Discuss about the Performance Relationship in Ghanaian Small Businesses.
Marketing strategy is the methodology adopted by any business organization to reach the target market in a bid to “optimally sell their products to the customers” (Asomaning, & Abdulai, 2015, pp.69-86). A Products is likely or not to sell satisfactorily in the market depending on the market strategy adopted by the business organization in question. Marketing strategy creates an image of the goods to be sold to the customers. A well-formulated market strategy impacts the potential customers and therefore more sales by the organization. Effective marketing is key to customers’ encouragement to purchase a commodity. The later sees a company rise beyond the competition levels and therefore increased sales. Customers’ loyalty is a company’s strength; effective marketing strategy keeps the customers purchasing from a given producer according to Baker, M.J., (2014)
A marketing strategy has quite some key elements. They include; the identification of promotional opportunities, marketing opportunities evaluation, objective of the marketing, setting goals, strategies and market tactics, “market research and identification of the target market” (Feng, Morgan, & Rego, 2015, pp.1-20).
Goal setting is one of the major element of strategic marketing strategy. A company should set realistic goals which are achievable within a given captured by West and Ibrahim, (2015). The set goals are the evaluation basis of the company’s progress in the realization of its objectives in the strategic marketing motive. The major goal in formulating and executing a strategic plan is to increase or gain a reliable customer base for the business organization. Moreover, the strategic marketing plan builds the company’s reputation and therefore “win the trust of the customers” (Wei, Samiee & Lee, 2014, pp.49-70).The ultimate goal the strategic marketing plan is to lay a solid foundation for the company and its products to the targeted market. The Apple Inc. company has goals in strategic marketing is to make the potential customers rethink and imagine of their premium gadgets. The company’s strategic marketing is aimed at winning the customer’s interest in the company’s products.
Market research is an effective tool in strategic market planning. The strategist should do a market survey to establish the most sellable products and the probable market for the product. The marketer is bestowed with the responsibility of determining estimated customers to be served to plan for the product production. The researcher should apply different methods of market research to establish what is available in the market and the market niches and hence a business opportunity. Surveys and interviews, as well as observations, are useful methods in conducting a market research for a strategic market survey as pointed out by Sheth and Sisodia, (2015). The Apple Inc. company’s success can be attributed to the intensive market research to establish the customers’ needs. The company has therefore been able to track the changes in demands of electronic gadgets and then manufacturing the goods to the customer specification.
Identification of promotional opportunities in the market is very “essential in the impactful market entry” (Matsuno & Mentzer, 2015, pp. 49-55). A market gap is the best opportunity for any business to venture into a market successfully. A promotional opportunity in the market is a subject of in availability of a given commodity which the company can provide to the potential customers. Giving out promotional goods to potential customers is a good way of publicizing the good to the potential customers. The Apple Inc. company has been giving promotional gadgets to customers randomly. Upon launch of a new device, the company gives out few pieces of the latter to some customers as test samples. By so doing, the company attracts more people to buy its gadgets as argued out by Rachet, B., (2014).
A strategic marketing plan should be done on the deployment of several tactics. A combination of different marketing tactics is more effective in conducting a strategic marketing as stipulated by Rachet, B., (2014). For instance, product promotion is effective in marketing, however, it reaches a limited number of potential customers. Other tactics like sponsoring events are effective because many people view the sporting activities sponsored by companies. The objective of a strategic marketing should also be well known. The latter ensures that the marketer delivers reliable information about the product being marketed.
Identification of the target market is “crucial in the formulation of a marketing plan” (Ozkaya et al., 2015, pp. 447-456). The marketing strategy must be relevant to the targeted group of people. For instance, if the target market for a marketing program is the youth generation, it must be done I way to attract their attention; e.g. Celebrity advertisement. Identification of the target market is key in maintaining the relevance of the product marketing to the right to the right population bracket. The Apple Inc. targets the youthful generation in its strategic marketing strategy according to Ozkaya et al., (2015). Its advertisements of the television and online are characterized by youthful technological enthusiasts who keep on buying every new device on the market.
The Apple Inc. company does a lot of strategic marketing. For instance, the company uses social media like Twitter and Facebook among other leading social media to advertise its products. Moreover, the company does use its official web page to advertise for its products. However, the strategies used by this company to advertise are not popular in some countries, and therefore the company doesn’t make huge sales. For instance, some countries like Pakistan are characterized by low internet penetration, and therefore only a few number of people can get the advertisings digitally. This, therefore, calls for a marketing strategy that uses advertisements like billboards and roadshows to reach them effectively.
Moreover, some generations, like the elderly rarely use the social media platforms. This leaves them with limited chances to see an advertisement by the Apple Inc. The Apple Inc. company should, therefore, ensure that their marketing strategy captures all the age brackets to reach a larger number of people for optimum customer turnout.
Market orientation for any company is “very important in the business venture” (Joseph & Mehta, 2015, pp.76-84). The latter has implications on the company’s profit or loss performance in its operations. The profitability index of a given company is a subject of its customers and their loyalty to buy from the company in question. A good customer base and loyalty to a given company is a subject of the company’s culture orientation and the nature of the target market. There are three major market orientations which include; customer orientation, competitor orientation and the interfunctional coordination.
The Apple Inc. company manufactures electronics, and it’s one of the “most successful company in this venture” (Matsuno & Mentzer, 2015, pp. 49-55). The Apple Inc. company is market orientated in that it does extensive market research to establish the type of product the customers prefer and hence manufacture it. The company’s global targets and the wide customer base give their feedback on the specification they prefer on their phones. This company is customer oriented in its nature of doing business.
The Apple Inc. customer orientation is evident from its venture into the electronics manufacture in 1976 when it produced its first product; the Apple 1. Through market research, the company had spotted a gap in technological demand in the market and therefore venture into the business. From then, the company has grown to a technological giant worth “billions of dollars in the stock exchange markets” (Patel et al., 2016, pp.650-660). Demand for the Apple’s products has been high for quite some years because the company keeps track of its customers regarding consumer behavior and release products to the market based on the tends in customer demands.
Moreover, the Apple Inc. key driver to its success is the “customer satisfaction” (Patel et al., 2016, pp.650-660). A customer oriented business organization aims at satisfying the customer first. The company manufactures a fairly wide range of products for customers which include; iPhone, iPads, Macintosh Computers, iPod among other consumer products. The company makes sure its customers are satisfied by keeping the production trend on the move characterized by innovation. The company produces advanced models of the existing brands yearly and therefore quench the demand for new and improved devices in functionality.
The Apple Inc. is competitor-oriented in its operation to maintain its customers and “profitability in the competitive market” (Bendle & Vandenbosch, 2014, pp.781-795). The main competitor to the Apple Inc. is Samsung Electronics Company. The Apple Inc. has maintained a competitive advantage other this giant competitor by maintained technological advancements and innovation in the manufacture of new electronic gadgets as stated by Lewrick et al. (2015). Innovativeness is key to competition for customers; customers always buy the good whose price is best at that given quality.
The Apple Inc. company, under the leadership of Tim Cook, is organized in a way that it can respond to market changes within a “short time and effectively” (Patel et al., 2016, pp.650-660). Moreover, the company is administered into different operational units specialized in the manufacture of specified gadgets. The latter is key to effective business organization and productivity. Interfunctional coordination has enabled the Apple Inc. to manufacture the required electronics within the shortest time possible and therefore meet the customer demands.
The Apple Inc. has a large customer base compared to most of its competitors, however, for continued success, it needs to be more market-oriented business operations. The Apple Inc. is not product oriented because it doesn’t put much emphasis on the cost of the final product upon manufacture. The Apple Inc. company’s products are presumed expensive, and therefore the company misses out in the middle-class customers as they cannot afford the Apple’s products.
The number of middle-class earners who would have bought Apple’s products are many but, unfortunately, the company doesn’t manufacture middle range gadgets. It’s recommendable for the Apple Inc. to start manufacturing middle range price gadgets and tame the millions of people who live to admire the Apple’s magnificent craftsmanship but cannot afford. The latter is a double-edged sword as; apart from attracting the middle-class earners, it will be a competitor oriented strategy against the Apple’s competitor like Samsung, which does produce the middle ranger gadgets.
Conclusion
Conclusively, marketing strategy is the key drive to winning the customers’ trust on a product. An effective marketing strategy must capture the main elements of a strategic market plan in its formulation which include market research and identification of the target market among others. The business organization management is bestowed with the ultimate responsibility of formulation of impactful marketing strategy for the business organization. Moreover, the market orientation is critical to the success of business in its operations. Customer orientation, competitor orientation, and Interfunctional coordination are of important consideration in a business venture. Keen observation of the latter is a fruitful technique of business entry and sustainability in the competitive environment.
References
Asomaning, R. and Abdulai, A., 2015. An Empirical Evidence of the Market Orientation–Market Performance Relationship in Ghanaian Small Businesses. Educational Research International, 4(2), pp.69-86.
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bendle, N. and Vandenbosch, M., 2014. Competitor orientation and the evolution of business markets. Marketing Science, 33(6), pp.781-795.
Feng, H., Morgan, N.A. and Rego, L.L., 2015. Marketing department power and firm performance. Journal of Marketing, 79(5), pp.1-20.
Ferrell, O.C. and Hartline, M., 2012. Marketing strategy, text and cases. Nelson Education.
Gummesson, E., Kuusela, H. and Närvänen, E., 2014. Reinventing marketing strategy by recasting supplier/customer roles. Journal of Service Management, 25(2), pp.228-240.
Joseph, D. and Mehta, B., 2015. Market orientation and internal marketing. International Journal in Management & Social Science, 3(3), pp.76-84.
Lengler, J.F., Sousa, C.M. and Marques, C., 2013. Exploring the linear and quadratic effects of customer and competitor orientation on export performance. International Marketing Review, 30(5), pp.440-468.
Lewrick, M., Williams, R., Maktoba, O., Tjandra, N. and Lee, Z.C., 2015. Radical and incremental innovation effectiveness in relation to market orientation in the retail industry: triggers, drivers, and supporters. Successful Technological Integration for Competitve Advantage in Retail Settings, IGI Global, pp.239-268.
Matsuno, K. and Mentzer, J.T., 2015. Market orientation: Reconciliation of two conceptualizations. In Proceedings of the 1995 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 49-55). Springer International Publishing.
Ozkaya, H.E., Hult, G.T.M., Calantone, R. and Droge, C., 2015. Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing and Innovation Competence: Does Orientation Matter?. In Ideas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old (pp. 447-456). Springer International Publishing.
Patel, V.K., Manley, S.C., Hair, J.F., Ferrell, O.C. and Pieper, T.M., 2016. Is stakeholder orientation relevant for European firms?. European Management Journal, 34(6), pp.650-660.
Rachet, B., 2014. Swot Analysis of Apple Inc. Docs. school Publications.
Sheth, J.N. and Sisodia, R.S., 2015. Does marketing need reform?: Fresh perspectives on the future. Routledge.
Wei, Y.S., Samiee, S. and Lee, R.P., 2014. The influence of organic organizational cultures, market responsiveness, and product strategy on firm performance in an emerging market. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 42(1), pp.49-70.
West, D., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press.
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