Essay: Bosch Nefit marketing analysis

Marketing mix
• Product
o The services (products) of Bosch Nefit are sold by different wholesalers, they are mainly focusing on Housing Associations and advisors. Bosch Nefit is a B2B company, so they sell all their products to wholesalers and not directly to the consumers (B2C). The products that are sold are Boilers and Heating Systems (Thermo technology)
o The quality of the products is to reach zero failures during the production in the factory. Next to this there is a requirement to make sure that the employees who are hired are specialised in their task whereby we can make sure to deliver the needs and wants to the customers. The work of the employees will also be checked;
 During the processing in the factory, so after every step they did, the other employee checks if he did it correctly
 When the Boiler is ready for the wholesalers there will be a final check in the laboratory.
o Product design, if you look at the ‘smart thermostat’ it is an innovative design and easy to use for the customers.
• Price
o If you want to buy a boiler you need to invest a big amount of money, usually between the 1000 and 2500 euro’s but as a return you get a product with a life time between the 10 and 15 years. If you don’t have the money to buy the boiler there is also a possibility to rent a boiler, so you just must pay per month.
o Price strategy; They make the prices of the products higher, but offer free other products after you bought it, to stay competitive with other companies.
• Place
o Bosch Nefit is fabricating the products to end use-products
 Nefit sells their products to different Wholesalers
 The wholesalers sell it to retailers or installers
 and the final step is to deliver it to the consumers (End User).
o You can buy boilers by using online websites or to go at a store who sells the boilers.
o The services Nefit delivers on the website are, answering questions of the customers, create brochures for the customers and making an offer for the customers.
o Bosch Nefit is settled in The Netherlands, Deventer, Zweedsestraat 1A.
• Promotion
o The use different types to promote their products/company; Send a mail to their installers and partners, use radio/media/videos to promote, promote in newspapers or flyers and in online websites.
o In the promotion they show deals, what is good about their products and why you should buy it at Nefit and not at another company.
In text reference Marketing Mix: (DE ONLINE ZAAK, 2018) (Nefit, 2018) (Tempel, 2018)
Goals and objectives
Bosch Nefit goals and objective
We believe that Bosch Nefit stands for certainty, as stated in their mission and vision on their website. They offer trustworthy, widely applicable and sustainable solutions for heating and energy supply. Their vision states that they want to differentiate themselves from competitors in their market. They do this by offering high-quality products, and a high-quality service. (Nefit, 2017)
Porter’s generic strategies
The theory we will use to define Bosch Nefit’s strategy will be the Porter’s generic strategies. This strategy describes the way a company tries to gain a competitive advantage in its market. There are four different strategies in this theory. The four are: Cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus and focus differentiation. In this theory Bosch Nefit is categorized in differentiation. The strategy involves one or multiple criteria used by the buyers in a market, and then the goal is to position the business uniquely meeting those criteria. The strategy also is usually associated with charging premium prices for the product, as you can see with Bosch Nefit’s products compared to competitors. But this higher price most of the times is to cover for the high production costs and extra added value for the customers, to of course differentiate. Differentiation is basically about charging higher prices to cover high production costs with the goal to give customers clear reasons to prefer those products over products from competitors. (Briefing Marketing analysis , 2018) (Tutor2u, n.d.)
There are different ways success in differentiation can be achieved. But it’s not easy and it needs investment. Let’s start with high product quality, as it needs to stand out. Branding is also important, people need to recognize your brand. And of course, promotional support, think of advertising and sponsorships, as of course people need to know about your company. Because maybe not everyone is aware of your products. (Tutor2u, n.d.)
How Bosch Nefit uses this strategy
As aforementioned, the theory we used for this is Porter’s generic strategies. The strategy Bosch Nefit uses is obviously differentiation, as they seek to be unique in its industry. They try to make their products more attractive than those of their competitor. There are several reasons why we believe that Bosch Nefit applies to the differentiation idea in this theory. The first one is due to the large amount of money that is spent by the business on research and development. This allows them to offer a product of higher quality which people are then willing to buy for a premium price. Also, customers are likely to know the benefits offered by using products from Bosch Nefit such as the longevity of their products, suggesting that their products are indeed of high quality. (Mind Tools , 2018)
Budget and Responsibility for marketing
• Available budget
o In 2017, the recorded net revenue was 186 million euros. (Financial Report Bosch Thermotechniek 2017)
• Marketing
o Marketing and Product Management, which is controlled by the Commercial Director, is responsible for marketing in the organisation. (Bosch Thermotechniek B.V. (TTNL))
Unfortunately, our group did not manage to find the necessary information about the available budget of Bosch and the people who are responsible for the company’s marketing activities. We are aiming to find out more on Week 6 when we will visit Bosch Nefit again and ask some questions about the topics to the representative of the company.
Customer contact
There are three ways customers can contact Bosch Nefit. The first one is the fastest one and that is calling 0570 602 500. When you call this number, you will get the customer service on the phone. They can help answer most of the questions and problems the customers have in a short time. If there’s a big problem with the boiler of a customer (if it doesn’t heat the house of a customer anymore), calling is the best option, because Bosch Nefit can send an installer immediately.
The other two ways are to send an e-mail and going to the office of Bosch Nefit. E-mail is a slow option because it takes time for Nefit to answer all the e-mails they get. So, if a customer wants a quick answer to his/her question, e-mail isn’t a good option. Also, if there’s a problem with the boiler (for example that a customer can’t heat his/her house) e-mail is a bad option.
The last one is going to the office of Bosch Nefit. But for this option you must make an appointment. So, this is also not a quick option. But some customers find this a nice option, because they can talk face to face with someone of the company. (Nefit Customer Service, 2018)
There are a few ways Bosch Nefit get in touch with their customers before the sales. They have some television – and radio commercials. (Youtube, 2015) (Youtube, 2017). Also, they have ads on social media (like Facebook and Twitter), ads in trade magazines and banners, posters and flyers at dealers that sell boilers. (CrossMediaCommunicationGroep, 2017)
After sales they contact customers by e-mailing them information and other advertisements about new offers for boilers, but customers have a choice for receiving these e-mails. So, a customer can turn off that they receive these e-mails.