Discussion Questions
Question 1: Positioning and Differentiation Transcript Speakers: Carol Webster, MBA CAROL WEBSTER, PMP:
Think about the fast food restaurants that you frequent. For each one, think about the one word you would use to describe that restaurant. Is the word you choose the one that the company would like having associated with their business? If not, then there is work to be done on positioning the brand, product, or service in the consumer's mind in a positive light. This word association is a really good one to use with your own customers. Find out what their immediate response is when asked to choose a word to describe your brand or product. Is it representative of your product in the marketplace and does it illustrate how you are solving their problem? If not, how can you position your brand or product to be seen favorably by your intended target market against all competitive options and communicate that to your customers? As you differentiate your product from the competition, be sure that you focus on an attribute that the customer really wants. For example, Simple Bank very successfully went head to head with Bank of America to market their online bank and their easy to use mobile app. They were marketing to younger, tech savvy consumers who weren't satisfied with the traditional banking model. By differentiating your product from other alternative offerings in the marketplace, you position your product to be the product of choice for your customer.
Question 2:
Consumer Behavior Transcript Speakers: Carol Webster, MBA CAROL WEBSTER, PMP:
Wouldn't it be nice to know why people do what they do? That's true for life in general but especially true for marketers. If we just knew what that magic buy button looks like in a consumer's head, we would know exactly how to push it with our marketing efforts. Turns out that science and technology are helping us with that. The new field of neuro marketing is growing and it allows marketers to more clearly understand the drivers and the emotions behind consumers' purchasing decisions. Thought leaders like Patrick Renvoise, the co-author of Neuro Marketing: Understanding the Buy Button Inside Your Customer's Brain, are helping companies understand how and why people decide to buy their products. Lars Perner, a professor of marketing at USC, breaks down the four main applications of studying consumer behavior. The first is to develop better marketing campaigns. If consumers are more receptive for example to food advertising when they are hungry, then ads for snacks might be more effective in the late afternoon. Knowing why the early adopters of a product are choosing your product and making sure they are well served by your product or service once they've purchased it will help provide you positive word of mouth marketing, as those customers often influence subsequent consumers. Social marketing, the idea of having customers buy into an idea rather than a product, can also lead to adaptation of products. And lastly, Perner says that studying consumer behavior should make us better customers. So studying consumer behavior is the key to understanding how to adapt and improve marketing strategies and campaigns to most effectively reach your target consumer.
Question 3:
A brand's product positioning strategy should be an integral part of the company's advertising and marketing strategy, including its website. Examine the following websites and identify the product-positioning strategy you think is being used. Explain your answer. On : Sony.
Question 4:
Make a list of five consumer goods or services that are segmented on the basis of gender but sold to both genders, or that are segmented on the basis of age. Are there actual differences in the product or service attributes? Are there differences in how they are marketed? What are those differences? Do you think using a different marketing approach has worked?
Assignment
Research a specific product or service of your choosing on the internet.
Create a Powerpoint presentation with speaker notes, developing 10-12 informational slides (which does not include the cover slide or references slide) in which you include the following:
• Describe the company and the product or service that you researched.
• Describe the current target market for this product or service, and include an analysis of the following:
o Buyer behavior (e.g., how much do they buy, when do they buy, where do they prefer to purchase)
o Decision-making processes that current buyers use to select products or services (e.g., what features do buyers find most important when selecting the product or service, and why)
• Analyze purchasing trends that may affect current buyer purchasing decisions.
• Determine potential new market opportunities based on market changes or consumer purchasing trends.
• Summarize your conclusions, and present a marketing proposal to sustain or grow your potential market over the next three to five years.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.