Marketing Concepts as Related to Personal Experience - Essay Example

One’s personal experience parallels those that were proffered using IKEA’s experience when the organization first opened its stores in China in 2002 (Lecture: Chapter 11, 11-5). I have observed that generally, consumers are very price sensitive, especially during times of financial and economic crises. The most effective strategy that works to generate sales, repeated product purchases, and gain consistent patronage is if organizations implement a low-price, yet high-quality strategy. For necessities of homogeneous products (like soap, detergents, bread, coffee, milk, and eggs), consumers with low purchasing power would opt to select those with the lowest costs. In supermarkets, therefore, organizations that aim to generate more volume in terms of revenues apply the least cost strategy.

For example, single-served coffee is gaining popularity in contemporary times. This market has been dominated by Nescafe where a 12-pack Taster’s Choice House Blend Instant Coffee costs $12.16. To enable it to enter this market, Starbucks, which is known for its specialty coffee, previously served only in its respective coffee stores, has launched its single-served Via in 12-pack pouches run $9.95. When I learned of this move, of course, as a customer who perceived Starbucks as projecting an image of high-priced, high-quality coffee, definitely purchased Via, which is even lower in price than Nescafe’s Taster’s Choice.

In another experience, the Cola wars between Coke and Pepsi had also undergone some price wars in the past. I remember being a Coke enthusiast ever since I can remember being allowed to drink carbonated drinks. Pegged almost at the same price, Coke and Pepsi have decided not to implement any price war because the strategy would be detrimental to both. However, there was a time when Pepsi came up with a new promotional strategy that enticed consumers to win cash prizes by collecting specially printed Pepsi crowns. This promotion led to shifts in consumers’ purchases from Coke to Pepsi, despite the same price due to the offer of hopes to possibly winning something big. When things like this happen, Coke immediately comes up with another promotion that would address any decline in volume sold due to Pepsi’s strategy. The scenario applies price adjustment strategies, which could create price wars (Kotler and Armstrong, Chapter 11: Pricing Strategies 11-19).

These experiences and examples show that the success of any marketing strategy for organizations does not rely only on pricing, promotions, place, or products. Contemporary global organizations have realized that marketing strategies are all-encompassing and require frequent scanning of the environment to capture opportunities, address threats, and use one’s core competence and strengths to maintain leadership in their respective endeavors.