Onthe basis of this philosophy or idea these companies direct their marketing efforts toincreasing the quality of their product.It is a firm belief of the followers of the product concep
Các câu hỏi bài tập marketing 1 Explain various concepts of marketing with suitable examples 2 Explain market segmentation with suitable examples 3 “PLC as a tool for marketing strategy" justify 4 Explain process of selecting the final price 5 “Advertising forces people to buy goods that they do not want" Elucidate 6 Explain the process of integrated Marketing communication 7 Explain “direct marketing" and its applicability with examples CONTENT 1 ANSWER TO QUESTION 2: Explain various concepts of marketing with suitable examples 1 Production Concept Those companies who believe in this philosophy think that if the goods/services are cheap and they can be made available at many places, there cannot be any problem regarding sale Keeping in mind the same philosophy these companies put in all their marketing efforts in reducing the cost of production and strengthening their distribution system In order to reduce the cost of production and to bring it down to the minimum level, these companies indulge in large scale production This helps them in effecting the economics of the large scale production Consequently, the cost of production per unit is reduced The utility of this philosophy is apparent only when demand exceeds supply Its greatest drawback is that it is not always necessary that the customer every time purchases the cheap and easily available goods or services 2 Product Concept Those companies who believe in this philosophy are of the opinion that if the quality of goods or services is of good standard, the customers can be easily attracted The basis of this thinking is that the customers get attracted towards the products of good quality On the basis of this philosophy or idea these companies direct their marketing efforts to increasing the quality of their product It is a firm belief of the followers of the product concept that the customers get attracted to the products of good quality This is not the absolute truth because it is not the only basis of buying goods The customers do take care of the price of the products, its availability, etc A good quality product and high price can upset the budget of a customer Therefore, it can be said that only the quality of the product is not the only way to the success of marketing 3 Selling Concept Those companies who believe in this concept think that leaving alone the customers will not help Instead there is a need to attract the customers towards them They think that goods are not bought but they have to be sold The basis of this thinking is that the customers can be attracted Keeping in view this concept these companies concentrate their marketing efforts towards educating and attracting the customers In such a case their main thinking is ‘selling what you have’ This concept offers the idea that by repeated efforts one can sell-anything to the customers This may be right for some time, but you cannot do it for a long-time If you succeed in enticing the customer once, he cannot be won over every time On the contrary, he will work for damaging your reputation Therefore, it can be asserted that this philosophy offers only a short-term advantage and is not for long-term gains 4 Marketing Concept Those companies who believe in this concept are of the opinion that success can be achieved only through consumer satisfaction The basis of this thinking is that only those goods/service should be made available which the consumers want or desire and not the things which you can do In other words, they do not sell what they can make but they make what they can sell Keeping in mind this idea, these companies direct their marketing efforts to achieve consumer satisfaction In short, it can be said that it is a modern concept and by adopting it profit can be earned on a long-term basis The drawback of this concept is that no attention is paid to social welfare 5 Societal Marketing Concept This concept stresses not only the customer satisfaction but also gives importance to Consumer Welfare/Societal Welfare This concept is almost a step further than the marketing concept Under this concept, it is believed that mere satisfaction of the consumers would not help and the welfare of the whole society has to be kept in mind For example, if a company produces a vehicle which consumes less petrol but spreads pollution, it will result in only consumer satisfaction and not the social welfare Primarily two elements are included under social welfare-high-level of human life and pollution free atmosphere Therefore, the companies believing in this concept direct all their marketing efforts towards the achievement of consumer satisfaction and social welfare In short, it can be said that this is the latest concept of marketing The companies adopting this concept can achieve long-term profit 2 ANSWER TO QUESTION 3 Explain market segmentation with suitable examples Market segmentation is the process of identifying and analyzing subgroups of buyers in a product-market with similar response characteristics (Cravens & Piercy, 2006, page 97) A marketer can rarely satisfy everyone in a market Rather than try to satisfy everyone, marketers start with market segmentation and develop a market offering that is positioned in the minds of the target market Market segments can be identified by examining demographic, psychographic, and behavioral differences among buyers The firm then decides which segments present the greatest opportunity 1 Geographic Segmentation Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographical units such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities, or neighborhoods The company can operate in one or a few geographic areas or operate in all but pay attention to local variations 2 Demographic Segmentation In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the basis of: Age and life-cycle stage: Consumer wants and abilities change with age Gender: Gender segmentation has long been applied in clothing, hairstyling, cosmetics, and magazines Income: Income segmentation is a long-standing practice in such categories as automobiles, boats, clothing, cosmetics, and travel However, income does not always predict the best customers for a given product Generation: Each generation is profoundly influenced by the times in which it grows up—the music, movies, politics, and events of that period Social class: Social class strongly influences preference in cars, clothing, home furnishings, leisure activities, reading habits, and retailers, which is why many firms design products for specific social classes This is the most popular consumer segmentation method is that consumer wants, preferences, and usage rates are often associated with demographic variables Another reason is that demographic variables are easier to measure 3 Psychographic Segmentation In psychographic segmentation, buyers are divided into different groups on the basis of lifestyle or personality and values People within the same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profiles Lifestyle: People exhibit many more lifestyles than are suggested by the seven social classes, and the goods they consume express their lifestyles Personality: Marketers can endow their products with brand personalities that correspond to consumer personalities Values: Core values are the belief systems that underlie consumer attitudes and behaviors Core values go much deeper than behavior or attitude, and determine, at a basic level, people’s choices and desires over the long term Marketers who use this segmentation variable believe that by appealing to people’s inner selves, it is possible to influence purchase behavior 4 Behavioral segmentation In behavioral segmentation, buyers are divided into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, or response to a product Many marketers believe that behavioral variables: occasions, benefits, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, buyer-readiness stage, and attitude are the best starting points for constructing market segments Occasions: Buyers can be distinguished according to the occasions on which they develop a need, purchase a product, or use a product Benefits: Buyers can be classified according to the benefits they seek User status: Markets can be segmented into nonusers, ex-users, potential users, first time users, and regular users of a product Usage rate: Markets can be segmented into light, medium, and heavy product users Heavy users are often a small percentage of the market but account for a high percentage of total consumption Marketers usually prefer to attract one heavy user rather than several light users, and they vary their promotional efforts accordingly Loyalty status: Buyers can be divided into four groups according to brand loyalty status: + Hard-core loyals: customers who always buy one brand + Split loyals: customers who are loyal to two or three brands + Shifting loyals: customers who shift from one brand to another brand + Switchers: customers who show no loyalty to any brand Each market consists of different numbers of these four types of buyers; thus, a brand- loyal market has a high percentage of hard-core loyals Companies that sell in such a market have a hard time gaining more market share, and new competitors have a hard time breaking in Buyer-readiness stage: A market consists of people in different stages of readiness to buy a product: Some are unaware of the product, some are aware, some are informed, some are interested, some desire the product, and some intend to buy The relative numbers make a big difference in designing the marketing program Attitude: Five attitude groups can be found in a market: enthusiastic, positive, indifferent, negative, and hostile 3 ANSWER TO QUESTION 5 Explain process of selecting the final price The process of selecting the final price including 6 steps: 1 Selecting the pricing objective The company first decides where it wants to position its marketing offering The clearer a company’s objectives, the easier it is to set price Five major objectives that a company could obtain through pricing: survival, maximum profit, maximum market share, maximum market skimming, or product-quality leadership Survival: Survival is the major objective of every company As long as prices cover all costs, the company stays in their business Maximize profit: Many companies try to set a price that will maximize their profits They estimate the demand and costs to choose the price that produces maximum profit, cash flow or rate of return on investment However, it is difficult to estimate the demand and costs in actual Maximize market share: The Company believe that a higher sales volume will lead to lower unit costs and higher long-run profit The market is highly price sensitive, and low prices make market growth Production and distribution costs will decrease A low price discourages actual and potential competition Maximize market skimming: Companies unveiling a new technology favor setting high prices to “skim” the market 2 Determining the demand Following the identification of objectives, the company needs to determine demand Each price will lead to a different level of demand and therefore have a different impact on a company’s marketing objectives Normaly, demand and price are inversely related: the higher the price, the lower the demand Some consumers take the higher price to signify a better product However if the price is too high, the level of demand may fall The process of estimating demand therefore leads to: Estimating Price sensitivity of market Estimating and analyzing demand curve Determining price elasticity of demand 3 Estimating Costs The company wants to charge a price that covers its cost of producing, distribution and selling the product, including a fair return To price intelligently, management needs to know how its costs vary with different levels of production The company use market research to establish a new product’s desired functions Then they determine the price at which the product will sell, given its appeal and competitor’s prices They deduct the desired profit margin from this price, and this leaves the target cost they must achieve 4 Analyzing competitor’s costs, prices and offers Analyzing competitor’s costs, prices and offers is also important factor in setting prices Within the range of possible prices determined by market demand and company costs, the company must take the competitor’s costs, prices and possible price reactions into account Demand sets a ceiling and costs set a floor to pricing Competitors’ prices provide a point to consider in setting prices By acquiring competitors’ price lists, buying competitors’ products to analyze, asking customers’ opinion on the price and quality of competitor’s product, the company may chooses a price close to the competitor if their product is similar to their competitor’s product If not, the price should be lower 5 Selecting a pricing method (i) Cost Oriented Pricing: Companies often use cost oriented pricing methods when setting prices Two methods are normally used: Full cost pricing: The company determines the direct and fixed costs for each unit of product The first problem with Full-cost pricing is that it leads to an increase in price as sales fall The process is illogical also because to arrive at a cost per unit the firm must anticipate how many products they are going to sell The demand is an almost impossible prediction This method focuses upon the internal costs of the firm as opposed to the prospective customers’ willingness to pay Direct (or marginal) Cost Pricing: This involves the calculation of only those costs, which are likely to increase as output increases Indirect or fixed costs (plant, machinery etc) will remain unaffected whether one unit or one thousand units are produced Like full cost pricing, this method will include a profit margin in the final price Direct cost approach is useful when pricing services (ii) Competition-based approach: Going-Rate Pricing: The company bases its price largely on competitors’ prices, with less attention paid to its own costs or to demand The firm might charge the same, more, or less than its major competitors Where the products offered by firms in a certain industry are very similar the public often finds difficulty in perceiving which firm meets there needs best In cases like this (for example in financial services and delivery services) the firm may attempt to differentiate on delivery or service quality in an attempt to justify a higher selling price Competitive Bidding: Many contracts are won or lost on the basis of competitive bidding The most usual process is the drawing up of detailed specifications for a product and putting the contract out for tender Potential suppliers quote a price, which is confidential to themselves and the buyer (iii) Marketing Oriented Pricing The price of a product should be set in line with the marketing strategy The danger is that if price is viewed in isolation (as would be the case with full cost pricing) with no reference to other marketing decisions such as positioning, strategic objectives, promotion, distribution and product benefits The way around this problem is to recognize that the pricing decision is dependent on other earlier decisions in the marketing planning process For new products, price will depend upon positioning, strategy, and for existing products price will be affected by strategic objectives 6 Selecting the final Price Pricing methods narrow the range from which the company must select its final price In selecting that price, the company must consider additional factors, including psychological pricing, gain and risk pricing, the influence of other marketing -mix elements on price, company -pricing policies, and the impact of price on other parties 4 ANWER TO QUESTION 7: Explain the process of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Six steps in the IMC planning process 1 Know target customers Communicate with customers to make the most effective use of the company’s resources Segment customers into groups to identify who are most likely to purchase or utilize company’s products and services 2 Develop a situation analysis Make a SWOT analysis: evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat of the company A detail analysis can provide much insight into both internal and external conditions of the company that can lead to a more effective marketing communications strategy 3 Determining marketing communication objectives Objectives must be clearly and measurable in order to ensure the effectiveness of the marketing communications strategy 4 Determining company’s budget Determine the overal budget for works will be imlemented in the plan It is important because it will shape the tactics to be developed in the next step The budget could be adjusted after completion of step five 5 Strategies and tactics Based on the objectives created in step three, develop strategies which are ideas on how the company will accomplish those objectives Tactics are specific actions on how they plan to execute a strategy Step 6: Evaluation and measurement Outline a method to evaluate the effectiveness of the IMC strategy Sometimes elements of the plan will not work It’s important to know what did or didn’t and its reasons Take note for future planning The more focused on how the company will utilize your resources for promoting their business, the more they will understand where the money is going and how it’s performing An IMC strategy is important for any business or organization 5 ANWER TO QUESTION 8: Explain “direct marketing" and its applicability with examples According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), direct marketing is defined as an interactive marketing system that uses one or more advertising media to effect a measurable response and/or transaction at any location This definition emphasizes a measurable response, typically a customer order Major chanels for direct marketing: face-to-face selling, direct mail, catalog marketing, telemarketing, television and other direct-response media, kiosk marketing, and on-line channels Face-to-face selling: This is the original and oldest form of direct marketing The company use a professional sales force to locate prospects, develop them into customers, and grow their business Direct mail: The company send an offer, announcement, reminder, or other item to a person at a particular address via fax mail, email or voice mail Catalog marketing: The company mail product catalogs (full-line merchandise catalogs, specialty consumer catalogs, or business catalogs) to selected mail or electronic addressees Telemarketing: Telemarketers call custumers directly to attract new customers, to contact existing customers to ascertain satisfaction levels, or to take orders Direct-response marketing: Marketing via magazines, newspapers, radio and television Viewers call in their orders on a toll-free number and receive delivery within a certain time Kiosk marketing: The company have designed “customer-order-placing machines” called kiosks and placed them in stores, airports, and other locations The customer can order by dialing an attached phone and typing in a credit-card number and an address where the shoes should be delivered On-line marketing or e-commerce: Customers send their purchase orders and payments to suppliers via electronic data interchange (internet, ATM…) REFERENCES 1 Philip Kotler, Marketing Managerment, Millenium Eddition, 2002, Pearson Custom Publishing 2 Website: www.learnmarketing.net 3 Website: http://www.srj.net