Marketing

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct research related to how a specific company utilizes information related to consumer behavior, product mix or service processes, and pricing to create marketing plans that will meet business needs including their specified marketing objectives.

Review:

Review the following topic materials.

Topic 3: “Consumer Purchasing Decisions”

Topic 4: “What Is a Product?” “What Is a Service,” and “Service Delivery”

Topic 5: “Pricing and Breakeven Analysis”

Part 1:

Continuing in the role of a marketing professional who has been tasked with completing a marketing plan for a client, refer back to the research you completed in the Topic 2 Part 1: Research as a starting point for the assignment. Conduct additional research related to consumer behavior, the company’s specific product or service, and the company pricing strategy, and use it to complete the “Marketing Plan Analysis and Presentation: Part 2 – Research Template.”

Part 2:

Create a 15-20 slide PowerPoint presentation that summarizes your marketing plan analysis based upon the research you have conducted. Slides should address each of the key areas listed below and should include speaker notes that explain how the company could have used what it learned about consumer behavior, product or service, and pricing to help it develop a marketing plan in order to meet the company marketing objectives and business needs. Include a slide at the end of the presentation to cite your research sources.

Company Background:

Company name, vision, and mission.
Company marketing objectives.
Consumer Behavior:

Describe the customer segments and target markets.
Describe characteristics of the target markets that will affect product/service and pricing decisions.
Describe how the company differentiates its product and positions its brand.
Describe a consumer buying behavior model for this company and brand.
Product or Service:

Describe the product mix.
Describe the product lines.
Describe the service processes.
Discuss physical evidence of service, service scape, and ambiance.
Discuss the roles of company employees in service delivery.
Price:

Define the company’s pricing objectives and discuss whether the objectives are profit- or sales-oriented.
Provide example of current company pricing strategies.
Describe pricing tactics (discounts, etc.) that are used to drive short-term demand.
General Requirements:

Refer to the resource, “Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations,” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style.

Submit the “Marketing Plan Analysis and Presentation: Part 2 – Research Template” and PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Benchmark Information

This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies:

BS Accounting; BS Business Administration; BS Business Analytics; BS Business Information Systems; BS Business Management; BS Entrepreneurial Studies; BS Finance; BS Finance and Economics; BS Hospitality Management; BS Marketing and Advertising; BS Sports Management; BS Supply Chain and Logistics Management

2.1: Demonstrate appropriate research strategies for acquiring information necessary to meet specific business needs.

ANSWER

Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that runs a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores, and discount apartments. The company which first opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 has opened thousands of stores within the United States and globally. In 1972, Walmart developed nationally and became one of the publically traded firms, and was then recorded on the New York Stock Exchange (Gupta, 2018). Through its expansion model, Walmart has been able to bring the right store formats and improved its value to the communities around the world. Walmart was established to save people’s money as well as assist them in living a better life. Sam Walton’s strategy was developed on the unshakable foundation which focuses on the lowest price at any time. Walmart has served its customers the way they want to be served through e-commerce and retail stores to be more effective than other retail stores.

The vision of Walmart is to be the point for consumers to save money despite what they need to purchase. Walmart changed its business vision from being the best retailer in the minds and hearts of consumers to the destination for consumers to save money (Neebe, 2020). This has reflected its strategic changes in its operations. The mission of Walmart is to save consumers money so that they have a better life. Based on this mission it is clear that Walmart’s business strategies involve low pricing to attract the target clients (Neebe, 2020). For instance, customers save money since they spend less on buying items.

The marketing objectives are considered as the brand goals. They outline what the marketing team wants and offer a clear direction for the team members since it is pivotal for the marketing strategy. The marketing objective for Walmart includes improving the type of products, improving the price, and ensuring access to their products along with their wide consumer base in their stores (Mun and Yazdanifard, 2012). Walmart has attempted to focus on customer satisfaction as well as making sure the demand for their products remains high. Walmart has also focused on merchandising and advertising to attract consumers.

Market segmentation is the technique of diving the target market into small defined categories of customers that have similar characteristics such as interests, demographics, location, and needs. Walmart’s targeting, segmentation, and position are the main focus in its strategic marketing. Walmart spans a range of age groups which are defined differently by their geography, gender, purchasing power, incomes, and demographics (Berkhout, 2015). Based on the people that shop at Walmart every day, a large percentage are not wealthy individuals and but middle-class consumers. Walmart shoppers like to visit the shop more frequently and tend to stock up for more items. Most of the consumers are low-income individuals who focus on price while making buying decisions. The customers focus on the negotiating terms, the features of the product, and the agreements. The shoppers focus on the value of the product and its unique features. Walmart shoppers also focus on marketing strategies and messages to understand how much they serve the needs of the customers.

Walmart relies on mono-segment where the company appeals to a single consumer segment that offers great value on the price attribute of the items offered as compared to other attributes. Walmart market segmentation is done on age, density, region, social class, lifestyle, and income. Walmart tends to reach out to middle and low class in the society who struggle to meet their needs (Gupta, 2018). Walmart offers a variety of products that range in almost every category. These include groceries, hardware, electronic appliances, furniture, health, and wellness goods.

Pricing objectives are considered as the goals that are used to guide a business in setting the price of a product to their potential customers (Alon, Jaffe, Prange, and Vianelli, 2020). Ideally, Walmart relies on the price to over its pay expenses, cost from suppliers, and increase their profit margin. Therefore, Walmart relies on a low pricing strategy whose main objective is to: attract and retain a large number of consumers, gain high sales volume, remain a profitable business, and remain competitive in the retail market (Kostelijk and Alsem, 2020). Walmart has to consider these factors while pricing a product since pricing objectives are chosen with financial and business goals in mind.

Mun, L. Y., & Yazdanifard, R. (2012). Walmart’s success in Mexico, Canada, and China: global expansion, strategies, entry modes, threats, and opportunities.

Gupta, A. K. (2018). Walmart: a roadmap for globalization. The Business & Management Collection.

Kostelijk, E., & Alsem, K. J. (2020). Brand positioning: Connecting marketing strategy and communications. Routledge.

Alon, I., Jaffe, E., Prange, C., & Vianelli, D. (2020). Global Marketing: Strategy, Practice, and Cases. Routledge.

Berkhout, C. (2015). Retail marketing strategy: Delivering shopper delight. Kogan Page Publishers.

Neebe, K. (2020). Sustainability at Walmart: Success over the Long Haul. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 32(2), 64-71.