Optus Marketing | Assignment Help
Executive Summary
The technical market environment is highly dynamic, and customer attention is a vital aspect for any productive project and is driven by customer profound comprehension. The customer is the client base of the company representing the needs, the goals of the acquisition, its priorities, and the selection process. The ultimate goal of the business is to grow in a sustainable manner, the business to consumer segment of the market is highly competitive for the Australian technological industry, and the business to business segment is lucrative and needs the attention of the company. The situational analysis of Optus identified several issues which need to be addressed this reflective report focuses on the marketing objectives which are developed in accordance with the business plan and target market and positioning for the company is also discussed. The optimal marketing mix is discussed to meet the marketing objectives by focusing on the business to business segment by bundled products with skimmed prices and communicated as a sales promotion by highly trained individuals which focus on customer service standards.
Introduction
The focus of this reflective report is to how Optus should focus on the marketing plan in context to the current situational analysis which revealed that there is an ample amount of opportunity in the business to business segment where the 5G technology poses a wider range of opportunities for the firms to grasp, the strengths of Optus like their financial backing and overcoming their majority of the weakness and develop a strategy that will focus on the business opportunity of catering to the business to business segment which will assist the aspects of the marketing plan that addresses the issues of mismanagement and poor customer service model.
The report is structured where firstly the marketing objectives are stated for the next 12 months in the context of the current issues present in the company. Furthermore, the target market segment and positioning are also recommended which would assist Optus in reaching the said marketing objectives for the 12 months. The report further unfolds as to how the marketing mix should be optimized to focus on the target market to obtain the marketing objectives. The report also discusses how the marketing plan elements are linked with recommendations to measure the outcome of the plan. The report will see its conclusion by reflecting on the main points as to how the plan would benefit Optus to reach its goals.
Marketing Objectives
It is essential to develop clear strategic strategies in order to ensure businesses resolve the challenges highlighted in their operations in order to eliminate or fix their issues (Kotler, 1999). Organizations need to evaluate their business environment and their position within that environment. Therefore, they will build a strategic strategy that responds to challenges and opportunities through the use of their resources and the management of their vulnerabilities (Cohen, 2005; Wood, 2011).
Current Situation
Broad network penetration is the most significant strategic benefit for the business offering internet and telephony services (Shafei & Tabaa, 2016). This strong network reach gives Optus a new advantage over its rivals and supports about 10.3 million subscribers, accounting for about 97.2 percent of the Australian population (Optus, 2019). Optus’ parent corporation is the largest communications technology provider in Asia, Singapore Telecommunications Limited, with 690 million global clients and a footprint in 21 countries (Singtel, 2019), efficient governance, stakeholder community engagement, and expertise is a durable strategic advantage for the organization. The sustainable competitive advantage is due to its parent corporation. Optus reported revenue for the fiscal year 2019 by 9.099 billion compared to revenue for the financial year 2018 by 8.612 billion. (Singtel, 2019) the 5.65 percent rise goes above the overall annual industry growth (ACCC, 2019). The roots of the parent corporation are regionally specific; Asia is the most concentrated region, while the other players are more focused on global expansion by creating numerous companies in a various region which are vulnerable to economic and market conditions (ACCC, 2019).
The global shift and focus are on 5G where many corporations are investing in the groundbreaking technology, the transition from 4G to 5G will enhance the user experience for consumers as well as business clients, the expected increase in mobile data traffic globally is to be around 8 times the current usage by 2023 (Deloitte, 2019), greater infrastructure, higher bandwidth rate and expanded use of spectrum is required. And 5G will bring new opportunities to people, society and business. The bandwidth necessity of businesses and organizations fuels innovation in the network infrastructure industry (Deloitte, 2019). Factors including increases in consumer demands, improvements in reward schemes, or new goods to the rival may impact a company’s competitive position in the Australian telecommunication industry (ACCC, 2019). Competitive considerations affect demands for its services, along with the early development of new and cheaper items, and the corporation’s exposure to lower costs in order to sustain competition. Emerging players are still hard to gain their largest market share in developed countries, in comparison to the existing ones (Deloitte, 2019). The telecommunications industry offers many big technological innovations, product development, and expansion. Therefore, the corporation will constantly produce new products and update existing products and invest in emerging technology and innovations to enhance them so that they can satisfy the demands of its clients. The introduction of inventions and technologies calls for tremendous R&D commitment. Unless these developments will not meet the anticipated business criteria, the company’s earnings would suffer from investment (Deloitte, 2019).
The key obstacle of OPTUS is the competitive pressure between the telecoms industry and the SingTel parent company in relation to its policies and strategies. Strategies and methods opted by Optus to optimize activities have not been successful in the long term and Telstra the principal competitor has affected his image as a company and its consumer satisfaction in several respects. Optus often suffer from a weak customer experience model, as any of its customers seeking some assistance or investigation is typically held for longer periods before the contact is transferred to the individual concerned (Arboleda, 2019). Telstra is an ideal position to sweep the business segment in the brink of the technological change of 5G thus it is essential the marketing plan should be developed to focus on the business segment of the market to resolve the highlighted issue and achieve the objectives.
Objectives
The study by Doran (1981) brought the concept of S.M.A.R.T Goals into attention which is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based the marketing objectives to overcome the issues while grasping on the opportunities will be used in this report. In order to prevent brand misunderstanding, these goals are necessary to illustrate the company’s overall business strategy and mission (Solomon, 2009). The business objective of Optus is to “become a world-class digital service provider, always guided by our Purpose to go further to connect customers with exceptional service, network, and value. We want to create sustainable and long‑term growth for our business while leading and shaping positive change for all our stakeholders across the four pillars of our sustainability strategy: The Most Connected Communities, The Smallest Footprint, Our Greatest Asset, and The Best Experience“ (Optus, 2019). The following marketing objectives which are developed for the next 12 month are in sync with the business plan are to be suggested to improve the competitive market situation for Optus.
- Improve the customer service experience by 40% through the implementation of training and development programs for the customer representatives with a focus on high standards service policies for customer engagement.
- Expand the business to business segment by 25% in the next 12 months.
- Improved marketing communication to avoid any misleading marketing campaigns that can lead to legal consequences.
Target Market and Positioning
In a successful marketing strategy, market segmentation and targeting are essential, since clear positions and marketing mix choices cannot take place without a specified target market (Jain, Haley, Voola, & Wickham, 2000). Segmentation is effective because its attention can be concentrated on the section that is most promising. In fact, it helps the business to focus on specialized campaigns to meet the unique needs of each customer (Cohen, 2005; Peter, Olson, & Grunert, 1999; Wood, 2011).
Target Market
Optus is currently dealing with two major segments B2B and B2C.
Business to Business
- Mobile Telecommunication Solution: The business solution focused on all industries as a wide range of networks assist in maximum customer reach (Singtel, 2019).
- Broadband & NBN: The business solution focuses on enterprises which require internet usage in their offices, the increasing spread of broadband has assisted in reaching diverse customers (Singtel, 2019).
- Business VOIP Phones: The focused enterprises are the ones seeking PABX solutions (Optus, 2019).
- Optus IT Services: The businesses are focused which are seeking solutions like cloud, cybersecurity, and network management (Singtel, 2019).
- Entertainment OTT: Focused primarily on retail consumers which have a footfall of their customers who require entertainment needs (Singtel, 2019).
Business to Consumers
- Broadband & NBN: This segment of the market is broad homeowners, the solution is focused on the homeowners, and this has diverse demographics, psychographics, and behavioural differences, focused primarily on a consistent internet solution at home (Singtel, 2019).
- Mobile Telecommunication Solution: This segment can be divided into three age groups 14-17, 18-24, and 25-40+ based on the consumers of the telecommunication users in Australia (ACCC, 2019; Arboleda, 2019). The segments are focused on various deals and bundles to meet their needs for telecommunication services.
- Entertainment OTT: This segment of the market is broad homeowners, the solution is focused on the homeowners, and this is focused predominately on content seeking individuals and families which has a wide range of diverse psychographics, and behavioural differences, focused primarily on a consistent internet solution at home (Singtel, 2019).
Positioning
For the business to consumers Optus has focused on positioning itself as a low priced competitive product with a wider range of solutions and bundles by promoting multiple products, due to the complex nature of the consumers which are diverse the overall positioning is based on sub-segments of the target market and even though Optus has obtained a competitive advantage over its counterparts on the 5G solution it still fails to deliver on the customer service aspects which is a major downfall for this segment of the target market, whereas competitors are focused on customer service experience (Arboleda, 2019), customer service model can make or break a customer loyalty in this highly competitive market of telecommunications (Shafei & Tabaa, 2016). For the business to business consumer Optus is focused on a wider range of products rather than a focused solution, the business needs are widespread which is a why the focus of Optus is to meet the needs of all required business solution, however, it fails to stand out amongst its counterparts the generic feel of the products and solution gives no sustainable competitive advantage for the company. An appropriate marketing mix can assist in a positively perceived positioning to be more competitive in the service delivery model and stand out for enterprise/business solutions.
