Marketing Mint Mobile as A Successful Product Discussion
Description
Respond to peers
1. The product is an essential ingredient in the marketing mix and is the physical product or service the company intends to sell (Aha!, 2022). It can be either tangible or intangible but must offer value of some kind. An example of a successful product in this sense would be Mint Mobile (Crook & Heater, 2020). Backed by Ryan Reynolds, Mint’s new take on marketing has made it extremely palatable and accessible to a much wider market. It is a practical product that is easy to understand at first glance, making its acceptance by the market fairly simple. Conversely, something like the 1/3 lb burger incident with A&W highlights the importance of clear messaging and ensuring your product is understood by the market. When A&W began heavily marketing a 1/3 lb burger at the same price as a competitor’s 1/4 lb burger, they were confused as to why their sales were so low. After some market research it was determined that people weren’t willing to pay the same amount for what they thought was a smaller burger.
Respond 1:
Marketing Mint Mobile as A Successful Product Discussion
2. The word product can have many different meanings in business, but all centralize on the final item produced for a set value. In marketing, a product refers to the item they are trying to sell to the consumers. These products could be items for sale or services, depending on the market they are involved in. One way to think of a product in marketing is to view it as an item a consumer may want and find out why they would want it. There are many reasons a consumer may want to buy the product, just as there are many reasons that can be identified as why they would not want to buy it. Some of these reasons are seen as benefits, especially if compared to other products from other companies. The Product concept, as discussed by Kotler and Keller (2016), consumers look for items that provide these benefits over other products. The Marketing concept changes this focus to provide companies with information about what type of product a consumer wants, then creating this product in a favorable manner. Since the introduction of this concept in the mid-1950’s, many companies have found pros and cons of the marketing concept and continue to learn from each other. Unsuccessful marketing strategies allow companies to find more information on the consumers but cause the company to lose money. In the 1980’s, American Airlines wanted to increase capital and found consumers wanted to fly more (WordStream, 2021). They decided to sell “AAirpass” where they paid a flat fee and was provided with unlimited first-class air travel for life. They did not do enough research to see how this would affect them overall and ended up losing money.
Respond 2:
3. Yes, it is challenging for marketers to translate intended benefits into product design, features, and overall product strategy that meet customer needs. The adage “buyers make purchase decisions based on perceived benefits” alludes to the fact that consumers expect specific values from products, not just the products themselves. The four C’s of the marketing mix are applicable in this situation, specifically: Customers that want to purchase customer solutions—rather than just products—want to purchase value or solutions. Customer cost: Customers desire to be aware of the full cost of a purchase, which includes the costs of using and discarding the item. Convenience: Customers like to buy goods from a handy location rather than having to go far to the business. Customers have always wanted to communicate having two-way communication is preferable to merely contacting the marketer one way before and after the sale. The product or service would be a failure if the marketer is unable to accurately evaluate the perceived benefits of a consumer. Target Canada is a prime example. Target Canada is a failure, despite the corporation being a thriving shop in the US. Yes!! Target’s new retail location in Canada aimed to implement the same service of housing all products under one roof. The management team believed that Canada was a wise choice for growth and anticipated that by creating a location there, they would gain market share. Target Canada’s attempt, however, was unsuccessful in Canada due of the locality. The benefit that shoppers wanted most was convenience. The new Target Canada was situated in a rural area, nevertheless. To buy the things, people must travel a significant way to Target Canada. As a result, customers choose to purchase the goods from other stores instead of driving such a distance, like Wal-Mart. Amazon is a prime example of a service that has achieved enormous success. The world’s biggest online retailer is Amazon. Amazon receives less advertising. But the company has become more well-known all across the world. Amazon is more than just a retailer of goods; in addition to possessing all the elements of the marketing mix, they are also-Customers can easily use the return policy if they want to return the merchandise. Customer costs – The product’s pricing is competitive, and the product itself includes thorough instructions on how to use and dispose of it. Customers can purchase things from their plans whenever it is most convenient for them. Customers can simply contact customer care, and Amazon offers fantastic customer service.
Respond 3:
4. Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) are vastly different environments. B2C is often the purchase of the finalized product. B2B is often the purchase of products to develop another product. An example of this is the automotive industry. The big-name vehicles we as consumers purchase are the end product of many B2B transactions. You often see vehicles advertised to be equipped with other manufactures products such as on the new Ford Bronco it comes with a Fox suspension. Ford and Fox came to an agreement and the consumer benefits and receives both products in one purchase. B2B transactions are often large in quantity or provided over time. Alot of B2B transactions are on a contract that requires certain things from each business. This allows businesses to create products in bulk and both parties to benefit. With the example of the Ford Bronco with the Fox suspension, Fox provided Ford with enough kits to build all the Broncos Ford needs to satisfy their demand in turn Ford pays for the suspensions and clearly advertises the product.
Respond 4:
5. Although businesses are all similar in that they sell products and services to consumers; to what type of consumer is what makes the marketing environment different. For business-to-business (B2B) transactions, products and services are sold to other businesses; on the other hand, for business-to-consumer (B2C), products and services are sold directly to consumers. Aside to whom the products are being sold to, the two primary differences between these two marketing environments are the purchasing process and the pricing and payment differences. For B2C, consumers typically buy a business’ product or service for personal use, while on the other hand, products and services are purchased in B2B for use in their respective companies. This is a primary difference in terms of marketing environment in that B2C transactions are solely focused on an individual decision, whilst, B2B transactions require complex decision making from a group of individuals throughout the purchasing process (Linton, 2019). The other primary difference is the pricing and payment offered at each environment. For B2C transactions, “consumers buy products and pay the same price as other consumers,” at the point of sale using some type of payment mechanism such as cash or credit (Linton, 2019). But for B2B transactions, prices may vary per customer based on the size of the order or a specialized negotiated term. In addition, the payment mechanism for B2B is also different. After the customer has selected the products, place an order and arrange delivery through an agreed logistics channel, the customer will not pay at the time of the order, but instead will receive an invoice which is settled based on previously agreed terms. An example of a B2B company would be Microsoft which offers an array of different products for both individual consumer and business. However, it is well-known in the tech industry as the provider for excellent technology solutions such as Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Data platform, or Microsoft Advertising for businesses all over the world. On the other hand, an example of a B2C company would be Amazon; which as the largest retailer in the United States, offers consumers a platform in which they are able to shop and purchase other products online from the palm of their hands.
Respond 5:
Marketing Mint Mobile as A Successful Product Discussion
6. In a B2C marketing setting, consumers are reached through the direct and indirect selling of products and services. In a B2B setting, the company sells to other companies that use the commodity in their production processes to create other goods or services. The two environments are fundamentally different from one another because, in the B2C environment, the emphasis is on creating needs in customers’ minds through advertising, but in the B2B environment, needs generate demand, which is satisfied through trust between businesses. In contrast to B2B, where sales are rare and enormous, B2C transactions are small yet frequent. In contrast to B2C interactions, which are transient in nature, B2B relationships are long-term and dependent on trust. The B2C marketplaces’ main driver is consumer behavior. B2C businesses need to keep their returning customers happy to succeed. They need to know what their customers want and how to get them to buy from them. Being current with the right goods and services for their clients, however, is one of the biggest problems for B2C businesses. An example of a B2C is Netflix. Netflix is a popular online streaming service that caters to large audiences. Customers can watch a variety of films, documentaries, and television shows with a monthly membership. For customers, the business also creates original content. Netflix engages in a business-to-consumer transaction by providing viewers with both curated and original content.B2B concentrates its marketing efforts on customers who need to purchase goods or services for many customers. The aim of business-to-business (B2B) is to develop a long-term connection with clients. The consumer must be consistently kept satisfied for them to sell them more goods or services in the future. International Business Machines Corporation, also known as IBM, is one example of a company that focuses on the B2B model. The multi-national technology company provides a variety of services to businesses, including cloud computing for businesses. With cloud computing, files and other data are stored on remote computers as opposed to the user’s hard drive. This service can be added to an organization’s internal framework. They then have real-time, round-the-clock data accessible to their staff. IBM can also develop an extranet service that the client can use whenever they want.