MKTG 409 - Exam 4 (Chapter 2)

How does a sustainable competitive advantage differ from a competitive advantage?

A sustainable competitive advantage is one that competitors cannot copy in the immediate future.

Which of the following is an advantage of being a late mover in the market?

Ability to benefit from first movers' mistakes

Procter & Gamble's Tide laundry detergent has a dominant share of the detergent market in the United States. It makes $4.5 billion in sales of this detergent brand. However, the detergent market has reached market saturation in the United States. With this information, what type of product is Tide based upon the Boston Consulting Group's market growth/market share matrix?

Cash cow

Marty works at an organization with a clear chain of command. The major decisions are relegated to top managers. Marty and his co-workers have strict performance standards. Managers at his organization monitor the work of employees to make sure they are staying on track. What type of organization is Marty's company?

Centralized

Which of the following is probably the most important decision a company makes during the strategic planning process?

Choosing a target market

The Coca-Cola Company introduced a low-sugar, high-protein, lactose-free dairy milk product called Fairlife. For Coca-Cola, Fairlife milk products represent which of the following growth strategies?

Diversification

Why is sales analysis a common method of evaluation?

Sales data are readily available and can reflect the target market's reaction to a marketing mix

Why might a marketer want to engage in marketing cost analysis?

To allocate the firm's marketing resources better in the future

When Disney World wants to have at least 90 percent of its customers indicating they had a memorable and satisfying experience at the park hotels, this is an example of _______.

a marketing objective

Marika is a manager for a boutique clothing store in downtown Austin. She has set a goal of reaching $25,000 in revenue for the month of March. In April, Marika reviews total revenues for March and realizes she fell short of her goal by $3,000. She decides to run an additional sale in April and increase her posts on social media to hopefully reach the revenue goal in April. Marika is involved in _______.

a strategic performance evaluation

Traditional organizations are most likely to utilize a(n) _______ organizational structure where top-level managers make all decisions regarding marketing strategy, and lower-level managers have little decision-making capability.

centralized

When a company matches a core competency to opportunities in the marketplace, it possesses a _______.

competitive advantage

The United Way, a nationwide nonprofit, recently hired a new top executive. He is currently occupied with refining the scope of the organization and assessing its resource deployment, competitive advantages, and overall coordination of functional areas. The United Way's executive is focusing on _______.

corporate strategy

Strategic marketing management requires both effectiveness and efficiency. A food manufacturer has similar brand loyalty as its competitors, but it spends three times more than its competitors on customer relationship management. This manufacturer is _______.

effective, but not efficient

The process of putting marketing strategies into action is called _______.

marketing implementation

Google has widely posted the following: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." This is most likely a part of Google's _______.

mission statement

According to the Boston Consulting Group Growth Share Matrix, products labeled as "dogs" are _______.

often found in established markets, have low prospects for growth, and a lower share of the market

The section of the marketing plan that provides standards to determine how the marketing activities will be evaluated as well as the audits to be performed to gauge success is called the _______.

performance evaluation

The Growth Share Matrix developed by the Boston Consulting Group identifies products with a dominant share of the market and strong prospects for growth as _______.

stars

The leadership team at Bud's Distributors, a regional beverage company collaborated during a two-day meeting to discuss and revise the company's mission and goals, identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and create a marketing plan. The process implemented by Bud's Distributors is called _______.

strategic planning

The section of the marketing plan that outlines how the company will achieve its objectives will discuss _______.

the target market and marketing mix

Jamal Miller is a management consultant who frequently works with businesses to assist them with their strategic planning efforts. He recommends that once firms have used the SWOT analysis to gauge their capabilities and resources relative to the industry, they should identify tactics to achieve a more competitive position relative to other firms in their market. One approach Jamal suggests includes taking actions to convert external _______ into opportunities and internal _______ into strengths.

threats; weaknesses

Barry is in charge of implementing his unit's marketing strategy, and he is currently engaged in establishing a timetable for implementation activities. Which of the following is Barry's final step in establishing an implementation timetable?

Assigning responsibility for completing each activity to one or more employees, teams, or managers

Green Mountain, Inc., the manufacturer of the Keurig brand of coffee makers, created an innovative and new category of coffee makers using its trademarked "K-cups" for single-serve coffee. Other companies are now producing similar cups and coffee makers, competing against Green Mountain and the Keurig brand. The coffee category remains strong, possesses opportunities for growth, and Keurig is maintaining a dominant position in the marketplace. Using the Boston Consulting Group's Growth Share Matrix, which of the following strategies would be most appropriate for the Keurig line of coffee makers?

Continue to innovate, promote, and support the product line by investing resources in order to continue growth

Paul owns a small retail store. His store sells local products from farmers and small food and beverage businesses in his store. He has a number of strategic partnerships with different players in the industry and believes his business has the ability to become highly successful. Those customers who have bought from him have become loyal customers and frequently visit the store. The problem is most people do not seem to realize the store exists. He decides to write a marketing plan that will outline the marketing actions he needs to take to spread awareness of his company and attract consumers to his business. Refer to Scenario 2.5. Paul is conducting a SWOT analysis and has identified his opportunities, threats, and strengths. What is his store's primary weakness?

Customer's lack of awareness of the store

Jamal Nassar is employed as a marketing analyst with Bright Horizons, Inc. and is currently assisting the vice president of marketing with the marketing plan. Jamal has been tasked with assessing a variety of factors, such as competitive, economic, political, legal, regulatory, technological, and sociocultural factors, that could affect various marketing activities. Which section of the marketing plan is Jamal developing?

Environmental analysis

It is a year later. Ajei's manager decided that the company would develop a salsa business. Ajei has been in a flurry of activity since then. Not only did the company have to invest in a building and equipment, but she has had to develop marketing strategies for the new salsa business. The marketing strategies are now complete and ready to be put into action. Ajei was placed in charge of marketing implementation. She has spent several months organizing the marketing unit, training employees, coordinating the marketing staff, developing a social media plan, and communicating the goals and objectives of the strategy. Refer to Scenario 2.4. What is the next step Ajei should take to implement the marketing strategy?

Establishing a timetable for iplemenation

Hank's small restaurant business is doing extremely well, and it often has hours-long waits at peak dining times. Hank thinks it is time to grow the business by opening new restaurants to take advantage of his success. He has begun the strategic planning process and has set the following objective for his company: grow the business by 10 percent in one year. What's wrong with Hank's marketing objective?

It should be measureable

Which of the following is a disadvantage of being a first mover in the market?

Large outlays associated with creating a new product

Which of the following is needed to guide the process of strategic planning to ensure that a concern for customer satisfaction is an integral part of the entire company, thereby leading to the development of successful marketing strategies and planning process?

Market orientation

Ajei's manager believes that Tres Pimientos can gain an advantage over competing Mexican restaurants in the area by capitalizing on the growing demand for salsa. He believes the firm's top-secret salsa recipe could be the key to expanding into another market niche. The manager has proposed developing a line of its salsas in 16-ounce jars to sell at its restaurant. This way its loyal customers could buy its salsa outright and serve it at home. Ajei has been tasked with determining the feasibility of this strategy. Refer to Scenario 2.2. What type of competitive growth strategy is Ajei's manager discussing?

Product development

Which of the following represents a well-stated marketing objective?

Purina Foods seeks to outperform its competition by obtaining a 25 percent share of the market in dry dog food by the end of the 4th quarter of the business year.

The Four Seasons Spa and Salon has retained a marketing consultant to assist them with its annual strategic planning retreat. Shantelle Stevens, the owner of the salon, is reviewing the agenda for the meeting and observes that the sequence of activities follows the strategic planning process discussed in her marketing class many years ago. What is the first activity the organization should pursue as part of its strategic planning process?

Review or establish the organization's mission and goals

Paul owns a small retail store. His store sells local products from farmers and small food and beverage businesses in his store. He has a number of strategic partnerships with different players in the industry and believes his business has the ability to become highly successful. Those customers who have bought from him have become loyal customers and frequently visit the store. The problem is most people do not seem to realize the store exists. He decides to write a marketing plan that will outline the marketing actions he needs to take to spread awareness of his company and attract consumers to his business. Refer to Scenario 2.5. Paul would like his sales for next month to reach $30,000. This is an example of a _______.

performance standard

Paul owns a small retail store. His store sells local products from farmers and small food and beverage businesses in his store. He has a number of strategic partnerships with different players in the industry and believes his business has the ability to become highly successful. Those customers who have bought from him have become loyal customers and frequently visit the store. The problem is most people do not seem to realize the store exists. He decides to write a marketing plan that will outline the marketing actions he needs to take to spread awareness of his company and attract consumers to his business. Refer to Scenario 2.5. Paul is at the stage of his marketing plan where he needs to gather information about his firm's situation with respect to the market. A major part of this is his assessment of target markets. Which section is he about to write?

Environmental analysis

Margie noticed that sales of her company's newest electric bicycle product are much higher than anticipated. She wants to investigate why this has occurred. Margie first compares the sales to performance standards the company has set for the new product. She examined the firms' efforts, the costs incurred from marketing activities, industry sales as a whole, and competitor sales. After looking at all this data, she determined that the reason for the higher sales was two-fold. Industry sales averages were high, and after some investigation Margie noticed that there has been a major influx in consumers wanting to bike to work or for recreational purposes—much more than anticipated. The electric bicycle they released also had a unique design, and she believes this design—which is patented so rivals cannot replicate it—makes the bicycle more comfortable for bicyclists who bike long distance. Refer to Scenario 2.6. At what stage of the strategic planning process is Margie?

Evaluating marketing strategies

Ajei is working on a SWOT analysis of a local Mexican restaurant Tres Pimientos in Flagstaff. She writes down that the organization has high customer loyalty, resources for expansion, a large social media following, and strong management. She also writes that the market for salsa products is high and more people are eating out. On the other hand, one major complaint levied against the restaurant is that it is high priced and other casual-dining restaurants with less expensive menu offerings are locating to the city. Still, Ajei believes the restaurant's talented and well-known chef provides it with an advantage that other restaurants do not have. Refer to Scenario 2.1. Which of the following characteristics of the Mexican restaurant represents an opportunity?

Greater demand for salsa products

What is the first step in creating a marketing strategy?

Identifying the target market

Margie noticed that sales of her company's newest electric bicycle product are much higher than anticipated. She wants to investigate why this has occurred. Margie first compares the sales to performance standards the company has set for the new product. She examined the firms' efforts, the costs incurred from marketing activities, industry sales as a whole, and competitor sales. After looking at all this data, she determined that the reason for the higher sales was two-fold. Industry sales averages were high, and after some investigation Margie noticed that there has been a major influx in consumers wanting to bike to work or for recreational purposes—much more than anticipated. The electric bicycle they released also had a unique design, and she believes this design—which is patented so rivals cannot replicate it—makes the bicycle more comfortable for bicyclists who bike long distance. Refer to Scenario 2.6. What method of analysis is Margie using?

Sales analysis

Amazon's Echo product line of smart speakers has 61 percent of a market that has grown from 47 million speakers to 66 million speakers in just one year. With this information, what type of product is the Echo speaker based upon the Boston Consulting Group's market growth/market share matrix?

Star

Margie noticed that sales of her company's newest electric bicycle product are much higher than anticipated. She wants to investigate why this has occurred. Margie first compares the sales to performance standards the company has set for the new product. She examined the firms' efforts, the costs incurred from marketing activities, industry sales as a whole, and competitor sales. After looking at all this data, she determined that the reason for the higher sales was two-fold. Industry sales averages were high, and after some investigation Margie noticed that there has been a major influx in consumers wanting to bike to work or for recreational purposes—much more than anticipated. The electric bicycle they released also had a unique design, and she believes this design—which is patented so rivals cannot replicate it—makes the bicycle more comfortable for bicyclists who bike long distance. Refer to Scenario 2.6. Margie believes this is the optimal time to seize upon this opportunity. Through the bike's patented design, her company has capabilities that fit the unique demands of this growing market. Margie wants to capitalize on this opportunity before these market trends have a chance to change. This period for Margie's firm is known as a _______.

Strategic window

Ajei continues to work on the marketing strategy for Tres Pimientos. Tres Pimientos was successful in selling 16-ounce jars of salsa in its restaurant. In fact, demand for the jars of salsa is so high that Ajei believes Tres Pimientos should try to expand and start selling in stores and online. She believes Tres Pimientos salsa has the potential for enormous growth, perhaps even more so than the actual restaurant. Refer to Scenario 2.3. Ajei's manager is skeptical. Such an investment would require a manufacturing facility, a larger marketing budget, and salespeople who would be able to get the salsa onto store shelves. However, Ajei maintains that Tres Pimientos's secret salsa recipe provides it with a core competency. The market for salsa is also strong. She believes this provides Tres Pimientos with a chance to match its core competency to market opportunities, otherwise known as a(n) _______.

competitive advantage

Target, a discount store, has successfully partnered with luxury brands such as Lilly Pulitzer, Toms, and Altuzarra to create interest and drive customers to its stores. Target's ability to create these partnerships is considered one of its strengths and provides an advantage over its competitors. This is an example of a _______.

core competency

Coyote Logistics is a provider of third-party logistics services and assists customers in managing its supply chain. Employees of Coyote Logistics are extremely satisfied with the company's culture and feel empowered to make decisions. In addition, they can quickly respond and adapt rapidly to changing customer needs. It is likely that Coyote Logistics has implemented a _______ organizational structure.

decentralized

Margie noticed that sales of her company's newest electric bicycle product are much higher than anticipated. She wants to investigate why this has occurred. Margie first compares the sales to performance standards the company has set for the new product. She examined the firms' efforts, the costs incurred from marketing activities, industry sales as a whole, and competitor sales. After looking at all this data, she determined that the reason for the higher sales was two-fold. Industry sales averages were high, and after some investigation Margie noticed that there has been a major influx in consumers wanting to bike to work or for recreational purposes—much more than anticipated. The electric bicycle they released also had a unique design, and she believes this design—which is patented so rivals cannot replicate it—makes the bicycle more comfortable for bicyclists who bike long distance. Refer to Scenario 2.6. Margie's company's electric bicycle, which is patented so that rival firms cannot replicate it, has a _______.

sustainable competitive advantage