Strategic Marketing Assignment Sample
Part 1. Introduction and description of products
Appropriate marketing planning and strategy assist an organization to develop future services and opportunities. Innovation is essential to develop competitive advantages and maintain uniqueness effectively. The authority of Sony focuses on providing effective quality of services to its employees. As per the opinion of Alessi et al. (2019), there is a requirement for a variety of products at a reasonable price in terms of maintaining the satisfaction of customers. The authority of Sony provides a streaming platform to its customers where they can watch movies, sports, TV shows. There is a requirement for effective market analysis in terms of identifying the requirement of customers and market (Armenia et al. 2019). The report is going to focus on market analysis, positioning, targeting, and segmentation. Marketing mix can help the management of Sony in developing awareness among people regarding its services.
Appropriate planning and monitoring of manufacturing and project activities can support the management of Sony in developing sustainability in its products. As stated by Chawla et al. (2018), sustainability is necessary to develop project activities and improve quality of products. Innovative products like Sony headphones that can provide the services of both speakers and headphones though touching a button can assist the organization in developing the rate of profit and revenue. In the present scenario, the majority of consumers prefer effective quality of services and products at a low cost. As stated by González et al. (2021), the innovation and implementation of new products need to be developed through effective market analysis. The management of Sony needs to focus on the expectations and needs of customers to produce new products. Efficient and appropriate management is essential to develop services in an organization.
The management of Sony needs to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of products and services to develop efficient strategies. The benefits of Sony headphones can support the organization in attracting new customers and improving customer retention. In the present scenario, majority of customers use headphones and speakers for their daily use. As per the opinion of Nabi pour et al. (2020), there is a significant role of product quality in the goods and products of daily use. Since the management of Sony is going to produce headphones, which can provide the services of both speakers and headphones, there is a requirement for appropriate quality and sustainability. Appropriate pricing strategy and marketing strategy are essential to develop effective price of Sony headphones and improve awareness regarding the services of this headphone among customers.
Part 2. Analysis of market context
Key market trends
The analysis of marketing trends supports the management of an organization in developing and producing unique products. Effective competitive advantages can support an organization in developing product differentiation. As per the opinion of Romeo et al. (2019), there are several elements of market analysis for instance business environment, market demand, business strategies, profit potential, distribution channel, market growth rate, market trends, and market size. There is a requirement for effective analysis of market exchange rates in terms of expanding services in foreign markets (Burke et al. 2018). Sony can develop services and expand the market share effectively with efficient market analysis.
Figure 1: Revenue of Sony
In the present scenario, the majority of customers prefer sustainability in services and products. The authority of Sony developed the rate of revenue and sales in the year 2020 and the revenue amount was almost 25.04 billion dollars in the US (statista.com, 2022). The innovation Sony headphone can provide effective services to its customers and can assist to develop future services. Effective pricing of products and quality can assist Sony in developing its competitive advantage and selling rate (sony.co.in, 2022). A healthy relationship with suppliers and traceability in the activities of supply chain management is essential to develop project activities effectively.
Identification of key competitors and their position
Speakers amalgamate music and entertainment both in a form of headphones, earphones, and speakers and it is being most the growing industry for having certain amusement or fun. In this industry, JBL comes first in securing the position of the market where it provides the customers with a qualitative sound at a justified cost. JBL provides high-quality headphones and loudspeakers in the industry with providing cool features in it. As per the opinion of Romeo et al. (2019), they offer various kinds of loudspeakers that can be set for any occasion or a party to keep on the vibe with the sound systems. Portable speakers set the mood for any outdoor occasion where the designs and the sound within a reasonable cost blow the mind of customers.
Bose Corporation, which most probably secured the second position, has provided the sound systems with a noise cancellation technique which creates a difference in engineering the speakers. As per the opinion of Almutairi et al. (2019), their one and only focus are on the sound quality which is far better to hear compared to others. The speakers of Bose can be found in any place like airports and other such kinds. Sony is most probably the inventor in this sector where they experiment the best in the market with providing best beat quality at a reasonable price (sony.co.in, 2022). They understand the flow and demand of the market where the customers have their desired product within a proper cost.
Current customer attitudes
The attitude of customers relies on their behavior, feelings, and beliefs. The management of Sony needs to focus on influencer marketing in terms of developing the rate of sales and awareness among people regarding the services of Sony headphones. The marketing management of Sony needs to communicate with its customers and analyze the feedback regarding its services effectively to understand the attitude of customers towards the services of Sony (sony.co.in, 2022). Since customers prefer good quality products at reasonable prices, there can be a positive attitude of customers towards Sony headphones. Moreover, the headphone will provide the services of speakers, and the uniqueness can attract a huge number of customers.
The launching of Sony headphones can assist to develop a positive attitude of its customers. As stated by Ika et al. (2020), appropriate pricing and advertising are essential to analyze the attitude of customers regarding the services of a firm. The management of Sony needs to focus on the advertisement of its products before launching and evaluate the reaction of people on digital media platforms. Market trends play a critical role to influence customers regarding products or services.
Identification of issues and opportunities
The presence of Sony in both offline and online platforms, a variety of technological products, and the Sony Liv platform have supported the organization in maintaining the satisfaction level of customers and improving the positive attitude of customers towards its services. As stated by Ika et al. (2020), due to the technical improvement to the speakers in its engineering process, the customers might have faced some issues related to the sound systems. Wireless system in the headphones can give a problem of getting no audio, having poor connectivity issues, device not pairing and others like bad quality of sounds. These are the problems that customers often face with headphones and Bluetooth speakers.
Part 3: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
| Segmentation bases | Targeting customer segmentation for Sony headphone | |
| Geographic | Region | London and Manchester |
| Density | Both rural and urban | |
| Demographic | Age | 15 to 60 |
| Gender | Female and male | |
| Income | Categories of low and middle income | |
| Education | Technical, high school, and bachelors | |
| Occupation | Students, professionals and employees | |
| Social status | Skilled working class, middle class, working-class, and lower middle class | |
| Psychographic | Personality | Conformers and traditionalists |
| Lifestyle | Easy-going and determined | |
| Behavioral | Attitude | Skeptical and positive |
| User status | Active | |
| Occasions | Regular | |
| Benefit sought | Cost-effectiveness, the services of both headphone and speaker. | |
Table 1: Market segmentation of Sony
(Source: Camilleri, 2018)
Sony has chosen two cities in the UK that are London and Manchester to launch their innovative product as a target of having suitable situations to generate desired amount of revenue from it. They target those places because of their population density and the demands for advanced technology in the headphones. In the cities, Sony finds a suitable environment for having their products be launched as the targeted area covers the trusted audiences of them. As per the opinion of Camilleri (2018), in the cities of the UK, Sony can generate a huge amount of profit from their overall sales. This company has a higher rate of customer retention as the provided products can cause the bestselling output.
In this kind of market segmentation, Sony focused on the UK for the demographics into those places where they find the targeted people to launch these Innovative headphones to run. As per the opinion of Shah et al. (2018), marketing segmentation assists an organization in developing services and enhancing the number of new customers. In those cities, the company targeted 15 to 60 age groups citizens for initiating their features of the product as fun to them and a reason to run. They have targeted mostly the students, middle-aged people, and the upper ones too to have the facility of having fun with the music both in-ear and outdoors.
Figure 2: Market segmentation
The advanced technology helps the Sony headphone idea to hold a certain market share as it is beyond traditional approaches of a headphone engineering process. As stated by Chen et al. effective management of the project can assist in managing productivity level of employees. This style of headphones suits both female and male and the affordable price of the products grab the attention of the people. In those cities, the people can afford the products without any issues related to their individual income. As per the opinion of Sheth (2018), the company analyzed the targeted market a lot as per the demographics where they studied the education in those places and the individual occupation of them. The most important reason for this product to gain a huge sale would be its portableness and the low-cost pricing factor.
The lifestyles of those cities can suit this headphone come speaker to ease their complexity of carrying the speakers for any outdoor parties or any other occasions. The music and entertainment both are given with this headphone of Sony to make the people happy with the product’s overall design and sound quality. As per the opinion of Campbell et al. (2020), it is an updated form to the traditional headphone and speakers both in the same platform. This product of Sony has the features to enchant the customers of the two targeted cities as the customers want their product off the chain.
The personality, attitude, and other behavior facts are analyzed before targeting the market by Sony. Market segmentation and its analysis are important before launching a product in a specific market (Campbell et al. 2020). Market segmentation helps to synthesize the facts about the location, people and their demands, the age groups, education rate, interest and opinions, purchasing powers and other stuff to anticipate the movement of overall sales and revenue.
Part 4: Recommended marketing mix
Detailed analysis of marketing mix has a crucial role in the success of the headphones and speakers’ business of Sony. A proper marketing mix helps them to analyse the implementation of proper strategy for their products and pricing of every single unit of speakers or headphones. It is one of the most important elements to analyse the market potential in any business. Marketing mixes more focuses on making a comprehensive marketing plan which is very important in the business of Sony company. It briefly discussed the products quality, pricing of products, product placements, and promotion. Effective marketing helps companies to increase their range in their business. Effective marketing mix strategy helps companies to gather knowledge about the market potential which helps them in their selling and connection with customers (Morgan et al. 2019). It helps companies in collecting reviews and feedback from the customer which is very important for them in decision making and planning about their future organizational activities. It evaluates customer interests which are essential for Sony in their headphones business.
Strategic marketing planning and analysis play a crucial role in the business of the organization. Strategic marketing mix planning depends on mainly seven factors. These seven factors are products, prices, promotion, places, packaging, positioning, and people. These factors are also called 7p’s principle in the marketing mix design and making strategy.
Figure 3: Marketing mix strategy
Products play a crucial role in the success of Sony company. Products are the ultimate things that build trust among different customers on the Sony headphones which serves mainly headphones and speakers. No company in the technological markets can survive by serving better quality products to their customers (Romero, 2019). It is one of the most important factors increasing customer satisfaction with their products. Inferior quality products can decrease the image of any company in the markets which becomes a threat for them for their future activities. Customers always prefer higher quality products purchases. Hence due to this reason companies should have to focus more on producing higher quality products which help them in customer retention and also helps them in increasing their reputation in the markets. The quality of products brings prestige to brands in any particular industry (Lam and Li, 2019). In technological markets, companies should always be prepared for critical analysis of their products, their components, and their parts which helps them to take competitive advantage from the markets. If any company fails to retain customers with the help of their products, they have to do a critical analysis about their products if they are suitable for the markets. It is one of the most important issues raised in the corporate sector to identify absolute products which are ready for delivery to customers. Products make competition in technological markets among different companies (Berman and Thelen, 2018). Hence it is important for Sony company pay more attention to their products. It is the most important factor in their business.
Prices are the other most important factors in the marketing mix which helps companies in building a large number of loyal customers for their brands. It is one of the most important factors in the business of Sony in headphones and speakers. Any company’s products are of superior quality but their prices are not within customer purchasing power, so more customers cannot buy their products due to high prices. Technological companies like Sony should keep in mind to maintain superior quality products with optimum prices which are bearable by all kinds of customers. Pricing helps to increase the number of customers for their brands who prefer to purchase more products from the same brands (Mohd Satar et al. 2019). It is one of the key factors in marketing mix planning and taking proper action according to their planning. Pricing develops [e habits of customers in purchasing products from the same company which offers affordable prices for their products, especially in electronic goods. Raising in single units of products may cause the loss of a large percentage of customers from their brands. As the technological market is one of the hyper-competitive markets, product prices increase or decrease customer interest in purchasing.
The Third important factor in marketing mix strategy is the promotion of products. Promotion helps companies to introduce products to customers. It is also necessary for the company to promote their brands and make proper strategies in the promotion of their products (Vieira et al. 2019). It is one of the key components in the success of any brand. Technological accessories need an effective promotion to introduce their most modern features and facilities to customers. Effective promotion helps companies in building trust and faith in customers’ minds which helps them in increasing their market share in any particular industry. Promotion introduced brands and their newly launched products which have a vital role in the technological market (Otieno, 2020). It is one of the key components in increasing their reputation in the markets. Big tech companies always try to adopt different ways of promoting their brands with the help of different kinds of advertisements.
Determination of proper location or places is one factor in the analysis of marketing mix strategy for any company where their products are sold. It is one of the vital factors in marketing planning which become effective in increasing the selling of their products. Changes in different locations or places help companies in increasing the selling of their products (Zhao and Zhu 2018). Sometimes companies try to direct the selling of their products with the help of their salespersons. The establishment of retail outlets in different places for selling of their products is one of the most important strategies to implement.
Packaging of products is another important marketing strategy that attracts customers at first look. Packaging refers to how the products look good from the outside. The appearance of the packaging of products increases the positive image of brands in the customer’s mind (Borremans et al. 2018). Looking at every visual element in packaging can increase the interest of customers to purchase their products. Improving the posing of products is one of the most important factors in marketing mix strategy which helps companies to identify their potential in positioning their products.
People or customers is one of the foremost important elements in marketing mix strategy which refers to building and thinking habits like people inside and outside of their business. This kind of thinking helps them to gather knowledge about customer interests. Identification of customer interests helps companies in decision making and taking proper action according to their decision and planning (Nozari et al. 2021). For making a successful business, Sony should have to focus on habits of thinking to carry out every task in a responsible way.
Part 5: Analysis of implementation issue
Implementation of a marketing mix strategy is not an easy task for the company because they have to face many kinds of challenges or issues. Social media plays a crucial role in marketing strategy because it is one of the easily accessible platforms for any company to interact with their customer (Tafesse and Wien, 2018). Sony can easily advertise their products through different social media platforms which is beneficial for them in reducing the cost of advertisements and promotion. Digital media gives a boost to the business of technology companies because digital platforms are cheaper than traditional media in advertisements and promotion of their products.
There are many issues raised in the implementation of proper marketing strategy one of them is lack of coordination among different parties which are involved in any business. Lack of coordination among suppliers, producers, and distributors can harm the sustainable business practices of any organization. Companies build good relationships with different parties which are associated with their business.
Lack of transparency is another important issue that is raised in the implementation of marketing mix strategy. Transparency among different internal activities has a vital role in the success of any organization (Kingsnorth, 2019). Transparency in the internal process of marketing can lead the company in the proper direction which helps the company to get success in their business. Lack of transparency in any process can hamper the whole process of marketing of any technology company. Any kind of unethical business practice can hamper the sustainability of any organization.
No standard measurements create obstacles in front of any organization in the implementation of a marketing mix strategy. Non-Standard measurements of internal processes and activities in marketing management can hamper the long-term vision of any company. Technological companies like Sony should have to measure their investment in advertisement or promotion of their products and the outcome of these investments. It is one of the mo0sty important roles in the success of any business organization.
To overcome challenges and problems in marketing strategy companies should have to collect all sorts of external and internal data and information engaged with their business. The company must maintain ethical business practices to overcome these issues.
Part 6. Conclusion
Based on the above discussion it can be concluded that the innovation and production of products at a low cost can assist an organization in developing the rate of revenue. The authority of Sony provides effective services and varieties of technology in terms of developing the satisfaction of customers. There is a requirement for effective marketing and advertising strategies for the development of awareness regarding the services of Sony headphones. Effective monitoring of the activities of the supply chain supports an organization in improving project planning and strategies. Moreover, it can be stated that the market segmentation for Sony headphones can support the management of the organization in developing profit and sales.
In the present scenario, there is a requirement for an appropriate price, quality of products, effective promotion, and analysis of the market to develop services. The marketing management of Sony needs to analyze the expectations of customers, their feedback and their reaction to the advertisement of Sony headphones. There is a requirement for effectual advertisement and promotion regarding the advantages of Sony headphones.
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