Understanding the marketplace is the first step to developing and implementing a companys effective marketing strategy. Consider todays marketplace, which is crowded with a variety of products and services in all industries. Companies sell their products and services in-store and online as well as offering a hybrid of options to order online and pick up in store. These options are often designed to move the company and its brands to the top place in the industry. For this discussion, explore the electric and hybrid car industry. Because more emphasis is being placed on sustainable and green technologies for cleaner air and lower gas emissions, customers are becoming more interested in alternative-fuel cars such as hybrids, solar, and electric choices. In addition, as gasoline prices continue to rise for all-fuel automobiles, customers are often looking for more fuel-efficient options to lower their personal expenditure and more.

1. Identify the products competition. What is 1 new trend on the horizon that the company needs to consider when offering these models to customers in the future?

2. Discuss how your selected model is poised to compete in today's marketplace.

3. What type of customer would be interested in your product? Note the demographics such as the age of the consumer, lifestyle, or psychographics. For example, a customer who is a salesperson and travels 200 miles per day might be very interested in this type of car.

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Today's marketplace is complex, crowded, and competitive with hundreds of thousands of products and services.

Marketers need to understand that economic value includes market research and industry analysis, both focused on how a product or service matches the wants and needs of the targeted customer. Marketing research about the environment, competition, and customers is critical to company success and creating brand loyalty and awareness.

In analyzing a product or service industry, marketing tools such as a SWOT analysis, which examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization; a PEST analysis, which focuses on the political, economic, social, and technological sectors of the market; and, Porters Five Forces analysis allow marketers to get a top-line and in-depth view of how the brand is situated in the marketplace against the competition, what opportunities and threats exist, and how customers perceive the product.