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Marketing is defined as a social and managerial process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through
Marketing is defined as a social and managerial process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through
Principles of strategic marketing management
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Kudler Fine Foods and Market Research
Introduction
The definition of marketing as stated by the American Marketing Association is that: “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” (marketingpower.com, 2008) Marketing is not a choice but yet an essential part of any business. Kudler Fine Foods is a local upscale specialty food store located in the San Diego metropolitan area. The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). Each store has a large amount of retail space located in a stylish shopping center. The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported produce (phoenix.edu, 2008). Kudler Fine Foods has decided to explore new options to which they might offer to their customers. This paper will first justify the importance of marketing research in the development of Kudler Fine Food’s marketing strategy and tactics. Next the paper will explain Identify the areas where additional market research is needed.
Market Research
Market research is very similar to the nine-step problem solving model. Market research in most cases will always lead to some type of change. Market research helps to study the marketing changes an organization needs to accomplish. According Perreault and McCarthy (2005) marketing research is defined as “procedures to develop and analyze new information to help marketing managers make decisions.” Market research is the process of systematically gathering, recording and analyzing data and information about clients, rivals and the market. Its uses include helping create long term business plans, launching new products or services, fine tune existing products and services, and expanding into new markets. Market research can be used to determine which portion of the population will purchase a product/service, based on variables like age, gender, location and income level (wikipedia.com, 2008). Based on these definitions, understanding a market research plan is essential to Kudler Fine Foods to promote any types of special promotions they may run, and to reach out to their public the authenticity and quality value of their merchandise and produce.
Some of the marketing campaigns Kudler Fine Foods have already run will be described below. One of the most popular marketing operations was directed towards expanding services and increasing revenue. Kudler decided to start throwing in-house parties to teach customers how to prepare specific international foods.
Kudler Fine Foods is a store unlike any in the grocery industry. Kudler Fine Foods represents a store that could possibly spark a new era within the grocery world. The owner of Kudler Fine Foods, Kathy Kudler, has watched her dream of owning and operating a grocery store that specializes in fine quality food grow within a short period of time. The success of Kudler Fine Foods can be attributed to the innovative ideas, effective leadership, and organizational structure. The overall mission of Kudler Fine Food's "is to provide our customers the finest in selected foodstuffs, wines, and related needs in an unparallel consumer environment. Our selections coupled with our experienced, helpful and knowledgeable staff, merge to offer each customer a delightful and pleasing shopping outing" (Apollo Group, 2003). Kudler has managed to maintain its mission statement by providing its customers with the best and as a result the company has flourished. "Kathy considers one of her key responsibilities to be that of identification of new gourmet items that can be offered in her stores (Apollo Group, 2003)." Therefore, Kathy is considering plans to contract with local growers of organic produce to yet obtain the best in quality products for her consumers and take her business to the next step. If Kathy makes the decision to contract with local growers then changes could be introduced into the company's overall structural organization. Each aspect of Kudler Fine Food's organizational structure from basic business process to the supply chain and quality control process will be affected by the formation of a contractual relationship with local organic growers.
The process of market research is assembling information, analyzing its value, and interpreting market information about products or services to be presented for sale in a particular market (McDaniel & Gates, 2006). Market research is also about historical, current and future customers for the product or service being researched. Market research as stated by McDaniel and Gates, (2006) is a combination of characteristics, spending trends, position and the needs of the firm’s target market, the industry the firm is working in, and the firms competitors.
Marketing research has become a very important part of small businesses and large corporations gaining information about their customers and how they feel about their products and services. According to Philip Kotler, "Marketing research is systematic problem analysis, model building and fact-finding for the purpose of improved decision-king and control in the marketing of goods and services (Kotler & Keller, 2012)”. The initial step in the marketing process is to identify the problem the company is having and then decide the way the marketing team would like to conduct the research. The marketing team will devise a plan on how to gather the information and set a budget for the research project. In the planning of how they will conduct the
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: an introduction. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2013. Print.
“If you live in a free market and a free society, shouldn’t you have the right to know what you’re buying? It’s shocking that we don’t and it’s shocking how much is kept from us” (Kenner). For years, the American public has been in the dark about the conditions under which the meat on their plate was produced. The movie, Food Inc. uncovers the harsh truths about the food industry. This shows that muckraking is still an effective means of creating change as shown by Robert Kenner’s movie, Food Inc. and the reforms to the food industry that followed its release.
Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. F. (2009). Strategic marketing (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Company.
Mondelez International Inc. is a global snacking powerhouse with 2012 revenue of $35billion. ("Mondelez international reports," 2013) Mondelez International Inc. is selling its products in 165 countries, and it is a leader in the world in selling candy, coffee, chocolate, biscuits, etc, with brands such as Milka Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury, LU, Jacobs coffee, Oreo biscuits and Nabisco, Trident Gum and Tang. ("Mondelez international reports," 2013)
Marketing is not just about selling and advertising products and services. In general, marketing is associated with identifying the particular wants and needs of a target market of customers, and then working to satisfy those customers better than the competition. This involves doing market research on customers, analyzing their needs, and then making strategic decisions about product design, pricing, promotion and distribution or place (Bethel, 2007). Understanding ways to identify the target market is crucial in developing market strategy. This paper is intended to define target marketing and examine a market analysis of Stacy's Pita Chip Company.
Etzel, Michael J., Stanton, Bruce J., Stanton, William J. (2004). Marketing. (13th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
We have come to the phase that allows Team A to apply the research tools and implement a market research plan. Team A will review various marketing research tools that are available for researchers to use such as secondary research, secondary on-line research, exploratory research, nondirective interviews, and the Likert scale. Our secondary research is showing that consumers are demanding healthier menu options. This market research implementation plan will develop several market research tools; including questionnaires’ and the Likert scale to verify if McDonald’s consumers genuinely want and will purchase healthier menu items.
Briefly it is a systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company, allows management to make the changes necessary for better results through adopting a proactive approach. Therefore, if a company wants to know what type of products or services would be profitable it should make a market research. Furthermore, a comprehensive research will enable the company to know about the product imperfections (if there are) and to know if it has been able to satisfy customers’ needs. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. Due to market research the company can formulate a viable marketing plan and estimate the success of its existing plan. There are two main sources of marketing research information:
Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. F. (2009). Strategic marketing (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Located within the Appendix are the mind maps and action plans that I have produced to help me follow the principles of marketing in investigating. launching, and selling liqueur ice creams. Marketing and marketing research affects the choice of the marketing. strategy used because it is the results that the marketing research has produced that will guide me as to what is the best way in which to get the product onto and make it a success in the marketplace. Also so that we can ascertain the best marketing mix that would apply to the product to be launched.
...cular market. Companies that conduct market research normally save a lot of money by understanding what type of product or service is needed, other than entering the market blindly without knowing what to expect.
The premise behind marketing research helps provide a company’s decision makers the information intelligence needed to make daily decisions (McDaniel & Gates, 2006). The data obtained gives insight to the performance of the current marketing mix while also providing insights to potential changes to future programs (McDaniel & Gates, 2006). Marketing research is a key driver to help define new ideas and initiatives that could improve company or product performance.