Principles of Marketing – MKT4001

Introduction 

Marketing is the activities undertaken by the company to promote a business product or service at the market price to receive the desired value (Alserhan, 2011). Principles of Marketing HND Assignment will create an understanding of how to write principles of marketing by explaining the marketing planning process, carrying out an environmental analysis, and highlighting the importance of the marketing mix. The report also outlines the distinctions of B2B and B2C segmentation. The transaction that takes place between businesses is B2B business. Nissan wants to sustain itself in the EV market through quality cars and better service.  The product line of Nissan Electric Vehicle is huge. Nissan Leaf is the bestselling EV.

Section 1 – Marketing Environment and Planning Process

Explain the components of the marketing planning process  

Nissan leaf is Market-oriented as it is customer-focused. The company brings affordable and reliable EVS that reduces fuel consumption and values public awareness of CO2 emissions. Marketing planning determines the success and failure of a particular product. The following components give the marketing plan a solid base: 

Strategic Analysis- The existing scenario in which an Electrical vehicle is operating is described in the strategic analysis. The key issues which are dealt with in strategic analysis include: 

• Market Analysis: In 2019, the electrical vehicle market in the UK stood at $2.176 billion. Within 2026 it is projected that the EV market will grow at a robust CAGR by more than 14% (Nissan, 2021). The affordability of EVs offered by different automobile manufacturers has anticipated the growth of EVs in the market. The other reasons for the anticipated growth of EV marketing are the increasing need for automobile disinfectant fuel for the increasing pollution in the environment. The growth of EVs will increase in the UK in the coming years as various OEMs are investing in developing more affordable and premium EV cars. The government is also focusing on boosting EV vehicle adaptation and providing subsidies on these vehicles. All these aids the growth of the EV market in the coming years. 

• Competitive Advantage- Nissan is one of the few that have a robust line-up of pure EVs. The EVs of Nissan manages second-life batteries, has the opportunity to store energy, and the business model is unique. Nissan has a VTG that provides a much bigger role providing the advantage to charge the cars at home, full of energy, and can put energy back at the time of peak consumptions (Nissan, 2021). 

Marketing goals-   The marketing goal of Nissan Leaf is to increase awareness within a year by 100% consumer consciousness through improving the EV technology. Nissan also works to make large urban areas sustainable for EVs.  

Strategy- A strategy is the process in which a business wants to achieve the goals that the business has already set and it helps the business in developing a competitive advantage. The three basic strategies according to porter’s competition matric are therefore developed: 

• Differentiation Nissan wants to sustain itself in the EV market through quality cars and better service. The new Nissan LEAF is the representation of Nissan Intelligent Mobility because it delivers the benefits of all three pillars of this strategy: more connectivity, more electrification, and more autonomy. In a single-vehicle, it gives the advantage of Nissan Intelligent Mobility that adds value for customers. 
• Cost leadership– Nissan Leaf is popular among EV users for the lowest possible price. Consumers of Nissan believes it is the best EV for the affordability and reliability it provides. People can charge the cars at home that gives cost advantages.  A buyer of Nissan Leaf may need to spend only £300 per year that gives an average annual mileage (Nissan, 2021).  

• Specialization- Nissan pioneered the idea of EV by launching the first generation brand of Nissan which is Nissan Leaf in 2010. Nissan was the only company that took the chance. At present Nissan Leaf stays as the best-selling electric vehicle selling more than 300,000 in 49 markets (Nissan, 2021). Nissan Leaf has driven billions of Kms without a single major battery incident.  

Carry out an environmental audit  

Macroenvironmental Analysis 

PESTLE is a macroenvironmental tool that identifies and lists the political, social, economic, technological, legal, and environmental factors.  

Political factors- The decisions and laws made by the government is included in the political factor. The trade and economic terms became uncertain after Britain voted to move out from the EU. The 7000 staff in the Sutherland plant of Nissan have to suffer due to the changes as Nissan does not enjoy the same trading benefit after Brexit operations (Nissan, 2021). This may cause job losses. Again, UK is becoming least attractive to work and invest in the latest taxation policy. The recession has affected business a lot and is seen as a bad phase in the automobile industry.  Concerning the car market, Governments has recognized some environmental penalties and advantages to car manufacturers and consumers. This has become favourable for Nissan as the EVs are environmentally friendly.  

Economic factors- The factors that affect an economy includes tax rate, tariffs, and government activities, is the economic factor. The budget is neutral at the moment and to reform the nation’s economy Europe is the best to invest. This is a good sign for a car manufacturer. As the tax applicable is cut and import duty is reduced. The model lines of many OEMs are expanding which increases overall customer bases. The new car demand in the EU fell by 7.8% which reflects customers are conscious about the economy (Nissan, 2021). Since Nissan Leaf reduces fuel consumption the customer awareness towards fuel price also encourages customers to buy the new EV models.  

Sociological factors- The cultural aspects, attitudes, lifestyles of people that affect a business is considered sociological factors. The global economy is undergoing a major transformation. Customer is more aware of negative effects of cars in environments and increasing fossil fuel consumptions. This caused to increase in the demand for electric and hybrid cars. The global alliances of Nissan foster industrial harmony and help in sharing technological aspect of each firm developing new product such as electrical cars that protects the environment and save fuel (Nissan, 2021). While exposing in local market Nissan remains conscious about not hurting the local sentiments. 

Technological factors- The technological advancements that affect a company is considered technological factors (Assael, Patton and Reed, 2015). To grow and survive Nissan needs to be technologically advanced. Nissan leaf is fully technologically advanced. The vehicles can be powered by electricity and charged at home (Nissan, 2021). It replaces the conventional engine and offers a different driving experience.  Nissan offers driver assistance technology as well. 

Legal Factors- The legal obligations a business must maintain is known as the legal factors. To enter certain markets in the global arena, Nissan needs to maintain certain legal standards. As a high-performance automobile, Nissan needs to meet emission standards to protect the environment from pollutions. The vehicle should be tested before being marketed to ensure the vehicle is safe enough to drive.  

Environmental factor- Environmental factors are important suppliers to population health. Different country has different environment protection laws (Alserhan, 2011). Nissan is not expected to pollute the environment with carbon emissions. Nissan also does not waste fossil fuels, rather uses renewable energies to power its EV cars.  

Microenvironmental factors 

The factors that are close to the organisation and influence the organisation performance is microenvironmental factors. The factors mainly include suppliers, customers, competitors, the public, marketing intermediary, and the company.  

Customer Analysis: The early adapter of EV is mostly talented workers. Most buyers who prefer Nissan Lean are mostly educated and tech-savvy groups. The average leaf buyers are around 45 years old, earn more than $125,000 a year, owns a home and a garage, are mostly college-educated and already owns a fuel-efficient vehicle. The more educated a person is the more interest he has in buying EVs. The early adopters are delicate to government subsidies and consider the overall cost. 

Competitor Analysis: In UK the leading competitors of Nissan in the EV market includes BMW, Volkswagen Group, FORD, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, and Hyundai Motor Company.  Considering Renault, a major competitor of Nissan, the company is a good example for processing EVs and hybrid cars in the budget range (Nissan, 2021). The car industry has become highly competitive and considering customers demand to the awareness in fuel price and carbon emissions.  

The extended marketing mix 7Ps and explain how the development of the extended marketing mix could contribute to effective marketing planning for the new concept.  

The marketing mix is a process by which products of a particular company is promoted to people in the marketplace to get the intended price as a product value. The importance of marketing mix in achieving business. The importance is highlighted below- 

Product- The good and services that meet customers need and desire is the product (Phillips, Duncan, Carman and Uhl, 2013). The importance of the product lies in satisfying the user.  

Price- The amount customer is willing to pay for the product is price. The importance of price is that it leads to profit which makes the business viable.  

Promotion- The way a business communicates with potential customers is the promotion. It is important for business growth as customers learn about business through different promotions.  

Place- The place is where the company makes its product available to the customers. It is important as it helps to store products, avail the product to the customer, and ensure potential services are given.  

People- Everyone related to the marketing mix component is people. It includes managers, customers, workers, salespeople, suppliers, etc. People are important to get things done efficiently and ensure everything takes place.  

Process- Process is the way a company delivers its product and service to the customers (Peterson, 2017). The process includes building a product and marketing them. It is important to increase a company’s efficiency and improve the profit level of the business.  

Physical Evidence- Physical evidence includes the tangible items a customer can see and touch. It is important as it lies as proof to the customer for the living promise of the product or service.  

Principles of Marketing HND Assignment

Section 2 – Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning  

The distinctions between segmentation of the B2B and B2C markets concerning electric vehicles providing situational examples.  

B2B Segmentation 

The transaction that takes place between businesses is B2B business. The business is conducted between companies rather than a consumer and the company. Nissan is a B2B business. B2B business can be segmented into: 

Profile data- The B2B includes firmographic data and business persona demographics. While Nissan a manufacturer deals with a wholesaler it needs to exchange information like company size, revenue earned, the technology used, functional skills, etc.  

Intent data- The B2B marketers intend to focus on companies that are already in the market. The intent data signals company level buying intents like reviews, searches, and content consumption. If a wholesale shows activity above-average baseline, the company has the intent to purchase Nissan EV cars (Nissan, 2021).  

Engagement data- The data shows company engagement like email engagements, sales meetings, and many more. During segmentation, the business wants to know the direct interaction the other business has.  

B2C Segmentation 

The business that directly sells the product to customers is a B2C business. B2C business segments its lead customers in the following ways: 

Behavioural data- The customer that directly engages with the brand, his prospect is taken into account. For example, Nissan considers how the customers browse Nissan EV cars from the Nissan website (Nissan, 2021). 

Geographical data- The customers have targeted base don locations where the business sends personalised deals and offers. This is applicable for small business that is likely to convert.  

Psychological data- The customers in the B2C market are based on their personality, lifestyle, social class, and so on. It is easier to connect with messaging to the target users.  

Demographic data- The offers are easier to be personalised focusing on age, gender, religion, income, occupation, marital status, etc.  

The above illustrates the B2B and B2C customer segmentation is completely different. There is also a difference in the ways the company collects B2B and B2C data.  B2C companies use CRM software’s but B2B uses CRM in a combination with CDP to do more in data management. 

Discuss targeting for EITHER the B2B or B2C market and who you would primarily target with an EV promotion  

The B2C market is more product-driven and gears towards maximizing customer transactions. Whilst, the B2B market focuses more on the two business relations (Palmer, 2010). Based on the size of the target market, B2B is more focused and B2C tends to have a bigger marketplace. Whether it’s B2B or B2C Nissan must focus on the way it connects with the business or consumers than the information demonstrated. 

While manufacturing EVs Nissan tends to focus more on what customers may prefer based on the demography, lifestyle, behavioural segmentation (Krafft, 2010). B2C target customers who buy the product for themselves, and B2B targets customers who buy the product as a solution for companies. The B2B are firmographics and mainly focuses on information relates to the company or business.   

At primary level B2C company needs to target large groups. The customers are easily satisfied with eye-catching and promising values like displays and coupons. In B2B strategy the tools are used to foster and engage business relationships. B2B tends to gear services that the business owns rather than the products customers looking for. Therefore, the primary target for an EV promotion would be the B2B business. The wholesaler will promote the EV cars to the customers once Nissan can sell them to the wholesalers. By selecting a sizeable, growing, profitable B2B business, Nissan can have a good start. Once promoted, the company can go for B2C business.  

For example, Nissan EVs is more preferred by people in San Francisco. To market B2C Nissan can give promotional offers in other regions based on the survey result is found for the lifestyle, attitude, and preference of people around San Francisco for EVs (Kinnear, Bernhardt, Krentler and Cooper, 2016). If Nissan focuses on the B2B market, then individual preference may need not be considered. Nissan can focus on company information and get into deals to sell their EV in the market. 

Explain what is meant by the term ‘positioning’ and creatively suggest how an electric vehicle would be positioned in the consumer OR business market.  

Positioning is a strategic process that involves creating a brand image in a customer’s mind. In marketing, positioning is adding speciality to products or services (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2020). To position electric vehicles following methods of position can be applied- 

Pricing- Pricing impacts most consumers decisions. The affordable a product is the more demand it has in the market. But the company should ensure quality along with affordability. EVs comes in an affordable range for which it is highly demanded in the market. Although Nissan priced its EV higher than the average market price, the brand is still positioned in the customer mind. 

Quality- The factor that can rebuff pricing, is quality. In the automobile, market quality defines the competitors (Hundekar, 2010). Nissan ensures quality EVs that can drive mileage without any battery incident. This has created the positioning of EV cars in the automobile market.  

Differentiation- The feature that a product has apart from other products is differentiation.  If a product is different from the competitors, it is already positioned in the consumer mind. Nissan EVs has VTG facilities that other brands of EVs hardly possess. This extra facility has positioned in customer mind for which they prefer Nissan over other brands.  

Convenience- Customer prefers a product that creates an easier life. Nissan EV has ensured automated driving, which gives a smooth driving experience to the consumers.  

Customer Service- The helpful and friendly interaction during service provision creates scope for business positioning. Nissan can provide customer services in their garages that can boost preference for Nissan EVs.

Section 3 – Marketing Mix Analysis 

Details of the marketing mix for EVs. 

	Electric/Hybrid Cars
Product	The product line of Nissan Electric Vehicle is huge. Nissan Leaf is the bestselling EV. Therefore, the product of the extended marketing mix for Nissan is Nissan Leaf. The brand Nissan itself is a large seller. To sustain competitive advantage and contribute to effective marketing planning for the new concept Nissan Develops its product line with the latest technological features, focusing on consumer needs (Diamond and Pintel, 2011). The market trend is currently focusing on technologically advanced product lines, with consumer flexibility. There is huge competition in the market. Several brands have brought EVs into the marketplace. Nissan, therefore, focuses on enriching the car performance by introducing innovative features in the product line. The electric cars of Nissan are highly differentiated and have various features that the competitors do not offer. Nissan should introduce more electric cars in affordable and quality budgets. The product designing should be more focused as it attracts the customers most.
Place	Nissan is a global brand. The company showroom is present across the world. Nissan and Infiniti brand have their presence in 15 countries and with 230 dealers (Nissan, 2021). To maximise its revenue Nissan extended marketing mix mainly focuses on Japan, India, Malaysia, Mexico, UK. Nissan sold its product in more than 200 countries and the number of cars sold is around 10 million, in which the Electric Vehicles are included, and most preferred by today’s generation. To develop and contribute an effective marketing mix Nissan has its place on the online website, promotional pages, social media as well. The company should try to make the website user-friendly and integrate the pages for easy navigation to users. Nissan can also open company-operated retail stores. The development of the place is effective as it will save up the company cost as the retailer and wholesaler margin dissolves.
Price	Nissan pricing is set not only to capture market share but also to maintain customer loyalty. The luxury cars of Nissan are priced at par (Hundekar, 2010). Electronic cars charge a premium over others for their technology and safety features. Nissan cars are priced competitively and carried forward for the value proposition. The spare parts of the company are priced at par in the competition with other brands in the market, but the spare parts are not that much expensive. The price of an EV is effective as it differs with engine configurations, trim level, safety feature and comfort it provides.
Promotion	Nissan understands the importance to communicate the philosophy of customers to promote a product. The product is promoted with relatability, safety features, and luxury features focusing on customer desires. The company promotes its product on television, radio, social media (Diamond and Pintel, 2011). Nisan focuses on inbound and outbound marketing techniques to promote its product. Nissan can hire influencers on social media such as bloggers, movie stars, to advertise the EVs. The advertising campaigns are effective to marketing planning as it provides a consistent message to customers, which roles in increasing brand awareness in customer minds. Different digital marketing technique also improves the website traffics. It includes Search Engine Optimisation, blog creation, banner advertisement, etc. Nissan also undergoes sales promotion by participating in different trade exhibitions. The company uses a percentage of sales method to determine the promotion budget in a year.
People	The employees in the customer service department have direct contact with customers in case of any issue the owners of Nissan Electronic cars face (Boshoff et al., 2019). The employees in customer service help to resolve the problems and guide, customers, through the process. The employees working in the supply department obtain raw materials and ensure quality material is used during the manufacturing of the process. The employees should undergo training as it delivers value to customers. The employees are the people who hold the responsibility to increase the brand image, therefore, to contribute to effective marketing planning Nissan should pay bonuses, salary and other benefits to the employees.
Physical Evidence	The brand Nissan itself is physical evidence for the consumers. The logo of Nissan exists in all brands of cars. Nissan has its design for electronic cars. The website of Nissan is user-friendly and consists of a high-quality image of cars taken from various angles. (Nissan, 2021) Nissan should collect feedback from customers to improve the designs of the cars which can effectively contribute to marketing planning. Nissan can also set up its store to give the customer a user-friendly convenient shopping ambience that encourages the customer to purchase Nissan products.
Process	The system ensures that the latest model of Nissan electronic vehicles is available in the showrooms (Assael, Patton and Reed, 2015). The system in process of Nissan notifies the company when the inventory level turns low, and the requisition is sent to the manufacturer for more cars of similar models. Therefore, the systematic process ensures products are always available to customers. Nissan also consists of an online delivery process where the orders are received in a computer system. The relevant orders are shipped to the provider on the time. The system is convenient for customers for booking cars. Nissan also continuously making research to understand market opportunities to make the marketing planning more effective. The feedback from customers is used to develop the system.

 

Conclusion  

A marketing-orientated business is characterised by: developing new and broad products, highlighting product value and benefits, making good and extensive use of marketing research, using product innovation methods, and designing supplementary services such as installation, delivery, credit availability and warranty. All these are pitched in the direction of customer advantage (Alserhan, 2011). Therefore, Nissan is a market-oriented business. Principles of Marketing HND Assignment focuses on different aspects of Nissan market orientation through its electronic vehicles.