Analysis of Communication Strategies and Market Segmentation

The provided document is an analysis of communication strategies and market segmentation. It begins with a detailed explanation of human communication, followed by an examination of the relationship between services marketing mix and brand equity dimensions. The document also discusses market segmentation, targeting, and positioning in various industries, including travel marketing and social marketing. Additionally, it provides a self-adaptive communication strategy for flocking in stationary and non-stationary environments. The analysis highlights how brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. It further emphasizes the importance of internal communication in turning strategy into action and discusses advertising in the social marketing mix.

MARKETING
COMMUNICATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
A. Brief description of the company, range of products and analyses of the specific product
and profiling of the customer......................................................................................................3
B. Critical evaluation of the features of the marketing communication tools. ..........................5
C. Strategic marketing communication plan...............................................................................9
D. Marketing communication strategy and elements of communication process.....................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFRENCE...................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a broad term and communicating marketing strategies with the help of
relevant tools and techniques. It is a complex process with involves tools for communication
which will help in making people aware about the products and offerings. Organisation
undertaken in this report is Mercedes Benz which deals in auto mobile sector and was founded in
1926 which provides vehicles like luxury vehicle, trucks, buses, financial services, auto mobile
repair, etc. This report will explain the brief description of the company, range of products,
analyses of the specific product and profiling of the target market. It will further provide the
critical evaluation of the characteristics of the various marketing communication tools. It will
develop a strategic marketing communication plan to market the product all over the world
(Adler, Rodman and Du Pré, 2016). Later part of the report will develop marketing
communication strategy and evaluation of all the relevant processes which applies in global
context.
MAIN BODY
A. Brief description of the company, range of products and analyses of the specific product and
profiling of the customer.
Brief of the company
Mercedes Benz is a company which deals in auto mobile industries. This company was
founded in 1926 by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in Germany. It provides various services
and products to its customers like auto mobiles, trucks, buses, international combustion engine,
luxury vehicles, financial services and repair facilities. It is one of the biggest selling company of
luxury cars and premium vehicles all over the world. The company has further innovated the
many technological and safety equipments which later on became common in many other
vehicles. It is one of the best known premium class auto mobile industry which is growing from
years (Aghaei and. et. al., 2014). It has maintained the good and reputation in the market and
industry due to its irresistible quality and durability. Apart from this, the name Mercedes Benz is
also associated with the terms like prestige, class, status, etc.
Range of products

Mercedes Benz deals in wide segment of products in various models and options which is
available for the different segments of the target customers. The following is the range of the
products in which the company deals :
 Present models of the Mercedes Benz : A class which is concerned with the sub
compact luxury sedan, B class is a cub compact multi purpose luxury vehicle, C class is a
compact executive sedan, CLA, CLS, E class, G class, GLA, GLC, GLA, GLE, GLS, R
class, S class, X class, V class, etc.
 Vans : It produces a range of vans like Citan, Vito, Sprinter, etc.
 Trucks : The truck segment of the company is now a part of Daimler truck division and
it builds trucks which are modified into compact vans by the company like Vito, Citan,
etc.
 Buses : The company deals in the buses which are luxury in their design. Like BlueTec
E320, AMG GT, 500E, etc.
 Environment Friendly vehicles : The company also manufactures environment friendly
vehicles namely, F 700 Compact cars, which is made of hybrid electric engines. Its Blue
Zero concept features battery, electric, fuel efficient, etc. segments of car which operates
on eco friendly engines.
Analyses of the specific product
As discussed above, there are various and multiple range and options available of the
Mercedes Benz in the market from which customer can choose from (Andaleeb, 2016). But this
report will take into consideration a specific product which is Mercedes Benz S class coupe. This
is a luxury car which offers 1 diesel engine and 3 petrol engines. This car is available with a
automatic transmission and has a four seater coupe. It gives the feeling of sensation, thrill and
amazement.
Market profiling
This is the combination of assorted set of characteristics which investigates and research
the target group of population or segment of market. This can be on the basis of various features,
attributes, demographics, behavioural, etc. It necessitates the potency to understand and identify
the market profile structure, volume distribution, etc. Mercedes Benz S class is stunning in its
design and arranged by the technology which assures sensation, thrill and excitement to the
customer. It is attributed by the typical proportion of a large luxury car. Therefore, Mercedes

Benz S class will target people who want superiority in class and design and money is not there
primary concerned. Thus, it targets the upper and premium class group of customers who have
high income and profile and who wishes design and style rather than speed.
B. Critical evaluation of the features of the marketing communication tools.
Marketing communication tools are those instruments and techniques which are used by
the company so that they can communicate with their target audiences and encourages them
towards the offerings of the products (Camilleri, 2018). These tools are very important in present
business scenario because it makes the organisation competitive in the market and make people
aware about the innovative and new products which are produced by the company. Therefore,
the various communication tools which are used by the Mercedes Benz is discussed below :
Advertising : It is a highly prevailing marketing communication tool. This is the most
effective method or tool of promoting the product and communicating with the target audiences.
It will help the Mercedes Benz to reach to the vast audiences within the shorter duration of time.
It will not only maximise the sales but will also create awareness about the brand and the product
among the customers. Furthermore, marketer will be responsible for to assure that the correct
message has been reached to the right customers at the right time (Cope and. et. al., 2014). It
includes advertisements in the newspaper, business magazines, digital hoardings, bill board,
radio, etc. The following are the characteristics of advertisements and they are discussed below :
 Paid form : Advertisements are the paid form of verbal and non verbal communication
in newspaper, television, radio, etc. Advertiser is referred to as sponsor who is
accountable for preparing the message, deciding on the medium and monitoring the
efforts of the advertisements.
 Wide applicability : It is the most common and immensely used tool for communicating
with the target audiences. It cover wide area within a shorter duration of time.
Positive Negative
 Advertising is an easygoing manner to
show that there is a value proposal to
be considered with a Mercedes Benz S
class product.
 Every customer has different
 Mercedes Benz S class will have to
properly plan the budget for the
advertisements because it required huge
amount of investment and is very costly
in nature.

perceptions and needs, so
advertisements will help the Mercedes
Benz S class to provide relevant
information to the customers.
 Due to the global business environment
and various competing companies, it
became difficult for the S class to set
themselves differently and unique in
front of the target audiences.
Sales promotion : This is another most effective tool for promoting and communicating
to the target audiences. It is a direct tool for communication which will be advantageous for the
Mercedes Benz S class to communicate directly or indirectly with the customer in an attempt to
promote the product (Di Bernardo, Salvi and Santini, 2015). It includes product demonstration
at the trade fairs, contest, displays at the business conferences and seminars, etc. The following
are the characteristics of the sales promotions :
 Sales promotion includes the direct and indirect methods for approaching to its target
customers. And it helps incrementing and supporting the advertisements and personal
selling because Mercedes Benz can not entirely depend on them.
 There are various sales promotions methods which allows the customer to gain
knowledge. For instance, the display and demonstration at the trade fairs or auto mobile
fair will help to understand the mechanism of the S class.
Positive Negative
 With the help of sales promotion,
Mercedes Benz will develop the
attention of the people towards the S
class product by distinguishing it with
competitors.
 It maintains trade flows between the
distributor and retailer. Therefore,
Mercedes Benz showrooms will have to
regularly refill the models in the store
with the model that are already
existing.
 Sales promotions are publicized to
communicate with the customers of the
Mercedes Benz S class. If there is a
disagreement between what is
published and the real deal, it will be
viewed negatively by the public.
 The marketer of the S class cannot use
sales promotional tool at any time.
Various other tools are to be used in the
introduction stage of a product, while
others will be used in the growth and

maturity stages.
Public relations : It is a communication marketing tool which helps the Mercedes Benz
S class product by assuring favourable public image (Duncan, 2017). With the help of this tool,
Mercedes Benz will promote the S class product through press release, news, public appearances,
events, etc. This focusses on maximising the image of the brand in the business. It is important to
maintain the relations with other business owner or people and using this relation at the right
place and at right time is the aim of this tool which assures success in the business. The
following are the characteristics of the public relations :
 It evaluate, examine and renders the public sentiment and attitudes of the public towards
the S class product and drafts strategies which use free or earned media to influence them
(Ferrante and. et. al., 2014).
 Public relation tool is very helpful in satisfying the group of different segments of the
customers. For instance, Mercedes Benz will satisfy the upper class customer segment
group who wishes to have luxury cars.
Positive Negative
 A well defined PR campaign will be
advantageous for the Mercedes Benz as
it will provide their customer with more
detailed information.
 It further reaches to the wider sections
of the society as new and media picks
up the story and exposes the message to
the target audience.
 There is a lack of direct control as it
uses the same media, print, etc. which
is used by the advertisements.
 The PR campaign can be costly affair
for the Mercedes Benz as it requires
huge amount of investment for running
the campaign programs.
Personal Selling : It is also the effective tool for marketing communication and
promoting the product. This is most advantageous tool for the Mercedes Benz because it offers
two way communication where the marketer and buyer interacts with one another directly. It
encompasses the face to face interaction in which the queries of customers are solved instantly

and further strengthens the long lasting relation between the buyer and the seller (Personal
Selling, 2019). The following are the characteristics of the personal selling :
 It is a personal form of communication which establish informal relation between the
buyer and the seller in the Mercedes Benz.
 In this, the prospective buyer of Mercedes Benz will make inquiry to the seller regarding
the quality, design, repair services, etc. and salesman will quickly eliminate all their
issues and leaves a customer will positive feelings about the S class.
Positive Negative
 It provides flexibility in its operations.
This will have a positive impact on
customer because it enhances
customisation according to the needs
and requirements of the customers.
 It helps in development and building of
relationship between the seller and
buyer and also enhances immediate
feedback.
 It is an extremely time consuming
process and seller of S class is required
to behave patiently. They must also
have effective communication skills
otherwise they won't be able to solve
the queries of the customers which will
lead to decrease in sales.
 It has the limited reach and does not
expand to the entire market.
AIDA Model
This model is best known in the marketing communication. AIDA model is useful in
investigating and analysing the process of selling in which is experienced by the individual. This
is effectively and efficiently used in marketing which describes the steps through which
customer goes while buying a product. Therefore, the Mercedes Benz S class product will adopt
this model and the steps are discussed below :
 Awareness : Mercedes Benz S class will create awareness among the people about the
products and offerings which are offered by the company. This will make people known
about the new and innovation products with distinct feature (Khan, 2014). For this,
company will do advertisements in newspaper, digital hoardings, business magazines,
etc.
 Interest : After creating awareness about the product, the Mercedes Benz will put
initiatives in creating interest among the potential customers. For this, the company will

announce various discounts options to the first few customers on pre booking the S class,
provide complementary vouchers, test drives, etc.
 Desire : Once interest is created, then the next step is to develop the desire in the minds
of the customer. For this, Mercedes Benz will take various actions which will create
attention of the customers towards the benefits of the products.
 Action : When the desire has arrived in the mind of customer, it is converted into action
that is purchase. At this step, Mercedes Benz will provide effective and efficient
customer service with the help of personal selling and develop long lasting relationship
with the buyer.
Source : AIDA MODEL, 2019
C. Strategic marketing communication plan.
Marketing communication plan is the strategic plan which is devised by the companies so
that they can reach to the target customers. This programme is precisely important for the
Mercedes Benz S class because it assist in devising client alert and known about the products and
Illustration 1: AIDA MODEL, 2019

services offered by the company (Lee and. et. al., 2014). This plan is successfully enforced only
when market segments are clearly defined, so the strategic plan which is focussed more, that
results in a more effective communication plan. It is a effective instrument which is used by the
company all over the world to develop a strategic vision, useful in creating brand awareness,
perfectly expressible in competitive advantage. Apart from this, good and effective marketing
communication plan will be useful in fostering the goodwill of the company in all over the world
and also boosts profits. The following is the Strategic marketing communication plan which is
discussed below :
Summary : It is a effective tool which give a brief picture of the organisation and its
product which is sold globally. It helps in describing the customer about the accuracy and
conciseness of the products. Mercedes Benz is a German company which deals in auto mobile
sector. This company deals in manufacturing luxury vehicles. The company is highly focussed
towards the design and style for the vehicles rather then it quality and performances. The S class
coupe is produced by the company which provides various features like sun roof, safety
assistance, to speed, etc. which taps the upper segment class of people.
Mission : The mission statement of the organisation is concerned with explaining the
rationale which are underlying in their development and contains the process of development and
implementation. Their mission is to create and develop pure driving performances and provide
an exceptional place to work for their employees.
Vision : This is the effective tool which helps in clarifying what the organisation will
look like in future when it will accomplish the business objectives. Mercedes Benz clench an
obligation to strengthen the surroundings which authorise employees, boost innovation,
relationships and growth. Their focus is on endlessly endeavouring to stimulate consumer
confidence by rendering a crystalline atmosphere and offering a superior auto mobile product
with personalized customer care.
Business objectives : It is the concept which is establish for determining the objective or
purpose of the organisation. The effectiveness of the business objectives are determined by
setting SMART objectives. The main motive of the Mercedes Benz S class is to make people
evaluate in the creation of driving and rising the gross sales and profitableness by inspiring and
pulling people towards the products (Londhe, 2014).

USP : It is the another effective tool which helps the organisation in defining their unique
position in the market which makes them different from their competitors. The unique selling
proposition of Mercedes Benz is to provide luxury saloon model with excellent performance.
Segmentation, Targetting and Positioning
Segmentation : This is a effective tool as it helps in dividing the market which can be
measured and obtained. These segmentations of market on different characteristics are relevant,
accessible, stable, appropriate and feasible in nature. This is concerned with segmenting or
dividing the market on the basis of similar characteristics, features, attributes, etc. Therefore, the
market of S class will be segmented on the basis of demographic segmentation. On the basis of
gender it will divide the market between male and female, on the basis of income, the company
will target those people who have higher level of income. On the basis of age, it will segment
those people who are young and middle age people. On the basis of psycho graphical
segmentation, it will segment the market on the basis of rendering social status and class to the
people.
Targetting : It is concerned with deciding the target market for the product. This is an
important and effective tool because it is a part of holistic marketing strategy which has direct
impact on the advertisements, experiences of the customers, branding, etc. Therefore, the target
market for the Mercedes Benz is niche marketing where the concentration is highly on targetting
rich people by keeping higher profitability in the mind (McNair, 2017). It also targets young
people who belongs to rich families and those who are more concerned with design and style
rather than price.
Positioning : Effectiveness is positioning is concerned with the policies, procedures,
employee attitude, customer relation, etc. It is concerned with creating a strong relation with the
customer that leads to the deeper level of brand engagement. It enables the company to charge
the premium for the products. It slogan statement is “the best or nothing”. The company has
adopted positioning strategy as a manufacturer of highly reliable and safe auto mobile which
results in a premium pricing as compared to the competitors. Apart from this, they provide
outstanding customer services which are very crucial and positioned themselves unique.
Swot analysis of Mercedes Benz s class

SWOT analysis is a technique used to evaluate company's strength, weakness ,
opportunities and threat. This is the most effective analyses as the individual is able to
understand the business in a better way, addresses weakness and has the ability to take
advantages of new opportunities by minimising the threats. it is a powerful tool to develop a
business strategy. Strength and weakness are the internal part of an organisation on which we
have a control and can be changed while on the other hand opportunities and threat are the
external factors on which we have no control and cant be changed (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014).
By taking advantage of opportunity one can have a control over the threat.
STRENGTH  Mercedes Benz s class has a strong brand value
 It is a world class leader in terms of quality and
luxury auto mobile sector.
 It has an excellent interior features with comfortable
seats and safety system.
 It is a financially strong company and invest huge
amount in manufacturing.
 S class has company's latest innovation including
drive- train technologies.
 High resale value as compared to other luxury brand
because of high demand.
WEAKNESS  Mercedes Benz s class is an expensive car thus it
targets only high class people.
 Cost of maintenance is very high.
 Spare parts are very expensive.
 It has a slow delivery process due to unavailability
of model sometimes
OPPORTUNITIES  Increased demand of auto mobiles in Asian markets
 Fast growing of luxury auto mobile market.
 Increasing the purchasing power of consumer

 Growing demand for eco- friendly vehicle.
THREATS  Intense competition in the market in auto mobile
sector
 Rules implemented to reduce fuel consumption
 Fluctuation in the prices of raw material due to
political crisis
D. Marketing communication strategy and elements of communication process.
Marketing Mix of Mercedes Benz s class
Mercedes Benz is one of the world's oldest manufacturer of luxury car maker. Marketing
mix looks at the company's marketing and advertising strategy which it has used over years to
establish itself as a leader in auto mobile sector. Mercedes Benz s class examine the brand which
cover 4Ps namely Product, Price , Place and Promotion.
Product : Product is an item which is produced to satisfy the needs of certain people.
Mercedes Benz being top leading car brand in the world and the strongest point of it is its
product (Phillips, 2016). Here the product we have taken is Mercedes Benz s class. It is 1st
ranked in super luxury cars with world class interior having a proper wireless device charging,
Bluetooth and navigation with comfortable seats and cargo space. It offers powerful engines and
delivers a smooth and comfortable ride.
Pricing : The price of product is basically the amount that a customer pays for. Pricing
shape the representation of product in consumers eye. Being a luxury car brand, it values more
on quality than the price and so price is always on the higher end. So the company ensure that it
makes high quality cars first and foremost. It targets the people of high class society and follows
the strategy of premium pricing which is the main reason behind its profitability and success at
marketplace.
Place : Place is important part of product mix and involves distribution channel The
company distributes its cars through a broad network of dealer throughout the world. This cars
are present all across with its leadership and service station all over. It has its plant and factories
across the world in China, Asia , Europe , Germany and North America.

Promotion: Promotion is a important concept because it boost brand identification and
sales. The marketing mix promotional strategy of Mercedes Benz s class has maintained
accessibility to consumers through online advertising, television advertising, print media and
offering the warranty under certain conditions. Its marketing though focus only on its products,
technology etc. but as the customers attitude are changing over time so they increased the
communication with consumers word wide by the means of social media (Quirke, 2017). It also
organises various drives like international driving platform where the consumers get an
opportunity to drive the cars.
Communication Process
It is the process through which information is conveyed to the target customer. This
process involves various stages. It is a continuous process in the business organisation. In this,
information, ideas, message, content, etc. are transmitted between two relevant customers. It is a
dynamic process and normally starts with conceptualisation of ideas. The following are the
elements of the communication process in Mercedes Benz for its S class product :
Sender : It is the person who is required to transfer the content or message. In this,
Mercedes Benz is the sender who will communicate with their target audience for the purpose of
making people aware about the S class products.
Encoding : The sender starts with transmitting symbols, signs, body language, etc. into
the message (Schlegelmilch, 2016). In Mercedes Benz, the employer will communicate
effectively with their convincing and problem solving skills so that sale can be generated.
Message : It is the real content or message which is to be transmitted and in this
Mercedes Benz will use various advertising and personal selling tools to tell customers that they
deal in most luxury cars and they just don't sell cars but they sell class and status.
Communication channel : There are various channels which will help the company in
communicating with their target audiences. Therefore, Mercedes will go for personal selling,
advertisements in business magazines, etc.
Receiver : It is the individual for whom the message is created and transmitted. The
property to which the receiver decodes the message depending on their knowledge of the subject
matter, experience, trust and relationship with the sender. Therefore, the receiver is upper class
people or rich people who want luxury vehicle and are not concerned about the price.

Decoding : In this, the receiver understands the best possible way in which sender has
sent. Therefore, effective communication happens only when the conveyed content is effectively
understood in the same manner.
Feedback : It is the final step in the communication process where, the feedback or
response is expected from the receiver. Mercedes Benz expects the feedback or response in form
of sale of S class (Stead and Hastings, 2018).
Source : Communication Process. 2019
Illustration 2: Communication Process. 2019

CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been understood that communication is a very important
factor in every business organisation. This is because every organisation exist for the purpose of
satisfying customer and they can not identify and analyse customer needs without effective
communication. There are various communication tools which help the companies so that they
can communicate with the target people. Developing communication plan requires various steps
like, aim, vision, mission, SWOT, etc.

REFRENCE
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