Brand Equity, the Product Life Cycle Concept and Other Marketing Issues

Define what is meant by "brand equity" and discuss what a company can do to maintain brand equity.

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Brand equity can be identified as the value that a product holds in the market. It is the response that a product can create in the marketplace. For example, a product with high brand value can be said to have strong brand equity, meaning that the product has the potential to establish recognizable positive differential response in the market.

Since a brand identifies the uniqueness of the companys products in the market, the firm has to ensure that all its activities are revolving around the brand equity. The company establishes associations through advertising; segments served, names used and logos to maintain the brand equity (Cullather, 2012). By creating brand advocates among the members of the staff, a company is also able to maintain its brand equity by attracting and retaining customers. A companys employees play a significant role in maintaining the brand equity as they can promote the brand among the targeted audience who in turn can forward the message further to a wider group of potential customers. Maintaining brand equity helps a company to engage more effectively with the customers, thus building a strong customer base and brand loyalty (Cullather, 2012).

Discuss the Product Life Cycle Concept and include the relative amounts of sales and profit during each stage.

The Product life cycle (PLC) comprises of all the stages that a product goes through after its development from its initiation into the market to its end. During the four stages of product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages the companys sales and profits vary in every stage (Tanner & Raymond, 2016). The introduction stage of a product experience high marketing costs than other stages since it is usually the last stage of product development. Sales and profits are at their minimal as the company spends more during the introduction process. The introduction stage varies from industry to industry, but it usually lasts for six months during which a company educates its customers, creates awareness about the product and engages the potential customers in trying the product.

After the customers have accepted a product, it enters a growth stage during which, a company makes more sales and earns higher profits (Tanner & Raymond, 2016). The growth phase of a product is characterized by more competitors entering the market. The company also increases its promotional strategies and the distributors of a product as it becomes more known in the marketplace. Some companies opt to lower their prices at this stage as a mechanism of attracting more customers and establishing loyalty with the existing ones (Tanner & Raymond, 2016).

During the maturity stage of a product life cycle, the sales and profits level off (Tanner & Raymond, 2016). The profits fall slightly during the maturity stage due to intense competition in the market. It lasts longer than any other stage of a product lifecycle with intense promotion strategies that focus on the products value and benefit. Companies may extend the maturity stage modifying the products packaging, flavors, size, quality or even color (Tanner & Raymond, 2016). They may also venture into new geographical markets as strategies for advancing the maturity stage. In most cases, sales and profits start declining at this stage. The decline stage of a products life cycle is characterized by a decrease in products sale and its profits. The sales and profits decrease as a result of a reduction in the demand for the product due to the availability of alternative products, changes in consumer preferences and technological advances. Most companies reduce their promotional strategies and distribution channels during this stage to lower costs.

How innovations in interactive television and online services are expanding the strategies and tactics marketers, employ today?

Interactive television (ITV) allows the viewers to interact with the television programs and advertising using the remote control. The ITV offered by Echostar and DirecTV is currently being used as the medium for direct marketing (Mastorakis, 2011). The ITV has provided the possibility of the marketers to engage the potential customers in more interactive and involving ways. The customers can request catalogs and other information that is related to the products.

Also, marketers are taking the advantage of the todays growth in internet technology to reach out to their potential customers. With the population ability to access the internet rising to more than 470 million, marketers are taking this opportunity to establish customer relations by developing online sales platforms where customers can purchase products and make payments online. Mobile phones and social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are have also played a significant role in expanding the marketing strategies for most businesses (Mastorakis, 2011).

What are some of the personal and business-related privacy issues associated with the growth in database marketing and how should they be addressed?

Some personal and business-related privacy issues limit the extent to which the database marketing grows. Laws have been set to monitor the collection, usage, openness, security and disclosure of the information that can help determine the identity of a person. If businesses have to build a database and store personal information such as peoples names, addresses, and bank account details, then they have to create a business policy that complies with the established federal laws (Yeung, 2012). The company policy addresses the personal privacy issues by allowing the individuals to know the reason their information is collected and guarantee them that their details will be kept safe.

The business must comply with the Privacy Act while using the created database for direct marketing such as telemarketing and unsolicited mail. The businesses are free to send their customers direct marketing materials, not unless the customer requests the firm not to. The business will addresses such a database marketing challenge by ceasing to send the client direct marketing materials (Yeung, 2012). Also, the company does not call customer phone numbers that appear on the Do Not Call register.

Define direct marketing and give some real-world examples

Direct marketing refers to techniques that businesses use to contact customers or potential customers personally, without any other media between the firm and the customer. The companies usually send broad information that targets general audience (Dobkin, 2008). Direct marketing may take various forms such as emails, coupons, telephone calls or even brochures.

Some of the commonly used direct marketing means include the telemarketing and newsletters. They are crucial because the offer cheaper means of delivering the message to the targeted customers without going through agents or distributors.

References

Cullather, S. (2012). The importance of brand equity and how to maintain it. The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2012/aug/10/brand-equity-start-ups-advantage

Dobkin, J. (2008). Direct marketing strategies. Merion Station, PA: Danielle Adams Pub.

Mastorakis, G. (2011). Optimizing Interactive Marketing in Digital Television Systems. Asian Journal Of Marketing, 5(2), 55-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/ajm.2011.55.62

Tanner, J. & Raymond, M. (2016). Principles of Marketing 2.0 | Flat World Education. Flat World Knowledge. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/5229?e=fwk-133234-ch07_s02

Yeung, C. (2012). What privacy issues are involved in building a marketing database? - StartupSmart. StartupSmart. Retrieved 29 May 2016, from http://www.startupsmart.com.au/mentor/what-privacy-issues-are-involved-in-building-a-marketing-database/