Ma2s

primary - Marketing Research. Primary marketing research is collected for the first time. It is original and collected for a specific purpose, or to solve a specific problem. It is expensive, and time consuming, but is more focused than secondary research. There are many ways to conduct primary research. We consider some of them: 1. Interviews 2. Mystery shopping 3. Focus groups 4. Projective techniques 5. Product tests 6. Diaries 7. Omnibus Studies 1.0 Interviews. This is the technique most associated with marketing research. Interviews can be telephone, face-to-face, or over the Internet. 1.1 Telephone Interview. Telephone ownership is very common in developed countries. It is ideal for collecting data from a geographically dispersed sample. The interviews tend to be very structured and tend to lack depth. Telephone interviews are cheaper to conduct than face-to-face interviews (on a per person basis). Advantages of telephone interviews Can be geographically spread Can...

Secondary - Marketing Research. Secondary marketing research, or desk research, already exist in one form or another. It is relatively cheap, and can be conducted quite quickly .However, it tends to have been collected for reasons other than for the problem or objective at hand. So it may be untargeted, and difficult to use to make comparisons (e.g. financial data gather on Australian pensions will be different to data on Italian pensions). There are a number of such sources available to the marketer, and the following list is by no means conclusive: Trade associations National and local press Industry magazines National/international governments Websites Informal contacts Trade directories Published company accounts Business libraries Professional institutes and organisations Omnibus surveys Previously gathered marketing research Census data Public records We have given a general introduction to marketing research. Marketing research is a huge topic area and has many pr...

Secondary - Marketing Research. Secondary marketing research, or desk research, already exist in one form or another. It is relatively cheap, and can be conducted quite quickly .However, it tends to have been collected for reasons other than for the problem or objective at hand. So it may be untargeted, and difficult to use to make comparisons (e.g. financial data gather on Australian pensions will be different to data on Italian pensions). There are a number of such sources available to the marketer, and the following list is by no means conclusive: Trade associations National and local press Industry magazines National/international governments Websites Informal contacts Trade directories Published company accounts Business libraries Professional institutes and organisations Omnibus surveys Previously gathered marketing research Census data Public records We have given a general introduction to marketing research. Marketing research is a huge topic area and has many pr...

PEST Analysis. What is PEST Analysis? It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organization's marketing environment is made up of: 1. The internal environment e.g. staff (or internal customers), office technology, wages and finance, etc. 2. The micro-environment e.g. our external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, our competitors, etc. 3. The macro-environment e.g. Political (and legal) forces, Economic forces, Sociocultural forces, and Technological forces. These are known as PEST factors. Political Factors. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You must consider issues such as: 1.How stable is the political environment? 2.Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business? 3.What is the ...

Shell Directional Policy Matrix A Nine Celled directional Policy Matrix The Shell Directional Policy Matrix is another refinement upon the Boston Matrix. Along the horizontal axis are prospects for sector profitability, and along the vertical axis is a company's competitive capability. As with the GE Business Screen the location of a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) in any cell of the matrix implies different strategic decisions. However decisions often span options and in practice the zones are an irregular shape and do not tend to be accommodated by box shapes. Instead they blend into each other. Each of the zones is described as follows: Leader - major resources are focused upon the SBU. Try harder - could be vulnerable over a longer period of time, but fine for now. Double or quit - gamble on potential major SBU's for the future. Growth - grow the market by focusing just enough resources here. Custodial - just like a cash cow, milk it and do not commit any more resourc...

Value Chain Analysis. The value chain is a systematic approach to examining the development of competitive advantage. It was created by M. E. Porter in his book, Competitive Advantage (1980). The chain consists of a series of activities that create and build value. They culminate in the total value delivered by an organisation. The 'margin' depicted in the diagram is the same as added value. The organisation is split into 'primary activities' and 'support activities.' Primary Activities. Inbound Logistics. Here goods are received from a company's suppliers. They are stored until they are needed on the production/assembly line. Goods are moved around the organisation. Operations. This is where goods are manufactured or assembled. Individual operations could include room service in an hotel, packing of books/videos/games by an online retailer, or the final tune for a new car's engine. Outbound Logistics. The goods are now finished, and they need to...

Targeting. Part of STP - Segment-Target-Postion. Targeting is the second stage of the SEGMENT "Target" POSITION (STP) process. After the market has been separated into its segments, the marketer will select a segment or series of segments and 'target' it/them. Resources and effort will be targeted at the The first is the single segment with a single product. In other word, the marketer targets a single product offering at a single segment in a market with many segments. For example, British Airway's Concorde is a high value product aimed specifically at business people and tourists willing to pay more for speed. Secondly the marketer could ignore the differences in the segments, and choose to aim a single product at all segments i.e. the whole market. This is typical in 'mass marketing' or where differentiation is less important than cost. An example of this is the approach taken by budget airlines such as Go/ Finally there is a multi-segment approach...

Competitor Research for eMarketing. Where are we now? (External Perspective). As you plan for eMarketing and during the plan's implementation, one needs to pay careful attention to the activities of competitors. So competitor research for eMarketing is essential when attempting to answer the question where are we now ( external perspective)? There are a number of approaches that can be employed, with the emphasis on each approach shifting depending upon the nature of our eBusiness and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing: Use search engines. General topics such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. Type names of competitors. Type industry, product or term. Search 'down' into a directory structure e.g Yahoo! Search a competitor's web site. Product information, press releases, job opportunities. Pricing information. Distribution information such as where to buy. (So publish only what you'd give away at a trade show!) H...

Balanced Scorecard The Balanced Scorecard is an approach that can be used by strategic marketing managers to control, and keep track of, key performance indicators. In fact the scorecard itself is designed to be wholly strategic since it contains long-term outcomes and drivers of success. There are four zones in a balanced scorecard namely financial, customers, business processes (or simply processes), and learning and growth. Each measure is part of a longer chain of cause and effect, and all of the measures eventually lead to outcomes (read on and this will become clearer). So the scorecard is 'balanced' in that outcomes are in balance with each other. The benefit of the scorecard is that is overcomes short-term quick fixes, and gives the strategic marketing manager a straightforward overview of the organisation. In fact, a scorecard should ideally fit onto a single sheet of paper. In fact Kaplan and Norton (1992), the originators of Balanced Scorecard, describe it as the d...

Traffic Lights A tool for creative marketing. As with many of the tools and techniques considered on Marketing Teacher, traffic lights is a simple and effective approach. It's just like the traffic lights that are seen in millions of streets throughout the world, and is a basic metaphor for red, amber and green. Red means 'let's STOP it,' Amber means 'PROCEED WITH CAUTION, but make some improvements,' and Green means 'Go' or 'Let's carry on with this activity.' .Traffic lights is a creative marketing tool that can be used in a number of ways. You could conduct a personal traffic lights exercise based upon your own personal or professional development. The exercise can be run at any stage of the marketing planning or creative process. So you could run it as you begin marketing, during a marketing campaign, and at the end of a marketing programme as you review or control your marketing activities. Traffic lights has a number of benefits t...

Brand Strategy and Brand Management Offers members the opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge within the community of those interested in branding. Internet Marketing/eCommerce Serves members who have an interest in the issues and concerns impacting online marketing and e-commerce. Higher Education Represents members interested in the marketing of today’s universities and colleges. Marketing Research Represents members who have an interest in the practice and study of Marketing Research. Healthcare Marketing Offers members an opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge within the community of those interested in Healthcare Marketing. Business-to-Business Targeted to members who have an interest in the practice, study and teaching of business-to-business marketing. Marketing Strategy and Planning Supports members interested in exchanging, discussing and sharing ideas and practices of marketing strategy and planning. Services Marketing The mission of SERVSIG is to be ...

Pricing Strategies. There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. See also eMarketing Price. Premium Pricing. Use a high price where there is a uniqueness about the product or service. This approach is used where a a substantial competitive advantage exists. Such high prices are charge for luxuries such as Cunard Cruises, Savoy Hotel rooms, and Concorde flights. Penetration Pricing. The price charged for products and services is set artificially low in order to gain market share. Once this is achieved, the price is increased. This approach was used by France Telecom and Sky TV. Economy Pricing. This is a no frills low price. The cost of marketing and manufacture are kept at a minimum. Supermarkets often have economy brands for soups, spaghetti, etc. Price Skimming. Charge a high price because you have a substantial competitive advantage. However, the advantage is not sustainab...

Place, distribution, channel, or intermediary. A channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the activities utilised to move a product and its title from production to consumption. Bucklin - Theory of Distribution Channel Structure (1966) Another element of Neil H.Borden's Marketing Mix is Place. Place is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/ service provider to the user or consumer. There are six basic 'channel' decisions: Do we use direct or indirect channels? (e.g. 'direct' to a consumer, 'indirect' via a wholesaler). Single or multiple channels. Cumulative length of the multiple channels. Types of intermediary (see later). Number of intermediaries at each level (e.g. how many retailers in Southern Spain). Which companies as intermediaries to avoid 'intrachannel conflict' (i.e. infighting between local...