Individual Assignment: Situational Analysis:
In this unit's Readings, researchers such as Narver and Slater (1990) and Kohli and Jaworski (1990) make a strong case that in order for an organisation to be profitable, marketing and business strategies need to be viewed as interlocking rather than separate. In order to determine whether organisations have this synergistic relationship, it is important to understand the concept of marketing orientation. Kohli and Jaworski (1990) concluded that market orientation is the gathering of, dissemination of and responsiveness to market intelligence, but that profitability is not necessarily a central goal or component.
These findings would surprise most business executives, who most likely view their marketing efforts as directed at bringing in a profit. Indeed, most organisations must be profitable in order to survive. However, it is vital to integrate marketing and business strategies to focus on market orientation rather than on profitability. But how does an organisation begin to formulate marketing efforts that will align with its business strategy? One way is by performing a situational analysis. A situational analysis provides a baseline for where an organisation is in its journey toward such alignment. In fact, a situational analysis goes back to Kohli and Jaworski's (1990) gathering of market intelligence.
A situational analysis allows an organisation to understand its external and internal health, which may entail its customers, the market environment, competition and other areas. No one definitive situational analysis type or tool is recommended; instead, an online search will yield various types and frameworks that will inform your understanding. One that has become popular is the 5 C Analysis, which is an environmental scan on five key areas related to marketing decision making (Winn, 2011): company, customers, competitors, collaborators and climate.
Another common framework used for situational analysis in business (not only for marketing applications) is the PESTEL, which stands for environmental influences including political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. This type of analysis has been known in several different iterations (PEST, SLEPT, STEEPLE, EPISTEL), with slight variations in terminology and focus. You will be exploring these types of analyses more in-depth in Unit 5. For this unit's Individual Assignment you will conduct a more informal situational analysis in which you will analyse an organisation's overall marketing and business strategies and assess how well they appear to be aligned.
To prepare for this Individual Assignment:
• Reflect on the following:
• What is marketing? Why is important? Review the Readings. Consider how marketing strategies and orientation might contribute to or reduce an organisation's profitability. What strategies do the Readings suggest for aligning business and marketing strategies?
• What is a brand? Why is it worth developing? Consider the various categories of brand equity proposed by Aaker (1996) for what makes a strong brand and why this adds to customer perceptions of value.
• Using the Interbrand Web site in this unit's Readings, consider how Interbrand has calculated brand value.
• Select one brand and corresponding organisation from the bottom 50 (50-100) on the Interbrand report to research and feature throughout this module as the focus of your Final Project.
• Using credible online sources, research and critically assess the business, marketing and brand strategies for the organisation you chose.
• Reflect on the following: Are there any areas of marketing in which your chosen organisation appears to be particularly strong or weak? Are there any areas of business in which your chosen organisation appears to be particularly strong or weak?
To complete this Individual Assignment:
• Describe your process for conducting an informal situational analysis on the organisation you chose. What areas did you consider in your analysis?
• Based on your situational analysis, describe the business, marketing and branding strategies.
• Describe the alignment of the business, marketing and branding strategies. Be sure to address the following questions:
• At what points do they intersect and diverge?
• How strategic is this alignment?
What are the dangers of not aligning these strategies?
Shared Activity:Customer Value
Consider again the device on which you are taking this module. It most likely features word processing software, Internet capability and a certain memory capacity. Depending on your product, you may also have access to other functions such as the ability to photograph and videotape, compose and play music and create intricate illustrations. You may have chosen this device because you value its ease of use. Or you may be price conscious and this brand was less expensive than others. Your choice might have been related to brand reputation-the fact that you recognised and trusted the brand because of a bad experience with a different brand. In any case, most likely you had a number of choices regarding which brand and product you chose. Organisations place a great deal of time, money and effort in their marketing and brand management efforts to determine how and why customers choose what they do. This is dependent on value and the concept of exchange-that customers are willing to exchange their money and loyalty for perceived benefits and services. Value may be behavioral in nature, or it may be influenced by lifestyle.
Now expand your image of a product to include intangibles such as a person (e.g., celebrity, politician); a service, such as a plumber or a dry cleaner; a holiday destination; or a contribution to society such as a charitable organisation or the United Nations. What do you value and trust about the image in your mind? What troubles you about it, if anything? In other words, does this product have a good brand reputation?
For this unit's Shared Activity you consider the elusive concept of value. In your group you will discuss how organisations offer products and services of value to customers and what sets one product or service apart from its competitors in terms of value.
To prepare for this Shared Activity:
• Review the unit Readings, focusing on the module text chapters. Reflect on how the authors define marketing orientation and what factors influence customer value.
• Reflect on an organisation that produces products or services you frequently purchase. Consider the following questions:
• What do you value about this organisation's products or services?
• What does this organisation do that sets it apart from others in terms of customer value?
• How does it compare with other organisations in the same sector?
• Think of specific examples that you have observed in which brand reputation affected an organisation's performance.
• Choose an organisation that you will discuss. You may choose your own organisation or another but for the purposes of this activity, it is preferable that you choose one that produces products rather than services.
To complete this Shared Activity:
• Describe your organisation. Include in your description references to some of the following:
• Who are the principal customers?
• What do they value (i.e. what are they looking for when they buy products or services and why)?
• To what extent is this company customer-orientated?
• What value do the organisation's current products or services provide to these customers?
• If applicable, describe the value the brands produced by your chosen organisation provide to customers.
Include in your answer your knowledge of the factors of customer value (e.g. choice, exchange).