Strategies for Marketing to Rural Customer - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Strategies for Marketing to Rural Customer. Answer: Introduction Nokia Company is one of the worlds manufacturers of mobile devices with over a million customers in various parts of the world. The company, which was founded in the year 1865, has around 160 nationalities who are operating in more than 100 nations (Nokia, 2017). Its headquarters are currently in Espoo, Uusimaa Finland. As a telecommunications business enterprise, the business has been able to nurture its success from different sectors such as mobile devices, rubber boats and tires, cables, and infrastructure equipment for telecommunications. Over these years the company has contributed to serve different communication provides, enterprises, governments as well as consumers with its end to end range of products and services (Nokia, 2017). Most operations of this business are centered on the ideology of transforming the human experiences by shaping the future of communication technology. Through these diverse products, the company has been able to occupy larger bargaining capacity as well as abroad exposures to the customer base. Corporate Mission of Nokia Nokia has created a technology to connect the world. The corporate mission statement of Nokia is connecting people (Nokia, 2017). Nokia is trying to connect people designing new experiences to fulfill the demands of the customers. Nokia is committed to preserve the data as well as maintain integrity. The company is trying to keep the data cost low and connect the people through social media. Nokia is committed to preserve the data as well as maintain integrity. The company is innovating by a global nervous system, a web of interconnected intelligence that adapts and senses to the world. The main pursuit of the company is performance along with sustainability and integrity. Sources of competitive advantage To gain the competitive advantages and gain the benefits of economies of scale, core competencies and resources are important. The core competencies are the attributes that provide competitive benefits to Nokia. The company has several competencies but due to recent growth and success, the firm needs to monitor on the right and appropriate core competencies to beat the competitors in the world. The core competencies and resources include organizational culture, and research and development. The organizational culture is the effective tool to attract more customers in the international market. The value chain is also other source to run the business activities successful. The optimum utilization of resources can be done by maintaining core competencies within the organization. Along with this, innovative technologies are used by the firm to overcome the competitors (Kavitha Krishna, 2017). Marketing micro-environment and its influence The microenvironment refers to the internal environment of the company which can influence the business activities adversely. The microenvironment can be controlled and managed by the firm. The internal environmental factors include customers, suppliers, thegeneral public, distribution channels and competitors etc. These factors influence the performance and efficiency of Nokia. They can also affect the long-term success and growth of the firm. There is a close relationship between microenvironment and organization (Yam, 2016). These factors also help to build and develop reciprocal relationship with customers in the international market. The micro environment consists of the following. Suppliers: An important factor which affects the goals and objectives of the firm. Suppliers provide resources and products to the company. They also affect the strategy and policy of the firm. Market intermediaries: The intermediaries also affect the targets and growth of the firm. The marketing intermediaries include retailers, financial intermediaries, whole sellers and agencies. Customers: They are people who buy the products and services of the company. The customers influence the mission and vision of the company. Competitors:Rivals are the companies that manufacture the same products and services in the global market. Nokia should keep an eye on the strategies and policies of the competitors. Public: The public also influences the success and growth of the firm. Therefore, the company needs to focus on the internal environment in order to meet the long term targets and goals. Marketing macro-environment and its influence Macro environment affects the profit and revenue of Nokia. Therefore, the company needs to analyze and evaluate the macro environment. It is also known as an external environment which encompasses the following factors such as political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental factors (Grhan-Canli, HayranSarial-Abi, 2016). These factors influence the operation and trading activities of the firm negatively. The two major categories of the external environment have been discussed below. Political factors: These factors include rules and regulations related to the import, export, and production. The company needs to focus on the political factors to fulfill the needs and requirements of the customers in the global market. Economic factors: The economic factors include interest rates, demand, taxes, exchange rates and buying the power of the customers. All these factors affect the growth and success of Nokia. The firm needs to focus on these factors to hit the competitors in the international market (Nachbaur, 2016). Gap or opportunity identification SWOT analysis is an effective and dynamic tool to evaluate and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors in the market. The firm must analyze and identify the risks and challenges of the market to achieve the mission and vision of the firm (Bohlin Inha, 2017). The SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats which have been discussed below. Strengths Weaknesses Brand name is the biggest strength of Nokia. The products are available in the market in all the prices ranges. Nokia products are very easy to use. The mobile products are provided by the company have a much higher resale value compared to the other companies. After sale services are very poor. Poor designed smart phones. Some of the Nokia products are not for middle class and low class groups. Opportunities Threats The company can expand and grow its market globally. The demand of the Nokia smart phones are increasing. High competition exists in the global market. Iphones popularity and Samsung and other competitors affect the sale of the company. Summary of proposed strategies Nokia is trying to capitalize its position as a market leader in mobile devices and build up the position in the new market. Nokia wants to become the leading player in the global mobile communication market. Nokia has built its wireless communication infrastructure in lower penetration market. The company has developed various mobile multimedia devices, solutions and applications with the other collaborators and the customers who are trying to compel the multimedia experiences to the consumers. Nokia is trying to capture the profitable segments of the market by offering the services and products designed to help the companies. The company wants to capitalize on the needs of mobile connectivity and mobility in their operations (Aggrawal et al., 2016). Nokia also wants collaboration with the systems and the technology in integration companies. Segmentation approach is effective in strategic planning and it helps to utilize the resources. Nokia is one of the leading company which is pr acticising multisegment targeting. Nokia has segmented the market through geographic, demographic and psychographic segmentation (Muller Bevan-Dye, 2017). The company must closely monitor the country before expanding its business in any particular country. The perception of the customers, values and religion must be taken into consideration before entering into the global market (Aggrawal et al., 2016). The target market segment of Nokia consists of that customer group who focuses on the different marketing efforts. Nokia has targeted the market for two reasons i.e. to gain profit and to aim those consumers who are not technological savvy. Nokia positions itself as a market leader in providing various facilities in a single handset at an affordable price compared to its competitors. The marketing mix of Nokia comprises of the 4p approach. The company uses price-skimming strategy and it also offers cash allowances. Nokia must also try to build up more warranty and service centers to satisfy and fulfill the needs of the customers (Kavitha Krishna, 2017). The company manufactures a wide range of headsets to fulfill the needs of diverse and wide targeted segments. Nokia along with their competitor is able to charge higher prices for its products because of the benefits and brand image which are received by the customers. The brand image of Nokia acts as a self promoting tool and the company is trying to establish themselves in the market to add value to the products. Segmentation / target market strategy and justification Market segmentation is the process of separating the market into identifiable or similar segments. It also helps the marketers to differentiate between the marketing mix that well be more attractive for the particular segment of the people. Nokia is using the regional approach to attract the local population and to gather trust and respect. Nokia has also opened the flagship stores in Asian and middle eastern countries to attract the customers with the latest innovations and to provide quality support services. Nokia has appealed to the customers of all ages and income categories, different religion, occupation and family cycles (Kavitha Krishna,2017). Moreover, Nokia has also targeted the women segment and majority of its mobile series has pink or golden colour. Nokia Roxo was designed for the women counterpart and the young teenage girls. The logo of Nokia Roxo was Treat her like a lady which highlighted that woman must prefer to use this phone rather than purchasing unisex mobile s. Moreover, Nokia also includes the tastes of the corporate and the working class people. The company has launched different models of the mobile devices to attract the customers with different lifestyles. The customers of Nokia have strong loyalty for the products of the company because they find the best quality of the product in accordance with the price paid for it. Nokia also kept its targeted market excited with the new range of products and services. The ability of the company to meet the expectations of the customers is regarded as the major goal of the company (Santoki Thomas, 2017) The target market of Nokia is the people of the age group between 16-60 years. Nokia has targeted the Indian market. The company is also trying to expand its sales in the rural market of India. Nokia is trying to work with the various content and service providers who can deliver information on agriculture weather and price for the people of the rural areas. It has been found that the large Indian mobile market service providers are targeting the rural areas by manufacturing low cost handsets (Santoki Thomas, 2017). Nokia has targeted three types of consumer segments such as premium, middle class and the common mass. The mobile handsets that are manufactured by Nokia are of low cost or cutting edge technology. Moreover, the products of Nokia are adopted according to the particular market situation. Nokia has also used two distinct type of branding strategy. This is because the consumers in the target market consists of two types of customers such as economy seeker and upscale buyers . The upscale buyer has built the brand with the high-end multimedia handsets. On the other hand, the economy seeker in the upcoming market has focused on branding strategy and it focuses on economical handsets (Hacklin, Bjrkdahl Wallin, 2017). Intended positioning (value proposition) and justification Value proposition helps in describing the products and services that are regarded as the best option for the customers. People will not be willing to purchase the product if the company does not have a strong value proposition. Nokia is losing its customer base in comparison with its customers and thus this has played an important role in capturing the share in the market. Although the company is one of the major leader in the market share, but it is losing its customers in the market every year (Santoki Thomas, 2017). The top global competitors of Nokia are Samsung, Motorola, white Box and Google. The major factor that has made a tough competition between Nokia and its competitors are the low pricing of the products,, production of a wide range of products , better and improved marketing strategies, continuous innovation of better technology and the various applications in the mobile industry. This has helped to satisfy the demands of the customers globally. The financial position of the company is much better than its competitors. It has more than one-third control in the market share over its competitors. It has been found that the company has more than 63% share in the global market (Aversa, Haefliger Reza, 2017). Nokia has made improvements in the applications and the games section of their mobile handsets. Nokia Corporation is committed for the provisions of different products. The products of Nokia are preferred by the general mass compared to the products of other brands. Nokia has also made further improvements in the innovation of solutions and devices for imaging. The company has also provided different solutions on the other network providers (Aversa, Haefliger Reza, 2017). Nokia also uses symbian technology in the mobiles and this is related to the working of the computer because of its high level of multi-tasking features. The company also takes advantages of the touch screen technologies while manufacturing different models. Nokia has also made advancement in its technologies by signing partnership deals with the other IT companies such as Yahoo. Nokia has also planned to increase the storage space in the mobile phones so as to fulfill the requirements of the customers who requires high mobile space in their mobiles. It has been found that Nokia is slow in meeting or upgrading to different technological changes compared to the other brands. It has also improved in its business environment by signing deals with various companies to deliver better and improved service for the mobile users. The company must change its technology and make further improvements to improve its market share (Wang, Hedman Tuunainen, 2016). the diagram shown below depicts the positioning map of Nokia Proposed marketing mix strategies Product Nokia has launched a huge number of setsin acost effective price. It has also gathered brand personality and the market share has improved to 35% because of its quality andlong lasting products. There are various designs of the set and it is available at a much affordable price compared to its competitors. Moreover, each set has own features of its own. Nokia has launched the first phone withantenna, first in-built camera, changeable faceplateand chat functions. Moreover, product segmentation also plays an important in the mobile market to reach all the consumers (Santoki Thomas, 2017). The mobile phones of Nokia are divided into three categories such as multimedia line, business line and connectline.Business line refers to those mobile phones that possess priority functions and various applications of time management. On the other hand,multimedia line is targeted for the youth that enables them to watch videos, listen to music and connect to various features such as large capacity hardware and navigation. The users ofconnect line category do not have disposable income and they are not willing to pay higher prices for the products. The devices are equipped with special technological features and they look standard and stylish compared to its competitors mobile. Research has identified thatthe consumers must make their decisions in accordance withthe own brand and preference. Moreover, the consumers also view the brand as an important part of the product and thus this helps to add value to the particular brand. Nokia must also extend the warranty of the product (Naidu, 2017). Price Nokia must understand the demand of the consumers for various portable multifunction devices. Nokia sets the price of the product by comparing with its competitors. The company has mobile sets of all variations i.e. from higher to lower price group and it depends on the customers needs and position in the market. The factors that affect the price of Nokia phones are the cost of products, competition and customer demand (Dhakar, Tripathi Rathore, 2017). The company sells the products at a much higher price in order to gain profit. This helps to reimburse the cost of research and development and the cost of development. The company reduces the price of the product at the beginning in accordance with the price of its competitors. Nokia is also trying to gain competitive advantage in the market The company has specialized in offering cash allowances to their valuable customers. Nokia uses price skimming strategy and ensures that the customers purchase the product throughout the entire p eriod after it has been launched in the market. Nokia sets the price initially higher and later with the passage of time, they reduce the price of the product.The company must use the brand cycle method to set the price of its product. This model sets different price of the product based on the life cycle of the product. Nokia sets the price after conducting market research on the consumers and there advancement in technology (Dhakar, Tripathi Rathore, 2017). Place Nokia must contact directly the consumers directly and the company must use more distribution channel to reach out to the customers and sell their devices. People can purchase the Nokia handsets from all over the country. The distribution strategy has focused on the urban population. Moreover, in order to become competitive in the market, the company has reformulated the distribution strategy focusing on the rural areas which were stated by the local competitors earlier. The company has chosen its local business agent based on the 5C principle. This will help the company to decide whom it will choose for credibility, channel, capital and management. It is important to pay more attention to the marketing network and this will help to invest in the intensive marketing strategies (Dhakar, Tripathi Rathore, 2017). Nokia has also chosen a new channel pattern known as FD that had the ability to change or transfer the provincial agent into different types of fund platform. This has also he lped in saving intermediate links. This has helped Nokia to gain monopoly and thus acquire the ability of direct supply. Promotion Promotion is necessary to increase the sales and publicity. The company has printed advertisements for the promotion of products. The company has emphasized on the famous slogan connecting people to build relationships, collaborate and communicate. This will also attract the customers and the company will invite famous spokesperson or actors for the promotion of its product. The operators and the retailers will carry out the sales promotion for improving the sale of the mobile phones. Sometimes, the company also does joint promotions with the credit card companies and the bank. The mobile phone operators also offer campaign for the phone lines and the mobile phones for promotions. On the other hand, public relations play a vital role the promotion strategy of Nokia. The company has supported some social programs such as charities and sponsorship programs. Social media is regarded as the fastest and the easiest cost effective way of publishing the news for the global audience. Nokia must use Facebook fun page and YouTube videos to deliver the message to the audience. The company has also undertaken a wide number of promotional activities to sell its products. The company has also sponsored in many cultural activities such as in sports events and sports team for the promotion of its products (Aggrawal et al., 2016). Conclusion Therefore, it can be concluded that the most objective of the company to become the leader in the mobile industry. The marketing strategies undertaken by the company will help to create awareness among the customers and the products offered by the company. The tagline of Nokia connecting people highlights that the product has the same preference and it helps to connect people. Nokia operates worldwide and it provides wired network infrastructure and wireless communication between the people. The micro and the macro environmental factors played an important role in the marketing strategy adopted by the company. Nokia must concentrate on the core competencies and hence try to capture the market. The company has also identified the different categories of buyers who prefer to purchase the handsets of Nokia by examining their psychographic, demographic and behavioral difference. It can be concluded that the brand name of Nokia was sufficient to increase the sales, advertising strategies and the marketing process. Nokia must try to overcome its weakness and try to grab the opportunities. This will help the company to dominate its competitors. The company must focus on the competitive advantage of its rivals rather than focusing on advertising. Thus, it can be said that the company is trying to secure its position and becoming a market leader in the smart phone industry. References Aggrawal, D., Bansal, G., Anand, A., Papic, L. (2016). Types of Customers surrounding a brand: A classification based on correspondence analysis.Communications in Dependability and Quality Management-An International Journal, Serbia,19(1), 5-17. Aversa, P., Haefliger, S., Reza, D. G. (2017). Building a Winning Business Model Portfolio.MIT Sloan Management Review,58(4), 49. Bohlin, S., Inha, E. (2017). Book review: Tools and concepts for strategic decision making on Market Intelligence. Dhakar, G., Tripathi, S. Rathore, N.S.(2017) Redefining Marketing Mix for Digital Marketing.Pacific University Journal of Social Sciences, p.26. Grhan-Canli, Z., Hayran, C., Sarial-Abi, G. (2016). Customer-based brand equity in a technologically fast-paced, connected, and constrained environment.AMS review,6(1-2), 23-32. Hacklin, F., Bjrkdahl, J., Wallin, M. W. (2017). Strategies for business model innovation: How firms reel in migrating value.Long Range Planning. Kavitha, T. C., Krishna, B. S. V. S. R. (2017) 4AS MARKETING APPROACH BY FMCGS TO TAP INDIAN RURAL MARKETA REVIEW. Muller, R. A., Bevan-Dye, A. L. (2017). Reliable Nokia-Brand Personality Perceptions of the Finnish Communication Giant. InCountry Experiences in Economic Development, Management and Entrepreneurship: Proceedings of the 17th Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference(pp. 785-796). Springer International Publishing. Nachbaur, A. (2016). Nokia Strategic Analysis. Evaluation of the decision to return to the mobile telephone market. Naidu, A. (2017). Strategies for Marketing to the Rural Customer in India: The 4 As Model of Rural Marketing.Journal of Rural and Industrial Development Volume,5(1). Nokia. (2017).Our history | Nokia. [online] Available at: https://www.nokia.com/en_int/about-us/who-we-are/our-history [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017]. Santoki, M.A.A. Thomas, M.R.(2017). Service Innovation in selected Firms with reference to Indian Telecommunication Industry for Sustainability. Wang, J., Hedman, J., Tuunainen, V. K. (2016). Path creation, path dependence and breaking away from the path: re-examining the case of Nokia.Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research,11(2), 16-27. Yam, Y. (2016). The influence of macro and micro-environmental factors on the consumption of mobile phones and marketing strategies.