Learning reflection overview

Answer

1. Assessment 3 – Critical Reflection

   Introduction

   Marketing is a significant activity in any organization that wants to remain relevant and profitable. It involves a variety of activities that include promotions, advertisements, and selling products and services of an organization (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). There are certain important concepts of marketing that should be put into consideration in order for an organization to positively feel the impact of marketing department. Such concepts include production, product, marketing, selling, and societal marketing concepts. In order to assess my understanding of the course, I have chosen two readings from which I have defined three marketing themes that have been discussed by the authors. Additionally, I have also identified marketing topic in each of the case studies provided. Lastly, I have provided my perception about the transformation of marketing and how the future marketing shall be affected.

   First Reading

   Ahmetoglu, G., Furnham, A., & Fagan, P. (2014). Pricing practices: A critical review of    their effects on consumer perceptions and behaviour. Journal of Retailing and         Consumer Services, 21(5), 696-707.

   Ahmetoglu et al. (2014) have discussed important marketing themes which I have also learned in the course. The first one is product differentiation. According to the authors, product differentiation the product or service that on organization offers to the target audience which is unique to the competitors. It is how an organization distinguishes what they sell from what the competitors sell. The strategy increases sales, organizational growth, and brand loyalty. The main goal of product differentiation is to create a competitive advantage or a product that is superior to the ones that are available in the market. In its simple meaning, it is about standing above the competition. The second marketing theme that has been identified by  Ahmetoglu et al. (2014) is consumer perception. Customer perception refers to customers' awareness, impressions, and opinions about a business, products, and brand. Customer perception is shaped by multiple variables that include direct and indirect interactions with your offerings. One of the most important factors that determine consumer perception is company’s social responsibility. Customers are aware that companies participating in social matters such as protection of the environment and helping the needy are important to the society hence attract a substantial number of customers. Additionally, interaction with customers such good customer service is an important factor that brings about good relationship between customers and the employee or the organization as a whole which in turn attracts more customers. Lastly, there is pricing strategy. This is the most important marketing theme that Ahmetoglu et al. (2014) have mentioned. Notably, pricing is an important factor of marketing. It is determined by a variety of factors that include competitive pricing, buying ability, and projected profits. An organization should be very strategic when setting their prices since high prices scare away customer who then look for alternatives, whereas too low prices cause doubt on the quality of products.

   Second Reading

   Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K., & Inman, J. J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to        omni-channel retailing: introduction to the special issue on multi-channel   retailing. Journal of retailing, 91(2), 174-181.

   Verhoef, Kannan, and Inman (2015) have also discussed important marketing themes that most organization put into practice. The first one is pricing strategy. According to the author, pricing will continue to influence the decision of the customers. They notice that in the current set up, it has minimal influence since customers look at the value and quality of an item before purchasing hence too low prices are associated with inferior or low-quality products. Another marketing theme that has been mentioned in this case, and which very important to me is the channels of marketing. It is important to note that marketing has been transforming from traditional methods of marketing to digital ones that currently use technology. The authors highlight the importance and power of social media as the current tool that most organizations are using since it targets the youths who are also the major consumer of most products due to their large number.  Other marketing channels such as Radio and TV adverts, have also been mentioned as important for marketing organizations. Channels of marketing are among the most important issues that I have learned in this course. Others include billboards and flyers. Lastly, Verhoef, Kannan, Inman have also discussed consumer behavior across the channels. According to the authors, consumers tend to like digital marketing since it is not only cheap but also fast. Social media as a marketing channel is very important for customers since they can easily chat or communicate with the salespeople, unlike TV where they only see the adverts hence should be considered by all organizations.

   Mizzie the Kangaroo Case

   Mizzie the Kangaroo Case has presented significant marketing topics that are important for any company that wants to remain competitive and relevant in the market. The first topic is target customer. This is a group of individuals or consumers at which a company aims to sells its products or services. This group is likely to buy the products of the company. In order to locate and identify the target customer as presented in the case, an organization must understand the profile of this particular group, as well as their needs and purchasing power. For example, it is hard to make profit when selling pork among Muslims. Although some of theme consume pork majority do not. 

   The second important marketing theme that has been revealed by Mizzie the Kangaroo Case is pricing strategy. Pricing is the method by which organizations set the prices of their products and services. According to Zhou et al. (2019) pricing is one of the most important way of attracting customers. There are several issues to consider when pricing. One factor is competitor action. When pricing, one must consider what the competitors are charging and how they will react when the organization increases or reduces the price of particular product. Another issue to consider is the buying ability of the customers. It is important to note that one company can charge different prices of one item simply because the buying ability of customers is different. Another factor to consider is trade margin and input cost. Under all circumstances, organization price their product in a manner that they must realize profits. As stated in Mizzie Kangaroo Case, organizations should be very careful so that their prices are not too low nor too high. Customers tend to doubt the quality of a product or service if it is priced too low. On the other hand, they are scared by high prices and always look for options.

   The last marketing topic that has been presented in the case is product value. Product value is the benefit that a customer gets by using a product to satisfy his/her needs minus associated costs. Complexity is the effort associated with delivering such a product to the customer (Rundh, 2016). Personally, this is the most important marketing topic that has been revealed in the case study. Based on my experience, most of top organizations focus on value before any other thing. For example, Apple Inc. produces some of the most expensive phone and laptops, and still rank the best in the technology industry. While there are several organizations such as Dell and other phone manufacturing companies that price there products fairly, Apple still beats them in terms of profits. It, therefore, means that value and quality become a priority of most customers. Customers consider quality first then prices later. As presented by Mizzie the Kangaroo Case, their products are of high quality and have several awards based on reviews from customers in terms of quality.  This scenario urges marketers that in order for a product to attract a considerable customer base, they should first consider the quality of their products and later consider other factors such as price and customer target.

   Evolution

   Marketing as a function has undergone tremendous transformation. With the current technological revolution, organizations have been adopting different marketing strategies that go along with technology. It is important to note that marketing has been existing since the ancient times. During those times, several sellers were persuading buyers using their communication skills to develop interest in a product, and if possible, purchase such products. In other countries such Rome, gladiators were paid to wear products so that a big audience could have a glance of the products and possibly buy the items. However, as times go by, and with the technological revolution, the strategies have been changing (Vassileva, 2017). For example, a decade ago, individuals went to one website to look for an information about a particular product in order to make a decision. However, today, information about products are everywhere with customer reviews that guide individuals to make proper decision about a product.

   Irrespective of marketing styles and strategy, I hold the perception that the transformation of marketing over time has been spurred by technological revolution. Before the technological growth that is currently observed, and particularly introduction of internet and its spread globally, marketing was traditional where individuals used to walk from one place to another either with the actual product or its sample to persuade potential customers. Door to door, which is still a way of marketing, was followed by signs and posts and billboard that have been used to display items, their uses, and their benefits. A study conducted by Minkoff and Mann (2020) reveals that these billboards do not attract a majority of audience since only a few people can see them, and particularly people who stay around such sign posts. Later the use of TVs and radio became one of the most fundamental ways of marketing that is still being used to date. According to Qazi et al. (2017), a busy TV station can display more than 5000 adverts in a day. Additionally, TV or Radio ads reach several people across the globe, hence possibility of an item selling even in overseas markets.

   Today, businesses have resorted to the use of internet as a one of the major forms of advertisements. Organizations have their websites and social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where they can easily communicate with customers while advertising their products. Qazi et al. (2017) reveal that majority of individuals have internet, particularly the target groups who are the youths. Most of these youths subscribe to social media networks where they can easily and cheaply inquire about a product, make orders, and delivery is done by the organization.

   Based on the above explanation, I believe that one of the major influencers of marketing that has also contribute to its evolution is technology. With technological development, people find or come up with different ideas through which they can reach customers and convince them to make purchases and arrange for product deliveries (Gillpatrick, 2019). It is also important to note that each and every time there is an invention, hence it is more likely that there will be new technologies that will emerge and influence marketing and its methods in future. Although it is accurate to acknowledge the fact that the traditional forms of marketing have not been completely eradicated as a result of technological marketing, there use have been reduced to complement technological marketing and reach individuals who are not pro-technology (Vassileva, 2017).  It is in this context that for any organization that wants to remain relevant and competitive now and in future, it is important for them to heavily invest in technology since it is the cornerstone of the current and future marketing.

   Conclusion

   Marketing has certain concepts that are important in order for it to provide positive impact to an organization. Based on the reading, some of the imperative concepts or themes include pricing strategy, product differentiation, target customer, marketing channels, and behaviors of consumers across marketing channels. One of the most important things that I have learned is that social media marketing is growing at a faster rate hence should be considered by all organizations in their marketing operations. My perception about the transformation or evolution of marketing is that it is determined by technological revolution. As technology changes, certain ways of marketing emerge; therefore, even future means and methods of marketing will be determined by technology.

    

    

    

Answer

Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” Movie Analysis

            While delivering a speech, persuasion is essential in convincing the audience to listen to their ideas in their address. In An Inconvenient Truth, former US Vice President Al – Gore speaks on global warming as an encroaching crisis affecting its atmosphere and the environment as his central message. Al- Gore effectively persuades the audience into joining his cause against global warming by using persuasive communication strategies, a solid introduction, rhetoric strategies, oral citations, proper speech delivery, and presentation aids to evoke the audience in supporting his cause.

            Al- Gore’s successfully incorporates a solid speech introduction to attract the audience’s attention. He begins the introduction with a joke alluding to him being the “former future president of the United States.” The use of such a satirical comment evokes the audience wondering who would be bold enough to stand on stage after losing a race, such as the presidential election. This captures the audience to be more involving in his speech and sit for a better listening into the matters at hand. Later on, he introduces his speech topic by focusing on his central message, outlining his whole address's main points. Finally, it eases the audience by showing a mangrove parchment indicated to involve the audience in relating to a preserved environment before expounding on his speech. The audience is engaged after this as he gets into his central message and further engaging in his speech.

Al-Gore's excellently persuades the audience by using ethos as a rhetorical strategy throughout the speech.  Ethos employs a sense of trustworthiness and competence that enables the audience to believe in the speaker's credibility. He shows ethos by acknowledging his commitment to the earth as an environmental activist. Al- Gore's speech is based on expansive research that helps the audience trust his competence in speaking on the issue. Al- Gore's possesses charisma and positive energy that attracts the audience to remain rooted in listening to his appeal towards addressing global warming. As characteristics of applying ethos in a speech, the combination of dynamism and competence draws the crowd to become trustworthy with his presentation and remains attentive throughout the address.

Al- Gore’s effectively employs persuasive communication strategies that include positive motivation, negative motivation, cognitive dissonance, non-verbal communication, and appeals to self-esteem in his speech. Positive and negative motivations are essential in persuading the audience to venture into addressing global warming to achieve positive outcomes in the environment. Consequently, Al-Gore uses negative motivation to convince the audience that failure to look into measures of curbing global warming and climate change, the earth might end up like the few places he depicts in his comparison photographs and videos. Cognitive dissonance helps change one's perspective to something by discomforting norms and beliefs to persuade an audience towards change. At the start of the documentary, Al-Gore introduces a short video of a beautiful mangrove parchment that would stay in the back of the audience's mind on what should be safeguarded.  To destabilize the audience, he shows pictorials of areas devastated by global warming, evoking fear and panic for the world that has become dormant in addressing this issue. Intertwined, with his central idea, Al- Gore persuades the audience in a bleak and disheartened tone to fight for preserving the environment.

            In addition, Al-Gore’s effectually uses non-verbal communication in his body language is established through a dejected worrying tone for identifying with the audience on the prevailing situation. Al- Gore’s body movement showed confidence in his walk and constant interactiveness with the audience. Al – Gore also has a confiden, genuine smile appearing as a well- groomed and dressed man in delivering his speech. In the documentary, Al-Gore's clear expression of displeasure with people who negated around global warming instead of addressing is clear.  Al-Gore aimed to show concern for the issue. Al –Gore's self-esteem pushes his central message across the audience by focusing on positivity and the audience's contributions to curb global warming. His articulation of each point across helps in building confidence with the audience. His confidence in his speech persuades the audience to be on board the matter.

            Oral citations are well used in An Inconvenient Truth to capture the audience's attention. Al- Gore uses oral citations effectively to show reliability, credibility, and validity of information conveyed in his speech address. Denoting empirical evidence from videos, charts, and maps allude the audience into believing that Al- Gore critically researched the issue and came up with a profound speech to convince the audience to join his cause to remove fallacies on wrong information presented in his speech. Virtually, his research pays off as he captures the audience in his factual interactions on the matter.

Al – Gore excellently uses presentation aids like projected images, comparison photographs, short videos, satirical cartoons, and info graphs like maps and charts to help persuade his audience to come to his plea in preserving the environment by combating global warming. Projected images show areas adversely affected by global warming, including flooded areas. The short videos as well show people injured due to flooding. The graphs and maps show empirical evidence of the effects of global warming in areas. A comparison of videos and pictures shows how some places were before global warming and its impact after years. All these visual aids serve as areas involving the audience's concern and worry over the deteriorating ecosystem around us. Al-Gore was not shy off, including videos of politicians passing over the global warming issue through satirical cartoons while also poking at renowned scientists worldwide who showed the existence of climate change. As much as Al-Gore is a politician, he intended for the audience to understand that his concern was for the environment and endeavors towards combating global warming rather than politically-driven shows with aspirations of a political seat.

Lastly, Al- Gore successfully uses ethos, pathos, and logos strategies to capture the audience's attention in his speech. Ethos employs a sense of trustworthiness and competence that enables the audience to believe in the speaker's credibility. He shows ethos by acknowledging his commitment to the earth as an environmental activist. The documentary shows the incorporation of logos through his presentation of scientific facts that support his claims to global warming as an issue of concern. Lastly, his attributes to incorporate his son's demise into comparing it to his commitment to the environment show pathos as a rhetoric strategy.  Successful integration of photographs and videos of areas affected by global warming helped provoke the audience to support his cause towards alleviating global warming.

In conclusion, Al – Gore effectively incorporates persuasive communication strategies, a solid introduction, rhetoric strategies, oral citations, proper speech delivery, and presentation aids to evoke the audience in supporting his fight against global warming.  Using all these techniques successfully convinces the audience to have a concern about the deteriorating ecosystem. Having watched the documentary, I am persuaded to carry on the legacy of conserving our environment as an environmental ambassador.         

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