Budget estimation: Saint-Petersburg

Car sharing is a business which demands heavy investments. Most of them are demanded for acquiring a car fleet and installing the necessary equipment. In in oder to make the picture more clear, we propose a rough estimation of the budget for the first year (Saint-Petersburg). We suggest to acquire 90 cars of different models, and we also expect Avis group to provide us with 10 additional cars. Also we have a rough estimation of the employees salaries expenses, rent of the office, etc. Quite significant investments are demanded for the marketing campaign. We suggest to place banners in various places, such as subways stations, subway trains, railway stations, airport and on the ground transport stations. Thus we will be able to reach the wide audience and attract potential customers to Zipcars

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The amount of investments needed for the first year for Saint-Petersburg as you can see on the table equals to EUR 1 465 163,5. This is the number which reflects the fact that establishing a car sharing company demands a heavy investment, especially the firs year when the car fleet and the equipment must be acquired and the technical system is to be developed.

Marketing mix: Place

First, Zipcar will be integrated into St. Petersburg and Moscow only. Then, we are planning to operate in other big cities as well.

You will be able to find Zipcars near universities, business and shopping centers, airports, railway and subway stations.

When you want to use a car, simply open a mobile application and track whether there are any cars available nearby. After using, you can leave it wherever you want, but if the car is left on any of our special parking slots, you will receive free 15 min to personal account.

Our staff will monitor the location of each car, maintain the distribution among districts at daytime and at night, drive vehicles to its original locations.

Zipcar: Easy find, easy go, easy leave

Marketing mix: Promotion

1. Advertising

Since the service is new in Russia, first of all we have to introduce it to consumers. We have to show all the advantages of using the service as opposed to substitute services such as public transport, personal vehicles and taxi. Taking in consideration that our target customers are young modern people, we will use billboards, internet and social networks ads.

2. Sales Promotion

We believe that if someone tries out service once, he or she will use it every day. So, our goal at the beginning is to attract new customers fast. We are planning to communicate with universities and business centers to promote Zipcar with emphasize on its advantages, such as free parking spots in the area and different bonuses. For instance, we will create mobile offices where potential customers will be able issue membership fast and easy.

3. Public Relations

As our main promotion will be through the word of mouth, along with traditional PR promotion techniques such as outdoor, internet and print ads, we will create a “Zip-club” within our website, where our members will be able to chat and share their Zipcar experience. Also, many contests and our annual Zipcar racing will be held and announced there.

Also, we position ourselves as a 100%green company that is helping to protect the environment by decreasing the number of personal vehicles. Therefore as a part of social responsibility program we will donate percentage of revenues to help nature.

4. Personal Selling

It is important for us to create valuable relationships with each potential customer. Also, we understand that each customer has her own desires and purposes for using Zipcar, therefore we propose loyalty programs and bonuses for our clients.

Marketing mix. Product

Objective

Enable citizens who have driving license to have an access to a fleet of shared  in small parking lots and parking places around a city for the necessary period of time and to promote car sharing as an integral part of urban transformation.

It is proposed to implement fleet of the following cars:

Hyundai Solaris Hatchback	Nissan Almera
Ford Focus Ambiente	Opel Corsa

Concept of usage

In order to become a customer there are several simple steps:

1. Make the contract online or in office
2. Provide bank card information (for violation cases)
3. present a passport and the driving license (with 1 year experience)
4. obtain a plastic membership card- key in the office or at home by delivery.

• 24 hours availability
• Flexible Rental Timing
• Flexible Pick up/ Return locations
• Petrol included
• Basic insurance covered
• No booking fees
• No peak hour surcharge
• Conformation upon booking

Vehicle placement concentration

• Airports and entertainment areas
• Housing estates
• Shopping malls/ Furniture Malls
• Event areas (like expo)

The following video shows the usage process:

The value of the core product is consistent with the needs of the target market and established by its new idea on the Russian Market,  superior use of touch screens, tracking telematics, and mobile applications.

Service Strategy

The website and ZipCar application provide up-to-date information on rates, user guidelines, and vehicle locations that save the consumer’s time. Registration is designed for simplicity, security, and speed for maximum ease of use.

 

Brand Strategy

“ZipCar” implies quick service that will get you wherever you want to go, acknowledging the target market’s need for instant gratification. In order to make people more aware about the brand, it is necessary to build a promotion plan.

 

 

Zipcar: company profile

Zipcar, Inc. was founded in 2000 as a membership-based, car sharing company. In march 2013 the company was purchased by Avis Budget Group and now operates as its subsidiary.

One of Zipcar’s main competitive advantages is its proprietary and efficient technology platform. The platform allows for a host of integrated activities such as “member sign-up, online and wireless reservations, keyless vehicle access, fleet management and member management. So, technology, strong brand image and communication are main reasons that Zipcar managed to achieve strong positions in the USA and in 2009 began to expand to Europe. The first move was the acquisition of Spain-based company Avacar in 2009 (although the deal was completed only in 2013). Later in 2010, Zipcar announced that it had acquired London-based car-sharing Streetcar Limited. As of July 2013, the company had more than 810,000 members and offers nearly 10,000 vehicles throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and Austria, making Zipcar the world’s leading car sharing network.

From 2004, Zipcar started to work on B2B model, providing service to more than 10,000 companies. Also, Zipcar has partnered with over 300 colleges and universities across North America.

Zipcar is currently the leading market player in the segment with first-mover advantage and significant brand cache. Given that car sharing market is expected to exceed $10 billion global market size by 2020, Zipcar has all the chances to expand even more.

The Idea of Carsharing

What is car-sharing?

Short-term car rental or car-sharing – a kind of rental car with a per-minute or hourly operation.

It is used for short trips around the city and efficient when there is the significant amount of automated car rental service in the city, as it is assumed to return the car at any of the service points. Car-sharing is sometimes used in conjunction with the carpooling ( joint trips with «the same-way» travelers) .

Users of short term rental services, instead of owning a car, have an access to the network of rental stations and freedom of choice between two alternatives: public transport or car in each case. They also can avoid the costs of owning a vehicle in their personal property.

As of December 2012, there were an estimated 1.7 million car-sharing members in 27 countries, including so-called peer-to-peer services, according to the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at U.C. Berkeley.

So, let’s compare car-sharing with ordinary car rent service to see the obvious advantages of car-sharing.

As we can see, car sharing is more comfortable to use, especially for short trips.

Welcome!

Zip Car in Russia

Decision on internationalization
Standardization vs. adaptation
Country-of-origin effects (COO effects)
Global or local brand?

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