UNIVERSITY OF LUZON

Graduate School

Dagupan City

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Final Examination

Question 1

How would you explain the concept of superior customer value to a new finance manager? Explain the
relevance of market orientation as a guiding philosophy for a social service organization, giving particular
attention to user needs and wants.

Answer.

There are two aspects to customer value: Desired value and perceived value. Desired value refers to
what customers desire in a product or service. Perceived value is the value a customer believes he or she
received from a product after it was purchased.

Therefore the concept of superior customer value is focused in creating customer value, developing long
term profitable relationships with customers and delivering an exceptional customer experience across
all customer touch point, thus maximizing customer lifetime value (return on relationship).

Market orientation is a business culture that is focused on creating superior value for buyers. Market
orientation consists of three behavioural component: customer orientation, competitor orientation, and
inter functional coordination. These behaviours are concerned with intelligence generation and
dissemination, and managerial actions. The result iabthat market orientation provides a set of values
that focuses the efforts of all employees on creating superior value for business's customers, thereby
leading to the achievement of competitive advantage and superior performance.

A social service organization provides a range of public services provided BG government, private and
non profit organizations. The relevance of market orientation to a social service organization are thus:
improved performance and comparative advantage.

Question 2

How would you explain to a group of top-level executives the relationship between market orientation
and continuous learning about market? Why would a company consider observational or ethnographic
research in preference to conventional surveys?

Answer

Market driven firms standout in their ability to continuously anticipate market opportunities and
respond before their competitors. Collection and use of market information enabled through continuous
learning about market is broadly considered to be a competitive weapon to cope with uncertainty and
volatile environments. Companies can deal with uncertainty by continuously learning about the market
and by creating inter organizational lunks between customers and suppliers.

Firms have to pay more attention to the needs of customers in the prevalent business environment
which is defined highly competitive and offers them quality products and services to satisfy their ever
rising expectations. Hence, firms need a strategy that aligns the organisation with the stake holders and a
approach with customer or market orientation. Market orientation may have a direct impact on
performance and indirect effects may exist too. A continuous learning about the market puts the firm in
a good position to adequately respond to changes in consumers demands through innovation thereby
maximizing market orientation.

Observational research is a type of correlation research in which a researcher observes ongoing

behaviour. Observational research also known as field research, is a category of market information
collection in which the researcher observes ongoing behaviours of the study participants. It is used with
participants in naturally occuring situations.

Question 3

Select a product and discuss how the size and composition of the marketing program might require
adjustments as the product moves through its life cycle. Explain briefly.

Answer

The concept of product life cycle concerns the life of a product in the market with respect to business/
commercial costs and sales measures.

A company's positioning and differentiation strategy must change as the product, market and
competitors vary over the product life cycle. To say that a product has life cycle consist of four things.

The selected product is Colgate toothpaste:

INTRODUCTION

1873 Colgate toothpaste introduced in jars to market.

1986 Colgate toothpaste sold in tubes called as Colgate ribbon.

1937 Colgate entered Indian market.

1949 it touched a new height in India.

1976 it tried to grow its sales in India BG launching "young India program - bright smile becomes
brighter".

GROWTH

1990 to 2003 Colgate reaches out to every rural customer and strengthen its supply chain.
Colgate herbal white toothpaste was launched.

2003 to 2007 Colgate was awarded number one toothpaste brand for seven consecutive years.

As its initiative it started oral care week and targeted schools and anganwadis

MATURITY

HUL and P&G emerged as major competitors to colgate.

Colgate with IDA worked to develop toothpastes for different needs of customers.

2011 - 2013 many variants of Colgate toothpaste launched.

DECLINE

Its not sure if Colgate has witnessed any decline in its products. But it has managed to stay relevant using
some marketing strategies and programs thus:

Rigorous advertisements on T.V, radios and print media.

In India they are focusing on youths and launching youths eccentric toothpaste.

Use of celebrities as brand ambassadors to woo new customers.

Use of promotions in malls.