The Fundamentals of Marketing

 FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Roles of marketing

1 2. Importance of marketing

1 3. Shortcoming of product oriented business

2 4. Internal factors that affect marketing decision

2 5. External micro environment factor

3 6. External macro environment factor

3 1a. Roles of marketing department in 2 degrees. Marketing department plays an important role in an association. Whether organization is big or small marketing department always plays equal role in all aspects. Here are certain roles played by marketing department in 2 degrees. 1. Marketing department guides and leads other departments of the company. Which helps an organization to work in a particular direction so that the goals are achieved?

2. Marketing department also studies target customers and find the best path to reach them. Studying targeted customers is very important so that the product can reach to desired consumers.

3. Marketing department helps in promotion and pricing of the product. These activities are vital like promoting a product so that it can reach to wider customers, pricing that is setting standard price for the product which is affordable for more consumers.

4. the most important of all is after sale services. Feedback from the customers is a must as this helps in innovation of the product further and knowing how well the consumers is responding to the new product. 1b. Importance of marketing at 2 degrees Marketing has certain elements that are important for an organization. Some of these at 2 degrees are as follows. 1. Marketing leads to Product development. This means developing and creating product in new and different manners and also helps to attract more customers and increases sale of the product. 2. Marketing helps in Innovation of product and its life cycle. Innovation means bringing changes in the product and presenting it in the market which attracts consumers. Innovation is very important in a product as consumers want to experience changes in a product, and to retain customers launching a product in better manner is very important. 1c. Shortcoming of product oriented business Possible shortcoming of a product oriented business is that it fails to provide customer satisfaction. In this case product is always made to maximize profit and pays less attention towards customer satisfaction. It also fails to pose values to customers. In order to get maximum profit they raise the price of the product hence it becomes difficult for everyone to buy the product only few people who can afford the product buys it. At times there are certain schemes on the product that increases its sales and maximizes the profits. 2a. internal factors that affect marketing decision

1. First and foremost internal factor that affects marketing decision is research and development. Marketing decision depends on research and development. To match rise of modern industrial concern research and development is must for an organization.

2. Manufacturing is another internal factor that affects marketing decision. Advance ways of manufacturing a product may change marketing decisions.

3. Another internal factor is an intangible asset that is company image and brand equity in other words goodwill of the organization. If a company has strong market image marketing decision will be taken accordingly but if a company lacks goodwill marketing decision will vary.

4. Cash flow is also one of the internal factors that affect marketing decision. Inflow and outflow of cash helps to know that how much money will be invested in the project.

2b. External Micro environmental factors that affect marketing Decision. Micro-environment means forces that influence company closely. And external micro environmental factor means factors that are outside the company but still affects the working. Example: suppliers, competitors, market intermediaries, customer market etc. 1. Suppliers: supplier is a party that supplies goods and services and suppliers play an important role in marketing decision. Suppliers provide goods and for production of goods and services. They are also treated as partners to provide customer value. 2. Competitors: if a brand does not have monopoly in market it bounds to have competitors it depends on how many competitors one has and how their strategies are are affecting your organization. If your competitors are offering their products at a lower price than yours then your strategy must be planned accordingly. To compete you can stress on quality of the product so that even if your competitors are selling their products at a lower price it should not affect the sales of your product. 3. Market mediators: All producers have their own intermediaries for promoting, distributing, etc to final consumers. They are also known as middle men like agents, retailers etc. 4. Customers: Most important of all are the customers. Taste and preferences of customers matter a lot and their taste and preferences keep on changing with time. Pricing, promoting etc depends on customers. 2c. External macro environmental factors that affect marketing decision 1. Political factors: Business has to abide by laws. Laws depends on the party which is in power. Some of the political factors are:

• Increasing legislation.

• Increased emphasis on ethics and social responsibility.

2. Social factors: Social environmental factors refers to culture created by humans. Some of these that are:

• Change of taste and preferences of consumers.
• Social customs, beliefs, values.

3. Technological factors: Technological factors refers to changes in technology.

• New technology creates new market and different opportunities.
• Replaces existing and old products.

4. Legislation factors: laws which are enacted by legislature or any other government body.

• Changes in law (heavy duty on cigarette can effect its sales)

2d. Ethical factors which management of Mcdonald’s needs to consider for marketing decision

• good step towards ethical factor is that mcdonald’s has to take care that they should not ill treat the animals and should take care that environment is not getting harmed.
• And should provide healthy meal to customers and should not mislead the consumers about their product.

2e. Corporate social responsibility An organization needs to be responsible for its actions. Ethically, environmentally, socially. ) corporate social responsibility: Pros:

Profitability and Value

CSR policy helps in increasing McDonald’s profitability and value. Mc Donald’s is successful in cutting operational cost by introduction of energy efficiencies and waste recycling which ultimately benefits the environment. CSR also increases McDonalds accountability and its transparency with investment analysts and the media, shareholders and local communities, which in turn enhances its reputation among customers.

Customer Relations

A majority of consumers - 77 percent - of consumers think that companies should be socially responsible, it enhances the selling of products at the organization. Cons:

Costs

The main disadvantage of CSR is that it is very difficult for small business to adopt csr due to cost constraints. Major corporations can afford to allocate a budget to CSR reporting, but this is not always open to smaller businesses with between 10 and 200 employees. A small business can use social media to communicate its CSR policy to customers and the local community. But it takes time to monitor exchanges and could involve hiring extra personnel that the business may not be able to afford. Therefore it proves to be a heavy burden on small businesses.

Green washing

Some critics believe that corporate social responsibility can be an exercise in futility. McDonald’s management should have a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, and CSR directly opposes this. The responsibility of executives of McDonalds to shareholders is to maximize profits. A manager who seeks profits in favor of some benefits to society may expect to lose his job and be replaced by someone for whom profits are a priority. That is why some companies talk about CSR but do nothing about it. This is called green washing. 2(f)

Community projects: (a)New Zealand serves a good and nutritious food to the community which is also the part of balanced diet. (b) McDonalds feel happy to work with their employees. Their top priority is to serve balanced food of good quality products and provide information to the individuals. 3(a)

Information sources: Internal data, marketing intelligence and marketing research methods that a firm can use to acquire information to stimulate and operate its market information system. INTERNAL DATA Electronic collection of consumers and market information gathered from data sources within the company network. It is used to identify marketing opportunities and problems, plan program and evaluate performance, so that a company can make better marketing decisions. Sources: Furthermore data sources are the marketing departments within the company that carry information on customer transactions, demographics, psychographics and buying behaviors. Such as accounting department, customer service department, operations, the sales force, marketing channel partners and harnessing. Marketing intelligence: It is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about competitors and developments in the marketing environment. Sources: The information is gathered by some sources such as company employees, internet, garbage, published information, competitor’s employees, trade shows, benchmarking, channel members and key customers. Company competitors: The company can get good information by observing competitors. It can buy and analyze competitors products, monitor their sale, check new patents, and examine various types of physical evidence. Internet: Internet is providing to be vast new source of competitor-supplied information. Most companies now place volumes of information on their websites, providing details to attract customers, partners, suppliers or franchises.

MARKETING RESEARCH: It helps marketers to analyse market potential and market share; understands customer satisfaction and purchase behavior; and measure the effectiveness of pricing, product, and distribution and promotion activities. 3(b)

Evaluation criteria: If I am the leader of my team then u will decide to go on vacation at Marlborough’s wine country. The reasons behind this are that:

• Marlborough enjoys high sunshine hours and a temperate climate so that visitors can experience all of Marlborough’s diversity through the season. The advantage is that time of the year doesn’t matter, there is always something going on in Marlborough, New Zealand but Mount Everest has only one kind of temperature that is cold.
• We can map out your own route: self-drive, travel in style in a chauffeur- driven car or mix your daily exercise with our tasting in a cycle tour. Whichever mode of transport we choose be sure to stop at a winery restaurant along the way.
• TheMarlborough Soundsare best explored on water, with a range of cruises and activities from a self-guided kayak excursion to sailing on a luxury yacht. Get active by swimming with dolphins, diving or fishing in the Sounds. Hike the length of the Queen Charlotte Track as it winds its way through native forest, along view filled ridges and beside idyllic coves.
• Even it costs less than Mount Everest because there we have to hire guide to climb it but here we can have only map and enjoy our vacation without any guide.

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