Digital marketing in the car industry
Qatar is regarded as one of the world’s largest luxury market as its economy is growing and it has helped in the expenditure and popularity of the luxury brands. Setting up companies in the country has increased the salaries of the locals, which increased the purchasing power of the local individuals. Additionally, the luxury products are not restricted to a single sector, and automobile industry possesses some of the bigger and well-known brands. Electronic marketing affects sales in different ways. Therefore, this research paper attempts to evaluate the impacts of e-marketing mix in the sale of luxury cars. Furthermore, the logos or brands are not just an amalgamation of groups in different factors like that of experience, imagination, and desire within the consumer minds (Wiedmann, 2013 p.141). In most cases, affinity or loyalty people have towards a product relates to the positive experience these individuals have with these commodities. Both natural and luxury brands play an important role to the consumer.
According to Wiedmann (2013), the requirement and the popularity levels of the brands that come under the luxury label have increased although only a few brands would fall under it. Additionally, according to Uche Okwonko (2010) in the new generation, these luxury products add a particular meaning to the buyer’s life or at least the buyers consider having some importance for these commodities. For the new generation, the luxury products symbolize their success, wealth, and sophistication. The luxury brand market is a minuscule one, but their contribution to the economy is high and also because they are a billion-dollar industry with room to grow and popularity on the rise. Uche Okwonko (2010) mentions that in the recent years the market which was restricted to the wealthy and privileged has been opened up and the reach has been increasing every year.
Marketing of Qatari cars
Qatari customers are among the people with the highest income in the world. However, they should find ways of dealing with high and rising cost of living in the country. The spending of the consumer also continues to improve with time. Approximately 85% of the population in the country are expats, and this has profoundly affected the goods on offer in most of the retail establishments. The demand for luxury products is also increasing basing on their productivity among the Qatari nationals.
The customers in Qatar are getting more fussy, more demanding, and extreme when it comes to cars. For instance, when W Motors announced that the hypercar it had manufactured would cost $3million, most of the people raised their eyebrows wondering who could spend such amount on cars. However, the CEO replied that its consumers needed something more exclusive because they already had Ferrari, Bentley, and Lamborghini. He also said that the firm’s cars would go to the Arab countries even if they receive requests from the other parts of the world. The reason is that the car business in Qatar is highly growing and this indicates that it is important to do research on the impacts of e-marketing mix on luxury cars. Companies should enhance e-marketing to meet the demand for luxury cars in Qatar (n.d, p. 31). Furthermore, everything concerning automotive sector in Qatar is currently extreme.
When there is a growing importance within the organizations to sell their luxury products and attract new customers from different sections of the society and world, it becomes necessary for the team to devise a strategy for the marketing mix that would help the organization stay ahead of the competition and reach more people. Currently, there is a stiff competition in the automobile industry and firms are struggling to produce exceptional cars to meet the demand of the clients. Therefore, it is necessary for an organization to communicate and find innovative methods to understand the needs of the customers and get a solution that would be helpful. According to Fournier (1998), constant updating is required in the marketing mix to help the organization improve its relationship with the customers and stay ahead always.
Luxury car market
In 1997, luxury car market amounted to around 20% of the overall market share globally. Since then, the demand for luxury cars has increased annually. The global market for luxury cars is considered to be $350 billion and the growth for the year 2015-16 was said to be around 10% and further higher in the following years as the demand and popularity of these cars kept increasing (Bain & Co., 2014). Additionally, owning these cars has not been about having a high quality product with high technology, but it has been more about the prestige that comes with owning such a luxury product. Therefore, digital marketing has played a significant role in increasing the sale of cars globally. Most companies have capitalized on these online advertisements and another marketing mix to popularize and sell their products, and there has been a lot of success stories. The impact of the digital marketing mix on the luxury car segment is something that would help the organization understand the need for digital marketing mix in general as people with the above research from Market Share found that Twitter views and commercialization does have an impact.
This study will be undertaken in Qatar where the researcher works and is a part of an automobile sales showroom selling luxury cars. Qatar is regarded as one of the wealthiest nations in the world with its growth coming because of its large oil and natural gas reserve and its sale. The country’s economy has been growing ever since the natural gas was found and in the current global scenario where the oil prices have fallen the country is looking to diversify itself by spreading its wings in other business sector and not just the oil and gas industry. The majority of the population in the country is made of expat population from developed, developing and underdeveloped countries that have, either their businesses or work for various companies and have grown with the economy. According to Snoj (2014), the average pay scale among women is around 21000 Qatari Riyals, and for men, it was around 29000 Riyals. Though the expats are the ones that receive a lower salary, there are those administrative professionals that do get paid well. In addition to all this in a report by CNBC in 2013, it was said that the Qatar luxury market was the fastest growing market in the world. Furthermore, the country has around 4500 deca-millionaires and 57000 millionaires in a population that are just over the 2 million mark. Not only this but the country also has the highest GDP per capita which is entirely based on the purchasing power parity and the prices of the products in the current market (Knoema, 2015).
Research Objectives
The aim of this research study is to identify the impact digital marketing mix on the economy of Qatar. It will also establish the key components of the marketing mix with more impact on the purchasing decision of the consumers. It will also evaluate if digital marketing mix has more importance among the people or customers. This paper also aims at understanding if the digital marketing mix has an impact on the sales. Another objective is to see whether the same e-marketing mix factors have the same influence as digital marketing factors. The research will also help in understanding customer focus on the digital marketing mix in the new era.
