Case Study: Marketing and Competitive Environment of Sydney University

This case study examines the marketing and competitive environment of the University of Sydney, a leading Australian educational institution. It begins with an introduction to marketing and competitive analysis, emphasizing key tools such as demand assessment, segmentation, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and the marketing mix. The study provides a background of the University of Sydney, detailing its history, mission, and market position. It then analyzes the Australian higher education market, including market summary, demand assessment, segmentation, and target market. The case study further explores the university's current marketing mix, PEST analysis, competitor analysis, and a SWOT analysis to understand its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The value and brand positioning analyses are also discussed, culminating in a conclusion that summarizes the key findings and their implications for the university's marketing strategies.

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Marketing and competitive environment
Case Study of University of Sydney
1

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organisation.......................................................................................................4
Market Summary.............................................................................................................................4
Demand Assessment........................................................................................................................5
Segmentation and Target Market.....................................................................................................6
Current Marketing Mix of Sydney University.................................................................................6
PEST Analysis of Sydney University..............................................................................................7
Competitor Analysis........................................................................................................................8
SWOT Analysis of University of Sydney.......................................................................................8
Value and Brand Positioning Analyses...........................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
2

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Introduction
Marketing and competitive environment is the study of analysing the competition in market
environment and the development of marketing strategy. In order to develop a strong marketing
strategy it is important to have proper information about the business environment of an
organisation and this is where the study of marketing and competitive environment comes into
the picture. The study of marketing and competitive environment involves discussion of number
of key tools like demand assessment of the market, Segmentation, positioning and targeting,
SWOT analysis, marketing mix and PEST analysis and value and brand positioning analyses.
The Education market in Australia has become significantly competitive and to complete the
present study the education market of Australia has been chosen. The present study will be done
with the reference to the case study of University of Sydney.
3

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Background of the organisation
The University of Sydney is one of the leading educational institutes providing the best quality
higher studies to the students in the country. The University of Sydney is a public research
university founded way back in 1850. Sydney University is one of the bigger educational
organisations in the country with 16 faculties and schools which helps the organisation to offer
bachelors, master and Doctoral programs. The organisation has a total of 52, 789 students and
5,350 administrative staffs. The organisation has a rich history and was developed by William
Wentworth and Charles Nicholson who expanded the Sydney College to a bigger University for
the betterment of the society (Forsyth, 2014 p, 12). The mission of the organisation is providing
the light of education and reach to maximum students all across the world. As per the statistics
provided by the British Daily Telegraph and the Huffington Post the institute has one of the most
beautiful universities in the world. The campus is located in the beautiful city of Sydney and is
also considered as one of the premier educational institute in the country where number of
students from foreign countries joins regular courses. The Sydney University is responsible for
number of charitable works and awareness campaigns on environment, women empowerment
and societal issues which has also attracted many students from all across the world (Campbell &
Proctor, 2014 p, 34).
Market Summary
The Australian higher education market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach a benchmark
by 2020. The market is likely to grow significantly and is expected to reach the benchmark
figure of USD 115 billion by 2020. The change in the market is not certain and the market has
shown signs of change with rising competition among the students and eagerness to learn in the
best schools and colleges. The education industry has become one of the key sectors in India
with number of new qualified and efficient educational institutes coming up. The superior
quality of education and medium of English as communication has made this industry one of the
most lucrative industries for the Australian investors those who have increased their investment
in the educational sector (McDONALD & Brown, 2016 p, 89). The market is now highly
competitive with number of key players in the market. Apart from The University of Sydney
institutes like University of Melbourne, Monash University, University of NSW, University of
Queensland, RMIT, La Trobe University, CQ University, University of Canberra all have
4

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
significant market share in the country which has made the market highly competitive
(Malysheva et al., 2016 p, 23).
Demand Assessment
Over the last few years there has been dramatic increase in the footfalls of foreign students
coming to Australia. In the recent past the accommodation organisations in Australia have
experienced sudden boost in their bookings where most of the people are in the country for
educational purposes which clearly indicate the interest of the students to choose Australian
Universities in comparison to other universities. As per the ratings the University of Sydney and
Melbourne have been rated as the best universities in the country and obviously for a valid
reason which is quality education. It is important to mention that University of Sydney has
carried on the legacy of providing quality education effectively which has helped the
organisation to compete in the market (Verger et al., 2016 p, 45). But it is important to note that
in the last few years there has been significant increase in the students’ footfalls which definitely
holds opportunities for improvement for every educational organisation operating in the market.
The graph shows that after the 2009 and 2010 there was a trifle decline in the footfall of students
but from 2013 it has again climbed effectively and is likely to hold its position in the education
market as stated in future forecasts and hence it could be said that demand will be significantly
high for students willing to receive education in Australia (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016 p, 76).
5

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Fig 1: International Student Enrollments Australia
Segmentation and Target Market
The University of Sydney is a premier Educational Institute focusing on getting students who
interested in getting higher studies in the best possible environment. The organisation has fixed
its eyes on the educated and rich market especially for students coming from abroad. The
organisation has all the best possible facilities for the students and hence targets the rich market
that can spend money on quality education. The organisation has highly influenced the youths
between the age group of 18 to 25 who have become highly interested to study in the best college
for their bachelors, master and doctoral programs. Hence it could be said that the organisation
targets the rich class with eagerness to spend on quality education and follows the young and rich
and enthusiastic students to study in the institution (Buckley et al., 2016 p, 89).
Current Marketing Mix of Sydney University
Marketing mix is a great tool to understand the marketing focus of an organisation and hence it is
important to understand the marketing mix of the organisation Sydney University. The marketing
mix comprises of Product, price, place/distribution and promotion.
6

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Products/Services: The University of Sydney is the ultimate destination for education lovers. It
offers all the possible graduate, undergraduate, post graduate and Doctoral courses. MBA, Law,
Doctorate in Science, Agriculture, Engineering et cetera. The Organisation has gamut of options
in terms of educational offering which provides upper hand to the organisation (Pride & Ferrell,
2016 p, 34).
Place/Distribution: University of Sydney is recognised for its effective distribution of education
through number of channels. Its main campus is considered one of the beautiful campuses
alongside Oxford and Cambridge University. It is a huge campus and the distribution of
education almost the entire week. It has number of satellite campuses who teach number of
different subjects allowing the organisation to cover up number of domains and streams. Its E-
learning facility is outstanding and many students are studying through its e-learning facility
hosted with its website. Its library consist 11 libraries situated in different campuses and it also
operates Center for Continuing Education which is an adult education service (Baines e al., 2016
p, 32).
Price: The organisation is premier educational institute and hence keeps its price in the premium
genre. The Sydney University provides world class facilities and hence it also charges significant
amount of money for its educational services. As it targets the rich class interested in spending
money on education it succeeds in getting students with its premium pricing strategy (Armstrong
et al., 2014 p, 56).
PEST Analysis of Sydney University
The PEST Analysis helps in understanding the external environment of the organisation. It
consists of Political, economic, social and Technological factors. The PEST analysis of Sydney
University is given below:
Political: The Australian government has stretched out its hands with cooperation to these kinds
of educational organisation for the provision of best quality education. The Australian
Government helps the tertiary education sector through rules, policies, funding and assistance.
The Higher Education Standard Panel helps the different educational organisations to standardise
their services effectively. The Australian Government also supports and promotes enhancement
of learning especially for teachers (Ahmed, 2014 p, 76).
7

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Economic: Australia’s economic system is stable and hence most of the students especially from
abroad are willing to pay for quality education which helps the organisation to provide effective
services. The Educational institutes also contribute to the overall economic welfare by paying tax
which also helps them to think about the country and for the society allowing them to be
economically prudent (Hair & Lukas, 2014 p, 77).
Social: There is an increased awareness for education in the Australian society which helps
University of Sydney to operate effectively and organise campaigns to attract students through
campusing and other ways. The common mass is aware of the importance of education and
hence they are able to inspire people to get education (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012 p, 23).
Technological: The University of Sydney uses the best and up to date state of the art technology,
Wi-Fi operated campus, great E-learning facilities, effective online presence and great social
media connectivity. The university also has cloud based classrooms where students from
different regions are able to take classes providing it upper hand in the market (Kotler &
Armstrong, 2013 p, 12).
Competitor Analysis
The University of Sydney is one of the top rated educational institutes in the country but it has to
face significant competition from organisations like University of Melbourne, University of
NSW, CQ University, and Monash University. These are all premier institutions and almost
operate in the same market. These organisations have almost similar curriculum packages and
pricings and hence it is important for the Organisation University of Sydney to strategise its
marketing plans.
SWOT Analysis of University of Sydney
The SWOT analysis involves analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the
organisation.
Strengths
 Positive reputation in the outer communities.
8

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
 Great campus and enhanced educational facilities.
 Great past performances.
 Proactive student support and access to effective service.
 Efficient and dedicated faculty.
 Healthy internal system and great infrastructure (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012 p, 88)
Weaknesses
 Political and Bureaucratic issues.
 Retaining of effective faculty.
 Increased investment in infrastructure development weakens financial position.
 Adjusting to pressure situation.
Opportunities
 Imminent partnerships with government and government bodies.
 Foreign expansion plans.
 Societal trends of developed education
 Increasing demands of education.
 Technological advances and need of prepared graduates (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012 p,
55).
Threats
 Budget crisis.
 Increasing competition in the market.
 Risk of losing efficient staffs.
 Lack of preparation to face competition (Ahmed, 2014 p, 82).
Value and Brand Positioning Analyses
Brand positioning could be defined as the process of creating brand offer in such a way that it
assumes a distinctive position in the mind of the consumers. For the contemporary students
education holds great value and hence University of Sydney has a great value for its students.
The organisation has placed itself in a particular position in the hearts of the student. Its rich and
9

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
quality education and premium pricing has developed a huge interest among its targeted market
of rich youths who are willing to pay money for quality education. The brand creates value
through effective which is provided through the right mix of intellectual acumen from the
efficient faculty and technology that creates huge brand value for the students studying in the
college and students preparing to enroll in this University (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016 p, 112).
Hence it could be said that the Sydney University has been able to satisfactorily position itself in
the minds of its targeted market of rich and enthusiastic students through effective creation of
value.
Conclusion
The present study has discussed the key aspects of marketing and competitive environment with
the help of the case study organisation Sydney University which has helped to complete the
study successfully.
10

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
References
Ahmed, M. (2014). Principles of Marketing.
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014). Principles of marketing. Pearson
Australia.
Baines, P., Fill, C., & Rosengren, S. (2016). Marketing. Oxford University Press.
Buckley, P. J., Burton, F., & Mirza, H. (Eds.). (2016). The strategy and organization of
international business. Springer.
Campbell, C., & Proctor, H. (2014). A history of Australian schooling. Allen & Unwin.
Forsyth, H. (2014). A history of the modern Australian university. NewSouth.
Hair Jr, J. F., & Lukas, B. (2014). Marketing research. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
Jobber, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012). Principles and practice of marketing (No. 7th).
McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2012). Principles of Marketing, 14e. New Jersey, USA:
PearsonEducation Ltd.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2013). Principles of marketing 15th global edition. Pearson.
Malysheva, T. V., Shinkevich, A. I., Kharisova, G. M., Nuretdinova, Y. V., Khasyanov, O. R.,
Nuretdinov, I. G., ... & Kudryavtseva, S. S. (2016). The sustainable development of
competitive enterprises through the implementation of innovative development
strategy. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 6(1).
McDONALD, M. A. L. C. O. L. M., & Brown, L. (2016). 5 Strategic marketing planning. The
marketing book, 86.
Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2016). Foundations of marketing. Nelson Education.
Verger, A., Lubienski, C., & Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2016). The emergence and structuring of the
global education industry: Towards an analytical framework. World yearbook of
education, 3-24.
11

Running Head: Marketing and Competitive Environment
Wirtz, J., & Lovelock, C. (2016). Services marketing: people, technology, strategy. World
Scientific Publishing Co Inc.
12