Marketing Strategy and Plan for Vodafone Australia

This report discusses the marketing plan for Vodafone Australia, including challenges and opportunities faced by the company. The report includes 5Cs analysis, STP, and 4Ps strategies to help the company improve its position in the local market. The report also includes the company's marketing objectives, vision, and mission.

Marketing Strategy and Plan

Marketing Strategy and Plan 1
Executive summary
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document that provides the outlines a business
advertisement and the marketing efforts of the company for the coming year. The marketing plan
will include the different activities that will help the company in fulfilling the objectives of the
marketing. The report is based on the marketing plan of Vodafone Australia. It includes the
challenges and opportunities that are faced by the company and the suggestions which will help
the company in accomplishing the objectives in the current market. The analysis has been done
with the help of the different theoretical models such as Situation analysis (5Cs), Market analysis
and strategies (STP) and the tactical plans (4ps). All these strategies will further help the
company in improving the business, acquiring the market share and acquiring the leading
position.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Overview of company..................................................................................................................4
Marketing Plan objective.................................................................................................................5
Situation Analysis............................................................................................................................6
5Cs analysis.................................................................................................................................6
Company..................................................................................................................................6
Customers................................................................................................................................7
Competitors..............................................................................................................................7
Collaborators............................................................................................................................8
Climate.....................................................................................................................................8
Market Analysis and Strategies.......................................................................................................9
Segmentation.............................................................................................................................10
Targeting....................................................................................................................................10
Positioning.................................................................................................................................11
Market Needs.............................................................................................................................11
Market Trends............................................................................................................................12
Market Growth...........................................................................................................................14
SWOT analysis..........................................................................................................................14
Product offering.........................................................................................................................15

Marketing Strategy and Plan 3
Key to success............................................................................................................................15
Critical issues.............................................................................................................................16
Tactical Plans (4Ps).......................................................................................................................16
Product.......................................................................................................................................16
Price...........................................................................................................................................17
Place...........................................................................................................................................17
Promotion..................................................................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20
Appendix........................................................................................................................................24
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................24

Marketing Strategy and Plan 4
Introduction
The aim of the report is to prepare the marketing plan for the selected business that is operating
the business in the local market. The report will throw light on the challenges that are faced by
the company or the opportunities of the company in the current market in which the company is
operating its business activities. The company that has been selected for the marketing plan is
Vodafone Australia. This report will include the marketing objective of the company in the
current market, analysis of the 5Cs, targeting of the business which reflects the market to whom
the company is willing to offer its product on the primary basis. The marketing mix strategies are
recommended to the company to improve the position in the local market of Australia.
Overview of company
Vodafone Australia or VHA (Vodafone Hutchison Australia) is well-known mobile
telecommunication company who operates the business in numerous countries including
Australia. The company is the joint venture entity that is owned by the Hutchison
telecommunication Australia and the by Vodafone Group Plc on a 50-50 basis (Vodafone, 2018).
The company offers different services to the customers of Australia which include mobile and
fixed broadband services with the 4G mobile network that cover more than 22 billion
Australians. The company is operating its operations in the market with more than 3,000
employees in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth offices contact center of the
company is placed in Hobart and in more than 120 country-owned retail stores across Australia
(Vodafone, 2018).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 5
Marketing Plan objective
The major objective of the company is to enhance the position of the company in the local
market and to become the leader in the mobile carrier in terms of the speed and reliability. Along
with this, the company is willing to globalize its Vodafone new 4G network which will provide
the users with the HD broadband. This will accomplish another objective of the company that is
bringing the rise in the revenue of the company in the Australian market.
These objectives of the company are linked to the vision and the mission of the company that is:
-
 Vision: - The vision of the company is to deliver connectivity and innovative services to
bring the improvement in the livelihoods and quality of life to approx. 434 million
customers. The company believes that to achieve the vision the company needs to be
committed towards its vision along with this they need to manage the operations
responsibly with ethical activities (Vodafone, 2018).
 Mission: - The mission of the company is to enable the opportunities every day with the
support of the information for which the company takes the stand. This helps the
company in making the profit in an effective manner. The company believes that this is
the way to which they are contributing to the society by making the mobile working
possible. The overall mission of the company is to give the customers a high degree of
flexibility and freedom that they are not having today (Vodafone, 2018).
This marketing plan of the Vodafone Company has been prepared with the motive to accomplish
the objective of the company. The plan will draw the challenges that are faced by the company in

Marketing Strategy and Plan 6
the local market while accomplishing the objective. Along with this, the marketing plan will also
include the opportunity that the company should grab to accomplish the objective.
Situation Analysis
The situation analysis refers to as the collection of the method that the managers make use to
evaluate an organization's internal and external environment because this is essential for the
company to understand the capabilities of the organization, customer and the business
environment (Blackwell and Eppler, 2014)). The analysis can be done with the help of the
different marketing tool. The Vodafone Australia Company makes use of the 5Cs analysis for
analyzing the situation analysis in the local market.
5Cs analysis
The 5Cs analysis is a technique that is used to conduct the situational analysis. Vodafone
Australia makes use of this tool for analyzing the internal and external environment that leads to
the challenges and opportunities for the company while accomplishing the objective of the
company (Cateora, Gilly and Graham, 2013). The 5Cs analysis includes the assessment of the
Company, Customers, and Competitors, Collaborators, and Climate. [Please refer appendix 1 for
the further discussion of these elements of 5Cs]
Company
Vodafone Australia believes in providing the effective and improved services to their customers
in the local market with the high speed which helps the customers in communicating effectively.
These issues lead to the problems in the services that they are offering to the customers due to
which many customers register the complaints against the services that they are getting
(Vodafail, 2018). Though, the company takes the immediate actions due by providing the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 7
appropriate reply to the customers which helps them in handling the issues. The internal
operations of the company need to be strong because this is the only way through which they can
give tough competition in the market and can improve the services in the market.
Customers
Vodafone Company is working and performing the activities just to satisfy the needs of the
customers in the Australian market. Some of the major problems identified by the customers
include: -
 The company charged inappropriate amounts on bills.
 The network offered by the company has less speed and reliability.
 The customers of the company reported the issues related to the plethora of issues.
 The customers highlighted the issue as they have to stand in a long queue or even on call
line for having the word with the support team (Vodafail, 2018).
The company knows the fact that they need to ensure that they are able to meet the needs of their
customers. The company needs to bring the improvement in their operations so that they can
easily satisfy the needs of the customers. The use of the advanced technology will support the
operations of the company. Along with this, they should apologize for the inconvenience that is
faced by the customers because of the company.
Competitors
Vodafone Company is well-known telecom company who faces the tough competitors from the
Optus Company which is recognized company in the market of Australia. The company offers
the wide range of the communication services that include mobile, long-distance services, local
and the international telephony and many others. The position of the company has improved in

Marketing Strategy and Plan 8
the market of Australia from last two years as the company is holding approx. 20% - 25% of the
telecommunication market (Harpur, 2018). The major of the market share of the company is
based on the mobile service which means this is the strength of the company. Though, the
company is weak in expanding the market share at the time when Vodafail.
Collaborators
Vodafone shareholders include employees, investors, customers, and many others. The
collaboration is done between the two people or parties with the motive of their self-interest in it
such as employees are collaborating with the Vodafone with the motive to get the good salary
package, better working condition with employee’s benefits. On the other hand, the company
hires the employees so that they can operate their business in the market of Australia effectively.
The employees work like an asset for the company due to which the collaboration between the
both takes place (Chernev, 2018). Moreover, the company always try to fulfill the needs of the
shareholders as this is the only way through which they can make the smooth working in the
country.
Climate
The climate analysis can be done by the company with the help of the PESTLE analysis.
Political Factors The political factors include the rules and a regulation that is formed
by the government affects the working of Vodafone. The roaming
packages in Australia have a direct effect on the business which
increases the prices (Vodafone, 2018).
Economic Factors Australia economic freedom score is 80.9 which make the economy
the 5th freest in the year 2018 index. The GDP of the country is

Marketing Strategy and Plan 9
growing which means the rise in purchasing power of people. This
leads to opportunity for the company.
Social Factors Customer satisfaction plays a vital role in the Australian market. The
change in the work patterns is making the people rely on
communication technologies. Moreover, the people are going green
and aging population affect the working of a company (Dudovskiy,
2018).
Technological Factors The company is dealing with the technological issues such as
software programming issues which caused the outages in the
market of Australia. The company has the opportunity to bring the
changes to the effective use of the technology, software's,
communication techniques and many others (Sousa and Tan, 2015).
Environmental Factors Vodafone Australia ensures that they are able to meet all the social
obligations which provide the benefit to them.
Legal factors The change in the legal factors might affect the working of the
business. Vodafone company ensures that are able to meet all the
legal obligations.
Market Analysis and Strategies
This sector of the report includes the market segmentation, targeting, and positioning of the
company. The marketing strategies of the company help the company in accomplishing the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 10
objectives. Vodafone strategy related to the Segmentations, targeting, and positioning are
discussed below: -
Segmentation
This is the process of breaking the buyers into the various small groups to whom the company is
offering its product (Samiee, Chabowski, and Hult, 2015). Vodafone Australia segments the
market on the basis of the Demographic, behavioral and physiographic segmentation.
Demographic: - Company segment the people on the basis of age, income, and another factor.
The company offers its services to people with the age group of 18+ to 60+ with the all the
income group people.
Behavioural: - This segment shows the behavior of the customers towards the product and
services offered by the company. This has been observed by the people that there are numerous
customers who make use of the products on the frequent basis (Lovelock, 2011). Moreover, the
Australian people like the brand and their products and services.
Psychographics: - The fact is that the Australian standard of living is high and well maintained
due to which the company can bring the changes in the plans that they are offering to their
customers. The company can form different kind’s rates as well as traffic plans in the Australian
market.
Targeting
The target market is the group of customers to whom the company focuses on offering its
products and services. The company makes use of the multi-segment marketing strategy in which
they target all the markets (Kurtz and Boone, 2012). Vodafone will offer the services to every

Marketing Strategy and Plan 11
market segment and the company will offer the quality products and services at the comfortable
and affordable prices to their customers. Age is one of the most important factors in the telecom
sector and company target different group with the major emphasis on the age group of 18-25
years. Considering the lifestyle of the people along with the needs Vodafone can bring the
numerous traffic plans which will help them in satisfying the needs of the customer. These
strategies will future help the company in achieving the objectives.
Positioning
The positioning of the company can be defined as the image of the company in the eyes of the
customers. The company needs to make use of the effective strategy to form the positioning in
the market of Australia (Kurtz and Boone, 2012). The company needs to form the proper
offering to its customers by maintaining a proper pricing strategy and with technology upgraded
products. This will help the company informing the strong image in the Australian market. The
effective image of the brand market is possible with the customer satisfaction. Though, the
presence of the competitors in the market affects the positioning of the company because every
competitor wants to prove that they are offering effective services to their customers.
Market Needs
Vodafone offers a wide range of products and services that include voice, messaging, data and
fixed-line solutions and devices to support the end-users in fulfilling their total communication
needs. The company seeks to meet the needs of the customers available in the market.
 Improved packages: - The customer wants to improve packages of internet services
which will meet their requirement for the products.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 12
 Innovative voice and messaging services: - Customers find different similar services in
the market due to which they want to get something innovative. The company provides
them value as they focus on pricing and innovation in bundles of voice and text services.
Market Trends
The trends of the market are dynamic and keep changing with the change in the fast-moving
environment. Vodafone Telecom Company adopts the strategy in which adapts to be fit to, shape
and a fast-moving environment. The consistency in the commitment is to bring differentiation
through investment in the company (Vodafone, 2013).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 13
(Source: Vodafone, 2013)
The above image reflects the rise in the trends reflects the rise in the users of the service
available in the market.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 14
Market Growth
The demand for the mobile services is increasing continuously in the market. In the past 5 years,
the number of users has increased by an average of 14% every year because of the rise in the
living standard of the people. According to the data, in the year 2012, 93% of the world’s
population had mobile phone whereas 10 years ago the number was only 18% (Vodafone, 2013).
The growth of the users increased majorly in the developing countries like China, India, and
Africa. The result is that around 73% of the mobile phone users now come from emerging
markets comparing it to 60% in the year 2007 (Vodafone, 2013).
SWOT analysis
Strength
 Transparency: - The transparency in the operations of the business is one of the effective
ways through which the company can make the company believe on the prices that are
charged by the company from their customers (Vodafone, 2013).
 Tough competition: - Company is giving the tough competition as it is looking to take
leadership in growing Internet of things space.
 Products: - Company offer the wide range of products in the market.
Weakness
 Lack of communication: - The lack of communication and coordination among the staff
of the company was another issue which affected the company.
 Customer Issues: - Company is not able to satisfy the needs of the customers due to
which many customers visited for registering issues and complaints related to the
network.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 15
Opportunity
 Collaboration: - Company has the opportunity to form the collaboration with other
companies, investors, and agencies that help to accomplish the objective.
 Expansion: - Vodafone has the opportunity to expand the business in the market.
Threats
 Competition: - The rise in the competition in the market is one of the biggest threats to
the company.
 Regulatory pressure: - Vodafone might face the threat of the regulatory pressure in the
market.
Product offering
Vodafone company offer different products which include: -
 Handsets
 Smartphones
 Vodafone branded handsets
 Voice and messaging services
 Others
Key to success
The company is recognized in the market and largest retailers who believe in offering different
and unique services. The company helps the customers to choose their best device and price plan
for their requirement complex data-centric environment. The key to the success of the company
is the best device and price plan (Vodafone, 2013).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 16
Critical issues
The competition in the market is major issues which are faced by the company. This leads to the
huddle for the company due to which the company is not able to expand their business operations
in numerous companies. The company should listen to their customer properly and acknowledge
their queries and issues which huddles the growth of the business.
Tactical Plans (4Ps)
The tactical plan includes the marketing mix strategies of the company. This is the effective
strategies for the company which is required to be evaluated by the Vodafone Australia for
making the proper marketing plan that helps the company in achieving the position (Goryushkina
et.al, 2016).
Product
Vodafone Australia believes in providing the wide range of the services to their customers after
considering the needs of the clients available in the market. The company offers the prepaid and
post-paid services along with the value-added services which include instant balance inquiry,
caller tunes, and instant 24 hours recharge facility and many others. In addition, the company
ensures that there are delivering delight experience to their customers in which they are
providing updates through SMS 24x7 (Vodafone, 2016). In the near future, the company will
develop more innovative services with the help of the advanced technology. This clearly reflects
that the company makes use of the diversification strategy for their business (Hultman, Katsikeas
and Robson, 2011).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 17
Price
The Vodafone Australia requires developing an effective pricing strategy that leads to the
competitive advantage for the company. The high competition in the telecommunication sector
in Australia makes the company follow the competitive pricing strategy. The company offers an
option of making my pack through which the customers can make their own plan which leads to
customer satisfaction (Ingenbleek and Van der Lans, 2013). Though, considering the current
scenario the company need to develop the strategy that helps the company in generating the high
revenue which contributes to accomplishing the objective.
Place
Vodafone penetration in the Australia market is very remarkable as the services and network
which is identified in the different locations across Australia. The company has its stores, outlets
and service stations through which the company offer its services and provide the support to their
customers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). The telecommunication market is maintained by the
company in a different area which includes 3g mobile sputum, mobile broadband and 4g mobile
sputum. This shows that the company offers its wide variety in the wide range of the market. The
customers can buy the services easily which means it is easily accessible to the customers.
Promotion
The company makes use of the aggressive marketing strategy in which they make use of the
traditional and social media marketing (Mathews, et al 2016). The company makes use of both
the ways to communicate the benefits and services that they are offering to the customers of
Australia.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 18
 Advertisement: - Company makes use of advertisement as a tool for promotion through
which they promote the products through print media, commercial advertisement and
many others in the market of Australia.
 Digital marketing: - The digital marketing is also used by the company in which they
generate the awareness of product through social media channels, online marketing, and
others. The company should make use of the effective use of the social media channels
because this will help them in accomplishing the objective of the company.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 19
Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that the report includes the challenges that are faced by the
company along with the suggestion to bring the improvement in the operations of the company.
The objective of Vodafone Australia can be achieved with the implementation of effective
strategies of the company. The situational analysis reflects the evaluation of the current market in
which the company is operating its business. The recommendations for the same has been shared
which will further support the company to accomplish the objective. The STP strategies of the
company will lead to the employee’s satisfaction which contributes to improve position and
revenue of the company. The tactical plans include the 4ps strategy of the company in the
Australian market which helps the smooth operations of a business in the market.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 20
References
Blackwell, R. and Eppler, D. (2014) An Approach to Strategic Situation Analysis: Using Models
as Analytical Tools. Journal of Global Business Management, 10(1), p.80.
Cateora, P., Gilly, M. and Graham, J. (2013) International marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill
Irwin.
Chernev, A. (2018) Strategic marketing management. Chicago:Cerebellum Press.
Dudovskiy, J. (2018) Vodafone PEST Analysis [Online]. Available from: https://research-
methodology.net/vodafone-pest-analysis/ [Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Goryushkina, N.Y., Shkurkin, D.V., Petrenko, A.S., Demin, S.Y. and Yarovaya, N.S. (2016)
Marketing management in the sphere of hotel and tourist services. International Review of
Management and Marketing, 6(6S).
Harpur, P. (2018) Australia - Telco Company Profiles - Telstra, Optus and Vodafone [Online].
Available from: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Australia-Telco-Company-Profiles-
Telstra-Optus-and-Vodafone [Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Hultman, M., Katsikeas, C.S. and Robson, M.J. (2011) Export promotion strategy and
performance: the role of international experience. Journal of International Marketing, 19(4),
pp.17-39.
Ingenbleek, P.T. and Van der Lans, I.A. (2013) Relating price strategies and price-setting
practices. European Journal of Marketing, 47(1/2), pp.27-48.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of marketing. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 21
Kurtz, D. and Boone, L. (2012) Principles of contemporary marketing. Australia: Southwestern
Cengage Learning.
Lovelock, C. (2011) Services marketing: People, technology, strategy. India: Pearson Education.
Mathews, S., Bianchi, C., Perks, K.J., Healy, M. and Wickramasekera, R. (2016). Internet
marketing capabilities and international market growth. International Business Review, 25(4),
pp.820-830.
Samiee, S., Chabowski, B.R. and Hult, G.T.M. (2015) International relationship marketing:
Intellectual foundations and avenues for further research. Journal of International
Marketing, 23(4), pp.1-21.
Sousa, C.M. and Tan, Q. (2015) Exit from a foreign market: do a poor performance, strategic fit,
cultural distance, and international experience matter?. Journal of International
Marketing, 23(4), pp.84-104.
Vodafail (2018) Vodafone's situation: yesterday, today and tomorrow [Online]. Available from:
http://www.vodafail.com/VodafonesSituationYesterdayTodayandTomorrow-Final.pdf
[Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2013) Adapting in a dynamic market [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com/content/annualreport/annual_report13/overview/market-trends.html
[Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2013) Industry trends [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com/content/annualreport/annual_report13/downloads/industry_trends.pdf
[Accessed on 31st May 2018]

Marketing Strategy and Plan 22
Vodafone (2013) Strategy [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com/content/annualreport/annual_report13/downloads/strategy.pdf
[Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2018) About Vodafone Hutchison Australia [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com.au/about/company [Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2018) Our vision [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com/content/sustainabilityreport/2014/index/our_vision_and_approach/
our_vision.html [Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2018) See the world with Vodafone [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vodafone.com.au/plans/international-roaming [Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone (2018) Vision, mission and values [Online]. Available from:
http://vodafoneintegratedreport.html5magazine.nl/2012_2013_en/vision_mission_and_values
[Accessed on 31st May 2018]
Vodafone.com.au. (2016) Mobile Phones, Tablets, Broadband Plans | Vodafone Australia.
[Online] Available from: https://www.vodafone.com.au/ [Accessed on 31st May 2018].

Marketing Strategy and Plan 23

Marketing Strategy and Plan 24
Appendix
Appendix 1
5Cs analysis
Company: - This is the important element which provides the analysis of the organization vision,
strategies, capabilities, technology, and other objectives.
Customers: - Customers is a key part of the situational analysis as it involves the target audience,
their behavior, market growth, and size, buying patterns, average purchase size, and retail
channels.
Competitors: - The competitor’s analysis helps the companies in understanding the external
environment that affects the company and its operations. This analysis results in the evaluation
of the strength, weakness, positioning, market share and other aspect related to the competitors
of the company.
Collaboration: - Collaborators are the external stakeholders who form the connection with the
organization for the mutually benefits of the partnership.
Climate: - This framework is used for the analysis external factors that can create the impact on
the working of the company.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 25