MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Marketing Communication Strategy

Marketing Communication Strategy

Market Trends for Automobile Sector in UK

Nearly all new car models constitute brand extensions, capitalising on current consumer perceptions and positioning the new model within the brand family. In some cases, established model names have been continued for essentially new products (e.g. the Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Golf, and Ford Mustang have been marketed for more than two decades, with substantial changes). Step-down vertical brand extension (Kim and Lavack, 1996) can partly explain the resulting brand corrosion. Brand dilution, caused by over-extension of models and production quantities, has been observed in more prestige brands, including automobiles (Chen and Chen, 2000; Kirmani et al., 1999), although this same effect was not confirmed in the case of master brands (Leong, 1997).

The negative impact of extensions on brand dilution has been researched through focus groups and market experiments in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) (e.g. Martínez and Pina, 2003; Glynn and Brodie, 1998; John et al., 1998; Loken and John, 1993).

Generation of a new theoretical perspective, rather than confirmation and verification, indicates that a qualitative paradigm should be employed (Deshpande, 1983). The examination presented here is based on case studies, an established research methodology (Whitley, 1932) recognised in mainstream academic literature in domains such as sociology (Kiser, 1997), law, economics, and history. Case studies are used for in-depth contextual analysis of events or conditions which, although significant, occur only in small numbers (Cooper and Emory, 1995), or concern marketing cognition and symbolism (Deshpande and Webster, 1989). Yin (2003) suggests picking cases with diverse initial conditions (literal replication), which are represented here by different ownership, company size, and country of origin. Eisenhardt (1989, 1991) proposes that cases should be presented until “theoretical saturation” is reached.

The combined market share for all premium brands in the world's largest car market (the USA) has increased steadily since 1986. Up to 1996, total sales accounted for 5 to 7 percent, but unit sales grew by 17 percent annually between 1997 and 2002 (Mintel, 2003), lifting luxury brands' market share to 10.2 percent in the first half of 2003 ( Ward's Auto World, 2003). By 2009 the North American luxury car segment is expected to rise a further 69 percent to 1.26 million vehicles annually (Henderson, 2005).

Several newly-created luxury brands (including Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti) were originally developed for and marketed only in the USA, taking advantage of market characteristics attributed to both cultural adolescence and a generally shorter memory among American consumers (Simister, 2004a).

Public Relations in British Auto Sector

According to Rampazzo (1998), such accelerated growth caused a strong movement of mergers and acquisitions that changed the country's scenario of industrial suppliers and started a denationalisation process in the industry. Domestically, the policies adopted by governments affected the industry's structure and performance in the region. The economic opening processes have reduced tariffs in South America, while the use of non-tariff barriers in the other economic blocks has grown (Santos and Gonçalves, 2001).

Such codesign practices enable automobile manufacturers to ensure the supply of vehicle ...