Key Concepts in Marketing
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Overview of Key Concepts in Marketing
Marketing has different concepts and strategies for each level and type (Kiran, Kishore &Majumdar 2012). It is important for businesses and firms to understand the fundamental concepts of marketing and the strategies relevant to their markets and strategies in order to survive in the environments they exist. This course covered a range of marketing concepts and strategies, and related challenges and opportunities businesses are likely to encounter. Organizations need to adopt their strategies to market changes in the competitive environment through their capabilities to improve performance.
A policy covers plans and fundamental patterns that a corporate put into consideration throughout its operation within stipulated periods. Its definition goes beyond just plans to include its objectives, resources distribution, market interactions, competitors, stakeholders, and the general business environment. Therefore, a strategy should detail the goals that an organization needs to achieve, how its resources will be distributed, and the opportunities and threats presented by the market. A strategy should be able to describe the scope of business detailing the line of products it intends to deliver and how to, the target customers or market and the geographic locations. The relevance of these dimensions must be stated to determine which is important and what the business need to focus on.
Goals and objectives sourced from a single core purpose that the company desires to achieve over the stipulated period are formed. This is based on the desire to the business position at a particular time and its determination to achieve the desire (Hamzah, Othman, & Sharifah, 2014). An objective is usually precise and on point stipulated within a specified time and measurable. Strategy is more accurately determined by the market a business deems to venture. Competitive advantage presents the concepts on how the business will succeed, the new products or services it is capable of introducing in the market and what the business should do differently to beat its competitors. It presents the company with the strategies for positioning and differentiation that will see it survive the market domain and ensure it positions itself above the competitors.
In the course, learning on connection between strategy and the distribution of resources was undertaken. Allocation of resources based on priorities of the business and its competencies was the basis of learning about the connection, to ensure that the strategy incorporates both the people and finances as aspects of the business. A good plan concentrates on how company’s limited resources are acquired and how they will be allocated as per need be to ensure efficient utilization and ultimate business success. Boyd, Larreche, Mullins and Walker (2012), argued that companies, product markets, resource deployments and competencies of the firm should complement and reinforce one another. Strategies should be designed in line with the concepts to enable a boost of the business performance.
The course presented knowledge with different ideas and strategies that are necessary to acquire for any prospective or serving top-level employees of the company. Knowledge of the differences within various stages and types of plans were presented on how to utilize each of them. The different levels of strategy include corporate, marketing and the business-level strategy. Corporate strategy is the level where business develops value for products and services, and the business in general (Balmer & Hong-Wei, 2013). The portfolio of the company is managed and business units are developed in a manner that they are compatible with one another to ensure that the business is successful in the end.
Business-level strategy, on the other hand, is based on a single business unit and is planned independently from other units of the company through practical coordination of operating units. Competitive advantage is developed at this level for the corporate products and services and then company and products are positioned and differentiated against rivals (Ghobadian, Nandakumar, & O'Regan, 2010). Marketing strategy incorporates the development and dexterity of resources so that business processes are executed and informed to the other levels of strategy to generate higher-level strategy (Besser, Miller, & Sandra, 2010).
Marketing challenges and opportunities within the international business environment presented entirely new knowledge on how companies could tackle every situation given to them. In the course, it was found out that strategies formulated by firms have implications for the markets targeted by those companies. Businesses will attain better results when its strategic business programs blend well with the products and services offered on the market. The company must ensure efficient internal and external consistency of its plans, being compatible with the company operations and responsive to environmental factors. Decisions made must be at each business level to address its competitors and respond to the market environment, for an organization to ensure strategic fit.
In the learning process, it was found out that strategies formulated by the company must be that which guide it on how to divide itself into strategic groups. According to Chigwende, Karedza, & Mpofu, (2013) a business must have specific objectives and the scope of customers it targets together with how it intends to build competitive advantage and distribute resources. This will in turn influence the resources committed to the market and the ultimate budget availed by the company. Divisions of the company into subunits enable the evaluation of a particular environmental product situation relevant to each unit. Formulation of different marketing strategies within both new and old markets was also another part that the course covered. Various strategies were learned through case studies and knowledge application for existing companies.
It is clear that when a packaged food company’s acquire a fast-food company that features hamburgers and French fries then the type of strategy it applies is the diversification strategy of backward integration. Diversification of backward integration refers to business going to an extent of acquiring its supplier (Fadeeva and Margaryan, 2014). It grants the purchasing company capacity to grip over supplies that might be scarce to gain the upper hand in the control of marketing, distribution and servicing of its products. For instance, if Woolworths (a foodstuff retailer) acquires a fresh food-processing firm, then it would have used the diversification strategy of backward integration.
Another strategy of diversification is the unrelated diversification strategy where a large retailer’s purchase of an interest in a company producing small appliances (Zhou, 2010). These two businesses do not have major commonalities in the market in terms of their customers, operations and production facilities and products. This strategy will give the firm new avenue of growth, expand their current business, or even block takeover attempts. Related diversification is another strategy where a company can acquire another company that may not have common products or customers with, but with the aim of internal synergy contribution capability of that firm. A company may acquire another company in order to improve its production facilities, marketing and distribution skills, knowledge, and brand names. A good example is Woolworths, which acquired retail store in the UK to expand its retail services.
The other form of diversification learned is the unrelated strategy (Bonardi, Quélin, and Urbiztondo, 2012). Here, two companies with no standard products or customers merge, where the acquiring company focuses on the financial benefits. An oil company may be having more cash than they need thus decide to venture into another line of business. The firm may be seeking to save its face from business decline in increased competition.
Apprising various cultural, political, and legal issues that affect international commercial activity took center stage, with the focus based on current marketing trends and environment. Competitive advantage presents the concepts on how a business succeed, the new products or services to be introduced in the market and what the business should do differently to positions it above the competitors. Allocation of resources should be conducted based on priorities of the business and its competencies to ensure that people and finances as aspects of the company are incorporated into the strategy. Businesses, their product markets, its resource allocations, and competencies should be at par. Plans should be designed in line with the business competencies to enable a boost of the business performance.
Companies try to technically avail quality products and build an image to establish a unique competitive position in the market for developing technical innovations appealing to customers. Businesses present plans, its resource distribution, and interactions of its competitors, customers, market forces and other environmental factors in different ways. Each company rolls out services in lieu of factors dictating its operations and customer perceptions and purchasing behaviors (Goldring, 2011). The course provided that relevant marketing strategies are portrayed as a reflection of the balance of cost and demands of operation and the market in which a business operate on.
Customers’ perception and attitudes towards the company’s product or service dictates their purchasing power and preference for goods and services. It is understood that building a new business involves understanding how network development process can work for a company and the contributions of marketing strategy. There is the need for the identification and depiction of critical transformation phases and the implicit impacts on the retail by the strategy and the development process.
Building networks enable companies collaborate and formulate strategies to overcome challenges of running business through sharing market suggestions. Businesses must preview the environment they are operating in or which it is going to work in and understand their complexities and effects on the business. Conducting analysis of the market on the aspects of social, legal, political, and technological dimensions also influence business processes in different ways and require concrete analysis by the enterprise. Failure to understand the social/cultural aspects of the market brings complexity to managing a business. Companies also need to conduct an analysis of its business environment in relation to market regulations to follow the laws that may affect its marketing strategies and practices.
Trading infrastructures and agreements are developed to foster trade based on economic policies that would make the company aware of the direction in which the market it is operating in is moving economically, and whether the business can satisfy market demand and compete with firms already in the market. Political environment also may affect business operations or decision-making process. Politics play a role in business establishments and the market development as it is directly linked to the government position on business and operations in their jurisdictions. Technological advancements help in market research, data gathering, and marketing through the communication technologies presented by the advancements and discoveries. Companies thus need to develop their marketing strategies in line with these aspects.
Companies need to develop clear understanding of their target market, or that which they are working in order to understand the links. The company should be aware of possible changes that are likely to take place and their implications for the business. The company thus needs to go deeper on to each factor and analyze it on how it affects its market. This can be done by examining past trends to advice on possible future market changes. The business will be able to develop strategies containing contingency plans that can deal with varied situations the company may find itself.
Marketing strategy from the origin of the concept of the development of a conceptual framework organized marketing strategy approaches, terms, and concepts into structures using history of marketing thought to inform the current marketing practice. Knowing how the different strategies available work under different environments and business conditions is crucial, different frameworks allow managers to choose most effective strategies from among the most feasible alternatives to attain marketing management goals.
The resource was reviewed for the learning purpose to understand marketing strategy. Shawn (2012) notes that the plan concept was generalized into marketing in Athens, that just like the general of an army, a business manager must actually locate the resources and organize activities to achieve desired goals and objectives. Marketing strategy concept made a bang in mid-20th Century, followed by the return of academic field of marketing during the same period. Strategies all present different marketing concepts that are applicable to companies and businesses depending on their markets and target customers.
Using the different ideas and strategies, Shawn (2012) developed a framework for marketing strategy. The structure was generated having dissected the relevant literatures to the study to integrate those concepts into a workable framework that can be applied to the company. The structure indicates where at every stage the relevant procedures are applicable to the organization, and describes where those different strategies begin and ends. There are different strategies for every market level from the entry to maturity. The market introduction strategies are of penetration and niche, which focuses on aggressive market mix for a large market, and narrowly customer defined section respectively. Market growth strategies involve the sector development or the brand expansion.
In segment extension, the methods add more sections to the already served. The brand development is in the growth stage “adds new products or variations to the line, availing more choice to the customers” (Goyat, 2011). There are also procedures peculiar to the market maturity stage, where sales stabilize, or get slow. It is important to sustain or hold to marketing mix, through the employment of market maintenance strategy. Differentiation strategy is another mix and involves using marketing mix elements to enhance customer purchase value. Harvesting is another approach discussed in the book, relevant to market maturity strategies. There is also the market decline strategy which a strategy of focus when sales declines to exceed costs.
How Woolworths Manager can apply the Concepts
Woolworths Company required creating and maintaining competitiveness over other market players. The business manager can engage different strategies from their point of entry to the market to the time when they achieve maturity in a well-connected manner readily understandable. The strategies range through the customer, market, products, and the forces of the market that Woolworths is concerned about in its operation. The firm concentrates on a single line of goods and can focus on brand expansion or perfection strategy to provide a perfected brand and range of products to choose on. Some of the differentiation strategies are also core for the survival of the market in the different markets it intends to venture.
The company manager must focus on how products can be unique from other competitors in the market. Strategies such as of differentiation are some of the attention the manager can employ to ensure that their products triumph over the rest of competing products in the market. Product and image branding is one thing a business should concentrate on if it were to sell. The manager can design policy mix to ensure its products survive the market, and the sales are not stagnated. For an organization to ensure strategic fit, it has to tackle strategic issues surrounding it. Strategies formulated by a company must be that which guide it on how to divide itself into strategic groups that are independently capable of strategic decisions at level base. Woolworths considered macro and micro trends in the environment while exploring opportunities in the market expressing sensitivity to the market trends and taking swift actions to respond to any emerging issue that the manager must focus upon.
Woolworths established a unique competitive position in the market for developing technical innovations appealing to its target customers and availing technically quality products while at the same time building its image. The chain developed and expanded with technology, reviewing their operations with the technological advancements (Mullins and Walker, 2011). Woolworths tried different concepts with its customers in order to seek real-time feedback. The business got to learn from the customers about their purchasing behavior in the stores, pointed out the best selling product, and designed an inspiration to its clients through providing them with ready meal advices, which developed, to in-shop meal planner.
The business manager should set up goals and objectives sourced from a single core purpose that the company desires to achieve over the stipulated period. Such plan helps the company position at a particular time and the determination to achieve the desire. An objective is usually precise and on point stipulated within a specified time and measurable, more precisely determined by the market a business deems to venture. Manager of the company needs to think beyond borders to explore opportunities granted by their markets that the company could explore. Setting up well-defined structures and plans that would make the business exists in their markets and remain relevant. The challenges within the markets should be overcome through programs designed by the managers while majoring on the opportunities presented. The managers also must attempt to maintain their commanding market and high profitability by differentiating themselves based on their competencies and quality.
Through strategic marketing program, companies allocate marketing resources and activities appropriately to accomplish its goals and roll out their functions. A manager for a corporation like Woolworths, therefore, need to advocate for strategic business units as group components, to ease decisions on the objectives, markets and competitive strategies that make the company relevant in the markets pursued. Woolworths break its corporate objectives to sub-objectives specific to its components and varying according to the subunit strengths and competitive advantage only if the manager is committed to the course.
For the purpose of company survival in the market, managers develop strategic objectives to detail how the company can compete in the market with the strategic business units. A manager should have credible knowledge on allocation of resources across the chain to enable the company gain advantage over its competitors. The business competitive strategy should be viable, concentrated on chains’ core competencies and resources as well as its customers and the competitive characteristics of the markets (Mullins and Walker, 2013). The competitive strategies differ within business units and market levels. Strategies focus on how the business gets to topple the existing and potential competitors in the market, positioning the company based on its unique resources and competencies. The procedures may be similar for firms irrespective of its size but may differ depending on the market the company operates and the customers. For Woolworths, competitive and market strategies appear blur, blended with no clear distinction between its operations as opposed to other businesses whose competitive and marketing strategies are distinct from each other.
Companies competing in global markets will tend to defend and strengthen their competitive positions through different strategies while pursuing expansion and establishments in other markets. The competitive strategies will differ depending on the countries of the markets sought. The manager need to develop strategic groups for the business to operate differently and adopt structures that best implement functions across the markets in different countries it operates in to ensure its survival and expansion.
The objectives of Woolworths tend to differ across the markets and specified by varied criteria focusing on performance dimensions of importance to the business. A business manager has to carefully balance performance dimensions to achieve simultaneous performance based on competencies with well-calculated trade-offs. Competitive strategy should be that which promises the company continued cash flow that exceeds the cost of capital incurred within the fresh food market. The manager must identify feasible environmental situations where each strategy can be applied. The constraints of resource allocation and market competitive situation dictate the design of marketing programs business products or services.
Food market is ever growing promising no smooth sailing as new entrants are likely come with more innovation and deviating customer preference. Woolworths need sustained competitiveness over other market players, through entry into the new markets or increasing their market share. The chain manager must carefully examine prevailing conditions in their industry and predict the likely future trends. The manager has to examine the analytical foundation of the marketing process involving the company and its people, the environmental context in which it operates, the competition it faces and if likely to face and the target customers.
To be consistently profitable, focus on competitive forces that include competitor rivalry, threat of new entrants, supplier, and buyers bargaining power, and threats to substitute products in order to determine the attractiveness of the industry in the end is vital. Manager, through competency, can give insight into the resources required and the strategies to be adopted for the business to succeed. In the fresh food industry, the major threats are possible substitute products and rivalry of its competitors in the environment. The industry has new entrants over time taking the competition further.
Even though the business offers fresh food and a range of attractive products and services to its customers, it does not mean that enough customers will buy them, or many customers prefer them. The manager need to focus on and understand the clients that they target with their products to understand the attractiveness of the market. The success of the business is possible if the company has specific strategies that are its critical factors the competitors cannot imitate. The chain also locates its stores in strategic places accessible to customers coupling with free customer service aside their products.
Partnerships and incorporating technology to the business presents the business with avenues in marketing itself and the products, providing information about its components, the service and product lines. The manager must ensure that the technologies implemented by the business are easy to use and access. The website offers the opportunity for online shopping and information on any new products that the company is releasing. This enables the company to gain real-time insight into the customer response to its goods and the preferences expressed by them. According to Chisega-Negrila & Minculete (2013), advancements are presenting evolutions putting to test the ability of current managers and bringing a shift in modern row.
Woolworth exploited the internet to form and develop its image about its strategies together with its products and services. Online marketing through their website accessible on the worldwide web has enhanced sales and provide company information and details wherever needed. The manager, therefore, needs to explore online promotion aspect to attract more and potential customers. The online avenues must present the general face of the business in one interface before concentrating on the particular area of interest. Building reputation online and stressing on the price guarantee, the different brands, and the quality of products is a perfect strategy that can be incorporated to attract customers.
The business successes are unconfined, and it must have undergone several changes due to circumstances surrounding its market environment. The shifts in the industry conditions force the company to undergo the complete overhaul of its strategy as a reactive technique. Change in operation structures, decision-making, co-ordination process and reward systems get to help the company in implementing its strategy. Woolworths has been able to establish prospects to encounter changes in the market environment rather than its already established units. This has been successful through the acquisition and transformation of other retail shops and businesses. It has moved strategically to provide products that are relevant to markets their products with the ability of pointing out what is best for its products, and capabilities of operations.
Recommendations on Addressing Key Concepts
The company through its managers must be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the differences within the various stages that are applicable to their needs and capability. Each strategy must be well documented and how it is going to be implemented must be communicated to the company to ensure that the measurable targets are achieved as outlined. Different strategies have stages at which they are applicable; it is upon the business managers to know when to utilize each. For instance, market entry strategies cannot be of much use when the business is mature. During the entry, the company might have been focusing on building their image and attracting or targeting customers of their products and services. At the point of maturity or the growth stage, the business may think of expanding their market and product line.
It is critical that the business manager be aware of different marketing challenges and opportunities likely within their locality and the international business environment. Challenges can be exploited to identify opportunities that will see the company succeed and step over its competitors. A business with well-laid plans and strategies will not be overcome with challenges in the industry or the market, but instead treat them as avenues for designing solutions that will see their operations continue and their performance improve.
In line with the company capability and purpose, managers need to formulate clear strategies for marketing within different markets they operate in, both new and old markets to ensure their success and improved sales. The business activities must also be evaluated in their respective contexts applicable to the company that will see the company performance and achievements grow. This can only happen through precise and strategic formulation with performance and quality based focus. Managers of the firm must demonstrate the ability to implement and control effective marketing strategies that will enable achievement of competitive strategy and improved sales.
Conclusion
In every course undertaken, there are expectations of all the parties or the participants of the learning process. The course itself come with the objectives that must be achieved by its completion, the lecturer also with targets that are expected of the students in every scenario as students also come with massive expectations. Such objectives, goals, and expectations may even extend beyond the class context. Coordination and cooperation between both parties is important for each successful completion of a course that achieves its objectives and purpose by the end of it all.
This course instilled knowledge and skills that can be required with relevance to the scope of marketing strategies and concepts. Case studies and analysis provided for ways to visualize the real context of the concepts learned and the application of the strategies learned. The course process was sufficient in influencing the way of thinking and improving knowledge level that will be significant in application in relevant situations. Sticking the knowledge and concepts in mind and the ability to demonstrate them enable its transfer over to other people in more objective and appropriate ways.
References
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Besser, T. L., Miller, N. J., & Sandra, S. W. (2010). Networking as marketing strategy: A case study of small community businessesf. Qualitative Market Research, 13(3), 253-270. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13522751011053626
Bonardi, J., Quélin, B. V. & Urbiztondo, S. (2012). International Expansion, Diversification and Regulated Firm Nonmarket Strategy.Managerial and Decision Economics. 34(6): p.379–396
Boyd, H., and Larreche, J. Mullins, J., & Walker, O. (2012). Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Chisega-Negrila, M. & Minculete, G. (2013). Online Marketing: Challenges and Opportunities for the Military Higher Education.Journal for defense resource management. Romania. Retrieved from http://journal.dresmara.ro/issues/volume4_issue2/11_minculete_chisega.pdf
Chigwende, S., Karedza, G. & Mpofu, T. (2013). Motives and Threats of International Marketing For Small to Medium Enterprises In Zimbabwe. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research. 11(1). Retrieved from http://gssrr.org/index.php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied&page=article&op=view&path[]=1127&path[]=1158