University Marketing Management MRKT20052 Reflective Analysis Report

This report presents a reflective analysis of two articles related to marketing management and digital communications. The first article, "The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Trends in 2019," discusses current marketing trends, including inbound marketing, content marketing, video content, AI integration, native advertising, social media marketing, and influencer marketing, highlighting their importance in a competitive digital landscape. The analysis explores the implications of these trends, such as the importance of SEO, mobile-friendly design, and website speed. The second article, "How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new generation of smokers," examines how tobacco companies leverage social media to attract young people. It highlights the use of extravagant events, influencer marketing, and guerrilla marketing tactics, and discusses the implications of these issues from a marketing perspective, emphasizing the misuse of social media and its impact on vulnerable populations. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in marketing and the need to protect young people from harmful marketing practices.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
MRKT20052: Marketing Management and Digital
Communications
Term 2, 2019
Assessment 1: Reflective Analysis of two articles
The Ultimate Guide to marketing Trends in 2019
How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new generation of smokers
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Submission date: <<Insert assignment submission date here>>
Word count: <<Insert your word count here>>
Campus (tick one): MEL  SYD  BNE  DST  Other (write): ____________

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The article, “ The Ultimate Guide to marketing Trends in 2019” talks about the
marketing trends in the present age where the shopkeepers research a particular product
before they buy it. The business in the modern age want to stay updated with the changes in
the consumer behaviour along with the priorities of the people. The article discusses that
inbound marketing can help in reaching a large number of audience organically. It helps the
business in reaching out to the target audience and convert them into the prospects with the
help of the marketing content of the business (Blog.hubspot.com., 2019). The article
discusses that the companies in the present age involve themselves in content marketing
where they publish the blog and invest in the resources that can help in producing the unique
content. The article talks about the fact that the business involves themselves in sharing the
video content so that they can engage themselves with the audience. The article discusses that
the integration of the Artificial Intelligence can help in expanding the ability of the business
in connecting with the audience. The Artificial Intelligence can help in the analysis of data
that can help in making the data-driven decisions.
The issues that have been illustrated in the article can be said of great importance in
the digital age as the companies have many competitors and marketing can help them in
getting an advantage above the competitors (Kotler et al., 2018). The videos that are used by
the business can help in introducing the brand before the people that can make a business
popular within the market. The native advertising is popular on the platform of the social
media and the content recommendation platforms helps in easily reaching the consumers. The
social media marketing can help the people in connecting with the audience on the personal
level that helps in humanizing the brand. The article has talked about the amalgamation of the
ephemeral along with the permanent content on the platform of the social media that can help
the business in showcasing the personality of the brand (Watson IV et al., 2015). The article
has elaborated on the influencer marketing that can help a business in connecting with that of
the audience members. The micro-influencers plays a crucial role in the conversion of the
leads and they boost the brand awareness of the people.
The implications of the issues are that marketing is an indispensable element in the
present age and it can ensure the profitability of a company. I have understood that the search
engine optimization can help in growing the organic presence of a brand. In my opinion, the
optimization of the website pertaining to the different kinds of the consumer behaviour can
help a business to be discovered in the online platform (Štrach, 2018). The business should
change the manner of framing information that can help in gaining the attention of the

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audience. I have been able to learn that the users should be empowered for getting the answers
that they want that can help a business in getting ahead in the long run. The optimization of
the website with the mobile-friendly design can help the people in gaining access to the site
from any corner of the world. I have understood that the business can take care of the fact that
the website can be read with the help of the mobile devices that can help a company in
reaching out to a broad audience. The speed of the website can be said to be of pivotal
importance in the present age because Google prioritizes the websites that perform better in
the results page of the search engine.
The article, “How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new generation
of smokers”, talks about the fact that Big Tobacco is taking recourse to the social media for
finding the new ways that can help in drawing the young people towards the smoking. The
article has elaborated on the fact that the important cities of the world are holding the
extravagant events that can help them in making the connection with the young people. The
live music events features the alcohol that helps them in finding the new buyers of the tobacco
products. The global research project has found that there has been exploitation of the organic
reach of the social media in the modern era of technology (Theconversation.com., 2019). The
article has stated that the tobacco companies have found the creative ways that helps them in
avoiding the regulations that aims at curbing the marketing to the young people. The tobacco
executives believes that they would be able to sustain themselves in the market in the event of
being able to convince the young people of buying the products. The companies take recourse
to the social media for making the connection with that of next generation of the potential
smokers (Stoklosa, 2016). There are various kinds of the promotional activities that make
usage of the social media for keeping the tobacco advertising under radar of that of the
existing regulation.
The issues that have been brought forward with the help of the article is that the
training camps are being used by the companies in the present age for teaching the influencers
regarding how to take the pictures that can help in accentuating the reputation of the brand
before the people. They are taught how to use the hashtags along with the lighting that can
have the maximum effect on the people. The young people are greeted by that of the attractive
attendants who offer the people the cigarettes so that they become addicted to smoking. The
guerrilla marketing has a bad influence on the young people and it is instrumental in reaching
out to the millions of the young people across the world (Fallin-Bennett et al., 2019). Social
media has the public setting that has made it an effective form of the broadcast. The article

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discusses that the influencers who had been involved were of the legal smoking age. The
nano-influencers are paid the generous fees so that they knew how to maintain the social
media feeds. The social media followers are far younger and this has a negative influence on
these people.
I have been able to understand with the help of this article that the extravagant events
are wrongly used by the people so that the young people becomes addicted to smoking. They
are lured by showing a glamorous picture of the people who smoke so that they would also
take up the habit of smoking. The implication of the issue from the perspective of marketing
is that social media is wrongly used by the tobacco companies so that it would serve their
interest. The companies want to make a profitable business so they try to attract large number
of people (Levy et al., 2019). I have understood that the young people cannot decide between
the right and the wrong so they take recourse to the wrong activities as urged on by the
platform of social media. I have been able to gather that the tobacco money has flowed into
the sponsorships of the sports along with the music events. The strength of the social media is
being leveraged in the wrong manner so that the companies can earn profit within the market.

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References
Blog.hubspot.com. (2019). The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Trends in 2019. Retrieved 23
August 2019, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-trends
Fallin-Bennett, A., Aleshire, M., Scott, T., & Lee, Y. O. (2019). Marketing of e-cigarettes to
vulnerable populations: An emerging social justice issue. Perspectives in psychiatric
care.
Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Ang, S. H., Tan, C. T., & Leong, S. M. (2018). Marketing
management: an Asian perspective. Pearson.
Levy, D. T., Chaloupka, F., Lindblom, E. N., Sweanor, D. T., O'connor, R. J., Shang, C., &
Borland, R. (2019). The US cigarette industry: an economic and marketing
perspective. Tobacco Regulatory Science, 5(2), 156-168.
Stoklosa, M. (2016). Is the illicit cigarette market really growing? The tobacco industry's
misleading math trick. Tobacco control, 25(3), 360-361.
Štrach, P. (2018). Emerging Trends in Marketing Communications: Personalization and
Eventization. Marketing Identity, 6(1/1), 160-167.
Theconversation.com. (2019). How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new
generation of smokers. Retrieved 23 August 2019, from
https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-is-helping-big-tobacco-hook-a-new-
generation-of-smokers-112911
Watson IV, G. F., Worm, S., Palmatier, R. W., & Ganesan, S. (2015). The evolution of
marketing channels: trends and research directions. Journal of Retailing, 91(4), 546-
568.