Marketing Mix for ABC Summary

MARKETING MIX FOR ABC
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Executive Summary
This paper provides comprehensive strategic analysis of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, mainly focusing on customers, competitors, and a market mix of the company. ABC offers various television, radio, and online services to metropolitan and regional Australians as well as people living overseas.
The ABC has encountered competition from various media companies in Australia such as Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). Like ABC, SBS offers radio and television services offering a stiff competition for the audiences
Just like any other business, ABC has a defined marketing mix strategy. For product, it offers various services, including radio, TV, mobile, and online services. For the place, the company headquarters are located in Sydney and has several other outlets, both in Australia and other countries across the world. For pricing, ABC offers its products at relatively low prices compared to other companies. Lastly, for promotion, the company uses various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
In conclusion, ABC is one of the leading media companies offering various television, radio, mobile an online services. The company faces stiff competition from nongovernmental and governmental media companies but the main competitor is SBS. The report also found out that ABC has a well-defined marketing mix that helps it in marketing its products and services
Recommendations: First, raising levels of content to cover all ethnic groups living in Australia as the current services do not cover a wide range of cultures in comparison with SBS. Second, the company should increase the number of countries, it is serving through its international branches since it only covers a few in Asian and Pacific regions.  TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 
Table of Contents
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Background  PAGEREF _Toc528106396 \h
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ABC Audiences  PAGEREF _Toc528106397 \h
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Competitors  PAGEREF _Toc528106398 \h
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Marketing Mix of ABC  PAGEREF _Toc528106399 \h
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Product in Marketing Mix of ABC  PAGEREF _Toc528106400 \h
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Place in the Marketing Mix of ABC  PAGEREF _Toc528106401 \h
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Pricing in the Marketing Mix in ABC  PAGEREF _Toc528106402 \h
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Promotion in the ABC’s Marketing Mix  PAGEREF _Toc528106403 \h
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Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc528106404 \h
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Recommendations  PAGEREF _Toc528106405 \h
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Reference List  PAGEREF _Toc528106406 \h
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Marketing Mix for ABC
Background
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is a broadcasting company established as the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1923 as a state organization. Its headquarters are located in Ultimo, a small city within Sydney (ArchiveToday 2012; Brown 2001, p. 26). Later, in 1983, the company adopted its current name, under the new act referred to as the Australia Broadcasting Corporation Act. Currently, the company is chiefly financed by commercial revenues and grants from the Australian government, but exclusively independent of government and the country’s politics. It offers both the radio and television services in Australia and beyond its borders with the aim of promoting Australian culture and arts such as music and drama among others overseas (Brown 2001, p. 26). Also, the company offers mobile and online services throughout regional and metropolitan Australia and overseas via Radio Australia and ABC Australia. In total, ABC Radio has 54 local radio stations and four national networks and one international service, Radio Australia. Also, the company launched a digital platform called DiG Radio in 2003 with three independent stations (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2016, p. 4). Each broadcast region has a corporation flagship known as ABC Local Radio. All of the 54 local radio stations have a similar format with components such as locally presented news, music, interviews, sports, and talk back, in addition to various national programs such as PM, AM, sporting events, the world today, and nightlife. ABC television operates a total of six national television channels that offer services in areas such as culture and art, current affairs, documentaries, comedy, drama, news, indigenous, sports, science, and special events. ABC is a leading advocate for independence in journalism, and it plays a fundamental role in the broadcasting history in Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2016, p. 4). The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive strategic analysis of the Australia Broadcasting Corporation, mainly focusing on customers, competitors, and a market mix of the company.
ABC Audiences
Over the past two decades, both the local and international media environments in which Australia Broadcasting Corporation operates have considerably changed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Although the number of audience appointment-to-view broadcast media is still high, audiences are increasingly seeking the media companies that offer programs at times and places of their choice. As a result, there is an accelerating feedback mechanism between audiences’ behaviors and digital technologies, leading to the proliferation of applications, platforms, and services that directly compete with reputable media companies for the limited attention of consumers. Also, unlike in the past, there is a huge variation in the manner in which various segments of the population consume media services, requiring media corporates to offer a wide variety of platforms and services with reduced funding and increased revenue opportunities (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6).
Television broadcasting and live radio services continue to attract a considerable number of consumers throughout Australia and overseas (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Television broadcast remains as the main method of delivery of audiovisual services in Australia, even though its use has been declining for the past few years. In 2017, approximately 19.5 million viewers in both the regional and metropolitan Australia used up TV services in an average week, a number a bit lower than 19.8 million viewers in 2016. Typically, the consumers of TV services spend nearly four hours watching television every day (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Currently, Australians have incorporated video-on-demand (VOD) in their use of television services. In December 2016, 43% of the online viewers used Catch Up TV, whereas 30% of internet viewers used VOD to watch various TV programs in Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Netflix is the top player as far as offering VOD services is concerned in Australia, serving approximately 17% of the entire Australian population every month. ABC Iview comes second, reaching 9% of the entire Australian population each month (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6).
For a long time now, radio has remained relatively stable, serving approximately 12 million people in metropolitan Australia in an average week. Just like television, the average time spent on Radio has significantly reduced. In 2017, radio listeners spent around 17 hours and 11 minutes, a decline of 22 minutes in 2016 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Although a considerable number of Australians consume radio services, particularly with the advent of Digital Radio Stations in major markets, introduction of streaming and podcast offerings now offer a fierce competition for the live radio services. ABC is a leading provider of podcast offerings in Australia, and it recorded approximately 167 million streams and downloads in 2016, a 23% increase from 2015 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6).
Regarding the usage of the internet, Australia is considered a mature market and one of the most digitally connected countries in the world. For instance, in December 2016, about 89% of Australian adults used the internet (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Consumers are constantly evolving and are changing the methods they use to read, listen, or watch across various devices and platforms as technology continues to improve. In particular, smartphones have become dominant devices as well as holders of crucial platforms used to access different viewing, reading, and listening services. The smartphone ownership is almost reaching the saturation point, with 8 out of 10 Australian adults possessing the device. Similarly, the number of homestead with tablets is growing every day, and in 2016, 56% of households owned at least one tablet computer (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6).
To exploit the current opportunities in the field of mass communication, ABC has taken advantage of social media and the company is using various platforms as a content distribution tool. This has resulted in the establishment of commentary and communication networks that are becoming increasingly incorporated into traditional media. Over 84% of Australians using internet participate in different social media platforms, whereby 81% use Facebook, 77% use YouTube, and 35% use Twitter (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2017, p. 6). Therefore, ABC has resorted to tapping this new opportunity by integrating it with the traditional broadcasting techniques to ensure it has covered all market segments.
Competitors
` ABC concentrates much on consumers, value, innovation, responsibility, and high-quality services, which are the six pillars of the company designed to fend off competition from other organizations both in mass communication and other fields. As per the corporate strategy of the company, ABC is dedicated to providing high quality and innovative services to fulfill the needs of its customers. One of the companies that have consistently offered stiff competition to ABC is Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) as it offers both the television and radio services. SBS was established in 1975 by the Australian government in the belief that all Australians irrespective of age, language, cultural background, and geography, should access independent, high-quality, and culturally relevant media services (Roose and Akbarzadeh 2013, p. 93). Therefore, SBS is a national media company that provides multicultural as well as multilingual services in a bid to informing, educating, and entertaining the citizens from all backgrounds in Australia. Through the mass media services, the company aims at creating a more equitable, cohesive and harmonious population (Jolly 2007, p. 159).
Regarding size, SBS belongs to the same category as ABC as they both belong to 1001-5000 employees’ class. However, SBS has 1466 employees currently, including the ones working in its subsidiary firms compared to 4093 of ABC and its subsidiaries. In 2017, SBS made total revenue of approximately $0.3 billion, whereas, in the same year, ABC made a revenue of $1.1 billion, including sales and other revenue (IBISWorld, 2017a; IBISWorld, 2017b). Just like, ABC, SBS operates six free-to-air television channels but has a fewer number of radio stations that offer services in more than 74 languages across Australia. SBS online offers various online services such as on-demand TV, film reviews, sports webs and news, documentaries, and recipes. Also, it provides video, text and audio podcasts and other services such as audio streaming in more than 74 languages. In 2017, about 7.3 million viewers consumed SBS televi...