You are the Marketing manager for Ford cars. Phonon Penn_ Your staff Is confused regarding the five different Marketing concepts. You are discussing these concepts with your staff. Answer: Production concept holds that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable. This concept is one of the oldest orientations that guide sellers. The production concept is still useful philosophy in some situations. However the production concept can lead to marketing myopia. Product Concept Company believes that its product’s high quality and functional features make tit superior product. Chi a company believes that If they have superior product customers will automatically like it as well. The problem with this approach is that superiority alone does not sell products; superior products will not sell unless they satisfy consumer wants and needs. Market Concept Company puts the customer at the “heart” of the business. All activities in the organization are based around the customer. The customer is truly king! A market orientated organization endeavors to understand customer needs and wants. Then Implements marketing strategy based on their market research; from product development through to product sales.
Once sales have begun further research will be conducted to find out what consumers think about the product and whether product improvements are required. As markets continuously change, market research and product development is an ongoing process for a market orientation company. Sale Concept Company’s focus is simple; make the product, and then sell it to the target market. This type of orientation Involves the organization making what they think the customer needs or Likes without relevant research. However as we know sales usually aren’t this simple.
Marketing orientation: has evolved over time. Whilst In today’s business world “the customer Is king”. In the past this was not the case, some businesses put factors other than the customer first. This article examines factors that businesses may orientate their marketing around, so that you can recognize when your marketing strategy is orientated around something other than the customer. Question 2: You need to ensure that your sales staffs at Ford fully understand your marketing plan. This means they need to understand the meaning of marketing mix and four strategic Alternatives.
What are you going to tell them? Answer: Marketing mix is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market. ; The Four AS strategies Alternative: 1. Product: mean the goods and services combination the company offers to the target market. Thus, a Ford Escape SUB consists of nuts and bolts, spark plugs, pistons, headlights, and thousand of other parts. Ford offers several Escape models and dozens of optional features.
The car comes fully serviced and with a comprehensive warranty that is as much a part of the product as tailpipe. . Price: Is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product. Ford calculates dealers rarely charge the full sticker price. Instead, they negotiate the price with each customer, offering discounts, trade in allowance, and credit terms. These actions adjust prices for the current competitive situation and bring them into line with the buyer’s perception of the car value. 3. Place: includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers.
Ford partners with a large body of independently owned dealerships that sell the company’s many different models. Ford selects its dealer carefully and supports them strongly. The dealers keep an inventory of Ford automobiles, demonstrate them to potential buyers, negotiate prices, close sales, and service the cars after the sale. 4. Promotion: mean activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it. Ford Car Company spends more than 2. 5 billion dollars each year on U. S. Advertising to tell consumers about the company and its many products.
Dealership salespeople assist potential buyers and persuade them that Ford is the car for them. Ford and its lealer offers special promotions sales, cash rebates, low financing rate as added purchase incentives. * * Question 3: As a marketing Manager you need to understand the social Factors that affect your marketing programmed. Fully explain the impact of the different age groups on marketing. * Answer: There are four impacts of the different age groups on marketing 1 . Teen Marketing refers to promotion of products and services to young people between the ages of eight and twelve.
This multi-billion dollar segment’s views and attitudes are constantly changing. Any brand targeting teens must keep up with the ever-changing landscape of teen trends and fads. No longer do teens simply play with toys; today they also keep an eye on music, fashion, and their individuality. 2. Generation X Marketing refers to the promotion of a brand’s products or services to people born between the early ass’s and late ass’s. This group is focused on personal style, skilled with technology, and skeptical about advertising.
High impact Internet marketing and direct mail are effective ways to reach Gene X, but endorsements and celebrity testimonials are not. * 3. Generation Y Marketing describes a technique that promotes a brand’s products ND services to consumers who were generally born between the early ass’s and mid ass’s. This socially conscious and technologically sax. N. Y consumer group accounts for one quarter of the total U. S. Population. People belonging to Generation Y are the highest per capital spenders and receive more of their product information from the Internet than anywhere else.
Embracing technology and the use of both guerilla and viral marketing tactics are the best way to reach this group. 4. Baby boomers a person who was born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the North American population. Impact on the economy. As a result, baby boomers are often the focus of marketing campaigns and business plans. * * Question 4: Ford is a global company * Discuss five factors in the External Environment that face Global Marketers. Answer: The five factors in the external that facing the global marketers are: Culture, Economic and Technological development, Political structures and Actions, Demographic make up, and Natural resources. 1. Economic and Technological Development * A second major factor in the external environment facing the global marketer is the level of economic development in the countries where it operates. In general, complex and sophisticated industries are found in developed countries, and more basic industries are found in less developed nations.
Average family incomes are higher in more developed countries than in the less developed countries. Larger incomes mean greater purchasing power and demand not only for consumer goods and service but also for the machinery and workers required to produce consumer goods. 2. Political Structure and Action * Political structure is the third important variable facing global marketers. Government policies run the gamut from no private ownership and minimal individual freedom to little central government and minimal individual freedom to little central government and maximum personal freedom.
As right of private property increase, government-owned industries and centralized planning tend to decrease. But a political environment is rarely at one extreme or the other. 3. Demographic Markup * The three most densely populated nations in the world are China, India, and Indonesia. But that fact alone is not particularly useful to marketers. They also need to know whether the population is mostly urban or rural, because marketers may not eve easy access to rural consumers. Another key demographic consideration is age. . Natural Resources * Natural resources are materials and components (something that can be used) that can be found within the environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources (at its fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such as fresh water, and air, as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may exist in an alternate from which must be processed to obtain the resource such as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.