Marketing strategy report

This report aims to provide a broad study of the Dell Inspiron 5000 series Laptop and analysis of different marketing strategies/ methods which are used to assess an item. In this report consumer segmentation and attractiveness are explored to get better knowledge and understanding of consumer and this Dell product into the market. This will allow separate of customer gathering which will be useful for further investigation.

According to research, this report recognizes numerous key points about the Dell Inspiron laptop current standing in the market. Dell is in the technology field, which keeps changing every day. The interest in laptops have increased in the work field and for personal as well due advancement in technology compared to past. In addition, they targeted for youngsters who need more good looking and stylist laptop, also for professional who require more powerful in processing. Further study into the report will give more information about the research.

Recommendations:

· Dell could be more focused on inventing of new technology and fast processing product to stand into market and compete with competitors.

· Dell can conduct the survey of what consumers actually wanted or need in their laptops, so that they can develop in future.

· Dell can provide assistance to corporate client to help their customer in business processes and IT work. This would basically increase customer base.

Table of Contents Executive summary 3 Introduction 5 Section 1 6 The Competitors 8 Micro-Environment 9 Other key players in the marketplace 9 Macro-Environment 11 Environmental factors influencing the company 11 Section 2 13 Defining profile elements 13 Justification of the Segmentation Base 13 Segmentation Table 14 Section 3 15 Size and Growth 15 Structural Attractiveness 15 Company Objectives and Resources 15 Section 4 16 Additional Information 16 Primary Research 16 Research Design 17 Conclusion 18 Recommendations 19 References 20

We Marketing group have been shortened by the Marketing managers for Dell Inspiron 5000 to conduct the analysis and review of this Dell product. Main purpose of this data report is to take item’s brand and sub brand into consideration and investigate into current labour market trend in both condition small scale and big scale. Different environment, consumer segmentation and attractiveness will be surveyed in this report.

Furthermore, personal suggestion will be given at the end of this report which will allow the company to look deep into it and enhance more sales and service which will result in more consumers.

One of the main limitation of this report is that because of limitation of time, we were not able to do survey of data by our own. Therefore, the data shown in this report is taken from publically available information.

Dell is an American computer technology based company which develops different computer related products for business and home use like tables, desktop, laptops, servers etc. Dell is well known for their revolution in their supply chain and electronic commerce.

A Tree diagram is provided in the below figure 1, shows the scope of the industry in which the Dell is operating.

It can be seen that Dell is a tech company which develops the numerous computer products and sell them worldwide.

As the use of portable electronic devices are increasing every day, it became very difficult for every individual to finish their tasks without them. Innovation in Mobile and tablet technology leads the electronic companies number one companies in the world. Laptop industry is expected to witness steady growth over the coming period. (Grand view research, 2018). It can be increase by increasing customer demand and public project in developing countries.

The advancement in technology have created a lot of competitors into the market, which become hard to keep up their product into the market. In figure 2 shown below states that between the year 2012 and 2016 laptop market share was getting decrease as Tablet came out as a new electronic device which is more portable then the laptop. People started accepting tablet device to do their daily task such as doing presentation, documents and many other stuffs. After the year 2016 there was a growth in shipment of laptop and expected to rise in future. Previously estimated suggest that laptop’s average selling price have been dropped by 65% compared to year 2005. (Statista, 2018)

Most offices and employees are referring to use of laptop for their workplace as it provides them more portability and they can continue their work from home as well. There might be problem for laptop industry because of mobile phone in future years, in every season there are new and advanced mobile variant getting launched.

Shipment forecast of tablets, laptop and desktop PCs worldwide from 2010 to 2022 (in Million units)

There are number of competitors for Dell in the market. Lenovo being on the top of the list among other competitors namely HP, Acer, Asus according to LAPTOP Editors | April 20, 2018. But the two key competitors for Dell in the market are Lenovo and HP. Lenovo has been providing a wide range of products ranging from premium laptops like ThinkPad X1 Carbon to versatile laptops such as Yoga 92. However, there has been a tough competition between HP, Lenovo and Dell, but the customer reviews of Lenovo laptops have been impressive as compared to the other two. Therefore, Lenovo holds a better place in the market in terms of customer satisfaction.

On the other hand, HP like Lenovo, provides a variety of gorgeous, powerful and affordable laptops with great designs and a powerful customer support system. HP is a great laptop manufacturer providing its customers the right fit for their pocket as well as their work.

The following product comparison table confirms the place of HP and Lenovo in Dell’s strategic group.

Lenovo, the no.2 computer making company, lacks overall brand awareness and customer affinity when compared to its competitors. Therefore, the focus of the company is to increase its brand awareness among the customers and achieve the mark of becoming a well-known brand world-wide. However, Lenovo holds a strong market position in its home county, China as well as in India and is providing its product and services to other countries as well. The company is hiring new employees all over the world with a variety of titles.

"The business is way ahead of the brand," Mr. Roman said. "We're No. 2 in the industry; yet outside of key countries like China and India, and outside of key markets like industrial, the brand is not well-known. … There is a tremendous opportunity for the brand to catch up." David Roman CMO, Lenovo (2012)

This implies that Lenovo is trying to grab a big market share in many countries and spread brand awareness which could be threat to Dell and other competitors.

Whereas, HP’s objective is to introduce new technologies into the market and lead in those aspects particularly 3D printing. The company is also investing in immersive computing including virtual and augmented reality. This implies they are investing more on innovation by aggressively pursuing growth opportunities in graphic printing due to a shift from analog to digital printing.

Therefore, it can be said that Lenovo’s strategy is to focus on increasing its brand awareness and to spread its business and possess a huge market share in countries other than China and India. Whereas, HP is focusing on innovation and creating new technologies which would provide the company an opportunity to give an edge to its competitors in the market. It has been investing loads of money in its innovation sector.

“The new highly innovative commercial 3D printing system is poised to disrupt the 12 trillion industry”.

Hence, there is threat for Dell in the global market from HP as it has been investing its money in innovation which might result in HP possessing a huge market share by introducing new technologies like commercial 3D printing system.

Intermediaries helps a laptop manufacturer to sell, distribute as well as promote its products to the final consumer. These intermediaries play an important role of resellers by helping the company to find customers who will buy their product and making sales to them. Amazon is an important key player in the marketplace not only for Dell but other companies like HP, Lenovo, Asus and many others as well. Amazon provides a huge platform for these companies to sell their product online via e-commerce. It captures a high proportion of total sales in the market for Dell laptops. Amazon plays a very crucial role in the sale of Dell Inspiron 15 5000 over the internet. Therefore, any brawl in the business relationship of Dell and Amazon would have an adverse effect on the sales of Dell Inspiron 15 5000. If Amazon refuses to sell Dell products, Dell would no longer be able to sell its product online on such a large extent. Without Amazon the sales would decline rapidly for Dell Inspiron 15 5000. Amazon, being one of the largest online stores could be used to promote the product by providing bundle deals to the customers and promoting the product by using pop-advertising over the internet.

Occupation status contributes to the possible reasoning for the products purchase which links heavily to the product’s rate of use. The occupation defines and gives a designation as to why and possibly where the product will get most of its use. The rate of use can not only be defined by one’s occupation but by how much they would use it in their downtime. For instance, the 13-18 age groups would use the product more in their downtime much more than someone who is within the 50+ age demographic due to social media presence for example. The battery life of a laptop is a big deal when one utilizes the products portability to its absolute maximum. Those who sit in bed on their laptop/go to university/go to school will use it more than workers away from a power outlet. Availability of funds is directly tied to their employment status/occupation and it defines how much money the demographic will have to spend factoring other life expenses.

The profile elements however would be useless if the segmentation base failed to pass the ‘acid’ test which is defined as a test which determines how each person can only fall into one segment at a time. This is true here as a person evidently can only be one age at a time. There are also five key aspects which justify the segmentation base for profiling; the segments need to be measurable, accessible, substantial, actionable and distinguishable from each other.

Measurable means that the size and purchasing power of the segments can be defined through means readily achievable by the company, Dell. Age demographics can be measured through the company via online surveys that define how old each individual is, how often they use it or their occupation status.

Accessible means that the segments can be reached and served by the company. The various ages can be exposed to the marketing mix through various means of advertising via the internet or television for example.

Substantial is defined as how profitable and large enough they are which is easy to define due to such a large age differentiation demographic which generates a large open market in conjunction with an ever-growing dependency on technology.

Actionable means that the company’s affective programs can be designed for attracting and serving the segments. This is true because each age group reacts to the technology differently depending on their exposure and frequency of use within their generation. Older age groups can be given various tutorials upon the first boot of the computer for example.

Differentiable means that each segment has a consumer with varying uses for the product, such as an 18-year-old university student who requires more battery life for use inside a lecture.

The first segment, which is the age bracket of 13-18, is a fairly profitable segment out of the four. This is because this bracket is made up of students that will often use laptops for their studies and education, as well as using it for social media. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is placed at a very competitive price, alongside its powerful specifications, making it a viable option for the 13-18 age bracket. On the other end of the spectrum, the 30-49 age category is also a potential, profitable market. Within this age group, funds are usually not as limited as they are within the younger age brackets (e.g. 13-18), therefore there will not be an issue in this sector. Someone in the 30-49 age category may not be as mobile as a student and may spend more time at a desk and therefore may opt for a more powerful laptop and/or desktop, as they can plug this into the powerpoint and have the ability to have greater power within the computer. However, this is a viable option for someone that may need to work from home, as well as coming into the office, and is generally on the go.

The laptop/notebook market has a very large number of brands and competitors, each targeting certain segments of the market. Therefore, there is little variation in the ‘structural attractiveness’ between the segments. Dell as a brand has serious competition when it comes to their laptops primarily, as most people are always on the move and require to do work whenever. Dell is also required to compete against ‘trending’ brands such as Apple, as well as brands such as Lenovo, Acer, and HP, which are all strong market share holders in the market.

Dell’s current objectives are (Dell 2018):

“Delivering solutions that give back more than they take”

“Driving transparency, accountability and continuous improvement”

“Reducing our impact and innovating to protect the planet”

We need more information in order to understand what influences the consumers to buy Dell Inspiron 15 5000 than other products. In order to gather such information, we need to ask the following questions:

· Which new specifications would attract consumers and will be beneficial for them?

· Do the higher abilities of tablets, which can just act as a laptop, influence consumer’s choice to buy Dell Inspiron 15 5000?

· Would the new advances that happen everyday in technology influence consumer’s choice?

This information would be helpful for us as it will help us to use the identified advantages to increase the sales, attract consumers and increase the market share. It will also help us to improve our marketing strategy by identifying what consumers expect from Dell.

In order to gather this information on Dell laptop would be through the assistance of focus groups. A focus group is a small group with demographically diverse people. It is a form research in which people are provided with an opportunity to share insights, perceptions, opinions etc. in relation to a certain product, service or idea/s.

This will further guide managers to perceive and identify current customer needs, test new products and explore views on the products and services associated with the brand. By providing background information about the current market trends supports to shape the overall marketing strategy by exhibiting how consumers will react. This in turn eliminates resources from being wasted and basically enhances the total marketing strategy as they care able to model the project to target consumers, who will buy their brand and ensure that maximum effectiveness is achieved.

Advantages of using focus groups are:

· Its fast and inexpensive method to acquire data

· Members are given a chance to reflect what they feel about that certain product or service or brand

· All members ask questions and other members can provide and discuss on that topic which would produce valuable data

However, the disadvantages are:

· Group environment can sometimes not energize the discussion or sometimes can over energize the discussion leading to too less useful information or too much of information to analyse

· Record such discussions are difficult at times as its not clear who is speaking and who isn’t

Research design for focus groups would be a group discussion. Participants would be given a topic or a certain product or service or a brand to talk about. As the discussion goes on researcher can note and analyse what do the consumers expect from that product/service/brand. What is their response/reaction to that product/service/brand and why is it? The sample size would be a group of 6-8 participants of a demographically diverse people.

To conclude, it can be seen that, Dell as one of the largest producers of electronic devices faces a lot of competition in the market due to the major advancements in technology.

From the report it can be analysed, how demographic, economic and technological environment influence the organisation, why is that particular trend occurring and what does that mean for Dell’s marketing strategy.

The report has segmented users by age group, occupation status, rate of use, need for battery life and availability of funds.

The above report also recommends focus groups as a primary research method to collect useful data from consumers in order to improve the company’s marketing strategy.

· Research needs to be structured in order to recognize the requirements of a consumer and what consumers expect from the company products.

· Company should stay up to date with modern day technologies in order to attract consumers

· Pay attention to dell’s competitors to gain extra knowledge about the market trends and consumer expectations.

· Dell should focus on inventing fast processing computers, which can be proved helpful for corporate industry.

Perry, J.K 2016, “Technology has advanced so rapidly that a laptop computer today is 96% cheaper than a 1994 model and 1,000X better”, AEIdeas, viewed 1 October 2018,