Marketing Goals and Objectives
The main objective and goal of this marketing plan are to attract the BMW brand market through the company website and large showroom in Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. The company promises a guide to the best BMW automobile deals, genuine spare parts, and servicing of the cars at a discount (Blythe, 2006). Through rebranding and increasing the visibility of the AGMC, this market segment is projected to increase their preference for the BMW series. Since the target market is specific, the success variable for the market share expansion strategy will be measured through an increase in sales of the automobiles (Al-Jenabi, 2008).
Target Market and Positioning
Marketing Strategy and SWOT
The main strength of the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre is the presence of a well-established marketing network since it is the only company that specializes in the BMW series in the region. As a result, the AGMC is able to reduce the cost of advertisement since it depends on referrals from satisfied customers and free test drive to widen its catchment. However, most of the customers of the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre also buy other brands, other than BMW. The threat faced by the AGMC is stiff competition from dealers of other brands. The current opportunities for the automobile retailer include advancement in technology and information in reaching the BMW users market. As indicated in the SWOT analysis, the main impediment facing the AGMC is the challenge of continuous expansion in the backdrop of customer concerns on the efficiency of the services offered. The proposed marketing strategy to address this shortfall will be digital marketing targeting this market.
Positioning Statement
The Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre BMW products will be positioned as the first of their kind in the UAE automobile market. As the first player for this kind of specialized dealership market, it will be easy to project a steady market share gain within six months after the implementation of the marketing management (Cheverton, 2004). As a result, a permanent and positive image of the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will be glued in the minds of the clients (Cone, 2011).
Product and Brand Management
Objectives of Brand Management
Branding is defined by Dagnino and Rocco (2009) is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition” (Dagnino & Rocco, 2009, p. 45). The objective of the business will be to penetrate the automobile market in the UAE through the provision of affordable and quality BMW automobiles, service plans, and ownership benefits to clients. The business will accentuate on customer satisfaction and quality automobile services as a strategy for upholding its position as the preferred dealer of the BMW series (Farooq & Jan 2012).
Tactics for Managing the Brand
In order to diversify market operations, the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will create multiple products from the current specialized BMW products with different benefits, financing the purchase, and providing affordable service plans for each category of the automobiles sold. As a result, this created an environment of its own competition and blocked other competitors from encroaching into this expansive market (Ira, 2002). These sub-products and services will be differentiated by features, prices, and the difference in the level of customization as requested by clients (Farris, Bendle, Pfeifer, & Rebstein, 2010).
Pricing Management
Objectives of Pricing Management
In the presence of increased competition, the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will ensure that its automobile products are affordable to the target market. In this case, the appropriate pricing strategy will be ‘good, better, best’ pricing to ensure that the targeted customer segment has a variety of options in terms of cost of each car as determined by the level of customization (Harris & Dennis, 2007).
Tactics for Managing Prices
In the establishment of BMW’s product prices, essential factors should be considered and taken care of. These are the sensitivity of the company to its customers’ interest, the market prevalence, and the products to be sold (Jin, Suh, & Donavan, 2008). A vigorous research team should be instituted to overlook the possible pricing strategies that do not infringe on the economic status of the customers in offering affordable automobiles to the BMW lovers. Discounts will also be analyzed to increase the number of new customers (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Distribution Management
Objectives of Distribution Management
Offering the specialized BMW services in the right place and time creates the right place strategy for the business. In other words, clients are supposed to get the products at the most convenient place. Since the UAE market is dynamic, with relatively good connectivity, the objective of the distribution management at the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will be adopting the business to customer contact strategy in order to directly deal with its customers by creating flexible automobile service stations in different regions to serve the clients (Roberts, 2005).
Tactics for Managing Distribution
Direct interaction with the clients will be critical in knowing the customer needs, which leads to developing automobile products that suit their expectations as well as market needs. Therefore, the service locations will not be limited to Sharjah, Dubai, and the Northern Emirates. The Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will consider establishing a fourth branch in the southern region and several other service centers to improve on the current customer convenience concerns (Stokes, 2011).
Communication Management
Objectives of Communication Management
The purpose of a communication plan is to support the strategic objectives and provide action items for organizational communication at the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre. The other objective of the communication plan is to expound to the marketing team the approaches that should be adopted in implementing the strategic plan informed by the rationale of authenticating the cost-effectiveness element and ensure a good response from the targeted clients (Liu, Liao, & Peng, 2005).
Tactics for Communication Management
In line with the vision of the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre, the corresponding communication goal will be the sustainability and stability of the business through efficiency in service delivery at the dealership centers. The key theme will be a paradigm shift in service delivery through a service methodology for sustainable business management. Face to face communication will be used to pass the information to the staff on the proposed changed in the BMW dealership service charter in series of weekly meetings for the next six months when the marketing plan will be implemented. The marketing plan leader and his or her team will establish the use of formal communication methods such as a responsive, negotiable, and reflective approach in decoding and encoding feedback from targeted clients (Cone, 2011).
Implementation and Control
Implementation Plan
The marketing management plan will be implemented within 12 months since the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre operates in a dynamic environment. Since the entire automobile dealership is angled on quality and customized services to each client, the implementation of the marketing plan will also be customized to increase the visibility of the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre.
Cost and Measurement of Effectiveness
The Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will outsource the service of social media advertising through two popular sites, that is, Facebook and Twitter. According to Cone (2011), “it will cost a company $2,000-$4,000 per month to launch a twitter account and outsource the content creation and consumer interaction. Advertising on Facebook is even higher with online PR agencies charging an average of $2,500-$5,000 per month” (Cone, 2011, p. 45). This translates into $90, 000 during the 12 months of implementation.
Overall Control Measures
The marketing plan for the Arabian Gulf Mechanical Centre will be implemented against the backdrop of continuous progress report through the management team. The tracking system will be reviewed every three months, and adjustments made as necessary. In order to minimize the risks such as increased cost and changed customer preference, the plan will be evaluated at each implementation stage against the expectations.
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