Edsel Target Market Change

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Market and Product Attributes

It would be impossible to discuss the marketing efforts of Edsel without understanding or discussing the market characteristics prevailing during that period and the product attributes that were put forth as the selling points of the product. Firstly, Edsel was supposed to be a high-end new generation car with improved functionalities, new innovations and completely targeting a new clique of clientele. In order to understand how the re-launching plan can be undertaken, it would be wise to look at the mistakes and failures in the past and initial marketing planning endeavor. The marketing exercise had five basic failures and if these failures are addressed it might jump across the hurdles that the present market conditions present.

Learning from the Past Failures

The first major failure was the attempt by the manufacturer to detach the model from established brand name of Ford with a sole objective of creating Edsel as a distinct brand in the car industry. This meant it had to start without any initially established customer base that would be derived from Ford buyers (Tony & Hamer 2012). This attempt was evident from the fact that the brand Ford was nowhere on the Edsel car as the makers wanted the car to be a totally different car line. It would not go without expecting a difficulty in penetrating the market and outwit the forces of competition present then.

The second failure in the marketing planning related to the timing of the product launch with respect to the economic status of the United States. At the time of launch, the country was in a recession that had in fact made most of Ford’s competitors to mainly deal in the old models already manufactured rather than launching new products as was the case of Edsel (Tony & Hamer 2012). This means that the Edsel product launch was a futile attempt by the manufacturer to sail against the prevailing economic waves. Besides the lack of economic insight in the launch, another fatal failure in the marketing endeavor was the fact that prior to the product market launching, the company was hold up in a lot of hyped advertising about the product and this raised the expectations of customers beyond what they actually got. The result was that the majority left the exhibition without the product.

Another failure, which also relates to consumer tastes and preferences, was the fact that the Edsel model car came with new innovations that neither customers nor mechanics understood thoroughly. This limited operability of the car hence its purchase.

Conclusion and Recommended Approach

In conclusion, for Edsel to succeed in re-launching into the market as a distinct product, it has to consider the issue of comprehensive networking and coming up with strategic alliance as vital considerations for the sake of establishing distribution networks and strong market command within the considerably competitive global auto market (Prasad & Ghauri 2004). This is therefore the approach that is proposed for the market entry. Entry into the modern complex auto industry has a significant relationship with the way the market functions and whether the economic condition is tumultuous or orderly. It also depends on the level of Knowledge the business has about the market (Musso, 2007).

References:

Musso, J F. (2007). Foreign Market Entry Modes. New York: McGraw Hill

Myers, H & Alexander, N (2000). The internationalisation process for retail business. London: Routledge Publishers. p334 – 353.

Prasad S. B., & Ghauri, P., N. (2004). Global firms and upcoming markets in an era of anxiety. New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group

Tony, & Hamer, M. (2012, August 8). The Edsel – A Legacy of Failure. Classic Cars. Retrieved October 21, 2013, from http://classiccars.about.com