Investigating Relationship Marketing Strategies for BMW Company

This project delves into the realm of relationship marketing, focusing on its application within BMW, a prominent luxury vehicle manufacturer. The research begins by defining the core concept of relationship marketing and its significance in fostering customer loyalty and long-term engagement, contrasting it with traditional transactional marketing approaches. It then examines the impact of relationship marketing, particularly through social media, on attracting new customers, highlighting the importance of building strong customer relationships and creating a positive brand image. The study further identifies the challenges BMW faces in implementing these strategies, such as adapting to evolving consumer behavior and leveraging social media effectively. Through literature review, the project investigates the impact of relationship marketing and also the challenges faced by the company in managing the relationship marketing. The project concludes with recommendations for BMW to overcome these obstacles and enhance its customer acquisition efforts, emphasizing the need for improved after-sales service, understanding consumer needs, and utilizing social media for feedback and engagement. The research employs both primary and secondary data collection methods to answer the research questions and provide in-depth analysis, offering insights into the practical application and strategic importance of relationship marketing in the automotive industry.

THE BUSINESS PROJECT

ABSTRACT
The current research is related to the topic relationship marketing in order to attract the new set
of consumers for the company. This is very essential for the company to manage the marketing
of the company as if the company will not market the goods and services in proper manner then
the consumer will not like this. Thus, the present research discussed about the various impact of
using the relationship marketing like the increase in goodwill, sales, and other positive impact.
Further with help of the literature review certain challenges and impact was discussed relating to
the relationship marketing. Further in the research methodology segment the current study,
qualitative study has chooses in order to provide in depth analysis that assist to meet the define
aim and this in turn leads to determine the importance of relationship marketing for draw
attention of many customers. Also, by using both primary and secondary data collection method,
scholar also assist to answer the research question which in turn help to conduct entire study in
precise manner. Further with help of data analysis of the collected facts and figures it was seen
that using relationship marketing is very helpful for company in gaining competitive advantage.
In the end some recommendation was made like improving after sale service, understanding
requirement of consumer and many others.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express the deepest obligation towards all the personage who helped me in
endeavour. Without their active guidance, help and cooperation, I would not have made headway
in the project.
I am extremely thankful and pay my gratitude to my faculty who guide me and provide their
valuable guidance to complete the project. I also thankful and acknowledge the deepest gratitude
towards my parents and member of my family who support me economically.
Last but not the least, i would like to thank my friends who support me and without your support
I would not able to complete the project.
Thanking you.

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................7
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................11
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION....................................................14
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................26
Conclusion................................................................................................................................26
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................27
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................29
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................31
Questionnaire............................................................................................................................31

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the most essential thing for the company to face the intense competition
within the global market. This is particularly because of the reason that when the competition
within the market is very high then at that time the marketing of the goods and services only
helps in managing the sales and income of the company (Hoque, Awang and Salam, 2017).
Without effective marketing no business can run and operate in this highly competitive global
business environment. In respect of marketing the goods and services of the company the
relationship marketing is a newer and effective concept. Relationship marketing is a type of
marketing which focuses on the loyalty of consumer and the managing of long term relation with
the consumer.
The major aim of the relationship marketing is to create a long term connection with the
consumer so that the sales of the company is increasing. The current report is based on company
BMW which is Bayerische Motoren Werke AG which is a German multinational company
producing the luxury vehicles and motorcycles. The company was founded in the year 1916 and
is headquartered in Munich in Germany. The current research will focus over the impact which
the relationship marketing has in attracting the consumer with help of social media. Also, the
challenges faced by the company in managing and using relationship marketing will be analysed
within the whole research.
Aim of the research: “To investigate the importance of relationship marketing to attract new
customers using social media: A study on BMW”
Objectives:
 To understand the concept of relationship marketing
 To examine the impact of relationship marketing upon attracting customer using social
media.
 To analyse the challenges faced by the company while using relationship marketing
 To recommend the ways through which company is able to overcome the challenge face
by BMW.
Research question
1. What is the concept of relationship marketing?
2. What is the impact of the use of relationship marketing upon attraction of consumer with
help of social media?

3. What are the various challenges being faced by the company at time of using the
relationship marketing?
4. What are some of the suggestion for the company to overcome the challenges being faced
by BMW?
Rationale
The competition within the market is very high and intense because of this the consumer are very
diversified and do not switch to any of the company. Thus, in this type of working environment
it is very necessary for the companies to have effective marketing strategies so that they are able
to attract more of the consumers. Thus, the research topic was selected because of this reason
only so that the companies can understand the concept of relationship management and also the
various benefits and challenges of using this type of marketing in the running of the business.
also, in addition to this the major reason behind the selection of relationship marketing as a
research topic is the personal and academic interest of the researcher as well.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1: Comprehend concept of relationship marketing
According to van Hoek and et.al., (2020) to gain attention of buyers and attract them
management do a lot of efforts that is quite beneficial in term of increasing sales and
productivity. Relationship marketing play important role in do so, it is facet of consumer’s
relation management that concentrate on specific target market loyalty and long term buyer’s
engagement more than short term aims like individual sales and consumers acquisition. The aim
of this concept is to develop strong, even emotional consumers' relationship to a brand that can
lead to ongoing and sustaining business free word of mouth promotion and data from buyers that
can generate leads. With relationship marketing campaigns and promotions, firms save their
money and time by focusing on client that cannot be as costly in term of managing connections
with them. Companies also make better decision about which buyers have underdeveloped
potential.
Camilleri, (2018) stated that, it is quite difficult for management to acquire new segment
which may be considered as costly procedure. But with relationship marketing it is quite easy for
organizations to retain their target market over long term which outcomes in consumer loyalty
more than people buy once or may be infrequently. This concept is really very essential for their
abilities to stay in close connection with clients. By comprehending how people utilize a specific
brand services or products and observing additional unmet needs. Companies can create new &
innovative features and offering to meet those market needs further strengthening bond with
individual.
Nelson, (2018) highlights that for any company it is very important to retain target buyers
for longer period of time. Relationship marketing help to do so as it stands in contrast to better
traditional transactional marketing method which mainly focuses on maximizing number of
individual sales. It includes a variety of overlapping technologies and strategies that help foster a
deeper and longer relationship with existing and new consumers. The overall concept is based on
tenets of client’s experience management. With abundance of data on websites and flourishing
utilize of social media sites most people expect to have easy, tailored access to in depth about
particular brand and even expect chance to influence services and goods via social media
advertisement or posts and online reviews.

In recent time, relationship marketing includes developing easy two-way interactions
between businesses and consumers, tracking and monitoring people activities. By using this
concept firm can increase consumer’s lifetime value as it helps to create loyal buyers which leads
to repeat buys and high CLV. In additional, loyal consumers are likely to become brand
ambassadors, suggesting item and services to family, friends and business associates.
Relationship marketing cater many benefits as it helps to reduce in marketing and promotion
spend. Investing in advertising and selling to acquire new buyers can be expensive and time-
consuming activity. This concept causes consumers to do marketing for company, that called
buzz marketing. It is anything created to keep people buying from particular organization.
Theme 2: Impact of use of relationship marketing in attracting consumers with help of social
media.
In the views of Payne and Frow (2017) the relationship marketing is very essential for the
company to use as this increases the number of consumers within the company. This is due to the
reason that when good relations are being maintained with the consumer then they feel good and
like to buy goods from the company. In the similar manner if the company is not good and
effective in managing the relation with the consumer then the consumer will not like it and will
not interact with the company again. Thus, the management of good relation with the consumer
is very essential for the company and this creates a positive impact over the working of the
company.
Verma, Sharma and Sheth, (2016) states that if good relationship marketing is used and
practiced by the company then this will create a positive image of the company in the minds of
the consumers. This is particularly because of the reason that when the company interacts with
the consumer in good and cordial manner then the consumer like it. Also, this makes the
consumer feel that the company is working for the consumer and their need satisfaction only.
Thus, this creates a good and positive image in the minds of the consumers.
In against of this Gummerus, von Koskull and Kowalkowski (2017) states that the major
impact of using social media for the management and attracting of the consumer over the social
media is that this increases the number of consumers. This is due to the fact that with the help of
social media the marketing is done in more effective way and this attracts a large number of
consumers. In addition to this in the current modern world, the consumers are more attracted

towards the use of the social media. Thus, if the goods and services are marketed over the social
media then this will attract more of the consumers.
By using the Internal Market as a model of Relationship Marketing, it is analysed that
company who have an ability to determine the style as well as ethics of a business environment
with their action and belief's. Then they maintain proper relationship with customers and also
meet their needs and demand as well. Aldaihani and Ali (2019) stated that company has to
develop values in order to support the customer oriented corporate culture so that it will help to
meet the success within a market place. Therefore, it can be stated that with the help of
relationship marketing, company easily sustain the long term relationship within a managers
which in turn assist to meet the define aim. While Gaurav (2016) argued that influence market is
another model of relationship marketing which comprises of individuals and organization who
have an ability to positively as well as negatively influence the marketing environment in which
an organisation is actually competes. Through this, it realizes firm that public relations exercises
plays an important part of a relationship marketing process as well. Hence, it is also stated that
companies tend to have a good relationship with critical sources of their market so that they
successfully meet the demand of a company in better manner.
On the other side Ryu and Lee (2017) argues that the use of social media for the
relationship marketing assist the company in easily taking feedback from the consumer relating
to the use of goods and services. This can be done in form of an online survey with help of the
social media websites. Under this technique the company can build a questionnaire relating to
the use of product and services of the company and after that the consumer will fill it over the
social media. Thus, in this manner the company can maintain good and effective relation with
the consumers.
Theme 3: Various types of challenges being faced by company in relationship marketing.
In accordance with Lo and Campos (2018) there are many different challenges which the
company faces at time of marketing the goods and services at the global level. The major
challenge is that the company cannot guarantee a profit if they use the method of the relationship
marketing. This is due to the fact that the company invest huge amount of money in
implementing the relationship marketing and if the consumer will not like this then the image of
the company in the minds of the consumer will decrease. Thus, due to this the company faces the
challenge of the in managing relation with the consumers.

In against of this Boateng (2019) argues that the another major challenge of using the
relationship marketing is that this creates a problem in understanding the need and requirements
of the consumers. This is basically because of the reason that there are different people and all
the people have different types of requirements and needs. Thus, it is not necessary that the
company is able to fulfil the need and requirements of each and every person in the same
intended manner.
Along with this Heiens, Pleshko and Ahmed (2019) states that the major challenge being
faced by the companies at time of managing and using the relationship marketing is that this is
very expensive and time- consuming. This is particularly because of the reason that in the
relationship marketing focus on particular consumer is laid so that relation with them is good. So
this result in a challenge that it takes a lot of time in understanding the requirement of the
consumer and fulfilling it in the same manner. Also, analysing the individual need of all the
consumer it is very expensive and costly for the company to study and analyse each of the
consumer in the same manner.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is particular process and techniques which are used to determine,
identify and analyse the data related to specific topic. Also, by using this section, researcher will
critically evaluate the study's entire validity and reliability so that it will assist to meet the define
aim and objectives (Adhabi and Anozie, 2017). Also, this section contains many key aspects
which help scholar in order to answer the research question and also conduct the entire research
in better manner. These elements are as mention below:
Research Type: For the current dissertation, qualitative study has been choosing in order
to meet the define aim. With the help of this study, investigator also collect in depth detail so that
they will encourage people to expand their response for a new topic. Also, using qualitative
study, scholar easily determine the response of all selected participants and this in turn assist to
examine the importance of relationship marketing in order to attract new customers with the help
of social media.
Research Philosophy: It is a notion or a belief in which a data about a phenomenon
which is gathered, analysed and used. It is of four types i.e. Interpretivism, realism, Pragmatism
and Positivism. Among all, Interpretivism philosophy has been adopted for the study in order to
examine the assumption presented in a study that explain the researcher's and respondents view.
Moreover, with the help of chosen philosophy, scholar also collect valid information that help to
interpret the results in better manner with regards to determine the importance of relationship
marketing in order to draw attention of many customers.
Research Approach: It is a plan as well as a method that is consist of broad assumption
where detail method of data collection, analysis and interpretation is used. There are three types
of research approach such that Inductive, Deductive and Abductive (Durdella, 2017). Among all,
Inductive approach has been used by a scholar because it allows flexibility and also attend to
analyse in depth information as compared to other types. Thus, through this, researcher easily
collect the information and also meet the define aim by conducting the entire study in more
precise manner.
Data Collection: It is an approach through which information is collected in proper
manner. Such that there are two types of data collection methods which are used by the
researcher in order to meet the define aim. Such that under primary research, scholar design a
questionnaire under survey method which help to meet the define aim and determine the views

of selected respondents with regards to relationship marketing. On the other side, as per the
secondary research, scholar chooses relevant books, articles, newspaper articles related to topic .
For the study, scholar uses secondary data collection method only which help to meet the define
aim and this is used under literature review section which assist to analyse the importance of
relationship marketing in order to attract range of new customers.
Data Analysis: Data analysis is that process of cleaning, transforming and modelling
information in order to discover the best information for making decision effectively. Also, with
the help of data analysis, scholar interpret the results in such a manner that assist to generate best
outcomes (Blair, 2016). Hence, for this study, researcher uses thematic data analysis in which
themes are used to make the entire research more presentable. Also, under this study, scholar
uses this strategy under qualitative study because it assists to increase flexibility and also
improve the validity and auditability of a qualitative research. Therefore, it assists to meet the
define aim and conduct study in more precise manner.
Sampling: It is the process which is used in statistical analysis in which a pre-determine
number of observation from an entire group. There are two types of sampling method i.e.
probability and non- probability. Among all, simple random sampling method has been selected
by the researcher in order to meet the define aim (Mirick, Davis and Wladkowski, 2017). Also,
around 100 customers are selected randomly in order to determine their views related to
relationship marketing within a company. Hence, with the help of a selected sampling strategy, it
is easily determining whether BMW should use the relationship marketing concept in order to
draw attention of many customers towards it.
Ethical Consideration: This is considering important key element of research
methodology section in which researcher has to make sure that they maintain confidentiality
while choosing the respondents. On the other side, scholar should also comply with Data
protection act and make sure that there is no miscommunication between the researcher and
respondents, otherwise it affects the results in negative manner. Moreover, researcher should also
maintain proper dignity and respect towards a sample and also take a full consent from them
prior to the study. Thus, it is analysed that by using all ethical consideration, researcher generate
the best outcomes which in turn assist to meet the overall aim and objectives (Bloomberg and
Volpe, 2018).