Marketing Strategies free essay sample

The five types of customer needs are: Stated needs, Real needs, Unstated needs, Delight needs and Secret needs. Define each and give an example for each. Stated needs are wants that are expressed by the customer while shopping for a product or service. An example of a stated need is when a customer wants to buy a two-bedroom condo. Real needs are the underlying needs of those that are stated. In the case of the customer that wants to buy a two-bedroom condo, they want a condo that is convenient with regards to proximity to work, friends, family and sources of activity. Unstated needs are expectations that a customer associates with the product or service they are shopping for in which the customer feels they don’t need to disclose as it should be a given to the salesperson. In looking to buy a two-bedroom condo the customer would expect that the real-estate agent would show them condos that have two bedrooms, a living space, a kitchen and a bathroom. Delight needs are preferences that the customer might have when shopping for a product or service. The customer that wants to buy a two-bedroom condo might want the kitchen to be modern with updated appliances, an on suite in the master bedroom, washer and dryer hookups available and parking. Secret Needs are the immaterial reasons in which a customer is purchasing a product or service. The customer that wants to buy a two-bedroom condo wants their friends and family to view them as successful and independent. 2. Illustrate the differences between a reactive market orientation and a proactive marketing orientation. Give an example of each. Simply put, companies with a reactive market orientation are not the innovators of the industry. These companies assume that their job is to just adapt to stated customer needs. These can be determined through customer satisfaction surveys. A good example of a company that operates under a reactive market orientation would be Old Navy. Almost every time I shop at an Old Navy, I receive a phone number on the bottom of my receipt to call and answer a satisfaction survey in exchange for a 10% discount on my ext purchase. The information gathered from these surveys is used to determine a strategic course of action. On the opposite side of a reactive market orientation is a proactive market orientation. Companies with a proactive marketing orientation, I would consider to be the innovators of the industry. These companies uncover solutions that customers did not ask for, but respond positively to. This is done through the company’s successful market researc h. A great example of a company that has a proactive market orientation is Apple. They are typically the leading company to invent and release new technology. In my eyes, this started with the release of the iPod in 2001. 3. You have been given the assignment of justifying â€Å"cause related† marketing to your board of directors. What would be your primary argument in favor of such a proposal? If given the assignment to justify ‘cause related’ marketing to my board of directors, my primary argument in favor of the proposal would be the significant increase in brand awareness and credibility that such a strategy would bring to the company. Consumers often develop a strong like or dislike for a company based on the moral principles in which a company stands for and supports. By implementing ‘cause related’ marketing within a company you are not only stepping up and showing your existing customers what you stand for as a company, but you are also opening the doors to attract new customers that support the cause that the company is supporting as well, ultimately expanding your customer base as a whole. 4. What is marketing research and list 3 ways a small company could conduct marketing research without incurring the financial burden of a sizable research budget? Marketing research is defined in our textbook as the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing a company. There are several ways in which a company is able to conduct marketing research. Some of these ways are more expensive than others, but if I were in charge of marketing research for a small company that didn’t have the necessary budget for an extensive research project, I would approach it in the following three ways: 1. Utilizing the internet – The internet has the answer to anything at just a Google search away. A company can use the internet to see how their competitors’ website is set up compared to their own and what consumers are discussing about yours and your competitors company via chat rooms, blogs and forums. The internet is a wealth of information and it is available at a minimal cost. 2. Engaging top MBA students to design and carry out projects – This is not only a great way to get some additional sets of eyes on a specific marketing situation facing a company, but it is also available at the cost of just experience and visibility for the MBA students involved. 3. Focus Groups – I would lastly consider running a series of focus groups. This is a great way to test different ideas to resolve a specific marketing situation facing a company. Based on the results of the focus groups, you are able to determine a direction for the marketing plan at yet another minimal cost. 5. What is Customer-perceived value (CPV) and give an example of when the value of a product or service did not match the cost you paid for it. Customer–perceived value or CPV is defined in our textbook as the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives. I have recently experienced this myself when I was out to dinner with my family celebrating my Mother’s birthday at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Boston, MA. I had never been there prior to this visit, but had heard nothing but rave reviews. I was told that it was expensive, but definitely worth what you pay for. Because it was a large party, it meant that we would be dining family style – which is when, as a group, you get to choose 2 appetizers, 2 salads, 4 entrees and 2 desserts at a cost of $28. 95 per person but it’s all you can eat. When I was looking at the menu, I noticed that they use Barilla pasta for all of their dishes. This threw me off a bit, solely because I would have expected that an authentic Italian restaurant would have made their pasta from scratch. The fact that I could potentially make the same meal, which I was paying for at a restaurant, in my own kitchen was very displeasing. It was at that point when my CPV of Maggiano’s did not match that of what everyone had said about it. Ultimately the food was great, but I would have hoped that at that price point that the pasta would have been more authentic. 6. One-on-one marketing is not for every company, when does this style work best? Please give an example. One-to-one marketing works best for companies that would normally collect a great deal of individual customer information and carry a lot of products that can be cross-sold, need periodic replacement or upgrading, and offer high value. I feel like a good example of a company that works best with one-to-one marketing would be a wedding planner. A wedding planner must earn the business of their clients by showcasing their talents in terms of how they envision their potential clients’ wedding. A successful wedding planner would differentiate each client in terms of their needs, they would interact with their clients to improve their knowledge about them and their needs and based on their findings, they would customize their proposal to be considered for the job. 7. Maslow sought to explain why people are driven by particular needs at particular times. Describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. How does Maslow’s theory help marketers? Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is his answer to why people are driven by particular needs at particular times. His believed that human needs are arranged from most to least pressing. The most important needs is psychological needs, or basic instincts. These include food, water and shelter. As you make your way up Maslow’s hierarchy the actual need becomes less and less pressing to a human’s need to survive. This hierarchy can be used by marketers to determine how to properly reach their target market. Based on the expected level off need, determined by a marketer’s demographic, they could tell what efforts would work to catch their target market’s attention vs. what wouldn’t work. An example of this could be when Kay Jewelers came out with their everlasting slogan, â€Å"Every Kiss Begins with Kay†. They recognized that their target market would be longing for love, for a sense of belonging and that is exactly what their commercials provided, at least the idea of it. 8. Explain the differences between a belief and an attitude. In order to explain the differences between a belief and an attitude, I am going to relate them to the difference between truth and taste. Beliefs seek for what is true and can therefore be characterized as a factual attitude. You believe what you think are the facts, what you take to be true. It is beliefs that are the driving force behind things such as religion or parenting. Tastes are attitudes that are typically more one-sided and therefore vary from person to person. For example, peoples attitudes about music vary widely as we have individual tastes when it comes to music. 9. Describe what customerization is and how marketers are or should be using it. Customerization is when a company combines operationally driven mass customization with customized marketing in a way that empowers consumers to design the product and service offering of their choice. There are several marketers that are taking advantage of this, by offering customerization as a part of their total service offerings. A company such as Tervis Tumblers (www. tervis. com) has a customerization aspect to their overall marketing strategy. They offer a variety of pre-designed tumblers, but also offer their shoppers the choice to ‘create-their-own’ so to speak by uploading their own pictures or logos to design their own tumbler. 10. The VALS segmentation has 8 parts, innovators, thinkers, achievers, experiencers, believers, strivers, makers and survivors. Define each and where do you think you most fit in? The definition of each VALS segment is as follows: * Innovators – Successful, sophisticated, active, ‘take-charge’ people with high self-esteem. Purchases often reflect cultivated tastes for relatively upscale, niche-oriented products and services. * Thinkers – Mature, satisfied, and reflective people motivated by ideals and who value order, knowledge, and responsibility. They seek durability, functionality, and value in products. * Achievers – Successful, goal-oriented people who focus on career and family. They favor premium products that demonstrate success to their peers. * Experiencers – Young, enthusiastic, impulsive people who seek variety and excitement. They spend a comparatively high proportion of income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Believers – Conservative, conventional, and traditional people with concrete beliefs. They prefer familiar, U. S. made products and are loyal to established brands. * Strivers – Trendy and fun-loving people who are resource-constrained. They favor stylish products that emulate the purchases of those with greater material wealth. * Makers – Practical, down-to-earth, self-sufficient people who like to work with their hands. They seek U. S. made products with a practical or functional purpose. * Survivors – Elderly, passive people concerned about change and loyal to their favorite brands. As much as each of these segments offers great characteristics and benefits, the segment that I think I most fit in, at this point in my life, is the Achievers. I would be lying if I said that my career had nothing to do with the way that I am today. My career is part of the reason that I consider myself successful and has definitely turned me into a more goal-oriented person. I chose to go back to school because I want to do good by my future; my future where I own my own business and am a successful and loving Mother with a family of my own. I am at a point in my life where the world is my oyster and I am an achiever.