Research Paper on Marketing

Market Research and Marketing Plan

Introducing a new one to the market would be an uphill task. The company that intends to do so would need a competitive marketing plan. A sound understanding of the target market would be of high priority. This would necessitate a market research before embarking on writing a marketing plan. Basically, a market research focuses on the target market where a business' product is set to sell. Market research helps in discovering how to affect the 4 Ps of marketing, namely; product, price, placement, and promotion (Research Guide, 2018).

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Already, the company has a product to sell- a new model of mobile phone. The problem, however, is finding the market. Therefore, market research comes handy at this point. Market research reveals the choices and preferences of the target customers. Such an item of information will help the company to know the improvements it will need to make on its mobile phone. The research will also make the producer aware of the extra functionalities that customers need. This also means that the company can at this point know will know the features to sell upon launching.

Obviously, in this case, the company will be facing similar products in the market. Therefore, it must consider the purchasing powers of the target customers. It must also, during the research, identify the factors that influence customers' shopping habits. In consideration will also be the prices of the existing mobile phones. This means that the will either be providing a substitute or an alternative and so the specifications, as well as the pricing, will have to be competitive. Through research, the company will know the price tag to place on its mobile phone.

This company will also need an understanding of the market landscape where it intends to sell the new smartphone. That is to say, the company will have to use research to find competitive points of sales. For instance, it must find out where the retail business of smartphones work, where wholesale flourish, and where online sales work just perfect. Only then can the company find its viable point of sale. This is also where the company must find the best way to reach out to its customers during promotions.

Impact of Competition on Marketing

The smartphone industry provides the ultimate embodiment of the relationship between competition and marketing. Consider the two companies Apple and Samsung. These two companies have been having a fierce competition since Apple launched the world's first-ever touchscreen phone, the iPhone. In essence, Apple introduced the production of true smartphones. However, Samsung, even though trailing Apple at number two worldwide, caught up with the giant in terms of specifications. The two companies have since been the pace-setters (Bloomberg, 2018).

There are thousands of mobile phone brands across the world today. They come in different shapes, sizes, functionalities, and prices. The competition is fierce and marketing is now a technological war that every brand wants to win. Xiaomi, a smartphone brand that is a little younger than Huawei and other established brands, once trailed Apple and Samsung at position three globally in terms of market share (Bloomberg, 2018). So, how did this relatively young smartphone brand market itself to the point that consumers even accepted it as an alternative?

In the past, smartphones had almost similar capabilities and features. They had the capability to access and browse the internet. They were all characterized by touchscreens and support of instant messaging. That has since changed as smartphones now have special features that distinguish them. While may be a factor, there are the superfine, detailed, and cutting-edge features that uniquely identify each smartphone brand. Smartphone companies are no longer selling their brands, but features like the camera, battery capacity, and the touchscreen glass.

Today, the smartphone brand Oppo is marketing itself as the "camera phone" (Bloomberg, 2018). It thus lays more emphasis on its camera than the other features. The fact of the matter is that Samsung is known for excellent screen technology. Apple is known for simplicity. In a nutshell, the fierce competition in the smartphone industry has made marketing of smartphones feature-oriented. Consumers are no longer buying whole brands but reputations and specifications. This is why some other people would prefer Oppo over, say, Xiaomi because their interest is in photography.

PESTL Analysis and Introduction of a New Product

With the ongoing trade wars between the US and China, launching a new product in either of the countries provides an ideal example of how PESTL would affect the introduction of a new product. For this example to hold, the product must be either manufactured in China and get introduced into the US market or manufactured in the US and get introduced in the Chinese market. Basically, the trade war involves the US' 25% tariff on Chinese goods worth billions of dollars (Tan, 2018). PESTL analysis will spell doom on new Chinese export product, specifically to the US.

Politically, the US market isn't favorable for the product. The 25% tariff slapped on Chinese products by Washington is "only the beginning". This spells doom for the future of Chinese products in the US markets. Also, this presents automatic diseconomies of scale for any new Chinese export to the US. The trading policies, US government trade policies do not favor the launching of new Chinese products in the US markets. Unless the two countries reach a mutual agreement, no new products from either country will launch in the other.

The US economy, in response to the US-China trade war, doesn't favor the Chinese commodities. Firms are shying off from importing Chinese products because of the tariff-hiked costs. The same is the case with American products in the Chinese economy. Technologically, the cost of producing new products that are tailored for either of these two countries, by either of them, is also going to be costly. Remember that Apple products are often defined in the US and manufactured in China. The trade war will also increase the cost of technology.

Consider launching a new product in a country that is bound by the Paris Climate Agreement. The agreement is essentially an environmental protection that member-countries take. The trade wars have also created a hostile social environment for products from either country. This makes a launch of new products laborious. The legalities around the tariffs have made dealing in already existing imports from either of the two countries complicated. This means launching a new product in the rival nation will be impossible.

SWOT Analysis and Marketing

A company's marketing planning involves a SWOT analysis of the company and its product. Consider the smartphone industry. The industry is currently flooded with internationally recognized brands in almost every country. Where the cost of these smartphones is a factor, the Chinese smartphone manufacturers have seized the opportunity to manufacture and sell cheap smartphones. Some of these Chinese products are only known in certain regions and not worldwide. In Africa for example, there is a brand known as Tecno that dominates the market (Bloomberg, 2018b).

So, how does SWOT analysis explain the invasion by Chinese smartphone makers in the African market? The strength of the Chinese manufacturers is that the country, China, has gradually become an economic giant. It, therefore, has the know-how required to manufacture smartphones that most Africans can afford. The Chinese mobile industry is growing rapidly thus guaranteeing their perceptual dominance of African markets (MSG). Finally, China mobile has the technological and economic muscles that it needs to expand rapidly.

The weaknesses of the Chinese mobile phone manufacturers is that they always focus on the domestic market. That implies that they only extend to the countries with which they have existing marketing diplomatic agreements. This makes the companies now focus on international standards, thereby invading the European market to strengthen their brands (MSG). Also, the companies invade areas that Apple seems to be in control of through intense marketing. Xiaomi is such an example in India where Apple has a plant.

The changing landscape smartphone market is an opportunity for the Chinese smartphone makers. For example, the leading Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has the opportunity to capitalize of cloud computing, make strategic partnerships, pay more attention to marketing even more intensely, and come up with a product that will throw both Apple and Samsung off the balance of their global market share dominance (Xiaomi SWOT, 2018). Even so, the company is facing the threats of issues with their phones as well as saturation of the market which forces them to intensify marketing.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning in Marketing

In the smartphone industry, there is no more promising brand than Xiaomi. The brand has made conspicuous efforts to displace Apple and Samsung in many parts of the world, with India being notable among them. The company's SWOT analysis reveals that the threats it have include saturation of the smartphone market. That means that the market share of non-Apple and non-Samsung smartphones are gradually getting little dividends. Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) can help the brand to establish its dominance flooded market.

The smartphone industry has proved to be incredibly innovative. In just ten years, Apple has demonstrated how the industry is dynamically innovative. From the legendary passcode encryption of smartphones to face ID, Apple continues to raise the bar innovation and tech. Samsung Galaxy with its depressing exploding battery if Galaxy Note 7 has also advanced to an all-day battery in ist Note 9 flagship (Villas-Boas, 2018). It is these two companies that always set trends that Xiaomi is competing with. Therefore, it is important for the brand to capitalize on STP.

Now that Xiaomi has proved dominance in India, it can also divide different populations throughout the world into segments for which it can manufacture tailored smartphones. Xiaomi has so far exhibited mono-segment positioning. That is, it focuses on the group that desires to use a premium smartphone but whose budget can't allow premium Samsung Galaxy and iPhone (Xiaomi STP, 2018). That way, it appeals to a specific group of consumers, thus winning the hearts of Indian consumers. The company also use imitative positioning, whereby it emulates certain features of the two giants, Apple and Samsung.

The STP by Xiaomi has earned the company the nickname "Apple of the East" because it been successful at imitating Apple products and presentation (Xiaomi STP, 2018). Because of the fierce competition in the smartphone industry, every company is always trying to manufacture a device that has the feature that either Samsung or iPhone has. Xiaomi is also releasing smartphones that have the face ID feature of apple, and extra huge battery like the Galaxy Note 9's.

Marketing Ethics

Ethics is increasingly becoming critical for the success of companies today. Consumers are constantly becoming conscious of ethical issues that surround the corporate businesses. Today, a simple tweet from, say, a company's social media executive can go viral in seconds. With the active and dangerous social media users, a careless tweet can easily ruin a company's reputation and plunge its shares in Wallstreet. It is nowadays assumed that the execs represent their companies and this explains the troubles and woes of Elon Musk right now.

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