1. Role of Marketing in a Firm

Which of the following is the fastest growing nonstore retail segment in the US?

Online retailing

The marketing environment has two components to it:

SWOT, environmental scanning (does not divide into positive/negative, just internal and external)

exchange control

refers to the regulation of a country's currency exchange rate

syndicated research

research by firms that collect data on a regular basis and sell the reports to multiple firms (JDPower)

Hunting for cool

Companies (like Nike) observe cool people and try to find the next big trend

clickstream data

Data collected about user behavior and browsing patterns by monitoring users' activities when they visit a Web site.

Steps in developing marketing research plan

Define the type of research and objectives, develop research plan, collect/analyze data

General Electric Approach

Stoplight approach: low rated: harvest/divest products, yellow: hold/caution, green: invest

Microenvironmental Factors

Suppliers, Marketing Intermediaries, and Target Market

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

a company-wide business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction by focusing on highly defined and precise customer groups

sales force composite

a forecasting technique based on salespersons' estimates of expected sales

Ethnographic research

a form of observational research that involves sending trained observers to watch and interact with consumers in their "natural environments"

Market oriented

a philosophy that assumes that a sale does not depend on an aggressive sales force but rather on a customer's decision to purchase a product and their needs and wants; it is synonymous with the marketing concept

business level strategy

a plan that indicates how a division intends to compete against its rivals in an industry

probability sample

a sample in which every element in the population has a known and equal statistical likelihood of being selected

Embargo

an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country

Direct investment

another way to enter a foreign market by buying a company, riskiest but gives the most control

Functional-level strategy

applies to the key functional departments or units within the business units

Contract manufacturing

companies hire manufacturers to produce their products in another country

managerial control

controlling how many variables in a marketing plan are implemented

Exploratory research

define the problem and suggest hypotheses (why do we think sales are down?) [observation]

The demand for industrial goods is sometimes called "derived" because it depends on

demand for consumer goods

Descriptive research

describe factors: market potential, demographics, attitudes, etc. [surveys/observation]

global marketing standardization

global customers have increasingly similar needs

Primary data

information collected that you newly collected for the specific research plan

Secondary data

information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose

Franchising

longer-term (and thus riskier) form of licensing that is extremely popular with service firms

Marketing Information Systems are sandwiched between

marketing managers, environment

The best business portfolio is one that best fits company's strengths and weaknesses to

opportunities in the environment (fundamental, includes both target and established)

PEST analysis

political, economic, social, and technological environments

Sampling method

process by which participants are selected

Four P's of Marketing Mix

product, promotion, place, price

statistical control

remove the influence of a variable mathematically

Quantitative research

research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form (surveys/descriptive)

Qualitative research

seeks in-depth, open-ended responses (focus groups/exploratory)

Exporting

selling products to another country

Causal research

test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships (if we reduce price would sales go up?) [experiments]

Value

the benefits buyers receive that meet their needs (benefits received - price - hastle)

Licensing

the legal process whereby a licensor allows another firm to use its manufacturing process, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, or other proprietary knowledge

value proposition

the unique value that a product or service provides to its customers and how it is better than and different from those of competitors

Joint ventures

when two or more companies join forces - sharing resources, risks, and profits, but not actually merging companies - to pursue specific opportunities. often includes a domestic and foreign company

corporate level strategy

where top management directs overall strategy for the entire organization

Macroenvironmental forces

Demographic, economic, technological, political, legal, social, and cultural factors

Value era

From the 1990s to the present, some argue that firms moved into the value era, competing on the basis of value; others contend that the value era is simply an extension of the marketing era and is not a separate era.

Production era

In the early 1900s, businesses refined production process and created greater efficiencies

Sherman Act (1890)

Makes monopolizing a market, cartels, and other collusive arrangements illegal

Marketing strategies

(existing market) market penetration, product development, (new market) market development, diversification

Marketing Information Systems include

- internal customer transaction databases - acquired marketing intelligence databases (requires some analysis) - primary first party research (hardest but most accurate)

Marketing Information System (MIS)

A framework for managing and structuring information gathered regularly from sources inside and outside the organization

quota

A limit placed on the quantities of a product that can be imported

Selling era

A period running from the 1920s to until after World War II in which the selling orientation dominated the way firms competed

Product oriented

An approach to business that centers on capturing business by focusing on creating and manufacturing better products at lower prices (good products sell themselves without need to cater)

industrial espionage

The process of gathering corporate information illegally or unethically