My Second Article Review

Topic: The Strength of Branding and Positioning in Service

Writers: Sally Dibb and Lyndon Simkin
( Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK)

Volume: Vol 4 No 1, 1993, pp25-35.

Complexities in Service
The review that I get from this view of point is regarding the intangibility of services.
Product is tangible but service is intangible.

Because of this, we need to use four Ps that is product, price, place, and promotion in promoting the services. However, actually that is not sufficient if just depends on this four Ps in market the services.

Service and Branding
Some practitioners recommended that branding plays a vital role in promoting tangible items such as products but it is not so wisely use for promoting services.

Branding is including the price and delivery reliability of the services. If the services are able to build up a stable, branding in the minds of consumers, it can builds up the brand loyalty towards consumers. For example, Holiday Inns Hotel is one of the most strongly branding Hotels among the Hotel industry.

The ways of building branding among the consumers is through three sources. First is the internal ( the buyer’s experience of previous purchases), second is external word-of-mouth (from individuals who have experienced a particular service), and the third is external from the selling company’s own efforts (advertising).

It is important for companies to promote and reinforce their brands.

Service and Positioning
According to the writers, Positioning is the place which product occupies in a given market as perceived by the product’s targeted customers.

The successful of unsuccessful of a product is depends on how the consumers perceive its quality, its strength and weaknesses, memorable characteristics, price and value, promoted image and value and the type of consumers who use it.

According to the writers, positioning is not what is done to the product or brand, it is what is created in the minds of target customers; the product is positioned in the mind of these customers and is given an image.

Positioning is focus on effective marketing communications, advertising and promotions. In reality, positioning is also affected by pricing policy, distribution and the nature of the product itself.

Steps in Determining a Positioning Plan

-Define a market's segments

-Decide which segment to target

-Understand what the target consumer expect and value

-Develop a product or service which caters exactly for each needs

-Evaluate consumer perceptionns of competitive service in the selected market

-Select an image for the product which matches the aspirations of the targeted consumers

-Communicate the determined image to the targeted consumer, make the product suitably

available

My First Article Review

Topic: Women: segmenting the home fitness equipment market

Writers: Donelda S. McKechnie, Jim Grant, Victoria Korepina and Naila Sadykova

School of Business, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Introduction
The purpose of this article are guided by two objectives:
First, to what extent are female consumers a viable target market segment for home fitness equipment.

Second, to what extent do women believe/disbelieve the advertising claims that are made about such products.

The reasons women buying the home fitness equipment is for the sake of exercising ,appearance and health considerations.

The descriptors for the purchase behavior of women is their age, nationality, occupations and religion demographics.

Cultural and societal factors (Shaw, 1994; Deem and Gilroy, 1998) have the potential to influence the purchase and use of home exercise equipment although such concerns are not central to the purpose of this paper.

Literature review

In this article,respondent are grouped into four age categories: under 31 years, 41-50 years, and 51-60 years. The result show that women under 50 tend to exercise as a way to control weight and for social interaction and women from age 31-50 years is for stress relief.

Weight control and appearance are found to be important factors when making gender distinctions about exercise involvement.

Deem and Gilroy (1998, p. 89) address this issue noting that “. . . women’s participation in sport should be viewed as part of women’s leisure, enjoyment and relaxation,
rather than as an endeavor which is primarily about achieving good health and physical fitness”.

Other factors, equally important when addressing women’s participation in physical activities, are the socioeconomic as well as the demographics of family makeup, age,
education, etc. (Deem, 1986).

However, why women choose to work out at home rather than join a club may or may not be the result of cultural and/ or social constraints (Deem and Gilroy, 1998). Shaw (1994)
suggests that time, finances, lack of opportunities/facilities or family obligations have the potential, jointly or severally, to impede women from engaging in leisure activities.

Societal and cultural forces may constrain some women from engaging in activities that are deemed to be inappropriate (Shaw, 1994) such as joining a fitness club outside the home. By engaging in exercise activities within the home, using apparatus similar to what is available in commercial venues, then women may be able to challenge the preconceived and traditional notions of the culture.


Methodology
Data collection included interviews with sales staff in retail sporting good outlets as well as soliciting responses to a questionnaire. Information sought included:
· the type and brand names of equipment available;
· who is buying the products and why; and
· what they see as the growth areas for home fitness equipment in the future.


Interview responses

They do not advertise particular products; it is the responsibility of the manufacturer/distributor head office to place ads on television and in magazines including the stores’ name and location. “As Seen on TV” is printed on the boxes to attract consumers who would not normally purchase from TV but will buy the same product from the store.

The surveys focused on:
-treadmills;
-cycling machines;
-workout equipment; and
-abdominal machines

which were the four main product categories that interest women shoppers according to the retail sales staff. In addition to demographic questions, the survey asked about previous purchases, satisfaction and whether they believe/disbelieve the advertisements that promote sports equipment.

Four demographic questions asked for respondents’ age, occupation, religion and nationality . With percentages for each noted in parenthesis, these categories
were further subdivided into three groups for age, and four for each of occupation and religion. Nationality had five.

The survey asked the reasons that women exercise. 24 percent said to lose weight, 41 percent want to look good, 32 percent workout to get fit and 3 percent exercise for other reasons.

The findings have shown that women are a viable market: approximately 40 percent of the respondents have previously bought fitness equipment for the home. This is a strong
indication that women are a consumer segment that may be pursued.

Finally, the extent to which women believe the advertisements, the responses indicate that generally, they are discerning shoppers. Those who have bought said that they did believe the advertisements. However, a large number of women also assess the advertisement message critically before believing what is claimed.

In my opinion, the marketers should focus their audience to the man market in segmenting this home fitness equipment .

Life of a Little Joyce...

PERSONAL PARTICULARS

Name : Joyce Wong Tzin Yee

I / C Number : 860209-05-5142

Age : 22

Date of Birth : 09.02.1986

Residential Address: 7,Taman Meranti Jaya,70400 Seremban N.S.D.K.

Sex : Female

Race : Chinese

Marital Status : Single

Contact No. : 017-3684758

E-mail :joycewong86@yahoo

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

CERTIFICATE SCHOOL/COLLEGE GRADE YEAR
Sijil Tertinggi Pelajaran Sek.Men.Keb.Tunku Pass 2005
Malaysia (STPM) Ampuan Durah

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Sek.Men.Keb.Tunku Pass 2003
(SPM) Ampuan Durah