Analysis of Marketing Strategies and Slogans of Vodafone - Case Study Example

?Running head: MARKETING COMMUNICATION 13th November Word count:2456 Table of Contents Table ofContents 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Market Review 4 Literature Review 5 Critical Analysis and Discussion 7 Conclusion 11 Recommendations 11 References 12 Executive Summary Integrated marketing communication (IMC) entails the use of various disciplines including promotion, public relations, advertising and social media to achieve strong brand awareness and loyalty. As the mobile market becomes expansive with the key players being Vodafone, T-mobile, O2, Orange and Virgin among others, firms have realized the need to emulate IMC to reach their customers in the global market. This paper identifies various marketing strategies and slogans that Vodafone adopts thus making it attain a competitive edge in the telecommunication industry. These marketing strategies includes the slogans “How are you” and “Power to who”, video, television, newspapers, banners and magazines, Vodafone VIP, Freebee rewardz, corporate social responsibilities, company website, social media and Sponsorship of racing competitions. On the other hand, T-Mobile emulates social media sites including MySpace, Twitter and You Tube and the slogan ‘Life is for sharing’ to attract its customers. The marketing campaign of the Vodafone has created a positive image on the public thus increasing the company sales and profits. This paper provides recommendations as to how T-mobile can employ various marketing strategies with an aim of enhancing its IMC thus increasing its competitiveness. Introduction Based on stiff competition that companies are faced with in the local and international markets, marketing and brand managers are using all the means to ensure that they attain strong relationship with their consumers. Some of the major strategies that firms emulate in order to attain a competitive edge include improvement of quality of their brands, effective distribution of their products, appropriate pricing of products and effective communication with their customers. Based on the improved technology and the cut-throat competition in the business arena, companies have started to emulate the improved communication system to lure their customers and retain strong positive customer-brand relationship. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) refers to the marketing strategies that are undertaken by marketing managers involving various disciplines such as promotion, advertising, public relations and social media among others to attain to increased customer awareness and loyalty. Other vital aspect of IMC is that it entails effectively coordinating different means of promotion to attain a competitive edge and face off the company rivals. This paper seeks to keenly discuss the marketing communication strategies and mix adopted by Vodafone and T-Mobile, two of the major mobile service providers. Additionally, the paper will provide recommendation on the strategic marketing and branding tools that T-Mobile can emulate to effectively face off Vodafone in the market. Market Review As the demand for communication among local and international companies increase, mobile services market has attracted large number of telecommunication firms as each one of them is geared towards expanding is customer base. With the growth in the mobile telecommunication industry, competing firms have taken initiatives to control their local market and then adopt more extensive marketing strategies to enter the global market. Some of the main competitors in the mobile services market include Vodafone, O2, Orange, Virgin and T-Mobile among others. Being the second largest mobile telecommunication company after China mobile, Vodafone is a British based company with over 440 million subscribers. Apart from being a leader in the UK market, Vodafone operates in more than 30 countries. Some of the notable services that Vodafone has introduced in the market include Vodafone Eurotraveller, Vodafone 710, Vodafone Freedom Packs and Amobee Media Systems among others (Sarah, 2011). In the Chinese market, telecommunication sector is dominated by three major companies that are managed by the government. These include China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. Based on its more than 750 million subscribers, China Mobile is the world market leader in the mobile service market. Despite its late expansion into the global market as compared to its competitors, China Mobile has introduced wide range of products in the market an aspect that makes it a key competitor of Vodafone. Another notable company that is a key player in the global market of mobile services is Virgin Mobile. With its headquarters based in UK, the company has introduced its services in other countries that include Poland, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Chile and US among others. T-mobile International AG is another major firm that has effectively controlled the Germany market where it is headquartered. To ensure that T-mobile is able to meet the growing competition in the global market, the company has embarked on expanding its networks including UMTS, LTE and GSM. The company has also formed partnership with other companies based in Eastern and Central Europe. Literature Review In his studies on integrated marketing communication: from tactics to strategy, Olof (2006) maintains that the traditional marketers relied on printed materials, however in their efforts to create consistency in the communication process; modern marketers have turned into emulating more complex avenues. On their studies, Clow and Donald (2007) argues that companies adopting social media in their advertising and promotional activities enjoy a great level of consumers satisfaction leading to repeated purchases and strong customer loyalty. Kotler and Armstrong (2010) advocates for the emulation of a brand contact point. This entails using all the available opportunities to ensure that customers are impressed by the brands of a company. Some of the key aspects that are covered by the theory of brand contact point include use of webinars, media advertisements, product packaging, sponsoring of events as well as personal selling. Studies done by La and Kamdampully (2004) advocates for the use of three marketing strategies in order to achieve a significant impact from the marketing communication strategies. The first one is the use of content marketing that is aimed at driving mindshare. Studies by Kotler and Armstrong (2010) indicates that majority of corporate marketers have taken content marketing as a key marketing strategy. Some of the primary forms of content marketing include ebooks, case studies, photo galleries, blog posts, videos, webinars and white books among others. Content marketing is aimed at providing reliable information to potential customers regardless of whether or not they are ready to buy the company brands. It is worth to note that as the use of technology impacts on the purchase process, consumers are now heavily relying on online information before making their purchasing decision. This implies that by providing valuable information regarding the products to the customers, brand awareness and recognition will be enhanced thus achieving a significant mindshare. Mindshare is essential in persuading customers to purchase brand the next time they seek for online information. The second is use of mobile in marketing. As the use of mobile marketing increase due to the expansion global marketing, 1.4 million people are deemed to be employed by the sector in the next 2 years. In the contemporary world, majority of enterprises are using smart phones and branded app that provides useful information to the customers. By storing the brands information in the smart phones, consumers can easily access the information that they use during their purchasing process. The third strategy involves the use of video to engage the consumers in the communication process. Apart from using the YouTube to provide information regarding new or existing brands, Gentle (2012) stipulates that that marketing managers can develop a video that fully covers on their company’s brand portfolio. This is an excellent avenue through which the company sales and profits can be increased. Critical Analysis and Discussion Vodafone objective is to create strong product awareness and bring strong brands to its customers across the world. The company targets 68% of its customers in the emerging economies. With the increased need by consumers to use Vodafone mobile services to improve the livelihoods, the company has realized the need to provide innovative services such as M-Pesa, a recent innovative money transfer system initiated by Safaricom Company based in Kenya. One of the major marketing strategies that the company adopted in 2006 was the initiation of a vodafone live advert that used the slogan “How are you”. As the number of consumers increased due to the enhanced awareness and brand improvement, the company has changed its marketing slogan to “Power to who”. The change in the slogan indicates how the company embarks on rebranding and developing of new applications and smart phones. To attract consumers, Vodafone uses different types of media including video, television, newspapers, banners and magazines among others. In all its stores located in different regions, the company established a section referred at Tech Team that is responsible to strengthen its marketing strategies which includes offering free services to its customers particularly on the matter of its network and registration. Another initiative that the company introduced in 2011 was the RED Box. The RED Box was aimed at supporting the consumers during the transfer of information and data across the handsets. The part below indicates other marketing tools that Vodafone emulates in its operations. Vodafone VIP Vodafone VIP is another notable marketing tool that the company has emulated since 2010. According to this promotional tool, new and existing customers can easily obtain the tickets of major events that occur in its home country. Such events includes the London fashion week, Isle of Wight festival and British Grand Prix among others. In addition to issuing its customers with tickets 48 hours before the event happen, Vodafone regularly organize competition that sees some of its customer win fabulous prices. Freebee rewardz Apart from the Vodafone VIP, the company initiated the 2011 Freebee rewardz that entailed a loyalty scheme that made the customer to benefit from an instant reward once they top up their phones (Sarah, 2011). Similarly, loyal customers were given chance to win free credit or be given free points that enabled them to have more points to participate in future promotions. Corporate social responsibilities Vodafone marketing strategies are also boosted by the company extensive use of CSR programs. Being an innovator, the company has established the Connected Farmer Alliance. The alliance in collaboration with USAID has greatly helped over 500 million farmers across the world to increase their production (Kau and Wan-Yiun Loh, 2006). Additionally, the company products are designed in a way that they release little carbon to the atmosphere thus addressing the issues of climatic change that have become challenges globally. Through the M2M technology, an innovation that allows two way communications, the company has assisted local and foreign organizations in collecting real time information thus reducing the about of carbon and energy emitted to the atmosphere. In its effort to mitigate hunger globally and provide disaster relief support, the company has an expansive Foundation that is located in all its stores globally. Company website Vodafone recognizes the need to provide its new and existing customers with the content materials that are vital for decision making. In this regard, the company has established a website that provides information relating to media and blogger contacts, diversity, current vacancies, business solution, branded phones and devices and operating responsibilities among other features. In addition, the company has established a vide icon in its website that allows the customers to view any form of video that relates to the company activities and brands. Through updating of the website regularly, customers are able to access first hand information without necessarily calling the customers care department. Thus the website is of great assistance especially to the customers doing online purchases. Social media As depicted by Gentle (2012), social media has become one of the marketing tools that global and local companies cannot ignore. In its focus to address the needs of young and technology savvy young consumers, the Vodafone Company has initiated https://www.facebook.com/vodafoneUK? as its account where customers can join and form friendship with the company. Similarly, the use of www.youtube.com/user/VODAFONEUK? has allowed its clients to enjoy advertising video. Essentially, the two sites allow the consumers to give feedbacks on the quality of services and products provided by the company. Sponsorship As part of its creating customer awareness campaign, Vodafone has formed partnership with many companies to sponsor various sports. For instance, its partnership with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One racing team has resulted to successful racing competitions for many years. During such events, the company creates a very positive image with the spectators and the sports officials a situation that has a sustainable positive impact on the company sales during and after the events. The marketing campaigns adopted by Vodafone have created a positive image to the consumers. For example, by use of the images that shows people from different races in its adverts, it is an indication that the company upholds diversity in its activities. Through the use of Vodafone VIP and Freebee rewardz as the promotional tool, the company has effectively attracted young consumers who are regular visitors of social events. Based on the increased revenue generated by the company in the local and international markets, it is clear that the marketing campaigns are so far working positively. Additionally, the continued use of the CSR programs in the market clearly indicates that the company has greatly valued its customers based on the continued support. On its part, T-Mobile Company emulates extensive advertisement through the social media sites including MySpace, Twitter and You Tube. Additionally the company has embarked on use of marketing slogan ‘Life is for sharing’ that tends to create positive relationship between the consumers and the company. One of the major marketing campaigns that T-Mobile initiated was the T-Mobile's Liverpool Street station advertisement that attracted large number of consumers. In its advertisement strategies, the company uses individual from different races an indication that just like the Vodafone, the company is aimed at addressing diversity in its marketing activities (Robbins and Judge, 2007). Even though T-Mobile has effectively marketed its brands in the Germany market, the company has not reached to a level of effectively competing with Vodafone at the international level. As such, there is need for the company to emulate more marketing strategies in order to face its rivals in the mobile telecommunication industry. Conclusion Creation of strong customer awareness and brand loyalty as well as rebranding are key aspects that Vodafone has continued to use in order to remain competitive. As the demand for mobile services increase, the company has embarked on producing quality brands in the emerging markets. Other marketing strategies that the company has adopted in its effort to face off its competitors includes use CSR programs including production of environment friendly products, assisting farmers globally, use of company website, social media including face book and sponsoring sporting events. Recommendations As the International Strategic Brand Manager for T-Mobile Company, I would recommend the company to improve on the originality of their adverts. Even though the company advertisements attract huge number of people, it is vital for the company to make them more original by use of the company brands and famous celebrity. In its current advertisements, the company markets “T-Mobile” as a name. I would recommend that the company instead should use its new brands and indicates new applications that are associated with its products thus attracting the attention of potential customers. Another marketing campaign that I would recommend is for the company to hold road side shows in the developing countries. Based on the increased demand for mobile services in the emerging markets, there is need for the company to allocate more time and resources to educate its customers in the developing countries on its brand portfolio. T-Mobile Company should also invest in sponsoring sporting events and mostly football in the African market. This is based on the fact that African market has not yet been exploited by telecommunication firms and by sponsoring various sports; the company will create the first image on the minds of the young consumers who are fans of football, Athletics and basketball among other sports. To increase its competitiveness in the global market, the company should also be involved in CSR programs such as tree planting, support disaster relief, waste management and provide food support to dry areas in the developing countries. References Clow, E and Donald B. 2007. Integrated Advertising Promotion and Marketing Communications. New York: Upper Saddle River. Gentle, A. 2012. Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation . Laguna Hills: XML Press. Kau, A.-K. & Wan-Yiun Loh, E. 2006. The effects of service recovery on consumer satisfaction: a comparison between complainants and non-complainants. The Journal of Services Marketing. 4, 20-41. Kotler, P and Armstrong, G. 2010.Marketing: An Introduction. London: Pearson. La, K. and Kamdampully, J. 2004. Market oriented learning and customer value enhancement through service recovery management. Managing Service Quality, 14, 390-401. Olof H. 2006. Integrated marketing communication: from tactics to strategy, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11 Iss: 1, pp.23 – 33. Robbins, P. Judge, A. 2007. Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sarah. S. 2011. Vodafone supports Freebee Rewardz with ?3m campaign - Marketing news. Marketing magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-12. Read More