Exam 2: Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Which of the following is NOT a type of competitive advantage?

Aldi is a no-frills grocery chain.It sells grocery staples right out of crates and boxes with emphasis on low-priced,private-label brands.Aldi stores are typically about one-third the size of the traditional supermarket.By controlling expenses,Aldi enables its customers to save 30 to 50 percent compared to Kroger customers.The chain targets bargain hunters who are willing to rent a cart and bag their own groceries.Aldi has a(n)

General Motors Corporation has a goal of launching an electric vehicle soon.The car has been in test drives and they are in the process of working out any bugs that may occur.GM is in the process of working toward mass production of the vehicle.They are in what stage of the marketing plan?

Stump's Hot Olives are manufactured by a family business in Wisconsin and are sold in Midwestern grocery stores,through mail order,and to a few local restaurants.The company has been in operation since 1998 and relies on labor from family and friends to produce and package olives in attractive,reusable glass containers.They use store demonstrations to introduce their spicy olives to new customers.Discuss how this company can establish or maintain at least one of the three types of competitive advantage.

Yard Whimzees,a Statesboro,Georgia sign business,began by making wooden signs for residential use to announce births,anniversaries and such.They then turned to the business market making signs for businesses.Creating signs for a new market is an implementation of a _____ strategy.

Perhaps the broadest control device available to marketing management is the marketing audit.Describe this tool and its characteristics.

Pure Digital Technologies created the Flip,which is a digital camera that is priced around $150.It filled a gap between expensive digital cameras and web cams.The flip plugs straight into your computer and the video can easily be viewed and shared instantly.Creating a new product for a new market is called _____.

The marketing plan is a written document that acts as a guidebook of marketing activities for a marketing manager.

Which of the following statements about marketing audits is true?

An international company that needs to develop a way to compare its actual marketing results with planned results must engage in:

Since gas prices have soared and consumers have cut back on their spending on new trucks and SUVs Ford Motor Corporation is transforming several of its plants to create small cars.Ford has engaged in:

What is an SBU? If properly created,what characteristics should an SBU have?

WalMart realizes a _____ using its relationships with suppliers to give customers low prices and good customer service.

NARRBEGIN: Novartis Novartis Novartis,a Swiss drug maker,is planning to purchase a majority stake in Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Company,a Chinese vaccine maker.Novartis has agreed to pay $125 million for the company that holds a 3% share of China's $1 billion vaccines market.The market for vaccines is growing 20% or more in developing nations of Asia,Africa,and Australasia.In the past,vaccine use has been limited to basic shots against diseases such as polio,tuberculosis,and measles,but as the economies of these countries grow,government and private healthcare spending focuses on preventing diseases such as hepatitis B,cholera and rotavirus,tetanus,and others.Some critics are against the acquisition,claiming that prices will increase.Novartis claims it is not interested in raising prices but rather to expand Tianyuan's product offerings. -Refer to Novartis.Novartis is creating and maintaining a fit between its objectives and resources and evolving market opportunities in developing countries.Novartis is engaging in:

Tide laundry detergent is the market leader,but overall industry growth is low in this market.Tide would be classified as a _____ in a portfolio matrix.

The _____ is the unique blend of product,distribution,promotion,and pricing strategies designed to produce mutually satisfying exchanges with a target market.

Golden Valley Microwave Foods,Inc.is the manufacturer of ACT II popcorn.In its early years,the company had trouble financing the development and marketing of products for the microwave,so it chose to participate in a financial arrangement in which it agreed that it would not sell ACT II popcorn in supermarkets or grocery stores.Which element of the marketing mix was most influenced by this arrangement?

There is an overabundance of apartments in Atlanta.Post Properties,the owner of many of the metropolitan area's largest apartment complexes,has reduced its rent so it can fill vacant apartments.Which marketing mix element did Post Properties change to create more demand for its apartments?

What is a competitive advantage? What makes a competitive advantage sustainable?

NARRBEGIN: Delta Faucet Delta Faucet Company Masco is the name of a well-recognized company in the construction industry.It produces cabinetry,furniture,lighting,and plumbing fixtures for the upper-end homeowner and builder.One of the divisions of Masco is the Delta Faucet Company,which is the leader in the faucet industry.Delta Faucet was founded in 1955.Over the decades,it has developed a legacy based on well-crafted,high-quality products.Since the 1970s,Delta has focused its energies on building loyalty with the builder marketplace.Research in 2002 showed that while builders respect the Delta faucet for its quality,durability,and dependability,household consumers were not enamored with Delta products.Due to the number of new magazines and television programs devoted to home style,homeowners wanted faucets that were chic and stylish.This was not the image of the Delta Faucet.To change its image,Delta Faucet began a marketing program in which it committed itself to developing new products to appeal to homeowners.It adopted a new slogan,"Beautifully Engineered." -Refer to Delta Faucet Company.Since Delta was already marketing to homeowners (although not very successfully),its development of new styles of faucets to appeal to this underserved market would be an example of a _____ strategy.