how to prepare MKX9550 exam (1)

well, yesterday, Apple released couple of new products, includes new iPod shuffle, new iPod touch, and some other new services, such as Ping.

and, yesterday, i read the unit outline of MKX9550 2010 semester 2. well, this semester has additional assignment compared with last semester. so, i chose study MKX9550 in last semester was a good choice.

OK, go to the point. to prepare the MKX9550 final exam, first, you need to read carefully about the lecture notes of week 13. in week 13, the teacher will hand out the revision notes, but these notes just laid out some basic thing of this unit. you need to make the revision notes by yourself. and in this blog, i put the week 13 revision notes, and next time, i will put another revision notes.

NB: you need to understand each term in the revison notes, not just remeber their names.

The key factors re-visited


What is marketing?

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offering that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Core marketing concepts

1. Needs, wants and demands

2. Target markets, positioning, and segmentation.

3. Offering and brand

4. value and satisfaction

5. Market channels

6. Supply chain

7. Competition

8. Marketing environment

New marketing realities: Major Societal Forces

1. New information technology

2. Heightened competition

3. Globalisation

4. Deregulation

5. Privatisation

6. Industry convergence

7. Consumer resistance

8. Retail transformation

9. Disintermediation
Holistic marketing:

Internal marketing: marketing department, senior management and other department.

Integrated marketing: communication, products and channels.

Social responsible marketing: ethics, environment, legal and community.

Relationship marketing: consumers, channel and partners.
Marketing management tasks

Develop market strategies and plans

Capture marketing insights

Connect with customers

Build strong brands

Shape market offering

Deliver value

Communicate value

Create long term growth

Marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort.

Strategic marketing plan: segment marketing decision, value proposition, analysis of market opportunities.

Tactical marketing plan: product features, pricing, promotion, merchandising, service, sales channels.

Characteristics of core competencies: a source of competitive advantage, applications in a wide variety of markets and difficult to imitate.

Dimensions that define a business: customer groups, customer needs and technology

Ansoff’s product- market expansion grid:

Current product and current market: market penetration strategy

New product and current market: product development strategy

Current product and new market: market development strategy

New product and new market: diversification strategy
The international consumer:

For the purposes of this subject we need to consider all the aspects of marketing covered, in the context of how it applies to international consumers.

The market environment:

Can change rapidly

Can be unpredictable

Can provide considerable opportunity

Can have a significant impact on strategy, operations, positioning, marketing programs

The marketing environment

Macro-environment forces: the larger societal forces that affect the whole micro environment and are considered mostly outside the control of the organisation.

Micro-environment forces: internal forces that can influence how the organisation operates.

Forces over which the organisation has some control

Scanning the marketing environment: marketers must continually scan the marco and micro environments- anticipating, predicting, responding to and dealing with the expected and unexpected.


SWOT analysis: strength, weakness, opportunity and threat

Marketing and customer value: the value delivery process

Traditional: make the product---sell the product

Value creation and delivering sequence: choose the value--- provide the value--- communicate the value

Marketing and customer value: the value chain

The value chain identifies strategically relevant activities that create value and cost in a business.

Primary activities: inbound logistic, operating, outbound logistic, sales and marketing, service

Supporting activities: company infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement

Analysing the macro environment:

Needs and trends: fads, trends and megatrends

Six major forces present opportunities and threats: demographic, economic, socio- cultural, natural, technological and political-legal.

Major decisions in international marketing

Decide whether to go abroad- deciding which markets to enter- decide how to enter the market- decide on the market program- decide on the marketing organisation.
Desired country characteristics for market entry:

Rank high on market attractiveness, rank low in market risk, and possess a competitive advantage.

Five models of entry into foreign markets: 1. Indirect exporting 2. Direct exporting 3. Joint ventures 4. Licensing 5. Direct investment

Culture dimensions: individualism vs. collectivism masculine vs. feminine high vs. low power distance weak vs. strong uncertainty avoidanc
Levels of product adaptation

Production of regional product versions/ production of country versions/ production of city versions/ production of retailer version

Communications: communications adaptation/ dual adaptation



Five forces determining segment structural attractiveness:

1. Industry completion

2. Potential new entrant

3. Substitute

4. Bargaining power of supplier

5. Bargaining power of buyers

Analysing competitors:

Strategies: strategic groups

Objectives

Strengths and weaknesses: share of market, share of mind and share of heart

General attack strategies: frontal attack, encirclement attack, bypass, flank attack, guerrilla warfare

Market follower strategies: counterfeiter, cloner, imitator and adapter

Model of consumer behaviour

Marketing stimuli---other stimuli--- consumer psychology/ consumer characteristic --- buying decision process--- purchase decision

What influences consumer behaviour?

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups, and organisations select, buy, use, and dispose of market offerings to satisfy their needs and wants.

It is influenced by: cultural factors, social factors and personal factors.

Key psychological processes:

Motivation: Maslow

Perception

Learning

Memory

Perception: selective attention- what people notice, typically the strongest or most involving stimuli.

Perceptual positioning and attitudes to products.

Four levels of micromarketing: segments/ niches/ local areas/ individuals

What is a market segment?

A market segment consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants

Market segmentation process

1. Define the market: determine an appropriate market boundary

2. Segment the market: identify similar groups of markets which comprise segments

3. Target the market: select target segments which are meaningful and viable

4. Position offer in the market: create or design the appropriate values value offering for each segment targeted
Market segmentation- bases

Demographic/ geographic/ psychological
Effective segmentation criteria: measurable, substantial, accessible, differential and actionable.

Branding the offer: what is a brand? A name, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Brand equity: the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand.

The offer:

1. Core benefit- what the customer is really buying. E.g. hotel- rest and sleep

2. Basic product- hotel room and furniture

3. Expected product- what the consumer expects. E.g. clean sheets etc

4. Augmented product- what does it take to exceed expectations

5. Potential product- what can be expected of the product in the future.
New- product development decision

1. Idea generation

2. Idea screening

3. Concept development and testing

4. Marketing strategy development

5. Business analysis

6. Product development

7. Marketing testing

8. Commercialisation
Steps in setting price

1. Select the price object

2. Determine demand

3. Estimate the cost

4. Analysis competitor price mix

5. Select pricing method

6. Select the final price
The cost of producing the offer

1. Set pricing objectives

2. Determine the price floor and ceiling

3. Influences on pricing

- Fixed and variable cost

- Break even analysis

- Influence of customer demand

- Price sensitivity
Developing pricing strategies

1. Market skimming: highest price possible to skim the market

2. Market penetration: new offer to market- low price to get big market share

3. Cost plus pricing: charge percentage mark up on cost of production

4. Loss leader pricing: reduced price for first order, then increase

5. Price bundling: sell two or more products together for lesser price
Selecting a pricing method

1. Markup pricing

2. Target-return pricing

3. Perceived-value pricing

4. Value pricing

5. Going- rate pricing

6. Auction-type pricing
Designing a marketing channel system

1. Analyse customer needs

2. Establish channel objectives

3. Identify major channel alternatives

4. Evaluate major channel alternatives

Channel- management decision

1. Selecting channel members

2. Training channel members

3. Motivating channel members

4. Evaluating channel members

5. Modifying channel members

Elements in the communications process: senders/ encoding/ message/ media/ decoding/ receiver/ response/ feedback/ noises

Steps in developing effective communications

1. Identify target audience

2. Determine objectives

3. Design communications

4. Select channels

5. Establish budget

6. Decide on media mix

7. Measure results

8. Manage integrated marketing communications

Facilitators of marketing strategy success

1. Organisational culture

2. Degree of market orientation

3. Continuous learning

4. Building resources and capabilities

5. Costs and benefits evaluation