Group6: Justine Bernard Lisa Taurines Frederique Ramananarivo Victoriano osa sanz Maxime Vifian

GROUP 6

LAFARGE
I N T E R N A L A N A LY S I S

TOP MANAGEMENT GOALS

Financial & economical performance:
Total sales in 2008 : 19 billions Growth from 2007 to 2008 : +8,1%

Power inside the firm:

The Lafarge Group is the world leader The CEO is former HEC Bruno LAFONT The Headquarters are in Paris & the eldest R&D center in Lyon Present in 79 countries

Long term vision:

Expending to the emerging markets Growing concerns about environment, cost reduction, employee safety & innovation

SBU IDENTIFICATION & ASSESSMENT

Firms activities: ABELL matrix
Customer needs
Environmental concerns Know-how Awareness Accessibility Builders Architects Private owners Governmental Organizations

Customer groups

Technology
4

SALES PERFORMANCE & EVOLUTIONS

Competitive position: World leader in cement, aggregates and concrete, gypsum Global Turnover in 2008: 19 billions

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT MARKETING STRATEGY AND MIX

STP strategy: Segmentation criteria: private and professional users Target: B2B & B2C, choice and strategy: be everywhere and taking care of people, planet & profit Positioning: innovative, awareness of the brand, accessible 4 Ps analysis: Product: Cement, Aggregates & concrete, Gypsum Price: ? Place: respectively, in 50, 40 and 29 countries Promotion: essentially on the corporate website

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT MARKETING STRATEGY AND MIX

Critical analysis:
A corporate website all-in-one, reaching stakeholders through identified topics but there is not enough transparency and reactivity. Few efforts of mass advertising poorly broadcasted that remained unknown: it was in 1996, the advertising campaign materials to build the world

LAFARGE
E X T E R N A L A N A LY S I S

MACRO-ENVIRONMENT: PESTEL
Political: Even if Lafarge is present all over the world, the

company works mostly in developed countries, then it does not face important political conflict. However their business is really dependent on political context especially for building permit on the business of construction, particularly in developed countries since the amounts of money they are spending are way lower

Economic: The economic crisis has a really important impact Sociocultural: World population keep growing Technological: Nowadays extracting process of materials

needed to make cement are at the state of the art. Most of houses & building has needed cement for their construction

MACRO-ENVIRONMENT: PESTEL
Environmental: Our current society try be very careful
concerning the environment and especially the impacts on the climate change and the scarce of resources

Legal: Developed countries have to respect the Kyoto Protocol Opinion leaders & trends: Nowadays, the main trend

concerning the CO2 emissions. They have to respect the laws of the different countries where they are working. Laws about construction can often prevent the construction of a building concern the sustainability development especially in terms of renewable energies, recycling of industrial waste and a lower energy consumption. Building manufacturers try to be as eco-friendly as possible growth in building materials thanks to their urban and demographic development and their economic growth

International: Emerging countries are the main actors of the

MACRO-ENVIRONMENT: INDUSTRIAL & SECTOR ANALYSIS

Competitors rivalry:
Even if Lafarge is the market leader for building materials, the competition is really strong in this business. Lafarge has 5 main competitors (CRH, HOLCIM, CEMEX, Heidelberg cement & Italcementi). Except for Italcementi their turnover 2008 is higher than 14 billions Their strategy concerning social networks is different, indeed some of them use them and not the others

Buyer Power:
Lafarge has a worldwide presence and then has a large number of customers However their contracts represent huge amount of money, then they have a big bargaining power especially for big projects like roads or railways

MACRO-ENVIRONMENT: INDUSTRIAL & SECTOR ANALYSIS

Substitutes: To replace the use of its products, we can for Supplier power: Since Lafarge extract directly the raw
example use wood, steel, iron or glass depending of the case. Some of these products are more eco-friendly and others cheaper than cement materials that they use to produce their goods, the only suppliers are the ones producing engines they are using, then it seems that their bargaining power is not that important emerging countries, for instance in Asia. Their own market is growing and that allows the companies to develop themselves, become stronger and get a comparative advantage. Then the main barrier for new entrants is the required capital (for infrastructures, raw material )

New entrants: An important threat could come from the

MACRO-ENVIRONMENT: INDUSTRIAL & SECTOR ANALYSIS

Companies from emerging countries could become really powerful in the next few years Bargaining power of suppliers is not really high since Lafarge extract its own raw materials. They are only dependent of engines providers Compe>tors all over the world but they are the market leader Many buyers but they s>ll have a high bargaining power since they represent huge contracts

Some products that are cheaper or more eco- friendly could replace cement in some cases like for exemple wood or glass

MICRO-ENVIRONMENT: MARKET DEFINITION

Generic Market: Cements + special cements with added
characteristics / Woods, iron, steel, glass

Quantitative: 100 million tons of cement each year Qualitative:

Nowadays the trend is to be eco-friendly and thanks to the innovation they succeed to use twice as less amount of raw materials to produce the same good The second important aspect concerns the safety of the labour force

MICRO-ENVIRONMENT: MARKET OFFERING

The distribution channels: Lafarge communicates only through its internet website For now the direct competitors of Lafarge are in developed countries but since Lafarge try to increase its presence in emerging countries, it faces new competitors Lafarge has a strong innovative strategy and is actually the market leader

QUESTION 1:
Using only information provided in the case, you will evaluate and select 2 social networks that allow an efficient corporate communication, taking into account the sectors structure, Lafarge possibilities & competition moves.

Helpful Strengths Market leader with a worldwide presence Huge innovations & know-how Market knowledge Significant acquisitions such as Orascom Cement in Egypt A strong R&D business unit Taking care of their employees Opportunities Emergent countries development Population keep growing then an increasing need of MGB industries Trend of environmental concern

Armful Weaknesses Low visibility Just one promotion channel: the corporate website Most of its customers in Western Europe & North America

Internal Origin External Origin

Threats Economical Crisis background New competitors

SWOT ANALYSIS

Criteria to choose the two social networks: Adapted to B to B Increasing the visibility of Lafarge Highlight their competitive advantages compared to their competitors Targeting new customers and above all in emerging countries

FACEBOOK
It has several business advantages:
Advertising targeting and surveys Future employee recruitment New partners and clients Buzz and videos SEO and link to the website

Facebook can have a big impact on stakeholders because it is mainly used and well-known worldwide but it is not adapted as a corporate communication tool. We think the Lafarge Group does not need to start with a Facebook page because it is more adapted to communicate directly with its customers (B2C) but not to do B2B.

TWITTER
It has several business advantages:
Status & micro-sharing Increasing business purpose and professional followers Relationships between users Polls & surveys Link to the website

Twitter has less users than Facebook but he has a increasing business purpose and a bigger impact on stakeholders trough the web influencers. We think the Lafarge Group should start with a Twitter account, as a corporate communication tool and as an interaction platform with all its stakeholders.

LINKEDIN
It has several business advantages:
Building its digital identity (professional & personal presentation) 3rd degree connections Find people, jobs & opportunities Community & groups to talk about brands & products

LinkedIn is a very dynamic platform that allows third degree connections and has a worldwide influence. We think that the Lafarge Group should integrate LinkedIn as its second social network, because its users are increasing, its main purpose is professional and combined with Twitter, all the expectances for the Group corporate communication are fulfilled.

VIADEO
It has several business advantages:
Famous in France and Asia Groups with a belonging feeling Spaces with specific subjects Geographic clubs Need to be alive

Viadeo doesnt have a worldwide platform, so it has too much boundaries in order to be the second social network of a multinational company. We think that the Lafarge Group should not use Viadeo as a social network because, even if its business advantages are very interesting for the company, the geographic impact would be too small.

CONCLUSION QUESTION 2
Finally, we choose Twitter and LinkedIn because these are the social networks which will be the most efficient for a company like Lafarge.
interactive platform Professional purpose Increasing number of users Better for a B to B business Geographic impact

QUESTION 2:
According to the social networks selected in the first question, you will propose a coherent positioning and communication strategy. It is mandatory to details the themes and messages you plan to communicate through these networks. A particular care will be given to the definition of operational objectives, means and costs used and expected returns.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
On the one hand, on Twitter, Lafarge will provide immediate news about them and their projects. It allows to a dynamic communication. On the other hand, on LinkedIn, Lafarge will create its profile and its digital identity. At the same time, it will gather a community with its employees, its suppliers, its clients and its potential stakeholders. Lafarge doesnt follow the same objectives with these two social networks.

POSITIONING ON TWITTER
Segmenting Geographical Targeting Developed and emerging countries People concerned by a particular building (neighborhood) Professional: suppliers and clients To be comfortable with new technology Followers on Twitter Look after immediate information

Demographical-Occupation Behavioral Behavioral-Users status Behavioral-Needs and benefits

New positioning on Twitter: Bringing immediate information to its stakeholders worldwide.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY ON TWITTER

Themes and messages:
Every news concerning the group and the different projects. For example the date of a launching project, inaugurations, visits of political personalities or an appointment to the nomination of a director To provide immediate information about the group and its projects. It means in real-time (daily or more frequently). To give more transparency To show the dynamism of the group. It has hundred projects worldwide To communicate about their strengths: this is the market leader, it has made acquisitions (as Orascom Cement), the group has a strong know-how To organize (and use) polls and surveys about some of their projects and show they take care of the public opinion

Operational / communication objectives:

POSITIONING ON LINKEDIN
Segmenting Geographical Demographical-Occupation targeting Developed and emerging countries Professional: suppliers, clients, employees and potential employees Students (potential employees) To be comfortable with new technology Users of LinkedIn Look after jobs and opportunities (ex: new projects for suppliers )

Demographical-Life cycle Behavioral Behavioral-Users status Behavioral-Needs and benefits

New positioning on LinkedIn: Creating a community with its stakeholders worldwide.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY ON LINKEDIN

Themes and messages:
At first, Lafarge will create its LinkedIn profile with its history, its former and new projects. It will provide opportunities as jobs offers for students or new projects for suppliers. In this way, Lafarge will create its network composed by its stakeholders and potential stakeholders. This community will be also a platform of discussion about brands or services.

Operational / communication objectives:

To develop its digital identity To create a community between Lafarge and its stakeholders To give its stakeholders the feeling to belong to Lafarge s projects To create a platform of mutual exchanges

MEANS AND COSTS

Tangible resources
- Employees: A community manager in charged social networking - Physical: A laptop and an internet access

Intangible resources
- Financial: It is free to register on Twitter and Linkedln

Finally, these communication strategies havent important costs compared to other existing strategies ( as posters for example). There is just the wage of the manager in charge of the social networking.

QUESTION 3:
You will propose a communication plan emphasizing on actions taken in-line with objectives previously defined. Your must include timeline and budget. You can support your plan by relying on both information provided in the case and the knowledge acquired through your study lectures, personal business culture and own creativeness.

GOALS
A communication adapted to B to B: For the group:
Increasing the international visibility of Lafarge Targeting new customers and above all in emerging countries To show the dynamism of the group To communicate about their environmental concern To develop its digital identity

For the clients and suppliers

To give more transparency To create a community between Lafarge and its stakeholders To give its stakeholders the feeling to belong to Lafarge s projects To create a platform of mutual exchanges

SEGMENTS &TARGETS
Segmenting Geographical Demographical Occupation Targeting Emerging countries Developed countries Exhibitors in building shows and stakeholders of building shows Look after information Readers of specialized medias Sustainable development concern

Behavioral-Needs and benefits Psychographical- interest Phsychographical - interest

TOOLS
Sponsoring:
Sponsoring of professional events, Building Show Lafarge in developing countries (as Batimat in France ). It offers an international visibility every year in the emerging market.

Public relations:
Interviews about sustainable development issues in specialized magazines. It gives legitimacy to Lafarge because it is published by specialized journalists.

TOOLS
Direct marketing:
Participation of international building show as Ecobuild, which is specialized on sustainable design, construction and the build environment. This is a way to show their environmental concern. Newsletters addressed to their clients and suppliers, each month. It will contain the news about the projects and the group development.

Advertising:
Advertising in specialized magazines

RESOURCES & BUDGET

Resources:
Lafarge is the leader on the market, thats why it could probably spend the benefits of projects To expand the communication projects on many months in order to have time to get the money.

Budget:
2 big investments: sponsoring and advertising in specialized magazines Very high budget

TIMELINE
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Twitter LinkedIn
Newslette rs

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XX X X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X XX X

Sponsorin g Advertisi ng Interview s

XXX XXX X X XXX X X XXX X X X X X

Build show

CONCLUSION
Lafarge is the leader on the market but has a lot of progress to do on the web if it want to stay competitive. The most interesting social networks are Twitter and LinkedIn. But there are many other ways to promote our firm like sponsoring or advertisements. It costs money but this is important to show to its potential customers that this is an innovative corporation. Furthermore it will respond to the goals we have fixed previously concerning its visibility, transparency, identity and so on.