Anca Comsa

Marketing

Anne De Clercq

Academic Year: 2009/2010

Second Semester

Student: Anca Comsa

Individual assignments - Cases

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Case I: What Serves the Customer Best?

1. Marketing is about meeting needs. What are the needs in this case?

This type of beverage is usually drunk during events, business meetings or

conferences. People drink whiskey because of the need to drink alcohol, to
enhance their status (especially in business), to take part in a group, due to
addiction, the need to party or because they want to seem important.

2. Describe the marketing mix for this product.

The marketing mix is the combination of the product itself, the products
price, the place where it is available and the activities that introduce it to its
consumers (promotion).

In this case, the product is a high quality whiskey, with a guarantee heritage
and tradition (as we can see from the label and the packaging). The
product’s price is a premium price, the product is quite expensive and that’s
why we can find it only in expensive areas, on and off premises (restaurants,
bars, liquors stores). The company is promoting their product through the
tastemaker gatherings, website, advertisement in high- quality magazines,
call-center, loyalty card program, visitor’s center, forums and software for
printing labels and birth day cards.

3. What are all the marketing activities described in the case?

The marketing activities described in this case are:

• The tastemakers program

• Website

• Software for printing gift cards, labels

• A call center

• Loyalty card program

• Visitors center

• Event-based program

• On-line forum and discussions with the master distiller.

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4. What is the relevance of all this marketing activities?

Throughout these marketing activities the company is trying to build a long

lasting relationship with the customers. The marketing’s department motto
is: “Built a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path at your door.”
they are trying to attract as many customers as they can by doing the
tastemakers program and then using all the other marketing activities they
try to satisfy the customers and building strong relations with them.

5. Is the company a customer- led company?

In my opinion this company is not a customer – led company because they

create first the product like the single cask bottled whiskey and then they
are promoting it. They don’t ask first the customer what he wants and then
produce; they have their high quality products which are being promoted.

6. What should be the priority for Glenmeadie’s innovation efforts?

I think Glenmeadie shouldn’t try so hard to cement relationships; they have

to attract new customers. Their products are the best there therefore they
have to amplify the reputation the product made. Because of the company’s
tradition and heritage the product will sell without all the marketing
activities.

They should focus on research and development, find out the needs of the
customers, develop new products and try to sell it to different groups of
people. They should understand the behavior path of their customers.

Case II: Go Global or No?

1. PEST analysis

PEST analysis stands for: Political, Economical, Social and Technological

analysis.

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The political factors that influence the company’s expansion are the different
tax policies, labor laws and environmental laws applicable in the countries
that the company wants to open subsidiaries.

The economical factors are the economic growth, interest rates and
exchange rates. The economy was growing during that period, but the
exchange rates from Europe, Japan and U.S.A might be a problem.

The social factors are the cultural aspects and include health consciousness,
population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on
safety. Because all these three countries have different cultures will be
difficult to find a compromise that fits the best all these cultures.

Technological factors include ecological and environmental aspects, such as

R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of
technological change. The company should focus on research and
development because in that period new companies were developing, the
demand for software and technology-related products was growing.

2. External environment (opportunities and threats)

Opportunities = external conditions that are helpful to achieving the

objective

The opportunities that the company has are: in the beginning the company
created software for an unexploited segment of the software business, the
partnership with the two researchers to create the software. They created
two versions of the program, one for the telecommunication sector and
another one for the financial service providers. The product had an
immediate and profitable application. The product could be adapted for the
chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industry.

Outside the U.S. they could enter the market allied with another local
company.

Threats = external conditions which could do damage to the objective

The threats that the company meets are the competitors, Visidat a British
start-up, because the economy is developing in this area, more and more
software companies are created. Some of them tried to get global from the
beginning and Data Clear is still a local company.

Another threat can be the further loss of the market share.

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The company needs an international sales strategy for a long term solution
in order to keep up with the new companies that are developing in this area.

3. Internal environment (strengths and weaknesses)

Strengths = attributes of the company that are helpful to achieving the

objective

The company’s strengths are the leadership on the American market on the
financial services sector and the telecommunication sector, the existence of
the 20 installations outside the U.S.

Weaknesses = attributes of the company that are harmful to achieving the

objective

The company is focused only for customers in the U.S, lack of international
experience, no market research and focus only on two sectors.

4. SWOT analysis, marketing recommendations. Should the company be

global?

The recommendations for this company are: the expansion to other sectors,
like pharmaceutical or chemistry but only in the U.S because the demand is
much higher than abroad, they should find other potential sectors, they
should research to whom and in which country they can sell their products
(they have no profile of customers outside the U.S). The company needs an
international sales strategy for a long term solution in order to keep up with
the new companies that are developing in this area.

Case III: How Low Will You Go?

1. What is client entertainment?

Client entertainment is an important part of building good relationships with

your customers, form a bond; it means to give the customer what he wants.
There are different types of client entertainment such as: taking your client
out for lunch, taking them to some social activity that shows you appreciate
their business or buying a box at a prestigious football match or sports final,

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impressive tickets for highly desirable concerts, or playing golf with your
clients.

2. What are the ethical problems in this firm?

In our case the problem is that the salesman is taking the clients to dinner
and after that to a strip club where they “can do a little male bonding”. He
thinks that a bond can be formed easily like this for certain customers.

The company has saleswomen as well and they do not fit with the strip club
meetings, or some of them are offended about the idea of meeting their
clients in a strip club. Some of them are criticized by their boss because of
their expenses in client entertainment and because their sales numbers are
not sufficient (hypocrisy).

3. Why does client entertainment in this company cross the line?

This type of client entertainment crosses the line because is against the
beliefs of the employees, it discriminates women; it doesn’t give them
another possibility than quit.

A sales contract is suppose to be signed based on trust and a strong

relationship between the salesman and the customer. A company cannot
build a good and moral image if it is taking its customers to a strip club.

4. What is missing?

In this company is missing a conduct code. The boss has to have the courage
to tell his salesman that is not moral to take clients to strip clubs and that he
wants contracts to be signed based on respect and trust.

5. What is the solution for this firm?

The solution for this company is to stop taking their customers to strip clubs,
appreciate women work and they should also create a client entertainment
policy. Only some places are proper for salesmen to take their clients.

Case IV: Wild Planet – Toys: Consumer Behavior

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1. Explain the decision making process.

The decision making process occurs in five steps: Problem Recognition,

Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Product Choice and Post -
Purchase Evaluation.

Problem recognition – consumers see a significant difference between

current state and ideal state. Commercials can stimulate this problem
recognition.

Information search – consumers need to inform first in order to make a

decision. A customer can find information on television, on the internet but
also talking to other persons like family or friends.

Evaluation of alternatives – consumers compare pros/cons of a small group

of products that have the same characteristics.

Product choice – the customer has to decide on one product that best fulfils
him/her needs.

Post purchase evaluation – consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction after

purchasing the product.

The decision making process is influenced by age group and family lifestyle
for example is the toy is bought by the grandparents or if the child has
young parents.

2. What could be the marketers influence in the decision making process

in this particular case?

Marketers influence in the decision making process might be the

commercials for the toys that stimulate the problem recognition, the
commercials for toys have to be published in places where children can see
them and point out all the strengths of the product compare to an old one,
they have to test the products first and assure the parents that the toys are
safe and they won’t hurt their children.

3. What influence children’s and parents’ consumer behavior?

Children’s and parents’ consumer behavior are influenced by different

things. For example in the problem recognition process, what influences the
children is the toy to be cool, to be unique, to be colorful and attractive, to
be the 1st one to have it, to be modern, on the other hand parents are
influenced by the capacity of the toy to develop children’s mentality, to

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make the children think, to enlarge their imagination, to be used outdoors

(the parents prefer their kids to move instead of staying in front of the
computer). The children inform themselves by watching television or talking
with friends in school or kinder garden and parents do this talking to other
parents or teachers, searching on the internet or watching television. The
evaluation of alternatives is influenced by other children or own experience
for the children and for the parents by reviews about safety in the magazines
or television.

The children choose the product based on experiences, feeling in the shop,
the shop’s environment helps them to choose, but the parents choose based
on safety and also for them price means quality.

Children are easier than parents to influence in the decision making process.