Reference no: EM131352215

Using the same company you chose for your Week 2 assignment, choose a product or service the company offers on which to focus.

Identify the important attributes for your chosen product and select two key variables for your perceptual map.

Prepare a perceptual map for your chosen product/brand and using a minimum of seven competitors, rank each product/brand on the two variables based on how they are positioned in the consumers' minds.

Explain why you placed each competitor on its particular spot on the map, and how you might strengthen your chosen product/brand's position in the minds of the target market.

Create at least a 10 slide Microsoft® PowerPoint®/Oral presentation with notes including the following:

Develop a Summary slide.

Explain the target market (be specific and address all four segmentation variables - demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral).

Identify a Perceptual map.

Explain the Map placement.

Identify your references.

Note: Carefully study, review, and use your text and the recommended power point tutorial, "PowerPoint 2013 Essential Training," embedded in the syllabus.

Uniliver Company is the company of my choice. The company is basically a marketing company with provisions of household items, foodstuffs, toiletries and toys (Plötner, 2013). Basically the company majors in providing for the population the basics in their houses and has extensive branches to ensure that everyone is well served. Its market structure has been majorly influenced by the environmental factors over the recent years. However, certain trending features seem to brighten the future for the company's marketing strategies and market grabbing.

With reference to the Uniliver Company, which is the company I have chosen to write a report on, I can clearly state that a lot of environmental forces paved a way and opened opportunities for the company. To begin with are the market forces, which are the determinants of supply, demand and prices of products. The market force environmental factor opened opportunities for the company in the aspect that, there were unmet customer needs, there was a poor supply chain in the market that paved way for the company with the mentality that it will develop a better supply chain. In addition to this, there were many open mergers who were ready to associate and do business thus posing an opportunity to the company to jump in (Shafer, 2012).

In addition to this is the demographic changes that occurred in the region of the companies operation. With increased demand for goods and near its source, many people seemed to move nearer the company so that they can access goods in a quick way without waiting for the long channel through which they had to go to get to them. In that sense the population grew and the population structure changed as well (Pride, 2011). This made more opportunities for the company to come up as they struggled with the increased demand for more various goods ranging from household items, foodstuffs and toys for the babies.

Moreover, the government incentives were another opportunity for the company. The sacrifice by the government to give free land for the company and settle part of its operating cost at the beginning of its operation gave the greatest opportunity that could be avoided. Therefore this was a big opportunity for the company that enabled it to develop and venture into business and marketing (Cadle, 2010).

Looking at the operations of the company, I can point out that there have been changes in the organizations purchasing market in the recent years. However, the changes keep on fluctuating sometimes going down while some other times shooting up the roof. The purchasing changes have occurred with the entry of other businesses in the market offering the same commodities and closely related substitutes (Frey, 2015). This has posed a great competition especially taking into account that most of the close substitutes are being offered at very low prices compared to the prices of the company. This has made most of the customers' shift their preference to the substitutes letting the company's sales fall.

In addition to this, there has been the constant drop in the purchase by the market. This has been majorly caused by the constant leaving of the mergers and partners in production. This has made the bigger market doubt the ability of the company in supplying enough and therefore shifted to other suppliers. Due to this, the purchase patterns have been seen changing on the target market due to the fluctuation in production when major partners leave the collaboration (Plötner, 2013).

Based on the environmental scan about the above company, I can point out that it has grown and established itself with certain trends socially, economically, technologically, competitively and regulatory way (Shafer, 2012). This is by looking at its environmental perspective and response to the above environmental factors.

The company has grown to be socially liked by the people living around it and the overall target market due to the quality products it provides. In addition to the quality, it utilizes the acts of measures in the correct way and ensures that consumers get what they pay for. In fact that they ensure the acts of measures and quantity are adhered to and abided by. More into this, the company offers warrant period for their commodities and are eligible for repair or replacement within the warrant period. This can be termed as to how the company has grown socially and become liked by all market fields and clients. This trend is a promising marketing ability for the company in the future (Pride, 2011).

Economically, the company has expended its production from the usual small production as it used to be to a muiltcommercial production by having their stores and production happening in many regions of the country (Cadle, 2010). The economic state of the company has also enabled the imposition of division of labor, which has made the production process more efficient for the company. The economic trend of the company seem favoring for the future as there will be more opportunities in creating more advertisements and breakthrough research on best production and marketing methods.

Competitive way, the company has tried to outshine its competitors in a number of ways. It has shaped a powerful brand of itself such that no other supplier can match it in the market. In addition to this, it has engaged in advertisement activities that present their goods to their clients and potential customers in bright and impressive images. More into this, the company keeps the market informed about changes in ingredients and prices of their commodities from certain times, which make the customers prefer them to other companies.

The desire for feedback and correction of what consumers rely back to them too keeps the company competitors free. If the company upholds this competition trend, it stands a greater chance of having a wider market in the future as it will be well known and respected for what it does thus less efforts will be spend on marketing (Frey, 2015).

Technologically, the company has evolved from manpower to machinery operations. Basically the company relied on manpower for production. But currently with advancement in technology, it has made everything technological and reduced the number of employees remaining with only technically trained to continue with the production (Plötner, 2013). This advancement has seen the production go up and more profits realized over the recent past years. The trend places the company at a higher position of a much wider market in the future.

In regard to the regulatory aspects, the company has been trying as much as it can to acquire the required documentations for its operations. Any new field entry has been corresponded by the relevant legal formalities and therefore everything is legally binding the company and the legal law of the land. With this trend ongoing, the company stands a big chance in the market, as more consumers will choose it over other marketing organizations due to the fact that they feel secure with it and their services. Therefore its future marketing will have no trouble (Shafer, 2012).

The company can use different strategies from other companies in order to make their target market choose them over the others. To start with the company can give their consumers warrant period for the products they supply them. In addition, they can provide to the consumers what their competitors do not provide by modifying the products to be more appealing and satisfying. Moreover, they can use their customers as promoters for their commodities and to reach new markets (Pride, 2011). Furthermore the company can be active in the community by sponsoring community activities such as sporting activities and fundraising.

In regard to the Geek Squad, I have learnt a lot.I have been able to learn that a long journey starts with a mere step. With consistency and determination to achieve, any business can pick up and reach the highest level of success. From the evolution of the Geek Squad, I have been able to lean that the trick in instilling success in oneself is by using the available environmental provisions and the resources around you such as partnering and merging up to make the production chain cheaper while at the same time cultivating market loyalty by staying valid and reliable to them (Cadle, 2010).