Analysis of Mercedes-Benz Global Marketing Approaches and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Mercedes-Benz's global marketing strategies. It begins with an introduction to global marketing and its application to the automotive industry, specifically focusing on Mercedes-Benz. The report then delves into an internal analysis of the company, examining its resources, capabilities, and core competencies, including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A detailed product analysis follows, evaluating the relative advantages, compatibility, and complexity of Mercedes-Benz's offerings, including its car-sharing services. The report then explores market segmentation, including geographic and demographic strategies, and identifies the company's target market. It also examines product distribution and promotion strategies, including advertising and direct marketing, and provides a comparison with key competitors like BMW. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and highlighting the company's approach to government policies and market dynamics.

GLOBAL MARKETING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................1
The Company..............................................................................................................................1
Product........................................................................................................................................3
Market- .....................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Marketing activities of an organization are coordinated and integrated across the multiple
markets across the national boundaries. Coordination involves the competitive pricing, sales
campaigns and promotion market (Hollensen, 2015). And the integration involves the product
standardization, identifying brands, production introduction and advertising messages. There are
various global markets which involve the common consumers requirements and preferences
related to the lifestyle, taste and buying behaviour. This report is based on Mercedes company
which is car producer to providing the luxury cars in the global market. This company is
expanding its business into the various parts of the global market in future. It created a Croove
plan to establish in the urban markets in Europe that they are providing car sharing services that
allows Munich resident to rent their cars to each other. This report includes the company’s use of
the different global marketing approaches and strategies.
TASK
The Company
Mercedes Benz is global manufacturer organization, the brand known for its luxury
vehicles, buses and trucks. The vision of the company is power of innovation for the sustainable
mobility. The inventors of the business entity that are equally committed to protection of the
climate and the environment and the safety of the vehicles. The mission statements of the
organization to rejecting compromise, considering every detail, being environment sustainable
and a global company.
Internal analysis is a process to identifying an organization specific characteristics which
involved its- Company resources
 Capabilities
 Core competencies
An internal analysis uses the following elements such as enterprise vision, mission,
objectives and strategies (Messaoud, 2013). Resources are the main assets of any business entity
to carry out various work activities and business processes. Organization involves the following
basic resources in the process-
 Financial resources
 Human resources
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 Physical assets
 Intangible resources
 Structural cultural resources.
Mercedes resources must be processed or used in the many ways to get the high values for the
company (Terpstra, Foley and Sarathy, 2012). There are some resources that are the work as
input form the capabilities of the business. The capabilities of the firm create a coordination
between the organizational routines in the employees activities and the business processes
identify the efficiency and effectiveness of all that transforms the raw material into the finished
products.
The internal analysis includes the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to effect
on the firm in many ways. The company has own strengths in the market, and its own some
weaknesses.
Strengths Weaknesses
 This organization has a high brand
equity as one of the strongest brand in
the market.
 Use the drive train technology, good
interior features and best safety
system.
 Exceptional service quality
 Has the luxury/ expensive car
 Limited target the group
 High maintenance cost and less
mileage
 Expensive spare parts of the car.
Opportunities Threats
 Its developed the hybrid cars and fuel
efficient cars
 Tapping the emerging market across
the boundaries
 Fast growing luxury auto-mobile
market
 Increased income level
 Intense competition
 Improving prices of the fuel
 Investment in transportation by
public.
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Core competencies- Core competencies of the business create a value for the new skills
that shared in the many products lines or multiple businesses (XU and LIAO, 2012). It is an
internal sharing process that the company distinguished its core competencies are given below-
 Mercedes group capabilities created a fundamental building blocks for developing the
many core competencies that the organization have own process and work routine.
 Creating the new skills for developing the new capabilities.
 The core competencies increases the capabilities to contribute and to develop a certain
distinctive advantage.
Competitive advantage- There are some competitive advantages in the market to face by
Mercedes in the market. The organization capabilities that lead the competitive advantages in
today business environment may not continue as the different market condition changes.
Mercedes car has many competitors in the market such as BMW, Honda, Audi, Skoda and
Volkswagen to compete by its own capabilities in the marketplace.
Competitive advantages include the various strategies such as low cost strategy that
produce the goods the level is equal more in expensive. Differentiation provides the new values
can improve the perceived values of the customers towards the products. Focus cost leadership
includes high competition range and the customer segment will be focused on cheap prices of the
products.
International competitiveness- Mercedes Benz to compete the BMW in many years,
that rank in the third behind both its competitors (Papadopoulos and Martín Martín, 2011). This
company uses the many source of global competitive advantages in the international market.
Mercedes increases its market share to offering the standard products and provides the services
across the boundaries served only those customers who need the uniform across country. This
firm increased the price realization that tailoring its products to the preferences in the local
market and customer that the value delivered to them (Gaston-Breton and Martín Martín, 2011).
And thus the company neutralizing the local competitors in the market.
Product
Mercedes Benz is a big auto-mobile organization in the international market to provides
the luxury vehicles, trucks, buses etc. In the current business environment,s the company
provides a new service that is car sharing service that allows the Munich resident to give the rent
their cars to each other. It uses Croove services to share the car services. Some products
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manufactured by the business organization are Vans, trucks, buses, auto-mobile and luxury
vehicles. It produced many range of products like A, B, C, CLA, E, GLA and various classes in
their products.
Relative advantage- This advantage of the company of an innovation in the products to
give to the customers sees a new attribute in the products or better services than the existing
products and services. A firm customer sees the new products attributes is better than the old
products attributes. The relative advantage does not necessary the attributes is better, this means
that the company products features is based on the consumer perception and fulfil the needs and
wants. The advantage of Mercedes to give the cars on the rent is to give opportunities to many
people to drive the luxury cars on rent.
Compatibility- Mercedes create a compatibility to how the customer perceives the new
products and services into the life style choice. The company started a new service in car sharing
use by the Croove services to give the cars on the rent. When the products are closely matched
the consumer needs, choice, wants beliefs, values and the pattern of the consumptions. The
success of the company is to identify the consumer needs and produce the products according the
clients perception that they improved its own strength in the market. Mercedes provides the new
service to give cars on rent to the customers they fulfil its wants of the luxury car drive (Sunday
and Bayode, 2011). The compatibility is very important to the company to know what the
consumer perceives about the new services and products.
Complexity- Its creates something new with the innovation that the consumer considered
the new innovation utilize is very difficult to know the innovation in the products. Mercedes
innovation is high of the complexity that it will adopt the lower level of the adoption by the
customer in the market. If the enterprise products’ innovation is low in the complex than the
adoption is high by the customers and the marketers use the advantages to gain the profit on the
new products and services in the market (Nour and Almahirah, 2014). Complexity in the new
services is that there are many people who do not understand the cars functions because its
created by the high techniques that they have not used the all functions most of the time they
drive. Complexity affects on the profitability of the firm.
Market-
A market is a medium that allows the buyer and seller of products and services to interact
in order to exchange the facilitates. There are many various markets to exchange the goods and
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services in person (like shops, malls and virtual markets), and some other markets which do not
interact with the buyer and seller (like online markets).
Market segmentation basis- Mercedes use many marketing strategies for the market
segmentation, these strategies involve dividing the market to target the market into the many
subsets of customers have the common needs and the company designing the strategies and
implementation the all strategies to target the customers using different media channels (Harrison
and Kjellberg, 2010). Segmentation of the market to allow the company to create the new
products differentiation strategy to target the new customer. There are many market
segmentations used by the organization. Mercedes includes geographic and demographic
segmentation of the market to target the customer.
Geographic segmentation- It means dividing the market into different units such as
nations, regions or cities. The firm target the big countries and these main cities to target big
population size in the one market. There are some big countries to easily target by the company
to providing their products to the customer easily.
Demographic segmentation- In this market Segmentation that the company capture the
market by the age, gender, income, occupation, lifestyle (Harrison, Bosse and Phillips, 2010).
Family status and education of the customers. Mercedes can create the S class product and
recently started the new service that give the car on the rent the rnterprise includes the adults
both male and female. They are not very popular amongst the youngster because their brand is
very expensive.
Target Market by the Mercedes-
 The company targets the middle age people of the middle or high income level.
 Mercedes targets those customer that belong in the rich family.
 This firm does not produce the low prices vehicles because they focus on the high income
level group of customer.
 Mercedes products also target the male and female that they design the cars to fit in the
male and female specification.
Distribution of the product- The organization uses the many distribution channels like
indirect and direct channels system.
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In indirect system the marketer reaches the final user with the help of others (Kindström,
2010). This channel used by the company the includes many whole sellers in the distribution
line.
A direct system is to sell its products to the customer without including the any retailer.
Promotion strategy- Mercedes has adopted the positioning strategy as a manufacturer of
highly reliable and safe auto-mobiles to get the result in the price premium related to the
international competition.
Brand positioning- The business entity targets the young buyers who love the drive with
a brand. Company's car emphasised design and style rather than its speed.
Promotional mix- Company used many promotion activities to promote their brand.
Advertising- The advertisements for the car services of Mercedes uses the several
effective devices (Dibb, 2010). Mercedes do not expose their products to customer through
frequent advertisements.
Directing marketing- Mercedes use many online sites to promote their products like
Facebook pages to interaction between the brand and its customers.
Competitors-
BMW Mercedes
 BMW is a big auto-mobile company
in the international market.
 Its products include the Luxury
vehicles sports cars, motorcycles, and
bicycles.
 Its served their products in
worldwide.
 BMW car prices start around
$30,025.
 Mercedes is big brand in the
international market.
 Its provide the buses, trucks, and
luxury vehicles.
 This company buys its products in the
international market.
 Mercedes-Benz prices start across
$34,475.
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Market Size-
Government participation- Mercedes company follows all the government policy in the
business process (Cleveland, Papadopoulos and Laroche, 2011). They created the pricing policy
according to the changes in the prices recession.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of this it is concluded that Mercedes expand their business in the global
market. That the company used many different marketing strategies to target the new customer to
use their new service. Identified the company strength and weaknesses by the internal analysis
and competencies or competitive advantage of the company. At the end determine its
competitors in the market and the company used the many promotional tools.
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Illustration 1: Market share by the Mercedes and other brands, 2017
Market share by the Mercedes, 2017.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cleveland, M., Papadopoulos, N. and Laroche, M., 2011. Identity, demographics, and consumer
behaviors: International market segmentation across product categories. International
Marketing Review. 28(3). pp.244-266.
Dibb, S., 2010. Market Segmentation Success–Making it Happen!. Strategic Direction, 26(9).
Gaston-Breton, C. and Martín Martín, O., 2011. International market selection and segmentation:
a two-stage model. International Marketing Review. 28(3). pp.267-290.
Harrison, D. and Kjellberg, H., 2010. Segmenting a market in the making: Industrial market
segmentation as construction. Industrial Marketing Management. 39(5). pp.784-792.
Harrison, J.S., Bosse, D.A. and Phillips, R.A., 2010. Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder
utility functions, and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal. 31(1).
pp.58-74.
Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Kindström, D., 2010. Towards a service-based business model–Key aspects for future
competitive advantage. European Management Journal. 28(6). pp.479-490.
Messaoud, B., 2013. International Sales Strategy. Maketing, Sales and Distribution.
Nour, M.I. and Almahirah, M.S., 2014. The Impact of Promotional Mix Elements on Consumers
Purchasing Decisions. International Business and Management. 8(2). pp.143-151.
Papadopoulos, N. and Martín Martín, O., 2011. International market selection and segmentation:
perspectives and challenges. International Marketing Review. 28(2). pp.132-149.
Sunday, A. and Bayode, B., 2011. Strategic influence of promotional mix on organisation sale
turnover in the face of strong competitors. Management & Marketing-Craiova, (1).
pp.67-76.
Terpstra, V., Foley, J. and Sarathy, R., 2012. International marketing. Naper Press.
XU, N. and LIAO, C.L., 2012. International Marketing Strategy Research and Enlightenment
Localization. Technoeconomics & Management Research, 6, p.016.
ONLINE
Global Marketing. 2012. [Online]. Available through. <http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-
of-marketing/global-marketing.html>. [Assessed on 30th May 2017].
Global Marketing: Strategies, Definition, Issues. 2017. [Online]. Available through.
<https://www.cleverism.com/global-marketing-strategies/>. [Assessed on 30th May
2017].
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