INTRODUCTİON TO BUSİNESS

Marketing is typically defined as the creation, promotion, and delivery of goods and services directed towards consumers and businesses.1 This definition reflects upon the basic activities and functions of marketing and specifies
that marketers deal with (1) identifying and creating needs, wants, and desires of consumers in B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) markets, (2) promoting the product by way of integrated communication techniques, and (3) delivering the product by appropriate sales points in either brick-and- mortar retail locations or virtual outlets.

Option B is about retailing.

Cost leadership strategy is that in each industry, customers are looking for a few basic things being offered in a product.

In order to talk about a useful segmentation, the following conditions must be met:

People in the same group should be homogenous, i.e. similar to each other in one way of another. This is in fact the basis of effective segmentation: each segment must be similar in terms of needs or chosen characteristics.

People in different groups should be heterogeneous. Together with the first point, this would demonstrate that consumers are effectively divided into sets of differentneeds.

Some data should be available for each segment so that measurements can be made as regards to the size of the market, the general characteristics of consumers constituting that market, details of their buying behavior, and thus, the overall attractiveness of the segment.

The segments should be substantial either in terms of number (sales potential) or in terms profit per unit sold (profit potential). Each company is likely to have a “minimum” requirement to be profitable.

The segments should also be accessible so that an effective distribution and communication strategy can be established.

The simplest method is called cost-based pricing where companies first figure out the cost of producing one item, and then add a profit margin to arrive the price to be used in the marketplace.

Promotion entails the activities that attempt to establish some sort of a relationship with target customers, and all shareholders involved, and try to win the heart and loyalty of consumers. Promotion aims to promote the product in the market.

Among the activities that PR specialists do include the following:

Symbolic positioning: The brand tries to capture the attention and win the hearts of consumers by focusing on ego identification, social belonging, life meaningfulness, and emotional attachments. For instance, Dove soap has positioned itself in a way that all women around the world should feel beautiful and proud. Dove does not position itself to make women beautiful, but rather make women feel at peace with their bodies.

Content marketing refers to the creation, publishing, and distribution of digital content for a targeted audience online.

There are a lot of issues raised as regards to marketing ethics. The following list is not exhaustive:

Invasion of privacy in marketing research

Stereotyping in segmentation and targeting

Uncontrolled marketing efforts towards

vulnerable consumers, such as the elderlychildren, illiterate people, and financially disadvantaged people

Unethical pricing tactics such as price fix-ing, price wars, and price collusion

Ethically questionable and insensitive con-duct in advertising and promotion

Deceptive advertising and marketing tactics such as by strong emotions like fearand sex

Product safety issues

Irreversible corruption of the nature and

natural resources

Misleading packaging

Low-quality export/import products

Bribery

Over-booking and over-selling

Intentionally creating limited supply

Fake products

Planned obsolescence

• Materialism
• Created needs and
• Cultural corruption.

One can define marketing from a variety of perspectives. Marketing is typically defined as the creation, promotion, and delivery of goods and services directed towards consumers and businesses.1 This definition reflects upon the basic activities and functions of marketing and specifies that marketers deal with (1) identifying and creating needs, wants, and desires of consumers in B2C (businessto-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) markets, (2) promoting the product by way of integrated communication techniques, and (3) delivering the product by appropriate sales points in either brick-andmortar retail locations or virtual outlets. The correct answer is D.

Scope of marketing is not limited with products (good and services), which are intended to be commercially sold. The following are also in the scope of marketing: • Events, such the Olympics where different types of sports are played by thousands of different players from around the world, • Places, such as Paris as the most romantic destination for honeymoon, • Organizations, such as the World Wild Life, trying to lead initiatives on preserving wild life on earth, • Persons, such as Marilyn Monroe, who has become the icon for beauty and the symbol of “dumb blonde” character in Hollywood, • Experiences, such as Disneyland theme park, with over 650 million visitors since it opened. 

Therefore option E has the correct description.

Consumers may become hungry (need), want to eat vegetables because they are on a diet (want), actually want to eat a mixed pizza with all toppings (desire), and go to the cashier at the fast-food restaurant to buy a hamburger (demand) because her budget is quite short. Beware of consumer behavior from different aspects: need, want, desire, and demand. The correct answer is C.

Differentiation refers to offering extra value in addition to the basic features offered in the product.Differentiation strategy requires that the point being differentiated has specific characteristics. For instance, the so-called differentiation as the company argues may not be meaningful for the target customers. If the consumer is not willing to pay for it, then the company has to start from scratch to find a meaningful advantage. The correct answer is B.

Psychographics enable marketers to closely “know” consumers and understand their psychological and social predispositions.The most useful approach in segmenting consumers is on the basis of psychographic information. With psychographics, marketers become able to closely “know” consumers and understand their psychological and social predispositions. The correct answer is C.

Marketing mix can be considered as the tactical-level marketing facilities, which are directed towards a certain target group, identified in the phase of strategic decisions. Four Ps are identified to be the initial letters of the most fundamental marketing actions, namely, product, price, promotion and place. The correct answer is A.

Product (good or service) is the offering in the market, created and sold in order to solve a problem or satisfy a need or want. A commodity can be a product, such as salt or bread, can be successfully branded by a company. In business terms, a product can be tangible (like soap) or intangible (like education). The correct answer is B.

Advertising is the most expensive but the most effective (in terms of the number of people reached with one message) contact method. It is the most well-known mass method of conveying a message. The most important advantage lies in the fact that marketers are able to dramatize the brand meaning, such as by having actual people play a role, having animated images, and all sorts of videos and visual effects. One disadvantage is that there is no control over who is watching the advertisement and the single reaction on each view by each viewer.The correct answer is D.

Branding involves a set of marketing and promotion activities that promote the brand, aiming to have a persistent image in consumers’ minds. Branding is the most strategic investment of the company. Brand equity is a term reflecting the brand’s worth in the eyes of consumers, usually reflected in the price. Brand identity is the set of all individual components of a brand, specifically including the imagery, slogans, colors, and all other types of imagery. The correct answer is D.

Experiential positioning: The brand tries to provide stimulation throughout the purchasing and consumption process. For instance, a toy store may invite children to play with toys to understand what they like and do not like (sensory experience); a smart phone brand may provide in-store experience booths where consumers can explore their needs and wants (cognitive experience), and a theme park may attempt to make consumers have different experiences stimulating a variety of different emotions including joy, happiness, excitement, and thrill (emotional experience). A lot of brands have experiential elements included in their brand positioning such as Starbucks (baristas taking names and chatting with customers), Doc McStuffin (Disney TV channel having children around a big toy bear inspecting it like a doctor), and Game of Thrones (different games, films, parks, and events).Functional positioning: The brand promises to solve a problem and provide a functional benefit to customers. For instance, Oral-B electric toothbrush claims to reach each and every spot over one’s teeth, and promises a clean, hygienic, and healthy mouth. The correct answer is A.

Marketing is typically defined as the creation, promotion, and delivery of goods and services directed towards consumers and businesses.