Scenario: You have just been hired as a marketing manager for company X. You are responsible for developing X’s marketing strategy (and marketing plans).
Scenario: You have just been hired as a marketing manager for company X. You are responsible for developing X’s marketing strategy (and marketing plans).
What are the decisions you would have to make, etc.? What do you need to know before making decisions? How can you figure out this information?, etc.
1. Discuss how you would conduct a situational analysis and develop a marketing plan.
2. Discuss what you should know about a target market’s a) motivation b) attitudes and c) decision making that will help you become a more effective marketer.
3. Discuss how you would go about conducting focus group research.
Be as specific as possible. The goal of this exam is for you to understand what you need to know/do so when you obtain a position in marketing. Thus, put some time into making is something you can actually use in the future. Make this a professional looking document (headers, bullets, etc.). Hopefully, this document will be something you keep as a reference in your professional career.
DO NOT copy and paste my slides. This will result in a failing grade. I want your words
Business and marketing
Name:
Instructor:
Institution:
Date:
Introduction
For any business to survive and even grow further, there is need for an elaborate marketing system that focuses on making the business more visible to a greater audience. Marketing refers to activities that companies undertake to promote the selling and buying of their products. Regardless of how good a marketing strategy is, the goal is always to retain loyal customers and attract non-customers. As a result, marketers must answer various questions including whether the marketing strategy can make non-customers to be customers? What motivates customers to make decisions, and what are the attitudes of customers regarding certain products. This paper examines how the marketing manager of company X will conduct a situational analysis, focus group, and the information that will be used to address the motivation, attitude, and decisions of customers.
Situational analysis and marketing plan
Situational analysis is an assessment of the potential customers, competitors, the distribution process, and the projected growth of products or services. It helps the management of the business or company to properly assess the internal as well as external environment in which it operates, through a number of methods therein. Therefore, the first step is to create a customer profile that describes the location, demographics, interests, and trends of potential customers. The main goal of this step is to understand market trends and customer behavior and establish strategies that will enable company X to reach the customers effectively. The second step is to analyze the competitive advantage of the core competitors by examining their product positioning, strengths and weaknesses.
Identifying the product positioning of competitors is essential in assessing the products of company X and determining whether they can cater to the needs of potential customers. Lastly, internal factors such as employee’ skills and external factors such as political and economic trends will be investigated to establish their effect on the performance of company X. In this case, PESTLE and SWOT analysis will be used as environmental scanning tools. Situational analysis therefore, helps identify the most important tenets for business growth, then arranges them in order of priority.
Motivation, attitudes, and decision making of customers
Understanding the target audience involves establishing insight into what is important to them and assessing the factors that move an...