Draft a response to each of the bulleted questions below. Each question must have its own response and have a minimum of 50 words.
1. Describe how today's customer relationship era differs from prior eras.
2. The goal-setting step in the planning phase of the strategic marketing process sets quantified objectives for use in the evaluation phase. What does a manager do if measured results fail to meet objectives? Exceed objectives?
3. What is the main result of each of the three phases of the strategic marketing process? (a) planning, (b) implementation, and (c) evaluation.
4. A college in a metropolitan area wishes to increase its evening-school offerings of business-related courses such as marketing, accounting, finance, and management. Who are the target market customers (students) for these courses? What actions involving the four marketing mix elements might be used to reach the target market?
5. In recent years in the brewing industry, a couple of large firms that have historically had most of the beer sales (Anheuser-Busch and Miller) have faced competition from many small "micro" brands. In terms of the continuum of competition, how would you explain this change?
6. Select an organization with which you are familiar. How does your selected organization use the 5 steps of the purchase decision process to position itself as the best solution for its target customers? Use examples of how the organization communicates value during the Information Search stage and the Alternative Evaluation stage.
7. Suppose research at Panasonic reveals that prospective buyers are anxious about buying high-definition television sets. What strategies might you recommend to the company to reduce consumer anxiety?