Part 2: Applied Marketing Individual Project (Total marks 60%)
Part 2: Applied Marketing Individual Project (Total marks 60%)
(A) Final Report (6,000 words max) (70%)
(B) Elevator pitch to your client (30%)
CARGOBACK COMPANY BACKGROUND:
Cargoback is a national and international freight and cargo transport operator that has been in the market since 2017. Even though it is a company that operates internationally, 95% of its client portfolio is Spanish, and the remaining 5% belongs to clients from France, UK or Portugal.
Cargoback prides itself in the transport of pallets, mixed company loads, and full loads of various goods and products whose primary objective is to provide service to loading companies in order to offer trucks faster loading times and delivery times and at lower prices, by optimizing routes and the available cargo space.
But... What differentiates them from their competitors? Speed, with confirmation and shipment in less than 24 hours, reliable certified carriers, guaranteeing initially quoted price, tracking of the cargo load at all times, cargo insurance, and load security..One of Cargoback's key differentiators is its focus on efficiency in fuel consumed and time expediency available to the customer and sustainability with the company using biodiesel from renewable sources where possible as well as other synthetic fuels. More than 180 million transport operations are carried out every year in Spain. According to the Ministry of Public Works, 43% of these journeys are made with completely empty trucks:, such as empty return journeys . In addition, the remaining 57% still have around 30% free space in the trucks cargo areas which could be used more effectively, preventing unnecessary air pollution, environmental degradation and costs to the transport industry.
Their current digital assets include a company website: https://cargoback.com/ with a Blog section and a presence on Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter.
The freight transports situation
Passenger and freight transport is an economic sector of enormous and growing strategic importance for industry, trade and commerce and the mobility of people. However, in Spain, the value of its contribution to the economy overall is often unknown or based on best guesstimates.
A strong, open, and competitive logistics transport sector can be a key instrument to prevent Spain from becoming a mere tourist destination.
The future of logistics 4.0 has already arrived, and it is based on process optimization. Its use is key in helping Spain and Europe to boost economic activity and to generate new opportunities.
It is an excellent time for any company like Cargoback to take advantage of its assets, such as GPS tracking as an international logistics platform.
In March 2021, the Suez Canal was affected by a blockade of a cargo ship. At a macroeconomic level, this greatly affected all industries, but fell particularly heavily on the transport industry.
The Suez Canal is the main maritime route for the transport of raw materials. Following the incident, many ships had to wait between the port of Suez and the port of Said, while others decided to take the alternative route, skirting Africa and heading for the Cape of Good Hope, with the delays that this entailed.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a number of negative impacts on the global economy. The container crisis, which effectively meant huge numbers of cargo containers were in the wrong part of the world, emerged in 2020 as one of the consequences of the pandemic.
An unusual shortage of available space to transport goods from Asia to the West took over the whole world. There were not enough cargo ships, not enough containers, and there were too many delays at the ports of entry and exit. In addition, the cost of importing goods from China to the rest of the world skyrocketed to unthinkable levels. All this affected the logistics chain and demand for goods and shipping declined.
The international economy has begun to recover, thanks to the governments handling of the virus as well as the progress of vaccinations. Still, consumers in many countries are purchasing more goods, but the shipping system has struggled to meet this demand due to lack of available containers and ships, accessibility, bottlenecks, and temporary closures of sea terminals, so nothing is back to business as usual.
Problem Statement
This project has two principal objectives:
- To create an international marketing communications strategy for Cargoback outside of Spain
- To establish if its international marketing strategy should differ from the companys current marketing strategy in Spain, its country of origin?
In addressing these questions, you can draw on any of the modules you have covered in the MSc e.g., sustainability, branding, services, international marketing strategy, global business to business, marketing performance and productivity, strategic marketing and social media marketing theory. Please bear in mind that Covid-19 and rising inflation, due to energy costs, are having a major effect on the transport industry. Cargoback is a company focused on flexibility, optimisation, environment and customer service at every stage of the buyers process.
They now face the challenge of increasing their customer base and widening their presence outside of Spain to drive revenue and growth for the company as a whole.
This project focuses on marketing communication and the use of a clear message of efficiency as a driver of a competitive pricing structure to clients and its positioning as a sustainable, environmentally friendly, partner in logistics in a B2B environment.
This means positioning their services to be more marketable across European borders, using the two key decisions always necessary in positioning services, choice of target market and creational of differential advantage.
Remember to ensure that aspects such as target setting, market analysis, analysis of the current international situation of the sector, analysis of the target audience and competitors abroad, internal analysis of the company and finally the marketing mix are taken into account when developing a marketing communications plan.
In addressing the two research objectives, explore the best marketing channels for marketing their services and whether they should change their approach (e.g., more emphasis on digital marketing. The main issue for the Cargoback is how to clearly translate the service's unique benefits to a logistic audience whose primary concern is price and timeliness.
