The Concept of Marketing Principles - Essay Example

? Marketing Principles, [Sur The link between society’s material requirements and the economic patterns of response is commonly referred to as marketing. Therefore, marketing is a process that ensures the interaction of a product(s) and its consumers and the value of a product or service to its customers (Kotler, Philip & Keller, L. Kevin, 2012). Given the concept of it being a process, it consists of four different stages; analysis: Collecting qualitative and quantitative data about the products and their potential markets; planning: Involves coming up with strategies that can implement to reach the targeted goals in the market; implementation: Solely depends on the first two phases of the process, implementation means putting to practice the plans brought together to reach the market; control: This will mean adjusting my marketing strategies to differ or compete with similar organizations. In order to penetrate the market to which am targeting. The adapted strategies will have to meet the local and international standards of marketing. A business philosophy or culture culminates to the actual implementation of the marketing concept. It includes the decision-making perspectives of the organization, therefore, the implementation of the marketing concept. (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). They added that "a market orientation appears to provide a unifying focus for the efforts and projects of individuals and departments within the organization." For example, in the case of tip-top accessories, it is clear that the company already has a loyal bas end it being in the industry for over 30 years means that a culture has been created. To achieve the benefits of market orientation, tip-top accessories will need to adjust to the customer needs, as a marketing manager the pressure to focus decisions made to the needs of the consumers and the value of the products will have to be dully met. The benefits will generally center on the consumer’s value and satisfaction, not to forget the long term target of larger profits by generating the company’s resources. Tip-Top accessories have to focus the resources and efforts of the consumer’s needs to improve its abilities to compete successfully in the industry Considering Tip-Top accessories were to expand its operations, it is expected that there will be internal and external environmental factors affecting the company. One of the micro environmental factors likely to be experienced in the process will be the price or the product depending on the extent of expansion. If the demand were to increase, the price of the products would increase in the same trajectory, This Is a factor that Tip-Top accessories can directly control in comparison to political, legal, social cultural or technological factors (Macro environmental factors) to be experienced. As a result of the expansion, for example, and an increased demand of our products, there will be the need to produce goods in large quantities which means a different technological approach and a cultural consideration to the geographical places we enter. Mass consumption of our products will increase the efficiency which in turn saves on costs, in the long run higher profit realization as a result of cutting down costs and the cycle continues. Tip-Top accessories has a well-defined target market, this being the case then, this will be the group that our business decides to aim its marketing efforts and its products to successfully reach out to the whole group. For example, if we were to target the group of students, then we would be answering the psychographic segmentation, that is, the values, similar attitudes, and lifestyles. If the target group is of those with over the age of over 30, then it would be of great consideration to consider the demographic/social economic segmentation which considers factors such as age, income, gender or even the occupation. Market researchers have also come up with a process of advocating for needs-based market segmentation with the idea of identifying better defined target groups in marketing (Roger Best, 2007) There are four basic strategies to satisfy target markets. To understand the strategies that help us satisfy the target markets, Tip-Top accessories will use the differentiated marketing strategy to reach its customers. A differentiated marketing strategy: Here a company decides to provide separate contributions to each of the different market segment that it targets in a unique way, providing different benefits to the different segments targeted. In our case, students and the persons over the age of 30 years. The result will be an increase in the total sales, though an increase in the cost of doing business will also increase in terms of investments. Buyer Behavior Buyer behavior is the study of individuals or organizations and the processes they use to select products or services to satisfy needs and the impact these processes have on the buyer or consumer and the society (Kioumarsi et al., 2009). One example buyer behavior affects marketing activities is where a consumer decision is influenced by the kind of groups they interact with ranging from friends, families or the society as a whole. A second example is deciding whether the products available are worth buying in economic terms, where the value of my money will be subject to the quality of my products on offer. Repositioning There are reasons as to why I would reposition one of the company’s brands. Some of the reasons can include the fact that sales of that particular brand are declining, the target audience is no longer responding as the best or our competitors have better values on offer. In a case of competition, competing rivals have habit of finding a way to render another’s products ordinary or ineffectual. This would be one of the reasons for me as a marketing manager to reposition one of our products, in order to refresh it and keep up with the competition. The marketing mix The marketing mix is a tool used in marketing when determining a products offering and is often synonymous with four Ps: price, product, promotion and place mainly referred to as the elements of the marketing mix (James culliton, 1948). When developing products, understanding the customer needs and preferences comes first. This will actually help in determining and gaining Tip-Top accessories an upper hand in the market over the rivals. Products are there for developed to ensure that each product complements the other in positioning the product or exploiting the product. There is a relationship between the distribution of products and the convenience on the part of the customer. The distribution channel focuses on making the products available in adequate quantities at the stores where customers shop from to satisfy their needs. The management puts down an intensive network distribution and at the same time identifying appropriate dealers. If for example, Tip-Top’s scarfs are on a high demand, they should be available in as many outlets as possible to have the competitive advantage over other substitutes. Some of the advantages acquired over proper distribution include: saving costs, saving time, buying in smaller quantities and offers for financial support like credit buying. The element of price is critical in determining the survival of the company and in meeting its objectives. Every organization’s objective is to earn higher profits and this is in line with the goals and objectives of Tip-Top accessories. Adjusting the price of the umbrellas in Tip-Top impacts the marketing strategies and depending on the elasticity of the umbrellas, there is a direct impact on the demand which will be reflected on the sales. Therefore, ensuring that the company is in a stable working condition will be key to meeting the objectives. Promotion includes all of the communication that as a marketer is supposed to provide information to different groups about a product. This may include elements such as: advertising; which covers communication paid for ranging from radio, print media to commercials providing information about the product. The information passed should ensure it raises the required desires from the customer to be reflected in the consumers’ needs to purchase the products. A positive reflection on the purchase of products guarantees that a company will have achieved its objectives at some point. The additional elements of the extended marketing mix are as a result of a more customer oriented market in the economy. These are: physical layout; this is typically the presentation of the store and an easier way to finding your way in a store, provision of customer service; here, customers are more likely to be loyal to companies that provide better services and approaches them or handles their complains and processes. The importance of the extended marketing mix to Tip-Top is the fact that customers get a clear picture of the company and how to relate with it. There is a difference in marketing products between consumers and organizations in that consumer products and services demand greater focus in creating desires while organizations require a segmented routine in meeting the standards in marketing respectively. In organizations marketing is done by employees from different departments where value and necessity are important in decision making. In a case where Tip-Top accessories decide to operate in an international market, the marketing strategy takes a shift to a more intensive approach. Adopting a strategy that targets the international market requires a shift in the methods used to promote our products, the pricing policy and having products that meets the requirements of generally a larger market from the one in the UK. For example, penetration pricing is a strategy in one of the four Ps; pricing. When Tip-top introduces its products to the new markets internationally, it may feel the need to make a lot of sales quickly so as to establish itself. This might result to the company starting off by offering lower prices until when the market penetration has been achieved. In conclusion, Customers want to feel close to the service providers or the companies offering the product. Internationally, branches will have to be established to reduce the distance covered in distributing our products. This guarantees availability on a daily basis which strengthens the ties between the new markets and the company. This shows a total change in the strategy used from marketing locally, to internationally where more intense work is needed to promote and introduce the brands to these new markets. References David Jobber(2007) Principles and Practice of Marketing 5th Edition, UK & USA McDonald, Malcolm (2007), Marketing plans (6th ed.), Oxford, England:Butterworth-Heinemann Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation 2006(5th Edition) by Naresh Malhorta McGraw-Hill Michael J. Baker (2003) The Marketing Book 5th Edition, UK & USA: Butterworth HeinemannBlackwell, Miniard and Engel (2006). Consumer Behaviour (10th Ed.) Thomson Learning. Read More