Marketing Communication Plan for BMW Series 3 in the UK

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Marketing Communication
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning concept.....................................................................3
Marketing Mix concept..............................................................................................................4
Analysis of the specific product and profiling of the target market and segmentation, targeting
and position................................................................................................................................5
Effectiveness of the marketing communications tools of that chosen organisation..................7
Strategic marketing communication plan to market the product in the UK – SOSTAC
MODEL......................................................................................................................................8
Control......................................................................................................................................11
Strategic marketing communication plan to market the product in the UK – Push and Pull
Strategy....................................................................................................................................12
Strategic marketing communication plan to market the product in the UK – Innovation and
adoption model.........................................................................................................................13
Evaluation how all the elements of Communication Process do apply within the global
context......................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................16
Reference List..........................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Marketing communication techniques are a set of concepts that need to be applied in
coherence, so that it is possible to use persuasive techniques towards the target audience and
make them attracted to invest in the product or service. Through a set of activities that are
related to the concepts of public relations, branding advertising and promotion and
maintenance of customer relationship the process of marketing communication is conducted.
Through effective marketing techniques and earning of customer satisfaction, a business is
able to thrive. The United Kingdom luxury car sector is very competitive and there is need to
apply all theories of marketing in trying to promote the product for lucrative gains.
Marketing communication deals with sales promotion of any specific product that ensures
through integrated communication it is possible to market its product in the specific target
market. This report will be highlighting various areas of the marketing process like the
marketing mix in order to explain the product range of the selected luxury car organisation
along with its segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy. This report will focus on the
Market communication plan of BMW and how it is trying to; effectively promote its
products even in this competitive scenario.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning concept
Segmentation targeting and position are vital aspects of the marketing plan and its application
is wide. It is involved in dividing the large automobile market of United Kingdom and helps
in the choice of strategy associated with the way to compete in the market. The STP
determines the marketing mix related decision.
Figure-1- STP and marketing Mix
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(Source: Camilleri, 2018). )
Segmentation: This is the process of splitting the market into smaller segments, so that
similar groups with similar needs can be catered to with more focus. Market segmentation is
a very effective strategy that is associated with dividing the larger market on small portion
based on factors like demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioural patterns
(Camilleri, 2018).
Targeting: This is associated with proactive selection of potential markets, so that the firm
can provide full attention through offers and attractions to lure customers to become brand
loyal. This helps in the concentration on the demands of a homogeneous customer group.
Positioning: It is the perception that is built by the company in the mind of the consumer, so
that the consumer prefers the company’s product above the competitor’s products.
Marketing Mix concept
Marketing communication is part of the promotional strategy of the organisation. The
various tactics are employed to ensure that the brand value is enhanced in every way. The
seven Ps of the marketing mix comprises of the strategies linked to product, price, place,
promotion, process, people, promotion and physical evidence. The promotional part of the
marketing mix is associated with the marketing communication part. The product and the
price are also associated with the market communication as they are reflective of the product
range that BMW series 3 has been able to put forward.
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Figure 2: The 7p’s of Marketing Mix
(Source: Bačík, Štefko& Gburová, 2014).)
Analysis of the specific product and profiling of the target market and segmentation,
targeting and position
The product that is being selected in this case is the BMW series 3 F30 sedan collection.
BMW is a multinational automobile company that has a huge product range and not all the
products are for all the consumers. However, it serves the niche segment only.
Majorly it focuses on segmenting the market on the lines of demographic, psychographic,
behavioural aspects. The geographical context here is only the automobile market of United
Kingdom. In the demographical segmentation, the focus is on all genders and on the high
earning segment group customers of age group between 30 to 35 years old professional. In
the psychographic division, the focus is on lifestyle-focused consumers who is status
conscious in every way and is keen to adopt the high achiever’s lifestyle. On the behavioural
front, the focus the consumer has to be an ambition oriented individual who wants to make it
big. . The major segmentation that is being catered to in the case of this specific product
range of BMW series 3 is the one who is seeking a lifestyle of a young achieving
professional. In the context of the psychographic segmentation, there is the focus on the
“VALS” types. This category is associated with Value and Lifestyle oriented segment. In
this segment, there is a lot of consumers who are oriented towards the value of the product
and are conscious about their lifestyle (Burgess, 2017).
The target segment is the achievement conscious consumer, but those consumers who are not
generating enough money to go for the Series 7 of BMW. BMW only caters to the niche;
luxury car segment and is known for its effective pricing strategies and thus the consumer
segment is focused on this as well. The target segment is associated with only age groups
between 30 to 40 years. The advertisements associated were fast paced, edgy as the target
was a relatively younger consumer segment.
The positioning that is associated with this product is that it is associated with cars that can
project a highflying bachelors’ life. This is the reason the advertisement content is youth
centric for the series 3 product range. The position was oriented at making it youthful and
hence associated content was fast paced, edgy as the target was a relatively younger
consumer segment of United Kingdom market. It has positioned itself as an aspiration-
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High
Quality
Low Quality
Lower PriceHigh Price
BMW and series 3
oriented model. The young professional who is earning huge sums of money and who is not
married would need this kind of a product in order to establish his style and purpose. The
perceptual map below reflects the positioning strategy adopted by BMW and the positioning
strategy of the series 3 and of F 30 is as follows :
The advertisements associated were fast paced, edgy as the target was a relatively younger
consumer segment.
Figure 3: Perceptual Map
(Source: Created by the learner)
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Effectiveness of the marketing communications tools of that chosen organisation
Marketing communications are done with many tools and channels in order to promote the
products. The chosen organisation BMW which has effective marketing communication tools
and channels in place in order to persuade consumers to choose their products over their
competitors’ products. Appropriate channel and mode of delivery are essential in order to get
an edge over the competitor (Shen et al., 2016). The following means of marketing
communications used by BMW and their effectiveness is discussed below:
 Media Advertisements: This is a paid form of advertisement in many channels like
newspapers, television, radio and digital and social media. The attainment of
maximum visibility is more important in a cost efficient way so that the products
value can be enhanced (Sozinova & Fokina,2015). This is the strategy that the
organisation has in the case of the Series 3 F 30 digital marketing has been focused
upon, so that the well-informed consumers associated with health and life style can be
attracted.
 Direct marketing- This involves interacting with customers directly. This can be
done in the showrooms by allowing consumers to try sample drives and this is a very
personalised approach. Personal selling techniques of relationship-based marketing
can also be deployed. In this way, BMW is able to promote the product in a major
way through creation of personalised services to the consumer.
 Interactive/internet marketing- Marketing communication is majorly happening
through the net in the current times and the reason behind this is that more and more
consumers have become dependent on e- commerce platforms. In order to make their
purchase decisions they rely on the internet and that is the reason to employ more
time and money on the resources that target internet based promotion (Karjaluoto,
Mustonen & Ulkuniemi, 2015).
 Sales promotion- There are sales promotion oriented communication techniques in
the form of discounts and coupons that are provided in order to ensure that the
consumer is interested in trying the selected product that is getting promoted. BMW
uses innovative sales promotion tactics such as using the cars in Bond movies through
collaborative effort and making short films that are used in a major way.
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 Publicity/Public relations- Through this tool of communication BMW promotes its
products. This establishes good relations with consumers and the intermediaries and
promotes the product for B2B and B2C channel.
The effectiveness of the marketing communication tools are associated with the factors
like stimulating interest in the consumer, promoting the brand, ensuring that consumer
behaviour turns towards purchase of the product. In the end, the objective is to ensure
that trust of the consumer is earned and the brand gets positive visibility. BMW uses
innovative sales promotion tactics such as using the cars in movies through collaborative
effort and making short films that are used in a major way.
The most important criteria that BMW wants to meet is that through effective marketing
communication, it wants to generate a loyal customer base in this competition centric
luxury car market of United Kingdom.
Strategic marketing communication plan to market the product in the UK – SOSTAC
MODEL
The SOSTAC model is being used in order to build an effective marketing communication
plan. The SOSTAC model is being used on formulating the digital communication plan of
BMW as because the company has been consciously moving away from traditional
marketing and focusing on digital mode.
SOSTAC Model
Figure-4- SOSTAC MODEL
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( Source- Koskinen,2016).
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Situation analysis (S)
BMW already has a very well developed e- commerce framework and as the luxury car
industry is trying to become more and more competitive, this is becoming a very lucrative
mode to promote the products. In the case of BMW, there is already a lot of headway made in
the process, so that the consumer can access the products and can gather knowledge through
this mode and the trend is already reflecting growth. The organisation has realised that there
is tremendous amount of disposal income that is held by the young professional and that is
the focus of the entire series 3 range of products.
Objectives (O)
 To enhance the sales by 10%
 To ensure that there is a proper track of the customers orders from which it is
possible to understand consumer preferences
 To reach out to the targeted and potential customers of the section and otherwise to
promote the products
Strategy(S)
BMW has developed multiple strategies. There is strong communication possible through
effective advertisement BMW and has opted for bold ad campaigns in the form of short films
that are streamed continuously in the internet. In the series 3 range, BMW is really giving
effort, by trying to associate the concept of young achiever’s lifestyle with the series 3 range.
It has gone out to make bold statements in order to attract the attention of the potential target
segment. This is a conscious strategy on the part of the company and the entire range of series
3 products is projected with all the new advantages that are available in the cars and the cool
chic look on the website in order to attract the aspirational consumer. BMW has initiated
several measures through effective analysis of the customer profiles and has spent huge sums
of money on a digital budget. Generating interest through mindboggling digital content is
something that the company has resorted to. There is also involvement of social media
platforms, so that the maximum publicity can be reached. The strategy has been to attract the
high end lifestyle craving young consumer.
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Tactics (T)
The tactics that the company is using is that it is collaborating with short film making ad
agencies and it has created short films like HIRE to attract the potential consumer. There is
also a strong presence of the company and the brand in all social media platforms with a help
of a dedicated team, which is focused on feeding stories and pictures and graphical content on
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube. This is a major tactic of persuasion, which the
organised car company is engaging in. In the context of their competitors, there is focus on
keeping high price as well. With convincing, attractive and compelling content, there is a
stream of attraction that is created. In order to achieve this there is a budgetary framework
created for a month long communication
Purpose Amount
Market Research Cost £2000
Creation of an customised Instagram Page £1700
Customised Content Marketing £20, 000
Creation of a customised Facebook Page £1900
Recruitment of professional experts for digital marketing £30,000
Total £55,600
Table1- Month long budget
(Source- Created By Learner)
Action (A)
The marketing managers of BMW, will be involved in the actions below in order to
effectively communicate about the innovative stylish series 3 product range in the house
through the digital mode.
 Conduct analysis of the potential market, in order to generate data that they use in
effective digital marketing to enhance sales. Creation of Instagram and Facebook page
 There needs to be enhanced focus on content marketing and the use of SEO is
necessary.
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 Recruitment of experts in digital marketing, so that the digital marketing is
effectively done.
Task Start date End Date
Market Research and Analysis 01/04/2019 15/06/2019
Customised Content Marketing 16/06/2019 2/09/2019
Customised Facebook Page 16/06/2019 28/06/2019
Customised Instagram Page 17/06/2019 25/06/2019
Hiring of digital experts 16/06/2019 Perpetual process
Table2- Initial Time plan
(Source- Created By Learner)
Control
After the plan has been executed the managers will be involved in the process of monitoring
the plan and evaluating the outcomes associated with the planning and execution. There will
be calculation of the return on the investment in order to understand the effectiveness of the
digital marketing plan and with software like the customer relationship management (CRM)
module, it shall be considered that how much improved is the condition of the direct sales.
After the effective expenditure is made and after a certain gestation period is passed .
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