Chapter Review
Key Takeaways
- Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
- An organization’s marketing strategy consists of two major elements: determining its target market and developing a marketing mix to meet the needs of that market.
- The marketing mix is the combination of four factors, known as the “4Ps” of marketing. The 4Ps are designed to serve the target market and include product, price, promotion, and place.
- Strategic marketing planning involves setting goals and objectives, analyzing internal and external business factors, product planning, implementation, and tracking progress.
- A product life cycle is a theoretical model describing a product’s sales and profits over the course of its lifetime. During this cycle, the product typically goes through four stages: an introductory stage, a growth stage, a maturity stage, and a declining stage.
- A target market is the group of people who are most likely to buy your product or service.
- Market segments are groups of potential customers with common characteristics that influence their buying decisions. You can use a number of characteristics to segment a market, including demographic, geographic, behavioural, and psychographic.
- The consumer buying process involves five steps: Need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase or no-purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation.
- Brand strategy shapes the overall experience customers have with your company, defining its values, promises, and personality. Strategies include private branding, generic branding, and manufacturer branding. When consumers have a favourable experience with a product, it builds brand equity. If consumers are loyal to a product over time, it enjoys brand loyalty.
- Packaging can influence a consumer’s decision to buy a product or pass it up. Packaging gives customers a glimpse of the product, and it should be designed to attract their attention, with consideration given to colour choice, style of lettering, and many other details.
- Labelling not only identifies the product but also provides information on the package contents: who made it and where, or what risks are associated with it (such as being unsuitable for small children).
- Product, the first “P” of the marketing mix, refers to both products and services.
- Price is the only element of the marketing mix that directly generates revenue for a company. It’s also the most flexible element, and it’s important to continuously monitor and revise it.
- Place is the third of the “4Ps” of marketing and refers to where and how a company sells its products to consumers. The goal is to reach the target audience and meet sales targets. Retailers are marketing intermediaries that sell products to the eventual consumer.
- Promotion is the fourth of the “4Ps” of marketing. The goal of promotion is to create a message that resonates with customers and encourages them to purchase a product.
- The promotional mix is the means by which a company communicates with its customers and may include advertising, social media, email marketing, personal selling, public relations, and more.
- Advertising is paid, non-personal communication designed to create an awareness of a product or company.
- Personal selling refers to one-on-one communication with customers or potential customers.
- Direct marketing is a marketing approach that involves direct communication with consumers to generate a response or transaction. It does not rely on intermediaries such as retailers or advertising platforms.
- Sales promotion is a marketing strategy that uses temporary offers or campaigns to increase sales, encourage customer loyalty, or build brand awareness.
- Public relations (PR) refers to the management of how others perceive a person, brand, or company.
- Digital marketing is promotion through digital platforms, including websites, search engines, and social media. It includes all the marketing efforts that use digital channels to promote products, services, or brands.
- Social media marketing is the practice of including social media as part of a company’s marketing program.
- Retaining customers is the purpose of customer-relationship management—a marketing strategy that focuses on using information about current customers to nurture and maintain strong relationships with them.
End-of-Chapter Exercises
- Best Brands. Use the Internet to search for the best global brands from last year. What did you discover? Were you surprised by the top five brands? Why do you think these companies have the best brands? Discuss with a partner, the class and/or the professor.
- Apple’s Marketing Mix. Visit Apple’s website for iPhones and describe the marketing mix: product, price, place, and promotion. How does Apple attempt to foster good customer relations? What marketing recommendations would you make? Share your findings with your class and/or professor.
- SWOT Analysis. Visit Walmart SWOT Analysis or any another site that offers a SWOT analysis for Walmart. Would you add to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats that are listed? Why or why not? How could Walmart take advantage of its strengths in terms of its marketing mix? What market environmental forces do you think gave rise to its opportunities and threats? How much control does Walmart have over its market environment? What recommendations would you make for Walmart? Explain. Share your explanation with the class and/or professor.
- Promotional Strategy. Visit the Sephora website (if you are not in Canada, visit the Sephora website for your location). This company gives free samples with purchases from its website as well as on customers’ birthdays. Do you think that this promotional strategy will be profitable for the company? Why or why not? Share your observations with the class and/or professor.
- Promotional Tools and Techniques. Visit The Running Room Canada. Review the website. What promotional tools is this business using to attract and retain customers? Do you think it’s working? Discuss with a partner, the class, and/or your professor.
- 4Ps of Marketing. Select a product or service you regularly use (e.g., cell phone, food, cosmetics, clothing) and explain how the 4Ps of marketing apply to this product/service. Who is the target market or markets? How can this product be modified, or the marketing strategy be adjusted, to appeal to other market segments? Discuss with the class and/or professor.
- Starting a Business. Assume you wish to start a limousine service (or a business of your choice or your professor’s choice) in your community. How might you segment the market for your service? Which marketing mix strategies would you employ? How would you nurture customer relationships? Share your business marketing strategy with the class and/or professor.
- Your Last Purchase. Consider the last thing you purchased. Explain how each of the following affected your purchasing decision: socio-cultural, situational, psychological, and marketing mix influences. Discuss with the class and/or professor.
- Customer Retention. Use the Internet to research the strategies used by Starbucks, Spotify, IKEA or Nordstrom (or other companies) to retain customers. What did you learn? Share your findings with the class and/or professor.
- CRM Software. Use the Internet to research the most popular customer relationship management software (CRM) used today. What does this software allow businesses to do? Do you think this gives the business a competitive edge? Do you think it improves customer service and, thus, customer satisfaction? Explain. Share your findings with your class and/or professor.
- New Marketing Model. Use the Internet to research the new marketing model, SAVE. How does this model differ from the 4Ps model? Do you think it’s better? Explain. Share your findings with your class and/or professor.
- PEST Analysis. Use the Internet to research whether or not it is a good time to be selling real estate, in-ground pools, or plant-based meat (or other product as assigned by your professor)? Conduct a PEST analysis to find out. What trends are happening with consumers? What government regulations may support or hinder sales in these areas? Discuss with the class and/or professor.
Self-Check Exercise – Marketing Management Quiz
Check your understanding of this chapter’s concepts by completing this short self-check quiz.
Additional Resources
- The Marketing Plan: Three Phases. YouTube Video.
- 50 Famous Logos with Hidden Meaning.
- 50 Largest Marketing Companies in the World.
- Marketing Mix: 4Ps (with Real World Examples). YouTube Video.
- Amazon Marketing Strategy. YouTube Video.
- Top 10 Misleading Marketing Tactics. YouTube Video.
- Unethical Marketing Practices (Keyword Stuffing, Dark Patterns, and More). YouTube Video.
- Sale of Goods Act (Ontario).
- Canadian Advertising/Marketing Laws.
- Advertising and Marketing Basics. Federal Trade Commission (US).
- Canadian Marketing Association (CMA)
- American Marketing Association (AMA)
- Product Life Cycle in Marketing. YouTube Video.
- Match Companies with Their Brands (Game)
Attributions
This chapter compiles content from various Open Educational Resources (OER). For details, please refer to the Attributions page.
