There are some brand names that immediately come to mind when we think of keyboards: Casio is one of those names. Since the 1980’s, Casio has been creating fun keyboards with all kinds of cool features, and in recent years, they have ventured into the area of top-of-the line digital pianos. Manufacture of innovative new digital cameras, watches, digital keyboard pianos, calculators, projectors, label printers, cash registers, electronic dictionaries. Going from 0 to 1.

Marketing Mix of Casio analyses the brand/company which covers 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) and explains the Casio marketing strategy. There are several marketing strategies like product/service innovation, marketing investment, customer experience etc. which have helped the brand grow.

Marketing strategy helps companies achieve business goals & objectives, and marketing mix (4Ps) is the widely used framework to define the strategies. This article elaborates the product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies used by Casio.

Let us start the Casio Marketing Mix & Strategy:

Casio Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in Casio marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

Casio is one of the leading consumer electronics company is the world. Japanese industries primarily have a strong inclination towards producing electronic products with innovation and cost effective means. Continuing with this trend Casio has a wide range of products in its marketing mix catering to the needs of the consumer electronic products including Casio Calculators, Digital Wristwatches, Musical Instruments, Digital Cameras, Projectors, Computers, Mobile Phones, Printing Systems, Game consoles Electronic Dictionary etc. The most well known Casio products include from the categories of watches and calculators. There has been greater demand for basic and scientific calculator series for Casio and has been able to produce various models required for different applications. Similarly there is a widespread demand for the wristwatches of Casio specifically the G-Shock series have greater demand due to its ability to resist mechanic shocks and vibration. The ability to innovate with the digital and analog with additional features watches made Casio brand popular from 1980’s. The other range of popular products offered by Casio include the musical instruments like digital keyboards, guitars and piano which were highly affordable. Office requirements like computers, printers, projectors, data bank and digital diaries had its own set of niche market. The innovation from cameras was done with the launch of Casio Exilim series which were ultra-thin models.

Image: maxpixel

Casio Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Casio marketing strategy:

Casio products are purchased due to its differentiating factor in terms of offerings and the pricing of the products.

Most of the Casio electronic consumer products prices are set after conducting detailed market study by analysing the pricing adopted by the competitors. For newly launched products Casio adopts market skimming strategy as a part of its marketing mix based on the advantage of its unique offerings. Later they reduce they reduce the price by offering various discounts and schemes to attract consumer base. Similarly different versions of the items like calculators, watches etc. have adopted product line pricing based on the additional features it offers to the consumers. Generally the prices of Casio products are adopted considering the middle class segments to retain the customers. There has been clear identification of different customer groups and the product requirements for deciding the prices of the product which include students and office employees.

Casio Marketing Strategy comprises of not only its Marketing Mix, but also segmentation, targeting, positoning, competition and analysis like SWOT. Also read Casio SWOT Analysis, STP & Competitors

Casio Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy of Casio:

The Japanese electronic consumer MNC Casio has established a strong distribution for around one hundred and eighty countries which also includes manufacturing and assembly units. The major focus of Casio has been towards establishing innovative products and this has resulted in establishment of R&D centres at different regions. The major success of widespread of Casio products has been attributed to the indirect distribution channel which has enabled the selling through retailers, wholesalers, agents and distributors across different countries. This can be vouched from the fact that majority of stores sell different types of Casio products. There has been presence of exclusive stores of Casio across different cities selling different variants. Also to reach a larger customer base online selling of Casio products have also been made possible. Thus due to its easy accessibility and availability the products from Casio can be termed to be convenience products. Casio offers a warranty for each of the product and the consumers can contact the sellers for availing such services.

For the intention of addressing consumer complaints Casio receives feedback from such seller and together they resolve the issue.

Casio Promotion & Advertising Strategy:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the Casio marketing strategy is as follows:

Products of Casio are widely targeted for youth and middle aged people which includes students and office going segments. Casio products are promoted through printed advertisements and different products are advertised through different approaches depending on customer segments and needs of the local market. The online presence also has assisted in making the products more visible to consumers and different offering and services are specified accordingly. However, efforts are required to have a wider and long term strategy to promote different Casio products and its features aggressively in the competitive market. Hence, this concludes the marketing mix of Casio.

About Casio:

Casio Computer Company, Limited popularly known as Casio is one of the largest Japanese consumer electronic product manufacturer acquiring a multinational status with its presence across all the continents. The company headquartered in Shibuya Region of Tokyo was founded in the year 1946 by Tadao Kashio. The Casio company is primarily known for the release of the world’s first electric compact calculator in the year 1957. Besides the widespread calculators some of the other innovation was done in terms of cameras, watches, musical instruments, clocks, office computers, printers and office electronic stationaries. The products from Casio have a widespread consumption due to its simplicity and innovation resulting in compact, light and energy efficient personalized items which can be seen from the calculators and watches.

With its strong distribution network Casio has been able to penetrate not only Asian but European and American markets too. The budget friendly and elegant products have helped in raising market share of the product.

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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Casio was established in April 1946 by Tadao Kashio, an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Kashio's first major product was the yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, allowing the wearer to smoke the cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer's hands free. Japan was impoverished immediately following World War II, so cigarettes were valuable, and the invention was a success.

After seeing the electric calculators at the first Business Show in Ginza, Tokyo in 1949, Kashio and his younger brothers used their profits from the yubiwa pipe to develop their own calculators. Most of the calculators at that time worked using gears and could be operated by hand using a crank or using a motor. Kashio possessed some knowledge of electronics, and set out to make a calculator using solenoids. The desk-sized calculator was finished in 1954 and was Japan's first electro-mechanical calculator. One of the central innovations of the calculator was its adoption of the 10-key number pad; at that time other calculators were using a 'full keypad', which meant that each place in the number (1s, 10s, 100s, etc.) had nine keys. Another innovation was the use of a single display window instead of the three display windows used in other calculators.

In 1957, Casio released the Model 14-A, sold for 485,000 yen, the world's first all-electric compact calculator, which was based on relay technology. Year 1957 also marked the establishment of Casio Computer Co. Ltd.

In the 1980s, its budget electronic instruments and home keyboards gained huge popularity. The company also became well known for the wide variety and innovation of its wristwatches. It was one of the earliest manufacturers of quartz crystal watches, both digital and analogue. It also began selling calculator watches during this time. It was one of the first manufacturers of watches that could display the time in many different time zones and of watches with temperature, atmospheric-pressure, altitude, and even GPS position displays.

A number of notable digital cameras firsts have been made by Casio, including the first consumer digital camera with an LCD screen, the first consumer 3 megapixels camera, the first true ultra-compact model, and the first digital camera to incorporate ceramic lens technology.

1.1.2 Different product/brand marketed by the firm/company

There are few different products marketed by Casio Company which are calculator, digital camera, watches, label printer, digital piano or keyboard, mobile devices and cash registers. For watches, it is divided into men and women categories. The watches have divided into many brands such as G-Shock, Baby-G, Dress, Sport, Classic, Databank and Wave Ceptor. Some of the branded watches are for men used only and some are for women used only. Besides, like Sport, Classic and Dress brands is suitable for both men and women. In addition, Casio also offers many different kind of branded calculators, which are Desktop, Basic, Printing, Graphing and Fraction & Scientific. These calculators have their own unique functions subject to different types of calculator. Last but not least, Casio also offers different kind of keyboard and electronic piano such as Digital Synthesizers Keyboard, Privia Digital Piano, CELVIANO Digital Piano, Workstation Keyboard, Mini Keyboard and Portable Keyboard. Different kind of keyboards has their own unique functions too.

1.2 Product Background

1.2.1 Established in the market

The product that we choose is Casio FX-7000G. It is a calculator which is widely known as being the world's first graphing calculator available to the public. It was introduced to the public and Casio Japan's oldest calculator manufacturer between 1985 and 1988. It was introduced to the public as an electronic calculator is a small, portable, often cheap electronic device used to perform both basic and complex operations of arithmetic. This calculator can compute basic arithmetic functions with a precision up to 13 digits and a programming mode. It holds 422 bytes of programming memory, less than half a kilobyte. It has a black casing surrounds the calculator along with a metal panel implemented on the rear, a large plastic screen protects the LCD display window as well. The keys are labelled and printed on orange, green, blue, red, and black malleable buttons. This calculator needs a 9.0 volt DC current lithium battery supply provided by 3 CR2032 type cells.

1.2.2 Brand identity for the selected brand

Brand identity is the combination of name, logo, symbols, design, packaging, product, services performance, image or associations in the consumer’s mind. The brand that we choose is Casio. When we talk about Casio, the first thing that comes to our mind is a good quality and medium-priced product. Our company’s name Casio is established by Tadao Kashio. So many people also will know Casio because it is easily to remember and pronounce. Besides that, our company’s logo is in simple way that using blue and white colour and it is very easy to let people remember this brand. The logo is as shown below:

C:UsersasusDesktop664567casio-logo.gif

CHAPTER 2 : Analysis of marketing strategy

2.1 Product Strategy

2.1.1 Product Classification

Casio Calculator is a consumer product. It is bought by the consumers for personal usages. This product is not only suitable for any home or office that needs algebraic computations, it also suitable for math and science students at all levels. Casio Calculator is categorised into convenience product as it is a product that can buy frequently and immediately without thinking too much. Consumers can purchase it very easily at most grocery stores and stationary or book shop whenever they need.

Besides, Casio Calculator is a low priced product as Casio target for all the levels of consumers especially students. Sometimes, the consumers can get even lower price of the calculator when there is a promotion or discount. Furthermore, Casio Calculator carries out mass advertising in order to attract more customers to come and buy their products. Usually, we can see their advertisement through mass media.

2.1.2 Product and Service Decision

Product and service attributes

Firstly, the product attributes for Casio Calculator consists of its own product quality, features, style and design. The product quality of a product is very important in building the reputation of a company. Thus, Casio did come out with high quality calculator, for example, the Casio Scientific Calculator was introduced to the public as it designed to calculate problems in complex mathematical questions or equations. They have almost completely replaced slide rules in almost all traditional applications, and are widely used in both education and professional settings.

Second, there are so many features of Casio Calculator as we take back the Scientific Calculator as an example. First, it has the ability to graph functions, and that it is programmable. Not only that, until now, the latest model of Scientific Calculator offers over 1500 scientific functions since the first model of Scientific Calculator being introduced and is capable of manual computation for basic arithmetic problems. This Calculator also includes a programming mode. The calculator can display either built-in graphs that are already programmed or display a user defined graph. The user also has the option to rewrite any of the previously programmed graphs. With these features, it can increase the purchasing desire of consumers.

Style and design for a product also take the important role for the consumers as most of the consumers will look at the design of a product before purchasing something. Casio Calculator is now introducing a new Scientific Calculator which has a unique style and design. The Casio released a new design in its ClassPad series of graphing scientific calculators, the fx-CP400, which features a large touch-panel colour liquid crystal display (LCD) for easy viewing and operability.

Branding

The branding of a product is important to the company because it can help consumers to identify the product clearly. As mentioned, the Casio Scientific Calculator FX-7000G which is widely known as being the world's first graphing calculator available to the public. It was introduced to the public and later manufactured between 1985 and 1988. Thus, its brand’s name can be the best guarantee of the quality on the products.

The branding for Casio Calculator brings some advantages to the buyers. The Casio Calculator can be easily recognized by the consumers when there is a popular brand’s name. It can help customer to save their time when searching for the product as they already know about the brand. Some loyal customer will know that they will get the same features, benefits and quality of the product each time they buy. So they will more willing to choose the Casio rather than looking for another brands.

Apart from bringing advantages to buyers, the branding of Casio Calculator also brings advantages to sellers. When there is a trademark for the Casio Calculator, then it will provide legal protection for the features of Casio Calculator. Besides, it also helps Casio to segment the markets into different levels of consumers and after that increase the profit of the sellers.

Packaging

A good packaging is important in helping to protect the elements of a product. Casio scientific calculators are slim, sleek and light weight. Most of Casio calculators are enclosed in a hard case, to protect it from damage. In some models the hard case can be used as a base for the calculator. Casio scientific calculators consume very little power, making the battery to last longer. In most models, the battery can last for up to 2 years of continuous operation. With these packaging, it can improve the trustworthy of customers toward the Casio Calculator.

Labelling

Every product has its own labelling appearing on the package to keep the consumers updated with the information of the product. As in the package of Casio Calculator, it will label a trademark which in larger size to ensure every consumer can identify the product or brand correctly. It also put a logo in order to promote the product through attractive graphics. To attract more buyers, Casio did list out the features of the product on the labels too.

2.1.3 Major Brand Strategy Decisions

Brand positioning

Brand positioning is important for a company to build a position in customer’s mind. So, Casio Calculator created a slogan, 'Support Classroom with Technology', which means the Casio Calculator is ideal for educational environments.

Brand name selection

For a brand name selection, it must be clear enough to make sure customers can easily recognize the products. Thus, Casio came out with few brand names when introducing any new Calculators. We take the Scientific Calculator as example, buyers automatically know from the brand name itself that this calculator is used to solve complex scientific and mathematical problems. So, when customers need to buy a calculator for use in counting for mathematics, they will go straight for Scientific Calculator.

Brand sponsorship

As for brand sponsorship, Casio Calculator is a manufacturer’s brand which is also called national brand. It is a brand name created and owned by the producer. Casio sell their own products under their own manufacturer’s brand names. For example, Casio will have their own factories to produce their products as well as own retailers to help in distributing the products.

Brand development

It is important to a company to have brand development in order to attract more buyers. As for Casio Calculator, it is practicing the line extension because it used the existing brand name with the existing product. Casio Calculator always introduced new models for the calculator by only adding some new functions in the calculator. For example, when the first Scientific Calculator introduced, it only consisted of almost 80 functions. However, Casio then slowly improve their functions of calculator and consequently the latest Scientific Calculator can do as many as 1500 functions instead of only 80.

2.2 Pricing Strategy

2.2.1 Factors Affecting Pricing Decisions (Types of Market)

Casio Calculator is categorized as monopolistic competition market. The reason why Casio Calculator is consider as monopolistic competition is because there are a lots of calculator sellers, or competitors, such as Sharp, Panasonic, Canon and so on. Those brands are selling the calculator products just like Casio. Besides, it is more based on the product differentiation because Casio produced different types of calculator with different types of functions and designs. Furthermore, the marketers spend money on doing advertisements to attract and convince people to consume more their calculator. For example, the customers can see different types of calculator are promoting on the TV and also the magazines. Other than that, the Casio’ marketers will determine and decide the price of the products by themselves. Casio Company knows that pricing can affect the market demand too. The more people demand their Casio calculator, the higher the price of the calculator. Marketers will supply less calculator products to increase the price because the demand of the calculator products goes up which means the customers is willing to buy more.

Table 1 show the types, function and prices of calculator sold in Casio.

TYPES OF Calculator

Function

PRICE (RM)

Practical Calculators

(Model: LC-1000TV)

A full lineup of easy-to-use models to meet a variety of different needs.

RM 29.00

Printing Calculators

(Model: HR-8TM-BK)

Printouts of results along with each calculation step can be attached to documents

RM115.00

Scientific Calculators

(Model: FX-7000G)

Tools for the classroom, the research laboratory, and everywhere in between

$90.00 (England)=RM450

(SRP 1988)

2.2.2 New product pricing strategy

There are two strategies under the new product pricing strategies, which is market skimming pricing and the market penetration pricing. The market skimming pricing is defined as setting a high price for new product to skim maximum the revenues.

Casio is applying the market skimming pricing strategies as we know that price of calculator sold by Casio is a bit higher, so that those consumer will choose to buy another brand of calculator instead of buying Casio calculator. But when come into the next month, Casio will try to make some promotion in order to make those consumer feels that Casio is selling calculator with cheaper price and attract them to purchase.

2.2.3 Product mix pricing strategy

Walmart Casio Keyboard

Product mix pricing strategy is mean to look for a set of prices that maximize the profits on the total product mix of Casio. The pricing is different because each different type of products having different demand and cost and also the face different degrees of competition. There are five types of product mix pricing strategies which are product line pricing, optional-product pricing, captive- product pricing, by-product pricing and product bundle pricing. However, for the Casio calculator they are applying the product line in product mix pricing strategies.

Product line pricing is a kind of pricing strategy which sells different products in the same product range at different point based on function and looks. The goal of product line pricing is to maximize profits. The more features offered, the more consumers will pay. For Example, Casio has chosen one of the calculators which called as FX-7000G as their first generation graphing programmable calculator because they wanted to attract the new customers. Other than that, in the pricing strategies, price of one product in the line cannot be too high compared the others because it will not adhere to the pricing plan. Casio tries to set the price steps between various items in a product line based on cost differences between products, customers’ evaluations of different features and competitors’ prices.

2.2.4 Price adjustment strategies

There are 7 types of price adjustment strategies which are discount and allowance, segmented, psychological, promotional, geographical, dynamic and international pricing.

First is the geographical part. As an intelligent company, they must know how to decide whether to launch your product in a single locality, a region, several regions, the national market or the international market. For example, Casio has launched a new calculator which named it as FX-9860GII SD. The purpose to launch this calculator is because they found that almost every people in Malaysia will use PC and SD card in daily life, so that they try to combine the SD card into the calculator and USB connection to a PC to satisfy their customers.

Secondly, the international pricing used by Casio is based on economic condition. If the economy condition is well, they will set a higher price and vice versa. Besides, international pricing depends on the competitive situations. Casio can set a higher price for their high quality calculator if compare to the competitors because customers will always think that the high prices of product is always a better quality. Furthermore, cost of the production of Casio is a bit higher because all Casio calculators that sold in Malaysia are fully imported from its extension in China. Moreover, customer perceptions and preferences are very important as customers will buy calculator made by Casio if they feel satisfied.

Lastly, the psychological pricing considers the psychology of prices and not only the economy. It is that the consumers perceive the high-priced products like Casio offers high quality of products. Besides, the consumer usually see price less importantly when they can judge the quality of a product by examining it or based on their experiences. Loyal Casio customers will purchase the calculator based on their experiences.

Casio Keyboard Brand Images

2.3 Place strategy

2.3.1 Marketing Channels/Distribution Channels

Casio Company is using indirect channel to distribute their product to customer. Indirect market channel is the selling and distribution of products to customers through intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors, agent or retailers. Consumer can purchase Casio’s products at the major electronic retail stores and department stores. Consumer also can buy Casio calculator in any grocery shop or stationary shop easily so it consider as convenience goods. Besides, Casio also offers its products through online sale. Consumer can order any of the Casio products easily without driving to retail locations. This made Casio hold customer base that usually make online shopping.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) of Casio Company is design to maximize its requirement forecasting ability. It enables major decreases in production lead-time and to reduce the stock. Casio Company builds a good relationship with suppliers which provide the material to them. Casio Company needs to ensure the quality of raw material from supplier is high so that they can make a high quality product in order to want their customer to have best quality product. After the final products reach the wholesaler and retailer in Malaysia, they will directly sell it to customer. Casio Company also wants to shorten the production lead-time to increase the customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Every Casio electronic product has warranty. Casio Company commits to provide efficient after sales service. If the product has any problem, customers can seek help for free from the retailer or wholesaler that they purchase product from. They will let the main company and the supplier know the problem. The main company and supplier will try their best to solve the problem.

Supplier of Casio (Japan)

Casio (Japan)

Casio (Wholesaler & Retailer in Malaysia)

Customers

There are three types of channel function that performed by intermediaries, transactional function, logistical function and facilitating function. Transactional function is to contact, promote, negotiate and taking risk. The retailer and wholesaler in Malaysia have to contact and communicate with expected and negotiate with the main Casio Company about the price of the product. They also have a responsibility to promote Casio Company’s product and has to assume the risks of carrying out the channel work.

Logistic function is the physical distribution and matching. The retailer and wholesaler have the responsibilities to control ways they transport and storing product. Shaping and fitting the offer to the customer's needs, including activities such as manufacturing, grading, assembling, and packaging.

Facilitating function is about the information of research and the finance. The retailer and wholesaler have to collect and distribute marketing research and information about the product so that the company can know more about the marketing environment. Financing is acquiring and using funds to cover the costs of the channel work such as transportation fees of Casio Company.

Retailing/Wholesaling

Casio calculators are available at major retail and stationery stores. Casio Company is practicing wholesaler channel. Wholesaling includes all activities involved in selling goods and services to those buying for resale or business use. Wholesaler is an intermediary who sell product to other intermediary, usually retailer. Casio Company in Malaysia also practice retailer channel. Retailer can purchase many and different types of calculators from wholesaler to distribute to the customers. Retailing defined as includes all the activities involved in selling product or services directly to final consumers for their personal or non-business use. Customer can buy calculators through retailer for personal use. The retailer get product from warehouse or wholesaler and then sell directly to customer.

Promotion Strategy

2.4.1 Integrated marketing communication

The last type of the marketing strategy is promotion strategy which let others understand more on a brand or business, show up the benefits or value of its products to attract sales or help a firm to change its image. Five main types of promotion strategies that integrate marketing communication which are advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing and personal selling. The company that we are researching on, Casio Computer Co., Ltd., has used advertising, sales promotion and public relations.

Advertising

Advertising is the activity of a company to attract public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media.

Internet is an effective way to create brand images and symbolic appeals. Social networking service such as Facebook and Twitter, video sharing website such as YouTube play important roles in advertise the products and services of Casio Computer Co. Ltd.

Sales promotion

Sales promotion is stimulation of sales achieved through contests, demonstrations, discounts, exhibitions or trade shows, games, giveaways, point-of-sale displays and merchandising, special offers, and other similar activities.

Educational online services 90 days trial is a strategy to attract customer where it provide trial version & activities for after purchase. On the other hand, CASIO Educational Forum is a forum which provides a place for members to share information and views with each other. When customer purchases any one of the CASIO scientific function calculator models listed and register as a user using the CASIO Online Service, a user name & password will be issued in order to log into the forum.

Public relations

Public relations are the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

Casio Brand Image

Casio has established Procurement Policies in order to execute its social responsibility to conduct fair and equitable transactions throughout the supply chain. The policies cover matters including legal compliance, respecting human rights, labour, safety, and health, as well as environmental protection such as biodiversity preservation and risk control of chemical contents and information security. Casio constantly improves its socially responsible procurement by obtaining the understanding and support of suppliers for the policies and building strong partnerships.

CHAPTER 3 : Critiques of the strategies and recommendation

Product strategy

Casio Calculator could try to release more calculator models that have a colour display instead of dull colour. Among calculators Casio have released, only a few graphing calculator models, like fx-CG20, have colour display attached on. As many students think that subjects that require complex mathematical calculations are dull, Casio Company could consider releases new model of normal scientific calculator, where main users are students, with attached colour display to make the calculating process looks a lot more colourful.

Pricing strategy

Casio Company is selling its calculators in relatively high prices. Because of the high-priced calculator, it actually lost a large amount of potential customers who are price sensitive. Therefore, Casio Company should try setting the prices by using cost-plus pricing. Through this, the prices of all models will relatively decrease and eventually getting more customers. Although the profit might be lesser, this in fact increases the company’s reputation as more consumers will be using its calculators and the lost profits can be covered through the profits gained from the other business units like watches and computers.

Place strategy

Casio Company has only very limited warehouses and wholesalers around the world. Therefore, it makes it difficult for its worldwide customers to get their products or they have to pay extra shipping fee for their products. For example, in the Southeast Asia region, there is only one warehouse available, which is in Singapore, for the eleven countries. So, Casio Company could consider to build more warehouses around the world hence indirectly increase the accessibility of its product to the customers.

Promotion strategy

Casio Calculators has only very limited advertisements and most of it are on the internet or magazines, a place where thousands are information are simultaneously available. This makes their advertisement less obvious to the consumers. Therefore, the company should invest some money in advertising, whether on radio, television or anywhere else, on its calculator to make their new models more recognisable to the consumer world.