Free Essay Example - Business Orientation

Business orientation is the way in which a firm approaches its success strategies. The leaders of various businesses face several decisions every day. The options, as well as strategy, are innumerable, and without deliberate planning, leaders are always left guessing what they should do. The four types of competing orientations comprise Production orientation it states that when the production is more, there will also be more sales. Companies believe that when the capacity to produce several products increases, more purchases will be made. However, this is applicable when the rate of demand and supply does not balance in the market.

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Question 1

On market orientation, the philosophy indicates that the goals of a company are determined by the needs, along with desires of the consumers. To their belief, consumers should be considered as the essential people in the business, plus for businesses long-run, their suitable relationship should be maintained (Juta and company (pty) ltd). Marketing orientation seeks to aid customers in associating with the products of the company with specific feelings along with positive solutions.

Sales orientation is the concept that implies that for the sales to be high, the company should implement several strategies for sales, and this will result in profits. The more the techniques for sales, the more the response from customers in terms of procurements. The sales production concerns moving products along with generating cash flow.

A product orientation is all about innovation. It is concerned with taking existing products and making them innovative or better new products to handle the existing problems. When the leaders of business are in this orientation mode, they pay more attention to features along with the benefits of products. For example, a company that is selling workout wear might always seek quantifiable material to taper sweat off the physique (Juta and Company (pty) ltd). This type of improvement allows the firm to remain relevant and ahead of its competitors.

With this explanation, Polo SA falls under product orientation since, after menswear collection, it was expanded to womenswear, and other new categories of products followed.

Question2

Some of the macro-environment changes that will impact Polo SA include an increase in the Unemployment rate in South Africa. High rates of unemployment indicate customers are less inclined as well as able to use the money. Furthermore, Polo employees are nervous, and there may be struggles in the economy. Thus, it is good for the company to know the challenges posed by different employment rates (Juta and company (pty) ltd). Nevertheless, low rates of unemployment are suitable for business. It is one way of indicating a good economy, and this means the business has a robust chance to succeed and thrive.

Changes in interest rates will also have some impact on Polo. When the interest rates increase, they have a likelihood of affecting a company in two ways. Sales may fall since customers who have debts will have less revenue to spend since they will be expected to pay extra interest to the lenders. Also, organizations with overdrafts are expected to have sophisticated costs since they must reimburse more interest. In this case, Polo will be hit hardest when the rate of interest rises because most customers will stop buying non-essentials and concentrate on what is essential because their incomes will fall due to an increase in interest rate.

Government expenditures may have several impacts on Polo company since they have both direct as well as indirect effects. Since this company is selling products and services, when the government expenditure increases, it will lead to higher taxes (Juta and company (pty) ltd). As a result, higher taxes will reduce the consumers' ability to purchase products and services, and this will minimize the spending of the consumer.

Its competitors include Foschini, Trustworths, Woolworths, Mr. Price, and Edcon.

Question 3

Some customers are always making purchasing decisions though some make the quickly while others take time. When purchasing a Polo suit, the following are the decision-making process stages to follow. The first process is problem recognition (Juta and company (pty) ltd). Under this stage, the suit buyer should start by recognizing a problem on the suit that needs a solution or a need that requires satisfaction.

Searching for information becomes essential before the buyer settles to the decision to purchase the suit. It involves gathering all the available information on a possible solution. The larger the decision to purchase, the more the time this process is likely to take. The customer needs to thorough in searching for information regarding pricing, durability, features, and other factors.

The other stage is an alternative evaluation. Most customers have a criteria list that the solution should meet. A marketer should be aware of all that is on the list, and the marketing criteria should speak to the customers' needs as well as interests. The ensure the marketing is relevant, the marketer might consider building buyer personas, and this will help understand standard criteria, challenges, and objections. There is segmentation and targeting the list to send helpful nurture emails.

Purchase is also another thing to consider when purchasing a suit in Polo. After making up the mind, the consumer no longer has a problem and means a solution is found. The last thing is post-purchase since a good marketer knows that the process should not end immediately on purchasing decisions.

Question 4

For a pair of polo shoes, various segmentation bases can be used. One of them is geographic segmentation (Juta and Company (pty) ltd). This is the simplest way to segment shoes in Polo company. It depends on the living as well as consuming habits since different regions in a country have different consuming and purchasing habits, which is different from the other areas. As a result, shoes should be made and marketed according to the various regions for different people.

Another base is demographic segmentation, and the factors that are used in the segmenting market include occupation, sex, age, education, and income. All these have different tastes, and no taste is similar to another. For example, under occupation, this entails different shoes for trade, students, institutions, service sector, industry, and households. Shoes made regarding sex depends on male or female.

Another base is psychographic segmentation, and this is where consumers are classified depending on their psychological makeup, that is, lifestyle, personality, and attitude. According to shoe attitude, people may be categorized as achievers or traditionalists among others.

Also, behavioristic segmentation is another base Polo company should consider. In this method, customers are classified according to the user status where potential buyers are classified as occasional users, regular users, and non-users. Furthermore, buyers may be classified depending on when they make use of the product or service.

The last base is volume segmentation, where the customers are categorized as light, medium and heavy users. Marketers can make a decision on product features along with advertisement strategies through finding common traits among the users.

Question 5

Companies have different positioning techniques for their products, but Polo shirts in South Africa employ by user positioning strategy. Under this strategy, the users are highlighted and suggest that menswear is the best solution for the male gender (Juta and company (pty) ltd). For example, the company was known for making men's shirts, which had a trade button. The approach contributed to their self-identity, making them well known even outside the country.

Question 6

A specialty product means to produce that satisfied customers will seek to buy due to its unique features or allegiance to a precise brand.

There are various ways in which the marketing mix would adjust for a specialty product like a Polo shirt. To begin with, the product mix is essential. Specialty products are purposely separated by the consumers because the product or brand is held tightly by the consumer. Another method is the pricing mix, and this is more relaxed with these products. The shirt is considered to have unique gains that the customer is not sensitive much to the price.

Another thing to consider is the place mix. The retailer's selection needs to be considered carefully. Specialty products gain from exclusive distribution. The last thing is the promotional mix where specialty products are in need of suitable supportive promotional sequencer behind them, despite the product being a critical constituent of this marketing mix.

Question 7

There are various advertising media that Polo can employ to communicate with the target market. One of them is Newspapers and magazines (Juta and company (pty) ltd). These are essential types of advertising since they are useful as well as a powerful advertising medium. They contain valuable information depending on the information or event. They have the widest circulation where they are read by several people daily in the nation.

The company can also consider using Radio Advertising, which is very popular nowadays. The information is broadcasted from dissimilar to all SA radios. It is easy to understand because the advertisement can be passed through various regional languages, which even local people can understand.

Reference

Juta and Company (pty) ltd. "Marketing Management 3Rd Edition. In South Africa | Gumtree Classifieds in South Africa". Gumtree, 2017, https://www.gumtree.co.za/s-marketing+management+3rd+edition./v1q0p1.