Marketing is an important management process for an enterprise as it allows the business to communicate with its customers in an effort of increasing its productivity. Doing business is not an essay task as at times, the customers can be quite demanding while the competitors are always hard to cope with. With the ever-evolving technological advancements, businesses can no longer stand still, and the only way left to achieve success is to look constantly for the next big innovation and new markets. Therefore, marketing managers in companies are always under pressure, as they have to create a balance between driving business sales while at the same time building strong businesses and brands that will be successful (Armstrong & Kotler, 2013).
The process of market planning begins with a business situation analysis that entails an examination of the company’s competitors, customers, new markets, as well as the political, social, technological, and economic environments. According to Constantinides (2006), the process of marketing involves the selection of an appropriate target market and the establishment of a value proposition while combining the four marketing Ps that are promotion, power, product and pricing strategies. To be able to be ahead of its rivals, Hewlett-Packard Company had to incorporate the 4Ps approach into the companies markets (Rivas & Gobeli, 2005). As part of the marketing mix, it is important for a business to produce consumer driven products as per the customers’ expectations and needs to ensure business success is achieved through constant business re-invention. The Hewlett Packard Company had to continuously re-invent itself by manufacturing customer driven products and evolving to a computing products manufacturer to be able to expand its customer segment (Profile, 2011). Enhancing market penetration through branding is important in marketing as consumers associate the company’s products with the particular brand. To be able to attract more customers cost cutting and offering promotions are crucial marketing strategies just as the HP Company did by designing an effective price sensitive customer strategy. Effective market planning is essential as it enables companies like Hewlett-Packard to rise to the occasion even during turbulent economic situations. It is, therefore, important for enterprises to continuously develop strategies to be able to thrive in the emerging and ambiguous competitive landscape.
References
Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2013). Marketing; An Introduction. Marketing Teacher, 170. http://doi.org/10.1016/0166-4972(92)90011-6
Constantinides, E. (2006). The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century Marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3/4), 407–438.
Profile, C. (2011). Hewlett-Packard Company. HewlettPackard Company SWOT Analysis, 1–10. http://doi.org/10.1021/ac60257a785
Rivas, R., & Gobeli, H. D. (2005). Accelerating Innovation At Hewlett-Packard. Research Technology Management, 48, 32–39.
