Marketing Strategy
... products being sold aggressively. You need to market the item i.e. menus, ceremony etc. Developing is a strong part of this process. Diversification is important as to not to move anyone. Let｡ｦs say for instance a mobile oil change service is created. Most consumers today are too busy to periodically get their oil serviced. There is a wide open market for this type of service. You can change the oil on the spot or you may pick up the customer vehicle change the oil and return it to them. 3. In your own words, explain why the book suggests that you should think of marketing strategy planning as a narrowing down process. Establish a breakthrough opportunity; find a competitive market with a target mix. All customers are not alike, they have different needs, attitudes etc. Find a product, establish it in a certain area, use promotion and set your prices competitively. Section your market or look at the break down of your customers and tailor to their needs. Analyze by using the SWOT method strength, weakness opportunity and threat. In the end you will know the needs of the customers by segmenting. Emphasize the company｡ｦs objective and use your available resources. Tackle your current and future competitors head on 4. Distinguish between a generic market and a product market. Illustrate your answer. ハハハハハΤハgeneric market is offering a vast amount of similar needs and the sellers providing many diverse types. This is the kind of goods and service the customers want. The product market is very similar to the generic market offering similar needs and the seller providing various good substitutes to satisfying their needs. For example opening a What A Burger in a rural area that may have one or two McDonalds in a 25 mile radius. You provided a generic product with goods and service in an area. You still have to figure out the needs of the consumers and the type of customers you have. 5. Explain the major difference among the four basic types of opportunities in the text and cite examples for two of these types of opportunities. Market penetration increase sales in a present market aggressively. Market development is finding a new market to increase the sell of your products. Product development offering a new product or improve your existing product. Diversification means going in many different areas, unknown products, market or levels in production markets. An example of market presentation McDonalds has brought the McRib sandwich out again. They are targeting the existing market but just want to increase sales due to lagging profits. Product development Hardees no longer sell chicken their main focus is selling a variety type of different hamburgers 6. Explain why a firm may not want to pursue a market penetration opportunity before pursuing one involving product development or diversification. They may just want to make their customer base strong, so more and more customers will return. New promotions may not appeal to them, but alternatives can be used. By going door to door to promote their product or give away prizes or gifts or just by talking to a potential customer. 9. Explain what market segmentation is? Market segmentation is the process of naming a product, then sectioning off into a broad product market (sub market) to find a potential attractive target market. Focus on the wide range of products market, group or similar customers together while responding to variable marketing mixes and dimensions. Large submarkets can be used, but it｡ｦs based on potential customers that are alike. Managers segment the product market into 3 steps. The first step the single target approach by picking one similar section of the firm｡ｦs target. Secondly multiple targets segmenting the market and choosing two or more areas, separating as a target market or needing a different mix. The third type combines the market approach by putting together 2 or more submarkets in 1 market of a strategy. Chapter 4 Evaluating Opportunities In The Changing Marketing Environment 2. Explain how a firm｡ｦs objective may affect it｡ｦs search for opportunities. First a mission statement must be made and the employees understand it.. They must be realistic objectives and something you can benefit from. Managers should be involved in this process in setting these objectives and checking your opportunities. Later the planning market strategy should be used. They should consist of promotion, price, product and the designated place. A firm must find it strengths and weakness. The competitor should be analyzed by meeting the customer needs and values. Use the competitor advantage to capitalize on. 6. The owner of a small hardware store, the only one in a medium size town in the mountains has just learned a large improvement chain plans to open a new store nearby. How difficult will it be for the owner to plan for this new competitive threat? Explain your answer. It will not be real difficult, just have to take on a different strategies. You will have to find new and better ways to deal with the competitors. Maybe supplying something in small quantities that the large store does not stock. Perhaps like a middleman or offering new products that the large store does not carry. Look at the other company｡ｦs competitive advantage. Utilize the four P｡ｦs power, plan, promote and place of the establishment. Find out the strengths and weakness of your competitors. A substitute or more affordable goods and services may be provided. 7. Discuss the probable impact on your hometown if a major breakthrough in air transportation allowed foreign producers to ship into any US market for about the same transportation cost that domestic producers incur. This would reduce the power and strategy of the United States companies. They will develop a head on strategy to provide a product. The head on type of advantage works well for this particular situation because the problems are coming right at them. The United States market will be saturated with foreign companies who will naturally offer items for a cheaper price. This will drive up the cost of US prices, but some Americans will remain loyal. Profits will be lost, new marketing mixes will be established. Since this is a democratic society politics will play a large part in reevaluating this situation. Tougher and harder tariffs will be placed on foreign producers. Eventually the US will rebound by integrating a new plan to beat the foreign company｡ｦs existing goods and services. 9. What and who is the United States government attempting to protect in it｡ｦs effort to preserve and regulate competition. The government has to maintain control so smaller companies won｡ｦt be badgered by larger and more powerful companies. If one company monopolize all the resources, that eliminates the choices a consumer can make, and if prices are so high consumers will be forced to pay that price. Eventually customers will keep their money and spend it wisely. The government has to ensure it s a level playing field and everyone are treated fair. Business and managers etc have to confirm to laws and regulation set by the government. Laws prohibit companies from controlling or fixing prices. That means a company can get very powerful and wipe out small entities. They also ensure advertisements aren｡ｦt made to deceive consumers; the manufacturers have to stand by their products. Warranties are monitored and unfair warranties are eliminated. 10. For each of the major laws discussed in the text, indicate whether in the long run the law will promote a restrict competition (see exhibit 4-3). As a consumer without any financial interest in business what is your reaction to each of these laws Sherman Act 1890 controlled product distribution and prices. This would restrict growth, goods and Services. Some people might not be able to pay the price. Certain companies will have power and control over others. Just like in the old saying ｡ｧthe one who has the most toys wins｡ｨ. Clayton Act 1914 this law opened competition just a little, however certain areas were restricted such as limiting the buyer source of supplies. This type of restriction you could never grow because there were no creative or innovative ideas etc. You had the same competitors all the time. There were some products sold by a force of sale. New contracts were made but a monopoly still existed somewhat, there was price discrimination by manufacturers. Again the entities with the most money had the most power. Federal Trade Commission 1914 there was a lot of competition involved, but you were not safe. This was a very hard era, that didn｡ｦt deal with deception of policies, prices and products etc. Without any control or regulations from the government companies were not protected. Moral and integrity was not an important part if this era. If you didn｡ｦt receive a good product you had no recourse of action deceptions in advertisement were legal. Small companies didn｡ｦt have a leg to stand on. There were limited choices and you had to accept what unfair practices came along with that product or goods and services. Chapter 5 Final Consumers and Their Buying Behaviors 2. Explain what is meant by a hierarchy of needs and provide examples of one or more products that enable you to satisfy each of the four levels of needs. Hierarchy of needs consist of personal needs, there｡ｦs a need for self esteem accomplishments, freedom, the ability to have fun and relax. Comedy films provide that personal need; keep you laughing, smiling etc, providing for relaxation etc. Social needs you need love, status, friendship, a level self of esteem and the need to be accepted by your peers. By going on a trip with friends could provide that social need. Your are around friends, there｡ｦs love and friends need acceptance. Safety needs personnel need to feel they are protected. Also to be in good health, eat the right foods, stay away from drugs and perform exercises regularly. A good example always eats healthy; buy products low in fat, cholesterol etc. Take excellent care of yourself to live long and be around to see your children grow up. Personnel buy houses and alarms to feel protected. Purchase memberships at spas to remain healthy. Don｡ｦt buy drugs, which will prevent you from having a clean bill of health. Physiological needs are thing you think you need like food, drink rest and sex. We tend to purchase a lot of thirst quenching drinks. Vitamin is purchased for to enhance your sex drives and help you feel rested and jubilant. 5. Briefly describe your own belief about the potential value of wearing automobile seat belts, your attitude toward seat belt and your intention about using a seat belt next time you｡ｦre in a car. I deeply believe in wearing seat belts they are truly lifesavers. This could be the difference whether you go through a windshield when the vehicle you are traveling in get hit on impact. Air bags in vehicle could also cause damage especially to senior citizens, but more lives are saved. My family is told to buckle up all the time, before the car is moved. Other riders must also buckle up. 6. Give an example of a recent purchase experience in which you were dissatisfied because of a firms marketing mix did not meet your expectations and also explain whether your expectations were formed based in the firms promotion or on something else. Just recently we were looking at the possibility of purchasing a boxing bag and glove. We went to the store several times and also looked at the advertisement in the paper. After visually seeing the item my expectation and attitude changed. The boxing glove didn｡ｦt look like a quality product and looked different and smaller that what was advertised. My viewpoint was changed but the purchase was still made because that what my son wanted. 7. Explain psychographics and lifestyle analysis. Explain how they might be useful for planning, marketing strategies to reach college students as opposed to average consumers. Advertisements are used to target individuals and market strategies to get you to buy their products. Psychographics and lifestyles of consumers are studied carefully. This can be used to target college students, you can target certain ones from different backgrounds. Planning is possible because you are going to use different strategies according to specific criteria. Marketing and advertising could work for anything as long as its the right mix, and have completed your homework not to embarrass your self or company. Some students may not know certain products or services are available. Marketing and advertising are targeting a certain groups etc This is a way of letting potential customers know what｡ｦs available to them. 11. Illustrate how the reference group concept may apply in practice by explaining how some reference group for some product personally influences you. What are the implications of such behavior for marketing managers? Just recently after talking to my sister we spoke about long distance phone calls. Then she told me to look into the possibility of getting connected to unlimited long distance from my phone company. Several other friends told me about this service, like my nephew, niece etc. I found out they were happy with this decision of subscribing for long distance telephone service . I called up my local phone company and spoke to them about the service I was truly impressed. This plan was a great benefit to me since I make a lot of long distance calls, also helped to save money. Market managers should know something about the products they want to market toward their consumers. Managers can｡ｦt work by intuition alone. You have to know what you are doing and make informed decisions. Data have to collected; analyze the area to see what types of marketing mix you need. Ensure you know your consumers and do extensive problem solving. A lot of consumers use routine response behavior because they check out everything they want and you have to satisfy their need. Chapter 6 Business and Organizational Customers and the Buying Behavior 2. Compare and contrast the buying behavior of final consumers and organizational buyers. In what ways are they most different? Organizational consumers are different because they purchase items based on economic influences. Getting a quality product for your money and something will last awhile is important. Emotions do not play a role in purchasing some products. Different aspects are looked at like a supplier and the way they market an item, not just the price. Final consumers purchase items to satisfy their needs. There are ways in which they are different final consumers aren｡ｦt concern about marketing cost, price and emotions. Needs are met by only purchasing items that consumers needs, emotions, price etc are not important. 6. Why would an organizational buyer want to get competitive bids? What are some of the situation when competitive bidding can｡ｦt be used? A buyer could use competitive bidding if the company is new to gauge what price they should sell their product at. Cost is a factor in this type of billing. Also find out which company has the best price, establish a relationship to continue doing business. Last, find out who carry this product and utilize them as a source. Also a specific items is something that a bid is needed, maybe it｡ｦs a one time use etc. Some of the situations when competitive bidding can｡ｦt be used when a product is needed immediately and you don｡ｦt have time to gather all bids from different companies. Competitive bidding online at auditions sites like Ebay are normally for individuals and not companies. Companies are not looking for used items so auctions will not work. All purchases are not made buy competitive bidding. Some companies offer no type of flexibility. 7. How likely would each of the following be to use competitive bids (a) a small town that needed a road resurfaced (b) a scouting organization that needed a printer to print its scouting handbook, (c) a hardware retailer that wants to add a new lawn mower line, (d) a grocery chain that wants to install new checkout scanners, and (e) a sorority that wants to buy a computer to keep track of member dues? Explain your answers. A small town that needed a road resurfaced will work perfectly because they could have a small budget and resources available. This could be beneficial to them or hurt them. The government take a great interest in small companies and it｡ｦs a requirement for them to deal with the small company by doing business with them. They have to get off the ground and have some kind of way to stay in business. Small companies are the way companies start and the foundation of larger companies. A scouting organization that need a printer to print its scouting handbook, to get a printer for the best price is great. A large organization like a scouting organization should have a lot of funding available. If this scouting group has limited funding, then competitive bidding is the way to go. They could be looking for a certain price range, specification or brand. A small company will be great because they can provide a excellent product at a small cost, because of the resource available. A hardware retailer that wants to add a new lawn mower line, this would help tremendously competitive bidding. The hardware store would get an idea of what type of lawn mower are on the market, cost ,model and performance stand. Customer satisfaction could be included in the process. A price and supplier could be gained from this process. . A grocery store that wants to install new checkout scanners, could look at different grocery stores and see what the supplier are providing for their customers. This could also tell them if cheaper scanners and quality scanners are available. Sometimes companies make purchases because of integrity, honestly and product availability. Satisfied customers could play a big part in choosing customer supplier because the can vouch for the great service received. Competitive biddings could help you get a quality product and more bang for your buck. 8. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of just in time supply relationship from an organizational buyers point of view. Are the advantages and disadvantages merely reversed from the sellers point of view. Advantage of just in time delivery for buyers are the customers are satisfied because they have a product they paid for and don｡ｦt have to wait. It helps to reduce stocking levels needed and they don｡ｦt have a cluttered warehouse with lagging sells and perhaps rental fees. Just in time delivery involve a relationship among the supplier and buyer, along with good communication. A customer is not concerned with what you had to do to get that item, but expect it to be available. Distribution centers and Internet commerce is great for buyers because items can be ordered at a moment｡ｦs notice and shipped immediately. The customer is satisfied, because their product is available, the store does not lose any customers. Advertising fees are cheap and a variety of marketing mixes are realized using e-commerce. Disadvantages of just in time delivery would be an item is not available for immediate delivery or out of stock. Stores could lose customers. If an organization doesn｡ｦt value the relationship of his customers then. they could continue this practice. Companies that are concerned about their customers will find a way to meet this requirement. They are reversed sort of because if the customers or buyer are taken advantage of. constantly. If they continue to place orders late and not establish a relationship as to how they will work together as a team. This will cause the seller to stop providing that product for them. A system could be set up by always delivering to them at a certain time or check to see when a product is needed. Another disadvantage could be the seller not being able to supply the buyer with the product needed. Poor relationship and unorganized facility will also cause your sales to drop. Especially if your business is expected to realize a gain. 10. Would a tool manufacturer need a different marketing strategy for big retail chain like Home Depot than a single hardware store run by it｡ｦs owner Discuss your answer. Yes, they will need a different marketing strategy because Home Depot stock thousands and thousands of items. More revenue is brought into a larger store. Also there｡ｦs a high customer base. Advertising and marketing has to be tailored and targeted for potential Home Depot customers. A lot of different brands will be available, personnel love a variety. They love a choice of different items to choose from. Sometimes off brand or new items can be priced alittle cheaper. A small hardware strategy should be tailored to that level because it confined by space. Consumer preference could be the small Mom and Pop store because of loyalty or lack of wanting to change. They may not be able to support a large amount of advertising because of cost. Versatile tools can be stocked from the manufacturer for use of assembling a product. The owner could have a relationship with the manufacturer or access to ship more items in a timely manner when needed. Chapter 7 Improving Decisions with Marketing Information 5. Discuss some of the likely problems facing the marketing manager in a small firm that has just purchased a personal computer with a cable modem to search the Internet for information on competitors｡ｦ marketing plan. The Internet shouldn｡ｦt be the only way to gather data. It could be bad data, or interpreted wrong. Bad decisions are made because the company didn｡ｦt get out the box. No interaction with human contact when you can get your answers quickly. Observations are needed to analyze information from different areas to ensure it｡ｦs interpreted correctly. Sometime word of mouth is just as good as advertising campaigns. 6. Explain the key characteristics if the scientific method and show why these are important to managers concerned with research. Scientific method doesn｡ｦt only involve the 5 step process, but you have to approach a decision on being objective and test your idea. Intuition will not make it you have to observe and develop a hypothesis about what｡ｦs going on now and in the future. The steps are define the problem, understand the market you are targeting what needs can be satisfied by your company. Look at ways to solve the problem and not the system. Analyzing the situation a informal study of which information is already available in the problem area. Talk to personnel who know about the situation at hand like customer service representatives. He/She may have a relationship with customers, employees and other personnel outside the company or my know something about the situation. Gathering problem specific data means to only gather data that specific to that particular problem. Only use secondary data if needed, make sure you have a resource to gather that data if needed. Different methods can be used like qualitative research seeking in depth information, not asking information where you get a no or yes answer. You want them to expound on their answers. When you use this approach the responses are summarized using numbers, percentages, averages etc. Focus groups, surveys can also help you find out information. Telephone surveys are the most effective and the fastest way to collect data. Other methods can also be used like personal interviews, consumer panels experimental and research data collection etc. When the data is interpreted what is the end result. Make sure you have good sound information and it qauges what you wanted. Bad information in, results in bad information out. Utilize this information to see how you stand and if any changes are need on your part. Solving the problem after collecting all good and accurate information, use this to develop your market strategy. This should tell you where to target your area and how to target your area and use the 4 P｡ｦs of marketing. 9. With so much secondary information now available free or at a low cost over the Internet, why would a firm ever want to spend the money to do primary research? Primary areas deal more with observation and questioning consumers. They zero right in to the customers, information is taken in a way the thought process will be used. More in depth information is gathered. Immediate results are given. This information is taken for a sole customer or group activity point of view. 10. If a firm were interested in estimating the distribution of income on the state of California, how could it proceed? Be specific. First they would have to gather primary data, look at what specific area the company will target. Tailor your data specifically to income levels of California. Go right to the people then, utilize the phone, mail and personal interviews. Also the quantitative approach can be used to summarize the total number of percentages, and averages etc. Once all your information is analyzed you can use the information to target certain income level based upon needs etc 13. Explain why a company might want to do focus group interviews than individual interviews with the same people. During group interviews, a group of people is involved with different thinking caps on. They are able to bring different aspects to situations based up different cultures and religions. They are all stimulated with a variety of calculated responses and to get immediate results. A group also tells you how people think or agree alike, who don｡ｦt like your approach to a particular product. Chapter 8 Elements of Product Planning for Goods and Services 13. How do raw material differ from other business products?. Do the differences have an impact on their marketing mixes, If so what specifically? Raw material differs ...