Deck 2: Developing Marketing Strategies and a Marketing Plan

Question 1

You are on the job market and have received offers from three very different firms. Develop a marketing plan to help market yourself to prospective employers.

Answer 1

Marketing is referred to as the function of management which is utilized to promote the products and services of a company to increase the overall revenue for the organization.
A marketing plan is defined as a plan that outlines the aim of the company and how it is going to attain it using different available tools and resources at hand.
To market oneself to the prospective employee, the following steps should be followed:
1) Define Goals - Person A should define his goal; he should be clear on what he is trying to achieve it and how he is going to attain that. While marketing himself for a prospective job, he should aim to get a salary that matches the industry standards and his expectations along with a role that helps him improve his skills.
2) SWOT Analysis - He should conduct a strength, weakness, opportunity threat analysis on himself to understand his skills and weaknesses which then he can present to his prospective employees to attain his goals.
3) Target group - He should define his target company based on the characteristics that he thinks holds the most importance for him. This can be an open work culture, friendly and informal work environment etc.
4) Execution Plan - He should create a plan on how he is going to contact them, follow up on the job offer negotiate to ensure that he is treated fairly.
5) Measure - Once he has executed his plan, he should measure and organize what he did wrong and what can be improved further. He should also compare whether he was able to receive what he wanted to as per his initial plan and where did his approach lack.

Question 2

What are the various components of a marketing strategy?
2. List the four macro strategies that can help a firm develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

Answer 2

(a)Components of marketing strategy:
The following are the components of marketing strategy:
• Business situation analysis: Analyzing the business situations to develop a marketing strategy that helps to improve market share
• Opportunity assessment : This assessment helps the organization to identify the expansion opportunities in the market.
• Target Market : This helps the organization to identify the target market that suits the product features.
• Marketing budget : A process of defining the expenses for each category of marketing activity is known as marketing budget. Marketing budget decides the major part of marketing strategy.
• Time line analysis and goals : It is a process of defining the tasks of employees involved in the market as well as the specific individual goals to be attained to reach the overall goal of the market.
(2)Four macro strategies for sustainable competitive advantage:
The four macro strategies to develop sustainable competitive advantage in the market are:
• Customer excellence:
This strategy is more focused on retaining the customers who are more loyal to the products. The organization provides excellent service to the customers and the suggestions of the customers are valued with immediate response.
• Operational excellence :
In this strategy, the organization concentrates more on excelling the operations of the business, identifying the means to improve the operational efficiency, and the ways through which the cost can be controlled to increase the productivity of the business.
• Product excellence:
In this strategy, the organization concentrates more on excelling their products to suit the customer requirement. The organization considers the activities that are related to improve the quality of the product delivered to the final customer.
• Location excellence:
A location must be feasible for the production unit to supply goods, and for the customer to purchase the goods to be selected. This makes the product successful in the market. Location selection is a strategy which decides the survival of the business in the market.

Question 3

How has MTV created a sustainable competitiveadvantage?

Answer 3

Marketing is referred to as the function of management which is utilized to promote the products and services of a company to increase the overall revenue for the organization.
Sustainable competitive advantage can be defined as the factors such as quality, service quality etc. that provides a brand with an advantage over its competitors in the eyes of the consumer which is difficult to match by the other companies.
Company M has been able to build a competitive advantage by focusing on 4 major areas, which are mentioned down below:
1) Customer Excellence - It aims at providing the best value to the consumers in terms of content, offers, services etc. To promote consumer loyalty and to retain them for a longer period. Company M can effectively do it by utilizing a CRM software which allows them to target the right consumer at the right time.
2) Operational Excellence - Company M focuses on its supply chain and the efficiency of human resources to ensure that the product reaches the end consumer with least amount of problems and their employees can effectively manage the problems faced by the consumers.
3) Product Excellence - Company M has positioned itself as a leader in the market and provide high-quality products to its consumers.
4) Locational Excellence - Company M has stores at prime locations with a good internet presence which makes it easier for its consumers to find them.

Question 4

The lines of food products produced under the Newman's Own and Newman's Own Organic labels align with the company's claims to engage in "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good" ( www.newmansown.com ) and produce "Great Tasting Food That Happens to Be Organic" ( www.newmansownorganics.com ). Visit both sites and review the descriptions of the company, its mission, and its values. Discuss which aspects of its mission and values might be considered progressive. Does this progressive attitude create a special position for Newman's Own products in the market that contributes to a sustainable competitive advantage?

Question 5

Explain Netflix's marketing strategy. Can it sustain its competitive advantage? Why or why not?

Question 6

What are the five steps in creating a marketing plan?
2. What tool helps a marketer conduct a situation analysis?
3. What is STP?

Question 7

Perform a SWOT analysis for your college or university.

Question 8

More and more firms seem to be entering the dating service industry. Visit www.eharmony.com and tour its website to find the types of activities and methods such companies use to help match compatible couples. Then visit www.match.com and do the same. What are the similarities and differences of these two online dating services? Pick one and perform a SWOT analysis for it.

Question 9

Perform a SWOT analysis for Netflix. What are its biggest threats? Which opportunities should it pursue?

Question 10

What are the four growth strategies?
2. What type of strategy is growing the business from existing customers?
3. Which strategy is the riskiest?

Question 11

How does McDonald's segment its market? Describe the primary target markets for McDonald's. How does it position its various products and services so that they appeal to these different target markets?

Question 12

What is the best way for Netflix to grow its business? Justify your answer.

Question 13

Pick your favorite product, service provider, orretailer. How does it add value through the implementation of the four Ps?

Question 14

Of the four growth strategies described in the chapter, which is the most risky? Which is the easiest to implement? Why?

Question 15

Choose three companies. You believe the first builds customer value through product excellence, the second through operational excellence, and the third through customer excellence. Justify your answer.