D. Marketing Strategy Decisions
1. An organization’s marketing strategy describes how the firm will fulfill the needs and wants of its customers.
a) Stated another way, marketing strategy is a plan for how the organization will use its strengths and capabilities to match the needs and requirements of the market.2. A marketing strategy can be composed of one or more marketing programs; each program consists of two elements—a target market or markets and a marketing mix (sometimes known as the four Ps of product, price, place, and promotion).
3. Market Segmentation and Target Marketinga) Marketers engage in market segmentation when they divide the total market into smaller, relatively homogeneous groups or segments that share similar needs, wants, or characteristics.
b) When a marketer selects one or more target markets, they identify one or more segments of individuals, businesses, or institutions toward which the firm’s marketing efforts will be directed.
c) Beyond the Pages 1.3 discusses how many marketers use online social networking sites—such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn—to target specific market segments.
d) Advances in technology have created some interesting changes in the ways that organizations segment and target markets. Marketers can now analyze customer-buying patterns in real time via point-of-purchase data collected from sales transactions and credit card usage, as well as by analyzing clickstream data in online transactions.
4. Marketing Program Decisions
a) Successful marketing programs depend on a carefully crafted blend of the four major marketing mix elements.
b) The importance of product decisions hinges on the connection between the product and the customers’ needs.
c) Price is the only element of the marketing mix that leads to revenue and profit, has a direct connection with customer demand, is the easiest element of the marketing program to change, and is a major quality cue for customers.
d) Distribution and supply chain issues are among the least apparent decisions made in marketing, particularly with customers. The goal of distribution and supply chain management is essentially to get the product to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, at the lowest possible cost. Supply chain decisions involve a long line of activities—from the sourcing of raw materials, through the production of finished products, to ultimate delivery to final customers.
e) Modern marketing has replaced the term promotion with the concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC), or the coordination of all promotional activities (media advertising, direct mail, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, packaging, store displays, website design, personnel) to produce a unified, customer-focused message.
5. Branding and Positioning
a) In order to understand branding, the marketer must have a clear understanding of how the elements of the marketing program work together to create the brand.
b) While product decisions (such as design, style, and features) play a prominent role in branding, so do other program elements such as price/value, availability/exclusivity, and image/reputation of both the firm and its offerings.
c) Product positioning involves establishing a mental image, or position, of the product offering relative to competing offerings in the minds of target buyers. The goal of positioning is to distinguish or differentiate the firm’s product offering from those of competitors by making the offering stand out among the crowd.
E. Social Responsibility and Ethics
1. The role of social responsibility and ethics in marketing strategy has come to the forefront of important business issues in today’s economy.
2.