Nor El Houda Sabbar

In partial fulfillment of INT 4300 – Internship

School of Business Administration

How Can a Company Improve its Marketing Activities to Distinguish itself from Competitors?

Dr. Abderrahman Hassi

Fall Term2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research paper is made possible through the help and support from everyone,

Including: parents, advisor, teachers, friends, and in essence, all sentient beings.

Especially, please allow me to dedicate my acknowledgment of gratitude toward the

following significant advisors and contributors:

First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Joshua Capitanio for his most support

and encouragement. He kindly read my progress reports and offered invaluable detailed

advices and feedback concerning: the organization, and the theme of the paper.

Second, I would like to thank Mrs. Jamila Berri. She was an amazing employer and a

very patient trainer. She also answered a lot of questions and didn’t leave any doubt inside

of me.

I would like to Thank Mr. Mosaab Debagh, Ms. Meryem Lahrichi and Mrs. Maha

Andalousie for their cooperation.

Finally, I sincerely thank my parents who provide the advice and financial support.

The product of this research paper would not be possible without all of them.

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Executive Summary

Internship is a compulsory part of the Bachelor of Business Administration program.

In this report, I will give an overview of my internship at AGI Group. This internship gave me

an opportunity to integrate in the professional field by meeting with business people and

making contact with the workplace, the development and implementation of theoretical

knowledge.

Bearing in mind the importance of the housing sector and its important contribution

to the national economy, and knowing the leading position of this sector, I chose to do my

internship at AGI Group performing at Fez and Meknes.

This internship allowed me to:

• enrich my knowledge of communication, marketing and management;

• develop my listening skills, understanding performing tasks where the organization

• understand the operation of the company, modes of coordination between different

interdependent services, the task performed and the basic documents used;

• appreciate the importance of the Commercial and Marketing departments in the

organization;

This internship was also an opportunity for me to perceive how a company in this

sector determines its business strategy in line with the evolutions of the environment and

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the guidance of the state, while developing compliant products expectations and

competitive Moroccan consumers in the domestic market.

As well, this company made me realizes how a weak Marketing could lead a company

to drop its sales and make customers switch to other competitors. In order to complete

these two months within the company AGI; it seems logical to present as prior internship

economic environment, namely the housing sector. Then, I will present the company's

business, its organizational structure and a description of its services. Finally, it is clear the

business problem and the recommendations to solve it.

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Introduction:

In this report, I will present AGI Group, a real estate company, where I worked as an

intern, performing two missions of internal audit at both the marketing and the commercial

departments, during a period of two months and a half from June 17th to August 5th. This

paper consists of two parts. First of all, I will give an overview of the company and its

industry of performing, more specially its corporate purpose and field of expertise. In the

second part, I will explain the business problem that AGI is facing. Further I will explain the

Methodology I used to collect Data for the problem analysis and the arguments. At last, I will

suggest some recommendations in order to solve the problem.

Scope of Internship:

My internship will be mainly in the administrative and financial department where I will have

to accomplish two missions of internal audit according to the international standards headed

by the administrative and financial managers.

Objectives of Internship:

My internship aims to analyze the degree of fulfillment, sufficiency and contribution of the

procedures to achieve the objectives set by the company. In a detailed way, verify

compliance with the referenced requirements of the company (standards, regulations,

specifications, customer specifications, etc); check the effectiveness of the audited area, that

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is to say its ability to achieve goals; and identify areas for improvement and

recommendations to lead the company towards progress.

Personal Objectives:

I hope that this internship will help me bridge the gap between the world of hypothetical

and the practical work experience. My personal objective is to increase my ability in the

professional field and discover the path for further study in the future. Also, I aim to build up

self-knowledge, self-confidence, and work experience.

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Part I: Real Estate Sector and thePart I: Real Estate Sector and the Company Company

1. Overview of the Housing Sector

1.1 Key Figures:

The housing sector is one major engine of growth and vital for economic and social

development. It is one of the largest tax providers to the government. In fact the

contribution of real estate in national GDP hovers around 6.2% in 2006 (Heritage

Foundation, 2011). Furthermore, the added value reached 31.7 billion MAD, thus registering

an increase of 3.7 % (Heritage Foundation, 2011). It should be noted that between 2002 and

2006, the value of real estate recorded a growth of 41.2% (Heritage Foundation, 2011).

According to the “Haut Commissariat au Plan”, the “Batiment et Travaux Publics”

sector account for more than half of Gross Fixed Capital Formation ‘GFCF’, and that since

2001. The part of ‘Batiment’ or construction varies from 25 to 30%. Therefore, it has

attracted an investment volume of 85.6 billion MAD in 2006 and employed more than

814,130 of the work force (Haut Commissariat au Plan, 2009).

1.2 The housing production:

Property development contributes about 40% in the production of housing in urban

areas and the remaining 60% are self-construction by households (Haut Commissariat au

Plan, 2009).

The period 2003-2006 was symbolized by the revival of the activities of the housing

sector and property development. Starting during this period focused on 1.1 million units

(lots, housing units restructuring business units), where 47% was for social housing.

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The contribution of the banking system to finance the housing production is still quite

low. The flow of housing production remains dominant with ratios exceeding 80% depending

on the types of construction. The outstanding mortgages rose from 35-73 billion MAD during

the five-year period 2002-2006. It is a significant increase that accounts for 108 % (Haut

Commissariat au Plan, 2009).

1.3 Constraints:

The urbanization movement that has Morocco known over the past three decades is

characterized by an intense concentration in urban areas. Indeed the housing sector

continues to be characterized by a strong demand for housing, driven by population

pressure and a significant accumulated deficit, estimated at nearly 1,240,000 units (Haut

Commissariat au Plan)

This deficit is the result of the imbalance between supply and demand for housing on

one hand, and the constraints that have slowed down the development of a diverse and

abundant supply, on the other hand, namely:

- The deficiencies of urban management, particularly in terms of infrastructures and

equipment’s;

- Weak land supply and the inflated cost of land in cities under pressure of

urbanization;

- The excess of taxes and the complexity of the real estate tax system;

- The low involvement of the banking system in housing finance.

- Inefficiency of the institutional framework

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- Lack of coordination and monitoring of public programs by the two ministries

Therefore the cost of economic housing exceeds the financial capacity as well as the

rapid growth of the irregular form of housing that lies at around 50% (Haut Commissariat au

plan, 2009) of supply and slum layers (Bidonvilles).

2. The New Policy Adapted by the Government:

To ensure the upgrading of the housing sector and increase its capacity to meet the

demands of the rapid urbanization, the government has implemented since 2003 a strategic

vision that focuses on the following main areas:

Expanding access to an adequate housing for low-income households through

diversification of supply

The implementation of a new approach to fight against the substandard housing

with a strong involvement of local communities.

Reform of regulations governing urban planning in order to better control the cost of

social housing, simplify planning procedures and reduce approval delays.

Regulation of the land market.

Improved access to finance by increasing the financial resources allocated to social

programs, revision of system purchase loans and the creation of guarantee funds for

customers with low and instable incomes.

Restructuring the institutional and legal framework in order to update and finalize

the legal armory of the sector.

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3. AGI Group

3.1 History of AGI

AGI, through its expertise and know-how, is placed in the positive dynamics of the

housing development in Morocco. The relationship with its customers and the study of their

needs, we were able to develop residential programs in line with their expectations, no

matter the level of their investment.

This is the case in Fez, Meknes and regions where they have established experts in

the construction and real estate development. This is also the case when they make social

housing a priority, thus converging with the national agenda. Financially attractive, their

offer is more in terms of developed quality, surface and architecture. In addition, they

always expect that there is best for their customers. This is a fair, equitable and sustainable

commitment. In this way, AGI proudly brings its modest contribution to the construction of

better Morocco.

3.2 Company Overview:

It is a sole proprietorship, owned and found by Mr. Houssine Lahrichi, an architect

certified by the government. Since its creation, the group AGI has specialized in the study,

installation and the conduction of the real estate operations. Established in the region of

Fes/Meknes, AGI group has contributed since 1997 to the development of the architectural

landscape of the region. Through the accomplishment of several real estate projects marked

with professionalism in perpetual development. It works at the regional level on the value

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chain creation: the development, construction, promotion, marketing and production.

Progressively, positioning the group has evolved from a sponsor to a property developer

producer on four complimentary segments, and provides a full range of real estate services

(design, production, and marketing).

AGI Group revenues of last year were about MMAD 308 and it employs about 90

employees from different filed of studies and specializations.

3.3 Company Structure

The Group is composed of eight different branches that all contribute to the

development of real estate economy:

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This structure demonstrates the diversification of AGI in terms of its products offered to its

customers. It targets basically every category by providing an appropriate housing. In

addition, AGI is a group of different small companies where each one deals with a specific

field of expertise. For example, the small company named AGI Construction is the one that

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AGI Sakane"Orientée sociale"

AGI Promotio

n

"lotissement""Moyen Standing"

AGI Holding

Administrative section

AGI Constructi

onProject ownership

AGI Materiau

x

Construction Materials

Sonarmok

"Orientée Sociale"

AGI Resort

Tourism

Larycomi

"Moyen Standing"

deals with the negotiation of the materials prices, the organization of purchases and the

search of suppliers.

3.4 Company Projects:

AGI Group has multiple projects in both cities Fes and Meknes. The following are the current projects that owns AGI.

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AGI sakaneMoulay Cherif Fes (300)Moulay Omar Mekens (300)Charafa Fes and Meknes

LarycomiProject Mabrouka

SonarmokMoulay Idriss 1 (4000)Moulay Idriss 2 (1000)

AGI PromotionLots. Moustakbale Fes (500 lots)Moulay Ismail Meknes (300)Lots Ouad Fes (500)Salé (next project)

AGI’s main project is found in the city of Fes named Moulay Idriss. It is the one of the biggest

projects of social housing in Fes next to the projects of ADDOHA Group and Al OMRANE

Group.

3.5 Company Values:

Expertise: To provide their customers with welcoming and suited spaces to their life

expectations, they require the best of themselves. Thus, they have developed

expertise throughout the region of Fez and Meknes to guarantee to all customers a

remarkable quality level regardless of the proposed standard.

Proximity: Remaining attentive to their needs, we can implement functional and

tailored solutions. The team of AGI business advisors is very available and responsive.

Listening to the needs of its customers, the AGI interlocutor supports and gives all

moments of advice.

Trust: This is in accordance with the customer commitments in terms of offering

quality and service with a sense of confidence. Safety and physical integrity of

customers is a priority.

3.6 Company’s Mission:

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We provide the most professional, loyal and dedicated service in the industry. The

best interests of our clients will always come at first and we will place the clients’ concerns

ahead of our own in each and every transaction. As well, our company aims to contribute to

the development of real estate economy and proceed to the projects of slum clearance.

3.7 Summary of the Balance of 2012:

From the above table, we can conclude that AGI’s main revenues are the sales of the

social Housing. In 2012, AGI sold around 1200 units of social apartments, around 37% of

total sales. Then, it comes the “Individuel Housing” also known as “Moyen Standing” at a

second main revenue source, where they have reached 906 units sold. The “Lots” and the

“Commerces” are the weakest in terms of sales, but this is due to the limited production and

to other economic conditions, like the demand of “commerces” and “lots”.

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Type of Product Number %

Habitat collectif/ Economique 1200 37.14

Habitat individuel/ M.S 906 28

Lots Habitat 600 18.5

Lots indus & tour 215 6.65

Commerces 310 9.5

Total 3231 100

3.8 The Organizational Chart

This chart is a structure of AGI organization demonstrating how they are organized. It is a

functional organization relying on hierarchy. It is a simple and centralized structure where

the departments commnicate betwwen each other, so does the Ceo with the departments

and every department with its different divisions. This structure helps:

• Operating with the use of Economies of Scale as the tasks are simple and repetitive

• Developing the ability to clearly isolate the responsibilities and ease of control.

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CEOMr. Houcine Lahrichi

Assistant Director Mehdi

Lahrichi

Control de Gestion et

AuditJamila Berri

Administrative Director Maha Andaloussie

Chef Comptable Mr.

Abderazak

Commercial Director Mosaab Debagh

Marketing Director

Meryem Lahrichi

Technical Director Mr. Guessous

Site Manager Mr. Aziz Lahrichi

Part II: The Business Problem and the Developed Recommendations

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1. The Business Problem Statement:

Currently, real estate companies are very competitive in terms of their marketing

strategies shown from the variety of the advertising campaigns and the offered promotions;

customers, however, do not easily recognize AGI as a real estate company. Therefore, in

order to differentiate itself from other competitors, AGI needs to develop its marketing

strategy.

2. Description of the Methodology Used:

Throughout the internship, I have interviewed managers from the marketing and

commercial departments. Also, I Interviewed target customers at shopping malls and super

markets. The questions addressed to managers were based on the marketing Diagnostic

procedure by Dick Gleason, and the commercial auditing procedure according to the

international standards of internal auditing by the Institute of Internal Auditors. On the other

hand, I developed some questions to ask to target customers to know to what extent

customers recognize AGI among its major competitors. In addition, I conducted an analysis

of the ads broadcasted in the national TV stations (Al Oula and 2M TV) to identify how AGI is

limited in this field. Further, I made a comparison between the promotions offered by AGI

and other competitors and see what are the most pleasant to customers.

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Managers were interviewed orally as well as customers. The answers got from managers

were written, and the answers got from customers were recorded in a video that will be

used during the presentation to better illustrate how customers easily recognize competitors

than AGI.

In Order to analyze the business Problem, we need to look at the Marketing department

and the Commercial department.

3. The Commercial Department

3.1 Overview

The sales function is the main revenue source in the company. It is a vital function

and occupies a prominent place in each company. Indeed, this function's main mission is to

meet the needs and requirements of external environment (including customers) by

providing the requested product or service at the best price, with the required quality and

within the agreed delays.

3.2 The Organization Chart:

The organization chart of the sales service of the company is as follows:

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Département commercial

Service commercial

Assistante Commerciale

Responsables Commerciaux

Service recouvrement

The sales department is comprised of business leaders and sales managers. The

commercial agents are the sales force and the backbone of the company. They are the

bridge between customers and the company.

3.3 Task Description

The sales managers’ main function is the sale of products which requires the joint

mobilization of technical and business skills adapted to define the expectations of

increasingly demanding customers. Thus, sales managers’ main missions:

• Management & monitoring of client portfolio.

• Prospecting new markets and development of existing customers.

• Establish a schedule for visits and surveys following the procedures in place.

• Needs analysis & development of appropriate commercial proposals.

• Ensure customer satisfaction.

• Processing LEADS (received by Marjane or conventions).

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• Continuously monitor market developments and be able to locate the AGI offers

accordingly.

• Ensure daily reporting of the activity to the Department by completing a form called Eval

Sheet or Daily Report.

3.4 The process of the commercial

The process of the commercial department consists of a couple of different steps;

each is done by a specific number of employers depending on the difficulty of the tasks. The

process starts by the client reception as a first step, and then comes the role of the sales

manager to identify the needs of the customer. After, the sales manager presents the offers

available. Further, it is the customer who has to identify his/her choice and report it to the

sales manager in order for the negotiation step to begin. Finally, the customer has to make a

reservation after confirming the final choice and showing a satisfaction with the price. These

steps are analyzed more precisely through the Commercial Auditing. The commercial

process is schematized as the following:

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3.5 Commercial Audit:

The audit that was conducted has demonstrated many risks related to every step at the commercial process. The following is a brief summary of the commercial audit.

a) Risk analysis and recommendations for internal control

Client reception:

The reception phase is often considered for situations where the sales manager receives a prospect or client. We can see that the sales manager has to create a climate of trust to facilitate the reception phase.

Risk related to the client reception

Long waiting list and disorganization of customer reception Relations with customers generate emotional tension due to the contradiction between the real feelings of the agent (impotence, misunderstanding ...) and the appearance that should display vis-à-vis his interlocutor (Friendliness forced fake understanding ...).

Recommendations for internal control

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Clientreception

needs identificati

on

Offer presentation choice negotiation reservation

Set up an electronic queue for organizing the reception of prospects.Motivation of workers and sales managers to insure a good relationship with customers.

Needs identification

Needs identification can only take place once trust has been established between the customer and the sales manager. This phase takes place in the form of an interview where the sales manager is the host. The sales manager has to obtain a lot of information from the customer in order to fulfill his/her needs.

Potential risks related to needs identification:

Failure to identify and retain the customer's specific needs and wants.

Recommendations for Internal control:

Check the interview process between the agent and the clientRegister the needs specified by the customers in a book in order to consider them in the following projects.

3. Offer Presentation:

Now this step aims to define the product that might be suited better to the needs of the client. Sales responsible rely on handouts, a marketing manual or ground plane. The ground plane is a map that reveals the details about the project: location, size, number of rooms, etc ... It helps the customers to get an initial idea about the product and it encourages them to adopt the desired behavior (reservation).

4. Choice:

The sales responsible fill up a permit access after each visit of the customer. The sales manager keeps company to the clients to the site or the show room to better facilitate the customer choice. After this step, the customer might go back to the sales office to confirm the final choice.

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Risk related to the Choice selection

The client may withdraw and seem no longer interested in the project.The customer may be disappointed after seeing the projects because it does not meet his/her needs.

Recommendations for Internal Controls:

Arrange shuttles to customers wishing to visit the sites or witness apartment to strengthen the commercial service and support the customer's decision.

5. negotiation:

After confirming the final choice, the client starts the price negotiation. This step delays the process of the sale. The customer is always hesitant and booking always seems a difficult decision for the client. This step also depends on the effectiveness of the sales manager to convince the customer.

Risk related to the negotiation:

This step (price negotiation) might result in tense situations where the client can be verbally aggressive.

The inflexibility of sales managers to reduce the price can cause a failure to please the customer.

Recommendations for Internal Control

Having a margin that the sales manager can take to reduce the price.Organize training sessions for business managers to learn more about how to deal with customers especially negotiate the price to avoid such misunderstandings with customers.

6. Reservation:

Booking is the last step in the process. Following the request of the customer, the sales manager blocks the product on “Market system” to make a reservation for the customer. The customer must submit an advance to get a receipt. The advance depends on the type of product, it is usually 30% of the price with possible discount, For Mabrouka is estimated at 5% of the total price. And the social, it varies between 25,000 and 50,000 DH DH.

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Risk related to the booking:

Double sale of the product: the sales manager may fail into this double sale and reserve a product that is already booked by another client.

Acceptance of orders under unfavorable financial conditions of a customerAcceptance of a reservation from an insolvent client;Non-transmission of the acceptance of a reservation service recovery that may result in delivery delays.Invoices issued without justification (fraud).

Recommendations for Internal control

Conducting preliminary investigations on the credit worthiness of customers and the establishment of a list of clients at risk

b) Customer Relationship Management analysis

The following questions are taken from the Marketing Diagnostic checklist, and were asked to Mr. Debagh the Commercial manager at AGI Group.

Customer Relationship Management

Do you know how satisfied your customers are with

your products/services?

We can say that our customers are fairly satisfied with our products and very satisfied with our services.

Do you consider CRM a sales, marketing or customer

service responsibility?

It is the responsibility of all. In order to better maintain our customers we need to set up a sound CRM, and every service in the company has to contribute to that. CRM is one of our strength, because when you manage your customers, you are building customers’ loyalty.

Where does CRM reside within your company? CRM is within the commercial department and the Marketing department. Both departments

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get into a touch point with customers.

How do you detect problems customers may be

experiencing with your company or products?

Who do you involve in the process and remediation?

At the Commercial Department, we have a group of employers who are in charge of solving customers’ problems, and they are very welcome to contact us for any problem they encounter at their apartments even 4 years after the purchase.

Do you link any customer satisfaction feedback to

your customer service planning, new product

Development, and/or marketing strategy

development?

Absolutely, our customers’

satisfaction is a result of our work

and our new product

development. It is one of our

major points in our mission to

believe that there is always the

best for our customers and we

work hard to make up the best

products to satisfy their needs.

4 The Marketing Department

4.1 The department description:

The marketing department is a major function in every company and occupies a

prominent place. This department’s main mission is to communicate the value of a product

or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a critical

business function for attracting customers.

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4.2 The Organizational Chart of the Marketing Department

The marketing department is composed of three major divisions: the lead generation,

the strategy and the customer service. Lead generation division deals mainly with bringing

customers onto the company either by advertising or public relations such as conventions

with specific groups. The strategy division has to deliver the core message to customers

brought to the company. Also, it has to identify the appropriate materials for advertising

such as newspapers, signboards, etc…Finally, the customer service division aims to develop

an excellent communication with customers in Order to build up a customer loyalty. The

Marketing department is schematized in the above chart and are best described further the

paper.

4.3 Major Activities of the Marketing Department

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Marketing Department

Lead Generation

Advertising Public relations

Strategy

Core Message Advertising Materials

Customer Service

Loyalty Communication Refferals

Communication and promotion are two activities that are very essential in the marketing

process. They aim to inform the target customer, the challenge of bringing it to the

institution and to the product to trigger the purchasing process by:

- Promotional activities: that is to say all of direct marketing such as to encourage

potential customers to buy the product, and to boost the efficiency of business.

- The communicative action: all means whose purpose is to inform, raise interest, and

promote AGI and its products.

4.4 Marketing Plan :

- The Marketing Plan may lay on two main areas:

An internal action: aims to ensure the flow of information at the staff level

External Action: aims to ensure the permanence and continuity of information

policy makers and various stakeholders of the company through various

communication media, which involves the opening of AGI on its environment.

4.5 Forms of Communication:

AGI relies on both forms of communication media and non-media.

- The media communication is used especially to develop corporate communications or

communicate with major projects through the integration with national newspapers and

television and radio.

- The non-media communication: this is the form of communication to develop in general

and apply in particular to promote the sales of products, diversifying media depending on

the target.

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5. Marketing Diagnostic

5.1 Market Share:

AGI has 35% of social housing in FEZ and regions and 30% in Meknes and regions, according

to Mr. Debagh, the commercial manager. So we can see that an important market share is

dominated by AGI Group. However, the growth of the market share was quite low compared

to the years before. The reason behind this decrease is the intense increasing of

competition.

5.2 Major Competitors:

Douja Promotion Addoha Group known as ADDOHA Group is the first real estate

operator listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, ADDOHA Group is totaling more

than 190,000 units and a reserve of nearly 6000 hectares with its real estate projects,

the leading position on the domestic market of real estate. The company continues

to satisfy its customers’ needs with the quality and safety of housing it offers.

ADDOHA projects got the ISO 9001 (2008 version) certificate as a concrete result of

an innovative approach to continuous customer satisfaction. ADDOHA is present in

almost all the cities of the Kingdom covering some of the small towns. ADDOHA is

present in Fes as well with its project “Oliveraie”.

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ESPACES SAADA is a subsidiary of the real estate division Palmeraie Holding conducts

projects and economic standing in line with the values of quality and innovation.

ESPACES SAADA is present with two major projects in the city of Fez named

BOHAYRAT SAISS and DYAR AL BOHAYRA

AL OMRANE Group was established by successive consolidation of several

companies to become a specialized operator of the state in the field of housing and

development. AL OMRANE Group is present in all regions of the country through its

14 subsidiaries and 43 agencies. Abroad, he has an office in Paris. Al OMRANE’s main

project in Fes is AL JAOUAHER

CHAÏMAA Group started first by small construction projects of simple individual

housing in the city of Oujda. In 2000, the corporate was recognized and grouped to

form the CHAÏMAA Group to become strong enough to operate in large-scale

projects. Today CHAÏMAA Group has built more than 10 000 homes and much of

serviced “lots”. Thus, it became one of the pioneers of economic housing

subdivisions. The territory covered by the group is impressive: from north to south,

from Oujda to Marrakech via Fez, Casablanca and Tangier and other cities. It is

present in Fes with two major projects named AL MADINA and AL MOUNTAZAH.

5.3 Market Segmentation:

Product Characteristic Target Customer

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Social Housing unit delivered finished or

semi-finished, for the relocation of citizens living the unhealthy living

Low class, people living in slums; employers with unstable wages

Economic Housing individual house, delivered for customers satisfying a number of eligibility conditions, lower prices at market prices

Middle class; newlyweds

Promotional Housing housing not included in the category of social housing or the economic housing

Middle and high class; customer with stable salary

Commercial Locals Local made in housing programs, for sale to the general public with conditions including compliance of certain provisions of safety and nuisance.

Business people; business institutions

Lots for commercial activity Lots equipped, generally made in integrated housing developments to receive the construction of commercial activities nearby, such as bake, kindergartens, private schools,

Business people; business institutions; startup businesses looking for locals

5.4 Distribution of Customers in percentage of Sales:

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38%

24%

33%

5%

Customers in % of SalesSocial Moyen Standing Lots Commerce

From this diagram, we notice that the main customers are customers demanding

social housing with a percentage of 38%. The second important customers are those

demanding “Moyen Standing” with a percentage of 24%.

5.6 Marketing Strategy Analysis:

In order to better understand the Marketing Strategy, these diagnostic questions must be

answered. According to Mr. Debagh, the Commercial manager at AGI, and Ms. Lahrichi, the

Marketing manager at AGI:

Sales and its knowledge of the customer:

Do you know what the customer knows, feels and believes about your company?

Our Customer knows our

company as a good quality

provider and a trustworthy

company

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Have you ever asked what they know, feel, believe

about your competition?

Yes, some companies have a

very good image such as

Espaces SAADA, and some

others they have very bad

reputation in terms of quality

and customer satisfaction such

as ADDOHA, but it is still the

leader thanks to its low prices.

What do you want them to ‘believe’, ‘know’, about

your company?

We wish to develop our

Marketing in order to reach

more customers and build a

better image of our company as

we want them to know that our

company sets the quality and

customer satisfaction as a

priority.

Do you know how your company develops new

business opportunities?

Our company tries to target all

social categories of the country.

For this reason, we started

developing new kind of housing

that meets up the needs of the

middle and high class

population.

How would you define the company’s Unique Selling

Proposition

Our Unique selling proposition

is that we offer housing with a

larger surface than those of our

competitors and more number

of rooms

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, but unfortunately, this USP is

not well recognized by our

customers the prices are

determined according to the

number of rooms in each

apartment.

From these answers, it can be concluded that AGI Group has a hard time to be

distinguished from its competitors. Although, the group has USP which is providing large

surfaces than other competitors’ products, I believe it is not more pleasant to customers

than low prices offered by other competitors.

Marketing Questions

How does your current marketing strategy align to

business objectives and strategy?

Marketing requires a huge

budget in order to make

customers believe what you

want of the company. So

whenever we could, we invest in

our marketing

Do you feel you are getting value for money from your

marketing budgets?

Yes we do, the more we invest

in our marketing, the more we

earn from our customers.

How effective do you feel your external

communications are? In what way?

Our Marketing relies on “Word

of Mouth” the most that is why

communication is highly

effective outside the company.

How effective do you feel your current marketing is? Our Marketing is sometimes

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effective when we are dealing

with customers who already

know our company, but when it

comes to distinguish our

company from our competitors,

our marketing might be a bit

weak

AGI Marketing is very limited, it relies mainly on word of mouth, which is the most

traditional form of marketing. Other competitors, however, are very active and conduct

strong marketing campaigns where they influence their target customers through the rich

advertising broadcasted on the TV stations and the variety of promotional actions

supplementing the core product which is housing.

5.7 AGI Advertising vs. Competitors’

AGI Ads.

As already stated, AGI Advertising relies mainly on word of mouth. Also, it prints out

flyers demonstrating their projects and the offered promotions, and hires some people to

distribute them in the street ‘the brigade’. This method is very basic and not very effective,

especially when the customer is facing a huge supply and the competitors are doing much

better in terms of advertising. AGI is not willing to invest huge budgets in advertising as it is

not sure that it is going to leave a positive impact on customers.

Competitors’ Ads

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After a broadcast with the Moroccan singer Samira Said, ADDOHA Group went even

further last year by hiring 30 stars singing a melody composed in honor of housing of

Addoha: Mahmoud El Idrissi, Naima Samih, Ba Jeddoub, Haj Moughit, Joudia, Amina Rachid,

Mohamed Derhem, Hajjah Hamdaouia, Hatim Ammor, Nezha Regragui, Raisa Tihihite, Saida

Sharaf, Driss Rukh ... the list goes on. Better in another TV spot is Najat Aatabou who plays

the lead role. According to ‘La Vie Eco’ 400,000 DH was the amount paid to Naima Samih

alone. Second largest seal was for Najat Aatabou 130,000 DH. I must say that the issue is

worth it for the group that plans to build 150,000 social housing units in 5 years and started

building 35,000 units this year (La vie Eco, 2012). Also, the period chosen to display the ads is

helpful because such advertising is very effective during Ramadan, knowing that time spent

watching television increases dramatically. This ad has cost ADDOHA Group 3.6 MMAD. This

Year ADDOHA Group has launched its new Ramadan advertising campaign by showing the

undisputed King of “Rai”, Cheb Khaled who has a great influence on the Moroccan

population. Khaled’s song for ADDOHA was a great idea since everybody has learnt some

words such as « Ana aachek, chari, dari mberaâni » and again «wakhda bali ».

For their part, ESPACES SAADA hired the King of Bollywood Indian cinema, actor Shah

Rukh Khan who is also undeniably part of the favorite artists of the Moroccan public, and it

was a great idea to promote economic and social housing. The group has previously called

the couple to a popular Turkish series Bergüzar Korel and Halit Ergenç, known as Shehrazad

and Anuar, for its social housing divisio, and in 2009, Desperate Housewives as a sponsor for

a luxury real estate project. The local media points out that Shahrukh Khan and Cheb Khaled

pocketed 12 million dirhams for the two campaigns where 7 million goes to the Indian actor.

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Furthermore, we can see that there is a war in terms of advertising costing millions of

dirhams for these real estate companies. However, it is quiet fun and motivating from the

customer’s perspective.

5.8 AGI promotion

AGI is doing well in this area, but unfortunately it is not visible to customers due to

the limitation and lack of advertising. AGI is promoting its products through different

promotional actions suitable for each kind of products. For Example, for the “moyen

standing” apartments, it offers an equipped kitchen and an air conditioner in every piece of

the apartment. In addition, for the social housing, they open an individual door for

customers who purchase the ground floor apartments, and an exemption from registration

fees, etc…

Others competitors offer similar promotions, but mainly for the social housing

customers. The promotional actions might be an equipped kitchen, free TVs, free sheep at

Aid Al Adha, an equipped living room, etc…

Interviewing target customers of social housing, the most pleasant actions are

equipped kitchen and free air conditioners. This choice makes sense as the target customers

belong to the low class category, so it might be very helpful to offer equipped rooms at the

apartments, also Fes is very hot during summer and most of these customers are not willing

to invest money in an air conditioner. However, these actions are only present at the

“Moyen Standing” housing. Therefore, customers would go for the company that offers

these promotions on social housing.

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5.9 Do customers recognize AGI and its products?

I have conducted an interview with a sample of 30 customers. The following

questions were asked:

1) Do you recognize AGI Group?

72% No

28% Yes

Customers recognizing Agi as a real estate Company

2) If you are more likely to buy a social housing, which company would you go for?

ADDOHA Group

ESPACES SAADA Group

AL OMRANE Group

CHAIMAA Group

AGI Group

Results:

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65% Oliveraie

25% Moulay Idriss

10%Others

Preffered Company

3) What projects of social housing do you recognize from the following?

Oliveraie

Al MADINA

MOULAY IDRISS

MOULAY CHERIF

AL JAOUHER

DYAR AL BOHAYRA

Results:

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Oliveraie Moulay Cherif Moulay Idriss Al Bohayra Others

40%

30%

15%

10%

5%

Projects Recognized

4) If you were to buy an economic house, what location would you prefer it to be?

Route de Sefrou

Highways (Autoroute)

Ain chkaf

Oued Fes

Zouagha/Bensouda

Results:

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Highways

Oued Fes

Ain Chkaf

Sefrou Road

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Location preferences

5) If you are more likely to buy a social house, would you care mostly about the surface

or the number of rooms?

Results: 68% of customers prefer large surfaces than having more room with small

surfaces.

6) Which company do you think it offers products at low prices but in line with a good

quality?

AL OMRANE Group

CHAIMAA Group

AGI Group

ADDOHA Group

ESPACES SAADA Group

Results:

ADDOHA 70%

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CHAIMAA 20%

Sum of the rest answers 10%

7) What promotion is more pleasant to you when purchasing a social apartment?

Equipped kitchen or living room

Free motorcycle

Free sheep

Free air conditioners in every room of the apartment

Or personal door

Results:

Equipped Kitchen

Air Conditioner

others

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Most Pleasant promotion

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8) Would you like to reside in large housing complexes where you find a large number

of residents in every building or small housing complexes where there are only a

small group of residents in a building?

Results: 68% of customers would like to live in small housing complexes.

9) What projects do you think have more public facilities, such as Hammams, mosques,

schools, shops, etc…?

OLIVERAIE

Al MADINA

MOULAY IDRISS

MOULAY CHERIF

AL JAOUHER

DYAR AL BOHAYRA

Results:

OLIVERAIE 60%

MOULAY IDRISS 20%

Others 20%

10) What is the advertising of social housing do you recall the most?

Results:

Cheb Khaled 40%

Shah Ruh Khan 38%

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Random answers 22%

11) Does a celebrity influence your decision in buying a social housing?

Results: 55% said that a celebrity will influence their buying decision.

After analyzing these answers, I think that AGI’s projects are known more than the

company’s name. However, a significant number of customers have more preferences for

other competitors, mainly ADDOHA Group

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Recommendations:

After this study at the Marketing and Commercial levels, we conclude that there must

be a developed modification at the Marketing level. AGI is a developing company and in

order to reach the maximum amount of customers it needs to set up a strong and sound

marketing strategy where it should increase intensely the advertising and the promotion of

its products to let people know about them and recognize AGI as a real estate housing

provider. In addition, AGI has to develop a more attractive Unique Selling Proposition that

would differentiate it from customers and allow it to acquire an independent competitive

advantage.

AGI Advertising needs to be at the same level of that of its competitors. As I have

stated before, AGI occupies a significant market share in Fez and Meknes, but its name is not

significantly present among others competitors’ names.

Further, AGI is limited to the areas of Fes and Meknes. Therefore, it must try to

penetrate other regions and other cities where social housing is more highly demanded.

As a solution to these marketing issues, I have developed some recommendations

that must help AGI overcome its problems and get to be more known and distinguished from

its competitors.

The Marketing Planning Level:

At the marketing planning level, AGI needs to redefine its Unique Selling Proposition. For

example, “we are not only the best social housing provider, but we are the only provider

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who ensures quality, comfort and security at a time to our customers”. This USP might be

very competitive since not all the companies offer those three characteristics at a time.

At a Professional Level:

AGI must participate in trade shows. For example, AGI can rent a booth at the national

housing saloon, or even at housing saloon organized for the Moroccans living in Europe. This

way AGI will acquire more LEADS and can generate more customers. In addition, AGI doesn’t

receive enough marketing interns, so by hiring more marketing interns it should benefit from

young new marketing ideas.

At the Advertising Level:

AGI should get started with advertising on the national TV stations. It can call a celebrity that

has a kind of influence on Moroccan population such as a sport champion that had a great

outshine on the national soccer team or tennis, etc… AGI can use stickers and magnets to

advertise in its staff cars.

Incentives, rewards, and coupons

AGI can create coupons and give them away to random customers as an incentive to

purchase. Also, it can develop reward system for customers who spreads out the company’s

offers and help bring customers onto the company.

At a Relationship Building Level:

AGI might leave a positive impact on the target customers by helping promote a public

event. For example, at the city of Fes, Spiritual music Festival is organized every year. AGI

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name needs to appear in such events to reach more customers. Also, there is the national

salon of Agriculture in Meknes; AGI has to benefit from these events that exist in its area of

performance.

In addition, AGI can sponsor a local soccer team, so its name will appear on the soccer field

boards and soccer fans will recognize it as soccer is the most popular sport in Morocco. Also,

the soccer field in Fes is among the best and the busiest, where we receive a lot of

international teams.

Furthermore, AGI might donate branded prizes for local fundraisers. This will make AGI

appear as a charity promoter and will leave a positive impact on community for contributing

somehow to the social service.

As a Unique Marketing Idea

I have developed an amazing mascot that will for sure promote AGI name and will have a

significant influence on target customers. This mascot should be built next to AGI’s

headquarter as well as its projects. Also, it should be promoted on the local billboards.

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Establishing these modifications at the Marketing level, AGI will overcome its problems and

will be very unique and strongly present in the marketing campaigns. Hence, it will leave a

positive feedback on target customers that will consider AGI Group as main social Housing

provider.

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Conclusion

This internship was very informative; the contact with customers helped me a lot in

developing my listening skills, understanding needs and resisting to stress. The integration of

the team work has made me realize how fast can lead to work success.

As I already mentioned, my internship coincided with the development of this sector

and the intense increase in competition. Therefore, I learnt how to compete and resist to

competition issues by developing a new mode of management characterized by the use of

technology of which the use of sophisticated software and computer applications.

By integrating the group, I expected to apply my knowledge in Marketing and Finance

as well as my theoretical knowledge, but I turned out that AGI Company relies more on real

life problem solving than a sense of theoretical skills.

In addition, thanks to the help of my internship supervisor and his team, I was able to

adapt quickly and easily to the nature of the work; in fact, the definition of tasks and

procedures of work was clear and complete, and it was easy to complete the tasks that were

assigned to me within the respected deadlines.

However, it would have been interesting to deal with cases of appropriations with

financial services, I would also like to understand the mechanism for determining the selling

price and market research procedures, but given the limited duration of this internship, I was

not able to discover this field.

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