Marketing Decision Makers in a Firm Must Constantly Monitor Competitors' Activities - Coursework Example

Marketing Assessment: Marketing decision makers in a firm must constantly monitor competitors' activities - their products, prices, distribution, and promotional effort. Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Marketing function is an important function in the success of any organization. There is increased competition in various industries and the succeeding organization should have an effective strategic marketing. There are various changes which are taking place in the market like change in technology and competition which influence the marketing strategy which should be implemented. Marketing therefore helps an organization to achieve its corporate goals and objectives if it is well designed. The main elements which are considered in marketing include the products, place, price and promotion. These elements constitute an effective marketing strategy (Bernd & Lia 2013). The marketer should be able to monitor the competitors in terms of the product, place, price and promotion. This will help to develop a marketing strategy which is unique from those of the competitors. This essay will therefore discuss the marketing mix and its significance in the organization as compared to the competitors. The marketing mix The product The marketer should constantly monitor the products of the competitors. The marketing decision makers should be able to focus and monitor how the competitors are developing their products to meet the needs of the customers. They should be able to monitor how the competitors are modifying their products to meet the needs and demands of the customers (Blythe 2001). The decision makers should be able to assess the features of the products developed by the competitors which can satisfy the customer demands. In addition, the decision makers should be able to understand how the competitors are able to develop products which can be used in different places depending on the customer satisfaction. Since the market is divided into different segments, each segment has its own specifications (Brassington & Pettitt 2002). This will help the decision makers to make product decisions which will help to satisfy the demands of the customers in different markets which will lead to competitive advantage due to better quality services provided to customers. The decision makers should also understand how the competitors are branding their products. This is an important aspect because it helps the company to brand their products which will be attractive to the customers. Branding itself can influence the buying behavior of the customers since they will be able to differentiate the products from those of the competitors (Ziethmal & Bitner 2003). A strong brand name is associated with good quality products or services provided to the customers. In addition, the decision makers should be able to assess hoe the competitors differentiate theory products from other products in the markets. For instance, the marketers should be able to understand how the competitors call their products and what they do to make them unique from those of the competitors. This will help the decision makers to come up with better differentiation strategies (Ellwood 2002). The place This is the element which is concerned with the distribution of the products. The decision makers should be able to understand how the competitors distribute their products to their customers (Fill 2002). After understanding the distribution strategy implies that the decision makers should be able to make decision which will help to distribute the products to the customers better than the competitors. Moreover, the distributors should be able to assess how the competitors select the best distribution strategies. They should be able to make decisions as to whether the competitors distribute their products during trade fairs and exhibitions or they supply their products online. This will enable them to make decision concerning distribution of the products which can help their organization to supply their products better than the competitors thus will lead to competitive advantage (Van 2002). In addition, it is important for the decision makers to ensure they understand the available channels of distribution as used by the competitors. For instance the competitors might be using middlemen to distribute the products to their customers (Van 2002). This will enable the decision makers to select distribution channels which will be better than those of the competitors and this will lead to competitive advantage. The price The price element is concerned with the value of the products in the market. The competitors value their products differently and this implies that all the competitors will develop different strategies which will improve the value of their products in the market. In the first place, the decision makers should be able to understand how the competitors price their products (Fifield 1998). This will be essential as it helps the marketers to come up with a better pricing strategy which could lead to competitive advantage than the competitors due to the value the customers receive from the products. In addition, the decision makers should be able to assess if the competitors comply with any price points which are set by the regulatory bodies (Randall 2001). If there are price ceilings and price floors and the competitors are not complying with the regulation this can be a competitive advantage when making marketing decisions. The organization can comply with the government policy which might be favorable to customers and in this regard, they will be able to attract and retain customers thus leading to competitive advantage. Furthermore, the decision makers should be able to monitor if the prices of the competitors are competitive. This is important as it helps the decision makers to make pricing decisions which can make their organization to be competitive (McDonald 2002). For instance, they will come up with competitive pricing so as to attract and retain customers and this will improve the competitive advantage of the organization. The decision makers should also be able to determine how the competitors offer their discounts. This will help the marketers to focus on the discounts offered by the competitors and improve on them so that they will look that they are better than the competitors (Proctor 2000). For instance, if the competitors are giving quantity discounts, they decision can make decisions to increase the quantity of discounts offered to customers thus their organization will be able to attract more customers due to huge quantity discounts offered. Finally, the decision makers should monitor how the competitors price their products differently in different market segments (Hatton 2000). If the competitors do not consider the different needs of the customers in different markets, the decision makers should develop a price discrimination strategy to charge different prices in different markets depending on the potentiality of the customers to pay for the products and this will lead to competitive advantage. Promotion This is the element which enables the decision makers to create awareness of the products to the customers. The decision makers should monitor how the competitors pass the product’s message to their customers (Kerin & Peterson 2013). After determining how the competitors pass the message of their products they will be able to come up with a strategy which will be better than those of the competitors hence they will improve the performance of the organization. Considering the timing of the competitors is also important. The decision makers should determine how the competitors time their promotional activities. If their timing is not appropriate, the decision makers will come up with appropriate time which will appeal to many customers (Philip 2011). Timing is important because it helps to pass the product message to many customers, thus influencing the behavior of the customers. In addition, the decision makers should monitor the tools used by the competitors to market their products. If the competitors use TV to advertise their products is then the decision makers should be able to come with strategies like online advertising and using radios which have a large coverage area. This will help to pass the product message to many customers, thus will influence the buying behavior of the customers which could lead to competitive advantage (Kotler & Chernes 2012). However, there are those who argue the product mix only is not adequate to improve the competitiveness of the organization. There are other strategies which can be used like after sale service and providing a variety of products to meet the different needs of the customers. For instance, there should be some free transport of the products to the customer’s premises who are return customers. This is one way to develop loyalty of the customers to the company’s products (Hoyer & MacInnis 2001). In addition, packaging should also be effective and in compliance with the customer specifications. This will help to improve customer satisfaction and in turn will improve the performance of the company in the competitive market. Conclusion Marketing function helps an organization to create awareness of the products to the customers. The key elements of the marketing function include product, price, place and promotion. The marketing mix helps the organization to develop competitive marketing strategies like competitive pricing, effective distribution strategies, develop effective promotional strategies and manufacturing products which can satisfy the needs of the customers in terms of quality and quantity. In this regard therefore, the marketing mix helps an organization to focus on different needs of the customers and designing strategies which will satisfy the customers better than those of the competitors hence will improve the competitiveness of an organization. It is therefore important to monitor the marketing mix of the competitors as it helps to develop better marketing strategies. 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