Role of marketing

Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying
consumers’ requirements profitably.

♡ What do you think marketing managers do? Make a list of as many marketing tasks
as you can from this case study.
Analyze the current market and the wants and needs of consumers, start and conduct
investigations about the enterprise and how they can improve sales.
♡ Explain why McDonald’s is changing its food menu.
The global economic downturn between 2008 and 2010 has created market opportunities for
‘premium products’ aimed at consumers who are short of cash and cannot afford a meal in a
three-star restaurant. Increasing concern about the bad health effects of fast food – especially
the youth obesity problem of today – means that healthier menu options are becoming much
more popular.
♡ Do you think it will be easy to change the company’s ‘brand image’? Explain your
answer.
it won’t be easy because McDonalds is a very old enterprise that everyone already associates
with burgers and fries, or fast food in general. it would have to be a huge rebranding in order to
be able to change the image
♡ Why are ‘researching consumer wants’ and promotion important to firms such as
McDonald’s and Burger King?
McDonalds always has to try and stay one step ahead of the competition, and Burger King is one
of its bigger competitors. So knowing what customers want is crucial for the sales and
development of the company. If you don’t sell what the customer wants, they simply won’t come
to your business anymore.

Marketing Approach

Consumer market and industrial markets. Consumer markets are the final approaches of the
product, for example selling food to customers. Industrial markets are selling the products or
machinery directly to the source, to the enterprise. Businesses sell computers to both, this way
they use both marketing approaches, for example selling computers to the customers, or to the
retail shops.
Consumer markets sell goods and services which are bought by the final users, while industrial
markets sell goods and services bought by businesses to be used in the production process of
other products. When selling to other businesses a computer manufacturer for example will not
focus on retail stores, but more on industrial exhibition. they will also customise each computer
system to the exact requirements of each business customer. In Marketing Services, Services are
consumed immediately - they cannot be stored - so empty hotel bedrooms during the off-peak
season may have to be filled by charging much lower prices. Services cannot be taken back to be
repaired or replaced - so the service quality must be right first time or the consumer will not
return.
 Marketing Planning

♡ Why did Nivea use both existing and new research data?
Because when you do market research you have to compare data to know if there have been
changes in what the customers want
♡ Explain 4 uses of the data collected
Producing test products, deciding the designs for packaging, deciding the price for the product,
analyzing age ranges for the product.
♡ Was the use of marketing research the only thing leading to the product’s success?
No, it was also all the follow up done by the company, and the several changes made through the
process.

Bitcoin

In the beginning there was no money, but a system of exchanging items for others. They didn’t
have a set price, but the people decided it for each transaction. For the money to have value,
there needs to be a limited supply. It also has value because it's accepted and agreed by many
people to be valuable. When the supply of the money is more limited, it has more value, that’s why
gold is more valuable than silver. Money value goes up every year, but product prices only go up.
Printing more money never works because that way it will lose value.
Bitcoin is a worldwide digital money, which is not controlled or centralized by any government,
bank or location. It has a limited supply, since there will always be 21 million bitcoins. It can easily
be transferred digitally around the world. Governments can control banks or corporations using
laws, but transferring bitcoins isn't done in banks, but using a block chain, which is not centralized.
Block chains are citizens and computers used to record transactions, and verify its honesty.
Bitcoins are not physical, and they can be bought or sold in decimals.

Case study: Xbox

♡ Explain why Microsoft reduced the price of its Xbox console at this time.
To increase sales of their product.
♡ Why do you think all of the prices quoted above are just below a ‘round figure’, e.g.
$299 and not $300?
It gives the impression that the item is cheaper so it is a marketing strategy.
♡ Since the first games console was launched, retail prices have fallen steadily. Why is
the price trend for this product falling?
Because they need to match the price of the competitors.
 Boston Matrix

Introduction to pricing

Price is the amount paid by consumers for a product. Price is a vital component of the marketing
mix as it impacts on the consumer demand for the product. There are a number of factors that
will determine the pricing decision for a product:
1 costs of production
2 competitive conditions in the market
3 competitors’ prices
4 marketing objectives
5 price elasticity of demand
6 whether it is a new or an existing product.
A product makes a contribution to fixed costs and profit in selling price is greater than variable
costs. The business calculates a unit variable cost for the product and then adds an extra amount
this becomes the contribution to fixed costs. If enough units are sold, the total contribution will be
enough to cover the fixed costs and to return a profit. If an airline has an empty seat on a
particular flight, to gain additional (marginal) customers it could offer a price lower than the
average cost as long as it at least covered the marginal cost of carrying an extra passenger. As
long as this ‘special promotional price’ did not become universally known – in which case all
customers would demand it – this pricing method could increase sales and market share. Not all
customers can be offered special deals that just cover the marginal cost – total revenue must at
least cover total costs for a profit to be made.
competition-based pricing is a firm will base its price upon the price set by its competitors
price leadership one dominant firm in a market sets a price and other firms simply charge a price
based upon that set by the market leader
 Knock-Down prices

When assets are sold very cheaply, they're said to be traded at a knockdown price. This may be
the case if they experience turbulence and fall in value. It can also be because a seller is keen to
get a quick deal and willing to accept a low price.

♡ Do you think Levi’s is right to try to limit the sale of its clothing products at
‘knock-down’ prices? Justify your answer.
Yes, because levi is a very famous brand, and if normal clothing stores sell their products at very
low prices, people will stop buying them from the actual brand stores, and it will cause them to
lose value. Also, increasing the supply at chain stores will make them lose even more value