Part 1-

Andy recalls a method to simplify the definition of a domestic market for a product category (e.g., chocolate). He wants to use the concepts of object, objective, occurrence, outlet, and opposition, which can stand for factors responsible in drawing up the boundaries for the definition of the market of interest (Kotler, 1988).

Andy is meeting with you and other marketing staff to discuss this approach for the domestic and Belgian markets. You are to use the following concepts and determine their factors to describe and compare the U.S. and Belgian markets.

• Object: The description and characteristics of the product category
• Objective: The customer's main motivation(s) to buy the product
• Occurrence: The typical situation in which the product is used or consumed by the customer
• Outlet: The places where the product will be available to the customers for purchase
• Opposition: The customer's perception of the quality of the competing products

You are to also illustrate the information by developing a matrix placing the 5 concepts in the y-axis and the countries in the x-axis. Cells in the matrix should contain brief descriptions of the factors for the corresponding country. The definition of the market should incorporate factor information from each concept.

Reference

Kotler, P. (1988). Marketing management: Analysis, planning and control. (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Part 2-

Now that Andy has defined the market, he next needs to determine the unique characteristics possessed by his brand. At least 2 key characteristics should give Andy the differential advantage needed to successfully position the brand versus the competition. Andy's father challenged him to estimate the brand's potential demand in the Belgian market using these 2 characteristics.
Andy has asked you to develop a proposal containing a graphic showing a breakdown of the estimated demand by province and type of chocolates.

• Propose 2 ways to position the product versus the competition.
• Discuss other variables that you think will affect the demand of the product in the Belgian market (e.g., the state of the economy).
• Show the statistics in a table format, followed by the graphic.
• This proposal must also include an explanation of the variables used to estimate demand beyond the key characteristics and their significance.