Market Environment and Research
Please type the paper in 12 font, Times new roman and a minimum of 2 full pages. Please be as detailed as possible. Please include at least 2 creditable references and please list in APA format free of errors and extra word fillers. Please include page numbers at the bottoms of each page ONLY not the top.
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The assessment instructions is a guide for the paper and please answer each bullet in the paper from the assessment portion of the instructions.
OVERVIEW
Develop an organizational profile for a company’s marketing environment and a short analysis of the value of secondary sources. There is no page limit for this assessment.
Understanding and tracking the marketing environment is a critical marketing function, focusing on the customer as the center of the organization’s attention. The organization can, and usually does, adjust its products, pricing, promotion, and place (distribution) to meet customer needs and to react to external forces.
Before you begin analyzing and applying principles of marketing, consider that there are two important perspectives on the marketing field:
That of a professional marketer working on reaching a targeted market.
That of interested consumers, each a part of a different target markets; each inundated with marketing messages.
You make this distinction so that you can more closely analyze what marketing means and how to tell good plans and ideas from the bad ones.
The Assessment 1 Context document contains important information related to the following topics:
Defining Markets.
Conducting Market Research.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Examine the basic marketing models for a business or organization.
Explain how characteristics of the U.S. economy affect a company’s retail operations.
Explain how characteristics of the global economy affect a company’s retail operations.
Explain how characteristics of the legal and regulatory environment that affect a company’s retail operations.
Explain how characteristics of the technological forces affect a company’s retail operations.
Competency 2: Relate the importance of an integrated marketing program to the economic impact of a business.
Explain how secondary sources of information can be used in developing an integrated marketing plan.
Analyze the value of secondary sources of information to business economic success
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
Based on your research of an organization:
How does the organization’s positioning in the marketplace compare to its competitors?
How are its product lines similar or different?
If you consider a particular product category, such as outdoor apparel, how do the marketing strategies compare?
How does this relate to the target market segments for these companies?
Increasingly, social media sites are utilizing and sharing consumer information that many people consider private, such as their geographic location and their purchasing preferences. This has resulted in some controversy for organizations like Apple and Google.
How can marketing departments utilize consumer information from social media to benefit their companies and their customers, while also taking into account privacy concerns?
ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS
PREPARATION
For this assessment, refer to the REI Case Study – Research Guide, linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading. In addition, conduct independent research to develop a case study based on REI.Your research resources should include the REI organization’s Web site, but you are also expected to use information about REI that has been gathered by organizations that are devoted to marketing research. These organizations are referred to as secondary sources. A short list of secondary sources is provided for you in the REI Case Study – Research Guide. Use these sites to get your research started. You are encouraged to explore further secondary sources.Conduct your research on REI, focusing on the following topics:
How does the current U.S. economy affect REI retail operations?
How does the current global economy affect REI retail operations?
What types of legal and regulatory forces affect REI in the U.S.?
What types of social and culture trends affect REI?
What types of technology changes affect REI?
ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE DEVELOPMENT
Based on your research, develop an organizational profile for REI’s marketing environment, analyzing the key environmental factors of the U.S. economy, global economy, legal and regulatory environment, socio-cultural forces, and technological forces.
Identify three or more of the secondary sources of information available for conducting market research on REI.
Develop a short analysis of the value of these secondary sources, specifically in gathering information on REI.
How might these secondary sources be used to develop an integrated marketing plan?
How valuable would their information be in developing a marketing plan that would contribute to the company’s economic success?
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
RESOURCES
Capella Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resources:
REI Case Study – Research Guide.
In this course, you will complete two assessments based on a case study of REI. This guide is intended to provide you with a starting point for your research.
Internet Resources
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.
REI. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.rei.com.
SUGGESTED RESOURCES
The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.
Capella Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resources:
Assessment 1 Context.
Business Plans Versus Marketing Plans.
20180711215801cf_assessment_1_context
20180711215802resource_informatin
Solution Preview
How does the current U.S. economy affect REI retail operations? REI is a company that is recognized nationwide as a retail co-op whose focus is on educating, inspiring and providing outfits to its members and the community at large for outdoor activities and stewardship. The company sells different gear brands related to outdoor activities. The increase in disposable income in the American population because of the growth in the economy has led top positive outcome.
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