Marketing Fundamentals Report for WMKT101 at Macquarie University

This report delves into the core concepts of marketing fundamentals, focusing on the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) model and its application in analyzing market trends. It highlights how companies utilize the STP model to connect with their audience, avoid resource wastage...Read More

Running head: MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS 0
Marketing Fundamentals

MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS 1
Answer 5
The STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) is referred to an important concept that
helps companies in studying and applying principles of marketing while formulating
marketing strategies which allow them to connect with their audience. This concept creates
a link between the overall market in which the companies operate and how they choose to
compete in the market (Khan 2013). This concept also plays a crucial role since it assists
companies in taking advantage of market trends, which allow them to sustain their growth
and effectively implement policies to connect with their audience. Market trend analysis is
essential to companies to make sure that they stay competitive in the market while meeting
the demands of their customers, which can be achieved through implementation of STP
model (Mršić 2014). There are various reasons for using STP in market tread analysis. It
allows companies to avoid wastage of precious resources assists them in dividing the market
into various segments and target groups that make it easier for them to reach out to a
particular customer base. It also enables them to target each profitable segment in a unique
way to make sure that they receive adequate returns and avoid overlapping and redundant
information on different customer segments (Khan 2013).
Since market trends can be categorised in terms of demography, geography, psychology,
behaviour and other factors, market segmentation can also be divided into these factors.
This approach also enables them to make sure that they get maximum response from the
sales of each segment (Schlegelmilch 2016). These benefits show how segmentation can
assist companies in taking advantage of market trends. Similarly, targeting and positioning
also enable organisations in achieving this goal. Targeting the right audience as per market
trends enable companies in ensuring that they build a loyal customer base to sustain their
growth. Positioning also allows organisations in creating their unique image in the market to
gain a competitive advantage (Schlegelmilch 2016). For example, a current market trend in
technology sector is sustainable practices, and customers prefer those products which are
manufactured through sustainable practices. Major players such as Apple, Google and
Samsung have started to use this market trend to their advantage through STP. For
example, Apple has increased the price of its products by giving justification that they are
manufactured sustainably since it uses renewable energy for 100% of its operations (Statt

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2018). This behaviour segmentation assists the company in targeting customers that give
priority to sustainable products and positive itself as a market leader in smartphone industry
which shows how STP can be used to take advantage of market trends.

MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS 3
Answer 6
Internal and external factors have a significant impact on the overall success and failure of a
product since they have the ability to affect the decisions taken by the management and
sales of the product (Nixon, Harrington & Parker 2012). Understanding of business
environment is crucial for companies to ensure the success of their products. Internal
factors that affect the success or failure of a product include value proposition, human
resource, quality, financial forecast, corporate image, marketing resources, policies, labour
management and others. External factors include suppliers, competitors, customers, public,
marketing and media, economic, political, legal, social, environmental, technological and
other factors (Evanschitzky et al. 2012). Without proper analysis of these factors, companies
cannot become certain regarding their success or failure of their products. This can be
understood by the failure of the product launched by Ford in 1957 titled Edsel; the company
relied on effective marketing strategies to create hype regarding the product, which
increased the expectations of customers. This product was positioned as a high-end, mid-
sized vehicle and a cutting-edge new automobile. However, due to poor positioning, the
company failed, and it costs over $350 million to Ford (Feloni 2015). The reason for this
failure was external factors; particularly, customers whose expectations were increased by
Ford.
However, the company failed to deliver its product on those expectations since the features
offered by the company were unreliable and it was targeted towards average customers
that prefer durable build quality over a lot of features (Feloni 2015). Similarly, success of a
product also depends upon internal and external factors. A good example is the launch of
iPhone by Apple Incorporation; the success of this product was solely based on the
contribution of employees of the company without which it would have turned out to be a
total failure. Moreover, strong and futuristic leadership approach by Steve Jobs (founder
and ex-CEO of Apple) also contributed to the success of this product (Weinberger 2017).
Jobs build a team of expert developers, engineers and designers to create this product and
he ensured that it meets all the quality standards. Jony Ive was a key designer at Apple
whose skills assist the company in developing products that were aesthetically pleasing, and
it enabled the company to create a unique brand image in the market (Gartenberg 2019).

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Without the contribution of human resource and leadership, the success of Apple products
would not have been possible which support the argument that internal factors contribute
to the success and failure of a product. Both these examples show the importance of
evaluation of internal and external factors while developing business strategies and how
they can impact the overall success and failure of a product.

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Bibliography
Evanschitzky, H, Eisend, M, Calantone, R & Jiang, Y 2012, 'Success factors of product
innovation: An updated meta analysis',‐ Journal of product innovation management, vol 29,
pp. 21-37.
Feloni, R 2015, 4 lessons from the failure of the Ford Edsel, one of Bill Gates' favorite case
studies, viewed 24 August 2019, <https://www.businessinsider.in/4-lessons-from-the-
failure-of-the-Ford-Edsel-one-of-Bill-Gates-favorite-case-studies/articleshow/
48838702.cms>.
Gartenberg, C 2019, The end of an era: Jony Ive’s indelible mark on Apple and tech, viewed
24 August 2019, <https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/27/18761771/apple-jony-ive-leaving-
best-product-videos-iphone-ipad-imac>.
Khan, T 2013, 'STP strategy for new product launch-a work in progress', International
Journal of Business and Management Invention, vol 2, no. 3, pp. 56-65.
Mršić, L 2014, 'Widely applicable multi-variate decision support model for market trend
analysis and prediction with case study in retail', in Handbook of Research on Novel Soft
Computing Intelligent Algorithms: Theory and Practical Applications, IGI Global,
Pennsylvania.
Nixon, P, Harrington, M & Parker, D 2012, 'Leadership performance is significant to project
success or failure: a critical analysis', International Journal of productivity and performance
management, vol 61, no. 2, pp. 204-216.
Schlegelmilch, BB 2016, 'Segmenting Targeting and Positioning in Global Markets', in Global
Marketing Strategy, Springer, Cham, Basel.
Statt, N 2018, Apple says it’s now powered by 100 percent renewable energy worldwide,
viewed 24 August 2019, <https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/9/17216656/apple-
renewable-energy-worldwide-climate-change>.
Weinberger, M 2017, The story of how Steve Jobs saved Apple from disaster and led it to rule
the world, in 39 photos, viewed 24 August 2019, <https://www.businessinsider.in/The-story-

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of-how-Steve-Jobs-saved-Apple-from-disaster-and-led-it-to-rule-the-world-in-39-photos/
articleshow/56280270.cms>.