Category: Marketing

Branding

Branding is a marketing concept that refers to the process of creating a unique name for a product with the view of differentiating it from the substitutes offered by the rivals. The reason for branding a product is to make it easily identifiable by customers. It may help a company to create loyal customers in the end. To popularise a brand name among customers, a company must advertise the good through the most suitable media (Kotler & Armstrong 2010).

Nike produces a wide variety of sportswear, which it distributes to different countries around the globe. Over the period in which the company has been operational, it has acquired a strong brand image, which has given it a strong competitive advantage over the rivals. Its products are widely acceptable all over the globe, as evidenced by the high number of customers the company controls. The company has customers around the globe, including women, men, teenagers, and children who are loyal to the corporation because of the established strong brand equity. Customers tend to buy the companys products, provided they are Nike-branded. Originally, the firms products were exclusively Nike-branded. However, today, the company sells its products under other sub-brands, which include Nike+, Hurley, and Converse (Brohi et al. 2016).

Product Strategy

A product strategy refers to a roadmap, which describes an organisations vision regarding a product or service (Shank & Lyberger 2014). The roadmap describes what a company intends to achieve through the product in question. Nikes mission statement describes the companys roadmap as to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world (Bonchek 2013, para. 6). Based on the highlighted mission statement, it is clear that the company intends to innovatively introduce superior products, which it will supply in the world market. The mission is achieved in part, as evidenced by the high sales realised by the business from different countries.

The profits are attributed to the superiority of its products as compared to those of its rivals. The company also outsmarts its competitors in the area of technical superiority, hence further positioning it way ahead of them. By employing technology, the company has successfully managed to increase its customer experience, a situation that has boosted its competitive advantage. Technology is mostly used in the areas of advertisement and customer service.

Innovation is at the heart of the companys operations. The company recruits and strives to retain the best talents to promote innovation. The most innovative employees are rewarded to encourage them to come up with new ideas to advance its product strategy. Through innovation, the company managed to introduce different types of sports garment into its product line.

Promotional Strategy

As stated previously in this paper, the company has a strong brand equity, which is mostly derived from its provision of superior-quality products. However, in as much as the quality of the firms products is highly linked to the strong brand equity, the companys aggressive marketing strategy also contributes to the strengthening of its brand. One of the promotional strategies advanced by the company is big-name endorsements. The strategy involves promoting the firms products through celebrities. For example, in 2013, the company sponsored Rory McIlroy who was the then best golf player in the world (Brohi et al. 2016).

The use of such stars to promote the firms products is a major strength since they command a huge public following. Additionally, sponsoring such stars paints a picture of a company that cares about its customers. Other than celebrity endorsements, the company uses promotional events to advance its products. For instance, it sponsors various events that aim at enlightening customers about its products. Other promotion techniques include advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and personal selling. The contemporaneous use of the listed forms of advertising to promote sales is informed by the fact that customers prefer different forms of advertising due to their varied literacy levels.

Nikes Organisational Culture

The company has a distinctive culture that is characterised by highly skilled and talented workforce. The firm has a code of ethics that binds all stakeholders and employees. In additional to the strong corporate culture, the company usually engages in corporate philanthropic works as a way of marketing its products. In the contemporary society, people are more attracted to firms that tend to give back to society, as opposed to profit-focused businesses.

In this regard, companies are increasingly sponsoring philanthropic works to convince their customers to embrace them. One of the CSR works by Nike is the use of sports as a way of promoting the health of the participants (Shahriar 2015).

In the recent past, physical exercise has been linked to healthy living. This connection underscores the need to embrace exercise and consequently Nikes organisational culture. Nike sponsors numerous tournaments for all genders as a CSR strategy. Besides, the company utilises the value concept to maximise its market share. Under the concept, it strives to satisfy each customer by offering high-quality products. This goal is achieved by recruiting the best employees and maintaining a continuous training programme to keep employees updated about the emerging issues and technology.

The Role of Marketing Strategies and Programmes in Achieving Nikes Objectives, including Ethical Considerations

Nikes primary objective is to become the global leader in the supply of sporting garments. Although competition is stiff in the industry, the company has managed to fulfill this goal. It is now one of the leading suppliers of sports clothing. One of the marketing strategies that have facilitated the achievement of the stated objective is the differentiation approach that is evident in the company. The strategy involves making a product or service different from that of the rivals in terms of quality (Brohi et al. 2016). The strategy is directed at making a product or a service attractive to customers. It may be a source of competitive advantage for a firm.

The type of strategy adopted by any company regarding differentiation depends on the industry. It mostly involves distinct features, durability, and good customer relations. A favourable differentiation strategy leads to the creation of a good brand image, which may increase the profitability of a firm in the end. By producing high-quality products, Nike has managed to create a sense of strong brand equity among its customers. Consequently, it has gained much acceptance from its customers who tend to buy its products just because they are Nike-branded. As it stands now, the companys products are widely used in almost every country in the world. This situation is an indicator that Nike will achieve the objective of becoming the global market leader in the end.

The other objective that Nike seeks to attain revolves around achieving sustainability of profits by offering quality products while being the cost leader. Nike strives to achieve market leadership by supplying premium products at reduced prices. The companys products, which are among the selling items in the fast fashion industry, have facilitated its rapid growth (Brohi et al. 2016). Given that Nike mainly sells outsourced goods, suppliers are the main determinants of the success of the low-price strategy.

To achieve price reduction, the company uses its large size and bulk purchasing to bargain for discounts from its suppliers, leading to reduced operations costs. In turn, the reduction in the operations costs facilitates the lowering of the product prices for customers. The strategy has worked well for the company in the past, owing to the suppression of new entrants, a situation that has reduced competition. The online-based marketing strategy has also been specifically influential in lowering the companys cost, thus facilitating the low pricing of its goods. Compared to other forms of marketing such as radio and print media, online marketing is not only cheaper but also allows the company to reach more customers.

Lastly, according to the firms mission statement, the company strives to instil a sense of innovation and inspiration to each athlete around the globe (Aaker 2012). The stated purpose is achieved by innovatively producing a wide variety of sports garments, which it sells in different parts of the globe. The diversity of the companys products ensures that each person across the world finds his or her choice. The production and supply of a wide range of products are informed by the view that the company views everybody as an athlete. Besides, Nikes garments contain inspirational texts, which create the perception that everyone is a winner.

How Marketing Concepts and Principles are used in Nikes Daily Organisational Operations

The 7Ps in Nike

Nike heavily relies on the concept of marketing mix to realise good profits in the backdrop of the stiffening competition in the sports garments industry (Brohi et al. 2016). In terms of products, the companys brand is a major source of its competitive advantage since its commodities have gained high customer acceptance across the world. Nike manufactures a wide variety of sports garments, which include shoes, apparel, and equipment and accessories (Shahriar 2015). In terms of promotion, the high amount of sales achieved by Nike is largely attributed to its effective employment of the right promotional mix.

The company has an extensive promotional strategy that seeks to enlighten customers about the existence of its products through advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotions, and public relations. The place component of the marketing mix refers to the point of sale of the company in question (Kotler & Armstrong 2010). Nike strives to bring its products at the most convenient locations for easy access by customers. To achieve this goal, the company distributes its products through retailers, Nikes official online store, and Nike-town retail outlets.

Price is an important component in marketing since it determines the turnover and profits of a firm. Nike employs value-based pricing strategy, which implies that it assesses customers perception of the value of its products to determine the retail price (Aaker 2012). Given that its customers perceive the products part of the marketing mix include all stakeholders that a business interacts with directly or indirectly (Riaz & Tanveer 2012).

In Nike, the main stakeholders include customers and employees. The company engages in thorough research before penetrating into a new market to ensure that it has enough customers to support its growth. The company boosts its employees morale by paying them competitively and rewarding new ideas meant to improve customer experience. The aspect of physical evidence refers to the proof that a company physically exists and that customers can access its goods and services at their convenience. This aspect of marketing mix is evident in Nike since the company has physical stores in many parts of the globe from which customers can access the companys products (Shank & Lyberger 2014).

Process denotes the ability of a firm to offer services to its customers, handle conflicts, and/or predict and mitigate an unforeseeable contingency. In Nike, this aspect is achieved by recruiting highly qualified personnel and defining the role of each employee.

STP in Nike

Segmentation can be done demographically, geographically, or psychographically. Demographic segmentation method is based on age, gender, marital status, financial standing, career, education, religious convictions, culture, and ethnicity. Segmentation based on customer demographics is evident in Nike since the company strives to maintain the operations costs as low as possible to lower the prices of its garments (Brohi et al. 2016).

Under the geographic segmentation variable, the market is divided into various segments based on ecological units such as countries, states, districts, cities, or regions. Given that Nike operates in different countries around the globe, it has to brand its goods differently to cater for the needs of the different regions. Under the psychographic purview of market segmentation, Nike targets athletes who tend to value light sporting garments. Using this segmentation tool, the company identifies people with similar traits before producing special sportswear for them. For example, the company produced the Nike Air Jordan shoe for basketball players only. In terms of behavioural segmentation, Nike regards the consumer behaviour as an important aspect of market segmentation. The company manufactures different types of garments in large numbers during mega sporting events such as the world cup (Shahriar 2015).

Targeting refers to sorting the market segments based on their potential to make the company profitable. Segments that have the greatest potential are selected and prioritised. Much of the marketing efforts are directed to these segments to exploit them fully. In Nike, targeting is based on the analysis of the profitability of each segment and designing different types of garments for each (Shank & Lyberger 2014). For example, Nike has different types of shoes for different types of sports such as Air Jordan for basketballers, Nike Free for trainers, and Nike View for walking among others.

Market positioning refers to the proposition of a product based on the customers perceptions of the value of the concerned commodity. In Nike, positioning is done by considering the tendency of customers to buy its goods, as opposed to those of its rivals. Since the company focuses on creating real value, positioning is high (Shahriar 2015). The next step involves creating a marketing mix for each market based on the characteristics of customers in each segment.

Marketing Research

The companys success is attributed to marketing research, which it undertakes to support its promotion decisions. The company makes a considerable investment in research with the view of gaining information regarding customers and competitors (Brohi et al. 2016). Research is accomplished through surveys on customers and the use of the internet to assess the level of client satisfaction. Online platforms are specifically open for customers to submit reviews about the products.

Relationship of the Marketing Functions to other Functional areas in Nike

One of the departments that work closely with the marketing unit is research and development (R&D). The department is responsible for conducting research pertaining to different issues affecting the company (Aaker 2012).

Nike uses the recommendations from this department to seal the gaps in customer satisfaction to achieve a competitive advantage. Its role in marketing cannot be ignored since it contributes to great ideas regarding the marketing environment. Marketers are responsible for maximising the sales of a firm to achieve reasonable profits. Besides, they play a pivotal role in assisting a firm to penetrate new markets by launching the relevant marketing campaigns to alert customers about the existence of the concerned product or service in the market. Customers have different levels of education. Besides, they exhibit diversity in terms of their demographics.

Hence, the choice of the promotion mix is important to achieve the desired goals. The R&D department often conducts research regarding the new market prior to the penetration of the firm in the new market. Research guides marketers in developing a marketing strategy that best fits a certain segment. Besides, they must continuously consult the R&D department at different stages of the marketing to gain an insight into the effectiveness of the strategy in use. Based on the feedback, the marketing department may either continue with the strategy or make the necessary adjustment to the original strategy to make it more effective.

The other department that marketers need to liaise with is the production unit. The production division is responsible for the manufacture of goods and services that marketers distribute to customers. Therefore, the production department plays a central role in facilitating the marketing of a product. Marketers must market a product, which is available in the market. Otherwise, their efforts will not produce any positive results. Additionally, the product must be available at the most convenient places for customers to access them. It is the duty of production managers to ensure that the product is manufactured in time and distributed to the relevant warehouses and stores. In Nike, the two departments work hand in hand to facilitate the timely delivery of the garments when a customer needs them (Shank & Lyberger 2014).

The production department ensures that the garments are manufactured in time and sent to the relevant selling points. This plan facilitates personal selling since field marketers are able to obtain the goods from the stores. Additionally, it facilitates online marketing since customers can place orders online and/or collect their purchases from the stores.

Next, marketers need to work in collaboration with the human resource department to facilitate the achievement of the marketing objectives. The HRM department is responsible for the recruitment of staffs and organising their training. Other roles include employee motivation, health and safety, and performance management. To achieve success in marketing, marketing teams must be conversant with their roles.

The HRM department plays a central role in the recruitment of best-qualified marketers through a competitive selection. Additionally, they facilitate the training of the marketing staffs to make them more competent. In Nike, the marketing manager works in liaison with the human resource administrator in several ways. Firstly, marketing managers must consult with the human resource bosses when they need new marketers (Brohi et al. 2016).

In such cases, the managers from the two departments hold roundtable meetings with the other relevant stakeholders to create the profiles of the prospective candidates. Once the candidates are recruited into the company, the HR department organises for their orientation to their new roles in the company. In consultation with the marketing manager, the department also sets the salaries of the new staffs. Regarding the continuous training of the marketing staffs, the marketing manager collaborates with the HRM to formulate a curriculum, which is suitable for the marketing staffs based on the accrued experiences.

Lastly, the finance and the marketing departments must work closely to facilitate the marketing of a companys products. Marketing is an endeavour that consumes a significant amount of finances, which must be approved by the operations manager. Such money is used to finance marketing activities, which include costs incurred during event promotions, allowances for the marketers, and transportations costs among others. In Nike, the marketing department in collaboration with the finance unit formulates the marketing budget to ensure that all marketing activities are adequately financed (Shank & Lyberger 2014).

Additionally, the finance department is consulted when formulating the marketing strategy to be applied by the company. Such consultations are important to any firm since the success of the marketing strategy largely depends on the availability of the necessary resources. Without consulting the finance manager, the marketing department may end up formulating strategies that are impractically executable due to lack of resources. It is important to note that only the marketing strategies whose costs do not exceed the benefits accruing from their use may be approved. This claim underscores the need to consult the operations manager in the process of creating the strategies.

Reference List

Aaker, D 2012, Building strong brands, Simon & Schuster, New York City.

Bonchek, M 2013, Purpose is good: shared purpose is better. Web.

Brohi, H, Ahmed, R, Abbas, Z, Bhutto, A & Chawla, S 2016, Strategic marketing plan of Nike. Web.

Kotler, P & Armstrong, G 2010, Principles of marketing, Pearson Education, Hoboken.

Riaz, W & Tanveer, A 2012, Marketing mix, not branding. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences, vol. 1, no. 11, pp. 43-52.

Shahriar, A 2015, Assignment on marketing plan of Nike shoes. Web.

Shank, M & Lyberger, M 2014, Sports marketing: a strategic perspective, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames.

Introduction: Social Media

For many businesses, marketing strategies are aimed at obtaining the attention of consumers to their products and services. The 21^st century has seen marketing strategies move from physical company-consumer interaction, television and radio modes of marketing to social media marketing due to technological advancements especially in the field of communication. Modern online communications have given rise to social media which are online channels through which people can communicate and interact (Rouse, M. 2012). Fastsigns International adopted social media to market their products and services, to communicate with its consumers and also interact with them.

Fastsigns and Social Media

Fastsigns International adopted social media sites such as its own website blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and You Tube as channels through which it can market its products and services, communicate with its consumers, interact with them, reach new consumers and widen its consumer base (Fastsigns, 2013). Fastsigns Twitter handle; @FASTSIGNS, shows that Fastsigns has 1,548 followers, follows 344 tweeps and has posted 1,433 tweets (Twitter, 2013).

In this site, Fastsigns has posted its official website, its description, photos, videos and tweets. There are also conversations and interactions between Fastsigns and consumers concerning its products and service provision. For example, Carolina Beer Temple; @NCBeerTemple, asks for recommendations on marketing stickers, banners, promotional items, etc. within Charlotte area. Fastsigns responds that their South Tryon team would be happy to help.

Moreover, Fastsigns posts a website where the teams information can be obtained. Other information present include consumer comments (issues, queries & appreciation) on products and services offered, career advice, business tips, career tips, career opportunities and resources such as where its branches are located (Twitter, 2013). Notably, Fastsigns has synchronized the information it posts in Twitter to all other social media.

Organizations that Hit the Bulls Eye and Social Media

Nespresso, Toyota Company and Fastsigns International are the companies I picked that would start building my business career. Fastsigns International social media sites have the same information due to synchronization. Therefore, aforementioned information is similar to all other social media sites. Nespresso is quite different from Fastsigns. Its homepage has no social media links. However, Nespresso has social media accounts in Facebook and Twitter.

In its Twitter handle; @NespressoUSA, it has 7,452 followers, follows 1,535 tweeps and has posted 5,308 posts (Twitter, 2013). It has also posted its official webpage, photos, videos, promotions, competitions and commentaries. Notably it has little or no career advice or business tips. For career opportunities and career applications, one has to visit the official webpage. Connecting to Nespressos social media sites only informs of promotions and competitions but does not inform about career opportunities.

Toyota Company has its social media links on its official website. They include Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and Google+ (Toyota, 2013). In its Twitter handle; @Toyota, it has 173,413 followers, follows 18,980 tweeps and has posted 5,311 tweets. The number of followers is evidence of its large consumer base. Toyota posts its new products and services, investment opportunities, job opportunities, and its customer service line for inquiries and issues (Twitter, 2013). Toyotas social media sites are therefore beneficial for job search, career opportunities and other resources aforementioned.

Reference List

Fastsigns (2013). Fastsigns: More than fast. More than signs. Web.

Rouse, M. (2012). Definition: Social Media. Web.

Toyota (2013). Toyota: Explore Toyota. Web.

Twitter (2013). Fastsigns: @Fastsigns. Web.

Twitter (2013). Nespresso USA: @NespressoUSA. Web.

Twitter (2013). Toyota USA: @Toyota. Web.

Ethics often consist of a gray and fuzzy area that may not have a sensibility of wrong and right. Given the widespread practices of unethical marketing in todays world, it is necessary to evaluate specific topics that challenge an understanding of ethics in business. Unethical marketing may send the wrong signals about a brands services and products, destroying its reputation and leading to litigation problems. Therefore, marketers should strive to avoid unethical practices for moral and business reasons. One example of unethical marketing is targeting vulnerable consumers such as the elderly, the mentally ill, and children (Kennedy et al., 2019). Although targeting vulnerable customers can be avoided, companies use the practice to influence consumer buying decisions, causing multiple repercussions for consumers and society.

Explanation of The Unethical Practice

Targeting vulnerable customers is an unethical practice that markets products and services to populations considered susceptible to physical, economic, social, and psychological harm. Vulnerable populations are disadvantaged and often have unequal societal power. Consumer vulnerability in marketing refers to a powerlessness state that originates from a lack of balance in interactions in the market and how marketing products and messages are consumed. Consumer vulnerability happens when a customer lacks control, making them depend on external factors such as marketers for a fair marketplace. A consumers vulnerability is caused by an interaction of external conditions, individual states, and personal characteristics in contexts where the goals of consumption can be hindered (Kennedy et al., 2019). As a result, the social and personal perceptions of consumers selves are impacted.

Vulnerable consumers can be categorized into four groups depending on their characteristics. The first category includes a customer who may have physical vulnerability if they are susceptible to certain products on the market. Physical susceptibility may involve allergies and sensitivity to substances that are marketed to consumers. Customers can also be cognitively vulnerable if they cannot process information cognitively. In addition, they may not have the capacity to know if the information has been manipulated or withheld in deceptive ways. For instance, the elderly, children, and the uneducated are cognitively vulnerable. Customers can be motivationally vulnerable when they cannot resist normal enticements because of individual characteristics. Examples of the motivationally vulnerable include those who are gravely ill and grieving. Some consumers can be socially vulnerable if their social environment reduces their chances of resisting various enticements and appeals that can harm them (Kennedy et al., 2019). The poor, new mothers, and the grieving are victims of their social environment.

Several brands target vulnerable consumers in their advertising efforts. For instance, Target used unethical marketing strategies to influence the buying decisions of pregnant women. Pregnant women are vulnerable in the sense that most of them experience a major event in their lives, which makes them unable to identify sinister marketing strategies from companies. Target collected massive data amounts and used computational inferencing to estimate when consumers would be pregnant. After discerning the due date of an unsuspecting pregnant woman, the company tailored ads to the consumers, specifically baby-related advertisements. The company assumed that consumers would not know if they had been spied on. The Target example shows how a brand can manipulate vulnerable consumers into buying targeted products without their knowledge (Callanan et al., 2021). In addition, the practice violated the privacy rights of pregnant women, making it unethical.

Google is another brand that targets vulnerable customers, especially children. Google was fined $170 million for violating the U.S. Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (Callanan et al., 2021). The company illegally and knowingly harvested the personal data of children and used the information for profit. Google added millions of dollars in revenue by utilizing childrens data to deliver targeted ads. In another instance involving Google, the company paid $500 million to the U.S. government for allowing illegal pharmacies to place ads on its web platforms (Callanan et al., 2021). The firm was complicit by allowing promoters to sell prescription medicine considered fake to gravely ill persons. The Google example shows the company circumvented human targets awareness by influencing the purchasing decisions of vulnerable populations, including children and desperately ill people.

Why The Practice Is Deemed Unethical

Targeting vulnerable customers in marketing is unethical due to three reasons. First, vulnerable individuals have less capacity compared to ordinary market consumers to make informed decisions about marketing messages. In essence, vulnerable populations cannot sufficiently protect and identify their interests as ordinary customers do. Thus, marketing products to vulnerable groups in a manner that exploits their vulnerability is similar to treating them fairly (Kennedy et al., 2019). As a result, it is morally wrong to use a persons vulnerability as a source of profit for corporations.

In addition, the rights ethical approach would suggest that targeting vulnerable customers is morally wrong. The approach emphasizes the need for the ethical rights of affected persons or entities to be protected. Furthermore, it focuses on the belief that every human has a dignity right. The most important argument in the rights approach stipulates that action must treat people or humanity as an end in itself instead of a means to a goal. Considering consumer vulnerability and targeted advertising, customers are treated as a means to an end. Corporations consider consumers as the appropriate means to generate or increase profits (Crane et al., 2019). Therefore, under the rights ethical theory, targeting vulnerable groups in marketing is morally wrong.

Why It Works

Targeting vulnerable consumer populations is often successful due to various reasons. The success is also supported by the use of data mining and automated predictions which enables focused marketing. Furthermore, automated predictions and data mining allow marketers to know the preferences of vulnerable populations, including health conditions. As a result, the ability of corporations to utilize the information gained from focused marketing to effectively influence vulnerable consumers decisions increases. The data mining process starts by extracting information from collected data. Analytical tools such as inferential processes, statistical techniques, and algorithms (Callanan et al., 2021). Automated predictions are facilitated by analytical tools and artificial intelligence, leading to correct determinations of individual characteristics such as viewing habits, dislikes and likes, and daily needs.

In addition, targeting vulnerable customers works because it exploits the decision-making vulnerabilities that susceptible people possess according to marketers. Thus, marketers can undermine consumer decision-making, potentially influencing purchase choices. Vulnerable populations may respond positively to advertising due to their emotional vulnerabilities. They include fear of social embarrassment and inadequacy, worry over physical harm, intense need to be loved and appreciated, and physical appearance insecurities. Marketers can use the perceptual vulnerabilities of consumers to influence purchasing decisions. Perceptual vulnerabilities distort how humans view situations and objects. For example, making adverts that make a product seem larger or bigger than its size relies on perceptual vulnerabilities to impact buying behavior (Callanan et al., 2021). Finally, marketers can take advantage of cognitive vulnerabilities that affect how humans remember and think such as using heuristic generalizations.

Consequences

There are several consequences associated with targeting vulnerable consumers. First, the practice leads to intrepid and immature decision-making among customers. Quick decision-making may determine the success of a firm. In essence, it means that most consumer buying decisions are made with no rationality. Marketers compel customers to make purchases quickly due to reduced prices, rebates, and enhanced services if they complete the buy within a specified period. With less time for consumers, if they want to buy products, it coerces them to make abrupt decisions that favor a specific brand (Sigala & Stanhope, 2021). The strategy works for companies that offer timed sales offers, influencing millions of customers to make quick purchasing decisions.

Second, vulnerable populations such as children make food choices based on what they view in media ads. When ads for unhealthy fast food are displayed with compelling messages, children and other vulnerable groups increase their consumption of unhealthy diets. It happens because a lot of fast-food ads are displayed on television programs. Unaware of the dangers of consuming fast foods, unsuspecting consumers eat the foods. As a result, gastric problems, such as peptic ulcer and indigestion, and obesity have increased as city dwellers eat packaged food with artificial colors, tastemakers, and preservatives (Sigala & Stanhope, 2021). Since most vulnerable groups live sedentary lifestyles, their chances of developing cardiovascular diseases increase.

Targeting vulnerable populations may influence their habits and activities. For instance, marketers exploit the insecurities of consumers to encourage them to exercise or buy health products. As a result, teenagers, women, and men become obsessed with staying fit. However, the images used in the ads cannot be trusted since they undergo numerous modifications for aesthetics (Kennedy et al., 2019). In addition, vulnerable consumers may acquire bad habits by watching certain offensive actions such as cigarette smoking.

Application of Ethics in Marketing

Protecting vulnerable populations affected by marketing activities, a paradigm shift. A closer examination of why consumers resign to being targeted by marketers reveals that disengagement primarily impacts their decisions. Disengaged consumers find themselves in vulnerable situations because the consumer market structure promotes a lack of interest through obfuscation. Such a kind of systemic vulnerability facilitates targeted marketing for both vulnerable and ordinary consumers (Riefa, 2022). Since consumers understand they are treated unfairly, they make no effort to shop or discontinue privacy notices.

To protect vulnerable customers, the public and governments must reverse their expectations of consumers to act like market arbiters and average customers with extra protection given to the vulnerable. Consumers have been rendered powerless by machines that make inferences about them, presenting and framing product choices for them. Therefore, society needs to consider vulnerability as an essential part of humans. In that sense, it can be easy to reverse the expectations placed on consumers. The notion that consumers must defend themselves using imperfect instruments should be abandoned (Riefa, 2022). Instead, the focus should be on businesses behaving fairly since fairness in consumer environments must be by design and should not be done to remedy mistakes after they occur.

Conclusion

In conclusion, targeting vulnerable consumers is unethical and avoidable; however, marketers utilize the practice to influence buying decisions of various customers, which impacts individuals and society. Consumer vulnerability differs depending on the context and nature of an incident. Nonetheless, consumers are susceptible to harm when brands use unethical marketing strategies on them. Examples of vulnerable groups in advertising include children, the solemnly ill, and the elderly. Targeting vulnerable customers is considered unfair and unethical because it takes advantage of a consumers weakness of vulnerability. Overall, vulnerable groups can be protected by reversing expectations of responsibility and holding all businesses accountable for their fairness.

References

Callanan, G. A., Perri, D. F., & Tomkowicz, S. M. (2021). Targeting vulnerable populations: The ethical implications of data mining, automated prediction, and focused marketing. Business and Society Review, 126(2), 155-167. Web.

Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L.J. (2019). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Kennedy, A. M., Jones, K., & Williams, J. (2019). Children as vulnerable consumers in online environments. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 53(4), 1478-1506. Web.

Riefa, C. (2022). Protecting vulnerable consumers in the digital single market. European Business Law Review, 33(4). Web.

Sigala, D. M., & Stanhope, K. L. (2021). An exploration of the role of sugar-sweetened beverage in promoting obesity and health disparities. Current Obesity Reports, 10(1), 39-52. Web.

The usage of social broadcasting sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit to sell company services and goods is known as social media marketing. The company salespeople use the platforms to communicate with loyal and potential consumers to establish corporate culture, tone, and vision. Social media sales promotion is vital because, among other things, it allows businesses to access thousands of clients worldwide. Companies employ various marketing methods to maximize the benefits of social media marketing. Some strategies employed include chat boxes, tailored client experiences, efficient marketing tactics, diverse profiles, and brand advocates. Social media marketing is a popular business concept that assists companies in growing their consumer base, sales, and brand recognition.

Popularity of Social Media Marketing

Marketing as a commercial tactic comprises promotion, public notice, and marketing, all of which require efficient communication. As one of the best current progress, social media sites are quickly becoming the main focus of humanoid social activity, giving new entrepreneurial chances. Social media is a modern communication channel that has lately presented to be effective in impacting both unexpected and official conversation, with millions of prospective clients freely interacting (Kreutzer 15). Social mass media is progressively attaining attention from all types of businesses due to its potential to engross clients in a lively connection where data exchange is effective through solid procedural gadgets. Social media networks are now linked with flexibility, effectiveness, affluence, and efficiency in corporate communication, permitting stakeholders to share perilous data with shareholders, as well as new company customers.

Flexibility is attained through engaging social networks in business communication through gargets that allow these podiums, mainly comprised of reachable technology gadgets such as mobile phones, PCs, and tablets. Users visit these social networking sites at their leisure, resulting in consistent contact. Corporate people repute societal networks as efficient information-sharing and communication platforms since they offer fast responses and let information access users rapidly. Lately, scholars have discovered a robust association between the utilization of mass media in business and more excellent sales manufacture as an outcome of improved connectivity between customers and entrepreneurs (Kreutzer 15). Communities, the best combination of engaged clients of corporations products and services, are the driving force behind the fast rise of social media advertising. Because social media entails participation in many virtual social networking groups, it can potentially impact enrolling a large audience. More specifically, because all modern enterprises in marketplaces seek young consumers, energetic youngsters in social networking sites offer commercial growth.

Importance of Social Media Marketing

Marketing via social media is critical for firms looking to expand outside their current location and consumer base. According to Nyagazda 42, social networking has emerged as one of the most successful components of digital marketing since it provides businesses with tremendous benefits, such as contacting more customers, increasing brand recognition, and increasing sales. Companies may access a worldwide market by addressing a varied audience through these channels. Operating in a foreign market assists the companys brand in becoming well-known.

Through social connections, digital marketing allows a corporation to increase brand loyalty. The salesperson interacts with clients on social media sites to learn about their wants and how to address them. The brand may earn and maintain clients loyalty and retention. Businesses promote their products to millions of consumers via the marketing strategy (Nyagadza 42). The platforms may also create promotional programs and raise brand recognition.

Existing and new items are promoted through sponsored promotions, and customers can directly connect with business salespeople. Marketing via social media is also less expensive than roadside advertising and expensive broadcast adverts (Arsenijevic & Jovic). The digital marketing approach assists businesses in lowering marketing expenses and increasing return on investment. Social media marketing increases traffic to company websites. When companies publish content through social media, whether commercial or not, they include a website link that directs people to their website for additional information and other items (Nyagadza 42). High website traffic indicates that more customers noticed available offers on items and services, which results in more sales.

Digital advertising improves company SEO rankings by including social media as a critical component. The firms regular interactions via social media provide it with an algorithm that preserves its position updated. According to research, successful companies have a significant presence on social media (Nyagadza 42). Customers perceive the brands credibility, trustworthiness, and value based on its SEO ranking. However, the techniques utilized in social networking sites determine a companys strengths or weaknesses.

Pros and Cons of Social Media Marketing To Businesspersons

Social media advertising has presented entrepreneurs with a variety of experiences, as well as several opportunities and challenges. As a hotly discussed business problem, social networks have delivered potential benefits that have prompted firms to improve their performance. Communal media podiums are vital for revealing a company to viable markets and getting out to new clients. The fundamental benefit of social media in business is enhanced communication, data altercation, and knowledge allotment (Alobaidi 4). This communal network component promotes the reciprocal interaction between customers and entrepreneurs, increasing company efficiency.

Social media platforms are crucial in improving advertising determinations for an organizations products and services, encouraging positive business outcomes. Customers nowadays rely more on social media to learn about new services and products businesses offer. Research shows that communal media is a practical ground for generating marketplace buzz before launching a new merchandise or service (Alobaidi 4). As customers want better services, social media improves promotion activities, which are more helpful in improving development and service expertise inside marketplaces.

Entrepreneurs have attacked social media despite its ability to transform virtually every aspect of modern economic activity through superior technology. The most significant challenge that contemporary expertise and social media platforms present is the abundance of defenselessness inside these networks. Businesspersons need more regulators over the aggregate internet and online safety, little upshot over general preservation, and little aptitude to change clients negative discernments on communal platforms such as Facebook (Alobaidi 4). Negative evaluations from uninspired clients are more likely due to unpleasant opinions shared by competitors on social media. The vibrant cyber activities that engage both legal civilians and criminal manipulators across webs and the enterprises absence of switch measures expose corporations to severe deception danger. It is difficult to trace the course of negative talk and fraudulent activities. While many firms continue to use social media platforms, the possibility of losing billions of dollars in fraud cases remains.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Businesses

Usage of Chatbots

Chatbots are linked to platforms on communal media to communicate with customers unswervingly and respond to their inquiries. Chatbots are artificially intelligent robots that replace people in online conversations and comment areas (Arsenijevic & Jovic). Bots can connect with clients and solve their issues without human intervention. Chatbots may readily navigate other social media networks thanks to sites like chatty people.

The marketing firm uses chatbots to learn more about its consumers demands. The bots obtain client data that may be used for marketing purposes. Some business bots can detect a customers address, age, sexuality, and buying patterns (Arsenijevic & Jovic). Client information is essential for designing items and determining which places to sell them. When using bots, the company communicates with potential consumers while gathering data about their requirements. According to research, understanding and addressing their demands is the most excellent method to gain clients loyalty (Arsenijevic & Jovic). As a result, the use of chatbots increases brand loyalty among customers. Many effective organizations use chatbots to understand and address the demands of their customers by learning their preferences and areas.

Creating Personalized Experiences for Customers

Customizing client experiences is the most effective method to satisfy their demands. Chatbots are another approach to customizing the client experience. The procedure entails generating ads that drive clients to the IM window for bot discussions (Jacobson et al. 65). The bot responds to every clients inquiries and gathers their wants to be addressed. Chatbots enable businesses to break the typical advertising paradigm of constantly selling by allowing buyers to enquire about anything else. Chatbots improve the marketers experience by increasing revenue, building a dedicated fan following, and providing a personalized consumer experience.

Creating an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

Marketing with the correct content expands the companys audience. High-quality SEO content assists businesses in connecting with relevant consumers. Excellent marketing material strives to be as specific as possible when providing data about a commodity or service (Jacobson et al. 65). Aside from reaching a broad audience; a fantastic content promotion strategy may be freely used. Along with the information, the most appropriate hashtag should be put. Selecting relevant and popular hashtags assists firms in attracting more and more appropriate clients.

Creating a Community for the Audience

Since they allow users to follow a brand, social media sites are efficient at building communities. Once developed, the district anticipates seeing and gaining knowledge from the brand. In this instance, the product should preserve the audience engaged by publishing pertinent information (Jacobson et al. 65). Businesses use blogs to pose questions that allow the audience to connect with the trademark. Other strategies to engage the audience include soliciting thoughts on specific topics, publishing breaking news, liking and sharing audience postings, and attempting to engage them by encouraging them to pick and try sharing the models posts.

Use of Varied Content

The created public reacts to an extensive range of content. Instead of utilizing postings all the time, marketers employ graphics, engaging podcasts, and amusing videos to attract the audiences consideration (Jacobson et al. 65). Using such networking sites is yet another technique to give the brand individuality. Posting simple text all the time is tedious, and the viewers are likely to neglect critical future articles. Creating entertaining films or photos with brand content is essential for a successful media platform.

Use of Brand Ambassadors

Employing brand advocates is the most effective advertising tactic. Social media is used by brand ambassadors to persuade their adherents that they require specific items or services. They also give links and data on purchasing the brands products (Drummond et al. 1260). Compared to brand platform commercials, brand advocates drive sales by twice as much. Contemporary social media users have a higher regard for superstars and are more inclined to purchase the things they use. As a result, they were using celebrities as marketing people inspiring many new consumers to fall in love with and buy the firms services and products: Kim Kardashian, the entrepreneur of SKIMS, teamed with Fendi to create and promote items. Kondrashin had over 263 million Instagram fans, allowing the two companies to access her followers as prospective buyers (Wang et al. 375). A brand with prominent supporters generates more excellent sales and money.

Creating Relevant Platforms and Running Cross-Channel Campaigns

Businesses must build accounts on the most prominent platforms to access as many clients as possible through social media advertising. Many individuals use websites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok. Moreover, since not all websites have the correct purchasers, media is critical to marketing (Jacobson et al. 65). Brands across all social media channels also undertake cross-channel marketing. Brand material must be tremendous and emotive to draw in the audience while producing such ads. Based on the social media website chosen, the advertising may have the same or similar information (Jacobson et al. 65). To draw in the media coverage of the brands audience, the material should be released on all social media platforms around the same time. An appropriate cross-channel advertisement provides an exciting tale, includes a link to the homepage for further information, and has a different name and multiple hashtags.

Conclusion

As social networking takes over the globe, social media advertising is the most efficient advertisement today. Businesses employ cutting-edge techniques to maximize the benefits of the platforms. Aside from reaching many people, the promoted brand is well-known, generates more significant sales, and uses less expensive advertising. Successful firms take social networking marketing to the next level by investing more heavily, particularly in brand evangelists. As technology advances, digital marketing will assume future control of the marketing business. Even though social media advertising is anticipated to continue facing significant cybercrime threats, it may proceed to inspire company marketing strategies as current, and forthcoming generations strive to anticipate similar experiences.

Works Cited

Arsenijevic, Uros, and Marija Jovic, Artificial Intelligence Marketing: Chatbots, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Applications and Innovations (IC-AIAI), 2019. Web.

Jacobson, Jenna, et al. Social Media Marketing: Who Is Watching the Watchers? Vol. 5, no. 35, 2021, pp. 6069. Web.

Nyagadza, Brighton. Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing Predictive Trends. Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 2020, pp. 4056. Web.

Drummond, Conor, et al. Digital Engagement Strategies and Tactics in Social Media Marketing. European Journal of Marketing, vol. 54, no. 6, 2020, pp. 12471280. Web.

Wang, Hsiu-Yuan, et al. Factors Influencing Intention of Facebook Fans of Companies to Convert into Actual Buyers. Research Anthology on Strategies for Using Social Media as a Service and Tool in Business, vol. 4, no. 24, 2021, pp. 357381. Web.

Kreutzer, Ralf T. Social Media Und Social-Media-Marketing. Social-Media-Marketing Kompakt, vol. 5, no. 65, 2018, pp. 119., Web.

An Overview of the Marketing Campaign

The campaign Dove Real Beauty Sketches seeks to raise self-awareness among individuals with regards to their physical appearance. The campaign is alive to the fact that many people have low self-esteem when it comes to appreciating their beauty or physical endowment. The message transmitted to consumers in the market indicates that natural beauty is the best. The campaign is sponsored by Dove, which is one of the companies dealing with beauty products in the world. The campaign promotes the message that Dove is concerned about the consumers natural beauty. The use of female models in the campaign helps to support this message in the market. The reason is that women are viewed as being more sensitive to beauty compared to men (Varey 2002, p. 75).

The advertisement campaign makes use of several models of the larger communication theory. For instance, the simple communications model is fronted as an ideal framework for marketing in this undertaking. According to Varey (2002, p. 75), this framework is used in promotional campaigns to enhance quick and easy comprehension of the message being passed across. As illustrated in the Dove Real Beauty Sketches marketing operation, women are made to believe that beauty is best when it is natural.

Innovativeness of Dove Beauty Campaign

An effective marketing strategy is characterized by innovativeness and creativity. A simple communication model makes it possible to adopt innovativeness to provide a brand with a competitive advantage. According to Ewing (2009, p. 104), effective IMC is potentially critical to organizational performance because it has the ability to provide a competitive advantage. With respect to Dove Real Beauty Sketches marketing campaign, creativity and originality are made apparent through the use of a sketch artist to affirm the notion of natural beauty. The move introduces the multifaceted nature of a given communications theory. To this end, the artist and the female models interact to send the message that beauty is not man-made.

Dove Real Beauty Sketches: Brand Positioning

The effectiveness of a marketing campaign is realized once a given brand attains an elevated position in the market. Brand positioning ensures that a given product is preferred by consumers over a wide range of alternatives (Fill 2011, p. 88). To this end, Dove has positioned itself as a supporter of unadulterated beauty. The marketing campaign is crafted in such a way that it promotes the preference for pure physical appearance. The implication is that Dove will satisfy the needs of the clients by producing natural products. The move indicates the creativity of the team behind the campaign, given that many people are conscious of the benefits of consuming non-organic products.

An Analysis of the Message Promoted by the Campaign

Marketing campaigns are developed to ensure that a given message reaches the consumer. However, there is little consensus on how that should be carried out (Keller 2009, p. 139). The Dove Real Beauty Sketches promotional campaign is used to send out a message in support of natural beauty. Given the companys role in the manufacture of beauty products, the consumer gets the impression that Dove is producing natural products only.

Market Target and Consumer Needs

A marketing campaign is developed with the intention of tapping into a specific segment in the market. According to Micu and Pentina (2012, p. 4), every industry has its own market. The implication is that companies have to compete for control of the said niche. Consequently, market segmentation arises. The segmentation entails the establishment of existing types of consumers and their needs and preferences. A communications model like the multiphase framework is used to ensure that a broad spectrum of the market is targeted in a campaign.

The Dove Real Beauty Sketches marketing strategy primarily targets women. Doves main market is made up of an urban woman. Most of these female consumers are fashion conscious. It is noted that beauty is a key component of fashion (Schultz & Schultz 2004, p. 51). Recent studies on fashion trends indicate that consumers are more inclined towards products that depict the natural essence of life compared to those that promote synthetic beauty. The campaign realizes this objective by supporting the notion of natural physical appearance.

A marketing campaign is deemed to have succeeded once it has effectively addressed the consumer needs of a specific market. Moriarty, Mitchell, and Wells (2012, p. 12) argue that addressing the preferences of clients is all about finding the elements of a product that guarantee satisfaction on behalf of the consumer. To this end, addressing these needs requires the clients to be assured by the product. The same is realized once the message comes directly from the company. Consequently, the single-step model is used in the development of a suitable marketing campaign.

The proposed model guarantees that a marketing message gets to the client directly from the firm. With respect to the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign, it is apparent that the organization is appealing directly to market needs by highlighting the essence of natural beauty. In most cases, the single-step framework makes use of opinion leaders to ensure the message reaches the market courtesy of brand decisions (Luck & Moffatt 2009, p. 311). In relation to Dove Real Beauty Sketches, the objective is realized through the use of an expert sketch artist who affirms the notion of natural beauty.

Doves Unique Selling Proposition

A marketing strategy and campaign ensures that the company promotes its products in the industry. Unique selling propositions (USP) are developed to ensure that consumers get the feeling that they deserve a given product (Solomon 2003, p. 88). Finne and Gronroos (2009, p. 183) suggest that marketing ensures that a product reaches a consumer. To this end, differentiation is most preferred in a marketing campaign. Differentiation entails coming up with a unique strategy to endear a product to the consumers. In the current undertaking, the use of women suffering from beauty-related esteem issues as opposed to models appeals to consumers. Such a move assures the customers that Dove can use natural regimens to realize the kind of beauty they are yearning for.

Integration of the Unique Selling Proposition into the Advertising Message

A unique selling proposition assures consumers of the high quality of a given product. The use of a sketch artist trained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), together with the additional roles played by the second parties, helps to integrate the USP into the message. The Shanon model enhances the communication process courtesy the various instruments of brand management tools. According to Arvidsson (2005, p. 236), the instruments of brand management permeate our life-world. To this end, the USP is integrated into the campaign message with the help of brand management instruments like the YouTube video employed.

Creative Strategies

An effective marketing campaign is one whose strategies endear the consumer to the product. Fill (2011, p. 56) opines that the approaches adopted by the company should establish a call to action feeling among the clients. To this end, the Dove campaign intends to send out a message of beauty products that are pro-natural. The call-to-action is used creatively since the campaign does not waste time by tying the viewer to the message.

The Media Channels Selected for the Campaign

The Sketches campaign employs, among others, the single-step communications model. The framework enhances the direct transfer of the message to the consumer. According to Varey (2002, p. 75), communication is a mode of exchange. However, the model adopts a multifaceted approach to the communication process. In addition, it proposes the use of mass media. In light of this, Dove opted for YouTube to carry out the campaign.

The Appropriateness of the Message and Media Channel

The marketing campaign analyzed in this paper is used to promote the idea of natural beauty among female consumers. An effective promotional undertaking should adhere to the need for ethical consumption and benefits from the sale of a commodity (Fordyce & Ryn 2014, p. 35). Based on this analysis, it is apparent that the message and the media channels related to this campaign are appropriate. The message and mode of communication are regarded as being appropriate if they effortlessly endear consumers to a given product. Furthermore, all ethical elements of communication are adhered to in the campaign (Finne & Gronroos 2009, p. 183).

Conclusion: Suggested Alterations to the Campaign

A number of adjustments can be made to enhance the success and appeal of Doves campaign. For example, beauty is not restricted to one specific gender. Promotional campaigns are expected to target a larger demographic (Duncan, 2005, p. 177). The management should note that the male market is also an ideal segment. The only alteration to this campaign will entail the incorporation of the male customers. Regardless of the preferred market niche, a promotional campaign should endeavor to increase its outreach. The development enhances the chances of penetrating into new market segments.

References

Arvidsson, A 2005, Brands: a critical perspective, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 5 no. 2, pp. 235-258.

Duncan, T 2005, Principles of advertising & IMC, McGraw-Hill, Chicago.

Ewing, T 2009, Integrated marketing communications measurement and evaluation, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 15 no. 2-3, pp. 103-117.

Fill, C 2011, Essentials of marketing communications, Financial Times Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Finne, C & Gronroos, C 2009, Rethinking marketing communication: from integrated marketing communication to relationship communication, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 15 no. 2, pp. 179-195.

Fordyce, R & Ryn, L 2014, Ethical commodities as exodus and refusal, Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization, vol. 14 no. 1, pp. 35-55.

Keller, L 2009, Building strong brands in a modern marketing communications environment, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 15 no. 2, pp. 139-155.

Luck, E & Moffatt, J 2009, IMC: has anything really changed?: a new perspective on an old definition, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 15 no. 5, pp. 311-325.

Micu, C & Pentina, I 2012, Integrating advertising and news about the brand in the online environment: are all products the same?, Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 20 no. 3, pp. 1-17.

Moriarty, E, Mitchell, N & Wells, W 2012, Advertising & IMC: principles & practice, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Schultz, E & Schultz, F 2004, IMC: the next generation: five steps for delivering value and measuring returns using marketing communication, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Solomon, R 2003, Conquering consumer space: marketing strategies for a branded world, AMACOM, New York.

Varey, J 2002, Marketing communication: principles and practice, Routledge, London.

Introduction

For a business organization to achieve its goals, there must be a plan. A marketing strategy is designed to facilitate the sale of products and/or services. MTN Ghanas approach to promotion has various components, and all of them are aimed at building trust between the company and consumers. Results are reviewed frequently, and improvements are made in line with the threats and weaknesses identified. MTN Ghana has been successful in implementing the marketing mix, product differentiation, coping with commoditization, and realizing the competitive advantage (Gooderham, Grøgaard and Foss, 2019, pp. 46-48). Market segmentation has facilitated the discernment of the consumers expectations, and hence the determination of how they can be met effectively.

Companys Background Information

MTN Ghana is the biggest telecommunication firm in the Republic of Ghana. It was launched in 1994, and currently controls 57% of the market. Vodafone and AirtelTigo, the two most significant rivals, have 21.97% and 20.3% of the total mobile phone subscribers respectively (Paul, 2020). MTN has a 70% share of the data subsector, and this is even though there are over 50 Internet service providers (Reuters Staff, 2020). The company also dominates the trade in mobile money, a situation that has prompted regulators to consider implementing policies to prevent it from monopolizing the telecommunication industry (Dontoh, 2020). This underscores the success that the organization has achieved in promoting its products.

MTN Ghanas Marketing Mix

A marketing mix is the set of tactics that are used by an enterprise while promoting its brand. The management must consider factors related to the nature of service, its price, place(s) where purchases may be made, and promotion strategy (Otchere, E. S. Tenakwah and E. J. Tenakwah, 2015, pp. 66-67). Organizations that base their manoeuver on the understanding of customers needs outperform those which do not. Performance is enhanced when a firm communicates the value it has created to the consumers in an effective way (Vertigans, Idowu and Schmidpeter, 2015, p. 226). A marketing mix, therefore, enables a company to know the kind of service it can avail to clients as well as how to let them know of its existence.

MTN Ghana has dominated the market by offering a wide range of services and availing them at competitive prices. Among its main products and services include mobile telephony, consumer electronics, cloud computing, mobile money transfer, music streaming, sale of data, and e-commerce (Otchere, E. S. Tenakwah and E. J. Tenakwah, 2015, pp. 71-72). The companys financial strength enables it to engage in price wars without risking bankruptcy (Akowuah, Xinying and Sohna, 2018, p. 125). Unless the provider is negatively impacted by government policies, it is unlikely for the competitors to dislodge it from the dominant position. MTN Ghana is the most visible telecommunication provider in Ghana. There is hardly any retail outlet without a poster promoting the company (Vertigans, Idowu and Schmidpeter, 2015, p. 228). The firms visibility casts a shadow over the competitors, and therefore, many customers do not see them as alternatives to MTN Ghana.

Competitive Strategies used by MTN Ghana

Although MTN Ghana dominates the market, the management recognizes the importance of constant innovation. The organization is usually the first to introduce a new product and/or service into the market. It has a team of experts who are dedicated to research and development. The team was formed after it was determined that first movers, especially those who come-up with differentiated products, benefit from strong brand recognition and customer loyalty. (Akowuah, Xinying and Sohna, 2018, pp. 98-99). Indeed, clients habitually stick with MTN Ghana even after business rivals avail substitutes into the market.

Commitment to innovation enables an enterprise to react to the actions taken by the competitors as well as to discover new business opportunities. In essence, therefore, the ability to come-up with new ideas gives the firm a competitive advantage. For instance, MTN Ghana regularly exploits its novelty to counter AirtelTigo or Vodafone new product releases with far superior alternatives (Gooderham, Grøgaard and Foss, 2019, p. 47). In most cases, the variants are sold at about the same prices as those being promoted by the rivals. Even in cases where MTN Ghanas products are sold at slightly higher prices, the organization still wins customers over because of its popular brand name.

MTN Ghanas Strategies for Coping with Commoditization

Commoditization is a significant threat to any organization, irrespective of its market share. It refers to the scenario where the market gets filled with rival products which are almost identical. Firms do not only duplicate products but copy business models as well. MTN Ghana has complained to AirtelTigo and Vodafone over the competitors consistent replication of its core strategy (Vertigans, Idowu and Schmidpeter, 2015, p. 228). At the same time, it has been making notable investment in technology, and this ultimately improves customer experience. Even though some of the products are similar, customers still choose MTN Ghana due to its reliability and efficiency.

Over the years, MTN Ghana has adopted a business model that is commoditization-friendly. It is challenging to fight commoditization in Ghana through legal means, and this is mainly because of the ambiguity of the Copyright Act, 2005 (Akowuah, Xinying and Sohna, 2018, p. 99). The law was designed to protect original authorship of pieces of entertainment, and a framework to safeguard computer architecture and software is lacking. Besides, Ghanas criminal investigation agencies are ill-equipped to deal with piracy in the telecommunication industry (Otchere, E. S. Tenakwah and E. J. Tenakwah, 2015, pp. 66-69). Given the circumstances, MTN is compelled to closely monitor the trends in the market and respond to every product release by the competitors.

MTN Ghanas Approach to Market Segmentation

Business organizations improve their performance when they target the most promising audience. Market segmentation is when a firm subdivides the target market based on interests, locations, and demographics of the consumers (Akowuah, Xinying and Sohna, 2018, p. 98). It proceeds to aim at specific customer categories based on their unique characteristics. By so doing, the company discovers opportunities which were previously obscured, and the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns is improved (Vertigans, Idowu and Schmidpeter, 2015, p. 226). Slitting up the market is important since resources are always limited, and there are competing needs to be met.

Market segmentation has enabled MTN Ghana to know its customers. That knowledge facilitates the identification of the wishes of a particular category of clients. Among the opportunities MTN has discovered are the underserved niche markets. These include youths below the age of 23 who are deemed to lack the purchasing power and adults above the age of 65 (Akowuah, Xinying and Sohna, 2018, p. 125). The management is keen on developing new products and/or services for such categories. This is in the hope that the new customers who are currently ignored will remain loyal to a firm that identifies and starts satisfying their desires.

Conclusion

Even though MTN Ghana has access to over half of the market, the management is mindful of the competition. The biggest threat is the ease with which rivals replicate the business model, technology, and products. Such actions tend to erodes its competitive advantage, and hence threatens profitability. In order to remain ahead of the pack, however, MTN Ghana focuses on offering customer service at a level that is hard-to beat, and this is particularly because the competitors have limited resources. There is significant investment in technology that has in-turn made the provider become the most efficient and reliable in the country.

Reference List

Akowuah, S., Xinying, J., and Sohna, A. (2018). A study on the impact and processes of optimizing the competitive strategy of MTN Ghana, International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research, 7(11), pp. 96-131.

Dontoh, E. (2020). MTN Ghana takes fight over market dominance to Supreme Court, Bloomberg, Web.

Gooderham, P. N., Grøgaard, B., and Foss, K. (2019). Global Strategy and Management. Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Otchere, A. B., Tenakwah, E. S., and Tenakwah, E. J. (2015). Organisational reputation and impact on employee attitude: a case study of MTN Ghana Limited and Vodafon Ghana Limited, Journal of Public Affairs (14723891), 16(1), pp. 6674. Web.

Paul, E. (2020). Ghana wants to break MTNs Market Dominance, but will its new policies suffice? Techpoint.africa.

Reuters Staff. (2020). Ghana to reduce MTNs Telecoms Market Share, Reuters.

Vertigans, S., Idowu, S. O., and Schmidpeter, R. (2015). Corporate social responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa: sustainable development in its embryonic form. New York City, NY: Springer.

Introduction

Analyzing the current state of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), it is possible to conclude that despite the ranks given by Forbes magazine, the company still has much to develop. Back in the 90s, GMCR reached great heights through collaboration with Keurig Inc. After merging with the Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2018, GMCR becomes a part of Keurig Dr Pepper, the third largest beverage company in North America (2). Despite this status, GMCR itself remains a niche. The companys philosophy is based mainly on the taste of the product, environmental friendliness, and proper working conditions.

Following the research conducted by Adeleke, several marketing approaches can be suggested to expand GMCRs customer base (1). First of all, the company should pay more attention to social media for marketing, promotion, and branding. Adeleke notes the effectiveness of this method in section 7.1 of the work. GMCRs Facebook and Instagram accounts are quite low in activity, even though it does have them. This fact certainly does not allow the company to obtain greater audience coverage. In addition, GMCR could focus more on customer service and personalization since this allows not only to attract new customers but also to keep them.

International and domestic events effects on Green Mountains marketing strategy and sales

As Tucker notes in Chapter 15 of her book, the coffee market is volatile (4). Answering the question of what this might be related to, unforeseen circumstances and the delay between planting and the first harvest should be mentioned. Due to these two factors, supply often exceeds the demand, which causes the products price to fall. As soon as the price goes down, the production also goes down, which further leads to a deficiency in supply. After prices rise, this cycle repeats since manufacturers are trying to sell more coffee at a higher price. Furthermore, the price is affected by weather conditions, disease outbreaks, and social instability. The coffee market is also influenced by the state of the plantations of the largest suppliers. Assuredly, all of these reasons apply to the marketing strategy and sales of GMCR.

Domestic economic and social factors also have an impact on the company. Like any business, GMCR is affected by the states economic policy and legislative changes. Since Keurig Dr Pepper began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018, it has been a subject to the influence of the USA markets financial state. Various social tensions and natural cataclysms in the country invariably reflect in the companys marketing.

Green Mountains perspectives in South America

According to Krishnan, 65% of the worlds coffee is consumed by only 17% of the worlds population (3). This fact provides an extraordinary opportunity for market expansion through the promotion of coffee consumption in both producing and consuming countries. Since GMCR sells coffee collected mainly not in South America (only one of the four varieties is grown in Colombia), there is a real chance to sell products on this continent. However, the difficulty is that Brazil is the worlds largest coffee producer nowadays. Additionally, South American countries are not among the top ten coffee importers. Nevertheless, GMCR focuses on environmental safety, natural forest ecosystem keeping, and uniqueness of production. The company cooperates exclusively with its own farmers and uses only certified beans for sale. Presumably, it will be difficult for the company to establish itself in this territory, but the marketing strategy sets it apart from its competitors. Due to the fact that more attention is paid to environmental security each year, GMCR has a real chance to gain its audience.

Works Cited

Adeleke, Abi. A Case Study of the Marketing Tools Coffee Shop Owners Use to Sustain Businesses. Open Journal of Business and Management, vol. 8, no. 2, 2020.

Keurig Dr Pepper Completes Merger between Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Bevnet, 2018.

Krishnan, Sarada. Sustainable coffee production. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. 2017.

Tucker, Catherine M. Coffee culture: local experiences, global connections. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

Footnotes

1. Adeleke, Abi. A Case Study of the Marketing Tools Coffee Shop Owners Use to Sustain Businesses. Open Journal of Business and Management, vol. 8, no. 2, 2020. Web.
2. Keurig Dr Pepper Completes Merger between Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Bevnet, 2018. Web.
3. Krishnan, Sarada. Sustainable coffee production. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. 2017. Web.
4. Tucker, Catherine M. Coffee culture: local experiences, global connections. Taylor & Francis, 2017. Web.

Introduction

The Wiggles is a childrens musical group formed in Sydney, Australia, that mainly deals in children entertainment. It was formed in 1991 by four members namely: Anthony Field, Philip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt and Greg Page although later other members joined such as Sam Moran who replaced Greg Page who retired in 2005 due to an illness, Lyn Moran and others (Wright, 2008). The group has been doing very well over the years which made the weekly times to declare it the first earning organization in the entertainment industry in the whole country of Australia.

This group has spread over and wide in the country of origin, that is, Australia and in other countries abroad such as the United States, the U.K, New Zealand, Taiwan and many more. This research work mainly looks at the ways and means by which Wiggles group penetrated the market and became the top in its line of business (Dickson, Singh, Cheung, Wyatt, & Nugent, 2008). This is mainly concerned with the business model that the company adopts. The business model mainly incorporates the strategies the business puts in place to ensure the achievement of the end goals and objectives.

It also looks at the strengths of this business that elevates it to such great levels. These are the factors that have made the wiggles achieve its niche market. This is where a business concentrates on a certain particular line of business instead of dealing with a whole range of business lines (Fraser, 2009). The paper has also looked at how the wiggles company is of importance to society. This is what is referred to as corporate social responsibility. Good management of the wiggles has also contributed to its high rising trend. According to Dowling et al (2009), he urges that the management of multinational firms needs strategies concerning the learning the business and also how to cater to the environment.

How the Wiggles Business Model Is Unusual

Use of diverse methods of promoting their products

The use CDs and DVDs in selling their products helped the Wiggles so much in reaching out to many prospective customers. This was also incorporated with live performances and television shows which helped so much in creating awareness of the existence of the wiggles products. There was also the use of the internet which made sure that the products were known even in regions outside Australia as a country. This different methods and ways of promoting the wiggles products helped in elevating their business to greater heights and reach out to the targeted markets.

Proximity to customers

The wiggles performed in places where there were children, mostly pre-school children. This helped ensure that the targeted audience is available. They also performed in amusement parks in Australia and the U.S.

Accommodating both the children and their parents

The wiggles performed songs that were entertaining both to children and their parents. This ensured that the parents would accompany their children to the performances instead of dropping them and picking them later after the show. Consequently, this would help increase the number of sales made during the show in terms of entrance fees and the sales of other wiggle products such as toys, CDs and DVDs mainly because parents are the ones financial capability to buy the products and pay for the entrance fees. The type of genre of music they use is also accommodating to both children and the parents, that is, rock music (Lee, 1998).

Making sales during performances

The wiggles usually carry their other products to their performances. This helps to increase sales in that many people will want to buy either a CD or a DVD after a hilarious performance to watch the same at home. While the performances were going on, other people were offering the products for sale to the audiences. The accompaniment of the parents with their children also helped increase the sales in such performances. This is because the children will always demand interesting products from their parents once they see them. Examples of these are toys.

The extensiveness of their function as a business

The main function of the wiggles brand is to entertain people mainly young children. This function extends to all areas of a country or the world (Susan, 2011). All children will be interested in an entertaining performance. It is advantageous to the wiggles in increasing the market of their products through schools and social activities.

Niche Market

When Wiggle was looking for the niche market the focused more on the products and services which other sectors were not giving, hence the focused on potential customers whom the streamlined their market towards (Ward, 2011)

To the wiggles company, they have been able to identify a niche target market in that they were able to penetrate in the less famous children entertainment industry and succeed in it. This line of entertainment can be referred to as the niche market or the targeted portion of the market for the wiggles group. This is because they selected a segment of the larger entertainment industry and decided to concentrate on children entertainment (Markstrom, 2008).

The wiggles relied on certain experiences to identify a niche target market both in the home market and in host markets overseas. A niche market can be established by a business owner by making sure that the needs of the targeted customers as far as products and service are concerned are met compared to other providers in the market (Murphy, 2009).

Some of the experiences the wiggles used to identify the niche target market include:

Experience in teaching and singing

Two of the founding members Field and Fatt were members of the Australian pop band The Cockroaches before they joined wiggle. Cook was a member of several bands before meeting Field and Page at Macquarie Universities where they were studying to become pre-school teachers. These experiences helped them in entertaining the children. The former pre-school teachers had experiences on how to deal with children and their psychological changes. This combined with the ability of the other two singers helped the wiggles to come up with songs that are both entertaining and educative to children and their parents.

Use of educative songs

Most of the songs they recorded and performed in their concerts were educative. The wiggles incorporated very educative aspects in their performances to help the children to learn as they got entertained. These educative aspects helped to encourage even the parents to allow their children to attend these concerts and also buy them CDs and DVDs. These popularized the wiggles highly and consequently gained a larger market around the country and outside.

Wiggles mode of dressing

The wiggles had a unique way of dressing that is highly interesting to children. There was always a difference in the colour of their shirts and each wiggle colour has been maintained over the years. Greg Page was always in a yellow shirt, Murray Cook in a red shirt, Jeff Fatt in a purple shirt and Anthony Field in a blue shirt. They also wore black trousers as part of the uniform of performance (Langenberg, 2005). This mode of dressing could be easily identified by the target market that is the children. The children could easily identify who is who in the wiggles group and this helped them understand easily the content of the performances. These colours also acted as a way of identifying the wiggles brand.

Use of animal characters

The wiggles incorporated animal characters in their songs and performances. These included: Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog. These animal characters have been of high interest to the targeted market, that is, the children. Children will always take much interest in such stories and characters and therefore end loving this group very much (Sams, 2005). It has, therefore, become a very effective strategy in identifying the target niche market for the wiggles.

Use of different languages for different markets

The wiggles have been able to penetrate to other markets over the years. These markets include other countries such as the United States, Taiwan and many others. Some of these countries are non-English speaking countries and it, therefore, forces the wiggles group to do translations into the languages they can understand. This has helped the wiggles group in identifying its niche target market locally and in other foreign countries. For example, when they penetrated Taiwan, they had to get some people from that country, couch them for about a month on how the wiggles operate and then produce the intended work in the Taiwanese local language.

Good conduct by members

The wiggles group has always had a strict on the conduct of its members. This entails no tolerance of drug abuse, alcoholism, smoking and use of bad language by all employees of this organization. Because the wiggles are dealing with young children, such good conducts from the employees are of great importance. They have attracted much admiration from the parents as the members act as the role models for the children (Gardner, 2008). The parents have therefore had no objection for their children attending the wiggles concerts and buying their products. This has helped in promoting their image in the market and consequently helped they dominate in their line of business.

Use of Television programs

The wiggles have spread their wings to many television programs and series. The wiggles have also been able to broadcast at Australian Broadcasting Corporation in many instances.

Strength of Wiggles

When Greg the yellow wiggle left the band the other members were able to replace him without much ado because of the strength they had built upon their brand. This was brought about by the fact that Sam Moran who replaced him had served in wiggles for several years and had also stood in for page on many shows (Dinar, 2010). This had brought confidence upon him and the audience had also gotten used to Sam Moran before and the public was also aware that Page was ill and could not have continued performing but rather to concentrate on his health and also manage his illness (Steinberg, 2006)

Components of wiggle group

Their association with nursing mothers association

According to Munro (2005), the nursing mothers association and playgroups promoted wiggles and this made them credible by the virtue of their supporters. This, however, can sustain them in the foreign market in the sense that even in America wiggles has been sponsored by groups like Disney channel which has been showing their clip in their programs. And due to the services they offer to the children, many organizations abroad would also like to work with them (Sydney morning herald, 2003)

Franchised their concept

Wiggles group has been able to franchise their concept in many parts of the world all their CDs, DVDs and toys had been sold by other companies which have been licensed to sell its products. FAO Schwartz and Zany Brainy used to distribute their videos and this can be done whenever they go in the world by entering in to contract with other companies and letting those companies do some marketing strategies for them (Steinberg, 2006).

Wiggle uniqueness

We find that the uniqueness is one of the components which would make them valid though one of them was not present we find that even after Greg the yellow wiggle left, they were able to replace him with Sam Moran who had served in wiggle for many years. As we can see wiggle is unique in its way because all those top and main characters have got their way of dressing which children and parents can identify them not only at home but even abroad. This is a very powerful component which can also be sustained in foreign markets because children who will be in the live performance will be receiving the entertainment and would be able to recognize those guys whether its in video or live performance. Their uniqueness can be sustained in a foreign market when they continue dressing and having their roles as they been used (Sachs, 2006).

Psychic distance

According to Brewer (2007), psychic distance is usually taken as differences which appears between firms environment and the country they are targeting. These differences may also be cultural. In wiggle, the selection of its market is difficult from the country itself as far as similarities are concerned.

Psychic distance also appears as the difference a firm will encounter in other foreign countries which are not in their country if this difference is bigger the firm will most likely select that country as the best country to venture in business. Thus psychic distance is a very big factor which deters the selection of market in firms in other countries (Vahlne, Eric, Wiedersheim, 1977). Those countries which appear to have big differences are not usually considered as the best place to start a business in. psychic distance will disturb communication between firms and markets in a particular country.

Managers of the firms will prefer to move to those countries which can identify information of excelling easily compared to those which are hard to identify the information. As noted by (Cohen, 2005), those companies which are small are supposed to consider the psychic distance from the onset when making advances to other countries for them to avoid loses and closure of their business.

Corporate Social Responsibility

This is a self-regulation aspect adopted by a company into its business model whereby the activities are motivated to comply with the law and norms of the country or international law and norms if its an international firm.

The goal of corporate social responsibility is to encourage its impact upon its consumers by making sure they are treated well and their rights observed. Also to the environment by making sure that the environment has been conserved and by making sure that there is a positive impact on society (Martenson, 1987).

Performances to the children with special needs

Wiggles have specifically invited children with a special need at their concert where they would meet and have fun with their families, those children with a special need have been enhanced so much to appreciate life the way they are. Wiggles have performed to those children in the hospital as well during Christmas.

Involvement in charity work

The involvement in charity has helped them earn acceptance in the society which in turn helps them reach the target market mainly because many people will always want to identify with companies that help the less privileged in the society (Disney, 2002).

Wiggle have also been able to create employment abroad when they went to Taiwan and recruited some people who were to perform in by the wiggles members in Taiwan. These people were trained for about a month in Australia and they went back to demonstrate what they learned in their country (Zou, David, and Wayne, 1997). The wiggles group has also employed very many people both locally and abroad in the organization to work as supporting staff or among the performing staff. This has been a great contributor to society and the country at large. It helps reduce unemployment and at the same time promote economic development.

Free song downloads

Wiggles have offered downloads of ringtones and songs on their websites. This is a way of giving back to the society globally because all those who have access to the internet can download even video which can be used as a form of entertainment at their homes for their children and adults too (Wright, 2008).

Road safety brochures

Wiggles in conjunction with Volkswagen Company promoted road safety were available at wiggle concerts (Gardener, 2008). This assisted the public to observe road safety and consequently marketed the Volkswagen.

Wiggles Intangible Resources

According to Cohen (2005), he defines intangible resources as the resources which you cannot touch such as the trademark copyrights among others. Wiggles group itself is an intangible asset because the world wiggle has a lot of influence towards the entertainment sector.

The uniqueness of the characters

The wiggles characters have demonstrated a very big uniqueness to their performance. We find that all those characters have been identified by the mode of dressing, that is, Greg would always be a yellow shirt while performing, Murray in a red shirt Jeff in a purple shirt and Anthony n a blue shirt (Cavusgil, and Shaoming, 1994). This gives them a unique identification which young children would notice even desire to be like them.

This kind of identification assists them to move to other areas in the world because they also appear through the internet many children and parents abroad may have had their experiences through those media have when they go to overseas they will be accepted more easily because they have prior knowledge about those unique people (Sachs, 2006).

Wiggles ability to write music every year

Not every firm would be able to write a new song every year because some may lack creativity and also the resources but wiggles group has been able to write a new song every year. According to (Dinah, 2010), this has helped them to move into new markets overseas because of their prediction. The audience has been kept on toes by their music every year and fully anticipated to see that talented entertain doing their performance on the stage (Wright, 2007). This fact has made them be embraced oversees because they are seen as entertaining with the undiminishing level of entertainment. As they sell those new songs locally and overseas, they increase their popularity and also their finances which assist them to move their business abroad.

Standardization Versus Customization

According to Ozsomer, Muzzafer, and Cavusgil, 1991), Standardization is the development of the product and how it is being used so that those who are consuming the product at the end have confidence in the product and also the supplier who is producing the product. The products are accredited and assessed for conformity with the set standards (Murphy & Yates, 2008). Many firms and company would not go to the extreme of both standardization and customization but they usually prefer to be in between the two

Standardization is also the expectation the end-use of the product expected in consuming the product (Laugenberg, 2005). The goal of this product standardization is to make sure that there is the repeatability of the product as far as quality is concerned. Customization, on the other hand, increases integration if the dealers are going to use the product. This means that a product can be customized according to the users so that it can have a maximum benefit towards the consumer. Wiggle has customized its product to fit the diverse society through first understanding the nature of that particular group (Whitelock, and Pimblett, 1997)

When the wiggle standardization is considered we find that the wiggle product standardization has influenced the wiggle popularity and how its service provision has been embraced by the society because when it comes to performance they have standardized performance that is by being unique in their mode of dressing and this is all that is expected in their performance. This is evident when wiggle first went to Taiwan, it educated some few people who were to go back and execute wiggle entertainment activities. ( Dinan, 2010).

Wiggle has been able to lend itself to worldwide standardization because all over the world the wiggle is centralized and its performances are similar to the main characters dressing in the same way always. The use of CDs and DVDs has been standardized all over the world in real-life performance. This has assisted the wiggle product to have worldwide appeal.

Summary

As we have seen from the above research we have found that any successful business can be started from its infancy by the focus the founders put into the model of their business. According to Dowling and colleagues (2009), its evident that uniqueness in business can be a very powerful tool as far as the success of a business is concerned. If an idea is brought up in the market and has never been used there before, the consumers are liable to have a trial in it (Cavusgil, and Shaoming, 1994). Consumers will more likely embrace change if they develop trust and consistency from the service provider.

Just like wiggle using entertainment both focusing to parents and children attracted many families both locally and abroad because unlike many entertainment firms where parents are not considered wiggle has put in mind the presence of parents and their children. This usually makes the parents embrace the ideas rather than just dropping their children and picking them later (Shoham, 1996). Hence the parents feel that their children can participate in the games and plays because of motivation and confidence they get from their products. The wiggles groups idea should be embraced wherever a business venture is to be considered.

Reference List

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In order to succeed in a marketing activities, a marketing strategy is must have. This paper discusses how to go about developing a marketing strategy for organic milk products. It also outlines the target market for the products, a value proposition for the products through differentiation and marketing positioning strategy for the same products.

Introduction

Marketing refer to the activities and approaches that an entrepreneur or business organization carries out in order to make potential customers aware of their products, persuade them to buy and continue using them. Effective marketing will entail letting people know about your products and services repeatedly. In order to do this in a way that will ensure success, developing a marketing strategy will be the starting point (Amstrong & Kotler, 2009).

Explain the components of a marketing strategy

The first step in developing a marketing strategy for organic milk is by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the business. When this is done one is able to take advantage of the strengths and downplay the weaknesses. This is done by developing a SWOT analysis where the strengths and weaknesses; opportunities and threats are reviewed. The strengths of organic milk business include: unique product features of being a healthy drink with recommended daily nutrients for all age groups; personal service and flexible service; and quality milk products.

Weaknesses include low employee skills, wide geographical area, and limited financial resources.

Opportunities include anticipated recovery from recession; growth in demand for healthy beverages; use of internet to reach customers in a wide geographical area; high demand for organic products and government policy of increasing agricultural land devoted to organic farming.

Threats include increased competition, regular milk provide an attractive alternative and lack of sufficient supply of raw milk.

The second step is market segmentation. Due to the need to identify the market in which to concentrate in, this stage is important to every business. It allows focusing the limited marketing resources to potential customers. This involves identifying the needs of particular groups of the market for organic milk through research. After they are identified, the marketing activities will focus on addressing them more successfully than my competitors. In this stage the strength of the business in production of high quality unique milk products that will match the needs for the same for particular group.

The third step is writing a marketing plan, which will entail writing down the already made decisions and research done above. This helps to lay down the actions needed to achieve the things outlined in the strategy and allocate resources for the same in order to achieve the business goals. The marketing plan formulates objectives which are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based).

Fourth step is making a decision on approaches to reach the market. This entails choosing the channels to reach the market, which will be through health food stores, supermarket chains, natural foods supermarkets, convectional supermarkets, superstores, super centers and independent coffee stores. The choices made here affect the communication approaches we use to create awareness of the product. The communication channels for organic milk will include advertising in the media, online, point of sale and use of social networking sites such as facebook. These are dictated by the target groups for the milk (Dimitri & Venezia, 2007).

The last step is measuring and refining the progress. This involves tracking the effectiveness of the marketing strategy in order to review the performance and learn from it. This will be done through various mechanisms. One of these will be asking every new customer the business acquires how they learnt about organic milk brands and asking them to rate the product. Another way will be conducting a marketing research on organic milk in general and carrying out anonymous online surveys in websites such as www.zoomerang.com (Amstrong & Kotler, 2009).

The Target Market

The target market for this range of organic products is as follows:

• Children (4-8 years)

These are young and very active and therefore require a lot of energy which is found in this range of organic milk products.

• Children (9-18 years)

These also are very active and require energy. Organic milk contains daily requirements for calcium which this age group requires 800-1300mg per day

• Adults between 27-49 years

These need a lot of energy, which should be from healthy food products such as organic milk. Most work from their desks which require less movement and therefore a healthy and safe drink is appropriate such that they will not gain unnecessary weight. Contain high Conjugated Linokeic Acids which contain good fats associated with reduced heart diseases. These will be college or post college graduates with middle level income of at least $70,000 per annum (Dimitri & Venezia, 2007).

Value Proposition with Differentiation

ABC Foods process various food items derived from organic milk under the label of Azure Organic brand. These include packed plain milk preserved through UHT treatment. There are also the Azure Yoghurt brands of organic strawberry, chocolate and tropical fruits. Azure Cheese is another product that is produced by ABC foods. There is also the Azure Butter and Azure Spreads, Which are made and preserved without use of any chemicals (Havaldar, 2005).

Market positioning

This entails choosing how target consumers see ABC Foods and Azure Organic brands. ABC foods will use consumer benefits concept where the Azure brands will be promoted and priced on the basis of the benefits they offer to target market that is high quality products with medium prices that are affordable to majority of the majority of the population (Havaldar, 2005).

Conclusion

Effective marketing will entail letting people know about your products and services repeatedly which can be done with the aid of a marketing strategy. This helps to outline the target market, value proposition with differentiation and choose a market positioning strategy.

References

Amstrong, G., Kotler, P. (2009). Marketting: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River. Prentice Hall.

Dimitri, C & Venezia, K. M. (2007). Retail and Consumer Aspects of the Organic Milk Market. USDA. Web.

Havaldar, K. K. (2005). Industrial Marketing. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd. Web.

Introduction

Nike is the sports retailer brand chosen to be examined. Presently, Nike is one of the worlds largest sportswear manufacturers. In the last few decades, it has become one of the symbols of the athlete world. The sneakers of the company have become the subject of daily wardrobe of many people. Customers enjoy its high-quality products and originality, making the company not just a clothing label but a lifestyle choice. The branding image, established among clients and suppliers, makes Nike the most demanded apparel merchant. Therefore, the companys unique marketing strategies allow it to sustain its leading position in the market.

Competitive Analysis

Nikes original goal was to provide professional athletes with specialized products and clothing that would help them improve their performance. Due to its success, Nike has entered the international market as a manufacturer of apparel and accessories for the amateur segment. The companys global recognition is one of its strengths. The swoosh symbol and the legendary trademark already speak for the brand and its outstanding image and reputation. Moreover, Nikes client base comprehends millions of loyal customers around the world. The responsiveness and feedback from them allow the company to adjust and offer desirable products. The production, operated in developing countries with lower manufacturing costs, reduces prices in order that products are affordable and inexpensive. Hence, branding image, audience, and pricing strategies are the main strengths of the company.

Despite the abovementioned advantages, there are some weaknesses, which put Nike in a vulnerable position The low cost of manufacture implies cheap labor, leading to the conclusion that Nikes working conditions are poor. However, a considerable share of its products is purchased via retailers. Therefore, Nike is dependent on suppliers, which possess the power of manipulating prices and quality of goods. Furthermore, the company is heavily reliant on the U.S. market despite worldwide fame and awareness. An economic breakdown in the country may lead to financial collapse, reducing Nikes sales and growth. Thereupon, inadequate terms of employment, dependence on the American market, and connection with third-party producers problematize the brands perspective.

Both rivals possess a set of strengths and weaknesses, which benefit or disadvantage Nike in the market. Puma and Adidas employ substantial Research and Development (R&D) sector, allowing the companies to innovate their product lines. Moreover, the diversification of goods and services allows them to cover a large segment of customers, thus, increasing growth rates and revenue figures. Nevertheless, Puma and Adidas face tough competition in the sports footwear and apparel market, struggling with big players akin to Nike. In addition, the companies limited line production with celebrity endorsements and premium prices narrow the potential customer base. Thereby, the competitors R&D branch is rife with novelties, while a diverse product range boosts sales. Nonetheless, the rivalry level and top charges are the deficiencies.

Marketing Strategies

The marketing mix consists of four major components: product line, pricing policies, distribution channels, and communication methods. The product element refers to goods and services provided by a business (Thabit & Raewf, 2018). Nikes merchandise line is comprised of athlete shoes, clothing, and various equipment. The brand focuses on the quality and availability of choice for customers. The most popular product remains to be footwear for all sports enthusiasts. Nike grows and competes by providing special lines, which include a particular set of appliances and apparel for different types of sport. For example, tennis or fencing shoes with lighter weight and durability give athletes an advantage in their fights. Moreover, the brand is flexible in keeping pace with ever-changing and evolving technologies by offering goods with connection to smartphones to assess performance. The introduction of such novelties affects marketing strategies by concentrating on celebrity endorsement and active visual presentations. Thus, the product component involves accent on shoes and persistent innovation and modification of the existing goods.

The next element of the retailer mix is a place. It can be defined as a series of co-dependent companies trying to provide a product or service (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, as cited in Othman et. al., 2019, p. 868). Nikes distribution channels include online and physical stores together with E-commerce platforms and retailers activities. The latter one accounts for the most significant amount of sales, thus, having a presence on a global scale. In order to minimize transportation and manufacturing costs, Nikes production units are situated in the countries of business operations. Such a tactic increases overall efficiency and maximizes profit levels. Amazon, eBay, and Flipcart are the main trading websites where goods are sold electronically. The portals give access to Internet users and attract them by the fast and easy method of shopping. Lastly, there are exclusive Nike physical shops located in selected regions with a targeted audience. Therefore, the place factor consists of the four delivery channels, by which consumers are able to reach out to the brand.

The price is a subsequent element to be examined in Nikes marketing mix. Price may be described as a value granted to a good or service (Antonella, 2017, p. 637). The dominant status in the market stems from its pricing strategies, which are based on customer value. The tactic implies a clients willingness to pay for a product so as to maximize profits and sales. Consequently, the obtained figure is used to set a price. The research of the market plays a crucial role in determining major charging tactics considering Nikes sensitivity to prices. The strategy builds strong relationships with consumers and facilitates further loyalty to the brand. Thus, Nike products can be purchased by people of all income levels. Hence, control over prices and careful attention to the customer base and its financial capabilities put Nike in a leadership position.

Thoughtful marketing activities have built a foundation for the brands reputation and image. The promotion factor can be explained as the knowledge given to customers so they can decide on the purchase of products (Antonella, 2017). The traditional methods of marketing indicate old-fashioned ways of offline trading (M. Kim, & J. Kim, 2017). Physical workshops are where Nike provides information on goods and services available. Additionally, print advertisements or banners promoting new sneakers or clothing line is another technique, which is exploited by the brand. Direct mail in the form of brochures and fliers is still a relevant method of advertising the latest offer. At the same time, the company uses digital ways of promotion. Social online platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram are where Nike promotions appear as a pop-up sale. The company has its own website with athlete celebrities promoting products to their audience. Finally, Nikes electronic billboards operate in major cities of distribution such as New York, London, and Paris. Hence, the promotional component includes traditional and digital procedures of advertising.

Competitive Advantages

A competitive advantage (CA) allows a company to dominate the market, build customer loyalty, and earn higher profits. CA refers to resources and capabilities and external factors, which are possessed by a business (Syapsan, 2019, p. 7). Generally, Nike does not have a CA in the product element since its merchandise line is not as diverse and unique as its competitors one. However, the distribution channels are the reason to have a CA as the companys global presence allows to outperform Puma and Adidas with less recognition. What is more, pricing strategies are another area of a beneficial position. Compared to Puma, Nikes prices are flexible and accommodate the needs and abilities of different customers. Considerate advertising strategies give Nike CA in promotion with its connections and platforms. Thereby, the company has CAs in place, price, and promotion, while the product component remains to be a disadvantage to Nike.

In essence, it can be mentioned that competitive analysis demonstrated Nikes status and position with respect to its main competitors, Puma and Adidas. The strengths and weaknesses display Nikes original image, faithful consumers, and profitable business operations as well as price sensitivity, poor working conditions, and reliance on the U.S. market. The marketing strategies show that products are limited to differentiation, goods are traded effectively, prices are charged according to customer needs, and promotions are conducted via traditional and digital methods of communication with customers. Comparing to Nikes rivals, it is evident that the company possesses CA in the last three components with the first one being deficient. To be more precise, goods are not enough diverse in choice as the competitors ones. However, distribution channels of physical and online stores are successful in trading activities, prices are flexible and adjustable, and promotions are powerful to build customers loyalty to the brand.

References

Antonella, S. F. (2017). The effects of marketing mix (4P) on companies profitability: A case study of automotive industry in France. Journal of Research in Marketing, 8(1), 636-640.

Othman, B. A. et. al. (2019). The influences of service marketing mix on customer loyalty towards Umrah travel agents: Evidence from Malaysia. Management Science Letters, 9(6), 865-876.

Kim, M. & Kim, J. (2018). Linking marketing mix elements to passion-driven behavior toward a brand: Evidence from the foodservice industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(10), 3040-3058.

Syapsan, S. (2019). The effect of service quality, innovation towards competitive advantages and sustainable economic growth: Marketing mix strategy as mediating variable. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 26(4),1-22.

Thabit, T. H. & Raewf, M. B. (2018). The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(4), 100-109.