Marketing story analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing story analysis - Essay Example The story under analysis is â€Å"When marketers capture the moment† by David Benady. It was posted in the Guardian on 13th November 203. This piece explains the impact of real time marketing. The author argues that consumers today are more demanding from advertisers. They require witty but relevant messages, which must be delivered in real time. Companies like BMW, biscuit maker, Oreo and Betfair have used this strategy to capture new markets. These businesses have revolutionised consumer reach through social media. Nonetheless, one must invest considerable resources to achieve any clout. Literature review Consumer behaviour The consumer decision model is quite useful in explaining consumer behaviour. Blackwell (2001) explains that consumers often engage in a seven-step decision process. First, they recognize their needs, search for information, evaluate alternatives, buy, reflect upon their purchase and divest. Sometimes stimuli could alter this process. The stimuli may be internal or external. International influences include the knowledge, resources, personality or attitudes of the buyer. External influences involve social class, family, culture or certain situations. In this regard, consumers are active thinkers and planners. Erasmus (2001) disagrees with the above writers by stating that consumer behaviour is not always rational. Sometimes individuals may behave in a non conscious manner. Consumer behaviour is sometimes opportunistic and even disorderly. Using rational approaches may discount the relevance of emotions and other dynamics. 7 Ps The 7Ps marketing mix is a conceptual framework in which key decision makers configure their offerings in order to mach customer needs (Andersson, 1992). Palmer (2004) explains that the tools are useful in short term tactics as well as long term strategies (Chaffey et. al., 2000). Moller (2006) likens the elements of the marketing mix to ingredients of a cake. Their proportions can be changed in order to prepare the perfect cake (Patterson and Ward, 2000). The marketing manager must attempt to trade off benefits of one concept with gains from the other (Peattie, 1997). A company’s marketing philosophy comes from its allocation of resources within the 7Ps (Egan, 2001). This approach separates marketing from the rest of the organisation and allows for delegation of marketing duties to specialities (Ingram et. al., 2007). Some authors disagree with the above sentiments by explaining that not all parts of the 7Ps need to be given equal attention; certain aspects are more cri tical than others (Stratten, 2010). Furthermore, most companies regard product as a distinct component (Jobber, 2010). However, some companies sell a series of products, each of which is connected to the other in the mind of the consumer (Pride and Ferrell, 2010). When implementing the marketing mix, one may consider marketing as culture, as a strategy, or as a tactic (Rafiq and Ahmed, 1995). Communications mix The 4Cs are a fundamental framework used to explain how companies select marketing communications. Scholars posit that this could be done on the basis of control, costs, credibility and communications (Gilliland and Johnston, 1997). If an organization feels that it needs to control message delivery, then it may opt for personal communication mixes (Balmer and Gray, 2003). The financial resources that a company has may affect its ability to exert leverage over the third party that is transmitting the message (Mohr and Nevin, 1990). Credibility in communications is often ascert ained through a third party that seems objective in order to distract consumers away from the actual intention of selling (Houston and Gassenheimer, 1987; Houston and Gassenheimer, 1987). Finally, the geographic dispersion of the target audience will determine how effectively the message reaches its audience (Stern and El-Ansary, 1995). Analysis In the case under analysis, the author feels that consumers in social media have raised their expectations concerning consumer brands