Question 1: Your company is considering the development and launch of a product competitive to the ready-made Rice Krispy Treats. You are the Chief Marketing Officer and must evaluate this opportunity and launch the product if there is an opportunity.

What are the primary considerations in making the decision to develop this product?

Assuming the development of the product has been approved, what is the process you would recommend for product development to ensure a product that will be successful in the marketplace? In other words, what are the best practices for product development for this product?

Now assume the product is launched, what does your department need to do to promote the success of the product throughout the entire product life-cycle?

Question 2: You are in charge of launching a new marketing textbook for an overview course in marketing geared towards MBA students. Outline a launch plan for this product. Be sure to include the segments you would target, the messaging for each, and the media. You can assume you have an unlimited budget.

Question 3: Marketing is often required to develop and implement lead generation programs to identify "qualified" leads for the sales organization. You have been charged with developing a lead generation program for a new office park. The office park is located at the intersection of 2 major highways 15 miles west of a major metropolitan area. The office park includes 100 office condominiums each including 4 walled offices, a large open space with 20 cubicles, a kitchen with an eating area for 6, rest rooms, and an air conditioned room for computer equipment. Describe your proposed lead generation program. You have $0 in your budget for this project, but you do have an intern that can assist.

Question 1: Your company is considering the development and launch of a product competitive to the ready-made Rice Krispy Treats. You are the Chief Marketing Officer and must evaluate this opportunity and launch the product if there is an opportunity. What are the primary considerations in making the decision to develop this product? Assuming the development of the product has been approved, what is the process you would recommend for product development to ensure a product that will be successful in the marketplace? In other words, what are the best practices for product development for this product? Now assume the product is launched, what does your department need to do to promote the success of the product throughout the entire product life-cycle? Question 2: You are in charge of launching a new marketing textbook for an overview course in marketing geared towards MBA students. Outline a launch plan for this product. Be sure to include the segments you would target, the messaging for each, and the media. You can assume you have an unlimited budget. Question 3: Marketing is often required to develop and implement lead generation programs to identify "qualified" leads for the sales organization. You have been charged with developing a lead generation program for a new office park. The office park is located at the intersection of 2 major highways 15 miles west of a major metropolitan area. The office park includes 100 office condominiums each including 4 walled offices, a large open space with 20 cubicles, a kitchen with an eating area for 6, rest rooms, and an air conditioned room for computer equipment. Describe your proposed lead generation program. You have $0 in your budget for this project, but you do have an intern that can assist. BCG analysis There are four quadrants of the BCG analysis. The evaluation is made based on market share and growth. The quadrants contain cash cows, dogs, question marks and stars. Before categorizing Lowell tools and Billerica, we look at what each of the quadrant represents Stars They have high growth rate and high market share. Their earnings are low but stable and growing. It has neutral cash flows. The strategy for these products is to invest in them as they are expected to grow. Cash cows This have high and stable earnings. Their cash flow is high and stable. The strategy used with cash cows is to invest to maintain the current level of earnings and market. It can also be done for harvesting. Dogs Dogs have low and unstable earnings. They have negative and low cash flows. The strategy for them is to eliminate them from the company Question marks They have low, unstable but growing earnings. The cash flows are mostly negative. The strategy for the products in this quadrant is to invest in them if they show potential but sell them if they show anything but profit. BCG analysis High Market Share Low High Growth rate Stars Question Marks Analysis of Low Lowell and the products for Cash cows Billerica Dogs Lowell Tools Cash Cows Hand saws. They are in this quadrant because Lowell has a high market share and they are profitable despite introduction of power tools. They have stable earnings The stars The stars for Lowell are the gardening tools. The market shares are relatively big. They are expected to grow over time though they are not performing well at the moment. The strategy is to invest in them to capitalize on the anticipated growth. The dogs The barbed fish hooks. They fall in this category as they are banned in some markets and hence they are expected to be phased out The question marks BCG analysis The sandpaper replacement products fall under the question marks. This is a new product. Its market share is expected to grow. The product has small market share. The profitability is however not known. The decision on whether to continue with the product will be based on whether it is profitable or not. Billerica Company Cash Cows The handsaw is the main cash cow for this company. The product is stable and brings in high earnings. This company's product has a large market share. The stars Gardening tools are the stars for Billerica. The product has large market share and the earnings from it are stable. The growth rate is very high and it is expected to grow at a higher rate in future. High Growth Rate Low BCG analysis High relative market share Stars Question Marks Lowell: Gardening tool Lowell: Sand paper replacement Billerica: Gardening tools products Cash cows Dogs Lowell: Hand saws low Lowell: barbed fish hooks Billerica: Hand saws Reference Http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_bcgmatrix.html. (nod). Http://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/use-bcg-matrix/. (n.d.). Marketing Q1. Immediate response to price undercutting The best response to price undercutting is meeting with the managers of those regions and evaluating those markets and the competitors. Once an analysis of the market is done, an analysis of the product is done to determine how to recover the market or even access new ones. Action in the next couple of weeks I would respond by marginally reducing the price or offering more at the same price. However, this reduces the profit margin so the company has to negotiate with its suppliers for lower prices or increase the efficiency to cut costs. Long-term actions to take The company should focus on differentiating its products from those in the market to minimize the competition. This ensures that the company's products do not have close substitutes and thus would not be subjected the price wars. The company can also segment the markets, so that its products will be meant for a particular market only. It can then strengthen its position in that segment of the market. Successful segmentation involves analysis of the market to know the customer characteristics to give them a product that suits their needs. The company should analyze its production costs and negotiate contracts with suppliers for the long term. This will ensure that they have certainty and hence they can be able to move prices around without affecting their profits. Marketing Finally, the company should aim at treating their customers well and producing high quality products. They can also do this by introducing loyalty programs. The aim is to create brand and customer loyalty, which helps in the retention of customers irrespective of the price movements. Q2. The two most important concepts that I have learnt is flexibility of the supply chain and cost management in individual countries. To the CMO, he will be able to use the most appropriate strategy in supply chain and cost management in each of the markets, low growth and high growth markets. While the low growth highly developed markets have shorter supply chains, the high growth less developed markets have longer supply chains. An example is the one given in about Wal Mart. The stores are located in highly developed countries while the cost of labour in this country is very high. As such, a CMO is able to advocate for automation of processes to reduce the cost of labour. The supply chain process in these markets tends to be shorter due to the high automation and Just-In-Time deliveries. For JIT deliveries, the company saves on invoicing costs and inventory costs. In India, the supply chain is longer due to the longer processes involved and involvement in human labour. Human labour is however cheaper in the country and hence the production companies prefer using human labour to save costs. The Unilever case given in the article well demonstrates this. Q3. Differences and similarities of MacDonald's products in the various countries Marketing The products offered in each country have an aspect of that country. This is the main difference between Macdonald's products in different countries. The company has to consider culture and religion of a country before introducing a product. The main example is products made for the Middle East, which must be pork or bacon free. Products for the USA and United Kingdom not have the restrictions only that they have to be made with locally sourced raw products. The example is pork that is served in UK. It has to be from UK. The similarities are that the products offered are the made using the same procedure. McDonalds tries to standardize the main product even though it may have a variation to accommodate the cultural and religious differences in the various countries. An example is the burgers that are made in the UK and the ones made in the US. The recipe is the same. Why Macdonald has provided different products The company recognizes the differences in the consumer market and thus is flexible to provide different products. In the UK, the prefer things made from their own country and that is why pork has to specifically come from UK. Meanwhile in the Egypt, especially amongst the Muslims, pork is considered unclean and hence MacDonald's cannot provide this product here. Lessons from MacDonald's Market strategy The most important lesson is that they are customer oriented. The customers determine the product that will be offered in each country. The country's specifics should also be taken into consideration when designing a marketing strategy for products. Lastly, it is important to be flexible to accommodate as many customers as possible Marketing Reference Http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Aboutus/Newsroom/facts_and_stats0/menu.html. (n.d.). Http://smartcompanygrowth.com/small-business-tips/price-wars/. (n.d.). Http://under30ceo.com/three-ways-to-fight-undercutting-competitors/. (n.d.)