Comcast Marketing Strategy

|Marketing Strategy | |Comcast Corporation | | | | | | | | | | | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Comcast Corporation is facing strong new competition in markets where it used to have none. Comcast has been losing analog cable television customers while at the same time seeing reduced growth of subscribers for its new services. For example, Comcast added 247,000 digital cable subscribers in the 4th quarter of 2008, which is less than half of the 530,000 subscribers they added at the same time the previous year (businessinsider. com). Comcast is the largest cable company in the United States. In most of the regions that they operate, they are almost a monopoly. In Maryland alone, they command 82% of the cable market (allbusiness. om). Unfortunately, Comcast has taken the attitude of a monopoly when it comes to customer service and pricing. In 2004 and 2007, Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company in the country (wikipedia. org). Comcast's legacy of terrible customer service has their customers ready to jump to a new company's service as soon as it becomes available. Telecommunications companies have begun to capitalize on this by implementing new technologies to provide digital television, high speed internet and internet telephony services over their existing networks in order to compete directly against Comcast. In order to fulfill Comcast's mission of offering the best products and the most customer-friendly and reliable service in the market, we are proposing a new Customer Service initiative as well as a Total Content Distribution strategy. This involves acquiring media content providers in order to provide exclusive content and to offer a one-stop shopping experience for consumers for all their entertainment and communication needs. Market Definition and Opportunity Comcast identifies its target market size as 50. million homes, located in 39 states and the District of Columbia, which can be connected to its distribution system without further extension of transmission lines. Currently, Comcast has 24. 2 million video customers (47. 8% penetration), 14. 9 million high-speed internet customers (29. 7% penetration), and 6. 5 million phone customers (13. 9% penetration). Comcast generates approximately 95% of its consolidated revenue from its Cable segment. Its cable systems simultaneously deliver video, high-speed internet and phone services to its customers (2008 Annual Report). Appendix A: Example Customer Satisfaction Survey In your most recent customer service experience, how did you contact the representative? ( )In Person ( )By Telephone ( )Internet ( )Other About how long did you have to wait before speaking to a representative? ( )I was taken care of immediately ( )Within 3 minutes ( )3-5 minutes ( )5-10 minutes ( )More than 10 minutes Did our representative†¦ (Select all that apply) ( )Quickly identify the problem ( )Appear knowledgeable and competent ( )Help you understand the cause and the solution to the problem ( )Handle issues with courtesy and professionalism About how long did it take to get this problem resolved? )Immediate Resolution ( )Less than a day ( )Between 2 and 3 days ( )Between 3 and 5 days ( )More than a week ( )The problem is still not resolved How many times did you have to contact customer service before the problem was corrected? ( )Once ( )Twice ( )Three Times ( )More than Three times On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents â€Å"Extremely dissatisfied† and 5 rep resents â€Å"Extremely Satisfied,† please answer the below questions and provide any explanation that could help us to improve our customer service. How satisfied are you with the customer service experience? Overall, how would you rate your level of satisfaction with Comcast? If you were less than totally satisfied, what could have been done to serve you better? WORKS CITED â€Å"Comcast. † Wikipedia. org. Wikipedia. org, 2009. Web. 24 November 2009. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Comcast Comcast Corporation. Annual Report, 2008. Philadelphia, PA: Comcast Corporation, 2008. Frommer, Dan. â€Å"Comcast Beats Street, But Growth Hits the Wall. † The Business Insider. Silicon Valley Insider, 2009. Web. 18 February 2009. http://www. businessinsider. com/comcast-beats-street-but-growth-hits-the-wall-2009-2 â€Å"HD Market Penetration at All-Time High. † Afterdawn. com. AfterDawn Ltd, 2009. Web. 19 October 2009. ttp://www. afterdawn. com/news/archive/16014. cfm/ Herman, Josh. â€Å"Consumers on the Move. † Direct, 1 June 2006: pp 30-31. Mello, John P. â€Å"DVR Market Penetration: Riding a Provider-Powered Wave. † TechNewsWorld. com. E-Commerce Times, 2007. Web. 19 October 2009. http://www. technewsworld. com/story/media-conver gence/59497. html. â€Å"New Verizon Wireless Advertising Campaign Introduces the People Behind the Nation's Most Reliable Wireless Network. † World’s Technology News. Technology News, 2009. Web. 25 November 2009. http://www. mirror99. com/20060514/new_verizon_wireless_advertising_campaign_introduces_the_peo le_behind_the_nation_s_most_reliable_wireless_dfjg. jspx O’Donnell, Jayne. â€Å"Gen Y Sits on Top of Consumer Food Chain. † USA Today, 11 October 2006: p. 3B â€Å"Research: Internet connected TVs the trend for 2009. † Copypaste. nl. Copypaste Media, 9 August 2009. Web. 19 October 2009. http://www. copypaste. nl/788/research-internet-connected-tvs-now-officially-the-trend-for-2009. Waddell, Ray. â€Å"Comcast Center Title Deal Is One For Record Books. † AllBusiness. AllBusiness, 2000. Web. 24 January 2000. http://www. allbusiness. com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4560069-1. html