Fundamental of Marketing

Josh Hazel

Fundamentals of Marketing

05/07/2005

Unit 1 Individual Assignment

Attention Managers:

The market is the set of actual and potential buyers of a product. Building customer value and satisfaction is the key to product success. Marketing is about understanding customers needs and developing a product that provides value and promotes effectively. Marketing, in addition, is also about wants and demands. Wants are shaped by culture and personality. Demands are wants that are backed by purchasing power. As a marketer responsibility is formed to provide a combination of products, services, information, or experience to satisfy these needs, wants, and demands. Customers form expectations about the value of products and services that are offered. (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page 6-9)

Customer relationship management is important to build and maintain profitable customer relationships and deliver superior customer value and satisfaction. Building a proper relationship requires acquiring, maintaining, and increasing customers. It can be difficult to attract new customers. With such a wide array of products to choose from the consumer will purchase the product with the greatest perceived value. This would be the difference between the benefits provided by the product or services ands its cost. In order to provide the best product, the customer has to perceive that the performance or value of the product must match the high expectations of the customers needs. (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page 16,17)

The ability to not only create new customers, but, maintain current customers is key to a successful business. By creating superior customer value, satisfied customers will stay loyal and continue to make purchases. Retention is important to a business. If a customer has a negative experience with a product or service he/she will tell this experience to about 10 other people. However, if the customer has a good experience they will only relay this experience to about five others. This makes it very important to have a positive response to a customer’s experience. By dissatisfying a customer, a business may lose the customer lifetime value. The lifetime value refers to the entire number of purchases a customer would make in a lifetime of investment. (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page 16, 23)

The loyal customers to the company, customer equity, can be very important. However, some loyal customers as well, are not a good marketing investment. Erratic spenders and regular small spending customers do not provide high enough return to invest in marketing. . (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page 24)

All of these items are included in the role of a marketer and marketing department. A marketer is responsible for ensuring customer needs are satisfied and receive what they feel is a valued product or service. Marketing is also involved in product creation and development.

What does marketing do for product development? How can marketing assist to make Conglom’s beverage department successful? The implementation of a new product is imminent to further ensure profitability and customer value. In order for the company to create a product for customers, the company must find out what customer want. Also, the company will need to know what segments of the market to target. Target marketing will select the appropriate group of consumers to market the product to. (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page 16, 48-49, 54)

In order for Conglom to figure out which market to select, we must first look at the current segment that has been selected. The current beverage products consisting of mixers, syrups, and tonic water market mostly to generation-x and baby boomers. The majority of the generation y segment is under age to utilize such goods. The generation-y segment makes up 72 million people. (Armstrong, Kottler, 2005. Page) Knowledge of current demographics is important to ensure that location, age, and race are properly selected for marketing. For example, the world is made up of 33% children. Investing in marketing towards countries like Japan and China, who make up 52% of the worlds population would benefit by invested marketing. (Starling, 2002.)

Using the current demographics we can see that there is a large share of consumers that we have not touched yet. By focusing on creation of a product, and directing the marketing advances toward these consumers (youth) the corporation can gain a share of the purchasing power, as well as influence on the parents