Internal sources external sources six steps:

sales figures; firm’s suppliers; 1. Define the problem.

product and market costs; intermediaries; 2. Make a preliminary

inventory levels; customers; investigation.

activity of sales force. competitor’s activity; 3. Plan the research.

economic conditions. 4. Gather factual information.

5. Interpret information.

6. Reach a conclusion

16. Summarize the information of texts a, b, and c and speak on implementation of marketing concept and the ways of getting marketing information. Unit 3. The Marketing Process

1. Read and translate the text "The Marketing Process. Strategic Marketing Analysis" Text a. The Marketing Process. Strategic Marketing Analysis

The marketing process consists of four elements: strategic marketing analysis, marketing-mix planning, marketing implementation, and marketing control.

The aim of marketing in profit-oriented organizations is to meet needs profitably. Companies must therefore first define which and whose needs they can satisfy. For example, the personal transportation market consists of people who put different values on an automobile's cost, speed, safety, status, and styling. No single automobile can satisfy all these needs in a superior fashion; compromises have to be made. Furthermore, some individuals may wish to meet their personal transportation needs with something other than an automobile, such as a motorcycle, a bicycle, a bus or other form of public transportation. Because of such variables, an automobile company must identify the different preference groups of customers, or segments, and decide which group(s) they can target profitably.

Segments can be divided into even smaller groups, called subsegments or niches. A niche is defined as a small target group that has special requirements. For example, a bank may specialize in serving the investment needs of not only senior citizens but also senior citizens with high incomes and perhaps even those with particular investment preferences. It is more likely that larger organizations will serve the larger market segments (mass marketing) and ignore niches. As a result, smaller companies typically emerge that are intimately familiar with a particular niche and specialize in serving its needs.

A key step in marketing strategy, known as positioning, involves creating and communicating a message that clearly establishes the company or brand in relation to competitors. Thus, Volvo Aktiebolaget (Sweden) has positioned its automobile as the "safest," and Daimler-Benz AG (Germany), manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, has positioned its car as the best "engineered." Some products may be positioned as "outstanding" in two or more ways. However, claiming superiority along several dimensions may hurt a company's credibility because consumers will not believe that any one offering can excel in all dimensions. Furthermore, although the company may communicate a particular position, customers may perceive a different image of the company as a result of their actual experiences with the company's product or through word of mouth.