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3. The Marketing Environment. ROAD MAP: Previewing the Concepts. Describe the environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers. Explain how changes in the demographic and economic environments affect marketing decisions.
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3 The Marketing Environment
ROAD MAP: Previewing the Concepts • Describe the environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers. • Explain how changes in the demographic and economic environments affect marketing decisions. • Identify the major trends in the firm’s natural and technological environments. • Explain the key changes in the political and cultural environments. • Discuss how companies can react to the marketing environment.
Marketing Environment • The marketing environment consists of actors and forces outside the organization that affect management’s ability to build and maintain relationships with target customers. • Environment offers both opportunities and threats. • Marketing intelligence and research used to collect information about the environment.
Marketing Environment • Includes: • Microenvironment: actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers. • Macroenvironment: larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment. • Considered to be beyond the control of the organization.
The Company’s Microenvironment • Company’s Internal Environment: • Areas inside a company. • Affects the marketing department’s planning strategies. • All departments must “think consumer” and work together to provide superior customer value and satisfaction.
The Company’s Microenvironment • Suppliers: • Provide resources needed to produce goods and services. • Important link in the “value delivery system.” • Most marketers treat suppliers like partners.
The Company’s Microenvironment • Marketing Intermediaries: • Help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers • Resellers • Physical distribution firms • Marketing services agencies • Financial intermediaries
Partnering With Intermediaries Coca-Cola provides Wendy’s with much more than just soft drinks. It also pledges powerful marketing support.
The Company’s Microenvironment • Customers: • Five types of markets that purchase a company’s goods and services
The Company’s Microenvironment • Competitors: • Those who serve a target market with products and services that are viewed by consumers as being reasonable substitutes • Company must gain strategic advantage against these organizations • Publics: • Group that has an interest in or impact on an organization's ability to achieve its objectives
The Macroenvironment • The company and all of the other actors operate in a larger macroenvironment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company.
The Company’s Macroenvironment • Demographic: • The study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. • Marketers track changing age and family structures, geographic population shifts, educational characteristics, and population diversity.
Baby Boomers • 78 million born between 1946 and 1964 • Account for 28% of population • Earn more than half of all personal income • Almost 25% belong to racial or ethnic minority • Spend a lot on anti-aging products and services • Are likely to postpone retirement
Generation X • 45 million born between 1965 and 1976 • Defined by their shared experiences • Increasing divorce rates • More of their mothers employed • First generation of latchkey kids • Cynical of frivolous marketing pitches • Care about the environment • Prize experience, not acquisition
Generation Y • 72 million born between 1977 and 1994 • Have large amount of disposable income • Comfortable with computer technology • Tend to be impatient and “Now-Oriented” • Many product lines targeted at Gen Ys
Interactive Student Assignment • Pair with another student to discuss the following questions: • In what ways does the buying behavior of you and your parents differ? • In what ways does the buying behavior of you and your grandparents differ? • What selling strategies would work best for: • You • Your parents • Your grandparents
Changing American Family • Household makeup: • Married couples with children = 34%, and falling • Married couples and people living with other relatives = 22% • Single parents = 12% • Single persons and adult “live-togethers” = 32%
The Changing American Family Non-family households—single live-alones or adult live-togethers of one or both sexes—make up a full 32 percent of U.S. households. Today’s marketers must incorporate “the likes of Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, and Will and Grace into their business plans.”
Geographic Shifts in Population • 16% of U.S. residents move each year • General shift toward the Sunbelt states • City to suburb migration continues • More people moving to “micropolitan” areas • More people telecommute
Better Educated Population • 1980: • 69% of people over age 25 completed high school • 17% had completed college • 2002: • 84% of people over age 25 completed high school • 27% had completed college • Currently, ⅔ of high school grads start college
More White-Collar Population • 1950 – 1985: • Proportion of white-collar workers increased from 41% to 54% • Proportion of blue-collar workers decreased from 47% to 33% • Proportion of service workers increased from 12% to 14% • 1983 – 1999: • Proportion of managers and professionals increased from 23% to >30%
Increasing Diversity • U.S. is a “salad bowl” • Various groups mixed together, each retaining its ethnic and cultural differences • Increased marketing to: • Gay and lesbian consumers • People with disabilities • www.peapod.com
Diversity-Based Advertising Based on careful study of cultural differences, Bank of America has developed targeted advertising messages for different cultural subgroups, here Asians and Hispanics.
Changes in Income 1980’s – consumption frenzy 1990’s – “squeezed consumer” 2000’s – value marketing Income Distribution Upper class Middle class Working class Underclass Economic Environment Consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns.
Income Distribution Walt Disney markets two distinct Pooh bears to match its two-tiered market.
Natural Environment • Involves the natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities.
Factors Impacting the Natural Environment Shortages of Raw Materials Increased Pollution Increased Government Intervention Environmentally Sustainable Strategies
Environmental Responsibility McDonald’s has made a substantial commitment to the so-called “green movement.”
Technological Environment • Most dramatic force now shaping our destiny.
Technological Environment • Changes rapidly. • Creates new markets and opportunities. • Challenge is to make practical, affordable products. • Safety regulations result in higher research costs and longer time between conceptualization and introduction of product.
Discussion Questions • Within the last ten years, which technological force has had the greatest impact on marketing? In what areas of marketing has this impact been seen? • What technological force has impacted you the most? In what ways has this occurred?
Political Environment Includes Laws, Government Agencies, and Pressure Groups that Influence or Limit Various Organizations and Individuals In a Given Society. Increasing Legislation Changing Government Agency Enforcement Increased Emphasis on Ethics & Socially Responsible Actions Cause-Related Marketing
Cause-Related Marketing KitchenAid donates $50 to breast cancer research for every pink mixer it sells and encourages consumers to host a “Cook for the Cure” dinner party.
Cultural Environment • The institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preference, and behaviors.
Cultural Environment • Core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to children and are reinforced by schools, churches, business, and government. • Secondary beliefs and values are more open to change.
Cultural Environment • Yankelovich Monitor has identified eight major consumer value themes: • Paradox • Trust not • Go it alone • Smarts really count • No sacrifices • Stress hard to beat • Reciprocity is the way to go • Me 2 • www.yankelovich.com
Themselves Others Society’s Major Cultural Views Are Expressed in People’s Views of: Organizations Society Nature The Universe Cultural Environment
Responding to the Marketing Environment • Environmental Management Perspective • Taking a proactive approach to managing the environment by taking aggressive (rather than reactive) actions to affect the publics and forces in the marketing environment. • This can be done by: • Hiring lobbyists • Running “advertorials” • Pressing lawsuits • Filing complaints • Forming agreements to control channels
Rest Stop: Reviewing the Concepts • Describe the environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers. • Explain how changes in the demographic and economic environments affect marketing decisions. • Identify the major trends in the firm’s natural and technological environments. • Explain the key changes in the political and cultural environments. • Discuss how companies can react to the marketing environment.