Introduction to Marketing

PrimaryQuestionnaires: Questionnaires consist of a list of questions that can be used to obtain feedback such as a spoc which is used at colleges to find out information such as if a student is enjoying their course etc. The Oldham College recently gave all of the students a spoc which was to get their feedback about the college for e.g. if they feel safe and satisfied by their course. By doing a spoc the college is able to find out how many students are satisfied with their course, tutors and so on; this helps the college as they can use their research to see who’s happy and who isn’t, thereon they are able to make changes if necessary for their market plan.Suggestion box: A suggestion box is a box that is used for people to put suggestions inside, this is a good way for a college to get and consider suggestions as people may want to make their suggestions anonymously. The Oldham College students are able to make suggestions to the college through their suggestion box; if the majority of the students make the same suggestion then the college could consider making changes in their marketing plan.Student reps: The students union of The Oldham College are able to talk with each other and hear out the students suggestions, ideas and any complaints there may be; therefore they are there to put forth suggestions or complaints on behalf of the students, if the college feels that the suggestions made are necessary or that it may be of benefit they could consider making changes to their marketing plan to satisfy their students.SecondaryGov stats: Government statistics are official data collected from colleges, schools etc. which is released to the public; a person can then see which college has better success rates and how many people join them and so on. When government statistics are released showing the achievements and how  many students are joining the different colleges such as their competitor’s, this helps The Oldham College to evaluate t heir different aspects; this allows them to take good measures.Newspapers: Newspapers are a good way of collecting data, such as how colleges advertise their courses to the public; when competitors advertise courses in the newspapers and/or magazines The Oldham College is able to see what kind of courses they advertise and how; for e.g. if it’s plain text or images and so on. This gives them an idea of what courses are mainly being advertised and will help their marketing plan as they can do the same or do it and improve their advertising compared to their competitors.Competitor’s website: A competitors website can be looked at by its rival such as The Oldham College as they can see their competitor’s website to gather data from them such as what courses they offer and how they advertise their courses through their website; this helps The Oldham College’s marketing plan as they are able to see if there is any way they can improve their way of advertising and even their website with the aim of attracting new students to the college, this would be done through making changes to their existing marketing plan. Introduction to Marketing What is marketing? Marketing is the function that connects businesses to their target audiences’ needs. It is how a business presents and distributes their product to their audience. For example, a business can market their product by advertising it to the public. This can be seen in many forms of media; such as: on television, via web, posters or on billboards.Marketing is the management procedure in which the product or service is moves from concept to the customer. It includes the co-ordination of the 4 P’s of marketing: product, price, placement and promotion. [tutor2u.net]The concepts of marketing Production The production concept is when businesses are more focused on making profit from their sales; the quality isn’t necessarily important as the company’s main concern is making sales. For instance, supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco distribute their own products to the public. The production of products is also kept at a low cost.Produ ct The product concept is when businesses focuses more on the quality of the product rather than how many of them are being sold. The business is more concerned with the high standards of the product set by customers and is prioritised. For example, smartphones have become more popular within society because of their many features.Selling The selling concept is when businesses are concerned with promoting a product even further to increase sales. For example, Coca-Cola advertises the same products over and over again; they introduced names to target people with that certain name.Marketing The marketing concept is when a business allows their customers to decide on the features of their product or service, before it is created. A business would use market research and use research & development to discover the customers’ needs and wants for a product/service.Aims and objectives of two contrasting businesses Private sector business: Apple Inc. Apple’s objectives are to c ontinuously sell the same products that are of high standards and quality.Market leadership in Apple Market leadership is when a business has the most customers/users due to their sales or service. Steve Jobs suggested these techniques to assist in becoming a market leader Be in possession of and have control over the relevant technology Take in and implement better technologies immediately as soon as they have availability, regardless of whether or not there are organisations using them beforehand Create new technologies/products before anyone else and make it an industry standardBrand awareness in Apple Apple raises brand awareness by creating adverts and allowing their stocks to be released online. This can be effective because potential customers will know whether not to purchase a product based on the stocks.Perceptions of customers in Apple Customers of Apple are aware of the product by seeing advertisement and by live streaming press conferences that are held by Apple. The ef fectiveness of live press conferences is that the potential customers will know what features the product has.Public sector business: National Health Service (NHS) Their aims are to aid people who are applicable to use their service. They are non-profit and are Governmental, which means that the Government funds the NHS by using a portion tax-payers’ money.Market leadership in the NHS The National Health Service is the only health service that is free in the country. This makes it the market leader.Awareness in the NHS One way in which the NHS raises awareness is by endorsements from the news or magazines. This can be effective because the news is something the majority of the public intakes.Perceptions of users in the NHS Users of the NHS become aware of this industry via real-life happenings. Some of these perceptions can be negative; as recently, a celebrity received a free surgery which wasn’t life threatening in any way. It wasted tax-payers’ money and the majority of the nation was unimpressed by this.