Marketing enables potential customers to know about products and services available in a certain company and thus make them gain interest in those products. The needs of consumers have risen because they now have access to information through the media and other sources Perner (2010, p.2).
Therefore, it is important that a company have marketing strategies that meet the specific needs of the consumers based on the information they have.
Consumers are prospective buyers of products and services presented for sale. Consumer behaviour is the conduct that consumers show in buying, utilisation, and disposing of the product and services that they think will meet their needs.
Marketing strategy is a method for rendering a successful blend of needs with characteristics required by the consumers within a given market. Knowledge of consumer behaviour is very crucial in developing effective marketing strategies or techniques for creating enhanced marketing promotions Clemons (2008, p.3).
Research conducted on consumer behaviour is very important for companies because it helps them understand certain matters, which will help them, upgrade their marketing techniques.
For example, they would understand why consumers prefer one product to the other, the impact of consumer’s environment to their consumption, and the importance of consumer knowledge in making decisions Perner (2010, p.5).
The purpose of this discussion is to describe the reasons for using modern techniques to deal with customer behaviour as analysed by different writers.
Secondly, an analysis and discussion of several modern marketing techniques is given and finally a description of two Australian companies that have used marketing techniques to take advantage of consumer behaviour; that is Virgin Australia and BlackBerry is given.
According to Erick K. Clemons, consumers have knowledge of products available in the market and this knowledge has profound effect on choices they make when buying. Therefore, specific marketing techniques are necessarily to cope with their purchasing behavior.
Alteration in consumer behaviour has made price, product design, promotion, and physical placement and distribution, the major four keys of marketing outdated.
Adjustments in consumer behavior are also influencing a reexamination of the use of Porter’s work on the forces that establish competitive strategy Clemons (2008, p.10).The modification in consumer behaviour entails trading out rather than trading up.
It is more of satisfying the needs of each client and making wise selection. Modern marketing strategies apply consumer informedness to know the locations where goods and services lack and thus make necessarily arrangements to meet the needs of the consumers.
It would be a waste of time and resources to present new and special products and services if the clients have no information concerning them, for example their price, location, and specific features of the product Clemons (2008, p.12). Customers can get information on various products and services through the website.
With modern marketing technologies, a client is able to discover products and services which would cost less and still satisfy her needs Ayuba (2005, p.98). In addition, the consumer will locate and receive precisely what he or she wanted without compromising her or his preferences.
Further, a client can verify a product and its features. The customer knows that he or she is getting a good product and the marketer is able to obviate the uncertainty discount Clemons (2008, p.15)
According to Molesworth, Nixon & Scullion (2009, p.1) giving the example of a university setup, where the students are consumers, and the university a business, the university provides services according to the demands of the consumers.
This may lead to a situation where students may just get a degree certificate without adequate knowledge concerning the course Molesworth, Nixon & Scullion (2009, p.2). The use of marketing techniques is essential because the needs of students are changing and competition is peaking.
Higher Education Institutions train their students for a life of spending through getting employment, a mission of affirmation rather than renovation Molesworth, Nixon & Scullion (2009, p.9).
Students have changed their consumer behaviour in that they want their course work to open opportunities to their career goals. Vocational courses have become a service bought to enhance opportunities for future employment.
According to students and universities, education is good depending on financial growth, and its ability to satisfy the wants of student consumers instead of concepts of intelligent teaching.
Job allocation in the industry has led to students focusing on methods that increase their skills according to the demands of industries. Such methods weaken other prospective goals of Higher Education.
Therefore, a university has to offer courses that have a connection to the real world Molesworth, Nixon & Scullion (2009, p.10).
Hyperdifferentiation is a technique where a company manufactures a product that a possible buyer might desire. It involves changing flavours in drinks; alter colours and shape in products, or trade whatever product or service the company decides Businessknowlegesource.com (2010).
Information has made this technique possible. Information enables Hyperdifferentiation to create exceptional profits. Another technique that marketers use to satisfy the needs of their clients is resonance marketing. In this case, the company creates exact products and services that match the needs of their customers.
In this strategy, a company needs to be well informed about the demands of their clients and how much money the customers are willing to use to possess the products Clemons (2008, p.5). Resonance marketing controls and directs the delivery side of hyperdifferentiation.
It is being exceptional in providing the true wants of a customer and minimising the purpose of price in purchasing behaviour. Resonance marketing strategies has generated other new techniques Clemons (2008, p.8).
One is fat spot strategies, which utilise their market share for price control and take advantage of their products to guard their price. The British government uses entrepreneurial economic values in Higher Education to minimise costs and satisfy the consumers’ wants.
Some institutions of higher learning are applying marketing strategies to draw students by giving laptops, while others advertise courses highlighting prospective jobs associated with such courses.
Universities are employing teaching staffs straight from the industry to enhance the network with the industry and restore confidence to future scholar customers. This would guarantee that students receive the skills necessarily to work in the industry Molesworth, Nixon & Scullion (2009, p.7).
Blackberry Company, previously Research in Motion Ltd has introduced BlackBerry 10 Smartphone created to satisfy other needs the customer may have other than business. Their marketing strategy was to design a device that would allow consumers enjoy all features related to both their career life and personal life.
They also strategise to modify the current model by eliminating the home button so that there is effortless flow from one application to the other. This company is also planning to offer a large screen without compromising the typing experience in the Z10 McDermott (2013, p.2).
For clients who desire to have keyboard typing experience in their devices without compromising the size of the screen they have the Q10. Their marketing plan is to carry out face-to-face presentation of BlackBerry 10 with different categories of people such as public figures and Blackberry fanatics.
The other marketing strategy is creating a dozen videos exhibiting each of the main aspects of BlackBerry 10 which has been made available to customers though any device. The next marketing technique by BlackBerry is the Keep Moving Projects where they have included a writer, musician, and a film producer.
They will be recording in detail how these people have used their BlackBerry 10 during their productive routine McDermott (2013, p.3). This phone addresses the needs of a customer both in a professional and private manner.
Virgin Australia is an airline company, which uses marketing strategies to ensure that many customers are interested in their products and services. One marketing technique they have used is to join forces with Tourism Australia and other partners in a marketing campaign aiming at the international youth market.
They will apply conventional and digital programs as well as event and support activities to major markets in the world such as the UK, US, and Asia. Reward promotions are another marketing strategy for Virgin Australia Leon & Leslie (2004, p.55).
The company awards flyer points to customers depending on the frequency of using Virgin Airlines. In addition, the velocity card acquires points based on the purchasing of the customers.
In conclusion, consumers have information concerning the products and services available in the market, which in turn affects their purchasing behaviour. Therefore, modern marketing techniques are useful in ensuring that consumers get what they want without compromising their preferences.
One of the marketing techniques is hyper differentiation where a company manufactures a product that a prospective buyer might desire. Resonance marketing is a technique in which a company becomes exceptional in providing the true wants of a customer and minimising the purpose of price in purchasing behaviour.
Blackberry Company has used marketing strategies such as face-to-face presentation of BlackBerry 10 with different categories of people, creating a dozen videos exhibiting each of the main aspects of BlackBerry 10, and the Keep Moving Projects where they record in detail how particular persons have used their BlackBerry 10 during their productive routine.
Virgin Australia’s marketing strategy is to apply conventional and digital programs as well as event and support activities and use reward promotions to ensure they satisfy their clients.
In this writer’s opinion, a marketer should be flexible in terms of developing marketing techniques because the consumer behaviour keeps on changing.
It is more important to create products for specific customers according to their needs rather than create products for a general population with no information of what they really want.
Reference List
Ayuba, B 2005, Marketing: Principles and Management, Shukrah Printing, India.
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Clemons, E 2008, ‘How Information Changes Consumer Behaviour and How Consumer Behaviour Determines Corporate Strategy’, Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 13–40.
Leon, G & Leslie, L 2004, Consumer Behaviour, Pearson Prentice Hall, Saddleback, USA.
McDermott, A 2013, ‘Blackberry is no longer just for the suits’, Journal of Advertising Age, vol. 84, no.6, pp. 20-20.
Molesworth, M, Nixon, E & Scullion, R 2009, ‘Having, being and higher education: the marketisation of the university and the transformation of the student into consumer’, Journal of Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 277_287.
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