Land  Rover  North  America  Inc  

Case  Study  

Group  -­‐  B12  

Aditya Anand
Asit Acharya
Chaitanya Somawar
Kiran Yadav
Rakesh S
Suresh Prasad
Tribhuwan Kumar
 LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA INC.

LRNA is envisioning a considerable growth in the SUV market in North America, which is in an
evolution mode. This market is witnessing change in customer’s perception, which is crystallizing for
meaningful product differentiation in the market. Following points describe the current market standing
of LRNA.

• Why ‘Discovery’? - LRNA is facing decline in third world market owing oil crises, constrained
parts supplies and repair services. To add to this, Japanese companies launched reliable and high
quality SUVs, as a result of this, company lost one-third of base model sales. To counter this
‘Japanese Invasion’ and to regain its hold on various segments LRNA is launching Discovery as
a versatile family vehicle with extraordinary safety qualities.
• SUV Market - SUV market is witnessing a significant growth, people are buying SUVs as it
offers increased road holding and handling. It also provides practical and versatile transportation
solution as a result, increasing number of people are considering SUVs as alternative to
traditional luxury cars.
• SUV Target Customers - Typically there are two distinct categories of SUV buyers: 1) one set of
buyers who are looking for vehicles which are smart and have more functional attributes. This
includes family buyers who value the safety benefits, this also includes older traditionalists who
are looking at SUVs as stylish alternatives to traditional luxury cars. 2) Second group comprises
of young and affluent adults who value style statement and seek products that make visible
statements about their owners’ images and accomplishments.
• Land Rover Umbrella Brand - Land Rover umbrella brand was formed as part of new Branding
Strategy under which all the models, current and future ones, could be accommodated. The
brand captured the essence and spirit of values like authenticity, individualism, freedom,
adventure and supremacy.

Decision 1#: Positioning

• As LRNA is having 3 vehicles in its portfolio, which are distinctively placed in SUV segments,
it needs to have a product centric positioning strategy.
• Discovery should be made the front line product and should be positioned as logical evolution of
the legendary land rover. It can be positioned in such a way which highlights the stressed
ruggedness, off-road credentials and brand heritage. An important aspect of Discovery’s
positioning should be ‘affordable Range Rover’.
 • Range Rover 4.0 SE which offers loads of features and is priced towards higher side at $52,500
should target upscale market segment - preferably people in $100000+ income group, this group
of customers is buying Toyota Land Cruiser ($36,708). On the same lines, for Discovery
($29,350) target audience can be people buying Mitsubishi Montero ($27,625)
• A detailed analysis of ‘SUV Purchase Drivers’ reveals that female buyers are having higher
preference (in comparison to average audience) for QUALITY, PERFORMANCE and SAFETY
aspects of SUV. ‘Perceptual Comparisons of Discovery versus Competitors’ shows that
Discovery is having higher attribute rating score for these parameters, which implies that a
unique positioning targeting women consumers could be highly rewarding.

Decision 2#: Allocating Funds Across Marketing Mix Elements

Marketing Budget Available $30 million

Target Sales 40,000 units

Competitor’s Budget Analysis

Company Name No. Of Models Ad. Budget

Jeep 2 $105.3 million
Isuzu 2 $59.3 million
Ford 2 $24.7 million*
Source: Exhibit 9
*Don’t include ”Ford” brand promotions

Objectives

-­‐ Brand Awareness: Rover Products have good consumer perception on parameters like Quality,
Safety, Performance, Off-Road Capability, Comfort and Status (Exhibit 13). But it lacks in Brand
and product Awareness (Exhibit 10), Brand Awareness should be the major focus of our marketing
campaign.
-­‐ Product Segment: Land Rover Discovery should be targeted on Compact SUV segment where the
sales are high and costs are comparable. (Exhibit 9)
-­‐ Target Segment: Marketing strategies targeting people with household income (above $50000), Age
Group (18-49)
-­‐ Target Sales of Discovery: 30000, Range Rover: 6000, Land Rover Defender: 4000
Suggested Approach

Advertising

TV Advertisements Targeting brand “Land Rover” Budget $15 Million

Print Advertisements – Specifically Targeting each model separately with focus on “Land Rover
Discovery” Total cost $12 million

Print media will include

-­‐ General Audience books

-­‐ Newspapers
-­‐ Auto-Magazines
-­‐ Life style Magazines

Content of Advertisements – All advertisements will have tag line “From the Makers of Range Rovers”
to make use of the existing market value that Range Rover has already created. Beside details about all
the three models explaining the features. “Land Rover Range Rover” Tag would be removed and further
would be mentioned only as “Range Rover”. The ad would further contain reference that this is a
product, which comes under the parent company Land Rover. This would be further emphasized by
using the Land Rover emblem and also by adding a subtext “Brand owned by Land Rover North
America Inc”. The will minimize the confusion among the customers regarding Land rover and Range
Rover.

Corporate Sponsorship and public relations programs

Program Target Funding

24 Hours of Aspen Brand Building (Range Rover) $160000

Tread Lightly Brand Building (Projecting $25000

Safety “Land Rover-Makers of
Range Rovers et. al.”)

La Rata Maya Expedition Brand Building (Projecting $270000

Endurance “Land Rover-
Makers of Range Rovers et.
al.”)
 General fees and Press Brand Awareness (All three $115000
distribution models details)

Clay Shoot Brand Awareness (All three $10000

models details)

Virginia Cup Tennis challenge Brand Awareness (All three $40000

models details)

Polo Match Brand Awareness (All three $20000

models details)

The Taste of Range Rover Life Brand Building & Awareness $200000
Style (Range Rover)

Targeting Military* Brand Building & Awareness $300000

(Range Rover)

Mt. Washington winter ascend Brand Building & Awareness $20000

(Range Rover)

Total 1.4 million

Experience Marketing Program

Academy

-­‐ Continue the 4WD-driving course: This gives users something extra value; also these users will act
like opinion leaders. This will gives us local brand building.
-­‐ The Great Divide Alumni Expedition: This for media opinion leaders to get hands on familiarity
with “Range Rover”.

Community Building

-­‐ Creating “Rover Community” on the line of UK communities. Facilitate interaction between the
groups. There should be “Exchange Program” with UK community. This will help building strong
brand following.
Road Shows

-­‐ Road shows and Auto-Show around US particularly targeting executives creating awareness of
Land Rover Discovery

Web Site

-­‐ Develop a web site for interested users for getting more information about the products, dealers,
service centers, self help tools, Community information, Grievance cell, Merchandised information,
FAQ, Feedbacks.

Total Cost Estimation: $1.15 Million

Total Estimated Marketing Cost – $29.55 Million

Sample advertisement
 Decision 3#: The Retail Strategy

-­‐ Creation of Land Rover Centers (LRC) at high income and brand loyal customer areas. This will
serve as the single point to all the product owners’ future requirements.
-­‐ Persuading current franchisees to convert them in to LRCs.
-­‐ Selective franchisees to multi – acre vehicle departmental stores. This will help attract new
customers, as they will be able to differentiate easily among other brands available in the market.
This will help information and promotion gap as customers may not be convinced enough to
specifically visit an LRC. This platform should be used to show case Land Rover Discovery and
Land Rover Defender.
-­‐ Fun clubs, cafes can be opened near the LRC s where people can come and enquire the features of
the product. This will help improve the buying experience of the customers.
-­‐ Capitalize on existing BMW supply chain and distribution network.