MKT202

Timed Online Assignment

Marketing Management

市场营销管理代考 This Timed Online Assignment (TOA) contains TWO (2) questions and comprises FIVE (5)pages (including cover page).

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS: 市场营销管理代考

  1. This Timed Online Assignment (TOA) contains TWO (2) questions and comprises FIVE (5)pages (including cover page).
  2. You must answer ALL
  3. If you have any queries about a question, or believe there is an error in the question, briefly explain your understanding and assumptions about that question before attempting it.
  4. You MUST submit your answers via Canvas (similar to TMA submission) at theend time of this TOA (as stated on this cover page). The 15 minutes grace period as shown on Canvas is strictly meant for technical issues encountered during submission. Thereafter, you will not be able to submit your answers and you will be considered as having withdrawn from the course.  No appeal will be allowed. 
  5. Your submission should consist of only one file and must not exceed500MB in size. The file must be a Microsoft Word file saved in .docx format. All answers are to be typed. Flowcharts and graphs may be scanned or photographed and embedded in the Word file provided it does not exceed the file size limit of 500MB. Images of handwritten answers will not be marked.
  6. To prevent plagiarism and collusion, your submission will be reviewed by Turnitin. The Turnitin report will only be made available to the marker and you will not be able to view it.
  7. The University takes plagiarism and collusion seriously, and your Turnitin report will be examined thoroughly as part of the marking process.

You must answer ALL the questions. (Total 100 marks)

 

Question 1 市场营销管理代考

As Singaporeans turn to online shopping and continue to shun DIY, are hardware stores dying?

In a corner on the third floor of Lucky Plaza lies a hardware store that some have described as “the shop that has it all”. “We try to carry a wide range of stocks,” said the second-generation owner of Handyman Centre who preferred to be known only as Mr Tan. But even then, the store, founded by Mr Tan’s father in the 1970s, has seen better days. Business has become “very erratic” over the past decade, said the owner, with competition from e-commerce being a reason. “We’ve had people coming here to ask if we sell this. They have a look and ask questions, then they buy online. We also get customers saying they don’t like to buy online and still want to support brick-and-mortar stores, but how many of them are there?”

The other reason is the lack of a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture here. While step-by-step videos online have spurred some to try things out on their own, “there is a limit as to what people can do” given the space constraints in HDB flats, said Mr Tan. “DIY is about really building something, not just hanging a picture or replacing a light bulb … The community remains very small here,” added the 64-year-old.

“VERY SUNSET” INDUSTRY? These are not just hurting the independent hardware stores; even bigger players have been hammered. Once a familiar sight in many shopping malls, home-grown retail chain Home-Fix closed down all of its stores earlier this month as it undergoes interim judicial management. 

NOT DOOM AND GLOOM: SELFFIX. Interestingly, Selffix opened its 14th outlet at the basement of Great World City last Friday (Dec 20) – marking its third new store opening this year. Speaking to CNA before the opening, its director John Teo candidly admitted the challenges facing his industry, but he also said that the strategy of expanding in shopping malls may not be doomed for failure. “There’s still a need for physical stores so that customers can see and touch the items. We also want to provide the convenience of store pick-ups for online orders.” Selffix’s venture into e-commerce, with the set-up of its own website and partnering other e-marketplaces like Lazada, has also paid off. Online sales registered a double-digit increase from last year. But Mr Teo said Selffix is not delusional, as the exit of the company’s biggest competitor suggests “big challenges” present in the industry.

 

Adapted for academic purposes from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/diy-hardware-stores-onlineshopping-home-fix-12205652, 24 Dec 2019, updated 04 Feb 2020 市场营销管理代考 

  • Identify and discuss two (2)macro-environment forces that impact the DIY hardware industry and its players such as Selffix.

The popularity of e-commerce enables people to choose more styles of hardware products at lower prices. The lack of DIY culture makes people reluctant to buy hardware parts to assemble and repair household goods.

(24 marks)

  • Applythe multichannel marketing concept and discuss how hardware stores can utilise hybrid marketing, i.e. both online and offline channels, to improve business performance.

Multi channel marketing (online and offline mixed marketing) can give full play to the advantages of offline marketing that customers can actually experience and the advantages of online marketing that are convenient and cheap, which can effectively improve marketing efficiency, expand customer coverage, increase customer stickiness, achieve scale economic benefits and reduce marketing costs.

(16 marks)

  • Discuss two (2)Customer Relationship Management strategies that help hardware stores connect with customers and improve customer loyalty and profitability. Note: you should focus on two (2) strategies only and support your proposals with adequate elaborations, justifications and examples.

Personalising marketing: 市场营销管理代考 

Through the collection and statistics of consumer purchase records, make customer preference analysis, and record. This can help enterprises to better manage and identify customers. Personalized marketing can help enterprises provide different service methods and product recommendations for different customer needs. For example, it can provide lower cost product recommendations for customers who pay more attention to price, and provide more comprehensive and high-end services for customers who pay more attention to service quality.

市场营销管理代考
市场营销管理代考

Customer complaints:

Through customer feedback, the company can accurately record the customer’s service request and service feedback, and the handling process, processing results and customer evaluation of customer complaints will also focus on. The business supervisor of the company will monitor the handling and service process of each customer complaint, timely understand whether the customer complaint has been solved and whether the service is delayed and the specific reasons, so as to make quick handling and make the customer request respond immediately. This can improve customer satisfaction with service and enhance customer stickiness.

(20 marks)

Question 2 市场营销管理代考 

Kerbside & Co.: The Under-The-Radar Denim Label You Need To Know About

As a brand that started in 2015, it doesn’t have much of a heritage to speak of, and all its wares are new. But what founder Fahmy Ismail, 43, lacks in the vintage department, he makes up for it with his knowledge of the old guards – Levi’s and Lee – and vintage American workwear from the mid-20th century.

“In the mid-’90s, I started collecting jackets, shirts, canvas pants and denim jeans from the ’40s and ’50s, though I eventually sold most of them when my collection grew too massive,” says Fahmy.

After two decades in the media industry, he left his job in 2014 and returned to his first love, raw denim.

He e-mailed hundreds of suppliers in Japan and the US, found a handful who were willing to work with the quantity he could produce, and with his savings, he purchased expensive bolts of raw denim, had them made into jeans in Japan, and started Kerbside & Co.

He does everything the old-fashioned way, at his own pace. He has an Instagram account, but no Facebook. He also hasn’t quite figured out how to make his website SEO-friendly.

Even without any real marketing push, Kerbside & Co. has been featured at least five times in Dutch, Italian and American magazines and denim-related websites, and has loyal customers in the West. 市场营销管理代考 

“So far, 70 per cent of my customers are from America, while 25 per cent are from

Europe. Only about 5 per cent are from Asia, including Singapore.”

While customers here favour skinnier fits with stretch, Fahmy sticks to his own brand – Americana style with zero stretch. To complement his jeans, Fahmy also designed accessories like a heavy-duty tote made with sturdy Japanese canvas from Okayama. The design is based on old-style newspaper carriers from the ’40s, and comes in M and L.

For now, the Kerbside & Co. products can only be purchased online at www.kerbsideco.com. Price range for a pair of denim jeans starts from US$158 to US$228.

 

Adapted for academic purposes from heworld.com.

  • Demonstrate how Kerbside & Co. can utilise one (1)online marketing and one (1) social media marketing tool to build brand awareness and improve sales. Note: you are expected to provide justifications and examples to illustrate how Kerbside can make good use of these digital marketing tools.

(20marks)

Although kerbside & Co did not do any formal marketing and promotion. But “kerbside & Co. has been featured at least five times in Dutch, Italian and American magazines and denim related websites, and has Lloyd customers in the West.” this is the way of WOM, news, stories first receives without directly paying in online marketing. Kerbside & Co has attracted a group of loyal customers through its unique design and texture. 市场营销管理代考 

Fahmy Ismail has an instagram account through which he will promote. The transaction probability on instagram is very large, its number is far more than Facebook, and the conversion rate is also very high. What’s more, customers who like to use instagram have the following characteristics: they are very keen on “brand”, and they will like the personalized design of kerbside & Co more.

  • The article mentions that currently Kerbside & Co. only uses the online channel to distribute its products. Employ the channel design strategies framework and discuss how Kerbside & Co. has applied the strategies and why it has chosen the online channel.

You are expected to discuss all four (4) aspects of the channel design decisions, including analysing consumer needs and wants, establishing objectives and constraints, identify major channel alternatives and evaluate major channel alternatives.

  • Analysing Customers’ Desired Service Output Levels

Kerbside & Co’s jeans have strong design features, and the use of fabric also adheres to the American style without elasticity. Online sales enable customers to choose their favorite channels according to the price, product type and convenience, as well as their own shopping goals (economic, social or experience).

Now, kerbside & Co. only sells its products online, enabling people from all over the world to buy kerbside & Co.’s products. Online marketing removes the cost of intermediaries. Help kerbside & Co. save marketing costs.

3) Identifying and Evaluating Major Channel Alternatives

The Internet is cheap, but it may not be as effective for complex products. Kerbside & Co.’s products are simple in price comparison, mainly selling jeans and related accessories. So it is more suitable for network marketing.

4) Evaluating the Major Alternatives.

Kerbside & Co. will strive to adjust its sales channels to reduce costs while maximizing customer demand and ensuring the added value of sales. Kerbside & Co. chose online sales for this purpose. Through constant trial and adjustment, kerbside & Co. finally chose to only take the network as the sales channel.

(20marks)