Download week seven Discussion Question 1 · Due Date: Day 2 [Main forum

week seven
Discussion Question 1
· Due Date: Day 2 [Main forum]
· Post your response to the following: Imagine that you are a mentor to a new employee at
a marketing firm. The new employee is having trouble understanding what the term
market communication really means. Using what you have learned, explain to the new
employee how marketing communication can influence a buyer.
Respond to your classmates' answers by asking additional questions that a newcomer to
marketing might ask. Is the explanation clear? Which areas do you understand? In what
areas would you like more clarification?
Market Communication is the *Promotion* (direct marketing, public relations) . . . created in order to
influence the buyer to buy the product. Marketing Communication relates to the non-hamburger buying
customer why they might want to enter a McDonalds to try a salad or a yogurt parfait. Marketing
Communication "talks" to a potential customer of Kohls, Target, Best Buy to go *that* store to make
their purchases because *that* store has the best value, customer relations and after sale support.
Market Communication is the brochure that a bank would hand out to communicate a bank's product
and how that product could improve or add to the quality of the buyers life better than another bank.
Market Communication informs a consumer of a product(s), reminds a consumer to continue to
purchase a particular product (brand loyalty), persuades a consumer to switch brands, or builds a
relationship with consumers. In all cases, each communication is designed to increase product
consumer share overall.
Marketing communication is an art form in that it expresses to the potential buyer what the company
and the products it sells represents and what are the benefits to them specifically. By building
relationships and through that, use persuasion with a mix of good information, it will create loyalty.
Brand recognition is more than just a name but a symbolic reference on what others perceive it to be.
Marketing communications informs, reminds, persuades and builds. It informs the customer about the
new goods and services a company has and where the customer can purchase them. It reminds the
customer to continue to use the products that the consumers likes. It persuades the customer to choose
one product over another. Lastly it builds lasting relationships with the customer.
I understand that you are having some confusion about "marketing communication". Let me see if I can
help to clear the confusion for you.
Marketing communication takes over after the researchers have discovered the target area and
customers for your product or service; this is where the demand and desire is highest. Key thought
"communication", interacting with the potential customer is a way to bring awareness, desire to
purchase or use the product,. To interact, you use the tools of the trade: blogs, television,
advertisements developed solely on your product, newspapers, and special introductory offers.
Appealing packaging is a must to catch the eye of the consumer, explanation of the quality and
dependability is a good way to atract the consumer, when you have got their attention, continue to update your marketing ideas, and remind the public that you are always improving in
quality,dependability, and availability. to retain your regular customers and add new ones with the help
of word of mouth advertising, because word of mouth is the best type in the end. If several people tell
several friends, "Oh, I purchased that at Target last week and It was really a great buy, just what I
needed and for a good price, too. You should try it.
Discussion Question 2
· Due Date: Day 4 [Main forum]
· Post your response to the following: Search your local newspaper for advertisements
and examples of pricing strategies. If you do not have access to a local newspaper,
search for a newspaper online. What are two pricing strategies that you found in the
advertisements? Describe the function the price serves for each product or service.
When responding to your classmates, describe the steps the company likely followed
when planning the price strategy described in the response.
One of the advertisements I found was for employee pricing on GM vehicles. The ad is essentially the
cost of the vehicle shown next to the employee discount and other incentives. At the bottom, the final
cost of the vehicle is displayed as being much lower than the original price. I believe this is an example
of demand-based pricing. GM, in an effort to drive sales up, has temporarily lowered its prices on brand
new 2009 vehicles. However, once the economy improves and/or people begin buying new cars more
often again, the prices will go back up and the incentives and discounts will end. On the other hand, I
could see this as also being yield management pricing because not all customers will qualify for the
incentives, since some of them are based on good credit scores. In that respect, car dealers charge
different customers different prices for the same product.
Another advertisement I saw was for brand new championship leather jackets for the Steelers, who just
won the Superbowl. The jackets are listed for “only” $249. I believe this is a skimming price strategy
because it is a new, highly desirable product at available for a premium price. As the commotion of the
recent Superbowl win dies down so will the demand for this product, which means the manufacturer
only has a limited time to be able to make so much profit.
I saw an advertisement for furniture in some newspaper ad. I was thinking of buying a couch for my
living room but then I realize I am never home that much so its hard to enjoy the comfy couch. The
pricing was very low for all of their products and primarily the reason being that they are going out of
business. The combination of the downturn in the economy and the crash in the real estate market has
created a low demand for furniture in general. They used a strategy of spending an X amount and get a
free something, I forgot. I guess that might be considered quantity suggestive pricing.
Another advertisement was some gold coin with president Obama. I didn't really look at it but all I
remember it looked expensive, I don't know its because of gold prices climbing and/or a combination of
a prestige pricing because it is a desired product.
Two products I found that used pricing strategies were the LG VU phone by LG and a new dish at Olive
Garden called the four cheese stuffed mezzaluna.
The LG VU was priced at $49.99 and this was a trial price. LG is starting the price low to entice people to
buy the new phone. Once people try it they are likely to spread the word getting others to purchase the
phone. After so long the price of the phone will go up.
The new dish at Olive Garden is probably a penetration price. There are two versions of the dish one
with shrimp costing $12.95 and the other with sausage costing $9.95. Usually new dishes are priced
lower to get people to buy them as much as possible. Eventually the dish will be faded out and
something else will be created to replace it.
Clever marketers know that the goal is to sell the customer a product. Use of pricing strategies are
sometimes overlooked but are an important part of the marketing mix. Pricing strategies can have a
large impact on profit, so should be given the same consideration as promotion and advertising
strategies. A higher or lower price can dramatically change both the gross margins and the sales
volume.
When considering a pricing strategy we must consider;
* Our competitors
* Suppliers
* Availability of substitute products
* Customers
I recently received a mailer from Starbucks. Because a Starbucks latte has a higher perceived value than
a basic coffee with cream, Starbucks has justified a higher price. This pricing strategy is called Prestige
Pricing.
Arby’s uses a pricing strategy called Quantity Suggestive Pricing in which customers are encouraged to
purchase 5 sandwiched for $5.00. The suggestion is effective as it encourages customers to purchase
sandwiches in quantity to reap the discounted price while increasing the profit margin for Arby’s.