Posted: May 9th, 2015

Case Study and Marketing Plan Task

Case Study and Marketing Plan Task

OMAN KEY FOCUS MARKET FOR SUBARU
 

A high ranking team from Fuji Heavy Industries, owners of the Subaru brand, recently said that Oman will remain a top priority market for the company in the coming years. The market share for Subaru in Oman is around two per cent which is double its global market share.

The officials were in the sultanate for a meeting of the distributors to discuss ways to improve the market share of Subaru vehicles.

Speaking on the occasion, Hidetoshi Kobayashi, corporate vice president and chief general manager said, “Oman has emerged as the best-selling market for Subaru in the GCC and Africa, prompting us to focus more on this market for further growth in sales.”

He added that the company plans to achieve one per cent growth by 2015 in the GCC. Kobayashi said that the distributors’ meet was held in the sultanate keeping in mind the growth prospects Subaru has here and the brand recognition that it enjoys here. ”

“The OTE Group has been doing a good job of promoting our cars in Oman through different channels of marketing, which has resulted in good sales figures. OTE is trying to make the brand Subaru a very recognisable one.”

He said that in 2009, the sales figures increased by 16 per cent in the US and by 86 per cent in China compared to figures in 2008. “The year 2010 looks promising and we will be aggressive and competitive to live up to what other brands have to offer,” added Hidetoshi.

The company officials said that the much-anticipated sports coupe (code named FT-86), which is being manufactured in association with Toyota, will be launched in 2013. Toyota has a 16.5 per cent stake in Subaru.

The coupe is expected to be a rear wheel drive sporting a 2.0lt boxer engine. “The sports coupe will be sold in Japan as a Toyota car and overseas as a Subaru brand.”

Subaru will continue to focus on its established models, namely the Legacy, which comes in two variants – 2.5lt and 2.5lt GT, and the Impreza XV, WRX and STI models.

“There is a strong demand for leisure cars in Oman and with these models we are serious about tapping the luxury car market.” Subaru will have boxer engines in all its upcoming cars for an all wheel driving experience that is effortless. The company is also planning to introduce eco-friendly vehicles in the market.

The current line-up of models include Impreza and Legacy in the sedan category and Outback, Forester and Tribeca in the crossover SUV category. Subaru was also the only brand to pick up a top safety rating for all of the vehicles mentioned above.

 

Source: The Week, July 14, 2010

 

 

 

Your Task:

 

As a Marketing Consultant, you have been approached by the Corporate Vice President and Chief General Manager of Subaru , to develop a marketing plan for Subaru to achieve further growth in sales and market share for the next five years in the Omani market.

 

Key Areas for Consideration:

 

  • Market situational analysis – especially the competition
  • Segmentation and targeting
  • Objectives
  • Marketing mix strategy (product/branding, price, promotion and distribution strategies)
  • Implementation
  • Evaluation and Control
  • Sales Forecast
  • Budget

 

 

Some Guidance on the Marketing Plan Report

  1. Objectives – objectives need to be SMART but it is unnecessary to explain in detailed how smart they are.

 

  1. The balance between market analysis and the actual planning/actions– ensure that your submissions are balanced with regards to analysis and planning. For example, do not use a lot of space summarising the analysis, at the expense of setting objectives and planning objective-specific marketing strategies and tactics.

 

  1. Vagueness – planning needs to be very specific; stating that you will use ‘social media’ for promotion because it is the ‘most efficient tool’ is not enough. You need to explain the social media tool (s) – what they are, why you are using them and how you would use them.

 

  1. Academic content – you are expected to apply models, and not just describe or define them. For example, your SWOT or PEST analyses should not read like textbooks in which you explain what SWOT or PEST are – this is essentially incorrect. You needed to apply them and not describe them.

 

  1. Executive summary – an executive summary should be written in a way that allows the executive who reads it to know what the problem is and how it is to be solved. Essentially, it is a summary of your problem statement, objectives and how to achieve them (i.e. how to solve the problem).

 

  1. Secondary data use – Analysis should be supported with secondary data (from the literature). You should demonstrate wider reading and acknowledge the sources of your information, both in the main body and in your bibliography. Avoid making very bold but not substantiated statements, such as ‘the only Japanese Motor Car Company in Oman’ or ‘massive campaign’ or ‘massive customer segment’. Give numbers if you think the segment is large and compare it to other segments to give an idea of the size of it.

 

 

  1. Presentation and structure – to achieve an excellent grade, your presentation needs to be immaculate – this includes numbering tables, referencing correctly etc. Do not present a lot of data and information in tables as appendices. Data or statistics that refer directly to your discussion in the main body, should be presented in the main body. Tables and figures – tables and figures need to be numbered and each should have a title that is self-explanatory. Your analytical content must be high, demonstrating critical thinking and the ability to apply relevant marketing concepts (refer to the marking criteria).
  1. Word limit – 3,500 words. This will include your references in the bibliography and the appendices, but it will not include the cover page. Please, note that your cover page must have your Full Name and ID Number.

 

New Assessment Regulations

In response to student feedback the University has revised the regulations that govern how your work is assessed, by introducing the use of a percentage scale to replace the previous letter grades.

More information for students is available on BREO, in the “Assessments Information for students” community.

The full regulations are available at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/quality/regulations

The table below shows the percentage points to which grades are mapped.

Grade Percentage Points
A+ 80 – 100
A 75 -79
A- 70 -74
B+ 67 – 69
B 64 – 66
B- 60 – 63
C+ 57 – 59
C 54 – 56
C- 50 – 53
D+ 47 – 49
D 44 – 46
D- 40 – 43
E 35 – 39
F 25 – 34
F- 1 – 24
G 0

 

Marking Criteria for the Marketing Plan Report

To obtain an A grade you must:

  • Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the task for the Marketing Plan
  • Display knowledge of the concepts/theories involved and an ability to apply them effectively.
  • Provide evidence of further reading, including academic journals.
  • Demonstrate the ability to select critical aspects of the plan, evaluate them and communicate the conclusions and strategic recommendations effectively

 

 

To obtain a B grade:

  • Show a clear understanding of the tasks for the Marketing Plan
  • Display knowledge of most of the concepts/ theories involved and an ability to apply them effectively.
  • Provide evidence of wider reading.
  • Demonstrate the ability to select critical aspects of the plan, evaluate them and draw sound conclusions and strategic recommendations.

 

To obtain a C grade:

  • Show an adequate understanding of the tasks for the Marketing Plan
  • Display knowledge of some of the concepts/ theories involved and an ability to apply them.
  • Provide evidence of some wider reading.
  • Demonstrate the ability to select key aspects of the plan and provide analysis of these.

 

To obtain a D grade:

  • Show some understanding of the tasks for the Marketing Plan
  • Display knowledge of some of the concepts/ theories involved and an ability to apply them.
  • Provide evidence of some wider reading.
  • Demonstrate the ability to select key aspects of the plan and provide analysis of these.

 

To obtain an E grade:

  • Made an attempt to complete the tasks of the Marketing plan
  • Display little knowledge of the concepts/ theories involved.
  • No evidence of academic reading.
  • An inability to recognise the key aspects of the plan.

 

 

To obtain an F1/F2 grade:

  • Work of little academic merit.

 

To obtain a G grade:

  • Work of no academic merit.
  • No attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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