University Marketing Management: Portfolio Article Analysis Report

This report analyzes two articles as part of a marketing management portfolio. The first article discusses the increasing popularity of smoking habits, amplified by social media, and the tobacco industry's use of these platforms to target young people. The report highlights the implications of these issues, including the potential for increased health risks and the need for regulatory changes. From a marketing perspective, this presents opportunities for tobacco companies to expand their customer base through social media, but also raises ethical concerns. The second article focuses on the growing demand for sustainable products and the implications for businesses. It highlights that sustainable products are selling at a higher rate than unsustainable ones. The report discusses the importance of sustainability for long-term business success and the need for companies to adapt their marketing strategies to meet consumer demand. From a marketing perspective, this shift presents opportunities for businesses to introduce sustainable products and align their value propositions with current market trends. The report discusses the implications of these issues from a marketing perspective and how these will impact relevant stakeholders.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Topic: 1
Increase in the popularity of smoking habits is one of the major challenges in the recent
time and it got amplified with the introduction of the social media networks. This is due to the
reason that tobacco companies are banned from advertising their products in any public forums
and in any conventional mediums. This was a good strategy until the emergence of social media
in the market. This is due to the reason that flow of information cannot be restricted in the social
media and the tobacco companies are leveraging on these advantages. In the article, it is stated
that leveraging on the lack of regulations in the social mediums, tobacco companies are
extensively promoting their smoking products and majorly attracting the young generations
(Agaku & Ayo-Yusuf, 2014). It is also stated that with the more focus on the young generations,
the risks of smoking addiction among these generations are also getting increased. Another issue
of promoting the tobacco products through the social media is the exposure of the younger ages.
This is due to the reason that even though the social media accounts cannot be opened below the
18 years of age but still there are number of users aged below 18 are using social media. Hence,
they are at the constant risks of getting exposed to the smoking addiction (Pierce et al., 2017).
The issues illustrated in the article are important because with the increase in smoking
trend among the younger generation, the probability of health issues is getting increased. It is a
well known and cited fact that smoking is injurious to health and can cause cancer. Thus
extensive promotion of the tobacco products through the social media is increasing the risks and
so it is important to discuss about these issues. This article has highlighted these issues in broad
manner. Apart from these social factors, these issues are also important in terms of legal factors
as well. This is due to the reason that regulations and legislations should be changed according to
the recent situation (Portnoy et al., 2014). The discussion of these issues in the article denotes the

2MARKETING MANAGEMENT
loopholes in the existing legislations by different governments in terms of regulating the tobacco
companies. Hence, it is important to discuss about these issues and mitigate the current legal
loopholes. The discussion in this article also denotes the importance of regulating the social
mediums as well and curbs the promotional activities of the tobacco companies. The process of
attracting the young people by the tobacco companies is also discussed in this report and it is
controversial as well (Clattenburg, Elf & Apelberg, 2013). This is due to the fact that in the
article, it is stated about how the young people are being greeted in different parties organized by
the tobacco companies and they are encouraged in taking up smoking as a lifestyle element. This
is not only increasing the smoking trends among the young population, but also attracting them
towards unethical lifestyles.
From the marketing perspectives, there will be major implications of these identified
issues. One of the major implications will be positive and will help in increasing the potential
customer base. This is due to the reason that social media penetration across the world is huge
and the maximum portions of the young generations are hooked to the social media. Thus,
without the regulations and legislations, the tobacco companies are gaining the opportunities of
tapping the large number of markets. However, on the other hand, the major negative implication
will be the emergence of unethical business principles. This is due to the reason that even though
the social media is exempted from the control regulations and legislations but the tobacco
companies are banned for any types of public promotion, which is clearly violated in this case.
Topic: 2
Sustainability is one of the major factors to be considered in gaining competitive
advantages in the market. However, till a point of time, it was communicated that sustainable

3MARKETING MANAGEMENT
products are having the lower market attractiveness among the customers. However, in this
article, it is identified that sustainable products do sale in the market and it is well defined
through data evidence (Lenssen et al., 2013). It is reported that sustainable products are selling at
the rate of 5.6 times more than the unsustainable products. This denotes the fact that customers
are now more aware and interested towards sustainable products and their advantages. Another
issue identified in this article is the disinterest of the managers in developing the sustainable
products and irrespective of the increasing demand for these products, fewer products are getting
developed citing lower demand in the market (Chang, Lee & Chen, 2014). One of the major
reasons behind the lack of development of the sustainable products is the added cost involved in
the process. This is due to the fact that companies will have to invest more in the development
process of sustainable products and this is keeping them away. Without the well and wide
availability of the sustainable products, customers will have no other options left but to buy the
unsustainable products.
The issues illustrated in the article are important because long term business
sustainability is depended on the extent to which it is followed. Hence, not developing
sustainable products for short term benefits will affect the business in the long term. This is due
to the reason that long term competitiveness cannot be gained without the presence of the
sustainable products. Moreover, these issues should also be discussed to communicate the fact
that there are demands for the sustainable products and it is not true that market is not acceptable
towards the sustainable products. The more will be the discussion about these elements, the more
will be the availability of the sustainable products in the market. In the article, it is stated that
companies are skeptical in changing their business approaches, which are being successful in all
these years (Bereketli & Genevois, 2013). In this case, it is important to gain the understanding

4MARKETING MANAGEMENT
of the fact that the current business scenario is much flexible in nature and external factors are
changing rapidly. In this case, it is important for the large business entities to change their
existing business approaches and cope up with the change.
From the marketing perspective, this discussion holds much importance because the
extent of the gaining sustainability will determine the extent to which the entities will be
successful in the market. According to the objectives of the marketing activities, the value
propositions should be in line to the current market trends. Thus, as per this article, sustainable
products are the new market trends to be followed and it will have positive implications on the
business. From the marketing point of view, this issue will be beneficial to introduce the
sustainable products in the market and tap the current trends. On the other hand, it should also be
noted that marketing executive should also have the understanding about the change in the
business strategies (Gmelin & Seuring, 2014). The business approaches got succeeded in all
these years might not get success in the present time or in the near future. This is due to the
reason that with the increase in the trend of sustainable products, marketers will lose out in the
market if they cannot offer ideal products.

5MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Reference
Agaku, I. T., & Ayo-Yusuf, O. A. (2014). The effect of exposure to pro-tobacco advertising on
experimentation with emerging tobacco products among US adolescents. Health
Education & Behavior, 41(3), 275-280.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1090198113511817
Bereketli, I., & Genevois, M. E. (2013). An integrated QFDE approach for identifying
improvement strategies in sustainable product development. Journal of cleaner
production, 54, 188-198.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652613002813
Chang, D., Lee, C. K. M., & Chen, C. H. (2014). Review of life cycle assessment towards
sustainable product development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 83, 48-60.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652614007690
Clattenburg, E. J., Elf, J. L., & Apelberg, B. J. (2013). Unplanned cigarette purchases and
tobacco point of sale advertising: a potential barrier to smoking cessation. Tobacco
Control, 22(6), 376-381.
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/22/6/376.short
Gmelin, H., & Seuring, S. (2014). Achieving sustainable new product development by
integrating product life-cycle management capabilities. International Journal of
Production Economics, 154, 166-177.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925527314001406

6MARKETING MANAGEMENT
hbr.org. (2019). Research: Actually, Consumers Do Buy Sustainable Products. Retrieved 28
August 2019, from https://hbr.org/2019/06/research-actually-consumers-do-buy-
sustainable-products
Lenssen, G., Painter, M., Ionescu-Somers, A., Pickard, S., Bocken, N., Short, S., ... & Evans, S.
(2013). A value mapping tool for sustainable business modelling. Corporate Governance.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CG-06-2013-0078/full/html
Pierce, J. P., Sargent, J. D., White, M. M., Borek, N., Portnoy, D. B., Green, V. R., ... & Pearson,
J. L. (2017). Receptivity to tobacco advertising and susceptibility to tobacco
products. Pediatrics, 139(6), e20163353.
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/6/e20163353.abstract
Portnoy, D. B., Wu, C. C., Tworek, C., Chen, J., & Borek, N. (2014). Youth curiosity about
cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars: prevalence and associations with
advertising. American journal of preventive medicine, 47(2), S76-S86.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379714001792
theconversation.com. (2019). How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new generation
of smokers. Retrieved 28 August 2019, from https://theconversation.com/how-social-
media-is-helping-big-tobacco-hook-a-new-generation-of-smokers-112911