Chapter One Web Exercise : An Overview of Marketing
Vignette: Regarding market orientation, it is important to be creative in conducting research to assure that the company is doing well at reaching the customer and serving their needs.
Featured URL: Levi Strauss http://www.levi.com
In Chapter One in your textbook, you read about a Levi company's vice president who found it valuable to conduct personal research to learn what teenagers were thinking about. He conducted this research in order to develop Levis products with appeal for that group of potential customers. Most people, especially teens, have heard of blue jeans even if they don't wear them. The blue denim fabric used in jeans clothing (and other articles like jackets, shirts, shorts, skirts, and bags) is very much in demand. Blue jeans styles and clothing have been popular in fashion for many years.
Brand recognition of Levis has reached that most desirable level where the word "levis" has come to mean "blue jeans" around the world. What other products have built such a popular image? Coke may be used to mean a soft drink, Nikes to indicate running shoes and Kleenex to mean facial tissues. What other brands can you think of that have become a part of our vocabulary?
Having such a strong brand recognition in the market place means that the competition has to use a lot of savvy and understanding of the marketplace in order to reach the attention of buyers. One way of doing so is to use the relatively new approach to marketing - establishing a website for the business. In the resource section for this Web Exercise, you will find a number of websites that promote blue jeans products. You will also find a list of some of the more common elements that are found on a typical commercial website. It is a good idea to become familiar with these elements as you will be visiting many web sites as you learn more about marketing on the Internet.
A. Visit the featured website for Levi jeans. Take a tour around the site, noting the various elements found there. Did you find anything that surprised you or that was not found in the suggested list of site elements? Does it concern you that some of these sites have options for international customers but none of them identify Canada as a specific market. Does this bother you? How could you address this oversight ?
B. Now, take a quick look at the other jeans websites listed in the Resource section below. Based on your initial impression, select two of the sites to evaluate in greater detail, comparing each with the Levis site.
C. Create a table so that you can compare the three chosen sites. Based on your comparison, which site do you think has the better marketing strategy? Why?
Websites that market blue jeans - featured site - Levi: http://www.levi.com
| http://www.wrangler.com/ | Wrangler |
| http://www.leejeans.com/ | Lee |
| http://www.blue-jeans.net/ | Lawman |
| http://nauticajeans-club.com/main/ | Nautica |
| http://www.anchorblue.com | Anchor Blue |
| http://www.ridersjeans.com/ | Rider |
| http://www.pointerbrand.com/ | Pointer |
Elements found on eCommerce websites
Instructors: Optional Activities
As with all of the Web exercises, the exercise for Chapter One can be used as suggested or certain parts can be adapted to better suit your student population. You will want to estimate how much time is required to complete any part or all of the parts. It will be helpful to give students a suggested time frame for completing their assignments. It will also help to determine how much credit might be given for the assignment.
INVESTIGATING A COMMERCIAL WEBSITE: Be a Marketing Detective!
1. Closer Look: Questions
Take a closer look at any website found in this chapter and answer the following questions.
a. What means have been provided in order to gather data on who visits the site?
b. How could information gathered about customers be helpful in further development of the marketing approach used by the company?
c. What do the following elements suggest as to the company's current philosophy of marketing? About Us/Who We Are, History, Employment Opportunities, Customer Service?
d. What items on the site enhance and demonstrate concern for customer satisfaction? customer loyalty? building customer relationships?
e. Why would you return to this site?
f. What conveniences does the site provide for customers?
g. Is there any item that for you encourages brand loyalty?
h. If you had a problem with a product purchased from this company, how would you use the site to get a response to your complaint?
2. Deeper Investigation
Conduct a deeper investigation of the jeans sites:
a. Have students send an e-mail to each of three jeans websites asking for further information regarding employment opportunities for a marketing student (or graduate) in this company.
b. Have students investigate any aspects of the sites that reflect society's best interests. Create a public service advertisement that reflects the company's concern about the communities they serve.
c. Have students discuss the orientation to marketing that each jeans site implies - sales or marketing - give examples.
3. Investigating by Category
Investigating websites by category of product or services:
a. Use other product sites to conduct comparisons. Investigations may be done for sites that are marketing in the following categories - music, cosmetics or automobiles.
b. Ask students to choose a category then visit 3-5 sites in this category by which to make their comparisons.
c. Students will then develop a table to chart the elements of each site for comparison purposes - elements may come from the list included with this web exercise or may include some other aspect of marketing such as marketing orientation, customer value, societal concepts and marketing objectives