Sumitomo Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of Sumitomo analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Sumitomo marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Sumitomo Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
Sumitomo Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Sumitomo marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Sumitomo is one of the biggest conglomerates in Japan. Sumitomo is into a wide range of products like food products where they offer organic foods and have a super market chain. They are into chemicals where they take huge projects relating to chemical production. They are into mining for coal and other rare earth elements and do a lot of those projects where there is a need for implementation of clean energy solutions. They have state of the art technology for these domains.
Sumitomo is also into power where they work with some foreign Governments for projects relating to hydroelectricity and thermal power plants. They also have their wing for metallurgy and huge R and D plants for research customized according to the various clients that they have. Cement is another major arm of the company as it takes up a large share in the market for its infrastructure related solutions.
Image: company website
Sumitomo Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Sumitomo marketing strategy:
Sumitomo has a diverse product range and thus having a wide pricing strategy across sectors. The pricing strategy in its marketing mix is differential one as every project or service has its own requirement and are of different scales.
The fees of the consultants depend upon the type of work they do. The clients are usually other companies and can afford the large sums of money charged for the massive projects. The clients don’t mind paying the premium for the top-quality service offered and hence some services can be highly priced.
Sumitomo Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Sumitomo marketing mix:
Sumitomo is spread out in terms of its offices. It has six offices in Japan and in 25 other countries. The complexes are located in areas which are highly commercial. The buildings are state of the art and the offices have all the facilities. They have play areas, cafes and all the other rooms which can be usually found in any commercial setup. The services are offered all over the world and can be either face to face or through high tech telecommunication devices. It also sets up its offices near project sites for better operations. In Japan there are special rooms available inside the office itself for employees to rest or sleep if they get late after work.
Also, clients can enjoy these facilities.
Sumitomo Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Sumitomo marketing strategy is as follows:
Sumitomo has had a great stint in the market even though it has had its own problems. The company does not promote itself through traditional channels like television, print or radio. They already have such a great reputation that people have a great awareness regarding this. Sumitomo is a B2B company and hence does not require to market itself through those forms of media. However, it has its website which gives information of the organization through its video. It cannot be seen promoting itself through other digital platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The company neither has a brand ambassador to endorse the brand.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Sumitomo.
Physical Evidence:
For Sumitomo the service quality forms the key to retaining the customers. Japanese principles are at the core of the company and the most predominant theme of that culture is punctuality and timely offering of the service. Most of the clients and customers have had a great experience because of these aspects of the service. Sumitomo offices are swanky and have great interiors. Most of the meetings take place there and deals are struck in that type of an environment. The colors used in the logo and the infrastructure are a symbol of high efficiency and quality which form an important part of the physical evidence as a whole.
People:
Kuniharu Nakamura is the CEO of the Sumitomo corporation currently. It is a group of highly skilled workers in their respective areas. The recruitment is done from top institutes of the world for the management positions. A very intensive training program has been integrated in the system of the company and hence assures quality results. It has been rated as one of the best places to work for the year 2016. An award it won for the fifth year running. The trust that has been built over the years has been the result of the top-class service offered by the employees.
Process:
There are a number of links in the array of processes which take place in Sumitomo. These processes are highly service oriented and keep all the stakeholders in mind. Most of the processes are in terms of their final goal are standardized but every process is different than the other depending upon the project requirements. They are therefore highly domain specific. They start with appointment with the clients and understanding their requirements and then presenting their ideas to the clients. The plan goes through a number of iterations before being finalized. Then the work starts on the plan. Here all the component processes come together to achieve small objectives to finally achieve major objectives. The smoothness, expertise and efficiency have been the key to these processes at Sumitomo. This completes the marketing mix of Sumitomo.
About Sumitomo:
Sumitomo was founded in the year 1615 by a Buddhist monk named Masatomo Sumitomo. It has a number of subsidiaries under its belt. It has Sumitomo electric, chemical, metal, cement etc. It currently owns assets worth 7.8 trillion yen.
Sumitomo faces tough competition from companies like Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Itochu corporation but still continues to remain the top company in terms of its services and the large base of loyal customers. It has 6 offices in Japan and around 25 offices worldwide.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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