UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE - MARKETING
FACULTY OF MARKETING

--------------------------------------------CLASS: CLC_17DMA2

CASE STUDY FROM CHAPTER 1 TO CHAPTER 18
Lecturers: MBA Ngo Minh Trang
Group: 2
No.

Member

Student’s code

1

Pham Quang Thuy

1721001634

2

Do Thanh Ngan

1721000602

3

Trinh Quoc Bao

1721000655

4

Phan Hoang Bao

1721000654

5

Thai Ngoc Minh Uyen

1521002504

HCMC – April 2019


CHAPTER 1
Question 1: What are the pros cons and risks associated with Nike's core
marketing strategy?
Nike's excellence marketing strategies are their energy to achieve their market
goals. Nike believes the "pyramid influence" that the preferences of a small
percentage of top athletes influence the product and brand choice.
Pros of Nike’s core Marketing strategy:
Nike put heavily proportion in their marketing strategies and products design.
In order to sustain their dominance in the industry and retain their competitive
advantages, Nike actively responds to the market trends and changes in consumer
preference by adjusting their marketing strategies, the mix of existing product
offerings, developing new products, styles and categories, and influencing sports
and fitness preferences through various marketing strategies.
Cons of Nike’s core Marketing strategy:

Although Nike's marketing strategies had brings lot of positive implications to
the company, but it will bring negative implications to Nike too. The negative
implications that will identify in this assignment are high cost incurred, influence of
spokesperson, and competitors.
Risks of Nike’s core Marketing strategy:
Nike faces many risks when they use their core marketing strategies to achieve
their goals and these risks can come from both internally and externally
environmental circumstance. The risks will have a negative influence about Nike's
future development, for example, the market share in the world, reputation, brand
image, and customer loyalty.

Question 2: If you were Adidas, how would you compete with Nike?


Adidas needs to use marketing research to better understand consumers’ wants
and needs. The company cannot just produce without a good understanding of what
the customers’ are willing to buy (their needs and wants). Without this powerful
marketing research they would be ending up with huge inventory with no market.
Adidas also needs to consider market analysis to explore opportunities on untapped
markets where the company can outrun Nike in product awareness.
The company also needs to focus on market segmentation, and target the
market position he wants to take. The company needs to revisit its mission and
vision to better align all activities towards one and the same goal. If all efforts are
directed towards one common goal – there would be minimal reasons to fail.
Adidas needs not stop in innovating and striving to be the best in the industry.
Complacency is a common pitfall for failure.
Question 3: With a portfolio as diverse as Google’s, what are the company’s
core brand values?
With a diverse portfolio, Google has its underlying core brand values. These
core brand values are as follows:

Good Work Environment:
As a global corporate citizen, Google has always tried hard to be one of the
“Good Guys” in the corporate world, underneath a touchy-feely work environment.
Basically Google hires great people and expect a lot from them in return. They also
try to create an environment where people can prosper and grow. They treat their
people with justice and respect; share and welcome ideas openly.
Doing the Right Things:
Within its corporate culture, Google always encourages well-built ethics with
an eminent founding credo: “Don’t be evil”. Honesty and integrity in all they do
and their business practices are beyond criticism. They have a motto of making
money by doing good things.


Offering Prime Online Services:
Google adds value by providing tools to the advertisers’ better target their ads
and better understand the effectiveness of their marketing. Google Analytics, free to
Google’s advertisers, provides a custom report, or dashboard, detailing how Internet
users found the site, what ads they saw and/or clicked on, how they behaved while
there and how much traffic was generated

Technology & Innovation:
Google always apply their technology and creativity to solve important
problems and come up with new ideas. As a result they are in a quest of building the
world’s best technology and products
Marketing Asset Management:
With its ability to deploy data that enable up-to-the minute improvements in a
Web marketing program, Google supports a style of marketing in which the
advertising resources and budget can be constantly monitored and optimized.
Question 4: What’s next for Google? Is it doing the right thing taking on
Microsoft with the concept of cloud computing, and Apple in the fight for

smart phones?
With the advancement of science and technology, Google is trying to come up
with new products and services ideas which seemed beyond individual’s
imagination. Google’s stage of development starts within Google Labs, which lists
new products available for testing. It next moves to beta status, where invited users
test early prototypes. Once the product is fully tested and ready to be released to the
general public, it moves into the gold stage as a core Google product. As their next
projects, they have come up with Google Voice and Google Glass. According to my
point of view, Google is doing well against Microsoft’s Cloud Computing concept
and Apple’s smart phones.


Google Vs. Microsoft’s Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing
resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle
applications. Google is doing well with this kind of applications where they already
inaugurated two of their cloud computing applications which are – Going Google
and Google Drive. These are the two software where a person can store data here.
And the user can access to those data from any remote computer with an internet
connection. Google Drive is getting popular to the smart phone users with Android
Operating System.
Google Vs. Apple Smartphone:
Google is also going big in the mobile category. In 2008 it launched Android;
a mobile operating system with which Google went head-to-head with Apple’s
iPhone. Although many still prefer Apple’s platform, but most importantly, Android
is free, open sourced, and backed by a multimillion-dollar investment. On the other
hand, the iPhone is available only through few distribution channels. In case of
applications availability, Android has a wide range of free applications where Apple
is lag behind them. Along with this, some other differentiations establish Google as
a strong competitor of Apple’s smartphones.


CHAPTER 2
Question 1 : How is building a brand in a business-to-business context different
from doing so on in the consumer market ?
Building a strong brand that is able to set a company apart from other business
is always an important job. However depending on who the intended client is
determines how the company will build their brand. A brand is defined as a name,
term, sign, symbol, or design, or any combination to identify goods and services of
a seller or group of sellers.


While many things in branding are the same, building a brand that supports
brand to brand, B2B, or brand to customer, B2C, sales has slight differences. In
B2B branding, a focus will be made on making a strong connection with the client
business in order to make their brand seen as the top choice and safe to do business
with. In order to do this, the brand will be built around making strong and personal
relationships with the customer to become the go-to source. Instead of mass
marketing and small ads, B2B branding requires that the business be willing to
accept the time to completely educate the professional buyers about the brand.
These professional buyers are used because they are well informed about the
needs and goals of the purchase, and focus on purchasing a product that allows them
to achieve higher revenues at a lower total cost then other competitive businesses.
These buyers will be less influenced about the price and demand that the brand
will be available when needed. For this, the brand will need to have a simplified
supply chain and logistics to meet these demands. In B2C branding, the consumer
market looks at a vast majority of people.
While customers can develop a strong connection to a brand, little is spent for
personnel information; relying instead on mass communications such as TV, radio,
and magazine ads that are distributed.
In making a brand become a top choice for consumers, things such as price,

packaging, color, characteristics, name and logo are all designed to attract the
average individual.
Question 2 : Is Cisco’s plan to reach out to consumers a viable one ? Why or
why not ?
According to the case study, Cisco achieved a global ranking of 18 in 2008
with revenues of $39.5 billion dollars thus making its consumer based plan a
seemingly viable one (Cisco). In reviewing the market conditions of the 90's which
were wide open for internet technology and comparing that to the 21st century


which has now been saturated with internet technology, Cisco is making a wise
strategic move.
By transitioning to a consumer based marketing company, Cisco is placing
itself up against some very tough competition against Microsoft, Apple, and Dell,
however, their continued growth seems to demonstrate they are holding their own
with consumers (Cisco). Some of the key transitional actions from business-tobusiness into consumer based marketing that Cisco has made was to develop a
message. In 2003 the company began pushing the message of "This is the power of
the Network", a catchy phrase consumers could relate with.
Also, Cisco has consistently used television ads and other media outlets to
help push its brand name to consumers and help the company gain market space
successfully (Cisco). So, for Cisco, changing its business model to consumer based
and making smart marketing decisions is helping the company refocus its efforts on
the future.
Question 3 : Discuss how Intel changed ingredient-marketing history. What
did it do so well in those initial marketing campaigns ?
In 1980s, Intel faced a problem to distinguish itself from the competitors and
tried to convince consumers to pay more for its high performance products. By
creating the ingredient-branding campaign, Intel mended the matter and made
history in 1991. To become distinctive, it chose a name for its latest microprocessor
introduction that could be trademarked Pentium. The “Intel Inside” campaign was

the answer for the brand awareness problem. This campaign helped move the Intel
brand name outside the PC and into the minds of customers when the Intel gave
significant rebates to computer manufacturers to include Intel logo in their PC ads
or add the “Intel Inside” sticker on the outside of theirs PCs and laptops. It
succeeded in distinction and then raising customer’s brand awareness in its very
first step of marketing campaign. The later achievements came from several
effective and identifiable marketing campaigns in the late 1990s to become a


recognizable and well-liked ingredient brand name. Special advertisements coming
out with “Bunny People” series had made strong impression in the audience’s mind.
Famous Blue Man Group was also used in its commercials for Pentium III and
Pentium IV. Intel effectively utilized the basic factors of advertising like creativity
and used celebrities’ influence with the public to draw most attention of consumers.
In 2000s, Intel promoted its development by doing more marketing efforts. New
products were developed to extend its target market. In 2003, a multimillion-dollar
media effort was made around the new platform called “Unwired” which based on
the core product Centrino, a unique integration of a new microprocessor, an
extended battery, and wireless capabilities. Although the PC industry slowed in the
mid-2000s, Intel continued to lead the market by seeking opportunities in new
growth areas such as home entertainment and mobile devices with Viiv and
Centrino Duo. A remarkable reposition campaign was carried out to change Intel
from a brainy microprocessor company to a “warm and fuzzy company”. A
replacement in logo and slogan from familiar “Intel Inside” to “Leap Ahead”
happened, too. New improved products has been continuing to be regularly
launched to consolidate Intel’s position and expand its new market. Classmate PC
for children in remote regions of the world in Learning Series in 2007, Atom
processor for mobile Internet devices, netbooks, and nettops. In 2008, the Intel Core
i7 in the same year brought in turn a big revenue for the company. Intel’s most
recent ad campaign named “Sponsors of Tomorrow” was the effort to improve the

Intel’s brand awareness in customer’s mind.
In conclusion, Intel did a series of marketing campaigns to help it become the
top brands in the world. Focusing on creating trademark, positioning its brands,
making a series of attractive ads and finding new opportunities accompanies with
upgrading continuously its powerful products, Intel made it to be one of the most
valuable brands in the world.


Question 4 : Evaluate Intel’s more recent marketing efforts. Did they lose
something by dropping the “Intel Inside” tagline or not ?
In mid-2000s, the PC industry got into slow development and it influenced all
the related companies, not excluding Intel. This urged Intel to change and if they
want to grow more, they have to make an innovation. They took action by creating a
new $2 billion global marketing campaign: changing their familiar “Intel Inside”
tagline, creating new logo and repositioning the company. Things stuck into
customers’ mind whenever they think about Intel are all changed. There will be no
more “Intel Inside”, it’s “Reap Ahead” instead. This new clearly outstanding slogan
showed us new company’s direction will reflect in their future products and culture.
The question is whether Intel lost something by dropping the “Intel Inside”
tagline or not. In my opinion, they lost their “traditional value” that is the familiar
“Intel Inside” tagline but this change is necessary to adapt to the development of
economy and the change of market. Change is inevitable and a market leader must
be willing to embrace change to maintain the leadership position rather than resist
it. Some people who identify themselves with the old tagline will find it difficult to
get used to the new slogan. But customers who trusted in the Intel’s quality will not
doubt their new products with new slogan and logo. Because the good reputation of
Intel which helped them become a giant in microprocessor producing industry, has
been deeply established in consumer’s mind.
The new slogan of Intel “Leap Ahead” indicated their ambition to lead the market,
continue to creating new things that meet the needs of people from all walks of life.

And in fact, they took the initiative in market expansion. There are many examples
for that: Viiv aimed at home entertainment enthusiasts, Centrino Duo mobile,
Classmate PC for children in remote regions of the world, Atom processor, and
especially is Intel Core i7 for video, 3-D gaming and advanced computer activities.
The positive effects eventually came in their new product’s consumption showed
that the board of managers of Intel took the right action. They lost some old value


by dropping the “Intel Inside” tagline but what they gained is more enormous. The
recent ads campaign aimed to improve the company’s brand awareness entitled
“Sponsors of Tomorrow” emphasized their new slogan and highlighted their role in
changing the future of technology.

CHAPTER 3
Question 1: Evaluate Microsoft’s strategy in good and poor economic times ?
In its early days Microsoft was a strong market leader and the company’s
advertising efforts were focused on communicating their company’s range of
products from DOS to the launch of Excel and Windows- all under a unified
“Microsoft” look (Kotler et al., 2014). It was selling 90 percent of the world’s
operating system software, and generally left the advertising to Dell, H.P. and other
hardware makers who licensed Windows(Eisenach et al., 2000). The only time
Microsoft hawk edits most recognizable brand on television was when the latest
version of the software hit the shelves (Gawer and Cusumano, 2002). Then the
company flooded the airwaves with commercials full of loud music and swirling
imagery saying that the new version of Windows is out. Apple is the classic smaller
insurgent. Its share for desktops and laptops in the United States is just over 8
percent. Every time Apple grabs another point of market share from Microsoft’s
partners, its stock price climbs. And one way that Apple has tried to gain share is by
running clever ads that ridicule everything Microsoft stands for (Gawer
and Cusumano, 2002). There’s no better example than “Get a Mac,” unveiled

three years ago by Apple’s ad agency(LEONARD, 2009). No technology company
would choose Mr. Hodgman’s character, PC, to personify its brand. He reeks of the
past. He boasts of using his desktop to make spreadsheets and ridicules his more
youthful friend, Mac, played by the actor Justin Long, for using his desktop for
‘juvenile’ pursuits like blogging and movie making Ñ even through it’s clear that
PC would like to be in on the fun. He just can’t get his Windows computer to do his
bidding. Like a classic sitcom character Ñ think Ralph Kramden of “The


Honeymooners” Ñ PC is always dreaming up ill-advised schemes intended to show
his superiority. He’s thwarted by viruses, system crashes and other problems more
associated with Windows-based computers than Apple’s products Ñ and, recently,
he has become a hapless apologist for Vista. Mr. Long’s character smugly watches
his friend’s pratfalls, glancing at the audience with raised eyebrows as if to say, “If
only this poor guy would buy a Mac. . . .”(Baye,2012) PC will never learn. Not as
long as he keeps driving sales for Apple. Since 2006, the year that he first appeared
in all his pasty-faced glory, Apple’s share of the computer desktop market in the
United States has more than doubled, according to IDC, the technology industry
research firm. Its stock price, meanwhile, has risen 142 percent since May 2006,
while Microsoft”s has barely budged. Yes, the astonishing success of newer Apple
products like the iPod and the iPhone has helped. But the PC character should
also take a bow. Apple’s ads put Microsoft in a bind. One of Madison Avenue’s
rules is that a market leader never acknowledges a smaller competitor in its
advertising (LEONARD, 2009). And it was clear in the case of Microsoft & Apple
advertising war, where Microsoft failed to learn a valuable lesson.
Question 2: Discuss the pros and cons of Microsoft’s most recent “I’m a PC”
campaign. Is Microsoft doing a good thing by acknowledging Apple’s
campaign in its own marketing message? Why or why not?
Microsoft’s marketing strategy did not/does not change to reflect consumer’s
changing buying priorities. For example, in 2008 in the midst of a recession,

Microsoft was still plugging away with selling products at premium prices without
delivering premium value for the money (VISTA)Ñ hence the success of Apple’s
campaign premium products, but they deliver performance. In good times, people’s
willingness to ‘buy’ products based on prestige, popularity, and peer pressures is
greater than in less robust economic times when priorities are evaluated more
closely. Microsoft has to learn to adjust its marketing message to meet the demands
of

their

consumers(Kotler

and

Armstrong,

2010).Customer

Relationship

Management does much more than just track customer interactions. It also helps


organizations optimize their operations by automating routine tasks and
standardizing best practices. Ultimately, CRM allows organizations to better
acquire, manage, serve, and extract value from their customers while improving
operational efficiency something that is critical in today seconomy. Microsoft
has clearly adopted this technology through its products(Chen and Popovich,2003).
For example, Microsoft Dynamics¨ CRM business software is very powerful in
terms of understanding the customers and dealing with them differently &

personally. Over the years, if we analyze Microsoft, we would be to able to see
clear growth in short spanning of time, after constant change in leadership.
Question 3: Evaluate Walmart’s new marketing campaign and tagline.
Did the company make the right decision to drop “Always Low Prices. Always
as a tagline” Why or why not?
“Save money, live better” has hit directly into customer insights when people
those days spend more care to environment, especially saving. Saving for
environment, saving for your future, etc have been targets for everyone. Walmart
caught these insight, then released an effective campaign which help families save
the average spend for about 3100$ a year. Moreover, Walmart has successful in
making customers think that Walmart care about their budgets.
Walmart did the right decision doing that. Because for people nowadays, low
price does not mean more saving anymore. In the first decade of 21st century, due
to the economic crisis, people who are effected by the recession has increased
badly. Therefore people, who are Walmart’s customers, wanted to reduce spending
by buying things what they need, not what they want. Walmart caught this insight
and made a right decision.
Question 4: Walmart does very well when the economic turn sour. How can it
protect itself when the economic is on the rise? Explain.
Since Walmart started from a small store I believe they didn’t have knowledge
on how to manage a big store and less when it became an international megastore. To


protect itself when economy is on the rise is to learn from the past, evaluate the
present and think about future strategies on what they want to achieve. They should
use strategic long term decisions by targeting market decision, value proposition
and analyzing marketing opportunities. Also, tactical by product features making
sure their products are what people needs, promotions on products, merchandising,
keep their lower prices, sales channel and providing good services. Walmart also
must keep building a stronger customer loyalty, improving the store looks, people

don’t want to go to stores and see everything on the floor or difficult to search,
environment, adding new amenities to the stores to meet customer needs. Another
important fact is to provide customers with more access to online purchasing, we
are in the technology area and most of us are mostly on our phones and computers
and online shopping is a main thing for many busy people. They must work on
apps, online services with good customer experience and advertisement. They also
should be aware of new laws, advertising brands which I’m pretty sure they do
know but lawsuits are always there.

CHAPTER 4
Question 1: Why has IDEO been so successful? What is the most difficult
challenge it faces in conducting its research and designing its products?
IDEO is successful because helps other companies to be successful. I think
they put a lot of efforts in research and market analyzes to get a deep and detailed
idea about what consumers really want and need. They use a broad and various set
of research methods like customer observation, customer interviews, prototyping
and also let people participate in the design process (usability tests at each
development stage). To put the customer first is one of the key success factors
nowadays to meet their needs and to be successful. By designing products which
consumers really want, IDEO guarantees sales. They also have an own research
methods, for example the "human-centered research method". By researching
deeply, IDEO gathers detailed, accurate and precise information about customer's


needs. If you know and understand what consumers want, you can design product
that exactly meets their needs and will be highly accepted by consumers. Many
companies don t put consumers first and don't ask them what they really want. That
is why they get stuck. IDEO designs "from the outside in".
In the end, IDEO creates great solutions for companies that then receive all the
credi Should IDEO try to create more brand awareness for itself? Why or why not?

IDEO shou not try to create more brand awareness for itself. Its core business is to
do market and customer research, design products for other companies and to
consult them in a very specific niche. Brand awareness for the company itself is not
needed because they are operating in a B-to-B area, not the B-to-C area.
Question 2: Elaborate on Intuit’s use of customer research. Why did it work so
well for the company?
Intuit personally have their own researcher visit their consumer’s home and
study how their consumer react with their product. They understand the user needs
and produces products that suits the consumer needs. They often interview their
consumer over the phone and asked about new design to learn more about the
generation patterns and what they prefer more. This has work so well for the
company because they understand what the consumer wants and improves their
product well accordingly to the information they have.
Question 3: Could anything go wrong for Intuit now that it has beaten out
Microsoft? Why or why not?
Something could have still go wrong for Intuit even if they have beaten out
Microsoft. This is because even if Microsoft have discontinued their money
product. Other companies might try to develop new products similar to Quicken.
Eventhough Quicken has gotten its fame and many consumers are using it as well,
if there are much better choice and software for the consumers, they might waiver
their decision if Quicken’s performance is dropping. In order to make sure Quicken


stays alive, Intuit has to continue improving its product by continue researching
about what consumer wants and prefer.
Question 4: How should Intuit gauge the results of its research among younger
consumers with mobile devices?
Intuit can measure the results of their younger consumers by measuring the
time usage each consumer use for the application. The longer the consumer use
their application, the more likely consumer loves their product and will continue

using it.

CHAPTER 5
Question 1: What’s next for Tesco? Where and how can it grow? Who will it
target?
Tesco is already successful throughout the United Kingdom. However they
can grow more by promoting their loyalty reward cards because Tesco can receive
more information about what their customers’ preferences. However their next step
should be better quality. Tesco should make sure that everyone is satisfied with
their goods and different services such as banking.
Question 2: How can Tesco take its customer loyalty programs to the next
level?
Tesco can take its customer loyalty program to the next level by concentrating
more toward marketing research and linking consumers behavior towards different
services. By researching more about their customers behavior and satisfaction, we
they can create a better profile to understand the needs and trends.

CHAPTER 6
Question 1: What does Disney do best to connect with its core consumers?


Disney used emerging technologies to connect with customers, this help
customers to be served more easier and entertainingly.
From 1980s it adopted strategy to reach older audience, now its market
consists of all ages and culture.
Disney organizes different type of events for customers.
Question 2: What are the risks and benefits of expanding the Disney brand in
new ways?
It is Disney policy to always seeking for exploring and expanding its makes.
They themselves invest in the areas such as theme parks, movies, … This help the

company to bring more revenues and profits.
Question 3: What are some of the things IKEA is doing right to reach
consumers in different markets? What else could it be doing?
Leading-edge Scandinavian design at extremely low prices. IKEA sources its
products from multiple companies all over the world rather than a handful of
suppliers as many furniture retailers do.This ensures the lowest price possible, and
savings that are passed on to the consumers.
The floor plan is designed in a one-way format, so the consumer experiences
the entire store first, then can grab a shopping cart, visit the warehouse, and pick up
the desired items in a flat box.
Many IKEA products are sold uniformly throughout the world, but the
company also caters to local tastes.
Question 4: IKEA has essentially changed the way people shop for furniture.
Discuss the pros and cons of this strategy.
Pros: When a consumer walks through an IKEA store, it is a very different
experience than most furniture retailers. The floor plan is designed in a one-way


format, so the consumer experiences the entire store first, then can grab a shopping
cart, visit the warehouse, and pick up the desired items in a flat box.

CHAPTER 7
Question 1: What has Accenture done well to target its B-to-B audience?
Within the business market of developmental and information technology
system consulting, Accenture has done very well in targeting its business to
business audience. It has done so by targeting companies with high future potential.
Technology driven companies worldwide are generally the fastest growing and
most profitable entities or “business sectors with the greatest growth prospects,
most profitable customers, and most promising opportunities” (191), which is
Accenture’s target audience. Once Accenture identified its target audience, it

acquired 99 of the World’s Fortune 100 companies, meaning their focus was
successful. They’ve successfully overcome competitors such as McKinsey and IBM
by bridging the gap between those two service industries, offering both business
consulting and outsourcing implementation.With a clever brand transition from its
father company and inspiring slogans accentuatingits emphasis on success and the
future, Accenture has impressively directed itself to potentially successful
technology driven companies.
Question 2: Has Accenture done the right thing by dropping Tiger Woods as
its spokesperson? Discuss the pros and cons of its decision.
Initially, Tiger Woods was a great face for the Accenture name because he
was a well-known model of success in the golf world, which is quite a transitive
playing field inthe world of business. After all, the golf course is a significant place
of business within many industries. When the Tiger Woods scandal was revealed,
he became a negative representative of the Accenture brand. Based on potential
“vendor analysis” used in supplier selection, supplier reputation can be a large
reason for selection, almost as much as price and reliability. By ending his contract


with Woods as the face of the company and reinventing itself using a non-offensive
campaign, Accenture was able to re-establish itself as a trustworthy entity.
Unfortunately however, by ending the contract with Woods, Accenture lost its
association with the golf identity, potentially losing its association with a commonly
used business tool.

CHAPTER 8
Question 1: What are the pros and cons to BMW’s selective target marketing?
What has the firm done well over the years and where could it improve?
When I see someone riding in a BMW, I know that they must be making good
money. The stereotype for people who drive BMW’s is that they are rich, and these
are the people that the people over at BMW target. The pros to targeting the higher

income population is that they will be targeting people who are more likely to
purchase their product. Since BMW is known as a luxury car, people who have
lower incomes are less likely to purchase from them. The cons to the selective
marketing are that by not advertising to lower income people, they have nothing to
be motivated for. Someone could see a BMW ad, and be motivated to one day own
one. Since the market is specifically the wealthier incomes, the lower income
population may not be as aware of BMW. I see commercials for Mercedes all of the
time now, and I know that I can’t afford one yet. As soon as I’m able too, I plan on
making it a priority to purchase a Mercedes. The firm has done a great job of
improving its vehicles over the years. They have added so many electronic features
to its cars to stay up to date with technology. BMW also has come out with highperformance SUV’s for people with larger families and who are more active. To
improve, I would suggest that they maybe create a model for the lower income
population. Considering the majority of the population is middle-class or lower,
there is a whole untapped market for BMW to reach.
Question 2: BMW’s sales slipped during the worldwide recession in 2008 and
2009. Is its segmentation strategy too selective? Why or why not?


Yes, it was due to segmentation that the sales of BMS typically slipped during
the world wide recession in 2008 and 2009. BMW particularly sets it sights on the
targeting of a specific group of customers, and this was basically people of average
age of 35 upwards. The bracket of targeted customers also had to have an average
salary of about $75,000 and above. This form of segmentation strategy is the
geographical segmentation that mainly targeted parts of the globe like Europe,
North America, as well as some areas of Africa and Asia. I would say that their
strategy is not too selective. During the recession, everybody struggled. So to blame
BMW for their strategy that had made them so successful in the first place would
not be fair. I believe that their strategy could’ve actually helped them during that
time.


CHAPTER 9
Question 1: What are McDonald’s core brand values? Have these changed
over the years ?
McDonald’s core brand value is “hot, high-quality food at a great value at the
speed and convenience of McDonald’s”.
No, these haven’t changed over years and McDonald’s still making effort to
improve it such as introduced a new McCafe coffee line, launched a worldwide
repackaging effort, improved the drive-thru service, and responded the health trend.
Question 2:McDonald’s did very well during the recession in the late 2000s.
With the economy turning around for the better, should McDonald’s change
its strategy? Why or why not?
Yes, they should change its strategy.
It is necessary to assuming or considering that at some point in time, brand
crises will arise for some reason. For example, if McDonald’s didn’t introduce the
new coffee line and responded to the health trends, they might meet another brand
crisis.


Question 3: What risk do you feel McDonald’s will face going forward?
The risk that McDonald’s will face is going to be market penetration. They
have to keep their market share, moreover, they have to gaining competitors'
customers such as “Jack In The Box”, “In And Out”, or another fast food restaurant
that have same market segment with them.
Moreover, people will put value on eating a healthy diet and stop eating at
McDonald's in numbers that would cause their profits to decrease.

CHAPTER 10
Question 1: Evaluate American Express in terms of its competitors? How wall
is it positioned?
How has it changed over time? In what segments of its business does

American Express face the most competition?
American Express is a well-known business in finance and banking
industry.Throughout over 160 years, American Express has positioned itself as one
of theworld’s most admired companies. American Express strongly provides
various servicesrelated to credit cards. The target customer covers different level,
including: individual,small business and corporate. However, the company is
considered a premiumreputation aiming at the high-income and wealthy individuals.
In particular, AmericanExpress has deal with the toughest race in offering credit
cards and traveler’s chequefor individual customers.
Evaluate American Express’s integration of its various businesses. What
recommendations would you make in order to maximize the contribution to equity
fall its business units? At the same time, is the corporate brand sufficiently
coherent? With the core customers is affluent people, it can be said that American
Express has a sensitive integration of its business. If the company wants to
capitalize equity fall business units, it should focus on strong brand recognition with


the purpose flowering credit risks and using other additional services which support
for customers benefits.
Question 2: Discuss the company’s decision to grow beyond the core
affluent consumer base?
American Express is a very old company in the field of the travelling cards
and travelling cheques. They used to target the people who travel a lot. In the 1980's
women business leaders use to travel a lot for developing their business so the
american express target these kind of people to develop their business. They used to
campaign in the form of advertisements so that people got attracted towards the
travelling cards they were offering. This resulted in huge number of people adopted
the cards of American Express and the reached the milestone of about 20 million
cards in 1983. This was a great achievement by any of the company with is dealing
with these kind of things. But with the time their rivals Visa and Master card find

their way out in building the business by offering various kind of benefits for the
customers. Till 1990's the people have more option in choosing the travelling cards
and checks and they can choose the company which offer more benefits against the
cards. This force American Express to think about some other business which can
raise the business and could able to beat the rivals in the market. after that they
planned to add more things in the business like they started offering insurances,
selling jewelry, luggage, mutual funds and etc. and also offering the Optima cards.

CHAPTER 11
Question 1: Few companies have had such a long history of ups and downs as
IBM. What were some of the keys to its recent success? Can its plans to solve
some of the world’s most challenging problems succeed? Why or why not?
Keys:
-

Well-known brand name

-

Global distribution capabilities


-

Proven ability to change organization when technology changes

-

Has the capital and man power to survive the bad economy


IBM plans to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems can be
succeed because:
-

hiring scientist, engineer, consultant, and sale professional

-

invest $50 billions in R&D and 30% of R&D budget for long term
research

Question 2: Who are IBM’s biggest competitors today, and what risks do they
face with their current strategy?
Current competitors:
-

HP

-

Accenture

Risks:
Low successful rate
R&D may become obsolete by the time it compete
May not able to solve problem
Other firms might be able to come up with an answer that can solve a major
problem before IBM

CHAPTER 12

Question 1: Toyota has built a huge manufacturing company that can produce
millions of cars each year for a wide variety of consumers. Why was it able to
grow so much bigger than any other auto manufacturer
Toyota has built a huge manufacturing company that can produce millions of
cars each year for a wide variety of consumers and has products for different price


points demanded by consumers. They analyze what the customer want and they
deliver according to their need. Toyota Company is the master of lean
manufacturing and continuous improvement. Its plants can make as many as eight
different models at the same time, bringing huge increases in productivity and
market responsiveness. The Toyota Company grow so much bigger than any other
auto manufacture because of the act according to preference of the customer Market
segment: Toyota Company produce large range of subcompacts to luxury and sports
vehicles to SUVs, trucks, minivans, and buses. They segment their product
according to need of customer. They create their market segment. They produce
Scion car that is target the teenage and it becomes famous among the teenage.
Customization: customization is a process of modifying the some feature of
the product. The Toyota Company give high focus on customization to satisfy each
customer. They are more flexible and they do a lot of assignment before introducing
the customized auto. They can customized in the auto in the section like music
player, color of the auto, stereo component to wheel even the floor mats.
Performance quality and the design: The Toyota Company listen to different
customers for designing the new car. They build the car in the design that is
suggested by the consumer and they are timely updated. They develop various
design of automobile that is different from the competitor. Another feature is the
performance quality. The performance quality of all the Toyota company auto is
high and they provide high performance quality auto in low budget. Product line:
Toyota uses two way line stretching strategy. They produce high luxury car to
simple car that satisfied the need of both the customer. In the market there are very

expensive automobiles as well cheaper. It manufacture various design of the
automobile focusing different income level of customer.
Guaranteed Auto Protection: Toyota Company provide the insurance of the
automobile. They provide guaranteed auto protection service to all types of the auto
mobile. GAP is only available at the time of purchasing or leasing new or used
Toyota. Toyota is integrating its assembly plants around the world into a single


giant network. The plants will customize cars for local markets and shift production
quickly to satisfy any surges in demand from markets worldwide. And the Toyota
marketing strategy focuses on perfection. They will analyze the people perfection
and make a market strategy according to people perception about Toyota
automobile.
Question 2: Has toyota done the right thing by manufacturing a car brand for
everyone? Why or why not
Toyota makes automotive parts for its own use and for sale to others. Popular
models include the Camry, Corolla, Land Cruiser, and luxury Lexus line, as well as
the Tundra truck. There are wide range of line product of Toyota Company
automobile. I think Toyota Company done the right thing by manufacturing a car
brand for everyone. They manufacture a really great range of exciting new cars
which will open people’s eyes and minds. They analyze what a customer need and
develop the same feature automobile in the comparable price. They divide their
market segment. In the market there are different people with different perception,
someone may view automobile as only transportation mean someone may take as
self-pride. For those customer Toyota has to design differently. They have to act
what a customer want. . Its plants can make as many as eight different models at the
same time, bringing huge increases in productivity and market responsiveness.
That’s prove they produce wide variety of the auto that will use by different types of
customer. They try to develop the auto according to the customer perception. They
want to satisfy each customer. . It has been successful because has products for

different price points demanded by consumers. The price range of the Toyota
Company is lies very expensive to inexpensive. Toyota auto mobile are in the reach
of middle class to high class such that the user of the Toyota automobile are very
much higher than other automobile company. Toyota understands that each country
defines perfection differently. Toyota company produces and distribute their
automobile all around the world and they know depending upon the country,
perfection towards the companies automobile are different so they have to act


according to people perfection at that place. They develop wide variety of the
product. But the core system of the Toyota is same all around the world but outer
design and other part may be different according to the choice of huge number of
customer.
Question 3: Did toyota grow too quickly as Toyota suggested? What should the
company do ocer the next year, 5 years, 10 years? How can growing companies
avoid quality problems in the future?
Since 1997, Toyota has sold more than 3.3 million full hybrid vehicles
worldwide, representing more than 80% of all global hybrid sales. Toyota Company
offers full line of cars. Popular models include the Camry, Corolla, Land Cruiser,
and luxury Lexus line, as well as the Tundra truck. Toyota is striving to develop
automobiles that meet the needs of customer’s .Toyota Company grow too quickly
as their suggested. Toyota is integrating its assembly plants around the world into a
single giant network. They do customize on the car according to the need of the
customer. Toyota’s need to keep their product’s selection and quality superior to
their competition. Toyota company are become one of the successful manufacturing
company due to their consistent quality. They have to maintain their performance
quality. Whether they customized the car or develop new model according to
customer need they need to maintain same core quality all around the world. They
need to maintain reliability on automobile. The same superior quality and
dependable should be maintain.

The design of the automobile should be unique and while developing new
model design car they need to maintain core material as same. They need to
customize regular according to the customer. They need to maintain extraordinary
look for each model. Such that it will look very distinctive than competitor. They
need to produce high quality and high specific design automobile. They need to
give services after the purchasing the product and more ever they have to delivery
every item in the time. They need to create more value of automobile by giving