MARKETING - FINAL CHAPTER PROBLEMS Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MARKETING - FINAL CHAPTER PROBLEMS - Article Example In this case, Eric (2010) showcases constructs of relationship marketing as it identifies with health care customers and practitioners. With regards to the website refreshing after every ten minutes to keep track of appointments, it is a strategy that aims at developing long-term, cost-effective link for a mutual benefit between the organization and the customer. While focusing on the relationship marketing, organizations shift their focus from individual transactions such as convincing a customer to make use of the clinic services, â€Å"to a long-term loyalty – identifying the institution as a regular health care provider† (Eric, 2010). Customers require high-quality services and retaining a customer requires strategy. Delayed, canceled, or unplanned appointment visits are areas that have, for a long time, been haunting customers and health care institutions as the result of these variables is loss of customers or flawed customer service. However, the invention of a s ervice that enables tracking, observation, and keeping of appointments adapts the contemporary notion of shifting from the individual transaction (patient visit, referral, and sale) to the establishment of a longer-term relationship. The refreshing website is a marketing tool that specifically addresses customer satisfaction, service quality, time and resource management, and accomplishment of customer retention (Eric, 2010). Question 2: Chapter 8 â€Å"I’ve sold products all my life and have been successful. Marketing a food product is no different from marketing a hotel, airline, or hospital.† The above point is naive in all aspects. Firstly, marketing is a process through which a seller of a product or provider of a service uses promotional means and integrated marketing communication to convince customers into buying or using a product or a service. As pointed by the above quotation, the term sold is past tense for sell and means the ability to complete a single tr ansaction by offering a product or service in exchange for money. The naivety of the above point starts with the confusion of selling and marketing. In addition, neither marketing nor selling is a skill (with regards to the question posed, the board expects understanding of selling and marketing concepts but the interviewee portrays selling as an event based on sheer luck) and neither can be measured through the consideration of periodic success. Moving on to the second part of the quotation; products differ from one another and comparing food products to hotels, airlines, or an hospital shows a high degree of naivety. Food products are mostly sold in food shops, restaurants, and/or grocery stores and capturing a market for these products depends on fewer variables than providing services in the health care sector (Berkowitz, 2010). Food products appeal to various people all the time and this industry does not necessarily require loyalty like the health care sector. Health care prod ucts depend on variables such as product positioning (drugs, machines), branding (machines, e.g. in radiology), and diffusion of innovation (rate of adoption of a product). Diffusion of innovation is determined by relative advantage (advantage of new product over existing ones), compatibility (compatibility with existing values and customs creates adoptability), complexity (affects adoption of products), divisibility (trial on a limited basis), and communicability (easy communication of benefits). Reflecting on the

The Strength of Harley Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Strength of Harley Company - Essay Example SWOT Analysis; is another framework that can be used in external analysis and it looks at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the market. These factors are used for determining the growth or decline of the market, the position of the business, direction, and potential for operations. The strength of Harley Company included customer loyalty and good reputation that they enjoyed in the local market, the dominance of super heavyweight motorcycle segment, state of art technological equipment for production, excellent workforce due to good treatment of employees and good strategies and organizational leadership. And the main threat was competition which was very stiff in the motorcycle market as well as an entrant of cheap products into the market. This analysis shows that Harley was in a greater position of making use of its opportunities and strengths to create strategies that would help it improve sales and gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. The creation of Harley Owners Group further saw an improved and close relationship between the company and the consumers because they were involved in social and charity events in the community. This delivered an atmosphere and the kind of emotions where the consumers felt an experience like they had never felt before linking with the Harley-Davidson Company. This help the company improved its sales and gain customer loyalty as well as competitive advantage in the market. Traditionally the majority of Harley consumers were blue-collar men aged the 20s and 30s but the demographic profile shifted and in 2002 the age group rose up from 30s to 40s. The company also recorded a 9% increase in female consumers down from 2 percent in 1987. The introduction of baby boomers into the market also improved their sales and as the prices rose up, the middle-aged professionals became the demographic targets and as they were the most attractive for the company.