Study On King-Long Bus Company's Marketing Strategy On Partial Markets In Guangdong Province

The competition of China's bus market is getting more and more intense. King-Long Bus Company(referred as King-long hereafter) has shifted from the market leader to the market challenger.The need of the customers is tending to be pluralistic and diversified.It is of great realistic meaning to study King-Long's marketing issues for partial regions in Guangdong Province under such circumstances.Applying modern marketing theory and methods of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis,the author of this article conducts a study on marketing strategy of King-Long for partial regions in Guangdong Province under such circumstances.Firstly,on the basis of a vast amount of investigation and research,the article conducts a thorough SWOT analysis on the market environment of bus manufacturing industry.The author of this article is taking the holding of 2010 Asian Sports Game in Guanzhou which will inevitably lead to the increase of total volume of Guangzhou bus market as an opportunity for King-Long and the intense market competition is the greatest threat.He considers King-Long has some comparative advantages on the brand,product technique,art and design and the strength of its distributors but has some disadvantages on the product price,the reliability and stability of the vehicles and the post-sale services.Secondly,the author chooses the target market for King-Long and conduct a market positioning for it.The author positions medium-and-high end market as the target market of King-Long for certain regions in Guangdong Province.The market is divided into three regions according to the geography:Guangzhou and Fushan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai and Northwest of Guangdong Province.The industry market in each region is segmented into public transit,passenger transport,tourism and group.The author positions King-Long as the challenger of the market, adopting differential product positioning strategy,to satisfy the needs of various clients in the market.Finally,the author defines the mixed market strategy which requires overall change of marketing concept and launches offensive.In the product strategy,the author points out that King-Long should fully consider the requirements of its clients during the periods of product plan and design in order to provide sustainable profitable bus.In the pricing strategy,the author suggests to adopt market-leader follower's pricing method.While in some segmented market,King-Long should adopt differential pricing method to strike for market quota.In the channel strategy, the author puts forward that same importance shall be attached in direct sale and distribution and innovate the sale method by fasten the buildup of internet sale channel.The author also addresses the bus marketing strategy in the background of high oil price.In the promotion strategy,the author suggests that newspaper should be given the priority for propaganda.The sales persons should follow the principle of sincerity during promotion and pay attention to the promotion techniques,attaching great importance on the customer's value.