3.1

• Marketing is the anticipating and satisfying of customers' wants in a way that delights the consumer and also meets the needs of the organisation
• The purpose of marketing is to meet the needs of customers and the organisation
• The process of marketing:

  • anticipating customers' wants (market research/need to understand the market)
  • satisfy customers' wants in a way that delights the customer (suitable marketing mix)
  • meet the needs of the organisation (ensure the marketing helps the business achieve its mission and objectives)
• Marketing objectives are the targets that the marketing function of a business wants to achieve in a given time period
• Typical marketing objectives

  • sales volume and value
  • market size
  • market and sales growth
  • market share
  • brand loyalty
• Sales volume and sales value

  • sales volume measures the number of items sold or produced
  • sales value measures the financial worth of the item sold
• Market size

  • market size - volume of sales of a product or the value of the sales of a product
  • many markets are measured by volume because it is easier to identify with an item than a sum of money
  • market size is important to a business but is rarely used as an objective
• Market Growth

  • market growth occurs when the size of a generic market increases it can be measured in terms of percentage change
• Market Growth % = change in size / original market size x 100
• Market share

  • something business can impact
  • market share is the proportion of a total market accounted for by one product or company
• Market Share = the product, company sales / total market sales x 100
• Benefits of increasing market share

  • market share is an important measure of performance
  • by increasing its market share, a business will be performing better relative to its competitors
  • with more market share, a business will have more power in the market, for example, it may have more bargaining power over its suppliers and be able to negotiate better rates when advertising
  • customers are also likely to have an awareness of the brand name of companies with a large market share
• Brand loyalty

  • 6-7x more expensive to acquire new customers
  • brand loyalty exists when customers keep returning to buy a recognised brand
  • branding is a promotional method that involves the creation of an identity for a business that distinguishes it and its products from competitors
  • customers who keep coming back are worth 10x more
• Other marketing objectives

  • marketing positioning
  • improve brand image
  • increase product range
  • ethical and environmental marketing objectives
• Benefit of marketing objectives

  • setting SMART objectives helps ensure that decisions made by different staff are consistent
  • specific objectives provide clarity and direction for staff
  • it encourages staff to take a team approach to achieving objectives
  • the objectives can help motivate the staff
  • can be used to measure the performance of the department
• Problems with setting objectives

  • external changes are hard to predict, so marketing objectives may be based on incorrect assumptions
  • marketing objectives may cause conflict with different stakeholders
  • the business may not have sufficient resources or marketing budget to achieve its objectives
• External factors influencing marketing objectives

  • market factors
  • competitors' actions and performance
  • technological change
  • economic factors
  • suppliers
  • ethical and environmental factors
  • political and legal factors
• Internal factors influencing marketing objectives

  • business corporate objectives
  • finance
  • human resources
  • operational issues
  • resources available