Mary's employees demanded Mary have the meeting that day. "What is the problem?" they all asked. Mary said, "Due to a change in the tax code, we will have an unexpected drop in profits next year. This means that I will need to plan for that. Our problem is that we have been relying on word-of-mouth advertising for too long. We need a new type of marketing strategy." One of her employees, who already had a DBA, said, "Mary, with all due respect, you just framed a potential solution as our problem. Let's rethink this."

Discussion Post

SOLVING A BUSINESS PROBLEM

Part 1

For the first part of the post, please use the following article to suggest potential new marketing strategies Mary might use for her business.

Crick, J. M., & Crick, D. (2020). Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 206-213.

Due to a change in the tax code, we will have an unexpected drop in profits next year. This means that I will need to plan for that. Our problem is that we have been relying on word-of-mouth advertising for too long.

how marketing strategies could be used to help her small tutoring business get more after-school students.

Part 2

For part 2 of this discussion, address her employee's comment, "Mary, with all due respect, you just framed a potential solution as our problem. Let's rethink this." How would you revise Mary's statement below so that it states a problem, instead of a solution? Do not justify your change, just revise her statement given below so that it states a problem.

Due to a change in the tax code, we will have an unexpected drop in profits next year. This means that I will need to plan for that. Our problem is that we have been relying on word-of-mouth advertising for too long. We need a new type of marketing strategy.