Marketing Plan of Bentley Motors Limited Essay

Marketing Plan of Bentley Motors Limited 1. Executive Summary 2. Company Description Bentley Motors Limited is a British Manufacturer of automobiles, founded on the 18th of January 1919 by Walter Own Bentley. In the First World War, Bentley was known because of their rotary aero-engines. After the war Bentley designed and produced cars that won the Le Mans race in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine to celebrate her Golden Jubilee in 2002. Bentley believes that it is a high end luxury car, which has tradition and ultimate class. Bentley follows a â€Å"high-price† strategy, and this Marketing Plan outline will show how Bentley improves their sales and continues to gain a share in the market. 3. Strategic Focus and Plan This section covers three aspects of corporate strategy that influence the marketing plan: (1) the mission, (2) goals, and (3) core competence/sustainable competitive advantage of Bentley Motors Limited. Mission Bentley Motors states that they don’t have a mission statement; but if they did, it would have been in the words of Walter Owen Bentley, â€Å"To build a good car, a fast car, the best in class†. The vision statement that Bentley Motors Limited follows is, â€Å"We are Bentley Motors – the definitive British luxury car company, dedicated to developing and crafting the world’s most desirable high performance cars. Goals 1. Have a larger market share. 2. Launch a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the United Kingdom in 2015. The model will be based on the Porsche Cayenne, and will be produced in the United Kingdom. The SUV will be priced around GBP 140,000. 3. Become more eco-friendly. 4. Increase sales to 1500 cars, by 2013. Core Competency and Sustainable Competitive Advantage In terms of core competency, Bentley Motors seeks to use their uniqueness to provide sophisticated and distinctive, high quality luxury cars and other products that appeal to its target customers. In order to use its core competency as a sustainable competitive advantage, Bentley will work with its customers and employees to strengthen the relationships and build bonds to satisfy the high tastes of its clientele. 4. Situation Analysis This situation analysis will show how Bentley is growing larger in the market. Globally Bentley sold just over 10,000 cars in 2007 – compared to 9,000 cars in 2006 and 1000 in 2003. SWOT Analysis Figure 1 shows some characteristics that might influence the market opportunities for Bentley Motors. The SWOT emphasizes the good choices made by the company. Positive internal factors are related to the board, the management growth, the intrinsic value of the brand associated with the high end luxury car. Favorable external factors include the increasing need of luxury goods in the environment. A note to consider is that the financial crisis of 2007 did not affect Bentley’s clientele. Regarding unfavorable factors, the main weakness is the limited growth in the market. Due to the outstanding care and attention given to the production of each Bentley car, the production is slowed down as each car is hand made. However this limited production is perfect for Bentley’s marketing plan. Figure 1: SWOT Analysis for Bentley Motors |Internal Factors |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Management |Excellent and specialized board |Owned by Volkswagen, therefore has to | | | |report to Volkswagen. | |Offerings |Unique, high-price and high-end luxury |Many other competitors like Mercedes, | | |cars. |Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Maserati provide | | | |similar products. | |Marketing |The exclusivity of the Bentley Motors brand|As the targeted customers are exclusive, | | |is part of the marketing plan. |not many people are aware of the various | | | |services and products Bentley Motors | | | |provides. | |Personnel |Dedicated to personal development of |Their workers are so qualified that if one | | |employees, by improving their technical and|employee leaves they need to spend a lot of| | |business skills. |money to train and develop another | | | |employee. | |Finance |Excellent growth in sales, revenues from |To build one car it takes longer than most | | |2003 onwards. |of their competitors, therefore it takes | | | |time to generate revenue. | |Manufacturing |Sophisticated details, like workers |A typical mass produced luxury model can be| | |inspecting the leather for insect bites and|finished in 24 hours, but to make a | | |17 hides of leather are required to outfit |Mulsanne at the Crewe Factory it takes 9 | | |the cabin. |weeks. | |R&D |Continued efforts to ensure engineering and|Most of the competitors have good R&D | | |luxury details for cars.|departments as well. | |External Factors |Opportunities | Threats | |Consumers |Customers can customize parts of the product, |Due to the high price of the products, | | |such as requesting certain types of leather |Bentley has exclusive consumers and not| | |interiors. |many people go and buy a Bentley every | | | |so often. | |Competitive |There are a few brands that are that obsessed |Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and BMW produce | | |with having unique luxury products. |similar products for a fraction of the | | | |price. | |Technological |Bentley recently hired Rolf Frech as its |Bentley’s competitors have various | | |Engineering Chief. Frech comes from Porsche AG. |engineering methods that can produce | | | |more efficient cars. | |Economic |During the financial crisis of 2007, Bentley’s |The targeted customers are a small | | |targeted customers were still purchasing cars. |share of the market. | | | | | |Legal/Regulatory |Cars with new clean energy (biofuel), ensuring |A new law passed, requires some | | |that the power and torque of the car are not |technological change that Bentley’s do | | |affected.|not have. | Industry Analysis Every human wants to differentiate themselves from one another. One way of doing so is by purchasing luxury goods. Therefore the market for such goods is bound to grow. In comparison to other high end luxury vehicles, Bentley is growing more than the others. Figure 2: Luxury car Market |Year Sales in U. S Market | |Brands |2011 |2010 |% Change | |Porsche |12,633 |12,592 |0. 3 | |Jaguar |9,315 |9,748 |-4. 4 | |Ferrari |1,266 |1,087 |16. 5 | |Maserati |1,706 |1,355 |25. 9 | |Bentley |1,260 |954 |32. 1 | |Rolls Royce |255 |387 |-34. 1 | Competitors in the Luxury Car Market As shown in figure 2 , the main competitors of Bentley are; Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche. Company Analysis Bentley is highly recognized for their luxury cars, but they also sell goods that reinforce the image of their brand, such as silver plated wheel spinners, cufflinks, set of espresso cups, driving apparel and luggage sets among a few. 5. Product Market Focus This section describes the marketing and product objectives for Bentley Motors and their target markets, points of difference and positioning. Marketing and Product Objectives Bentley Motors marketing is based on the effort to combine the strength and speed of a sport scar with the luxury of British elegance. These are combined in 3 areas listed below. 1. British Tradition 2. Manufacture 3. Luxury and Sport Target Markets The primary target market for Bentley cars are customers who are not self-conscious and are willing to show what they have earned, these are generally those in the highest 5% of the economy. These customers want premium quality products and services and are willing to pay for it. Points of difference. Bentley’s marketing is concentrated on the fact that they have the sophisticated British charm, mixed with the strength of a premium racing car. This is the main difference when compared to Rolls Royce, which looks at itself as a luxury car or with Ferrari that defines itself as a sports car. Positioning Bentley’s vehicles try hard to close the gap between a being a traditional British sophisticated luxury vehicle and sports car with strong masculine power, which is best shown with its 6 time success at Le Mans. 6. Marketing Program The 4 marketing mix elements used by Bentley Motors are detailed below. Product Strategy Bentley’s are handmade, custom designed cars. It takes roughly 150 hours to produce a Continental GT and 400 hours to build an Arnage. Steering wheels are double stitched by hand using 2 needles simultaneously. It takes 15 hours to create one steering wheel. These are a few features of Bentley’s to name a few. Price Strategy The 2011 Bentley Continental is priced at around $205,600, while the 2011 Maserati Gran Turismo is priced at an average of $125,000. Even though the Maserati is much less priced, the quality that Bentley holds is much greater. Promotion Strategy. Bentley avoids commercializing its products unlike Maserati, therefore making it more prestigious. Bentley places its advertisements in places where they expect their target market to see it, not in commercial places. Bentley also goes by word of mouth, where one satisfied customer passes on the good word to a friend. Distribution Strategy Bentley prides themselves on being represented in 212 Bentley facilities worldwide. With 24 offices in the UK, 38 in the USA, 52 in Europe, 15 in the Middle East and 15 in Asia and Australasia, among others. Therefore with 212 facilities worldwide, it is within arm’s reach – for those who can afford it.