BMW
Strengths
BMW is a well-known company with a high status branding that has a very high recognition factor. The company has been strengths in both research and development and design as well as in marketing. For example when it comes to marketing it was a BMW advertisement that was the first e-advertisement that made it to Campaigns 'Pick of the Week' (Doman). However, in a long-term purchase such
as these, there is a need for more substance than just marketing, otherwise the life of
the company would be relatively short due to the nature of the purchase. It is in these
longer-term systems and strategies that we can see many of the strengths of BMW, we
can consider these by starting with the market position of the company.
BMW as well as Mercedes' and a few other companies have managed too
successfully attain a market position where they have a focus on a narrow range of
exclusive cars. These can be seen as aimed at the market place that is not also sensitive
to price, and as such we must argue that the market positioning may be seen as a
strength as there will not be such a reaction if the economic conditions change. The
customers that are in the target group are happy to pay a premium price for what
they perceive as a premium product (Thompson).
This may not be so true of the subsidiary companies that have had different
problems, such as the ill-fated Rover group. However, the core product has remained
strong (Thompson). This may be seen as diversification, and some of the
diversification may also be seen as a strength, for example the purchase of Rolls Royce
where there is a similar strategy, however the range and target market are even more
focussed and exclusive.
The strategy of BMW is designed to be defensive against other car
manufactures, and as we will see when it comes to the section on threats this is a
defensive strategy that BMW have adopted after learning the need for defensive as
well as aggressive marketing and strategies. These strategies can be seen as follows;
 Customers may choose any color that the wish from the entire range, this is only matched by Rolls Royce and Aston Martin, other companies offer a choice of color but only wi...
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The position of BMW is relatively strong; they have made mistakes, but appear
to be learning form them. Their relatively small size can be seen as justified in such a
competitive market by their own market position. Therefore as long as the company
retains it focus and is not tempted into too great a level of diversification then it
should have a bright future.
Work Cited
European Car, (no author cited), (2001, May), Hydrogen-powered BMW 750hL,
European Car, v32 i5 p14
The Economist (UK), (no author cited), (2000, April 1), Milberg's mission. (Strategy of
BMW, The Economist (UK), p70 (2)
Lorenz Andrew, (2000, Dec 20), Rover and out. (BMW's sale of Rover, automobiles)
Autocar, v226 i12 p62 (4)
Mintzberg H Quinn J B, Ghoshal S (1998), The Strategy Process, London. Prentice Hall.
Thompson J (1998) Strategic Management; Awareness and Change, London, Thomson
Business Press
Wells Melanie, (2001, April 16), Giving an Old Brand New Mystique. Forbes, p198s02
Foundry Management & Technology, (no author cited), (2000, July), BMW, Ford Motor
Sign Definitive Agreement for Land Rover, Foundry Management & Technology, v128 i7 p8
The corvette was first introduced in January 1953. To experiment with the car, they only made 300 cars, which were all made by hand and powered by a 235-cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine. The corvette was designed to show the world that General Motors could make a sports car that was a stylish two seater. All 1953 corvettes were polo white with red interiors. The engine of the car generated 150 horsepower and had a 2-speed power glide automatic transmission. Researchers have found that the first corvette has been known to go over 150 miles per hour.
...ative aspects of diversification, for example through better corporate planning, human recourse management and reaching further synergies between its various business lines.
The business world is becoming more and more heated up as a result of the ever increasing levels of competition. Each and every industry is witnessing an alarming rate in the number of competitors that exist within it. This is further fueled by the increasing world population, which brings about the speculations that the future of the market is rather bright. It is interesting as to how many things are nowadays done based on speculations and future expectations. In the turmoil of it all, marketing has been established as a very effective tool used by various firms to gain competitive advantage over others. As such, each organization has been able to develop its own marketing strategy based on the various things that affect the industry and the nature of business undertaken. Theories and practical research are two major items that form the basis of development of marketing strategies. Rolls-Royce is one of the many organizations that have been in big business for a long time. As such, the company has been able to identify major areas of strength and weakness when it comes to marketing.
Company Overview: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is a German holding company and automobile manufacturer that focuses on the automobile and motorcycle markets worldwide. Franz Josef Popp founded the company in March 1916. BMW is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It also owns and produces Mini cars, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad. It divides its activities into the three main segments: Automobiles, Motorcycles and Financial Services. Its BMW automobile range encompasses the 1 Series, including three-door, five-door, coupe and convertible models; the 3 Series, including sedan, touring, coupe and convertible models; the brand new 4 series, featuring an only coupe design; the 5 Series, available in sedan and touring models; the 6 Series, available as a coupe or convertible; the 7 Series large sedan; the Z4 roadster and coupe; the sports utility vehicles, X3, X5 and X6 and M models, such as M3, M5 and M6. It has producing, assembly, service and sales subsidiaries throughout the world. For the sake of this project, I will be focusing on BMW’s automobile range mentioned above but specifically the 3 series line. The BMW 3 series proves to be the most profitable line due to its relatively low cost and affordability whilst featuring the thrill and power of a German engineered vehicle.
For over 100 years there has been a car brand that leaves the impression of quality, reliability, and luxury. This brand is Rolls-Royce. The combination of Fred Royce and Charles Rolls created the brand in the early 1900’s. Rolls Royce is targeted at a particular audience. Their branding however is still impacting on all audiences; just certain people can afford it. Rolls Royce is idolized in the eyes of the public, from rap videos to mega millionaires. When you can afford a Rolls Royce you have made it big in societies eyes. Why is this so important in branding? It creates a strategic plan for them to follow. The strong brand image of Rolls Royce has evolved to have memorable, meaningful, likeable, transferable, adaptable, and protectable qualities. Rolls Royce gets many benefits from using these qualities in their branding. They have had many creations of advertisements through their branding ideology.
[a] company may have a unique vision, a superior product, strong management and an efficient distribution system – yet if it is not able to convey the core benefits of the brand to its target audience it will ultimately fail. [5]
The threat of new entrants is moderately strong. Incumbents do not strongly contest entry of newcomers, but existing industry members are consistently looking to expand their geographic reach and offer a broad product assortment. Brand awareness and customer loyalty are high and greatly important i this industry.
Diversification is where a company grows into new business areas either similar to existing business or different from existing business allowing a firm to create value by creatively using excess resources. Seprod operates in a number of different and distinctive product markets and several businesses using corporate-level strategy. Seprod operates in the fats and oil business, milk and juice and the sugar industry
In the modern world of conducting business, any company that wishes to succeed must differentiate its products or services from others in the industry. Differentiation makes it possible for consumers to point out notable differences between one company’s products as compared to those of competitors. Differentiation helps companies build brand loyalty as the uniqueness keeps customers fixed on a particular product. BMW is one of the most popular automakers in the world today. It definitely uses differentiation as a strategy to beat off competition by building products that are innovative, detailed and incomparable to those of competitors.
Where there is rapid growth comes increased competition; similarities in products across manufacturers have reduced brand differentiation across the board. The problem now is the severe rise of copycat companies and manufacturers that copy designs and specifications of cars, and proceed to undercut the original manufacturer’s profit margins. So to improve their brand standing, every manufacturer’s individually have resort...
Everything now a day is marketed, from the water we drink, the food we eat and the clothes we wear. Marketing not only establishes brand recognitio...
at the time of manufacturing the product, distributing the product or selling the product or services. Consumers have various choices in the market or various offerings; it is the communication that makes impact on their purchase decisions.
The global company Mercedes-Benz is considered one of the most successful and well-known automotive companies worldwide. Since 1886, the company’s founders Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz made history with the invention of the automobile, including the Daimler Group, which is one the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles globally (Daimler, 2013). Their main focus is innovation, safety, technology, style, brand image, expansion, and superior automobiles by offering the best of the best to consumers worldwide. The brand’s philosophy is to continuously create radically new products to advance the cause of human mobility. It is also the number one luxury brand in the United States and Germany while continuously expanding in China and Russia as well (Interbrand, 2013). Mercedes-Benz has a great selection on divisions such as cars, trucks, vans, buses, and financial services offered to any consumer or business. Their global reach has increased tremendously by including production facilities in 17 countries on five continents and having 93 locations worldwide. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, their strategy is to continue the same pioneer role with the ongoing development of mobility, especially in the areas of safety and sustainability (Daimler, 2013). It is very essential for the company to focus on consumers’ needs and their highly well known brand in a competitive global economy. That is why the company Mercedes-Benz releases a brand new model every year to stay on top of its competitors by improving previous models. Some strategies practiced are global marketing, global product development, global product pricing, global advertising, global distribution, an...
This will not only maximize the company’s operational expenses by concentrating only to a particular segment of the age bracket of consumers by providing them product lines that will suite their taste and demands it will also allow the company to set the trend as to what is the next big exciting thing this season. In this case, the company’s resources will be used properly and is expected to increase its market share continuously leaving the competitors far behind. (Starbucks,
There are three premises of corporate strategy, which any successful corporate strategy is built on a number of premises. The first premise is competition occurs on the business unit level, which diversified companies do not compete, only their business units do. The second premise is diversification inevitably adds costs