Explain Marketing Concepts and Dilemmas

1. One of the marketing concepts asserts that marketing's role is to satisfy consumers' needs and wants. Critics, however, maintain that marketing goes beyond that and creates needs and wants that did not exist before. They feel marketers encourage consumers to spend more money than they should on goods and services they do not really need. Do you think that marketing shapes consumer needs and wants or it merely reflects the needs and wants of customers?

2. Mission statements are often the product of much deliberation and discussion. Do you think that mission statements are critical to a successful marketing organization? Do they provide useful marketing value?

3. As marketers increasingly develop marketing programs tailored to certain target market segments, some critics have denounced these efforts as exploitative. For example, the preponderance of billboards advertising cigarettes, alcohol, and other vices in low-income urban areas is seen as taking advantage of a vulnerable market segment. Critics can be especially harsh in evaluation of marketing programs that target African Americans and other minority groups, claiming that they often employ cliched stereotypes and inappropriate depictions. Others counter with the point of view that targeting and positioning is critical to marketing and that these marketing programs are an attempt to be relevant to a certain consumer group. Do you think that targeting minorities is exploitative or it is a sound business practice?

4. Some critics vigorously denounce the practice of brand extensions, as they feel that too often companies lose focus and consumers become confused. Other experts maintain that brand extensions are a critical growth strategy and source of revenue for the firm. Do you think that brand extensions can endanger brands or they are an important brand growth strategy?

5. In the integrated marketing communication process, an organization is continuously faced with make-or-buy decisions (to perform the communication activity internally or to buy it). Why is the use of break-even analysis in this decision making process a good procedure?

6. Some marketers feel that the image of the particular channel in which they sell their products does not matter - all that matters is that the right customers shop there and the product is displayed in the right way. Others maintain that channel images, such as a retail store, can be critical and must be consistent with the image of the product. Do you think that channel images do not really affect the brand images of the products they sell that much or channel images must be consistent with the brand image?

7. Prices are often set to satisfy demand or to reflect the premium that consumers are willing to pay for a product or service. Some critics shudder, however, at the thought of $2 bottles of water, $150 running shoes, and $500 concert tickets. Do you think prices should reflect the value that consumers are willing to pay or prices should primarily just reflect the cost involved in making a product or service.

8. Many social commentators maintain that youth and teens are becoming more and more alike as time goes on. Others, while not disputing that fact, point out that the differences between cultures at even younger ages by far exceed the similarities. Do you think that people are becoming more and more similar or the differences between people of different cultures far outweigh their advantages.