Volkswagen Marketing Strategy

MARKETING CASE STUDY

BY GROUP 10

ON VOLKSWAGEN IN

INDIA

SUBMITTED BY:

Group 10

Bhavik Vadaria (046)

Pratik Bang (138)

Rahul Kumar (147)

Rajat Nanchahal (151)

Sidra Jalal (195)

Sneha Ghelani (197)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SR. NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

1. Introduction 3

2. Problem 3

3. Analysis 4

3(i) STP 4 (ii) Competitor analysis 4-5

4. SWOT analysis 6

5. Strategic options 7-8

6. Recommendations 9

7. Executive summary 10 INTRODUCTION

Volkswagen is a German automobile maker that began its operations from 1933. Its first car was Beetle and later (in late 1900s) models like Passat, Golf, Polo was launched. A 30% growth in the Indian automobile industry lured Volkswagen to enter the Indian market as a way of achieving their global ambition of

All these brand associations were desirable and affordable to consumers, deliverable by the company and are differentiating it from its competitors.

Points of Parity- Points of Parity are attributes or associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but are shared with other brands.

• Category points-of-parity- These represent necessary but not sufficient conditions for brand choice. In the car industry few points of parity are mileage, high speed, acceleration smd dashboard.

• Correlational points-of-parity- Correlational points - of - parity are those potentially negative associations that arise from the existence of other, more positive associations for the brand. In other words, in the minds of consumers, if your brand is good at one thing, it can’t be seen as also good at something else. For example, consumers might find it hard to believe a brand is “inexpensive” and at the same time “of the highest quality.” Like Volkswagen first introduced innovative features in high end cars and gradually introduced the same in lower end cars also. The above attributes, the company had in common with the other competitors and it was successful in providing the same to the

It entered India with Skoda In 2001 and later varied models like Polo, Golf were launched. Volkswagen had used careful planning (of the product) and had understood the consumer insights while designing products for the Indian customers. Despite this, the company faced several challenges In India. Firstly, Skoda was perceived to be a more up-market label than VW. So, there was an anomaly among customers to buy VW cars. Secondly, the company also grappled with the problem of low brand awareness (a mere 9%) among the consumers. There was a wrong perception in the minds of consumers that the Volkswagen cars were not suitable for Indian conditions. Lastly, there was also a underling issue as to whether the strategies of DDB Mundra was actually successful in differentiating VW from the competitors or not. To cope with the problems of brand awareness, the company can implement an advertising initiative that connects Volkswagen with relevant culture such as endorsing a Bollywood celebrity or by becoming a lead sponsor of a sports tournament. Such initiatives would make the company more noticeable and hence more consumers would know about the company now. The company’s wrong image in the minds of customers can be changed with the help of increased advertising. It can make it clear to the consumers that the company and its products are conducive to the Indian market.