Comprehensive Marketing Plan Analysis for Vodafone Group (Report)

This report provides a detailed analysis of Vodafone's marketing plan. It begins with an introduction to marketing planning and its changing perspectives, focusing on the evolution from production and product concepts to selling and marketing concepts. The report then examines Vodafone's planning for future marketing activities, including financial and technical capabilities, brand recognition, and competitive strategies. A PESTLE analysis assesses the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting Vodafone. Additionally, the report incorporates SWOT and Porter's Five Forces analyses to evaluate Vodafone's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. The report identifies key barriers to marketing planning, such as cultural differences, resource issues, and competitive pressures, and suggests strategies to overcome these challenges and improve overall marketing effectiveness. The report also has an attached poster presentation.

Marketing Planning

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Marketing Planning....................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
LO 1 CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN MARKETING PLANNING....................................3
1.1...........................................................................................................................................3
1.2...........................................................................................................................................4
1.3...........................................................................................................................................5
LO 2 THE MAIN BARRIERS TO MARKETING PLANNING..............................................6
2.1...........................................................................................................................................6
2.2...........................................................................................................................................7
3.5...........................................................................................................................................8
LO 4 ETHICAL ISSUES INFLUENCE MARKETING PLANNING ....................................9
4.1...........................................................................................................................................9
4.2...........................................................................................................................................9
4.3.........................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................10
REFERNCES...........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing planning refers to making plan or strategies in the organisation to give
tough competition to other rivals and achieve its objectives and goals. In this report the
selected blue chip organisation is Vodafone Group (Aaker, 2011). It is a British multinational
telecommunication company and it’s headquarter is in London. It is a worldwide company
with millions of subscribers and it is listed in London Stock Exchange. Company operates in
a perfect competition market and it is a public limited company. Vodafone main aim and core
values are to give quality and personalised service to its users. Its main operation is in global
market and serves users worldwide. The financial position of the organisation is strong and
has more assets over liabilities.
LO 1 CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN MARKETING PLANNING
1.1
Changing perspectives in marketing planning involves change in different concepts
like production concept, product concept and later when the product is ready change in
selling and marketing concept to launch the product in the market. Change in Production
concept means that company introduces innovative technology to produce the product. It
means that in manufacturing of the product change has been led down so that something new
can come up (Avlonitis and Indounas, 2006). It leads to change in product concept and
modifying the range of products so that customers can have a wide variety and choice.
Alteration in product concept has to be unique so that it helps Vodafone to bring a change in
the market.
Change perspective in selling concept states that company brings new and varied
concept of selling the product in the market. It refers to intending customers to buy their
products and they should offer quality products from other competitors. Selling is all together
different concept from marketing (Doole and Lowe, 2005). In selling product is sold to
customers and earn profits but in marketing concept the needs of customers are fulfilled and
make them satisfied. Change in marketing concept has been made wider like different ways
has been introduced by company like online marketing of products and making a larger
customer base. Different types of marketing concept are as follows- Social marketing concept- It focuses on welfare of customer satisfaction and society.
Here, mere satisfaction of consumers will not help but they need to satisfy the needs
of society as well (Mofatt, 2014).
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 Product concept- It states that if the quality of the product is of good standard then
customers will be automatically satisfied. Therefore, Vodafone uses effective
marketing concepts in order to increase the quality of their product.
 Selling concept- It means that business should use different ideas to sell the product to
ultimate consumers (Avlonitis and Indounas, 2006).
 Marketing concept- It is a modern concept which sells the product to consumers and
satisfy their needs as well. Company make the product available in the market which
the consumers want or desire in order to achieve targets.
1.2
Vodafone’s planning for future marketing activity includes its financial, technical
capability. Brand recognition or to be well known among customers and at the same time also
giving tough competition to other industries.
• Financial capability- Vodafone financial capability has to be strong so that it can
effectively plan for its future marketing activities (Abraham, 2012). Strong financial
position of balance sheet impacts the company to perform its current as well as
future marketing activities and gives best results in terms of acquiring larger market
share.
• Technical capability- Technical capability of the Vodafone has to be increased so
that it can have efficient planning for its future marketing activities. Like for instance
if the company is planning to launch new technology in future it should have enough
technical capability. Business can patent its technology so that no other company can
utilise it. It will remain with the company for life time and they will the single owner
to utilise it.
• Brand recognition- Customers should easily recognise the brand and for that
company should plan for future policies and rules (Galliers and Leidner, 2013).
Vodafone should be well known from its other competitors and achieve success. For
recognising the brand planning should be done for future activities of company. It is
a renowned brand in UK therefore many people uses the services of the brand
instead of other competitors available in the market offering similar services. Brand
provides unique quality services to their users and also provide effective network
wherever people travel.
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• Loyalty competition and industry- Vodafone has to plan strategies for its future
activities so that customers should be loyal to the brand and there should be no tough
competition for loyalty. And also in industry among different competitors giving
same services there should be no rivalry. So, for that proper planning for its future
activities has to be made.
1.3
The PESTLE analysis use strategic planning process that helps to evaluate political,
economic, social, technological, legal and economic factors of company. Pestle analysis
impacts the company in legal factors that it changes the rules and regulations of Vodafone. It
means that change in policies by the government impacts the legal conditions of the business.
Technological factors influence the business by increasing high technology product in the
market. Innovative products or improved technology impacts the business environment of
Vodafone (Gomez-Mejia Balkin and Cardy, 2008). Political factors also influence the
regulation of business through change in policies and introducing new import taxes affects
the marketing planning.
Political- Company has regulations to operate its business in Mexican markets because of
license problems. Vodafone has to take permission from government to enter into market and
need to provide high quality service for customers (Kotler, 2003).
Economic- Due to recession in the economy it affects the growth of company because there is
change in the policies and people have less money to purchase new sim cards. Whereas,
government also charges high cost of new licensing in order to cover more telecom market.
Social factors- As there is change in technology and in order to have high lifestyle company
faces problem because of other competitors offering similar services at lower cost.
Technological- Also, new innovations affect the market because of improvement in
technology many companies want to enter the market and increase their profitability (Oudan,
2007).
Environment- Business is affected from different environmental laws therefore it needs to
safeguard it through using different rules and regulations.
Legal- Company is affected by different consumers filing complaints because of poor
network or someone else using fake identity of others (Doole and Lowe, 2005).
SWOT analysis or internal analysis of Vodafone shows that it improves the marketing
planning process of company. Through this business should focus on the development of
strength and capabilities so that it should have better marketing planning process. Business
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has to focus on weaknesses of marketing planning and needs to develop it by making
effective policies. And also the opportunities and threats have to be defined by the company
so to grow in all areas and make effective planning process.
Strengths- It is one of the most popular cellular service providers in the world. Company uses
effective marketing strategies to attract clients. Business has international collaboration with
different sports events (Ward and Lewandowsko, 2008).
Weaknesses- There are various similar service provider offering services at lower rates.
Through this company gets tough competition in market (Aaker, 2011).
Opportunities- It has the opportunity to expand its market in rural areas to achieve success.
Company can introduce latest and new technology which other competitors are not offering.
Threats- There are new entrants in the business which offers low cost product (Michman,
2006).
Porter’s five forces model analysis plays an effective role in making strategic planning
decisions for business. Bargaining power of buyers- In telecommunication industry the barganing power is very
high due to lack of differentiated producrts and strict competition. However for vodafone the
the bargaing power of buyers is comparatively low because due to large coverage of market
share as compared to its rival firms.
 Bargaining power of suppliers- The suppliers of Vodafone have high baragaiing power as
compared to its rivals. As a market leader, it has larger market share which implies that it can
easily absorb price increments by suppliers. It means that suppliers of Vodafone are very
efficient and they have good and long term relationship with the company. (Kotler, 2003). Threats of new entrants- It is relatively low because entry in mobile market needs high
investment. The new companies who want enter into thetelecommunication industry are
required to pay huge licensing fees coupled with spectrum avaialability and legal norms.
 Threats of substitutes- Threat of substitute is high for Vodafone because consumers have
alternative options available such as landline, CDMA, Google talk, Skype, etc. They can
choose different service providers which can fulfil or satisfy their needs.
 Availability of rivalry- Vodafone faces high competition from its rivals which significantly
affect its business operations due to low call rates and innovative services.
1.4
Attached sepearately a document of poster presentation.
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LO 2 THE MAIN BARRIERS TO MARKETING PLANNING
2.1
There are different available barriers that impact the marketing planning of Vodafone. Culture- It has been noticed that culture of Vodafone impacts its employees by
change in policies or environmental differences in company’s culture. It reflects in the
satisfaction level of employees negatively and they did not get satisfied from varied
culture (Oudan, 2007). Power and politics- From the work experience could state that there is no power and
politics that exists in company. Analysis, not action- As being an employee it was analysed that in Vodafone analysis
has been done of the work based problems and not sufficient action has been taken by
the management. Resource issues- The resource issues factors like financial resources proves to be the
barrier in Vodafone, as noticed that proper resources are not available when required
by the business (Paswan and et. al., 2011). Competitors- It has a negative impact on the company’s marketing planning. The
main competition company is facing is from British Telecom and there is high level of
competition available in the business. Communication barriers- This was noticed that there is lack of communication of
rules and policies among employees and company. What the Company delivers to its
employees is not effectively understood by them due to gap of communication (Rust
and Verhoef, 2005). Poor leadership- Poor leadership was found in making the marketing plan by
company. There were no leaders who can take effective steps to successfully
implement the plan.
 Skills- The skills of different employees differ from each other and it helps in making
effective marketing plan for Vodafone.
 Customer expectations- Organisation is trying to meet the customer expectations by
providing them various services so that it can lead the market better from other
competitors (Trainor and et.al., 2013).
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2.2
In the need to overcome all such barriers Vodafone has to make the marketing
planning effective and efficient. It means that organisation has to choose varied policies and
principles so that it can effectively overcome all the barriers. Business has to give specialized
training to its all employees’ so that they can overcome the barriers analysed in the
organisation (Ward and Lewandowsko, 2008). The size of the organisation affects delivering
proper communication to employees and proves to be barrier in understanding the things that
has been delivered to them. To overcome such problem Vodafone should divide the
employees in teams and then communicate proper instructions to them. Furthemore, adopting
different rules and regulations so that it helps in assessing the needs of marketing planning in
business and thus effectively overcome the issues in firm. Also, top management is required
to develop effective decision regarding the allocation of resources so that organization can
attain success and thus overcoming the barriers helps in effective marketing planning. It is
crucial for firm to overcome the barrier of communication as different regions have different
local languages and thus management should make effectual decision in regard to appoint
sutiable manager of that area so that the can build relationship among clients and thus
overcome the barries effectively.
The geographical location also hinders the communication between employees and
company. To overcome such barriers proper decision has to be made of location and then
collectively communicate with all of them to have effectiveness in work. In order to improve
the comunicatio riht tools and techniques need to be employed.
3.5
It is essential for business to implement the strategy in business to attain success of
Vodapahone's marketing plan. However, before implementing the plan, management of
business is required to analyse varied factors such as geographic location, promotional
techniques, buying behaviour of clients etc. Also, it is significant for business to make a
balance between all the factors so that success of marketing plan can be ensured. However,
the plan developed by cited firm will create long term impact on the business activities so that
desired results can be achieved. Thus positive response can be generated by building market
share, enhance sales and revenues. Further, marketing department of business is required to
control and assess the marketing plan so that potential outcomes can be achieved. The
techniques for new product development can be using BCG matrix and Ansof matrix-
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Star
Through star product
means that it can develop
or grow fast in the
competitive market and it
can be profitable for
Vodafone to develop new
product.
Question Mark
It refers to worst
situation of the
product in the market
with no growth of the
new product of
Vodafone (Szwarc,
2005).
Cash Cow
Cash cows states that new product
development of Vodafone that is
4G service will have high
dominant position in the market.
New product which is 4G service
best fits into cash cows because
here new product development is
done.
Dogs
Refers to low market
share and it can make
the product non
profitable for that time
period. It will require
suitable changes in the
product to improve its
market position.
Ansof Matrix of Vodafone is presented in the following points:
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Illustration 1: Ansof Matrix of Vodafone
(Source: Szwarc, 2005)

• Market penetration- Penetration means that Vodafone has to develop the existing
product within the existing market only (Thomas and et.al., 2008). By increasing in
promotional activity company can expand its new product 4G into different market.
• Product development- It gives an positive impact on the company by introducing
new product in the existing market and satisfying the customers.
• Market extension- Extending the current market into new market with the same
product can help Vodafone increase its profits and expand its market.
• Diversification- It helps in diversifying or develops new 4G service of Vodafone in
the new market.
The factors that affect the effective implementation of the marketing plan and that
faces various barriers in implementation of the service and how that can be overcome
(Nwokah and Ahiauzu, 2009). It can effectively overcome through measuring the
performance like financial position of Vodafone. It should also show that the product is
different from any other available product in the market.
LO 4 ETHICAL ISSUES INFLUENCE MARKETING PLANNING
4.1
In recent years it can be assessed that there are varied ethical issues that influence
marketing planning. Ethical problems in advertisisng and promotions are generated by
conflicts and disagreements. Ethical issues related to market research happes due to invasio
of privacy and stereotyping as when research is not conducted properly then it will give rise
to undesired results o the grounds of ethics. I has been observed that many companies while
advertising their products make use of undesirable contents such as violence, sexual innuendo
which create negative impression on the minds of children which is unaccepted on ethical
grounds. Further many organizations are charged for fraud scams as they make false promises
to customers to increase sales. Therefore it is very impoertat to consider ethical issues while
planning marketing activities.Following are the practices that states that the practices that
must be noticed during the marketing planning of communication services in UK. These are
as follows-
 Services delivered to consumers should be ethical and of good use.
 It is crucial for business to protect the data and information of clients from any type of
ethical misconduct done by other individuals.
 Business should not share the clients personal information and make it confidential.
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 Following proper ethical practices helps in developing the brand image of firm and
thus prepare effectual marketing planning.
Ethical issues influence the marketing planning of Vodafone so that it should have
reputation of the brand in the market. The company should not practice unethical issues in the
business which hinders the brand image of the company (Prasad, 2010). For example during
world cup Adidas was involved in gambling or fixing the matches which is an unethical issue
or practice in the organisation. It was highlighted by the media so much and it affects the
brand image of the company.
4.2
The organisations respond to ethical issues and should try to solve them. Vodafone
has to find the issues and also identify the parties which are involved in creating those ethical
issues (Flekel, 2014). Proper steps have to be created by company so to make decisions to
solve the unethical practices in the company. It means that all positive and negative
consequences ha to identify then Vodafone should develop the image in the mind of
customers. The individual working in the organisation has to be identified and moral
principles have to be judged so that it gives positive impact on the environment of the
company. Moral principles have to be imbibed by the organisation into individual so to
increase its performance and gives positive impact in working culture of company. Through
continuing ethical practice in the business it can create the brand image in the market and
expand its market share. When these unethical issues are arising business needs to take
proper action otherwise it affect the marketing plan of Vodafone. Company should use
effective advertisements and other promotional strategy so that it increases the trust of
consumers (Thomas and et.al., 2008). Company can overcome such unethical issues using
effective marketing strategies so that results can be achieved.
4.3
Unethical issues undertaken by customers also affect the growing of the company and
have a bad impact on the marketing planning of the business. Vodafone has to keep an close
watch on its customers so that it does not affects the working of the business. There should be
proper rules and regulation made for the consumers and if they found guilty of carrying
unethical behaviour towards company they should be penalised (Mofatt, 2014). Proper
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actions has to be taken by the company so that they do not find and fake or false implications
carried by the customers towards the image of the company.
Consumer should follow proper ethics and do not use false representation and wrong
use of brand names (Cacciolatti and Fearne, 2013). This all unethical practices by the
consumers affect the marketing planning process made by Vodafone. Company can found
that customers might carry different bad ethical practices like illegal unblocking of phones,
buying fake sime on other person identity (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy, 2008).
Therefore, all such issues need to be overcome by company through adopting different rules
and policies so that regulation can be done. Company should restrict their retailers that they
should not sell the sim card to anyone with proper identity.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded through this report that marketing planning plays an important
role in the Vodafone industry. There are perspective changes made by the company in the
marketing planning process. Different capabilities have been analysed by the business so that
it shows the future marketing planning activity of the company. the different barriers have
been analysed which impacts the marketing planning of Vodafone and also different ways to
overcome such situations in marketing planning. In order to this a new marketing plan has
been drawn which suited the organisation effectively. Consumer ethics has been analysed by
the Vodafone so that they do not practice unethical issues towards the company. Moreover,
company uses effective ethical practices so that brand image can be gained. Also, business
uses different marketing concepts like product, selling, social etc to increase the marketing
activity of business. Company develops its new product 4G service in cash cows. Further,
company adopts different rules and regulations so that unethical consumer behaviour can be
stopped.
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