, has been sounding the same theme in his annual messages to shareholders for most of the 1990s: The hamburger chain would continue to grow and prosper through a strategy of aggressive expansion and market dominance." (Millman, 1997)
" McDonald's hamburgers are pre-sold. That's the power of a strong brand (Roberts, 2002)
S. brand culture. McDonald's is simultaneously global and local (Vignali, 2001)
While customer perceptions of often captured in conversations with them, the most effective approach is to complete periodic Customer Perception Audits that are often done without divulging the company's identity to ensure honest, candid responses. Customer Perception Audits are ideal for determining just how much a company is trusted and what factors most contribute to the role as trusted advisor for customers (Becerra, Korgaonkar, 2011)
The use of these competitive matrices are pervasive throughout many marketing plans, strategic planning documents and are also used intensively in sales trainings across a very wide breadth of companies as well (Frambach, 1997). While secondary research is very common in the competitive positioning practices of literally millions of companies globally, a by far more effective approach is to seek out the perceptions and values of prospects and customers first (Boote, 1981)
Customer Perception Audits are ideal for determining just how much a company is trusted and what factors most contribute to the role as trusted advisor for customers (Becerra, Korgaonkar, 2011). A Perception Audit can also show the areas where emerging problems could potentially hurt company sales, and also highlight the underlying reasons why a specific group of customers are loyal to a given brand, trusting it for their needs (Dimitriadis, Kouremenos, Kyrezis, 2011)
The standardized matrix or comparison table of features and benefits that is based on analysis of secondary research sources including websites, published competitive data and interviews with resellers and retailers are commonly found in strategic marketing plans (Silverblatt, Korgaonkar, 1987). The use of these competitive matrices are pervasive throughout many marketing plans, strategic planning documents and are also used intensively in sales trainings across a very wide breadth of companies as well (Frambach, 1997)
This approach to attitudinal research also takes into account the psychographic or group-based identity consumers often assign to themselves (Thompson, Kaminski, 1993). The strengths of attitudinal studies are the precision of how competitors are rank-ordered in terms of their value, the ability to see where competitors have significant "gaps" in their performance in areas important to prospects, and which areas of a given product strategy are working and have potential relative to competitors and which are facing commoditization (Lowengart, Menipaz, 2001)
¶ … Marketing Analysis Strategies and Techniques Keeping products and services relevant to the rapidly changing needs of prospects and customers is a daunting task. The need for keeping products accurately positioned as customers' needs change, continually evaluating and fine-tuning competitive position, monitoring and evaluating customer perceptions are all critical for creating a cohesive strategic marketing plan (Silverblatt, Korgaonkar, 1987)
From the taste tests to the drive days in the auto industry, the concept is the same: getting prospects and customers to actually experience the product or service and rank order its value relative to competitors. This approach to attitudinal research also takes into account the psychographic or group-based identity consumers often assign to themselves (Thompson, Kaminski, 1993)
The intent of this analysis is to identify the different types of analysis used by marketers to determine product positioning, competitive position, customer perceptions, and distribution channel analysis. Product Positioning The essence of effective product positioning strategies take into account the value delivered by a company with its products and services, how they differ from direct competitors and substitutes, while taking into account the motivations and unmet needs of customers (Zhang, Jiao, 2005)
The country has also conserved their wide range of plant species (5,600), 20 species of the land mammals as well as about 303 species of birds. These then attract more of the tourists that go to that region to make a stop-over to DR and make then not be confined to the hotels but tour the island (Baruch Barera et.al., 2007)
The tourism industry is very central in the economy of the country, for instance the number of tourists that visited the country in 2005 was over 3.6 million and the tourism sector accounted for 7% of the GDP as well as 35% of al the exports that came from the country (Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the U.S.A., 2012)
4% in 2003 and the inflation went up to 42.7% (Hanke & Steve, 2004)
DR also stands out to be a giant exporter of tobacco, sugar, cocoa, vegetables, coffee and fruits. This has however decreased and the shift has been towards the labor intensive products like textile within its FTZ (Mongabay, 2012)
The goal of the resort is to offer the ultimate luxury, service as well as adventure to the people visiting DR. This they strive to achieve through the availing of the best services and the decor within their rooms and premises that are designed to satisfy even the most discriminate client who visits the place (Punta Cana Resort and Club, 2012)
Current Situation The republic, just like many others across the globe had its economy shaken by the recession and before that was the Hurricane Dean that saw the country losing an equivalent of 20% of the GDP in 2007. The DR has however recovered significantly in 2010 to 2011 and is now stable again (World Fact Book, 2012)
In 2000, the International Research Group on Gender and Alcohol conducted a comparison among men and women in 10 countries in an effort to identify gender differences in drinking. Based on comparable measures constructed from the data sets collected in the study countries, the group found that lifetime abstention for both men and women was highest in Israel (ages 18-40 years) and lowest in the Czech Republic (Bloomfield et al
These measures are largely pragmatic measures designed to address the enormous costs associated with alcohol abuse in Ireland, believed to cost the Irish economy almost two billion euros in lost productivity (Sheridan, 2003). Interestingly, the Irish are even responsible for the "e" being added to the word, "whiskey" (Eckert, 1998)
Because of the fundamental differences in drinking patterns that exist in different countries, there is no single best instrument that provides a basis for measuring consumption patterns and identifying dynamic preferences among consumers (Bloomfield, Stockwell and Rehn, 2003). Nevertheless, the relationship between the marketing function and the demand for alcoholic beverages represents fairly stable percentage of total consumer budgets for all countries other than the United States; for example, 6-8% is expended on alcohol products based on the experience of Australia and the United Kingdom (Fisher, 1993)