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Marketing, competition and the customer (If successful in identifying…
Marketing, competition and the customer
The marketing department
Most businesses unless very small have a Marketing department. In a plc, the Marketing Director will have people responsible for market research of new products, promotion, distribution, pricing and sales.
Structure of departments
Marketing Director
Market Research - responsible for finding out customers' needs, market changes and the impact of competitors' actions. Reports to the Marketing Director and this info will be used to hep make decisions about: research and development of new products, pricing levels, sales strategies and promotion strategies.
Promotion - Organises the advertising for products. arranges for advertisements produced. E.g. TV ads if filmed or in articles, if designed. It also decides on the types of promotion that will be included in campaigns. It will have a marketing budget. It has to decide which types of advertising media will be the most effective to use because there will only be a certain amount to spend; the department cannot spend what it likes!
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Sales - responsible for the sales of a product. It will usually have separate sections for each region to where it's distributed. If it's exported, there may be an Export department.
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The role of marketing
Maintain customer loyalty by building customer relationships. Keeping close links with customers and finding out if products or services are continuing to meet their needs will help to ensure the success of the business. If customers change their expectations of what they want from a good or service then the business should respond to meet these new needs. This will be identified by maintaining close relationships with customers. It's very important to keep existing customers(customer loyalty
Gain information about customers to meet their changing needs and to establish a long-term relationship with them. This is one of the most important roles of the Marketing department today. Building a relationship with customers means the market research information can be used to understand why customers buy products and how they use them. This makes for better and therefore more effective marketing.
Satisfy customer needs in order to achieve sales of goods or services. Customers want the right product, in the right place and at the right price. Failure to do this, or to do it less well than competitors will lead to failure of the business.
Anticipate changes in customers needs by identifying new trends in customer demand or gaps in the market so that businesses can produce goods or services which are not currently available.
Identify customer needs by finding out what kind of products or services customers want, the prices they are willing to pay, where and how they want to buy these goods or services and what after-sales services they want.
If successful in identifying customer requirements and predicting future customer needs, it should enable the business to meet one or more of the following objectives.
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The power and importance of changing customer needs - If businesses fail to respond to customer needs then they are likely to fail. Customers are 'king' because as their needs change, it is the businesses which research and know what these changes are, and respond to them, that will be the ones which are successful.
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Market segments
Market segmentation recognises that all potential users of a good or service are not all the same, and what appeals to one set of consumers may not appeal to others.
Market sgementation is when a market is broken down into sub-groups which share similar characteristics. A marketing department will divide the whole market into different groups and categories; there are called market segments.
Each segment is investigated in great detail. The Marketing Department know the best places to advertise and the likeliest place the particular market segment will see the advertisement. They will also know how to design the advertisement to appeal to the aimed segment. Surveys for that segment may be made to enable the department to select the best times and places to advertise.
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Decide the best place to advertise to increase sales. A marketing manager would take all these factors into account when deciding which segments might buy new products or improved products. Once the segments have been identified, this will influence how the products are packaged and advertised. It will also affect the choice of shops the products are sold in, in order to get maximum sales.
Potential benefits of segmentation to business. The business can use market segmentation to sell more products. They do this by making different brands of a product and then aiming each brand at a different market segment. A business can sometimes identify a segment hoe needs aren't being met(there is a gap in the market). They can then produce a suitable product to meet these customer needs and again increase sales.