Create a marketing strategy that focuses on consumer behavior
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You are asked to choose a consumer product or service about which you either know something or on which you can find good research. You may use either a product/service with which you are actively involved in your business or one from another business.
You are to create a thorough, tightly focused Marketing Strategy that focuses on consumer behavior for either a product or a service. Develop a tightly focused, strategically-oriented paper. I will be seeking your depth and breadth of your findings and arguments that communicate via your logical, business-oriented writing that you are a thinking, educated, marketer.
As you create your paper, please NUMBER each section so that I can easily determine on which one of the seven (7) sections you are writing. You want to demonstrate in-depth critical thinking, provide examples, and support your assertions with legitimate scholarly resources. Use APA citations each and any time that you have referenced scholarly content. Demonstrate scholarly research that utilizes respected resources that identify the subject-matter-expert by name.
NOTE: No more than 25-30% of your Course Project should come from external sources. Although this is a research paper, I am more interested in learning YOUR perspectives, based on your analysis. After all, this is a paper that YOU are writing. All assignments are submitted to Turnitin.com to ensure originality of work. Thus at least 70%+ of your paper's content comes from your fingertips and demonstrates your synthesis of content reviewed, your critical analysis, critical thinking, and application of key concepts that you have learned from our MM578 textbook. Papers that are a collection of cobbled-together snippets from other websites will not earn a passing grade and when minimal adult learner synthesis and minimal original content is apparent.
Your Course Project asks you to utilize the following seven topics as headings for clarity, as well as subtopics as subheadings. Please clearly label each Heading and Subheading in your paper.
Headings and Subheadings
Additional Instructions
1: Market Analysis
Company
Customers
Competitors
Conditions
Market Analysis
(continued) Utilize concepts from your MM522 Marketing Management course and Chapter ONE of our MM578 Consumer Behavior etext book to complete this section.
Describe your Company and your Customers. Who are your Competitors with which you do (or will do) battle? Describe the market Conditions in which you find your product/service being marketed
2: Market Segmentation
Segmentation Criteria
Segments
Attractiveness Analysis
Target Market Use culture, demographics, and the other external influences, as well as self-concept and lifestyle information to accomplish this.
3: Product Positioning Put this in the form of a 'statement'
4: Impact on the Consumer
Perception
Learning and Memory
Motivation, Personality, and Emotion
Consumer Attitude Assessment
Self-Concept and Lifestyle Assessment
Your ability to provide detailed insights on this topic will call for you to demonstrate mastery of content from Chapters 8 through 12.
Reflect on each of these five topics and discuss how each may have an impact on your target market's decision-making process.
How does your marketing strategy demonstrate application of your strategy to each?
5: Consumer Decision Process
This is where you apply Chapters 13 through 18.
Discuss the process by which consumers will come to a conclusion to include your product/service in their evoked set.
6: Marketing Mix
Product
Place
Promotion
Price
Service
Marketing Mix
(continued) This is where all of your conceptual discussion comes true in the marketplace. What does your product look like? Where are you selling it? How are you communicating with your consumers? What price signals are you sending? How do you service the customer through the decision process and post purchase?
7: Market Plan Assessment
Competitor Response
Anticipated Results and Contingencies
Forecast the future. You finally get to recommend a 'go' or 'no go' decision.
What will your competition likely do when you enter the market with your product?
What will likely happen when you enter the market insofar as your target market's receptivity to your product/service offering?
What is it that you have done via your marketing strategy that suggests the likelihood of success based on Consumer Behavior considerations?
What could possibly occur and for which you have not planned, thus resulting in contingencies?
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Solution Summary
The expert creates a marketing strategy the focuses on consumer behaviors.
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Marketing strategy
Market analysis
Company analysis
Our company is involved in the development and marketing of personal computers, digital music players and mobile communication devices. Apple Inc is an organization that designs and sells personal computers, software, networking solution and peripherals to markets across the world. The company is able to sell to its customers through direct sales, retail stores, third party resellers and also online stores.
The company is a major player in its industry and has strength in that it has a strong brand image thus it is highly recognized among most consumers in all markets. Company spotlight (2009) provides that Apple is recognized for its products in all markets and has high brand awareness. This is beneficial to the organization since it can be able to differentiate its product offerings thus providing it with ability to control how its products are marketed. The company also has a reputation as a company that focuses on research and development which is important in developing and enhancing innovative products thus providing the company with a competitive advantage in the market. Innovation has facilitated the company's ability to market a wide range of products that has received favorable market response.
Apple has also been performing well financially whereby operating margin and profitability have significantly improved. Yahoo Finance (2011) provides that Apple had a net income of $ 8,235 million in 2009, $ 14,013 million in 2010 and $ 25,922 million in 2011 financial year. Operating income also increased significantly whereby the company registered operating income of $ 11,740 million in 2009, $ 18,385 million in 2010 and $ 33,790 million in 2011 and this indicates that revenue received from sales continued to increase. Yahoo Finance (2011) provides that Apple has a profit margin of 23.95% and operating margin of 31.22% which indicates that the company is highly profitable. Forbes (2011) provides that Apple has a share of 10% of mobile users in the United States while it has 52.5% market share of Smartphone sales while the Los Angeles Times (2011) provides that the company's share of sale personal computers accounted for 5.2% of total sales which is a fifteen year high.
However, the company does face certain challenges which include decline in personal computers sales which means the company has to innovate other products to offset decline in sales. The company also experiences product recalls periodically since it is involved in the sale of complex hardware and software products which are subject to defects during development. Apple participates in a market that very dynamic and competitive and due to this reason innovative products are required. The company has been involved in legal suits whereby the company is accused of patent infringement and this may affect the company's financial condition if cases are ruled against the company (Company Spotlight, 2009).
Customer analysis:
Apple targets a wide range of customers in a bid to diversify its market base. The company sells its products to individual customers, small and midsized business, education, creative professionals and also to the government (Reuters, 2011). According to Reuters (2011), Apple has 317 retail stores that enable the company to reach its customers, 233 stores are located in the United States and 84 stores in foreign markets. Apple has a large market base which is dedicated and loyal to company products and the company achieves by focusing on customer satisfaction. The concentrates on ensuring product details are excellent and have high quality thus ensuring that the company is able to attract customers.
Apple targets consumers who are technologically aware, are interested in high quality products, want products that are reputed as trendy and are willing to spend premium price to acquire the desired products. Apple products are characterized as products for young individuals and for middle and upper class customers. Apple also develops products that can perform different business functions thus it is able to attract professionals.
Competitors:
Apple is involved in a highly competitive and ever changing technology industry thus faces competition in its business segments. Apple's competitors include Microsoft Corporation which offers competition to the company's software business segment, Dell, Acer and Hewlett-Packard offer competition in relation to personal computers, Samsung, Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba provide competition in consumer electronics market. Company Spotlight (2009) provides that Apple is currently focused on mobile ...
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