Marketing Management Step through for Mega Bastard Corporation - Essay Example

Marketing Management Step Through for Mega Bastard Corporation Table of Contents I. Introduction 4 II. The Marketing Environment/ Macro-EnvironmentalFactors With Potential Impact to the Product/Business Idea 5 III. Fundamental Models of Buyer Behavior, Consumer Purchase Decision Processes and Models 7 IV. Defining Market Segments Well- Requirements 9 V. Tweaking Different Marketing Mix Elements to Position a Product for Different Target Markets 11 VI. Tying It All Up for Mega Bastard Corporation 13 Works Cited 14 I. Introduction This paper is a walk through of sound marketing management processes and principles for market analysis of any market, taking off from the present case involving the evaluation of markets for bionic limbs. The components of the walk through are a marketing environment analysis together with factors relating to the macro environment that have potential impact to the business of bionic limbs and other product/business ideas; a discussion of fundamental models of buyer behavior and the processes that customers go through in making purchase decisions; market segments and what it takes to define those market segments properly and adequately; tweaking various elements of the marketing mix to position products for individual target markets. The intent is to provide a template that Mega Bastard Corporation can use to explore the marketing of all kinds of products from a good grasp of marketing management fundamentals and basic models and processes contained therein (Bray; Sarvary; Oxford Learning Lab). II. The Marketing Environment/ Macro-Environmental Factors With Potential Impact to the Product/Business Idea The marketing environment consists of those external factors to a firm that impact the ability of the firm to undertake marketing activities. These are external circumstances, conditions, and realities that firms must face up to, and must take as givens, in crafting marketing strategies, and in coming up with viable product and business ideas. The fundamental component of a survey of the marketing environment for Mega Bastard Corporation are the micro environment and the macro environment. As the names suggest, the macro environment relates to the big picture factors that impact firm activities, and a good model for capturing the macro environment is the PESTLE analysis, which is a shorthand for the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental factors that impact business and marketing strategies. The micro environment factors on the other hand relate to more immediate factors that impact firm activities, relationships, and operations, and a good model that captures the relevant micro environmental factors are the Five Forces Framework or Model of Porter. These Five Forces model looks at the level of competition, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and the threat of new entrants into an industry. In the context of Mega Bastard Corporation’s foray into bionic limbs, the Five Forces analysis and the PESTLE analysis would be able to determine the nature of the marketing environment within which any marketing plan must prove its mettle (Oxford Learning Lab; Oxford Learning Lab (b); Porter). As applied to Mega Bastard Corporation and the bionic legs business opportunity, a review of the external marketing environment in potential country markets can yield insights into what markets are suitable for development and for the introduction of the bionic legs. It may be that the home market in the UK may not be the best market after undertaking a marketing environment assessment for various reasons, such as the micro environment not being conducive due to the presence of substitutes and the large bargaining power of buyers, who may need to be convinced of the merits of the bionic legs and opt instead for more conventional alternatives. This part of the marketing management framework presented here can avoid potential problems in terms of entering unsuitable country markets for bionic legs and for other products that the Mega Bastard Corporation may come up moving forward (Porter; Oxford Learning Lab; Oxford Learning Lab (b)). III. Fundamental Models of Buyer Behavior, Consumer Purchase Decision Processes and Models Buyer behavior relates to the means and ways by which consumers make purchase decisions, evaluate product experiences, and make up their minds on purchase and repurchase decisions in the future, among other processes that have myriads of associated factors, reflecting the complexity of human behavior in general, and reflecting too the challenges of being able to understand consumers and their motivations, desires, subjective feelings and thoughts, experiences, psychological processes, emotional processes, and such related factors that all factor into purchase behaviors. A sound marketing plan takes the customer purchase decision making processes into consideration, and therefore this is an important aspect of a sound marketing management template, especially with regard to new product and business ideas such as the one contemplated here, for bionic limbs. The literature points to various models of buyer behavior that are made up of various approaches to understanding that complex dynamic leading up to purchase decisions for products and services. These approaches are also models for understanding human nature in general, and there are five such models: the economic model; the behavioral model; the humanistic model; the cognitive model, and the psychodynamic model. The economic model posits that man makes rational purchase decisions. The psychodynamic model posits that buyer behavior is ruled by instincts and basic human drives rather than by the rational faculty. The behavioral model posits that external realities/events determine behavior rather than psychodynamics or rationalty. This is the same as saying that the way to understand buyer behavior is to classify all human actions, including thoughts and feelings, as artifacts of behavior, to be analyzed and understood as such. Empirical sciences can be used to objectify behavior and so come to understanding of buyer behavior as well. This does away with an emphasis on internal mental and psychological states which are the focal points of interest in the economic and psychodynamic models. In the cognitive model, the emphasis is on the process from stimulus to response, with the personal consumer as processor of the stimulus inputs as a point of interest, as an essential component of a total process through to response. This brings into the fold disciplines in consumer research that focus on customer motivations, wants, needs, and drives as essential in the decision making process for purchases. As this part applies to Mega Bastard Corporation’s bionic legs opportunity, there is a need to better understand customer perceptions and attitudes towards the new technology, to better understand and gauge interest and support for introducing this product to a variety of potential market segments. This latter concept of target market segments is discussed in the following section, but the take from this part is that there is a need to better understand the process by which customers make purchase decisions, via several models of buyer behavior, to improve the chances of the introduction of bionic legs being successful (Bray). IV. Defining Market Segments Well- Requirements There is a process for defining target market segments properly and well, and this process first involves segmenting the general market, targeting select groups or segments within that general market, and then positioning a product based on the unique characteristics of that chosen target segments. There are various ways by which the segmentation can be undertaken. For bionic limbs for instance, the segmentation process can be done via such categories of segmentation as gender, age, income, educational attainment, civil status, ethnicity, nationality, kind of education, family characteristics, and such similar demographic categories. Segments can also be derived making use of more sophisticated categories of segmentation, such as Internet use, engagement in social media, occupation and group status, and a host of other sophisticated segmentation categories that can be had from more sophisticated consumer models. The advent of big data also means that there are more categories of segmentation that are possible for potential use. Some segmentation processes can yield better target markets than others, and this is the foundation of a good process for finding target market segments. From the created market segments, the next step is to target specific segments as markets where the products are to be marketed to. Finally, the process of positioning a product entails making sure that there is a match between consumer characteristics such as needs, wants, and other aspects that go into their buying behavior on the one hand, and on the other hand the value propositions, features, benefits, and in general the elements of the marketing mix for the offering. The targeting process entails pursuing one of three possible approaches, undifferentiated, focused, or multi-segmented targeting, in reference to either not being selective among segments, to focusing on just one segment, or focusing on several segments as the target markets for the offerings (Sarvary). As the segmentation, targeting, and positioning process applies to Mega Bastard Corporation and the business opportunity with bionic legs, the results of an investigation into buyer behavior can yield insights into the best way to segment the market and to identify potential target market segments for bionic legs. Demographics such as income, gender, age, and level of education may help develop leads for appropriate segmentation variables to use, but other unconventional categories, such as for instance, type of college degree, whether people have science or art degrees, may yield potentially fruitful results in the segmentation exercise. Such use of unconventional segmentation variables may yield target markets that are especially receptive to bionic legs (Sarvary). V. Tweaking Different Marketing Mix Elements to Position a Product for Different Target Markets The essence of positioning is in being able to create a good match between the product that is being marketed and the complex needs, wants, motivations, desires, behavior, preferences, and other factors that propel members of a target market to make purchase decisions. To effect this match requires making sure that the elements of the marketing mix of an offering are in line with those above mentioned factors. This is not a formulaic process, but requires that the marketer be able to align the marketing mix elements of product, price, place and promotions to the characteristics and peculiar dynamics of different target market segments. Because every target market segment is unique, so the elements of the marketing mixes for the offerings in each of those target market segments must also be unique. For instance, in the case of bionic limbs for Mega Bastard Corporation, there is a need to first understand the dynamics of each identified target market segment in a prior targeting exercise, utilizing the process prescribed in the previous section of this walk-through, and make sure that the marketing mix elements jive with the dynamics of the target market segment or segments. For multiple target market segments, there is a need to tailor the marketing mix elements, working on the understanding that what works for a target market segment may not work for another target market segment. For instance, in choosing target market segments from different income brackets, where income is a segmentation variable, the price and product, and even the promotions and the distribution aspects of the marketing mix, may be different for each target market. The general understanding is that there is a need for customization of the different marketing mix elements for different target market segments, and the tweaking of the marketing mix elements constitutes both an art and a science that cannot be undertaken in a routine, formulaic manner (Bray; Sarvary). As this process applies to Mega Bastard Corporation and its bionic legs opportunity, once potential target market segments have been identified, it makes sense to better understand what kinds of product attributes are relevant to each target market segment, how sensitive the target market segments are to different pricing models, whether target markets respond to traditional distribution channels or to emergent places of distribution such as via remote fulfillment or via bricks and mortar places, whether the target market responds to online and social media promotions or to conventional media promotions, and the like. For each target market segment, one can foresee that the elements of the marketing mix for the bionic legs or for any other product for that matter, will be different, and tailored specifically for those target market segments (Bray; Sarvary). VI. Tying It All Up for Mega Bastard Corporation Taking a step back, the preceding discussion presents a viable template or framework for marketing a new product, and nothing in this template and discussion that precludes Mega Bastard Corporation from using this paper to consider marketing other products and pursuing other business ideas. The fundamentals are the same for each step of the process, and if done right, the end result is a well-crafted marketing plan and a set of marketing mix elements making up products that are relevant to excellently-determined target markets. Such augurs well for the success of any product introductions that Mega Bastard Corporation may contemplate moving forward (Bray; Sarvary; Oxford Learning Lab). Works Cited Bray, Jeff. “Consumer Behavior Theory: Approaches and Models”. Bournemouth University. n.d. Web. 3 December 2014. Oxford Learning Lab. “Marketing Environment”. Oxlearn.com. 2012. Web. 3 December 2014. Oxford Learning Lab (b). “PESTLE- Macro-Environmental Analysis”. Oxlearn.com. 2012. Web. 3 December 2014. Porter, Michael. “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy”. Harvard Business Review. January 2008. Web. 3 December 2014. Sarvary, Miklos. “Market Segmentation, Target Market Selection, and Positioning”. Harvard Business School. April 2006. Web. 3 December 2014. Read More