Step 2 Attend Meeting with ACME· Read the ACME meeting documen.docx

Step 2: Attend Meeting with ACME
· Read the ACME meeting document to know what was
discussed.
Step 3: Review Marketing Information on Consumer Buying
Behavior
· Read all attached step 3 documents to answer questions in step
4.
· As you read through the following materials, begin to think
about how this information will apply to the report you will
prepare for Erik and Tarek. To successfully complete the report,
you'll need an understanding of marketing. You’ll also benefit
from a keen understanding of digital marketing, consumer
buying behavior, and evaluating business attractiveness.
· As you conduct your analysis of ACME's consumer
environment, remember that there are two types of market
research: primary and secondary research. Both types of
research are required in real-life, and each of them has its pros
and cons. However, for this Project, only secondary research is
required.
· Finally, to fully understand ACME's position, read about
offerings—what a company provides its customers, be it a
product, a service, or a mix of both. Also consider the
differences between a product and a service. You know that a
product can be more than just a physical good, it can be a
service attached to a physical product, a "pure" service, an idea,
a place, an organization, or even a person.
· After you have read these materials, proceed to the next step,
where you will begin your analysis of the specified consumer
markets
Step 4: Conduct a Consumer Buying Behavior Study
As previously mentioned, I would like you to conduct an

analysis of the consumers in our main markets. Your analysis
should consider both current and potential product users and
should address the following questions:
· What needs are being met by the product purchase? What are
the benefits to the consumers? Make sure that you differentiate
between features and benefits; go beyond manifest motives and
consider latent motives.
· Who is involved in the purchase process? Who are the
influencers? Who are the buyers? Who are the end users?
· Where are the products sold, and what are the distribution
channels?
· How often are the products purchased? Is there seasonality to
sales?
I need you to produce a six-page preliminary consumer buying
behavior report (excluding cover page, reference list, tables,
graphs, and exhibits) explaining your findings on consumer
needs, wants, and preferences in these markets. Make sure that
your report is specific to consumers of ACME’s potential
product and not to consumers in general.
Step 5: Complete Your Value Proposition
· I wanted to clarify that a customer-focused value
proposition explains the reason why a customer purchases a
product or uses a service (i.e., the value that a company delivers
to its customers).
· Deliverable: (complete this part separate from step 2-4) Based
on your research of consumer needs in our main markets,
describe your value proposition, or the benefits that ACME and
its potential new product would provide to customers.
Remember, a value proposition is essentially the promise that is
made to the customer. Also provide a half-page recommendation
to ACME on whether or not to manufacture that product.
· Finally, prepare a one-page executive summary for
allfindings (step 2-5) (following the cover page) that highlights
the most important findings of the report. APA style should be
applied to in-text citations and in the reference list.

VOLUME NO. 7 (2016), ISSUE NO. 09 (SEPTEMBER) ISSN
0976-2183
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN
COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT
A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed (Refereed/Juried) Open
Access International e-Journal - Included in the International
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56
E-MARKETING: A MODERN APPROACH OF BUSINESS AT
THE DOOR OF CONSUMER
DR. MANOJKUMAR JYOTIRAM GAIKWAD
ASST. PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
VASANTRAO NAIK COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCE
SHAHADA DIST NANDUBAR
PARIKSHITKUMAR HIRALAL KATE
RESEARCH SCHOLAR
NORTH MAHARASHTRA UNIVERSITY
JALGAON

ABSTRACT
Marketing is backbone of any business environment. With
evolution of internet technology, E-marketing becomes
necessary for making successful business impact.
E-marketing means applications of marketing principles &
technologies via electronic media. E-marketing is more
advantageous in current business scenario and
allows marketers to define their marketing strategies. E-
marketing is combination of digital technologies which
differentiate your products & services from com-
petitors. E-marketing includes both direct response marketing &
indirect marketing elements. E-marketing directs different
marketing activities via World Wide
Web with aim attracting new opportunities in business and
retaining the existing one. Due to technological advancement
and increased competition, e-marketing
can be term as one of the major shuffle in business strategies. In
this, paper author discussed about different e-marketing
methodologies and their use in current
business scenario. The author finds out that by using different
e-marketing methodology, traditional approach of marketing has
changed due to the door step
service for consumer.
KEYWORDS
direct marketing, e-marketing, indirect marketing
INTRODUCTION
arketing has been around forever in one form or another. From
the time of human evolution trading has been integral part of
human living. With the

effect of barter exchange system marketing has play is own role
to makes other humans to trade. Rapidly evolving internet
technologies has reduced the
production & service cost and extends geographical boundaries
by bringing buyers and seller together.
With the advancement in technology and global economic
environment globalization has opened a new door of marketing.
E-marketing is combination of both
direct and indirect marketing elements and uses numbers
technologies for connecting with their customers. E-marketing
is most important business strategies in
present business context. For any business marketing is a key
mantra. E-marketing varied a lot in past decade. Starting from
traditional marketing to e-marketing
in today’s life style there are numerous techniques, methods
which had played a vital role in the development of marketing
strategies. E-marketing is not new but
with the e-evolution in India marketers need to adapt to it and
learn how to use it.
Revenue in the United States grew to an estimated $7.1 billion
in 2001 or about 3.1 percent of overall advertising spending.
The dot.com bust weakened early
online advertising industry and reduced the demand for online
advertising and its related services. With introduction of Web
2.0 in 2004 the industry regained
momentum. Numbers of new businesses are immerging such as
advertising space on web pages, generation of web traffic by
giving away the content and sell that
traffic to advertisers. According to IAB Internet Advertising
Revenue Report (2007), in the first half of 2007 alone
advertisers in the US spent more than $10 billion
advertising on websites. That was about 14 percent of all
advertising spending. As online retail sales continue to increase
at a slower pace than expected, practi-
tioners and academics alike are still searching for factors that

influence the consumer’s online shopping behavior (Korgaonkar
and Karson 2007).
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
To achieve marketing objectives E-marketing plays an
important role (Chaffey et al. 2006).
To reach products & services to customers, to make customers
aware about products & service it is essential to follow the
latest technologies or concepts of E-
marketing (Srinivasan and Jollyvinisheeba 2013).
Online advertising began in 1994 when HotWired sold the first
banner ads to several advertisers (Kaye and Medoff 2001).
While previous research has examined Internet usage (Teo et al.
1999), online shopping (Teo and Yu 2004), commercial
websites (Gonzalez and Palacios 2004),
website design (Kim et al. 2003), and website effectiveness
from the consumers’ perspective (Bell and Tang 1998), there is
a general lack of research on specific
online marketing tools and the effectiveness of these tools.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Indian retail environment is shifting from brick & mortar to
online business model. In diversely competitive new
environment traditional marketing channel will
not be effective. So marketer need to adapt new marketing
initiatives. As a result of technical enhancement different e-
marketing techniques emerge. Paper
throws light on effective use of e-marketing channels with
practical implementations by different industry leaders.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Evolution of internet and its rapid acceptance in Indian society
has opened a new door for markers to reach their customers by

means of e-marketing. In the Indian
context e-marketing is new and it is important that markers
should know effective use of different e-marketing tools. Paper
discussed different e-marketing
methods and their effective use.
OBJECTIVES
To know the effectiveness of following in successful e-marking:
• Newsletters
• Social Media
• SEO
• Mobile
• Webinar
• Video
M
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• Content
• Paid advertising

• Email
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research paper is original work based on the attentive
observation of the researcher on current e-marketing strategies
of e-retailers in India. The Paper also
makes use of secondary research.
DISCUSSION
MARKETING
Marketing means communicating value of your products or
services to your desired customer.
E-MARKETING
E-marketing is communicating value of your products or
services to your desired customer using digital technologies
mainly on the internet.
DIFFERENT E-MARKETING METHODS
NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters are electronic “one page” documents sent by email
to a defined list of recipients who have signed up to receive.
Newsletter emails are commonly
sent from 3rd party service providers. Newsletters with pictures
and videos will engage 50 to 70 % more clicks than text.
Newsletter is the best way to reach
consumers who cannot be reaching by social media.
Below is the newsletter by Luxifier which attracting customers
by giving offers on his products. Most of the times customers
unmodified about offers & discounts
so Newsletters is effective medium of e-marketing.
FIGURE 1: NEWSLETTER FROM – LUXIFIER: THE INDIA’S

LEADING WATCHES / PERFUMES / GROOMING
ACCESSORIES ONLINE STORE
Source: A Newsletter in Email box
SOCIAL MEDIA
The best method of marketing is through ‘word of mouth’.
When people share different information thru social media in
their network it becomes recommenda-
tions for the other people for using that product. According to a
report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI),
66% of the 180 million Internet
users in urban India regularly access social media platforms.
Social media facilitates sharing products/ services information
via social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Facebook etc. So Social Media is one of the best medium
for reaching your customers. Figure 2 shows how flipkart has
use twitter as a medium of marketing
of his offerings.
FIGURE 2: USE OF TWITTER BY FLIPKART FOR
MARKETING PURPOSE
Source: Screenshot from www.twitter.com
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SEO
Search Engine Optimization is the process of affecting the
visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's unpaid
results. Customers are more likely to
click an organic link as compared to paid links. Organic search
takes 94% of overall market Goodwin (2012). SEO is must for
any online marketing as it connects to
new customers who may not connected by other channels. Basic
training is required for effective implementation of SEO for any
business. Google Keyword tool
is one of the best for SEO practice. Below we can see how
Amazon has implemented SEO while searching products.
FIGURE 3: AMAZON USES SEO FOR ITS PRODUCT
SEARCH ON ITS WEBSITE
Source: Creation from www.amazon.in
MOBILE
The use of the mobile medium as a means of marketing
communication provide customers with time and location
sensitive, personalized information that pro-
motes products, services. According to Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI), the number of mobile internet
users in India is expected to reach 371
million by June 2016. According to recent reports, 40% of
user’s internet time is spent on mobile devices. eMarketers

should consider this continual growth in the
number of Smartphone’s internet users in making their e-
marketing strategies. Various means of connecting to people are
via Mobile App, Mobile ads, in-game
mobile ads, location based marketing, sms. Figure 4 shows
mobile ads pops up while playing game. Figure 5 shows device
specific apps of Amazon so that they
can increase their market reach among people having hand held
devices.
FIGURE 4: MOBILE ADS IN GAMES
Source: Mobile Game
FIGURE 5: MOBILE APP – MEDIUM OF E-MARKETING
Source: Google images
WEBINAR
Webinars are seminars held on the web and they used for
promotions, product knowledge etc. They use for giving value
to potential customers, demonstrate your
company’s capabilities such as expertise, product. Its uses
multimedia capabilities such as presentations, demo of products
which is followed by QA session.
Webinar can also be recorded and posted on different websites
for reuse purpose so webinar has virtually global reach
wherever your target may be. Figure 6
shows how Infibeam has use Webinar as e-marketing tool in
their marketing strategy.

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FIGURE 6: WEBINAR INVITE BY INFIBEAM
Source: Google images
VIDEO
As long as video are reasonably short, entertaining, and
effective people will like them. With Mobile internet evolution
videos can be very effective to get your
company or product message across quickly and effectively,
especially for busy people.
Imperial Blue’s video campaign men will be men is one of the
best video marketing campaign.
CONTENT
Different content that supports e-marketing initiatives are
blogging, Press release (PR) distribution, news items and feeds.
A blog is online presence in which the owner posts updates,
stories, media etc. A blog can be a website. If blogs are updated
regularly they will get better search
ranking than website on google search results. Articles posted
in the blog can also be reused in social media, newsletters, etc.

A press release is an article written about your company for any
product release or any other event. It is mostly done through 3rd
party online services that provide
feeds of news. It offers content in a format that allows other
sites and services to add your PR to their websites easily thus
boosting their content and value. Figure
7 shows blog of LG India for marketing their electronics
products.
FIGURE 7: LG INDIA USES BLOG AS CONTENT
MARKETING TOOL
Source: LG India website
PAID ADVERTISING
Paid advertising is any kind of advertising that you have to pay
for. It includes paying for search engine prioritization, pay-per-
click through other websites, banner
ads, and paid content distribution. One can pay to display his
company content online or for your ad to be shown in search
results.
Whenever we search google or any other website or we are
browsing any content then we can see related ads in the ads web
space. These ads are nothing but
the paid ads. Number of company provides paid ads services are
Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn etc.
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FIGURE 8: PAID ADVERTISING OF askmebazaar.com
Source: Creation from www.priceprice.com
If a user search for MI mobiles then paid ads comes up of
askmebazaar.com, here ad provider identified the content which
user search then posted the relevant
advertise in ads web space.
EMAIL
Email marketing is direct marketing technique use to target a
group of people. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a
potential or current customer could be
considered as email marketing. Now days number of email
marketing software’s are available in the market. This gives
more insight about the email campaigns
like number people open email, not open etc. All these efforts
help marketers in positioning their market offerings.
FIGURE 9: EMAIL MARKETING BY SBI
Source: An Email in Email box

FINDINGS
Various industries like Banking, Ecommerce, Electronics and
Game are implementing different E-marketing techniques for
marketing their products.
Author has taken examples of Luxifier, Flipkart, Amazon India,
Ingibeam, LG India, askmebazaar.com, SBI in the discussion
section. And find out that every company
is targeting different segments of their targeted audience by
implementing suitable e-marketing technique.
CONCLUSIONS
Main reason for growing effectiveness of internet marketing is
the increasing awareness about internet among people. For
sustaining in today’s competitive
business environment marketer need to understand consumer
behavior and depending up on their business should adapt
suitable e-marketing methodology.
Every methodology has its own way of success with respect to
offerings & target audience. By understanding effective
methodology and with efficient implemen-
tation marketers will get more success rate.
REFERENCES
PAPERS
1. Bell, H., & Tang, N. K. H. (1998). “The effectiveness of
commercial Internet websites: a user’s perspective.” Internet
Research: Electronic Networking Applica-
tions and Policy, 8(3), 219–228.
2. Gonzalez, F. J. M., & Palacios, T. M. B. (2004).
“Quantitative evaluation of commercial websites: an empirical
study of Spanish firms.” International Journal of

Information Management, 24(4), 313–328.
3. Goodwin, Danny (2012): Organic vs. Paid Search Results:
Organic Wins 94% of Time, Viewed on 16 May 2016,
https://searchen-
ginewatch.com/sew/news/2200730/organic-vs-paid-search-
results-organic-wins-94-of-time
4. “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report,” October 2007,
Available: http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_PwC_2007Q2.pdf
[Accessed on 16th May 2016]
5. Kim, S. E., Shaw, T., & Schneider, H. (2003). “Web site
design benchmarking within industry groups.” Internet
Research, 13(1), 17–26.
6. Korgaonkar, P. and Karson, E. (2007), “The Influence of
Perceived Product Risk on Consumers’ E- Tailer Shopping
Preferences.” Journal of Business and
Psychology, Vol. 22, No.1, pp. 55-64.
https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2200730/organic-vs-
paid-search-results-organic-wins-94-of-time
https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2200730/organic-vs-
paid-search-results-organic-wins-94-of-time
http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_PwC_2007Q2.pdf
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7. Srinivasan R., Jollyvinisheeba J. (2013). “Essential and
Strategies of E-marketing.” International Journal of Scientific
Research & Management, 251-255, 2013
8. Teo, T. S. H., & Yu, Y. (2004). “Online buying behavior: a
transaction cost economics perspective.” Omega, 33, 451-465.
9. Teo, T. S. H., Lim, V. K. G., & Lai, R. Y. C. (1999).
“Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in Internet usage.” Omega,
27, 25–37.
BOOKS
10. Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Johnston, K. and Mayer, R.
2006. Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and
Practice. Pearson publication
11. Kaye, Barbara K. and Medoff, Norman J., (2001), Just A
Click Away: Advertising on the Internet. Allyn and Bacon
publishing, Massachusetts
WEBSITE
12. http://ijrcm.org.in
http://ijrcm.org.in/commerce/guidelines-for-submission.php
Copyright of CLEAR International Journal of Research in
Commerce & Management is the
property of Chinniah Lakshmiammal Educational Academy &
Research (CLEAR)
Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to
multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print,

download, or email articles for individual use.
69
Journal of Knowledge Globalization, Volume 8, Number 2, 2015
Management, Strategies, Tools, and Practices in
eMarketing
Sirous Tabrizi
University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada
Mohammad Kabirnejat
Islamic Azad University, Hashtrood Branch, Iran
Abstract
Globalization has resulted in significant changes in the way
business is conducted
all over the world. For instance, outsourcing specialist jobs,
alliances among large
multinational companies, and high degree of government
involvement in markets

have all forced companies to adjust their structures, practices,
and policies. For
marketers, two major changes have influenced their practices:
increasingly global
demographic and deeper customer engagement. Since “push”
advertising is
becoming increasingly irrelevant, companies need to do more
outside the
traditional marketing approaches. emarketing is one of the new
approaches
towards marketing that shows significant promise, especially
given the
increasingly dominant role played by the Internet in society and
popular culture.
This article discusses some of the changes necessary to take an
e-marketing
approach in a business, and focus specifically on several
important instruments
(the SOSTAC and SMART frameworks) that can help develop
consistent
strategies. Some conjectured examples are presented to help
understand the main
argument.
Keywords: Globalization, eMarketing, SOSTAC, SMART,

branding, marketing
mix, emarketing management style
70
Tabrizi and Kabirnejat: eMarketing
Introduction
Globalization has resulted in significant changes in the way
business is conducted
all over the world. For instance, numerous companies including
such as IBM,
Microsoft, and Philips have started outsourcing specialists from
various parts of
the world, enabling global movement of people for jobs and
requiring structural
changes to the company (Engardio, Bernstein, & Kripalani,
2003). In addition ,

globalization has had a positive effect on the economic situation
of many
developing countries, such as China, India and Bangladesh.
However, companies
all over the world have to take the practical marketing strategies
to give better
services to customers.
Philip Kotler, who is considered as the father of modern
marketing, by many,
defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating,
and delivering
value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit.
Marketing identifies
unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures, and
quantifies the size of the
identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which
segments the
company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes
the appropriate
products and services” (Kotler, 2005; p.10).
In the specific case of e-marketing , a more comprehensive and
practical definition
is provided by specialists at CISCO: “Electronic Marketing (E-
Marketing) is a

generic term utilized for a wide range of activities -advertising,
customer
communications, branding, fidelity programs etc. - using the
internet” (Otlacan,
2007). In other words, E-Marketing is the process of finding,
attracting, winning,
and retaining customers through electronic means (Stokes,
2008). Primarily this
is accomplished through the Internet but also through e-mail,
social networking,
and various forms of wireless media. Hence, it is not just
producing a website but
through facilitating online dialog between consumers and the
company (Stokes,
2008).
“E-Marketing is also known as Internet Marketing, Web
Marketing, Digital
Marketing, and Online Marketing” (Levinson & Neitlich, 2011,
p. 89). It includes
both direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements,
and is a continual
process rather than something which is executed only once. The
messages and

71
stories developed through traditional marketing can be
improved through
technology and electronic means in a variety of ways.
eMarketing adds new dimensions and meaning to traditional
marketing. Such as
reach, scope, interactivity, immediacy, demographic, supply
chain, value chain,
and financial chain.
Reach:
Due to the nature of the Internet, E-Marketing can have a global
reach and access
potential customers from all over the world. This can also be
performed on a much
smaller budget than what was normally necessary for a
comparable reach (Dann
& Dann, 2011).
Scope:

E-Marketing allows a variety of methods for reaching customers
and enables a
wide range of products and services that can be offered.
Therefore, the marketing
of a product is combined with other areas such as brand
formation, public
relations, customer service, and information management in a
way that was
traditionally not possible (Dann & Dann, 2011).
Interactivity:
Since E-Marketing is a dialog between customers and
companies, there is a degree
of interaction between the two that does not exist in traditional
marketing.
Companies can use the responses, complaints, and
commendations of customers
to further develop their brands and better their own image
(Krishnamurthy, 2006).
On the other hand, customers feel more engaged with the
company and can
become empowered to promote the product through their own
actions and
discussions. The marketing landscape thus becomes more

dynamic, adaptive, and
capable of achieving faster and deeper growth.
Immediacy:
The Internet, being pervasive and always accessible, provides a
constant and
continual means through which customers can be engaged and
view and buy
products. E-Marketing effectively closes the gap between
providing information,
advertising, and buy opportunities and eliciting a reaction from
customers
(Krishnamurthy, 2006; Dann & Dann, 2011).
72
Demographics:
Generally speaking, Internet users have a significant buying
power, as they are
skewed towards the middle-classes, and are often capable of

organizing
themselves into focused groupings and sub-populations
(Krishnamurthy, 2006;
Dann & Dann, 2011). As such, savvy marketers can find access
to desired niche
markets in addition to being able to easily and effective target
such groups
(Parsons, & Maclaran, 2009).
Literature
From the very beginning, marketing in the 21st century has been
different.
Marketers today have a greater number and variety of choices in
support, media
opportunities, and methods of communications but they also
face increasing
competition due to the Internet facilitating virtual competition
(Andreasen, 2006).
E-marketing is the application of marketing techniques,
principles, and practices
using electronic media, especially the Internet (Pride & Ferrell,
2011). It
encompasses all the activities which a company conducts
through the Internet so

as to attract new business, retain current business, or develop its
brand identity. In
an analysis of e-business components and accepted marketing
concepts, Albert
and Sanders (2003) developed this definition:
“E-business marketing is a concept and process of adapting the
relevant and
current technologies to the philosophy of marketing and its
management. Focused
attention on the areas of e-commerce, business intelligence,
customer relationship
management, supply chain management, and enterprise resource
planning provide
a framework for effective adaptation. Although the electronic
environment
experiences rapid changes, the reliance on proven marketing
models, in these
areas, ensures continuity of the marketing process both online
and off-line.” (P.
10)
Management for E-Marketing
Management plays an important role in E-Marketing, one which
establishes the

system for decision making, improving customer knowledge,
efficient targeting
of advertising, and so on (Chan, 2005). The style of
management is an important
73
consideration when attempting to implement any E-Marketing
plan (Chan, 2005).
Generally speaking, there are two kinds of management styles -
centralized and
decentralized - though there is a range of styles between those
two values (Albert
& Sanders, 2003). Although the approach style depends on the
size of the
company and the management context, for E-Marketing it is
generally better to
use a decentralized approach.
In a decentralized approach, decision making authority is
distributed throughout

a larger group such that lower level individuals have higher
authority than they
would in other contexts (Daft & Marcic, 2005). For E-
Marketing, this is valuable
for adapting to customer feedback, responding positively to
emerging trends, and
providing opportunities for individual employees to engage with
customers in a
more natural manner. Given that decision making is distributed
across the group,
it also enables customers to be part of the decision-making
process without
jeopardizing the authority of the company. Hence, companies
can learn the desires
and interests of the customers, so as to better market products to
them, while
customers can feel as though the company takes them seriously
and are able to
form stronger attachment to company brands (Pride & Ferrell,
2011).
However, a decentralized management style can be problematic
in terms of
cooperation. Since all individuals in the decision-making
process have similar

authority, they may refuse to cooperate or may go in completely
different
directions for solving some problem (Daft & Marcic, 2005).
Hence, the role of a
manager becomes one who guides other employees with
common vision, goals,
and objectives so that there is cooperation in terms of results.
Each individual
should be able to use their own strengths to accomplish the
goal. In order to
accomplish this , managers need to understand the strengths and
weaknesses of
the employees and be able to create objectives that can be tailor
to specific
strengths. Managers cannot do this unless they have the desire
to know and
understand others: other employees and the customers (Daft &
Marcic, 2005).
This desire to know others, for the purpose of cooperation, is
part of what is
commonly called a social-justice leader. Hence, the role of
management in E-
Marketing is to provide leadership in cooperation, in
understanding the desires

and strengths of others, and being able to guide by objectives
and by example.
74
Management for emarketing needs different kind of skills set
and leadership style
than in-person marketing. In marketing most leadership
functions are exerted
through technology rather than face-to-face. There is an
absolute need to have a
clear and well defined system of management control for
feedback and
motivation. A manager must have online communication
proficiency,
comfortable with tools and techniques and must follow etiquette
of online
communication. Managers and the employees mush have real-
time access to
reports, feedback, updates and guidelines.

Strategy
Once good objectives have been identified it is time to develop
a strategy. For
example, consider a company with a 40% market share with
their phone card. A
possible objective would be to increase that market share to
45% or to 60%, either
of which will have different hurdles to overcome. What strategy
would be
developed? It could be through increasing sales, through
building a better brand,
through reducing the price of the product, and so on. However,
some strategies
may not be appropriate for the objective. For instance,
improving the quality of
the product may not increase market share but instead would be
better for an
objective of maintaining a hold on the existing 40%. As well,
some strategies may
be more time intensive than others. For instance, consider a
brand name of this
phone card as the CC Phone Card. Improving the brand of CC
may be difficult in

an English context due to the similarity of the name with the
English word “sissy”,
an already derogatory and insulting name. It may be easier to
use a different name
of the card in an English context, and keep the name for a
context where the sound
does not have the same connotation. For instance, in Spanish
CC is similar to
saying “Yes Yes”, which may have a positive connotation.
Hence, the calling card
could be marketed as CC in Spanish areas but something else in
English areas.
Tactics
Once the overall strategy has been developed, it is necessary to
make that strategy
achievable in a practical sense. Since a strategy is very general
and may be meant
for years, it is difficult for individual employees to determine
how they can be
involved in accomplishing it. Thus, a series of tactics will be
useful. These are
75

short-term or small-scope sets of actions that employees can
perform so as to
accomplish the strategy. While still somewhat general, so that
each employee can
apply their own strengths to it, these are far more focused in
intention and may be
directed to specific groups of employees or even specific
employees.
For instance, consider the strategy of improving the brand
name. Some tactics
could involve advertising campaigns, engaging with customer
groups, providing
information for blogs to get the name out there in the Internet,
monitoring the
response of different groups, and so on. No employee would do
all of these things;
they would only focus on one or two while others would engage
in the remaining
tactics. Similarly, tactics are meant to change regularly as the
strategy is put into
action.

Action
Once the tactics have been identified, employees engage in
daily and weekly
actions for implementing them. Therefore, the actions are the
realm of each
employee. However, monitoring these actions to identify
problems and measure
progress is important. One effective means for doing so is
through using Gantt
charts. These charts are meant for identifying how long certain
actions may take,
and can be updated regularly by employees so that progress in
accomplishing an
action is easily identifiable. Similarly, by allowing employees
to monitor their
own progress, it reduces the likelihood of managerial
interruption and the negative
aspects of managerial control.
Control
The SOSTAC framework is a continuous one, which involves a
cycle of steps.
The final step of control is there to allow reflection, monitoring

of results, and a
means of adapting to new circumstances. As progress in
implementing an E-
Marketing plan occurs, it is important to identify markers of
progress and
problems. In doing so, it becomes possible to take advantage of
positive
circumstances for a company (such as a new fad being
developed around the
product) and to quickly respond to problems (such as a viral
video depicting the
product as bad). Hence, this step is meant to continually
monitor the environment
76
surrounding the product to ensure progress continues to be made
in achieving the
objectives.

Finding
It is important to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the
company in different
areas. For instance, what is the product being developed? What
strengths does this
company have in developing and marketing that product? What
weaknesses are
there and how can the company change to eliminate those
weaknesses? While
many possible areas could be examined, Table 2 below contains
an example of
critical areas to consider first.

77
Table 2: Marketing Strengths and Weaknesses for a Company
Now that company’s situation is well analyzed, it is time to
examine competitors.
This involves researching who they are, how they compete
against your company
Marketing Mix Strength Weakness Action Required
Product (Calling Card) High
quality
High quality. Low product
differentiation (not
unique).
Reduce cost of card
possibly through lower
quality.

Decent packaging.
Price ($5.00 CA) Cheaper than some
competitors.
Not leader in
lowest price.
Decrease price to
remain competitive.
Accessible to r
customers.
Place (Distribution through Available in many
stores, and
different chains.
Sales dependent
on store hours.
brick--and--mortar stores) Available in several
countries.
No online
distribution.

Promotion (Word-of-mouth
advertising)
Very low cost. Not innovative
compared to online
options.
Promotional prizes of
discounts for frequent
users.
Service Reliable service. Cards with very
People (Customers and
Employees)
Usable by people
from many different
nationalities and
languages.
Low integration
in non-immigrant
North American

market.
Processes Cards are easily and
efficiently
produced.
Selling through
distributors
distances
company from
customers.
Physicals (the physical
calling card)
Cards do not easily
break. Card is good
size and shape.
Suggestions of
scratch pad on
back being
carcinogenic.

Numbers on back
are hard to read
for many people.
78
in terms of products, what overlap exists between products, how
market share is
divided between the companies, and what strategies your
company has for dealing
with competition.
Table 3: Competition Analysis
Main Competitors Strengths Weaknesses
Our Strategy to
Compete
Rechargeable cards.
Rechargeable online,

no need to constantly
buy new cards.
People who have
difficulty using
computers or
Take an analyzer
approach to
competing.
Account summaries of
calls, minutes, costs,
easily accessible.
People who lack a
credit card cannot
be customers.
Engage in horizontal
integration. For
example, combine
reviewing remaining

balance on a card
with other existing
services.
Online purchasing of
cards.
Limited offline
purchasing.
Take a reactive
approach to
competing.
Cost comparison of
different brands on
their website to find
cheapest card
available.
Only available in
major countries.
Ensure our card is

available in same
location as theirs.
Available in a variety
of countries.
expand availability to
other areas. Offline
competition remains
very strong.
Angry Calling Card
BB Calling Card
79
Conclusion
E-Marketing allows companies to reach a much wider audience
for products and

services that are traditionally possible, and engage in a
productive dialog with
customers and the managers that takes the traditional method of
marketing to a
newer level. However, developing and implementing an e-
marketing plan is very
complex. Not only do we have to come up with appropriate
ideas and strategies
but also it is the point where a company discovers whether an
idea is actually
going to work in practice. Critical to the success of
implementing a plan is the
original objectives setting process. Objectives that are unclear
will result in
unfocused and potentially unproductive actions.
Despite the importance of e-marketing in businesses, the theory
is difficult to
actualize in practice for companies operating within countries
where the citizens
has limited or restricted Internet access. Other cultural or
normative practices can
also lead to difficulties. For instance, in a multi-lingual country,
such as Iran, the
communication between customers and a company will greatly

benefit from
having a variety of languages available for customers to engage
in business. If
someone in one part of the country wants to speak with a
marketing representative
in Arabic, the company will greatly benefit by having a
representative who is able
to communicate in Arabic. However, if management does not
see the value in
having alternative languages available, they may lose the
opportunity of engaging
with a potentially significant portion of the country’s
population.
The complexity of the E-Marketing environment and the number
of variables in
the marketing strategy mean that the company have plenty of
choice when it
comes to determining a specific implementation approach.
Therefore,
measurement and analysis at all stages is crucial to ensure the
plan is on track, to
identify when it falls off track, and how to take action to get
back on track and
continue.

Effective E-Marketing requires knowledgeable management and
manpower, such
that traditional management models like “top-down
management” is not
appropriate.. In addition, the needs of E-Marketing customers
should be the top
80
priority; engendering customer commitment and loyalty are
extremely important.
Hence, management must be even more serious in its attempts
to supply the needs
of customers.
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A value proposition is an implicit, and sometimes explicit,
promise made by the provider of a product, tangible or
intangible, to a customer or customers. This is a promise that
goes beyond the physical characteristics of the product and
involves all forms of utility that can be enjoyed by the
customer, manifested in such areas as emotional, status, and
self-actualization benefits to be obtained from consumption.
Overview
The standard definition of marketing involves finding out what
people want and giving it to them while making a profit (it has
been updated in recent years, but this remains the heart of it).
The value proposition arises from understanding what a
customer really wants from a product and then demonstrating
how it might be obtained. This is evident from television
advertising, which rarely focuses on the technical details of a
product but rather the emotional or lifestyle benefits to be
obtained—frozen food provides a happy united family for the
mother; a car provides young people with the freedom to roam.
In consumer goods, the value proposition rarely involves a
subtle presentation. It can be different for specialty goods when
people are willing to invest time and energy in obtaining
exactly the right technical product.
When it comes to organizational buying, the value proposition
can be quite a complex undertaking and involves a number of
different features. This is because products or contracts might
be complex in themselves and because organizational buyers
must follow a specific protocol in determining suppliers, which
is aimed at protecting the interest of the organization rather

than appealing to an individual. The value proposition in such
cases might cover the ability to integrate operations over a
number of different sites, the creation of a long-term
relationship that will reduce transaction costs, or the possibility
of entering new markets.
From the perspective of business strategy, irrespective of the
type of market involved, the crucial issue is learning to
understand the meaning of value and how to create it. Four main
types of value propositions exist, each solving a different
common concern: low cost, superior product, ease of use, and
expert service. The perception of value varies from case to case,
and it is necessary either to have a deep understanding of the
market or conduct worthwhile marketing research to understand
how it is manifested in different cases. In business-to-business
or business-to-government cases, the understanding often comes
from stable relationships that give time for each side to learn
the nature of the other, which creates high entry barriers for any
other company wishing to enter that market. Such relationships
often lack transparency to outsiders.
Value propositions are used to direct the design process and to
revamp existing products or services in response to the market.
Other business concerns including pricing, overhead, and
performance metrics hinge on the type of value proposition the
company adopts.
Over time, the value proposition concept has been recognized as
a useful one in management studies generally and so it has been
applied in a range of areas, such as human resources, IT
outsourcing, and conflict management as a means of making any
offer or suggestion more attractive. The concept has been
broadened in a perhaps useful way, although at the cost of
having much of its original meaning filleted from it. This is
quite common with concepts of this sort and ends with them
being so widely used that it has little if any real meaning left.
Bibliography

What is Marketing?
What makes a business idea work? Does it only take money?
Why are some products a huge success and similar products a
dismal failure? How was Apple, a computer company, able to
create and launch the wildly successful iPod, yet Microsoft's
first foray into digital audio players was a total disaster? If the
size of the company and the money behind a product's launch
were the difference, Microsoft would have won. But for
Microsoft to have won, it would have needed something it has
not had in a while—good marketing, so it could produce and
sell products that consumers want.
So how does good marketing get done?
Defining Marketing
Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as
"the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have
value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large"
(American Marketing Association, n.d.). If you read the
definition closely, you see that there are four activities, or
components, of marketing:
· creating—the process of collaborating with suppliers and
customers to create offerings that have value
· communicating—broadly, describing those offerings, as well
as learning from customers
· delivering—getting those offerings to the consumer in a way
that optimizes value
· exchanging—trading value for those offerings
The traditional way of viewing the components of marketing is
via the four Ps:
· product—goods and services (creating offerings)
· promotion—communication
· place—getting the product to a point at which the customer
can purchase it (delivering)
· price—the monetary amount charged for the product
(exchanging)
Introduced in the early 1950s, the four Ps were called the

marketing mix, meaning that a marketing plan is a mix of these
four components.
If the four Ps are the same as creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging, you might be wondering why there
was a change. The answer is that they are not exactly the
same. Product, price, place,and promotion are nouns. As such,
these words fail to capture all the activities of marketing. For
example, exchanging requires mechanisms for a transaction,
which consist of more than simply a price or place. Exchanging
requires, among other things, the transfer of ownership. For
example, when you buy a car, you sign documents that transfer
the car's title from the seller to you. That's part of the exchange
process.
Even the term product, which seems pretty obvious, is limited.
Does the product include services that come with your new car
purchase (such as free maintenance for a certain period of time
on some models)? Or does the product mean only the car itself?
Finally, none of the four Ps describes particularly well what
marketing people do. However, one of the goals of this book is
to focus on exactly what marketing professionals do.
Value
Value is at the center of everything marketers do. What does
value mean?
When we use the term value, we mean the benefits buyers
receive that meet their needs. In other words, value is what the
customer gets by purchasing and consuming a company's
offering. Although the offering is created by the company, the
value is determined by the customer.
Furthermore, our goal as marketers is to create a profitable
exchange for consumers. By profitable, we mean that the
consumer's personal value equation is positive. The personal
value equation is
value = benefits received – [price + hassle].
Hassle is the time and effort the consumer puts into the
shopping process. The equation reflects personal impressions,
because each consumer will judge the benefits of a product

differently, as with the time and effort he or she puts into
shopping. Value, then, varies for each consumer.
One way to think of value is to imagine a meal in a restaurant.
If you and three friends go to a restaurant and order the same
dish, each of you will like it more or less depending on your
personal tastes. Yet the dish was exactly the same, priced the
same, and served exactly the same way. Because your tastes
varied, the benefits you received varied. Therefore, the value
varied for each of you. That's why we call it a personal value
equation.
Value varies from customer to customer based on each
customer's needs. The marketing concept, a philosophy
underlying all that marketers do, requires that marketers seek to
satisfy customer wants and needs. Firms operating with that
philosophy are said to be market oriented. At the same time,
market-oriented firms recognize that the exchange must be
profitable for the company to be successful. A marketing
orientation is not an excuse to fail to make profit.
Firms don't always embrace the marketing concept and a market
orientation. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution in the late
1800s, companies were production oriented. They believed that
the best way to compete was by reducing production costs. In
other words, companies thought that good products would sell
themselves. Perhaps the best example of such a product was
Henry Ford's Model A automobile, the first product of his
production line innovation. Ford's production line made the
automobile cheap and affordable for many more people.
The production era lasted until the 1920s, when production-
capacity growth began to outpace demand growth, and new
strategies were called for. There are, however, companies that
still focus on production as the way to compete.
From the 1920s until after World War II, companies tended to
be selling oriented, meaning they believed it was necessary to
push their products by heavily emphasizing advertising and
selling. Consumers during the Great Depression and World War
II did not have as much money, so the competition for their

available dollars was stiff. The result was this push approach
during the selling era. Companies like the Fuller Brush
Company and Hoover Vacuum began selling door-to-door, and
the vacuum-cleaner salesperson position was created. Just as
with production, some companies still operate with a push
focus.
In the post–World War II environment, demand for goods
increased as the economy soared. Some products, limited in
supply during World War II, were now plentiful to the point of
surplus. Companies believed that to compete, they had to sell
different products than the competition, so many focused on
product innovation. This focus on product innovation is called
the product orientation. Companies like Procter & Gamble
created many products that served the same basic function as
one another, but with a slight twist or difference in order to
appeal to a different consumer, and as a result products
proliferated. But as consumers had many choices available to
them, companies had to find new ways to compete. Which
products were best to create? Why create them? The answer was
to create what customers wanted, leading to the development of
the marketing concept, and from about 1950 to 1990, businesses
operated in the marketing era.
So what era would you say we're in now? Some call it the value
era, a time when companies emphasize creating value for
customers. Is that really different from the marketing era, in
which the emphasis was on fulfilling the marketing concept?
Maybe not. Others call today's business environment the one-to-
one era, meaning that the way to compete is to build
relationships with customers one at a time and to serve each
customer's needs individually. For example, the longer you are a
customer of Amazon, the more details they gain about your
purchasing habits and the better they can target you with offers
of new products. With the advent of social media and the
empowerment of consumers through ubiquitous information
from consumer reviews, there is clearly greater emphasis on
meeting customer needs. But is that substantially different from

the marketing concept?
Still others argue that this is the time of service-dominant logic,
and that we are in the service-dominant logic era.
Service-dominant logic is an approach to business that
recognizes that consumers want value no matter how it is
delivered, whether it's via a product, a service, or a combination
of the two.
Although there is merit in this belief, there is also merit to the
value approach and the one-to-one approach, and all three
beliefs are intertwined. Perhaps, then, the name for this era has
yet to be decided.
Whatever era we're in now, most historians would agree that
defining and labeling it is difficult. Value and one-to-one
approaches are both natural extensions of the marketing
concept, so we may still be in the marketing era. To make
matters more confusing, not all companies adopt the philosophy
of the era. For example, in the 1800s, Singer and National Cash
Register adopted strategies rooted in sales, so they operated in
the selling era forty years before it existed. Some companies are
still in the selling era. Recently, many believed automobile
manufacturers had fallen into trouble because they had been
working too hard to sell or push product and not hard enough on
delivering value.
Creating Offerings That Have Value
Marketing creates goods and services that the company offers at
a price to its customers or clients. The entire bundle consisting
of the tangible good, the intangible service, and the price is the
company's offering. When you compare one car to another, for
example, you can evaluate each of these dimensions—the
tangible, the intangible, and the price—separately. However,
you can't buy one manufacturer's car, another manufacturer's
service, and a third manufacturer's price when you actually
make a choice. Together, the three make up a single firm's
offer.
Marketing people do not create the offering alone. For example,
when the iPad was created, Apple's engineers were also

involved in its design. Apple's financial personnel had to review
the costs of producing the offering and provide input on how it
should be priced. Apple's operations group needed to evaluate
the manufacturing requirements the iPad would need. The
company's logistics managers had to evaluate the cost and
timing of getting the offering to retailers and consumers.
Apple's dealers also likely provided input regarding the iPad's
service policies and warranty structure. Marketing, however,
has the biggest responsibility because it is their responsibility
to ensure that the new product delivers value.
Communicating Offerings
Communicating is a broad term in marketing that means
describing the offering and its value to your potential and
current customers, as well as learning from customers what they
want and like. Sometimes communicating means educating
potential customers about the value of an offering, and
sometimes it means simply making customers aware of where
they can find a product. Communicating also means that
customers get a chance to tell the company what they think.
Today, companies are finding that to be successful, they need a
more interactive dialogue with their customers. For example,
Comcast customer service representatives monitor Twitter.
When they observe consumers tweeting problems with Comcast,
the customer service reps will post resolutions to their
problems. Similarly, JCPenney has created consumer groups
that talk among themselves on JCPenney-monitored websites.
The company might post questions, send samples, or engage in
other activities designed to solicit feedback from customers.
Mobile devices, like iPads and Droid smartphones, make mobile
marketing possible too. For example, if consumers check in at a
shopping mall on Foursquare or Facebook, stores in the mall
can send coupons and other offers directly to their phones and
computers.
Companies use many forms of communication, including
advertising on the internet or television, on billboards or in
magazines, through product placements in movies, and through

salespeople. Other forms of communication include attempting
to have news media cover the company's actions (part of public
relations), participating in special events such as the annual
International Consumer Electronics Show in which Apple and
other companies introduce their newest gadgets, and sponsoring
special events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Delivering Offerings
Marketing can't just promise value, it also has to deliver
value. Delivering an offering that has value is much more than
simply getting the product into the hands of the user; it also
entails making sure the user understands how to get the most
out of the product and that he or she is taken care of if service
is required later on. Value is delivered in part through a
company's supply chain. The supply chain includes a number of
organizations and functions that mine, make, assemble, or
deliver materials and products from a manufacturer to
consumers. The actual group of organizations can vary greatly
from industry to industry, and include wholesalers,
transportation companies, and retailers. Logistics, or the actual
transportation and storage of materials and products, is the
primary component of supply-chain management, but there are
other aspects of supply-chain management that we will discuss
later.
Exchanging Offerings
In addition to creating an offering, communicating its benefits
to consumers, and delivering the offering, there is the actual
transaction, or exchange, that has to occur. In most instances,
we consider the exchange to be cash for products and services.
However, if you were to fly to Louisville, Kentucky, for the
Kentucky Derby, you could pay for your airline tickets using
frequent-flier miles. You could also use Hilton Honors points to
pay for your hotel, and cash-back points on your Discover card
to pay for meals. None of these transactions would actually
require cash. Other exchanges, such as information about your
preferences gathered through surveys, might not involve cash.
When consumers acquire, consume, and dispose of products and

services, an exchange occurs. For example, via Apple's One-to-
One program, you can pay a yearly fee in exchange for
additional periodic product training sessions with an Apple
professional. Each time a training session occurs, another
transaction takes place. A transaction also occurs when you are
finished with a product. For example, you might sell your old
iPhone to a friend, trade in a car, or ask the Salvation Army to
pick up your old refrigerator.
Disposing of products has become an important ecological
issue. Batteries and other components of cell phones,
computers, and high-tech appliances can be very harmful to the
environment, and many consumers don't know how to dispose of
these products properly. Some companies, such as Office Depot,
have created recycling centers where customers can take their
old electronics.
Apple has a web page where consumers can fill out a form, print
it, and ship it to Apple along with their old cell phones and MP3
players. Apple then pulls out the materials that are recyclable
and properly disposes of those that aren't. By reducing the
hassle associated with disposing products, Office Depot and
Apple add value to their product offerings.
Key Points
The focus of marketing has changed from emphasizing the
product, price, place, and promotion mix to one that emphasizes
creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging value.
Value is a function of the benefits an individual receives, and
consists of the price the consumer paid and the time and effort
the person expended making the purchase.
Check Your Knowledge
Question 1
What is the personal value equation?
value = benefits received – [price + hassle]
value = product + service
value = product + price + promotion + place
value = creating + communicating + delivering + exchanging
Correct! Value is a measure of what a customer receives in

exchange for the money and time spent.
Incorrect. These are possible benefits, but value equation must
include cost of money and time.
Incorrect. This is the original marketing mix dating to the
1950s.
Incorrect. This is the American Marketing Association’s more
recent definition of the marketing mix.
Question 2
What is the American Marketing Association’s current
definition of marketing?
value = benefits received – [price + hassle]
value = product + service
product, price, promotion, and place
creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
Incorrect. Value is a measure of what a customer receives in
exchange for their money and time.
Incorrect. These are possible benefits, but value equation must
include cost of money and time.
Incorrect. This is the original marketing mix dating to the
1950s.
Correct! This is the American Marketing Association’s more
recent definition of the marketing mix.
Question 3
Identify the two marketing mix terms that relate to offerings.
product and creating
promotion and communicating
place and delivering
price and exchanging
Correct! Companies create products or services to offer to
potential consumers.
Incorrect. Communicating, or promoting, a product or service
comes after its creation.
Incorrect. Delivering a product or service to a place where it is
useful to the consumer is the third element.
Incorrect. Exchanging a product or service for a given price is
the final element.

Who Does Marketing?
The short answer to the question of who does marketing is
"everybody!" But let's take a moment and consider in greater
detail how different types of organizations engage in marketing.
For-Profit Companies
The obvious answer to the question, who does marketing? is
for-profit companies like McDonald's, Procter & Gamble (the
makers of Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste), and Walmart.
For example, McDonald's creates a new breakfast chicken
sandwich for $1.99 (the offering), launches a television
campaign (communicating), makes the sandwiches available on
certain dates (delivering), and then sells them in its stores
(exchanging). When Procter & Gamble (P&G) creates a new
Crest tartar-control toothpaste, it launches a direct-mail
campaign in which it sends information and samples for dentists
to offer to their patients. P&G then sells the toothpaste through
retailers like Walmart, which has a panel of consumers sample
the product and provide feedback through an online community.
These are all examples of marketing activities.
For-profit companies can be defined by the nature of their
customers. A business-to-consumer (B2C) company like P&G
sells products to be used by consumers like you, while a
business-to-business (B2B) company sells products to be used
within another company's operations, as well as by government
agencies and entities. To be sure, P&G sells toothpaste to other
companies like Walmart (and probably to the army, prisons, and
other government agencies), but the end user is an individual
person.
Another way to categorize companies that engage in marketing
is by the functions they fulfill. P&G is a manufacturer, Walmart
is a retailer, and Grocery Supply Company is a wholesaler of
grocery items that buys from companies like P&G in order to
sell to small convenience store chains. Though they have
different functions, all these types of for-profit companies
engage in marketing activities. Walmart, for example,
advertises to consumers.

Grocery Supply Company salespeople will call on convenience
store owners to take orders and will build in-store displays.
P&G might help Walmart or Grocery Supply Company with
templates for advertising or suggest special cartons to use in an
in-store display, but all the companies are using marketing to
help sell P&G's toothpaste.
Similarly, all the companies engage in dialogue with their
customers to understand what to sell. For Walmart and Grocery
Supply, the dialogue may result in changing what they buy and
sell. For P&G, customer feedback may yield a new product or a
change in pricing strategy.
Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit organizations also engage in marketing. When the
American Heart Association (AHA) created a heart-healthy diet
for people with high blood pressure, it bound the diet into a
small book, along with access to a special website that people
could use to plan their meals and record their health-related
activities. The AHA then sent copies of the diet to doctors to
give to patients. When does an exchange take place, you might
be wondering? And what does the AHA get out of the
transaction?
From a financial standpoint, the AHA does not directly benefit.
Nonetheless, the organization is meeting its mission, or
purpose, of getting people to live heart-healthy lives and
considers the campaign a success when doctors give the books
to their patients. The point is that the AHA is engaged in the
marketing activities of creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging. This won't involve the same kind of exchange as a
for-profit company, but it is still marketing.
When a nonprofit organization engages in marketing activities,
this is called nonprofit marketing.
Some schools offer specific courses in nonprofit marketing, and
many marketing majors begin their careers with nonprofit
organizations.
Government entities also engage in marketing activities. For
example, when the US Army advertises to parents of

prospective recruits, sends brochures to high schools, or brings
a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to a state fair, the army is engaging
in marketing. The US Army also listens to its constituencies, as
evidenced by recent research aimed at understanding how to
serve military families more effectively. One result was
advertising aimed at improving parents' responses to their
children's interest in joining the army. Another was a program
aimed at encouraging spouses of military personnel to access
counseling services when their spouse is serving overseas.
Similarly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) runs a
number of advertising campaigns designed to promote
environmentally friendly activities. One such campaign
promoted the responsible disposal of motor oil instead of simply
pouring it on the ground or into a storm sewer.
There is a difference between these two types of activities.
When the army is promoting the benefits of enlisting, it hopes
young men and women will join the army. By contrast, when the
EPA runs commercials about how to properly dispose of motor
oil, it hopes to change people's attitudes and behaviors so that
social change occurs. Social marketing, which can be done by
government agencies, nonprofit institutions, religious
organizations, and others, is conducted in an effort to achieve
certain social objectives. Convincing people that global
warming is a real threat via advertisements and commercials is
social marketing, as is the example regarding the EPA's
campaign to promote the responsible disposal of motor oil.
Individuals
If you create a résumé, are you using marketing to communicate
the value you have to offer prospective employers? If you sell
yourself in an interview, is that marketing? When you work for
a wage, you are delivering value in exchange for pay. Is this
marketing, too?
Some people argue that these are not marketing activities and
that individuals do not necessarily engage in marketing. (Some
people also argue that social marketing really isn't marketing
either.) What do you think? Can individuals market themselves

and their ideas?
Key Points
Marketing can be thought of as a set of business practices that
for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, government
entities, and individuals can use. When a nonprofit organization
engages in marketing activities, this is called nonprofit
marketing. Marketing conducted in an effort to achieve certain
social objectives is called social marketing.
Ask Yourself
· What types of companies engage in marketing?
· What is the difference between nonprofit marketing and social
marketing?
· What can individuals do for themselves that would be
considered marketing?
Why Study Marketing?
Products don't sell themselves. Generally, the "build it and they
will come" philosophy doesn't work. Good marketing educates
customers so that they can find the products they want, make
better choices about those products, and extract the most value
from them. In this way, marketing helps facilitate exchanges
between buyers and sellers for the mutual benefit of both
parties. Likewise, good social marketing provides people with
information and helps them make healthier decisions for
themselves and others.
Of course, all business students should understand all functional
areas of the firm, including marketing. There is more to
marketing, however, than simply understanding its role in the
business. Marketing has a tremendous impact on society.
Marketing Delivers Value
Marketing not only delivers value to customers, it also creates
value for the firm as it develops a reliable customer base and
increases its sales and profitability. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the
US president with perhaps the greatest influence on our
economic system, once said, "If I were starting life over again, I
am inclined to think that I would go into the advertising
business in preference to almost any other. The general raising

of the standards of modern civilization among all groups of
people during the past half century would have been impossible
without the spreading of the knowledge of higher standards by
means of advertising" (Famous Quotes and Authors, n.d.).
Roosevelt referred to advertising, but advertising alone is
insufficient for delivering value. Marketing finishes the job by
ensuring that what is delivered is valuable.
Marketing Benefits Society
Marketing benefits society in general by improving people's
lives in two ways. First, as we mentioned, it facilitates trade. As
you have learned, or will learn, in economics, being able to
trade makes people's lives better. Because better marketing
means more successful companies, jobs are created. This growth
generates wealth for workers, who are then able to make
purchases, which, in turn, creates more jobs.
The second way marketing improves the quality of life is
through the function of the value-delivery approach in creating
choices for consumers. When you add all the marketers together
who are trying to deliver offerings of greater value to
consumers and are effectively communicating that value,
consumers are able to make more informed decisions about a
wider array of choices. From an economic perspective, more
choices and smarter consumers are indicative of a higher quality
of life.
Marketing Costs Money
Marketing can sometimes be the largest expense associated with
producing a product. In the soft drink business, marketing
expenses account for about one-third of a product's price—
about the same as the ingredients used to make the soft drink
itself.
Some people argue that society does not benefit from marketing
when it represents such a huge chunk of a product's final price.
In some cases, that argument is justified. Yet when marketing
results in more informed consumers receiving a greater amount
of value, the cost is justified.
Marketing Offers People Career Opportunities

Marketing is the interface between producers and consumers,
shouldering the responsibility for both making money for the
company and delivering satisfaction to customers. In addition,
because marketing can be such an expensive part of a business
and is so critical to its success, companies actively seek strong
marketing employees. There are a variety of jobs available in
the marketing profession. The following positions represent
only a few of the opportunities available in the field.
· marketing research—Personnel in marketing research are
responsible for studying markets and customers in order to
understand what strategies or tactics might work best for firms.
· merchandising—In retailing, merchandisers are responsible for
developing strategies regarding what products wholesalers
should carry to sell to retailers such as Target and Walmart.
· sales—Salespeople meet with customers, determine their
needs, propose offerings, and make sure that the customer is
satisfied. Sales departments can also include sales support
teams who work on creating the offering.
· advertising—Whether it's for an advertising agency or inside a
company, some marketing personnel work on advertising.
Television commercials and print ads are only part of the
advertising mix. Many people who work in advertising spend all
their time creating advertising for electronic media, such as
websites and their pop-up ads, podcasts, etc.
· product development—People in product development are
responsible for identifying and creating features that meet the
needs of a firm's customers. They often work with engineers or
other technical personnel to ensure that value is created.
· direct marketing—Professionals in direct marketing
communicate directly with customers about a company's product
offerings via channels such as e-mail, chat lines, telephone, or
direct mail.
· digital media—Digital media professionals combine
advertising, direct marketing, and other areas of marketing to
communicate directly with customers via social media, the web,
and mobile media (including texts). They also work with

statisticians in order to determine which consumers receive
which message, and with IT professionals to create the right
look and feel of digital media.
· event marketing—Some marketing personnel plan special
events, orchestrating face-to-face conversations with potential
and current customers in a special setting.
· nonprofit marketing—Nonprofit marketers often don't get to
do everything listed previously, as nonprofits typically have
smaller budgets. But their work is always very important as they
try to change behaviors without having a product to sell.
A career in marketing can begin in a variety of ways. Entry-
level positions for new college graduates are available in many
of the roles previously mentioned.
A growing number of CEOs are people with marketing
backgrounds. Some legendary CEOs, like Ross Perot and Mary
Kay Ash, got their start in marketing. More recently, CEOs like
Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle, and Jeffrey Immelt at GE, are
showing how marketing careers can lead to the highest position
of an organization.
Criticisms of Marketing
Marketing is not without its critics. We already mentioned that
one reason to study marketing is because it is costly, and
business leaders need to understand the cost/benefit ratio of
marketing in order to make wise investments. Yet that cost is
precisely why some criticize marketing. Some allege that if that
money could be put into research and development of new
products, perhaps the consumers would be better satisfied. Or,
some critics argue, prices could be lowered. But marketing
executives do not intentionally waste money on marketing, and
are always on the lookout for less expensive ways to have the
same performance.
Another criticism is that marketing creates wants among
consumers for products and services that aren't really needed.
For example, fashion marketing creates demand for high-dollar
jeans when much less expensive jeans can fulfill the same basic
function. Taken to the extreme, consumers may take on

significant credit card debt to satisfy wants created by
marketing, with serious negative consequences. When marketers
target their messages carefully so an audience that can afford
such products is the only group reached, such extreme
consequences can be avoided.
Key Points
By facilitating transactions, marketing delivers value to both
consumers and firms. At the broader level, this process creates
jobs and improves the quality of life in a society. Marketing can
be costly, so firms need to hire strong employees to manage
their marketing activities. Being responsible for both making
money for your company and delivering satisfaction to your
customers makes marketing a great career.
Ask Yourself
· Why study marketing?
· How does marketing provide value?
· Why does marketing cost so much? Is marketing worth it?
· What is the main cost of marketing?
Themes in Marketing
We previously discussed marketing as a set of activities that
anyone can do. Marketing is also a functional area in
companies, just like operations and accounting. Within a
company, marketing might be the title of a department, but
some marketing functions, such as sales, might be handled by
another department. Marketing activities do not occur
separately from the rest of the company, however.
As we have explained, pricing an offering, for example, will
involve a company's finance and accounting departments in
addition to the marketing team. Similarly, a marketing strategy
is not created solely by a firm's marketing personnel. Instead, it
flows from the company's overall strategy.
Everything Starts with Customers
Most organizations start with an idea of how to serve customers
better. Apple's engineers began working on the iPod by looking
at the available technology and thinking about how customers
would like to improve the availability and affordability of their

music, through downloading.
Many companies think about potential markets and customers
when they start. John Deere, for example, founded his company
on the principle of serving customers. When admonished for
making constant improvements to his products even though
farmers would take whatever they could get, Deere reportedly
replied, "They haven't got to take what we make and somebody
else will beat us, and we will lose our trade" (John Deere, n.d.).
He recognized that if his company failed to meet customers'
evolving needs, someone else would.
Here are a few mission statements from other companies. Note
that they all refer to their customers, directly or indirectly. Note
also how these are written to inspire employees and others who
interact with the company.
Company Mission Statements
· IBM
· Coca-Cola
· McDonald’s
· Merck
IBM will be driven by these values:
· Dedication to every client's success.
· Innovation that matters, for our company and for the world.
· Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships. (IBM,
n.d.)
Everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission:
· To refresh the world in body, mind, and spirit.
· To inspire moments of optimism through our brands and our
actions.
· To create value and make a difference everywhere we engage.
(Coca-Cola Company, n.d.)
To be our customers' favorite place and way to eat (McDonald's,
n.d.).
To provide innovative and distinctive products and services that
save and improve lives and satisfy customer needs, to be
recognized as a great place to work, and to provide investors

with a superior rate of return (Merck & Co., n.d.).
Not all companies create mission statements that reflect a
marketing orientation. Note Apple's mission statement: "Apple
ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the
Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with
the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in
innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating
system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also
spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable
music and video players and iTunes online store, and has
entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone"
(Apple, Inc, 2009). This mission statement reflects a product
orientation, or an operating philosophy based on the premise
that Apple's success is due to great products and that simply
supplying them will lead to demand for them. Apple, and for
that matter, many other companies, have fallen prey to thinking
that they knew what a great product was without asking their
customers. In fact, Apple's first attempt at a graphic user
interface (GUI) was the LISA, a dismal failure.
The Marketing Plan
The marketing plan is the strategy for implementing the
components of marketing: creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging value. Once a company has decided what
business it is in and expressed that in a mission statement, the
firm then develops a corporate strategy. Marketing strategists
subsequently use the corporate strategy and mission and
combine that with an understanding of the market to develop the
company's marketing plan.
Marketers also want to know their customers—who they are and
what they like to do—so as to uncover this information.
Generally, this requires marketing researchers to collect sales
and other related customer data and analyze it. In this pursuit,
there are three important goals: understanding the customer's
wants and needs, understanding how the customer wants to
acquire, consume, and dispose of the offering, and determining

what makes up their personal value equation.
Once this information is gathered and digested, the planners can
work to create the right offering. Products and services are
developed, bundled together at a price, and then tested in the
market. Decisions have to be made about when to alter the
offerings, add new ones, or drop old ones. These decisions are
the focus of the next set of chapters and are the second step in
marketing planning.
Following the material on offerings, we explore the decisions
associated with building the value chain. Once an offering is
designed, the company has to be able to make it and then be
able to get it to the market. This step, planning for the delivery
of value, is the third step in the marketing plan.
The fourth step is creating the plan for communicating value.
How does the firm make consumers aware of the value it has to
offer? How can it help them recognize that value and decide
that they should purchase products? These are important
questions for marketing planners.
Once a customer has decided that her personal value equation is
likely to be positive, she will decide to purchase the product.
That decision still has to be acted on, however, which is the
exchange. As exchanges occur, marketing planners then refine
their plans based on the feedback they receive from their
customers, as well as what their competitors are doing and how
market conditions are changing.
The Changing Marketing Environment
We previously mentioned that the view of marketing has
changed from a static set of four Ps to a dynamic set of
processes that involve marketing professionals as well as many
other employees in an organization. The way business is being
conducted today is changing, too, and marketing is changing
along with it. There are several themes that underscore these
changes.
· ethics and social responsibility—Businesses exist only
because society allows them to. When businesses begin to fail
society, society will punish them or revoke their license. The

crackdown on companies in the subprime mortgage–lending
industry is one example. These companies created and sold
loans (products) that could only be paid back under ideal
circumstances, and when consumers couldn't pay these loans
back, the entire economy suffered greatly. Scandals such as
these illustrate how society responds to unethical business
practices. However, whereas ethics require only that you do no
harm, the concept of social responsibility requires that you
actively seek to improve the lives of others. Today, people are
demanding businesses take a proactive stance in terms of social
responsibility, and companies are being held to ever-higher
standards of conduct.
· sustainability—An example of social responsibility,
sustainability involves engaging in practices that do not
diminish the earth's resources. Coca-Cola, for example, is
working with governments in Africa to ensure clean water
availability, not just for manufacturing Coke products but for
all consumers in that region. Further, the company seeks to
engage the participation of American by offering opportunities
to contribute to clean-water programs. Right now, companies do
not have to engage in these practices, but because firms
represent the people behind them (their owners and employees),
forward-thinking executives are seeking ways to reduce the
impact their companies are having on the planet.
· service-dominant logic—You might have noticed that we use
the word offering a lot instead of the term product. That's
because of service-dominant logic, the approach to business that
recognizes that consumers want value no matter how it is
delivered—whether through a tangible product or through
intangible services. This emphasis on value drives the
functional approach to value that we've taken—that is, creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging value.
· metrics—Technology has increased the amount of information
available to decision makers. As such, the amount and quality
of data for evaluating a firm's performance is increasing. Earlier
in our discussion of the marketing plan, we explained that

customers communicate via transactions. Although this sounds
both simple and obvious, better information technology has
given us a much more complete picture of each exchange.
Cabela's, for example, combines data from Web browsing
activity with purchase history in order to determine the likely
next-best offer. Using data from many sources, we can build
more-effective metrics that can then be used to create better
offerings, better communication plans, and so forth.
· a global environment—Every business is influenced by global
issues. The price of oil, for example, is a global concern that
affects everyone's prices and even the availability of some
offerings. We already mentioned Coke's concern for clean
water. But Coke also has to be concerned with distribution
systems in areas with poor or nonexistent roads, a myriad of
government policies and regulations, workforce availability,
and many more issues associated with selling and delivering
Coke around the world. Even companies with smaller markets
source some or all their offerings from companies in other
countries or else face some sort of direct competition from
companies based in other countries. Every business
professional, whether working in marketing or elsewhere, needs
some understanding of the global environment in which
companies operate.
Key Points
A company's marketing plan flows from its strategic plan. Both
begin with a focus on customers. The essential components of
the plan are understanding customers, creating an offering that
delivers value, communicating the value to the customer,
exchanging with the customer, and evaluating the firm's
performance. A marketing plan is influenced by environmental
trends such as social responsibility, sustainability, service-
dominant logic, the increased availability of data and effective
metrics, and the global nature of the business environment.
Ask Yourself
· Why does everything start with customers? Or is it only
marketing that starts with customers?

· What are the key parts of a marketing plan?
· What is the relationship between social responsibility,
sustainability, service-dominant logic, and the global business
environment? How does the concept of metrics fit?
References
Strategic Planning
What Is a Value Proposition?
Individual buyers and organizational buyers evaluate products
and services to see if they provide desired benefits. For
example, when you're exploring vacation options, you want to
know the benefits of each destination and the value you will get
by going to each place. Before you (or a firm) can develop a
strategy or create a strategic plan, you have to develop a value
proposition. A value proposition is a 30-second elevator speech
stating the specific benefits a product or service offering
provides a buyer. It shows why the product or service is
superior to competing offers. The value proposition answers the
questions, "Why should I buy from you or why should I hire
you?" As such, the value proposition becomes a critical
component in shaping strategy.
The following is an example of a value proposition developed
by a sales consulting firm: "Our clients grow their business,
large or small, typically by a minimum of 30 percent to 50
percent over the previous year. They accomplish this without
working 80-hour weeks and sacrificing their personal lives"
(Lake, 2016).
Note that although a value proposition will hopefully lead to
profits for a firm, when the firm presents its value proposition
to its customers, it doesn't mention its own profits. That's
because the goal is to focus on the external market or what
customers want.
Firms typically segment markets and then identify
different target markets, or groups of customers, that they want
to reach when firms are developing their value propositions. Be

aware that companies sometimes develop different value
propositions for different target markets just as individuals may
develop a different value proposition for different employers.
The value proposition tells groups of customers (or potential
employers) why they should buy a product or service, vacation
to a particular destination, donate to an organization, hire you,
etc.
Once the benefits of a product or service are clear, the firm
must develop strategies that support the value proposition. The
value proposition serves as a guide for this process. In the case
of our sales consulting firm, the strategies it develops must help
clients improve their sales by 30 percent to 50 percent.
Likewise, if a company's value proposition states that the firm
is the largest retailer in the region with the most stores and best
product selection, opening stores or increasing the firm's
inventory might be a key part of the company's strategy.
Looking at Amazon's value proposition, "Low price, wide
selection with added convenience anytime, anywhere," one can
easily see how Amazon has been so successful
(InfoMarketersZone.com, n.d.).
Individuals and students should also develop their personal
value propositions. Tell companies why they should hire you or
why a graduate school should accept you. Show the value you
bring. A value proposition will help you in different situations.
Think about how your internship experience and/or study abroad
experience may help a future employer. For example, you could
explain to the employer the benefits and value of going abroad.
Perhaps your study abroad experience helped you understand
customers that buy from Company X and your customer service
experience during your internship increased your ability to
generate sales, which improved your employer's profit margin.
Thus you may be able to quickly contribute to Company X,
something that Company X might value.
Key Points
A value proposition is a 30-second elevator speech stating the
specific value a product or service provides to a target market.

Firms may develop different value propositions for different
groups of customers. The value proposition shows why the
product or service is superior to competing offers and why the
customer should buy it or why a firm should hire you.
Components of the Strategic Planning Process
Conducting a Situation Analysis
As part of the strategic planning process, a situation
analysis must be conducted before a company can decide on
specific actions. A situation analysis involves analyzing both
the external (macro and micro factors outside the organization)
and the internal (company) environments. The firm's internal
environment—such as its financial resources, technological
resources, and the capabilities of its personnel and their
performance—has to be examined. It is also critical to examine
the external macro and micro environments the firm faces, such
as the economy and its competitors. The external environment
significantly affects the decisions a firm makes, and thus must
be continuously evaluated. For example, during the economic
downturn in 2008–2009, businesses found that many
competitors drastically cut the prices of their products. Other
companies reduced package sizes or the amount of product in
packages. Firms also offered customers incentives (free
shipping, free gift cards with purchase, rebates, etc.) to
purchase their goods and services online, which allowed
businesses to cut back on the personnel needed to staff their
brick-and-mortar stores. While a business cannot control things
such as the economy, changes in demographic trends, or what
competitors do, it must decide what actions to take to remain
competitive—actions that depend in part on the internal
environment.
Conducting a SWOT Analysis
Based on the situation analysis, organizations analyze their
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, conducting
what's called a SWOT analysis. Strengths and weaknesses are
internal factors and are somewhat controllable. For example, an
organization's strengths might include its brand name, efficient

distribution network, reputation for great service, and strong
financial position. A firm's weaknesses might include lack of
awareness of its products in the marketplace, a lack of human
resources talent, and a poor location. Opportunities and threats
are factors that are external to the firm and largely
uncontrollable. Opportunities might entail the international
demand for the type of products the firm makes, few
competitors, and favorable social trends such as people living
longer. Threats might include a bad economy, high interest rates
that increase a firm's borrowing costs, and an aging population
that makes it hard for the business to find workers.
You can conduct a SWOT analysis of yourself to help determine
your competitive advantage. Perhaps your strengths include
strong leadership abilities and communication skills, whereas
your weaknesses include a lack of organization. Opportunities
for you might exist in specific careers and industries; however,
the economy and other people competing for the same position
might be threats.
Moreover, a factor that is a strength for one person (say, strong
accounting skills) might be a weakness for another person (poor
accounting skills). The same is true for businesses.
The easiest way to determine if a factor is external or internal is
to take away the company, organization, or individual and see if
the factor still exists. Internal factors such as strengths and
weaknesses are specific to a company or individual, whereas
external factors such as opportunities and threats affect multiple
individuals and organizations in the marketplace. For example,
if you are doing a situation analysis on PepsiCo and are looking
at the weak economy, take PepsiCo out of the picture and see
what factors remain. If the factor—the weak economy—is still
there, it is an external factor. Even if PepsiCo hadn't been
around in 2008–2009, the weak economy reduced consumer
spending and affected a lot of companies.
Assessing the Internal Environment
When an organization evaluates which factors are its strengths
and weaknesses, it is assessing its internal environment. Once

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