Marketing report for skeptical client evaluation

Marketing

In the simplest terms, marketing is the steps that a business must take in order to facilitate the creation and exchange of value with its customers (Silk, 2006). All of the steps that are included in this process can be viewed as a component of market. Without marketing, the company will be unable to reach consumers, unable to make them aware of our offerings, and unable to even facilitate the exchange. Promoting Bathurst Carbon Cutters without marketing is, literally, impossible.

History of Marketing

Marketing is a fundamental human activity, and dates to the first exchanges of goods or services between humans. The earliest markets in human civilization were founded on the fundamentals of marketing -- product, place, price (even in a barter system) and promotion (QuickMBA, 2007). It is worth considering that at any ancient market around the world, the basic system remains the same where vendors sell equal goods to consumers with equal knowledge of both those goods and the price of those goods. In economics, this is known as perfect competition (Investopedia, 2010). The only way for one vendor to differentiate him or herself from his or her neighbor was through the art of promotion. Today's markets are more sophisticated, giving vendors more leeway with respect to the other elements of the marketing mix, but the fundamental principles remain the same.

Today's understanding of marketing began to take shape with the Industrial Revolution, which separated the production and consumption of goods. Producers learned to leverage the different modes of transportation, the different routes to market and the different media at their disposal to deliver their goods to a broader range of consumers. Production methods changed as well, meaning that this period was intensely focused on place and product. Promotion came into vogue at this time as well, in particular as transportation improvements increased competition. Marketing has continued to become ever more refined as production shifts, continued transportation improvements and media proliferation make the discipline more complex, and more important to companies (No author, 2010).

Early schools of marketing thought were the commodity school (focused on product), the classical school (focused on aggregate microeconomics) and the management school. The latter has been particularly influential as it is focused on controlling market behavior (Sheth, no date). Enhanced understanding of consumer behavior patterns allows firms to focus on developing their products, their promotions, their distribution and their pricing. Marketing is not simply the art of salesmanship -- consumers cannot be conscripted to buy simply on the basis of a strong argument. Nor can any company expect to simply put a product on the market and expect consumers to notice, let alone care. The right product must be put into the right market and the right price and with a compelling promotional message in order for it to sell. Indeed, Bathurst Carbon Cutter has already engaged in most of the fundamental marketing activities in the design of its business, even if the activities were not explicitly understood as such.

The Marketing Environment

Marketing by any organization must be done in context with the broader environment in order for the marketing activity to be effective. These forces can be classed as societal, legal-political-regulatory, economic, competitive, technological and natural (University of Delaware, no date). The response of the firms to each of these forces will strongly influence the way the firm markets its product. Bathurst Carbon Cutters has in its concept understood and utilized the principle of marketing based on response to environmental cues.

For example, the name "Carbon Cutters," which is a core element of the branding aspect of marketing communication, conveys a benefit to the user that resonates with many consumers today. Microeconomics explains this benefit in terms of utility -- the value the consumer derives from the product, not all of which is directly tied to the product itself. In this case, BCC is selling a mode of transportation but the name implies a reduction of carbon pollution. This appeals to a target market that views pollution as a negative impact that it has on the world and that it should work to reduce. The company chose the name because it believes there are enough people that will respond positively to this message to make the business profitable.

The legal-political-regulatory environment reflects the ways in which the laws of the land govern marketing activity. Typically, the framework provided by these laws is easy for marketers to work within, though that is not always the case. For example, BCC relies on the ability to legally install unused bikes around the Bathurst CBD and University area. Without the legal ability to do this, the city would remove the bikes and the business model would have failed before it began.

Economic forces also can impact on the marketing strategy employed by a firm. For example, Bathurst Carbon Cutters can increase its market during times of high gas prices by focusing its message on cost control. Rising student tuition fees can help BCC to increase its market among students, who may no longer be able to afford to drive.

Competitive forces will shape marketing in a number of ways. There are roughly four types of competition -- perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition. BCC may be the only shared bicycle company in Bathurst, but its strategy clearly indicates that it is positioned against other forms of transportation -- the name Carbon Cutters directly juxtaposes the company against automotive transport. The intensity of competition will be determined by market forces and can dictate strategy -- for example highly intense competition will be correlated with lower prices.

Technological forces often act to influence other forces. For example, the use of card keys may convince more consumers to adopt BCC's service because it streamlines payment at the point of purchase rather than over the Internet, which leaves a separation between payment and enjoyment. There are other technological factors that can arise as well. For example, more efficient engines could defray some of the cost benefits that BCC delivers, requiring the company to focus on other attributes of the service.

Natural forces can also have a direct impact -- the better the weather in Bathurst, the more business BCC is likely to receive. Salt on the roads in winter may result in rust to bicycles left on the street as well. For any outdoors activity, natural forces can have a significant impact on the marketing strategy -- selling the fun of bike riding in January may ring just as hollow to consumers in January as it resonates with them in July.

Overall, the strategies already employed by BCC are reflected it its existing marketing strategies. The company has already made use of a beneficial legal/political environment that facilitates its distribution strategy. The company in its branding is leveraging the current social environment, and has the option to also focus on the economic environment should it choose to do so. These various forces will continue to act on the company, and the company's future and ongoing success will be dependent on whether or not it can respond to the changes in its environment. This will require marketing efforts, as convincing consumers to adopt ones product and then remain customers is a challenge, and it should not be taken as a given that the product will be adopted simply because it exists. Certainly, a product that requires people to change their habits is something that must be marketed effectively if the business is to survive.

Ethics

Management of BCC is concerned about the environmental impact of marketing its service. Issues of ethics and corporate responsibility have been incorporated into marketing thought already. Marketing ethics is defined as addressing the ethical questions and misunderstandings that arise from the marketing activity (Brenkert, 2008).

First and foremost, the environmental impacts of encouraging people to use bicycles cannot be met if nobody adopts the service. It must, therefore, be marketed in order for it to be effective and the company needs to determine the best means by which that can be achieved, in terms of marketing success, cost effectiveness and also in terms of eco-friendliness. Radio or television ads utilize existing channels, as do online ads. Although there remain environmental costs in all cases, these costs are likely to be lower than if print advertising is used. There is also an ethical cost to not marketing -- the reduced number of BCC consumers equates to a certain additional number of automobile trips in the area each year.

Corporate responsibility in marketing is tied in to ethics, but asks that management consider all shareholders. In this case, not marketing BCC would have a negative impact on potential users, the environment, and the company's owners, who would lose their investment. Potential future employees would also not see the benefits of BCC's continued existence. Management must focus on striking the best balance of meeting the needs of all stakeholders. At present, their concerns about the environment seem to indicate concern for only one stakeholder.

There are few laws that will impact the marketing of BCC. It remains important, however, that the company does not violate any of the prevailing laws with respect to marketing. Laws concerning false advertising and intellectual property (especially trademark) violations must be paid due attention when developing the marketing strategy. At present, BCC seems to be well clear of any laws on these subjects, but they are worth acquiring knowledge of nevertheless.