Strategic Marketing Week Discussion

Challenges of Communicating a Product’s Value and Ways Those Challenges May Be Addressed

Product perception is the most essential pricing element, where if customers are not getting their money value from the product, the marketer has no pricing power. However, if the customers have a belief that they will achieve their money value from the product, they tend to be loyal despite their prices. One main challenge that faces marketers while selling their product is failing to distinguish the seven components of value, price, knowledge, guarantee, quality, variety, response, and service (Harrison 2016). They fail to maintain a perceived value by failing to ensure that all variable attributes are essential in offsetting prices. 

Frohlich (2014) explains the failure of Procter & Gamble due to communication challenges, when they released a shampoo- Touch of Yogurt Shampoo in 1979. Customers did not associate yoghurt with shampoo and some ended up consuming the shampoo. This resulted to some individuals falling sick. Procter and Gamble has failed twice in its attempts to sell its product, where it failed in marketing- “Look of Buttermilk.”

Lenovo and Its Difficulties in Communicating Its Value to Buyers

The operating activities of the Lenovo group are mostly completed through marketing portfolio, producing, and research, and marketing products. According to Han (2016), one of the company’s communicating challenges is the continuous change of trademark. This is a degrading issue in the marketing industry of the company’s products as the patent of the Lenovo trademark was snatched in some countries as a result of infringement. As a manager in the company, I would come up with a strategic plan that protects the company’s trademark to ensure that there is no future infringement. 

References

Frohlich, T. (2014). The 10 Worst Product Fails of All Time. TIME.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from http://time.com/13549/the-10-worst-product-fails-of-all-time/

Han, G. (2016). Lenovo’s Brand Management Strategy – Promotion and Protection — China Intellectual Property. Chinaipmagazine.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from http://www.chinaipmagazine.com/en/journal-show.asp?id=267

Harrison, K. (2016). Marketing Communication: How to communicate value to customers. Cuttingedgepr.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016, from http://www.cuttingedgepr.com/articles/marketcomm_communicate_value.asp

Response to Kelly Pratt

Hello Kelly. I like your strategic week 3 discussion. You have highlighted the challenges that companies face while communicating their product value. You have also stated the different components of product value. Another challenge that marketers may face is failure to conduct a customer value analysis. This determines the benefits that customers desire and the way they perceive the competing offers’ relative values. Marketers also fail in providing enough content demand. I like your idea on how you would solve Lenovo communication problem. You have suggested the use of SWOT analysis that will determine weaknesses and strengths. Would you mind highlighting some of the weakness that Lenovo is facing today?

Response to Amina Rashid

Hello Amina. I have enjoyed reading your post on the challenges that are faced by marketers while communicating the value of a product. You have identified the need to identify the main product characteristics. These characteristics as you stated should be the most important. Additionally, another challenge would be the lack to identify the right technology for the company’s needs. Most of Lenovo downfall is caused by trademarks. It needs to create awareness to prevent the buying of competing ‘Lenovo’ products from the market. I agree with you that there is need for a comparison tool that compares the Lenovo product to that of its competitors. How can Lenovo protect its trademarks?