental specification. Most products of the company are sold in UK, Western Europe and Germany. So, the company shall initially launch their product in one of these markets so that the product does not face failure in its starting days. Target Market The target market selection is the following step of the segmentation process. The company shall target the customers who are fit for the company to create the brand value; as ultimately the reviews of customers only will create the goodwill of the product in the market. Further Volvo shall target the market which is most profitable for them and provide long-term value addition in the product. Thus, in this way target market selection will help he company to increase the sales and make repetitive sales in the target market (Liu, et. al., 2017). Value Proposition Value proposition refers to the process of innovating the product in such a way that its value is increased in the eyes of prospective customers present in the market. Further in context to launching the new model of Volvo XC 90, the company added that value in the product by reducing the barriers which people used to face in the old models (Evans 2013). Further the value addition details in the product are discussed below: The XC 90 model SUV truly fits the reputation of the company and is mainly designed for the households who value safety in the vehicles. The company clearly target the customers who believe that safe riding is their utmost priority. Thus the product of the company is designed in such a way that it increases the safety level of the customers. The NHTSA report stated that the ratio of rollovers in SUV is comparatively two to three times higher as compared to other passenger vehicles. This results in injuring around 27.6 per cent of people than expected (Biswas, Mukherjee, and Roy 2014). Thus in accordance to which the company implemented a Roll Stability Control System for the new models produced for SUV XC 90 cars. This process helped the reducing the roll over by designing the product in such a way and using electronic gyroscopes along with computerized breaking/suspension control. Also the vehicle was further tested by professional working in the automobile industry who said that they tried hard to roll over this vehicle but it didnt happen (Saridakis, and Baltas 2015). Further in order to improve the quality services provided by the company, the engineers looked at the fatalities which can occur with the car. After testing the car on road, the engineers designed their vehicle to match with crumple zone. And they also added details in the product while considering low profile of the passengers as well. Further comfortability of the customers is also preferred on highest priority by the company. So, the SUV is designed with extra seating capacity to carry more people in the vehicle. Also Volvo realized that while travelling some passengers feel uncomfortable while sitting in the car. So, with respect to that the company introduced third side row airbags, crumple zone and seat specially designed by children. Further ultra-luxury standards are being followed by the company which gives pleasant experience to the customers while riding and adequate safety measure as well. Thus, in this way this value addition in the product will help the company to target the customer and to the customers to gain better experiences as well (Oswald, and Oswald 2015). Product Strategy The product of the company has created an identified position in the market. This position is created by adding value in the product according to the preference of customers present in the market. So, the product strategy of the company Volvo explains the management introducing new and efficient techniques in the product so that product differentiation is created in the market and it is highly demanded by the customers as well (Lindgren, and kesson 2017). Further the product strategy of the company states that they aim on creating diversification in the product. Thus they have manufactured all type of product starting from trucks to passenger cars as well. And the company is now majorly famous for producing product which are safe and have classic style as well. The most popular segment of the company is its Sedan class in SUV segment. The aim of the company is to manufacture big boxes on wheel with special features as well (Urde 2016). Promotion Strategy The company has promoted itself along with human-centric brand strategy stating Designed around you which tells about future plan and direction which the company is aiming to develop it brand. The most important part of the process of promotion in Volvo Company is the establishment of classic design along with world class safety. As it is know that the company is famous for providing safety to the customers, so the management uses this feature as there branding and promotion strategy (Olleros 2017). Apart from that the company has also introduced mobile application in three categories that are product app, owner apps and campaign apps. These there app are differently used by people according to their requirement. Also Volvo uses the social media tools and techniques to promote their product online as well. Both online and offline measure are adequately used by the company, online through social media apps and offline by the way of magazines, newspapers etc. The company promotional st rategy is used as Volvo way to market feature. This strategy has its focus on areas like digital leadership, dealership, services and marketing tools (Hjalmarsson, Juell-Skielse, and Johannesson 2017). Place Strategy Volvo is a leader in the automobile industry, and has many segments and product lines in which they operate their business activities. In shall also be noted that the products of the company are placed in almost every part of the country. The company has high international market share as well which is up to 20% of the total market value. Further the company has its office in all big cities and is managed by branch manager. The activities of the company are initiated on large scale so with respect to that all the activities are segregated accordingly. Every branch has their own manager and management team to initiate sales and manage business activities as well (Urde, and Koch 2014). Pricing Strategy The pricing strategy of the new and efficient product served by Volvo is price sensitive along with product efficient. The company is engaged in providing premium products to the customers in the market. Volvo uses optimal pricing strategy to promote their product in the market, they differentiates the market by segmenting the customers according to their taste, preference and lifestyle. Thus, the company produces many brands and categories of products according to the demand present in the target market. Further the company is famous for providing premium quality high ended SUV cars between the price range of $25,450 and $40,800 (Volvo 2018). Effectiveness of Marketing Mix in positioning strategy of Company The process of marketing mix is used in an organization so as to gain information about the product and the marketing strategies which the organization shall use in order to promote the product in the target market. Talking about the effectiveness of the marketing mix techniques used by the company Volvo, it shall be noted that this process helped the company to promote their product in the adequate market. As XC 90 is premium product, thus the marketing techniques helped the company position the product on the high quality premium product market only. Further the marketing mix also helped Volvo to create competitiveness in the target market and attract more and more customers (Fang, and Chimenson 2017). Conclusion Thus in the limelight of above mentioned events the facts that shall be noted are that the new model of Volvo XC 90 SUV is highly efficient and competent and is expected to gain the market share as well. In the above mentioned task, segmentation process helped the company to analyse the target market which shall be targeted by the company to initiate sale of the product in the market. 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