Unit 2 Marketing Essentials Assignments – EE Limited

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 2 Marketing Essentials
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Marketing is one of the major functional activities for organizations to achieve the objectives and goals to maintain the growth. In the current scenario, marketing of products and services have significant impact on the branding, sales and buyers decisions. The essentials of marketing involve goods or services that are in trends, proper consideration of buyer and competitor, selection of appropriate market and communication with the staff to offer the standard services.

The marketing essentials will compare marketing mix for EE and its competitor organization BT; both are working in the telecommunication industry of UK and offering the quality services and products to customers. Report will analyze the contribution of marketing mix to achieve the objectives. Moreover, report will develop the marketing planning for EE Limited to encourage the existing approach and brand value of organization. In that plan report will focus on the objectives, strategy and financial planning of EE by considering external and internal analysis

Task 2 a: Marketing mix for EE ltd and Vodafone

Product: Product refers to something that buyers can acquire via exchange to satisfy a need or want. Both EE limited and Vodafone are service provider in telecommunication network.  The main services of EE limited are voice transfer services, internet services in form of 3G and 4G. The services which are provided by organization should be according to their customer demand, so that customers can become satisfied with them. To provide services it is important to carefully examine the services from the customer’s point of view, and organization should always try to improve the network signal quality (Toften. and Hammervoll, 2009). The phones of organization should be always upgraded with latest model to keep in track with customers preferences.  This result in creation of new opportunity for the organisation is to satisfy their potential customers need and meet out the organizational object. For gaining competitive advantage from market, EE should try to give personalized services to their customer. It can be achieved through providing special offers, and also setting tariff according to customers need.

Vodafone is one of the world’s leading communication brands. In service sector, Vodafone offer wide range of services like voice, messaging, data and fixed line solution. In order to fulfil their customer needs, organization should set different tariff values according to customers need. For accomplishment of organisational objective it is important to satisfy their customer’s need so that organisations always get connected with them. In order to accomplish the targets, the organisation sets low data plan, improving voice and messaging services, and value added services at minimum cost. The cost which is incurred in providing services is also recovered in form of profit.

Price: Price is a determination of customer choice. In current scenario, the availability of information can be excise through internet, consumer can easily access to price information and price discount. Therefore, companies should be more aware regarding price strategies.  EE organization is first mover of 4G services, they charge price of 4G which have small change over 3G that enabled company to earn more profit. To earn more profit company charge dissemination price of 4G and 3G customer accounting management. This strategy will help the organization to target more customers from broader market and gaining competitive advantage over rivals (Donnelly and   Harrison, 2009). EE also must implement techniques for adjusting price like segmented price, promotional price and psychological price etc. The positive effect of price on customer enhanced the demand and target will be achieved.

Vodafone’s products and services are competitively priced and easily reachable to customers. To beat their competitors, Vodafone provides services at optimum cost such as high speed data plan, good tariff plan and network range in comparison to their competitor. Mini and jumbo plans are offered to customer according to their demand which can enhance brand value of services (Dudin, 2013). Organization provides post paid and prepaid offers at low cost so that more customer are attracted. Another strategy that is followed by organization is to attract and retain their potential customer is to set life time tariff and data plan according to their uses or demand.

Place: Place relates to various method of making product available for purchase, it also involve various distribution method. To reach more customers and satisfy their wants in effective manner the organization can use multi channel marketing. Efficient distribution of services is important for an organization to meets overall marketing objective.  EE organization uses different cannel to access their potential customer in market so that organization give their best effort to fulfil demand.

Table 1: Sales methods

Direct Internet Mail Web sites Telephone Own channel

Sales staff Own Another firm Contracts

Intermediary Franchise Partner Agent

EE organization designed their website friendlier which gives support to their customer in online purchasing if they have any trouble. Thus, focusing on convenience and customer care increases satisfaction and loyalty. This can help organization to meet their object with more efficiently.

Vodafone organisation continues to give their effort to improve its services and rapidly solve customer grievances directly. To solve consumer grievances organization opened many stores in different parts. Functional and logical issues can be solved through the mini stores of Vodafone. Wider network of distribution of services brings many customers daily to Vodafone (Fernando, 2011). The distribution of many services like mobile money services, health service also attracts more customers so the overall revenue will increase. Vodafone organization uses different medium for distribution of their service like indirect channel, direct channel, and modern trade for efficient work.

Promotion: In current scenario, promotion is one of the important parts of marketing mix. It involves sending a message to customer for providing information about services and product. EE organization uses promotional strategies like advertising, using media and internet which can have direct impact on customers to take services and product. For an example if company introduce new service and launches new updated phone in market the organisation will use the promotional activity such like advertising. From advertising on internet, cinema, newspaper etc. helps to organization to direct access the potential customer and give them more benefits.  The internet plays important role in promotion because using of this, organization reaches to its potential target group of people and sell them product and services.

It also gives a chance to customer to provide their suggestion and views on the services so they can improve according to their demand. The feedbacks which are received from customers help organization to increase more efficiently so that they can accomplish their goal (Gerakos.et.al. 2013). For the promotion of product and service, the organization are using different techniques such as giving a video related to product on YouTube, set up pages on social networking side including face book and Twitter. For the enhancement of brand value EE organization also uses sponsorship techniques, which can spread between the people. These will attract more customers. Thus social and digital media can become heart of EE promotional campaign that will push the brand forward.

Vodafone is one of the leading organizations in telecommunication sector. Vodafone continuously uses promotion activity to stay connect with people. For expansion of distribution and network coverage organization uses different promotion techniques such as advertising, billboards, hoardings, websites, etc to access the customer. For the promotion of brand on global level they also uses famed spots star, Olympian and famed Hollywood star so that brand value of products can be increased.  Increment in reputation gives advantage in competitive market. The most famous move by Vodafone worldwide was the, use of ZOO ZOOS (Hamilton and Webster, 2012). Vodafone ZOO ZOOS are the most famous marketing campaign in the world which are been recognised by everyone. To keep in touch with customer the organization timely release press conferences to give information about new services. This strategy will help the organization to meet their target and provide best services to customer on global market.

Task 2b: Marketing plan

Company overview: EE Limited (Everything Everywhere) is leading British mobile network operator, internet services provider and division of BT group. The organization is in working since 2010 April and serving the major areas of UK.  EE Limited is offering services like fixed line, mobile telephony and broadband according to new standard and services provisions proposed by the national and local government. In addition to this, organization is having 50:50 joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and Orange S.A. through the merger of their respective T-mobile in UK.  The services of EE Limited are being used by around 28 million customers and it also considered as largest 4G services provider in Europe (Welford, 2013).  Apart from that, EE Limited is offering the additional services like IPTV and online TV options. The current 4G network of organization has covered 97% of UK population which far better than the other competitors.

For marketing of services and products organization is using different tools and techniques. EE Limited has started advertising in 2012 with TV ads as organization has launched 4G services in UK region. Along with that, organization has sponsored the various events and festivals that have helped to encourage the brand image and create the awareness in the large geographical areas of UK (Wright, 2014). By offering the high quality services and maintaining the relation by online services EE has become trusted brand in nation which has significant contribution of sponsorship and digital marketing activities.

Situational analysis:

• Internal analysis : According to internal analysis of EE Limited, it is been identified that the structure, effectiveness of operations is as per the required standard. The monitoring of top management is hale ping to maintain the growth in the services and product design that meet the satisfaction level of customers. In addition to this, economic conditions of organization are good as EE Limited is making optimum utilization of resources that influencing the efficiency. Organization is using hierarchical structure for managing power and distribution of work (Mish and Scammon, 2010). This kind of structure is helping to monitor and evaluate the performance of staff members and offer guideline to meet the standard. Apart from that, areas of lacking for organization for internal prospective is training to staff members and cost of staffing that affecting the overall financial reporting.
• External analysis: The external factors that have significant impact on operational and functional activities of EE limited are involving government rules and regulations, level of competition, changes in the global economy and modification in the technology. According to analysis, it is been carried out that organization is lacking in forecasting of needs and changes in the services demand in UK arras as other competitor organizations are offering interactive services that affecting the decision of customers (Peattie and Peattie, 2009). Moreover, changes in economy conditions have significant impact on the external process of EE Limited in upgrading the services. The strategic planner of organization considering the changes in external environment but regulation and policy that proposed by government has major impact on the marketing of EE Limited.

SWOT analysis:

Table 2: SWOT analysis

Strength	Weakness
Quality of services Wider areas Use of new technology	Lack of understanding of market needs Communication gap less use of current trends
Opportunities	Threats
Emerging market of Europe More use of internet services Joint venture	High competition Rules and regulations Lack of resource and High cost of managing services

Objectives: For marketing the objectives of organization would be based on the areas of development and opportunities that are having significant impact on the business outcome of EE limited. According to evaluation and approach of organization following objectives would be consider for marketing planning:

• To improve the customers.
• Create the awareness about the brand
• To gain the competitive advantage
• To encourage trust
• To enhance customer experience
• business strategy 
• Growth strategy

For marketing of products and services, the top management of EE limited could use different types of marketing strategy. By considering the needs and impact of external and internal analysis factors, it is been proposed to EE Limited management to use growth strategy for marketing.  For any organization growth in business plays critical role to sustain the position and achieve the long and short term objectives. Now, the EE Limited management could use Horizontal integration for growth and promotion of services. According to this strategy, high level of integration leads to high level of communication within the business. By having the strategic alliance with the local organization of UK and other part of Europe the EE Limited can expand the business areas as well capture the mass market for offering the telecommunication services (Sunday and Bayode, 2011). This kind of strategy for meeting the organizational goals and objectives will help to lower down the cost of developing infrastructure and human resources. By using this stagey for developing the business, organization will able to establish the best network and additional services for customers.

For future development and marketing of services, this strategy would be more beneficial as organization will having the alliance with high potential organizations that are delivering quality services to local customers. In addition to this, through strategic alliance EE Limited will to analyze the needs and maintain the high speed internet and voice calling services. This kind of approach will help to encourage the brand awareness and customer’s experience.

Extended marketing mix:

Process: For telecommunication organization like EE Limited it is essential to deal with customer more convincing and appropriate manners to gain the comparative advantage. The management of organization will make concern on the customer services handling, complain resolution and offering of the information for new plan and activities (Belz and Peattie, 2009). This kind of process will help organization to sustain the position and retain the customer for longer period of time which is long term objective for EE Limited. Moreover, organization will make the easier process for managing the customer’s issues by establishing the online setup and stores in major location.

Physical layout: The presentation of organization plays critical role in the advertising and branding. For telecommunication organization EE Limited it is recommended to develop attractive and healthy interior for stores. By having the attractive physical layout organization will able to influence the perception of customer as environment of store make positive impression. Apart from that, process of welcoming, greeting as well location of store need to be easy to navigate (Best, 2009). For example, EE Limited needs to open the store at malls and supermarket location which are easy to navigate and establish the trendy environment within store that will improve the satisfaction level of customer.

People: The extended marketing mix for EE Limited will focus on people who are working for organization as communication and greeting of customer have significant impact on the brand image. For that purpose, organization has set the uniform approach for employees and will offer the training according to global standard. This kind of approach will influence the satisfaction level of customers as services representative and sales people will treat customers according to define standards (Dibb, 2010).  Moreover, by appointing the skilled staff that can offer online assistance for customer will also influence the brand effectiveness of EE Limited. Apart from that for improvement in efficiency and quality of customer services, changes in the training module are required.

Segmentation, targeting And positioning:

Segmentation: In order to encourage the sales and meeting the objectives, EE Limited could use demographical segmentation criteria in which management will offer the products and services according to income level of customers. Currently organization has segmented its products in demographic criteria for two different income groups like high and middle level. By defining segment organization is developing product and services according to specific needs of income groups. It is helping management to meet the requirements of clients by producing quality products (Goi, 2009). Telecommunication has large market which can be divided on the basis of income to develop appropriate plan and services.

Targeting: A target market is a group of customers in which business has decided to aim its marketing efforts. This is an important element of marketing for EE Limited. By considering the current condition of organization, undifferentiated targeting strategy would be beneficial. In order to utilize this strategy, organization will send promotional message to all types of customers in different category. For selection of this type of strategy major reason is to meet the mass objectives as improvement of customer base and creating the awareness about the new and existing plans. However, this type of targeting strategy is beneficial for organization but it increase the cost of operations in marketing which will the major drawback for implementation of this strategy (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). The major application of targeting is to get the attention of particular customer groups to encourage the sales and define consumer market.

Positioning: By considering the value and reorganization of EE Limited in UK, it is being recommended to management to use brand positioning strategy for services and products. According to this strategy, organization will promote the sales and positive review of customers about the services in UK and other part of the Europe to influence the decision of target customers. Moreover, brand positioning of EE Limited will help to encourage the trust in the existing customer as the people promote the organization by word of mouth. Apart from that, brand positioning will allow organization to charge premium for their products and services and gain the competitive advantage to meet the business objectives (Srinivasan and  Hanssens, 2009). Additionally, brand positioning will help develop strong connection with the customers which leads to emotional attachment with the customers.

Tactics and action: For implementation of strategy and process that have been proposed in the marketing plan, organization needs to focus on the distribution of role and responsibilities and monitoring of the actions. The planning would get successful as individual department will maintain the services according to proposed standard. Now, to establish the services and products according to plan EE Limited will offer training to staff members in customer handling as it is big issue for organization to provide the proper resolution to customer problems. Moreover, communication and maintaining the environment according to culture will also help EE management to meet the objectives. By appointing the skilled staff that can offer online assistance for customer will also influence the brand effectiveness of EE Limited (Toften and Hammervoll, 2009). Apart from that, EE is offering home delivery and after sales services for internet and smart phone services that have positive impact on the marketing of organization as well help to influence the decision of customers. In addition to this, by offering additional benefits to customer organization will able to gain the competitive advantage compare to others..

Budgeting

Table 3: Cost of marketing plan and implementation.

Activities	Cost (£)
Market research	20000
Planning	15000
Human resources	10000
Training	4000
Use of technology	25000
Implementation of strategy	15000
Total	890000

Control:The planning of marketing for EE Limited will get successful as control over the activities and utilization of resources is good. For that organization will appoint the expert for monitoring the practices of marketing according to proposed strategy for different location that will help to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness in each operation. Moreover, to control the cost and proper utilization of resources, organization will offer the training to staff and collect the feedback from the customer to identify the areas of lacking and make corrective decision to control the negative outcome (Dibb, 2010). By using this kind of approach organization will able to meet the standard and objectives of marketing.

Conclusion   

From the above study it is been considered that, marketing plays critical role in the branding and sales of organization. Report has provided information about the use of marketing mix for EE Limited and Vodafone to meet their objectives using the current process of marketing. In the next part report has developed plan for marketing of EE Limited by considering the internal and external analysis. Report has proposed segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy for organization to achieve the objectives as well as gain the competitive advantages.    

References

Books and journals

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Best, R. J. 2009. Market-based management: strategies for growing customer value and profitability.
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Dudin, M. N. 2013. Innovative transformation and transformational potential of socio-economic systems. Economic Systems. 1434-1437.
Gerakos, J., Ittner, C. D. and Moers, F. 2013. Compensation objectives and business unit pay strategy. Chicago Booth School of Business Research Paper. (08-24).
Goi, C. L. 2009. A review of marketing mix: 4Ps or more?. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(1), p2.
Hamilton, L and Webster, P., 2012. The International Business Environment. Oxford University Press.
Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. 2012. Principles and practice of marketing(No. 7th). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Mish, J. and Scammon, D. L., 2010. Principle-based stakeholder marketing: Insights from private triple-bottom-line firms. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 29(1). Pp.12-26.
Peattie, K., and Peattie, S. 2009. Social marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction?. Journal of Business Research. 62(2). Pp.260-268.
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Sunday, A. and Bayode, B., 2011. Strategic Influence Of Promotional Mix On Organisation Sale Turnover In The Face Of Strong Competitors. Management & Marketing-Craiova. (1). Pp.67-76.
Toften, K. and Hammervoll, T. 2009. Niche firms and marketing strategy: An exploratory study of internationally oriented niche firms. European Journal of Marketing, 43(11/12), 1378-1391.
Welford, R. 2013. Hijacking environmentalism: Corporate responses to sustainable development. Routledge.
Wright, L. 2014. Principles of service marketing and management