Marketing assignment part 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing assignment part 1 - Essay Example The iPhone is a highly innovative product that is based on convergence technology with multimedia features, incorporating internet, mp3, camera and hordes of other features which have made its cost a redundant factor in the overall market strategy. Charles Hill’s assertion that ‘Countries have different political, economic, and legal systems†¦ All these differences can and do have major implications for the practice of international business’ (Hill, 2004) is absolutely correct. In the rapidly changing environment of globalization, the businesses have become more competitive thereby making it obligatory for them, as well as for the working force to become more flexible and swiftly adapt to the changing technologies and work environments. The socio-religious culture of the community has strong impact on the attitude and consumer behaviour of the public, which has direct affect on economic transactions of the company. It is therefore vital that needs and concerns of the community, within which the firm intends to operate, be studied in detail so that sensitive public issues are not violated. In a fiercely competitive business environment when the global economy is under tremendous pressure, a firm must gain their position by leveraging its strengths. According to Michael Porter, the firms’ strengths can be broadly categorized into cost advantage and differentiation. Three types of generic strategies emerge when these strengths are applied by the firm: cost leadership, focus and differentiation (Porter, 1980). It has become imperative for the business to become creative and evolve strategic approach that would effectively meet the challenges of the time. Slater and Narver assert that markets thrive on the processes of the learning organization which ‘continuously acquire, process, and disseminate throughout the organization knowledge about

Marketing Strategy for Coca-Cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing Strategy for Coca-Cola - Essay Example This means that a rethink of the strategies of yesteryears was the main focus so as to remain strong despite the competition. Discussion The major focus was on how consumers choose what to buy so that the company could use the information to customize the products so that they conform to the needs of these customers. There are a myriad of reasons that drive consumption that are going to be assessed in this paper. Marketers generally concede that the most difficult thing to analyze is what drives specific customers to make specific purchases (Thackston, 2005). There are two major reasons that drive these purchases. The first is for personal reasons whereas the second is mostly on external factors in the business market. Perhaps the greatest influence of consumer behavior is how the products are perceived. The perception filter is the conscious and subconscious view of the products drawn from the information sourced from a myriad of stimuli. The process of filtering perception is four- stepped. The first thing is exposure to the stimuli, followed by attention to the stimuli, third is the awareness of the stimuli and finally, there is the retention of the tenets of the stimuli (Christ, 2011). All the steps are generally pegged on how people learn as this is diverse. The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational company that has the services of the best marketers at its disposal. These marketers therefore know how to affect the perception of their brands in the eyes of the consumer. The use of advertisements is the major tool of influencing these perceptions although it is also very difficult since there is advertisement clutter in the media. Creativity is therefore of essence and the message must be captivating to arouse interest. Basically, the message of the advertisement must be precise so that it is not decoded negatively in people and also must be positively interpreted. The second factor affecting how consumers purchase products is their attitudes towards the prod ucts (Christ, 2011). This generally points to how people feel about the product as well as the company. For one to have an attitude there must be an element of conviction on the information possessed. Therefore, changing negative attitudes take a lot of effort. The company marketers must be focused on the contributors to the negative attitudes. This requires that the process be very involving so that negative sentiments are aired. In the same instance, it is fundamental that the Coca-Cola Company analyzes why some consumers have positive attitudes towards the competitor’s products so as to try and lure them by reflecting the strengths they see in those products. Thirdly, consumer purchases are influenced by the knowledge that they possess (Christ, 2011). This is the sum of all the experiences and information that consumers possess. Knowledge is also largely dependent on how the consumer perceives the world. The Coca-Cola Company has to use a large number of researches so as t o gauge what the consumers know about their products. When crafting campaigns to market their products, it is important to aim at correcting the wrong knowledge that may be possessed as well as educate consumers on the products. Other internal influences that the Coca-Cola Company should be aware of include the personalities of their customers, their lifestyles, their role in the society they live in and also what motivates them. All of these are important as they aid in