UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Topic

UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Instructions

  1. Set up a blog on WordPress.com

You should imagine you work for a consultancy firm.  You have been asked by your line manager to provide some advice and guidance to a group of junior colleagues on how to conduct a marketing audit, and to explain why this is an important stage of developing a basis for marketing decisions.  You have been asked to communicate with your junior colleagues via an online blog. You are required to make three (3) entries to your blog as follows:

  • First blog entry: Provide a summary of how to carry out the first step in a marketing audit, the macro/micro environmental analyses.  Your summary should include an explanation of the purpose and process of conducting a PESTLE analysis and should advise on suitable sources of data and information, using your brand by way of example to illustrate key points.  This blog should be presented using sub-headings and bullet points.  The word limit for your first blog entry is 500 words.  
  • Second blog entry: Provide a summary of how to carry out the second step in a marketing audit, the TOWS analysis.  Your summary should include an explanation of the purpose of a TOWS analysis and how it is linked to the macro/micro analyses and should also describe the process of generating ‘Critical Success Factors’ (CSFs).  You should present a brief TOWS analysis matrix for your brand by way of example, with additional explanatory text presented using bullet points and/or brief paragraphs.  The word limit for your second blog entry is 500 words.

Please note, a TOWS analysis is not the same as a SWOT analysis; presenting a SWOT analysis rather than a TOWS analysis will have a detrimental impact on your mark.

  • Third blog entry: Explain the importance and value of conducting a marketing audit for short, medium and long term decision making, using your brand by way of example to illustrate key points.  This blog should be presented using sub-headings and paragraphs.  The word limit for your third blog entry is 500 words.

The word limit for the blog in its entirety is 1,500 words.  Your blog entries should include citations to academic models/theories as well as market data and information relating to your chosen brand to illustrate points made.  Each of your blog entries should also include a reference list, presented in the UWE Harvard format.  These reference lists are notincluded in the word count for each blog.

Answer Preview

Marketing Audit: Political factors

Political factors constitute part of the macro-environment that affects the veracity of the marketing strategy of the company. It informs various policies that include tax obligations as well as sectorial policy management (Perera 2017, 27). The government regulates the hotel industry, and various policies are in place to ensure that customers have the best services. A case in point is the existent travel bans incidental to the recent pandemic. Such policy decisions have seen a reduction in the number of patrons by the hotel. In any event, the international operation by the company shall be in limbo if and when there is an upheaval in the democratic fabric of the country of operations.

Marketing Audit: Economic factors

The strength of the currency is one of the macro-economic factors that affect the adoptable marketing strategy. Scholars posit that once other international currencies are stronger than the Pound; there shall be an influx in the number of tourists, which then interprets to a higher number of guests for the hotel (Perera 2017, 35). Notably, this facet equally influences the company’s employment and job growth rate, whereby the hotel takes into account the prevailing economic conditions to make the relevant labor decisions. These decisions ultimately affect the critical areas of marketing inter alia, the pricing of services.

Word Count: 1800