Marketing and its Application: EE Limited and Competitor Analysis

This report delves into the marketing strategies of EE Limited, a major UK mobile network operator, and its competitors. It begins by exploring the application of the extended marketing mix elements (product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence) by EE Limited and Virgin Mobile to achieve their business objectives. The report provides an overview of EE Limited, including a situational analysis using SWOT and PESTLE analyses to assess internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. A marketing plan for EE Limited is developed, including segmentation, targeting, positioning, tactics, budget, and control measures. The report concludes with a discussion of how to monitor and control marketing practices to ensure the effectiveness of the strategies and achieve long-term business success. References to relevant academic sources support the analysis.

MARKETING AND ITS APPLICATION
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.............................................................................................................................................3
Covered in PPT............................................................................................................................3
TASK 2.............................................................................................................................................3
2A)....................................................................................................................................................3
How EE limited and other competitor apply the various elements of the extended marketing
mix to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives?.....................................3
2B)....................................................................................................................................................6
Company Overview.....................................................................................................................6
Situational Analysis.....................................................................................................................6
Objectives....................................................................................................................................9
Strategy........................................................................................................................................9
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning..................................................................................10
Tactics and Action.....................................................................................................................11
Budget........................................................................................................................................11
Control.......................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing is regarded as an important activity of the organization which focuses on
promoting the products and services at market place with effective strategies and techniques. The
process of marketing helps the business entity to grab the attention of customers and through
this, competitive advantage can also be acquired prominently (Pike, 2015). Thus, in this respect
the present research study has been made on EE Limited which is a mobile phone company
operating business in UK. In the study, discussion has been made regarding the concept of
marketing considering current and future trends. Moreover, researcher has also described roles
and responsibilities of marketing manager at EE Limited and how it assists the entity to enhance
the value of marketing concept.
Furthermore, discussion has also been included regarding the elements of extended
marketing mix and how it aids in meeting marketing and business objectives. Marketing plan for
EE limited is also developed in the research study including current marketing situation analysis
(through applying PEST and SWOT analysis). Along with this, marketing strategies of EE
Limited in different contexts is also stated in the present research report. Lastly, researcher has
discussed the ways through which practices under marketing process should be monitored and
controlled.
TASK 1
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
2A)
How EE limited and other competitor apply the various elements of the extended marketing mix
to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives?
In the process of marketing, EE Limited needs to involve all the extended elements so
that defined aims and objectives of the business can be accomplished. The application of all the
elements are discussed in the below section:
 Product: The major product of EE Limited should be mobile instruments of different
companies; hence in such respect the business has to make sure that quality products are
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being sold to the consumers (McDaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2012). This can only assist in
meeting the changing requirements of the clients. Quality products can only differentiate
EE Limited with its competitors.
 Price: Pricing strategies of EE Limited should be focused on purchasing needs of the
clients so that they can purchase mobile products. Regarding this, the business entity
should emphasize on promoting numerous products ranging from basic to luxury. This
 Place: In contemporary scenario, all the business entities focuses on selling the products
through online sources; therefore in this respect EE Limited should also place the
products on online sources so that products can be conveniently sold to the end users
(Dibb and Simkin, 2013).
 Promotion: In order to promote the mobile products, EE Limited is required to focus on
marketing strategies. This will not only entice the customers; but also it will generate
awareness among people regarding variety of mobile products. This is the best way of
promoting the business products and services.
 People: People are regarded as the most important sources of the organization as they
manage the tasks and activities. Hence in EE Limited as well, people (human resources)
have to play crucial role in delivering the services to the end users (Babin and Zikmund,
2015).
 Process: To deliver mobile products to the clients, EE Limited should ensure that they
are following systematic procedure in manufacturing and delivering mobile products for
the customers.
 Physical evidence: Physical evidence shows that the company exists; henceforth for
such aspect, EE Limited is required to accentuate on delivering tangible and intangible
services to the clients. In terms of tangible services, EE Limited should focus on
delivering quality and suitable products to the clients as per their needs; however under
intangible services, EE Limited should focus on better customer services and after sales
services. Both plays crucial role in satisfying and retaining the clients.
Thus, from the entire discussion it is evident that EE Limited has to apply all the
elements of marketing as per the objectives of the company so that long term benefits and
success facets can be encouraged (Baines, Fill and Page, 2013). While developing marketing
plan, the mobile company should ensure that customers are positively perceiving the brand and
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utility of the products. On the contrary, Virgin mobile company has been focusing on this
concept as a part of business process. This not only aids in persuading the clients; but also assist
in meeting the changing requirements of the end users.
 Product: At the initial stage, Virgin mobile company used to operate as a prepaid service
provider which also helped the firm to enhance the revenue level. Thus, in this respect,
the company offers a line-up of feature phone which are mid – range priced for
customers. Regarding this, Virgin mobiles have all categories of mobile instruments
ranging from basic to smartphones. All the mobile phones have numerous applications
and Virgin also offers a package of services which includes exclusive member access
(Purvis, 2016).
 Price: The prices of the mobile products are affordable and can be purchased by middle
class people. This helps Virgin mobile company to get maximum attention from the
customers due to availability of different products and services. Thus, with the help of
affordable prices, the company is able to acquire maximum market share.
 Place: Place mix shows that business entity is delivering the products through
convenient places; hence in this response Virgin mobile company deliver products
through the source of online modes (Brady, 2014). This aids the customer segment to
order to products online and the business entity delivers the product right at customer’s
doorstep. This is one such aspect through which customer satisfaction facets can be
encouraged. However, on the other hand, Virgin mobile also has several retail stores
wherein people sells the products to the clients as per the demands.
 Promotion: Promotion plays crucial role in the organization because that aids in
promoting and advertising mobile products among the customer segment. In respect to
promotional strategy, Virgin mobile company ensures that quality and requisite aspects
are being included in promotion strategy. This can encourage customer base of the
organization and as a result, more competitive advantage can be created. Further, it can
be said that promotional strategies should be highly effective because that underpins
marketing decisions of Virgin mobile company (Lane, 2016).
 People: People are the staff members of Virgin mobile company who play crucial role in
delivering prominent services to the clients as per their interest. It has been observed that
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staff members of Virgin mobile company emphasizes on delivering better services to the
clients so that they can be retained for longer time span.
 Process: Process shows that business entity has adopted appropriate way of
manufacturing and distributing the products to the end users. With the help of adequate
focus on process element, Virgin mobile company can eradicate the opportunities of
issues in the business processes (Wirtz, 2012).
 Physical evidence: In terms of physical evidence, it can be said that Virgin mobile
company has established its store as a large business entity so that to inform the
customers about the availability of new mobile products. In this respect, Virgin mobile
also focuses on delivering several benefits to the clients along with the services.
2B)
Company Overview
EE Limited is a British mobile network operator that has several services related to
mobile amenities, internet service. It is a division of BT group and it was established in the year
2010 as a joint venture between Deutsche Telecom and Orange S.A. EE Limited is also
considered as a largest mobile network operator in UK which has revenue of around 28 million
pounds. It serves to 30 million customers as it is the largest operator of 4G services in Europe
(Silver and et.al., 2012). EE owns and operates national 2G, 3G and 4G mobile phone networks
in the UK. It has around 700 retail outlets across the country; thus it is clear that customer base
of the company is expanding at the same time. EE's 4G network along with its nationwide
marketing campaign and store re-branding was also launched in the year 2012. However, EE had
early problems and issues of no signal across both its 3G and 4G networks with senior EE staff.
Situational Analysis
Internal analysis
Internal analysis has been conducted with the help of analysing all the internal factors
that affects the business practices of EE Limited. In this respect, SWOT analysis has been
conducted for identification of the internal business scenario. With the help of SWOT,
appropriate strategies can be developed to manage business practices and operations.
Strengths Weaknesses
 Advanced digital communication  Brand recall is very weak.
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company (Reynoso, 2013)
 More than 27 million customers are
under its existence.
 The business has largest coverage,
including biggest 3G network across
the UK
 Large number of retail stores in UK
 It has initiated 4G services for the
customers before any other entity
(Kongstvedt, 2012).
 It serves customers through its
network of mobile phone retail stores.
 Huge availability of competition
 EE Limited is mainly targeting the
business segment; hence it is losing its
existing customer base.
 Inappropriate business activities in
global market place.
Opportunities Threats
 It has the opportunity to grow more in
telecommunication industry
 Great platform of B2B business
growth especially with its 4G services.
 People are using mobile phone on
higher extent; therefore EE Limited
has the possibility to prosper more in
competitive market place (Stahlberg
and Maila, 2013).
 Opportunity to have ownership in
increased smartphone.
 As a leader of 4G service, it can
enhance its revenue aspects.
 Development opportunities through
post-pay contracts.
 Enhanced amount of IT attacks on
mobile phones can affect customers
from using the data functions on their
handsets and as a result, it will
significantly impede the company’s
growth and profit margin (Illing and
Anders, 2016).
 Introduction of several applications
for mobile instruments can
considerably minimize the use of
voice services delivered by EE
Limited.
 Future growth potential of 4G may
lead to concentrated competition
which can affect the existing market
share of the mobile company.
 However, competition may increase
from the potential rivalries such as
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Vodafone group plc, O2, Hutchinson
and Telefonica UK Ltd (Siu, 2012).
External analysis
In order to analyse the external environment of EE Limited, PESTLE analysis has been
conducted. Through this, focus has been laid on contemporary aspects that affects the business
practices.
 Political factors: Areas that are far away from urban centres face many issues and
challenges due to mobile network and this is another significant problem for EE Limited.
The UK government has also examined several issues in this respect (Mittal, 2014).
Government of UK as well as Ofcom both have collaboration and they are together
investing amount on providers for amending the network coverage in non- urban areas.
In this respect, EE Limited is also required to emphasize on political framework for
managing business practices.
 Economic factors: Last several years in UK were considered a period of decline for EE
Limited as well because government’s action plan were insignificant for the business
entities. However, the customers of UK have the purchasing power to buy the products
of EE Limited; thus it can be said that it is a positive factor for the business entity. In this
respect, the business also needs to emphasize on the policies of European Union so that
economic issues of the business can be eradicated (Astuti and et.al., 2013).
 Sociocultural factors: Needs and preferences of customers have been changing widely;
therefore it is vital for EE Limited to focus more on socio-cultural factors. This can also
assist the business entity to meet the requirements of customers. As a result, it will also
help in enhancing brand awareness and customer loyalty. Several new applications and
features needs to be added in the service provision so that large number of customers can
be enticed towards mobile services.
 Technological factors: The concept of marketing needs to be associated with
technological facets so that effective services can be delivered to the clients. In this
respect, it can be said that EE Limited has been continuously focusing on technological
facets so as to bring new mobile products at the market place (Dioko, 2016). Thus, in
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this respect EE Limited should ensure that data services are prominently delivered to the
end users.
 Environmental factors: According to Ofcom, there are noticeable environmental factors
and constraints that should be considered in telecom industry. This can be classified to
the production and usage of the handsets.
 Legal factors: EE Limited is focusing on legal dimensions because that assists the
business entity to emphasize on all sorts of legal framework. Under legal aspects,
roaming rates have periodically degraded and it is also predicted that it will be removed
by the year 2017 (Arguello, 2013).
Henceforth, from the entire discussion it is evident that EE Limited has been focusing on
social and environmental factors on higher extent so as to enhance their reach. This not only
amends customer satisfaction rate; but also aids in enhancing business success and growth
facets.
Objectives
 After reviewing and measuring the present telecom industry as well as conducting
internal analysis of EE Limited another step in the marketing plan is to formulate
objectives for the cited firm.
 The marketing objectives must be SMART objectives that can be easily accomplish by
the company to sustain its position in the competing market (Wirtz, Tuzovic and
Kuppelwieser, 2014). The key marketing objective of cited firm is to promote and
advertise the new “HD broadband with 4G network” of EE Limited to the customers so
that they can purchase their services.
 Along with this, another objective of the cited telecom company is to increase their
customer base through delivering quality services in terms of their speed and reliability.
 On the other hand, the last marketing objective of EE Limited is to introduce their new
technologies related with WAP and services so that they can easily meet the requirement
of their users.
Strategy
Through devising the above objectives of EE Limited another step in the marketing plan
is to devise the strategies so that cited firm can easily accomplish the above stated objectives.
The marketing strategy must be for short time period so that it may easily contribute in executing
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the objective of company as the customers’ needs and requirement keeps on changing. The
management must also focuses on devising effective marketing tactics and strategies so that it
may directly supports in accomplishing the objectives (Foxall, 2014). The foremost strategy to
achieve the marketing objective of enhancing the promotion of their “HD broadband with 4G
network” is that company must engage in aggressive advertisement and promotional activities
related with marketing through social media sites or creating web page of the company so that
they can effective promote and advertise their new products and services.
On the other hand, marketing strategy must also focuses on conducting the promotional
event by EE Limited so that they can easily advertise their new “HD broadband with 4G
network” among the customers and showcase their features and reliability so that users can
engage in purchasing the 4G services (Mihart, 2012). Another objective is to increase their
customer base by delivering quality of services in terms of their reliability and speed. For
accomplishing this objective cited company must engage in setting new mobile fare so that
customers get attracted towards it that is they must set low price for their 4G mobile services so
that it may easily target the lower income and middle income customers to acquire their mobile
services. On the other hand, last marketing objective is to introduce their services related with
WAP so that they can easily meet the requirement of their users. For this, company must focuses
on setting their authorized store in the different region so that they meet the requirement and
need of their customers (Al-Hasan, Thomas and Mansour, 2016).
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
 As per the criteria of segmentation, EE Limited will be emphasizing on youngsters with
middle income group who prefer to buy smartphones. Since, changes are observed in the
lifestyle of youngsters; therefore it is crucial for EE Limited to emphasize on suitable
segmentation criteria.
 In order to target mobile products among youngsters, EE Limited will be emphasizing on
concentrated targeting strategy which focuses on marketing efforts for specific and
defined market segment (Xingang, Jiaoli and Bei, 2013). The strategy is highly
significant for achieving competitive advantage through analysing the needs of customers
subsequently. Hence, within limited resources, EE Limited can execute the strategy in
business practices.
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 Apparently, customers are active on social media; hence this leads them to grab
knowledge on diverse products and services. Thus, looking towards this aspect EE
Limited will be emphasizing on promotional strategies to position its product at the
market place. At the same time, emphasis will be laid on pricing element in which
affordable prices are set for the customers (Dioko, 2016). This will also enhance
customer base and satisfaction aspects.
Tactics and Action
EE limited will target young segment of the market with the help of concentrated
targeting strategy. This determines the tactics and actions that will be undertaken by the firm to
reach its target market. Youth marketing will be the most important tactic that will be utilized by
EE Limited. This will comprise of use of student media such as school newspapers. The
announcements and offers can be sent by the company directly on the mobile phones of the
young customers. As the younger segment of the market is impulsive and their attention span is
short, the company will adopt the tactic of making a quick pitch (Dibb and Simkin, 2013).
Further, the actions of the chosen mobile operator will also comprise of making the most
use of social media. This is because the young people are highly active on social media sites and
frequently use their phones for comparing prices and features of products and services. Lastly,
the chosen organization can adopt the tactic of organizing a social event in order to reach its
target market. All the actions and tactics will support the concentrated targeting strategy that the
organization plans to adopt. The promotional message can thus be specifically communicated to
the young customers.
Budget
In order to execute the plan, EE Limited needs to develop a budget so that all the
activities can be performed under the determined budget (Brady, 2014). As per several activities
and practices, EE limited will allocate resources among the product.
Activities Amount (in pounds)
Market scanning 200
Product advertisement 300
Retail outlets 100
Marketing campaign 500
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Fees to HR resources 200
Rent of the place 400
Survey procedure 300
Total 2000
Control
All the activities mentioned in the marketing plan should be properly controlled and
monitored so that the opportunities of modification can be found out. At the same time,
controlling is essential so that to assess the performance of the marketing plan (Babin and
Zikmund, 2015). It is essential for EE Limited to ensure that the developed plan is working
according to the determined aims and objectives as that can only enhanced the possibilities of
success and prosperity.
CONCLUSION
Concluding the entire research work, it is evident that marketing is a core element that
should be conducted as per organizational strategies and objectives. The success and prosperity
of business is dependent on marketing activities and processes; thus EE Limited has to ensure
that all the practices are optimally managed. The study has also made it clear that marketing
activities should be associated with business aims and objectives so that it can create competitive
edge over the rivalries. Along with this, it has also been analysed that business issues can be
properly addressed through having appropriate focus on organizational activities and processes.
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