A 2 Z Everything: 2010-01-17

Thursday, January 21, 2010

One of the Levi's Marketing Strategy:

Consumer research told Levis that customers found shopping for dress pents gave remarks as: slacks dept were dirty, finding the right size was difficult, and getting alternation was frustrating. Customers wanted Cash and Carry, off-the-rack dress pents. So Levi's devised a carefully crafted strategy to overcome the typical male distaste for dress pents shopping. Slates were sold in scientifically tested selling areas consisting of mohogany-toned circular store displays that allows easy access to the various styles and sizes. Levi's also responded with off-the-rackpants that require little altering. whereas most dress pents come only in even waist sizes, forcing alternations for off-size men, slates also come in odd sizes. All slates are hemmed and cuffed and have double pleats in the front. For customers with larger waist sizes, the pleats are more kindly placed.

posted by Abd ur Rehman

Marketing Online - Men and Women Use the Internet Differently..

When it comes to marketing online, you must understand your consumers. This means learning what they look for, and how they use the internet. This can help you grab their attention and get your marketing message in front of the right audience.

It's also important to realize that when it comes to online habits of men and women - they differ. I know, surprise! In the past there has been a lag with women when it came to the adoption of the internet, that is no longer the case. Truth is, studies show that women under the age of 65 are quicker to use the internet than men. As women we love to use the internet for research, where men prefer to use it as an entertainment tool. Do you see how this information can help?

When we review studies that have been done on the different ways that men and women use the internet, we can gain a greater deal of knowledge on how to position our products online.

Let's take a look at what a past study done by Pew Internet and American Life showed, while this study was done in 2005 I still believe much of the knowledge is applicable and can be used today.

Men are more likely to use the internet to:

Read the news
Buy travel services or make reservations
Check sports scores and gather sports information
Stay updated on political news
Participate in online auctions, such as ebay
Write content to publish online
Download music
Buy and sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds

A Forrester study done in 2007 also showed that on the average men tend to stay online longer and devote more time to online entertainment and researching technical gadgets.

Women use the internet to:

Get health information
Read spiritual and religious information
Gain access and participate in support group websites

A few other interesting statistics that were provided in a different study done by Burst Media in the beginning of 2009 stated the following:

62.3% of women use the internet as their primary source for information on the products they were considering purchasing.
51.7% of the women studied use the internet as the primary way to keep in touch with their families

As you can see men go online to be entertained and hunt down information, where women tend to go online to gather information that assists them in nurturing, themselves and those around them. Clearly while both men and women generally spend allotments of time online, gender stereotypes are prevalent in what they do with their time online.

Putting it to Use: Think about who your potential customer is online. Is the majority male or female? Can you see how this information can assist you in not only where but how to position your product or service in order to increase the conversions you gain online? How will you use this information in upcoming marketing campaigns?

http://marketing.about.com/od/internetmarketingstrategy/a/genderdifferences.htm

Four Small Business Marketing Steps You Need to Put Into Check

I think the biggest mistake we make in marketing is making everything so difficult for consumers to understand that they don't get it. Literally. And if they don’t get it, they usually don’t feel compelled to act, buy, etc. ... you see where I’m going with this.

Marketing is about informing consumers about your products and services and telling them why they should pick you over your competitor - it really is that simple.

Are you doing that? If you are not it's time to really analyze your marketing strategy and evaluate the point you’re trying to get across.

I daily watch small businesses try to market like big companies, when in fact they've missed the core components that will get a person to buy their products or services. My first piece of advice is stop trying to compete with the "big dogs" - find your own niche and your own market and become one of the big dogs.

How do you do this? It's by moving a customer from the point of just attracting their attention to inspiring them to actually take action - which is making a purchase from you. There are four steps to doing this.

Step 1: Get their attention
You have competition, it doesn't have to be a lot of competition - but you have competition. It is up to you to get the attention of your consumers. Do you know how to do that? You speak to their need. You inform of them of the solution that you provide. If you don't provide a solution – it’s time to get back to the drawing board.

Step 2: Create a marketing message that speaks to them.
You know your solution, now you have to create a message that says "I’m your answer." Have you done that with your marketing message? If not, why do you think they will buy your products or services? If you don't inform them about your product who will? Craft your marketing message so it's easy to understand and a consumer doesn't want to walk out of a store without purchasing your product or service and taking advantage of it right away. Your marketing message has to speak about the solution as well as creating an urgency for the need. Have you done that? If not, again take it back to the drawing board!

Step 3: Evaluate different marketing methods
You have to evaluate the different marketing methods and really evaluate which ones will work for you. For example do you serve a market that is more drawn to the Yellow Pages or Twitter? Do they spend more time watching television or surfing the internet? Be aware of and informed about different marketing methods and which ones will work with your market. It's not a one size fits all deal.

Step 4: Use marketing methods that are visible to your consumer
The reason you need to evaluate the different marketing methods are so you can select the methods that are more visible to your potential purchaser. Why advertise in the Yellow Pages if your consumers are searching the yellow pages? Why spend money on television advertising if they are spending more time surfing the internet? When you select the right marketing methods, you create a placement that your potential consumers will see. When you select the wrong methods of marketing, you might as well throw your money out the window.
http://marketing.about.com/od/strategytutorials/a/smallbusinessmarketing.htm

Quantity vs. Quality and Exclusion by Two-Sided Platforms

It is common for two-sided platforms to deny participation to some potential customers, who would otherwise be willing to pay the platforms' access and/or transaction fees. Videogame console manufacturers such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, for example, restrict access to a select set of game developers and exclude many others by including security chips in their consoles, even though the latter would also be willing to pay the per-game royalties levied by the manufacturers. Apple routinely excludes certain application developers from its highly popular iPhone store. Professor Andrei Hagiu builds a simple model formalizing profit-maximizing two-sided platforms' choice of exclusion policies, which is fundamentally determined by a tradeoff between quality and quantity.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/topics/marketing.html

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 p’s.) are used by business as tools to assist them in pursuing their objectives. The marketing mix principles are controllable variables, which have to be carefully managed and must meet the needs of the defined target group. The marketing mix is apart of the organisations planning process and consists of analysing the defined:

How will you design, package and add value to the product. Product strategies.
What pricing strategy is appropiate to use Price strategies.
Where will the firm locate? Place strategies.
How will the firm promote its product Promotion strategies.

read more on: http://www.learnmarketing.net

Introducing the marketing mix

Marketing Mix : 4p's

Steps For Customer Satisfaction

Image source:
www.elmer.co.za/customer-satisfaction

Product mix strategies

Product mix strategies

• Company can add new product lines, thus widening the product mix. • Company can lengthen the existing product lines to become a more full line company. • It can add more product versions of each product and deepen its product mix. • The company can pursue more product line consistency, or less, depending upon whether it wants to have a strong reputation in a single field or in several fields.

The leadership question – Your feedback please!

If you checked out the social media activity of 100 businesspeople, do you think you would find many leaders?

Leaders lead: They have the courage to offer their own unique opinions and views. They act like leaders, from the front.

Followers follow: They copy what others do and share what their leaders have the courage to say and do. They act like followers, hidden within a crowd.

Personally, I see VERY, very few businesspeople in social media with leader profiles. However, I see a LOT of businesspeople, who seem to follow the crowd and just say / do what’s safe

The reason for this post

I’m curious what type of message it sends out to prospective clients or customers, when businesspeople sit back and play follow the leader, rather than displaying leadership themselves.

Would that kind of profile impact YOUR decision to hire a consultant or coach? If so, would that impact be positive or negative? I would REALLY value your opinion, so what do you think?

Smart objectives

image taken from: http://www.learnmarketing.net/

marketing research companies operating in Lahore

hey guys i found out some of the major marketing research companies operating in Lahore. You can know more detail about their profiles by clicking the link given below.

http://www.phonebook.com.pk/Dynamic/Search.aspx?SearchType=cat&Class_ID=1033&City_ID=2&

Swot Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2yfkNX1wso&feature=related

This is a link of Swot Analysis video where you have clearly explained how to do a swot analysis of a company. please do visit it, it is very helping and informative.

Price Discrimination

Price discrimination is the practice of one retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer charging different prices for the same items to different customer. This is a widespread practice that does not necessarily imply negative discrimination.

This video (link given below) explain it very well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNGP9gWnSg&feature=related

Role of Marketing in Business

Marketing is perhaps the most important activity in a business because it has a direct effect on profitability and sales. Larger businesses will dedicate specific staff and a department for the purpose of marketing. It is important to realize that marketing cannot be carried out in isolation from the rest of the business. For example:
The marketing section of a business needs to work closely with operations, research and development, finance and human resources to check their plans are possible. Operations will need to use sales forecasts produced by the marketing department to plan their production schedules. Sales forecasts will also be an important part of the budgets produced by the finance department, as well as the deployment of labor for the human resources department.A research and development department will need to work very closely with the marketing department to understand the needs of the customers and to test outputs of the R&D section.

4Ps can be described best as the 4Cs

It is saying that 4Ps talks about the seller view of the market but not buyer view. From the buyer point of view in this age of customer relationship the 4Ps might be better decribed as 4Cs.

4Ps

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

4Cs

Customer Solution

Customer Cost

Convenience

Communication

While marketers see themselves as selling products, customers see themselves buying value or solution to their problems. And cutomers are interested in more than just the price; they are intereted in total cost of obtaining, using and disposing of a product. Customer wants the product and services to be as conveniently available as possible. Finally, they want two way communication.
Marketers would do well to think through 4Cs first and than built 4Ps on that platform.

New-Product Pricing Strategies – Penetration Strategy

Set a low initial price so the brand to “penetrates” the market quickly.
Eventually raise prices when wide adoption and brand loyalty have been achieved.
Best used when:
Market is highly price sensitive.
High fixed cost structure.
Need to keep competition out or effects are only temporary

Product Sales V/S Product Awareness

In a world where everything starts and ends with Business, success lies in how many products or services are sold. But products are not sold unless there is awareness of the product. So the question arises, what is more important? Methods of selling the product or Methods of creating product awareness?

Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness | Video on TED.com

Make Your Business More Successful through Telemarketing.

Telemarketing is very important in every business nowadays, because it is an effective way to know the needs and wants of your customers and also a way on how to respond on them effectively. There are lots of telemarketing companies that come out now, and one of it is the Touchbusiness. Similar to other Telemarketing UK companies, Touchbusiness is known for its excellent and outstanding services providing beneficial advantages to their clients. Touchbusiness, a telemarketing UK Company provides business-to-business or B2B, outbound telemarketing, appointment setting, market research, telemarketing lead generation, and sales. Generating leads is an important service that you can acquire from a telemarketing company. It is a process where you can get leads from your customers in order to know their reactions or feedbacks about your product or business. Telemarketing lead generation may vary from one telemarketing company to another depending on the kind of service that they offer. Telemarketing companies such as Touchbusiness, are really beneficial in one’s business in providing vital information to make your business more successful.

source: http://www.custardpie.co.uk/

Components of marketing plan

Mission statement
Executive summary
Internal and external analysis
Objectives
Marketing strategies
Identify resources
Implementation plan
Marketing budget
Evaluation methods

Porter's Five Forces A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces. The strategic business manager seeking to develop an edge over rival firms can use this model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates.

Image Source: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml

Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy | Video on TED.com

Product Life Cycle (PLC)

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages which is called PLC. These changes have a great impact on marketing strategy. It has four stages.

Introduction:
In this stage, a firm developes a market for the product and its purchase.

Growth:
In this stage, the product increases its market share.

Maturity:
In this stage, sales growth slows down.

Decline:
In this stage, the product sales decline.

Steven Pinker chalks it up to the blank slate | Video on TED.com

Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental 'heresies' | Video on TED.com

Billy Graham on technology and faith | Video on TED.com

What steps should be taken to promote sales of a declining product?

Every product have a life cycle and after a certain point the product becomes obslete or comes to the verge of being forced out of market which can be delayed for certain time span(b'coz its an irreversible phenomenon of market).first of all company should make harvesting calls to eliminte extraneous cost it can be done in terms of cutting down on sales force,storage or shift in feedback mechanism,et al.if company is equipped with surplus funds then it can revamp its product which can be done by either changing mode of packging or introduce it with new attitude.foremost,a committe should be formed in order figure out the required action plan which should consist of members coming from all departments and research personnel and this committe should be left alone to carry out their task and make necessary recommendations.

Paul Collier on the "bottom billion" | Video on TED.com

informative advertising...

This is an Informative advertisement because in this add, we are given the precautions from a very dangerous disease Swine Flu. I have specially posted this so that students could take precautions and save their precious lives. Because swine flu is spreading like a virus now-a-days. Watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlUgT08uExg&feature=PlayList&p=736078A8AEDC13A0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=80

Inspiring the Team to Achieve Goals

In Business, Leadership is about inspiring followers to achieve Team or Organizational goals. You may be a Team Leader or Manager in a Business, and you may have built the respect of your Team. Your next challenge is to get them focused in the right direction, the direction that will achieve their organizational goals.

PROFITS ON BRAND IMAGE

Comapnies like nestle, coca cola, etc are making profits mainly on brand image or maintaining standard aswel?
I think they are just utilizing thier name bkoz i have been using products of nestle from the past ten years and thier qualtiy has not been maintained now. They are just raising thier prices but not thier quality and same is the case with most of the other multi national companies aswell

Iqbal Quadir says mobiles fight poverty | Video on TED.com

Reminder Advertisement

This is a reminder advertisement. It is also target oriented add especially for children. By watching this advertisement of cute small girl (her changed voice) the children will be captured and they will automatically want Pepsi. Watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LnJskwydvM

Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child | Video on TED.com

Jacqueline Novogratz on escaping poverty | Video on TED.com

Intensity of Rivalry according to Porter's model

The intensity of rivalry between competitors in an industry will depend on:

- The structure of competition - for example, rivalry is more intense where there are many small or equally sized competitors; rivalry is less when an industry has a clear market leader

- The structure of industry costs - for example, industries with high fixed costs encourage competitors to fill unused capacity by price cutting

- Degree of differentiation - industries where products are commodities (e.g. steel, coal) have greater rivalry; industries where competitors can differentiate their products have less rivalry

- Switching costs - rivalry is reduced where buyers have high switching costs - i.e. there is a significant cost associated with the decision to buy a product from an alternative supplier

- Strategic objectives - when competitors are pursuing aggressive growth strategies, rivalry is more intense. Where competitors are "milking" profits in a mature industry, the degree of rivalry is less

- Exit barriers - when barriers to leaving an industry are high (e.g. the cost of closing down factories) - then competitors tend to exhibit greater rivalry.

What Top Brands Spend on Advertising

Microsoft:
More than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $11.5 billion.

Coca-Cola:
More than $2.5 billion.

Yahoo:
More than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $1.3 billion.

eBay:
14 percent to 15 percent of its revenue, which was $871 million, much of that to advertise on Google.

Google:
More than $188 million.

Starbucks:
Almost $95 million.

Reference:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/10/what-top-brands-spend-on-advertising.html

Pakistan's Competitve advantage

Pakistan is being viewed as a country with minimal prospects of peace and prosperity. It is being viewed as country who is lagging so far behind in the global competitve market place. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness report of 2006-2007 ranked Pakistan 91 out of 125 countries in the competitive list. It is overshadowed by India which finds itself ranked at a very respectable 43rd place, and is also lower ranked than Sri Lanka which is 79th. this article talks about what is pakistan's competitive advantage currently and what should it be.

read the full article on: http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/061112/dmag1.htm

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com

Tom Wujec on 3 ways the brain creates meaning | Video on TED.com

Wireless Advertisement or Mobile Advertisement

Firstly let me define what wireless advertising is. It can be defined as any promotional or advertisement material placed onto a wireless device including laptop/notebook, PDA, or most commonly a cellular mobile phone. Advertisements are content targeted for relevancy. Click-through rates for Wireless Advertisements are surprisingly high compared to fixed Internet accessing, owing perhaps to the small screen size and intimacy of the user experience. It is much more cost effective than mobile marketing.

Benjamin Wallace on the price of happiness | Video on TED.com

Kiosk marketing

A "Kiosk" is a small stand-alone unit that performs a specific function, generally without management intervention and are generally intended to provide information to those that use it. Kiosks are generally small, mobile and are designed to help the consumer find information. Kiosks can be as simple as an information center designed to hold brochures or as complicated as a computer terminal designed to collect and distribute information. An ATM is an example of a sophisticated interactive kiosk with high security.

Branding Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes in branding is the traditional and cliched idea of the USP. A clear unique Selling Proposition can go a long way in establishing a good brand image.

If you are selling detergent powder, you cant say "my powder washes the cleanest, is the most economical and the lowest priced" people would start suspecting such a detergent powder.

The trick is to be honest and put forth a clear value proposition that would appeal to the TA mind directly. Some of the tag lines that come to my mind are : I m loving it; Its Fun to be young; sab keh do etc.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is probably the most famous marketing term. Its elements are the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan. Also known as the Four P's, themarketing mix elements are price, place, product, and promotion. Read on for more details on the marketing mix.

The concept is simple. Think about another common mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So for a sweet cake add more sugar!

It is the same with the marketing mix. The offer you make to you customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to price. Another way to think about the marketing mix is to use the image of an artist's palette. The marketer mixes the prime colours (mix elements) in different quantities to deliver a particular final colour. Every hand painted picture is original in some way, as is every marketing mix. If you'd like to see the marketing mix applied to a real business - then take a look at our Ryanair marketing mix.

Some commentators will increase the marketing mix to the Five P's, to include people. Others will increase the mix to Seven P's, to include physical evidence(such as uniforms, facilities, or livery) and process (i.e. the whole customer experience e.g. a visit the Disney World). The term was coined by Neil H. Borden in his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1965.

Price

There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. More . . .

Place

Another element of Neil H.Borden's Marketing Mix is Place. Place is also known aschannel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/ service provider to the user or consumer.More . . .

Product

For many a product is simply the tangible, phsysical entity that they may be buying or selling. You buy a new car and that's the product - simple! Or maybe not. When you buy a car, is the product more complex than you first thought? The Three Levels of a Product . . . More . . .
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to shrink and die out (decline). More . . .
The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer i.e. looks at the products or services that customers NEED throughout their lives. More . . .

Promotion

Another one of the 4P's is promotion. This includes all of the tools available to the marketer for 'marketing communication'. As with Neil H.Borden's marketing mix, marketing communications has its own 'promotions mix.' Think of it like a cake mix, the basic ingredients are always the same. However if you vary the amounts of one of the ingredients, the final outcome is different. More . . .

Physical Evidence

Physical Evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following: More . . .

People

People are the most important element of any service or experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it. More . . .

Process

Process is another element of the extended marketing mix, or 7P's.There are a number of perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature. Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process.

more on http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_mix.htm

Importance of idea Generation

No matter an organization is made with certain aims and objectives depending on which goal,aims and objectives,infrastructures,strategies and plans are made. But after making all these things also, a regular inflow of new ideas are required or else the organization will not be able to run for a long time...Ideas are the source of growth for the organization...

Interesting stories behind some of the greatest logos in the world

please visit the site http://jazarah.net/blog/interesting-stories-behind-some-of-the-greatest-logos-in-the-world/ as it has interesting information on how some businesses chose their logos. A logo is usually the first thing that gains a consumers attention and especially plays an important role in brand loyalty and brand identification.

Swot On EA games

Strengths

Electronic Arts (EA) Games, is a global corporation which develops, markets, publishes and distributes video game software, online interactive games, and mobile games. They design games for a number of platforms including Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii; handheld game systems, including PlayStation Portable (PSP), Nintendo DS and Apple iPod; personal computers (PCs); and mobile phones. The company distributes games in over 35 countries worldwide.

EA Games has four segments under their label: EA Games, EA Sports, The Sims and EA Casual Entertainment.
The EA Games label has the largest percentage of research and development staff, and produces action-adventure, role playing, racing and combat games and the extraordinarily popular online role-playing games.
The EA Sports label produces sports-based video games, including the Madden NFL, (which in 2007 grossed $100 million in sales in their first week on the market), FIFA Soccer and Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchises. The sports division brings in 43% of EA's revenue.
The Sims label is a line extension of life simulation games, and an online interactive game with over four million regular users.
The EA Casual Entertainment label develops games that are intended to be quick to learn and play online, making them easily accessible for a wide audience. Pogo has 1.6 million subscribers.
In 2007, EA created a strategic alliance with Hasbro, which included crossover licensing. They were able to create digital versions of Hasbro's classic board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Nerf, GI Joe, and Littlest Pet Shop. They have also created these digital games in a variety of platforms, including for mobile phones, handheld gaming devices and computers.
EA Games has a social responsibility platform that includes a grant program, software donation program, volunteer opportunities, and supporting non-profit organizations and schools by giving to organizations that provide services to underprivileged youth in the areas of math, computer science, music and art.

Weaknesses

In December 2008, Electronic Arts cut its worldwide workforce by approximately 10% and closed at least nine of its studios and publishing locations. They also laid off 6% of their staff, and let go of Kathy Vrabek, head of EA's Casual Entertainment division, just 18 months after she took the job.
Their software is dependent upon the platforms that are created by other companies, leading to limitations in design capabilities, graphics and game performance.
Game release times have to be tied into specific times of year, Christmas sales, sports seasons and major sporting events, any miscalculation of production and distribution further hurts sales, and makes their assets less profitable.
In 2008, EA, in a licensing deal with Hasbro, created a digital Scrabble game, which was a failure due in part to software problems.
EA's crown jewel Madden NFL franchise was the company's only title among the industry's top 10 best-selling games in 2007.

Opportunities

In 2008, EA acquired ThreeSF, Inc., a gaming-based social network; and they acquired J2MSoft Inc., a Korean-based developer of PC online games.
The computer gaming industry has begun to recognize that the U.S. Army needs simulation training and EA Games can provide the instruments to achieve their goals. Games are also being adopted for defense, medicine, architecture, education, city planning and government applications.
A line of interactive training tools featuring voice commands and instructional coaching.
Complete game-in-a-box containing all the equipment necessary for kids to practice and play a sport.
A line of sports toys that will utilize electronics to reward young athletes with cheers when they use proper techniques.
A basic line of high density-foam balls to help kids develop skills at an early age.
CEO Riccitiello believes EA may one day even go so far as to give away many of its games for free, making its money off action figures and other licensing deals the same way that George Lucas did with the Star Wars movie franchise.

Threats

Since 2004 sales have been steadily increasing, however, profits have been steadily decreasing until 2008, when they actually had a negative profit margin. They earned $3.8 billion in sales, but had a $454 million loss.
Sales and profits are dependent on the success and prolonged purchasing power of gaming consoles. If sales for a gaming console wane (such as a Playstation or Wii) software/game sales will slump.
Software piracy has become a serious problem, especially in countries, like South Korea where laws are not enforced; software is pirated and distributed without much fear of consequences, cutting into EA Games' profits.
In May 2009, EA Games was sued claiming they illegally used the names and likenesses of thousands of college football and basketball players in their software since the 1990's.
Due to their executive staff layoffs, restructuring, and lack of stability there has been speculation that they are a prime candidate for a takeover by other global entertainment companies.

The marketing environment surrounds and impacts upon the organization. There are three key perspectives on the marketing environment, namely the 'macro-environment,' the 'micro-environment' and the 'internal environment'.

The micro-environment

This environment influences the organization directly. It includes suppliers that deal directly or indirectly, consumers and customers, and other local stakeholders. Micro tends to suggest small, but this can be misleading. In this context, micro describes the relationship between firms and the driving forces that control this relationship. It is a more local relationship, and the firm may exercise a degree of influence.

The macro-environment

This includes all factors that can influence and organization, but that are out of their direct control. A company does not generally influence any laws (although it is accepted that they could lobby or be part of a trade organization). It is continuously changing, and the company needs to be flexible to adapt. There may be aggressive competition and rivalry in a market. Globalization means that there is always the threat of substitute products and new entrants. The wider environment is also ever changing, and the marketer needs to compensate for changes in culture, politics, economics and technology.

The internal environment.

All factors that are internal to the organization are known as the 'internal environment'. They are generally audited by applying the 'Five Ms' which are Men, Money, Machinery,Materials and Markets. The internal environment is as important for managing change as the external. As marketers we call the process of managing internal change 'internal marketing.'

Essentially we use marketing approaches to aid communication and change management

see more on: http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_environment.htm

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The reason for this post

It is saying that 4Ps talks about the seller view of the market but not buyer view. From the buyer point of view in this age of customer relationship the 4Ps might be better decribed as 4Cs.

Price

Place

Product

Promotion

Physical Evidence

People

Process

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

The micro-environment

The macro-environment

The internal environment.

Contributors

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