Honda Accord Hybrid Case

The marketing plan for Honda Accord Hybrid failed to take note of consumer attitudes and lifestyles. Their product positioning strategies were ineffective which made the vehicle lack a unique brand identity in the market. They failed to include strong attributes regarding the product in their plans. Engineers who designed the vehicle thought buyers would be impressed by the vehicle’s fuel economy capabilities but they did not take note of prevailing market conditions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Honda Accord Hybrid Case specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They did not take time to realize that vehicle buyers had become more conscious about prices and this influenced their purchasing habits (Kiley, 2007). The six cylinder Accord hybrid was priced at more than 9,000 dollars higher than the four cylinder gasoline version. The pricing strategy adopted for the vehicle discouraged buyers from buying the vehicle and they opted to purchase the gasoline version. Honda also failed to engage potential buyers to understand the type of vehicle they wanted to satisfy their expectations. The firm did not offer customers a unique selling point that would motivate them to purchase the vehicle. The marketing had a false sense of hope that the Accord hybrid would follow in the footsteps of its gasoline version which had recorded high sales in the U.S. The firm failed to establish a unique brand for the hybrid model, which made it difficult for customers to understand its unique attributes (Kiley, 2007). Customers were not able to distinguish the Accord hybrid from the gasoline version and this affected its performance in the market. Therefore, the firm had a high quality product which was not properly marketed and lacked a unique selling point. The firm also failed to initiate memorable marketing campaigns that would have given the vehicle a strong entry into the market. Honda needs to overhaul its re search and development processes to come up with hybrid vehicles that suit customers’ needs and lifestyles. The firm needs to the vehicle a different brand name to make it possible for potential buyers to distinguish it from the gasoline version. This will make the product have its own brand identity that evokes positive feelings from potential buyers in the market. Some additional improvements should be done on the vehicle to add new features that give it the desired level of competitiveness in the market. The firm should take effective approaches to win the confidence of its customers. This will strengthen their faith in the new product to help it maintain its competitive edge in the market (Karadeniz, 2009, p. 99). The design needs to take note of fuel efficiency and other attractive features to make it more competitive than other substitutes in the market. The firm needs to be aware that Toyota’s hybrid car, the Prius is performing well in the market. It needs to c ome up with effective strategies to help the vehicle get a larger market share.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Honda needs to communicate the vehicle’s strongest attributes to give it more publicity in the market. The firm should make customers aware of the unique features of this product and how it suits their lifestyles. The confusion generated by the previous model regarding fuel usage was one of the main reasons that made it perform poorly in the market. The firm needs to clear this issue to make customers understand how much fuel the vehicle consumes. The pricing strategy needs to take note of buyers’ interests, incomes and lifestyles (Karadeniz, 2009, p. 102). This will make it possible for the improved product to be responsive to buyers’ interests. The firm needs to improve the way the vehicle is perceived by potential buyers to make it more attr active. The new hybrid vehicle needs to have its own independent brand to make it more appealing to customers. The firm’s marketing campaigns need to make customers’ about the vehicle’s fuel consumption rates compared to other substitutes and other unique functional features. This will ensure customers do not confuse it with the Accord gasoline version. The firm needs to develop effective marketing campaigns that appeal to the emotional psyche of prospective car buyers (Karadeniz, 2009, p. 104). Previous Honda models have performed well in the market because customers have a lot of sentimental attachments to them. The firm needs to use the loyalty it has built in the market over the years to help it register positive results in the market. The firm’s marketers need to reverse misleading perceptions about the product in the market. The hybrid’s high price discouraged many customers from purchasing it because they felt it was beyond what they were ab le to afford. The marketing approach adopted for the new brand should adopt a suitable pricing strategy to encourage more prospective buyers to purchase it. The firm needs to partner with good advertising companies to enable it create compelling adverts that connect with potential customers in the market easily (Karadeniz, 2009, p. 107). The advertising approaches used need to show customers the product’s unique selling point to encourage them to purchase this brand. This will help the product to overcome entry barriers in the market that made the previous model to register abysmal performance. References Karadeniz, M. (2009). Product positioning strategy in marketing management. Journal of Naval Science and Engineering, 5 (2), 98-110.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Honda Accord Hybrid Case specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Kiley, D. (2007, June 5). Failure of Accord Hybrid is a marketing fiasco. Bloomber g Business Week. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/ This essay on Honda Accord Hybrid Case was written and submitted by user Chaya Barry to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Product Life Cycle Essays

Product Life Cycle Essays Product Life Cycle Paper Product Life Cycle Paper 1. Introduction It has been well established that Product Life Cycle (PLC) concept has a significant impact upon business strategy and corporate performance. Since the term was first used by Levitt (1965 ) in an Harvard Business Review article â€Å"Exploit the Product Life Cycle† the concept has been widely accepted and applied by marketing practitioners all over the world. The product life cycle concept is one of the most quoted and most frequently taught elements of marketing theory. According to Mercer (1993: 269) the influence of the product life cycle can be seen in other theories, from new product development, positioning differentiation and portfolio analysis. Since its adoption by marketing, the product life cycle (PLC) has achieved universal acceptance because of its appeal and wide application. According to Weber (1976: 12) the product life cycle concept provides an intuitively appealing and readily understandable framework of analysis for considering future growth opportunities and pitfalls. As time passes sales increase slowly at first (introduction phase), then more quickly (growth phase), then once again more slowly (maturity and saturation phases), and finally decrease (decline phase). This assignment discusses the importance of repositioning and differentiating for an organization’s products or services using the concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC). It also critically analyses the actual practice an organization undertakes to repositioning or differentiating it products. Based on the critical analysis a set of recommendations are provided for the selected organization to improve its overall positioning differentiating efforts during the various stages of PLC. Within this context, the organization that is selected is Bahrain International Retail Development Centre (BIRD) which is one of the leading corporate training providers in Bahrain. 2. Discussion 2. 1 Description of the selected organization- BIRD Bahrain International Retail Development Centre (BIRD) is a sister concern of Bahrain Duty Free. It is a joint venture between Bahrain Duty Free Air Rainta International, set up since 2001. The Product Life Cycle Introduction Stage Focused and intense marketing effort This is the design stage where they think of a product which they feel there is a gap in the market for there product and whether or not they feel they can succeed and be profitable for example playstation they have 3 consoles xbox realised a new console in 2006 the xbox360 playstation came up with a new console the playstation 3 it had more extras than the xbox and had free internet access on it and more extras. Establish a Clear Identity It is important for a business to develop an identity for they this is important so customers can relate to the business and it can be separate image for that of its customers. For example addidas have a motto impossible is nothing its catchy and inspirering. Also they use celebrities to endorse there product when people think about David Beckham than they think addidas the two are thought off together. Promotes Maximum Awareness For a product to promote maximum awareness than they must use the marketing mix effectively to do this the company needs to utilise the 4 Ps if this is done than enough people should know about the product for it to succeed. Carlsberg is a prime example of this they are frequently advertised on television with a variety of supermarkets and also an advertisement by the company itself with also have catchy mottos Carlsberg properly the best larger in the world. Trial or Impulse purchases occur at this stage When a new product comes out it has zero sales no one has seen this product before so it generates interest and people will buy for the sake of buying this product this is buying on impulse. An example of this would be when ipods first came out no one really new what it was and it generated a huge interest people bought on impulse. Growth Stage Increasing Sales Experienced When a product is first introduced the sales will increase rapidly because it starts at zero sales. Customers see a new product it increases interest and people start to buy. An example of increasing sales experience is blue ray DVD players it is new technology it is a relatively new product and sales havent peaked yet. Competitors Emerge Competitors emerge once a product has been released and has become successful other companies see this and release there own products. An example of this would be games consoles in general when a new generation of games consoles come out they all come out within a year and half of each other and have almost identical features. Sustained Market Activities Sustained market activity is important for a product to be successful the marketing mix most be used efficiently. All large companies do this good market research is key for this Sony have sustained market activities because of there ability to adapt to the current market. Maturity Stage In this stage sales have peaked they are still quite high but are not increasing. Competitors begin to leave the market this is because the sales have stopped growing so there are now no new customers. This may happen in television market as five or 6 years ago ordinary widescreen televisions had become quite popular and many homes had got one but they soon stopped increasing with new flat screen televisions about to enter the market so competitors left the market. Sales Velocity is dramatically reduced the products growth stops it still makes a profit but profits do not noticeable increase. Sales Volume reaches a steady state this will show up like a flat line on a product life cycle graph it is where the products are now not attracting any new customers. Mostly Loyal Customers buy the product this is where profits and product interest has stopped it only gets repeat purchase from loyal customers there are no more impulse buying of the product. Decline Stage Lingering Effects of competition this may add to the decline of a certain product if rival companies release a similar product an example of this would be Nintendo GameCube came out a year before play station 2 it had huge success until the realise of play stations new console then declined. Unfavourable economic trends this contributes massively to some items profits. We are now in a credit crunch and all car companies are at a loss and almost all have stopped production. New Fashion Trends is where a product is no longer in demand an example of this would be tamagochi toys they where a must have accessory in the late 90s to young children to teenagers but the trend soon changed and they now cannot be found Boston Matrix The BCG matrix (aka B.C.G. analysis, BCG-matrix, Boston Box, Boston Matrix, Boston Consulting Group analysis) is a chart that had been created by Bruce Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in 1970 to help corporations with analyzing their business units or product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. www.wikipedia.org Dogs A dog this is business term for company which has a low share of a low growth market. They do not generate cash for the companies they are tend to suck money into the company. These are the sort of products you should not invest in. An example of this would be a tamagochi it was a electronic toy which only ever lasted a few months it soon came out of production and now can not be found. Cash Cows These are products with a large share of a slow market growth. They generate money for the money that is invested into the company. This is a company which you would keep your shares in. An example of this would be in the car manufacturer the bmw m3 it is a high powered large sports car and not many would buy them. Question Marks These have low share in high growth market. The money invested in them is used up mostly on marketing to try increase awareness and profits. An example of this would be fruit of the loom clothing is constantly growing and also in a fashion orientated generation but people want designer clothes. Stars These are products which has a high share in a high growth market these make a lot of money for the money invested itll be promoted heavily and expand the product when needs be. An example of a star would be the apple ipod more and more people are buying them and they already have a high market share in a high market growth. Magners Cider would be a Star it has a large share in a high growth market a lot of people buy alcohol and a lot of people buy Magners it is a popular brand.