Marketing issues and contemporary challenges

Marketing Management

Discussion question answers of Marketing issues

Do you believe that prices should reflect the value that consumers are willing to pay or should prices primarily reflect the cost involved in making a product or service. Defend your answer?

Prices should reflect the cost of involved in making a product or service. This is due to any business that starts has the main goal of making profit and for a good or service or good to make profit, one has to consider all factors that affect the profitability of a good or services. As one sits down to make the choice of the price a good or service should go for, he or she must put into account the factors like cost of labor, quality of production, demand, competition and location. As one intends to price his or her product, the factors must be factored in to ensure that the company does not collapse due to lack of finances. The price should also take into account the cost of transportation, the location of the business and the affect the market like technology. One should cover the total cost and the margin profit expected; this may include the cost of acquiring the raw materials or the goods if you are in the retail sector cost of operating expenses and any legal requirement like taxes Monroe, 2001()

The prices depends on the cost of operating that includes wages, advertising, management salaries, rent, utilities and office supplies. This is the reason why price should be calculated from the cost of production. The prices should also consider direct or indirect externalities that will affect the goods and services at the selling point, for example the market forces and government regulations, the prices also should be allowed to run on the free market scenario as long as they do not affect the profit of the product Gwartney, 2009.

For example, if the cost of production is equal to $50, the producer can decide to price the products according to the distance from the production location as the transportation costs are factored in and the labor costs of the sale team. The product price at the production site can be $52; some producers market the products with terms like 15% discount at the factory shops, then the costs may increase as per the distance as the transport cost incurred.

Question two

Should channel images be consistent with brand images? Why or why not?

Brand image is the a set of opinion the consumer has over a certain trade name, it signifies the way the brand is viewed in the market by the consumers regardless of the technicality put in place to produce the brand. There may be differences in what the company may aspire its brand to be viewed to the way the consumer views the same brand, this is mostly brought due to the effort of branding, while channel image is the point of sell of a particular brand, for example retail store .Chiaravalle & Schenck, 2006()

The channel image and brand image should be consistent; this may be attributed with the psychological perception of the consumers on the quality and price of the goods and services that are offered at different channels. For example, if same brand is sold in a non-permanent retail store usually made from mud bricks and mostly found in non-formal settlements and another person sells the same brand in a permanent retail store that is well built and long lasting, the demand for the same good in the two stores will differ. Consumers will mostly associate themselves with a channel image of the highest quality and the recognized brand image. Some consumers tend to divide themselves along the social lines of the rich and the poor if some channel images are not according to the social lines that appeal for some of the consumers. A good example is the services of barber shops that are made available by the retail stores in non-permanent structures to those that are associated to the rich class of the well maintained permanent structures. Also the same goes hand-in-hand with the well-known brands that the consumer will not suspects its quality Floor, 2006.

Through this consistent, the company makes a significant amount of profit as well-known brands and well situated channel images will portray a good taste for the consumer to make them accept the business as a whole.

Question three

Is TV advertising still the most powerful advertising medium or has it faded in importance?

Advertisement is the process of creating awareness of a certain product to the larger consumer audience, there are several media of advertisement; these include print media, radio, and outdoor advertisement, among others. The types of media can be classified into two; electronic and non-electronic. Though advertisement does not simplify the sale of a certain brand, it creates awareness that at the end persuades the buyer to buy the good or services Mishra, 2009.

The TV advertising is still the most powerful medium, as most people own the TV sets and many more are in the cable television market, where the advertisement reaches the consumers through specific programs. The TV viewers are in most homes and the programming of specific broadcasting companies makes it easier the advisement to reach different ages, colors and gender, for example football viewers are mostly men as opposed to soap opera viewers, by use of TV media reaches them during the watching time. A large audience is captured in the news viewing time that makes the TV advertising reach them in masses. Some advantages of TV advertising to other media is the permanent impact the visual has to the audience, it also covers a large geographical area; more so the cable television that has good signal even to the remote areas, the perceived accountability with accepted audience, real presentation of the goods and service in the actual sense. The advertisement can have a greater impact when well-known personalities are used to advertise the products or the art of theatre is used to pass the final message; for example use of comic characters, songs or cartoons. The TV programming is available all the time hence reaching the audience at all the time. The TV media also uses creativity that builds a strong brand relationship with the consumers. The TV advertising delivers a three times recall impact on the next day compared to the radio audience. The study also found out that TV advertising had five times more recall impact than newspaper the next day and 5.5 times more than online advertising the next day.

The TV advertising is a dependable medium of marketing as the market coverage is ever increasing as most people watch the television once in a while in their daily activities, for example in most established cities. The TVs are installed in the banking halls, hospitals and even the food joints; this has made it possible for the advertising through the use of this medium to reach a wide range of audience Study Reveals TV as most Effective Medium for Delivering High Emotional engagement, Cognitive Recall., 2010.

The TV advertisements make sure they leave a memorable mark in the viewer's mind. That is why most TV advertisement are captivating and catchy, as the viewer is constantly exposed to hundreds of advertisement in his or her daily activities. It is with this reason why the advisement team has been creative to enable crate a catchy picture even after the viewer has gone away from the TV places. This enables the consumer to actually relate easily with the product when they meet them at the point of sell. Another notable benefit of TV advertising that has made it to continue being the best means of marketing is the attribute of it having the capacity to seek the immediate attention and captivity from the audience; the TV stations have employed talented personnel who have the ability to create advertisements that capture the attention of the target audience Shimp, 2010()

Question four

Is the key to developing an effective sales force selection or training? Explain your choice.