1. Explain why marketing is the business function that identifies customer needs
2. Use marketing to establish your brand
3. Apply the four elements of a marketing plan
4. Create a marketing plan for your business

Explain why marketing is the business function that identifies customer needs.
• Marketing – is satisfying the customer at a profit.
• Nike creates advertisements and promotions designed to convince customers that Nike sneakers will inspire them to Just Do It .

• Your current and future customers are your top priority
• Marketing is the communication tool
• Meet your customer’s needs and you will gain their loyalty
• Loyal customers will most likely stay with you when competitors come in.

To “think marketing,” figure out what benefit the customers in your market will need to get from your product or service.
What are you really selling?
Charles Revlon, the founder of Revlon cosmetics, famously said, “In the factory we make cosmetics, in the drugstore we sell hope.”

• To market a product or service successfully, ask yourself:
– Who are my customers?
– What do they need my product or service to do for them?
• The answer to those questions will help you form your marketing vision.
• Customers seek out Nike because they have been convinced by Nike’s marketing that the sneakers will inspire them to get up early in the morning and go for a run.

• Do all cars do the same thing?
– Yes…they get you from point A to point B
• So why buy a specific car?
– Is safety a priority? Buy a Volvo.
– Do you want luxury? Buy a Lexus.
– Is gas mileage important? Buy a Toyota or a Honda.
• Marketing establishes the brand in the customer’s mind.

• A brand is the name that distinguishes a business from its competition.
• The brand instantly communicates the business’s competitive advantage to the consumer. Example, when you hear:
• Volvo
– You think safety
• Lexus
– You think luxury
• Toyota
– You think good gas mileage

• Focus on one benefit you want to make sure customers associate with your business.
• The most successful businesses focus their marketing so that they come to own a category in the customer’s mind.
– Volvo owns “safety”
– Federal Express owns “guaranteed overnight”
• Can you think of any??

• Edsel (20 different models)
– FORD threw in every gadget they could think of to appeal to every comsumer.
– There was no clear outstanding benefit to buying the car.
• When it became public it bombed!
• Ford lost $350 million bucks
• After 2 years FORD pulled the car from production

• Introduced Mustang 1960s
– Target market 20 to 30 years old.
– Everything made on the car was designed to appeal to young drivers.
– Only one model was made
• Marketing described the Mustang as “for the young at heart.”

1. Choose a business name that is easy to remember, describes your business, and establishes “mind share.”
– Mind Share – is the degree to which your business comes to mind when a consumer needs something.

2. Create a logo that symbolizes your business to the customer.
– Logo is short for “logotype”
• Nike swish
• McDonald’s Golden Arch
• Can you think of any?

3. Develop a good reputation
– Make the best quality product or service
– Treat your customers like gold
– People must feel good when they think of your brand

4. Create a brand personality
– Is your brand’s “personality” youthful and casual, like the Gap’s?
– Safe and Serious, like Volvo?
• Customers will respond to brand personality and develop a relationship with it.
– Personality will reinforce your name and logo

5. Communicate your brand personality to your target market
– What type of advertising will best reach your target market?
– Where should you put flyers?
– What newspapers or magazines does your target market read?