Blog: Principles of Marketing (MGT301)

“Principles of Marketing (MGT301)”

v

This is to inform that nextAssignment # 02 (covering video lecture no. 1 to lecture no. 31)

will beuploaded on VULMS according to the following schedule

Schedule

Opening Date and Time

5^thJuly , 2010 At 12:01 A.M. (Mid-Night)

Closing Date and Time

8^thJuly , 2010 At 
11:59 P.M. (Mid-Night)

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BRAND NAME

Comment:
A brand is the personality of a product, service or
company and how it relates to key constituencies:
Customers, Staff, Partners, Investors etc. Some
people distinguish the psychological aspect of a
brand from the experiential aspect. Branding is
more than just a business buzzword. It has
become the crux of selling in the new economy.
If the old marketing mantra was," Nothing
happens until somebody sells something," the
new philosophy could be" Nothing happens until
somebody brands something

Reason:You might infer, then, that if you build
a powerful brand, you will in turn be
able to create a powerful marketing
program. However, if you can't
convince customers that your product
is worthy of purchasing, no amount of
advertising dollars, fancy packaging or
public relations will help you achieve
your sales goals. Therefore,
successful branding programs begin
with superior products and services,
backed by excellent customer service
that permeates an entire organization.
Careful brand management seeks to make
the product or services relevant to the
target audience. Brands should be seen as
more than the difference between the
actual cost of a product and its selling
price - they represent the sum of all
valuable qualities of a product to the
consumer. There are many intangibles
involved in business, intangibles left
wholly from the income statement and
balance sheet which determine how a
business is perceived. The learned skill of
a knowledge worker, the type of mental
working, the type of stitch: all may be
without an 'accounting cost' but for those
who truly know the product, for it is these
people the company should wish to find
and keep, the difference is incomparable.


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TARGET MARKET

Comment:
The company's beverages are generally for all
consumers so, the target market can be people of all
ages because of their wide range of products.

Reason:

The company's beverages are generally for
all consumers. However, there are some
brands, which target specific consumers.
For example, Coca-Cola's diet soft drinks
are targeted at consumers who are older in
age, between the years of 25 and 39.
PowerAde sports water target those who
are fit, healthy and do sport. Winnie the
Pooh sipper cap Juice Drink target
children between the ages 5-12.
This type of market approach refers to
market segmentation.
The Coca-Cola Company when
advertising, has a primary target market of
those who are 13-24, and a secondary
market of 10-39.
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POSITIONING STRATEGY

Comment:

Position the organization vis-à-vis other organizations
within the market
These are market-oriented and best articulate the
competitive advantage within the market
May be market-wide (or broad-based) or directed at
a particular segment (or niche-focused)

Reason:

In spite of growing competition in the soft
drinks market, many
companies, ranging from multinationals to
niche specialists, continue to
see volume growth well in excess of the
market average. Much of their
success can be attributed to progressive
attitudes to their competitive
environment and by exploiting new
production, packaging and
distribution technologies, they are able to
meet consumers' needs more
accurately and immediately than ever
before.
With leading players such as The Coca-
Cola Company driving the battle
for share of throat, soft drinks
manufacturers of all sizes need to equip
themselves with a wide variety of
innovative strategic tools if they are to
remain competitive.
Business Insights’ report, the Growth
Strategies in Soft Drinks
highlights emerging opportunities in the
industry, and examines the ways
that companies can best exploit them.
From the emerging markets of
Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and South
America, to fast-growth niches
in the developed world, this latest study is
the definitive guide to
innovation, main players, market sizes and
growth prospects.
.................
PRICE STRATEGY

Comment:

With their profit and revenue goals on the line,
retailers are
striving to build stronger bonds with their customers.
A strategy
gaining notice with leading retailers is consumercentric
pricing
and promotions. Early adopters are pricing and
promoting items
according to local demand, consumer demographics
and other
factors to maximize value. These retailers are
connecting any price
changes back into their demand plans to ensure that
inventory is
readily available for customers to purchase

Reason:

Pricing and promotional processes have a
direct and immediate
impact on bottom-line performance, yet
too many retailers still
use dated zone or corporate price
strategies along with disparate
systems or spreadsheets to execute.
Indications show that there
is a growing demand among retailers for
price optimization
solutions that link promotional planning,
price determination and
advertising execution with localized
consumer preferences and
competitive activity for the best practices
in lifecycle pricing.
To plan and execute lifecycle pricing
efficiently requires advanced
technology solutions that integrate and
optimize three key areas:
setting initial prices, promotional prices
and markdowns. By doing
so, a retailer can gain visibility into the
impact of a pricing decision
on the supply chain and drive more
profitable decisions related to
store clustering, pricing rules, promotional
opportunities and cycle
times. The following are examples of
results that early adopters of
price optimization solutions have
reported1:
• Helped to increase revenues by 1 to 5
percent
• Improved gross margin by 5 to 15
percent
• Improved forecast accuracy by 15 to 30
percent
• Supported inventory reduction by as
much as 12 to 33 percent
• Decreased transportation costs by as
much as 15 to 30 percent
• Realized productivity improvements of
30 to 40 percent
Outlined below are three price
optimization strategies that retailers
must first adopt in order to form the
foundation for
high-performing lifecycle pricing
......................

DISTRIBUTION STARTEGY

Comment:

A firm’s distribution objectives will ultimately be
highly related—some will enhance each other while
others will compete. For example, as we have
discussed, more exclusive and higher service
distribution will generally entail less intensity and
lesser reach. Cost has to be traded off against speed
of delivery and intensity (it is much more expensive
to have a product available in convenience stores
than in supermarket

Reason:

In view of the need for markets to be
balanced, the same distribution strategy is
unlikely to be successful for each firm.
The question, then, is exactly which
strategy should one use? It may not be
obvious whether higher margins in a
selective distribution setting will
compensate for smaller unit sales. Here,
various research tools are useful. In focus
groups, it is possible to assess what
consumers are looking for an which
attributes are more important. Scanner
data, indicating how frequently various
products are purchased and items whose
sales correlate with each other may
suggest the best placement strategies. It
may also, to the extent ethically possible,
be useful to observe consumers in the field
using products and making purchase
decisions. Here, one can observe factors
such as (1) how much time is devoted to
selecting a product in a given category, (2)
how many products are compared, (3)
what different kinds of products are
compared or are substitutes (e.g., frozen
yogurt vs. cookies in a mall), (4) what are
“complementing” products that may cue
the purchase of others if placed nearby.
Channel members—both wholesalers and
retailers—may have valuable information,
but their comments should be viewed with
suspicion as they have their own agendas
and may distort information.

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