Exam 8: The Marketing Plan

Focus groups typically consist of 10-12 potential customers.

Identify and explain the three basic questions a marketing plan should answer.

Personal,face-to-face,surveys are the most effective and most expensive.

The four variables that affect short-term marketing decisions are referred to as the:

Which survey method is the fastest method for obtaining data?

Which is the first step in preparing a marketing plan?

The _________ element of the marketing mix involves decisions as to what is the most appropriate channel.

Marketing research involves the gathering of information in order to determine who will buy the product and what the most effective promotion strategy would be.

The major interacting components that enable a firm to successfully provide products to the marketplace are called the:

A marketing strategy and action plan is defined as specific activities outlined to meet the venture's business plan goals and objectives.

When products cannot be easily differentiated:

Focus groups:

The process of dividing the market into smaller homogeneous groups is called market segmentation.

The most common approach to gathering primary information is:

List the 4 major factors of the external environment identified by the marketing system.

Discuss the major factors that should be considered in setting a product/service price. A.Costs - One of the important initial considerations in any pricing decision is to ascertain the costs directly related to the product or service (material and labor costs or cost of product from producer).Whether a manufacturer,retailer,or service venture,the entrepreneur would need to ascertain the approximate costs for overhead (some examples would be utilities,rent,promotion,insurance,and salaries). B.Margins or Markups - In many industries the retailers of the products use a standard markup to price goods in their stores.Given that the retailer maintains costs equivalent to the industry standards,this markup would be expected to cover overhead costs and some profit.Standard markups can be ascertained from trade publications or by asking suppliers.A lower markup and hence lower profit can be accepted by the entrepreneur and is a strategy used to increase demand in the short term (market penetration strategy)but could influence the competition to also lower its price,thus eventually reducing the profit margins for everyone. C.Competition - When products cannot be easily differentiated,the entrepreneur is forced to charge the same price as the competition.A higher price may also be supported by market research data.Innovations such as technology products or new drug products may warrant a higher price or skimming strategy for the new venture to recover some of its high development costs.In a non-differentiated product market,marketing research may reveal that consumers are willing to pay more if you offer service benefits such as free home delivery,guarantees on the life of the item,or free long-term repair.Although these services would increase the costs to the entrepreneur,they would establish a distinctive image for the product in a non-differentiated product category,allowing a higher price and,potentially,a higher-quality image than that of the competition.

Give examples of what types of goals should be set in the goals and objectives section.

Promotion using television is more expensive than promotion using the Internet and direct mail.

An effective way to begin defining the purpose of a marketing plan,is to make a list of all the information needed to prepare the marketing plan.

The final price of a product or service is the sum of total cost plus profit margin.