VOLVO GROUP

MARKETING STRATEGY
REPORT 2013

Tabatha Schmidhauser

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLVO GROUP: PRESENTATION
Volvos Background

Mission

Vision

Wanted position 2020

Volvos corporate values

Quality as a core value
Safety as a core value
Environmental care as a core value

A view on Volvo cars sales

Observations

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Internal Micro Analysis
SWOT
Industry Challenges: Adaptation Strategy
McKinsey 7S Model

Internal Macro Analysis

Porters Five Forces

External Analysis
PESTLE Analysis

Consumer Analysis

STRATEGIES & OBJECTIVES

Corporate
Corporate Objectives
Corporate Strategies
Ansoff Matrix

Business
Business Objectives
Business Strategies
Porters Generic Strategies

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 Marketing Strategy
MASH Analysis
Segmentation
Targeting
Positioning

PROMOTIONAL MIX
Advertising
Public Relation
Direct Marketing
Personal Selling
Sales promotion

SOURCES

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 VOLVO GROUP PRESENTATION
VOLVOS BACKGROUND

Parent Company: Geely

Type: Publicly traded
Industry: Automobile
Founded in 1927
Headquarters: Gothenburg, Sweden
Area served: Worldwide, 120 countries
Network: 2400 dealers: 1500 in Europe and 400 in the USA
Manufacturing Plant: Goteborg (Sweden) & Ghent (Belgium)
Chairman: Carl-Henric Svanberg
CEO: Olof Persson
Number of employees (2011): 98, 162 / 20,000 (2008) Many
based in Sweden
Competitors: Volkswagens Audi, General Motors Saab, Toyotas
Lexus, Mercedes-benz, BMW
Target Group: Young business executive with a comfortable
income and a taste for safety.

Safety = Leaders
Modern Scandinavian design = Where they differentiate
Environmental Care

Premium quality = Qualifiers (Essential for

Customer experience any competitors in the
Driving dynamics premium market segment

MISSION
Create the safest, most exciting car experience for modern
families.

Create shareholder value by optimizing the cost of capital in the

Volvo Group.
Limit the impact, but also take advantage, of macroeconomic
developments under stipulated risk mandates.
Provide the Volvo Group companies with treasury and cash
management related services.

VISION
To be the worlds most desired and successful premium car
brand

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 To be a world-class provider of treasury services, valued as the
natural and integrated business partner to the Volvo Group
companies. Volvo also aims at being the World Leader in sustainable
transports solutions.

creating value for customers in selected segments

pioneering products and services for the transport and infrastructure
industries
driving quality, safety and environmental care (Values)
working with energy, passion and respect for the individual.

WANTED POSITION 2020

The most profitable in our industry
Customers closest business partners
Captured profitable growth opportunities
Proven innovators of energy-efficient transport solutions
= Global team of high performing people

VOLVOS CORPORATE VALUES

Quality as a core value

Focus on the customers' needs
Quality is an expression of our goal to offer reliable products and
services. In all aspects of our operations, from product development
and production, to delivery and customer support, the focus shall be
on customers' needs and expectations.

Our goal is to exceed their expectations

With a customer focus based on everyone's commitment and
participation, combined with a process culture, our aim is to be
number one in customer satisfaction. This is based on a culture in
which all employees are responsive and aware of what must be
accomplished to be the best business partner.

Safety as a core value

Safety is part of our soul
Safety has been our guiding star since 1927. The Volvo founders
stated that Safety is and must be the basic principle in all design
work.

Our vision: Zero accidentsWe have worked diligently for

more than 80 years to develop increasingly better protection
for people in the case of an accident.

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Our Accident Research Teams have given us good insight into the
causes of accidents and injuries and what can be done to prevent
them. Our products are built to minimize the consequences of
accidents.In recent years we have also launched intelligent safety
systems with the potential to prevent accidents from happening in
the first place.

Our ultimate goal is zero accidents with Volvo Group products. This
vision of zero accidents guides our product development. We are
committed to work hard to prevent accidents, but we are also aware
of the fact that most accidents involve factors that are out of our
control. Therefore, the Volvo Group cooperates with users,
authorities, scientists and other actors in society who want to create
a safer world.

Safety innovations: A series of pioneering safety

innovations has made Volvo a world leader in automotive
safety over the years. It is our firm ambition to maintain this
position.

The new Volvo FH series: The worlds safest Volvo.

The new cab is Volvos strongest so far. And the worlds toughest
crash tests show that drivers have a good chance of survival in an
50 mph crash with a stationary object

Environmental care as a core value

We all depend on transports

Smoothly functioning transportation is one of the cornerstones of

modern society. The distribution of daily supplies to people in cities,
the trade between companies and the personal mobility are all
examples of how dependent we are on transports.

Core valueEnvironmental care is a Volvo Group core value. Already

in the mission statement, we state: " we use our expertise to create
transport-related hard and soft products of superior quality, safety
and environmental care".

Volvo has a responsibility

As one of the world's biggest manufacturers of heavy commercial

vehicles, Volvo bears a clear responsibility for reducing the
environmental impact of its products. However, a long history of
proactive environmental programs has also provided us with an
opportunity of strengthening both our own and our customers'
competitiveness, while contributing to positive societal
development.

Taking the lead to reduce climate impact

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The Volvo Group is the first heavy duty vehicle manufacturer to
develop seven different demonstration trucks that can all be driven
without any emissions of climate-impacting carbon dioxide.

A VIEW ON VOLVO CARS SALES

By Market 2009 By Model 2010
Country Sales 2010 Model Prices Sales
(2009) from
United States 53,952 XC60 30,280 80,723
(61,426)
Sweden 52,894 (41,826) V50 15,000 56,098
United 37,940 V70 24,995 48,877
Kingdom (34,371)
China 30,522 XC90 33,000 37,597
(22,405)
Germany 25,207 (25,221) C30 17,545 35,981
Belgium 17,969 (13,223) S40 15,700 31,688
Italy 17,509 (15,896) XC70 32,390 22,068
Netherlands 14,308 (14,035) S80 29,270 19,162
France 12,211 (11,596) S60 19,995 14,786
Russia 10,650 (6,894) S80L 29,270 11,778
Others: 100,363 V40 19,995 Unknown
(87,915)

Observations:

Most interesting Market:

China: 36% sales increase
Belgium: 35% sales increase
Russia: 54% Sales Increase
Others: 14% Sales increase

Models:
XC60: Price is not a factor of choice

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 Sophistication for the discerning driver
Enhance your XC60 with Inscription, Volvo's collection of exclusive
interior and exterior details offering the best in Scandinavian design
and craftsmanship.
Designed to thrill
The XC60 R-Design sport chassis is made to get your pulse racing.
But before you even turn the ignition the sporty seats, pedals and
steering wheel will put a smile on your face. This is a car for the love
of the road.
Crossing the line
The XC60 takes a new approach to design combining the high
waistline of the XC range and the sporty contour of the coupes. Its
the physical manifestation of an idea that encompasses active life
and a love of style.
Watching out for you
In slow moving traffic City Safety pays attention even when you
dont. By constantly monitoring the traffic ahead for slowed or
stopped vehicles it applies the brakes to help avoid a collision.
Innovations for the love of driving
Sporty driving or cruising? With three settings for different driving
styles and surfaces you get the most out of both curvy mountain
roads and long motorways. Its technology for the pure love of
driving.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
INTERNAL MICRO ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS:

Strengths Weaknesses
Good heritage Identity crisis/ confusion
Established brand Trust High Price /economy state
Environmentally friendly Small share
Product under different brand Strict and definite position
High safety standards
Highly involved in Research
Offer high quality Customization
Interactive brand (with customers)
Excellent service (SAV)

Opportunities Threats
Market expansion BRIC Countries Competition big international

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Long term impact environment (awareness) Price of oil, fluctuation
Interest rate (separate
payment
Fuel concern (decrease consumer cost) no Loans from banks)
New technologies available
Demographic changes
Accident Rate

Weaknesses to strengths & Threat to

Opportunities
Urbanization/ demographic changes
Climate change / environmentally friendly,
recyclable
Strategic use of resources (Potential
shortage)
Increase cars numbers and accident rate =
Security and safety, technology systems
Government tax initiative (eco-friendly
prices reduction)

Industry Challenges: Adaptation Strategy

In todays economy, the car industry faces some challenges and

difficulties that will need to be overcome by Volvo if the company
wants to survive in the long run.
Use the impact of Globalization at our advantage (negative
and positive)
Increasing regulation on (environmental taxes and
government initiative)
Growing environmental issue (Offering alternative to limit
negative impact on the environment)
Rising fuel prices (Offering other energy alternatives. Ex:
electricity)
Rising commodity prices (Offering and using cheaper
alternatives)
Increasing accident rate (Marketing strength to shock people
and use it as a tool of persuasion)

MCKINSEY 7S MODEL

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1) Strategy- In order to maintain and build competitive advantage
over the competition Volvo plans to once again become the industry
leader in safety, the brand that gives the company first car with a
safety cage, the first car with front and rear crumple zones, the first
to offer safety-door-locks, and the first to offer SIPS-Side impact
protection System.
At the same time company focuses on maintaining energy efficiency
and health-related technology through alternative fuel types and
reduced emissions, so that Volvo will keep placing its emphasis on
creating a safer world in relation to environment and driving.
The company lays the foundation for developing Volvo group into
the worlds leading provider of sustainable transport solutions.

2) Structure- The Volvo Groups business activities are organized

into six business areas: Group Trucks, Construction Equipment,
Buses, Volvo Penta, Governmental Sales and Volvo Financial
Services. Concentrating only on the car sector we see that the
company has it headquarters in Sweden but branches in several
countries. The main office manage the global strategy of the group
but the day to day decisions are made locally by directors and
managers.

3) Systems- On the daily basis staff members involve in activities

such as creating business plans, following up on the businesses,
setting targets etc. Daily activities vary according to the
departments, for example financial department works on finding the
ways to fund business in the markets. This includes working with
external banks and export trading agencies. Much of the time is
spent on decision making for financing Volvo Group customers in
companys markets.

4) Shared Values- Quality, safety and environmental care are the

values that form the Volvo Groups common base and are important
components of the companys corporate culture. The values have a
long tradition and permeate in the organization, its products and the
way of working. The company goal is to maintain a leading position
in these areas. The Volvo Group views its corporate culture as a
unique asset, since it is difficult for competitors to copy.

Quality is an expression of the companys goal to offer reliable

products and services. In all aspects of the operations, from product
development and production, to delivery and customer support, the
focus shall be on customers' needs and expectations.

With a customer focus based on everyone's commitment and

participation, combined with a process culture, Volvos aim is to be
number one in customer satisfaction. This is based on a culture in

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which all employees are responsive and aware of what must be
accomplished to be the best business partner.

5) Style- "We are empowered. Every colleague participates in

setting goals and in meeting commitments. Every individual
contributes by working together with others towards common
business goals." (www.volvogroup.com) the style of leadership
adopted within the Volvo Company is- participative leadership.
Every employee is free and encouraged to bring his/her ideas,
innovation, and creativity to the work in order to reach certain goals;
since all the members are empowered to participate in decision-
making and bring profit to the organization. Empowerment enables
all employees to contribute to their fullest potential irrespective of
gender, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or age. Human
Resources Manager Maxine Knowles commented This year we
scored highest in terms of how people felt about the company and
its leadership with extremely positive responses. This is testimony
to the values and ethics of the Volvo Group, which filter down within
the organisation and the work we do to make our employees feel
valued and engaged.

6) Staff- Every employee at Volvo organization is part of a team. As

a team member, work is more and more characterized by actively
taking part in the company's development, change and future. In
order to create a working environment that supports this, company
is manly working with employees of energy, passion, and respect for
the individual.

7) Skills the employees of the Volvo Company are the people

educated in the spheres like mathematics, science and technology.
They build competitive organization by having the employees of
creative, leadership, multicultural skills who have an experience and
different perspectives.

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 INTERNAL MACRO ANALYSIS
PORTERS 5 FORCES

Supplier Power The power of suppliers is low, especially after the

company has been acquired by the Chinese firm Geely. Thus, by
entering the Chinese market, Volvo will have the opportunity for
collaborating with Chinese suppliers that will most probably offer
lower prices than the European ones. Therefore, it is Volvo that
dictates terms rather than their suppliers.

Buyer power Considering the fact that Volvo is operating in over

120 countries and dealing with a huge number of buyers, we can
conclude that the buyer power is pretty high. Even though Volvo is
offering innovative, safety enhancements and more environmental
friendly products, the substitutes offered by competitors are large.
As a result, the buyers have a lot of options to choose from and
definitely have a power over Volvo.

Competitive Rivalry The rivalry in the automobile industry is

very high. Volvo has various strong rivals, such as Audi, Saab, Lexus,
Mercedes-Benz, and BMW (mostly cars offering similar features and
quality for more or less the same price.) Volvos positioning
statement that they are offering the safest cars in the market is
threatened because there are other companies offering high safety
standards as well, such as Renault. Therefore, Volvo is not immune
on rivalry pressure anymore, in fact it is more influenced than ever.

Threat of Substitution The threat of substitution is always

present in this industry. Especially in big cities people tend to switch
to other transportation options and avoid using cars. However, this
is not a serious threat for Volvo because their target market are
rather family people whose need of having a car is higher.
Furthermore, if referring to the US, it is notable that mainly country
people are keen on buying Volvo, which means their options of
substitutes are less. Therefore, the threat of substitution (such as
public transport) is certainly not excluded, but yet we can say that it
is not very high for Volvo because their target market are mainly
people with a higher need for a big, safe car.

Threat of New Entries Entering the automobile market is

certainly very complicated with extremely high costs. It requires

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expertise, it is time consuming and it is expensive. Furthermore, it is
very risky because it was proven over the years that consumers
tend to trust more to the companies with more tradition and
experience in the car manufacturing (Mercedes-Benz for instance.)
In this sense, the threat of new entries is not a serious problem for
Volvo. They are affected by the already existent competitors rather
than from the upcoming. Their long presence in the marker gives
them a certain advantage over the newcomers (when having such)
so this is not a big threat for them.

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

PESTLE ANALYSIS

Political
Growing environmental concerns are forcing governments
around the world to introduce harsher regulations for the
automotive industry. These include strict regulations on
carbon emissions, increased taxes for cars with higher carbon
dioxide emissions, rise in insurance prices and new safety
regulations. Volvo's main markets (US and Europe) are
affected by the above the strongest.
Government foreign policies are important to the industry.
There are extreme tax policies adopted by developing
countries for local automotive industry protection.
Low - emission cars benefit from tax incentives, such as free
road tax, lower insurance prices, free parking and so on.
BRIC economies are gaining substantial power against of
those of the Western World.

Economic
2008 economic recession has hit the automotive industry
immensely. Many companies field bankruptcy and many auto
brands have disappeared.
Fuel prices are on the rise.
Commodity prices are on the rise.
China is on the rise to become world's largest economy. Other
BRIC economies are also experiencing high growth rates.
As the recession is over, we can expect world-wide economic
recovery. However the uncertainty remains high.
Flat growth rates in developed markets, but good prospects in
emerging markets such as Asia.

Socio - cultural
Declining birth rates are seen within Europe and USA.
Smaller families and childless couples are becoming more and
more common.

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 "Many cars on the road today are used by singe occupants,
commuting to work" ('Volvo Case Study, n.d.)
People are becoming more conscious of their environmental
impact and they are becoming more eco- friendly.

Technological
More eco friendly technologies are introduced at an increasing
rate.
Shared technologies can provide substantial benefits.
Focus is placed on improving energy efficiency and health-
related technologies.
Availability of new materials and recycled materials for
production can provide many possibilities.
Self- driving vehicles are on the way as such technologies are
being developed by major corporations.

CONSUMER ANALYSIS

Volvo is connected with the idea of big boxes on wheels. According

to the data the average Volvo owner is middle aged with 2 and a
half kids and a dog. In order for Volvo to increase its market share,
they should be aware of the changes in customer desires. Volvo has
produced through the years big estate cars with big engines and
safe cars. They tend to go more for the functionality rather than the
style. The customer's needs have changed, and Volvo has to adopt if
they want to be successful. Volvo has been successful in US,
because the customers like big cars, which they relate with success.
Big car, big success. In the last decade customers have started to
use smaller cars due to different factors:

Fuel costs: With the increase in fuel cost, it has become more
expensive to drive a big car, and as a result customer tend to buy
smaller cars, which have more fuel efficient engines.

Economic Crises: Also the economic crises in the last 5 years has
decreases the buying power of customers. Big cars are usually more
expensive than smaller cars, and since the resources are limited for
the customers, they want to spend less for a car, and smaller cars
are cheaper.

Environment awareness: Customer now care more about the

environment, and smaller cars produce less CO2 emission than big
cars. Customers tend to buy more eco friendly cars, like Toyota.

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Smaller families: In the western countries families have become
smaller, due to the decline in the birth rate, and the need for bigger
cars has decreased.

Government incentives: Governments are implementing policies

that penalize the use of big cars due to the environmental issues,
and at the same time the governments are providing incentives to
the customers to buy smaller and more eco friendly cars.

STRATEGIES
CORPORATE

CORPORATE OBJECTIVES

The Volvo Car Corporation is one of the car industrys strong brands.
The company is committed to :

Support Business Areas and maximize Customer

satisfaction through superior product performance and
excellent service
Offering customers the best value in selected segments
Sound portfolio structure/renewing of the groups product
portfolio
Supporting safety of the community and the protection of
environment
Stability in earnings over a business cycle
Developing the talents of its people through employee
empowerment, working with energy and respect for the
individual
Profitability in all business segments

CORPORATE STRATEGY

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 ANSOFF MATRIX

DIVERSIFICATION

Opportunity in Asia (growing economy)

Increase in environmental concern (new products)
Social changes especially in Asia, less kids (new products)
Flat growth/ recession in Western countries (Market dev)

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Environmental concern
Social changes
Rising prices of petrol (new energy needed)
Tax inventive for ecological car purchase
Promote safety through road car accident concern

BUSINESS

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Objectives for the Differentiation strategy

Introduce new products: Due to the changes in the
customers demand, VOLVO has to introduce new products, in
order to satisfy the expectations of the customers and
increase their market share.

New markets: In the last decade there have been a lot of

changes in some countries. The BRICS countries have had a
high economic development and as a result the disposable
income has increased. This is a good opportunity for VOLVO to
increase its number of customers, which would result in a
higher market share.

Innovation: VOLVO is known for its innovation strategy, but

as the consumers expectation are getting greater and the

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 competitive in this sector is very high, Volvo has to constantly
improve. VOLVO has to use its competitive advantage, like
SAFETY or ENVIRONEMENT but should also develop it further
and further. They have to offer unique product that the
competition will need some time to catch up on.

BUSINESS STRATEGY:

PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGY

DIFFERENTIATION:

Product Uniqueness
Providing high quality service (as it is a strength)
Highly engaged in innovation (not priced focus)
Safety innovation and research
Ecological / environmental system and product dev

Target a broad market

Narrow markets are highly competitive especially luxurious one
Safety as well as ecology is a universal concern and should be
available for a wide consumer group.

In order to pull off this differentiation strategy it is important to have

these following characteristics already in place in the company.

As Volvo has the following characteristics, the

differentiation strategy is achievable and could permit the
company to grow.

Good research, development and innovation.

The ability to deliver high-quality products or services.
Effective sales and marketing, so that the market understands the
benefits offered by the differentiated offerings (achieved through
Volvo marketing strategy).

MARKETING STRATEGY

MASH ANALYSIS

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Effective segmentation requirements: Following a MASH
analysis
Measurable: Through secondary sources made by local statistics
center, the World Bank or other independent organization, we are
able to measure all of our data. For example, to measure how
important is safety and ecology to a society, we will find out how
many household recycle, uses solar energy power, eat organic
food Through sample, questionnaire and research, the data
collected are easily measurable.
Accessible: The segment we decided to work on has fairly high
degree of accessibility. The information about this segment can
easily be accessed and through our marketing strategy we are able
to serve that particular segment effectively.
Substantial: Our segment is fairly large within our operating market.
We are targeting a quite broad audience and is sufficient enough for
Volvo to be profitable and serve in this particular market.
Homogenous: We have tried to come up with a segmentation that
serves segment members as being as much as possible internally
homogenous. Nevertheless as we are not going for a mass
marketing strategy, we do not emphasis on homogeneity through
our campaigns.

SEGMENTATION

Better understand and identify our consumers need

In order to create:

Strong brand name
Greater market share
Cross selling solutions

Psychographic segmentation:
Lifestyle:
Pre family / Family
Household / employees
C2 to B class
Mostly Urban people
Mainstreamer / Explorer
Busy life / active lifestyle

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 Looking at the sagacity lifestyle model, we decided to target
pre-family and family. This lifetime segmentation corresponds to
the values Volvo embrace and the car developed by the company
is exactly what people like that will look for.
Household as well as workers is also our target group. Volvo
focuses on groups belonging to (upper) Middle class, lower
middle class and skilled working class.
Volvo is not a big enough brand to wider their audience as much
as they want. By concentrating on urban people, we give the best
shot for people in town to realize about the pollution. Our values
and main product characteristics support our segmentation all
the way. We want the mainstreamer to buy our model because
they are the one that could best represent the company. They are
conformist, conventional and want to be part of the mass. We
would also like to attract the explorer. They are energetic, have
autonomy and like challenges. Volvo group like challenges as well
and nothing is impossible for us.

Values
Environmentally concern
Be safe
Money/ quality

Opinion
Green political parties /socialism
Risk yes, but with safety

Interest
Club and social community
Like to participate
Team sports / Team work

Personality characteristics
Adventurous but with a need for comfort and safety.
Influential personality,
Taster and evaluator

Advantages of the psychographic segmentation:

Psychographic segmentation gives a much better insight into the

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consumer as a person, which enable the brand to identify and
underline the needs and motives of the consumers.

It delivers a much better understanding of the consumer, which in

turn creates more valid and responsive segments and will enable
the company to plan marketing programs accordingly. Furthermore
Volvo has the tool needed to achieve this segmentation: skilled
researchers.
The information collected will help us not only to develop our
product accordingly but also to communicate and plan our
strategies accordingly. We will use this knowledge to create
competitive advantage in every sector of the company.

TARGETING STRATEGY:

Because Volvo is operating in different market and the targeted

audiences in these markets are not similar, are not looking for the
same characteristics and perceive cars differently, Volvo has to go
for a differentiated marketing strategy:

Differentiated Marketing Strategy

Different Markets:
Because we plan to go into different markets, more especially in
BRIC countries and the audience will not be the same our strategies
have to be different.
Volvo has an effective and high skilled team, therefore they have
the potential to do it for the European Market, however for BRIC
countries they can always contract private marketing companies,
which are expert on the local environment.

Different products:
Volvo does not offer the same products in China as they do in
Europe, for the only reason because the consumers need and desire
are not the same. As a result our marketing mix campaigns will have
to adapt to the people we are dealing with. Even though Volvos
segmenting strategy is to catch a relatively broad audience,
concerned with the environment etc, these people are not the same
in China and in Europe.
To conclude, Volvo will engage with a differentiated marketing
strategy to make it more appealing and personal for the specific
audience, while targeting a very broad audience. By doing several

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different campaigns we are ready to rake the risk to make it
confusing for the consumer, however as it is in different market, this
risk is very low.

POSITIONING:

Product perception from the consumer point of view

By quality / Values: Some firms will position products based

on relative high quality, or based on the claim that they
represent significant value.
By choosing a quality/ value product positioning, we want to
show our customers that their money is worth it. By matching a
high quality car with environmental as well as safety values we
emphasis on our target audiences needs and desires.

By user: This positioning approach highlights the user (the

ideal or representative target consumer) and suggests that
the product is the ideal solution for that type of person and
may even contribute to their social self-identity.
We also want to create a personalized identity of the brand. By
focusing on our targeted user and their values as well as their
beliefs, we set ourselves as the best option and solution. Using
different marketing strategy, we will set the perfect environment,
representing the ideal consumer with our product. We want our
consumers to be able to identify themselves as ethical,
environmental friendly and responsible drivers. The brand
contributes to their self-identity as well as the achievement of
their beliefs.

PROMOTIONAL MIX
Advertising

Because every company in any industry uses advertising to promote

their product we decided to come up with this following advertising
strategy.

- Mobile Apps Volvo has their own mobile apps and they are
divided in three categories: Product Apps, Owners App,
Campaign App.

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 - Videos They have commercials on Television (mainly
channels for automobiles) but not only. The video commercials
can also be found on Youtube.
- Billboards - are being used as a way of advertising almost in
every country where they are selling their products.
- Volvo Spirit Magazine Spirit magazine is Volvo
Construction Equipements company magazine, full of Volvo
news and business updates. It is intended for every Volvo
enthusiast.
- Volvo Driver Magazine magazine for Volvo members,
which contains information about Club meetings and events,
technical information and advice, topics of general interest, all
the latest Volvo news, and articles by Members, and a Sales &
Wants section. It is being distributed once a year, only to Volvo
members.
- Many other magazines Volvo is advertising in variety of
different magazines, especially in the ones specialized for
automobiles, such as Top Gear, AutoCar, AutoExpress and so
on.

Public Relations

For our PR strategy we have decided to get into media through:

A press release on our website
A press conference
= On our press release and the conference we will emphasize our
new ecological and safety direction and will also announce our plans
for moving into the new developing markets. Further, we will
organize and sponsor events about ecology. There we will introduce
our research and innovation towards more ecological vehicles.

Direct Marketing

Interactive Website: Since the consumers are very connected

with the internet, this is a good opportunity for VOLVO to create a
direct channel with the customers. With an interactive website,
VOLVO will provide a service, where possible customers will have the
possibility to make question and receive answers in real time. This
service will help the customers to create a better idea about the
products that VOLVO supplies.

Target Online Ads: Social networks and internet have become

very popular in the last years. This trend can be used by VOLVO to
advertise its products as much as possible. Being in a constant

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contact with the VOLVO ads, will make the consumers more aware of
the products that VOLVO produces.

Catalogue Distribution: The printed media is also a good

marketing tool that VOLVO might use. They can give free catalogues
to possible consumers, so that they can become more familiar with
the products. Consumers can see all the products and they can get
detailed information on the products they are looking for.

Sales Promotion

In order to maximize sales, Volvo Company considers the car

warranty that will cover for any mechanical or electrical repairs
needed on the car or parts of it. Tactical promotion warrantys
strategies can be adopted by manufacturers to maximize sales in
peak trading periods, for example seasonal offers or new product
launches. At the same time, company should consider offering new
extended packages, which will last longer and covers fixing more
damages than other car manufacturing companies do.

Personal Selling

As Volvo has a skilled and highly effective staff service, we want to

take advantage of this characteristic. The in store experience of
Volvo should be perfect. Our sales teams have been train to engage
the customers and persuade them that Volvo is the safest and most
environmentally friendly car they can get on the market. Personal
selling is our way to create a relationship with our customers. We
want to install trust and loyalty. By providing them with valuable
information and by showing them that we care, they will more likely
come back in the future. We understand that buying a car is an
investment and for that very reason we engage with the customer
through a personal as well as professional relationship.

We will not engage through telemarketing or telephone marketing

sales strategy as we want Volvo to be seen still seen as a
luxurious with a responsible and respectable concerns of our
customers.

In summary, Volvo has a high skilled staff and high quality service
and because they are selling expensive products with very high
specific values, the company has to:
= Install trust with customers, which will lea to loyalty
= Provide valuable information
= Persuasion and very effective sales methods
SOURCES

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EMEA Marketing Blog URL:
http://emeamarketing.co.uk/wordpress/what-is-emea-marketing

Gray, J. Hayes, K. (n.d) Application of Brand Management

Techniques to Professional Development In the World of Food
Science. URL: http://www.worldfoodscience.org/cms/?pid=1000463

VOLVO Given Case Study

Volvo Group: http://www.volvogroup.com/group/global/en-

gb/Pages/group_home.aspx

Willan, Mo. Marketing Strategy Lectures

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