Unit 3 - P3 P4 P5 M2 D2

Unit 3 – P3 P4 P5 M2 D2
Mahbub Rahman

,Mahbub Rahman – Unit 3 – P3 P4 P5 M2 D2




Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2
Types of market research .......................................................................................................... 2
Primary research .................................................................................................................... 2
Secondary research ................................................................................................................ 3
Types of data .............................................................................................................................. 3
Qualitative data ...................................................................................................................... 3
Quantitative data ................................................................................................................... 4
Improving the validity ................................................................................................................ 4
Marketing Planning Process Model – SWOT and PESTLE analysis, and SMART objectives ...... 5
SWOT analysis ........................................................................................................................ 5
PESTLE analysis ....................................................................................................................... 6
SMART objectives ................................................................................................................... 8
Consumer markets ..................................................................................................................... 9
Business-to-business (B2B) .................................................................................................... 9
Business-to-consumer (B2C) .................................................................................................. 9
Customer groups .................................................................................................................... 9
ACORN and MOSAIC ............................................................................................................. 10
How and why businesses target customers and other businesses ......................................... 10
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 12
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 12




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, Mahbub Rahman – Unit 3 – P3 P4 P5 M2 D2


Mahbub Rahman – Unit 4 – P3, P4, P5, M2 and D2


Introduction
For this task, I am going to talk about the marketing research used by Coca-Cola, which
contributes to the development of marketing plans. I will discuss the use of primary and
secondary research, and qualitative and quantitative data. I will also talk about the uses
and limitations of market research, including information on cost-effectiveness and the
validity of data. I will then make recommendations for improving the validity of the
marketing research. This task will also include an explanation of how market research is
used in Coca-Cola’s marketing planning, focusing on the Marketing Planning Process Model
and its importance.


Types of market research
Market research is the collecting and analysis of data about consumer needs and issues
relating to the marketing of a product/service. It is used by organisations to see if there is a
market for a proposed product or service, or to see if there are any improvements to be
made on existing products or services. Market research helps to identify needs in the
market, so businesses can help supply these demands from which they can make a profit.
The data acquired through research must be valid (accurate, logical and up to date), and
reliable (if the research was carried out again, it should have similar results, so it is
consistent). Cost-effectiveness should also be taken into account (how good the value is for
the money paid).

Primary research
Primary research is when a person or organisation gathers new data themselves at first-
hand. This data had not been gathered before, so this research is being conducted directly
by the person. Examples of primary market research are; interviews (telephone and face-to-
face), questionnaires and surveys (postal, online, face-to-face), focus groups, and many
more. Coca-Cola use primary research through online surveys, because this is the easiest
and most cost-effective way of contacting there massive customer base. However, an issue
with this is that it could negatively impact the validity of the data, which impacts the
development of marketing plans. This is because someone could have filled in boxes on the
survey absent-mindedly, without actually answering the questions honestly, which makes
the data useless to the development of marketing plans. Another limitation of this is that it
can be time-consuming collecting the sufficient amount of data, and also processing the
data. Coca-Cola also use focus groups in order to find out what customers think about the
quality of their products. For example, they recently used focus groups to test the taste of
Coke Zero, which helped them decide whether the product had to be changed or not (if
customers may or may not like the product). This would save money in the long-term,
because they could have released a product that customers won’t buy which would have



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