Questions and Answers of Foundations Of Marketing

Discuss the development of marketing. What are the critical ways in which marketing has changed over the years?
Identify two examples of organizations that you consider provide customer value, and describe how they do it.
Select one influencer or celebrity that you follow online. Describe how they have used marketing to build their brand.
Marketing is central to how we live our lives. Discuss.
Rather than assisting in the creation of value, marketing is responsible for many of society’s ills. Discuss.
Visit the Chartered Institute of Marketing content hub www.cim.co.uk/exchange/. Select any story currently featured that interests you and summarize three key learning points from the article.
Depop was developed by entrepreneur Simon Beckerman in 2011; it subsequently launched in Italy in 2013 and relocated to London in 2015. The company has expanded globally and also has offices in New
Discuss the relationships between business strategy, marketing strategy and marketing tactics.
Discuss the role and limitations of the external analysis phase of marketing planning.
What is meant by a SWOT analysis? What are the characteristics of an effective SWOT analysis?
Compare and contrast a cost leadership strategy with a differentiation strategy. Is it possible to pursue both strategies simultaneously?
Discuss why it is important for marketers to be able to measure and justify the effectiveness of marketing activities.
Visit www.bplans.com, https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-plan-examples and www.howstuffworks.com/marketing-plan.htm. Review some of the sample marketing plans available on these sites.
Nike was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman. Located in Beaverton, Oregon, in the USA, the company was initially known as Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1972, it launched the first Nike shoe, but it was not
What are the differences between organizational buying behaviour and consumer buying behaviour?
Choose a recent purchase that included not only yourself but also other people in making the decision. What role(s) did you play in the buying centre? What roles did these other people play and how
Compare and contrast the information processing approach and the consumer culture approach to our understanding of how consumers behave in the ways that they do.
Review the choice criteria influencing some recent purchases, such as a hairstyle, a meal, etc.
Describe the recent trends in just-in-time purchasing, online exchanges and centralized purchasing.Discuss the implications of these trends for marketers in vendor firms.
Outline the benefits and challenges associated with using influencer marketing. Highlight some of the main social media influencers relevant to your market, age group and interests. Assess the extent
On an international scale, Peloton has created and built a phenomenal brand with a cult-like following in just six years. The power of the brand lies in its ambition to be the ‘Apple’ of fitness,
What are the differences between qualitative and quantitative research? Explain the roles played by each.
Outline the main stages in the marketing research process, identifying particularly the kinds of difficulties that might be faced at each stage.
Market research is being trivialized by the number of surveys that are being reported in the media.Discuss.
Many firms are now investing heavily in analysing their own customers through CRM and website analysis. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend for both firms and consumers?
Discuss and debate the 7 Vs of big data. Are there any Vs missing, in your opinion?
What are the opportunities and challenges for companies using social media listening?
Discuss the recent rise of ethnography and netnography as methods to study consumer behaviour.What are the ethical implications of these approaches?
Visit www.surveymonkey.com and learn about how to create and administer a survey.
Headquartered near the historic Pike Place Market in Seattle, Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl. Their business model was based on a simple concept: sales of
Discuss the advantages and related challenges of segmenting the market.
You have been asked by a client company to segment the confectionery market. Use at least three different bases for segmentation and describe the segments that emerge.
Many consumer goods companies have recently been experimenting with the possibilities of a customized target marketing strategy. What are the advantages and limitations of such a strategy?
Research has emerged that views the targeting of particular segments as overdone. Discuss the merits and weaknesses of the sophisticated mass marketing approach of appealing to as large a slice of
A friend of yours wants to launch a new breakfast cereal on the market but is unsure how to position the product. Develop a perceptual map of the breakfast cereal market, identifying brands that
What is the difference between positioning and repositioning? Choose a brand that has been repositioned in the marketplace, and describe both its old positioning and its new positioning. Is its
Visit Experian.co.uk and review the Mosaic Global geodemographic system. Select any one Mosaic group (e.g. Sophisticated Singles) and identify some products that could be targeted at this group and
In today’s interconnected digital world, full of savvy Gen Y consumers, every single thing you do is marketing,’ wrote BrewDog co-founder, James Watt. Today, BrewDog is famous for selling a wide
Explain the difference between a product and a brand.
Think of five brand names. To what extent do they meet the criteria of good brand naming as laid out in Table 6.1? Do any of the names legitimately break these guidelines? Table 6.1 Brand name
Examine a product like bottled water through the lens of the core, actual and augmented product.What types of differentiation strategies are being used by brands in this sector? Can you suggest any
The product life cycle is more likely to mislead marketing management than provide useful insights. Discuss.
Explain what is meant by brand salience and brand image, and discuss the relationships between them.
Outline the main stages in the new product development process, identifying the potential sources of failure at each stage.
Some researchers argue that the idea of product differentiation is oversold in mature product markets.Review the debates online regarding differentiation and distinctiveness. What is your view?
Describe the contrasting approaches brands take to brand architecture. Select one multi-brand organization and analyse its approach.
This family-owned watch company (established in 1839) has survived the digital-watch revolution that swept the globe. Patek Philippe is a manufacturer of very high-end, superior-quality timepieces
Discuss the implications of the unique characteristics of services for the marketing activities of services enterprises.
Discuss the various elements of experiential marketing. In your view, why is experiential marketing a growing trend?
How does marketing in non-profit organizations differ from that in profit-orientated companies?Choose a non-profit organization and discuss the extent to which marketing principles can be applied.
Visit yelp.com and tripadvisor.com. Discuss the impact of the existence of these websites on organizations that provide good and poor levels of service.
The manner in which we consume, desire and appreciate music has transformed significantly, especially over the past couple of decades. This is evidenced in several ways in our current lives. While
Accountants are always interested in profit margins, sales managers want low prices to help push sales, and marketing managers are interested in high prices to establish premium positions in the
Why is value to the customer a more logical approach to setting prices than cost of production? What role can costs play in the setting of prices?
To what extent do you use price to judge the potential quality of an item that you are considering purchasing?Critically reflect on the pros and cons of using price as a decision cue in this way.
Discuss how a company pursuing a build strategy is likely to react to both price rises and price cuts by competitors.
Discuss the specific issues that arise when pricing products for international markets.
Explain what is meant by the concept of true pricing. Should actual prices reflect the true costs involved in the production of today’s products?
What is meant by personalized pricing? Evaluate the reasons for the growth in personalized pricing and critically reflect on its implications for society.
Primark (known as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish clothing and accessories company, which is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF). The first Penneys store was opened in June 1969
A friend of yours who has been pursuing pottery as a hobby has just formed a business selling a range of gift items. Advise the founder on her options for distributing the company’s products.
Evaluate the three distribution intensity options that are available to an organization. In what kinds of circumstances might each be used?
Discuss the impact on other retail formats of the growth of online retailing.
Discuss the reasons why more and more distribution channels are being characterized by a small number of large central distribution centres rather than by a large number of relatively small outlets.
Visit www.starbucks.co.uk and www.costa.co.uk. Compare and contrast these two coffee chains in terms of the major retail marketing decisions, such as retail positioning, product assortment, store
Discuss the differences between multi-channel and omni-channel marketing.
Imagine you are working as a salesperson for a household goods retailer selling items such as fridge freezers, furniture and bedding, and televisions, for example. Pick one product category and write
The American lifestyle brand Vans was established in 1966 by the van Doren brothers in California. Vans’ now famous ‘Off the Wall’ logo was born in 1976. At that time, the term ‘off the
What is meant by integrated marketing communications? Explain the advantages of taking an integrated approach to marketing communications.
Select three recent advertising campaigns with which you are familiar. Discuss the target audience, objectives and message executions adopted in each case.
Discuss the role of sponsorship in the promotional mix.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. Discuss.
Discuss the reasons why ambient and guerrilla marketing have become such popular promotional techniques for some product categories. What are the ethical issues surrounding the growth of these mass
Review the pros and cons of managing marketing communications in-house rather than using the services of external agencies.
Chinese start-up company ByteDance was founded in 2012 by then 29-year-old Zhang Yiming in Beijing. That year, the company launched its first mobile app, Toutiao, an AI-powered daily curated feed of
Discuss changes in the digital environment that you have noticed in the past 5–10 years. What is your opinion about current trends in the field?
Select two of your favourite brands and visit their websites. Evaluate the content of the websites according to web design principles.
Search for ‘student holidays’ (or anything else) using a search engine (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo!).Go to the third results page and select one of the links. Evaluate the content of this website
What is meant by content marketing? Explain the reasons for its growth and its role in an online communications strategy.
For the company of your choice, analyse and discuss its current social media presence. Did it select the best possible platform to meet its objectives? Can you suggest a better solution?
Explain the differences between the different forms of online advertising, namely search, display, social and native. Visit https://www.facebook.com/business/ads and learn about the different
Discuss the extent to which brands should integrate their online and offline marketing communications activities. What factors determine the balance between online and offline?
Companies now have a variety of direct marketing media they can consider when planning a direct marketing campaign. Compare and contrast any two of these. In your answer, give examples of the kinds
Unilever was founded in 1929, by the merger of the Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and the British soap maker Lever Brothers. The company has grown significantly since then, expanding its
Explain the concept of the circular economy. Identify and discuss three businesses that you think are contributing to the idea of the circular economy.
There are so many changes taking place in the macroenvironment that it is impossible for an organization to keep track of them all. Make three suggestions regarding how organizations might manage
Visit http://info.trendwatching.com/21-trends-for-2021. Select any three trends and discuss their impact on any three brands of your choice.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are largely an exercise in public relations by major corporations. Discuss.
Consider the new technologies you have adopted in the past year. How have they impacted on the way you live?
Many large global corporations have become very powerful and exert enormous influence, with the result that there needs to be a stronger level of regulation of business activities. Discuss.
Sephora was founded in 1970 by Dominique Mandonnaud, with its headquarters in Paris, France. Its distinct and innovative style of applying the concept of self-service to the world of perfumery and