A Detailed Marketing Plan for Green Share Car

Question

Task: Your task is to prepare a well-researched and well-structured marketing plan for Australian business organisation.

Answer

Introduction
The current report presents a detailed marketing plan for GreenShareCar. GreenShareCaroffersmembership-based service to its customers and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company operates by providing its members an option of renting the cars by the hour or day. GreenShareCar has positioned itself as the green, economical and simplest alternative to owning a car. The company also offers its members with insurance, petrol and access to the vehicles 24/7 at convenient locations unlike the traditional car rental companies.

The following marketing plan is the follow up to the Situation Analysis of GreenShareCar conducted in Assessment 1. It defines the value proposition of GreenShareCar along with identifying the issues, objectives and marketing logic for the purpose of creating customer value. Also, it provides segmentation, targeting and positioning and suggest appropriate marketing mix strategies for the company. The action programme for turning the suggested marketing strategies into actions have also been highlighted in this marketing plan. At the end of this report, some recommendations have been provided which must be taken into consideration by the company for ensuring the effective implementation of the marketing plan.

Evaluation of the Business Situation on the basis of Assessment 1
The evaluation of the business situation of GreenShareCar on the basis of Assessment 1 provided some of its key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis further provided that the promotion of eco- friendliness and reduction of carbon footprint is one of the major strengths of the company. However, its operations are limited to two cities only which constitutes the biggest weakness of the company. It is also found that the number of opportunities available for the company can be increased through the use of a fleet of electric vehicles. Assessment 1 further assisted in identifying that the company is facing tough competition from its competitors who are offering similar services to the customers at same or lower prices.

Value Proposition of the Business
The term value proposition can be defined as the marketing or business statement which is used by the companies for summarizing why a product or service should be used by a consumer. GreenShareCar operates with the concept of share value and collaborative consumption. The value proposition of the company specifies that the company aims at providing mobility to all the communities along with offering economic and social value and reducing the impact of excessive car ownership on the environment(GreenShareCar, 2020). It also provides the renter a convenience to make the selection regarding the cars and fleet to rent, time of the day, etc. It further ensures value for its customers by making available a variety of cars for different requirements of the customers and provides a flexible, reliable and accountable service (Meijer, 2016).

Objectives, Issues and Marketing Logic
The marketing objectives performs the function of setting out what an organization wants to attain from its marketing activities.SMART marketing objectives play an effective role in this regard as it helps in determining the success level of new objectives in advance. Objectives are said to be SMART when they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. GreenShareCar will make the use of SMART marketing objectives for the purpose of creating value for its customers.

Specific- GreenShareCar company will set the marketing objective of increasing its overall share in the market (total market share) by 15 % by the end of 2021.
Measurable- GreenShareCar will attain the marketing objective of increasing 15% market share by improving its sales by 30% by the end of 2021. This objective will be attained through the effective promotion of the offers on various platforms.
Achievable- The achievement of the above marketing objectives will be ensured through effective marketing strategies that will attract the targeted customers of GreenShareCar. The price range of services of the company will be slightly lowered in order to attain competitive advantage in the market.
Realistic- The goals are realistic as the impact of excessive car ownership is degrading the environment. Moreover, the consumers are increasingly becoming concerned regarding the environment therefore, attractive marketing strategies can make them aware regarding these issues and bring expected results for the company.
Timely- The time to be taken for the purpose of achieving the marketing objectives is approximately one and a half year. This means that the objectives are to be attained by the end of the next year i.e. 2021. There are a number of issues which can impact the achievement of the desired results by GreenShareCar. Firstly, the biggest issue arises as a result of strong competition in the market of Australia as there are a number of companies which are offering similar services to the consumers at lower or similar prices. This significantly impacts the market share and sales of GreenShareCar. Another issue is the inconsistency of the car rental market. The analysis further provided that the insufficiency of the regulatory frameworks is also an issue in the attainment of the desired objectives (Industry Today, 2020).

Furthermore, the marketing logic of GreenShareCarwill be noticed from the marketing strategies adopted by the company for the promotion of its services. For the purpose of creating value, it will be ensured that the promotions can be fewer but will aim to create an impact on the customers such that the marketing objectives can be achieved. The promotions will be made in a way such that the company is able to effectively communicate its value to the customers. The marketing performed by the company will highlight the environmental issues created by excessive car ownership and how it can be reduced through obtaining the services of GreenShareCar.

Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Market segmentation can be defined as the process through which the market of potential customers is divided into segments or groups on the basis of a variety of characteristics (Camilleri, 2018). Following is the market segmentation of GreenShareCar for the marketing strategies:
Geographic- Currently, GreenShareCar only operates in Melbourne only, therefore, the marketing strategies will focus on fulfilling the needs and expectations of customers in Melbourne. The offers and discounts under the strategy will be made available on the specified rides in Melbourne, Australia.

Demographic- The analysis provided that car rental services are mostly obtained by the younger generation of Australia. However, it involves students and professionals as well between the age group of 18-45 years. It covers both males and females belonging to middle to higher income group. Therefore, these groups will comprise the target market for the marketing strategies of GreenShareCar.
Behavioural- The behavioural characteristics of the population targeted by GreenShareCar involves the environmentally concerned people who are trying to make their own contributions towards the protection of the environment. Also, it involves people who are looking for their cars that can be driven by them as per their need, is easily available and does not involve extra charges for the services.
Targeting- Schlegelmilch (2016) provides that ttargeting aims at making the selection of the target market from the large market to who whom the goods or services offered by the company will be sold. The main target market of GreenShareCar comprise of the people within the age group of 18- 45 years who are looking for options through which they can get a car on rent for various purposes such as road trips and other trips in order to have a stress-free trip. Moreover, there is a large set of population who are increasingly becoming environmentally concerned and therefore, do not prefer to use their vehicle in order to protect the environment. Such groups will be targeted by GreenShareCar through its marketing strategies by allowing them to sharing the cars.

Positioning- The term positioning related to the position of a service or product in the market in relation of the similar services or products offered by the competitors. It is also associated with the standing of a service, product or brand in the consumer’s mind. GreenShareCar has positioned itself as the green, economical and easiest alternative to owning a car. The company also aims to position itself as a sustainable business which makes best possible efforts for doing good for the environment by being cheaper as compared to the other car rental companies operating in the market or owning a car. The company highlights that car sharing can complement public transport where people can commute by sharing the cars just like travelling through a train or a bus (Meijer, 2016).

Marketing Strategies
The following marketing strategies has been suggested on the basis of the SWOT analysis performed in Assessment 1. It will be based on the 4Ps of marketing theory i.e. product, price, place and promotion.

Product
The product line and mix strategies will be based on the value proposition of the company i.e. reducing the impact of car ownership and providing social and economic value to the customers. The services of the company is depended on the application type (Tourism/ Leisure and Business), End User (Chauffeur Driven- Self- Driven), Fare Price (Budget/ Economy Cars and Premium/ Luxury Cars) and Rental length (Long Term or Short Term). According to the requirement of the customer, the SUVs, MUVs or hatchback cars are provided to the customers. Therefore, an attempt is made in order to consider all the expectations of the customer while providing the service. As a part of the product line and mix strategy, GreenShareCar will consider 24/7 availability of cars in all the locations in Melbourne in order to offer convenience to the customers. The variants of the cars will be increased such that greater number of customers are attracted towards the service.

The three levels of product in this case are as follows:
Core Product- The core product of the company is the easy availability of car in Melbourne where owning a car is regarded to be a challenge. Actual Product- The actual product of GreenShareCar is the different types of cars available (SUVs, MUVs, etc.) in driven budget which can be shared or self- driven and can meet different purposes.

Augmented Product- The augmented product of GreenShareCar is that it provides the services without any extra charges for petrol, parking and insurance.

Price
The senior management of GreenShareCar is recommended to adopt
competition-based pricing strategy for the services offered by the company. Competition based pricing method utilizes the prices set by the competitors as the base for setting up of prices. This choice is justified because there are a number of competitors of the company in the market such as GoGet, Car Next Door and Flexicar. The market share of the company will only be increased when it will set its process slightly lower as compared to the prices of the competitors. Also, various discounts and offers will be used for attracting the customers towards the services of the company (Oliveira,Carravilla, & Oliveira, 2017).

Place/ Distribution
Intensive distribution strategy will be adopted by GreenShareCar as the services of the company will be offered in the entire Melbourne city. The services can be obtained by the customers through booking of the cars which can be made only through the online mode where the customers will receive a login ID along with a Smartcard with the help of which the vehicles can be accessed. The customers will only be required to book the car which will then be waiting at the location reserved by them. However, the booking services will also be provided offline in order to increase the business of the company. Omni Channel strategy is recommended to GreenShareCar as it will assist in the delivery of a seamless experience through the correct mix of offline and online services at every touchpoint. Direct and single channel strategies will be utilized for ensuring that the cars are always available for the customers at every location in Melbourne.

Promotion
Pull promotional strategy is recommended to be utilized by GreenShareCar where the customers will be motivated for seeking out the brand in an active process. The promotional strategies will take into consideration the vision, mission, value proposition and the objectives of the company.

Following promotional mix strategies are recommended to be adopted by the company:
Advertising- Through this strategy, the company will persuade the customers over variety of platforms such as radio, television, billboards, pamphlets, banners, social media, newspapers, etc. (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015) Salesmanship- Oral presentations will be utilized by the representatives of the company for promoting the services offered by the company in order to persuade the customers. It will be conducted through telephone for creating awareness regarding the services of GreenShareCar.

Sales Promotion- Sales promotion strategy will be used by offering discounts, offers and referral bonus to the customers for attracting them towards the services of the company (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016).

Public Relations/ Publicity- GreenShareCar will interact with the media for creating awareness regarding this concept and persuading the public for reducing the impact of car ownership through using the services of the company (Kumar & Patra, 2017).

Media Strategy- Media strategy of the company will focus on sending emails to the customers who have already attained the services of GreenShareCar. Their feedback and experience will be obtained for bringing further improvements in the service of the company. Strategy in the area of digital marketing will also be one of the prime focus of the company for increasing the traffic on the website of the company (Stead & Hastings, 2018).

Action Programme
Following is the action programme of GreenShareCar which described how the marketing strategies of the company will be transformed into actions for the achievement of marketing objectives.

What?
Firstly, the marketing department of GreenShareCar will conduct a thorough research over the needs and expectations of the customers in order to provide customized service solutions to them. Also, the preferred platforms of the target customers will be identified such that the promotions can be made over such platforms in order to persuade them to use the services of this company. Marketing professionals will be employees who will provide their services for the achievement of the marketing objectives set by the company. The company will also focus on lowering its overhead costs such that the ultimate prices paid by the customers can be kept low (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker & Brennan, 2018).

When?
The strategies will be converted into actions only when all the research regarding the target market population is conducted. Also, the strategies of the competitors present in the market will be analysed before formulating any marketing strategy for the business. This can be illustrated with the help of an example. The young population mostly makes the use of internet and social media. Therefore, they will be attracted over these platforms and not over TV and radio. After analysis of the preferred platform of different target market segments, the marketing professionals of the company will design different advertisements such that they can attain the desired results (Datta, Ailawadi& Van Heerde, 2017).

Who?
The highly talented newly employed marketing professionals along with other members of the marketing departments who have experience with the company will work together for the attainment of the marketing objectives. However, the whole organization will work towards the achievement of the desired results. An important role will be played by the senior management of the company as they will provide the necessary approvals and funding for executing the plan. The customer service executives and sales team will also provide their services for ensuring that the customers are able to book the services without any hurdles and there is no other issues faced by them during or after the service (Chernev, 2015).

Cost Involved/ Budget
Following is the cost involved in the execution of the marketing plan of GreenShareCar. The total budget for this purpose is estimated to be $ 1,000,000.

Controls
Controls will be used by GreenSharecar for the effective monitoring of the results and progress of the marketing plan implementation. Social media, website and e-mails will be used for receiving feedback from the customers who have enjoyed the service of GreenShareCar. Also, effective response will be provide to the queries of the customers and will be taken into consideration for improving the booking and service experience. Monthly and quarterly results will be obtained and meeting will be organized for conducting discussions regarding the status of the strategy. In case, the strategy will not turn out to be effective, required changes will be made after discussions and further analysis.

Recommendations
Firstly, GreenshareCar is recommended to focus on increasing its online reputation. This recommendation is based on the target market of the company which basically comprise of young population. The company should ensure that effective solution for the queries and grievances is provided on timely basis for ensuring customer satisfaction and improving online reputation. The company can also advertise its environmentally friendly initiatives for improving its reputation (Yousaf, 2016). Secondly, the company is recommended to focus on picture perfect visual marketing. This is because the customers will book the services after having a look at the videos, pictures and virtual experiences. Also, majority of the services are booked using a mobile and not through PC and therefore, it should be ensured that the website is mobile friendly and provides quick and easy customer access (McDONALD, 2016).

Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that GreenShareCar faces strong competition in the market and therefore, requires an effective marketing strategy. The major competitors of the company are GoGet, Car Next Door and Flexicar whichoffers similar services at competitive prices. The target market of the company for this marketing plan will be people within the age group of 18- 45 years. The company will adopt a competition-based pricing method for setting up its prices for attracting greater number of customers. The promotion of the company will be made over variety of platforms such as radio, television, billboards, pamphlets, banners, social media, newspapers, etc. The total budget for this purpose is estimated to be $ 1,000,000.

References
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GreenShareCar. (2020). How It Works. Retrieved from https://www.greensharecar.com.au/how-it-works/corporate-responsibility/ Industry Today. 2020. Australia Car rental Market Outlook 2025- Exclusive Report by Goldstein Research. Retrieved from https://industrytoday.co.uk/transportation_and_logistics/australia-car-rental-market-outlook-2025--exclusive-report-by-goldstein-research

Kumar, S., & Patra, S. (2017). Does promotion mix really help to enhance brand equity: A literature review. Asian Journal of Management, 8(4), 1387-1392.

Lovelock, C., & Patterson, P. (2015). Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
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