Marketing Environment and Competitive Advantage PDF

Marketing environment and competitive advantage Customer Relations and Marketing Emmi Maijanen, LAB University of Applied Sciences Marketing environment Internal environment = The Company Company groups and departments, eg. Top management: setting the goals & policies Financing:...

Marketing environment and competitive advantage Customer Relations and Marketing Emmi Maijanen, LAB University of Applied Sciences Marketing environment Internal environment = The Company Company groups and departments, eg. Top management: setting the goals & policies Financing: finding and using funds to carry out the marketing plan R&D: designing attractive products based on customer knowledge Purchasing, accounting… → All have to be in synch to provide superior customer value and satisfaction Microenvironment Consists actors close to the company that affects its ability to serve its customers Suppliers Marketing Intermediaries Customers Competitors Publics Suppliers Provide resources needed by the company to produce it’s goods or services. Supply availability and costs are important Can we make enough products? Pricing? Suppliers or partners? Marketing Intermediaries Help company to promote, sell and distribute its goods to final buyers. Resellers = finding customers, controlling distribution channels, making sales Physical distribution firms = taking care of logistics Marketing services agencies = marketing research, advertising, media firms Financial intermediaries = banks, credit companies, insurance companies Customers Who is the customer? What is the market type? B2C? B2B? Buying behavior, decision making… Competitors Other companies with same market offerings. A company must provide greater customer value and satisfaction than its competitors do! Competitor analysis and benchmarking. Publics Various publics: financial, media, government, citizen-action, local, general, internal… “Group that has interest in or impact on an organization's ability to achieve its objectives.“ Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Model Macroenvironment Consists of larger societal forces that affect microenvironment Political forces Economic forces Demographic forces Cultural forces Technological forces Natural forces PEST(EL) (Political, Economical, Societal, Technological, Environmental, Legal) Demographic environment Characteristics of human population Size, density, location etc. Be aware of the most important demographic trends Changes in age structure and different generations Changes in family: marriage, women working… Changes in educational levels and professions Increasing diversity Economic environment Factors that affect consumers buying power and spending patterns Major economic trends in Europe: Changes in income and income distribution → changes in spending patterns Natural environment Major trends: Shortages of raw materials Increased pollution Increased government intervention Environmentally sustainable strategies Technological environment Changes rapidly Creates new markets and opportunities Can affect business in many ways New products New production technologies New distribution channels Political environment Laws: legislation regulating business is increasing Government agencies Pressure groups that influence organizations and individuals Increased emphasis on ethics and socially responsible actions Social media pressure? Public image is important Cause-related marketing Cultural environment Values: core and secondary values →Core values don’t change easily People’s view’s of Themselves Others Organizations Society → Some are universal, some national, some sub-cultural… Strategic Planning Deciding organization’s Direction & goals: What we want to do? Capabilities: How we do it? Continuous process Marketing environment changing all the time. Remember to relate plans to practice → What are the real actions based on strategy? Vision Statement of what the company wants to be A dream / idealistic view of the world Not necessarily realistic Source of inspiration Long-term, futuristic For example, a charity working with the poor might have a vision statement which reads "A World without Poverty." Mission Defines what is the purpose of the company Why it exists? What it does to achieve it’s vision? For example, the charity might have a mission statement as "providing jobs for the homeless and unemployed". Values Shared beliefs of owners Help to prioritize and make decisions Drive an organizational culture Should be real guidelines! Often are not…. Make meaning and write ”a mantra”. Guy Kawasaki (Former chief technology and marketing evangelist of Apple) lectures in Stanford University about start ups’ strategic planning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lQs6IpJQ WXc http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jT7xlFTinI w  Competitive advantage = How a company is better than it’s competitors? Examples of most common value disciplines: Cost leadership Offer products at lowest cost on the market Differentiation Variety of products competitors don’t have or unable to offer Innovation Completely new or notably better products Operational Effectiveness Performing internal operations better than others Where competitive advantage is? Minimum What What customer competitor wants s have What our company have Focus Here! Sustainable competitive advantage Strategy that is not easy to copy! e.g. cost leadership is simple and easy to beat (in theory at least) Can be maintained for a long period of time Having employees doing long hours underpaid leads to internal effectiveness, but cannot be maintained for long Customer loyalty and relationships with customers! Holistic view & making meaning Swot-analysis Strenghts Weaknesses What we know? What we don’t know? Where are we good at? What is difficult or impossible to us? Internal Opportunities Threats What world can offer us? What we must be aware? What we can do? What we must avoid? External What can be bad for us?