Solution American University in Dubai MKTG 601 Marketing Management Research Project and Presentation

Question

For this assignment you are required to research, and write a report detailing a marketing plan for a new product\service in the UAE. You will be required to work in groups of 2-3 in order to complete this assignment.

Executive Summary

  1. The Product (Good or Service) or Business Idea
  2. Market Analysis
  3. Competitor Assessment
  4. Marketing Strategy
  5. Marketing Budget
  6. Implementation and Control Plan
  7. Forecasts and Pro Formas

Solution/ Answer

Marketing Management

 

 

MKTG601

(Sections 4, 5 & 6)

TIARA Credit Card Dubai

4.0 Market Analysis

  • Demographical influence on UAE Market for Credit Cards

The UAE credit card system has progressively grown in terms of volume and value in the review period of 2013 to 2016 according to statistics released by the Daily Monitor. Taking into account of the credit cards in circulation, the numbers increased from 18.2 million in 2009 to approximately 25 million in 2016 with a compound annual growth rate of 16% based on the provided forecasts between 2014 to 2018, the credit cards are expected to record a CAGR of approximately 9% to approximately 28.5 million cards at the end of forecasted year. However, out of these statistics, 40% of credit card users are women with more than 50% of the card owners actively using the credit card[1].

  • Government Policies influence

In UAE, credit cards are commonly used as a method of payment for goods and services[2]. Nevertheless, the country financial sector is the most regulated in terms of policies instituted by the government and control of any exploitation of customers by merchants and financial operators. The government rules and regulations prohibiting businesses from charging their clients fees for the use of the credit cards in paying goods and services is one of monumental legislation in UAE. In particular, schools and nursing care have been warned against charging women seeking for their services. Hence, due to these regulations, the adoption of credit cards is encouraged with the ladies population more interested in using them as opposed to men.

  • Market Gap to be Bridged

Currently, the majority of the credit card providers in UAE are banks. This limits the scope in which a customer can use the credit card for payments for goods and services rendered. A study carried out has indicated that 56% of the current credit card holders are dormant and rarely use them[3]. To ensure that the customers have a wide choice to choose from, TIARA credit Card shall solve these problems. In addition, most of the credit cards are men-centric in that they can be used in bars, hotels, and banks. However, they fail to note that women are involved in paying school fees, taking care of the children and ensuring other home expenses is covered.

  • Six Macro Trend

In regard to demographics, TIARA credit card shall focus on all UAE Citizens with a particular focus on citizens who are young and middle-aged with all income distribution levels[4]. The socio-cultural segment to be targeted includes women who have taken their children to school or baby care services. In regard to economic and technological segment, the credit card shall seek to eliminate all the macro-economic barriers by establishing financial freedom of women population in UAE. This is supported by the UAE government trend to support the internet growth and innovativeness of the payments products.

Segmentation:  Through the introduction of TIARA credit card, the focus shall be to all:

  • Firms that provide products and services to women to satisfy their needs and wants
  • Firms involved in school management to offer facilitation for the mothers to register their kids in schools for special allowances using the card
  • Nurseries and Home-cares where working mothers can leave their children to enjoy few hours without them being responsible for their care
  • Students and women parents intending to pay for yearly or semester fees among other expenses
  • Leading learning centers for the provision of training courses to their clients on different areas of interest to the women including Music, fashion, art, housekeeping, languages, baking, etc..

The key needs for the credit card are to offer a financial freedom to different target consumers. Through this, contrary to the traditional credit cards in UAE, we shall be able to provide our clients with a broad scope of choice for using the credit card without limiting them, the features of flexibility, accessibility, broadened scope and usability of the card will create a cashless system for the target customers ultimately offering them with a financial freedom[5]. The demand is driven by the current neglecting of women, school children, and institutions in the utilization of credit cards.

5.0 Competitor Assessment

5.1 Industry Definition

Currently, the credit cards are more men-oriented neglecting the plight of women. The design of the credit cards fails to account for the fact that economic power of UAE women is increasing with their network in UAE projected to grow up to 15% annually as at 2023 according to UAE Finance Center which an asset manager and investment bank. Despite the credit cards and payment industries progressively offering growth chances to the banks and non-bank card issuers, less issuer has leveraged on capitalizing in women population. Taking this into context, TIARA credit card will not face any meaningful competition[6].  As a matter of fact, credit cards designed for women have been in existence for many years. However, the introduction TIARA credit card will specifically focus on empowering women who do not exist.

Currently, the UAE monetary industry is progressively shifting from the cash-based industry to adoption of alternative payment channels. Through this, the demand for the credit cards is projected to grow in the coming years.  As men dominated society, UAE credit cards are more oriented to the men population with 70% of credit cards issued yearly targeting men population[7].  It is, however, worth noting that in the contemporary society, women are more interested in sending an efficient message regarding their individuality and capacities of becoming productive members of the society while retaining the male dominated heritage popular in UAE. The other categories include housewives and universities students.

5.2 The Five Competitive Forces

To understand the implications of the five competitive forces to the introduction of TIARA credit card, it is necessary to summarize the factors as shown in the table below:

Table 1: TIARA Credit Card Five Competitive Forces

Source: Summarized by the author

[1] Aloul, F. A. (2010, November). Information security awareness in UAE: A survey paper. In Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST), 2010 International Conference for (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

[2] Ibrahim, M. E., & Alqaydi, F. R. (2013). Financial literacy, personal financial attitude, and forms of personal debt among residents of the UAE. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 5(7), 126.

[3] Parahoo, S. K. (2012). Credit where it is due: drivers of loyalty to credit cards. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 30(1), 4-19.

[4] Melia, M., & Suprapti, N. W. S. (2014). Hubungan Karakteristik Demografi Dan Gaya Hidup Dengan Perilaku Penukaran Point Reward Kartu Kredit Di Kota Denpasar. E-Jurnal Manajemen Universitas Udayana, 3(11).

 

[5] Farooq, M. O., & El Ghattis, N. (2015). Qard Hasan, Credit Cards and Islamic Financial Product Structuring: Some Qur’Anic and Practical Considerations. Available at SSRN.

[6] TIARA Credit Card, Retrieved from https://yaoota.com/en-ae/product/tiara-elements-n-1018-jewellery-for-women-price-from-crazydeals-uae

[7] Credit Cards in UAE and Dubai, Retrieved from https://yaoota.com/en-ae/product/tiara-elements-n-1018-jewellery-for-women-price-from-crazydeals-uae

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