4.1+The+role+of+marketing


 * What is Marketing? **
 * Marketing is the identification and anticipation of (future) needs of consumers and the meeting of these needs in a profitable manner. **

Introductory student activity: Consider a good or service that you have purchased in the last month. It may be a favourite item or it may be any product you have bought. You will be asked to make a short presentation/speech to the other members of the group on this good or service.


 * Describe the product and give the brand name under which the good was sold.


 * Use the following points as a paragraph-by-paragraph outline. Answer the questions in continuous prose.


 * Where did you buy it? Could you have purchased it at an alternative location? Could you have purchased it in a completely different way (e.g. mail order as opposed to a shop)? If alternatives were available why did you choose the method that you did?


 * What did you pay for it? Was it a high-priced product or a low-priced product? Did the price attract you e.g. was it a “bargain”. Would you have been put off if the price had been significantly higher or lower? Explain why.


 * How did you know about the product’s existence? What persuaded you to buy this product? What persuaded you to buy this product as opposed to a similar good produced by a competitor?


 * Describe the product. You might wish to consider the packaging of the product (would you have purchased it if it had been packaged in a different way?). You might wish to consider the colour of the product, the quality (or lack of it) of the product or its functional purpose. What use did you have for this product?

Plenary Notes on Introduction to marketing

media type="custom" key="19278858" From the notes above, what is the difference between a product orientated firm and a marketing orientated firm?

What is a Market? Simply it is where there are buyers and sellers; consumers and producers. Some markets are big and some are small. The key learning outcome here is for you to be able to identify the characteristic of the market that the firm is in. Specifically how do you measure the size of the market, market growth and market share (Click here)?

Marketing and the Mobile phone market

This is an exciting and fast changing market, one where marketing is essential for success. In groups you will each be given a separate section to study. Use the textbooks and your teacher for help if you don't understand a specific term, but undertake the research on your own:


 * 1) What is the market for mobile phones in terms of number of phones sold and also the also the value of the market. How is it geographically dispersed and who buys these phones (Think about the distinction between business and private users, demographics etc).
 * 2) Trace the history of mobile phone usage- when did they first start to be used and how has the market grown over the last few years. What are the main factors affecting the growth of the market?
 * 3) Market share of the mobile manufacturers
 * 4) What are mobile phones used for, and what are the main factors affecting consumer choice?
 * 5) Trace the history of Nokia phones. Account for the success and subsequent decline in Nokia's market share.

Once you have undertaken the research you will be required to "teach" the topics to the other groups. Finally: Do you think Nokia failed because it was too product orientated and not market orientated. Explain this distinction in your notes.