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Marketing in the Digital Age and Corporate Social Responsibility (33571)

UEL-MK-7040-33571

Week 12. Assessment Point 2

Assessment Point 2- Reflective Essay

By

Joshua Osezuah Omofuma

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITTLE PAGE.....................................................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................................................4
Topic One & Two.............................................................................................................................4
Consumer Behaviour Characteristics............................................................................................5
Topic Three.......................................................................................................................................5
Topic Four........................................................................................................................................6
Topic Five .........................................................................................................................................7
From Traditional To Digital Marketing.........................................................................................7
Topic Seven: Marketing Planning and Digital Strategy...............................................................8
SWOT Analysis..............................................................................................................................8
Topic Eight........................................................................................................................................9
Topic Nine.........................................................................................................................................9
Topic Ten........................................................................................................................................10
Topic Eleven...................................................................................................................................10
OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT................................................11
Researching on Cambridge Analytica a company in the digital space.....................................11
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................15
Word Count:.................................................................................................................................16

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 INTRODUCTION

Marketing is essential for any company that wants to improve overall grasp of its service or product.

Marketers could be likened to companies that desire to understand more about their own sector and

markets. Digital marketing has evolved as one of the most successful platforms for quickly

contacting a huge number of people.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR for short, refers to the idea that all organizations have a

responsibility to the society or societies in which they operate.

Marketers must use channels on social media to communicate and exchange information with the

wider populace about their services and products. Marketers, on the other hand, must be cognizant of

their own corporate social responsibilities. It is critical to preserve ethical standards when it comes to

digital marketing.

The purpose of writing this reflective essay is to expatiate on the abstract knowledge learned from

this module “Marketing in the Digital Age and Corporate Social Responsibility” and to summarise

all academic knowledge received from the module's outlines as well as professional advantages I

gained when thoroughly analysing the role Cambridge Analytica (CA) played in Donald Trump’s

election into office as president of the united states throughout the process of carrying

out assessment 1 in week 6.

I will discuss and outline what I have learned over the course of the module in this paper. This will

cover a self-evaluation of the previous assignment, which was done during the 6th week relating to

Cambridge Analytica and the non-ethical process of harvesting personal information off the internet

on Facebook in the year 2016d during the US presidential elections involving Donald J. Trump.

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 DISCUSSION

Topic One & Two: Understanding Consumer Behavior and Marketing Today/ Marketing

Strategies and Competitiveness

During the course of these topics, the analysis of the marketing discipline broadened my

comprehension as to how consumers' behavior influences industries and how advertising influence

the final consumers. The discussions also aided my better comprehension of the concept of

consumer behavior as a research topic, as well as the tools employed by academics to investigate

reasons consumer behave in a particular manner, with emphasis on marketing in the digital space.

In the first module, an emphasis was also placed on the management of customer behavior where I

gained extensive knowledge on how consumer attitude influences the industry and how ads

influence us as consumers It also aided me in better understanding consumer behavior as more than

just a topic of research, but also as the tools employed by researchers to investigate why

consumers behave in the manner they do.

As a result of technology improvements and the availability of social media platforms, marketing is

growing at an astounding rate. This allows businesses to reach the maximum number of customers

imaginable, at the very minimum, focus on a certain specific group of consumers that fit the criteria

of the goods or service a business provides. I also got to appreciate better the level of attention large

corporations invest into researching buyer behavior in order to give reasons to questions like what

consumers buy, where they buy, how they buy it, how much money they spend at what time, and

why they spend it. Actual customer transactions could give businesses with important knowledge on

what individuals buy, when they buy it, and how much they spend, according to Kotler et al (2011)

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Understanding why and how consumer purchase behavior occurs is frequently indirect; solutions are

also likely to be hidden within the customer's thoughts.

Consumer Behaviour Characteristics

According to Wayne and Deborah (2008), a multitude of factors influence consumer attitudes and

lifestyles, considering socioeconomic status, gender, age, ethnicity, and ties with friends and family

therefore consumer motives determine the effectiveness of the cultural environment, The

sociocultural setting influences processing of information and decision-making.

Governments, local communities, and societies, as well as corporate activities, may all contribute to

a developing country's microeconomic development.

Topic Three: Proposition and Branding decision

Here, brand image was touched on an I got to understand that in accordance with the Global

Marketing Association, global brands utilize a combination of standardization and adaptation tactics

for their brands and products. Packaging and labeling should be made in accordance with the legal

and cultural conventions of the countries where they will be used. as well as how to build a corporate

image and how to keep it the marketing team's purpose is to have a thorough grasp of the firm’s

image of the brand, in addition to the capabilities of certain businesses, in order to build long

relationships.

Branding was also another topic discussed during this week we got to understand Brands are like

trademarks that make it easy to distinguish between distinct items or services. They help us travel

quickly across a grocery store, chain store, or other retail facility and make shopping decisions.

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Customers can also be confident that even when they re-buy from a brand, they will enjoy

competitive prices. Retailers may benefit from brand marketing.

Customers identify them when they are displayed in a store or utilized in advertising. Because of

branding, price comparability is reduced. Given that brands are yet another factor to take into

account when comparing various things, branding helps to reduce the likelihood of purchasing

decisions of been exclusively influenced by price. Furthermore, the reputation of a brand influences

customer retention amongst buyers of goods, business and consumer items. (Selnes, 1993).

Topic Four: Marketing Communication in Digital Age

Companies have been rapidly focusing their resources on a limited number of customers who are the

most acquainted with the values they promote.

As a function of this issue, our understanding of targeted marketing has grown, this also involves the

identification of market segments and picking at least one of them before developing merchandise as

well as marketing methods adapted to the individual demands of each category.

Furthermore, we obtained a significant range of data about the sector of the market, that is composed

up of a set of enterprises or sets of individual clients, each with their own distinct characteristics.

Business researchers invest substantial time and money in identifying potentially profitable market

segments.

This strategy for market segmentation entails identifying the specific business and consumer groups

who are most inclined to buy the product according to their needs, interests and attitudes as well as

their spending habits (Clow and Baack, 2018).

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Positioning Strategies methods in addition to marketing Advertisers, sometimes employs a range of

techniques to proper position or place their items. I also got to understand Product placement

comprises, among other things, of putting the item against a rival brand, positioning the item from

competition and marketing the goods in several product categories.

Topic Five Digital Marketing, Social Media, E-Commerce and Data Analytics

This was one of the topics I was most immersed in, the five A’s of social media marketing in which

the customers path in the digital economy should be redesigned were discussed this week;

 Awareness

 Appeal

 Ask

 Advocate

The five A’s to my knowledge are used to illustrate consumer connection, and the objective of

digital marketing is to shift individuals from being informed to pushing for their services or

products. According to Kotler et al. (2017), a helpful tool that can assist marketers in optimizing

their marketing efforts is what he refers to as the O Zone (O3); when marketers use three major

sources of influence; their own, others', and outer influence to drive clients from being aware to

being advocates.

From Traditional To Digital Marketing

Under this subtopic, the change in marketing preference was elaborated upon, the change from

conventional marketing techniques to newer, more interactive and more efficient digital marketing is

a phenomenon clearly observed in every facet of business advertising today. As stated by Kotler et

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al. (1999) Conventional marketing outlets (catalogues, direct mail, and telemarketing) have already

expanded rapidly. While conventional direct marketing is rapidly expanding, online marketing is

expanding even more rapidly.

Topic Seven: Marketing Planning and Digital Strategy

Here we got to understand that the process of strategic marketing planning is divided into 3 steps:

designing a marketing plan, implementing, and then evaluating the plan's efficacy. We learned a lot

about marketing strategy, the several sorts of assessments accessible to marketing planners to help

with strategy formation, the techniques needed in doing strategic assessment, as well as the

significance of controls in attaining long-term effectiveness.

After the conclusion of overall strategic planning, management must prepare strategies for every key

functional area inside the organization, such as marketing or production.

SWOT Analysis

Here I got to understand that among the primary goals of SWOT analysis is to evaluate abilities.

Examining strengths and shortcomings provides a foundation for planning for progress and

capitalizing on that which works well. When a firm has a strong, well-trained, and committed

marketing team, it will be more successful, It might not be necessary to use as many resource for

boosting sales but instead concentrate on some other elements of their operation that are weaker.

Because the SWOT analysis components were among the most crucial to me in this topic, I invested

so much attention analyzing them.

SWOT analysis provides a summary of the scenario under consideration. The act of simply stating

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats captures exactly what is happening and provides an

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accurate picture of how things really are, because it gives better control in the beginning and later

on by assessing and developing processes and methods.

Topic Eight: Ethics and Unethical Behavior in Organizations

Here we got to understand that Long-term marketing success requires high ethical standards. Long-

term, unethical marketing affects customers as well as society. We also got to understand the nature

of ethics and its application in society and business, as well as challenges marketing executives face

while attempting to balance their personal interests with that of their organizations, consumers, and

society.

Unethical behaviors eventually harms a company's reputation and effectiveness, threatening its very

survival.

Topic Nine: Sustainability and Supply Chains

this topic provided us with a better grasp of the significance and ramifications of sustainability issues

in enterprises and across the globe, and also the ability to make actionable insights to supply chains.

The economic and sociological repercussions of supply chain methods, as well as global variances in

supply chain patterns, were thoroughly addressed.

It is worth noting that I was able to understand the fundamentals from organizing and planning to

running and coordinating supply chain management to controlling, in addition to an understanding of

supply chain management strategies and functional understanding of supply chain processes.

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Topic Ten: Corporate Social Responsibility and CSR Strategies

We learned how to assess performance and identify CSR conflicts inside firms. Bringing together

the CSR initiatives of various businesses and its partners, Governments, local communities, and

societies, as well as corporate activities, may all contribute positively to a developing nation's

microeconomic growth.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept in which businesses voluntarily resolve to respect and

safeguard the interests of a diverse range of stakeholders in order to contribute to a cleaner

environment and a better society through active contact with all stakeholders.

Corporate social responsibility has various facets, in addition to how a corporation might deploy a

CSR strategy. In the course of this conversation, we analyze a specific section of the strategic plan,

as well as potential issues that may develop during the implementation phase.

We also uncovered the origins of corporate social responsibility (CSR) across Europe. Given the

significance of all aspects of corporate social responsibility, the purpose is to provide a descriptive

study of how the European Union views corporate social responsibility and how the EU's corporate

social responsibility policy is evolving.

Topic Eleven: Human Rights and Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the practice of making unfounded claims in order to mislead consumers into

believing that a company's products are more environmentally friendly or have a higher impact on

the environment positively than they truly do.

Firms are expected to carry out their responsibilities in terms of human rights protection. To meet

this objective, investors who are moral frequently seek civil rights assessments from specialized

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channels of corporate sustainability information on performance (De Felice, 2015). Corporations

must fulfill their obligation to safeguard civil rights by, among other things, communicating with

leaders of the organizations with whom they have an investment or filtering unlawful businessmen

out of their funds. The capacity to examine and evaluate company performance across time and

across businesses is critical for both models, both systems require the ability to examine and evaluate

company productivity both over a period and across enterprises

OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT

Researching on Cambridge Analytica a company in the digital space

By studying the Cambridge Analytica case during week 6 assessment, in which I examined the

theoretical underpinnings of contemporary decision-making procedures in international politics, as

well as the impact that rapidly evolving Internet technologies have on the political environment and

the methods used in information dissipation from research carried out and information gathered from

academic journals and verified news outlets, where certain topics were also touched on like the

ethical and legal challenges that Facebook had faced and the implications of these challenges for the

future of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what Alexander Nix would have done differently, and

forecasts for how internet influence on political decision-making may develop in the future.

Week 6 assessment examined how Cambridge Analytica purposefully used targeted advertising and

marketing techniques based on people's personality profiles acquired by identifying market

segments, and selecting one or more of them, to play on their fears which resulted in Cambridge

Analytica being able to collect user information that were manipulated, resulting in the targets

becoming susceptible to the messaging during Trump’s presidential campaign and election in the

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United States, and also how the Company used this highly customized marketing technique to

convince people to support and vote Trump into office.

Cambridge Analytica for example targeted people who were in situations where they were ready to

be angry and ready to find a reason to be angry, There were certain traits that made them unique and

more vulnerable to that kind of radicalization compared to their peers, certain traits were considered,

one of the primary targets were a group of people the military referred to as “young unmarried men”

with particular kinds of psychological attributes, all this data that existed on the Internet to identify

people who were more likely to be manipulated or more likely to be a susceptible target of extremist

groups looking to recruit and radicalize people, and this categorization was accomplished using sets

of carefully put together algorithms to look through social data as well as other datasets on the

internet.

Using online marketing, it is feasible to get consumer input fast and easily, and the expenses are

cheaper as compared with those concerned with traditional kinds of advertising, because digital

revolution is really only going to get bigger, and companies should take advantage of digital

channels to connect as much consumers as possible. Digital advertising could also be adopted

quickly, and organizations have access to a wide choice of marketing tools.

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 CONCLUSION

When technology is applied properly, it can benefit all parties while causing no harm. It can also

help enterprises improve their economic performance, which leads to overall economic prosperity in

the global financial movement. As with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, extensively covered this

semester, technology can be used unethically and unprofessionally, as a result, there was a lack of

impartiality and an infringement on the rights of users and customers.

Companies have begun to recognize that they are responsible for their actions over time, which has

resulted in a good influence on stakeholders, the environment, and society.

Firms must market digitally because the majority of individuals use the internet to search for

information, make payments, and purchase for products and services. There aren't as many

traditional marketing methods available these days as there once were.

This module was both informative and engaging, in week 6, researching the roles Cambridge

Analytica played in 2016 US Presidential election was exciting to me and terrifying at the same

time, most especially when I came to the realization that such user sensitive and specific data could

be harvested off the internet and misused if it finds its way into the wrong hands. Critically

analyzing Cambridge Analytica’s strategy for formulating and harnessing the power of targeted

advertisement was insightful.

There is no logical reason for any firm or institution not to depend on digital marketing research and

study results. Every day, technology advances at a quick pace, characterized by rapid advancement

in several elements of everyday life and potential to accelerate the digitalization. Marketing is

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changing at a breakneck pace as owing to technological progress as well as the advent of platforms

for social media, enabling us to connect as many consumers as possible, or in the very least, engage

a certain category of consumers that fit the criteria of the good or service you offer.

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 REFERENCES

1. Kotler, P. and Gary, A., (2011), Principles of Marketing, Pearson Education.

2. Hoyer., D., Wayne, Macinnis, J., D., (2008), Consumer Behavior, Fifth Edition, Cengage

Learning.

3. Clow, E. K., Baack, D., (2018), Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing

Communications, Pearson.

4. Selnes, F., (1993), An examination of the Effect of Product Performance on Brand

Reputation, Satisfaction and Loyalty, Journal of Product & Brand Management.

5. Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H. and Setiawan, I., (2017), Marketing 4.0, Wiley.

6. Etzel, J. M., Walker, J. B., and Stanton, J. W., (1997), Marketing, McGraw- Hill. de Felice,

D., (2015), Business and Human Rights Indicators to Measure the Corporate Responsibility

to Respect: Challenges and Opportunities, Human Rights Quarterly, Baltimore Vol. 37, Iss.

2, 511-555,575.

7. Chen, Y.-S. (2010). The drivers of green brand equity: green brand image, green satisfaction,

and green trust, Journal of Business Ethics, 93(2), 307319.

8. Turker, D., Jonker, J., Toker, H., Altuntas, C., Borgmann, L., Burke, A., Carvalho, M.S. J.,

9. Dentchev, A. N., Elving, L. J. W., and Jablonkai, R., (2013), Contemporary Issues in

Corporate Social Responsibility, Lexington books.

10. URIP, S., (2010), CSR Strategies: Corporate Social Responsibility for a Competitive Edge in

Emerging Markets, John Wiley and Sons.

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Word Count:

Introduction: 268

Main body: 2236

Conclusion: 311

Total: 2813

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