Marketing Essay

**PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY**

PROJECT SPECIFICS:

– Choose two products or services, in the industry of your choice. Make sure that they have TOTALLY different target audiences )
Examples: Theme Parks featuring Knotts Berry Farm, and Six Flags Magic
Mountain or…. Two magazines like Cat Fancy, and Seventeen … or….car
models like a Ford F-150, and a Maserati ….or…..food places like a Soup
Kitchen, and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse …. You get the idea ???? Make up
your own two.

– Keep it under 15 pages ( figure 12 minimum )…. There are 10 questions on the topics you have chosen .

– Double spaced

– No citation page required (most of this you will have to figure out in your head)

– No table of contents ( just answer all questions in the order asked ).

– All tables and charts must be electronically created ( no hand drawn )

–
#1, plus #2, plus #3, plus #4, should be equal in length to one half of
your paper by themselves. The other six questions should equal the
other half of the paper ( approximately ).

– Discuss, in as much detail as necessary, the following topics:

1. Describe all of the segmentation variables that your two choices used to target their customers. How are they different from each other ? (Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, and Benefits Sought). A chart that supplements your discussion is necessary. This will be a long answer.

2. Discuss the Marketing Mix for each one of the products. ( Four P’s ) . Compare both in detail …Make a chart of the four P’s… I expect this section to be quite extensive …. ( Long discussion and chart )

3.
Visit the web sites for both competitors. Give a synopsis of your
findings and thoughts. Are they user friendly sites ? Do they provide
needed information ? Are they interactive ? Do they offer coupons,
locations, or directions, if applicable ? Tell me as though I am blind.
This should be pretty detailed.

4. How have both competitors positioned themselves in the market- place ?
In your opinion, have they done a good job ? If not, why not ? Do you
feel that the target consumers see the company properly (as the company
expects) ? Design a short survey…5 Questions/ 15-20 people…..
to find out and analyze the results. For example, do both competitors
occupy the same place in the consumers mind or are they somehow
differentiated from each other ? Is one the “quality leader” while the
other is vying to be the “price” leader, etc. ?

5. What issues do these competitors have to deal with ? Think in terms of INTERNAL and EXTERNAL factors…. Do a SWOT analysis for both of them.

6.
What can you find out about your choices and how they are addressing
the “societal marketing concept” ? Do they pollute ? Do they recycle ?
Do they use toxic chemicals ? ( hint: look at their web sites or
in-house literature ). Do they support charitable causes ? Google it.

7
. How does Personal Selling ( Relationship Selling ) affect the final
consumer who buys your product ? Connect the dots for me….what kind of
‘white collar’ sales efforts from ALL the different suppliers
was required to ‘create’ the final product ? In other words, how did the
efforts of all the B2B buyers and sales people associated with your
primary choice impact the final consumer once they bought your product
or service?

8 . Discuss at least three different activities that your choice has to deal with in their ‘Blue Collar’
supply chain management process. ( ie: suppliers, assembly line
workers, raw ingredients, resellers, forklift drivers, trucking
companies, etc. ). Explain how they interact with or handle these
issues.

9 . Give me a descriptive analysis of your impressions
of both competitive advertising efforts….Include adescription of your
favorite campaign or ad. If they don’t have one, suggest one .

10.
We have talked about ‘Land’s End’ and how they were able to sell more
product by data mining a list ofcustomers, out of their own data
storage, and then matching accessories to the ‘Blue Sports Jacket
andGrey Slacks” that were purchased as much as 18 months before by their
‘best’ customers…..remember, they offered those customers matching
shirts, ties, shoes, etc. at a discount ( as a reward ), and the company
was rewarded because over 30 % of those past customers ordered ‘new’
stuff from the special mailing that Land’s End sent them…..Think about
ANY ONE OF YOUR THREE PRODUCTS….how would you try to get your ‘BEST’
customers to order MORE ? Your best customers are
1-RECENT….2-FREQUENT….and 3- HIGH DOLLAR people.

That
is it !!!! Add some color charts where you see fit and “pretty it up” a
little. I will take into consideration any “extra effort” you put forth
that was not specifically asked for….and give you some extra points to
offset any lack of content that I see. It is up to you. Good luck !