Upon Completion of the Required Readings, Write a Thorough, Well-Planned Narrative Answer

Instructions

Upon completion of the Required Readings, write a thorough, well-planned narrative answer to each of the following discussion questions. Rely on your Required Readings and the Lecture and Research Update for specific information to answer each discussion question, but turn to your original thoughts when asked to apply, evaluate, analyze, or synthesize the information. Your Discussion Question responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the questions themselves. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your responses and document in a bibliography using APA style.

Identify four (4) measures of marketing effectiveness. Explain which one (1) of the four (4) measures on your list, in your opinion, is most important and why. Which is least important and why? Do the elements they measure tend to interact with one another, or is their effectiveness primarily self-contained? (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

Instructions

Applying principles you’ve learned up to this point in the course, list and explain four (4) ways that even a well-executed marketing program might fail. (20 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

Instructions

Activity Description: Corporate Memo (100 points)

You are working for the Collegetown-based California Happy Valley Beverage Corporation, marketers of California Sunshine Filtered Water. The product has a colorful label and sells well throughout the state, especially among environmentally-conscious consumers. A member of the Collegetown City Council, with a reputation and record for activism, ran across several controversial articles about filtered water production and distribution and proceeded to raise a ruckus, questioning the integrity of Happy Valley Beverage Corporation and the suitability and value of its bottled water product.

The city council has written a pointed letter to your corporation and copied it to the local newspaper, mirroring these concerns. On the attractive bottle label, you and thousands of other consumers can read the statement, “Every drop of this healthy, refreshing beverage is guaranteed to be filtered in conformance with all applicable California and federal government regulations.” What the label does not explicitly state, however, is that the water is actually tap water from the town's municipal system, a fact that has now been exposed.

As a newly minted MBA who has only recently assumed the Director of Marketing and Community Relations position, you have been assigned the privilege of answering the letter. Even though you have two other “rookies” who can assist in the research and composition, the responsibility for the content rests with you. In order for your assistants to do a good job, you have to supply them with some of the basic arguments that will uphold your company's reputation and stem the tide of this public relations brouhaha. Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

Part A Find at least three (3) journal and/or news articles that might help you outline a response to why consumers should pay for bottled tap water and to determine what other defenses your company could use against this type of consumer activism. You will use this research in Part B. Present your research in the form of an annotated bibliography. (30 points)

Part B Write a 2-page memo to your “rookie” associates explaining the company’s present circumstances. Note that your memo will likely be used as the basis of your company’s response to the accusations of the Collegetown City Council. Include responses to the following issues in your memo and support them with the research that you found in Part A. (70 points)

1. Why will/should people pay for a bottle of water? Give a minimum of three (3) reasons supported by the research.

2. What are the corporations’ best defenses in the face of this kind of consumer criticism? Give at least three (3) defenses with an explanation of why each reason is important.

Instructions

There are certain areas of the country that are so rough that Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and many other restaurant chains will not deliver to them. Imagine that a local entrepreneur has started a company called “Homeboys Restaurant Delivery and Catering Service,” that will deliver to these areas. With a bank of phones and two drivers, the company picks up at the restaurant of your choice and delivers to your doorstep. Its drivers use late-model, inconspicuous used cars. Homeboys runs a tab at the restaurants and pays weekly for food picked up by its drivers. Customers are charged a $3 delivery fee on $10 minimum orders. Its drivers hand out flyers with the Homeboys logo and the names of participating restaurants. Each driver also has the menu from those restaurants. Evaluate the effectiveness of Homeboys in terms of the intangible and/or variable elements of people, physical evidence, and service standards. (26 points) (A 1½-page response is required.)

Instructions

Relate the different models of brand equity to each other. How are they similar? How are they different? (24 points) (A 1½-page response is required.)