Marketing Communication and Brand Strategy
Marketing communication connotes ways of informing, persuading, and reminding customers about a company’s products and the brands it sells. It enables a business to establish dialogue and build meaningful relationships with its clientele. Conversely, brand strategy refers to the actions that enable a firm to increase brand recognition, thereby connecting its clienteles to the business. Effective marketing communication and brand strategy can help Dell to increase customer’s awareness of the newly introduced XPS Laptops.
Situation Analysis
Vision, Mission, Strategic objectives, Values. Dell’s vision is to be a leading computer, IT, and peripheral dealer, oriented towards growth by displaying quality and unmatched customer services (Dell Technologies, 2020). It perpetuates this vision in its mission of maintaining the highest possible benchmarks in customer service through quality technology and cost leadership. Its strategic objective is to drive human progress by spearheading technological revolutions. It operates on the core values of customer-oriented, innovation, results, and integrity.
Competitor’s Strength and Weakness. The PC market is highly competitive. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo, Apple, Acer, and Toshiba are Dell’s main competitors globally. Notably, most of them have similar products and strategies. HP, Dell’s leading rival, thrives on the following strengths: strong presence outside U.S., brand reputation, and diversified brand portfolio (Blauvelt et al., 2012). It also enjoys a relatively lean cost structure, which allows it to push significant sales volume. Its weaknesses include poor acquisition strategy, a weak presence in the tablet market, and overdependence on sales from personal systems division.
Market Segments. Dell’s target market comprises geographical and demographic segments. Geographically, Dell has divided its target market broadly into US/Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific-Japan (CSI Market, 2020). The rationale for this segmentation is the high percentage of computer users in developed and developing countries. Demographically, Dell has segmented its target market into business and personal/home users. The business segment ranges from small to large enterprises.
Creating a Brand Image. Brand image is a deciding factor that determines product sales. Dell creates a brand image through its emphasis on key values and strategic objectives. The company reengineered its core logo asset, creating a modernized, thinner logo that signals a change, while simultaneously maintaining the heritage of being one of the most recognizable brands globally (Dell Technologies, 2020). The change is reflective of sleek design, lightweight, and 2-n-1 computers.
Advertising Strategy. Dell’s advertising strategy includes festive discounts, regular offers, issuing newsletters to registered customers, bonuses, and waiving of shipping charges on certain products. Moreover, the company also maintains an active presence in the digital and print media platforms.
Product, Place, Promotion, and Price Strategies. These 4Ps form Dell’s marketing mix. Its product strategy focuses on continuous innovation and quality. The newly introduced XPS series are lightweight, sleek design, and 2-n-1. These products target customers looking for premium quality and high-end hardware configuration (MBA Skool Team, 2020). Dell’s place strategy entails online marketing platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, and retail stores and shops. The company has exclusive stores in major cities across the U.S and India, allowing customers to view their products. The pricing strategy varies with the brand category. For the XPS series, Dell charges premium prices due to the differentiated features from its competitors. Notably, Dell’s promotion strategy involves branding through TV, print media, and online ads. These strategies enable the company to build a distinguished brand image and reach its target market.
Conclusion
Marketing communication and brand strategy are essential in communicating the message to the target customers. A company must critically evaluate its operational context to decide the marketing communication and brand strategy. Dell’s brand strategy and marketing communication approach resonate with its vision, mission, strategic objectives, and core values.