GMBA 531
Dr. Messina
November 24, 2013
Chapter Exercise Marketing Questions
Chapter 16 #1 Even though advertising is expensive, can it be considered an investment? Explain.
Even though advertising is costly, it should always be considered as an investment not an expense. From a business point of view advertising is an investment due to the long-term impact it has on the organization through the development and strengthening of a brand. Ideally, this will lead to the creation of brand loyalty with consumers, resulting in continued sales for an extended period of time. Not all companies advertise in the same manner. The creation of a unique promotional mix is an essential tool to reach the target market and fulfill the organization’s overall goals (Lamb et al. 263). These mixes can include but are not limited to the utilization of public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and social media in tandem with an advertising campaign. Company messages and goals need to be planned carefully for the ads and the support from multiple media outlets will likely generate greater company exposure.
The ultimate goal of any advertising campaign is to generate a buying response. “The potential consumer should become interested in the product and understand the benefit of the product or service...The creative aspect of a clever and intriguing ad should help elicit interest” (scoredelaware.org). However, while advertising has the potential to be extremely beneficial for a business, a poorly conceived or executed advertising campaign has the capacity to cause irreparable harm. Advertising is an investment and the time and money invested should always add value to the company’s bottom line. Through its use companies seek greater foot traffic and increased sales volume, advertising can help make it happen (scoredelaware.org).
Chapter 18 #1 Do you see any disadvantages to brands participating in social media? How does marketing affect the way you interact with social media? Give specific examples for three platforms.
Companies that decide to utilize social media as part of their promotional mix should be aware of the potential disadvantages connected with the tool. The incorrect online brand strategy has the capacity to significantly damage an organization’s reputation. For example, when mistakes are made offline only few will know of it, but when a mistake is made on social media it is made in front of hundreds of thousands if not more. If a business seeks to participate in social media they should be aware that it has the capacity to be very time consuming, how to correctly utilize it and which channels to focus on, and can have a negative influence on employee productivity. However, the possible benefits of engaging in this new marketing technique far away any disadvantages as it easily connects businesses to consumers. Therefore, it is imperative that a businesses develop a sound strategy prior to participating in social media.
Marketing largely affects the way consumers interact with social media today and occurs in a multitude of differing ways. Most everything on the internet today has some form of advertisements displayed by various organizations in an attempt to reach a larger audience and increase brand recognition. Twitter and Facebook are largely utilized by businesses either through advertisements, sales opportunities, or simply word of mouth from a consumer. Most successful businesses today have a strong social media marketing plan that allows them to quickly increase their following and send out interesting content pertinent to potential customers (Jacobson). However, when companies decide