Marketing Management

Marketing Management

Answer 1

Understanding the needs and wants of customer is not always easy and simple. Marketers need to do a lot of homework to analyze the needs of customers. Most of the times, customers do not know what they really need or they are unable to communicate their needs. For this reason, they try to associate their needs with different slogans, phrases and words. It is important for the marketers to distinguish the needs of customers in order to get a clear picture of what the customers actually need. Following are the five types of needs that most customers have. (Kotler & Keller, 2009)

Stated Needs

Stated Needs are those for which customers express that they want. For example, John wants an inexpensive car (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Real Needs

Real Needs are those which the customers are actually looking for. This type of needs are basically the underlying needs for those that are stated For example, John wants a have a car whose operating cost, not its initial price, is low (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Unstated Needs

Unstated needs are those which the customers do not mention. These types of needs are expectations that customers associate with the product or services they want to acquire. For example, John expects good service from the car dealer (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Delight Needs

Delight Needs are the value additions and luxuries which the customers desire, as compared to the real needs. These types of needs are basically preferences that customers might have when shopping for a product or service. For example, John would like the dealer to include DVD system and an onboard navigation system in the car (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Secret Needs

Secret Needs are those needs which the customers feel reluctant to admit. These types of needs are intangible and based on immaterial reasons. For example, John has a strong need for social status and wants his friends to see him as a savvy customer (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

Answer 2

From a customer's perspective, Procter & Gamble, Southwest Airlines, Nike, Disney, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart and McDonald's have a prominent and valuable standing in terms of strategic planning. The reason is because these companies not only provide quality products or services but also provide additional value with it. Although they charge a premium price for their products or services, but still people like to purchase and use their offerings. Another reason is that these companies are really good at understanding the customer needs and wants, they not only fulfils the needs but also generate it which is embedded deep inside any customer's mind. These companies have got a lot of exposure and experience which helps to them understand and analyze customer's needs, wants and expectation level in a better way than others. An example of Southwest's success is as follows (Leavenworth, n.d.)

Southwest is the top airline carrier of United States of America. The success of Southwest's success in California is a good example to discuss in terms of strategic planning. According to one of the industry consultant Michael Roach, Southwest entered ...