Term Paper on "Contribution of Marketing"

Term Paper 9 pages (3185 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Marketing Management

Marketing plays an important role in the establishment of a product in the market. Developing a brand name and the uniqueness of a product is often the main objective of an organization. Research and development of new products and identifying new uses of existing products are the core issues tackled by organizations. Marketing plays a very important role in success of an organization and the profits that can be obtained over time. No matter how good or useful the product is, if the consumer is not aware of the product or does not know applications of the product, it is inadequate.

Social culture and needs vary significantly even within a country and this variance becomes critical when companies attempt to enter the world market with their products. Often, companies believe that since one marketing strategy was very successful in the U.S., for example, the same strategy would also be effective in Western Europe or Asia. This in reality is far from true. Companies have often made costly mistakes due to their failure in understanding these differences. Thus, they plan accordingly. To study any market comprehensively, it is important to analyze it at the macro level.

Marketing of a company's products requires more than just advertisement and promotions. Cultures, purchasing power, beliefs and customs, impact of science and technology, homogeneity of population and needs of population are but some of the issues that have to be evaluated by any company desiring to get and maintain a market share with the goal of generating profits for the company. Industries are generally characterized as pharmaceutical, technology, telecommunication, software, electronics, retail, garment, etc. Many subcategories exist within any industry. For example, the software industry might further be classified as home software, commercial software, software for the engineering industry, software for the publishing and graphics industry etc. Based on the nature of the product and the segment of the market that the company wishes to target different segments of consumers are targeted by the marketing campaign.

Consumers are also the driving force behind any organization. People (consumers) have a positive concept and image of self and like to be treated with respect. (Festinger, 1957) Communication is vital. In the case of marketing, communication can take various avenues based on the need of the company to attract the market and sell the product. There are many factors and variables, both dependent and independent, which affect the strategies, and consequently, the sales of any product in the market. The origin of dissatisfaction of a product in the market can be frequently traced to false perception. (Blake and Mouton, 1984)

Every market is unique and any company wanting to conduct business in the market will have to analyze and understand the unique features and the common features that exist in the market. Different markets can display different needs for the same product. For example, the telecommunication industry might develop different model of phones based on the level of connectivity required by the customer. The attractiveness of any market to a company depends on the potential profits and returns that the company can hope to get from this market. Even within a market segment the needs differ and the company planning to do business will have to identify the target market and the role they will play in this segment. Porter postulated the five-force model for market analysis where the role of the supplier, buyer, the competitiveness in the industry, the barriers to entry and the substitutions and complements play an important role in marketing of any product. Government and local laws and regulations also impact the marketing of any product. (Porter, 1996)

Free trade and exchange of ideas and information is also vital when a company wants to conduct business across geographical boundaries. Free Trade is theoretically defined as, "open trade between countries with no government regulation or restraint." By this definition, trade between nations is not restricted by quotas, licenses, taxes, safety concerns, inspections, or limits of any kind. Businesses and corporations in this environment can act without fear of repercussions. They can buy their supplier from the cheapest and most reliable bidder from any location around the world. They can also sell their products anywhere in the world. There are numerous practical difficulties in implementing free trade as strictly defined. Buyers want to obtain goods at cheaper prices. Sellers want to get the maximum price for their goods. The market however, eventually will determine the price and the value that is conferred on any product. This ensures that the resource-optimization and resource-utilization in any organization is important. In reality, there are very few perfectly competitive markets.

Many countries, come under intense pressure as a result of the talent, technology, capital, and institutions brought into a regional or small market by large-scale multi-national enterprises from developed nations. This is very vital in the case of the software industry where major research and development is conducted in developed nations and the rest of the world is treated as a pure market often with the companies not vesting or creating any value for the countries in which they operate. An unbalanced marketing relationship can also impose on a nation the burden of lower surpluses and stability of the economy in the country at the disadvantage. (Cohen and Boyd, 2000)

In the age of globalization and multinational corporations, local cultures, beliefs and norms play an important role in establishing the image of the company within any given market. While there are benefits to globalization, cross boundary corporations are often faced with creating polices and regulations that are in compliance with the laws and requirements of the state in which they operate. Social science, economic, corporate and business strategy, public and government policies all are considered to play a significant role in the success or failure of an organization at any location around the world. In the modern marketplace, no fixed or definitive strategy can be assumed to be the most effective. Culture and society play an important role in establishing trust experienced between organizations. (Child, 2001) Governments, both national and local, are also organizations within themselves. How private corporations interact between the government organizations is also important.

Market share does not necessarily translate to higher profits or greater value for owners unless it substantially reduces market rivalry. The role of marketing and sales of the products and services as the main drivers for any organization in the current market place is very important. Markets are defined as both physical entities and virtual entities. (Kotler, 2000) Physical markets are referred to as market places where goods are physically available for customers to evaluate and identify with. Virtual markets are those that have been created by the Internet and the web.

Pricing strategies and product life cycle management are also important marketing considerations that have to be made for different markets. The stage of the industry in any given market is also important. As new products get introduced, the software company itself takes older products off the market to reduce internal competition and avoid providing services to the older software with the idea of encouraging the market to embrace the new product. The quality of the products compared to its nearest competitors is also very important. The marketing and product plan gets very complicated in markets that are not used to excessive takeovers or mergers. Government and legal requirements also impact the marketing plans that can be implemented.

Advertisements form an integral part of any marketing plan. The basic purpose of advertisement is notifying the public with regards to a certain fact or detail. Every advertisement is associated with a few oft-repeating aspects: they are "structures and composed" to cater to time and space needs and they are generally non-personal communications that target a group of people rather than one specific person. (Arens, 2002) the marketplace is a complex environment. Here, manufacturers of goods and services are constantly looking for ways to differentiate their products from those of their competitors.

Advertisements, without being deceptive, should provide the public information of the product or services in a fair and unbiased manner. (McLendon, 1981) the different medium of advertising also informs the public at different levels. (Yiannaka, Giannakas and Tran, 2002) for example, the electronic media provides low informational content as opposed to the print media, which provides explanations and more detailed information of the goods or services being sold.

There have been radically different views of the role of advertisement. Some researchers state that advertisement is a wasteful use of the company's resources. Others are of the opinion that advertisement can increase market share and product positioning. (Tremblay and Polasky, 2002) Excessive advertisement can create an environment where price wars between major competitors can seriously erode the profitability of companies within an industry. On the other hand, "smart" advertisement strategy can create product differentiation and brand recognition of the company in the market.

Advertisements are also often done to encourage substitution of products or find new uses for existing products. In… READ MORE

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