1. Understanding the Functions of Marketing and PR
Use this work book to help you explain the functions of marketing and public relations. You
should ensure you use additional examples to support your explanations.
Marketing
Explain what market research is, how it can be carried out and why it could be
important.
Market Research is an organised effort to gather information about customers, target
audience and target markets. Market research includes both social and opinion
research.
When carrying out market research you need to first choose which sources of data
you want to use, which included Primary, Secondary or both. Primary research means
that the company finds the information itself, this could include focus groups. This is
an effective type of research because it is reliable in that you will know the results are
real because you carried the research out yourself.
Secondary research is when you find information that has been done for you so the
results are there, for example over the internet or another company doing it. This
research is not always reliable however it benefits a company because it is away of
finding research out very quickly.
Market research is carried out in many different ways including:
Focus groups: a focus group could include potential customers that could discuss the
pros and cons of the product, about the design of the product and what improvements
could be put forwards to gain more success for the product.
‘Cold calling’: cold calling means you call potential customers over the phone or the
general public to ask a few questions about their product. This technique is not the
best and is often frowned upon because it causes annoyance.
Interviewing (person): interviewing potential customers is away of carrying out market
research. Volunteers can be interviews either individually or in groups and get asked
about the design concept. A promotional video is either shown or the product on
display.
Internet online questionnaire: potential customers are asked the amount they would
pay for a product usually. The questionnaires come up on the website they’re
browsing which is usually in link with the product. This is a good way of market
research as the internet is an easy way to ask for people’s opinions and gets lots of
replies. The results can usually be discussed in a focus group.
The importance of this is that it provides information for analysis and identification of
the market need and competition.
It is very important for a company to maintain competitiveness over competitors.
2. Explain market analysis. Why is it done and who could carry it out for you?
Understanding how your market works and your customers needs is vital for any
company, it allows you to identify your customers and keep your competitive edge.
Market analysis is what happens when you have collected all the primary and
secondary data from your Market Research. If you analysis it right and to the best way
possible it will make the outcome of your product good. This is why it is so important
because it holds together the market. It analyses the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of a company. By finding out this information it can make a
company gain more success because they will know what to improve.
David A. Aaker outlined the following dimensions of a market analysis:
Market size (current and future)
Market trends
Market growth rate
Market profitability
Industry cost structure
Distribution channels
Key success factors
Key success Details
The goal of a market analysis is to determine the attractiveness of a market, both now
and in the future. Organizations evaluate the future attractiveness of a market by
gaining an understanding of evolving opportunities and threats as they relate to that
organization's own strengths and weaknesses.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_analysis)
Explain marketing strategy using examples.
Dictionary explanation “An organization's
strategy that combines all of its marketing goals
into one comprehensive plan. A good marketing
strategy should be drawn from market research
and focus on the right product mix in order to
achieve the maximum profit potential and
sustain the business. The marketing strategy is
the foundation of a marketing plan.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ma
rketing-strategy.html#ixzz3NxfKWXfK
Marketing strategy is the goal of increasing sales and achieving sustainable
competitiveness.
When talking about your business you’re promoting it, which means that having a
market strategy is important, it tells you when to speak about it and who to speak
about it to in order to get the most sales and success. Time is critical which means
that knowing this information will improve on your timings.
Marketing strategy: objectives
This focus’ on how you increase sales and keep your customers.
Marketing strategy: knowing your customers
This is important and you will become successful with knowing your customers. By
having a good market strategy it allows you to persuade your customers to buy from
you and what they need.
3. Marketing strategy: making a plan
A marketing plan allows you to put your strategy into place by setting deadlines and
budgets, it also includes how you’re going to talk to your customers whether it’s
through advertising, networking, trade shows or direct marketing.
Why is advertising so important to an organisation? Use examples to help you explain.
Advertising is a huge important part of any company/organisation because it means
showing of their product to the public and especially their target audience, it is crucial
to place any advertisement on the right format that is suitable for your target audience
and at the right time of day because it will be more likely for them to view it that way,
that’s why market research is also a massive importance to this as well, to study about
the target audience to get the best outcome and success.
There are different ways to advertise media to communicate with customers including:
Local, Regional, National or international: You not only need to figure out the size of
your target market but also the location, your product could not only influence the
country you are based in but also all around the world. Television marketing is mainly
used for this because you can use dubbing over the television by putting different
languages onto the advert to use for different locations. This could also be done with
national newspapers, magazines and also radio.
Satellite television: there are many different channels on the TV now including Kids,
Music, Entertainment and sport, which makes finding the right programme to place
your advertisement on a lot easier. Coronation street and the X Factor attract a lot of
people around the world, which means that the advertisements are well known.
Internet: internet is a way of communicating with an audience and showing
advertisements and a relatively cheap way, compared to the more traditional methods
of advertising. Depending on the scale of the website depends on how much the
costing will be, and also if it needs a lot of maintenance. It is an easy way to
communicate with those of a younger audience depending on what your website is. A
younger audience is mainly targeted on social networking sites, which is a very cheap
way of promoting any product.
Talk Talk sponsors X Factor and has done for a long time, which has made it well
known and increasingly popular, it is shown on X Factor because it has a large
audience which is of all ages, especially middle aged, which is who Talk Talk are
mainly targeting (people who on their own house). This is essential that they have put
it on a programme such as this to gain a high profile.
What is brand promotion and what methods could you use to promote a brand?
The intention of Brand Promotion is for product awareness, customer loyalty,
competitiveness, sales and overall company value, it is an important marketing
strategy. The focus on brand promotion is key selling point for example mascara is
focused on they eyes and lashes, which make the longer. For shampoo its focus is
hair and to keep it healthy and shiny. Brand Promotion uses a variety of techniques to
show of their product including radios to get their product head about. A good
technique for radio is having a jingle, because this is usually remembered after a few
listens and becomes well known and catchy, for example ‘we buy any car’ or ‘drive like
a girl’. Companies promote their brands to keep customer loyalty, so that a buyer is
more likely to purchase their product again. Sponsoring concerts/gigs/festivals is
another way of promoting a brand – this is more aimed at a younger audience.
4. PR
What are some of the key principles involved in managing the message?
There are 11 key principles that are involved in managing the message including:
1. Communicate early, communicate often
2. Communicate what you know when you know it
3. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” as long as you follow that up with “...but I’ll
find out and get back to you as soon as I do.”
4. Let everyone know what is happening, why, and what they can do to help
5. Reinforce what is staying the same as you discuss what may be changing
6. Create multiple, targeted approaches to reach your various audiences
7. Communicate openly, honestly, and frequently as things continue to change
8. Establish feedback mechanisms from those affected by the changes to those
in leadership to inform your ongoing decisions
9. Communicate the initial results and early progress of your change efforts to
everyone
10. Acknowledge and thank everyone who helped contribute to your success
11. Continue to communicate well after the changes occur and as long as the
transition continues
A key element is remembering to stick to the future and tell the audience what they
need to hear, otherwise what they do not hear they will only make up themselves.
What is positive publicity? Find an example of it to help explain.
PR campaigns publicise your business and gives it a good reputation, done well PR
crates positive publicity and drives sales. A positive mention in an article is very good
for any business and their PR. Because a mention from editorials shows trust and
creates good credibility.
Charities are a good way to get positive publicity and also help those charities that are
in need, either donating money from your company or creating events that those of
your company can work on to raise money for charities are ways that companies can
get very positive publicity because it is a very good cause.
For example the company red bull have an official charity called ‘wings for life’ which is
raising money for spinal cord injury research. This includes a run which if you take part
in and raise at least £300 for you have a chance to run with the world championship
winning team and also a gym session with the people who help mark Webber stay in
shape. This Charity hosts all kinds of events to raise money for the charity which
makes a massive positive publicity on Red Bull the Company whilst helping a good
cause.
In public relations terms, what is spin? Find an example to help you with your
response.
"I would define spin as the shaping of events to make you look better than anybody
else. I think it is . . . an art form now and it gets in the way of the truth." (Benjamin
Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post, quoted by Woody Klein in All the
Presidents' Spokesmen: Spinning the News, White House Press From Franklin D.
Roosevelt to George W. Bush. Praeger Publishers, 2008)
5. Why might a person or a company engage in damage limitation? Using an example
will improve your grade.
Damage control/limitation is part of a public relations department; their job is to
minimilize the effects of a bad event or series of events. For example, when a
celebrity is caught doing drugs or saying bad things then there manager has a job to
try and make it better towards the public to try and decrease hatred.
What benefit could there be to an organisation to create an event? Use an example of
a marketing or PR event to support your responses.
What is lobbying and who is most likely to be influenced by it?
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the
government, the government officials and congress are most likely influenced by this.
