Unit 2 Marketing Essentials Assignment Copy - EE Ltd

Unit 2 Marketing Essentials Assignment Copy - EE Ltd

Task 1

Presentation

Speaker note

Q 1 The concept of the marketing, including the current and the future trends

Marketing is the perfect set of the management activity, a perfect of process to establish a perfect communication plan to deliver and exchange the different forms of the offerings that use to offer a great value to the customers and to offer them the satisfaction that they require (Kotler, 2013).

The current trends of marketing are as below

• Attracting the new set of customers by offering them the innovative products and services in an effective manner.
• The continuous growth in the production process to meet the demand of the customers
• Usage of the digitalization in marketing activity and the other customer service activities as per the recent trend in a positive manner.

The future trends are as below

• Due to the enhancement in using the digital marketing , the complexity in the customer purchasing behaviour is expected to grow in an effective manner.
• The complete digital transformation in all business activities .

Thus, the marketing activities are required to be establishing in a strategic manner so that the marketers of the different organisation will be able to cope up with the present and the future trends.

Q 2 Overview of the different marketing processes

There are four important marketing processes such as situational analysis, Making decisions, the marketing strategy, implementation of the strategies, and the controlling of the action plan.

Situational analysis

The 5C analysis in terms of the analysis of the company, competitors, customers, climate and the collaboration in the business activities, the pest analysis, and the SWOT analysis are the basic elements that every organisation uses it their situational analysis.

Marketing strategy

The segmentation , targeting the customers and the proper positioning of the products and the services are the required elements in the perfect marketing strategy to be followed by every organisations in their marketing strategies.

Decisions in marketing mix

The 4 important marketing mix elements such as selection of the product, price , place to distribute, and promotional activities to position the products or elements are the important factors to be considered by every organisation (Groucutt & Hopkins, 2015).

Implementation and control

After deciding the perfect marketing strategy and marketing mix , it is important to continuous monitor their decisions and implemented in a proper way as per the change in demand in an effective manner.

Q 3 The key roles and responsibilities of the marketing manager at EE Limited

As per the role of the marketing manager , the below are the roles and the responsibilities that should be in EE Limited as per the requirement as they are lacking in the marketing activity

• performing the market research is important to do my the marketing manager so that the market opportunities along with the requirements of the customers and the actual move of the competitors will be understood to take the proper strategy to be implemented.
• As EE limited is lacking behind than the marketing activities, then it is important by the marketing manager of EE limited to take the proper marketing strategy based on the market research results.
• Employee management is also the most important aspect so that the employees can be retained as they are recognised as the asset of any company .
• The effective customer relationship along with identification of the new business opportunities also are the important role of the marketing manager of EE limited.

Q 4 Influence of the roles and responsibilities of marketing and the interrelation with other functional departments of EE Limited

The perfect development of the business strategy plan along with the incorporation of the business plan with the other departments with the concept of the cross functional communication is the basic two roles and the responsibilities of marketing and the interrelationship with other functional departments in an effective manner.

Development of the business plan

For the establishment of the perfect business plan , it is important to have a string co relationship between the other functional departments so that the plan will be consistent with the requirement of the other departments (Mcdonald & Wilson, 2011). The perfect co relationship is required so that the EE limited will be able to develop the correct business plan.

Incorporation of marketing plan

The perfect incorporation of the business plan between the functional departments should be maintained so that the needs and the required information of the different departments will be able to generate the desired output in an effective manner.

Q 5  The values and importance of the marketing role in the context of EE Limited

It has been observed that the perfect communication and the exchange of the cross functional information was lacking in EE limited for the perfect marketing activities. Thus, the perfect focus on the marketing activities along with the good and transparent communication is required to be established so that they will be able to focus on the marketing activities to redefine their strategic move (Peck, et al., 2013). In this manner, they will be able to redefine their market position to compete with other competitors in an effective manner. The marketing role in EE limited will be based on the perfect execution of the cross functional communication so that they will be administer the image of the organisation by comparing with the other competitors of the mobile industry in the UK market. The perfect execution of the marketing plan also is able to offer the perfect guidelines to the business operations of EE limited in an effective manner.

Q 6 The significance of having effective interrelationships between different functional departments of EE Limited

The effective interrelationships between the different functional departments use to facilitate the cross functional communication for the effective knowledge transfer among the different departments (Shani & Chalasani, 2013). With the help of the effective communication , the EE limited will be able to have the proper planning, organising , leading, and controlling.

The perfect interrelationship also use to promote the communication of the effective source of information as per the requirement of the departments and also to offer the motivation to employees to influence them to deliver their maximum effort for the maximization of their production capacity with innovation and also to cope up with the strategic move of the other competitors.

Task 2

A) The Application of extended marketing mix on the marketing planning process

Marketing mix is an important tool to consider while doing the marketing planning process effectively. It could be stated that most of the top multinational companies tends to assess all the elements of marketing mix in order to ensure that it has taken them into account while framing their marketing planning process. The marketing planning process is a series of stages which are used by a company in order to develop a strong marketing plan so that it can accordingly marketize the brand. Top multinationals take this aspect very seriously and integrate the extended marketing mix effectively in its marketing planning procedure so that it is aware of the performance of the marketing plan with reference to the marketing mix. EE Ltd is working in the market for a long time now and the company has been able to gain market share. In the present market environment it is extremely important to remain updated in the market which will help to make sure that the company is able to sustain in the market. To be able to do that it is important that the company has an effective marketing mix and a strategic marketing plan which would help the company compete in the market successfully (Pickton & Broderick, 2001).

There are number of businesses in the contemporary business environment that focuses on integrating the marketing mix within its marketing planning process that helps them to assess their target market and also utilise the resources effectively. EE Ltd has become one of the largest mobile phone selling companies which is being constantly pressurized by companies like Vodafone Group Plc, Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, O2, and Telefonica UK Ltd. These companies have developed strong competition against EE Ltd. Vodafone is one of largest multinational businesses that focus on using its marketing mix effectively. It could be said that EE Ltd has implemented its marketing mix in marketing planning procedure. Both the companies have their business objectives set and accordingly move towards the goal.

The marketing planning process of both the companies namely EE Ltd and Vodafone are focused on achieving the business objectives and for that it is important to make sure that the implementation and usage of marketing mix is done effectively. It is important to mention that both the companies have significant differences regarding their handling of the marketing mix elements in the marketing strategy that creates the biggest difference between both the companies (Lovelock et al., 2009). EE Ltd sees its marketing mix as a tool to merge it with marketing planning process to develop the efficacy of its marketing plan whereas Vodafone is more into using its marketing mix in order to develop its hold over the market. The use of the elements of extended marketing mix in the marketing planning process for both the companies and their comparison is highlighted below:

Product

This is the first element of marketing mix which is the main focus of the marketing planning process. In the marketing planning process it is kept as the main objective to promote the product. Vodafone tries to balance its services effectively with the help of fringe benefits for example flex recharges that has all kinds of benefits like talk time, extra internet, SMS in one single recharge. The main focus of Vodafone is to promote these services through the marketing plan. The services of the Vodafone are mainly targeted and segmented according to the market research. The modification of the products and services of the company is mainly done based on the mission statement of the company which is to suffice all the communication needs of the consumers. Whereas on the other hand it EE Ltd is more diverse in its product mix as it sells mobiles and tablets (Goi, 2009).

EE Ltd is focused on developing its market through better quality and connectivity. It has developed 4G tablets which have helped to gain substantial market share. The company also focuses on providing great connectivity even in mobile connections. EE Ltd is much more focused on integrating this element of marketing in marketing planning to develop the hold of its target market. It targets almost every age group in the market up till the age group 60 where all mobile users are facilitated by its plans and hence it could be said that the products of the EE Ltd provides it competitive advantage in the market with the help of effective implementation of marketing plan in the form of undifferentiated marketing targeting strategy (Kitchen & Burgmann, 2010).

Place

Place is considered as one of the key aspects of marketing mix it could be said that most of the multinational companies focus on having a good distribution chain which would help to develop the connectivity of a company with the market. Vodafone has been very particular about this attribute. The company has developed smaller stores and Vodafone Value Stores. The company also has a very good web presence which has been effective in targeting the online consumers. The company has used this aspect of marketing mix effectively to integrate into the marketing plan especially to target the market. On the other hand EE Ltd has been so far well focused on developing its physical stores which are well furnished and developed and are also placed in aesthetic locations of London. The company uses this aspect of marketing mix to attract consumers as visual merchandising has positive impact on the consumers that helps to increase the interest of the consumers which is one of the key focuses of marketing.

EE Ltd has more effective plans regarding place as the company has also launched in the online market which has helped to make people aware of their products and services. Hence it could be said that place as an attribute of marketing mix has been used by the company to gain its basic objective of creating awareness among consumers in the market (Kotler et al., 2015). It also ensures that the company EE Ltd has tried to get the best possible access to the consumers that are the main focus of its marketing planning process to reach out to more and more consumers.

Price

This attribute has huge significance especially for companies working in the mobile telecommunication industry. EE Ltd operates in a very competitive environment and hence it has to ensure its pricing is kept effective all across the market. Once a product is advertised consumers get attracted to the product to purchase it and hence EE Ltd regulates its pricing with the marketing so that consumers are happy about its pricing. Even though the company sells different communication products it keeps a premium pricing strategy where the company basically keeps the prices tad higher and as per the market it reduces which helps the company to address its marketing objectives as well as helps to provide customer satisfaction. On the other hand Vodafone is much more focused on capitalizing on the pricing system to attract consumers and EE Ltd frames its pricing to set a benchmark in the market. Vodafone has on the other hand used pricing system to improve its hold on the market. It keeps its pricing comparatively low but with different products it tends to fluctuate which clearly shows that it has a very good strategy of meeting its stakeholder needs through this process (Mulhern, 2009).

Promotion

Promotion is one of the most important attributes for a company. Especially in marketing essentials promotion is given paramount importance as it helps to reach to the targeted consumers effectively. Every company has a particular plan of promotion. Vodafone has a much bigger promotional plan as compared to the EE Ltd but both the companies are very particular about their marketing objective that is to get the best possible response from the market. When Vodafone is focused on using the mass media system to promote its products through Television and Radio then EE Ltd prefers to embrace the online media like the social networking sites and the other media to promote its products as it feels most of the potential customers are hooked on to the internet (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).

Physical Evidence

Physical evidence is one of the extended parts of the marketing mix and in the contemporary market it is given paramount importance. In this case EE Ltd is ahead of Vodafone as the company emphasises on having beautiful outlets and well trained staffs that gives better reception to the consumers whereas in the recent past Vodafone has faced number of problems with its employees and their treatment of customers. EE Ltd feels physical evidence of marketing is extremely important and tries to address these aspects effectively as it helps to address the marketing objective of the company.

People

People mean market where the company plans to do business as well as the people involved in business. Both the companies are in similar position in this case. Since mobile service is a basic service nowadays both the companies have target markets for that and it also has trained people working on the programs of both the companies (Kotler, 2009).

Process

EE Ltd is very particular about the way it does business. It’s one of the marketing objectives is to reach the business to all the consumers and hence for this it needs streamlined marketing process which would be possible with efficient employees and effective strategy whereas Vodafone has a fixed plan to continuing its operation. Its operational process is much more complex as it has a divisional organisational structure whereas EE Ltd has flat hierarchical structure that helps to streamline the process of operations for the company (Kotler et al., 2015).

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B) Marketing plan for EE Ltd

Executive Summary

Everything Everywhere Ltd is a UK based Mobile and Telecommunications Company that provides services to around 27 million consumers all across the UK. In the last few months the company has experienced decline in its business and a lot of subscribers have shifted to other companies namely Vodafone and O2 and Hutchison. The company has had some problems in the recent past which fueled this study and the apparent change in the marketing plan. EE’s situational analysis has been done based on two different parts namely internal and external. In the internal analysis the current performance of the company has been discussed, value chain has been taken up. On the other hand for the external analysis PESTEL and Porter’s five forces have been discussed and finally for the overall understanding of the company SWOT has been performed.

The analysis basically showed that EE despite of having effective and smart 4G technology and different types of 4G devices has not been able to perform due to the problem with its brand image and the present marketing plan has focused on addressing the problem through differentiated targeting strategy which will help the company to reach to the nooks and corners of its targeted market. The objectives of the company are based on the main focus which is now customer satisfaction and controls and budget of the company are performed based on the situation apart from the marketing budget. In the last section of the marketing plan there are recommendations like better training to staffs and better strategic planning to launch its products which are likely to help the company compete and survive in this highly competitive market environment.

Company Overview

Everything Everywhere Ltd was the result of the merger of the two big telecommunications companies operating in the UK market which are T-Mobile and Orange. The company EE is comparatively new to its immediate rivals like Vodafone group plc, O2, Hutchison, Telefonica and Virgin but the company within a very short span of time reached to a benchmark of 27 million consumers only in UK.  The UK mobile market is largely competitive since most of the companies are experienced enough to offer consumers what they want especially for their mobile and communication needs. In this circumstance EE has been successful in opening around 700 stores by 2014 and with around 2billion pounds of investment the company has been able to cover up around 98% of the UK market. In the recent past the company has suffered significant loss with Vodafone and Virgin coming up with better ideas and technology and hence it becomes extremely important for the company to dig into its marketing plan and identify the loopholes (Jain & Haley, 2009).

Marketing Situation Analysis

Internal Analysis

Financial Performance

Fig 1: EE’s financial performance Source: EE Annual Report 2013

As stated earlier of the losses of the company it is clearly seen in the above table that the revenue of the company EE Ltd has dipped slightly in 2013 as compared to the financial statistics of 2012. The net assets have also shown reduction which means that the company has either sold or it has put in lease its total net assets which might affect the financial position of the organisation. In the financial year of 2013 financing activities have increased drastically as the company has been noticed to invest huge amount of capital in the development of its 3G and 4G schemes which might improve the financial performance of the company in the coming few years. But overall to conclude for a new company that has worked for only three years as per the available financial information it is important that the company strategises its marketing effectively (Hollensen, 2015).

Value Chain Analysis

                              Fig 2: Value Chain Analysis (Source: Hollensen, 2015)

Primary activities of EE Ltd are to have proper 99% coverage in the entire UK. The network equipment and spectrum provided by the company ranges up to 1800 MHz. The company has a wonderful infrastructure team that helps in improving the strategic thinking of the company at regular intervals. Its Mobile devices are also effective as they range from 2G to 4G devices. The company has more than 700 stores all across the UK that helps in developing its own distribution channel for the organisation. The company has effectively trained staffs which helps in improving its services. The supporting activities especially human resources are given paramount importance and Technology as well in order to sustain in the market for a long time. Infrastructure it could work on as its competitors have better firm infrastructure where new decision implementation are easy and smooth (Hollensen, 2015).

External Analysis

PESTEL Analysis

Political: The Telecommunications industry is regulated by the Ofcom and handles all the issues. In the recent past the UK government has taken an interest to assess the issues related to the national coverage of the telecommunication companies which might be effective in improving th services all across the UK for all companies. The Scottish Government has planned to invest on broadband connectivity which provides opportunity to companies like EE to invest in 3G and 4G Spectrum. 

Economic: The UK economy is on the rise again showing convalescence for the last few months. Hence the people are showing greater interest to invest money in mobile phones and connections which is extremely good news for the mobile networks and device selling companies and hence it could be said that the company EE has something to cheer about. Inflation rates remain a problem in UK which gradually increases the price of the services provided in the communications industry (Wilson, 2010).

Social: Unemployment remains a problem in UK as the percentage of retired workers increase companies like EE fail to have efficient workers for the company. With the rise of teens using mobile phones it will be a significant contribution to the telecommunications market. The youth segment has become one of the cream users of mobile phones and hence the rise of the youths in market is going to contribute to the business of companies like EE Ltd.

Technological: Technology is one of the key aspects for telecommunication companies. Emergences of new technologies like 4G, VOLTE services are some of the effective services which help to improve the business of an organisation. EE has been very particular about its technology and makes constant improvement in order to ensure sustenance in the market.

Environmental: The telecommunication companies do not have huge responsibilities in regards to business environment but the company strives to use all that could be used to improve the environmental condition. It recycles old cell phones and sim cards and creating awareness about green environment through different forums and charities (Perreault, 2010).

Legal: Ofcom is the regulatory body for Telecommunications and the company EE tries to focus on abiding by the rules and regulations laid down by Ofcom so that it doesn’t get into legal tussle. It wants to keep its brand image clean and hence it takes stern action any kind of gross negligence happening in operations and tries to address any kind of legal problems.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

         Fig 3: Market Share of Mobile network providers (Source: McDONALD, 2016)                              

                   Fig 4:  Porter‘s Five Forces (Source: McDONALD, 2016)

Rivalry among competitors: The rivalry is very clear from the above given figure where it shows that EE has the highest market share but the other service providers are quickly closing in. Vodafone has been doing in the last few years and has become one of the leading companies in the UK mobile market. On the other hand companies Virgin and O2 are also working very effectively which basically makes the market very competitive.

Threats of new entry: The telecom industry is very attractive as it is a lucrative industry but it has huge investment and competition which might reduce the interest of the new entrants. Besides that the big four EE, Vodafone, Virgin and O2 have the market and it’s tough to give a crack in this highly competitive market (Hollensen, 2015).

Supplier power: The supplier power in this industry is modest. For example EE works with Huwaei but there are also other companies in the market providing services to mobile network carriers. Hence it could be said that supplier power of bargain is moderate.

Buyer power: Buyer power is high since the telecommunications market provides ample options to choose from.

Threat of substitutes: The mobile network companies are no longer safe as there are several other companies working analog technologies providing voice calls and messages and internet service for instance British Telecom itself is getting into this market hence it could be said that the risk is medium (McDONALD, 2016).

SWOT Analysis of EE Ltd

Strengths

• Largest coverage in the UK.
• More than 27 million users.
• Huge outlets and convenience stores all across UK.
• Efficient 4G services and mobile devices.
• Brand visibility through sponsorships.

Weaknesses

• Brand recall is weak.
• High target on the business consumers.
• Huge investment of capital in early phase of business.

Opportunities

• Growing telecommunications market.
• Increase in B2B services.
• Sales of 4G enabled devices.
• Overseas expansion plans.

Threats

• Increased competition and threat of rivals.
• Introduction of VoIP and instant messenger applications.
• Hacking attacks on phones and open source internet platforms.

Objectives

• Increased customer satisfaction.
• Increase in revenue and profit by 2017.
• Better customer service.
• To provide affordable service and increase brand awareness (Hollensen, 2015).

Strategy

EE Ltd should focus on the market penetration strategy to work in a market. Since it operates at a very lowest cost EE Ltd will be able to increase its market share by selling products and services at a lower price. The market penetration strategy will help the company to ensure that it reaches every corner of its targeted market and make sure it has been able to communicate with the consumers to provide services as per taste and preference (Taghian, 2010).

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

Segmentation is an extremely important tool for marketing. It is the process of dividing the market based on certain characteristics. There are different ways of segmentation geographic, demographics, psychographic and behavioral.  It is important for EE to segment its market in such a way so that it’s easily accessible and serve the interest of the company. EE could use the demographic variable to understand the nature of customer and their needs and psychographics to assess their lifestyle and personality which will help the company to serve consumers accordingly (Peter & Donnelly, 2011).

Targeting is the way of getting into a market and provides its products. EE could use the differentiation strategy to target different markets. For youth market it could have saving plans and flex plans, for business consumers it could have effective rental plans that meet all their needs and for retired and slightly older people it could have prepaid which is also applicable to the young consumers. In this way the company will be able to meet needs of all the different segments (Perreault et al., 2013).

EE positions itself beside T Mobile and Orange which have premium brand image. EE mainly wants to have premium brand image which will give mental satisfaction using its services and products. Hence it wants to build a brand that is classic with executive class feel (MACDONALD, 2016).

Tactics & Action

The company has developed its marketing mix accordingly modifying its products and selling it in different markets through online and physical stores. Its own supply chain has contributed to the smoothness of the supply and the company focuses on promoting its products mainly through Mass media and social media which are highly effective for the business (Wood, 2013).

Budget and Control

EE Ltd think tank organises meeting in the start of a financial year which helps the company to sketch out the marketing plan and its possible budget. The company disseminates its financial resources to the marketing department in order to achieve its marketing objectives.

The company applies different monitoring and control techniques to assess the marketing plan. It analyses the efficacy of the marketing plan every three months which helps the company to understand the drawbacks of the plan and accordingly makes changes. Market survey and consumer survey are used as monitoring tool (Wu & Fu, 2009).

Conclusion and Recommendations

EE Ltd has been effective in managing its business but it could be said that despite of its available resources and effective technology the company has suffered and hence it is important for the company to implement effective strategies to compete in the market.

• Involving better training and development programs to provide customer satisfaction through customer service.
• Constant monitoring of the needs and preferences of the consumers.
• Reducing capital investment for the time being and investment in research and development.
• Effective competitor analysis at regular intervals.
• Streamlining the usage of resources for the company.
• Better customer communication for brand recall.
• Setting up of effective customer relationship management system (Hollensen, 2015).

References

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