Considerations in Deciding Marketing Objective - Essay Example

Introduction If marketers pay extra attention to all what the consumers need or want then, marketers will definitely make products similar to the ones already in existence (Donald, 2008). This is because consumers normally go for the products they know and not for the ones they possibly not know. For example, they might say that they want a smaller phone, but would not ask for one that includes a Palm Pilot or Voice Recognition. It is the marketer’s job to go beyond what customers say they want. This means that still as they come up with that small phone, they must put other things into consideration like getting a phone that has many and better features. The concept of marketing assumes that the consumers have clear goals and pursue them rationally. This is not true because they get buffeted in most cases by all kind of forces. It is evident that, many respond to hyped products and stories around them. Therefore, for the marketers to be effective, they need skills, which go beyond APIC (analysis, planning, implementation and control). Marketers need to be able to create new realities, dramas, artificial scarcities and celebrations among others. The contemporary marketing concept implies that marketers must be submissive to customers and go all out to please them. This vision may be conceived as pull (Salder, & Craig, 2003). This means the firm listens to customers and is driven by satisfying their needs or wants. In contrast, marketing may also be conceived as a push. This reflects discipline. Whereby, there is influencing/persuading. However, any suggestion that marketers might share with the customer, even manipulating the public, is taboo. This is because the public is meant to make decisions for itself without any external force or influence. In fact, some of the greatest marketers of the past such as PT Barnum teased the public, overdramatized offerings and yet the public loved it (Peter, 2007). Should the customer be dominant and the marketer always submissive? The automobile industry will be the key example. Considerations in deciding marketing objective It is evident that marketing planning has never been the simple systematic approach described so enthusiastically in most prescriptive texts and courses. According to the researches that have been carried out, the moment any organization embarks on the marketing planning path, it can expect to encounter a number of complex organizational, attitudinal, process and cognitive problems, which are likely to block progress. This means that there is a great need for any organization to carry out a market research to be able to make the right decision (Dennis, 2001). There are a number of considerations in formulating marketing objectives for any given organization depending on the industry involving. It should be noted that the entire objective must be SMART. This means Specific, measurable, achievable, realist and time bound. In order to achieve a smart objective in the market, any the marketers must consider the profit margin that they want to reach (Donald, 2008). This means that before setting any market objective, they should make a cost benefit calculation to decide the profit they intend to achieve, by doing that they will be able to come up with a good objective (Hill & Jones, 2007). The marketers should also consider the needs of the customers. This means that there should be a research carried out in the vicinity where the business will be set to be able to establish what the customers need. The need depends on the gap that other marketers have not filled. In other words, the marketers must be in a position to give the consumers what they have not been given. For example, a product like a Toyota Prado car may be in existence in the market. However, the marketer must go to extend of checking out what that particular make of a car does not have and then introduce such in the market. It could be that the latest model in that town does not have the alarm system or rather the ant robbery system. In that case, the marketer needs to introduce such kind of a car. This means that with that kind of knowledge he or she will be in a position to come up with an objective that will be aimed at filling that particular gap or rather solving that problem. The marketer should also be able to look at the corporate vision. This means that the corporate leader must have a definite vision to where the business is heading. The marketing department then must be able to look at the vision closely and decide what marketing objectives to set to achieve the corporate vision (Hisrich, 2000). This is very important to ensure that all the activities that are being carried out by the marketing department are fully supported by the employees in the other department like the manufacturing. If the marketing department follows that vision of the corporation then it means they will be able to not only fulfill the objectives of the corporation but also the needs of the customers as they set their goals. The marketing objectives must also be formulated depending on the financial objectives of the organization. This will enable the department know the marketing measurements. The final consideration to make is the eight P’s. This refers to the following Product- this refers to the product that is in question like the model of the car Price-the amount of cash needed to purchase the product if it is exported cars Promotion-this entails the methods of advertising to get the product familiar to the buyers People-the consumers that are targeted Placement-the location of the product Process- the channel to be used to get the product to the consumers Physical environment- the place in terms of mood, tone and ambient of the environment Packaging- the ways in which the product will be protected Marketing audit and its purpose A marketing audit is one of the most important activities as far as the success of any business is concerned. It is usually done in the beginning of any marketing process. It should be noted that also at some point in the process of implementation of the plans it could be done. One of the main objective as to why an audit must be done is to establish the external and the internal influences on marketing process. It also enables the corporation to review its planning. Auditing process uses a number of tools, which includes the SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and the analysis of the five forces, which is an internal and external environmental analysis of the factors. A tool exposes the marking department as well as the entire business to the strength, its weaknesses, all the threats and opportunities that are likely to affect its progress either positively or negatively. Another very important tool that is used in auditing is the checklist. A checklist is designed for the purposes of answering the questions that exposes the current situation of the business (Rix, 2007). The following are the key purposes of an audit, to establish the internal environment for marketing, to establish the external environment for marketing and finally to get a review of the marketing plan that is currently under use. The work is based on the motors industry. Internal marketing environment This answers the question of the amount of the resources that are available for the business. Some of the resources that the audit is designed to investigate includes the following. finances or money, the men or labor, equipments or machinery, time, the materials or all the production factors, the degree of organization of the marketing team, the efficiency of the marketing team, the effectiveness of the team in the marketing department. the interference that is caused by the marketing team as far as the internal functions of the organization are concerned (Iain, 2009.) the effectiveness of the team to the consumers and the state of the companies planning process and its accuracy. It enables the current state of the new development of products and their portfolio to be known. It answers the question of if the pricing is the right one, the efficiency and effectiveness of distribution, and if the marketing communication is right. Finally, it answers the question of if the company is having the right people in the job and if they are using the right process to face the customers. All of the above enables the physical evidence of any car business to be seen. External marketing environment This kind of investigation during auditing enables the business leaders to answer a number of questions as far as the customers’ needs are concerned. It enables the marketers get to know the existing needs of the consumers and then fulfills them. It also helps the corporation understand the buyers’ decision-making process as well as their behaviour. The marketers are able to gauge the perception of the customers towards the brands of the company to improve where need be. It also enables the company to get to know the nature of competition in the market to be able to set it target. This will be determined by getting to know the number of competitors, their level of profit, their strengths and weaknesses as well as their marketing strategies and plans. It answers the question of the nature of the environmental culture like the religious beliefs, level of literacy, evolving and existing lifestyles and the nature of the consumerism. It answers the questions about the economic conditions in the market in terms of the disposable markets, policies about taxation in the market that is targeted, all the economic indicators to be used like the exchange rates, interests and level of unemployment. Finally, it helps the marketers to know the changes that may occur legally and politically hence affecting the business later. At times the kind of fuel demanded on cars may be directly set by the government and so that may bring some interference in the business. These include laws, regulations and legislations governing the labor tariffs, quotas and copyrights. Marketing plan This answers the following question, the current marketing objectives and strategies. How effective the marketing process is controlled, the achievement of the marketing budget, how to realize or if there is a realization of the objectives in a smart way, the level of staffing, the way to develop staff and train them and finally the experience and learning achieved as per that level. Principal decision considered when preparing the marketing plan This refers to a simple document written down but with detailed information showing the actions that is necessary to be done to achieve all the marketing objectives. Such a plan can be for a new brand of the existing product, a service or even a product line. Such a plan is designed to cover a period of one year up to five years. In some cases, the marketing plan is usually part of the entire business plan. It contains list of all the actions. The following are the contents of a marketing plan, the strategies of pricing, market segmentation, description of the location of the business alongside the disadvantages and advantages of marketing in that place. Sit contains the budget of the advertisement and the promotion strategy. Finally, it contains the detailed description of the service and the product including the entire features that are special about it. To achieve the desired success in any business, some very important considerations must be put into consideration before drafting and putting a plan into consideration. The vision of the business is a key consideration before making the plan. This because the plans made must be a way to lead the organization or the business into the realization of the vision. Vision being the long-term goal that the business must achieve then it is very important to consider it. The vision actually carries the future of any given organization while the planning carries the way to get to that future. The issue of the period for which the plan is to serve the organization must be put into consideration. This means that before coming up with the plan time for which it will be used must be considered. This is to enable the marketing planners come up with plans which are time bound. When considering time factor, there should be a clear specification of the time when the each activity will be implemented (Woodward, 1958). In addition, there should be a financial consideration of the marketing activities, this whereby the marketing department scrutinizes financial position of the company and its ability to get some extra finances through assessing all its financial sources. Another factor that is of paramount importance is the “who” factor in the plan. This means that alongside thinking about the activity that is need to be done, there is also a need to consider who will perform the activity. In this case, there should be a consideration of human resource availability. The management should make sure that the people employed in the car business are well knowledgeable. This is to ensure that an activity is not put forth and yet there is no one to perform it. Ideally, if an activity is put in the plan and there is no one to carry it out then it is just but a waste of time. This means that there should be a great consideration put in place to ensure that all what is planned is implemented (John, 2008). The environment to which that particular plan will be implemented must be carefully assed before making the plan. This is because some of the decisions which will be made directly depend on the environment where the business will be located. Some of the reasons as to why the environment must be assessed is to get to know how many competing business are around the area or the location where the business will be set. Also the number of consumers that are likely to benefit from the business will be determine. The issue of raw materials, infrastructure and communication will be determined comfortably in the planning process. This will ensure that the plan will be efficient for the business. The last and the most important decision is the type of product that will be dealt with (Thompson, & Martin, 2005). The decision for which product will be dealt with will enable all other planning decisions to be made. Main criteria for the successful implementation of a marketing plan Planning is accompanied by a sense of responsibility for it to be successful. This means that after the formulation of a marketing plan, and then there is need for it to be implemented. Not all manner of implementation will still give rise to the best results. This means that there are a number of criteria’s that needs to be followed in the process of implementation to be able to turn the paper work into profitable activity. Proper implementation will give the company a very good position or platform in as far as its edge in the market is concerned (John, 2008). This means that proper implementation gives the business or the company a very good platform for it to compete in the market. The marketing department must ensure the following are adhered to achieve the best results. The progress must be ensured. This means that there should be regular auditing done during the implementation of the plan. This is to ensure what is not working well and whatever is working well in the plan is identified to avoid poor performance. This ensures that the business can priorities depending on the projects and programs that are more beneficial. Also, there should be plans to reward the employees who perfectly and excellently execute their duties (Marquis, 2006). This issue of remuneration of the employees is very important because it will enable the others to work harder in the implementation of the plan. On the process, there will be accomplishment of the desired objectives of the plan. Also there should be a culture of congratulating the workers who attain their deadlines at the right time. This is very important because it motivates them to always meet their deadlines. In addition, there must be a criteria that leaves room for new adventures. This means that a room for new things must be left. This will ensure that the company or the business does not suffer due to the issue of changing technology. The technology is bound to change any time, meaning that some of the plans that may have been put in place may not apply. As a result, a need for change comes up. This is the importance of such a criteria. There should be some time set apart to enable the plan work so to notice the changes (Victor, 2003). This means that if the business was using a plan that was previous done, then it should not stop using it. This is to give the new plan time to pick up. The two plans, the old and the new must work together consecutively. The purpose for this is to ensure that the business does not suffer any loss as it a wait for the new plan to star working. Another very important factor to consider is the issue of feedback. This means that the plan must give room for feedback reception. Feedback is what gives an opportunity for any company to asses it progress. Therefore, there is a great need for the plan to provide a way of getting feedback (Armstrong, & Kotler, 2007). The feedback can come from the consumers who are directly served by the company, the employees or even the other companies that are directly working with the company in question. It should be noted that the best results in any given company can be gotten by excellent blending of the employees so as to have the intended job done and in an efficient manner (Paul, 2002). This is whereby all the people working in the company are very much comfortable with the job they are performing in the company. As a result, the company will experience a lifetime endless success in all that it does. All of the above can also be accomplished by making use of a tool known as monitoring. This is whereby all the activities of the business are monitored to ensure that they are in accordance to the plan that was laid down for marketing. Advantages of standardizing the marketing management process Market standardization can be both beneficial and disadvantageous. In the European Union, there has been some aspects of standardization. Standardization could range form the technology that is used in the production, to the product that is dealt with, to customer services, operating systems and even the vale. The main aim for this is to achieve a global or rather a regional standard of services or product. A product that has for instance been standardized is the coca cola products. It has standardized products, packaging, formulations, distribution chains and even positioning. Other factors that can be used in standardizing include the designs (Victor, 2003). One of the great advantages is the high responsiveness of the countries that are involved by the countries that are members of the European Union. This is whereby many of the countries will to get involved in the marketing of the standardized product. This is because there is a great confidence that the products will be purchased since most of the consumers are aware of the products that have been standardized. One of the reasons for this is that there are fewer expanses a company will have to incur in trying to advertise the product or even promote it. The reason for this is that the product has already been advertised buy other companies and so there is not need to do it (Finlay, 2000). This means that any consumer having seen the advertisement like of a new car model, will only have to walk to the shop that is dealing with the product in any locality and walk out with the product comfortably. Another advantage is that the whole concept really emphasizes the issue of cost advantages because of scale economies as well as product standardization. The process is also very cost effective. This is because of the fact that the business will be able to come up or rather generate an economy of scale (Debbie, 2005). The savings that are achieved by the business then can be used for other form of development in the business. In addition, the business can use the saving for the purposes of lowering the prices for the consumers. In addition to that, the company can be able to reinvest the savings to other business hence increasing it income. It also leads to a situation of increase legitimacy as far as the headquarters of the business are concerned globally. It enables or rather leaves a room for motivating the local managers to be able to use the available deployed knowledge. It is very useful even in the environments where there is uncertainty as far as the issue of competition is concerned (David, 2002). Disadvantages of standardizing the marketing management process Some of the disadvantages for standardization is lack of competition. This is because the companies or the owners of the business are not given a chance for competition. This is because there is no room left for innovation. There is also restriction in the usage of new technologies. This is because there are standard which have been set and thereafter requiring the use of a particular technology. Another great disadvantage is direct effect to the other industries that are dependent to that particular industry whose marketing has been standardized (Lawrence & Michael, 2007). This is whereby if there are some procedures and technologies, which have been laid down for use, then it means any other technology cannot be used. It also causes inaccuracy in positioning. There could be an issue of friction between the headquarters and the local representatives. There is also a limitation in the decision-making. This is because decisions are only made at a global level or rather from the higher authority and must be followed. This interfere with the fact that even if any firm need to make a change it can not because it is not possible even if the change is to save or rescue the finances of the firm. Finally, it causes international performance hindrances. Is a standardized process of more benefit to a company pursuing a national marketing strategy or a global marketing strategy? The process of standardization is more beneficial to a company in an international level rather than in a national level. This is because it gives a company an international platform to market its goods and services. A company that is for example dealing with cars, may encounter hardship in trying to market a new model. In addition, it gives the leaders of the company a chance to get to mingle with the other leader and business people at an international level, which is an opportunity for the company to extend its links and markets at an international level. It also gives a company an opportunity to get represented in the international level and also it gets its name known at the level of the international hence working towards achieving international performance level (Debbie, 2005). It also enable the mangers to get to learn more on how to improve their production hence giving it an advantage of being at a better place to compete with other companies at a national level. Finally, it enables or rather leaves a room for motivating the local managers to be able to use the available deployed knowledge (Burn, 1961). References Armstrong, G. & Kotler, P. 2007. Marketing: an introduction (8th Ed). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Burns, T. 1961. The Management of Innovation. London: Tavistock. David, F. 2002. Strategic management: concepts (9th Ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Dennis, A. 2001. Marketing: principles and practice (4th Ed.). Financial Times, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Debbie, H., 2005. Personal financial planning: theory and practice. Oxford: Oxford university press. Donald, F. 2008. Entrepreneurship: theory, process and practice. Oxford: University of oxford press. Finlay, P. 2000. 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