Introduction
Marketing entails the process and techniques that an entity employs in order to capture and retain customers. Monopolies only need to pass information of their existence but an entity in an openly competitive market has to inform the customer as well as be convincing that it offers more than others can.
This paper seeks to discuss marketing with respect to cars and the changed aspects of marketing the product over time. The paper will talk about the marketing environment of cars and how it has changed over time (the past 50 years), the mass market and how it ended and also the designs and advertisements in the car industry and how it has changed since 1960.
Cars and Its Marketing In 1960
Cars were invented in the nineteenth century and by the mid twentieth century investors had been attracted to the car manufacturing business. 1960 had already seen automobile firms in America with names like “the big three” and American market dominating the market. The 1960 period also witnessed the emergence of car importers into the American market (Cars 1).
There therefore existed competition for buyers among the automobile companies by the time. According to Peck and Christopher, there exists a wide difference between the marketing environment that was experienced fifty years ago and the current environment.
They explained that though marketing concept was introduced in the nineteen sixties, the concept was crude and only developed over time. Large amount of sales could be achieved in a relatively competitive environment even with crude marketing skills. There are a variety of factors that have changed the marketing environment over the 50 years period of time (Peck and Christopher 2).
One of the changes that have taken place is the enlightenment of the consumers. Consumers have developed to a different level of complexity, knowledge and experience. The car industry was just developing in the 1960s and consumers had no taste in the variety of cars offered by that time.
Fewer people had experienced cars and knowledge about the quality and features of the available cars were limited. Consumers would therefore make purchases on the basis of the name cars rather than on the cost effectiveness of the car among other factors. This could see people just making purchases and every car company ending up with a satisfactory amount of sales. The environment is however different in the current time. People have used a variety of cars and preferences have been made.
Experience and knowledge about cars also plays a major role leading to loss of indifference that gave advantage to the car sellers. The consumers now enter a market with an opinion and the seller has to be convincing that his or her vehicle will be more satisfying to the consumer. Another changed factor in the marketing environment is the advancement in technology and communication that has put the car manufacturers at almost equal level in their products.
Unlike fifty years ago when different car brands were distinct according to manufactures, incorporations have been made in an attempt to beat competition. Manufacturing companies have seemingly incorporated other manufacturers’ original features like shapes.
Unlike earlier when a brand could beat others in the market because of its appealing outlook, every existing brand almost have all outward designs that the competitors stock. This has brought a sense of equality among the manufacturers hence intensified competition. The change in market control from the seller to the buyer is another market difference between the two periods.
In the sixties, cars were still being introduced into the market, manufacturers were few and the demand was relatively high. The consumers had no much freedom of choice. There were few options in terms of the car brands as well as the sellers. The system has however changed with a variety of manufacturers and brands. The availability of wide options has given the consumer the power to choose and the sellers only have the option of convincing the buyer into his or her particular car type.
With increased variety of products in the car industry, a consumer can now have his or her needs fulfilled in a variety of car brands. There is therefore induced preference in the lowly priced among the satisfying brands. The competition in prices is also a changed factor in the market environment (Martin and Peck 3, 4).
The End of Mass Market
Mass market is the totally inclusive market where everyone is considered a potential buyer. The system is carried out in an all inclusive advertisement to everyone within given vicinity. It ended in the late twentieth century with the preference of a more personalized approach to marketing. Kotler argued that the concept of mass marketing was based on averaging on the potential customers. The concept was ineffective as averaging does not always give the correct dimension of the circumstances on the ground.
He further explains that companies have shifted from the mass market concept into small or segmented markets. The shift from mass market to the segmented marketing strategy signified the collapse of the mass market (Kotler 177). Zabin and Brebach also illustrated the emergence of “precision” marketing that eliminated mass marketing (Zabin and Brebach 21).
Changes in Product Design and Advertisement
The design of cars has changed over the past fifty years. During the nineteen sixties, the car designs were based on their power, locomotors speeds as well as the capacity of the engines. The evolution has however changed the designer’s ideas to nowadays design in terms of factors like how the car will appeal to the eye, comfort when driving and comfort in the car (Diseno 1).
There has not however been much development in advertising in the car industry, just like the case in general advertising. Advertising had by then developed to the current level of brand development. The current advertising has the advantage of an expanded scope with some modes of mass communication that was not available during the 1960s (Tolani 1).
The car market has also developed over the past fifty years in terms of its consumers and the car brands. According to the US government statistics, the ratio of number of people to number of cars was 3:1 in the year 1960. This can be estimated to averagely a car per family. It can therefore be concluded that averagely, the primary consumers could be any economically averagely rated citizen.
There has been an increase since then with statistics in 2008 averaging a car for two people. This is an indication that the ownership of cars has reached almost every household on average analysis (Wilson 1). The number of car brands also increased from less than ten brands in America in 1960 to the currently more than twenty brands that were recorded by a research in 2011. The car types have equally increased over the years (Consumers 1).
Conclusion
The marketing environment for cars has changed greatly over the past fifty years following the changes in technology. Many manufacturers have come up with a variety of brands. The competition among the manufacturers has shifted more power to the consumer. The competitive environment has also led to innovations in market strategies that have improved consumer satisfaction. The advancement of marketing strategy in general also led to the end of mass market.
Works Cited
Cars. An Account of 1960s Cars’ Development. Any Thing About Cars, 2011. Web.
Consumers. New Cars. Consumer reports Org, 2011. Web
Diseno, Art. Car Design History – a brief overview. Diseno Art, 2011. Web.
Kotler, Philip. Marketing insights from A to Z. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2003. Print.
Martin, Christopher and Peck, Hellen. Marketing logistics. Butterworth: Heinemann, 2003. Print.
Tolani, Roshan. The origin and evolution of advertising. Employment Crossing, 2003. Web.
Wilson, Miller. Car Ownership Statistics. Love To Know Corp, 2011. Web.
Zabin, Jeff and Brebach, Gresh. Precision marketing. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. Print.