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In order to keep themselves up to date with these challenges, organisations should utilise a concept called Environmental Scanning. This is a concept from business management by which businesses gathers and utilises information about events, trends, and relationships in an organisation’s external environment, the knowledge of which would assist management in planning the organisation’s future course of action and thereby could develop a competitive advantage. To sustain this competitive advantage the company must also respond to the information gathered from environmental scanning by altering its strategies and plans when the need arises. Environmental scanning usually refers just to the macro environment, but it can also include industry and competitor analysis, consumer analysis, product innovations, and the company’s internal environment.

Key techniques of environmental scanning include:
1.    Ad-hoc scanning - Short term, infrequent examinations usually initiated by a crisis
2.    Regular scanning - Studies done on a regular schedule 
3.    Continuous scanning – continuous structured data collection and processing on a broad range of environmental factors

Many theorists and business analysts suggest that in today’s turbulent business environment the best scanning method available is continuous scanning. This allows the firm to act quickly, take advantage of opportunities before competitors do, and respond to environmental threats before significant damage is done.

Key Objectives of Environmental Scanning
1.    To detect trends and events important to the organisation
2.    To define potential opportunities, threats or changes for the organisation implied by those trends and events,
3.    To promote a future orientation in the thinking of management and staff 
4.    To alert management and staff to trends that are converging, diverging or interacting.

 Approaches a company may use in responding to issues that have been detected:
1.    Opposition strategy occurs when the firm tries to influence the environmental forces so as to negate their impact - this is only successful where you have some control over the environmental variable in question and can often be difficult to undertake.
2.    Adaptation strategy occurs when the firm adapts their marketing plan to the new environmental conditions. 
3.    Offensive strategy occurs when the firm tries to turn the new influence into an advantage. A quick response can often give the firm a competitive advantage.
4.    Redeployment strategy occurs when the firm decides to divert their assets into another industry.
5.    Contingency strategies occur when the firm determines a broad range of possible reactions thereby finding substitutes for their business strategies.
6.    Passive strategy is when the firm does not respond to the issues detected.  The companies may not realise that salient forces are affecting their future prospects. The company therefore continues as normal, ignorant of the environmental issues that are threatening its existence or opportunities that could be seized.

Benefits of Environmental Scanning:                 
1.    It provides a better general awareness & responsiveness to a dynamic business environment
2.    It improves strategic planning as the firm has acquired relevant information pertaining to their industry.
3.    It enables the organisation to be more effective in dealing with their publics.
4.    It improves industry and market analysis.
5.    It improves resource allocation                           (Diffenbach, 1983)
 

1.       SWOT ANALYSIS
This is a strategic planning tool used to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a business. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organisation while opportunities and threats are external. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking organisations. A SWOT analysis may be used in any decision-making situation when a desired objective has been defined.

- Will the company’s competitive position be strengthened or weakened if the present strategy is continued?
- How does the company rank relative to its key competitors?
- Does the company enjoy a distinct sustainable competitive advantage?
-  How well can the company defend its current position?

 STRENGTHS: These can be competences, valuable resources, or characteristics that a firm uses to manipulate opportunities in the external environment or help to offset threats within its internal environment. Prior to assessing the strengths the company should decide whether they have the relevant strengths on which to build its opportunities.

WEAKNESSES: These can be identified when an organisation lacks a competitive advantage, resource or characteristic therefore not performing as well as its competitor. Prior to assessing their weaknesses the company needs to decide whether correcting their weaknesses is more critical than building on their strengths to exploit opportunities.

OPPORTUNITIES: These are possibilities or chances that an organisation may pursue to obtain advantages in the marketplace.

THREATS: These have the potential to impact negatively on the organisation and often arise from factors

 

THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT

This refers to the external factors which affect a company’s planning and performance, are beyond its control and are said to be dynamic in nature in that it is continuously evolving. It includes the political, economical, socio-cultural and technological environments.

 

A FRAMEWORK FOR MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS 

PEST ANALYSIS

-          The political and legal environment

Whatever industry the marketing firm is involved in, changes in the political and legal environments at both the domestic and international levels can affect the company and therefore needs to be fully understood. Factors can include:

•      Patent legislation

•      Taxation

•      Safety regulations

•      Contract law

•      Consumer protection legislation

-          The economic environment

Economic factors are of concern to marketing firms because they are likely to influence, among other things, demand, costs, prices and profits.  These economic factors are largely outside the control of the individual firm, but their effects on individual enterprises can be profound.  Political and economic forces are often strongly related. Changes in world economic forces are potentially highly significant to marketing firms, particularly those engaged in international marketing. However, an understanding of economic changes and forces in the domestic economy is also of vital importance as such forces have the most immediate impact. Factors can include:

•      Legislation regulating business

•      Level of demand within an economy

•      “Boom & bust” economic cycle

•      Monetarism

•      Changes in income

•      Government interventions

Economic changes pose a set of opportunities and threats, and by understanding and carefully monitoring the economic environment, firms should be in a position to guard against potential threats and to capitalize on opportunities.

 

-          The socio-cultural environment

This is perhaps the most difficult element of the macro-environment to evaluate, manifesting itself in changing tastes, purchasing behaviour and changing priorities.  The type of goods and services demanded by consumers is a function of their social conditioning and their consequent attitudes and beliefs. Core cultural values are those firmly established within a society and are therefore difficult to change.  They are perpetuated through family, the church, education and the institutions of society and act as relatively fixed parameters within which marketing firms are forced to operate.  Secondary cultural values, however, tend to be less strong and therefore more likely to undergo change.  Generally, social change is preceded by changes over time in a society’s secondary cultural values, for example the change in social attitude towards credit.   Categories can include demographics and culture. 

Demographics:

-          The structure of the population in terms of age, gender, income distribution, ethnicity

-          Affected by variations such as birth & death rate, immigration & emigration, and shifts in wealth distribution

 

Culture:

-          Shared set of beliefs & behaviours prevalent within society and can include Language, Aesthetics, Religion, Shared beliefs, Customs, History, Gender roles

 

-          The technological environment

Technology is a major macro-environmental variable which has influenced the development of many products we are familiar with.  It is a major driving force in the pace of change in marketing. From a marketing perspective it is a more immediate method of gathering market information and is an effective method of analysis. It is also a prediction of future consumer trends, needs and wants

The microeconomic environment focuses on the kind of market structure that an organisation finds itself competing in and includes the company itself, suppliers, distributors, competitors and publics. These are internal factors close to the company that have a direct impact on the organisations strategy. Micro environmental factors include:

-    Customers
Organisations survive on the basis of meeting the needs, wants and providing benefits for their customers. Failure to do so will result in a failed business strategy.

-    Employees
Employing and motivating the correct staff is an essential part of the strategic planning process of an organisation. Training and development plays an essential role particular in service sector marketing in-order to gain a competitive advantage.   

-    Suppliers
Increase in raw material prices will have a knock on affect on the marketing mix strategy of an organisation. Prices may be forced up as a result. Maintaining close relationships with suppliers is one way of ensuring competitive and quality products for an organisation.

-    Shareholders
A company’s shareholders collectively own that company. They are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock they own, including the right to vote on matters such as appointments of the board of directors, the right to propose shareholder resolutions, the right to share in distributions’ of the company’s income, the right to purchase new shares issued by the company, and the right to a company’s assets during a liquidation of the company. 

-    Media
Positive or adverse media attention on an organisations product or service can benefit or limit the company’s performance.  Consumer programmes with a wider and more direct audience can also have a very powerful and positive impact, forcing organisations to change their tactics.

-    Competitors
Differentiating the product from competing products is essential in business. What benefit can the organisation offer which is better then their competitors? Can they sustain this differentiation over a period of time from their competitors? Competitor analysis and monitoring is crucial if an organisation is to maintain its position within the market.
 

Motivations in Consumer Buyer Behaviour

In this small post I will outline the motivations of the consumer buyer behaviour. A product is not simply its image or how it looks like. A product is an item that has other interests in the eyes of the customers and consumers. From the marketing perspective it is especially important not just the product as such, but the perception the customer has of it. Therefore we need to take in consideration:

- How it looks like

- The perception the customer has of our product

- The benefits of buying the product

The customers will not buy the product just for the beauty of it, they will buy the product as a group of psychological attributes plus sociologic attributes of the item itself:

A car is not just a simple mean of transport, in the customer’s eye, could be:

- A demonstration of power and economic wealth

- Authority

- Social Status

- Various sensations and hopes

 

"Today you will learn about choosing a niche," the old man said. "Look at these blogs, and tell me what you see." "Well, this one is about a topic that so many other people are writing about. There must be a lot of competition for this topic. Is this a bad niche?"

"No, it’s a wonderful niche," the old man said. "It may be crowded, but a voice that’s worth hearing will always be heard over ones that aren’t." "I see. And what about this one? This blogger is not concentrating on a narrowly-focused topic, but writes about many different things. Is this a bad niche?" "No, it’s a wonderful niche," the old man said. "While the content may be diverse, it’s all related when you see the big picture. This blogger is focused on a particular audience, and serves their needs well." "I see. And what about this one? This blogger is writing about their personal life, which I thought was a big no-no, an exercise in vanity. Is this a bad niche?" "Ponder that question," the old man said, "and tell me the answer on the last day."

 

Extracted from The Zen of Blogging by Hunter Nuttall available at www.hunternuttal.com

Is your podcast worth talking about?

Nothing can replace great content. No amount of marketing will improve your content,  and if your content stinks, it doesn’t matter what you do to market it, because you’ll lose people just as fast as you gain them.

Your content has to be compelling, unique, and remarkable or nothing else matters.

In the words of marketing guru Seth Godin, your content has to be worth talking about,  worth sharing, worth spreading or your marketing will be for naught.

Resources that will help:

·         Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds

·         Purple Cow, by Seth Godin

·         Free Prize Inside, by Seth Godin

·         Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath

 

by Christopher S. Penn. Learn more at www.ChristopherSPenn.com on the web.

Most social networking sites allow you to join for free and then setup a “profile” –  essentially formation

about yourself you want to share, and then “connect” with other people you know who are also using that social networking site. Most social networking sites allow much more, and they all differ. Most allow you to create and join subgroups and communicate with fellow members. Apparently in Facebook I can even “poke”, “dry hump”, and “throw a cake at” my Facebook “friends.” There are more social networking sites than you can effectively join. Some have high search engine visibility; some have none but can be very useful for networking. A great resource on social networking, especially if this is all new to you, is The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors And Closing Deals Online by David Teten and Scott Allen, available at http://thevirtualhandshake.com/free-book-download.html or buy it at Amazon (cheaper than printing the book, and you can read it at the beach or in the tub easier than on your computer screen). Some social networking and similar sites include MySpace.com, Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com, Doostang.com, Ning.com (which allows you to create your own social networks), Jobster.com, Naymz.com, Emurse.com, Friendster.com, Ziggs.com, Ryze.com and at least a few hundred others. Three that have high Internet visibility, that is the search engines love, at least today, are LinkedIn, Emurse.com, and Jobster.com

 

We’ll look at two in more detail, LinkedIn and Facebook.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business oriented networking site that’s been around for over five years and boasts over 16 million members. The search engines love LinkedIn, so if you don’t have any Internet Presence, joining LinkedIn, setting up your profile, and inviting a few dozen people to be your connections is a great way to start.

Even if you can only find a couple of people in LinkedIn you know, once you connect with them you can see their connections, many of which you’ll no doubt know and can connect with. It’s important to have a few dozen connections minimum, otherwise you’ll look like a loser! LinkedIn also allows you to receive endorsements from other people. Supposedly these are well respected but I think they are slightly bogus. LinkedIn allows you to request endorsements from any of your connections, and most will say a few kind words, whether you deserve them or not. THE book on LinkedIn is Jason Alba’s I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???, released September of 2007.

Facebook

Facebook started out as a college only social networking site but is now used extensively for business, and boasts over 60 million users. Search engines, at least as of today, do not love Facebook, so your Facebook profile will not help build much of an Internet Presence. Supposedly Google and other search engines index “public profiles” in Facebook as of recently, but they haven’t found mine yet! I expect Facebook to become much more search engine friendly, but it doesn’t compare to LinkedIn today for developing a quick Effective Internet Presence. Still, Facebook is a great networking tool if for nothing else because everyone seems to be on it. There is a history of Facebook being used in investigations by colleges, universities and police for everything from underage drinking to hit and runs. Be careful what you post in Facebook just like everywhere else online.

Leaving Comments on Targeted Blogs

Another fantastic quick technique to help build an Effective Internet Presence is to leave thoughtful comments on targeted blogs in your area of expertise. How do you find appropriate blogs? Use a blog search engine. I recommend and use Technorati.com. Let’s say you are a direct marketing (DM) specialist. You should be reading some of the excellent marketing blogs with a DM slant and leaving insightful comments, as opposed to just “I agree” and “good post” type comments. You might read and occasionally comment on Bob Bly’s Blog, Dianna Huff’s Marcom Writer Blog, Robert Rosenthal’s Freaking Marketing, as well as others.  When you leave a comment, you’ll be asked for your name (What’s Your Name?) & your blog or Website (you can use your LinkedIn or other profile if you don’t have one).

The search engines will index and display some of these comments when people search on your name, adding to your Internet presence.

Online Book Reviews

Did you know that Amazon book reviews are indexed by the search engines, and that Amazon will also let you set up a profile, which can include a full bio, photo, and much more? Reviewing books in your field, and setting up an appropriate profile, is a relatively easy way to jumpstart an Effective Internet Presence. Also reading and writing reviews of books in your field is a great way to position yourself as an expert.

 

Written by Ted Demopoulos in www.effectiveinternetpresence.com

 

Branding seeks to create and communicate a three-dimensional character for a product that is not easily copied or damaged by competitors’ efforts. A brand consists of any name, design, style, words, or symbols, singly or in combination, that distinguish one product from another in the eyes of the customer.

 TRADE MARKS

Smells 

Sounds 

Product shapes 

Packaging 

Brand names 

Logos

 

FEATURES OF AN EFFECTIVE BRAND NAME

Evoke positive associations

Be easy to pronounce and remember

Suggest product benefits

Be distinctive

Not infringe on existing brand names

 

BENEFITS OF HAVING A STRONG BRAND

They reassure consumers regarding the qualities of the product and therefore enhance their loyalty

Consumers often use brands a cues therefore makes shopping easier

Brand extensions can be easier to launch

Manufacturers can have legal protection from imitation

A company who commits to brand quality is likely to be committed to product quality and innovation

Reduced marketing costs because of consumer loyalty and brand awareness

Brands offer a defence against price competition                                                  

How do consumers choose among the many brand alternatives?

Buyer Behaviour

Understanding buying behaviour is an essential duty of marketing and sales management.Consumer buying behaviour refers to the end–users of products and services who purchase for personal consumption.

 The Nature of Involvement

Individuals will become more involved in decision making for products that have high personal relevance and involve risk.

Involvement will typically be higher for:

 - High price products

 - Where performance risk is high

 - Complex products

 - Products with high ego significance 

THE CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Identifies five stages through which consumers move when making decisions.

1.    Problem/Need Recognition

Occurs when a discrepancy develops between an actual and a desired state and can be triggered by internal or external stimuli

 

 2.    Search Behaviour/Search for Information

Defined as the actions taken to identify and obtain information to solve a consumer problem.

Types of search:

-          Internal:  the retrieval of information from long-term memory – experience or past     performances.

-         External search:  acquiring information from outside sourcesPersonal Sources

o        Public Sources

o        Commercial Sources

o        Experiential Sources

3. Alternative Evaluation

In this stage, the consumer compares the options identified as potentially capable of solving the problem that initiated the decision process.

4. The Consumer Choice Process / Purchase

Choice is among alternative brands and services, and among stores. 

Purchase intention not the same as actual purchase and is influenced by

-          Attitude of others

-          Unexpected situational factors

-          Brand loyalty 

There may be up to five purchase sub decisions to be made also (and marketers need to be aware how each of these are made for their products):

-          Brand decision

-          Vendor decision

-          Quantity decision

-          Timing decision

-          Payment method decision

5. Postacquisition Evaluation / Post Purchase Behaviour

Consumer satisfaction is the overall attitude consumers have toward a good or service after they have acquired and used it.

Cognitive Dissonance

“Post decision related psychological discomfort about a purchase”

                                           (Festinger, ’57)

 

 

Alternative Mechanisms to Reduce Conflict

1.    Reinforce consumer decisions in ads

2.    Provide strong guarantees

3.    Distribute detailed brochures

4.    Offer affinity & reward programmes

5.    Generate positive WOM

 

COMPLAINING BEHAVIOUR

Characteristics Affecting Buyer Behaviour

 

-          Cultural Factors

Culture

Subculture  

Social class

 

 -          Social Factors

Reference groups

Family  

Opinion leaders

 

-          Personal Factors

Age & life cycle stage 

Occupation 

 Economic situation

Lifestyle