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Purpose of this Marketing Audit Report
As part of this module, I am tasked with carrying out a Marketing Audit report on my company, Allianz Ireland. The purpose of this academic report is to aid in my understanding of the how the marketing department operates and functions within my organization. As part of this academic report, I am tasked with carrying out an examination of the marketing function within Allianz whilst identifying the current target market and potential opportunities in other markets.
Furthermore, I must also conduct a marketing audit report of Allianz using an analytical framework such as the SWOT analysis to highlight my companies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats which may hinder the growth of my company.
Marketing can be defined as, "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."
However, marketing can involve a number of different steps and activities, which William J Stanton stated Marketing is, "a total system of interacting business activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute want-satisfying products and services to present and potential customers".
A Marketing Audit report is a thorough and systematic review of a company's marketing function and it is completed by gathering both internal and external data of a company which is analyzed in a systematic and structured manner.
On completion of a Marketing Audit report, a company will then use these results to aid in formation of their marketing strategy.
On Completion of this Marketing audit report, I will then state any recommendations that I believe are necessary which will be based on my SWOT Analysis of Allianz Ireland.
Allianz Ireland operates in both the North and Republic of Ireland and is one of Irelands largest Multi-Line general insurance companies with an Annual turnover in excess of 450m.
Allianz Ireland has an office in Belfast with their head office located in Dublin and is home to over 1,450 employees nationwide and is currently trusted by close to a million customers.
Allianz Ireland are trusted by its customer due to its decades of experience, fair claims settlement and unique on line self-service portals, in which Allianz are also proudly ranked number 1 globally for online customer experience for car insurance.
Allianz is also a-part of the Allianz SE Group, which is the holding company of the Allianz group, and is one of the largest financial service providers with over 148,000 employees in more than 70 countries, with 83 million customers worldwide.
Allianz Ireland is one the Irelands leading insurance companies and continues to play an active role in communities across all 32 counties and has proudly done so since its opening in 1902.
Allianz have stated, "The approach is simple" contributing to the communities from which Allianz derives its business makes business sense and doing so helps protect the fabric of communities in which we all live. Apart from the financial contributions made by Allianz through the claims we pay, Allianz also follows a very active sponsorship, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and educational programme called the "Allianz Better Communities".
This highlights the significant role Allianz plays in providing both insurance products for schools, sporting organizations and community development's, which in turn builds trust in the Allianz brand with customers and boosts Allianz's reputation nationwide.
Allianz Ireland have identified that their target culture is to be an inclusive meritocracy where our culture is more agile, and customer orientated.
Allianz Ireland have now adapted their 4X3 people attributes for all employees. The purpose of these attributes is to allow for Allianz to encourage entrepreneurship in employees, become more transparent in their actions, develop employees through feedback and collaborative leadership whilst focusing on becoming the benchmark for customer market excellence which can be achieved through an inclusive meritocracy.
In recent years Allianz Irelands marketing function has changed and is currently going through a number of changes in both their marketing campaigns and internal infrastructure of the marketing department.
At current Allianz Ireland have a dedicated marketing Department whose role is to reach out to the general public of Ireland by defining and managing our brand, conducting and producing promotional marketing initiatives whilst also boosting and monitoring our online social media interaction and Search Engine Optimization for our website.
Historically, Allianz Ireland had little to no independence from the Allianz SE Group as the Holding Group would provide Allianz Ireland with a marketing campaign and initiative. This marketing function provided Allianz Ireland with a campaign that would co-ordinate with the Allianz SE Groups initiatives.
This marketing function would provide the Allianz brand with a global initiative but not a local initiative, which meant Allianz Ireland may fail to reach their target market or may be unable to act on marketing opportunities. This reference highlights the same issue that Allianz Ireland was faced with and led to the re-organization of the marketing function.
"A major question facing most is what form of marketing strategies should one take. Are standardized approaches most relevant or is it better to adapt these strategies to ensure their suitability for localized environments."
(2017), "Cross-border acquisitions of emerging markets firms", Strategic Direction, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 26-28. the head office in the Allianz SE group decided to reorganize their marketing function in 2017 as they discovered, what works in other parts of the globe may not work in that specific market which hindered in the growth of the Allianz group.
After the holding groups discovery in 2017, the Allianz SE Group provided more freedom to the Allianz group and allowed Allianz Ireland to begin their own marketing campaigns. However, the holding group provided a Brand Dance floor to Allianz Ireland, which means that Allianz Ireland must obey with style guidelines and the wider global initiatives of the Allianz Group.
Allianz Ireland currently utilize a number of different marketing strategies through the use of a number of different methods, such as direct marketing emails and out-bound cold calls. This allows Allianz Ireland to reach out to current or existing customers to advertise their policies and the potential savings a customer can make by purchasing a home or car insurance policy in Allianz.
Allianz Irelands current target market is mature middle-aged professionals from the ages of 35-50 years of age and utilize two main areas of digital and customer marketing in television and radio advertising, in an attempt to reach out to their current target market. Currently Allianz Ireland utilize the 4Ps of marketing by using their brand experience and history of their policies in the promotion of their policy and placing them at a competitive price based on the risk profile on the proposer.
Allianz Ireland also promotes their policy through a number of different methods, such as TV advertising, radio broadcasting, cold calling, direct marketing mails and social media videos, whilst also making their policies available to the general public on their Allianz webpage which allows the customer ease of access to the policy benefits and boosts their product awareness and increases both the renewal and sales of their policies.
Allianz Irelands strategy is currently going through change and is based on the Renewal Agenda. The Renewal Agenda is made up of five sectors which are all aimed on improving the customer experience, company processes and the culture of the company, whilst keeping the customer at the center of its advancements and improvements.
Allianz Irelands strategy is currently based on five key elements which are outlined below, This clearly exposes how Allianz Ireland, are aiming to become digital by default which means it is Allianz's aim to become more technologically advanced in its current processes whilst creating superior margins and innovative technical excellence in their employees.
Allianz Ireland are also aiming to exploit new sources of profitable growth by taking on more policy holders and aiming to retain its ever growing policy count during the renewal cycle. Allianz Ireland has also placed a large emphasis on inclusive meritocracy which is changing the culture of Allianz to a more agile and collaboratively led company.
However, Allianz Ireland place True Customer Centricity at the heart of their strategy and exposes how these advancements and changes are designed to benefit the customer.
A SWOT Analysis is a very important analytical tool that allows a manager or company to evaluate their company or specific project currently being designed. A SWOT Analysis can determine a company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. From my examination of Allianz Ireland, I have developed the following SWOT Analysis of Allianz as part of my academic report.
Through my examination and investigation into Allianz Ireland as part of this Academic report, I have formulated a number of recommendations which I believe will provide Allianz with opportunities to not only increase their brand and products but place Allianz as the leading insurer in Ireland.
My recommendations are as follows, Allianz Ireland are currently changing their culture in an aim to become a more inclusive meritocracy, and this will encourage employees to become more entrepreneurial, operate with integrity and strive to become the benchmark for customer service in the Irish market.
I recommend this change in the company's culture as it will not only boost the company's customer focus but will also boost the company's employee morale as employees will be encouraged to take ownership, become entrepreneurial and may lead to employee retention which will prevent a brain drain of highly skilled and experienced professionals which will massively benefit both the customer and company alike.
Since 2017, Allianz Ireland have now been given more freedom to run marketing campaigns which remain within the larger Allianz group initiatives and guidelines. This freedom will massively impact on Allianz's growth as Allianz Ireland will now be able to run marketing campaign which will appeal to the general Irish market and their target market, whilst maintaining global brand consistency.
I recommend that Allianz now begin to utilize this freedom from the Allianz group by beginning to run more advertising both online through social media and tv/radio broadcasting. I do believe that if Allianz increase their social media advertising and interactions, this will lead to a growth in both sales and open Allianz to a younger market, which will increase their brand for both today and future generations.
I recommend that Allianz Ireland begin advertising with sporting personalities and social influencers as this will attract a large market audience that Allianz Ireland may not have reached without the use of this campaign and change the old school image.
This marketing campaign will not only attract a new market audience but also improve the following of Allianz's social media pages and boost the company's recognition and product's available through Allianz in a modern approach.
This academic report provides an overview of both Allianz Ireland and aspects of Allianz SE, the holding group of Allianz. Allianz Ireland is one of the largest multi-general line insurer's in Ireland with over 100 years of experience both nationally and globally.
As part of this market audit report, I also examined the marketing policy, vision, mission statement and strategy of Allianz Ireland. Further to this, I also provided details of how the marketing function within Allianz Ireland has undergone recent changes and detailed how the current company strategy is undergoing changes to become a more customer-focused company through the renewal agenda.
As part of my examination of the marketing functions within Allianz Ireland, I met with the head of marketing to gain a better and fuller insight into the current marketing functions and changes which are occurring in the strategy of Allianz. As part of my academic report I have also highlighted that Allianz Ireland currently has a target market of middle-aged professionals aged between 35-50. At present Allianz Ireland currently utilizes direct marketing mailing, cold calling, radio and TV broadcasting to promote their product and build brand awareness. However, through the use of my SWOT analysis, I was able to use this analytical tool to expose the company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Through the use of my SWOT Analysis, I was then able to provide a list of recommendations that I believe would boost brand awareness, the reputation of Allianz, customer service, and sales.
To Conclude, I believe if Allianz continue to eliminate threats through innovation and seize opportunities to boost their current market audience through more innovate and technologically advanced marketing campaigns with social media influencers on platforms such as Instagram, snapchat, Facebook and YouTube this will, in turn, open Allianz to a younger and future customer market and will allow Allianz Ireland to permanently set itself as the leading insurer within Ireland.
A Marketing Audit Report of Allianz Ireland. (2019, Dec 17). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/a-marketing-audit-report-of-allianz-ireland-example-essay
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