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