I. Marketing Information & Research (Weeks 4-5)
• Big Data: The vast amounts of information being collected today; companies use
marketing information ecosystems to manage it.
• Sources of Marketing Information:
o Internal Data: Routinely collected and stored by the company (e.g., Sales,
Logistics, Customer Service, Finance, Inventory Management).
▪ Pros/Cons: Inexpensive but may require heavy tech investment to analyze
and might not answer specific questions.
o Competitive Marketing Intelligence: Systematic monitoring of publicly available
information (e.g., social media conversations, website traffic, purchasing
competitor products).
o Market Research: Planned research for a specific need. Process: Define the
problem (Exploratory, Descriptive, or Causal) → Develop plan → Gather
data → Analyze → Report.
• Primary Data Collection Methods:
o Surveys: Flexible and inexpensive for large amounts of data; however, accuracy
can suffer if questions are poorly crafted (e.g., Doublebarreled or Leading questions).
o Focus Groups: Small groups with a facilitator.
▪ Pros: Reveals non-verbal cues and deep feelings.
▪ Cons: Small sample size; pressure to conform (e.g., The Asch Experiment).
o Experimentation: Testing things like price changes or new products on a limited
scale.
o Observation: Can be in-lab or ethnographic (in customer's environment); helps
identify "walk-arounds" and unexpected product uses.
• Sampling Methods:
o Probability: Simple Random, Stratified Random, Cluster (area).
o Non-probability: Convenience, Judgment, Quota.
II. Segmentation, Targeting, & Positioning (Week 5)
• Segmentation: Dividing a market into submarkets with common needs.
o Geographic: Regions, population density (urban/rural), climate.
o Demographic: Age/life stage, gender, income level.
o Psychographic: Lifestyle, hobbies, personality traits, interests.
o Behavioral: Occasions, benefits sought, user status (non-user vs. regular), loyalty
status, usage rate (light/heavy).
• Requirements for Effective Segmentation: Must be Measurable, Accessible, Substantial,
Differentiable, Actionable, and Stable.
• Targeting Strategies:
o Undifferentiated: Mass marketing.
o Differentiated: Segmented marketing.
o Concentrated: Niche marketing.
o Micromarketing: Local or individual marketing.
• Positioning & Differentiation:
Positioning: Influencing how customers perceive the product relative to
attributes.
o Differentiation: The unique way a product provides value vs. competitors.
III. Product & Branding Decisions (Week 6)
• Three Levels of Product:
1. Core Customer Value: The basic need/want being met.
2. Actual Product: Features, design, quality, packaging, brand.
3. Augmented Product: Delivery, financing, support, warranty, after-sale service.
• Attributes & Packaging:
o Quality: Includes Performance (level) and Conformance (variability).
o Packaging: Purposes include protection, promotion, signaling quality, and
providing info.
• Branding:
o Brand: Created in the mind; a set of associations (feelings, memories, story).
o Brand Equity: Impact of the brand name on consumer response; builds through
past experiences and promotions.
• Services Marketing: Different because services are Intangible, Inseparable from
provider, Variable, and Perishable.
• Growth Strategies:
o Width: Adding more product lines (portfolio mix).
o Length (Line Stretching): Adding products to the ends of current lines.
o Depth (Line Filling): Filling "holes" within current product lines.
IV. Line Extension Profitability & PLC (Week 7)
• Profitability Formula: Unit Contribution = Sale Price - Variable Cost.
• Cannibalization: When sales for a new extension (e.g., Lemon Oreo) come from current
customers of the original product rather than new customers.
• Product Life Cycle (PLC) Stages:
o Development: No sales, negative profits.
o Introduction: Slow sales growth, high promotional spending, low/negative profit.
o Growth: Rapid sales increase, new competitors enter, profits rise as costs spread
over more units.
o Maturity: Slowing growth, many competitors, profits begin to drop.
o Decline: Sales and profits fall.
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