Branding Strategy and Marketing Communication Plan

Understanding the characteristics of the target market is a crucial step in developing the branding and marketing plan. This basically involves segmenting consumers. Consumers can be segmented based on their demographic, geographic, behavioral, and psychographic characteristics (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2009). For the automobile industry, consumers can be segmented as follows.

Demographic characteristics

Product, place, promotion, and price strategies comprise the marketing mix (Mullins & Walker, 2013). The product element of the marketing mix defines the characteristics of the product or service to be offered. As the target market reflects broad consumer preferences, the products must also have a similar scope. The products range from sedans and station wagons to sports utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, trucks, as well as luxury vehicles. The vehicles offer a wide range of characteristics, functionalities and capabilities, including a variety of colors and designs, superior engine performance, fuel efficiency, off-road capabilities, speed, safety and reliability, an unmatched driving experience, and attractive warranty conditions. The other element of the marketing mix is price. As the target market is broad, it is prudent to use various pricing strategies. For instance, luxury consumers comprise one of the target segments. For this segment, premium pricing would be appropriate. For non-luxury consumers, for example consumers who just need a car for mobility, strategies such as market-oriented and value-based pricing can be used.

After determining what product is to be offered to the target market and at what price, the next step is to define where customers can get the product (Mullins & Walker, 2013). In the automobile industry, dealerships are the most common way of distributing products to consumers. Working with established automotive dealers can be useful in this case. Showrooms can also be used. In addition to dealerships and showrooms, online distribution can be used. With the increased popularity of online commerce, the automotive industry has not been left behind. Today, cars can be purchased online and delivered to the customer's location. This channel will be exploited to increase distribution. The final element of the marketing mix is promotion, which involves reaching out to the target market. Promotion should emphasize the attributes and superiority of the products. Further discussion of promotion techniques is provided in the next section.

Given the broadness of the target market, utilizing various promotion and marketing communications techniques will be important. First, since the products will be mainly distributed via dealerships, personal selling can be utilized. In personal selling, sales personnel directly promote the products to prospective customers. Conventional marketing channels can also be used. These include television, radio, the print media, and outdoor techniques such as billboards. These channels provide valuable conduits for reaching the mass market (Kashani & Jeannet, 2005). Marketing in today's world cannot be complete without online media. In this regard, social media, websites, and search engines can be used. Online marketing is cheaper and offers two-way communication between the seller and the buyer. Finally, public relations can be used to promote the products. With themes such as environmental sustainability and public safety, public relations initiatives can be used to create a positive brand image.

In a rigorously competitive space such as the automobile industry, the importance of creating a powerful brand image cannot be overemphasized. Achieving this requires a proper understanding of the target audience as well as competition (Mullins & Walker, 2013). A positive brand image can be created by emphasizing a consistent message across all communication channels. From television and print advertising to social media and public relations initiatives, all brand messages will emphasize why the products are better than others in the market and how they solve customers' needs. It is imperative to measure the extent to which brand building efforts are effective. This can be achieved by measuring customer loyalty and customer retention. The ultimate aim of creating a brand image is to develop positive perceptions about the brand or the product, which in turn lead to customer retention and customer loyalty. Increased customer retention and customer loyalty can be a valuable indicator of successful brand imaging.

With companies often wasting resources on advertising, it is vital to have an effective advertising strategy. An advertising strategy outlines the plan for reaching out to and persuading potential customers (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2009). In this case, the objectives of advertising are to raise product and brand awareness, increase sales and market share, and to enhance customer loyalty and customer retention. Achieving these objectives requires a combination of both offline and online as well as conventional and modern techniques. It requires a wide-ranging advertising campaign executed via television, radio, the print media, the internet, and outdoor channels such as billboards. The choice of a broad variety of advertising techniques is informed by the nature of the target audience, which entails diverse consumer segments.

References

Kashani, K., & Jeannet, J. (2005). Beyond traditional marketing. Chichester, West Sussex, England: Wiley.

Lamb, C., Hair, J., & McDaniel, C. (2009). Essentials of marketing. 6th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Mullins, J., & Walker, O. (2013). Marketing Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.