Marketing Management (Marketing Questions)

Respond to the items below.

1. Explain customer-perceived value.
2. Explain total customer satisfaction.
3. What valuable functions can brands perform for a firm?
4. Given that the power of a brand resides in the minds of consumers and how it changes their response to marketing, there are two basic approaches to measuring brand equity. Briefly, describe each of these approaches.
5. Incorporating the concepts discussed in this assignment, answer the following: How does a loyal brand community support the positioning and branding of a small business? Provide an example to support your explanation.

Marketing Management BM350 

Assignment 04, 

Marketing Questions

Explain customer-perceived value. 

The perceived customer value is primarily a concept that relates to marketing as well as branding and primarily reveals that the success or failure of a product heavily relies on the idea whether the customers find it able to satisfy their needs. This idea means that when a new product is introduced into the market, the customers determine the different ways they will react and conceive the new brand (Eggert & Ulaga, 2002). Organizations will, therefore, spend abundant time determining how the customers think, feel, as well as react to their product as this determines the success or failure of the product. To understand the concept of customer perceived value, it is essential for an institution and other individuals to familiarize themselves with the term value positioning.  

Value positioning is a comparison made between the benefits generated from the product offers its customers relative to the price the customers have to pay to obtain the commodity. Companies have, however, the ability to influence their value positioning either by producing a long-term type of advertisement that keeps on reminding the customers they draw from the money they spend on the product. The companies can also opt to provide their products at a relatively lower price that keeps the company operational and has the ability to impress the customers. The customers will in this case have the mentality that the benefits generated from the product outweigh the cost of purchasing it (Yang & Peterson, 2004). As a result, the company is able to boost the customer perception value since they find the product benefits to outweigh the associated cost.  

Explain total customer satisfaction. 

Total customer satisfaction is achieved by institutions when they are in a position to repeatedly satisfy the needs of their various customers in the market. Total customer satisfaction is an evaluation of the way the products generated by a company and supplied to the consumers are able to beat customer expectations. The idea of total customer satisfaction entails that the company has to strive as much as possible to satisfy its customers with the brand it offers the consumers. The company has to strive to make its brand more appealing to the customer and in this case the brand since the impacts of the brand are higher compared to products. The company manager in this case has to keep a holistic view of the environment scanning for new ideas that make the brand more satisfactory and appealing to the consumers.  

Total customer satisfaction starts off from the moment the customer makes up his or her mind to purchase the company product. At this junction, the customer is unaware of the brand to purchase. The ultimate decision on the brand to opt for will be influenced by many factors with the primary ones being the nature of the customer, his or her lifestyle, behaviors portrayed by the consumer, as well as the lifestyle lived by the consumer (Ghodeswar, 2008). Customers’ expectations that significantly affect total customer satisfaction are very tricky to manage as they are influenced by many factors with the common ones being the consumer’s past experiences, his or her expectations, as well as the influence of the family members as well as friends. The manager must keep a close eye when managing customer expectations as too high expectations will result in disappointment while on the other hand too low expectations drives the customers away to the company competitors.  

What valuable functions can brands perform for a firm? 

Brands also have the ability to carry out highly valuable functions for the given farm and these include simplifying the overall process of product handling as well as tracing. They also play a fundamental role in organizing the company’s records and also in organizing the firm’s inventory. A brand can also provide the particular company valid legal protection for the company’s unique product aspects.  

Given that the power of a brand resides in the minds of consumers and how it changes their response to marketing, there are two basic approaches to measuring brand equity. Briefly, describe each of these approaches. 

Brand equity emerges as a result of variations in customer response and in case no variations are present, the brand name of the given product remains a commodity and competition on the brand will highly rely on the price set by the company. The various variations in response are associated with the knowledge held by the consumers on the brand, the various feelings they hold, perceptions, as well as their overall beliefs. The brands will, therefore, produce unique, favorable, as well as very strong associations with the given customers (Ghodeswar, 2008).  Brand equity is portrayed in various ways with the commonest ones being preferences, preferences, as well as the various behaviors revealed by the company towards the market aspects of the given brand. As a result, stronger brands significantly result in generating higher revenues as well as incomes for the company.  

Incorporating the concepts discussed in this assignment, answer the following: How does a loyal brand community support the positioning and branding of a small business? Provide an example to support your explanation. 

Having a loyal brand community doesn’t mean that these customers are satisfied with the goods and services alone but mean that the customers are satisfied with the brand as well. This brand loyalty will significantly help in the positioning of the small business as they help it grow since a loyal customer cannot at any occasion think of purchasing goods from competitors. For example, loyal Coca-Cola fans and customers who have being there throughout growing the company cannot at any instance think of buying beverage from Pepsi (Ghodeswar, 2008). This strong loyalty is what raises the company to the top of the industry as these customers provide a direct and ready market that keep the company operating at all times.  

This loyal brand will keep the company name in the market for centuries and will help grow it as the loyal consumers tend to draw more customers as other people will want to find out what keeps the loyal customers loyal. This will increase company customers ranking the company at a higher position in the market and also grow the company brand. To obtain these loyal communities, a small business that is new in the industry will need to position its products in the market such that they remain unique and outstanding. It is the uniqueness of this product that will draw more and more customers to try the brand over the competitors. Once the customers get a taste of the product, they develop the urge to come back for more and to choose the company product over the competitors on a long-term basis.  

These loyal communities keep the business operational and grow its brand among the locals and eventually on a global basis. The good reviews, large pool of customers coming back are what grow a local company into a higher position in the production ranking. The customers are what determine the position held by a company in the market with companies with more fans like Coca-Cola continuing to dominate the company (Yang & Peterson, 2004). For a small business in beverage to penetrate in this industry that is dominated by these companies, it needs to give the customers more than their current product is offering. There must be something compelling to enable these customers to opt for the new product. 

                                                                References 

       Yang, Z., & Peterson, R. T. (2004). Customer perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty: The role of switching costs. Psychology & Marketing, 21(10), 799-822. 

       Eggert, A., & Ulaga, W. (2002). Customer perceived value: a substitute for satisfaction in business markets?. Journal of Business & industrial marketing, 17(2/3), 107-118. 

       Ghodeswar, B. M. (2008). Building brand identity in competitive markets: a conceptual model. Journal of product & brand management, 17(1), 4-12.

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Social Impact of Business ( Right of Privacy at Workplace)

Some people believe that the right of privacy should be extended to the workplace. Others feel that, on the contrary, that such an extension would constitute an unwarranted incursion into the management's right to manage.

Please comment on this debate, using examples from the text discussion of electronic monitoring, romance in the workplace, employee drug testing, and employee honesty testing. 

Are there particular circumstances under which it is, or is not, appropriate for employers to monitor employee behavior? Discuss two (2).

Social Impact of Business BU360  

Assignment 08, 

Right of Privacy at Workplace

          A right means someone is entitled to be treated in a certain way. In a relationship, if one party has a right, it confers duties for other party. In an employment relationship also, there are two parties- employees and employer. The employment relationship confers rights and duties to both parties. Right of privacy at workplace also confers some duties on employers. The right of privacy at workplace means protecting an employee’s personal life from unwarranted intrusions from employer.  

         An employer has fewer privacy rights at workplace than in their personal life. But still, an employee is entitled to certain rights of privacy at workplace. An employer must respect certain rights of employees at workplace. For example, an employee should have right of speech, right to interact with other employees etc. An employee should also have right of doing what he/she wants outside the workplace, as long as the act is not affecting the business of the employer. At the same time, employees also have some duties towards employer. For example, an employee should not use emails to send offensive messages. The employees should also not treat the property of organization for personal use. The employee should not abuse drug or alcohol so that employee’s productivity is not affected. The employees should not disclose confidential information to others outside the organization. 

         An employer needs to monitor the activities of employees at a workplace. For example, an employer monitors internet usage of employees and block inappropriate sites. An employer may also monitor email messages and files of the employees. The employers usually use software to monitor activities of employees at workplace. The employees protest monitoring by employers as it breaches their privacy. The employees feel that their religious and political views, credit history, communication, etc are their private matters and employer should not access such information. An employer may snoop only when employer’s interest is clearly affected. 

         On the other hand, employers oppose right of privacy at workplace, and justify monitoring of employee’s activities for a number of reasons. The employer pays employees for performing work at workplace. If employee uses internet for personal work at workplace, sends personal emails, chats with friends, or trade in stocks at workplace, this is not productive use of time. The inappropriate acts of employees also expose employer to the lawsuits. An employer is liable for wrongful acts of employees. For example, if an employee watches pornography at workplace, it may leave the employer open to a charge of sexual harassment. Employer is also worried to protect confidential information. 

         There is need to strike a balance. The employees should have right of privacy up to some extent at workplace. The employer should monitor employee’s activities and communication only when there is specific reason to do so. At the same time, the employees should also perform their duties honestly.

                                                                      References 

            Anne T. Lawrence & James Weber (2014). Business & Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy (14th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. 

            Archie B. Carroll & Ann K. Buchholtz (2014). Business & Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management (9th Ed.). Ohio: South-Western College Pub.

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Principles of Marketing (Marketing Plan and Strategies)

1. Analyse marketing strategies in reaching markets with their products or services.
2. Continue with a detailed description of marketing management strategies used in the implementation of the marketing plan.
3. Conclude with the integrative strategies used in today's global environments to reach targeted markets and maximising marketing dollars spent. 
4. Consider how you would proceed when marketing a product or service and compare/contrast why certain strategies would be best for the target market.

C16.V.3.1 Principles of Marketing 

Assignment 08,

Marketing Plan and Strategies 

               Marketing strategy means describing a chosen product of a company to identify in one or more target markets for a successful business. A target market is a group of customers or buyers that a company has figured to buy their products. If a person is persuade to buy a product by an advertisement it can persuade other people similar to him to buy a product, because this type of people has similar product needs. Target market focus the specific area or people. When a company identifies the target market, it is very important to create a target market strategy to promote the product, to communicate and reach the group. There are different steps to analyze the target market. The first step is to manage marketing opportunity analysis. In this analysis, an organization investigate the possibility of profit, size of market and measure of competition. The second step of analyzing the target market is to choose the basic target market strategy. A person who drink diet soda, durable electronic products  and young children who needs car in reasonable price are good example of basic target market. The next step is to pursuing entire market with one marketing mix. Milk producers are the suitable example of this because they are well known about the large market of their product. Lady Foot Locker is the good example of one single target market. The last step is pursuing multiple market segments with multiple marketing mixes. Disney is the best example of this strategy because its advertisement is pursuing parents who has children, teenagers, honeymoon couples, adults and even senior citizens. Disney promotes different messages to each of this different members very carefully and successfully.   

          Marketing management means the process of organizing, planning, advertising, promotions, development and sales of a new  product. Management department are responsible for a marketing plan to achieve business objectives in a company. Marketing plan can be different from company to company, but commonly includes executive summary, company's mission, situation analysis, forecasting, marketing strategy and implementation choices of the marketing mix. In a market plan, strategy and strategic thinking are the main elements for a successful business. It follows the principles of leading company in a market. Strategic marketing management plan is a written document with guidelines for the company's marketing programs and actions over the period of planning, where marketing managers can learn from their past mistakes. To select a target market and to make an appropriate marketing mix for the target market are the two critical functions of the marketing strategy, which focus on the goal of the company. Marketing mix includes a product, place, price and promotion strategy to make a company profitable. In a marketing strategy, an organization should have a capability of sufficient resources to meet their needs with profit in a competitive market. If a company has full information of a targeted customer, marketing managers can use their own strategic views and can make decisions by developing a marketing strategy to maximize the revenues and profits of a company. 

          To expand a business in a global environment is the aim of  every company. The rapid growth of a development in a technology makes easier, faster and secure to connect the world and it helps in a business marketing. Nowadays, technology is a part of a marketing. Similarly, one of the most effective way where products can be launched to sell in a national or international market is market segmentation. Each and every company has their own way to spread their product in a international market by different types of offers, promotions and special discounts to attract customers. In a market segmentation process, at first company target the place and customers. They want to expand their product worldwide and to create a large number of consumers. Targeted marketing strategy research a size of a market, operating costs, growing companies, competitors, local resources to produce a product and whether it fits for a company's mission and objectives. Secondly, in a multi segment marketing strategy a company provide the information of demographic, fall of economy and related changes in a market. Continuously, where concentrated marketing targets a selected group of consumers, niche marketing is responsible to target a core group of customers. Microtargeting or narrowcasting marketing involves in a "super target" customers and collects available personal informations from different sources.  Companies in a global market can take any types of steps and strategies to meet their needs. Other marketing strategies in a global market targets to buy a company or want to run a business in a partnership. In today's global market, companies target is to create low-cost products and capture a large markets of a developing countries like China, Brazil, India and Russia and then selling the products in developed countries. 

          Target market means the focused group of people to persuade them to buy a product or service by a company. Company aimed to sell them a product or provide them a service. If I am given to marketing a product or service, first I would target the price and place for a product. Then I would collect the information about the targeted consumers and follow marketing strategies, what would be the best for the customers as well as profit for company. In a marketing plan, strategies of marketing, management and global business environment plays a very important role to reach their target market. A successful business has always well planned strategies. A marketing strategy looks all the required and needed areas to sell the product in a market and helps each product supporting the next, when it goes wrong. There is a lot of chances to make a company profitable by establishing new and different marketing strategies. Marketing strategy do research in a marketplace before producing a product and helps what types of product should be produce.It shows the wants, desires and needs about the product of the targeted customers. A company only can target a consumers, if there is good management strategies. A management department gives more priority to the successful strategies from a leading companies, which has a positive impact on a target market. Similarly, integrative strategies shows a possible way to expand the business by connecting the product with people worldwide. Global business environment is the best way to distribute the goods in a whole world and maximize a profit from a target market.

                                                        References 

          Michael Levens (2012). Marketing: Defined, Explained & Applied (2nd Ed.). New Jersey: Pearson. 

          O.C. Ferrell & Michael Hartline (2012). Marketing Strategy (6th Ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning. 

          William A. Cohen (2005). The Marketing Plan (5th Ed.). London: Wiley. 

          Rhonda Abrams (2014). Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies (6th Ed.). California: Planning Shop.

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