CONTEMPORARY BRAND MANAGEMENT
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
This study seeks to analyze the position of Saab Automobile AB in the market. Saab is a Swedish car-manufacturer that is owned and a subsidiary of General Motors. Saab manufactures premium cars. It is appointed by the King of Sweden to be the exclusive royal automobile. It is known to be an exclusive car or one of the most luxurious cars. Saab also takes pride of having ingenious designs, environmental friendly. Saab also has a reputation of being one of the pioneers in safety and design. (Saab Automobile, 2008)
Saab competes directly with Aidi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes Benz and Volvo. (Saab Automobile, 2008) Saab is known for the tagline ‘mind your room’ which connotes the comfort of a house or a hotel room. Saab was designed and created by Simon Padian and Tjasa Gusfors. According to Padian, it was designed to be “a flow, a journey, a pulse which aims to disrupt and challenge visitor perceptions of what is normal or expected.” (Moldova, 2008)
Saab Automobile AB is currently operating independently in more than 50 countries as a luxury vehicle. (Tech, 2008) It imports and distributes more than 37000 Saab Sedans, convertibles and wagons annually to American Dealers. Since Saab is made to be an exclusive car, it has a tight competition with other car manufacturers. Other car manufacturers are launching aggressive marketing campaigns, and inexpensive financing offers, easy to pay car loans. Since Saab take pride on being an exclusive car, they only capitalize on deploying dealers that will sell to prospective car buyers. The company deployed Siebel solutions, which would improve dealer follow up and customer satisfaction. (Oracle, 2006)
In a news article in 1996, it stated that Saab loss 1.24 billion kronor or 168 Million US Dollars after a break-even result. It is expected that the losses would deepen if Saab will continue to be at a very high cost to keep the car as an excusive car. (European, 1996)
On the contrary, in August 2004, Saab made up to 133 percent growth of sales compared to its previous months. The premium car made a five percent share to the total car market in United Kingdom (UK, 2004).
Finally, in May 2005, Saab achieved the highest share of the automobile market in United Kingdom. Saab sold 2382 cars, in April 2005 which resulted to revenue of 1.27 percent of the total car market. (UK, 2005)
According to a research, people who drive Saab carry a sense of pride from the rich history of Saab Automobile. Saab owners would love to tell stories that their vehicles are founded by an aircraft manufacturer, which after World War II, diversified into boats and then to cars. Saab drivers would stop to another Saab driver having trouble or who looked like needing some help. (Strategy, 2001) It has been known that many customers stay loyal to a particular brand because it is making them feel that they are part of the community.
The rationale of this study is basically to dig deeper into the current position of Saab Automobile AB, as an exclusive and a luxury car. It would focus its research to the reasons of its continuing growth in the market.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study is designed to answer the following questions:
1. What car manufacturer is the closest competitor of Saab automobile?
2. What are the reasons of Saab’s weak competition in the market in the early years?
3. How is Saab different to its competitors?
4. What are advertising methods that they Saab used?
5. What are the reasons of the growth of sales of Saab Automobile?
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the closest competitor of Saab automobile.
2. To determine the reasons of Saab’s weak competition in the market.
3. To determine the difference of Saab to its competitors.
4. To determine the advertising methods that they Saab used.
5. To determine the reasons of the growth of sales of Saab Automobile.
METHODOLOGY
This study will be analytical and descriptive in nature. The first part of the study will describe the current trend of marketing competition and where Saab is situated. The second part of the study will analyze the reasons why Saab, though one of the most luxurious cars, has a weak competition in the market.
This study will involve research regarding the market of automobiles. Online sources will be used, together with news articles, magazines and updated books to get the most accurate rates of the automobiles in the market. An interview with Saab’s personnel may also be added for further data. Graphical representations will be shown such as charts for better picture of the competitions.
REFERENCES
Saab Automobile. (2008) Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. [Online Source] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Automobile
Tech Republic (2008) Saab Cars USA. [Online Source] Available at : http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/casestudy.aspx?docid=272987
Automoldova. (2008) Saab creates brand experience from a hotel. [Online Source] Available at : http://auto.moldova.org/stiri/eng/95638/
Oracle Customer Case Study. (2006) Saab Cars USA. [Online Source] Available at : http://www.oracle.com/customers/snapshots/saab-cars-usa-siebel-casestudy.pdf
European Business News. (1996) Hellenic Resources Network. [Online Resource] Avaialble at; http://www.hri.org/news/europe/ebn/1997/97-02-14.ebn.html#05
UK Carpages. (2005) Saab’s market share flies to record in May. [Online Source] Available at : http://www.carpages.co.uk/saab/saab-record-sales-06-06-05.asp
Uk Carpages. (2005) Saab Is Fastest Growing Marque In UK Premium Car Market.
[Online Source] Available at : http://www.carpages.co.uk/saab/saab_is_fastest_growing_marque_in_uk_premium_car_market_07_08_04.asp
Strategy+Business. (2001) Recent Studies. [Online Source] Available at : http://www.strategy-business.com/press/16635507/20156
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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