Question 1: The Four Ps of Marketing
Effective marketing is the only path to ensure that a business meets its goals regarding sales and services. To achieve effective marketing strategy factors such as place, pricing, product and promotion must be considered.
Place
The location of a business is significant regarding ensuring that the business is accessible, and visible to the intended customers. Therefore, to obtain the maximum number of clients, the business should be located next to the intended clients. The location can be next to a public gathering such as a church, school or a point that attracts more [people in a day. The premise or the business office should be visible, and if possible, a road sign used to direct the target clients to the premise.
Pricing
Expensive pricing often sends many clients away. The pricing should be designed to attract clients but also to meet the business expenditures and still make a profit. The pricing should not be too low in case the business is competing with other competitors and wants to eliminate them. Instead, the pricing should be fair enough and realistic not to jeopardize the future of the business
Product
The business is existing for the sole purpose of meeting the client’s needs. This should be made the first business priority. In case the business is existing to satisfy the owner and earn him praise, the business is sure to fail. The customers’ needs should be consulted. Dealing with catering is even easier since the clients will describe what they desire, nonetheless, the products should be perfect and mindful of the customer’s desire.
Promotion
A business without promotion is equally as dead as a business that does not have reasonable pricing, placing, and the right product. Promotion is like the wheel of the enterprise. This is the opportunity to make the business known. Promotion can be achieved through advertisements and issuing of business cards. Offering good services can also market the business.
Question 2: Marketing Myopia
Marketing myopia is a term used about setting the business priorities over that of the consumers. In other words, business does business for producing those products that are motivated by the owner’s desires as opposed to the customer needs. In such a scenario, the business is shortsighted, viewing the business glass through the glass of its needs. For example, a business may be trading in product A which has features such B, C and D. Customers may be satisfied with features B and C but dissatisfied with feature D. instead of modifying feature D to meet the demands of the customer, the business retains the feature since it believes that it will meet his needs. For businesses that want to be competitive in the market, myopic priorities must be set aside, also to outdo other business; an investor can look for those myopic factors held by competitors and modify these factors thereby meeting the customer needs. The redundant features may be held by the business for fear of change seeing that the process may turn out to be more expensive or additional expertise may be required that will complicate the whole process. An example of marketing myopia scenario can be observed in the competition between Kodak and Sony resulting in the loss of the market to Sony. Kodak could not keep up with pace in technological advances, and the fire was unable to meet the demands of the customers.
Question 3: Benefits of Customer Satisfaction
Attraction
A business can exploit customer satisfaction as an effective strategy of attracting more customers to the business. When customers are satisfied, they can invite new customers who will then invite more when they are also satisfied. This creates a chain of invitation thus winning more and more customers.
Retention
Customer retention is not a simple task given the competitive nature of the business and the ever-changing demands of customers’ needs. Ensuring the business operation mix is a challenge that limits the success of business in retaining customers. Customer retention will depend on the quality of the product and the relations between the customer and the business. These relations must be promoted at relevant costs.
Sales
When customers are satisfied, a business is likely to make more sales given that some customers may purchase more, frequently, invite others or be retained ensuring a long enjoyment of the profit. Thus, meeting customers’ demands will increase the business’s sales.
Determining Customer Satisfaction
When determining the satisfaction level among customers, two approaches can be applied, and these are calculating the business sales and conducting simple randomly sampled questionnaire. The business performance is an indication of whether the customers are satisfied with the products offered or they desire to get a better quality thereby moving to other providers. Thus, when a business begins to make losses while it did make profits in the past, the signal is that the customers are not satisfied and are moving to other providers. On the other hand, if the business is making more profits, the customers are satisfied with the products and services are satisfied in this market.
Secondly, a randomly sampled questionnaire designed to obtain customers comments can be used to obtain information on a customer’s opinions. Through the questionnaire, the enterprise can obtain the client’s view and determine whether the clients are satisfied or not.
Question 4: Product Concept, Selling Concept, and Societal Marketing Concept
Production Concept
The production concept view postulates that consumers are interested in the availability of the product and that the products be at low prices. Thus, a computer hardware producer will invest in cheap production to meet the demands and still make a profit. Thus, marketing in such a strategy is less expensive since the availability of the products at affordable prices is itself an effective marketing strategy.
Product Concept
The product concept holds that the consumers are more interested in superior products. Thus, the producer will invest in advanced technologies and modify them with time thereby improving their quality. The limitations of this mindset are that the producer can be deceived to believe that by making complex technologies consumers will automatically love the product and come straight away to purchase. Marketing in such an environment is complex and expensive given the level of competition regarding producing the best technology.
Selling Concept
The selling concept holds that consumers cannot simply come to the company and purchase its products without a well-orchestrated marketing strategy. Therefore, the business conducts a series of promotions to sell the product to the customers to attract them into buying the product. In addition, the strategy holds that customers can only purchase if they are coerced to do so. Thus, even without considering the needs of the market, the business produces its products and compels the consumers to buy.
Societal Marketing Concept
The societal marketing concept is entirely different from the previously mentioned concepts in that it requires the business to collect the intended consumers’ desire and then use the views to design a product that is consumer oriented. Furthermore, the concept holds that the society’s need must also be met even as the consumer needs are met. As one progress down the list, the marketing strategies shifts from the business interests to those of the customers and the society as well.
Question 5: Portfolio Analysis
The market share for each product is as follows:
Cellphone: 10% market share, Market Growing
Tablet: 75% market share, Market Growing
Laptop: 80% market share, Market Saturated
DVD players: 8% market share, Market Saturated
- Classification of the Subunits
| Current Product | New Product | |
| Current Market | Laptop | DVD Players |
| New Market | Tablet | Cell phone |
The subunits are classified based on the level of the market and the relative market share. In this case, the two market levels, which are the growing market level and the saturated market level. Growing markets can also be identified as high markets while saturated markets can be identified as low markets. The relative markets shares are the percentages such as 10%, 75%, 80%, and 8%. From this principle, the tablet will occupy the priority with the highest market share of 75 % in a market that is growing followed by cellophane with a relative market share of 10% in a market that is growing. The laptop will then follow this with a relative market share of 80% in a stagnant market. Lastly, a player with a relative market share of 8% in a saturated market follows.
- SBU Worthy of Investment
Tablet is the most convenient investment in this case given its large market share within a market that is growing
- How to Increase Sales in the Future
Markets transform the taste and urgency of the consumer changes. Therefore, to increase sales in the future, the consumer needs must be consulted to ensure that innovations and renovations are conducted periodically to meet consumer needs. Moreover, the company should conduct more advertisements to market the products effectively. Finally, investments in the ideal project should be boosted by capital from the investments in the cell phone, laptop, and DVD player.