Detailed Analysis On Dometic Group Marketing Plan

Question

Task: Write a detailed report explaining about the Dometic Group marketing plan.

Answer

Executive Summary
The report below is based on the Dometic group marketing plan for the Swedish organization for its expansion into the markets of Malaysia. The Dometic group marketing plan includes an analysis of the existing business strategies of the group as well as a situational analysis. A Dometic group marketing plan based on the STP model and auctioned programmes based on the 4Ps of marketing mix have been presented along with detailed description of implementation and control.

Introduction
Dometic group marketing plan explored in the present context is defined as the comprehensive blueprint or document that can outline the efforts of marketing as well as advertisement of an organisation in the upcoming year. Dometic group marketing plan also explains the range of activities in the business that is involved to accomplish specific objectives of marketing within a particular time frame (Gnizy and Shoham, 2018, pg.70). In the present study, a marketing plan for the Swedish organisation Dometic group would be developed based on its plan to expand into the Australian market. The Dometic group marketing plan would include an analysis of the 4Ps of the marketing mix as well as STP strategies of the organisation.

Company strategy
Dometic Group is a business that is based on the invention of absorption technology. The organisation in different types of products suggest cooling appliances, appliances for food and beverages, safety and security solutions, hygiene and sanitation, power and control, and business solutions (Dometic. 2020). The major strategies that the organisation has applied to enhance its growth all over the world are product leadership through innovation, profitable expansion in mobile living, and continuous cost reduction.

Figure.1: Net sales and organic growth
(Source: Dometic.com. 2020)

In the product leadership strategy under Dometic group marketing plan, the company has focused on the development of smart and reliable products that have unique and outstanding designs. On the other hand, for profitable expansion in a mobile living the organisation has ensured the expansion of the retail business all over the world (Dometic.com. 2020). Apart from that, the organisation has focused on branding, marketing, channel management, acquisitions as well as e-commerce practices for implementing the strategy of profitable expansion.

Figure.2: Strategic tools for profitable expansion in mobile living
(Source: Dometic.com. 2020)

Cost reduction is another important strategy of the business that is based on excellent sourcing, complexity reduction, optimisation of the manufacturing footprint, automation, digitisation, and lean excellence.

Figure.3: Reported operating profit
(Source: Dometic.com. 2020)

Situation analysis
PESTLE

Table.1: PESTLE analysis
(Source: Developed by the learner)

SWOT

Table.2: SWOT analysis
(Source: Developed by the learner)

What are the objectives and issues basis the Dometic group marketing plan?
On the basis of the situational analysis conducted above, it has been identified that the major issues in relation to the expansion of Dometic Groups into the Malaysian market are the increased market competition, changing consumer behaviour, and high regulations on the environmental aspects of the business. Moreover, the decreased ability of the organization to meet the enhancing demand is another major issue for the company. Furthermore, there are some other issues in distributions and logistics that are also needed to be managed in the new market. The following objectives of Dometic group marketing plan are developed in relation to business expansion into the Malaysian market on the basis of the Marine products, mobile living products, recreational vehicles and climate-related products.

Objective 1: To enhance the visibility of the business by 20% in the Malaysian market within 6 year

Objective 2: To enhance the sales of Dometic groups by 20% followed by the expansion into the Malaysian markets

Objective 3: To develop a strong relationship with the suppliers, distributors as well as the customers to develop a strong and effective value chain.

Marketing strategies
STP strategies: In Dometic group marketing plan STP stands for the approaches of the business organizations regarding market segmentation, targeting and positioning of the products and services (Gnizy and Shoham, 2018, pg.82). The STP strategies that are indispensable to be taken for the concerned organization Dometic Groups are discussed below.

Segmentation strategies
In the view of DeSarbo et al., (2017, pg. 103), market segmentation relates to the procedure to split a specific market into numerous small groups based on the similar need of the customers or other common characteristics. In the Malaysian market the organization, Dometic Group can apply a demographic segmentation strategy. In demographic segmentation, the market is segmented on the basis of demographic characteristics like age, gender, educational qualifications, lifestyles, culture, income range and religion. Dometic Groups would use lifestyle, educational qualifications, and income range to segment the market. This would enable the company to target the specific segments in a more effective way so that the positioning of the products can be effective.

Targeting strategies
Targeting strategy can be regarded as the proactive selection of a suitable segment of the market with the intention to heavily focus the offers of marketing and other activities toward a specific group of potential customers. The Dometic group marketing plan would follow a differentiated targeting strategy in the Malaysian market. As opined by Wuryandani et al., (2018, pg. 131), differentiated targeting strategy relates to the targeting strategy wherein more than one market segment is targeted by a company with a different product or service offerings. On the basis of this targeting strategy, Dometic group would target the market segment with a medium as well as higher income, elite lifestyle and segments having medium to high educational qualifications to sell its products and services.

Positioning strategies
According to DeSarbo et al., (2017, pg. 121) positioning refers to the perception of the target market regarding the key benefits and characteristics of specific products and services in comparison to the offerings of the competitors. Therefore, the concerned organization Dometic Group is required to apply a positioning strategy that can be useful in increasing the sales of the products in the market. Dometic Groups would utilize both the Symbolic Positioning and Experiential positioning strategy. The symbolic positioning would be effective in increasing the brand identification in the new market and the experiential positioning would be effective to promote cognitive stimulation in the customers’ minds. The organization would provide high quality products in a medium to high price range.

Action programmes
4Ps of the marketing mix
Product: The existing product mix of the Dometic Group in Sweden is very effective as it include a range of products and services such as the Air Conditioners, ventilation solutions, heating solutions, camping tents, coolers, mobile cooking appliances, Boat, RV and truck refrigerators, camping furniture, marine steering systems, energy and lighting solutions, driving supports and safety solutions. Moreover the product range also includes various solutions to hygiene and sanitation, hospitality, and automotives. The inclusion of a wide range of products can greatly increase the brand image of the organization in the market (Heckman et al., 2018, pg.63). In the Malaysian market, the organization would initially launch specific products such as recreational vehicles on the basis of the increased demand of cars, Air conditioners for meeting the high demands in the market, marine products for meeting the increased demand in the tourism industry.

Price
The organization generally utilizes a premium pricing strategy for the premium and high quality products and services in the Swedish market and other developed countries around the world. The premium pricing strategy is effective in order to target the people with higher income level (Nundkumar and Singh, 2016, pg.11). However, on the basis of the income level of the people in Malaysia, as a major portion of the people belong to the middle income range the company would apply both the premium pricing and competitive pricing strategy to target both premium customers and middle income customers. This pricing strategy under Dometic group marketing plan would help the company to encounter a significant hike in sales in Malaysia over the coming years.

Place
The accessibility to the place utilised by an organisation for selling the products is important to ensure sustained organisational growth in the market (Nyuur et al., 2016, pg. 1091). The place mix applied by the organisation Dometic Groups is much effective in enhancing the organisational performance in Sweden as well as other countries where the company operates. Dometic poses a strong distribution network including thousands of retailers, dealers, and distributors across the world. Therefore, the consumers have the opportunity to purchase the products from a wide range of retailers. On the other hand, the organisation also owns an online platform wherein the customers can have the opportunity to find out the nearby dealer of the products and services. It has been identified that in the Malaysian market there is an increased usage of the internet and social media which provides the opportunity for the business to connect with the customers in a more effective way. Therefore, in Malaysia, Dometic would utilize the existing place mix of distributor, dealers, and retailers along with the proper utilisation of digital media.

Promotion
A proper promotional Dometic group marketing plan is important in order to ensure a higher visibility of the brand name in front of the customers (Opresnik, 2018, pg. 337). In the existing markets, Dometic utilizes a combination of traditional and digital marketing. The multi marketing campaign of the company was conducted that involved introduction of brand ambassadors, digital advertising, video development, expanded retail presence, and expansion of product awareness through field staff. In the Malaysian market, to enhance the brand visibility, along with the existing promotional strategies the concerned organisation would also use social media marketing strategy to connect with the distributor network in a more effective way followed by the trends of social media usage in Malaysia.

Financial projections

Table.3: Financial Projections
(Source: Developed by the learner)

Implementation and Control
In the view of Fotiadis et al., (2018, pg. 303) for the implementation of a specific Dometic group marketing plan it is important to ensure the engagement of effective manpower in the marketing functions. In the present scenario, Dometic Groups would engage marketing managers and executives to effectively carry out the digital marketing campaigns, market research and development of strong relations through the distributor network. This strategy would help in effective implementation and control of the Dometic group marketing plan. On the other hand, Purcarea, (2017, PG. 21) has explained that physical materials and machinery such as licenses, technological equipment, software, server, infrastructure, display materials and computers are essential for the implementation of a Dometic group marketing plan. Dometic Groups would ensure a proper supply of physical materials and machinery in the Malaysian branch to control and implement the Dometic group marketing plan.

Time is another factor that is crucial in effective implementation of a Dometic group marketing plan. The time for the implementation of Dometic group marketing plan is 1 year. Along the year different marketing activities relating to the plan would be carried out to achieve the objectives set. In the opinion of Kiruthiga and Santhi (2019, pg. 516), money is another factor that is needed to control different aspects of the Dometic group marketing plan. Due to the presence of strong capital, the Dometic can effectively control the implementation of the plan. Moreover, the company can also arrange funds from banks and other reliable agencies in Malaysia to support the plan. Stepwise and regular monitoring of the progress will be executed on a weekly basis, to evaluate the success of implementation of strategies and to make modifications as per requirement.

Conclusion and recommendations
From the above study, it can be concluded that marketing functions are indispensable to ensure success of the international expansions of businesses. In the case of Dometic groups, a number of challenges relating to competition, management, promotion and other aspects have been identified. The company can be recommended to increase the visibility of the brand name with proper utilization of the promotional strategies explained in the Malaysian market. The below recommendations are described on the basis of the potential barriers:

Reduce energy consumption
It has been identified that increasing consumption of energy is a major barrier to the implementation of the Dometic group marketing plan as a high operation cost can limit the budget of the Dometic group marketing plan. Therefore, the organization requires focusing on the sustainability of the value chain and utilizing the renewable energy sources for carrying out specific activities such as lighting, and transportation. Regular survey and monitoring to check for the reduction in energy utilization, without hampering the operational efficiency of the organization, would suffice for identification of flaws in the strategy and functioning as well as correction of the same.

Development of strong relationship with the distributors and suppliers
It is evident that a poor management of the relationship with the distributors has developed a number of issues in logistics and inventory management. Improper relationship can hinder the performance of the value chain and impact on the reputation of the company. Therefore, it is critical for the Dometic group marketing plan in the new market. The organization is recommended to utilize social media for developing a strong relation with distributors and suppliers. Timely dispensing the paymenst and granting them a share of the profits earned would help retain the suppliers and distributors to the company. Collection of feedback from the distributors and suppliers at regular intervals and checking on their satisfaction quotients would help the company in establishing healthy relationship with them and checking for any problems well in advance. Moreover, the allocation of effective marketing professionals for carrying out the marketing functions is recommended for Dometic Groups.

References
Beh, L., 2017. Public ethics and corruption in Malaysia. Dometic group marketing plan In Public administration in Southeast Asia (pp. 171-191). Routledge.

DeSarbo, W.S., Blanchard, S.J. and Atalay, A.S., 2017. A new spatial classification methodology for simultaneous segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP analysis) for marketing research. In Review of marketing research (pp. 95-123). Routledge.

Dometic. 2020. Overview| Dometic. Available at: [Accessed 22 April 2020].

Fotiadis, A., Mombeuil, C. and Valek, N.S., 2018. Designing and Implementing a Marketing Plan'. The Emerald Handbook of Entrepreneurship in Tourism, Travel and Hospitality. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp.297-311.

Gnizy, I. and Shoham, A., 2018. The power of international marketing functions: antecedents and consequences. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 25(2), pp.67-89.

Heckman, P.E., Vestergaard, A.J. and Sole, K.M., 2018. Guiding principles model: A call to integrate the 4 p's into a strategic construct. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 12(4), pp.60-68.

Hisham, N.A., Zaki, S.A., Hagishima, A. and Yusoff, N.M., 2019. Load and Household Profiles Analysis for Air-Conditioning and Total Electricity in Malaysia. KnE Social Sciences, pp.773-786.

Kiruthiga, U. and Santhi, M., 2019. General Research of Marketing. Dometic group marketing plan Journal of the Gujarat Research Society, 21(5), pp.513-518.

Mb.cision.com. 2020. Available at: http://mb.cision.com/Public/10773/2474867/aa68e8c10a5a4ce6.pdf [Accessed 22 Apr. 2020].

Nundkumar, P. and Singh, A.M., 2016. Repositioning the Durban Chamber of Commerce using the 4Ps of marketing. The Retail and Marketing Review, 12(2), pp.1-13.

Nyuur, R.B.B.I., Bre?i?, R. and Simintiras, A., 2016. The Moderating Effect of Perceived Effectiveness of SMEs' Marketing Function on the Network Ties—Strategic Adaptiveness Relationship. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(4), pp.1080-1098.

Opresnik, M.O., 2018, July. Effective Social Media Marketing Planning–How to Develop a Digital Marketing Plan. In International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media (pp. 333-341). Springer, Cham.

Purcarea, T., 2017. Marketing’s progress beyond its heritage functions: New Marketing, New CMO, and the Revenue Potential. Holistic Marketing Management Journal, 7(2), pp.18-28.

Wahab, H.A. and Jaafar, H.J., 2018. Workplace diversity: How does Malaysian law promote people with disability?. International Journal, 3(9), pp.14-23.

Wuryandani, S., Ismoyowati, D. and Nugrahini, A.D., 2018. STP analysis in marketing pigmented rice as functional food. Dometic group marketing plan KnE Life Sciences, pp.128-135.