Title Marketing Management_EEE.docx ✅

management roles should especially embrace the customer-focused mindset to ensure their technical solutions find success in the marketplace.) 2. Developing Marketing Strategies Once the fundamentals of marketing are understood, the next step is developing effective marketing strategies. A marketing strategy is essentially a plan of action for how a company will attract and satisfy customers in order to achieve its goals. In Kotler and Armstrong’s terms, “marketing strategy is the marketing logic by which the company hopes to create customer value and achieve profitable customer relationships.” This means that strategy is about deciding which customers to serve (choosing target markets) and how to serve them well (crafting a value proposition and marketing mix that appeals to those targets). Strategic planning in marketing typically starts with understanding the company’s broader mission and objectives, then aligning the marketing goals with them. The company assesses its environment (market trends, customer needs, competitive landscape) and its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, an electronics firm might recognize a growing demand for smart home devices (opportunity) and identify its strength in sensor technology. Using this insight, it might set a strategy to enter the smart home market with a new product. A critical part of developing marketing strategy is deciding on the value proposition – what unique value the company’s product or service will offer to customers. For instance, a startup drone manufacturer could choose whether to compete on innovation (offering advanced features that no competitor has) or on price (offering a simpler, low-cost drone). This decision shapes the overall strategy. Once the direction is set, the firm formulates an integrated marketing plan to execute the strategy. This plan includes the marketing mix, often known as the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion. The marketing mix is a set of tools that work together:  Product: The actual item or service offered, including its features, quality, packaging, etc. (e.g. a high-performance electric car with long battery life).  Price: How much the product is sold for, including strategies like discounts or payment plans (e.g. a software company might use a subscription pricing model).  Place (Distribution): How the product is made available to customers – channels, locations, logistics (e.g. selling a gadget online direct-to-consumer vs. through retail stores).  Promotion: How the company communicates the product’s benefits and persuades customers – advertising, social media, sales promotions, etc. An effective marketing strategy finds the right mix of these elements tailored to the target market. For example, consider a new smartphone launch targeting tech-savvy consumers: Product strategy might focus on cutting-edge features and sleek design; Price might be premium to signal quality; Place could be online sales and select tech retailers; Promotion might heavily use digital marketing, tech influencer reviews, and online ads showcasing advanced features. In contrast, a strategy targeting budget-conscious customers for the same product category would look very different (e.g. a

college students want in a laptop, and at what price point?” A well-defined research question helps focus on relevant data only. 2. Develop a research plan: Decide on the research approach and tools. Will you survey 500 students online? Conduct focus groups? Analyze sales data? The plan should outline how to gather the information needed and from whom. It also includes deciding on the sampling method and designing the questionnaire or experiment. 3. Collect the data: Execute the research plan and gather information. This could involve fielding the survey, interviewing experts, observing consumer behavior, or running test marketing. When collecting data, researchers must ensure unbiased methods (for example, asking neutral questions without leading the respondent) and collect both quantitative data (numbers, statistics) and qualitative insights (opinions, motivations) as needed. 4. Analyze the data and report findings: Once data is collected, it must be analyzed to extract meaningful insights. This may involve statistical analysis for survey results or thematic analysis for interview feedback. The goal is to identify patterns – for example, the research might reveal that 70% of surveyed students rate battery life as a top priority in laptops, whereas only 30% care about a touchscreen. The findings are then summarized, often in a report or presentation, highlighting key insights and recommendations. 5. Take action (decision-making): The final step is to use the research insights to inform decisions and strategy. If the research in our example shows battery life is crucial, the laptop maker might prioritize that in product development and marketing messages. Marketing research is only valuable if it leads to action – whether that’s tweaking a product feature, changing a price, targeting a new customer segment, or even deciding not to launch a product if the research indicates poor prospects. It’s important to note that marketing research is ongoing. Markets and consumer preferences change, especially in technology fields. Companies often conduct continuous research or track metrics (like customer satisfaction scores, market share data, web analytics for online behavior) to stay updated. For instance, a software company might constantly collect user feedback after each update to ensure they’re meeting needs and to guide future improvements. In summary, conducting marketing research provides the evidence base for marketing decisions, reducing risk and increasing the likelihood that the company’s marketing efforts will succeed. Example (Engineering context): Suppose an electrical engineering firm is considering developing solar-powered charging stations for electric vehicles. Before investing heavily, they would conduct marketing research by interviewing electric vehicle owners (to gauge interest and important features), consulting with businesses or cities about deploying such chargers, and studying competitors (are there existing solar chargers, and how well do they perform in the market?). This research might reveal insights like ideal locations for the chargers, the price point at which buyers would find them attractive, or features needed (e.g. fast-charging capability). Using this data, the firm can then make informed decisions on whether and how to proceed with the product.