Marketing Principles and Strategies of KIA

MOTORS
 ABOUT KIA
Formerly Known As: Kyungsung Precision Industry

Type: Public

Industry: Automotive

Founded: May 1944

Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea

Areas Served: Worldwide (except North Korea and Japan)

 ABOUT KIA
Key People: 1) Hyoung-keun (Hank) lee- Vice Chairman & CEO

2) Han Woo-Park- President and Co-CEO

Revenue: USD 17+ Billion annually

Production Output: 1.4 Million annually

Parent Company: Hyundai Motor Company (33.88%)

Global Positioning: 5th largest vehicle manufacturer

 The development of effective marketing mix strategies
depends on Kia’s knowledge of its potential customer base.
The strategies will be more effective if the company
understands the needs, expectations and attitude of its
customers. Detailed analysis leads towards the
CUSTOMER identification of different customer profiles or segments.
Kia follows 3 crucial steps to conduct customer analysis-
ANALYSIS
First- Defining Current and Potential Customers
Second- Analyzing Needs and Expectations of Different
Groups
Third- Analysis of Products and Services
 The development of Kia Motors marketing strategy requires
identifying segmentation basis to understand the specific buying
behaviour of customers.

SEGMENTATION After understanding the unique buying behaviour of customers

and getting the required information through surveys, Kia
TECHNIQUES divides the market into small homogeneous groups. The
company uses the following segmentation strategies to choose
the right market segments and develop an effective marketing
plan-
SEGMENTATION TECHNIQUES

Geographic Demographic
Segmentation Segmentation

Behavioural Psychographic
Segmentation Segmentation
BCG MATRIX OF LONG-TERM STRATEGIC PLANNING
 1) PRODUCT-
Kia is majorly a car manufacturing company and it also
manufactures commercial vehicles, which are the
products in its marketing mix strategy.

THE 4 P’S Kia motors also has a wing which produces military
vehicles for the government of South Korea.
Car segment: In the car segment kia motors has
basically compact cars, sedans, crossovers & minivans,
hybrid and electric, special edition cars and concept
cars.
 Some of the popular cars are Optima, Rio, Picanto,
Sorento, Cerato, Carnival, Soul, Sportage And Cadenza.

THE 4 P’S
Commercial vehicles segment: Mini trucks, Lorries and
various Freight trucks.
 2) PRICE-
• Kia Motors follows a competitive pricing strategy in
its marketing mix when it had been in South Korea.
But as it has stepped into the global frontier and
exports vehicles from the manufacturing plants itself.
• Due to this it charges higher prices in other countries
THE 4 P’S such as US, UK, parts of Africa. Even the cheapest car
is priced at around $14000.
• As the company is expanding ambitiously and
upscaling its flagship cars and its other brands, it is
trying to move up the ladder of the price range.
 • As the company is expanding ambitiously and
upscaling its flagship cars and its other brands, it is
trying to move up the ladder of the price range.

THE 4 P’S
• Kia also maintains price gaps between the ranges of
products it is selling so that the brand segments
don’t overlap.
 3) PLACE/DISTRIBUTION-
• Kia motors has got a network of around 4000 dealers
globally which serve to the 170+ countries.
• There are 20 regional headquarters which look after
342 sales offices. Kia motors has also got a network of
THE 4 P’S 11 shopping offices across the globe which are
strategically placed and able to cater to Europe,
America, Middle east, Africa and Asia pacific regions.
• There is also a huge network of 243 comprehensive
service providers across the globe as Kia provides a
long duration of warranty.
 • There is also a huge network of 20 regional service
centres and 243 comprehensive service provider
across the globe as kia motors provides a long

THE 4 P’S duration of warranty.

• It majorly manufactures cars in South Korea itself and
others coming from china, Slovakia, Usa and recently
India.
 4) PROMOTION-
• Kia motors has a strong advertising and marketing
policy. Kia has gained recently recognition because of
its association with various major sports events
happening around the globe in its marketing mix
THE 4 P’S promotional strategy.
• It also sponsors major sports events such as FIFA and
UEFA and NBA. Kia motors uses TV, print, online ads,
billboards etc., for its marketing. It also has also tied
up with various sports teams and athletes for gaining
recognition.
 • Kia also showcases quality, design and safety features
in various motor shows which wins it laurels which
faith for the customer and gains brand reputation.
• Kia participates in various CSR activities to show its
THE 4 P’S global concern for environment and society.
• They have also tied up with various NGOs,
governments, local communities and employee
volunteering to support its stakeholders.