Marketing Management of BMW: Analysis of Strategies and Mix

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of BMW's marketing management, exploring its contribution to organizational objectives, marketing principles, and the integration of marketing with other functional activities. The report delves into the structure of the marketing mix for BMW's 5 Series, including product, price, place, and promotion strategies, and examines the role of market segmentation in understanding the target market. Furthermore, it outlines the objectives, resources, and implementation strategies of BMW's marketing strategy, emphasizing the importance of reviewing and adapting these strategies for continued success. The report utilizes the BMW case study to illustrate key marketing concepts and provides valuable insights into the company's approach to achieving its business goals in the automotive industry.

Running Head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT 0
BMW
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
(student name)
12-1-2018

MARKETING MANAGEMENT 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Task 1. The contribution of marketing to the achievement of organizational objectives................3
1.1 A marketing orientation by an organization supports the achievement of its objectives......3
1.2 The contribution of marketing principles to the achievement of organizational objectives..4
1.3 Reasons for integrating the marketing function with other functional activities...................6
Task2: Making marketing mix proposals that exploit marketing opportunities..............................9
2.1 Way to structure marketing mix for BMW Series 5.........................................................9
2.2 The role of market segmentation in providing insights about the structure of target
markets for BMW......................................................................................................................10
2.3 Marketing mix of BMW 5 series- 2017..........................................................................11
Task 3: Marketing strategy of BMW.............................................................................................13
3.1 Objectives of marketing strategies.......................................................................................13
3.2 Resources required to develop a marketing strategy...........................................................15
3.3 Effective implementation of marketing strategy to ensure achievement of BMW objectives
...................................................................................................................................................16
3.4 purpose of reviewing marketing strategies..........................................................................17
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction
Marketing plays an important role in the success of any organization. Marketing management is
the process of planning, regarding services and products and developing strategies related to
promotion, advertising, to target potential customer segment1. The report will discuss various
aspect of marketing management, which will be described using the BMW organization case.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, is a German based automobile, engine manufacturing, and
Motorcycle Company that was initiated in 19162. The company is popular for its world-class cars
and it one of the most globally admired and recognizable brand. The company is known for
quality workmanship and reliability, and observing the statistics, in 2013, 1.95 million cars of
BMW were sold. The company has high customer demand worldwide, and it is considered to be
a status symbol to own a BMW car in many places and countries. The mission and objective of
the company include sustainability and production technology, concentrating over innovation
through a technological move towards digitalization, intelligent material mix, and resource
efficient production. Moreover, flexibility and optimization of value chains continuously ensure
competitiveness3.
1 Adam, S. & Kotler, P., 2014. Principles of marketing. Australia: Pearson Australia.
2Bmwgroup, 2018. history. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/history.html
3Bmwgroup, 2018. company. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company.html

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Task1. The contribution of marketing to the achievement of
organizational objectives
1.1 A marketing orientation by an organization supports the achievement of its
objectives
An organization can be either market-oriented or product oriented. Market oriented is where
the company is developing the product according to the need of the customer. This is suitable
where the target market is niche. Product-oriented is influencing people by their product and
concentrate on the product to be offered, and according to the product, the customer group is
targeted.
BWM is more of product-oriented when marketing orientation is considered. Product-
oriented model of this company leads to the achievement of the objective of the company
through:
 Economies of scale- for this orientation, the economies of scale are easily possible, as
it involves factors like a large number of products and a decrease in the cost of
manufacturing per product. According to this orientation, the major focus is centered
across the product; this makes the company develop a product more efficiently and in
large quantity. Therefore through economies of scale, the company can accomplish
their objective of sustainability and optimal utilization of resources
 Technology investment- through product oriented, it let technology to be created,
which can be utilized for a wide range of goods and services. Since the concentration
is over product manufacturing, the technology used can be advanced and upgraded,

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and not according to what customer is expecting in the current scenario. Through this,
the objective of innovation and digitalization shift can be achieved of BMW4.
 Quality- the most popular character that BMW cars plays in the market is its
reliability and quality, which makes it world-class cars. And being product oriented
the quality is not provided by the company what customers are expecting, but with
innovation, the company provided the much better options that it wishes to offer to
the customers. Therefore, through high quality, the product-oriented model can
support in objective accomplishment for BMW5.
1.2 The contribution of marketing principles to the achievement of organizational
objectives
Five major principles of marketing that will be supportive in achieving objectives
1. Understanding customers - one of the marketing principle is to know your customer and
their requirements. The major focus of BMW is providing best driving pleasure through
its automobile sector, and motorcycle. The company understands the customer
requirement while achieving the objective of minimizing resource use.
2. Knowing the target market – the target market for BMW is “creative class” that is
targeting customer segment, which is high-class people, or people wish to flaunt their
4Bmwgroup, 2018. Innovation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/innovation/technologies-and-mobility.html
5bmwgroup, 2018. our strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/strategie.html

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status. Through knowing your target customer, achieving the objective of increase in sale
and profit becomes achievable
3. Revealing value - this principle of marketing indicates the communication effectiveness
of the company to attract the maximum customer. For example- BMW, through one of its
tagline, that is “The ultimate driving machine,” communicate itself about the focus of the
product on quality, high-performance vehicle, driving a pleasure, and through this
marketing principle, the objective of innovation is achieved. The company is indicating
innovation in their product through such messages6.
4. Growing network- this marketing principle says that a company for achieving the
objective have to grow their network through either expanding their market, which a
positive point for BMW, as it has already established its foot worldwide. The company
tries to increase their customer base and target more and more customer like while
introducing a sports edition of cars, to achieve its objectives.
5. Building relationship – relationship building is a very important aspect of marketing, which
is responsible for the sustainability of the company and the success of BMW. BMW is
focusing on building relationship internationally, and become most successful
internationally, which will be helpful in achieving the objectives of the company and lead to
the sustainable growth of the company7
6 Burdo, H., 2018. What Are the Five Principles of Marketing?. [Online]
Available at: https://bizfluent.com/about-5084578-five-principles-marketing.html
7Bmwgroup, 2018. Investor Relations. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/investor-relations.html

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1.3 Reasons for integrating the marketing function with other functional activities
There are various functional areas within an organization, which is performing their task,
marketing is one of those areas and need to be integrated with others because:
 The relevance of human resource activity- this functional are involve recruiting people in
the organization and this is also for marketing employees. The right person in the right
job with apt capabilities will be responsible for effective marketing strategies8.
 Customer service support – another functional activity is service is, where the queries,
complaints, and feedback from customers are conducted. This need to be integrated with
the marketing team as the feedback, suggestions, and complaints of the customer act as a
base for upcoming marketing strategies and change in marketing products9.
 Accounting and finance – this department is responsible for budgeting, allocating
resources, which the marketing team has to follow for an overall profit of the company.
The finance department fixes the budget for the marketing of the company, which need to
be considered while conducting marketing activities. Therefore, the integration of the two
activities plays an important role10.
8 Foundersguide, 2018. Functional Areas of a Business. [Online]
Available at: http://foundersguide.com/functional-areas-of-a-business/
9Bmw, 2018. Serviced and Warranty. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmw.in/en/topics/Fascination-BMW/the-corporation-original/the-
bmw-group.html
10bmw, 2018. Financial services. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmw.in/en/topics/Fascination-BMW/the-corporation-original/the-

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 Research and development – in order to achieve the objective of innovation of BMW, the
research and development team work in order to search for innovative technology, and
requirement of a change in any process, moreover new designs, new ways to perform the
certain task are don by this team. According to the findings of the team, marketing
activities are conducted in an organization, which reflect the need for integration between
two activities.
 Operations – this department is responsible for designing, overseeing, and controlling the
production process and redesigning operations of a business in the production of services
and products. Moreover, these activities are held responsible for ensuring an effective
functional flow within the organization, which needs to be integrated with marketing
activity as well
 Legal department – the company is working overseas, the legal issues need to be
observed before trading or entering into a company. Marketing activity to conduct into
any country, legal requirement needs to be studied well before11.
bmw-group.html
11 Schlegelmilch, B., 2016. Global Marketing Strategy. Switzerland: Springer.

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Task2: Making marketing mix proposals that exploit marketing
opportunities
2.1 Way to structure marketing mix for BMW Series 5
Marketing mix of product and services include 4P’s for product and additional 4Ps for services.
Considered a product of the company, 4P’s will be considered in the marketing mix of BMW.
This structure includes product, priced, place, and promotion.
 Product – this factor includes physical goods, which is being offered to the customer.
Since the company major objective is innovation, the product created for the customers
are designed with the inclusion of innovation in designing, and technology. The company
focus is to introduce with the latest version, latest technology, and highest quality
product. The product features also depend on the customers to target, for example, if the
customer segment with the sports field is there, then a separate sports version is launched
 Price – this aspect of the structure include pricing strategy of the company. The pricing
strategy of BMW is a high-end product with expensive pricing. This also depends on the
version of the model. For example, the five series model has a different variation,
according to which the pricing is done. Moreover, the pricing is also different for the
target market or country the car is launched to sell.
 Place – place aspect of the structure include the target market where the product is to be
launched and which customer segment is to be targeted. Moreover, placing includes
distribution strategy as well, that how the product launched is distributed to the target
customer segment

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 Promotion – this aspect includes the promotional strategy of the company. This also
includes the communication structure of the company, as well as the message to influence
customer perception regarding the product. The ways to promote the product to the
potential customer is decided at this point of the structure12
2.2 The role of market segmentation in providing insights about the structure of target
markets for BMW
Market segmentation can be done based on four types that are behavioral, psychographic, and
demographics. This plays a vital role in structuring target market. The segmentation of BMW is
mono segment type, which includes expensive vehicles that are to attract solo customer segment.
Through the structuring target, the market becomes feasible.
The target market is ensuring that the products are offered to the correct audience and the energy
is utilized to attract the potential customer. Initially, the focus is on the need for service or
product to the customer, which is the highest quality product with luxury and premium designing
is for BMW.
Then target market is refined, this can be done by identifying the buyers of the product, since
many years the buyers of BMW are identified to be at the age of 35 around 35 to 50, and with the
taste of products aspiration and have social status value.
12bmwusa, 2018. 5-series. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/5-series/sedan.html

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Income is most significant while targeting customer for BMW, as already discussed the products
offered are on the expensive side. Therefore, while structuring target market, the country or
market where low-income group people are in majority, targeting that market would be of no
use13.
2.3 Marketing mix of BMW 5 series- 2017
 Product
 BMW 5 series is the focused product, it is an executive care, which was launched
and initiated selling in 2017.
 The ranges of the model included 5 door wagon or estate that is G31; 4 door
saloon or sedan that is G30; and G38, a model that was sold only in China that a 4
door sedan long wheelbase
 The models come in diesel and petrol variations
 The product is majorly focused on the highest quality product, including this
model
 Innovation is another aspect that is included while considering their characteristic,
design, and driving experience
 Price
 The pricing strategy of the car is similar for all the launched products, that is the
premium priced model.
 The price is different according to the model variations
13 Schlegelmilch, B., 2016. The Future of Global Marketing Strategy. In Global Marketing
Strategy , p. 221.

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 The company has also launched some standard cars that were low priced14
 Place
 For sale of its products, the company has a large dealers network, and it does not
include distributors for trading. In addition, the company directly sell its product,
through showroom dealers, because the cost involves for the distributors are very
much as compared to the dealership.
 The model was launched worldwide, except for one variation that was launch in
China
 The location of the showrooms is at premium sections of urban cities
 The company is operating through more than 6000 dealerships worldwide. The
company’s partners in logistics are local members of the dealing nation15.
 Promotion
 “It’s a work of art,” is the message for this model that has been communicated
due to its innovation
 The promotional message includes the sophisticated and stylish model; moreover,
the comfortably is highlighted, technological features of the model which includes
intelligent voice control, navigation, entertainment, and communication.
14 Chu, C. & Liu, S., 2017. Hedonic Pricing Method, the Third Law of Demand, and Marketing
Strategy: An Abstract. In Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference, p. 721.
15 Su, P., Lu, H. & Lin, P., 2018. HOW THE MICROFILM MARKETING STRATEGY
STIMULATES CONSUMERS'PURCHASE INTENTION. Social Behavior and Personality,
46(6), p. 953.

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 The ways of promotion include advertising through television, journals.
 Publicity, one of the promotion includes publicity, as the company is the most
reputable company worldwide. For example, Forbes.com included survey
conducted for BMW, which included customer perception about the company
 Point of sale is one of the ways to sales the product, and by making the product
available to the customer, the company attract potential customer16
Task3: Marketing strategy of BMW
3.1 Objectives of marketing strategies
 Positioning – one of the major objectives of marketing strategy formulation of BMW
is to know the segmentation, target market, and the positioning strategy of the
company
 Market analysis – marketing strategies include analyzing the target market that is the
automobile sector for BMW, the competitors and their strategies like Jaguar, and
Mercedes. This also includes the analysis of luxury segment growth in the automobile
market
 Competitive analysis – the objective of marketing strategy include analysis the
competitive companies, their market share, their strategies, their product launch and
have an eye over their future activities in order to be aware and create competitive
advantage in the industry
16 Chari, S. & Feng, H., 2018. Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, pp. 1-26.

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 Competitive advantage – through marketing strategies, the main objective is to
identify the competitive advantage of the company or product launch, that will
influence the customer to purchase that product than that of the competitor brands.
This is to be known for the growth of the company and sustain in the race to be the
largest automobile company in the world. As mentioned before, quality, reliability,
and innovation are the major competitive advantage of BMW17
 Marketing mix – marketing mix structure is designed under the marketing strategy,
which includes the decision regarding the product to be manufactured and launched,
its price, and promotion strategies for the product and target place to launch the
product18
 Distribution strategy – through marketing strategy, the distribution strategy of the
company are identified. BMW distribution strategy includes distribution through
flagship store through dealers for better customer experiences19.
17bmwgroup, 2018. digital-energy-solutions. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/brands-and-services/digital-energy-solutions.html
18bmwgroup, 2018. futureviews. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/next100/futureviews.html
19 Jaworski, B., 2018. Commentary: advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline
and beyond. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(1), p. 63.

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3.2 Resources required to develop a marketing strategy
 Money/ financial resource – the cost involved in developing a marketing strategy is high
because it includes various research, which is either done by the research and
development team or outsourced to another company
 Time/ Emotional resources – since various aspects are analyzed and developed in a
marketing strategy, the time to develop is very much. Developing a marketing plan
include analysis of company inside out, internal and external factors that are SWOT
analysis, a market analysis that is identifying the growth of the industry, especially luxury
segment. With this, the customer segmentation is decided, and the target market as well.
Moreover, marketing mix id developed for the product and services to be offered by the
company
 Expertise/ Human resource – next resource comes the human resource because this is the
most imprint aspect to develop a marketing strategy. It is the mind of an individual, who
has more value than any machine in the world. To develop a strategy a whole team is
involved, which is working for this development of the strategy. The knowledge for such
activity plays an important role; therefore expert is needed to develop the strategies.
 Technology/ Physical resources - technology is required to create a marketing strategy for
a company, this can be outsourced as latest technology is required to complete this task,
or the company itself can upgrade the system with the required technology and
software20.
20 Menon, A. & Edison, S., 2015. Effective Marketing Strategy-Making: Antecedents and
Consequences. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual
Conference, p. 224.

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3.3 Effective implementation of marketing strategy to ensure achievement of BMW
objectives
Implementation is to bring the plan into action. It is an essential step, as there would be no use if
the strategies were planned and created but did not implement21. The steps involved in
implementation through which objectives are achieved are:
 Communication with employees – the marketing strategies are communicated to the
employees of BMW, which will be responsible for the implementation of the strategies,
these could be lower level managers.
 Knowing the end goal – it is important to know what the end goal is for the respective
marketing strategy. For BMW, the end goal would be to be ahead in the competition,
being socially responsible, and the increase of sales of BMW globally.
 Monitoring progress – a plan is always estimated and forecasted, which needs to be
revised as it initiates to implement because the environment it is implementing is
dynamic. Therefore, a continuous monitoring is required.
 Making adjustments – change in the market, technology, customers, competition,
suppliers or any further external factor is to be observed and accordingly the changes are
made by BMW in order to achieve the objective
21 Duggan, T., 2018. How to Implement & Manage a Marketing Strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/implement-manage-marketing-strategy-
41184.html

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 Contingency plan development – since changes are very common in the implementation
process, a plan B that is the contingency plans are developed like extending time frames,
refining the objectives, or adding new stages into implementation action.
 Seeking expert advice – measurement of marketing activities are done either by an expert
from BMW company, or another external marketing expert to ensure if the strategy
implemented is moving towards the achievement of the company’s objectives22.
3.4 Purpose of reviewing marketing strategies
 Competitor analysis – one of the main purpose of marketing strategies to review, is
analysis if the strategies the company has implemented is according to their competitors,
the check if a competitor has not imitated the similar strategy, if the strategy implemented
is turned out to be a competitive advantage or not. Therefore, the marketing strategies
implemented have to be reviewed and tested, and afterward, in case of any deviation, the
strategies are updated.
 Customer analysis – after successfully implementing the strategies, the reviewing become
necessary to see if the customer's reaction are positive towards the act, is the planned
effect on sale and customer perception is visible after implementation or not, in case of
the implementation results into a decrease in sale instead of increase, it has to revised
immediately
22 chiefoutsiders, 2018. Expert Marketing Strategy Implementation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/strategic-services/marketing-strategy-
implementation

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 Customer feedback – through reviewing, feedback from the customer is taken. It is
assumed that the customer is perceiving the strategy positively, but when the strategy is
implemented that is the actual action has been taken place, the scenario can be different,
the customer feedback regarding the same can be as per the planned strategy or it can be
negative as well. Therefore, for taking feedback, reviewing stage is essential.
 Cost analysis – budget for the strategy is fixed, but is the implementation of the strategy
is as per that budget and not exceeding it is checked through review23.
23 business.qld.gov, 2018. Implement a marketing plan. [Online]
Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-
promotion/marketing-plan/implement-plan

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Bibliography
Adam, S. & Kotler, P., 2014. Principles of marketing. Australia: Pearson Australia.
bmw, 2018. Financial services. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmw.in/en/topics/Fascination-BMW/the-corporation-original/the-
bmw-group.html
bmw, 2018. Serviced and Warranty. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmw.in/en/topics/Fascination-BMW/the-corporation-original/the-
bmw-group.html
bmwgroup, 2018. company. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company.html
bmwgroup, 2018. digital-energy-solutions. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/brands-and-services/digital-energy-solutions.html
bmwgroup, 2018. futureviews. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/next100/futureviews.html
bmwgroup, 2018. history. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/history.html
bmwgroup, 2018. Innovation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/innovation/technologies-and-mobility.html
bmwgroup, 2018. Investor Relations. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/investor-relations.html

MARKETING MANAGEMENT 19
bmwgroup, 2018. our strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/strategie.html
bmwusa, 2018. 5-series. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/5-series/sedan.html
Burdo, H., 2018. What Are the Five Principles of Marketing?. [Online]
Available at: https://bizfluent.com/about-5084578-five-principles-marketing.html
business.qld.gov, 2018. Implement a marketing plan. [Online]
Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-
promotion/marketing-plan/implement-plan
Chari, S. & Feng, H., 2018. Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, pp. 1-26.
chiefoutsiders, 2018. Expert Marketing Strategy Implementation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/strategic-services/marketing-strategy-
implementation
Chu, C. & Liu, S., 2017. Hedonic Pricing Method, the Third Law of Demand, and Marketing
Strategy: An Abstract. In Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference, p. 721.
Duggan, T., 2018. How to Implement & Manage a Marketing Strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/implement-manage-marketing-strategy-
41184.html
foundersguide, 2018. Functional Areas of a Business. [Online]
Available at: http://foundersguide.com/functional-areas-of-a-business/

MARKETING MANAGEMENT 20
Jaworski, B., 2018. Commentary: advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline and
beyond. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(1), p. 63.
Menon, A. & Edison, S., 2015. Effective Marketing Strategy-Making: Antecedents and
Consequences. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual
Conference, p. 224.
Schlegelmilch, B., 2016. Global Marketing Strategy. Switzerland: Springer.
Schlegelmilch, B., 2016. The Future of Global Marketing Strategy. In Global Marketing
Strategy , p. 221.
Su, P., Lu, H. & Lin, P., 2018. HOW THE MICROFILM MARKETING STRATEGY
STIMULATES CONSUMERS'PURCHASE INTENTION. Social Behavior and Personality,
46(6), p. 953.