Marketing and Product

1. On the Basics: a. We have asserted that marketing is really the strategic idea of ‘connectedness’ with customers. From the perspective of your final project company, identify and discuss how your company connects with its customers – select from either the marketing concept or the selling concept. Be sure to define each concept and be detailed in your response. A: Marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do. customer focus and value are the path to sales and profits) The marketing concept is a customer-centered sense and responds philosophy. (The job is to find the right products for your customers. ) My project company Samsung took the marketing concept and connect with its customers. Samsung chooses to concern more about customers’ need and invent products that solve customers’ problems rather than make it and sell it. Before inventing cellphone products it will do a lot of surveys and experiment to find out what problems exist and concerned seriously in modern world.Activities like free gift and sample-with-purchase, free experiencing and considerate after-selling service are good ways of finding what customer want and asking for feedbacks. Not only can these marketing strategies collect data and examples for its study, but also can build a strong relationship with current and potential customers. Besides that Samsung also develop a system of contacting with customers, which uses cell phones and email. By emailing and texting customer what new products are and asking their ideas about them helps improve products and make products more customer-orientated. . Referring to your project company provide a well-developed characterization of your market segment and your target market. i. Identify the most urgent issue necessary for you to penetrate or protect your desired market space. Mark et Segmentation: Target Customers: Urgent issue: The most urgent issue is to differentiate this smartphone from other smartphone of other brands by marketing. There are many smartphones in the market and the most competitive one is the iphone5 from Apple.These two smartphone have similar function and both have good reputation in repairing skins. To market the serum from Lauder we have to stress its function of giving you the most attractive function such as Pop up play and Face Zoom which Apple doesn’t have. c. Lastly, concisely address each of the following central positioning questions pertaining to your project company/brand: i. What position, if any, do you already have in the prospect’s mind? Here I list some of the competitive offerings Full range of service after selling Apple 9. 0 Nokia 7. Motorola7. 5 HTC 7. 0 Sharp6. 5 ZTE6. 0 Quality of product The branches of product ii. What position do you want to own? With a strong brand advantage and the luxuriant Apple store, Apple now is still the brightness star in people’s mind. But what I am going to do is to give customers more space to experience our product when they come to Samsung store . I aim to own the first place. iii. What companies must be outgunned if you are to establish or maintain that position? From my point of view, Motorola would be the first one to be outgunned.The reason is that: 2. On the Marketing Mix: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your company’s marketing mix and offer strategic recommendations on how the company should handle the most burning marketing problem/opportunity impacting the strategic performance of the ‘mix’. Consider shaping your answer with the 5Cs in mind Strengths: Lauder has diversified marketing strategies from retailing stores to TV commercials to spas. It present the product in many dimensions and gives consumer a full and impressive understand of the product.Weakness: Most of Estee Lauder’s retail stores are owned by the company. Lauder doesn’t want to cooperate with other retailers in order to keep their image of high-end. However, marketing the serum means you have to highly exposed your product to the public and remind them there’s always this choice for them and they have easy access to the product. Solutions: The burning marketing problem is galaxy does not have a strong differentiated position from other brands and not impressive to cosumers. Firstly, we should think of customer solution.By launching ad campaign in which stress the function of the product and list features that other cellphones don’t have, we are actually telling consumers that the extra benefits they can get from choosing this cellphone. Besides that we can set up experience lounge in some shopping malls for people to try the product out as well as teaching them how to use it to achieve the best effect. Secondly, we focus on customer cost. To some people who have never used it before they might not want to spend that much money in trying a new product.So when we are launching this product we can offer discount or selling as a package to lower the price so that more potential customer will be willing to have a try. Fourthly, we can promote the communication. By establishing two-way communication can really strengthen the tight with consumers. Why many brands are forgettable is because they don’t have a strong connection with consumers. By contacting consumers with email and message we can always expose them in the information of the products which increase the chance of them choosing the product. 3. On Consumer Buying Behavior: a.Referring to your company, describe a scenario of your typical customer using the buyer decision process when considering purchasing your company’s product/service. Use the language from our readings. i. Consider pulling from your database research offered in our library workshop to authenticate how your customers behave in you r market environment. b. Additionally, from the criteria that influence the rate of adoption, in what area does your company/product excel and what area does your company/product require attention to strengthen the adoption process? Be detailed in your response. . First we have Need Recognition. The buyer recognizes a problem or need of the cellphone by talking to a friend of watching an ad. Second, he will do Information Search. Ads are from commercial sources-controlled by marketers. He may also find information from personal sources, public sources and experiential sources. By watching ads or listening to the advice of a close friend or trying the samples she will get the information about the cellphones. Third, we have Evaluation of Alternatives. He will evaluate alternatives with calculations and logical thinking.By taking each attribute into consideration and compare different cellphones he finds out that cellphones from Samsung will satisfied his need with the functions galax y has. Fourth, he will make the Purchase Decision. After ranking brands and forming purchase intention, he is about to buy the cellphone. Now if attitudes of others also points to buying it and there’s no unexpected situational factors like worsening economy or dropping price of competitors, he will by the rather expensive cellphone form Samsung. Last but not least there’s Postpurchase Behavior.He will feel either satisfied or unsatisfied with the galaxy,which is the gap between the expectations and the product’s perceived performance. b. EXCEL Relative advantage: 4. 8† Super Amoled HD display Pebble blue or marble white Battery: 2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra) Camera: 8MP rear; 1. 9 MP front S-Beam High speed file transfer via NFC and WiFi Direct, between two phones touched together, operating at up to 300Mbps. Smart Stay The phone tracks your eyes, so as long as you’re looking at it, the display won’t dim or turn off.What Needs to be STRENGTHEN? the purpose of the current market situation, the major brands of mobile phone chain (such as Suning, Gome, etc. ) occupies a large market, so we are faced with considerable pressure. According to the market potential, the Guangdong market level of consumption analysis, consumer groups, after all, is limited, so we have a unique service to impress potential customers. d out the differences. 4. On Branding and the Product Lifecycle: a. Referring to your company, identify the one major strength and weakness of the brand. i.What are your recommendations to strengthen the competitiveness and equity of the brand? ii. Identify at what stage your brand falls within the product lifecycle model. What is required for you to ensure that the customer remains eternally ‘connected’ to your brand? a. Strength: Samsung has sufficient fund for inventing so it’s able to apply high-tech into their products, which makes it a sell point to the customers because nowad ays everyone likes new technology. What’s more, when inventing the product Samsung will have so many test before they finally launch the product so the product is definitely safe.Weakness:The four-nuclei graphics card needs large amount of electricity The outer skin is easily getting old because of its material i. To increase competitiveness and equity of the brand first we need to think about the brand positioning Marketers need to position the brand clearly in the target customers’ mind. I will position the brand at the highest level which is on strong beliefs and values. By launching ad campaigns we deliver the concept that the serum form Estee Lauder is more than a serum, it’s a lifestyle you choose. â€Å"To be fabulous and healthy everyday gives you the confident to face every challenge. I would also establish a mission for the brand and a vision of what the brand must be and do. Through the promise the serum deliver to buyers we can strongly impress the buyers with the features, benefits and experience. Second, I will introduce line extensions. Redesigning the form, color and size of the screen we can easily change the image of this old product in consumers mind. The Samsung cellphone old outfit is no longer suitable for modern consumers because it was designed long time ago and the main concept is to express its luxurious.Nowadays people want products which can present youth and energy. So changing the outer packing is necessary in delivering new message to the consumers. ii. The product falls on the maturity stage in which product’s sales growth slows and profits stabilized. In order to ensure the customers remain eternally ‘connected’ to the brand marketers should evolve to meet changing consumer needs. Modifying the Market- The company should try to increase consumption by finding new users and new market segment for its brands.The Vita-mineral Radiance Serum from Lauder is often adopted by women over 30 yea rs old for the special benefit in fighting wrinkles. But actually it is suitable for women over 20 years old because it can give them the healthy grow of skin and prevent early wrinkles. Modifying the product- Changing the characteristics such as features, style or funtion to attract new users and inspire more usage. The old funtions of the Samsung were designed in the 2000s’ and it’s too garish for young people. Some details are unnecessary and will mislead consumers that this is a product for mid-age people.By changing the cellphone to a more simple and portable style can really modify the image in people’s mind and attract younger consumers to buy it. Modifying the marketing mix- Improving sales by changing one or more marketing mix elements. The company can offer new or improved services to buyers. Distributing free, new samples and offering free tour to â€Å"Korea Tour† after purchasing the serum can really attract consumers to buy this old product. The company can offer a lower price after discount the product to increase the scale of sale.The company can also launch a better advertising campaign or use aggressive sales promotions. By redefining the product’s use and target customer, the company can launch ad campaign that highly stress the benefits this cellphone offer and help consumers notice their potential need. Company The analysis of the company allows for the evaluation of the company's objectives, strategy and capabilities. These areas indicate to an organization about the strength of the business model or whether there are areas for improvement, as well as how well an organization will fit with the external environment. 6] †¢ Goals & Objectives: An analysis on the mission of the business, the industry of the business and the stated goals required to achieve the mission. †¢ Position: An analysis on the Marketing strategy and the Marketing mix. †¢ Performance: An analysis on how effectively the b usiness is achieving their stated mission and goals. †¢ Product line: An analysis on the products manufactured by the business and how successful it will be in the market. [5] [edit] Competitors The competitor analysis takes into consideration the competitors position within the industry and the potential threat it may pose to other businesses.The main purpose of the competitor analysis is for businesses to analyze both the current and potential nature and capabilities of a competitor in order to be prepared against competition. The competitor analysis looks at the following criteria's: †¢ Identity competitors: Businesses must be able to identify competitors within their industry. Identification of whether competitors provide the same service/products to the same customer base will be useful is gaining knowledge on direct competitors.Both direct and indirect competitors must be identified, as well as potential competitors that may enter the market. †¢ Assessment of co mpetitors: The competitor analysis looks at competitor goals, mission, strategies and resources. This will allow for a thorough comparison on the goals and strategies of both competitors and organization. †¢ Predict future initiatives of competitors: An early insight into the potential activity of a competitor will help a company be prepared against competition. [6] [edit] Customers Customer analysis can be vast and complicated.Some of the important areas that a company analyzes includes:[5] †¢ Demographics †¢ Advertising most suitable for the demographic †¢ Market size and potential growth †¢ Customer wants and needs †¢ Motivation to buy the product †¢ Distribution channels (online, retail, wholesale, etc. ) †¢ Quantity and frequency of purchase †¢ Income level of customer [edit] Collaborators Collaborators are useful for businesses as they allow for an increase in the creation of ideas, as well as an increase in the likelihood of gainin g more business opportunities. 7] The following type of collaborators are: †¢ Agencies: Agencies are the middlemen of the business world. When businesses need a specific worker who specializes in the trade, they go to a recruitment agency. [8] †¢ Suppliers: Suppliers provide raw materials that are required to build products. There are 7 different types of Suppliers: Manufacturers, wholesalers, merchants, franchisors, importers and exporters, independent crafts people and drop shippers. Each category of suppliers can bring a different skill and experience to the company. 9] †¢ Distributors: Distributors are important as they are the ‘holding areas for inventory'. Distributors can help manage manufacturer relationships as well as handle vendor relationships. [10] †¢ Partnerships: Business partners would share assets and liabilities, allowing for a new source of capital and skills. [11] Businesses must be able to identify whether the collaborator has the capab ilities needed to help run the business as well as an analysis on the level of commitment needed for a collaborator-business relationship. [6] [edit] ClimateIn order to fully understand the business climate/environment there are usually many different factors that can affect a business, and if researched well it will contribute to a company that can respond well to change. An analysis on the climate is also known as the PEST analysis. The types of climate/environment firms have to analyse are: †¢ Political and regulatory environment: An Analysis of how active the government regulates the market with their policies and how it would affect the production, distribution and sale of the goods and services. Economic Environment: An Analysis of trends regarding macroeconomics, such as exchange rates and inflation rate, can prove to influence businesses. [5] †¢ Social/cultural environment: Interpreting the trends of society;[5] which includes the study of demographics, education, culture etc. †¢ Technological analysis: An analysis of technology will help improve on old routines and suggest for new methods in being more cost efficient. In order to stay competitive and gain an advantage over others, businesses must have sufficient knowledge on the technological advances