LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA INC.

Critique of it’s positioning, advertising and sponsorships in USA.

ItishaSeerat

SuhasiniRachit

Sidhant

GROUP 5 :

History and Overview

• Conceived its first 4WD utility vehicle in 1947 and named it as Land Rover

• Similar to a war jeep but much more versatile

• More popular with rural, industrial, civil and military sectors

• Range Rover was introduced in 1970 and it became an instant hit. By 1975, 75% of the Land Rover vehicles produced were Range Rovers

Offerings

Focus on the vehicle’s functional utility

Target segment :industrial, rural and military population

Catered to the needs of the third world countries

Defined it self as “The rugged and eccentric image of the cars. Cars which safari lovers would use during hunting. “

An extended version of the Land Rover, catering to the contemporary needs of the customers

Recognised and catered to the unmet extravagant needs of the customers

A combination of luxury and sturdiness

Challenge

To pitch it in the luxury SUV segment, with already existing big luxury players

The price comparisons would draw people towards a Mercedes or a BMW

Eventually, it was launched in a niche segment of 4x4 focussing on luxury

RANGE ROVERLAND ROVER

Category Differentiation

Land Rover and Range Rover catered to entirely different needs

The former focused on ruggedness and had a masculine appeal

Ranger Rover was introduced as an extension of the utility services already being offered while catering to the luxury needs of the customers

Message: against all odds

Persistent ad-Environment: Rugged Terrain

Land Rover Discovery

Targeted dual set of customers – Young adults with 3 door, old traditionalists with 5 door

Efforts were made so as to not dampen Range Rover sales with changes in design and technology

People wanted something different to experience rather than just a status symbol. Something adventurous and fun.

SUV’s were perfect for it

With its worldwide success, Land Rover decided to go for the target of 40,000 LRNA units per year by 1998

Positioning the brand

The brand focused on pitching the car under 3 appeals:1. The best off-road vehicle available2. A luxury SUV 3. The car the queen drives

US buyers required knowledge about the new category in focus• The brand’s advertising placed the utility of the

vehicle• Bold visuals with compelling and thought provoking

taglines calling out for customer attention

How they built on the positioning :• Built on direct and crisp communication Highlighted direct facts: Price

For a luxury segment , that is not the most effective tool

Positioning

How they did it :Focus on the lineage of the company

Positioned themselves in a target set that was distinguished from the market, open to tough challenges and had an extreme flair for adventure

Critical Move :Created a separate niche for the segment appealing to a specific segment

Built the brand on the power of passion of the Target Group

Positioning

“Exhibits show, that the brand recall of Land Rover wasn’t high at all. “

Range Rover had created a name for itself in the US market and was doing well

To rebrand it as part of the Land Rover group was a wrong strategy

With the US people not the most intelligent ones, this would only cause confusion in their minds, which it did

People started recognizing the brand Range Rover, so they should have continued with it only and kept Land Rover separate

Advertising PositioningViewer’s interpretation

Standing out: Away from the crowd

The car for the risk-taker Takes on the

challengeExclusivity

Highlighting the lineage of the company

Advertising Positioning

Elegance and the beauty of the machine

Corporate Sponsorships

Sponsorships if used effectively can be a brilliant medium to promote your brand.

Getting exclusive sponsorship rights for Carmel Trophy Adventure Rally was a big plus It was a worldwide event Replaced Jeep who earlier had exclusive rights

CSR activities like Sunshine Kids was good and important for the brand to connect with the people. More so in a relatively new territory like USA.

Also, they strategically decided to sponsor mostly sporting events to compliment their target audience

Challenges

Despite such bold advertising, the brand had low recall value.

Clutter breaking advertising ,yet difficult to retain.

Whether to go beyond their niche segment or not.

Competitors had much higher marketing budgets

Critical Analysis

The best thing the brand could do was create a different niche all together where in they were trying to please a specific segment but not everybody

By going for 40,000 LRNA units per year by 1998, they went beyond their specific segment

Competing against other top players was always going to be tough because – Image created by Land Rover for itself Hardly any marketing budget when compared with its

competitors

Recommendations

Using brand influencers and car geeks to promote the brand cult

More on Ground –activation that re-instates the bold , statement like positioning

Highlight experiences that only a Land Rover could provide