MKT_VIII: | Management

AdvancedMarketingMKT5301UnitVIIIJournal.docx 2 Advanced Marketing MKT 5301 Unit VIII Journal This journal measures your mastery of ULOs 1.2, 4.4, 5.1, and 7.2. Imagine you are in charge of marketing a bubble gum that gives sequential flavors of a 4-course meal but runs the risk of turning the consumer into a giant blueberry. Address each of the following points in relation to this product: · Explain potential ethical issues that could be involved in marketing this product to consumers. · Summarize product strategies that could be used by the organization. · Summarize pricing strategies that could be used by the organization. · Summarize traditional and digital marketing promotional methods that could be used by the organization. Be sure to begin with an introduction and end with a conclusion. Your response must be at least two pages in length, not counting the reference page. If sources are used, follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. UnitVIIIStudyGuide.pdf MKT 5301, Advanced Marketing 1 Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 1. Explore the ethical management of marketing implementation. 1.2 Explain the ethical practices followed by an organization. 4. Compare the development of innovative new products on competitive product strategies. 4.4 Summarize product strategies used by an organization. 5. Examine pricing strategies for effective marketing scenarios. 5.1 Summarize pricing strategies used by an organization. 7. Explain the key aspects in managing marketing promotions through traditional and digital methods. 7.2 Summarize traditional and digital marketing promotional methods used by a company. Required Unit Resources Chapter 11: Managing Pricing and Sales Promotions Unit Lesson Price is defined as the amount of money that is exchanged for something of value, which is defined by the customer. This value proposition directly aligns with the amount of money that a consumer is willing to pay for the prescribed product and/or service. Prices are adjusted based upon discounts, which could include seasonal discounts, quantity discounts, cash discounts, or sales discounts. Another factor that could change the price are allowances, which include trade-ins and damaged goods allowances. Prices can be set based on a one-price policy, which suggests that prices are the same for everyone. These tend to be low-cost, frequently purchased, and convenience goods. Alternatively, prices can be set based on a flexible price policy, which allows for prices to be set differently for different customers. These prices tend to be set by salespeople who are working directly with the customer. A good salesperson understands his or her customer enough to know how high of a price the customer will bear and will adjust the price accordingly to secure the business. This model is used at car dealerships within the business-to-consumer (B2C) model as well as in most purchasing situations in the business-to-business (B2B) sector. UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE Pricing Strategies MKT 5301, Advanced Marketing 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title The Unit VIII Pricing Policies Presentation reviews the terminology and purpose behind each type of pricing policy. A transcript and alternate format for the presentation are below. • Alternate format for Unit VIII Pricing Policies Presentation In looking at each of these pricing objectives, it is easy to understand that the cost-driven objectives place a greater value on achieving certain financial goals with less consideration for the consumer’s needs and value proposition. These strategies are considered very favorable to stockholders as they realize a greater return. Conversely, the status quo, competition and demand orientation, justify the pricing level based on customer needs but fail to provide the stockholders any assurance of reaching the financial goals. Value in use is another consumer pricing consideration. What this involves is consideration of how much the customer will save over the duration of a period of time if he or she purchases the item. An example of this might be a cell phone service company claiming savings over a period of months if the customer switches to them. Another might be a solar panel company attempting to justify the high cost of the panels with a cost analysis of the consumer’s monthly energy savings. This leads up to the point at which the consumer will cover the costs of their investment with the solar panels. Theoretically, from that point on, the consumer is enjoying a monthly energy savings. A concept used quite heavily in the business-to-business (B2B) world is that of bid pricing. This pricing model suggests that a company will bid on a project with the projected pricing to complete the project. The idea is to be awarded the project thereby bringing additional business to the company. Initially, one might think that the lowest bid will be the winner. While this may be the case in the majority of situations, it is not the only determinant in securing the bid. Reputation of the company, delivery terms, quality of product or service, financial terms, and a host of other criteria are included in the bidding process. When negotiating a bid, consideration must be given to all criteria that would be considered of value to the potential customer. Marketing is everywhere! Now that you have traveled through this marketing management course, do you believe this statement to be true? While we are sometimes annoyed about marketing and advertising, think of a world with absolutely no marketing (traditional or digital). How would you find out about products or services? How would you learn about new products or service offerings? How would you be educated about new prices or new locations to purchase products? How would you be exposed to customer reviews? What about essential information that is currently included on company websites? Without marketing, consumers would rely 100% on the opinion of others. While this may be appropriate in some cases, it might not be a favorable situation in all cases. Within the scope of this course, understanding that marketing consists of both digital and traditional marketing is important. While digital marketing has taken a solid place in the effectiveness of marketing, remember that traditional marketing methods still has significant value to all target markets. Thinking of marketing as a necessity for society, marketers need to manage the marketing organization toward overall sustainability. Kotler et al. (2022) suggest that marketers must plan, implement, and control the marketing activities to maintain the overall brand. Planning in the largest sense suggests that actions are not spontaneous but, instead, are calculated and predetermined with a vision on the objectives of the organization. This sets an overall direction of the marketing efforts, allowing for specific tactics to be determined. Implementation applies all the plans and strategies toward actual execution, and control brings in some level of measurement in order to determine the overall effectiveness. (Altmann, 2016) https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-144543029_1 https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-147016931_1 https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-147016931_1 https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-121760503_1 MKT 5301, Advanced Marketing 3 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title To state that marketing has changed over the course of the last 15 years is an understatement of significant magnitude. Technology created efficiencies in all aspects of marketing; the internet has become a primary form of communication, and information can be obtained in record time. Kotler et al. (2022) discuss other shifts in marketing, including how outsourcing and supplier partnerships create additional marketing opportunities. Another significant change is the overall organization of the marketing departments. Additional focus has been placed on the product or brand management organization, which supports the traditional functional organizational setup. These brand managers become champions of the product or service by taking on the overall responsibility of the assigned product. This includes both short-term and long-term strategy development as well as the fiduciary components of the annual marketing plan and sales forecasts. Product or brand managers basically eat, drink, and breathe their assigned product category and work with all functional areas within the organization to ensure that their product is represented, funded, and taken care of in order to meet the continuously changing needs of the customer. The use of digital marketing has provided for a more succinct delivery of product or service information to a precise target market. While socially responsible marketing practices have been in existence for years, the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has never been greater. In definition, CSR is the behavior on the part of the company that reflects ethical and socially responsible behavior. It is thought that this type of behavior not only benefits the employees, customers, community, and environment but also the stakeholders (Kotler et al., 2022). The idea behind this is that, if given the chance, customers will buy more often from companies that demonstrate good CSR practices. Companies are coming up with innovative programs such as Toms’ One for One program where Toms pledges to provide a pair of shoes to children in need for every shoe purchased (Toms, n.d.). This business model has been trending as other companies incentivize and motivate customers to buy their products over their competitors’ products while also providing a program of social good. Moving away from the CSR programs, at the opposite end of the spectrum is controversial marketing and advertising practices. These practices include discussions around whether advertising directly to children is ethical. Should we allow companies motivated toward the desires of stockholders to potentially influence these young minds into purchasing their products or services? But, then, why should these companies be unfairly targeted with additional restrictions? Another area of controversy is the advertising of tobacco or legal marijuana. Since tobacco and legal marijuana represent unhealthy ventures that could lead to addictions, should advertisers be allowed to advertise these products? One has to remember that these are legal products. Should consumers not be given the opportunity to make their own choices? The use of sex in advertising is yet another area of controversy. At what point does this become distasteful, and how do we protect young children from viewing and interpreting these advertisements? The advertising of unhealthy food products brings another controversial topic to the forefront. With obesity rising at alarming rates, should we allow advertisers of these products to continue to advertise? Finally, the use of shock or scare advertising to influence consumers’ actions comes into question. At what point is it unethical or unhealthy for individuals to be shocked into acting in a certain way? An example of this might be the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) attempting to advocate for a reduction in animal cruelty with the use of visuals showing abused animals. The video CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie: "Terrie, What Are You Doing?" demonstrates one of the anti-smoking campaigns focused on convincing people to stop smoking (transcript for CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie: "Terrie, What Are You Doing?" video). these types of commercials be restricted, or is this type of technique necessary to curb the abuse of tobacco? While one side of the controversy suggests that there should be legislation prohibiting these advertising attempts, the other side suggests that all companies have the freedom of speech and the right to present the benefits of their products/services to consumers. Who has the ultimate responsibility here? Is it the company, government, legislative bodies, or consumers (parents) themselves? Social responsibility in advertising is becoming more relevant in today’s world. We, as consumers, prefer to buy from companies that represent socially responsible behavior. To be considered as socially responsible, the advertising must be truthful. The presentation of factual information that is not deceptive is crucial. The second requirement is that the advertisement should not promote anything that is damaging to society. Obviously, both of these requirements can be misconstrued and is up to interpretation in many situations. The ultimate goal is for companies to ensure their actions have a positive impact on all of the company’s stakeholders, which include employees, the community, consumers, and shareholders. Marketers then communicate these actions to the public through social marketing campaigns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQIbIpjWEmc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQIbIpjWEmc https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-144543046_1 https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-144543046_1 MKT 5301, Advanced Marketing 4 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Understanding ethical behavior in the marketing area is complicated as many facets are not necessarily black-and-white in nature. A related topic is CSR, which involves companies that implement initiatives that benefit society as a whole. This concept reaches beyond just the marketing area to the entire company. These efforts can involve simple donations of funds or manpower to implementing green operations within the company. This concept is self- regulated and viewed positively by consumers, employees, stockholders, and all stakeholders. Consumers again prefer to work with companies that are promoting a healthier world, and employees are more engaged and supportive of the company they work for if they are employing these CSR practices. An additional perk of these programs is the building of teamwork, collaboration, and morale among employees. One such example of this is when a company shuts down operations for a day to employ the entire staff to build playgrounds for a neighboring community that is struggling or to visit a local food pantry and pack food for the hungry. The feeling of working together as a team on these socially good programs translates to a better working atmosphere when employees return to work the next day. As marketers compile their marketing plans and strategies as well as their marketing budgets, control or measurement needs to be conducted in order to ensure that the firm’s marketing dollars are most efficiently being used. Four types of control include the annual plan control, profitability control, efficiency control, and the strategic control. The annual plan review determines whether the overall planned results are being achieved, whereas the profitability control looks at whether the company is achieving a profit. The efficiency control evaluates the specifics of the marketing dollars spent, indicating whether these dollars were actually spent in the best way. Finally, the strategic control reviews whether the products, target markets, and channels used are actually the most efficient. Marketing managers use a variety of different measurement devices within each of these overarching categories. Comparative and longitudinal analysis provides marketers and the executive team with a solid basis of measurement and control. This might be conducted through the marketing audit, which provides a holistic look at all aspects associated with the marketing strategy for the company. Electronic measurement methods are also used, including an analysis of a variety of digital communication methods such as SEO, PPC, email marketing, and social media to name a few. At the end of the day, these measurement processes provide marketers with important information allowing for strategic changes in order to adapt to the changing needs of consumers and, specifically, the target market. Accountability is the key component in this holistic approach to measurement and control. References Altmann, G. (2016). Arrows, growth hacking, marketing, strategy, startup [Illustration]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/arrows-growth-hacking-marketing-1229845/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Producer). (2013, March 13). CDC: Tips from former smokers - Terrie H.: “Terrie, what are you doing? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dQIbIpjWEmc Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., & Chernev, A. (2022). Marketing management (16th ed.). Pearson. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780135887035 Toms. (n.d.). We’re in business to improve lives. https://www.toms.com/one-for-one-en/ Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII Required Unit Resources Unit Lesson References