Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping Motorola further bu

Question

Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping Motorola further build the Moto brand. Management would like to continue rebuilding Motorola. They feel this can be best accomplished by increasing Motorola’s U.S. marketing share. Define the management-decision problem.

Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the management-decision problem you have identified. Use the Internet to determine the market shares of the major cell-phone handset manufacturers (Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony/Ericsson, etc.) for the last calendar year.

What type of syndicate data will be useful to Motorola?

Discuss the role of qualitative research in helping Motorola expand its market share.

Do you think that the mall-intercept interviewing conducted by Motorola was the best method of administering the survey? Why or why not?

Discuss the role of experimentation in helping Motorola design handsets that are preferred by consumers.

Develop a questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences for cellular handsets.

What sampling plan should be adopted for the survey of question 7?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Motorola sampling social media to determine consumer preferences for cellular handsets?

If Motorola were to conduct marketing research to determine consumer preferences for cellular handset manufacturers in Asia, how would the research process be different?

Discuss the ethical issues involved in researching consumer preferences for cellular handset manufacturers.

Sarting in 1928 as the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, Motorola(www.motorola.com ds-free driving, in October 2007 the company introduced MOTOROKR T505 has evolved into a worldwide company with more than $22.04 billion in revenue in 2009. Bluetooth, the In-Car Speakerphone and Digital FM Transmitter, its first road-ready, Today, it is a leading manufacturer and provider of wireless, samioorductor, broadband, music-oriented ROKR accessory and the latest addition to its portfolio of in-car and automotive products and services. With the wireless division, Motorola ew it solutions. needed to change. It had found through focus groups and survey research that many customers and potential customers saw Motorola's phone models as dependable, researched and backed with strong supporting evidence and data. Marketing profes- but also as dull, predictable, and boring. With the mobile phone market being flasy and sionals need to substantiate their spending on advertising and brand building with consumer driven, Motorola needed answers on how to become more mainstream research data that spells out the rationale for that spending. The Moto campaign, and popular Given the high costs associated with an advertising campaign, it was well instead of inducing customers to buy Motorola phones becauseof their features, appeal ed to consumers' lifestyle choices. The campaign positioned Motorola To find these answers, Motorola turned tomarketing research and an adver- ising agency named Ogilvy and Mather. Motorola and Ogilvy and Mather conducted phones as aspirational products that embodied a certain attitude. This positioning focus groups, depth interviews, and mall-intercept surveys. Although focus groups created an emotional connection with the consumers and targeted people's desires generated some innovative ideas, depth interviews enabled the probing of emotions to be associated with products that stand for qualities that they consider to be related to mobile phones. Mall intercepts were chosen because the respondentscooltt is, fashionable and worthy of being identified with. could be shown models of Motorola and competing brands. They found from this research that customers buying mobile phones did not buy the phone based on Motorola planned to split into two separate publicly traded companies in the first technical schematic selling points. Customers buy phones based on how they quarter of 2011, with each retaining the Motorola name. The company would spin amotionally feel about the brand of phone and the particular style of the phone. Most off Motorola Mobility, its mobile device and set-top box business. That would leave Motorola sold its wireless equipment unit to Nokia Siemens in July 2010 customers do not understand the technical parame- only Motorola Solutions, which will focus on government and commercial clients ters of the different phone models enough to make a with products such as police radios and bar-code scanners, as well as the division decision based on them. So they are choosing hat makes iDEN equipment This separation would enable Motorola Mobility to among cell phones based on whether the phone focus on its digital entertainment and mobile converged devices, providing instant fits" into their lives or by considering 'ls this phone access to television, phone, and Internet. me?" This research challenged the company's management to think of cell phones not so much Conclusion MOTOROLA ces but as fashion about who they are. It pointed Motorola into developing a marketing strategy that developed the brand name instead of pushing the features of the phone. Moreover, the brand mame had to be a global one based on universal principles. Marketing research also revealed that consumers were looking for 'intelligence everywhere, and therefore the brand had to be developed in that environment Based on marketing research findings, the Mato carrpaign established Motorola as a chic and aspirational brand that helped it overcome its poor consumer image and branding problems. The Moto campaign projects Motorola's core values and its lifestyle appeals to consumers across the world. Possessing a Moto was no longer possessing a cell phone, but having a product whose core values represented the type of lifestyle the user of the phone desired and lived. With this dependence on marketing research in the forefrant of Motorola's actions, it is certain to remain a global contender in the mobile market for years to come. Ogilvy and Mather sought to develop the Motorola brand to represent a set of universal principles-a set of core principles that defined the brand-and then send out this idea to every country and have a localized interpretation for the idea.

Explanation / Answer

Role of marketing research: The role of marketing research will play a vital role in rebuilding Motorola as a brand in the U.S. market. This further will enhance market share value of the brand in the U.S. Taking into consideration the past experiences, the management decision problem will lie in ensuring maximum mileage with minimal investment. The management can't think of investing too much on the campaigning to ensure the recommended market share.

Market share of various smart-phones in U.S.: With Samsung and Apple leading with a market share of almost 40%, Motorola comes under the other phones bracket with equal market share. With the management decision problem I had identified of not able to decide on going for a huge investment on campaigning only for the U.S., a management decision of hiring an agency to promote the brand globally has really paid off for the management to succeed well.

Syndicate data that can be useful to Motorola: Not going by the volumes, Motorola should focus on percentage of satisfied customers who treat the brand as a pride and emotionally relate to Motorola for its unique endeavour.

Qualitative research to help Motorola to expand its market share: Motorola should be doing more of a qualitative research to ensure that the best of the affordable technology available globally is made available to the consumer to ensure expansion of its market share in U.S. This will be useful to the company in the long run as well as U.S. is the benchmark for rest of the world and people in the eastern part of the world buy brands acclaimed in U.S. market.

Mall intercept interviewing as a survey: Mall intercept interviewing conducted by Motorola as a survey definitely was the best method by which the company could get the exact pulse of the consumer and helped it to understand why anyone is opting for a particular brand of mobile handset. This helped Motorola come up with the strategy of promoting the brand as a precious product and not as a fashion symbol. This helped it to ensure quality mobiles.

Role of experimentation: Role of experimentation ensured that Motorola came with the best of the design features and give the consumer high quality mobile handset preferred by the consumer at an affordable price to end user.

Questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences:

1. What brand do you use?

2. Why do you use that brand?

3. What alternate brand will you prefer?

4. Why do you look for an alternate to present?

Advantages / disadvantages of Motorola sampling social media to determine consumer preferences:

Advantages: Understood why consumers prefer / don't prefer a brand and if price is the only parameter regarding.

Disadvantages: The mass presence of Motorola as a brand vanished and people cornered it as a separate product.

Motorola's market research in Asia: In Asia, market research will be definitely different as the consumer segment too is widely different. Here the focus will be price based as the consumer is price conscious apart from quality.

Ethical issues involved in researching consumer preferences: While doing a research on consumer preferences, the ethical issues involved will be primarily keeping the information confidential. And also the information should not be used to demote other brands and promote our brand highlighting short-falls in the other brand. It's because if they too does the same, there will be not end to it and the market harmony will be lost and unhealthy competition will surface. Unhealthy competition will kill the brand image of all the companies and future such surveys will not be entertained with the consumers loosing respect towards the international brands.   

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