Report on Professional Practice of Business: Marketing Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of social and commercial marketing practices, exploring key concepts and strategies. It delves into the differences between social and commercial marketing, examining their respective focuses and objectives. The report also investigates the human resource challenges that impact social marketing, emphasizing the importance of technology adoption and employee engagement. Furthermore, it discusses various pricing and distribution models, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks. The report then explores strategies that contribute to both social and financial sustainability, including marketing techniques, mission statements, and stakeholder relations. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of balancing stakeholder interests with business profitability. This report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the various aspects of marketing and their impact on business success.

Professional Practice of Business

Running Head: Report
Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................2
Social and Commercial Marketing.......................................................................................................2
Human resource challenges affecting social marketing practices........................................................4
Pricing and distribution models............................................................................................................5
Strategies contributing to social and financial sustainability...............................................................6
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................8
References............................................................................................................................................9
1

Running Head: Report
Introduction
This new era of marketing has totally changed and many new practices have been evolving in order
to launch the product. These new practices usually have a long lasting impact on the mind of
customers and they tend to come back again to buy the product. Many digital campaigns have been
started by various companies to give wide options to customers to conduct their own research
before buying any product. The study of behavior of consumers is very important because if it is not
known what is required by them, they will not be satisfied with the product given by the company.
The tastes and preferences of the consumers should be known to develop products. The
advancement of technology is taking place at a very fast rate and it is therefore necessary to cope up
with the changing technology in order to cut down the costs and increase profits. The concept of
marketing has been drastically changed due to entrance of social networking sites and other forms
of electronic media.
Social and Commercial Marketing
The concept of social marketing focuses on the behavior of consumers and on the other hand the
concept of commercial marketing focuses on the needs of consumers (Withey, 2007).
There are many aspects of commercial marketing which are being used by marketers at a very fast
rate. For an instance, if we look at the concept of market research, this tool is not only used for
commercial marketing but also for social marketing. Before initiating any social marketing
practice, it is very important to hold an extensive market research to get information about the
customers. The following forms a part of such practice:
• Market research to analyze the needs and behavior of customers
• Segmentation based on geography, demographics, behavior etc.
• Analyze what are the problems which are usually faced by the consumers
• Choose a market where the product is to be targeted
2

Running Head: Report
• Set the long term goals and a clear vision and mission statement
• Improvisation of all the operations on a regular basis
• Positioning of the product and Covering all the 4 Ps that constitute a mix which are place,
price, product and promotion (Burnett, 2008).
Basis Social marketing Commercial marketing
Focus The main focus of this concept
is reaching the customers and
know about their choices and
demands
This concept concentrates on the product that is
the physical properties of the product and how
it should be developed to satisfy the demands of
the customers.
Product This basically deals with selling
the needs of the customers. This
deals in intangible aspect.
This believed in selling the actual product of the
company. The products which can be seen and
touched.
Satisfaction of
needs with the
help of
product
This deals with covering the
needs of society as a whole
which is why we call it social
marketing.
This focuses on the satisfaction of individual
needs and not the needs of society as a whole.
Main
objective
The main objective of this kind
of marketing is to gain the
confidence of society.
This focuses on satisfying the needs and
demands of customers and earning profits by
enhancing the sales (Wood, 2014).
3

Running Head: Report
Ethical dilemmas that may arise when using marketing practices are:
1. Obligations to stakeholders: There are times when it gets difficult for the
businessmen to oblige to the ends of various stakeholders and creating a balance
between satisfying the needs of customers and satisfying needs of stakeholders is
a difficult process.
2. Own values of decision maker: The decision maker sometimes falls into a dilemma
where his own values are in conflict with the values of all the stakeholders while
conducting marketing practices.
3. Competitors market: The decision maker analyzes the strategies of competitors due
to which sometimes such practices are adopted by the decision maker which
affect his or her ethics (Samudrage, Gunarathne, & Wijesinghe, 2008).
Human resource challenges affecting social marketing practices
Social Marketing practices and human resources go hand in hand and should work simultaneously.
In order to understand the needs of the customers and their behaviors, it is significant to teach the
human resource the importance of marketing strategies and how they can be of aid in analyzing the
needs of the customers. A company needs to attract profitable customers to achieve decent sales
numbers and this can be done if the whole of the staff of the company work towards achieving the
same (Blu Ivy Group, 2014).
Challenges:
1. Embracing technology: The employees who are one of the stakeholders of the company face a
major challenge that is important for any social marketing practice. It is important to induce
advanced technology in the system to make the social marketing practices work more smoothly
4

Running Head: Report
and it becomes imperative for the human resource of the company to adapt to changing
technology in less time and work in consonance with the marketing practices.
2. Relating to marketing practices: Sometimes the major challenges which the employers face is to
make the Customers understand the reason behind the social marketing practice and how
benefits can be derived from such practices. The customers fail to understand the importance of
social marketing programs and they fail to relate themselves to these practices due to which
sometimes they have to suffer and they end up buying the wrong products (Reinhart, 2017).
3. Investment by investors: The social marketing practices involve a huge cost and the investors
need to spend on these strategies because the overall approach is to make the product reach the
customers and the best way of doing it is through marketing practices. But this is not a small
affair and a lot of capital is required to launch the product, but the higher authorities spend a lot
of time and effort to explain the importance of marketing to investors which is a huge task.
Pricing and distribution models
The first pricing model is Project pricing model. Project-based pricing model and we also call it Flat
fee model which is profitable but various cautious steps are to be taken to execute it successfully.
This method sometimes leads to underestimation of the amount of time and effort required to
complete a project which lead to many unforeseen problems and changes. This means a loss in
overall gains or a situation to raise the amount of budget. Project-based pricing proves to be
beneficial and with the help of this one can start moving towards value based pricing as well and
achieve great success. The social marketing is a one-time project for one product and before setting
price for such kinds of projects, it is important to conduct comprehensive market research and other
work related to target audience (Weaver, 2016).
5

Running Head: Report
The next that comes is value based pricing. The conclusion of this type of pricing is giving
assurance that the amount paid is proportionate to the work done, neither more nor less than that.
Before setting prices for any marketing practice, it is important to know whether it is going to give
any return on investment or any revenues after investing such a huge amount. The pricing models
are quite a lot in number, but this model is used by most of the strategists and it is proved to be the
most beneficial.
Now comes the first distribution model. In order to market the product, the product can be sold to
customers through various intermediaries. There are various benefits attached and also many
disadvantages also come in between if the products are sold using a couple of intermediaries. If a
product is sold through intermediaries, it leads to publicity of the product and it is a kind of social
marketing as it covers huge number of people in form of intermediaries but on the other hand it
leads to corruption of product (Nobilis, 2010).
The authorities have a tendency to give the product to may distributors who further sell products to
the customers and sometimes sell to other intermediaries. This is the best way of marketing of
product and this is frequently used as it is the most convenient way. The choice of distribution
models differs from company to company and company chooses it on the basis of different situation
and type of product. The selection of the distribution model should be based on present market
settings and on considering financial aspects. The models can be combined differently in different
regions.
Strategies contributing to social and financial sustainability
The various strategies leading to financial sustainability are:
1. Best marketing strategies for marketing of the organization: The focus of marketing strategies
is looking at every aspect that promotes the product. When the receptionist in the office takes
6

Running Head: Report
up the call, the way she speaks has a lot of impact on the person calling and sometimes this is
ignored by many companies (National Academy of Sciences, 2017). The financial stability is
maintained by maintaining the image of the company and others aspects are also important
which are given as follows:
 Image-building
 Fund-raising
 Development of relations
 Community relations
 Political aspects
 Stakeholders’ relationship
 Customer-oriented services
2. Mission and vision addressed towards financial stability: The setting of mission and vision
statement should be in consonance with the working of the company towards financial
sustainability. The strategies should be handy for any financial crisis and it is imperative to
keep a reserve in cases of any financial contingencies. If one is working in a group, one might
make a handout with those listed, so that they are right in front of all the employees and
employers as they work.
The strategies leading to social sustainability are:
1. Maintaining goodwill: It is significant to maintain the goodwill of the company if survival in
the market for long terms required. The needs of not only customers should be served but also
needs of all the stakeholders should be addressed as well. The stakeholders of the company are
very important and they help in maintaining good will. It is necessary to keep a check on the
number of employees who leave the company because there is a major reason behind every
7

Running Head: Report
employee leaving the company. Not only is recruiting an employee is important, but their
retention is equally important. There should be a suggestion box in the company which should
be not only for employees, but also for customers and the complaints and suggestions given by
them should be given due consideration. Goodwill and reputation of any company are one of
sole surviving factors and it should be always kept in mind that a company who doesn't have a
good image tend to lose the brand image in the market and even loses its most loyal customers
(Institute for Community Peace, 2004).
2. Satisfaction of demands of customers: The product should be developed keeping in mind the
needs and demands of the customers because there are high chances that a satisfied customer
will come back to buy the product again and will also recommend the same to others. So,
before making any product, it is important to do comprehensive market research to know about
the cases of the customers because it will help in developing the desired products.
Conclusion
The interests of stakeholders are very important and it should be taken care of by the higher
officials of the company. This project talks about the social and commercial marketing concepts,
pricing and distribution models and financial and social sustainability. This has one thing in
common which is the satisfaction of employees long with the profitability of the business. The
product should not be developed at the cost of profits of the company. In fact, the product is to be
developed after taking all necessary steps to curtail down the costs and shooting up the profits. This
doesn't end here, the work of the officials doesn't end at earning profits, but the profit should be
distributed among the stakeholders as bonus and dividends. Even after selling the product to
customers, the follow up should be done properly to know what the consumers think of the product
and to see if any improvements are needed. The standards should be set before working on any
8

Running Head: Report
project and if by any chance such standard is not achieved, the company should analyze the root
cause why it is not achieved and then work on improving it.
References
Blu Ivy Group. (2014). Why Marketing and HR need to work together on the employer branding
strategy. Retrieved from http://bluivygroup.com/why-marketing-and-hr-need-to-work-
together-on-the-employer-branding-strategy/
Burnett, J. (2008). Core Concepts of Marketing. Retrieved from
https://is.bivs.cz/el/6110/zima2016/B104MAR/Core-Concepts-of-Marketing.pdf?lang=en
Institute for Community Peace. (2004). Strategies for Financial Sustainability. pp. 1-10. Retrieved
from http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/stratfinansustain.pdf
National Academy of Sciences. (2017). Strategies for Financial Sustainability. Retrieved from
https://www.nap.edu/read/18806/chapter/7
Nobilis, L. (2010). Choosing the Right Distribution Model. Retrieved from http://www.biz-
development.com/SupplyChain/6.19.Choosing-The-Right-Distribution-Model.htm
Reinhart, C. (2017). The Relationship Between Marketing & Human Resources. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/relationship-between-marketing-human-resources-
10287.html
Samudrage, D., Gunarathne, A., & Wijesinghe, D. (2008). Fostering Economic Bottom Line
through Social Sustainability (Industrial Safety): The case of a mining company. Retrieved
from http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/bitstream/123456789/4622/1/Fostering%20Economic%20Bottom
%20Line%20through%20Social%20Sustainability%20%28Industrial%20Safety
%29%20The%20Case%20of%20a%20Mining%20Company.pdf
Weaver, B. (2016, July). 7 pricing models - and which you should choose. Retrieved from
http://www.creativebloq.com/advice/7-pricing-models-and-which-you-should-choose
9

Running Head: Report
Withey, J. (2007). Ethical dilemmas in marketing practices among small and medium sized
enterprises. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics, 1-7. Retrieved from
http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10453.pdf
Wood, M. (2014). Introduction to the Principles of Social Marketing. Retrieved from
http://wsmconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ESMC-Intro-to-Social-Marketing-
Sept-2014.pdf
10