THE MARKETING MIX

The Marketing Mix

The Marketing Mix

Part - 1: Automobile - Hyundai KIA Automotive Group

Introduction

In today's world, automobile has gained a status of sophisticated high-tech product rather than just a mode of transport. It has become a mobile living space, representing the pursuit of quality of life and social status of people. Therefore, in today's automotive business activities, the company should pay more attention to enhancing customer experience and satisfaction. As experience is an essential component of customer value, good experience is the leverage to measure the worth of goods or services. That is to say, only good marketing strategies can defeat competitors. Hence, it is pertinent for enterprises to target the right market, set up effective marketing strategies and make marketing innovation through overall analysis of rivals, current enterprise marketing conditions and market needs and wants under the heated competition of automobile market. Recently, Hyundai KIA Automotive Group announced that Group's global investment would be total 10.5 trillion, which re-established the highest investment record of the company. The new investment program will be mainly used in new energy-related Research & Development, and factory hardware facilities. In the next section, we will take KIA Motors as an example, and analyze its marketing mix in the past and present. The conclusion will present some useful suggestions regarding the use of marketing strategies in future.

Discussion

Analysis of KIA Marketing Mix

Product

In the 90s, KIA considered little about consumer demands, not to say consumer satisfaction. The company just tried to expand the scale and scope of business. Its products were lack of diversity. After the change of marketing strategy and making full use of sports marketing, South Korea's Hyundai KIA Automotive Group's ranked from 10th in 1999 to a global rise to fifth in the world. KIA blended two kinds of sports marketing perfectly. Firstly, they used sports product marketing itself as one of the patterns. Secondly, they used sporting events as a carrier for non-sports product marketing and brand communications, and further, they combined the enterprise idea with a "Passion beyond the Dream". In the next 3 years, the KIA motors should make full use of network marketing, community marketing, culture and arts marketing and environment marketing and continue to use sports marketing (Moon, 2009).

Price

While Koreans have always adopted an extremely aggressive pricing strategy, Hyundai KIA has positioned itself at a premium place in the global market through offering competitive prices in comparison to other industry players. Hence, it is evident from the global automotive sales data that South Korea's Hyundai KIA Automotive Group ranked from 10th in 1999 to a global rise to fifth in the world in 2009. That is to say, the company jumped 6 seats in the past ten years and left behind the Honda, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Fiat, and Chrysler. Rio models released in 1999 and Sportage joined in Paris - Dakar Rally in 2001 and then the KIA Tigers baseball team established a new image of KIA Motors altogether (Maric, ...