Marketing Management

1. The definition of marketing management, according to Kotler, is "managing profitable customer relationships (by) attracting new customers (and) retaining and growing customers' (Power Point slide No.4, Chapter 1). Marketing management according to Ken Schaefle is, "The building block of the marketing process and it should form the foundation of the organization...everyone should be dedicated to the customer" (Class 10/7/04). See attached Exhibit #1, Marketing Management Orientations.

2. Strategic Planning is defined as "the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization's goals and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities". (PowerPoint slide No. 32, Chapter 2). Strategic planning, and its 4 steps of defining the company mission, setting company objectives and goals, designing the business portfolio, and planning marketing and other strategies are essential for marketing managers as they must understand the core values, mission and vision statements of the company in order to comprehend the culture they are working in. Each of the 4 steps, and their importance in the process, are defined in Exhibit #2, Steps in the Strategic Planning Process. As indicated in a Business Week magazine article titled "Strategic Planning", a recent study by the Association of Management Consulting firms found the executives, consultants and B-school professors all agree that business strategy is now the single most important management issue and will remain so for the next five years. In the 1990's, Procter & Gamble Co.'s strategic decision to compete on the basis of low prices allowed the company to reinvent itself and its industry, resulting in profit margins of 11.6% over their prior 6.4% margin. Only through the strategic planning process can marketing managers discover their company's current culture and beliefs, which will assist in determining the correct marketing mix to be utilized for each SBU. This will ultimately result in higher market share and profits for the shareholders.

3. Describe the four major e-commerce domains (environments). E-Commerce, or "buying and selling processes supported by electronic means, primarily the Internet" (Pg. 74, Kotler) is important to marketing managers for a variety of reasons. It builds customer relationships, allows for individualized marketing, aids in gathering of data, increases speed and efficiency, and offers greater flexibility (Pg. 75, Kotler). At its core, is it has to build profitable relationships with the target markets and offer enough value to attract repeat visitors. E-commerce is but one element in the marketing-mix and it must meet, and then exceed, customer's expectations in order to have value to the market, regardless of who the market is Ð'- be it B2C, B2B, C2C or C2B.

B2C-Business to Consumer Domains

Example: Amazon.com, Target.com,

Markets direct to consumer through e-commerce channels

Can partner with brick-and-mortar firms or be an extension of a brick-and-mortar firm.

Allows firms to reach boarder demographic segments.

Initiated by business and targets consumers

B2B-Business to Business Domains

Example: Grainger.com, Staples.com

Markets products and services from one business to another via the Internet

Includes open trading networks and private trading networks.

Allows a firm to market globally.

Initiated by business and targets other business

C2C-Consumer to Consumer Domains

Example: EBay.com, Match.com

Facilitates transactions between final consumers via the Internet.

Allows individual buyers and sellers to connect.

Initiated by consumers and targets consumers

C2B-Consumer to Business Domains

Example: Travelocity.com, LendingTree.com

Consumer seeks out seller and initiates purchases via the Internet.

Allows buyers to connect only to those products and services they actually need.

Initiated by consumers and targets businesses

4. The marketing environment can be defined as "the actors & forces outside marketing that affect marketing management's ability to build & maintain successful relationships with target marketers" (Pg.106, Kotler). Companies can react to the marketing environment in the following manners:

- Reactive manner Ð'- the company can passively accept the current marketing environment, deemed as an uncontrollable element, by designing strategies the avoid threats, capitalizing on opportunities; Ace Hardware's "hardware man" marketing campaign targets those individuals looking for a more personal shopping experience.

- Proactive manner Ð'- companies can pursue an environmental management perspective, aggressively pursue actions affecting the public & forces in their marketing environment. This can be achieved by companies, using lobbyists, PR, advertorials (ad expressing point of view to shape public opinion), lawsuits, complaints, and contractual agreements.

5. A marketing information system (MIS) is defined as a system of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers

(Pg. 143, Kotler). This should be a system that serves the needs of all users and balances information users would like, what they really need and what is feasible to offer. It is the job of MIS to monitor the environment in order to provide useful information to make necessary marketing decisions for the firm. (See the following table, which explains the MIS subparts.)

INTERNAL DATABASES

(Data sources within the firm) MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

(Publicly available information) MARKET RESEARCH

(Systematic design, collection, analysis & reporting of relevant data)

Accounting provides sales, costs, and cash flow information. Information gathered from employees. Former employees are a source of information as well