New Product Launch Nissan Altima, Essay Example

Competition

China’s domestic automobile market can best be described as a dynamic stream that flows in a manner that makes it open to rapid changes in response to both domestic and international forces. With China’s accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) the market dynamics are most definitely going to continue exhibiting this dynamism as the Chinese government relaxes its international trade restrictions; this will be followed by a massive influx of competition to be experienced by both local and foreign automakers including Nissan. Essentially, the competition is taken the form of massive competition in pricing, facilitation of marketing activities, robust sales and product differentiation, to say the least. The ability of an automaker to remain afloat in the midst of the mounting competition largely depends on the capacity of the respective automakers to consolidate their individual niche markets.

Within the long term paradigm it is expected that the market dynamism will persist to such a degree that will call for the market to respond to aggressive adaptation mechanisms to reflect existing realities that players in the industry are grappling with. These includes among other things exit and entry methods as well as mergers and acquisitions. Local automakers are expected to suffer the heaviest brunt of competition judging by the low level of their state of technology in comparison to foreign producers such as Nissan (Riley, 2002).

A close look at the local Chinese auto market reveals that it is highly concentrated and to some extent somewhat competitive, taking of cognizance of the fact that the market cannot be said to be under the control of a group of producers. In other words, there is a framework that allows for a level playing field by all parties.

Pricing Competition

According to Liu (2001), a common trend within the domestic Chinese auto market when it comes to the question of pricing is centered on responsive pricing policies. In other words, automakers will always set their price in a manner that conforms to the prevailing market price vis-à-vis what other producers within the market have placed their price at, or expected to place their price at. Consequently, the phenomenon is that there is limited price competition amongst specific auto categories where as price competition tends to assume a very fierce dimension within the realms of individual auto categories.

The dynamism of the market in some instances tends to present a fairly misleading posture of the market with regards to price competition. Take for instance, the 2002 and 2003 years, which witnessed a decline of prices by a margin of 10% across all sectors of the auto market presented a bleak state of pricing competition, especially against the backdrop that the auto market is primarily regulated around price reactions. Meanwhile, in the real sense the domestic market was hit with an unprecedented level of soaring increases in the cost of production thus triggering the unconventional drop in sales prices across the industry, which is somewhat unusual. But this reversal in conventional pricing policies can be clearly attributed to competition within and amongst the different categories of auto producers, consequently inducing a negative impact on the profit making.

Marketing Objectives

The marketing communications plan for the launch of Nissan Altima is comprehensively crafted to reflect the overall marketing objectives of the product so as to achieve maximum returns and impact. To this end, the objectives will satisfy three basic indicators within the framework, namely: marketing, corporate and communication objectives. The primary thrust of the marketing objective is hinged on the successful launch of the Nissan Altima unto the market. Following the sequence is the corporate objective of higher sales and profit maximization for all stakeholders. Finally, the marketing communication then serves as the vehicle that will facilitate the achievement of all the stated objectives. Within this context the marketing objectives accompanying the launch of the Nissan Altima are stated below:

• Develop and consolidate the Nissan brand name that will ensure that it becomes a preferred choice by demanders;
• Full publicity to accompany the launch of the Nissan Altima in a way that will also ensure that all aspects of the Chinese market is fully reached;
• Highlight the innovative dimensions of the Nissan Altima to the consumers within the target market;
• Above all, as a result of the communication higher purchases should be recorded.

Marketing Communication

Varey (2002) argues that to be able to achieve success in communicating to potential buyers to consider purchasing any product, which in this case the Nissan Altima, it is imperative to streamline the procedure along two distinct layers. In the first level it is prudent to completely make the product fully known for what it is and what it is not. Secondly, bring to attention the current state of the product in its life cycle.

With this in mind, the use of public relations to achieve these goals will be employed to reach the target market with the relevant information that will inform their buying choices. Evidently, the advantage of using public relations is underpinned by the fact that it is cost effective in the long run without compromising on the authenticity and credibility of the information that will be disseminated through the mass media. The public relations activities will touch on virtually all the traditional media outlets such as television, radio, print and electronic media to achieve the aims of the campaign.

Budget and Finance

Prior to the official launching of the Nissan Altima on the local Chinese market, the marketing communications plan will serve as the precursor of the main launch so as to achieve the highest impact. Coming out with the marketing communications plan is the product of collaboration between all concerned departments within the parent Nissan Corporation in the realization of the final outcome of the plan. It should also be noted that essentially all aspects of the implementation of the communication plan has been clearly articulated in the grand plan.

It is therefore prudent to ensure that the budgetary allocation that will be used to facilitate the implementation of the communication plan within the target market will be realistically within the provided limits. In the light of this, management considers that a sum of USD $12 million will be sufficiently able to ensure the implementation of the plan.

Reference

Varey, Richard. (2002) Marketing Communication. London: Routledge.