Marketing Design And Operations - Essay Example

Marketing Design and Operations AFFILIATION: Understanding of key concepts and processes of buying behavior. Buying behavior is the process or methodology which a consumer uses to select products that best meet their needs (Clemente, 2002). In order to achieve business goals, the most important of which is maximization of profits, a corporation needs to study and understand the common trends in buying. They need answers to two questions in order to produce goods that would not only attract but also satisfy the customer: firstly what factors influence the choices of consumers. Secondly the most significant changes taking place in societal behavior. The study of this behavior for a company determines the extent of success met by their promotional offers. It also helps firm resolve marketing problems (Applebaum, n.d). Consumer behavior can be used as a tool to gauge consumer satisfaction with one’s product because it is not a simple analysis of what color, shaped or brand items consumers are buying the most. It also shows manufacturers and marketing departments the frequency of the purchases and the conditions under which the consumer selected their product (Pride & Ferrell, 2006). For example maybe the consumer bought Wheatable biscuits because their alternative Wheat biscuits were not available in the market. This indicates that a manufacturer of the former product is number two in the market and that the latter is its main competitor. Thus with the help of this knowledge companies come up with packaging, pricing and promotional methods that would most appeal to their customers ultimately increasing profits (Applebaum, n.d.). 2. Extension of marketing mix beyond 4Ps The words ‘Marketing mix’ originally referred to four activities that if taken care of lead to the creation of an effective, winning marketing plan. The marketing strategies have evolved with time and the number of activities, necessary for an impressive plan, has also increased. A right mix of marketing strategies is important to be implied for attaining successful results. One of the most important reasons for this addition is the rapid rise in the invention of new technology and its growing importance in all walks of life (Marandi & Little, 2003). The 4 P’s are four marketing activities, namely: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. A right mix of these helps a company satisfy customers and achieve objectives. Originally there were 12 elements that had been deemed necessary parts of a marketing mix. They were then divided into two categories: things being offered (the product, services, packaging, brand name and the price), second were tools (advertising, sales promotion, distribution channels and the publicity) (Matt, 2012). In 1965 these twelve were grouped in such a way as to form 4 categories instead of twelve. They are considered as a key to a marketing manager’s success in keeping the customers happy. In 1980 two authors tried to fit the marketing mix to the services sector by adding three more Ps: people, process and physical evidence. Similarly Kotler suggested the addition of political power along with public opinion. This way the mix has been changed and amended to tailor to the needs of the sector, the opinion of the marketing expert or a change in the social structure of the market (Goi, 2009). 3. Purpose of a strategic marketing planning and problems arising with its poor implementation The main purpose of a strategic marketing plan is to streamline all the various marketing activities into a well devised and proper plan of action. It can also be called a guidebook that the marketing manager refers to when forecasting and preparing a marketing budget, choosing a target market and selecting proper channels of distribution (OneIMS, 2009). It can be helpful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the product as well as the strategy used in the past. It can pinpoint a benefit of the product that would give the company maximum competitive advantage (Anderson, 2013). Implementation of the plan is equally important and perhaps even more important than its creation. Kodak advertised its newest camera and hordes of customers entered stores to purchase it after going through the advertisement. This was the success of their marketing but it became useless when the customers found that the cameras had not arrived in the stores, thus failing to satisfy the customer (MaRS, 2003). Kodak while advertising should have ensured that they have the product available at all the respective stores to avoid a bad image being built in the minds of the consumers due to non-availability of the product at the stores. 4. Different bases for setting price and their advantages The first step to setting the price of any product is to first decide what objectives the company wants to achieve through its pricing policy. The prices can be based on earning profit, increasing sales or maintaining its position in the market. Thus the strategies are: Cost based, Value based and Competition based or Penetration Pricing (Baker, 2002). Value based pricing is customer centered, as it sets price according to the worth of the product in the customers mind. As it is developed with the customer in mind, it is prone to the customers’ demands, making the product successful and profitable (Wilkinson & Macdivitt, 2012). Penetration or Competition based pricing entails lowering the price of a product, at the launch phase, to reach vast portions of the market or to capture the competitor’s customers as well. This allows a company to form a stronghold on the market and discourages other firms from entering the market (Pride & Ferrell, 2012). Competition based pricing carefully looks into the prices that are being offered by the customers for similar products. Its main aim is to initially create awareness in the business market. Cost based pricing, is simply a fixed profit percentage added to the cost. It is extremely easy to calculate, set, justify and it means that with cost the price also increases keeping the profit same (Pride & Ferrell, 2012). Pricing strategies are affected by the marketing and company objectives (Entrepreneurs.About.com, 2013). If the firm is set on making profit, it will choose Cost Based, if it wants to satisfy customers and it might use Penetration pricing. It depends on the Marketing mix of the firm, as the distribution channels chosen might make it very expensive to market. Demand of the product, nature of competition, economic situation and governmental laws affect pricing (Kotler & Keller, 2012). 5. How a firm can increase its rate of new product launch The simplest way of doing this is to stretch the production capability to the fullest, increase work hours, add new machinery, and hire more workers. But in the course of implementation the manufacturer will notice that his or her machines have a limit. Which means that over use and rough use of the machinery may cause an increase in maintenance costs. Secondly, the customer base does not grow at the rate that products are launched, so many of its products might face severe failure. If demand of the product does not persist, then there are chances that the already manufactured products may not sell out completely. In this situation, instead of success, the company may spell failure for itself. This also gives the manufacturer less time for market research and other prerequisites of marketing and launching new products (Frost &Sullivan, 2011). If products and its components are such that they are easy to manufacture and a smooth flow of production can be maintained, it would be easier to increase production. To successfully increase output, the company can undertake operations that would help improve the efficiency of its existing plants and offices (The Manage Mentor, 2003). 6. Issues involved in achieving Integrated communications message based on unique marketing offer Integrated Marketing Communication is a method in which a variety of promotional methods are combined together to serve as a single marketing strategy (Percy, 2008). However in many circles this kind of marketing strategy is considered unethical. According to its proponents this strategy creates jobs, motivates consumers to upgrade living standards, it gets the message across to the consumer at a faster pace and it is cost effective. But the unethical side of it is that it makes people desire for more than they can afford, thus increases poverty and dissatisfaction, makes the society materialistic and opportunist. This attitude may make lives difficult for some of the community members. It promotes greed as it infects the consumer with a desire for instant and constant gratification (Ogechukwu et al., 2011). 7. Select a market of your choice and explain how you would select an appropriate set of segmentation criteria. Outline the possible market segments and customer profiles which these criteria might produce. Market segmentation is an important part of marketing strategy; it is the placing of an idea in the customers mind. Market segmentation allows customers to be divided into different categories on different factors. Segmentation helps the marketing team break down its huge mass of customers into smaller groups based on age, lifestyle, income, cultural background, interests etc. it’s necessary to choose the correct criteria of this division (Sherman, 2013). For this it’s important to study the market, consumer behavior , likes, dislikes and then the channels, marketing style is determined by the segment one is catering to. The market being considered here is the self care products market. Self care products are considered as attractive products for the female population. The probable market segments that this market caters to are the ladies belonging to all classes, races, cultures and ethnicities. Mainly ladies from the age above 15 are heavy users of self care products. These include beauty soaps, makeup, face creams, lotions, perfumes/deodorants, hair products etc. The segmentation criteria which would best suit this category would be based on the age, lifestyle and social trends prevailing (Bennett and Blythe, 2002). Considering beauty creams, the normal creams and lotions among these are for all ladies, regardless of their income, race, culture etc. But both companies’ age defying products are for women above thirty. They are educated women, working or otherwise, or their husbands and they also belong to middle and upper middle class (Kapferer, 2008). 8. Unique characteristics of services and their key implications for marketing the services Services are very different from products. They are perishable as they cannot be kept in cold storage or warehouses. They expire after a certain time. Where products can be touched and held, they are tangible. A service is at times inseparable, meaning it is attached to the provider and must be consumed where the provider is present (The Secret of Entrepreneurship, 2013). Purchasing services such as medical and legal help is more precarious than buying a product, such as a shampoo (Greechie, 2013). But client and provider behavior is affected by the above mentioned traits and therefore they obviously affect marketing strategies selected. Services marketing are more challenging than the products marketing as services will be experienced by the consumer after purchase and products can be felt and seen before purchase. This difference in tangibility makes service marketing critical and challenging. Due to its intangibility the provider has to work harder to convince the customer of its reliability and quality. They might have to use tools such as using testimonials and more regular communication. Inseparability means again the provider has to motivate the consumer to come to him, so they can use client participation and face to face communication (Coldren, 2006). The purpose of buying a service is same as that of a product, meeting a need or desire. So when marketing services it is important to focus on the benefits of that service, highlight them and uses them as a pivot for marketing strategy. For example a consultant should highlight that with his help, a company or business man can improve their performance (Enterpreneurship.org, 2012). The marketing message should be convincing and should have an impact on the consumers in believing that the stated advertisement is true. The marketing message needs to be designed and developed according to the type of service so that desired results can be achieved. References Allen, S. 2013. Pricing Strategy.Entrepreneurs.about.com. 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