Marketing Plan for EE Limited: Extended Marketing Mix and Analysis

This report provides a detailed marketing plan for EE Limited, a major UK mobile company. It begins with an introduction to marketing principles, then compares EE Limited's extended marketing mix with Vodafone's, analyzing product, price, place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence. The report then presents a comprehensive marketing plan for EE Limited, including an executive summary, company overview, internal and external analysis, a SWOT analysis, objectives, marketing strategies, a segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) model, tactics, budget, and control measures. The internal analysis focuses on micro-environmental factors like customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, media, and competitors. The report concludes with a discussion of marketing objectives and strategic recommendations for EE Limited. The report is a comprehensive analysis of EE Limited's marketing strategies and provides a detailed marketing plan to achieve its objectives.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ................................................................................................................................................3
Covered in PPT................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2 ................................................................................................................................................3
a)Comparing EE limited extended marketing mix with Vodafone..................................................3
b) Marketing plan for EE limited.....................................................................................................5
Executive summary .........................................................................................................................5
Company overview .........................................................................................................................6
Internal analysis...............................................................................................................................6
External analysis..............................................................................................................................7
SWOT analysis................................................................................................................................8
Objectives........................................................................................................................................9
Marketing strategies.........................................................................................................................9
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Model...........................................................................10
Tactics and actions.........................................................................................................................10
Budget ...........................................................................................................................................11
Control...........................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
“The heart of a business organisation is in marketing”. The study and management of exchange of
relationships is called Marketing. It is the activity, a combination of establishments and processes
for making, communicating, delivering and exchanging products and services which hold a value
for customers, partners, clients and society as a whole. Marketing techniques consists of selecting
target markets through analysing markets and segmentation of market and understanding the
methods which impact the behaviour of consumer (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). From the point of
society, marketing offers link between society's material needs and the economic patterns of
response. Through this, marketing satisfies desires and needs by developing exchange processes and
creating long term relationships. The recent approaches of marketing consists of relationship
marketing which lays emphasis on consumers, business marketing or industrial which pays
attention on a firm or institution and social marketing which focuses on benefits to the society
(Kennedy and Parsons, 2014). The present report is prepared on the principles of marketing and for
this purpose EE limited has been taken into consideration. It is a mobile phone company which is
facing poor functional communication and lack of marketing orientation. The report is going to
cover an overview of different marketing processes and a marketing plan to meet marketing
objectives and goals of EE limited.
TASK 1
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
a)Comparing EE limited extended marketing mix with Vodafone
The marketing mix are considered as the most important elements under the process of marketing.
This includes product, price and place and promotion. Along with that, extended marketing mix
such as physical evidence and process as well as people are also connected with the same. There
comparison of marketing mix of EE limited is being done with Vodafone as it is the competitors and
UK based firm. These are explained as follows- Product-It is the most important element of marketing mix under which management of
corporation to include the significant aspect as product. Here, EE limited covers product
range such as SIM card, headphones and mobile payments as well as 4g network along with
retail stores which are offering varied range of products and services. Along with that
service range of firm consists of radio frequency summary and virtual network agreement
through which potential buyers can effective be satisfied. On the other hand, product range
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of Vodafone; mobile telephony, digital television and internet services along with fixed
phones (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). The product and service range of EE limited is more
stronger as in November 2016 firm reach to more than 99% of UK population with its 2G
and 4G network. At the same time, additional products offered by EE limited are generally
higher than Vodafone. Price-It another p stands for pricing strategy of the business where EE limited follows
skimming pricing. This strategy is used to recover the cost of operation and then gradually
increase overall rate of return in the marketplace. Furthermore, pricing strategies cannot
contain discount as initially the price of products and services are kept higher. On the other
hand, Vodafone follows the premium pricing strategies under which all related packages are
offered on higher price (Hajli and et. al., 2014). This kind of strategy facilitates to increase
overall rate of return through which competitive edge of form is created in the marketplace.
In this manner, unique pricing strategies are adopted by both companies for grabbing
attention of more buyers and retain them for longer time span. It can be critically evaluated
that, occasion discount is provided to customers with adoption of suitable strategy. Place-Place is also the significant element of marketing through which product is delivered
to end users. EE limited has varied store across UK for offering services among users.
Similarly, Vodafone approaches to online application through which mobile payment can be
done so that accordingly users can get the recharge for their phones in relatively less time
span (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014). Apart from this, place for EE limited is physical store and
online operation both. Furthermore, Vodafone expended its business across the globe along
wit innovation in its products and services. With the application of such kind of strategies, it
becomes easy to attract more users and retain them for longer time span. Apart from this,
small cities are approached by EE limited to expand its operation and covers remote areas
also for its growth. Promotion-It reflects that communicating detail regarding products and services among
different parties who are directly or indirectly associated with firm. Here, EE limited uses
appropriate mode of communication such as social media marketing strategies and
Television ads for promoting its speedier 4G network services (Lee and et. al., 2014). This is
the reason that plenty of buyers are approached by EE limited just because of introduction of
4G services at the first time. In the same manner, Vodafone focuses upon using both
traditional marketing strategies and internet. Owing to this, different application are applied
for payment procedure and availing services to users. Furthermore, appropriate marketing
campaign are prepared through which it becomes easy to increase sales turnover with
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promotion of varied services. For example, Vodafone's specific advertisement containing
zoo zoo is the most popular among customers (Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013). Process-The process refers to understanding the need of buyers and meeting the same by
taking suitable action. Here, EE limited follow the standard process of product delivery
under which users can directly contact to retail or physical store and then get the services.
However, online services can also be availed for those who have busy schedule and cannot
access the physical outlet of the firm (Salamah, 2017). Apart from this, process followed by
Vodafone is related to delivery of services among end users. In this respect, internal record
keeping is also done so that special occasion can be considered for offering discount to end
users. The main focus of business is on business segment only and through which individual
customers face issue in getting services. Hence, process must be improved for offering
appropriate services among users. People-EE limited must shed light on hiring qualified and content personnel n the marketing
department so that individual customers can also be targeted. In the same manner, Vodafone
ensures to include skilled personnel who can effectively contribute toward achieving long as
well as short term objectives in the marketplace. The proves to be effective to create
goodwill of the firm in the marketplace and retain customers for longer time span (Sheth and
Sisodia, 2015). Owing to this, it can be said that Vodafone has more competent personnel in
comparison to EE limited. Although, all other departments of business has skilled employees
who are delivering quality services to end users.
 Physical evidence-It is the last element of marketing mix which shows that how EE limited
tends to follow effective strategies related to reasonable price, and good packaging for
related products and services so that accordingly all related activities are designed for
promotion of products and services in the marketplace. In addition to this, offline and online
presence is ensured so as to create its competitive edge in the marketplace. In this manner,
both Vodafone and EE limited have their strong presence in the marketplace so that
accordingly expectations of all related parties can be met in an effectual manner (Lee and et.
al., 2014). However, annual report of the business is also published for meeting need of
shareholders.
b) Marketing plan for EE limited
Executive summary
This section of the report will be focusing on a marketing plan to meet marketing goals and
objectives of EE limited. It will discuss the extended components of marketing mix which will be
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included in marketing plan. The current marketing situation analysis for assessing business
environment will be examined. These will consist of micro factor analysis, PESTEL analysis,
SWOT analysis etc. Also it will elaborate the objectives of cited phone company along with its
marketing strategies. Further, STP model will be applied along with tactics and action. The last
section of the plan will consider budget and control with conclusion.
Company overview
EE limited is a British mobile company which was established in 2010 as joint venture
between Deutsche Telekom and Orange S.A. It is the largest mobile company in the United
Kingdom having almost 30 million consumers and Europe's largest operator of 4G services. The
headquarters of firm are in Hatfield of UK and major offices are in Bristol, Darlington, Greenock,
North Tyneside, London, Leeds, Plymouth. The company introduced its first television
advertisement on 3 November 2012 and after four days only it launched 4G services and new brand.
It also had a new online advertisement in August 2015. Approximately 15,000 employees are
working in the company.
Internal analysis
Micro environmental factors are those factors which are very close to a business firm. They
can make a direct affect on business operations and success of EE limited. Before making the
corporate strategies, it has to do a full analysis of the micro environment. The below diagram shows
the factors who are actively involved in the micro environment and places a significant influence on
cited organisation.
 Customers: Every business firm requires customers and so they should be focused around
their customers. The cited company's marketing plan has to attract and retain customers with
such mobile phones which meets their desires and preferences. It must have superior
customer services (Kokemuller, 2017). Who are the key customers of firm, what are reasons
behind buying purchasing phones and related services, all these factors play a major role in
in approach of marketing of its products and services.
 Employees: It is important for cited phone company to employ personnel with appropriate
skills and knowledge. Training and development of staff is also crucial for attaining
competitive edge. If the organisation hires employees without motivating and encouraging
them, it will impact its customer service and finally sales.
 Suppliers: They render the cited organisation with materials which are required to carry out
operation and activities of business. Their behaviour will directly influence the business they
supply. For instance, if they give bad services it can increase time scales or quality of
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products. Increasing prices of raw material will impact marketing-mix strategies of cited
company and can also drive increase in price (Moons and et. al., 2010). Effective supplier
relations are a good means for remaining competitive and assure quality of products.
 Shareholders: Relationships with shareholders should be managed phone company because
speedy short term increase in profitability can badly impact success in long terms. As it
needs investments for growth objectives, it can decide to raise funds by floating in the stock
market. This means that the firm will shift from private to public ownership. Public
shareholders make new type of force because they need return from the money they had
invested in cited phone company. This pressure for increasing profits will make impact on
strategies of firm.
 Media: If the media attention is optimistic it will “make” EE limited and its products and
services, on the other hand, if media attention is pessimistic it can “break” it. Cited company
is needed to manage media for taking its help and support in promoting its products and
services and lessen the affect of any negative events on its goodwill. It can also hire public
relations consultant so that he can help it in managing a specific event or program.
 Competitors: Differentiation is the name of game in field of marketing. Analysing
competitors and their monitoring is very important when cited organisation has to maintain
or enhance its position in the market. It has many competitors such as Vodafone, Airtel,
Sony etc. it has to be aware of their activities so that it can beat them in the race (Gartee,
2012).
External analysis
External analysis of cited phone company can be done by applying PESTLE analysis. This
includes of following factors:1. Political factors: The telecom firms does not get much influenced by the political conditions
because it operates in an independent economy. However, there is a positive signal for cited
firm because of declaration made by government regarding financial aid through heavy
investments for improving connections and network (Jeffery, 2010). Therefore, it has
become an opportunity for developing 4G services in distant areas.2. Economic factors: The economy of the nation is more better after the recovery of recession
period. The GDP and growth rate is good which contributes in progress of economy. This
has led to increase in purchasing power of consumers. But, unemployment has grown in
cited organisation which is an obstacle in its success and growth.3. Social factors: The present consumers are very techno-friendly as compared to earlier times.
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This has resulted an increase in need of mobile and internet. This is leading to an increase
investments in the phone sector. This in turn is growing scope of 3G and 4G services for
mentioned phone company.4. Technological factors: The use of smartphones has grown because it has replaces the
market of personal computers. This in turn is increasing introduction of advanced models of
phones (Moini, 2012). This is a very good sign for cited organisation to expand its services.5. Environmental factors: Several towers which are set for providing network connections
release dangerous radiations which are harmful for health of human beings. Therefore, cited
phone company should design strategies and products which emit less radiations and are
environment friendly.
6. Legal factors: The activities of EE limited are controlled and monitored by governing
bodies such Ofcom and EU telecommunication organisation. They assures that company's
products and services are more inclined towards betterment of society as a whole (Mihart,
2012).
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is applied to ascertain several opportunities and strengths which EE limited
can explore for its growth purpose while overcoming weaknesses and threats. This is done with the
below states factors:
Strengths:
 Offers facilities such as free roaming and has broad coverage that supports in enhanced 3G
service.
 The stores are easily approachable for customers in the United Kingdom. It is the first phone company which introduced 4G services which makes it a leader in
market (Novak, 2011).
Weaknesses:
 The firm was established in 2010 only and therefore it is new in the industry when it is
compared with other firms which were established before and are settled. It suffers from various technological problems which results in call drops, weak signals,
disturbances during calls etc. This impacts customer loyalty and trust.
Opportunities:
 Growing trends in mobile handsets in customers is a great opportunity for cited organisation
to reach a huge customer base. The cited firm is a leading brand in 4G service which makes it to have a large share in
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market (Askeland and Wright 2013).
Threats:
 Competition level is very high because several firms are entering the sector.
 Growing incidents of cyber crimes generate doubts and suspicion in customers which
discourage utilisation of phones.
Objectives
The major objective behind this planning is to surmount weaknesses of EE limited and make
improvements in its products and services. The mentioned firm can offer its services through more
better plans for customers which should reach to every part of larger society. Further, it requires to
make better its services of slow network and call drops problems when calls are made by customers.
If mentioned company can deal with these matters, it can make more profits and reach to heights of
success (Nguyen and Simkin, 2012).
Marketing strategies
EE limited can adopt the following strategies for making its marketing more better: Help customer solve problem: Cited organisation can help its customers by solving their
issues and queries through offering products which make their lives simple. This will
increase trust and loyalty in customer for the firm. Let customer interact: It doesn't matter what products and or services the firm is offering,
its customer want to interact with it or its other customers. This will give an overview of
reviews and opinions to the firm (Desai, 2013). Experiment with new channels and platforms: The mentioned firm should not hesitate in
trying out new channels and platforms for promoting its brand. Engage employees: The organisation should allow its staff to become its biggest champions
and advocates of its brand. Don't forget about existing customers: It is essential to have new customers for the
business to grow, but cited organisation should not forget about its loyal and existing
customers. This will make them feel like they are a part of the company which gives them
something extra.
 Diversity marketing: Under this strategy the cited phone company has to customise and
integrate various marketing strategies. It has several perspectives such as culture, beliefs,
attitudes, views and other particular needs (Collins and Stern, 2012).
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Model
Segmentation- This step comprises of finding out what type of consumers having diverse needs are
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there for the cited firm. In this industry, consumers may demand more advanced features in smart
phones while other may demand more customer-friendly services. Therefore, firm has to categorise
them according to their mutual characteristics and needs. This will make the company to to fulfil
needs of each segment in a cost effective manner (Hanlon, 2016). There are several ways for
segmenting them on the basis of demographic factors, geographic factors, psycho-graphic factors,
behavioural factors etc.
Targeting:At this step, the firm has to take decisions regarding which segments it has to target by
finding out the most attractive segments. For this it has to take into several factors such as
profitability of every segment, size and potential growth of each customer segment etc. It consumes
a lot of time and efforts to target a particular segment in an effective manner, therefore company
should select only one segment at one time.
Positioning: At this last step, firm has a motive of how to position its products to target the most
valued customer segments. After, that it can select the marketing-mix which will prove most
effective for each customer segment. First, it has to see why customer should buy its product instead
of going for those of its rivals (Hughes, 2010). This can be done by identification of its unique
selling proposition and making a positioning map. This will make the firm realize how each
segment perceives its products and services.
Tactics and actions
Effective marketing tactics generally leads to significant customer satisfaction and
facilitating organisation to focus on its controlled financial resources in an efficient way for
maximising the promotion of its products and services in an effective manner. They are a set of
strategies made for promoting products and services of a business organisation with an objective of
increase in sales and maintaining the product competitive (Bastable, 2016). Here are some of the
easiest marketing tactics which will reap profitable outcomes for EE limited: Focus on best prospects: The cited phone company has to give some time for analysing its
current customers for determining what main features they share and why those features
make them idealistic for it. Then to appeal them particularly, it has to review its sales
messages. This will lead to growth in number of new sales and profitability of every new
customer. Pile on benefits: Generally buyers purchase something to save time or money. Mentioned
company can offer its customers an opportunity to do both and it will increase its sales. It
has to provide them many opportunities to do both which will lead to drastic increase in its
sales.
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 Make purchasing easy: Cited organisation should make it convenient for its potential
customers to purchase and they will purchase more. It has to find out ways for making the
purchasing procedure simple and quicker (Durand and Barlow, 2012). Follow up-again and again: Selling is not one step procedure. Many people does not
purchase anything they see first time or hear about that. Cited firm can attract many of this
type of customers through an effective follow-up system. This can be done by contacting
these potential customers with new offerings. Behaviour driven messaging: Customers not only responds to highly personalised
communications effective but they expect this. Firm has to categorise its audience into the
smallest possible teams for delivering one-on-one messages. Along with this, it has to
automate its systems for delivering quick response and behaviour driven message.
 Website personalisation: The mentioned organisation has to develop smart website tools
which make easy to leverage behavioural and contextual data. This will help the company to
to put correct action for the user at correct time (Rascati, 2013).
Budget
Budget for marketing and related activities can be made with 2000 GBP. It will be divided as
follows:
Activities Estimated cost (in GBP)
Database development 500
Research and development 300
Recruitment and selection 300
Training and development 100
Advertisement, promotions and CRM 400
Employee relations 300
Miscellaneous expenses 100
Total 2000
Control
For maximisation of returns of the marketing plan, EE limited has to control it for
monitoring progress of plan. As the plan will move, controls are regularly assessed for determining
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how the plan is actually performing in comparison with the projections mentioned company can go
for following elaborated methods to control its marketing plan:
Review: Making a reviewing system in the marketing planning can act a method of controlling it. It
should consists of checklists for assessment of progress, and mechanisms for making adjustments in
the plan so that unanticipated setbacks in budget can be accommodated (Kennedy and Parsons,
2014). The checklists give a short term direction to the company.
Consumer feedback: Consumer feedback can also function as an effective method of controlling
marketing plan. As efforts in marketing try to impact behaviour of consumer, their positive and
negative reactions can determine whether plan has been successful or not. Cited organisation can
contact its customers in an indirect manner by conducting online polls and surveys on internet by
asking questions about its current marketing plan (Bernstein, 2013).
Conclusion
The above described marketing plan will aid EE limited in building a strong consumer base.
The tactics and actions which are recommended will help the marketing manager to take
appropriate steps when the suggested marketing strategies does not reap desired outcomes. Further,
the internal and external analysis which are being applied in mentioned company will prove very
beneficial as it gives complete information and knowledge of factors which can influence it in a
significant manner. It has been concluded from this marketing plan that planning plays an important
role in marketing function for mentioned firm. In absence of marketing plans, the company will not
be able to achieve its high level of customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty. The tactics and actions
will help the firm to attain its marketing objectives and goals in an efficient manner. The STP model
will also support the cited organisation to focus on every particular segment and group of
customers. Apart from this, the SWOT analysis of the firm will help it to make its marketing
strategies more better.
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