1. What do you understand by cause-related marketing?

Support your answer using

a practical example from your experience or/of a company that practices it?
Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a mutually beneficial collaboration between a
corporation and a nonprofit designed to promote the former's sales and the
latter's cause. American Express first coined the term in 1983 to describe its
campaign to raise money for the Statue of Liberty's restoration.
2. Define marketing and outline, using a simple model, the steps in the marketing
process.
Marketing is how companies create
value for customers and build strong
customer relationships to capture
value from customers in return.
Five step process of the marketing
framework wherein value is created
for customers and marketers capture
value from customers in return.

1. Understanding the Marketplace and Customer Needs and Wants.

2. Designing A Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy.
3. Constructing an integrated marketing plan that delivers superior value.
4. Build Profitable Relationships.
5. Capturing Value from Customers.

3. Describe the major trends and forces that are changing the marketing landscape
in this age of relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most confusing and difficult times in the
field of marketing. However, the closure of stores and businesses for quarantine
has created momentum for the growth of digital services, mobile apps and multi-
channel virtual markets, which bring value and trust when users are in the
process seek peace of mind amid a pandemic. The pandemic also offers an
opportunity for new marketers, the courage to embrace the world's rapid change
and digital transformation, and understanding enough to ensure all activities are
human (from ad content to reach target users).
First, the efficiency of information transmission to customers and consumers is
much higher than in the previous time, but the cost is lower. The information
transmitted is also varied, rich and attractive such as text, images, sounds, movies
and games... For companies, having a product launch website is many times more
useful than advertising in newspapers.

Second, convey content and messages to users with huge data and consumers
can access product information and make transactions and purchases anytime,
anywhere. This is a huge advantage, helping users to access the product in the
most convenient way. The application of technology in marketing also helps
companies to significantly reduce the number of salespeople while increasing
sales dramatically, reaching large markets and growing globally.

Third, every product can be illustrated in detail, specifically, customers do not

need to go directly to the product, in addition, customers will receive continuous
advice from employees. This can be a significant advantage instead of the
traditional way of consulting directly at the store.

4. Explain the concepts of

 Physical needs
 Social needs
 Individual needs

Kind of needs, example of needs, example of wants, example of demands.

a. Physical needs: include things such as water, food, air, shelter and clothing.
Clothing, need for clothes, want to wear babydoll style, demand to purchase
dress at Taly shop which costs appropriate 300.000VND/person.

b. Social needs: for love and belonging. The need for love and belonging consists
of a sense of connection, intimacy, trust, and friendship. Need of respects from
friends who from a higher class, want clothes from luxury brands, demand for a
33- million VND high heels of Saint Laurent.

c. Individual needs: for knowledge and self-expression, can be varied depending

on each person. Need for management knowledge to run your own business,
want to join a management class, demand for a management skill course for 8
million VND/course.
5. Discuss how to design business portfolios and develop growth strategic.

Guided by the company’s mission statement and objectives, management plans

its business portfolio or the collection of businesses and products that make up
the company. The firm wants to produce a business portfolio that best fits
strengths and weaknesses to opportunities in the environment. To do this, it must
analyze and adjust its current business portfolio and develop growth and
downsizing strategies for adjusting the future portfolio. The company might use a
formal portfolio-planning method. But many companies re now designing more-
customized portfolio-planning approaches that better suit their unique situations.

In an increasingly smaller world, many marketers are now connected globally with
their customers and marketing partners. Today, almost every company, large or
small, is touched in some way by global competition. Today’s marketers are also
reexamining their ethical and societal responsibilities. Marketers are being called
to take greater responsibility for the social and environmental impact of their
actions. Finally, in recent years, marketing also has become a major part of the
strategies of many not-for-profit organizations, such as colleges, hospitals,
museums, zoos, symphony orchestras, and even churches.

Pulling it all together, the major new developments in marketing can be summed
up in a single word: relationships. Today, marketers of all kinds are taking
advantage of new opportunities for building relationships with their customers,
their marketing partners, and the world around them.

6. Explain company-wide strategic planning and its four steps.

Strategic planning sets the stage for the rest of the company’s planning.
Marketing contributes to strategic planning and the overall plan defines
marketing’s role in the company. Strategic planning involves developing a
strategic for long-run survival and growth.
It consists of four steps:
(1) defining the company's mission
(2) setting objectives and goals
(3) designing the business portfolio
(4) developing functional plans. The company's mission should be market
oriented, realistic, specific, motivating, and consistent with the market
environment.

The mission is then transformed into detailed supporting goals and objectives,
which in turn guide decisions about the business portfolio. Then each business
and product until must develop detailed marketing plans in line with the
company-wide plan.
7. Explain how changes in the demographic and economic environment affect
marketing decisions.
Demographics is the science of population research in terms of population size,
population distribution density, age, sex, occupational race and other statistical
expenditures. Demographics are the first important factor that any marketing
manager must pay attention to, because demographics create customers for the
business.
Some of the biggest economic factors that affect marketing are demand and
supply. Often, the goal of a marketing campaign is to drive up demand. When
demand is high, the price of a product can also be high, increasing profitability for
a business. When demand is low, the price lowers too. The distribution of income
also is shifting. The rich have grown richer, the middle class has shrunk, and the
poor have remained poor, leading to a two-tiered market.
8. Discuss how companies can react to the marketing environment.
Companies can passively accept the marketing environment as an uncontrollable
element to which they must adapt, avoiding threats and taking advantage of
opportunities as they arise. Or they can take a proactive stance, working to
change the environment rather than simply reacting to it. Whenever possible,
companies should try to be proactive rather than reactive.
9. Define the marketing information system and discuss its parts.
The marketing information system (MIS) refers to the systematic collection,
analysis, interpretation, storage and dissemination of the market information,
from both the internal and external sources, to the marketers on a regular,
continuous basis.
The MIS develops information from internal databases, marketing intelligence
activities and marketing research.
The company can collect information through its internal databases comprising of
sales data, customer database, product database, financial data, operations data,
etc.
The marketing intelligence activities provides the data about the happenings in
the market, data related to the marketing environment which is external to the
organization. It includes the information about the changing market trends,
competitor’s pricing strategy, change in the customer’s tastes and preferences,
new products launched in the market, promotion strategy of the competitor, etc.
The marketing research is the systematic collection, organization, analysis and
interpretation of the primary or the secondary data to find out the solutions to
the marketing problems.
Lastly, the MIS helps users analyze and use the information to develop customer
insights, make marketing decisions and manage customer relationships.
10. Outline the steps in the marketing research process.
The marketing research process has 4 steps: defining the problem and research
objectives, developing the research plan, implementing the research plan, and
interpreting and reporting the findings.
First step: defining the problem and setting the research objectives
 exploratory
 descriptive
 causal research

Second step: developing a research plan for collecting data from primary and
secondary sources.
Third step: Implementing the marketing research plan by gathering, processing
and analyzing the information.
Fourth step: interpreting and reporting the findings.
Additional information analysis: helps marketing managers apply the information
and provides them with sophisticated statistical procedures and models from
which to develop more rigorous findings.
Both internal and external secondary data sources often provide information
more quickly and at a lower cost than primary data sources, and they can
sometimes yield information that a company cannot collect by itself. However,
needed information might not exist in the secondary sources. Researchers must
also evaluate secondary information to ensure that it is relevant, accurate,
current and impartial.
Primary research must also be evaluated for the above features.
Primary data collection method (observational, survey and experimental) has its
own advantages and disadvantages
Similarly, each of the various research contact methods (mail, telephone, personal
interview, online) also has its own advantages and drawbacks.
11. Explain how companies analyze and use marketing information.
Information gathered in internal databases and through marketing intelligence
and marketing research usually requires more analysis.
Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) − have developed codes research ethics
and standards of conduct. For example, the CASRO Code of Standards and Ethics
for Survey Research outlines researcher responsibilities to respondents, including
confidentiality, privacy, and avoidance of harassment. It also outlines major
responsibilities in reporting results to clients and the public.
To analyze individual customer data many companies have now acquired or
developed special software analysis techniques called:
Called customer relationship management (CRM) which integrate, analyze and
apply the mountains of individuals customer data contained in their databases.
Marketing information has no value until it is used to make better marketing
decisions. Thus, MIS must make the information available to managers and others
who make marketing decisions or deal with customers.
This sometimes means providing regular reports and updates or making non-
routine information available for special situations and on the spot decisions.
Many firms use company intranets and extranets to facilitate this process. Thanks
to modern technology, today’s marketing managers can gain direct access to
marketing information at any time and from virtually any location.
12. What are the two factors that might alter the flow from purchase intentions to
an actual purchase decision? Support using good examples for each factor.
Two factors can come between the purchase intention and the purchase decision.
The first factor is the attitude of the people who are close to the customer. For
example, a consumer intends to buy a motorbike but her family or friends don't
like the motorcycle's design. Thus, it is more likely that the woman will hesitate to
make a final decision to buy that motorcycle.
The second factor is the contingency factor. Unexpected events can arise and
change purchasing. For instance, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a
worldwide economic downturn. This causes the purchasing power of consumers
to decrease significantly. Another unexpected situation could be from
competitors. Suppose, a Charles and Keith store offering a 50% discount on all
items will attract a lot of customers to arrive on a specific date. This also means
that less customers visit other stores in the area during the same period of time.
13. Discuss the special issues some marketing researchers face, including public
policy and ethics issues.
Marketing research in small businesses and nonprofits:
Just like a large organization, small organizations need some of the marketing
information and customer insights that the organization can provide. Marketing
research can also be done in small and nonprofit organizations but on a small
budget.
Obviously, small businesses also need marketing information. Small businesses
and nonprofits can get good marketing information through observations or
informal surveys, local media, and government agencies that also support small
businesses.

Non-profit organization:
Collecting secondary data, observing, surveying and testing is also effective for
small businesses on a small budget.

International marketing research:

Over the past decades, international marketing research has grown
tremendously. International researchers also identify problem research and
develop plans, research to interpret and report results. In international research,
it is difficult to find good secondary data. Besides, the collection of primary data is
also not an easy task.
Furthermore, there are also some cultural and linguistic differences that are also a
major hurdle. People in countries around the world may differ in their attitudes,
normally people are very friendly to respond but some people are not. In most
Muslim countries people can be banned from talking to strangers. Furthermore,
there are many other problems faced in international marketing research.
14. Define customer relationship management explaining its associated tools and
levels of relationships. Give suitable examples for the same.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a method that helps businesses
access and communicate with customers systematically and effectively, managing
customer information such as account information, needs, communication and
other matters to better serve customers.
A company with mostly low-margin customers is likely to seek basic relationships,
using brand-building advertising and sales promotion.
For example, Samsung does not phone or call on all of its consumers to get to
know them personally. Actually, Samsung has made little advertising and
marketing effort towards its final consumers.
On the other hand, an organization with few customers and high margins will
work to create full partnerships with select customers.
For instance, to distribute its products, Samsung works closely and build strong
partnership with large retailers such as The gioi di dong, FPT shop and others.
To create stronger bonds with customers, some companies offer frequency
marketing programs that reward customers who buy frequently or in large
amounts.
For example, supermarkets offer discount points for customers. The more
products customers buy, the more discounts they earn.
Other companies sponsor club marketing programs that create special member
communities. Members of these communities are offered special benefits and
services.
For example, many gym and fitness centers offer customers different membership
cards for different service package that the customers have purchased (Platinum
card, Golden card, Silver card, VIP card, etc.)
15. Name the four major factors that influence consumer buyer behavior.
Consumer buyer behavior is influenced by four major factors:
 Cultural  Personal
 Social  Psychological
These factors impact whether or not your target customer buys your product
which are cause consumers to develop product and brand preferences. That
means they can be useful in identifying interested buyers, shaping products and
appeals to serve consumer needs better.
Culture and social factors can play a major role in the popularity of a product.
Industry groups spend a lot of money trying to influence popular opinion because
they know how influential culture can be on industry sales. In addition to culture,
there may also be social factors, such as family or church roles, at play in a
product’s success. Be mindful of culture and social factors when creating your
marketing. You want to attract as many customers as possible without offending
anyone.
In addition to cultural and social factors, personal factors also influence consumer
behavior. Tastes change over time. Moreover, lifestyle, personality, and economic
class may also influence behavior. Class impacts education level, background,
occupation, and health. As a result, the buying behavior of one economic class
can be very different from another. 
Finally, there are four psychological factors that influence consumer behavior:
motivation, perception, learning, and attitude or belief. Motivation speaks to the
internal needs of the consumer. Understanding how to motivate your customer is
a powerful tool. The way your target customer perceives the world or learns
about your product, whether online or in person, can also influence behavior.
Finally, belief systems have the ability to influence all of the above.
16. Describe the adoption and diffusion process for new products.
The product adoption process is made up of five stages: awareness, interest,
evaluation, trial, and adoption. New-product marketers must think about how to
help consumers move through these stages. With regard to the diffusion process
for new products, consumers respond at different rates, depending on consumer
and product characteristics.
Consumers may be innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, or
laggards. Each group may require different marketing approaches. Marketers
often try to bring their new products to the attention of potential early adopters,
especially those who are opinion leaders.
Finally, several characteristics influence the rate of adoption: relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, divisibility, and communicability.
17. What is Marketing ROI (Marketing return on investment)? Why is it used?
ROI is the abbreviation of the phrase Return on Investment, also known as the
revenue-to-cost ratio. ROI will show how much money the business is getting back
for every expense it spent.
ROI is often used to evaluate business strategy, including all from advertising
strategy and marketing strategy (digital marketing).
18. Calculate and compare marketing return on investment
(or marketing ROI) for each company.

Gross Profit−Marketing Expenses

ROI = Marketing Expenses

Let look at two company A and B

Company A Company B
Sales $282,995,000 $96,944,000
Gross Profit $80,657,000 $69,998,000
Mkt Expenses $9,994,650 $16,545,000
Net Income (Profit) $64,605,000 $37,875,000

$ 80,657,000−$ 9,994,650
Company A’s Marketing ROI = $ 9,994,650 = 7.07 = 707%

$ 69,998,000−$ 16,545,000
Company B’s Marketing ROI = $ 16,545,000 = 3.23 = 323%

19. What’re your conclusions from the 2 companies’ marketing ROI?

It can be seen that Company A’s marketing productivity is higher than that of
Company B. For one dollar spending on marketing.
Company A earn 7.07 dollars of profit in return while Company B just only earn
3.23 dollars.
20. In the marketing concept, what is a public? Discuss who are the main types of
publics? Explaining how marketing may communicate with them.
In simple terms, public in marketing is a group which is seeking to articulate and
propose solutions regarding the exchange and relationships occurring between
government organizations and individuals, groups of individuals, organizations, or
communities, in connection with the request for, service and performance of
public-oriented tasks.
There are seven types of publics.
Financial Publics. This group influences the company’s ability to obtain funds.
Banks, investment analysts, and stockholders are the major financial publics.
Media Publics. This group carries news, features, and editorial opinion. It includes
newspaper, blogs, magazines (print and digital), radio (broadcast and internet)
and television outlets (broadcast and digital). 
Government publics are those government agencies whose law and policies might
impact your business activities. Marketers must often consult with government
officials, their lawyers, and sometimes lobbyists. Get to know your local
government, and keep tabs on what your government officials are doing.
Citizen-Action Publics. The decisions are made will sometimes be questioned by
citizens, consumer organizations, environmental groups, minority groups and
others. PR department can help you stay in touch with these groups.
Local Publics typically include neighborhood residents and community
organizations.  Businesses will usually appoint a community relations officer to
meet with the community, answer questions and contribute to worthwhile
causes.
General Publics. A business needs to be concerned with the general public's
attitude and perception towards its products and activities in the marketplace.
The perception of the business, it's brands, products and services in the public
directly affect consumers buying custom.
Internal Publics are groups of people inside your own business. These groups can
consist of employees, managers, volunteers, and the board of directors.
Businesses typically use newsletters, memos, company meetings, intranets and
other means to motivate and educate their internal publics. Moreover, when your
employees feel good to work for you, when your board of directors are happy
with your success, when your internal communications send the right messages
to motivate, encourage, train, and edify your staff, this positive attitude spills over
to external publics, and helps to communicate your brand message in the
marketplace.
21. Briefly discuss the three different types of research approaches for gathering
primary data in marketing research.
Let's start with a quick discussion of Research Methods. 
There are three typical ways that Primary Data is collected in marketing:
observation, surveys, and experiments.
Observation may be the easiest research to do. Typically, observational research
is also the most cost effectively method. Observations can also give you data that
people aren't usually willing to tell you themselves, such as their feelings,
emotions, attitudes or the motives behind their buying decisions.
Survey research is very flexible, as it can be used to obtain many different kinds of
information in many different situations. Mail, telephone, and online surveys have
relatively low costs in comparison to observational research. Surveys are also
better suited than observations for gathering descriptive information.
Experimentation is the practice of gathering data by selecting matched groups of
people, giving them different treatments or scenarios, controlling related factors
in their environments, and checking for differences in their responses.
Experimental research gives us what we call "causal" data. Causal data helps us
explain cause and effect relationships. Experimenting helps us try to answer
"why" someone is doing something, and what influences their buying behavior.
22. Discuss the roles of culture, subculture, and social class. Help to explain
justifying how the different buyer’s cultural, subcultural, and social class
characteristics vary consumer behavior.
CULTURE is represented by a large group of people with a similar heritage.
Culture exerts a strong influence on a person’s needs and wants because it is
through culture that we learn how to live, what to value, and how to conduct
ourselves in society.
Without an understanding of culture, marketers are not really even speaking the
right language to the consumers they want to target. Even if the words, grammar,
and pronunciation are correct, the meaning will be off.
For instance: Customs are traditional, culturally approved ways of behaving in
specific situations. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated on
the fourth Thursday in November with the custom of feasting with family and
offering thanks for the things we appreciate in life. Furthermore, taking your
mother at dinner and giving gifts to her for Mother’s Day is an American custom.
SUBCULTURES are cohesive groups that exist within a larger culture. Subcultures
develop around communities that share common values, beliefs, and experiences.
They may be based on a variety of different unifying factors.
It can represent huge opportunities for marketers to make a significant impact
within a population that may feel underserved by companies operating in the
mainstream market.
For example: In the United States, many organizations and marketing activities
focus on major ethnicity-based subcultures such as Latinos, Asian Americans, and
African Americans. Each subculture has distinct experiences living and working
within the broader U.S. culture, and it has shared customs and values that shape
their consumer needs and preferences. As each of these subcultures grows in size
and buying power, they become a distinct market for companies to woo.
Unlike nationality or ethnic subculture, SOCIAL CLASS is determined by a
combination of factors including family background, wealth, income, education,
occupation, power, and prestige.
For marketers, social class may be a useful factor to consider in segmentation and
targeting. It provides helpful context about how consumers view themselves and
their peer groups, their expectations, life experiences, income levels, and the
kinds of challenges they face.
For example: Having enough money is a persistent concern for people in the
lower middle classes, so they and their family members have to get accquainted
with buying inexpensive or affordable products. Whereas people from higher
income family with great wealth focus more on the product quality even if they
have to pay more for the product.