Deck 1: Customer-Driven Strategic Marketing

Question 1

Successful companies develop strategies for marketing their products. The strategic plan guides the marketer in making many of the detailed decisions about the attributes of the product, its distribution, promotional activities, and pricing. A clear understanding of the foundations of marketing is essential in formulating a strategy and in the development of a specific marketing plan. To guide you in relating the information in this chapter to the development of your marketing plan, consider the following:
Describe the level of market orientation that currently exists in your company. How will a market orientation contribute to the success of your new product?
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Answer 1

Market orientation approach contributes to the success of any new product. In this approach, goods and products are designed by keeping in mind the customers' requirements. This approach is the best because customers across the world have become very knowledgeable and want better quality and variety. New products must be more sensitive towards the needs of the customers if they want to compete in the market.
The prime example of this approach is the cell phone industry. The mobile phones have adapted quickly to the needs and requirements of the customers. Currently, mobile phones come with so many additional accessories such as camera, internet access, and Bluetooth etc. All these specifications were added into the mobile phones due to the increasing requirements of the customers.

Question 2

How can an organization implement the marketing concept?

Answer 2

An organization can implement the Marketing Concept in the following ways:
a) Management should launch an information system through which they can discover customers' wants and needs. This information will help the firm in providing satisfactory services and goods.
b) The firm should coordinate its activities to satisfy customers and self-objectives.

Question 3

What is the focus of all marketing activities? Why?

Answer 3

Marketing Focuses on Customers
1. As the buyers of the goods that organizations grow, encourage, distribute, and price, consumers are the essential point of all marketing and promoting activities.
2. Generally organizations focus on their promotion and marketing efforts on an exact group of customers.
3. The principle of marketing is to cultivate satisfying exchanges between both customers and marketers.
4. This is a give and take process in which both customer and marketer supposed to gain value from the exchange.

Question 4

What is customer relationship management? Why is it so important to "manage" this relationship?

Question 5

The American Marketing Association
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the marketing discipline's primary professional organization. In addition to sponsoring academic research, publishing marketing literature, and organizing meetings of local businesspeople with student members, it helps individual members to find employment in member firms. Visit the AMA website at www.marketingpower.com.
If you joined a student chapter of the AMA, what benefits would you receive?

Question 6

Why is marketing important in our society? Why should you study marketing?

Question 7

Identify possible target markets for the following products: a. Kellogg's Corn Flakes
B) Wilson tennis rackets
C) Disney World
D) Diet Pepsi

Question 8

Cruising to Success: The Tale of New Belgium Brewing
In 1991, electrical engineer Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan began making Belgian-style ales in their basement. The impetus for the brewery occurred after Lebesch had spent time in Belgium riding throughout the country on his mountain bike. He believed he could manufacture highquality Belgian beers in America. After spending time in the Colorado Rockies deciding the values and directions of their new company, the two launched New Belgium Brewing (NBB), with Kim Jordan as marketing director. The company's first beer was named Fat Tire in honor of Lebesch's Belgian mountain biking trek. Fat Tire remains one of NBB's most popular ales.
NBB has come far from its humble basement origins. Today, the Fort Collins-based brewery is the third-largest craft brewer in the country with products available in 30 states. Kim Jordan helms the company as one of the few female CEOs of a large beer firm. "This entrepreneurial thing sneaks up on you," Jordan states. "And even after 20 years, I still have those pinch me moments where I think, wow, this is what we've created here together." While total beer sales are dropping in the United States, sales in the craft beer industry have increased to $ 8.7 billion. NBB has a sales growth rate of 15 percent.
Creating such success required a corporate culture that stressed creativity and an authentic approach to treating all stakeholders with respect. While the New Belgium product is a quality craft beer, just as important to the company is how it treats employees, the community, and the environment. Each element of the marketing mix was carefully considered. The company spends a significant amount of time researching and creating its beers, even collaborating with Seattle-based Elysian Brewing to co-create new products. This collaBEERation has led to products such as Ranger IPA and Kick. NBB's culture is focused on making a quality product and satisfying customers. It has even ventured into organic beer with its creation of Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer. The company has several product line varieties, including its more popular beers Fat Tire, 1554, and Sunshine Wheat; seasonal beers such as Dig and Snow Day; and its Lips of Faith line, a series of experimental beers including La Folie and Prickly Passion produced in smaller batches.
The distribution element of the product mix was complex at the outset. In her initial role as marketing director, Jordan needed to convince distributors to carry their products. Often, new companies must work hard to convince distributors to carry their brands as distributors are fearful of alienating more established rivals. However, Jordan tirelessly got NBB beer onto store shelves, even delivering beer in her Toyota station wagon. As a craft brewer, NBB uses a premium pricing strategy. Its products are priced higher than domestic brands such as Coors or Budweiser and have higher profit margins. The popularity of NBB beers has prompted rivals to develop competitive products such as MillerCoors' Blue Moon Belgian White.
Perhaps the most notable dimension of NBB's marketing mix is promotion. From the beginning the company based its brand on its core values, including practicing environmental stewardship and forming a participative environment in which all employees can exert their creativity. "For me brand is absolutely everything we are. It's the people here. It's how we interact with one another. And then there's the other piece of that creativity, obviously, which is designing beers," Kim Jordan said. NBB promotion has attempted to portray the company's creativity and its harmony with the natural environment. For instance, one NBB video features a tinkerer repairing a bicycle and riding down the road, while another features NBB "rangers" singing a hip-hop number to promote the company's Ranger IPA ale. The company has also heavily promoted its brand through Facebook and Twitter. This "indie" charm has served to position NBB as a company committed to having fun and being a socially responsible company.
NBB also markets itself as a company committed to sustainability. Sustainability has been a core value at NBB from day one. The company was the first fully wind-powered brewery in the United States. NBB recycles cardboard boxes, keg caps, office materials, and amber glass. The brewery stores spent barley and hop grains in an on-premise silo and invites local farmers to pick up the grains, free of charge, to feed their pigs. The company also provides employees with a cruiser bicycle after one year of employment so they can bike to work instead of drive.
NBB's popularity is allowing it to expand on the East Coast with plans to continue expanding throughout the United States. The combination of a unique brand image, strong marketing mix, and an orientation that considers all stakeholders has turned NBB into a multi-million-dollar success. 34
What has Kim Jordan done to create success at New Belgium?

Question 9

Successful companies develop strategies for marketing their products. The strategic plan guides the marketer in making many of the detailed decisions about the attributes of the product, its distribution, promotional activities, and pricing. A clear understanding of the foundations of marketing is essential in formulating a strategy and in the development of a specific marketing plan. To guide you in relating the information in this chapter to the development of your marketing plan, consider the following:
What benefits will your product provide to the customer? How will these benefits play a role in determining the customer value of your product?
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 10

What are the four variables of the marketing mix? Why are these elements known as variables?

Question 11

The American Marketing Association
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the marketing discipline's primary professional organization. In addition to sponsoring academic research, publishing marketing literature, and organizing meetings of local businesspeople with student members, it helps individual members to find employment in member firms. Visit the AMA website at www.marketingpower.com.
What marketing-mix variable does the AMA's Internet marketing effort exemplify?

Question 12

Discuss the variables of the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and distribution) as they might relate to each of the following: a. A trucking company
B) A men's clothing store
C) A skating rink
D) A campus bookstore

Question 13

Cruising to Success: The Tale of New Belgium Brewing
In 1991, electrical engineer Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan began making Belgian-style ales in their basement. The impetus for the brewery occurred after Lebesch had spent time in Belgium riding throughout the country on his mountain bike. He believed he could manufacture highquality Belgian beers in America. After spending time in the Colorado Rockies deciding the values and directions of their new company, the two launched New Belgium Brewing (NBB), with Kim Jordan as marketing director. The company's first beer was named Fat Tire in honor of Lebesch's Belgian mountain biking trek. Fat Tire remains one of NBB's most popular ales.
NBB has come far from its humble basement origins. Today, the Fort Collins-based brewery is the third-largest craft brewer in the country with products available in 30 states. Kim Jordan helms the company as one of the few female CEOs of a large beer firm. "This entrepreneurial thing sneaks up on you," Jordan states. "And even after 20 years, I still have those pinch me moments where I think, wow, this is what we've created here together." While total beer sales are dropping in the United States, sales in the craft beer industry have increased to $ 8.7 billion. NBB has a sales growth rate of 15 percent.
Creating such success required a corporate culture that stressed creativity and an authentic approach to treating all stakeholders with respect. While the New Belgium product is a quality craft beer, just as important to the company is how it treats employees, the community, and the environment. Each element of the marketing mix was carefully considered. The company spends a significant amount of time researching and creating its beers, even collaborating with Seattle-based Elysian Brewing to co-create new products. This collaBEERation has led to products such as Ranger IPA and Kick. NBB's culture is focused on making a quality product and satisfying customers. It has even ventured into organic beer with its creation of Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer. The company has several product line varieties, including its more popular beers Fat Tire, 1554, and Sunshine Wheat; seasonal beers such as Dig and Snow Day; and its Lips of Faith line, a series of experimental beers including La Folie and Prickly Passion produced in smaller batches.
The distribution element of the product mix was complex at the outset. In her initial role as marketing director, Jordan needed to convince distributors to carry their products. Often, new companies must work hard to convince distributors to carry their brands as distributors are fearful of alienating more established rivals. However, Jordan tirelessly got NBB beer onto store shelves, even delivering beer in her Toyota station wagon. As a craft brewer, NBB uses a premium pricing strategy. Its products are priced higher than domestic brands such as Coors or Budweiser and have higher profit margins. The popularity of NBB beers has prompted rivals to develop competitive products such as MillerCoors' Blue Moon Belgian White.
Perhaps the most notable dimension of NBB's marketing mix is promotion. From the beginning the company based its brand on its core values, including practicing environmental stewardship and forming a participative environment in which all employees can exert their creativity. "For me brand is absolutely everything we are. It's the people here. It's how we interact with one another. And then there's the other piece of that creativity, obviously, which is designing beers," Kim Jordan said. NBB promotion has attempted to portray the company's creativity and its harmony with the natural environment. For instance, one NBB video features a tinkerer repairing a bicycle and riding down the road, while another features NBB "rangers" singing a hip-hop number to promote the company's Ranger IPA ale. The company has also heavily promoted its brand through Facebook and Twitter. This "indie" charm has served to position NBB as a company committed to having fun and being a socially responsible company.
NBB also markets itself as a company committed to sustainability. Sustainability has been a core value at NBB from day one. The company was the first fully wind-powered brewery in the United States. NBB recycles cardboard boxes, keg caps, office materials, and amber glass. The brewery stores spent barley and hop grains in an on-premise silo and invites local farmers to pick up the grains, free of charge, to feed their pigs. The company also provides employees with a cruiser bicycle after one year of employment so they can bike to work instead of drive.
NBB's popularity is allowing it to expand on the East Coast with plans to continue expanding throughout the United States. The combination of a unique brand image, strong marketing mix, and an orientation that considers all stakeholders has turned NBB into a multi-million-dollar success. 34
How does New Belgium's focus on sustainability as a core value contribute to its corporate culture and success?

Question 14

What is value? How can marketers use the marketing mix to enhance the perception of value?

Question 15

Successful companies develop strategies for marketing their products. The strategic plan guides the marketer in making many of the detailed decisions about the attributes of the product, its distribution, promotional activities, and pricing. A clear understanding of the foundations of marketing is essential in formulating a strategy and in the development of a specific marketing plan. To guide you in relating the information in this chapter to the development of your marketing plan, consider the following:
Discuss how the marketing concept contributes to a company's long-term success.
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 16

There are seemingly hundreds of different cell phones available on the market today. How do consumers choose? The answer is simple: consumer value. Compare the value of an Apple iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Begin by identifying the benefits and costs that you consider when evaluating cell phones- factors like ease of texting, overall look and feel, or purchasing price. Assign a weighting coefficient to each factor that reflects its importance to you. You could use 0 - 5 , for example, with 0 meaning no importance whatsoever and 5 meaning absolutely important. Using the equation value = benefits ? costs, calculate the value for the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy. Do these results match actual cell phone sales for the two products?

Question 17

What is marketing ? How did you define the term before you read this chapter?

Question 18

What conditions must exist before a marketing exchange can occur? Describe a recent exchange in which you participated.

Question 19

The American Marketing Association
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the marketing discipline's primary professional organization. In addition to sponsoring academic research, publishing marketing literature, and organizing meetings of local businesspeople with student members, it helps individual members to find employment in member firms. Visit the AMA website at www.marketingpower.com.
What type of information is available on the AMA website to assist students in planning their careers and finding jobs?

Question 20

Develop your analytical and communication skills using the Role-Play Exercises online at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 21

Identify several businesses in your area that have not adopted the marketing concept. What characteristics of these organizations indicate nonacceptance of the marketing concept?

Question 22

What are the forces in the marketing environment? How much control does a marketing manager have over these forces?

Question 23

Cruising to Success: The Tale of New Belgium Brewing
In 1991, electrical engineer Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan began making Belgian-style ales in their basement. The impetus for the brewery occurred after Lebesch had spent time in Belgium riding throughout the country on his mountain bike. He believed he could manufacture highquality Belgian beers in America. After spending time in the Colorado Rockies deciding the values and directions of their new company, the two launched New Belgium Brewing (NBB), with Kim Jordan as marketing director. The company's first beer was named Fat Tire in honor of Lebesch's Belgian mountain biking trek. Fat Tire remains one of NBB's most popular ales.
NBB has come far from its humble basement origins. Today, the Fort Collins-based brewery is the third-largest craft brewer in the country with products available in 30 states. Kim Jordan helms the company as one of the few female CEOs of a large beer firm. "This entrepreneurial thing sneaks up on you," Jordan states. "And even after 20 years, I still have those pinch me moments where I think, wow, this is what we've created here together." While total beer sales are dropping in the United States, sales in the craft beer industry have increased to $ 8.7 billion. NBB has a sales growth rate of 15 percent.
Creating such success required a corporate culture that stressed creativity and an authentic approach to treating all stakeholders with respect. While the New Belgium product is a quality craft beer, just as important to the company is how it treats employees, the community, and the environment. Each element of the marketing mix was carefully considered. The company spends a significant amount of time researching and creating its beers, even collaborating with Seattle-based Elysian Brewing to co-create new products. This collaBEERation has led to products such as Ranger IPA and Kick. NBB's culture is focused on making a quality product and satisfying customers. It has even ventured into organic beer with its creation of Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer. The company has several product line varieties, including its more popular beers Fat Tire, 1554, and Sunshine Wheat; seasonal beers such as Dig and Snow Day; and its Lips of Faith line, a series of experimental beers including La Folie and Prickly Passion produced in smaller batches.
The distribution element of the product mix was complex at the outset. In her initial role as marketing director, Jordan needed to convince distributors to carry their products. Often, new companies must work hard to convince distributors to carry their brands as distributors are fearful of alienating more established rivals. However, Jordan tirelessly got NBB beer onto store shelves, even delivering beer in her Toyota station wagon. As a craft brewer, NBB uses a premium pricing strategy. Its products are priced higher than domestic brands such as Coors or Budweiser and have higher profit margins. The popularity of NBB beers has prompted rivals to develop competitive products such as MillerCoors' Blue Moon Belgian White.
Perhaps the most notable dimension of NBB's marketing mix is promotion. From the beginning the company based its brand on its core values, including practicing environmental stewardship and forming a participative environment in which all employees can exert their creativity. "For me brand is absolutely everything we are. It's the people here. It's how we interact with one another. And then there's the other piece of that creativity, obviously, which is designing beers," Kim Jordan said. NBB promotion has attempted to portray the company's creativity and its harmony with the natural environment. For instance, one NBB video features a tinkerer repairing a bicycle and riding down the road, while another features NBB "rangers" singing a hip-hop number to promote the company's Ranger IPA ale. The company has also heavily promoted its brand through Facebook and Twitter. This "indie" charm has served to position NBB as a company committed to having fun and being a socially responsible company.
NBB also markets itself as a company committed to sustainability. Sustainability has been a core value at NBB from day one. The company was the first fully wind-powered brewery in the United States. NBB recycles cardboard boxes, keg caps, office materials, and amber glass. The brewery stores spent barley and hop grains in an on-premise silo and invites local farmers to pick up the grains, free of charge, to feed their pigs. The company also provides employees with a cruiser bicycle after one year of employment so they can bike to work instead of drive.
NBB's popularity is allowing it to expand on the East Coast with plans to continue expanding throughout the United States. The combination of a unique brand image, strong marketing mix, and an orientation that considers all stakeholders has turned NBB into a multi-million-dollar success. 34
How has New Belgium implemented the marketing concept?

Question 24

Discuss the basic elements of the marketing concept. Which businesses in your area use this philosophy? Explain why.