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¶ … integrated marketing plan to be used by Toyota in the marketing and sale of its products worldwide. The marketing plan begins with a description of the company, its strategic plan and focus, a situational analysis then follows which comprises of a SWOT analysis, industry analysis, company analysis, customer analysis, product-market focus. These are then followed by the development of a strategic focus, marketing goals and objectives, target market analysis, company's position in the global car market, marketing strategy using the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion),marketing implication analysis, implementation plan, evaluation and control as well as a conclusion

The global car manufactures and retail industry experienced a general slump in the aftermath of the 2009 economic downturn. However, the years following the economic downturn have been recovery years as seen in the general rise in car sales and consumer demands for affordable cars. The consequence of this rise in demand has been an oversupply of car by various manufacturers. This competition has meant that various companies like Toyota have to formulate the best marketing strategies that would allow them to increase their sales amidst competition. Their marketing plan must therefore be inspired by a spirit of gaining a competitive advantage. In this paper, we present a marketing plan to be used in the marketing of Toyota's product worldwide.

3.0 Company Analysis

Toyota Company is a global car manufacturer that specializes in the manufacture, assembly as well as distribution of its products all over the world. Toyota has been ones of the top performers in the global car retail as a result of its highly efficient production and management styles. The company operates in an almost monopolistic environment. This is evident from the fact that it operates as a dominant player in the car exportation market. The company's differentiation strategy has an allowed it to enjoy a monopolistic presence in the developing world. Its marketing structure is however largely oligopolistic. This is due to the fact that there are several other key market players like GM and VW who are also its main competitors.

Strategic Plan and Focus

Toyota's existing corporate strategy is noted to be in line with its marketing plan objectives. The strategic focus of the company is evident in its mission statement, corporate goal as well as core competencies and resources that are used in the gaining of a competitive advantage.

4.1 Mission Statement

Toyota's mission statement clearly indicates that it seeks to create a prosperous society via its automotive manufacturing functions. The company therefore is aimed at an achieving a stable and yet long-term growth objective that is to be in synch with various factors such as the environment, local communities, global economy, internal environment as well as stakeholders. These are to be implemented through strategies that are in consideration of the social, psychological, ethical, and political influences that impact the global car market.

4.2 Corporate Goals

Toyota has committed itself to the offering of sustainable and environmentally friendly hybrid alternatives for each and every car model that they sale on the global market. This strategy is aimed at allowing the company to make a sale of 1 million hybrid cars within a year. The company has set to achieve this goal by the end of the year 2012.

The company has also improved its 2011 Environmental Action Plan with a commitment to six main areas; the Environmental Management, the Quality of Air, changes in Energy and Climate, various aspects of Recycling and Improved Resource uses, Improved Resource usage as well as Societal Cooperation. The Fifth Toyota Environmental Action Plan (FY2011-FY2015) is aimed at creating a sustainable and environmental friendly company by FY2015 (Toyota,2011). Toyota is committed to the reduction of its carbon footprint by observing certain parameters of its fuel economy values

.4.3 Core Competencies and resources for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

The company is working hard towards the achievement of profitability and sustainability by means of hard work and innovative use of its workforce, technologies and other resources. The company also has a well developed and equally well equipped team that helps it in its R&D. It also has a wide distribution network that helps it in its logistical functions.

4.0 Situation Analysis

Toyota has a huge capacity that allows it to stay at the very top of its productivity efficiency as well as a quality ranking is attributed to its internal management. This involves a very productive process that is managed by its top management team that is known for its competency. Toyota's production team has an obsession .with the attainment of high efficiency. A SWOT analysis is important in evaluating the company's strength, weaknesses, and the available opportunities.

5.1 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is evaluating the internal and external factors that affect the operation of a company. The strengths and weaknesses forms the internal factors while the opportunities and strengths forms the external factors. A SWOT analysis can be used as tool for denoting a competitive advantage since it indicates the strengths of a given company (Schendel, 1994, p.1).

Competitive advantage in this case refers to the organizational ability to effectively perform its operations in one way or another that its competitors find very difficult to imitate at the moment or in the future as noted by Kotler (1997,p.53). Competitive advantage is noted by Porter to be a strategic goal (Read & Difillipi, 1990,p.90;Kotler,2000).

SWOT Analysis of Toyota Company (The Internal Factors)

Internal Factors

Strengths

Weaknesses

Management

Has competent and yet experienced management team

Large size of the management team effectively reduces the chances of the company moving fast into the targeted market. This is due to the slow rate in decision making

Offering

The company has a wide range of Hybrid cars that are customer friendly

The process of proofing the market that is right for them is proving to be too expensive

Marketing

The company has a wide distribution network

The establishment and running of the distribution network is expensive

Personnel

Has a highly skilled workforce who is reliable.

A loss of competent employee would negatively affect its efficiency.

Finance

Has a lot of revenues from the sales made in the global market

The company is faced with a limitation of resources and workforce

R&D

An investment in R&D allows the company to produce product that are cutting-edge and suitable for the current and future markets

SWOT Analysis of Toyota Company (The External Factors)

External Factors

Opportunities

Threats

Consumer

The high demand of medium sized cars would create an opportunity for growth

The consumers may shun buying the low priced cars fearing that they may be of lower quality

Competitive

The differentiated products and prices allows the company to compete favorable with its rivals

Its competitors are introducing more affordable and technologically sound alternatives.

Technological

A heavy investment in R&D allows the company to introduce more technologically sound cars.

Economic

The growth in the middle income market segment in the BRIC countries presents an opportunity for the company to market its products in the developing economies.

The consumers may opt to buy the competing products due to the availability of disposable income.

Legal/Regulatory

Regulatory measures that are aimed at ensuring fairness in the competitive global market and to help in avoiding unfair competition by the competing products

Heavy taxation and fines due to environmental and tax laws.

5.2 Industry Analysis

An analysis of the global car manufacturing industry reveals that there has been growth over the years. The industry is also marred with stiff competition. Toyota has managed to create and maintain sustainable competitive advantage by focusing on its strengths and opportunities. It has a widely differentiated line of products that targets various market segments and thus giving it's a global presence. The company has in the past concentrated in the Japanese and American market segments. There is a need for it to adopt an expansion strategy aimed at penetrating Europe and the BRIC countries. In regard to sustainability issues, the company is among the best in the development and implementation of sustainable technology.

5.2 Customer Analysis

The customers of Toyota are from a diverse background and income levels. The company has different products that are tailored for different market segments. This means that the segmentation strategy employed by Toyota is very complex. The company has managed to cater for all its client needs by the development of a wide range of differentiated products. It manufactures small sports cars to large family cars. It also manufactures trucks and vans. The low income earners have products to match their income as well as the big spenders.

6.0 Product-market focus

In this particular section, we present a 3-year development projection for the company. We describe the processes of developing a strategic focus, the formulation of marketing goals and objectives as well as the target market.

6.1 Developing a Strategic Focus

The company ahs already embraced a strategy of product differentiation in its quest for market penetration. The company is also determined to come up with a suitable pricing strategy that would allow it to gain a competitive advantage. Even though the cost of producing a single unit is noted to be large, the concept of mass production is helping the company in the reduction of the overall cost. This would allow the company to sell its products a much lower price than its competitors while still remaining competitive. This strategy should be used by the company iy the penetration of the emerging economies.

6.1 Marketing Goals and Objectives

The fact that Toyota is a large company gives it a competitive advantage in teams of the ability to meet the industry growth. The number of people who need cars is also increasing steadily. The perceived relevance of owning a car as a result of increased needs of travelling in the largely corporate world is also increasing. The company's great size coupled with its resources and competencies will allow it to successfully meet the demands of this rapidly growing market segment (Dobni,2002).

The company has also insisted in the production of quality product lines. It does this by making it a rule of thumb not to compromise its quality by giving in to the pressure from competitors. It also does not raise prices. This strategy allows it to enjoy a high level of customer loyalty (Armstrong & Kotler, 2012).Customer loyalty is an important element in the future of every company.

Positioning strategy

The company positions itself in the global market as a producer of cars that are of high quality, inexpensive and readily available. The company's positioning and segmentation strategy have been significant factors in ensuring that it commands a huge share of the global automotive retail. Brand positioning in essence is the sum of all activities that are used in positioning a given brand in the minds of the consumers. Positioning is therefore not about the creation of a different or new thing but is about the manipulation of the mindset (Ries & Trout,2001,p.5).Kotler and Keller (2006,p.10) defined brand positioning as the act of designing a company offering as well as image in order to occupy a very distinct place in the target markets' mind. Toyota must therefore come up with more innovative ways of positioning its products in the mind of the ever changing client base.