Product and Branding Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Product and Branding Strategies - Essay Example But overall the two main competitors of BMW are Mercedes and Lexus (Carscoop 2011) All these names are of the luxury car manufacturers. The reason that BMW automobiles are different from its competitors’ vehicles is that BMW offers a wide range of vehicles from luxury to sports cars. BMW vehicles are different on the basis of its design. BMW vehicles are designed keeping in mind the biasness towards sports, whereas Mercedes are designed keeping in mind the comfort and luxury attributes. Innovation rate at BMW is high as compared to the competitors. It has several series or categories of vehicles unlike other vehicle brands e.g. z-series, x-series etc. Brand personality of BMW is of a person who is mobile, wants recognition and freedom. The person wants to be considered important by others. He wants the people to look at him. He is a symbol of status. This refers to the recognition trait of the personality. The freedom trait refers to that the person is free and can go beyond t he boundaries anywhere it wants. He wants fun and looks for adventure (Freeman.David 2006) Consumers have a deep relationship with the brand of BMW. This relationship is significant because consumers do not buy this brand only because it performs well but also because it adds meaning to their lives (Fournier.Susan 1998) Consumers associate themselves with the BMW vehicles personally. IT can be explained simply by saying that a consumer can buy other automobile brands as well which performs well and is of high quality but they prefer BMW vehicles because it has more meaning attached to it. Consumers get more than just a better performing automobile. People relate to the brands they buy. The consumer relationship with the BMW vehicles will lie under the typology of â€Å"Best Friend† and â€Å"Kinship† (Fournier.Susan 1998) Some consumers consider BMW vehicles as an important part of their personal and professional lives and many others buy the brand just because some re lative have been using it. BMW have a huge customer loyalty. People who drive BMW vehicles hardly switch to other vehicle brands. A reason for this customer loyalty is that BMW is a luxury brand; not everyone can afford it. Anyone who will make this huge investment in the purchase of a BMW vehicle will somehow be loyal to the brand; otherwise he could have made a decision of purchasing some other luxury car brand. Another reason for this customer loyalty is that BMW vehicles give a lifetime value to its customers, though some of its competitors have greater customer loyalty. BMW’s target market include of those people who want to buy luxury cars, who have high incomes. BMW is basically targeting a niche market. It has differentiated its vehicles and targets them to the niche market of people who are status conscious and who can afford to buy luxury items. The target market comprises of the people who are sporty and look for adventure and BMW sports cars are the best means of fulfilling their desire of sports and adventure. The target market of the brand relates quite well to the brand personality. There is a fit between the target market and the brand personality of BMW. BMW is an already established brand which requires less marketing efforts. But still some marketing efforts need to be put in to market the upcoming products and to instate the recall of the current vehicles in the minds of the consumers. BMW has well defined brand personality and the target market, so it can make the best decision about

Changes in Family and Personal Finances in the Last Generations Essay

Changes in Family and Personal Finances in the Last Generations - Essay Example Political factors such as the Cold War and political tensions globally also affected their productivity and participation in economic activities, which in turn affected their financial status. These people benefited from the social and political stability witnessed from 1970-2000. Personal and family finances of people of generation Y have changed because of changes in government policies, information technology and globalization. Most generation X families relied on one paycheck. This means that only one spouse engaged in economic activities. Though these families relied on one paycheck, they spent 54 percent of their income. Spending was mainly concentrated on fixed expenses such as insurance, mortgage, food and loans. Conversely, most generation Y families have both families working. These families spend 75 percent of their earning on fixed expenses (Warren and Tyagi 20). The spending trends of generation X and generation Y are important because they show that generation Y is more financially vulnerable than their counterparts of generation X. In case of uncertainties such as illnesses and job loss, people of generation X could easily cut back on their spending. These families used 54 percent of their income on fixed expenses and 46 percent on discretionary spending such as fashion and vacation. They could easily cut back on these spending in order to ensure that they overcome the uncertainty. A generation ago, families could address setbacks such as illnesses and job loss by cutting back on their spending. 54 percent of the income of these families was used on fixed expenses.