The Analyst’s Dilemma
1 The marketing strategy of a company is critical to its success for many different reasons. Without product awareness, customer will not know about the availability of the product. A lack of branding will result in customers quickly forgetting about the product and the significance of the products on their lives. Strategic marketing is a planning process by which an organization devises the best way to develop an advantage over competitors.
Businesses measure the success of their strategic planning by analyzing the increase in sales, getting positive consumer feedback and measuring a greater number of repeat customers.The strategic imperative of marketing may be revealed using a basic SWOT analysis, which focuses on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the business. Part of a marketing strategy is assessing the strengths of the business as it relates to the product and customers’ perception. For instance, one of the strengths could be the positive traits consumers connote with the brand. The company’s brand could be a significant source of value.
Some customers will purchase certain brands regardless of the price.Other marketing- related strengths may include a strong reputation amongst easily swayed consumers such as tweens, stylish packaging and memorable commercials. For instance, some customers buy Nike brand because it is a very popular brand around the world. Customers are most of the time remember Nike’s commercial and the symbol of the brand.
The brand and the symbol are the strength of Nike (Phillip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller, Marketing Management 13th edition, pg. 19). Analyzing marketing weaknesses is just as critical for the short term and the long-term success of a business.For example, if consumer feedback reveals a desire for a touchscreen phone, a company that ignores the data and continues producing only dial up phone may not last in a quickly changing industry. Most weaknesses become apparent by assessing quantitative reports such as declining sales, restricted budgets, low traffic on the company’s store, website and the number of poor reviews.
From this feedback, a company needs to rectify the problem by adjusting and or making changes to the products or materials, developing a new marketing ampaign, increasing the number of advertisements or changing the packaging. Great leader uses the weaknesses of the company to build the greatest strength of the company. Responding to customer feedback is always a positive sign that will not only retain the customer, but will lead to an increase in sales and profit. Opportunities arise from favorable conditions, including social and cultural advantages, regulatory benefits and traits that give the business advantages over competitors, such as heightened bargaining power with vendors.A successful marketing strategy capitalizes on these opportunities.
For instance, if a restaurant has access to quality spices from an inexpensive vendor overseas, the marketing team may wish to promote a recipe featuring them (Catherine Capozzi, 2011). The question is why would the restaurant do that? A lot of companies are buying products overseas because that will decrease their cost and increase profit. A leader has to use the best strategy once he or she gets the opportunities to increase sales and maximize profit.External threats arise from factors such as changes in the economy and the presence of new, powerful competitors. Marketers must adjust their strategy to accommodate these factors (Catherine Capozzi, 2011). For example, severe budget cuts may cause marketers to switch from using an expensive celebrity endorsement to using homemade anecdotal videos submitted by satisfied customers.
For instance, LeBron James (NBA Player) used to be on the State Farm Insurance commercial two years ago, recently, State farm only uses customer testimonies instead of high profile celebrity.Companies compete with other businesses in a number of ways, including creating advertising campaigns that make fun of the competitor: A prime example is the Mac vs. PC commercials or T-Mobile 4G’s phone vs. I-phone 4 commercials. Changing technology is another threat for companies.
Some industries are particularly sensitive to this threat, including the personal electronics and auto industry. External threats arise from factors such as changes in the economy and the presence of new, powerful competitors. Marketers must adjust their strategy o accommodate these factors (Catherine Capozzi, 2011). For example, severe budget cuts may cause marketers to switch from using an expensive celebrity endorsement to using homemade anecdotal videos submitted by satisfied customers. For instance, LeBron James (NBA Player) used to be on the State Farm Insurance commercial two years ago, recently, State farm only uses customer testimonies instead of high profile celebrity. Companies compete with other businesses in a number of ways, including creating advertising campaigns that make fun of the competitor: A prime example is the Mac vs.
PC commercials or T-Mobile 4G’s phone vs. I-phone 4 commercials. Changing technology is another threat for companies. Some industries are particularly sensitive to this threat, including the personal electronics and auto industry. Clearly, the marketing department is the key to the success of an organization. A good marketing strategy will lead to the success of the business.
Good strategy will create or come up with ways to satisfy the customers and to retain them.Once a customer becomes loyal to the a specific brand or company, he or she will be a great asset to the company not only in tem of spending, but also with word of mouth marketing for that specific brand or company. With proper strategy in place such as the SWOT’s strategy, an organization will be very successful if the strategy is used properly. References Capozzi, Catherine,” Strategic imperative of marketing to the success of the business organization,” Arizona State university, March 17, 2011. Phillip Kotler, Kevin Lane keller, Gail Mcgovern, “The fall and rise of the CMO,” “Strategy+business, winter 2004
