Marketing strategic planning

Question 1: Marketing Strategy of Aston Martin

Introduction

Marketing strategic planning is important for multinational corporations, where companies try to promote their products and services in the international market through product design, pricing strategies, and other promotional activities (Zhang and Wang, 2019). The aim of the essay is to identify the marketing mix strategic planning that the company Aston Martin adopted in order to promote their luxury cars in the Asia Pacific market. Through this study, it is possible to identify the marketing strategies of Aston Martin for launching a new top-of-the-range road car in India to grab the market share and retain the customers.

Organisational Background

Aston Martin is a British manufacturing company which is efficient at producing luxury sports cars and grand products. The area served is worldwide, where the organisation is efficient at managing their global operations successfully. The luxury goods, creative design, and innovative products are the major success factors of the strong customer base of Aston Martin. Current models of the company are such as Aston Martin DB11, Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Aston Martin Rapide AMR, and Aston Martin Vantage. The upcoming models of the car are Aston Martin Valkyrie, Aston Martin DBX, and Aston Martin Valhalla. The organisation is also successful in developing their business globally and in this regard, the marketing strategic planning is strong which further provides a scope to the firm to represent the products in the international market and gain high competitive advantage (Aston Martin, 2020a).

7P marketing strategic planning of Aston Martin

7P marketing mix strategic planning is effective, where the organisations are trying to expand their firms globally through developing the quality products and choosing the best way to manage the organisational activities. The major factors under the marketing mix strategic planning are such as product, price, place and promotion as well as physical evidence, process and people. Through managing the factors, the organisation is able to handle the operations and secure future sustainable development (Chaffey, 2019). The marketing mix strategies of Aston Martin will be analysed further,

Product

The organisation Aston Martin focuses on product diversification strategy to manage the market and gain a high competitive advantage. The organisation designs new product ranges and presents innovative luxury cars to customers. It has an existing product base and upcoming models like Aston Martin Valkyrie, Aston Martin DBX, and Aston Martin Valhalla, which are expected to satisfy customers across the market. The organisational product diversification strategy is beneficial for the brand to expand internationally and gain a competitive edge (Vivek, Kazanis, and Jain, 2019). The introduction of electric luxury vehicles also helps the organisation secure future sustainable development, demonstrating creativity in protecting the environment and serving customers sustainably in the target market of India. The cars' capacity, creative design, and technical advancements are qualities that satisfy global market customers (Aston Martin, 2020b).

Price

The organisation sets a premium pricing policy for exclusive vehicles, targeting the high and medium economic classes for luxury cars due to their latest technology, creative design, and high maintenance costs. The premium pricing policy helps Aston Martin maintain its brand image and loyal customers (Aston Martin, 2020b). India, an emerging economy with a large customer base, is suitable for this pricing strategy to attract consumers.

Place

Aston Martin aims to develop channels to expand its business globally, focusing on managing international presence by expanding services through the UK, China, Dubai, Qatar, Germany, USA, Africa, and Abu Dhabi. Although the main manufacturing site is in England, the organisation expands its chain throughout international markets. The supply chain management strategy helps the brand place its products successfully in the Indian market. The organisation retains experienced suppliers and maintains car dealers and distributors in India to place products successfully in the global market (Aston Martin, 2020c).

Promotion

Aston Martin's promotional activities are effective, promoting products through advertisements and other strategies. The brand invests significantly in better brand image and promotion. Advertisements in movies and TV shows, public relations for promoting new releases, press conferences, and market communication are employed (Kingsnorth, 2019). Promotional events like fashion shows, auto showcases, and celebrity endorsements play crucial roles in promoting luxury cars in India. Jessica Alba promotes the cars, and magazines, newspapers, and presses effectively promote new luxury cars (Rahim, 2017). Merchandise tactics and test drives also promote the products (Aston Martin, 2020c).

People

People management is crucial, with Aston Martin focusing on managing organisational people to handle diverse employees in India. Monetary incentives and performance-related pay encourage employee innovation and creativity, improving organisational excellence. Technical training, management programs, and health and safety measures protect staff interests and help leaders retain experienced employees in India to serve customers uniquely (Olson et al., 2018).

Process

Process innovation through technological advancement helps represent products and services efficiently in the market. The flow of activities, merchandise management, and direct export of cars maintain an efficient process in the Indian market, promoting cars successfully.

Physical Evidence

Aston Martin supports customers with high-end luxury cars, satisfying consumers globally with innovative cars, creative designs, and additional facilities. This approach attracts more buyers in the Indian market and delivers high-quality luxury cars (Rahim, 2017).

Conclusion

The marketing mix strategic planning of Aston Martin is efficient for the brand to promote its products and services across international markets. The product diversification strategy and premium pricing tactic are effective for the brand to place products through an efficient supply chain and distribution network. The promotional strategic planning of Aston Martin through social media, magazines, television advertisements, and celebrity endorsements is also beneficial for the company to increase brand visibility and promote its luxury cars in the global automobile manufacturing industry. Hence, the brand Aston Martin successfully invests adequate resources in marketing activities, providing an opportunity to attract customers and secure future sustainable development.

Question 6:Generic Strategies in Lidl

Introduction

The organisations in the recent era of globalisation aim at expanding their operational activities across the globe (Zhang and Wang, 2019; Vivek, Kazanis, and Jain, 2019). The study aims at managing operations internationally, where companies develop proper strategic planning to expand their business and secure future sustainable development. Through this study, it is possible to analyse Porter’s generic strategy, where an organisation like Lidl chooses the best option for successful market expansion across the UK market. Porter’s generic strategy is effective for firms to improve the scope of activities and gain a high competitive advantage over other competitive brands. Lidl is also efficient in choosing the right strategy for securing future sustainable development (Chaffey, 2019).

Organisational Background

Lidl is a German-based supermarket chain and discount store, where the major strategy is to provide high-quality products and services at competitive prices so that customers can afford the products successfully. There are more than 315,000 employees who are efficient at serving customers in a better way. As a supermarket chain, Lidl is successful in serving areas across Europe, where customers are happy with the products and services. The major competitive advantage of the firm depends on the quality of its products and their price, allowing customers to make effective purchase decisions as they can buy more at an affordable price (Lidl, 2020a).

Porter’s generic strategy

As per the Porter’s generic strategy, there are three options which are cost leadership, product differentiation and focus. Through these strategic planning, the organisation is able to establish the brand and secure future development (Kingsnorth, 2019; Vivek, Kazanis and Jain, 2019). Through choosing proper generic strategy, it is possible for the organisation Lidl to gain high competitive advantage and serve the customers across the UK. The company is also successful to develop proper strategic planning and improve the firm overall performance in future. The organisations are also able to strengthen their customer’s base through choosing the Porter’s generic strategies.

Lidl Strategy for Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance

The organisation Lidl focuses on choosing the best generic strategy to expand the business and improve the performance of the company in the long run. Through strategic planning, the organisation can enhance organisational performance and establish the brand sustainably in the retail supermarket industry (Vivek, Kazanis, and Jain, 2019). The company Lidl mainly focuses on cost leadership and product differentiation strategies, which are evaluated further:

Cost Leadership Strategy:

As per the cost leadership strategy, the organisation aims to outperform its competitors by producing at a lower cost while maintaining consistent product quality. Lidl focuses on this strategy to deliver outstanding customer satisfaction by setting lower prices for supermarket products, creating value for customers (Lidl, 2020b). By maintaining economies of scale, asset utilization, capacity utilization, interrelationship, and value chain linkage, the organisation manages good quality raw materials and organic products to produce at lower costs in the UK market (Lidl, 2020c). Managing advertising agencies, sales activities, logistics, and operations effectively helps Lidl maintain product and distribution costs at lower levels, allowing competitive pricing. Strong supply chain, experienced distributors, supplier management, employee management, and technological advancements further reduce production costs (Lidl, 2020c).

Product Differentiation:

Lidl's vision is to enhance the lives of customers by providing quality products at market-leading values while ensuring customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything they do (Lidl, 2020b). Product differentiation is another major Porter’s generic strategy Lidl employs to secure future sustainable development and ensure high-quality performance in the UK market. Lidl offers a huge variety of quality products and services to customers, including organic products and fresh raw materials, maintaining product quality (Lidl, 2020c). Diversifying products across grocery items, daily necessities, health and beauty, fresh food and vegetables, home appliances, clothing, and accessories, Lidl attracts and retains customers with a wide range of options. Effective supply chain management and logistics ensure product availability, contributing to customer satisfaction and long-term customer retention (Lidl, 2020c).