Answer

Marketing

WEEK 1 & 2

New Product Idea Evaluation

Various ideas developed in particular environments have the possibility of doing well when imported into new environments. Perfect examples of this kind of innovation are IKEA in the U.S. and Walmart in China. In a great understanding, the ideas that the two companies pulled became a major hit outside of the cultures that they were initially and traditionally employed in. Additionally, through importation of the new ideas of economies and scale that in turn lower prices and enables one-stop shopping, large-retail stores like IKEA are currently achieving success in China and United States. Moreover, market segmentation is the act of dividing a broad buyer into sub-groups of clients based on various types of shared features and normally consist of potential and existing clients. One major company that applied this concept is known as Victoria’s Secret which deals with marketing and designing women’s beauty products and lingerie. They gave attention on women and “women” are the main market segment in their marketing technique. Additionally, Victoria’s Secret segment their target audience with product variation as pink for teenaged girls.

Article Related to the Topic

An article related to this topic include “Generating Breakthrough New Product Ideas: Feeding the Innovation Funnel” which is written by Cooper and Edgett (2009). In relation to the lecture, this article describes and explicates how to feed a company’s innovation funnel with a solid breakthrough steam of new product ideas. Through several examples of the approaches, methods and techniques being applied by leading firms such as IKEA and Walmart.

WEEK 3

Business Model

This concept defines the basis of how an organization delivers, creates, and captures value, in social, economic, cultural context. Additionally, the process of business model modification and construction is also known as business model innovations and forms the parts of business strategy. One major company that applied this company is known as Alibaba which is considered the largest retail firm in the globe. The application of business model was successful for Alibaba since its competitors like Amazon buy products and sell to their clients by using their own infrastructure. On the other hand, Alibaba’s main attention was to link buyers and sellers.

Article Related to the Topic

As written by Osawa (2014), the article entitled “How to Understand Alibaba’s Business Model” can be clearly related to the lecture’s topic. In an explanation, the article explains the business model used by Alibaba including how the company delivers, creates, and captures value; hence creating a connection with the week’s topic.

WEEK 4

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is an enduring, forward-looking tactic and a general game plan of any business with the important aim of achieving a maintainable competitive benefit by understanding the desires and want of clients. For instance, Starbucks applies a large variety of channels to promote their products from TV spots to social media and ads. It is their mix of advertising media that makes their product identifiable. Furthermore, it is the consistent information that comes across regularly that makes them be prominent. With the recognition, Starbuck has managed to be successful since it has targeted many audiences; hence, leading increase in sales and growth of the company.

Article Related to the Topic

As written by Taecharungroj (2017), the article (Starbucks’ Marketing Communications Strategy on Twitter) relates to the lecture since it discusses the marketing strategy applied by Starbucks. In a great understanding, the aim of the research was to categorize the types of content applied by one of the most admired current brands in the globe, Starbucks, and assess its efficiency on Twitter.

WEEK 5 & 6

Managing Growth and Measuring Marketing Strategy Effectiveness

Managing growth includes gaining and defending market position, managing new products, and managing product lines or brand extensions. Growth is important to a business’ subsistence hence every company strives to manage their growth. One of the major companies that has implemented the concept of managing its growth is known as Apple Inc. Apple Inc company has managed its growth through the release of new and unique products to its target audience. Almost 90% of Americans uses Apple products hence leading to its success within the industry. Additionally, Apple company conducts a complete growth diagnosis which includes an analysis of the sales, receivables, overheads, inventory as well assets. It is with this argument that the company has stood out and succeeds in its business.

Moreover, marketing strategy helps in knowing the desires and want of clients, hence measuring its effectiveness helps in analyzing and knowing the impact of the strategy as well as the fate of the company. Measuring of the effectiveness can be conducted through setting goals within the company in various aspects. One of the companies that has applied this concept include the Build a Bear Workshop that deals with staffed animals and teddy bears. As compared to other conventional stuffed animal producers, the Build a Bear Workshop allows clients to select their bear’s body, clothing, sound, stuffing, and heart. For instance, a client can pick a higher-priced electronic heart with their wish, or they can invest in a lower-priced paper heart. After clients make selections, they then analyze the manufacture process within the workshop. In this manner, clients produce their personal custom-designed figure.

Article Related to the Topic

In relation to the topic, Zabeen and Chowdhury (2017) discusses the management of growth conducted by the Build a Bear Workshop. Basically, the aim of the paper is to study how Build-A-Bear Workshop applied mass customization to generate a competitive edge within the market. The article takes a qualitative method in reviewing the case of Build-A-Bear Workshop. It demonstrates how the firm has been proficiently managing the process of customization through implementing the manufacturing postponement approach.

WEEK 7 & 8

Revenue Model

A revenue model is a framework for making monetary income. Additionally, it identifies and categorizes which revenue source to follow, what value to propose or offer, how to charge the value, and the person that recompences for the value. It is a vital factor of a company’s business model. Revenue model has different concepts or aspects including subscription and membership, par-per-use, premium, and licensing among others. One of the major concepts used is subscription and membership which is greatly used by Netflix. This concept has led to the success of the company since payment of the services is guaranteed. Additionally, since e-banking and use of master cards has gained popularity in the world, payment for the services have been easy for clients hence leading to increase in the number of people and demands.

Article Related to the Topic

Daidj and Egert (2018) article clearly relates to this week’s topic since it highlights on the revenue model used by Netflix. Additionally, the major aim of the research paper is to explicate the growth in business models of one main player (Netflix) within the French online streaming video services market. It also shows the concept adopted by Netflix to become successful in their business.

References

Cooper, R. G., & Edgett, S. J. (2009). Generating breakthrough new product ideas: Feeding the innovation funnel. Product Development Institute.

Daidj, N., & Egert, C. (2018). Towards new coopetition-based business models? The case of Netflix on the French market. Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

Osawa, J. (2014). How to understand Alibaba’s business model. MarketWatch. com. http://www. marketwatch. com/story/how-to-understand-alibabas-business-model-2014-03-15-94855847, data dostępu, 18, 2015.

Taecharungroj, V. (2017). Starbucks’ marketing communications strategy on Twitter. Journal of Marketing Communications, 23(6), 552-571.

Zabeen, M., & Chowdhury, S. H. (2017). Mass Customization through Manufacturing Postponement Strategy: The Case of Build-A-Bear Workshop. American Journal of Business, Economics and Management, 5(4), 25.

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