DECA Marketing Performance Indicators Questions and Answers Graded A

DECA Marketing Performance Indicators Questions and Answers Graded A Explain the concept of market and market identification. A market is a group of consumers who have a common interest, need or want of a given good or service. This group of consumers also must be able to purchase the product. Identifying a market is an important activity in marketing as products will not appeal to everyone. Marketers identify markets' common interests by classifying consumer's demographic, geographic and psychographic information. Examples of this information include age, income, education, zip code, buying behavior, and leisure activities. Identify the elements of the promotional mix. There are five main elements of the promotional mix, which can be remembered using the acronym PPADS. Personal selling is when sales representatives sell products by communicating directly with the consumer. Public relations involve managing the company's perceived image through non-paid advertising and different media channels. Advertising is any paid, non-personal activity that serves to promote the product. Direct marketing is advertising that is targeted at groups of potential consumers, using market segmentation. Sales promotion involves limited time offers that are used to promote sales. The elements of the promotion mix are personal selling, advertising, public relations, and sales promotion. Personal selling is direct contact between a salesperson and customer. Advertising is a form of nonpersonal promotion. Public relations is the development of a favorable image for a company, its products or its policies. Sales promotion includes activities that are used to create purchases and sales not related to the other types of promotion. Coordinate activities in the promotional mix. For our company, I'd like to propose the following promotional plan. For personal selling, we will have employees stationed in every department of our store. For public relations, we will release updates regarding our product lines in the form of press releases every 6 months. For advertising, we will utilize traditional media (e.g. TV and radio ads, newspaper, etc.) as well as social media via our Facebook page and Twitter feed. For direct marketing, we will promote a 30% discount for seniors during the Monday-Friday 9am-4pm period. Finally, for sales promotion, we will hold a 3-week contest for a Caribbean cruise, for customers with purchases over $50. By releasing these promotions over a time period of approximately 4 months, we can regulate the flow of customers and steadily draw in potential customers for the business. Explain the types of promotion. There are 2 main types of promotion. The first type is trade promotion, which is focused on building support from intermediaries in the distribution channels. An example would be setting up a booth at a trade show. The second type is consumer promotion, which is focused on getting the final consumer to buy the product. An example would be giving out coupons. Both promotion types are necessary in order to increase the number of distribution channels and the size of the consumer base. Describe factors used by marketers to position products/services. When choosing how to present a product, several factors must be taken into account. The first is the price and quality desired; the low prices or the high quality may be stressed. Another factor is the features and benefits of the product; a desirable trait that consumers would believe they would gain from using the product would be stressed. As well, the product in relation to competing products could be a key point; if the product is superior due to design, it would help to solidify the company's advantage. Finally, the connections to other products in the product line could be a factor that would help to promote more than one product at a time. Explain the nature and scope of the product/services management function. Product/service management involves any activities that focus on obtaining, developing, maintaining, and improving products and services based on market research. This includes creating a product mix and continuously updating it throughout the product life cycle. Product/service management is very important when ensuring that everything in the product mix is optimal for the target market. Explain management's role in the achievement of quality. Management has 3 main functions that outline its role in the company. Planning involves developing steps to aid employees with carrying out their tasks. Organizing involves overseeing all employee tasks and offering help when needed, to ensure completion of everything. Controlling involves analyzing past performances and making decisions that will improve future tasks. By carrying out these functions, management can work towards higher quality from all employees. Explain the concept of marketing strategies. Marketing strategies are plans that identify target markets and coordinate marketing mix activities in order to effectively sell the product/service. The product positioning and key points of difference must be taken into account when developing these strategies. Identify communication channels used in sales promotions. Sales promotions can be communicated to consumers in a variety of ways. Word-of-mouth, standard media, and online websites are all popular choices for sales promotions, as well as more subtle places such as product placement and point-of-purchase displays. Explain key factors in building a clientele. When building a clientele, there are 3 main factors that must be considered. The first factor is making the sale, which includes all activities that sales representatives perform when interacting with consumers during the selling process. The second factor is after-sales activities, which includes order processing and payment, the customer's departure from the store, follow-up after the purchase, customer service and tracking, and evaluation of employee performance. The third factor is customer relationship management, which involves seeking out customers and keeping them satisfied with the use of technology and customer loyalty techniques. Explain the role of customer services as a component of selling relationships. Customer service is the direct link between the business and the consumer. When consumers have questions, complaints, or comments about the product or their shopping experience, they will contact customer service and inform them. It is important that employees working in customer service are positive, compassionate, understanding, and able to solve any problems that may arise. It is also important that customer service is available to the consumer at all times. By providing a reliable, helpful customer service for consumers, businesses can improve the overall shopping experience. Explain factors affecting pricing decisions. There are 4 key factors that must be considered when making pricing decisions. Cost and expenses will take away from a business' gross profit, so companies must try to reduce these as much as possible. Supply and demand deals with how much businesses are willing to offer and how much customers are willing to buy at a given price point, which is very important when determining the price. Consumer perceptions about the quality of the product or the service will also impact the effectiveness of prices. Finally, prices being charged by the competition must be taken into account, especially if price is the only differentiating factor. Demonstrate connections between company actions and results. Any action that a company takes will have consequences. If good choices are made, the results will most likely be good as well. In particular, improvements made to the marketing functions (pricing, marketing information management, promotion, etc.) will lead to new and improved goods and services, lower prices, and added value and utility being offered to consumers. Identify product's/service's competitive advantage. A product's/service's competitive advantage is the difference between it and the competitor's products/services. It allows the company to build brand loyalty, increase price due to the perceived higher value, and increase its market share due to the popularity of the products/services. Identify factors affecting a business' profit. There are 3 main factors that affect a business' profit. The efficiency of the production includes the number of product units made in a certain amount of time, and increasing efficiency can increase profits as well. Losses include production