Assume for a moment that you are in marketing for Staples (the office supply company) and that the clients you are responsible for are business users (not end-user consumers). What five business market segmentation variables do think will be most useful to consider as you move toward honing in on the Staples’ business target markets with the best ROI? Justify your choice of each.
> You are the marketing manager for a small company located in the United States that manufactures specialized parts for high-end ink-jet printers. The company’s largest customer (Hewlett Packard) has asked your company to supply parts to 10 of its distri
> This case should help convince students that virtually any product (certainly any consumer product) could benefit from the use of social media tools. Most of the largest companies have embraced social media (see https://medium.com/infographics/f500-comp
> Although many students will not have shopped at Restoration Hardware, this case is focused on two areas upon which most will be experts: shopping in retail stores and shopping via the internet. The case can be introduced by asking students to share how
> Students will likely be familiar with Uber. Many of them, especially those of drinking age, may have used Uber to get home after visiting a bar with friends. This responsible behavior (planning ahead to not drink and drive), may be an interesting scenari
> Amazon has proved to be a company that has mastered the service environment. And, they have no intention of stopping. From continued online experiments (with features being added to Prime membership), to entering deeper into consumers’ homes (with the Ec
> The Virgin Group may be a less familiar brand to students in the U.S., but many will have heard of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines. The company’s experience in extending its brand provides a good foundation for helping students discern the criteria t
> This case provides an opportunity to elaborate on two important Product Management principles: New Product Development and the Product Life Cycle. It also is a good case for discussion of generational marketing and the need to understand the unique pref
> Amex faces a daunting challenge. They have been caught off guard with Chase’s excellent perception of which market is available and what would resonate with them. The professor could use the questions below to discuss Amex’s past (and now obvious) failur
> As described in the case, Nike is facing competitors (e.g. Under Armor) who are changing their distribution strategies from B2B to B2C. Nike has traditionally been a B2B company when it comes to distribution. Though it is not without experience in B2C di
> This case helps students get to the essence of marketing analytics. By using a company in India, where the multi-billion-dollar data infrastructure available in much of the west is absent, it may be easier to boil down your discussion of analytics by foc
> Marketing research is often looked at by students (and by some professional managers) as a dull, “academic” exercise that takes too much time, costs too much money, and doesn’t tell us anything that we don’t already know. However, as this case illustrate
> In the chapter you learned that harmonious performance of Marketing (big M) and marketing (little m) within a firm can lead to greater levels of success. Why is this true? What does it mean that these two need to be “harmonious?” What would be some li
> The story of Dunkin’ Donuts is useful for class discussion as it is a brand that most students will have experience with but one that might not readily come to mind as an example of skillful marketing management. An area of focus for the discussion shou
> Instructors leading a discussion about this case will find a review of the two HBR articles by Simanis & Duke and Mahajan to be very helpful*. One way to introduce the case is to ask students why a company would even bother marketing to a target market
> This case provides an opportunity to reinforce several key principles that are covered in this introductory chapter. While the case is largely focused on advertising tactics, there are examples of strategic marketing that can be discussed as well. A ke
> Select a specific branded product associated with a company and assume you are the marketing manager in charge of mobile marketing strategy for the product. a. Come up with a simple concept for a branded mobile app and explain how the specific purpose o
> Consider the concept of a landing page and its use in assisting the completion of specific desirable actions as well as its relationship with other forms of digital marketing communication. Identify one landing page associated with a display ad as well a
> Select a B2C company that you are familiar with, along with a product sold by that company. Identify a particular consumer target market. Imagine you have been tasked with developing a paid media strategy for the related product to that target. 1. Pick
> Consider a major purchase you have made recently. Review the AIDA model (Exhibits 13.7 and 13.8) and accompanying discussion. a. Think back on the process that led up to your purchase and reconstruct the types of promotion that you experienced during e
> This chapter discusses the role of the marketing manager in promotional strategy (Exhibit 13.3 and accompanying discussion). The trend today in both large and small firms is for much of the promotion function to be outsourced. a. Comment on this outs
> Exhorting firms to develop networks and alliances for purposes of value co-creation sounds like a good idea. However, is there a point at which such approaches can be taken too far (a) from a legal perspective, (b) from an ethical perspective, and (c
> Consider this statement: “It’s important in business today for all firms to work to cut out the middleman. Intermediaries represent costs that can be saved by finding ways to cut them out of the system. Down-channel buyers always benefit when this happ
> Review the section on change drivers and select any two within the set that you want to focus on. Pick an organization of your choice and answer the following questions: a. In what ways do each of the change drivers impact the firm’s ability to success
> Consider the issue of disintermediation in electronic channels. a. Do you believe that all channels will disintermediate down to simple direct channels over time? Why or why not? b. Does your opinion change if the question is asked only about B2C c
> The chapter discusses the importance of being “nimble” in all aspects of a firm’s operation – that is, to be in a position to be maximally flexible, adaptable, and speedy in response to change. a. Identify two firms in two different industries that yo
> Consider the concept of value co-creation. a. In your own words, explain the concept of value co-creation. b. What are some specific ways value can be co-created? c. Provide an example of a specific value network you believe results in a high level of v
> Assume that you are a marketing manager for Pantene shampoo and conditioner, two of P&G’s star products, and that several of P&G’s competitors have recently begun to cut prices to retailers and also to offer more aggressive channel allowances in order to
> Select any three of the pricing tactics identified in the chapter. For each tactic: a. Identify a brand (other than the examples in the chapter) that you believe is currently employing that tactic. b. Provide evidence to support the use of that tactic.
> Review Exhibit 11.3 on price-quality positioning, along with the accompanying discussion. a. Consider the low quality/high price quadrant. Identify a brand (other than the examples in the chapter) that you believe currently resides in this quadrant. H
> Pricing against competitors is common. Yet the approach carries some significant problems. a. What are the advantages of competitor-based pricing? b. What are the risks of using competitor-based pricing exclusive of other approaches? c. Identify a few
> Why might penetration pricing potentially negatively impact brand image and product positioning in the long run? Given this risk, why would a marketing manager use penetration pricing? Identify a brand (other than the examples in the chapter) that you
> Consider the five dimensions of service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. a. Identify a recent service encounter you have experienced as a customer (either B2C or B2B) that you would classify as a generally bad exp
> Review the Gap Model of Service Quality (Exhibit 10.6). Consider each of the five gaps where customer expectations might not be met. Select a firm of your choice and for each potential gap list specific actions that the firm could take to improve the l
> The market research director for John Deere has just received a call from the marketing manager in the company’s lawn tractor division. The manager wants to know how the new advertising campaign is being received by current customers. Design a research
> Review Exhibit 10.5 and the accompanying discussion on search, experience, and credence attributes of offerings. a. Why are the types of offerings on the far right side of the continuum – professional services – difficult for customers to evaluate? b. W
> The service-profit chain guides managers toward understanding and facilitating successful linkages in the service delivery system to drive loyalty, revenue growth, and higher profits. a. What functional areas of a firm must a marketing manager effecti
> 1. Marketing managers must be cognizant of the unique characteristics of services: intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability. a. How does each of these characteristics potentially impact the development and execution of marketing pl
> SanDisk is introducing a new line of flash drives to complement its existing products, and you are responsible for creating the package design. What key information and other creative elements would you include on the package?
> You have been asked by Coca-Cola’s product manager to present the arguments for and against extending the Coke brand to a new cola drink. What would be the arguments for and against extending the Coke brand to a new cola drink?
> Johnson & Johnson has been able to establish strong brand equity for its line of baby products. What benefits does J&J have because of its brand equity for these products?
> You are the product manager for Ralph Lauren’s Polo shirts. What specific information are you trying to convey in the brand’s iconic polo pony logo? For example, what does the Polo brand say about quality, features, style relative to the Tommy Hilfiger
> Motorola is introducing a new phone that incorporates Internet surfing capability using new LTE technology, a GPS program, and other new features that will greatly expand the features available on a cell phone. Develop a marketing strategy for the launch
> You are the marketing manager for Coca-Cola products in the United States. Describe the product line for Coke-branded products and briefly describe how each product differs from the other products in the Coke brand product line.
> One of the most difficult characteristics of a product to define is style. You are the marketing manager for Cadillac; define the product style for an Escalade. Compare and contrast that with product style for Chevrolet Tahoe (another large SUV built o
> Put yourself in the role of a marketing manager – from this perspective, do you agree with the concepts of societal marketing and sustainability? Why or why not? How does a focus on sustainability affect the marketing manager’s role and activities? Id
> Choose two comparable phones from Samsung and Microsoft/Nokia and examine each product. How does the product form differ between the two products? How are they the same? Now consider the features of the two products. What features are unique to each
> You are a marketing manager for Starbucks. Describe the following as it relates to the product experience at Starbucks: essential benefit, core product, and enhanced product. Now imagine you are the marketing manager for Aquafresh Extreme toothpaste.
> McDonald’s is interested in your opinion of how it would stack up on a perceptual map against Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, and Chick-fil-A on the attributes of convenience and product quality. Create the map by putting convenience as the vertical axi
> Consider each of the brands below. Review the list of potential sources of differential competitive advantage (differentiation) highlighted in the chapter. For each: (a) indicate which one differentiation source you believe is most important to them cu
> You work for Siemens Power Generations systems and are responsible for the sale of large, expensive ($2 million to $5 million) turbine generators to power utility companies. You have been contacted by the Ever-Sure Utility Corporation in Any Town, USA.
> You are the marketing manager for Lenovo laptop computers. Identify and briefly discuss the differences between the consumer market for laptops and the business market. Then give an example of each difference using college students as the consumer mark
> You are the marketing manager for the Bowflex Revolution Home Gym. You believe the product appeals to both men and women. As you develop the marketing strategy, what differences might you consider in the product based on whether a man or woman is buyin
> Pick a firm that interests you and for which you have some knowledge of its offerings. a. How would this firm benefit from a marketing dashboard approach? b. What elements would you recommend it put onto its dashboard? Why do you recommend the ones y
> Select an organization that employs a highly personalized approach to selling products or services to its customers online. Ideally, this is one that you have used in the past so that you are more familiar with it. a. What are some different ways that
> In the chapter we make a strong case for the relevance of Peter Drucker’s key themes today, even though much of his writing was done decades ago. Do you agree that his message was ahead of its time and is still relevant? Why or why not? Assume you are
> In the chapter you read about several Big Data sources. For each Big Data source listed below, identify an organization that you believe uses (or could use) that data source and then briefly describe how you believe the organization currently uses (or co
> Consider the CRM process cycle of knowledge discovery, market planning, customer interaction, and analysis and refinement. Pick a company of interest to you and identify one of its important brands or product lines (it can be a good or a service). Chart
> Consider each of the brands below. Assuming that a strong CRM system is in place in each brand’s parent firm, what specific actions can marketing managers take in each case to ensure high satisfaction and loyalty among the most profitable customers?
> As a market manager at Lenovo, what key information from outside the company would be important to help in the design of a new laptop for small and medium-sized businesses?
> Historically, the theme park industry in Orlando is heavily impacted by a large number of macro-level external environmental factors. From each of the five major categories of macro-level external factors, identify a specific example of how some element
> Select any industry of interest to you and identify several competing firms. Using Miles and Snow’s Strategy Types, identify the following: (1) a firm that you believe is a prospector; (2) a firm that you believe is an analyzer; (3) a firm that you beli
> Why is it so important for marketing managers, when engaged in marketing planning, to successfully deal with both Marketing (Big M) and marketing (little m) elements? What would be the likely negative outcome if a marketing plan paid a lot of attention
> Consider the concept of the value chain. Identify a firm that you believe does an especially good job of investing in elements in the value chain in order to gain higher profit margins versus competition. Which two or three elements in the value chain
> What is a value proposition? For each of these brands, articulate your perception of their key value proposition:
> The CEO of Timberland has called and asked you to develop a triple bottom line report for the company. What might be included in a TBL report for Timberland?
> Consider the various marketing misconceptions introduced in this chapter. a. Pick any two of the misconceptions and develop a specific example of each from your own experience with firms and brands. b. How will it be beneficial for a new marketing man
> 1. What is the name of the theory that says countries produce and export goods that require resources that are abundant and import goods that require resources in short supply? 2. Factor proportions theory divides a nation’s resources into what two categ
> 1. A nation that is able to produce a good more efficiently than other nations is said to have what? 2. What does a nation have when it is unable to produce a good more efficiently than other nations but it can produce the good more efficiently than it c
> 1. What did the successful implementation of mercantilism require? 2. Mercantilist nations acquired colonies around the world to serve as sources of 3. What name is given to the belief that a nation can increase its wealth only at the expense of other n
> 1. List several benefits of international trade? 2. World merchandise exports are valued at how many times the value of worldwide service exports? 3. What portion of total world merchandise trade is accounted for by two way trade between high income econ
> 1. During what time period did China undergo its most rigorous experience with central planning? 2. What challenges might pose a threat to China’s future economic performance? 3. Over what aspects of Russia’s centrally planned economy did planners exerci
> 1. How can a company incorporate political risk into its business strategies? 2. What is a good source of information to help conduct accurate political risk forecasting? 3. What might result from unfavorable political relations among countries?
> 1. How does political abroad risk affect companies? 2. Companies fear open violence and conflict abroad because it can threaten to do what? 3. What is the name given to the forced transfer of assets from a company to the government with compensation?
> 1. What does the economic transition process involve? 2. What are the key obstacles for countries in transition? 3. Transition replaces dependence on the government with greater emphasis on what?
> 1. An increase in the economic well-being, quality of life, and general welfare of a nation’s people is called what? 2. What are the drawbacks of using national production to measure economic development? 3. The human development index measures what aspe
> 1. The essence of which philosophy is captured by the expression, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”? 2. Possible consequences of corruption include what? 3. What are some criteria a product must meet to be Fair Trade certified? 4. The environmental imp
> You are the CEO of a multinational corporation that operates in more than 100 nations worldwide. Recent changes in the global economy are redrawing many geographical and political borders. The growing interdependence of socially, politically, economicall
> 1. What are some examples of intellectual property rights? 2. What are the different types of industrial property? 3. Laws that hold manufacturers, sellers, individuals, and others responsible for damage, injury, or death caused by defective products ar
> 1. Which legal system decides cases by interpreting the law on the basis of tradition, precedent, and usage? 2. Which legal system is based on a detailed set of written rules and statutes that constitute a legal code? 3. A legal tradition based on religi
> 1. What factors contributed to the decline of centrally planned economies? 2. Which economic system strives toward low unemployment, low poverty, steady economic growth, and an equitable distribution of wealth? 3. Laissez-faire economics calls for less g
> 1. What features characterize the political ideology called pluralism? 2. Communists believe that a violent revolution is needed to seize control over resources, wish to eliminate political opposition, and do what else? 3. What does a representative demo
> 1. People living in different cultures often have different views regarding their what? 2. What is an example of cultural imperialism? 3. The Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck framework does investigate whether people do what? 4. In the Hofstede framework, the term “
> 1. Social structure embodies a culture’s fundamental organization, including what? 2. A person and his or her immediate relatives including parents and siblings, is called what? 3. The departure of highly educated people from one profession, region, or n
> 1. What are examples of values? 2. What type of custom might a conservative group oppose in a culture? 3. The law that restricts the gift giving by U.S. firms at home and abroad is called?
> 1. It helps to think about international business as four elements that occur within a what? 2. How does managing an international firm differ from managing a purely domestic business?
> 1. People opposed to globalization say that it does what to national cultures? 2. Regarding national sovereignty, opponents of globalization say that it does what? 3. With regard to the physical environment, what do globalization supporters argue?
> 1. Every culture has a communication system that it uses to convey what? 2. A special language understood by two parties who speak different native languages is called what? 3. An interesting fact about body language is what?
> The Caribbean nations do not participate in NAFTA and CAFTA-DR. Many people in southern U.S. states complain that NAFTA and CAFTA-DR are unfair to their extended families living on the Caribbean islands. Some experts argue that the term free trade agreem
> 1. Which denomination of Christianity has a “work ethic” named after it? 2. India is home to more than 90 percent of the adherents of which religion? 3. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political head of what religion?
> 1. What global organizations have helped expand globalization? 2. What technological innovations are helping to propel globalization? 3. What nations rank high in terms of globalization?
> 1. Globalization causes the institutions and economies of nations to become what? 2. What benefits might a company obtain from the globalization of markets? 3. Sustainability is development that meets present needs without compromising what?
> 1. How might a subculture differ from the dominant culture? 2. What do we call the belief that one man’s culture is superior to that of others? 3. What do we call detailed knowledge about a culture that enables a person to work happily within it?
> 1. Because labor–management relations are human relations they are rooted in what? 2. German workers have a direct say in the strategies and policies of their employers under a plan called what?
> 1. A manager who goes to work in an unstable country might receive a bonus called what? 2. Some factors that contribute to the compensation of expatriate managers include what?
> 1. What constitutes the most basic level of cultural training? 2. What type of training is said to get one “into the mind” of the local people?
> 1. The process of forecasting a company’s human resource needs and supply is called what? 2. When recruiting employees, from where can employers attract qualified applicants 3. Culture shock is a psychological process that affects people who live where?
> 1. A firm that staffs its operations abroad with home-country nationals uses a staffing policy called? 2. Polycentric staffing is when a company staffs its operations with people from where? 3. Geocentric staffing is typically reserved for whom?
> 1. In general, through what source do companies obtain financial resources? 2. A common way for non-U.S. companies to access U.S. capital markets is to issue what? 3. A firm’s mix of equity, debt, and internally generated funds that it uses to finance i
> You are the U.S. senator deciding whether to vote yes or no on a new legislation. The potential new law places restrictions on the practice of outsourcing work to low-wage countries and is designed to protect U.S. workers’ jobs. These days it is increasi
> 1. Why might a company strive for quality improvement? 2. The international certification that a company gets when it meets the highest quality standards in the industry is called what? 3. Under what conditions might a company reinvest earnings in its op
