CARTHAGE

COLLEGE
Cody,Jenn,Pat,Brandon,George
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Client: Palmen Motors - Fiat

Fiat is a disruptive company poised to take away market share from established American
Brands. In order to be proactive in the local market there must be a full-fledged marketing plan
in place to establish long-term growth.

Problem: There is little familiarity with the Fiat Brand/Design and the appeal is niche. Cost
prohibitive for Target customers ($300+ a month)

Solution: We created a data driven strategic

Research Methods
marketing plan based on our research findings
in order to increase sales and awareness.

Secondary
Owner Demographic Consumer
Key Findings: Interview Survey
Data
A large amount of our target demographic
(16-25) is unfamiliar with
optionality/interior design and performance.
Potential Consumers have the wrong impression of Fiat Brand.
There is a misconception that Fiat only has tiny cars.
Fiat 500x is by far the most popular
model. (Although there was little to no
awareness of existence prior to our
survey).
Strategic Goals
Proposed investment:

The total cost of the proposed Marketing

program for one year is $30,000. This number Increasing Social Hubs of
Landing
Events pages &
was estimated through the cost of the Awareness Media Inuence
Rewards
activities that would be implemented in the
progression of brand awareness and increased
motor sales.

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Situation Analysis:

No Have you heard of Fiat?

10%

Yes
90%

Key Observations:

Fiat is a recognizable brand

How familiar are you with 500 and 500x

3
2 5%
12%

0
48%
1
35%

Key Observations:

There is low familiarity in the Fiat 500 and 500x

Only 14.4% of the survey population recognized the primary car models intended to be
sold this upcoming year
The Fiat 500X was preferred over other models by over 50% of the survey population
indicating that increased marketing on these models would be profitable

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 Which Model Would You Consider Buying?
80
70
60
50
40
Percentage of People
30
20
10
0
Fiat 500X Fiat Arbarth Fiat 500C Fiat 500

Key Observations:

The Fiat 500X is the most appealing to the survey population coming in at 68%.
The 500C is the least appealing and less should be spent on pushing these sales.

IncenOves and Financial Dependency

Is Your Car Purchase Financially Dependent on Parents ? Column1

56

44
73

27

Yes No

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 Key Observations:
The majority of people were not looking to buy a car within the next year so an
incentive must be put in place to encourage car sales.
The majority (albeit closer to 50% than expected) of the survey population is
financially dependent on their parents meaning that the parents would need to
be involved in the car purchasing process.

How Much are You Able to Pay Per Month?

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
100-200 200-300 300-400 400-Above

Survey Populajon Percentage

Key Observations:

88% of the survey population can not or is not willing to pay more than $300 a month
on car payments.
The current payment plan has a minimum monthly payment over $300 meaning that a
large majority of the target market cannot afford the current payment plan without
parental help or an adjusted payment plan.

2015 Business Objectives:

Sell 150 Fiat Units in the Next Year
70 Fiat 500
25 Fiat 500L
55 Fiat 500X
Cut lost sales by 50%, from 28 to 14 unit(s).

Key Issues:
Unfamiliarity with 500x and Interior features:
Customers are unfamiliar with Fiat products, particularly the new Fiat 500x however the
survey showed consumers had the highest interest in Fiat 500x.

Niche Demographic:
The Fiat brand currently holds a niche demographic that needs to be positioned
correctly in order to include the younger generations and other market segments
outside of the small demographic currently secured.

Expensive for Target Demographic:

Survey results indicated that the current price is unaffordable to the majority of the
target market segment. Most of the target market (people age 16-25) is still financially
dependent on their parents.

Not Looking to Buy a Car in 1+ Year:

There is little to no incentive for college students and recent graduates to purchase a
brand new car within the next year.

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Target Market:
Young adults, ages 16 to 25, (including current college students or recent graduates)
living in the Kenosha and Racine area. They must have a steady income, or have
financial support from their guardians.

2015 Marketing Objectives:

To increase brand recognition amongst target demographic

To position the Fiat 500x for a new market segment

To identify and retain specific individuals in the current demographic

To create affordable payment plans

To create incentive to buy a new Fiat in the next year

2015 Marketing and Sales Tactics- Overview

1. Bring a Fiat 500x to Carthage, Parkside, and Gateway campuses by 05/24/2015 and
repeat in the fall term.

2. Organize and advertise the Guess the Brand public relations event on Carthage campus
by 08/30/2015. Implement early September.

3. Develop and run ads through social media targeting people outside of the current niche
market by 06/01/2015. By 12/01/2015, have holiday ads prepared and launched.

4. Advertise and Launch the Buddy Program by 08/03/2015.

5. Create payment plan that has minimum payments until proof of employment for up to
four months by 07/06/2015.

6. Launch Parent Incentive promotion by 03/01/2016.

7. Implement Extended Warranty for family sales program by 01/04/2016.

8. Launch the Graduation Incentive by 05/24/2015. Runs for one month after proof of
graduation, and repeats 5/24/2016.

2015 Marketing and Sales Tactics- Detailed

1. Bring Car on Campus:

The 500x has been shown to be the most appealing to the target market, however they were
unfamiliar with it. Because of this, the 500x will be brought to the Carthage, Parkside, and
Gateway campuses once a semester in 2015. The first event will take place before May 24,
2015. If successful, it may continue on into 2016. This PR event will be high-energy and focus on
casual conversations with the students about the car in order to build relationships with the
target market. Get pictures of students with the car and merchandise and tag them on
various social media outlets, if they share the photo, tweet, or otherwise promote Palmen
Motors and the car then they will receive free Fiat merchandise and/or other seasonal prizes.
To the more interested students, hand out fliers detailing the promotions that are currently
available: i.e. graduation incentive, extended warranty, parent incentive, minimum payments
etc. and get information to reach out to them later.

2. Guess the Brand:

This event is designed to bring awareness to the interior and exterior features of Fiats. It will
take place on college campuses and it is also designed to be a high-energy event. There will be
multiple posters of different interior/exterior features of the Fiat cars as well as some
competitor photos. Ask each student to identify the brand that has the feature in the photo.
After the students finally realize the best features belong to Fiat, explain the customizable
options Fiat cars have as well as opportunities at Palmen Motors. Make sure to record names
and emails. Free food will be given away as incentives to participate. Encourage students to
follows/share Palmen Motors on a social media platform. This event will be planned by August
30th 2015 and take place early September 2015.

3. Create Social Media Ads to Appeal to Target Market:

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Social Media is a huge tool in sending a message to the public. The survey data showed that the
target market all utilize social media. The top three social media outlets were Facebook,
Snapchat and Instagram. Ads need to be created for Instagram and Facebook respectively. They
should always be on the target markets social media feeds. When holidays come around ads
will relate to the events to keep consumers excited and active on social media and to keep the
content fresh.

4. Fiat Customer Buddy Program:

This program is designed to retain individuals in our current demographic as well as reach out
to others not within our immediate reach. If a current Palmen Motors Fiat owner brings in a
friend to purchase a Fiat, they will both receive free Fiat merchandise. This promotion will be
launched by August 3rd 2015.

5. Minimum Payments Until Proof of Employment:

In order to make the car accessible to students that will be purchasing cars on their own,
students purchasing a car independently from his/her parents to make minimum monthly
payments until proof of employment for up to four months. Launch promotion by July 6th 2015
expected to run until end of May 2016.

6. Parent Incentive:

A promotion allowing parents to receive a gift card to Starbucks if a student brings in his/her
parent/guardian to test drive a Fiat. Promotion will start January 4th 2016. While supplies last,
20 five-dollar gift cards.

7. Extended Warranty:

If the car previously test-driven with a parent gets purchased, then Palmen motors will offer an
extended warranty on that same car. Promotion will begin January 4th 2016 and run until March
1st 2016.

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8. Graduation Incentive:

If a customer presents either his/her high school or college diploma (up to one month after
graduation) they have the option of two months deferred payment on a brand new Fiat. Can be
used in conjunction with proof of employment promotion. Will run from May 24th, 2015 and
repeat in May 2016.

Budgets/Timetables:
This budget is created based off of a per event basis, and variable cost analysis. Costs such as
bringing the Fiat to campus and Guess the brand would be per event costs based off of the
event. Other costs, such as advertisements, would be variable costs due to the nature of
payment. The goal is to flood social media with ads; this would be based off of a pay-per-click
payment. After doing research on the pay per click method, the average cost is $0.10 per click
per website. It is unclear as to how many people are actually going to click on the ad, so there
is no way of estimating the total cost of the budget for this purpose. The budget includes
10(x) with x being the total number of people that click on the advertisements. Other costs
included in the budget include the parent incentive program. The marketing department was
allotted a $100 budget for gift cards to issue for such an event. Other tactics that will be
implemented include: a buddy program, extended warranty for family sales, minimum
payments until proof of employment, along with a graduation incentive of deferred payments
with documentation of graduation. These tactics require a temporary halting in income from
the customers, but do not have any direct costs involved to put into the requested budget.

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 Item Cost Total

Radio $1200/Broadcast Day $6000 (5 Broadcast days)

Facebook Dark Posts $1000/ Month $12,000 (1 Year)

Landing Page (gift cards) $5 Each $500 (100 cards)

Bring Fiat 500x to campus $300 $300

Guess the brand $200/Event $2,000/Year

Merchandise (Flyers, T-shirts, $500/Event $2000/Year

keychains, Drinks)

Graduation Discount $7,200/ Year $7,200

Total Cost: $30,000

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