Surveys for Marketers

Any marketing organization must know the wants and needs of customer. It is important for the marketing firm to come up with different ways to obtain this important information. Surveys can be an ideal way to get customer feedback. In the marketing industry there are different types of surveys to forecast the customers wants and needs. There are four different types of survey techniques listed in our textbook, Marketing Express. The first type of survey useful to marketers is the customer forecasting survey. The customer forecasting survey is a survey used to find out the types and quantities of products the customer is intending to buy in a specific period of time. This survey is useful for marketers regarding ordering products within a time period. It can tell a firm whether or not to increase production of the product, not buy as much of the product, or even tell a firm to continue with the current ordering quantities. Also, it gives the marketing firm a period of time when it should be important to manufacture more of the product, or not. The second type of survey used in the marketing industry is the sales force forecasting survey. This is a survey of the firm's sales force regarding anticipated sales in their territories for a specific period. This survey differs from the first because this survey is using forecasting techniques in the firm, and doesn't need to go outside the firm for this survey to be completed. This is done by the forecaster combining the territorial estimates to arrive at a tentative forecast. Instead of surveying customers, the firm would survey the sales staff. The advantage to this method is that it can be prepared for a single region, several regions and can even divide consisting territories. The third type of survey is the expert forecasting survey. Within this survey Sales forecasts are prepared by experts like economists, management consultants, advertising executives, college professors, or other persons outside the firm. This survey gives the firm information about the company and the market. The experts prepare and present forecasts. The last and final survey is the Delphi technique. This type of survey is a procedure in where experts create initial forecasts, submit them to the company for averaging, and then refine the forecast. The benefit to this technique is that the experts will use averaged results when making refined forecasts, therefor creating a narrower range. All of these types of surveys can prevent the company from doing projects that are costly, that in fact actually do not need to be done. If marketing firms did not conduct surveys, do you believe the firm may spend more money at unnecessary times?

In Response to David's Post...

What do you think, is it worth keeping the good reputation and not violating as many part of the Statement of Ethics by laying off the workers, or would you sell the numbers to keep bread on your employees tables?

In my opinion I do not think John should sell the names. Like you said, John violates a few categories in the statement of ethics. Since marketers should follow these ethics it would be immoral to break them. As for the workers, if it's necessary for the company to move forward by laying off some workers then it must be done. When you are in any business your objective is to do whatever is best for the business as a whole. Not necessarily what's best for every individual person who works there. Sometimes you must separate personal matters with business matters to come up with the best solution for your company. If John did not want to fire any employees or sell the names, he could possibly work something out. John would have to take the initiative to come up with a tactical way for the firm to make money. This could be anything from developing new marketing strategies, or some type of community service. John could collect donations for a charity where 50% of their donations go to the charity and the other 50% goes to the company that the customer is loyal to. But if all else fails John must take the action to lay off some of his employees. Although personal relationships are very important in any organization, it must not reflect what is beneficial for the company as a whole. I was a witness to this for myself personally. At my job, there was a time when they were selecting certain people to receive less hours due to the recession. Some of the other co-workers were full time employees providing for their family, similar to the people in John's situation. As time went on more and more full time employees were losing hours. I believe this was a wise choice for the place I work. Instead of completely ridding them from the company, they gave them less hours. The may have needed more hours but it was necessary to cut some employees hours. It was beneficial for the company as a whole to cut hours, which is why I agree with that decision. Do you believe you should take personal emotions into consideration when making important business decisions?

John Smith Scenario

Should John Smith sell the names? Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address this issue? Go to AMA website; look at their Statement of Ethics; write a blog posting on what the AMA Statement of Ethics contains that relates to John Smith’s dilemma.

John Smith should not sell the names. The American Marketing Association Statement of Ethics broadly addresses this issue. First off, the statement of ethics is a list of ethical norms and values that marketers should follow. In this specific case, it relates to "foster trust in the marketing system", listed under ethical norms. What this means is that marketers should be striving to do what's best in good faith as well as avoiding deception in pricing, product design, and communication. In the scenario it states that he could potentially be selling personal information to another company without their consent. In doing this he would be violating the the ethical norm having to do with having trust in your company. Just from the introduction to the Statement of Ethics site alone shows he shouldn't make this deal and deceive his customers.

There are also other places within the statement of ethics that are relevant to this scenario. Listed under the ethical values section is honesty. It states in this section that marketers should strive to be truthful in all situations and at all time. This is relevant because if John goes along with this deal he will break this code. Unless John told the people who filled out the survey that their information may be distributed, that would be fine. By not listing that on the survey he would be dishonest by selling their information without their consent. Also under ethical values is fairness. In this section it is stated that marketers should avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest and seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners. John would be breaking this code also if he went through with the deal. He would not be protected his customers personal information only for his benefit.

Since John would be breaking many codes within the American Marketers Association Statement of ethics he should not sell the names for $8,000. Right of the bat you would be able to tell he is breaking the code "foster trust in the marketing system" listed at the top of the website. It would not be right of John Smith to break this ethical norm. Also, he would break ethical values going along with this decision. This would include breaking the honesty and fairness codes. My immediate reaction to this question was yes. The reason for this was because John Smith needed the money for himself and his employees. But after doing some research on the American Marketers Association website it was clear this would be an unethical action. Do you believe it is unethical for a company to give personal information out, such as this instance, if their is fine print at the bottom stating that your information may be distributed?

In Response to Chris French's Post...

"E-Marketing- Friend or Foe?"- Do you agree that these traditional forms of marketing should be kept in place? What other problems to you think of in the advent of e-marketing? Do you think appreciation marketing really works?

Like everything, there are benefits and risks with e-marketing. The traditional forms of marketing are greatly beneficial for a company to excel. There is much less room for error using traditional forms of marketing. I believe that the traditional forms of marketing should be kept in place. Like it was stated in the article, many people accidentally delete or never receive an important e-mail from a company. With the use of traditional marketing, there isn't any way an individual can delete a letter from a company. Granted, there mail could be lost or stolen, but the chances of that happening are very slim. Traditional marketing should be kept in place because of the problems that could come along with e-marketing. E-marketing can be a huge risk due to the fact that one is relying on electronics to market their company and distribute information. Technology always has risks due to system failures. If a company is relying on a computer, there is much room for error. This company could potentially lose valuable information such as customer information, contact information, company information and even lose items that are still in the works, but stored on the computer. If a company used purely the computer to keep track of all information for the company, a system failure would be a huge negative impact. Not only would the company not be able to contact their customers, but they could lose business as well. I don't believe traditional marketing will be completely eliminated anytime soon, but eventually in many years that may be seen. Another reason why the traditional approach should remain, is the benefits of appreciation marketing. I know for me personally, I enjoy receiving letters from company's that I use. The appreciation letters seem more personable than an e-mail in your inbox. Do you believe a simple appreciation letter could sway a first time customer, who doesn't know whether or not they want to use that company again?

Traditional Marketing vs. E-Marketing

The evolution of technology has created many opportunities for marketers. Within the past eight years alone, there have been many upgrades in the marketing industry. For example, on Valentines Day, my sister and her husband were on an electronic bulletin board in New York City. The company they were promoting was Walgreens (as shown above) with their slogan, “share a kiss in Times Square”. My sister lives in Yucca Valley, California and was able to get herself on a bulletin board in Times Square through Walgreen's usage of E-marketing. About eight years ago it would probably be rare to see something like this.

Based on the article “Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing”, it seems at this point in time that direct mail is more beneficial than e-mail. Like it said in the article, many people who get the e-mail rather than the “snail mail” may accidentally delete their letter. Since most e-mail accounts now have spam control, it is easily to delete something that is placed in the spam mailbox. I know for me personally, I rarely check what is actually in the spam mailbox before deleting the contents. Also, “snail mail” has the benefit of being more personable with your customer. Not only that, but “snail mail” leaves much less room for being thrown out or deleted, since most people check their mail daily.

Based upon the article, “From Print to Phone to Web. And a Sale?” the usage of barcodes in various magazines seems very beneficial at a glance. All any customer has to have available to them is a camera phone to take the picture. This seems like a very good idea to focus on the product variable in the marketing mix. This technique isn’t quite as personal as talking on the phone, or receiving letters, but the main focus is on the product. The only thing to consider when using this barcode idea is your target market. I know from personal experience that my mother doesn’t even know how to text message, let along scan a barcode on her phone. I believe if the target market is for the younger generations (where technology is everything); the company can make a lot of money.

I think E-Marketing will eventually take over traditional forms of marketing. I don’t think it will be extremely soon, but I do see it eventually happening. Since every generation learns about more and more technological advances, there will be no need for traditional marketing. Another company that would benefit from using the traditional marketing approaches would be the United States Postal Service. This company relies on other companies to use “snail mail” to make profits and provide jobs. A good example of E-Marketing would be Canobie Lake Park (where I work). Since the park will be opening for the season in April, the park must hire back as many prior employees as possible. They do this using “snail mail”, then if you agree to have the rest of the information sent be e-mail, you can do so. It is much easier filling out the paperwork online then e-mailing it back to them rather than using the postal service. If E-Marketing took over the mailing industry, do you believe it would put many people who work for the United States Postal Service out of work?

In response to Bruce Wichland post...

Is this his road to recovery? Why is Tiger’s image suffering so much? Is it because he is in a different sport (as opposed to the NFL and NBA)? Do you agree that Tiger’s image should have been pulled off the market and do you agree that he should have lost his endorsements? Will he ever have the same appeal?

Tiger Woods speaking on his behalf about the incident on national television could be the beginning of the road to recovery for him. Since the incidents that occurred with Tiger Woods it was clear right away that it would hurt his image. The primary reason why I believe his image is suffering so much is because the companies Tiger represents are presenting him as a role model. For these marketers it would be hard to keep Tiger in their company and market him as a role model when he made unethical mistakes. These companies he represents probability believe it wouldn't be socially responsible to continue marketing him. I don't believe that him being a professional golfer, opposed to a professional basketball player, is the reason why his image is suffering so much. I believe for the time being Tiger Woods should be pulled off the market from what he did. For me personally, if I were marketing some kind of celebrity, they would have to only promote my product or service positively. If there were any negative issues coming along with this celebrity that could hurt the product i'm marketing, they would indeed be fired. I believe Tiger could eventually get the same appeal to the public that he once had. Everyone makes mistakes, his mistakes are just posted for the world to see because of his fame. With this short time period since the incident passed, I believe so many people already forgot about it. With that I come to the concusion that his reputation will be restored to what it once was. Do you believe that Tiger Woods' affair increased the profits for gossip programs such as "E!"?

Marketing Research

The marketing research process used to maintain control over company and collect the most accurate information possible. To go through the marketing research process there are a series of stops marketers should follow. According to Marketing Express the five steps include "(1) locating and defining issues on problems, (2) designing the search project, (3) collecting data, (4) interpreting research findings, (5) reporting research findings." (Pride,118). When a company is designing the research project, it is crucial for marketers to know all of the different types of research. The four types of research are exploratory research, conclusive research, descriptive research and experimental research. Exploratory research is when marketers require the need for more information about a problem to come up with a hypothesis. Conclusive research is used to verify their research through a procedure to help the marketers make decisions. Descriptive research is used to clarify specific phenomena to help solve the problem. Experimental research is used to help make relationships when figuring out a problem. All of these research practices for marketers are ideal to your firm. There are different types of ways marketers should figure out problems in the marketing industry. Lastly, marketers must know which information is reliable and valid. Most people don't believe there is a difference between the two but there is a clear line. If something is valid, your research method is measuring what it is supposed to measure. When something is reliable, it gives you the same information every time, whether it is accurate or not. (Pride, 121) If marketers didn't use The Marketing Research Process, do you believe it would take longer to figure out marketing problems?