BBA840 Alternative Assignment: Marketing Management Function

Posted: November 8th, 2023

BBA840 Alternative Assignment: Marketing Management Function

Mbiri Kiarie

Kenyatta University

BBA840: Marketing Management

31^st August 2022

BBA840 Alternative Assignment: Marketing Management Function

The heart and value of any brand stem from its marketing initiatives. The degree of customer engagement a brand records is highly dependent on the success of its advertising campaign. Therefore, marketing management plays a central role in the promotion of a business. The various advertisements act as the face of the company, indirectly reaching out to customers, investors and prospects. Marketing management functions and responsibilities vary depending on the nature of the company or industry. In the soft drink sector, Coca-Cola’s marketing manager covers the following activities.

Responsibilities and Functions of a Marketing Manager

The marketing manager determines the marketing mission with regard to the company’s business objective. The function entails defining who you are, what the company stands for and what the company says about itself (Pride & Ferrell, 2015). Managing the brand centres on defining the type of experience the business wants customers and partners to have when engaging with the company. It is often the case that Coca-Cola portrays itself as a family-centric organisation with its soft beverages accompanying family meals. It was the marketing manager’s decision to develop such a family-oriented perception of the brand.

            The marketing manager plans the marketing program, starting from product development to product promotion. According to Pride and Ferrell (2015), marketing management heavily influences the success of a new product. Therefore, it is up to the marketing manager to conduct an internal and external business analysis to identify the state of the company, market and competitors. The information is used to identify the products and services that should be the focus of the company’s sales (Pride & Ferrell, 2015). The manager is kept up-to-date as the products and services evolve due to changing consumer behaviours. Marketing managers also use the information for direction and coordination in sales campaigns.

            The selection, recruitment and placement of salespersons are done by the marketing manager. The dynamic leader is accountable for identifying the ‘right men for the right jobs,’ removing unsuitable candidates from the marketing team. Human management does not end at placement, as the marketing manager plans for continuing training for the new employees. For instance, contemporary marketing managers determine the suitability of using public social media influencers (SMIs) (Taillon et al. 2020). Coca-Cola has a long history of using local social media influencers as brand ambassadors for its campaign. An example is the 2015 ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. In another scenario, the manager designs the content and structure of the training program to suit the needs of the organisation. The manager also creates a compensation policy for each marketing campaign.  

            Marketing managers are responsible for generating content and new business ideas. A common trait in the success of Coca-Cola campaigns is the tendency to think outside the box and deliver new ways to engage with consumers. A significant chunk of marketing management entails deriving creative ideas to fuel product endorsement campaigns (Freeman et al. 2014). The delivery of new ideas is a strategy for elevating the brand image by showing continuous improvement. An innovative marketing management team can help a brand maintain a competitive edge in the market.

            Just like other company leaders, marketing managers set the pace for the organisational culture. Marketing leaders produce internal communications, ensuring employers understand the company’s values, goals and priorities (Pride & Ferrell, 2015). Marketing is often behind employee communications within companies. Outside, marketing managers take up the role of media liaison. The leader acts as the spokesperson for the company and guides executives and employees on how to respond to media inquiries. In times of crisis, the marketing manager is relied upon to come up with communication or marketing campaigns that help restore or protect the brand’s image.

Conditions for Market Segmentation

Marketing segmentation is a critical practice that provides marketing managers with relevant data for a better understanding of specific markets. Segmentation facilitates the creation of more personalised and profitable products and services. For the marketing tool to be effective, it has to be accessible, measurable, actionable, differentiable and substantial

Measurable

            The marketing managers should be able to measure the size and purchasing power of the segmented market. Therefore, there has to be quantifiable data available for the market (Gavett, 2014). Designing and implementing marketing campaigns would be ineffective with little to no data.

Accessible

            Accessibility means that investors, customers and stakeholders are reachable at an affordable cost. The measure helps determine how to reach and engage individual markets to make advertisements more profitable.

Substantial/Stable

            The market segment should have a justifiable number of people. It is irrational for a brand to penetrate a market with a population too small for the venture to become profitable (Gavett, 2014). Moreover, a small population puts marketing projects at risk of little information.

Differentiable

During market segmentation, marketing has to guarantee that different segments react differently to dissimilar marketing efforts. For instance, a higher education campaign should have a different marketing strategy to an educational initiative designed for middle-school to be more effective.

Actionable

            Market segments must have practical value. In simple terms, the markets should be able to react to specific marketing strategies and deliver quantifiable outcomes (Gavett, 2014). Insurance companies often analyse consumer segments to determine if there are any customers for particular insurance products.

References

Freeman, B., Kelly, B., Baur, L., Chapman, K., Chapman, S., Gill, T., & King, L. (2014). Digital junk: food and beverage marketing on Facebook. American Journal of Public Health, 104(12), e56-e64.

Gavett, G. (2014, July 9). What you need to know about segmentation. Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2014/07/what-you-need-to-know-about-segmentation

Pride, W. & Ferrell, O. C. (2015). Marketing. Cengage Learning.

Taillon, B., Mueller, S. & Jones, D. (2020). Understanding the relationships between social media influencers and their followers: The moderating role of closeness. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 29(6), 767-782.

References