Week 5

This week we discussed customer analysis. This is a very important portion of the marketing process. In order to effectively market your company you must first understand who your customers are and what they are looking for.

One issue that came up was the topic of emotional and psychological benefits of products to customers. In this discussion we talked about brand loyalty. There are some people who are very committed to a particular brand’s product or maybe even their entire product line. I hate to continuously bring up Apple in all of my blog posts but they are once again a great example of what I am talking about. Some customers own an iPhone, iPod, iPad, and a Mac Book. This same tie can be formed with pharmaceutical products. Customer may prefer to buy a name brand over the generic alternative. The two may very well have the same chemical makeup but just have different names on the packaging. Buying Nyquil instead of the generic brand may give a consumer a higher sense of security knowing that they bought a quality product. But just because the name on the package is a trusted name, does this mean the product inside deserves the same trust? Could Advil be more effective than a generic for some people because they think it is? It makes me wonder if these emotional and psychological benefits we discussed create more of a placebo effect and are not based fully on benefits delivered by the product.

 

The answer to this question would likely take more time and resources to fully answer than it is worth. Advil and Nyquil can charge more for their product because they are Nyquil and Advil. They have put the time and money into marketing and product development to get to this point. Some people will choose the less expensive alternative and they have their reason, while others will stick with the name brand and they also have their reason. These factors make a difference in the marketplace and they are difficult to measure but they matter and cannot be overlooked.

Another aspect that we read about is the difference between buyers and users of products. Some products are bought and used by the same individual while other are not. A great example of this would be toys. Toys are bought by adults but used by children. This is important for a company to understand.

 

This will help the company create an appropriate marketing plan to achieve their goals. If you do not have this understanding then you will be promoting your products to the wrong market and will not create buyers.

During the week we discussed the different types of sales companies make. There are business to customer sales, customer to customer sales, and business to business sales. This was nice to talk about because it had to do with my role in my company. I help with business to business sales predominantly. In this I assist with modified rebuys. Essentially, an existing customer will want to rebuy a product but they will want to make a few changes. Maybe they will want to change to formula slightly to better suit their needs or they may want a different quantity, just to name a few changes that can be made. I enjoy reading about concepts that directly relate to my current role. It helps me see where I fit in the larger scheme of the company. Sometimes we can get bogged down by the mundane aspect of our jobs but when you see how you contribute to your organizations execution of its goals it help you to keep perspective of why you do what you do.

A big topic of discussion this week was customer dissonance. This is the post-purchase displeasure a customer has with their decision. We discussed how customers can avoid this by taking measures including researching properly before making a purchase. I questioned whether the majority of the burden to avoid customer dissonance should be placed on the company. I think that by pricing products properly, providing great customer service, and accurately describing products along with other actions customers will not have to worry about this as much. Customers should take their time and make well informed decisions either way but companies should be conducting their business honestly and ethically regardless.