About

Hello, I am Will Buckingham.  I am a third year business administration major at CSU Monterey

Bay.  Born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California, I chose this college for it's similar

geography and close-knit campus community.  In addition to being a full time student, I am a

resident advisor and student assistant.  Both jobs have offered me incredibly valuable experience

with customer service, confrontation, and communication.  These jobs are only two of the

opportunities I have had at CSUMB to apply what I am learning in the classroom to real

situations.  As a management concentration, these jobs have offered me experience incredibly

related to my concentration.  I have gained knowledge and abilities in customer service, human

development, and motivation of others.  

Concentrating on management, I feel the need to understand the many different responsibilities

and needs of all positions and departments within a business.  By taking Principles of Marketing

I will be better able to assess how employees, materials, and processes affect the customer-

perceived value of products and services offered by my future employment opportunities.  This

Portfolio represents my understanding of essential marketing concepts.  This documentation is

only the beginning of the many ways which I will present and apply these marketing concepts,

but it is a great place to start.  I hope my experiences and learning present you with new

information and/or new interests you want to further explore.  

Creating and Capturing Customer Value

The entire purpose of marketing is to effectively create customer value so that the company may

obtain long-term customer relationships which reciprocate that value back to the company

(Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). No matter what the product or service, creating customer value

is the key to any firm’s long-term success.

Value is created by meeting customer needs and wants through market offerings that lead to

beneficial customer relationships, satisfying experiences, and future purchases. It is important

not to focus solely on the product or service itself, but also on the experiences and benefits

perceived by the customer. Failing to address the experiences and benefits of a product results in

“marketing myopia,” which causes failure to meet changing market demands (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2014). When developing Swipe-A-Load, we acknowledged the fact that commercial

laundry services and the corresponding user interfaces have mostly been unchanged for a long

time. Some companies, including Wash, have added payment systems that accept card-based

payment, but this is the only upgrade this market has had. We identified that customers need

more availability and security, while facilities need more machine productivity. We found that

upgrading Wash’s current market offering to include these features met the needs of many multi-

family laundry users. Additionally, Wash’s customers value not only the usability of Wash’s

services, but also the customer oriented experience received when utilizing Wash’s 24 hour call

center and repair technicians. This is why we decided that Swipe-A-Load would come with

Wash’s great service, as well as improve it by including a complete warranty option.

When companies create customer-perceived value, customers are more likely to purchase again

and possibly make larger purchases (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). This is because the customer

is reassured by his or her satisfied needs, quality experience, beneficial customer-business

Satisfy Benefit Lifetime Value

relationship, and received value compared to costs obtained during original or past purchasing

experiences. When a customer continues to return because of continually receiving value greater

than costs, the firm receives customer lifetime value via loyalty and retention. Loyal customers

and long-term customer relationships result in easier attraction to new market offerings,

increased positive word of mouth, and greater customer equity. Customer equity and satisfaction

make marketers jobs easier by helping gain sales as consequences of performance rather than

implicit advertising. This helps the entire firm by increasing sales, decreasing marketing costs,

and improving the public’s perception of the company.

References Kotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Competitor Analysis

(Kotler and Armstrong, 2014)

Successful marketing strategies must be competitive marketing strategies; these are strategies

which position the company and its offerings against competitors, as well as their products and

services (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Few, if any, products and services exist without

competition. This competition is one of the largest external forces impacting the success of a

product or service. A company must not only understand how customers perceive it and its

offerings, it must understand how customers perceive and accept competitors and their products

and/or services. This is because successful strategies are created with the intent of providing

more customer value than competitors. Analyzing competitors requires thorough identification

and assessment of competing firms, so the best competitive strategies and actions are selected.

Identifying competitors is not as straightforward or simple as many people mistakenly think.

Competitors can be any firm offering products/services that are similar, satisfying the same

demands, or fighting for the same customers. The industry perspective identifies competitors as

firms selling the same or nearly the same products and services. The market perspective views

any firm satisfying same need or pursuing relationships with the same customers as competitors.

Using the market point of view allows companies to understand how they compete not only

against identical alternatives, but for the money spent by their target segments. Dole used the

market perspective when it identified energy bar producers as competitors for active consumers

desiring healthy, high-energy snack food on the go. Energy bars are able to satisfy the same

customer need as Dole’s bananas. Understanding what companies are competitors is essential to

knowing which companies to invest time assessing.

Assessing competitors means the firm understands the objectives and strategies of its

competitors, evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each, and then applies this to its

prediction of these firms’ likely decisions. Dole, which sells fruits and vegetables, recognized

companies outside of its industry that had strategies to capture the same market segment. Dole

identified comparable weakness of energy bars, which is that they are not as natural as Dole’s

bananas. Benchmarking is an effective way for companies to understand the specific aspects

which it exceeds or falls short of meeting the needs of the same customers. After this level of

understanding is achieved, a strategic company will try and predict what actions competitors are

going to take in the future. A company that has studied how its competitors will likely respond

to economic and industry environments, as well as its own actions, is much better prepared to

properly and effectively position itself in the market place.

Utilizing this competitor information, a company must select which firms it is going to position

itself against. Companies decide if they want to attack strong companies which provide difficult

but large gains in market share, or weak competitors which provide easy, less significant gains.

Selecting which companies to attack or avoid is important because when done correctly,

competition is a good and necessary challenge for businesses. Competition can help develop

markets, research segments, and establish demand for products or services offered by two or

more companies. Dole selected competitors in the energy bar industry because it saw there were

large gains of its desired customer segments to be obtained from these companies. Knowing

which companies, as well as their strategies and objectives, a firm is more closely or directly

competing against is invaluable to being one step ahead of the competition. Companies that

identify, assess, and carefully select the competitors to avoid or rival have much higher chances

of producing more competitive, valuable, and profitable products and services.

References Kotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Four Marketing Tools

The Four Ps of the marketing mix are the essential tools and concepts of modern marketing

(Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). The four Ps include all efforts a firm may address to increase

demand for its market offerings. To fully address and apply the four Ps to a product or service is

to fully implement a market strategy.

The first Product, price, refers to the combination of goods and services which the company

provides as a market offering. The value of each product and service which the offering is

composed of influences customers’ perception of how valuable the product or service is. Price

refers to the dollar amount which customers are required to pay in exchange for the product or

service being offered. Companies must carefully and creatively determine what price they will

request, because this is likely the first aspect to be compared to customer-perceived value and

quality. Price refers to the customers’ costs to buy, own, and finance the purchasing of the

product. Depending on the type of product or service, price often includes payment options,

maintenance costs, and disposal fees.

Place, the third P, considers the channels and locations which products and services are

observable or accessible to customers, as well as how much time, distance, and effort is required

to connect customers and market offerings. Transportation and logistics are place aspects which

alone are services, but have massive impacts on customer-perceived satisfaction of products.

Promotion is how the firm advertises, sells, and builds relationships with customers.

Promotional efforts must effectively communicate value-adding features and opportunities, so

customers embrace and reciprocate such value through increased purchases.

While the four Ps do cover all that is necessary to create desired customer reactions to any

market offering, these are strictly evaluated from the firm’s perspective (Kotler and Armstrong,

2014). The four Cs address the same concepts, but do so from the mindsets of target market

customers. The first C, customer solution, addresses what problems are solved by purchasing

this product or service. Customer cost is the summed costs of purchase, use, and disposal

required by purchasing a product or service. Convenience acknowledges that customers want the

easiest and quickest access to the desired solutions, and that this access does not require a hassle

that is greater than costs. Communication refers to any and all customers’ desires for two-way

communication that is informative and beneficial to customers’ search for resolutions to their

problems. Customers should feel this communication guided them to a solution, rather than

obtained a sale for the company.

References Kotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Business-to-Business Marketing- Buying and Selling

(Madison, 2013)

In today’s economy, marketers must know the largest available sum of customers is the myriad

of businesses which buy products and services every day. Business-to-business (B-to-B)

markets offer much more benefits and demands than business-to-consumer markets. The

benefits of B-to-B markets are more available money, more transactions, and mutual desire for

deeper, more profitable long-term relationships.

B-to-B customers do require more careful buyer decision processes, which are made more

convincingly through partnership between the firms and their members (Kotler and Armstrong,

2014). Business-to-business relationships are more professional, with each party being much

more involved and influential in the other firm’s decision making processes. There are more

participants in the buyer decision process and product/service delivery of B-to-B transactions.

Business-to-business relationships are more mutually dependent upon one another. This

dependency upon the seller by the customer business is why many companies focus heavily on

supplier development. Companies work hard to carefully evaluate, connect with, and build

relationships with suppliers because these companies enable the purchasing firm to meet the

demands of its own customers. If a business customer is unable to buy the raw materials or

process tasks it needs in order to produce its market offerings, it will surely lose profits,

productivity, and customer satisfaction. This mutual dependency and benefit is why business-to-

business marketing is essential, rewarding, and not easy.

There are different types of buying situations between businesses, each of which means different

things for the buying and selling parties. A straight rebuy is the continuous purchasing of the

same good or service with no adjustments. Modified rebuys are used by business customers

wanting to adjust the details of the products which are being supplied (Kotler and Armstrong,

2014). Systems selling involves selling bundled solutions which avoid forcing the company to

contract different task to multiple different firms. This creates a more comprehensive, complete,

and easier-to-use systems for the business to operate.

Many participants are involved in the B-to-B buying decision; Kotler and Armstrong label these

members as users, influencers, buyers, deciders, and gatekeepers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014).

Users are employees who may propose or specify needed purchases. Influencers are technical

personnel who aid in weighing out different options as solutions. Buyers and deciders are often

one and the same, but the difference is that buyers arrange and select purchase details, whereas

deciders give higher approval of the buyers’ decisions. Gatekeepers are any employees that

control the flow of information and sales representatives contacting the other members of the

buying process. This process requires so many participants because it impacts all aspects of the

firm purchasing the product or service. One of the ways which B-to-B relationships have been

made more efficient and effective, is by increasing use of electronic selling and delivering of

solutions to businesses. This enhances business relationships because it allows business

customers to easily manage and view orders, plan according to real time data, and increase

reaction times.

References Kotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Madison, W. (2013, October 26). Word Camp Victoria: Marketing Your Online Businesses Cheaply. Retrieved from Word Camp Victoria: http://www.wordcampvictoria.ca/marketing-your-small-business-online-cheaply/

Sustainable Marketing

(Davis, 2014)

During the past ten years, businesses have been expected to be more sustainable in almost all

enterprise practices. This increasing importance of environmental sustainability has been paired

with a greater demand for environmental and societal responsibility by businesses. Marketers

are the business members that decide what customers need/want, what details are most

important, and how it should be communicated to and perceived by customers. Sustainable

marketing means meeting current needs without jeopardizing future generations’ abilities to meet

their own needs. This means that what a company produces and markets brings short-term

benefits while having neutral or positive long-term impact. Truly sustainable companies provide

solutions for current and future needs of both the business and the customer. Product offerings

should bring long-term customer-value, company profitability, and ecological neutrality or

benefits. Marketers must think about all members of the triple-bottom line when creating,

producing, and marketing products and services.

Marketers have come under question about many issues related to once-standard business

practices that are now being radically changed. Many of these issues are the topics that fascinate

me and drive my aspirations to find financial profit in the improvement of our natural world and

everyday purchases. One criticism of marketers is product safety; many products are made with

incredibly harmful effects upon our health, environment, and financial systems. For example,

the nationwide push for SUV sales polluted the air and depleted resources inefficiently, leading

to poor investments and costs in automobiles and fuel. SUVs serve as a good example of

planned obsolescence and promoted materialism by marketers. Many SUVs have been deemed

as some of the lowest quality vehicles made in the nation and world. This automotive market

was driven by increased marketing of newer, bigger models that made prior ones seem outdated

and insufficient. In addition to this, their poor quality led to short product lifespan, increasing

consumers’ environmental and financial costs through increased materialism. Another argument

is that marketers often advertise unsustainably. The ecological externalities caused by printed

advertisements alone is a massive cost which consumers have no way of accurately factoring into

their purchasing decisions.

Current focus lies heavily on environmental sustainability, but such efforts will be wasted and

short-lived if economic sustainability is compromised or ignored. Public scandals of the past

decade prove long-term profitability to be the most beneficial business strategy for firms,

consumers, and the planet. Unstainable practices now being questioned and changed are

overpricing, overstating shipping costs, and unfair competition through acquisitions and barriers

to market/industry entry (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). These tactics harm our economy in

several ways. Overpricing, especially without corresponding distribution to employees, will only

diminish consumer spending on that and other offerings. Acquisitions and barriers to entry

detract from the natural competition which economies thrive off. By hurting competition, rather

than embracing good competition, companies damage the economy and capabilities of target

markets. In addition to this, such companies will lose incentives for innovation, leading to

decreased customer-perceived value.

A truly sustainable company not only focuses on current sustainability, but designates time and

resources to future, improved sustainability. Such companies develop new environmental

capabilities of employees, processes, and market offerings. Beyond this, companies should

create strategic planning goals that incorporate environmental improvement by the producers,

distributors, and users of a product or service. While becoming or maintaining such a company

seems expensive, I believe these initiatives are successful because they secure resources, earn

consumer trust, meet future demands, and lead to a better future for all stakeholders.

ReferencesKotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Davis, C. (2014, March 6). The Agency Post: Marketing to Socially Conscious Consumers: Does "Green" Translate into ROI? Retrieved from The Agency Post: http://www.agencypost.com/marketing-to-socially-conscious-consumers-does-green-translate-into-roi/

Mental Model

Identify Consumer

Needs

Identify Markets

Analyze Competition

Create Value Offering

Develop Competitive

Strategy

Specify Marketing Mix: Four Ps

Address Finnancial

implications

Implement Marketing

Plan

Reevaluate and adapt

ReferencesDavis, C. (2014, March 6). The Agency Post: Marketing to Socially Conscious Consumers: Does "Green"

Translate into ROI? Retrieved from The Agency Post: http://www.agencypost.com/marketing-to-socially-conscious-consumers-does-green-translate-into-roi/

Kotler and Armstrong. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Madison, W. (2013, October 26). Word Camp Victoria: Marketing Your Online Businesses Cheaply. Retrieved from Word Camp Victoria: http://www.wordcampvictoria.ca/marketing-your-small-business-online-cheaply/

Mid-Semester Self-Assessment

Principles of Marketing is the very first marketing course I have ever taken. I came into this

course with a very common, narrow understanding of marketing. I thought advertising and

public relations events. Halfway through this semester I now know there is so much more to

marketing than I once thought. Some of these realizations may seem basic, but that is why I

have broadened my perspectives by taking this course.

I once thought that marketing only made the good looks and eloquent sounds of company

products and services, sitting down to think of a product for our marketing plan showed me how

incorrect this was. I was baffled by the task of creating a product that was needed, marketable,

and completely new. I never realized that marketers were the ones deciding what was needed, I

thought they just focused on telling consumers why they “need” something. My group and I sat

in a circle for a long time creating and rejecting ideas as we continuously found problems with

each idea. It finally occurred to me that I was thinking from a product perspective, then finding

whether or not corresponding needs were present. I immediately changed my thought processes

to search for needs, and then the corresponding products and services which could serve as

solutions. Soon we identified a set of needs in one industry which we had all experienced at

some point in our lives. This process showed me how hard a job marketers have when

developing new product offerings.

Throughout the past few months, I have found that I analyze things much more. At my work, I

have been able to make a suggestion to our online website because I thought of it differently than

I did before. Instead of seeing the website as a large source of information, I evaluated it in

terms of common customer questions. I searched for the answers of each question on the sight,

some were present, yet others were not. I brought up to my boss that we had some common

questions entirely unanswered by our website. He and I both decided that adding this

information to the website would increase customer-perceived value by decreasing customer

time taken to figure out necessary processes and would cause less frustrations. This is something

that not only made my job easier, but increased the value of our on-campus housing services.

Another avenue I have found myself applying marketing to is the YouTube channel I manage. I

noticed that nothing on the channel offered solutions to needs. I have now planned a series of

how-to, cost-effective modifications, and low-cost adventures videos. Instead of offering simple

entertaining, these videos offer solutions for saving money on motorcycle parts, maintenance,

and use. These videos answer the needs of motorcyclist who are on a budget, whereas the old

videos offered no solutions because they did not address any issues. Such thought processes are

new to me, I am confident this course contributed to this development.

As I continue with this course, work, and personal endeavors I hope to become better at thinking

from a needs-oriented perspective. I find myself getting caught up in the fascination of the

product when I should be addressing the needs of the consumers. I can strengthen this skill and

form this habit by evaluating the tools and processes used in my daily life. Addressing how

these could be improved to better meet my needs will help fine tune and exercise these thought

processes. With my interest in the environmental and renewable energy markets, I want to

develop new ways of assessing what the needs of the future are. I have been interested in future

“greening” for a long time, but I am just now finding that really this is a fascination with the

prediction of future needs. I want to learn about and apply more marketing principles to my

desire to solve the environmental needs of both current and future generations and industries.

Pricing Strategies and Elasticity6

As I have learned all throughout this semester, marketers must have incredible

knowledge and understanding of their offerings. Price is a factor that every marketer must fully

understand about his or her product/service in order to effectively market it. Price is the dollar

amount a product or service is sold for (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). This figure impacts

demand, competitiveness, positioning, and elasticity. Without knowing the implications of a

price, effective marketing is impossible. This means effective pricing strategies must be chosen ,

because a disadvantaged pricing rarely allows for advantageous marketing. Pricing strategies

vary among different products and services, but all require specifically chosen pricing strategies.

One pricing strategy is value-based pricing, which takes pricing into account during the

planning of the product and its marketing mix (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Value-based

pricing determines prices not as a result of production and marketing costs, but as a necessary

factor planned during product and marketing development. Cost-based pricing is the opposite, it

determines price after the product is designed and costs are known to the producer. Marketers

then decide on a price that covers costs and creates the needed profits. Cost-based pricing is very

product oriented, while value-based pricing focuses more on the consumer. Good-value pricing

is a value-based pricing strategy which offers a satisfactory level of quality for a fair price.

Ryanair utilizes good-value pricing by offering minimal flight accommodations, but meeting

travelers needs at competitive prices. To Ryanair flyers, this company offers a fair price for

meeting their needs. Value-added pricing utilizes increased features and prices to increase

consumer-perceived quality and value. This is seen by Burt’s Bees which sells its lip balm at

three to four times the price of competing brands. Burt’s Bees offers only natural ingredients

and higher prices, yet consumers seem to find more value in this than many competing brands

selling for 25% the price of Burt’s Bees’ products (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). The success

and unmatched growth of Burt’s Bees in the lip balm market shows that for some industries and

products, value-based pricing may be the most successful option.

Cost-based pricing focuses on the importance of costs to the marketed good or service, as

well as how impactful this is to the marketing strategies used. Cost-plus pricing is a cost-based

strategy which figures price by adding a decided mark-up to the sum of all costs (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2014). This is seen in large-scale project bids in which a proposer figures all costs

involved to build something, then adds a satisfactory markup to those costs when presenting

price to the buyer. Often times, producers use a break-even analysis to determine what price

should be used according to reasonable estimation of units sold. The same system used in break-

even analysis may be applied to target-pricing. Target-pricing utilizes similar analysis for the

point of desired return. Another pricing strategy is competition-based pricing, which bases

pricing on competitors’ pricing strategies (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). This requires careful

assessment of the market and industry. Marketers using this approach may choose to offer a

superior offering for a higher price, or lower prices for somewhat less quality. Both these

approaches allow competition-based pricing to be very effective when implemented well.

No matter what pricing strategy a marketer chooses to use, elasticity must never be

ignored. Elasticity is the measure of how impactful price is on demand for a given product or

service. Inelastic goods and services are those which suffer very little or no change in demand

due to small price increases. Elasticity is very dependent on economic conditions, because these

greatly effect how willing consumers are to spend more than is needed. Even after the Great

Recession, consumers all across the U.S. are rethinking how price elastic certain goods are.

Knowing the price elasticity of a product is essential to successful marketing. Many if raising

prices will result in unsustainable demand, marketers need to know this and find an alternative

course of action to meet company goals. Elasticity may change throughout different economic

times. Luxury car companies may find that increased prices produce huge profit increases

during economic booms, but in a recession the company may need to offer limited-time sales

and/or emphasize the unique value obtained with that price.

Marketers must be familiar with all these strategies. There is no single strategy which

will work for all products and services. Careful attention to the market offering, its target

market, its elasticity, and the economy are essential to choosing the most effective pricing

strategy. I never knew how much research and analysis could be invested in determining the

price of a market offering. Almost all, if not all, products compete on the level of price. As with

Marketers’ other jobs, pricing strategy involves careful analysis of the offering, target market,

economy, and competition.

Advertising and Public Relations

Advertising and public relations are becoming more and more essential to successful

marketing. Kotler and Armstrong define advertising as any paid form of impersonal presentation

and promotion of an idea, product, or service (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Advertising and

public relations have grown from store signs and community conversations, to million dollar TV

ads and daily YouTube and Twitter campaigns.

Advertising starts with the selections of the advertising objectives marketers have.

Marketers must decide if their messages are to inform, persuade, or remind consumers about

their market offering. After selecting an objective, marketers must decide the budget they have

available for reaching their advertising objectives and goals. This is important because like any

other department of a company, marketing must be financial sustainable and profitable for the

company. Depending on the advertising budget, marketers will decide the medium, quantity,

and type of messages which will be used to promote the product or service. Once enough time

has passed, marketers must evaluate the effectiveness of the advertising channels and messages.

Informative advertising communicates customer value, product awareness, brand image,

functionality, availability, and correction of false beliefs concerning the product or service.

Informative advertising may tell consumers about new product’s value or the increased value of

a new product. Informative advertising is used to tell consumers what might be new,

uncommon, or previously unreleased information. This has been seen by many of the Hyundai

advertisements in the past few years which went to great lengths to ensure consumers knew of

fuel economy, features, and unprecedented warranty of its entirely redesigned models.

Informative marketing can be incredibly effective for companies like Hyundai which may suffer

from a lack of consumer attention and knowledge due to past market offerings. Informative

advertising helps a product and/or brand become a known competitor in its market.

Increased market competition will bring demand marketers to convince consumers that

their products and/or services are better than competitors’. Persuasive advertising attempts to

convince consumers to change brand preferences and value perceptions. This type of advertising

often convinces consumers to tell others or to make a purchase sooner than they planned. Ford

has done this through its use of comparative advertising to promote the Ford Taurus. Ford

produced a series of commercials showing the Ford Taurus outperforming German luxury sedans

for significantly less money. This was Ford’s attempt to persuade buyers to change their

perception of luxury sedans, buy the Ford Taurus, and increase their value-perception of Ford as

an entire brand. Persuasive advertising is an effective tool for new offerings, competitive

markets, and any product needing increased market share.

Reminder advertising is used when markets and products have matured. This type of

advertising maintains the customer relationships and brand image the company has built in the

past. This type of advertising has been used by many well-established global firms, which try

reminding consumers their brand is still the valuable brand it once was, if not even greater.

Coca-Cola makes immense effort in reminder advertising, the firm takes all the opportunities

available to show consumers it is still the lifestyle drink it always has been. Reminder

advertising supports what is already established about the brand and/or product.

No matter the advertising style, every marketer must set an advertising budget. The

advertising budget is composed of all money and resources used for a company’s or product’s

advertising program. The needed budget heavily depends on how mature the product is. New

products and services demand much more money and resources to be effectively marketed.

Hyundai used a much longer commercial to tell consumers about its redesigned models with the

best warranty in the nation than Coca-Cola did during the holiday season to remind consumers

that its beverage has been in homes for more Christmases than almost any of its competition. It

is simply reminding consumers at a time of increased consumerism, that Coca-Cola is a drink

people know they will enjoy- a much easier job than Hyundai’s.

The onslaught of new advertising mediums has provided many marketers the opportunity

to mesh advertising and entertainment. Advertisers have found consumers enjoy, and effectively

respond to, advertisements which entertain and are pleasing to viewers’ values, senses, and

humors. This type of advertising has become known as Madison and Vine (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2014). Old Spice and Doritos make great use of Madison and Vine with their

hilarious Super Bowl advertisements which consumers actually purposefully seek out on

YouTube. These types of advertisements are viewed by most consumers more as entertainment

than interruption of entertainment. This is an important quality today, because new technologies

have allowed advertisements to be present in almost every daily task. Many firms are starting to

acknowledge Madison and Vine as a way to boost customer satisfaction before trying the market

offering. This is possible by offering an enjoyable marketing experience, rather than a hard sell.

As this advertising becomes more prevalent, marketers will need to assess how this will impact

their marketing mixes and budgets.

Public relations is becoming more and more important in marketing. Public relations has

become more and more profitable as consumers become more constantly linked to

communication devices. Social media released to marketers many free or low-cost public

relations tools which have proved invaluable to many large firms. Old Spice has built one of the

most successful public relations campaigns ever. Old Spice used its Old Spice Man to make a

series of response videos to YouTube, Twitter, and other social media sight comments. This

campaign has led to unbelievable numbers of marketing impressions. Old Spice made sure every

video responded to the commenter, entertaining, and required little time and money to produce.

Old Spice is a wonderful example of how a company may use public relations as an effective,

low-cost marketing tool. Public relations can utilize free social media sights to reach millions of

viewers at fractions of the costs required to air such advertisements on television. Also, having

an effective and well-followed public relations campaign creates an effective and rapid response

network when companies need to correct poor publicity.

Product Life Cycle Stages and Strategies

Products and services all experience different stages as they begin, grow, and eventually

shrink. Acknowledging where resources should be allocated during each life cycle stage is

essential to the success of any product. Every product begins as an idea. This idea could be

potential new offering, addition/modification to an existing offering, or offering delivery system.

No matter what the new product is, it starts its life cycle as an idea.

Idea generation may come from multiple internal and external sources. Honda Power

Sports sources product ideas from its engineers, designers, technicians, and test riders. Honda

also takes in ideas from its many external, sponsored riders, Honda consumers’ forum reviews,

and overall market surveys done by many motorcycling magazines and YouTube Channels.

Companies as large as Honda receive many ideas each month, effective systems to eliminate the

bad and capitalize on the good ideas is drastically important. The next step is to screen all these

ideas so the company pursues all the profitable ideas and discards all which are not profitable or

beneficial to the company. Idea screening involves only accepting ideas which are realistic

solutions to legitimate market needs and demand, promise sustainable competiveness and value,

and lastly fits the company. Idea generation is key to ensuring that no resources are wasted on

ideas that are unsuccessful or incompatible with the company’s current market offerings.

A company must now develop and test its concept. Depending on the proposed market

offering, a concept may take many different forms. Honda presents its concepts to its engineers,

designers, technicians, test riders, and external riders by presenting a description and mock up

picture or animation. This presentation is the result of Honda’s product development, and allows

the company to effectively use its partners for feedback. If enough of these market testers

believe that consumers would find value in such a market offering, Honda will move forward

with the product.

Now that the concept has become approved for further investment, it starts to transition

from concept to product. This is the product development stage. If Honda is developing a new

suspension system it wants to develop for its dirt bike model ranges, it now must financially

analyze this idea. If Honda believes the research and development (R&D), production,

accounting, and marketing costs will be below the likely revenue, Honda pushes the suspension

technology forward. Honda now dives deep into developing this product closer and closer to a

legitimate market offering. Honda will build several versions, testing them for functionality,

costs, aesthetics, and rider satisfaction. Test riders will put the suspension through harsh and

diverse testing so Honda may be confident as possible that this is a reliable and valuable product

safeguarded from market failure (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Honda engineers, technicians,

and test riders will decide on a version of the product which they believe best meets the needs of

consumers and the capabilities of Honda.

Now that Honda must risk test marketing before braving the open consumer market

(Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Honda now contacts informs many of its faithful, external

partners that it has a new product it wants quietly tested. Honda will send motorcycles equipped

with this new suspension to riders, as well as host a test riding event for these company partners.

If majority of reviewers state that they find meaningful increases in value compared to the

previous suspension systems, Honda will push the product further. This stage helps eliminate

any remaining issues and certify what consumers will find the most valuable when riding on the

new suspension.

Finally Honda must make the decision of commercialization, this is the introduction life-

cycle stage. Kotler and Armstrong define commercialization as the introduction of a new

product or service into the market (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Successful commercialization

requires properly selected timing, location, and market rollout of the product (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2014). This means that the company must assess the impact this product will have

on the sales of its current and other upcoming market offerings. Honda would not want to launch

this product close to the redesign of one of its budget dirt bikes still utilizing the older suspension

technology. Honda must also decide where it is going to launch the new, advanced suspension

technology. It would likely decide that North America and/or Europe are the best market regions

for this product. Honda’s third world and Asian markets prefer older technology that is less

expensive and more reliable. Honda now must choose specifically where and how much to

rollout of this new technology. The company may target the United States Midwest and West

Coast. These regions have incredible dirt biking populations, which likely will quickly purchase

and spread word about the new suspension. These three assessments are essential to successful

commercialization, because no product or service is successful everywhere and at all times.

Once released, every product experiences growth, maturity, and decline. Continually

updating and promoting market offerings can help lengthen any of these stages, but all are

inevitable. The growth stage involves the fastest acceptance of the product or service (Kotler

and Armstrong, 2014). During this stage Honda should utilize informative advertising, so more

consumers learn of this new market offering. Once the product has matured, Honda should use

persuasive advertising to show prove to consumers that no other market offering is as capable as

Honda’s. Honda wants to maintain this and the growth stage as long as possible. The final stage

is decline. Honda may find after a decade that the once-new technology is losing

competitiveness, which is why reminder advertising would be critical here. Honda could remind

consumers that this suspension is the proven suspension that beat all competitor offerings.

As one can see, the product life-cycle stages greatly impact what marketing techniques

and resources allocations must be used and assessed. In this example, Honda would use

drastically different marketing communication channels for each of the life-cycle stages.

Marketers must know and understand not only where their offerings are in the market, but also in

their product life span.

Socially Responsible Product Development and Marketing

During the first decade of this century, consumers became incredibly conscious of social

responsibility and sustainability. Companies have been responding to this, offering sustainable

offerings produced in socially responsible ways. Many products are now being expected to be

environmentally and socially sustainable, and this is increasing to more and more industries.

Soon it will be expected that items are designed from idea to market offering with a promise of

corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability.

Companies are starting to receive increased sales from the use of safe and sustainable raw

materials. Unsafe products have been a major ethical controversy throughout the past decade.

Consumers have been subjected to lead in toys, carcinogens in baby bottles, and unsafe drinking

water. Sustainable marketing now means consumers are certain what is in their products, and

one day it will be assumed that no one needs to even worry because no product would be made

unsustainably or to be unsafe. This goal may only be reached by the use of safe processes and

raw materials, but also by the incorporation of externalities. Each day consumers are learning of

horrifying externalities located at production sights, any marketer should recognize such

publicity as a massive threat. As population increase dramatically, our world becomes smaller,

therefore bringing foreign externalities closer to home.

The idea of incorporated externalities has generated a great amount of concern toward

physical life cycles of products. Walk into any electronics store and the sense of planned

obsolescence surrounds the store shelves. As I have learned this semester, marketers play an

essential role in planning and developing market offerings. One must wonder why during a time

of needed and valued sustainability, a company would plan such unsustainable obsolescence.

The answer is faster and greater profits. Incorporating externalities means that the company

incurs some costs that aim to remediate or eliminate any form of social or environmental ill.

When our team developed our multi-family laundry interface, Swipe-A-Load, we decided that

we would demand this product have a planned recycling solution for the machine’s inevitable

obsolescence. Laundry machines do not last forever, so we developed an option to pay for the

recycling at the time of purchase. This service was incorporated into our increased maintenance

and warranty program called Full Cycle. We believed our offering could only be truly

competitive if legitimate responsibility was taken. Marketers need to ensure they provide

product life cycle responsibility because such practices are creating more customer-perceived

value as time goes on.

I have learned this semester that sometimes it is important to change what consumers

believe, even if not responsible for consumers believing or feeling such ways. This is exactly the

case with a few common assumed ills of marketers. As a marketer, one must acknowledge that

many consumers have preconceived opinions concerning marketing. A common belief is that

marketers use utilize excessive markups to achieve higher prices other than what consumers

originally see when approaching a market offering (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). This is

believed by many to be done by excessively marking up distribution costs and spending too

much on advertisements and promotions. Marketers are also charged with straight excessive

markups, in which they simply get a direct return of absurd levels. These three things are not

generic to all marketers, only a common trend which has been experienced by the larger majority

of individuals.

Lastly, marketers have been charged with aggressive use of deceptive language and high

pressure selling (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Deceptive language is seen all throughout the

snack aisle of the grocery store, but the most attacked deception is the “green” word consumers

see and hear so much of. Many consumers are taking more initiative to look past marketers’

claims, and do the research themselves. Marketers should perceive this as a negative because

these consumers now spend more time evaluating before they can purchase. This time is

valuable and essentially means the consumer paid more than what was on the tag. Another

charge against marketers is the use of hard selling, which is also becoming increasingly disliked.

Hard selling damages the customer relationship by invoking the feeling of being a means to an

end, not the end itself. BMW has recently decided that it would start transitioning away from the

traditional hard sell technique. BMW dealerships in North America and Europe are hiring BMW

Geniuses, instead of salespersons. These Geniuses inform and excite customers about

automotive offerings and features, as opposed to selling these to the customers. BMW has

already seen an increase in sales at its test dealerships.

If companies are to maintain competitiveness, profitability, and customer satisfaction,

marketers must responsibly create and build ideas from start to finish. I feel that as a marketer I

would want to take advantage of social and environmental responsibility. Marketers may utilize

corporate ethicality as increased consumer value. The future will bring increased demand for

safe, sustainable, and responsible goods and services.

Retailing and Wholesaling

Retailers are businesses which sell directly to the end user. These companies sell

products for personal use, not as production or resale inputs. Retailers range from small liquor

stores to massive convenience stores such as Wal-Mart and Dollar General. Retailers do not

necessarily always sell an assortment of goods, there are many which sell specific items or types

of items. Retailers may function from the internet or from brick and mortar locations. The

primary types of retailers are specialty, department, supermarket, convenience, discount, and off-

price stores (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014).

Despite the many types of retailers, all must utilize marketing techniques and strategies

oriented toward end users. Many retailers utilize shopper marketing to specifically target their

customers who may be looking for a bargain or special offering. These retailers have made

incredible observations and tools used for assessing how to promote items internally within the

store itself. Retailers make many of the same decisions necessary for product marketing, but to

the scopes of products and the entire retail chain itself (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Chain

stores such as Safeway and Wal-Mart benefit from the consistency customers may rely on

whether they visit a chain location in one county or the other. Wal-Mart’s brand positioning is

just as different from Whole Food’s as canned soup is from wild mushrooms.

Wholesaling is defined by Kotler and Armstrong as selling goods and services to those

hoping to resell or incorporate into their own market offerings. Wholesaling is a completely

different marketing job than that of retailing. Wholesale marketers must reach business

customers. These customers tend to be much more cost and time sensitive. As discussed earlier

in the semester, business-to-business customers require incredibly differing levels of

involvement. The customer relationships involved are much deeper, more communicative, and

more time consuming for the wholesaler. Examples of wholesalers are sellers of pulp, recycled

material sheets, and office supplies. The company we sold Swipe-A-Load from, WASH, is a

wholesaling company. WASH interfaced laundry machines and maintenance services to

businesses and institutions.

Retailers and wholesalers differ greatly in the ways which they must market to their

customers. While wholesalers may spend less on advertising, they have much more time-

consuming relationships with their customers. I never gave the difference between retailers and

wholesalers, but clearly there are significant differences. Marketers must identify not only

whether they are selling as retailers or wholesalers, but also the segments within those customer

ranges. Wholesaling and retailing require different skills, techniques, and strategies from

marketers. Choosing which one I am best at will make a drastic difference in my future

satisfaction as a marketer or manager of marketers.

Outcomes

Use appropriate terminology to communicate with marketing specialists and other about

marketing concepts

It is important that marketers do not blur the lines that separate marketing mix aspects and

communication tools. I have really learned to distinguish between words I choose to use when

discussing marketing and business in general. I realized this when creating our practicum

presentation. Watching the Old Spice public relations campaign videos, it occurred to me I

would have called the videos “advertisements” a few months before. I figured public relations

was fairly limited to event booths and public statements. I realized that many of the campaign

videos mentioned very little, if anything, about actual Old Spice products. I find myself

identifying the type of marketing communication not by absorbing pure sensory extremes with a

company’s media, but rather at the underlying turns ad literal messages. I feel I use much more

accurate words when describing a marketing program.

Understand more clearly how marketing affects you as a consumer and how you influence

marketing practices

My perspective truly changed this semester, as I have stated a few times in this blog. I learned

that consumers and marketers are always influencing one another. The reality is that I never

thought about how much nearly-direct communication occurs between consumers and marketers

when goods and services are purchased. The Burt’s Bees case study really put the idea of voting

with your dollar. Burt’s Bees decided to three to four times what its competitors sell lip balm

for, doing this spawns an entire chain of communication between consumers and Burt’s Bees.

As a consumer I can choose to interpret higher prices however I wish. If I buy the product, I tell

marketers that I do perceive that much more value in their product than I do in competing brands.

After this, the marketers may try to capture my purchase on shampoos or other products hoping I

will again respond profitably. I think this is fascinating because I have always just assumed that

Burt’s Bees lip balm has that much more expensive ingredients. The reality is the company

could easily just be altering my value perception via the price.

Identify and interpret changes in the environment which affect marketing activities

Marketers may only be successful if they are aware of the environment in which they are

marketing. I learned the impact of the environment when I read the Xerox case study. Xerox

became the world’s most successful photocopying company, but it was failing. Xerox

demonstrated and learned that no matter how amazing a product is, it has to stay up to date with

the technology and needs of its environment. Xerox assessed its environment and was able to

rescue itself by creating solutions that worked with computers, not aside from them. The

environment surrounding a product determines the needs and competition which it must address.

Understand the costs and benefits of marketing on society and on those involved in the

marketing process

Marketing, like any other business function, presents costs and benefits to our society and the

companies it is done for. Marketing has led to dramatic increases in consumerism and resource

depletion. Some people also argue that marketing clutter has been a legitimate cost to society.

Marketing does inform consumers of solutions to needs and increase availability of greater

options. Marketing is not inexpensive for companies; Red Bull’s profitable space jump

commercial cost over $60 million. Then benefits of marketing to companies is incredible.

Companies build entire campaigns and maintain millions of relationships often times with the

simplest of marketing tools. This is seen by Old Spice’s public relations campaign which cost

the firm hardly anything compared to its benefits.

Understand how marketing interacts with and is interdependent with other functional areas

within a company

Until this semester, I was one of those people who assumed marketing was given a product or

service and then began work advertising. I had no idea marketing was responsible for

understanding current needs and wants, discovering the target markets possessing such needs,

designing and improving the product in development, and communicating it to customers. These

realization certainly lead to my increased respect for marketers. I never thought about the fact

that marketers would need to work with operations and finance to determine proper production

and contained costs. Without marketing’s understanding of market needs and perspectives, any

company would lose substantial ability to meet consumers’ needs.

Describe the role and contribution that marketing plays in organizations and society

Marketing contributes to organizations and society immensely. Marketing allows organizations

to become known and form customer relationships. Marketing contributes to society by

providing information regarding met needs and wants, so consumers do not miss out on possible

solutions. The use of marketing has helped Meredith not only become an advertising giant, but

guide people to the solutions of their future needs by being able to accurately estimate what

might be the next magazine for them. Marketing helps people find solutions faster, a valuable

impact for any user.

Develop a good understanding of current marketing concepts, strategies, and techniques

I have been exposed to so many different marketing concepts, strategies, and techniques

throughout this semester. This blog only touches on a few of the many marketing concepts that

exist in this world. I have developed thorough understanding of these though. My group’s

marketing plan forced me to analyze an idea according to the different marketing strategies and

techniques. It seems that marketing has some overarching concepts which break down into more

detailed strategies and then multiple techniques. The most recent marketing concept is

entertainment advertising. This is referred to as Madison and Vine marketing. This merges

advertisements and entertainment, usually two opposites. This blog displays much of my

marketing concepts mastery, which will serve me my entire career.

Understand how marketing decisions are made

Marketing decisions are primarily made off the basis of collected, analyzed information. For

example, Meredith uses customer surveys to determine who it should market certain magazines

to. Similarly, our group used a survey to help determine what markets would be the most

effective to sell Swipe-A-Load to: universities, apartment complexes, laundromats, or another

market we hadn’t thought of yet. Gathered information is used find opportunities such as needs,

target markets, and perceived-value. Marketers always try to solve a problem or meet a need,

after that, the marketer needs to determine exactly who is the problem being solved for. The

steps to making decisions follow in a similar way all the way till the product is on the market and

being improved. I think the most important thing to remember is that as a marketer, or

businessperson in general, you should always be trying to solve a problem. Once you have

solved that problem, you should continue to try and solve it even better.

Know how organizations search for new marketing opportunities and select target markets

Organizations find new marketing opportunities by searching for unmet needs, uncompetitive

markets, or problems that need better solutions. Target markets are selected by carefully

analyzing the possible markets for the market the needs, wants, and will provide greatest level of

acceptance. Selecting target markets is not easy, but it is essential. Marketers have to know

these markets incredibly well so they may effectively reveal the value their product or service

provides. I have really seen the value of solving problems by taking this course. No matter what

area of business I land in, I hope I always look for valuable problems to solve.

Explain how the marketing mix elements are blended into a cohesive marketing program

Marketing mix elements create the general overview for successful marketing. When marketers

expand and hone in on these marketing mix elements, they have effective tools to successfully

bring a product onto the market. A cohesive marketing program includes the marketing mix

elements, as well as specific techniques that focus on a cohesive plan. A cohesive plan

incorporates values into its entirety. For example, Swipe-A-Load is made from sustainable

manufacturing facilities, but its sustainability does not end with that. The product is recycled at

the end of its use, ensuring sustainability beyond the product’s useful period. It is important that

marketers address all aspects of a product or service to see that it adds value, contributes to

solving the problem, and leaves no value opportunities unaddressed.

Develop an understanding of the ethical and global issues facing people working in the

marketing function

I have developed a wholesome understanding of the ethical and global issues facing marketers.

Marketing impacts resource depletion, consumer spending, and many other issues which people

all around the world are increasingly disapproving. Marketers are simply trying to do their jobs

and earn a living. Marketers have discovered many successful ways to increase sales on virtually

an product, but this occurs because consumers want these goods, these are not forced upon them.

Marketers are facing increasing globalization, this is something that directly impacts how

marketing is done. Marketers in many industries are discovering similarities and differences

between cultures, all of which determining how a company does or does not need to further

adapt to a market. Marketers will always be increasing the level of analysis and fine tuning they

apply to their target markets. As emerging markets become available to current marketers,

marketers must create value from the opportunities and issues which will arise.

Growth

I finish this semester a much more knowledgeable and business-oriented individual. My

growth this semester is attributed to having two jobs, multiple group projects, and this marketing

class. I have found myself thinking in newer and more consistent ways.

One thing I never thought I would gain from a marketing class is increased ability to

think from other people’s perspectives. As a marketer this is an essential requirement of your

job. Marketers must know how others perceive value, information, and everything else. I have

found myself, in all types of situations, better able to see things as others are. This is something

that helps me as a worker, student, friend, and family member. My understanding, and therefore

problem solving, improves when I look at a situation from the perspective of who is actually

experiencing that dilemma. When someone presents an issue to me, I now analyze what are the

areas of value or lacking value for this person. I have applied this in a more creative way to a

hobby of mine. I started a YouTube channel a bit before starting this course, but my few videos

never got more than 40 views in three months, and few viewers were watching more than half of

each video. These are dirt biking videos of my own adventures. I decided one day that I needed

to reedit my videos and do something different. I decided I would create shorter videos with the

content my target audience found valuable. I shortened the videos to include just technical trail

sections, beautiful scenery, and crashes. My next two videos have gained over 150 views in the

same time my previous videos could not reach 40. I learned any interaction with others demands

that value be present from their perspective.

One of my career goals is to hold a management passion in which I play a key role in

measuring and/or improving the efficiency and value of either a market offering or the processes

needed to produce it. This course has revealed to me how interconnected all departments,

functions, and members of a firm really are, In such a position, I would not be meeting a quality

standard set by my department, I would be meting the quality standards set by the expectations

of our target market. These expectations would be discovered through the marketing

department, which would be the source confirming that there was profit to be made from such

quality levels. I always thought that solely accounting would determine profit figures, but really

it is marketing which knows what prices, features, and qualities are value attributes to customers.

I have decided that not only am I going to try and always see the functions of my job from the

value perceptions of clients. In my future, I want to take the effort to discuss with the marketing

members the value attributes most impacted by my area of work. I feel this would help me be a

much better manager because I would know what production decisions would increase the

relevant value attributes. Overall, this course has showed me that no matter what position I hold

in the future, I must constantly assess how I may increase customer-perceived value.

This course has taught me a great deal about human nature, especially the nature of our

interactions. I learned that humans really do enjoy events that are entertaining. What I mean by

this is that even when a group must be serious and really focused, ensuring an enjoyable setting

and casual rapport goes a long way toward achieving cohesion. Twenty years ago, marketers

would never believe consumers would seek out commercials after seeing them aired. With the

emergence of Madison and Vine advertising, we have proved that humans respond well when

slightly entertained or intrigued. I have noticed this in my group projects, which always seem to

be more efficient when a balanced level of rapport is involved. When group meetings have

lacked enthusiasm, I notice there is much less productivity. I am hoping to carry this observation

to the position I have just been promoted to for August. I will be training people, and I believe

that I will do best if I make it a slightly entertaining, intriguing, and exciting program. I think the

reality is that we live in a very moment-by-moment society, which means there is value in

creating entertainment within something intended for another purpose.

I have learned so much about marketing and its roll in business. I first discovered in this

class that marketing does not begin nor end at advertising and promotion. It is almost as if all

market offerings start and end with marketing. This came as a surprise to me, I never really saw

product ideas as a function of marketing. The more time I spend at CSUMB, the more I realize

that major business functions never stand independent of other major business factors. I never

realized how incredibly cohesive all departments and functions of a business must be. I know it

may seem obvious, but courses like this one are what really make it clear to me that nothing in a

business should just function within its own department. All business efforts need to sustain or

improve the current standing of all the business departments and initiatives. Overall, I have a

greater understanding of and appreciation for the value chain within any company. I hope this

course helps me become the value-creating employee and then manager I wish to become in the

future.