Assignment: Market Environment And Research
Develop an organizational profile for a company's marketing environment and a short analysis of the value of secondary sources. There is no page limit for this assessment.
Understanding and tracking the marketing environment is a critical marketing function, focusing on the customer as the center of the organization's attention. The organization can, and usually does, adjust its products, pricing, promotion, and place (distribution) to meet customer needs and to react to external forces.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
• Competency 1: Examine the basic marketing models for a business or organization.
o Explain how characteristics of the U.S. economy affect a company's retail operations.
o Explain how characteristics of the global economy affect a company's retail operations.
o Explain how characteristics of the legal and regulatory environment that affect a company's retail operations.
o Explain how characteristics of the technological forces affect a company's retail operations.
• Competency 2: Relate the importance of an integrated marketing program to the economic impact of a business.
o Explain how secondary sources of information can be used in developing an integrated marketing plan.
o Analyze the value of secondary sources of information to business economic success.
Context
Before you begin analyzing and applying principles of marketing, consider that there are two important perspectives on the marketing field:
1. That of a professional marketer working on reaching a targeted market.
2. That of interested consumers, each a part of a different target markets; each inundated with marketing messages.
You make this distinction so that you can more closely analyze what marketing means and how to tell good plans and ideas from the bad ones.
The Assessment Context document contains important information related to the following topics:
• Defining Markets.
• Conducting Market Research.
Questions to consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
• Based on your research of an organization:
o How does the organization's positioning in the marketplace compare to its competitors?
o How are its product lines similar or different?
o If you consider a particular product category, such as outdoor apparel, how do the marketing strategies compare?
o How does this relate to the target market segments for these companies?
Increasingly, social media sites are utilizing and sharing consumer information that many people consider private, such as their geographic location and their purchasing preferences. This has resulted in some controversy for organizations like Apple and Google.
• How can marketing departments utilize consumer information from social media to benefit their companies and their customers, while also taking into account privacy concerns?
Instructions
Case studies are a very effective way of applying business concepts to a real-world situation and that approach will be used for this activity. For this assessment, consider that you work as a marketing analyst for a consulting firm and that your manager asked you to develop a case study for the executive team of the organization in the case. That executive team will use your analysis and recommendations in their business planning.
Preparation
For this assessment, refer to the REI Case Study - Research Guide, linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading. In addition, conduct independent research to develop a case study based on REI.
Your research resources should include the REI organization's Web site, but you are also expected to use information about REI that has been gathered by organizations that are devoted to marketing research. These organizations are referred to as secondary sources. A short list of secondary sources is provided for you in the REI Case Study - Research Guide. Use these sites to get your research started. You are encouraged to explore further secondary sources.
Conduct your research on REI, focusing on the following topics:
• How does the current U.S. economy affect REI retail operations? Specify potential marketing changes needed based upon emerging trends in this environmental factor.
• How does the current global economy affect REI retail operations? Specify potential marketing changes needed based upon emerging trends in this environmental factor.
• What types of legal and regulatory forces affect REI in the United States? Specify potential marketing changes needed based upon emerging trends in this environmental factor.
• What types of social and culture trends affect REI? Specify potential marketing changes needed based upon emerging trends in this environmental factor.
• What types of technology changes affect REI? Specify potential marketing changes needed based upon emerging trends in this environmental factor.
Organizational Profile Development
Based on your research, develop an organizational profile for REI's marketing environment, analyzing the key environmental factors of the U.S. economy, global economy, legal and regulatory environment, socio-cultural forces, and technological forces.
• Identify three or more of the secondary sources of information available for conducting market research on REI.
• Develop a short analysis of the value of these secondary sources, specifically in gathering information on REI.
o How might these secondary sources be used to develop an integrated marketing plan? What are the limitations of the identified sources?
o How valuable would their information be in developing a marketing plan that would contribute to the company's economic success? What are potential limitations of these sources for this purpose?
Based on your executive audience, your case study should be well organized and written in clear, succinct language. Follow APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.
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 includes 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.
Attachment:- Market-Environment-and-Research.rar