Marketing Strategy For A New Product

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Vodafone is one of the most successful carriers in the Indian market. Therefore, the company can afford to diversify its products in the market. However, in order to improve the idea and analyse the feasibility of the product’s marketing strategy, it is designed using different strategic tools such as SWOT, PESTLE, and marketing mix and so on. The report analyzes various competitive factors in India’s market and how the company expands its pet tracker market. Therefore, it can be found that the market is not saturated with pet tracker devices and needs to improve many application areas. Research also analysed the internal and external environments of   companies to improve better marketing strategies.

Table of Contents

Introduction. 5

Marketing Research and Strategy. 5

SWOT. 5

Marketing Mix. 8

External Environment Assessment 10

PESTLE.. 10

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis. 13

Managing and Sustaining Performance. 13

Financial Performance. 13

Customer value. 14

Internal system and processes. 14

Continuous improvement 14

Conclusion. 14

References. 15

Tables of tables

Table 1: SWOT analysis of Vodafone in India. 5

Table 2: PESTEL analysis of India. 11

Tables of Figures

Figure 1:  Market revenue of Vodafone Idea. 6

Figure 2:  percentage of customers of Vodafone Idea in India. 7

Figure 3: Financial effects of Vodafone Idea. 7

Figure 4: Vodafone Idea’s pricing. 9

Figure 5: GDP growth of India. 11

Figure 6: Population of Pet Dogs in India. 12

Figure 7: Pet wearable’s market size. 12

Introduction

Vodafone is one of the most successful telecom companies in the Indian market. Therefore, it has the scopes to diversify its products in the market. The company has a range of products such as mobile network plans, IOT solutions, Giganet, m-pesa and others (Vodafone.com, 2022). In that case, a pet tracker would be an innovative idea, which would help them to create a new market in the country where the company has been operating for many years. Moreover, in different developing countries like India and China, the expenses related to the pet industry have been increased significantly. Therefore, pet wearable’s and gadgets are some of the mo0st demanding products in the market. Growing pet care market has greater opportunities in the development of the GPS pet tracker market for achieving a valuable amount of profitability in the market. Moreover, the country has a technology friendly environment, therefore it can be expected that the new product idea would not be a disaster. However, to improve the ideas and to analyse the feasibility of the product, a marketing strategy has been drawn with different strategic tools such as SWOT, PESTLE, marketing mix and others in the report.

Marketing Research and Strategy

SWOT

S(Strengths)	W (weaknesses)
Established brand Strong network in the countryHighly dominant Loamy and strong customer baseImpressive retail presence	Difficulties in identifying current market trends Lack of clarity in the vision Poor target marketing Limited range of product portfolioTendency of being market followers
O (Opportunities)	T (Threats)
Second highest revenue gainers in mobile telecom networks Mobile wallet and other fintech options Innovation in marketing  strategy Increasing the product range Government supports  Strong R&DWorkforce	Market competition increasing Brand switching tendency among customers No other options to attract the  market revenue

Table 1: SWOT analysis of Vodafone in India

Source: (Self-created)

Vodafone has impressive revenue in the country. The company has gained 421.26 billion Indian rupees (statista.com, 2021). Therefore, the company would definitely have the options to improve its performances in the market. The company had only 21% of market share in the country and after they merged with Idea network, the company had 375 million subscribers, which is one of the most effective aspects of the performances of the company (Economic Times., 2021). This customer range has faith and trust in the company, which would help them to accept new products on the market.

Figure 1:  Market revenue of Vodafone Idea

Source: (statista.com, 2021)

The company is facing a higher level of competition in the Indian telecommunication market in terms of customer management from the companies like aortal and reliance Join. The company has a poor product portfolio than these two competitors. Therefore, the customer switching would be a critical factor for them.

Figure 2:  percentage of customers of Vodafone Idea in India

Source: (Times Now, 2022)

Figure 3: Financial effects of Vodafone Idea

Source: (Panigrahi and Joshi, 2019)

In the market of the Indian telecom industry, the customers want a greater amount of offers and services therefore Vodafone might get a higher level of competition in the market due to the presence of different offers from its competitors. However, the company has a strong R&D department, which would help to improve the market analysis and would suggest better and effective ideas to promote and launch new products and extend the portfolio. Moreover, the company has a huge amount of workforce, which can help to improve the sales and marketing for the newly launched products. However, after the merging initiative with the Birla group has telecom company- Idea, the spectrum investment has been increased which would definitely help the company to compete with others (Panigrahi and Joshi, 2019). Furthermore, VI mostly accepts followers’ models in the market therefore the company waits until a product is launched by another company. Therefore, it is losing its exclusiveness to the market. Hence, the company can create market hype with the help of curve trackers.

Marketing Mix

Product: Vodafone mainly provides telecommunication networks. In India, the company has different products such as m-pesa, Giga net, business solutions and analytical services. The company has integrated AI regulated systems in the process and UPI recharge. It has offered different value added services to the customers. Vodafone would launch a pet-tracker named Curve tracker. This is a GPS regulated pet gadget. It would be a waterproof and customizable geo reinforcing tool for accurate tracking and alerts. Reliable notification would be sent to the mobile \phone and different other associated devices. Snug-fitting adjustable sizing would be provided.

Price: The Company has maintained a competitive pricing strategy in the market. However, the increasing tariffs, the company have difficulty in maintaining its pricing strategy. The company has renewed its pricing strategy with a five point\strategy of cost optimization, which would help them to maintain the market competition. A report of Business Standard (2019) stated that the company revised its plan for the corporate users with a range of 299-499 INR by offering 30-100 GB data. Thus, the company has different pricing strategies for various plans. The company provides pro\medium price range than its rivals in both 1.5GB and 2 GB plans.

Figure 4: Vodafone Idea’s pricing

Source: (Business Standard, 2019)

Promotion: VI has a better and high functioning marketing team. Therefore, the company has used different types of pro\motional activities such as TV commercials, printing advertisements, social media promotion, YouTube advertisement, email marketing and word of mouth. The company has used direct channel mix in the promotion of its different products and services. Moreover, the goodwill of the company and the loyalty of the customers would help the company improve its reach to the customers in different types of market.

Place: The company has it is headquartering in the UK but it is present in more than 25 countries. Therefore, the company has a huge reputation in different countries across the world. In India, the company has more than 9800 stores in India. The company provides a store locator facility in the app called myVI. With the help of applications and using websites, the company provides services to the customers. However, the company trimmed 16000 distributors and 2000 brand stores in 2019 (Business Standard, 2020). On the other hand, the company increased the number of customer care service stores and call centers.  

People: A huge number of employees work for Vodafone across the world. In India, the company has 13,520 employees. The company has maintained a collaborative culture with no gender and racial discrimination. The company provides skill development training sessions to improve the capabilities among them to offer best services and products to the customers (Business today, 2020). After the collaboration, both the business groups of Vodafone and Adyta Birla are working together for the betterment of the company with competent employees and managers.

Process: Vodafone has a strong service marketing mix in the telecom service industry with the effectiveness of different business development. The services of different service packs and functionality of towers are eminent for the industry. Apart from technicality, the CRM strategies of the company are very strong in the business. Good networks, sum card availability, international roaming and VIP mobile number services are associated with the business processes.

Physical evidence: The packaging and features of the products like sum cards are premium level. The company provides a protected and high quality IoT business is\solutions to the clients and different firms so that it can be predicted that the newly launched products or the pet trackers would be safely delivered to the customers.

External Environment Assessment

PESTLE

Factors
Political	Government is open to accepting new products and innovation in the country. Country is based on the democratic political structure therefore, equality is prioritized.The government tries to improve the stability in the business related issues. Corruption is a big issue in the development of new business.
Economic	The GDP of the country is 2.66 trillion USD in 2020 (World Bank., 2020). The consumer demand has dropped recently. Economy of the country is facing challenges. The corporate tax rate is 25.17% in the country (Times of India., 2021). The Indian market has numerous opportunities to grow different businesses and services for the sake of better revenue. India has an IT-BPM market worth 195 billion and has a greater opportunity in exporting the IT products in the foreign market (statista.com, 2021).
Social	India has a large population of 1.3 billion people; therefore, the consumer market is big for the companies (statista.com, 2021). Cheap labour  can  give the  Indian  economy a boost  to  become  one of the  most  successful economic giants It has multi-ethnic culture among the   citizens and therefore cultural diversity is very common. The number of pet users is increasing day by day in the country (statista.com, 2021).
Technological	The  country is  technologically  very advanced This  is  the  key destination of outsourcing  for the IT sectors across the worldIndia has given opportunities to different tech startups and tech- giants to explore the market.
Legal	FDI is widely accepted by the government; hence, many MNCs have invested in the country to develop their businesses. There are different legal acts such as, Company Act 2013, Employees State insurance acts 1948, Maternity benefit act 1961, industrial dispute act 1947 and different employee safety regulations. India has different Animal Welfare acts also to protect them.
Environmental	Number of environmental challenges such as air, water and sound pollution are present in the country.Expatriates find difficulties to live in this country. Enriched animal and plant kingdom can be observed in the country.

Table 2: PESTEL analysis of India

Source: (Self-created)

India has a growing  economy  but the  onset  of  COVID pandemic  affected  the  economic  growth of the  country therefore its GDP has reduced to 2.66 trillion.

Figure 5: GDP growth of India

Source: (World Bank, 2020)

In terms of proposed product marketing the country is technologically advanced therefore, the demand might be improved. It has been observed that the government of India is supportive to tech startups and other technology-oriented businesses. Hence, Vodafone would have better opportunities of both developing and selling of the products. The Number of pet dogs is increasing day by day and it is expected that by 2023, the number of pet dogs would be 31.41 million (Statista, 2021).

Figure 6: Population of Pet Dogs in India

Source: (Statista, 2021)

The pet care markets online store segments are expected to grow by 32.11% CAGR by 2026 in India (prnewswire.com, 2021). Therefore, it can be said that Vodafone would be benefitted by launching the pet tracker. On the other hand, it has been analysed that market shipment of pet wearable products would be 70 million units by 2026 (prnewswire.com, 2020).

Figure 7: Pet wearable’s market size

Source: (prnewswire.com, 2020)

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Competitive rivalry: In the global market, numerous companies are associated with the productions and sales of pet wearable’s (Konttaniemi, Suopela and Vatanen, 2019). The companies are FitBark, Whistle Labs, Garmin, PetPace, GoPro, KYON and others. On the other hand, Apple’s Air tag, Samsung’s Smart thing tracker and Microsoft Get Kippy are very famous among the users.  There are other local competitors in this sector.  Therefore, the threat of competitors is very high.

Suppliers power: Suppliers across the  world  and  of the  country  would  be interested to connect  with a brand like Vodafone therefore the company would be  in the advantageous position  while  it comes to the question of pet trackers.

Buyer’s power: Affluent middle class people are mostly fascinated by different accessories and pet care products (hindustantimes.com, 2022).  Therefore, it is uncertain whether the families would be attracted to slightly expensive pet tracker devices. Moreover, cheap and local products would be more popular in terms of economic factors. Therefore, the threat of customers bargaining is higher in this case.

Threats of substitutes: The pet users of this country might not use branded pet trackers; they can use different local products, fitness tracker integrated with gaps, GPS integrated collars and no GPS tracking systems (Snipes and Pitts, 2015). Moreover, product tags can be used as pet trackers and that is how they can track their pets without a pet tracker. Therefore, despite having high threats, the company would get an opportunity to rule the market with cheaper price and better product quality.

Market new entrants: Wagr, Tractive GPS, RelyEon, Epzon India and TrakBond are some of the new entrants in this market. The  startups  are  providing customizable products  with reasonable  prices  therefore curve tracker  might  get  higher threats  from them.   

Managing and Sustaining Performance

Financial Performance

By maintaining penetration-pricing strategy, Vodafone can help to improve curve trackers’ market in price-sensitive Indian context (Liu, Zhai and Chen, 2018). Hence, the company has to improve its strategic management for lowering the prices in the industrial frameworks such as production, designing, development and marketing. Government has taken a large position in Vodafone’s stake in the market so that the company would get more assistance if they produce the trackers within the country (India Today, 2022).

Customer value

Both economic and psychographic factors can be analysed while marketing the product in India. By using the name of Vodafone, symbolism and affective natures of customers can be used. The pricing should be lowered for the product and a proper tagline should be used by the marketers (Fernandes and Moreira, 2019). For example, “let them free SAFELY”- which would help the customers to understand the value of the products for their pets. Both novelty and curiosity can be used by the company while marketing as the Indian market has a lower number of customers for these products.

Internal system and processes

Vodafone should take help of lean operational management and thinking to produce and design the products so that less waste can be obtained in the processes. Lean management would help to improve high quality of design. Therefore, the company would help to improve a low-inventory and continuous improvement can be possible with the process. The company can produce the products with cellular manufacturing (Slack and Brandon- Jones, 2019). The process can be value adding for the company also. Therefore, the products can be developed as per the demand capacity.

Continuous improvement

Kaizen management is the most suitable for the development of products therefore continuous improvement can be possible (Helmold, 2020). With the help of kaizen development, the company would be able to have a long term and systematic framework. PDSA cycle can be used with the combination of Kaizen management.

Conclusion

Through the report it has been analysed that Vodafone’s upcoming product- curve tracker might be effective if the company looks into the developmental factors of the market. The report has analysed different competitive factors in the Indian market and how the company can grow the market for pet trackers. Therefore, it was found that the market was not saturated with the pet tracker devices and had many scopes to improve. The research has also analysed internal and external environments of the company to improve better marketing strategy. In addition to that, the report has also analysed sustainable ways of performance to get a better market in India.