Mercedes Croove: UK Market Analysis and Expansion Strategy Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Mercedes Croove's global marketing strategy, specifically focusing on its potential expansion into the UK car rental market. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, followed by an in-depth examination of the UK's business environment, including its automotive industry, competitors, market size, and potential. The report then explores various entry modes, with a strong emphasis on the benefits of a joint venture strategy. It identifies the target market, primarily focusing on youth and business travelers, and outlines specific marketing objectives and strategies, such as social media and event sponsorship, to reach these segments. The report also provides recommendations for successful market penetration and concludes with a summary of key findings and references. The analysis highlights the potential of the UK market for Mercedes Croove, emphasizing the adaptability of the target demographic and the opportunities for growth within the automotive sector.

GLOBAL MARKETING

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Global marketing helps an entity to expand its business on international platform.
Mercedes Croove is a mobile based application for car rental services which is planning to
expand in UK. The automotive industry of UK have more than £71.6 billion turnover with
169000 people are employed in manufacturing concerns. The entity will target youth and
business travellers in order to take their services. It can use various promotional strategies such
as, social media platform, leaflets, flyers, etc. The distribution strategies adopted are, airport
rental locations, event sponsorship etc. It will help the company to maximize its revenue and
increase its market share in UK as well.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
(III) Business environment of the country, its competitor, market and size potential...........1
(IV) Entry mode.....................................................................................................................5
(V) Target Market...................................................................................................................6
(VI) Objective of Marketing...................................................................................................9
(VII)Marketing strategies to reach marketing objectives.....................................................11
(VIII) Recommendations......................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Auto mobile sector in UK.........................................................................................3
Illustration 2: Different types of auto mobile companies................................................................4
Illustration 3: Automotive sector.....................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Global marketing is an effective way to promote a business on international platform. It
helps to take adequate measures that can attract potential customers in another country
(Bharadwaj and et.al., 2013). Mercedes Croove is a mobile application based car rental company
who provides vehicles on rent for a specific period. It also takes cars from those who are not
using it frequently to further give it on rent in lieu of price as mentioned in the contract. The
report discusses potential market of Croove in UK. Further, it also focuses on marketing
strategies that can be used to promote application in UK as the target market are youngsters.
Various types of pricing and promotional strategies are suggested that can be used by the
company in order to increase its market share in UK. In the end, it ponders on distribution
strategy adopted by Mercedes Croove.
(III) Business environment of the country, its competitor, market and size potential
Mecedes Croove is an app based company which provide cars on rent for a specific
period. The facility is used by the people who do not require cars all the time and can rent it for
some days through this app. The company wants to expand in European market. European
countries are famous for their adaptability. In order to expand the market of Mercedes Croove,
UK has been chosen as an aspirant country. It will help the organization to grow and expand its
customer base. It is important that the chosen country is adaptable enough to the change and
company gets an opportunity to maximize its returns. The car rental platform is not offered by
many companies in UK which makes it a potential market. Moreover, the market values of the
customers living are simple enough that can be easily adopted by the entity. UK possess greater
proportion of young population attracting them to use a car rental app (Cotula, 2012). It will be
an easy task to promote the new application there as young audience are more adaptable to the
new things in comparison to the older one. It will be easy to make them understand the policies
and regulation followed by the Mercedes. Further, government rules and regulations in order to
enter the market are not stringent and will be easy for Mercedes to enter into that market.
UK is the central country of Europe which makes it a prime location to start a business.
The expansion of Mercedes Croove market in UK will help the company in global presence. It
will help the entity to increase its market share in the other country as well.
Competitors
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The main competitors of Mercedes Croove are auto mobile and cab service companies
running in UK. Cab services companies such as, Twelve transfers, Mason and Green, Silver fleet
transfers, Airport24, Blackberry cars, etc. These companies provide cab services all around UK
which can give tough competition to Mercedes Croove. Also, there are car rental companies
available in the market which are functioning in that market since years such as, Limo hire,
London car rentals, Resources for drivers and many others. Further, most of the people prefer to
take cab service with a driver rather than taking a sharing car on rent. The other competitive
sector is auto mobile where the customers in UK line to purchase a car rather than taking on rent
again and again.
Market potential
The automotive industry of UK have more than £71.6 billion turnover with 169000
people are employed in manufacturing concerns. There are more than 30 auto mobile
manufacturers are present in UK with more than 70 models of vehicles (Cuervo‐Cazurra, 2012).
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The industry is still growing due to increase in demand of vehicles by the people living in
UK. People in the country opt for car rental services if they are visiting to other place rather than
taking their own vehicle. There are also people who do not use their car frequently and this app
allows them to rent their car as well. It whelps to have extra earning and their vehicle also get
used.
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Illustration 1: Auto mobile sector in UK
Source: Grant, 2016

UK statistics, 2013 shows that only 13% rental companies are attracted to the cars who
are between the age of 0-2 and the interest get decreased as the age of the vehicle rises. It helps
the company to get second hand car used for few years at cheaper rate. Mercedes can have the
access to these type of cars while functioning in UK.
Size potential
There is a growth in number of cars in UK. People in UK prefer to take car rather than
walking or taking a bicycle. It helps them to commute from one place to another easily.
However, there are few people who prefer to take other modes and their vehicles become unused
for various days in between. Since, the size of auto mobile industry is growing, it will be fruitful
for Mercedes Croove to expand in UK market as it will help the company to grow its market
share. The production of vehicles is also on increasing phase which will help Mercedes Croove
to function properly and improve its sales there.
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Illustration 2: Different types of auto mobile companies
Source: Kumar, Gaur and Pattnaik, 2012

(IV) Entry mode
It is important to choose effective mode to enter in an international market. It is an
important step which decided that whether the company will be able to earn high profits and
brand image or not (Madsen and Walker, 2015). There are various entry modes that can be used
by Mercedes Croove in order to enter UK market. Some are mentioned below:
 Licensing: It is mode where the company charges fees or royalty in order to permit
another organization to use its technology, expertise and brand. It is the easiest way to
grab international market. As the organization which has already set up there have idea
about taste and preferences of the customers and it can adopt its practices in order to
promote a brand on international platform. It also involves Turnkey contracts where the
employees are given training and development programme and it is handover to the other
entity for its functioning.
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Illustration 3: Automotive sector
Source: UK Automotive, 2016

 Strategic Alliances: It is an agreement between two or more parties with same objective.
However, the entities remain independent but come together for a specific goal. It helps
the company, which is going to be set up in another country, understand the market and
build brand image.
 Joint venture: Two or more companies join hands for a common goal. During this
tenure, entities can use each other's technology, core competencies and management
skills. It helps to easily gain entry in the foreign market (Ramamurti, 2012). The
enterprise can also use each other's distribution channel, manufacturing units and research
and development factor. It will be a beneficial option for Mercedes Croove in order to
expand in UK market. It will help the entity to use other company's resources in order to
set up its business in that country. It can go for joining hands with car rental services as it
will be an effective mode to enter in international market.
Joint venture will allow Mercedes to explore the car rental market in UK and help in
making better strategies for its functioning. Also, it can be a useful way to promote the company
under the name of other entity which is already existing in UK. It is a useful measure to share
risks with the venture partner and the enterprise do not have to bear losses all alone. The
commitment between the parties have a specific time span and it does not continue for ever. The
companies involved can gradually separate according to mutual understanding.
Mercedes Croove, being new in the market, may not be aware of its potential customers
and ways in which it can approach to them. It is required to study the market first and then
decide that how the organisation can approach its potential customers by using various
promotional activities such as, social media posters, advertisement, banners. The other company
going into joint venture with Mercedes will help to increase the market share, increase
productivity, generate greater profits. It will also help in growing network to attract more
customers in order to use this service.
(V) Target Market
Mercedes Croove will select a target audience which are required to be focussed while
making marketing strategies. The company is going to target following people:
 Those passing through the area on the way to and from whistler. These will be the people
who visits the place to the maximum and make various trips from one city to another in
UK.
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 Residents within a 2.5 hour drive. It will be convenient for the company to approach
them otherwise the cost will increase to the estimated one.
 Visitors coming into the greater to UK area. It includes, students, business personnels,
professional etc. These people require roaming around the city and requires vehicle for
that purpose.
 Visitors coming into the country requires rental cars, they can be approached. These
people come to the country for sight seeing purpose and requires taking this facility for
their convenience in travelling from on place to another.
 Entrepreneurs travelling to the country for business purpose. These are the frequent
visitors can turn to be loyal customers as well. They are price adapters and are less price
sensitive then any other segment of people.
 Small business start-ups in the creative arts and recreational industry. These are young
people visiting to the city for business expansion. They travel from one place to another
and requires taking a car on rent for few days.
 Light manufacturing of adventures- related to gear, clothing. These people visit to the
country for adventure purpose. The major segment consist of youngsters.
 Creative professionals, digital technology, film, writing, and other creative pursuits. They
require travelling from one place to another in the country in search or scenic beauty.
 Students/ Educators visits UK on education tours and requires travelling a lot, within the
country.
 Young families with a passion for community, world-class recreation. It is another
segment of target market for Mercedes Croove.
 Single young professionals looking for a super – creative lifestyle mixed with
recreational pursuits.
 Urbanites looking to live away from the big-city perhaps working remotely with
occasional trips to the office(in greater Vancouver area)
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 Using the Croove app or website, renters can easily find a private vehicle in their area,
not tied to fixed-location rental stations. Owners can easily rent out their car and earn
some extra money.
 People with multiple cars can give their vehicle on rent and increase their income.
Mercedes Croove is targeting youngsters in UK therefore marketing strategies used by
the company will be different. Youth marketing technique can be used by the entity in order to
target people of age segment 16-34 years. These people can be entrepreneurs, college going
students, visitors, single young professionals etc. The entity will adopt following marketing
strategies so as to meet the needs of new market platform:
 Flyers: Mercedes can get its attractive flyers published in order to distribute them
wherever the young population is mostly found such as, coffee shops, bars, discs, outside
the school and colleges, record stores, outside the mall. Etc. It is an effective medium
where entity can make one to one contact to its potential customers (Rothaermel, 2015).
 Be interactive: Mercedes can build fascinated videos, online application and games in
order to keep the youth engaged in it. It will also attract them to use this car rental
application made by Mercedes.
 Social media platform: It is a platform used by the various companies in order to attract
youth population. Since, every single youngster is found on Facebook, instagram,
LinkedIn etc. It is the best place to catch them and promote Mercedes Croove. It will help
the entity to target large potential customers in one go.
 Make the application easy and user friendly: The customers get attracted towards easy
and user friendly app. Explaining the method of using the application in its promotional
advertisement attracts the customers to install and use it once. It will help in promoting
Mercedes Croove in better way. Convenience is another important factor that is noticed
by the young generation these days.
 Offer value: Generation of youth are attracted towards value offers. Providing them with
better discount offers will attract them ton use the app again and again. Giving
promotional and introductory offers in UK will also attract large number of customers in
one go.
 Support a cause: It is an attractive marketing strategy that can be used by Mercedes
Croove in order to attract potential customers. Support a good cause which works for the
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