Research Korner: Sample Marketing Essays

Integrated Marketing Communication Essay

Integrated Marketing Communication   Introduction In business marketing, communication or commonly known today as integrated communication is any modern business which has become a competitive activity where thinkers and speakers attempt to put more effort to make business successful and to gain advantage over other forces that contend the customer’s needs and attention. The concept of communication is more concerned in the studies of business and in the implementation of business strategies, industry analysis and marketing tactics (Sheehan & Doherty, 2001). On the other hand, business communication can provide a familiar and dominating way of understanding business core activities but are not used in the main stream of business studies that are essential to it successful practice because modern business communication is a significant tool that offers a competitive as well as a conceptually useful way of thinking about its activities. Business communication can be described as an effort made by two or more groups of people who are acting independently to secure the business of third party by offering the most favorable terms to achieve the organizational objectives (Moore & Thorson, 1996). By implementing integrated communication more effectively, any firm may gain advantage by offering its product or service that is cost effective as compared to other products or service in the market. So the writers or speakers in any business organization may gain competitive advantage over its competitors by using effective business communication techniques as if they are differentiated from their competitors by offering their target market something unique and different that is of more value. So the business communication is more related to the concept of rhetoric which is treated as a discipline that concentrates on effective communication in oral, written and print media that places the audience at the center of communication activity.   With the advent of information technology, different types of communication evolve and this includes the Business to business marketing communication.  Primarily, the main goal of this paper is to analyse the role of personal selling to business to business marketing communication. In order to determine how personal selling works for Business to business marketing communication, the discussion will include the context of business to business marketing communication.   Business to business marketing communication It has been noted that every industry must be able to consider a strategic marketing approach in order to ensure that they are positioned in the market environment (Moschis, 1994). One of the major elements of marketing is the promotion strategy through the use of effective and integrated marketing communications. This is essential since it enables the industry to effectively communicate with their target market mentioned above. Business to business marketing communication through Integrated Marketing Communication is the strategic coordination of all messages and media used by an organization to collectively influence its perceived product value (Keegan, Moriarity & Duncan, 1992).  Furthermore, IMC is also referred to as a cross-function process for establishing and sustaining relationships with stakeholders by controlling or managing strategically all the messages sent to them and by purposely encouraging two-way dialogues with them. In addition, IMC is a concept which aims to manage customer relationships that drive product value and generate desired outcomes (Clow & Baack 2004).   Role of Personal Selling The promotional strategy   is the term generally preferred to promotional activities and functions to market a certain product or services. Promotional strategy is a vital contributor to satisfy the needs of the target market. As such, it is important that tourism management have an understanding of the aspects which are involved in the development of strategies which will enable industries to communicate with their target market (Shimp, 2003), their channel participants as well as their other stakeholders, like those relationships may be developed over the long term. Every company is inevitably cast into the role of the promotional managers. For most industries, the question is not whether to communicate but rather what to say, to whom, and how often the communication or promotional strategy should be conducted. It has been noted that promotional activities is like a coin which has two sides. The first side of the promotional activities is concerned with efficiently and effectively giving information and details about the company and the products or services to a chose market segments. The second face of promotional activities and operations is the inquiry. This side of the promotional activity task gives emphasis with learning from other people regarding the values and interests, and eventually relating this to the interests of the personnel working in the organisation. Such process should logically precede the promotion of a specific standpoint in terms of product desirability and relevant consumer satisfaction (Fill, 2002). To promote an industry the management should be able to use integrated marketing communication and collaborate it with the concept of Business to business marketing communication. In promotional strategy, there are various concepts to consider and one of these is personal selling level. Accordingly, personal selling level gives emphasis on overcoming alternate options challenging different customers every day. The purpose of the personal seller is to close orders and establish customer satisfaction and loyalty. Sales are an important part of any commercial transaction. The most common approach to personal selling pertains to a systematic process of continuous yet measurable methods in which the person selling describes his offered products or services in such a way that the buyer will be able to visualize how to benefit from the offered products or services in an economic way. Selling is basically a part of the implementation procedures of marketing.  It often forms a particular grouping within a corporate structure, employing independent specialist operatives known as salesmen (Berger, Demsetz & Strahan 1999). The continued interrogation in order to understand a consumer’s goal as well as the establishment of a set of feasible solutions by conveying the necessary information that convinces a buyer to achieve his goal at a reasonable cost is the main responsibility of the sales person. On the other hand, the main objective of professional sales is to be able to know the needs and satisfy the wants of consumers effectively, and therefore convert possible customers into actual and reliable ones. Some of the distinct advantages of personal selling include the immediate access to feedback, the persuasive nature of the endeavor, the option of choosing a target audience for the sales person, and its capability to give detailed information. For some scholars, personal selling is a one to one communication with potential customers of a specific product or services with the intention of making a sale.  In Business to business marketing communication, the concept of personal selling is considered essential. Through the aspect of personal selling, it enables the marketers that the entire campaign element has been integrated in order to achieve the desirable marketing communication objectives. Consumer does not separate or divide advertising, sales promotion, sponsorship and internet as marketing communications techniques. They tend to receive the messages from various sources and buildup either favourable or unfavorable images a certain products or services.  As far as they are concerned, the source of the message is unimportant. What they will be concerned with is the content of the message and to what degree the product promise is actually delivered (Fill & Yeshin, 2001). Basically, all campaign activities lead down to marketing communication. And the key to effective communication is to understand how consumers process the vast amount of information that comes their way each and every day (Fill, 2002). To cope, the marketer must select only the information that manager perceive to be important and ignore the rest. If the marketing message is to be selected and processed, it must consist of sensory and life experiences that can easily be identified and transformed into a unified concept, have mental relationships to other categorized ideas, and fit into the categories and mental linkages that people have already created for themselves. Communication only occurs when the consumer accepts, transforms, and categorizes the message. The role of personal selling in promotion and business to business marketing communicating includes the following aspects stated by Kotler (2004).  This includes the role of prospecting which means recruiting or selecting new customers. The second role of personal selling is to communicate with loyal and potential clients about the range of the products or services offered by the company. The next is about selling role which can be done through direct contact with the clients, answering questions and trying to close the sale and servicing which provides support and service to the clients in the period of selling up to delivery and also post-sale.  Another important role is information gathering, in which the seller attempts to gather pertinent information about the market to feedback into the marketing planning approach. The next one is allocating which is very essential in times of product shortage. Herein, the sales force can make the decision to decide how available stocks should be allocated. Personal selling can help Business to business marketing communication to achieve integrated communication approach. Through this, the management will be sure of having strategic coordination of multiple communication voices within the industry. The objective of the integration is to optimize the effect of persuasive communication on both the non-consumer and consumer including trade and professional audiences by coordinating the elements of the marketing mix which include the context of personal selling direct marketing (Moore & Thorson 1996). In addition, personal selling is also important because it enables Business to business marketing communication to be and effective approach for coordinating all messages and media utilised by a company to collectively affect the company’s competitive position (Keegan, Moriarity & Duncan, 1992).  In addition, personal selling can also have cross-function approach for generating and sustaining good relationships with clients by controlling or managing strategically all the information sent to them and by purposely encouraging two-way dialogues with target market. Business to business marketing communication through personal selling can be considered to have an effect the performance of the company and to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the Business to business marketing communication. Accordingly, its concept that aims on managing customer relationship has the ability to drive product value for the company and generate desire results (Clow & Baack 2004). Through the integration of Business to business marketing communication and personal selling, products are strategically promoted through the use of various promotional elements as well as marketing process to communicate the message of the company and the product to the specified target market (Moore and Thorson, 1996). It has been noted that personal selling is aiming on using direct communication so as to bring behavioural changes among consumers who will purchase a specific product (Shimp, 2000). Personal selling along with Business to business marketing communication also relates the message to the client which brings behavioral changes that helps the product and the entire company to establish a strong and tight relation with the target market. Furthermore, the context of integrated marketing communication stresses on the significance of coordination and synergy so as to develop and maintain a strong product image. By using various communication instruments through the integration concept of marketing communications, industries have the ability to use effective methods to strengthen their products with their target market and promote stronger product names to their targets (Kotler, 2004). Personal selling can also be considered to have an important role in Business to business marketing communication by giving the communication approach the chance to sustain their competitive advantage among clients by identifying the most useful and appropriate methods in communicating and establishing good customer relations.  The main objective of the communicating product image is to instill a stable and consistent impression among their clients (Fill, 2002).             In addition, personal selling also plays a critical role for Business to business marketing communication in a way that it gives the opportunity for the product to sustain its marketability. The application of integrated marketing tools can enable the sellers or marketers to communicate with the other target segment. For instance because of the increasing popularity of the world wide web, each company that invests in having their own website will have the chance to reach consumers locally and internationally. This means that the reach of the product are also extended and expanded in the global market, through the use of integration of personal selling approach and Business to business marketing communication. With this, products of different company will be able to emerge quickly in the marketplace since the tools and approaches of integrated Business to business marketing communication will act as shop window for many businesses today. In addition, through personally selling integrated with it, this will also permit the clients to easily know important information about a specific product and to know the different features a specific product. In addition, the personal selling and Business to business marketing communication is also important in impacting the product since this will served as a marketing communicating approach for effectively promoting the products, which will aim to result in a more sales from other distribution channels.   The rationale for choosing this marketing channel is that Integrated marketing communication can help products to meet target consumers worldwide and this could be a great opportunity to be developed and in order for product to be quickly recognized by the target market. In this regard, the overall campaign element of the product must be integrated so as to attain the desirable marketing communication objectives. It is said that the target market do not separate or divide sponsorship, advertising, sales promotion, and internet as marketing communications approaches. The clients tend to receive the messages about specific product from various sources and set up either favourable or unfavorable image of the product. As far as the company is concerned, the source of the product information is not that important. What is more essential with is the content of the information conveyed and to what degree the product promise has been actually delivered to the target market (Fill & Yeshin, 2001). It can be said that all campaign activities lead down to marketing communication and the vital efficient communication is to comprehend how the clients process the vast amount of information that comes their way each and every day and how it helps the product to reach their target audience (Fill, 2002). In order to sustain the competitive advantage of the specific product, the market must be able to select only the important message that the management perceive to be important in enhancing the product value and ignore the rest. If the marketing information is to be selected and process, the management must ensure that it include sensory and life experiences which can easily be determined and change into a unified context, have mental relationships to other categorized product ideas, and fit into the categories and mental linkages that consumers have already created for themselves. Business to business marketing communication must address and communicate various, targeted messages to each and every marketers.   Conclusion The context of marketing communication is said to be useful in terms of comprehending and analyzing the competitive position of an organisation. The approach used by the company in communicating with their target market remains an important part of integrated marketing communication which is used with the combination of Business to business marketing communication and personal selling as it is mostly recognised by their clients.  It can be said that the heavy consideration on integrating these two important elements in marketing communication can create the impression that the product or services can be promoted through the use of integrated marketing communication.  Much has been said about the importance of having a strong and effective marketing communication. Based on this analysis, it can be said that a strong and effective marketing approach is something that can influence the choice of the target market and meets the personality provided.  It can be said that each organisation must have an image which addresses the dimensions and characteristics of strong company. In order to achieve this, the company must be able to manage the product efficiently.             It can be concluded that integrated marketing communication affect the company’s competitive position by enabling the target market to know more about the products. And eventually contribute to increasing sales; notably, integrated marketing communication can help in new institutional development and launches of the product.        In addition, the study shows that a strong and effective product has the ability to produce audiences in a multi-channel environment that enables the company to be known in the global market. Second, strong and effective products can be an outcome of an effective integrated marketing communication approach.  Analysis shows that due to the existence of modern technologies, companies are able to integrate different promotional strategies to enhance the competitive position of their business. Different industries have decided to set aside traditional approaches and have come to accept the innovative perspectives in promoting their products and services to their target market. Herein, marketing concepts has exceeded from the connotation of being an expense to being a part of the industry’s essential investment; from being product-focused to becoming customer oriented.  The context of both marketing and advertising can be considered as investment because of the potential profit that may emerge upon implementation of such strategies.  Furthermore, instead of emphasizing product attributes, many firms have realized that it is the customer is more important to be given attention for every marketing strategy since the customer are the recipient and the ultimate assessor of the products and services the company provides.  In order to do so, many marketers are able to consider the use of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC).  By and large, it can be said that the new communication model of integrating personal selling can help different industries to significantly improve Business to business marketing communication and help Business to business companies meet their short-term and long-term business objectives and establish stronger relationships with all of their customers. It can be noted that personal selling and Business to business marketing communication integration can enable the company know the needs of the company and meet and satisfy these needs. Reference Berger, A.N., R.S. Demsetz and P.E. Strahan (1999), ‘The consolidation of the financial services industry: causes, consequences, and implications for the future’, Journal of Banking and Finance, 23, 135-194.   Clow & Baack (2007) integrated advertising, promotion and marketing communications 3rd edition. Pearson Prentice Hall.   Fill, C and Yeshin T 2001, The Official CIM Course book: Integrated Marketing Communications, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.   Fill C (2002) Integrated marketing communication. Oxford butterworth heineman   Keegan, W., Moriarty, S. & Duncan, T. 1992. Marketing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall   Kotler et al (2004). Principle of marketing, the European edition.   Kotler, P 2001 Marketing Management. Northwestern University: Prentice Hall International, Inc.   Moore, J & Thorson, E 1996, Integrated Communication: Synergy of Persuasive, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.   Shimp, TA 2000, Advertising Promotion: Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 5th edn, The Dryden Press, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX.   Shimp, TA 2003 Advertising, Promotion, & Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communication. Sixth Edition. Southwestern: Thompson

Integrated Marketing Communication Essay

Integrated Marketing Communication Introduction In business marketing, communication or commonly known today as integrated commun...

Managing Markets: Case of KFC

MANAGING MARKETS   Marketing mix modeling is a term of art for the use of statistical analysis such as multivariate regressions on sales and marketing time series data to estimate the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of future sets of tactics.(1) Various companies have been using MMM or marketing mix modeling as part of their “secret formula” and most of them have been succeeding and their businesses are expanding. But one of the most notable among these companies is KFC, a leading food chain globally.  What kind of good strategies that we observe in the KFC that we don’t usually see in the other food markets?  First and foremost is, the way the marketing mix modeling is being implemented in all their branches and outlets.  Second is, the optimizing of budget by allocating spends to those activities which give the highest return on investment.  If we look closely on the first aspect, strategists have been gaining competitive advantage for KFC due to the fact that almost all corners of the world have this company which specializes in serving tasty and crunchy chicken, spaghettis and many more.  Of course, logic would tells us that if KFC is not well-received in one place, automatically its aura and salability to other places would be put into jeopardy.  But this would not be true to a company such as KFC, where the theory on how to be more competitive and uplift more its service to the people are at the forefront.  However, all these means of implementing marketing mix theory would be in vain if the strategist or marketing managers cannot and don’t know how to implement them prudently and wisely.  The time-frame and venues are of vital parts in considering the effectiveness of every business.  In the early 80’s a certain appliance  company was at the peak of its popularity and almost all people would patronize its name and bought their appliances no matter how costly they are as long as they carry with them the brands name.  Yet, and perhaps due to the marketing managers and strategists’ inability to foresee the future and the consideration of the place, the once famous company went into bankruptcy and suddenly disappeared like bubbles in the air.  Talking about venues and time-frame as great tools in safeguarding the salability and consistency of the market, KFC (most specific example is the Philippines), I should say, has been gaining advantage over the other food chain companies.  And why is this so?  Firstly, the strategists know full well that the Filipinos are grossly in love with eating fried chicken and other pastas as well.  The strategists here considered two salient points: venues and time-frame.  Venue because, Filipinos are fried-chicken loving country.  And this “addiction” cannot be separated from them.  Time frame because, eating fried chicken is something that endures for lifetime.  The second aspect hinges on these: forecast sales, simulating various scenarios, identifying the most and least efficient marketing activities, mix promotional tactics (2), have also contributed to the effectiveness of putting into practice  the theory of marketing mix.  The effectiveness of each of the marketing elements is defined in terms of its contribution to sales-volume, effectiveness, efficiency ROI (return on investment).  These insights are then utilized and acquired to adjust marketing tactics and strategies.  To optimize the marketing plan and also to visualize sales while simulating various scenarios is not just useful for reporting the established and experienced effectiveness of the activity, it also helps in visualizing the budget by identifying the most and least efficient marketing activities.  In this way, the marketing manager can reallocate this marketing budget in different proportions and see the direct impact on sales value.  At this point, the strategists or marketing managers can optimize the budget by allocating expenditure to those activities which give the highest return on investment.  In forecasting sales, the strategists employ the psychology of optimism.  Pessimistic attitude has no room in business because it does not only lowers the moral of the workforce, but it also puts the company into a false sense of security.  Being optimistic, marketing managers forecast sales so as to add more to the efficiency and contribution on sales-volume.  In identifying the least and most efficient marketing activities, the strategists can address effectively the problem.  The least efficient marketing activities can be done by checking the personnel and supervisor whether they are really doing their assigned tasks.  Secondly, by monitoring and consistently upgrading the more efficient ones, the marketing managers are doing a check and balance work which is important in raising the level of quality of the market.                The ultimate objectives of all the employed tactics and techniques in the market world revolve around the sales volume, effectiveness of the strategy , efficiency on return on investment.  And the best of these of course is, return on investment (and of course—the interest and how much you gain from your business). Footnotes: 1. Marketing mix modeling—WikiPedia                    2. Return on Investment--WikiPedia

Managing Markets: Case of KFC

MANAGING MARKETS Marketing mix modeling is a term of art for the use of statistical analysis such as multivariate regressions on s...

Discuss and critically assess the assertion that the role of marketing, via-a-vis strategic planning, has diminished as a general management orientation, and that marketing has taken on a very functional, narrow specialist role, rather than the conceptual

Discuss and critically assess the assertion that the role of marketing, via-a-vis strategic planning, has diminished as a general management orientation, and that marketing has taken on a very functional, narrow specialist role, rather than the conceptual philosophy predicted by marketers?     Introduction             Perspectives emerged during the 1990s over the declining role of marketing in business strategy. This came about because of the major changes happening in business operations and in the management of various marketing activities. Due to these changes, views of the death of marketing as a business concept also emerged in the mid-1990s. Concurrently, strategic planning emerged in importance seemingly taking the place of marketing as a conceptual philosophy. However, marketing remains an important concept in modern business contexts but with the recognition of its flaws that resulted to its demise. One flaw is the divergent opinions over the conceptualisation of marketing that in turn increased the difficulty of evaluating marketing performance and supporting resource allocation for marketing activities, especially when the focus is only the short-term when marketing problems require long-term solutions. Another flaw is the dispersion of marketing into widespread tasks and responsibilities performed at the frontline level with the effect of diminishing its role in strategy. Nevertheless, despite these flaws, marketing also retained importance in the corporate strategy of some business firms, especially in strategic decision-making. As such, the role of marketing has become ambiguous resulting to the need to clarify what marketing has become relative to strategy in the contemporary business setting. The discussion commences with the description of the changing role of marketing followed by the evolving role of strategic planning, then by the points of reconciliation of marketing and strategic planning, before concluding on the clarification of the position of marketing.   Changing Role of Marketing             As a concept, marketing emerged when Drucker (1954) explained marketing as a unique business function and a business perspective from the view of customers so that marketing should apply across various areas of business operations and management decision-making. This description of marketing established the key role of marketing. The concept evolved with Keith (1960) introducing marketing orientation of business firms, Levitt (1960) introduced the term marketing myopia, which meant a two-way focus of marketing, which could be narrow or broad. The narrow focus of marketing finds expression in the early definition by the American Marketing Association of marketing as the process of performing business activities covering the flow of commodities from the producer or supplier to the end consumer (Alexander 1960). Kotler and Levy (1969) built-on the existing understanding of marketing and broadened the scope of marketing going back to the original concept of marketing as encompassing all areas of business. In line with the broad perspective of marketing, new definitions of marketing emerged. According to Pride and Ferrel (1980), marketing consist of the aggregate of activities at the individual and organisational level targeting the facilitation and advancement of exchanges within the influence of changing environmental forces. The definition is broad and context-based. A further improvement of this definition came from Agbonifoh et al. (1998) by explaining marketing at consisting of activities occurring at the individual and organisational level developed to address the needs of consumers and facilitate changes in the business operation to align the common goal of the business organisation and its individual members to serve consumer interests. Another definition is marketing as the process of delivering expectations of standard of living to communities by bridging the space between suppliers and customers. Still another definition of marketing is the identification, anticipation and satisfaction of customer needs in a profitable manner. (Adeyoyin 2004) As such, the broad concept of marketing applies in the contemporary business setting.             Now, the marketing concept revolves around three pillars. One is consumer orientation, which is the original vision for marketing. Another is profit orientation because earning profit is the ultimate objective of business firms so that focusing on meeting consumer demands is the means of earning profit. Last is the anticipation or assumption of changes so that marketing should function alongside the developments in society. (Adeyoyin 2004)             Kotler (1972) first pointed to the issue of applicability of marketing as the issue at the core of the concept of marketing. Adhering to a narrower perspective of marketing means likely applicability but this would be at the cost of limiting the role of marketing. Targeting the broader scope of marketing enables encompassing of various business areas but at the risk of achieving applicability. Even during the development of marketing as a concept, there was already an emerging debate over its role in business strategy since strategic management involves a broader role of marketing but applicability is a challenge. As Hackley (2001) pointed out, marketing has an expansive and broadening scope by encompassing every aspect of commerce and organisational processes but by embracing various aspects of human exchange, the concept of marketing became a universal concept akin to organized human exchange, which is far from its original customer-focused concept.                         Even if the role of marketing persisted despite differences in perspective over its definition, another issue is its helpfulness to business practitioners. Hackley (2001) explained that although there appears to be indifference in the business world over the issue of the concept of marketing, the academic world is set on questioning the significance of marketing to practice. Even so, academic efforts at identifying and measuring the constructs of marketing also failed to clarify the role of marketing in business. The difficulty in identifying and explaining all marketing constructs is the vitality of this field because of the continuous flow of cross-disciplinary feedback.             Although marketing discourse have not resulted to the clarification of the concept of marketing and its role in strategy, this does not imply ignoring previous discourses but that there is need to re-examine or possibly reinvent the rhetoric of marketing to advance understanding and clarify the role of marketing in business strategy. As Piercy (1997) conjectured, marketing as a concept linked to strategy has not died or moving towards this direction and instead it is experiencing a mid-life crisis. Layton (1998) further explained that marketing has matured and thus is experiencing a decline because of a crisis in representation making its current position unrealistic. This implies the need to reconsider the concept of marketing in the contemporary context and rediscover its role in business strategy as well as its application in the daily business affairs given the changing competitive environment.             Marketing constitutes an important business activity because of its direct impact on sales and profit. In large business firms, an entire department even focus on marketing and in smaller firms, marketing finds expression in its product development, pricing, promotional activities, and distribution channels so that even if these do not have a separate department for marketing, the concept of marketing finds application in various areas of operation. While marketing finds expression in various activities, which is the reason for the claims of marketing as comprised of narrow functions, there is understand albeit implicit or tacit, that these activities are impossible to carry out in isolation from the other business areas. As such, even marketing departments need to work with the other departments such as operations, finance, human resource, and research and development (R&D) to collaborate plans since the implementation of marketing activities require linkage with operations particularly the supply chain, with finance for resource allocation and auditing, with human resource for the deployment of labour, and with research and development for products and services serving customer requirements. Concurrently, the other department also require links with the marketing department. Operations determine production processes based on marketing plans. The finance department base its forecasts and reports on trends in sales and performance of the business units. The human resource department develop human development strategies based on the marketing direction of the firm. The research and development department determines its focus or priority depending on marketing direction.             As such, marketing continues to be an important aspect of business despite variances in the understanding of marketing by managers and business firms. There is need to clarify and determine the position of marketing in business strategy given contemporary business settings. The reason for the claims that marketing has a very functional and narrow specialist role instead of a conceptual philosophy, which diminishes its role in business strategy, is its flaws and complex applicability. The continuous consideration of marketing concept by many business firms supports the important role of marketing in modern business firms, albeit this role could be evolving.               In addition, the role of marketing needs consideration relative to business strategy, especially with the evolving role of strategic planning, which overlaps with marketing. Evolving Role of Strategic Planning Strategic planning, a concept with close links but independent from the concept of strategy, also has many definitions based on the perspective of the business organisations applying it. Cook (2000) explained strategic planning as necessarily considered as “the method by which a community continuously creates artifactual systems to serve extraordinary purposes” (p. 111) if this concept were to stick to its original intent or purpose. This definition implies a number of things. First, strategic planning constitutes a method as a means to an end so that its relevance depends on its ability to facilitate the achievement of results. In this sense, both strategic planning and marketing are methods intended to achieve targeted outcomes. Second, strategic planning is operating at the level of the community because its affects permeates different levels of relations. Again, this is similar to the broad scope of marketing encompassing relationships, although marketing commonly referred to the supply and demand relationships and the relationships emerging within the organisation to meet to address shifts in the supply and demand function. Third, strategic planning is continuous because it operates in constant anticipation of changes in the business content. These changes in turn point to the areas requiring adjustments or improvements. This has similarities to the concept of marketing, which also operate flexibly against changes in the business environment requiring changes in the supply and demand function. Fourth, strategic planning is a tool for creation since it allows the business firm to derive new systems in response or a means of preventing emerging situations. Creations are characterised as artifactual since the longevity of systems depend on its persistent utility. Fifth, strategic planning serves an extraordinary purpose because it revolves around the process of discovering the extraordinary capabilities of the business firm. Marketing has a similar transformative aspect because of its consideration of change and context, necessitating improvements and changes.                  Strategic planning is inevitable in organisations because all aspects of business operations involve strategic planning so that even business firms operating without a plan are technically implementing a plan not to engage in the formal process of planning. Moreover, strategic planning reflects the bold statute of business firms because the application of this concept means the recognition of the business firm and it managers that it has to give up some aspects or the entirety of its existing system in exchange for a better extraordinary new system. (Cook 2000)                 To detail the strategic planning as a concept, the process has five aspects.  Bradford, Duncan and Tarcy (2000) explained the need of business firms to develop prowess in strategic planning in the contemporary business context. Engaging in strategic planning involves the activities of clarifying and defining the goals and objectives of the firm, assessing the entirety of internal and external environmental factors and conditions, formulating plans proactive and responsive plans, implementing these plans, and evaluating and adjusting plan implementation whenever redirection becomes necessary. The goal is to development plans capable of actualisation resulting to the achievement of the pre-identified objectives as the intended outcome. The figure below reflects strategic planning as a process.                          Mission and objectives pertain to business goals and objectives, values guiding operation, and perspective of the firm’s future. Since the direction of business firms is towards the development of competitive advantage, the firm’s mission and objectives encompass the means of improving its competitive position and market share. This constitutes a common focus and link with marketing since both concepts are concerned with building competitive advantages requiring focus on the development of core competencies in serving market requirements.              Environmental scanning encompasses the activities of assessing and analysing the internal structures, systems and process within the business firm together with the analysis of the firm’s external environment including the industry, market and broader economic situation. These apply environmental scanning tools such as the internal strengths and weaknesses together with the external opportunities and threats (SWOT) and analysis of the political, economic, social and technological (PEST) situation affecting the business firm. (Bradford, Duncan & Tarcy 2000) Although strategic planning constitutes a more organised system of understanding the business environment to address broader issues, marketing shares the purpose of understanding consumers as a prerequisite to addressing changing demand effectively. This implies that strategic planning has a more encompassing reach but shares similar expected outcomes with marketing.              Strategy formulation refers to the design of the means for the managers to build the internal strengths and external opportunities of the business firm and develop solutions to internal weaknesses and external threats (Bradford, Duncan & Tarcy 2000). Porter (1998) describes three examples of three generic strategies in building competitive advantage, which are cost leadership, differentiation, and niche marketing. These strategies optimise particular strengths or take advantage of available opportunities and/or address weaknesses and allay the potential impact of threats to the business firm. This has ties with marketing since the selection of a particular strategy depends on marketing conditions, such as the extent of market saturation. Again, this points to the greater organisation of strategic planning as a process relative to application of marketing. However, the link between strategic planning and marketing contributes to the improvement of the flaws of marketing.              Strategy implementation pertains to the shift and integration of competencies and resources in the process of actualising the developed strategies by means of budgets, standards and systems as application tools. During this phase, communication of the strategic plan and the selected tools to the different departments or throughout the levels of the organisational structure is crucial. Communication is necessary to develop coordination for consistency and accurate outcomes. (Bradford, Duncan & Tarcy 2000) The same is true for marketing because of the realisation that the completion of marketing activities happens only through coordination, making communication a key tool.                 The last phase involving evaluation and control covers five steps: which are 1) definition of parameters for measurement; 2) definition of target values coinciding with these parameters; 3) performance of measurements or evaluations; 4) comparison of results relative to the pre-defined parameters; and 5) implementation of any necessary readjustments. (Bradford, Duncan & Tarcy 2000) Marketing also involves indicators and measures such as in the determination of price measured through the extent that this reflects all costs involved in the production of commodities plus a mark-up for profit.       Reconciling the Relative Roles of Marketing and Strategic Planning             Strategic planning provides a tool addressing the flaws of marketing and marketing supports the process of strategic planning (Pheng 1998). This means that marketing has not waned in importance in relation to business strategy, it just took on a different direction because of its alignment with strategic planning. This alignment allows marketing to operate as a broad conceptual philosophy but at the same time experience applicability.             On one hand, prior to the implementation of marketing activities, it is important to determine the mission of the business in order to determine the level of competency of the business and its ability to address the changing market demand. The identified performance or outcome objectives pertain to the particular marketing activities. These are strategic planning considerations linked to marketing activities. (Pheng 1998) An example is the case of shopping malls providing venues for retail trade. Shopping malls likely target to gain lease contracts with a variety of retailers as well as draw patronage from the market as marketing activities reflecting the mission of becoming the on-stop shopping venue in the community. Specific objectives would be to achieve full occupancy and comprehensive retailers providing all kinds of products and services that they could possibly need and developing a positive reputation with the community to ensure continuous visits to the shopping mall. Apart from this, management would also consider its operations relative to its closest competitors. This example shows that marketing as a broad concept and operating singly would not achieve an effectively level of applicability without alignment with strategic planning. This means that addressing the flaws of marketing to re-establish its importance as a conceptual philosophy that is at the same time applicable in actual business settings is through integration with strategic planning.             On the other hand, strategic planning serves to provide a blueprint for various contexts such as marketing. While strategic planning is a broader concept, it achieves purpose by operating in different business contexts including the performance of marketing activities such as successfully launching a product, developing a new market or niche, expanding venues of distribution, and communicating value offering of new products and services or brands to the consuming public. (Pheng 1998) In the example of the shopping mall, strategic planning would apply to the problem of slow revenue generation, which would involve linkage with marketing when the problem is due to the low customer traffic. The problem is the failure to link marketing activities with customer demand, which is a niche of marketing but addressed through strategic planning.   Conclusion             The importance of marketing has not waned in relation of strategic planning and business strategy. In just evolved into an integrative concept to support a broad perspective but ensuring applicability in the actual business setting. In fact, the term strategic marketing planning, evolved to represent this integration, encompasses the management processes and operations needed in creating and sustaining effective marketing activities. Specific activities include evaluating opportunities and developing a positioning strategy.   References   Adeyoyin, S.O. (2005), “Strategic planning for marketing library services”, Library Management Vol. 26, No. 8/9, pp. 494-507.   Agbonifoh, B.A. et al. (1998), Marketing in Nigeria: Concepts, Principles and Decisions, Afritowers, Aba.   Alexander, R.S. (1960), Committee on Marketing Definitions: A Glossary of Marketing Terms, AMA, Chicago, IL.   Bradford, R.W., Duncan, P.J. & Tarcy, B. (2000), Simplified Strategic Planning: A No nonsense Guide for Busy People who want Results Fast!, Chandler House Press, Worcester, MA.   Cook, W.J. (2000), Strategics: The Art and Science of Holistic Strategy, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.   Drucker, P.F. (1954), The Practice of Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.   Hackley, C. (2001), Marketing and Social Construction: Exploring the Rhetorics of Managed Consumption, Routledge, London.   Keith, R.J. (1960), “The marketing revolution”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 24, January, pp. 35-8.   Kotler, P. (1972), “A generic concept of marketing”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36, April, pp. 46-54.   Kotler, P. & Levy, S.J. (1969), “A new form of marketing myopia: rejoinder to Professor Luck”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 July, pp. 55-7.   Layton, R.A. (1998), “Marketing in the future: back to basics?”, Australasian Marketing Journal, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 30-4.   Levitt, T. (1960), “Marketing myopia”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 38, July-August, pp. 45-56.   Pheng, L.S. (1998) “Applying the Thirty-six Chinese Classical Strategies of War to retail marketing and planning”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 124–135.   Piercy, N. (2002), Market-Led Strategic Change, 3rd edn, Butterworth Heinemann, London.   Pride, W.M. & Ferrel, O.C. (1980), Marketing: Basic Concepts and Decisions, 2nd ed., Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, MA.   Porter, M.E. (1998b), Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance, Free Press, New York.

Discuss and critically assess the assertion that the role of marketing, via-a-vis strategic planning, has diminished as a general management orientation, and that marketing has taken on a very functional, narrow specialist role, rather than the conceptual

Discuss and critically assess the assertion that the role of marketing, via-a-vis strategic planning, has diminished as a general managem...

Marketing Plan of Starbucks Coffee Company

Marketing Plan of Starbucks To begin with, Starbucks Coffee Company has started its operation in North America; and since then, it is considered the leading roaster and retailer of finest coffee in the world market.  Starbucks has 931 retail branches; as well as 75 airport coffee stores across different countries. Relatively, the company’s main goal is to establish the coffee company with high standard   brand of coffee in the international market.  And, in order to achieve this objective Starbucks   has been continually   expand its retail operations, and its fastest delivery services; as well as its   specialty sales operations world wide.    In addition to that, the introduction of new products and the continuous development of new distribution channels have largely contributed to worldwide success of the company. In order for a company to   reach its peak of success; it must have a proper implementation and execution of a strategic marketing plan.  A proper positioning and identification of a target market are two of the important factors in promoting its products and services to the consumers effectively and efficiently.   In this connection, Starbucks has been able to   carry out its commercial success all over the years now through its marketing and targeting strategies; as well as through its competitive   environment.  At the same time,    the company has been able to transform its consumer experienced products and services into highly profitable business in the world.  (http://blogs.indews.com/business/starbucks_marketing_strategy.php) Furthermore, Starbucks always considers its wide range of employees as one of the most important assets of the company.  The company and its management believe that what ever the success of their business, it must be equally shared to the people behind it; and they are their employees who have been working dedicatedly for the company to succeed.    In view thereof, the company gives its all employees health care benefits package; as well as above minimum starting salary worldwide.   As much as Starbucks’ strong commitment to its employees’ well being, the company is even committed to its environment condition.  The company has been doing its best to be a big part of the environment-friendly communities which have serious concern to the safe product usage.  The company and its management always consider that the welfare of the people, factories, plants and products are linked relatively.  This is the reason that Starbucks   recognized worldwide as one of the coffee store in the globe that has   significant contributions to local charities   that support on children, the environment, the homeless as well as the AIDS victims. Financially speaking, Starbucks has been one of the solid companies in the world that has highest solid earnings and return of investments.   The company has been managing to continue healthy and competitive operations that expand its empire overseas.  In fact, Japan was the first Starbucks expansion outside of North America. And, eventually, it has still more plans to   open coffee stores and joint ventures in other countries.    (http://blogs.indews.com/business/starbucks_marketing_strategy.php) Aside from that,  Starbucks has been  significantly  competitive in the world market because of its  mission, vision and goals that provide high value  products to its customers;  and above anything else, when someone hears about Starbucks,  it only means  high quality gourmet coffee business.   One more important thing about the company, it has the unique differentiator strategy, which means that the company has individualized each outlet based on   its location and environment.  The company always thinks of the additional products that would suit to the culture of the environment of the consumers.  In the same manner the company focuses more on the increase of its profitability and return of investment compared to its contemporaries.  The company’s main objective is to strengthen its recognition world as the leading provider of premium beverages in the world.  And, another corporate strategy that the company has is the   acquisition that allows the company to purchase other competitors industry that will give Starbucks a great chance to increase its profits and gain market share.  Like what it did to Carbou Coffee Company Inc.; by acquiring Caribou, Starbucks can merge administrative and organizational costs into one.  In the same fashion, Starbucks has the ability to repositioning newly acquired   coffee business into   low-priced market scheme strategy; lowered than Starbucks.   In other words, the new company acquired has the potential to   gain higher revenues that can be generated and directed towards Starbucks being its parent company.  This is the reason that Starbucks has remained focused on   providing superior customer service products and services   with world class quality among its competitors in the world market.  Besides, Starbucks   has its unique competitive advantage over its competitors that allows the company to charge a premium for its world-class products and services.  (http://blogs.indews.com/marketing/Starbucks_Marketing-Strategy.pdf) References: (http://blogs.indews.com/business/starbucks_marketing_strategy.php) (http://blogs.indews.com/marketing/Starbucks_Marketing-Strategy.pdf)

Marketing Plan of Starbucks Coffee Company

Marketing Plan of Starbucks To begin with, Starbucks Coffee Company has started its operation in North America; and since then, it ...

Topic: Strategic Marketing

Topic: Strategic Marketing In any business, strategic marketing plays a vital role in increasing the possibility of success.  This can be a tough job for any company that really requires an excellent business strategy of putting marketing efforts to promote the company’s products and services to various clients.  And, incorporated in this marketing plan are the vision and   mission and goals of the company.   The real intention must be a clear idea to the target market.  In this manner, you would be able to promote your business and attract customers effectively.  (www.ehow.com) It is very important in developing a marketing plan to have a situational analysis in the business environment.  You need to observe the entire industry through getting track of the new trends that might be applicable to your own business.   Keeping an eye at your competitors make you update of what they do offer to clients in the industry.  For sure, you would not want to be left behind when it comes to business strategy. In this stage, you get the chance to know more about the flow of the competitors’ business and the possible threats that you probably encounter.  The most important thing is you will get to know numerous business opportunities that will help in boosting your own company.  A target plan is very essential in any business.  In this stage, you are planning and conceptualizing the exact business goals that you would like to come up with.  This must include the dynamics that may lead to the success of the company. Your goals can be designed to focus on how to increase company sales, to increase the awareness among the clients about a product or service through launching or relaunching it and to keep your loyal customers with you through giving them incentive programs. After creating your marketing plan, it’s time for you to implement them into action.  In this stage, you are doing the marketing tactics primarily to create a message to the clients or possible clients. Now, you have to use your financial resources to implement your marketing plans. A well prepared marketing budget and an organized group of people is what you need in order to accomplish your marketing tactics.  This is a very vital stage in the strategic marketing because this is the time that you are building and increasing brand awareness among the clients. A well focused marketing tactics that aligned with your strategic company vision and goals will surely boost profits and growth of your business. In making marketing tactics, there are important points to remember in order to come up with a successful marketing and communication plan.  It should support the goals of the business, and it may appear clearly in the promotional campaign.  For instance, the company plans to increase the awareness of potential customers for their new launched shampoo for women.   The price and promotional campaign efforts may focus on building interest among the possible clients (women) for their new launched product.   Since the company’s new product is shampoo for women; naturally, their target clients are women who may buy and use the shampoo after seeing the   shampoo commercial on television or any poster on bulletin boards. It is much delight to the women if they would know that there is a launching of the product in certain department or grocery stores that giving free new shampoo to the customers.   Another thing is; if one of your promotional tactics is to attract more clients from different places of the world into your business website, you can promote your web address through putting it in your print advertisements and business cards. (www.ehow.com) Based on the business research made, marketing and media campaign plan such as TV advertisements, print ads of any product and promotional campaign are very effective marketing strategies for any business to get the attention of prospective customers on the new product or service, and to increase their awareness to buy the certain product or service.  The same thing goes to revive the awareness of the clients about the existing product or service.    (www.ehow.com) The last but not the least, is the checking and balancing your business.  Every year, a company should have a complete evaluation or assessment on the entire marketing plans it made to promote the business.  Most importantly, to check the overhead expenses for the whole year and the profits that earned as well.  In this stage, you will surely determine if the marketing plan and the marketing strategies you made are gaining popularity and favorable or poor result.  (www.ehow.com) References: http://www.ehow.com/strategic-marketing/html, April 03, 2011   http://www.ehow.com/ _things-expect-strategic-marketing-plan/html, April 03, 2011

Topic: Strategic Marketing

Topic: Strategic Marketing In any business, strategic marketing plays a vital role in increasing the possibility of success. Thi...

DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CANCER HOSPITAL

DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CANCER HOSPITAL             Entry into the international market is highly risky with a great deal of uncertainty because of the wider market heterogeneity and complexity. To manage the risk and reduce the uncertainty and gain competitive advantage in an international market a knowledge and understanding of the international market is imperative. The same marketing strategy of the marketing mix” the 4Ps: product (quality, functionality, accessories and service), price (flexibility, discounting, promotion, seasonal pricing), placement (distribution and market coverage among others) and promotion (advertising, sales promotions, public relations) will be used but new parameters and new methodologies will also be considered such as an analysis of the environmental influences, market assessment screening process, and market segmentation. Environmental Influences             A great consideration on the identification of the environmental influences is important, suggest Doole and Lowe (2008). The environmental influences refer to the social-cultural, economic, legal, political and technological environment that surrounds and impacts on the market. The socio-cultural environment includes language, religion, aesthetics, values, social organization and material culture. The economic environment includes the economic policies of the country, regional trade integration, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, gross national income (GNI) and purchasing power parity (PPP) which differ depending on the economic development of the country. Developed economies, emerging economies and less developed economies have disparities in their GDP per capita, GNI per capital and PPP. Exchange rates and currency movements are also important. Legal environment refers to tax incentives or non-incentives and regulations and laws of host countries. Closely related to the legal environment is the host country’s government attitude to multinational corporations, so that careful consideration is given on political regimes that are unstable. There are certain political actions of the government that pose as political risk to international businesses, these are operational restrictions (employment and ownership issues and product requirements), discriminatory restrictions and physical actions (forced takeover, expropriation and nationalization). Technological environment refers to the technological development specifically the internet which brings international business closer to its host country.  (Doole and Lowe, 2008) Market Assessment Screening Process                        A market assessment screening process may also be conducted. The first screening involves the analysis of market potential and identification of the needs and understanding of the behavior of customers. The second screening considers the economic environmental factors identified above on all markets including those that are perceived as unfavorable. This includes interest rates, fiscal and monetary policy, and inflation. The third screening considers the legal environmental factors to make sure that the host country has laws that will protect the company’s patents and copyrights and other intellectual property rights. The fourth screening identifies the socio-cultural factors. The fifth screening analyzes the competitive environment in the favorable host countries. The cutting edge competitive advantage and the philosophy of the company determine the choice of host country. After the fifth screening a final selection is conducted by sending executives to the host country and the actual location of the plant for practical evaluation. This will determine the type of service to be offered overseas. (Gemini Geek, n.d.) Market Segmentation             Market segmentation is necessary especially if the target customer is diverse. Market segmentation is used for target marketing and not for mass marketing. Market segmentation is evaluated using four criteria. Market segments must have identifiable and measurable attributes that differentiate the segments. They must be accessible through any means of communication and distribution channels, substantially large enough to justify the cost or market segmentation. They must have unique and varying needs. And they must be relatively durable and stable to minimize the expenses of frequent market segmentation studies.  Customers have four major characteristics used in market segmentation. Geographic segmentation differentiated customers by climate and weather patterns, population density, size of population and region. Demographic segmentation categorizes them in terms of age, gender, family size, generation, income, education, occupation, ethnicity, nationality and religion, among others. Psychographic segmentation identifies them according to activities, interests, opinions, attitudes and values. Behavioral segmentation looks at the customers’ brand loyalty, user status, readiness to buy, occasions and benefits sought. A result of a good market segmentation analysis results in an internally homogenous and externally heterogeneous segment members. (Net MBA,n.d.)   REFERENCES: Doole, I., and Lowe, 2008. International Marketing Strategy: Analysis Development and Implementation. [online] Available at:< http://estore.bized.co.uk/freecontent/300081F9.pdf> [Accessed 21 May 2011]. Gemini Geek, n.d. What is International Marketing Strategy. [online] Available at:< http://www.thegeminigeek.com/what-is-international-marketing-strategy/> [Accessed 21 May 2011]. Net MBA, n.d. Market Segmentation. [online] Available at:< http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/segmentation/> [Accessed 21 May 2011]. Net MBA, n.d. Marketing Mix. [online] Available at:< http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/> [Accessed 21 May 2011] Ward, S., n.d. 10 Steps to Successful Exporting. [online] Available at:< http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/canadaexport/a/10exportsteps_3.htm> [Accessed 21 May 2011].

DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CANCER HOSPITAL

DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CANCER HOSPITAL Entry into the international market is highly risky with a ...