Marketing M1 Review Questions

• Can you fully explain what marketing is (including all core components)? Look over the textbook’s introduction and reflect on how it relates to the definition we discussed in our first meeting

Marketing is a process that includes creating something of value, communicating to understand what customers want/need and satisfying them, deliver the value, build ongoing relationships with customers, in order to capture some type of value in return

• Can you explain what goes into each step of the 4-step marketing process? (Don’t confuse with 4Ps!). Please note that the textbook (Figure 1.3) provides 5 steps. The model we are using simply combines the book’s step 4 and 5.

4-step marketing process: 

1. Analyze the marketing environment

   1. Analyze the 3Cs (customers, competitors, company) & do a complete situational analysis

2. Devise market strategy with STP

   1. Select target markets & develop competitive positioning

   2. STP -> segment the market, select target segments, develop brand positioning 

3. Craft marketing tactics to carry out the strategy

   1. Execute strategy through tactics: 4Ps (product, price, promotion, place) - elements of the marketing mix

4. Evaluate progress & maintain profitable relationships with customers 

   1. Track, manage, analyze customer interactions with CRM - to build customer equity 

• Beyond just naming the 4P’s, what types of marketing activities & decisions go into each area? What types of marketing actions and decisions go into each area?

4Ps/marketing mix = tactics used to promote products/services to influence consumers to buy 

• Product

  • Features, design, quality, physical attributes 

  • Product design/development, branding, packaging 

• Price

  • What’s the min price for profit, customer max willingness to pay?

  • Pricing strategy, discounts/promotions/coupons/deals, payment plans, psychological pricing ($9.99 > $10)

• Promotion

  • Advertising (TV, online, billboard), public relations (PR), social media content, influencer partnerships 

• Place 

  • Market research to find location of potential/current customers 

  • Retail partnerships, website or in store, logistics (inventory/warehouses/shipping/delivery)

• Have a general understanding of what type of factors marketers need to examine in the MICRO environment, and how those differ from the factors in the MACRO environment.

• MICRO environment

  • Suppliers, competitors, customers, stakeholders, market intermediaries (3rd party sellers)

• MACRO environment

  • PESTEL

• The MACRO environment is assessed using the PESTEL tool. You should know the PESTEL areas.

PESTEL

• Political

  • Tax policies, tariffs, gov’t stability, corruption, fiscal policy

• Economic

  • Inflation, interest rates, growth rates, labor costs, consumer confidence 

• Social

  • Lifestyle/cultural trends, health consciousness, demographic shifts, consumer attitudes

• Technological

  • Infrastructure, automation, R&D, rate of tech change 

• Environmental

  • Climate change, pollution, weather, raw materials

• Legal 

  • consumer/labor laws, data privacy, safety standards, copyrights 

• Do you have a clear understanding of the different management orientations? E.g., could you identify a selling orientation if I gave you an example? How about a societal marketing orientation? Try to generate some examples of each to test your understanding.

• Production

  • Affordable and available

  • Ex: Henry Ford’s Model T - mass production, efficient assembly lines, low cost, 

• Product

  • Quality, performance, innovative features 

  • Ex: Apple - tech innovations 

  • RISK - Kodak film marketing myopia

• Selling

  • Persuasion, convincing, advertising

  • Ex: Car dealership - push for sales quotas 

• Marketing

  • Satisfy customer wants/needs better than competitors 

  • Ex: Amazon - customer feedback and use data to personalize shopping experience

• Societal 

  • Balance customer needs/wants with society’s long-term interests/well being

  • Ex: Patagonia - repair old clothes, environmental 

• CRM involves tracking, managing, and analyzing customer interactions over time. Do you have a clear understanding of why this is so essential to effective marketing practice?

• CRM is essential for marketers to understand their customers’ behaviors/needs and gain information to create personalized, targeted, efficient strategies so they can build meaningful relationships and build customer loyalty/retention

• Can you distinguish between the types of factors that fall into the internal, micro, and macro levels of environmental analysis?

• Internal environment - factors the company can directly control; strengths/weaknesses

  • Employees, company culture, finances, internal policies/rules, team organization

  • 5M framework 

    • Minds (people/staff) - ex: employees are poorly trained?

    • Minutes (time) - ex: time to launch new product?

    • Machinery (equipment/tech) - equipment breaks?

    • Materials (production/supplies) - suppliers give bad quality parts?

    • Money (finance) - marketing budget?

• External - MICRO environment

  • Suppliers, competitors, customers, stakeholders, market intermediaries (3rd party sellers)

• External - MACRO environment

  • PESTEL

• Do you understand the purpose / nature of corporate-level strategic planning? How is that distinct from a marketing plan?

Corporate-level strategy manages entire business portfolio (SBUs) 

• Marketing plan sets plans, actions, objectives, & goals to compete in its chosen market for given product/division

• If you were shown a BCG matrix with businesses marked, could you give some general guidance on what strategies make sense for businesses or brands in each quadrant? What’s the difference between harvesting and divesting?

BCG Matrix: Analyze SBUs & make decisions about which to invest in/minimize investment/eliminate

• Harvest - gradually reduce investment to squeeze out remaining profit before exit; max profits from a declining product by cutting cots, reduce investment, maybe lower price

  • Ex: keep selling old product but stop marketing it 

• Divest - fully sell off or shut down business; exit that part of business

  • Ex: sell a weak brand to another company or shut down completely

(CHECK NOTES FOR GRAPH EXACT)

• What are the key differences between the BCG matrix and the GE Matrix?

• BCG

  • Market growth vs. market share

  • 4 quadrants (high, low)

  • simple/easy to use

• GE - McKinsey Matrix: more complex/nuanced

  • Industry attractiveness vs. business/product strength 

  • 9 cells (high, medium, low) 

    • invest/grow (top left 3), selectivity/earnings (middle 3), divest/harvest (bottom right 3)

  • complex/nuanced

• If I gave you some examples from real businesses, would you be able to differentiate between mission, vision, strategy, tactics, goals, objectives? Pick a company and try to  generate examples. Then go back to the slides from class and assess how well you did!

• Mission - says firm’s purpose, provide direction, reflect core values, what that company does, who it serves, what differentiates it from competitors

  • Ex: Blueland - to make it easy for everyone to make sustainable choices, by eliminating single-use plastic packaging from everyday products 

• Vision - aspirational, what an organization wants to achieve in long-term

  • Ex: Blueland - creating a more sustainable future for ourselves and future generations

• Goals - broad statement of desired results expected to be achieved over a longer time (3-5 yrs)

  • Ex: incr. rev or market share, reduce carbon footprint 

• Objectives - what milestones/targets do we need to meet along the way? specific targets to achieve in shorter time (<1 yr) in order to achieve goal

  • Ex: incr. market share to 6% by end of yr 

• Strategy - generally, how do we plan to do it? What is the high-level game plan/approach?

• Tactics - using what specific techniques/tools? What we DO to carry out the strategy - marketing mix elements

• Road trip analogy: 

  • Goal: desired destination

  • Objectives: major landmarks, checkpoints along the way

  • Strategy: route planning, overall approach

  • Tacts: specific actions to do each day (turn left here, stop at this gas station)

• Marketing Ex:

  • Goal: become market leader in sustainable fashion by 2030

  • Objectives: incr. market share by 15% by end of yr, get 90% customer recognition of sustainability initiatives by Q4 

  • Strategy: strengthen brand positioning w/ influencer partners

  • Tactics: launch TikTok challenge in April

• Know how to create “S.M.A.R.T” objectives (section 2.1). Don’t get hung up on the difference between attainable and realistic (more or less interchangeable as described in the book 😊)

Effective goals & objectives should be SMART

• Specific - clear/easy; ex: incr. from 3 to 4

• Measurable - quantifiable goal

• Attainable - goals that are a reach, but not out of reach

• Realistic - reasonable chance you achieve your goal

• Time-bound - deadline

• How can we identify indirect competitive threats? What are the two factors I mentioned in class that can help? This is included on the lecture slides.

One part of competitive analysis is identifying strategic groups and key competitors. One type of competitor is indirect/substitutes. The 2 factors that can help identify indirect competitive threats are market similarity and resource similarity

• Market similarity - competing for same customer groups or satisfying same needs, even if diff industry but same customer base

  • Ex: fitness app and gym - not direct competitors but target same health conscious customers

  • Ex: Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut - both fast-food, cater to hunger, similar audience 

  • Ex: coffee shop vs juice bar - both sell bevs, diff type

• Resources similarity - access to similar resources (tech, distribution channels) or capabilities 

  • Ex: tech startup can be indirect threat to traditional software company if it uses similar tech.

  • Ex: caterer and local restaurant - use similar kitchen equipment/ingredients but cater to diff market needs 

• What is the purpose of Porter’s 5 Forces model? How is it used?

Porter’s 5 Forces is a strategic framework used to analyze industry-wide competitive forces that can have significant implications for strategy and help businesses identify their competitive advantages and anticipate market challenges. Its purpose is to assess the intensity of competition and the overall profitability potential in the industry.

Porter’s 5 Forces - type of competitive analysis to get strong understanding of competitors to inform strategy/decision making:

1. Competitive rivalry

   1. Price wars, competitors of similar size fight for share, slow market growth, high exit barriers, lack of differentiation

2. New entrants 

   1. Low entry barriers, easy access to distribution 

3. Substitutes

   1. Price-sensitive buyers, low switching costs 

4. Supplier bargaining power

   1. High reliance on a few suppliers, unique products, high switching costs

5. buyer/customer bargaining power 

   1. Customers can influence prices, quality, services

• In class and in section 2.2, we considered four different growth strategies a company may use (the Ansoff matrix). Can you differentiate between them? Try to sketch out the matrix and give it a try. Then go back to the book or slides and see how you did.

Market penetration Grow market share in existing markets  Ex: soap, detergent, toothpaste basic industries  Ex: Coca Cola - targeted ads for high recognition w/ existing products  Ex: coffee shop offers loyalty program or promotions to incr. sales to existing customer base

Product development new/improved products to incr. sales/rev/profit Ex: new car models  Ex: new iPhone model

Market development Find new market segments to compete in Ex: launch existing product in new geographical area

Diversification  Riskiest  Strat to incr. profit/sales volume  Enter new market w/ new product 3 strats: concentric, horizontal, conglomerate Ex @ corporate level: dine-in restaurant adds catering  Ex: A car manufacturer starting a new line of electric bikes, targeting a different customer segment

• What are the three components of attitudes?

• Beliefs 

  • Consumer perceptions of how a product/brand performs relative to diff attributes 

  • Usually formed from personal experience/advertising/talking to ppl

  • Positive or negative, or both 

  • Ex: believe coffee is good for you bc helps stay focused, but bad for health

  • Can change according to situation

• Affect (feelings)

  • Based on beliefs (ex: vegetarians), or independent (ex: environmentalist is against cutting trees, but has positive feelings for Christmas trees bc of subconscious association w/ childhood experience) 

  • Ex: I feel happy/energetic after eating veggies 

• Behavioral intentions 

  • What you as the consumer plan to so - buy the brand or not

  • Ex: I plan to buy more veggies to stay healthy this week 

OR

3 component of attitudes: 

• Cognitive - beliefs or thoughts about an object, person, or situation; the knowledge or info we have 

  • Ex: I believe exercise is good for my health

• Affective - feelings or emotions towards an object, person, situation

  • Ex: I feel happy when I exercise 

• Behavioral - actions/intentions to act in a certain way toward an object, person, situation

  • Ex: I regularly go to gym to stay  healthy  

• What are some different types of B2B buyers? (No need to memorize or make a comprehensive list.)

• Producers - businesses that buy raw materials/goods in B2B to produce other goods to sell

  • Ex: manufacturers, builders, service providers

  • Ex: Burger King needs beef, cheese, lettuce to make burger 

• Resellers - buy goods in B2B to resell, rent, lease those goods/services to other businesses/consumers

  • Retailers - sell goods to consumers in smaller quantities for personal consumption (ex: walmart, target)

  • Wholesalers - purchase larger quantities from producers and resell to retailers 

  • Brokers - intermediary to facilitate transactions between buyers/sellers, middleman to being them together and negotiate terms (often in real estate, insurance, finance); paid commission from party who hires them 

• Institutions - organizations that purchase goods/services for operations 

  • Ex: hospital, university, non-profit, museum, church (ex: nursing home buys food, bev, medication)

• Governments - largest single business/org market in US; gov’t purchases/contract w companies

• You should be familiar with the 5 steps in complex decision making (Figure 3.12 & lectures). Consider why the process does not always unfold exactly as depicted in the model. Can you explain how it might differ for a “high involvement” consumer versus a “low involvement” consumer? What do we mean by “involvement level”?

5 steps in consumer decision process 

1. Need recognition

• Become aware of a need from internal (hungry) or external (smell food) stimuli

2. Information search

• Heightened attention (milder) - more receptive to info about product/service

• Active info search (stronger) - so research, ask friends, visit stores to see product

• Ex: check milk price (repeat buys), campus visit 

3. Evaluation of alternatives

• Ex: NU location, size, major, cost

4. Purchase decision 

• Use heuristics - pre existing value judgements used to make decisions; “rules of thumb”

  • Ex: brand loyalty, price=quality

5. Post-purchase evaluation

• Satisfaction or no (meet expectations), second thoughts?

  • Lead to cognitive dissonance: tension from uncertainty about correctness of ur decision 

• Level of involvement - degree of interest, personal relevance, & importance a consumer attaches to a purchase decision - engage in effortful decision making if high involvement 

  • ** the two important factors that influence consumer behavior are level of involvement and the extent to which consumers perceive brands to be highly differentiated.

  • consumer's emotional or personal investment in the decision 

  • higher involvement leading to more thoughtful, deliberate decision-making and lower involvement resulting in quicker, less deliberate choices

• A high-involvement consumer (ex: buying a car) spends more time/effort on research, evaluation, and comparison, while a low-involvement consumer (ex: buying a pack of gum) may skip steps like extensive information search/evaluation 

• In what ways is the B2B decision process more complex? (Generally speaking...you will not be asked to list all of them).

• B2B markets are driven by derived demand (demand is indirect, flows from demand for consumer foods on B2C market) 

• More complex, multiple participants/levels involved (specifications, proposals, bids), no precise target buyer, more rational buyers in B2B

• Larger purchases/fewer buyers, long/complex decision cycles

• Perception is a process that consists of three steps. We don’t all “see” things the same way because the process unfolds a bit differently for each of us, depending on personal and situation factors. What are the three stages of the perception process?

Perception - the manner in which sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced; way people identify/organize/interpret sensory info

3 step perception process

1. exposure/sensory selection

   1. Sensory receptors attend to stimuli (constant stimuli - what breaks through?)

   2. Ex: subliminal/supraliminal priming, atmospherics sensory cues

2. Cognitive organization

   1. Stimuli are processed into recognizable patterns/categories 

   2. Ex: cognitive accessibility/associations: color emotional triggers, price associations, symbols, endorser, social influences 

3. Interpretation 

   1. We interpret the info & assign meaning

   2. Pre-existing associations/expectations color our experiences

   3. Ex: pudding darker=richer, toothpaste mint=cleaner

• How did Walter Dill Scott contribute to the evolution of advertising approaches? What important insight did he help the industry appreciate / adopt?

Walter Dill Scott - head of NU Psych/President

• Pushed advertising industry to appeal to consumers’ emotions, motives, concerns with social status, not just their “rational brain”

• Ex: dead carcass on meat packing ad kills appetite 

• Apply psychological principles - help industry recognize importance of understanding consumer behavior/using psychological techniques to influence buying behavior/decisions 

• Is “subliminal marketing” a serious threat? What did we learn from James Vickery’s demonstration in the movie theater and subsequent events? What’s the difference between subliminal and supraliminal priming?

• Subliminal marketing generally not a serious threat

• James Vickery's demonstration in the 1950s - briefly flashed "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Eat Popcorn" in a movie theater - showed no lasting impact on consumer behavior

  • subsequent research found that subliminal messages do not have a significant or lasting influence on people’s purchasing decisions

• Subliminal influence is much more subtle than driving us to make a brand purchase

  • Truly unable to be consciously perceived 

  • Use of stimuli below threshold of conscious perception

  • Small effects, short duration, primes only generate drive/concept, not complex behavior 

• Vs. Supraliminal - uses stimuli that are consciously perceived

  • designed with a purpose/appeal to the conscious mind to give a bigger impact on what the brand provides

• Do you know the core motives included in Maslow’s hierarchy? What’s the difference between social/ belonging level and the self-esteem level? How about self-actualization?

1. Physiological (food, water, shelter) - ex: Snicker ad hunger

2. safety/security (ex: in good hands w Allstate, ADA toothbrush ad)

3. love/belonging/social (friendship, love, community, inclusion - ex: coca cola sharing, kay jewelers)

4. Esteem (recognition, power, control, confidence, pride in work/awards - ex: luxury sports car to validate manliness)

5. Self-actualization (self-development, growth, seek challenges; ex Nike’s find greatness)

• In week 3, I’ll introduce the “associative network model” of memory. Marketers make use of cognitive associations in a wide variety of ways. Can you recall some examples of how marketers make use of this aspect of our memory? How did the “It’s a Tide ad” and “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ad illustrate effective use of cognitive associations?

• Associative network model - concepts are related/associated in consumers’ memory in mental structures known as schemata

  • Connections to the self-concept are especially important (ex: memory of driving)

  • explains how consumers mentally link brands, products, and other related concepts; “schemata”; memories are organized/retrieved through interconnected links

  • Networked associations between nodes in memory - vary in # of interconnections and strength of connections

• Marketers use the associative network model of memory by creating strong mental links between their brand and specific ideas, emotions, or experiences - helps shape consumer perceptions/recall

• Tide ad - association between Tide and cleanliness

• Snickers ad - association between hunger and irritability, linking Snickers with the idea of restoring normal behavior by satisfying hunger, making the brand memorable and relevant when consumers feel hungry

• What are the benefits of segmentation for businesses? Consumers?

• Benefits of segmentation for businesses

  • Define more precise customer needs/wants - better product development/innovation

  • More focused/effective communication

  • Identify most valuable customers - important customers who will result in rev - sustainable profit growth

  • Better resource allocation 

  • Customer loyalty/retention

• Benefits of segmentation for consumers 

  • More options

  • products/services customized to specific needs

  • Higher satisfaction

• Understand the difference between differentiated and undifferentiated marketing.

• Undifferentiated marketing (mass marketing)

  • No division into groups, few customer distinctions, so save $

  • Assume consumers have universal needs 

  • For brands w/ high market appeal (ex: everyone buys soft drinks - Coca-Cola)

  • Good scope/cost-efficiency of ads on big scale - economies of scale 

• Differentiated marketing (segmented marketing)

  • Very common

  • Separate brands/strategies for each segment 

  • Identify segments of customers w unique needs + tailor their offerings accordingly

  • Ex: Nike - women, young athletes, runners; Cars - small, trucks, SUV, luxury, hybrid

• Why might a business choose a concentrated or niche marketing approach?

• Concentrated/niche marketing - focus on single, specific market segment & tailor your approach to their needs only

  • Smart for smaller companies or w/ limited resources - can dominate a smaller/specialed market

  • Focus on serving a specific segment more effectively than competitors - strong brand loyalty, less direct competition

  • Ex: LUSH eco friendly & no animal testing

• Know the 4 basic types of variables used in market segmentation. Try to generate your own examples for a brand. Then go back and make sure you are correctly differentiating.

4 major segmentation types:

• Demographic (who)

  • Age, income, education level, profession, ethnicity, gender, generation

  • Ex: Gap Kids, bike frames for women vs. men

• Geographic (where)

  • Location, region, city, climate, language, population type/density (urban)

  • Ex: national KitKat flavors, summer vs. winter clothes for cold areas, cool American Doritos flavor

• Psychographic (why)

  • Lifestyle, AIO - activities (work out daily), interests (gaming), opinions (monitor social media)

  • Attitudes/Personality - related to purchasing habits (ex: workout but no time for gym)

  • Values - principles/important things that influence the way u live/work (ex: environmental concerns)

  • VALS (values, attitudes, lifestyles) model: segments consumers into 8 types - use to find what consumers are thinking 

• Behavioral (how/what) 

  • Divide based on consumer behavior patterns when interacting w product/service

  • Relates to product usage, loyalty, deal proneness, occasion, benefits sought, buyer stage

  • Benefit segmentation - which benefits/feature most applicable/desired by customers?

    • Ex: toothpaste for captivity, whitening 

• ***Behavioral segmentation sorts customers by purchase history and how they interact with brands; psychographic segmentation is based on personality and interests

• What characteristics should effective market segments possess? Do you understand the key considerations that go into determining the best targets? Be able to apply the ADAMS criteria.

ADAMS

• Accessible

  • Can you reach consumers in the segment at an affordable cost/ability of marketing dept?

  • Ex: if a segment responds more to TV and social media, do you have budget/capability to reach them?

• Differentiable

  • Market segment should be internally homogeneous (consumers have similar preferences) but externally heterogeneous (diff segments are distinct)

  • Is this group clearly defined?

  • Clearly defined differences between segments for no overlap in marketing 

• Actionable

  • practical/profitable? 

  • Segment should have easily quantified outcomes (awareness, purchase)

• Measurable

  • You can estimate size of market segment (in sales value or # of customers) to decide whether, how, to what extent you focus efforts on that segment 

  • Can we estimate market size & profit potential?

• Substantial 

  • Don’t waste resources on a small group that can’t justify expenses

  • Is the group large enough to justify resources needed to target them?

Target selection 3 dimensions:

• Overall attractiveness (size, stability, accessibility)

• Fit w company (our mission, strategy, resources)

• Ability to compete for them (competitive advantages)

• Positioning is a key concept in marketing strategy. The book’s coverage of this topic is very light. We will cover this in more detail in Week 4 class sessions. You should understand this fully, including what makes for an effective value proposition and how to write a complete positioning statement. Know the TEMPLATE I PRESENT IN CLASS  during week 4 and be able to use it! You will get some practice with this in class.

Value proposition - identifies primary reason to choose this brand 

• How will it solve their problems? What unique benefits does it provide? Emphasizes point of differentiation from competitors? 

• A strong competitive advantage is: valuable to customers, rare among competitors, costly/hard to imitate, non-substitutable, defendable

• Brand positioning statements - internal declaration of what makes the brand valuable to specific audience; describes your brand's unique value proposition and how it stands out from competitors in the minds of your target audience; ensure cohesive messagingo

  • Standard format: For _____ (target segment(s)), we are the only brand that _____ (value prop: unique/most important claim), among all _____ (competitive frame/reference) because _____ (support/reasons to believe)

• Ex: for eco-friendly, urban/suburban women, Blueland is the most authentically environmentally-friendly, modern cleaning brand among all cleaning supply manufacturers because we lead the industry in certifications for natural ingredients

• Febreze ex: For homeowners and caretakers who need to maintain fresh, welcoming spaces, Febreze is the home fragrance / aircare brand that transforms environments into inviting, welcoming places by actively removing unwanted odors rather than simply masking them, because ... Of its proprietary cyclodextrin technology that captures odor molecules at their source, allowing users to experience the confidence and comfort that comes from knowing their space is truly refreshed, not just covered in fragrance.

• Similarly, we will discuss perceptual maps in more detail than the book covers. Please be sure to take note of the important clarifications I provide in class – particularly about how to choose your map axes. The examples in the book are not sufficient. Try to create a map for a brand you like (or for NU versus other colleges and universities). Then go back to the guidance I provided in Week 4 lecture slides to check how well your map follows the suggestions.

• Perceptual maps - use 2 dimensions to illustrate how consumers view their brand & competitor brands; Graphically represent how consumers perceive competing products/brands along key dimensions

  • Find gaps in market, potential opportunities, assess competitors, track changes, guide strategic efforts 

  • Dimensions should be:

    • Not concrete attributes or objective measures

    • Highly important to target market

    • Capable of highlighting significant variation among brands - used by customers to mentally distinguish brands

    • Characteristics the company can influence through marketing efforts 

    • perceptual/psychological (how consumers think about the brand ex: cheap/expensive, unsweet/overly sweet, trendy/not trendy, authentic environmental commitment)

    • Not super correlated (ex. price/quality), customers use to mentally distinguish brands

  • Static tool - only gives us a current snapshot of current perceptions - Allows us to envision our ideal position (how we use perceptual maps)

  • Brands can monitor position/assess progress toward/deviation from strategically desirable brand position 

• How do perceptual maps different strategic groups maps?

• Perceptual maps

  • Consumer view

  • Reveal consumer perceptions

  • Psychological dimensions

  • Individual brand plotted

  • Inform brand strategy (positioning, messaging)

• Strategic group maps

  • Industry view

  • Reveals company capabilities

  • Broad industry dimensions

  • Entire companies plotted

  • Inform corporate strategy and strategic planning  

• What should you take into consideration to choose your perceptual map axes wisely?

When choosing axes for a perceptual map, you should pick attributes that are important to your target customers and that meaningfully differentiate brands in the market, avoiding traits that are too similar or irrelevant

• Perceptual, not concrete attributes

• Important to target customers

• Used by customers to mentally distinguish brands

• Not be highly correlated (no price & quality)

• Meaningful differences among brands on the map (not be clumped together in one of the 4 quadrants)

• Map should show a favorable, distinctive position for On (if you feel that the brand is currently not sufficiently differentiated, plot both its current position and your desired position on the map. That shows the strategic direction you want them to strive to obtain)