Essay on "Competing Concepts Under Which Organizations"

Essay 8 pages (2865 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

competing concepts under which organizations have conducted marketing activities include: the production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept, and holistic marketing concept. Evaluate and list the advantages and disadvantages of each concept as defined and presented in your textbook. Which concept do you believe is the most effective? Why?

Each of the five customer concepts takes a slightly different approach to defining how unique production, selling, service, and marketing strategies are useful for consistently meeting and exceeding customer expectations. The production concept is based on the assumption consumers prefer products that are widely distributed, inexpensive, and at the low-end of the pricing spectrum for their markets. The limitations of this strategy are first the pure economics of it. Lowering costs will eventually squeeze the profitability of a company, and quality often suffers. Second, the reputation for quality often is tarnished when price, not differentiated value, becomes the only differentiator (Hyun, 2010). The product concept states that consumers buy based on the innovativeness, quality, and performance of products. Apple has certainly shown this with the iPod, iTouch, iPhone, iPad and the iTunes music and video content sales they have achieved (Crosby, Masland, 2009). The selling concept says that customers should not be left alone, or they will not buy enough products. This concept concentrates on aggressive selling and closing techniques. The downside of this is that more customers than ever are skeptical and cynical, only buying from whom they trust. In recessionary times, this is a challenging strategy, because trust is king when the economy is bad. The marketing concept puts the needs of the customer at the center of all strategies is called the marketing concept (Kotler, 1986). The strengths of this concept are that it anchors strategies in the needs, preference, and wants of a specific audience or segment of the market. The weaknesses are that it ignores key areas of a company's value chain. Despite these limitations, however the marketing concept has emerged as the foundation of modern marketing theory. The holistic marketing concept is based on the assumption that everything matters, from the relationships with customers to integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategies to reach new prospects. This approach is also heavily dependent on analytics and metrics. The holistic marketing concept sets the ambitious objective of delivering a consistently accurate 360-degree view of the customer, and creating a knowedlgebase of what most and least interests customers (Greenberg, 2009). The downfall of this approach is the minutiae and level of detail required to make it work effectively. It is a time-consuming and often difficult task to get a truly accurate picture of any customer group or individual customer, as it is changing constantly.

Of all of these approaches, the one that is best used for planning, executing, and measuring strategies is the marketing concept. In a sense, the marketing concept is a superset of all the rest. Focusing on the unmet needs of customers and prospects, then defining strategies for meeting and exceeding their expectations wither with products or service experiences, unifies all other concepts under the marketing concept.

The firm's success depends not only on how well each department performs its work, but also on how well the various departmental activities are coordinated to conduct core business processes. List and briefly describe the five core business processes outlined in the text.

The synchronization of each department and division towards a shared marketing vision, objective, and strategy is the deciding factor in the ability of companies to sustain momentum towards goals over the long-term and attain them. This coordination of departments, often illustrated by the value chain concept (Dedrick, Kraemer, Linden, 2010) sets the foundation for the five core business processes all companies rely on. These five processes include the following: the market sensing process; new offer realization process; customer acquisition process; customer relationship process; and fulfillment management process. The market sensing process includes the market research strategies for listening to existing customer needs and ascertaining what future products and services need to include. The new offer realization process concentrates on market-testing new product and services ideas. The customer acquisition process contains the steps necessary for attracting and selling to customers. The customer relationship management (CRM) process encompasses some of the most critical strategies for a company, concentrating on building trust with customers. Increasingly CRM strategies are focused on how to deliver exceptionally positive experiences for customers as well (Palmer, 2010). The last of the five core processes is fulfillment. For product-based companies this is the delivery of the ordered product. For services companies it is the fulfillment of commitments to clients (Tanik, 2010). Each of these processes require a company to keep their value chains tightly integrated together so more challenging shared objectives can be attained over time. Value chains serve as the foundation for unifying these five core processes (Dedrick, Kraemer, Linden, 2010).

Describe the differences between a core belief and a secondary belief. List the primary core beliefs of Americans as revealed by the text.

According to the text, core beliefs are those that engrained into the American culture by parents' teaching of them and the reinforcement of them by institutions. American have core beliefs about honesty, the progression of their lives into marriages and seeking fulfillment in also being philanthropic. Core beliefs are the driving factors in purchasing lifecycles (Dumont, 2001) as many are driven by core beliefs to model their lives according to them.

A secondary belief is one that is subject to change based on both individual and collective perceptions. An example of this would be the perception that it is better to start a family at a young age. Many couples reject this idea and choose to enjoy their lives while they are young and healthy enough to travel extensively globally. The tension young couples have with their parents is common at this point, as their extended families want grandchildren yet the couple is intoxicated with freedom that comes from increased earning and trust. Lifestyle marketers watch for clues of secondary beliefs shifting quickly so they can create effective messaging strategies that resonate with their target audiences (Swenson, 1986).

Every generation battles the core and secondary beliefs of the previous ones, and tends to take only the most critically important ones. Over time the core beliefs of starting a family is interpreted by each generation in their own way. In a sense, the secondary beliefs are the signature and personalization of beliefs each generation adds to the next. Marketers paying attention to these shifts through psychographics and attitudinal measures can capitalize on that rebellious spirit of one generation while positioning their products as strengthening that nonconformance and unique identity.

What is the "chief" advantage (best method of usage) of using each of the following contact methods: mail questionnaire, telephone interview, and personal interview?

Each of the methods of collecting data from customers has its own unique advantages, with the chief or best method discussed below. Mail questionnaires' chief advantage is the capturing of precise data from specific audience or sampling frame respondents (Michaelidou, Dibb, 2006). When used through e-mail it also has the advantage of being easy to follow up with those that have not responded yet. Mail and e-mail questionnaires also can be quickly tabulated using statistical analysis software to gain new insights to base strategies on.

The telephone interview's greatest strength or chief advantage is the ability to branch a discussion to the points that a respondent is the most concerned about. Telephone interviews are best used with open-ended questionnaires so that data gathering can be maximized depending on the concerns and perceptions of the respondents (Reagan, 2002).

The personal interview is the most effective of all interview strategies and the most expensive to complete. The chief advantage of this approach is the ability to see first-hand what the respondent cares most and least for in the concepts presented. The personal interview is also highly effective for exploratory research where open-ended questions are used for gaining insights into what matters most to respondent groups and audiences (Reagan, 2002).

Each of the interview techniques described here has a completely different series of advantages and needs to be matched to individual research strategies to be as effective as possible. The techniques of capturing respondent data need to be balanced against the information needs of each specific research strategy.

Today, companies are increasingly concerned about customer defection. There are three main steps a company can take to reduce the defection rate. Characterize those three steps.

The three steps that companies rely on to reduce defection rates begin with the definition and measurement of retention rates, followed by distinguishing the causes of customer attrition and defining strategies for minimizing them. The third step as defined in the text is to calculate how much profits are lost when customer defection occurs. The measurement and definition of retention rates is often reported on balanced scorecards (BSC) and through real-time analytics that measure customer churn (Hoffman, Lowitt, 2008). These metrics and KPIs are what… READ MORE

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