MARKET TARGET FOCUS
In this section, the target market is chosen based on research and pin-pointed down to a roughly estimated number.
Marketing and Brand Objectives
The marketing and brand objective is to develop an AIMC campaign that will mark the launch of the AUD EMBA program and position it as a key player in the UAE EMBA landscape through a pre-launch campaign, launch campaign and a post launch campaign.
Target Market:
Prospective AUD EMBA students include those at career level. By career level, we intend to target those who have been in the working environment for a minimum of 6 years, with an average of 11 years. In terms of demographics, we’re targeting local Emirati, Non-western expats, and Western expats. In regards to psychographics, the EMBA would be most desirable for those who are motivated in terms of their personal development, career growth and knowledge. Those who tend to have this academic grounding, and wish to solidify their skills would be interested in an EMBA.
Our target market are individuals who qualify (will be explained more below). In regards to the firms, according to the article “top benefits of an EMBA” it is mentioned that EMBA allows fresh ideas to be added into the workplace that a student picks up from classmates, professors, and so forth. AUD’s EMBA is designed and developed with Cornell, a top class university in the United States. Another benefit of an EMBA includes becoming a better leader, networking and solidifying skills. Upon research about education levels in the UAE, it is stated that the “third biggest problem is inadequately educated workforce” The percentage of the population who have attained higher education is low in the region, at 11.9% in 2012. This compares for example to 21.0% in Western Europe. Although rising, adult literacy rates are also low in the MENA region, especially among women: only 73.4% of the female population aged 15 and over in the region met the basic threshold of being able to read and write a simple sentence in 2012. (Euromonitor). Therefore, we want to target firms in order to convince them that pushing their employees into the EMBA program would benefit their firm as a whole and add value to their workforce.
In terms of the consumers themselves: The UAE population is 9.54 million, of these 9.54 million people 72.5 percent are male and 28% are female, thus, 6.89 million people are male and 2.65 million people are female. Moreover, if we focus on only people that are between the ages of 30-50 which could be our target market, 1,302,640 fall into that category as shown in figure 11 below, however, not all of them qualify for an EMBA, as according to the article: Households by Education of Head of Household: 2016, only 26.7% of them have acquired higher education, totaling to around 347,804.88 people.
According to our approximation,
•Approximation: out of these 347,804.88 people, Local: (25%): 86,951.22 and Expats (75%): 260,853 so: out of these expats
The Western Expats equal 10% and the Non Western Expats total to around 90%.
THEREFORE:
•Western Expats: 34,780.488
•Non Western Expats: 313,024.392
Since the non western expats are the largest number, we decided to focus on them.
Figure: Population of the Emirates of Dubai in 2016, by age group (in 1,000s)
Now according to the figure below, it is seen that around 88% (the majority) of the population are expats, therefore, our EMBA should be tailored to the majority.
According to International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, in 2014, 78% of the UAE's population (over 15 years of age- which is the acceptable working age in the UAE) are employed therefore, once again crunching in the numbers, this totals to around 4.3 million people, which are each divided into the following sectors in the figure 13 below and can see this breakdown further in figure 14re to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
From this figure we can deduce that the largest industry of employees falls in the construction and building sector, followed by wholesale and retail trade services. Therefore, our campaign should tailor to advancing in those sectors. Furthermore, to acquire an EMBA, one must have a minimum work experience of 6-11 years, Therefore not all these people can be considered in our target market. According to a survey issued by “The Hays GCC 2015 Salary & Employment Report”, in which they asked 2,000 people to represent the GCC, 82% of respondents were from the UAE. According to the figure below the highest level of seniority appears to be Middle Managers at 31%, followed by Senior Management, thus, our campaign should definitely attract Middle managers in order to inspire them to aim higher, as they are the largest chunk. Moving forward to figure (#) below, we can see that the highest level of degree obtained in the GCC is a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's degree. However, it appears that the EMBA degree is not very popular in the UAE/GCC- therefore, we must explain what it is and why it is important in our pre-launch.
Points of Difference:
The points of difference that make AUD’s EMBA program unique relative to its competitors in the UAE region:
● 65,000 USD Tuition fee (Relatively low relative to its competitors)
● Weekend classes- Thursday&Fri&Sat, once per month for a duration for two years. This allows students to be flexible with their time and fly in when needed.
● Collaboration with world class institute such as Cornell, Harvard and Oxford
● “Not your typical EMBA” ie. cutting edge content, futuristic, allows personal reinvention, and teaches beyond the classroom- societal and community awareness
Points of Difference Between Marketing Classes Between AUD and Competitors:
Positioning:
We want to position AUD’s EMBA in our target audience’s mind that receiving it from AUD- a university in Media City, Dubai equals a modern, high tech, contemporary, degree that one cannot find anywhere else. We want firms to push their employees to get their EMBA’s from AUD as it adds value to their companies due to its cutting edge nature. According to the article “Making Business Schools More Relevant”, it is stated that business schools nowadays are extremely focused on scientifically rigorous research rather than hands on practical work. The article mentions “Business faculty create a body of knowledge that is scientifically novel, interesting, and important. But far too often, the research doesn’t address the real problems of entrepreneurs, managers, investors, marketers, and business leaders” (Eckhardt, 2014). Thus, we intend to deliver the notion that AUD’s EMBA differs from the standard research based graduate degree programs- as it is hands-on attracting visual, practical learners by immersing them in an environment that simulates the work-force in class. We want our EMBA to be achievable financially, while adding the most value to your career through its hands on curriculum. Below is the perceptual map, the basis for this map is the “modern” teaching edge AUD wishes to have in its EMBA program. Moreover, we decided to add expenses in the perceptual map as AUD’s EMBA prices compete positively in the EMBA environment.
