Chapter 2 Human Resource Planning & Strategy · apparently quite irrational. ... technology allow...

Ibrahim Sameer (MBA - Specialized in Finance, B.Com – Specialized in Accounting & Marketing)

INTRODUCTION In respect of marketing, and taking the elements of the

marketing mix in turn, some of the changes we now accept

as being standard are as follows:

Product

There is an ever-increasing choice available for purchase.

Manufacturing is safe and hygienic with high levels of

quality control.

INTRODUCTION Price

Intense competition has led to many prices being

stabilised or reduced.

Price transparency is aided by availability of

information on the internet.

Credit and finance facilities make it easy for

customers to buy.

INTRODUCTION Place

There are numerous outlets for products with fast

deliveries.

Products are available for sale over telephone and

computer links.

Growth in e-commerce and therefore the

disintermediation of organisations, i.e. organisations

selling directly to consumers.

INTRODUCTION Promotion

There is a wider variety of media than in the past.

Communications between companies and customers

are now more open.

One-to-one communication through the internet

and email, and the use of data and databases is

common.

INTRODUCTION People

Companies train their personnel on service aspects.

Customer care is now the norm.

Physical evidence

Retail outlets are more attractive and bright.

INTRODUCTION Processes

Shopping from home is now possible.

Ordering and follow-up systems have been improved.

THE CHANGING MARKETING LANDSCAPE

Information Technology

Advances in technology are allowing companies to

manage huge volumes of information in databases.

The greatest growth has been in the world of e-

commerce, made possible by the development and

almost universal availability of the internet.


Information Technology (cont…)

As everyone knows, the internet is an open system that

enables anyone with a personal computer and internet

access to connect to the worldwide computer network

World Wide Web (WWW).


Information Technology (cont…)

Concerns have been expressed in four areas:

Confidentiality of individual information

consumer protection for those purchasing goods

concern over the difficulty of governments collecting

sales taxes.


Changing Social Roles

The one-time typical family unit of husband, wife and two

or three children is becoming much less common as a

higher divorce rate, later marriage and smaller families

reshape the household unit. Yet this family model still

appears to be the format to strive for and is depicted in

many advertisements for household goods and services.


A New Marketing Landscape?

Consumers' tastes have changed more rapidly than

ever before and it is becoming increasingly difficult to

categorise individuals into neat market segments. An

individual may flit between segments depending upon

a whole range of circumstances –some rational, others

apparently quite irrational.

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Business in general and certainly marketing in

particular has become more and more affected by, and

dependent upon, technology. Furthermore,

technological progress itself is altering and

accelerating. Technology seems to be developing at an

exponential rate that is at an ever-increasing rate.


The rate of development increases because scientists

and technologists can learn from what has happened

in the past, in a sense they are ‘standing on the

shoulders of giants’.


For example, the digital computer was developed in a

laboratory in Manchester University, England and

since then other people have developed the basic

technology into what we can see today.


Suffice it to say at this stage, that advances in

technology are now beginning to basically change the

nature of marketing and other business and

commercial activities.


So much so that many consider that in as little as ten

years the process of marketing will be changed beyond

recognition compared to today. Some experts go so far

as to say that the traditional marketing model or

‘paradigm’ is no longer applicable in the world of the

Internet and that a new model is called for.


Certainly, at the very least, the modern-day marketer

needs to be familiar with the key advances in

technology, which are at this time impacting on the

marketing process. A summary of the reasons for this,

which captures the importance of technological

advances, are listed below:

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT Advances in technology enable the marketing process to be

carried out not only more effectively but also more

efficiently, computer aided questionnaire design for

marketing research is a case in point. The computerisation

of measuring instruments for advertising research is

another good example. Advances in technology allow the

marketing professional to do more things and to do tasks

better.


New technology increasingly facilitates the ease with

which information, so vital to effective marketing

planning and decision-making, can be collected,

analysed and used. Marketing Information Systems

and the ability to ‘tap’ into internal and external

databases has revolutionised the planning process in

marketing in terms of detail and speed.


Data mining and data fusion are techniques, which

allow marketing research professionals to ‘engineer’

information from a wide variety of sources and even

create ‘virtual’ consumer models from such

information.


Competitive success is increasingly based on the

application of advances in technology. If you take

mobile telephones for example, it is no longer enough

to produce a product that is capable of making a

telephone call. Today people want telephones that can

send text messages; answer e-mails play computer

games and a host of other functions.


Developments in business related technology often

contributes to the growth of the international

company and a move towards the global market and

consumer. Smaller firm’s in particular benefit from

Internet based business technologies as it reduces

their size disadvantage.


Electronic commerce has no geographic boundaries; it

is just as easy to interact with consumers in New

Zealand from the UK as it is to interact with

consumers in the next town. Many firms, in order to

both differentiate their products and reduce their costs

are increasingly using computer-based technology.


Just-in-time ordering and stock holding systems saves

firms millions in inventory and logistics costs

compared with the more traditional way of doing

things in the past. Computers have facilitated the use

of these new systems and processes.

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT Some of the developments in business related computer

technology allow the marketer to be much more customer

focused and marketing oriented with, for example, much

faster and flexible responses to customer needs. The use of

database marketing and data mining have improved the

accuracy and efficiency of many marketing operations

particularly marketing communications such as direct

mail.


The examples given above demonstrate that marketing

management must not only be aware of, but

understand, the advances in technology which are

taking place; otherwise they will not be able to do their

job.


Some marketing firms may even contribute to these

changes, for example, Napster.com has pioneered the

marketing of music on the Internet and many other e-

marketing firms are likely to follow its lead in one way

or another.


Amazon.com leads the way in the marketing of books

and compact discs (CD’s) on the Internet and is one of

the most high profile names in the whole of e-

marketing.


Napster.com and Amazon.com are two examples of

how the marketing firms making use of the new

technology are themselves contributing to the

development of the Internet as a main stream

commercial medium.


These companies are rather like Proctor and Gamble

Limited as they were back in the 1950’s and 60’s when

they pioneered many of the fast moving consumer

goods marketing techniques used today, especially in

the field of branding and sales promotions.


Moreover, the marketer must also be aware of, and be

prepared for, future advances in technology. Marketing

is all about staying ahead of the competition. This in

turn means that the marketer must also have the

required skills to use the new technologies of today

and tomorrow to help assist the marketing process.


Similarly, those organisations whose management and

marketers are unaware of, or unable to, use advances in

technology will become increasingly uncompetitive.

The marketing manager of the future will need an

understanding of the use of technology within the

discipline.


He or she may not need to be a technical expert, after

all these are available as staff, but he or she must be

able to appreciate how they can factor in the use of

new technology into all aspects of their marketing

plans and operations.

PRINCIPALS OF SUCCESSFUL INTERNET MARKETING

The increasing growth of the Internet as a commercial

medium is good news for business because it provides

such enormous commercial opportunities. The

Internet offers unique opportunities for companies

and customers to communicate with each other via a

mass medium on a new mediated environment.


Business firms and customers are now in positions to

build relationships with one another effectively and

cost efficiently. They can learn on an individual basis

how to satisfy the needs and wants of their customers

by using Internet technologies.


At the same time, the new medium also challenges

business, because the Web and its relationship

marketing ‘business model’ may conflict with more

established marketing methods.


Using a hypermedia computer mediated environment

(HCME), which is what the Internet and the World

Wide Web actually is, is very different from

conventional marketing media and ways of carrying

out the marketing task.


Firms will need to redefine their businesses in terms of

organisational structure, production, marketing,

communications, sales, after sales services, and overall

strategic planning processes.


Successful web strategies can only be achieved by

embracing the medium proactively and from a

complete organisational point of view. It should be

part of overall and comprehensive corporate strategies

formulated by the top management.


Internet marketing strategies should be integrated

within the entire organisation and it should not be

viewed as simply an additional marketing and

advertising channel. It has opened the immense

opportunities for business people to reach the global

sourcing.


The Internet will be the most cost effective business

place. It is estimated that the amount of shopping

transactions completed on the Internet worldwide in

the year 2001 will be US $1000 billion. It is projected

that there will be over 250 million Internet users by

2005 and one billion users by 2010.


There are also new Internet connection products now

available, and one that connects every home television

to the Internet. It is not very difficult to sell products

and services over the Internet. But what is important

for e-marketing success is:


What is your site and what is in it? Are the contents

correct for the type of business you are running? Is the

amount and type of information on your site correct

and suitable for the type of potential customer you

hope to attract?


How big is your Internet budget and how is your

organisation fit for web traffic? Is your firm taking the

Internet venture seriously and does it have all the necessary

facilities in place to handle both the volume and type of

Internet traffic expected? Do you have support lines and

product return strategies worked out? Are there people

who can answer enquires online or off-line?


What purpose does the Web site have and how do you

justify the Web site? Is the firm clear as to what the

objectives for the Web site are? Is it to provide

information and educate? Is it merely a backup for

other more ‘mainline’ marketing communications

tools such as conventional media advertising?


What value does your Web site add to your customers?

Is it informative, interesting or valuable from an

operational point of view? For example, can your

industrial customers re order their industrial

consumables from your Web site?


What do your Web site customers know about the

Internet? How often do they use the Internet? What

do they want to know from your site, and what

Internet connection do they have?


What goal and objective do you get for your Web site

and who/how are you going to measure, control, and

act on these metrics? How are you going to track

truncations and enquiries etc.? What kind of analysis

are you going to employ in the evaluation process?


How to persuade visitors to return to the site

It is important not only to attract visitors to the site

once, but to make them come back often. That is why

it is necessary to keep Web content up to date and

changed regularly. It should be updated or ‘refreshed’

with information and articles.


Visitors should be given reasons to comeback like

regular articles, newsletters or even a story. It should

be remembered that Web content and Web promotion

is not a onetime affair but an ongoing process to

market and build relationship. Your Web site should

be a place of ‘community atmosphere.’


Internet Web content should have definite project

goals. Internet sites should not be launched due to

internal excitement but as a result of Web site

intention and a corporate marketing plan.

PAST PAPER REVIEW June 2009 / Q 3

(a) Explain why it is necessary for marketing managers to

keep up to date with relevant technological developments.

Illustrate your answer with examples. (13 marks)

(b) Outline the key principles behind successful Internet

marketing. Use specific examples

to illustrate the application of these key principles. (12

marks) (Total 25 marks)

PAST PAPER REVIEW Answer

(a) Refer slides 13 – 34

(b) Refer slides 14 – 52

PAST PAPER REVIEW June 2012

(a) Explain how advances in technology are changing

marketing processes. (8 marks)

(b) Describe how three specific (named) companies

of your choice are using new technology effectively to

market their products. (6 marks) (Total 14 marks)

PAST PAPER REVIEW Answer

(a) Refer slides 13 – 34

(b) Refer slides 14 – 52

Q & A

Date post:	20-May-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	4 times
Download:	0 times

Chapter 2 Human Resource Planning & Strategy · apparently quite irrational. ... technology allow...

Documents