Market positioning tool

Market positioning is a tool to articulate a desired position in the market. What are some
examples of categories that might help define 'where to play' or where you will position
your product or service?
Several theories have been developed regarding the competitive advantage of
businesses or organizations. Kalafatis, Tsogas, and Blankson (2000) define market positioning as
the act of designing the company's product, services, and image to occupy a specific place in the
target market's mind. Several categories can help define where to play or where a company can
position its products and services. The categories involve a series of steps that an individual need
to consider before setting up a firm or business. The categories include: Confirm that you
comprehend the Market Dynamics, Identify your competitive advantage, choose the best
competitive advantage that defines your market, defining your position strategy, and finally
communicating and delivering on the positioning strategy.

New service or product development (innovations) can take a variety of forms. Provide
two generic types or categories of innovations (10 pts):
Dewar and Dutton (1986) define Innovation as an idea, practice, or material artifact
that the relevant unit of adoption is new. The two categories include incremental and Disruptive
innovations. Most companies need to consider which type of innovation strategy they choose to
implement. Some companies proceed to their doom when they choose innovations that are
already implemented by their competitors. Companies that fail to implement the best innovation
strategy also find it hard to adapt to the high advancement of technology changes.
Incremental Innovation is a tool most firms use to improve their products in price and
functionality from the users' point of view. The incremental model utilizes the existing

3

3
technology to increase value to the customers within the firm's market. Innovation can involve
adding more features to existing products or services or extending to removing some features, a
process known as value simplification. For instance, according to Banbury and Mitchell (1995),
automatic transmissions and disc brakes had greater competitive impacts in the automobile
industries.
The Disruptive innovation model is associated with new technological advancement
that causes a shift in the technological paradigm and business routines Feder (, 2018). Disruptive
Innovation, also known as stealth innovation, involves applying new technology or processes to
its current market. It is regarded as stealth innovations since the newer technological
advancement will always prove to be inferior to the existing market technology. Even though the
new technology can be expensive to implement and often have fewer features and harder to use,
the new technology iterations several times can surpass the old technology and completely
disrupts all existing companies Feder (, 2018).
Outline in bullet points or boxes and arrows the steps that you would use to manage the
innovation process (i.e., the steps you would use) in your organization (15 pts):
Innovation is vital for any firms that wish to add value to their products or services.
These innovations are the lifeblood for all firms and the primary source for their existence.
Many firms have attempted to have a robust innovation process. However, only a few
organizations successfully implemented the innovation management process as a single
functional unit. Several studies have been made to highlight the steps of managing the innovation
processes, which include the following processes:
 An organization must ensure that the goals set for Innovation are precise.

4

4
 The innovation team should always work together as a team to come up with the most
exclusive Innovation
 The innovation team involved should come up with different strong ideas. These strong
ideas will be complementary to each other, consequently creating the best result.
 The evaluation of Innovation is a significant aspect whereby all the team members' strong
ideas are evaluated to develop the most effective and beneficial to the organization.
 Once the innovation team has settled for the best ideas, it is compulsory to test the ideas
to develop the ideas better.
 After testing the ideas, the ones that survive will then be further developed and tested
until they are ready for execution as part of the essential business operations.
 After the execution and implementation of the ideas or ideas, the innovation team needs
to evaluate, monitor, and assess the milestone that should be set.
Provide a brief description of each of these financial instruments along with what they tell
you (or an owner, investor, creditor) about the firm? P&L, Balance Sheet, and Statement
of Cash Flows (20 pts).
Profit and Loss (P&L)
The profit and loss statements are financial statements that summarize the revenue,
cost, and expenses which has been incurred within a specific period Oncioiu, Calotă, and Tănase
(n.d). These financial statements tell the owner of a firm or business whether they can be able or
not able to generate profits by increasing revenue or reducing cost, or both.
Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is a financial statement that firms use to display their total assets and
how they receive financing through either debt or equity. Carlson et al., this financial statement

5

5
is based on the equation Assets = liabilities + equity and commonly divided into two parts. The
left side outlines the company's assets, while the right side shows the company's liabilities. The
balance sheet tells the business owner how much assets they own and their liabilities within the
business.
Statement of Cash Flow
According to Nguyen and Nguyen (2020), financial statements are a statement used by
firms to summarize the amount of cash and cash equivalent, leaving and entering a company.
Through this financial tool, it tells the owners, investors on a company's operation are running. It
also aids the owner, investors, to completely comprehend the organization's operations.
Moreover, the owners will know where their money is coming from and how and where it is
being spent.
What are the 7 Ps of marketing strategy (10 pts)? Provide an example of each.
Developing a market strategy is a fundamental aspect that ensures that a business will
provide a competitive advantage over its competitors. Once the marketing strategy has been
developed, every firm must consider the 7 Ps formula in which they will be able to evaluate and
reevaluate the business activities continually. The Seven Ps include the following: Product,
Price, Promotions, Place, Packaging, Positioning, and People.
Product
Before developing the product, the individual fast needs to develop the habit of
viewing their products as if they are the customers or outside market consultants who have been
brought to aid in developing the product. Through this, the company will determine whether the
product is currently in the right business. The firm must also consider their competitor's product
and ask themselves critical questions necessary to develop the product.

6

6

Price
All firms or owners must have the habit of extensively examining their goods and
services' prices to make sure they are appropriate. Since the market keeps on fluctuating,
competitors might develop similar products and sell them at low prices. Hence organizations
need to examine and reexamine the pricing of their products constantly.
Promotions
Promotion is a marketing strategy in which, as a company, they might include small
changes to promote their products and services. It also involves how you tell your customers
about your product and services. The small changes the firm makes in their advertisement can
lead to increased sales hence increasing profit margins.
Place
The place is the fourth formula, and it is the actual geographical region in which you
sell your products and services. It is also vital to review where the salesperson meets their clients
since altering a location can lead to more sales of the product and services sold. However, most
companies use direct selling, whereby they send their salesperson to meet with a prospective
buyer directly.
Packaging
Packing your products and services is a fundamental aspect of marketing since
packaging can also be a factor in which many people might consider buying your products. It is
important to review your packaging by standing back and looking at your products and services'
packaging. Many people are visionary. The way you package your product and services can win
a client's heart or lose it.

7

7

Positioning
Several companies always thrive on positioning themselves in the hearts of their
clients—companies like Apple Inc. Wal-Mart, Amazon, among others, have won their clients'
hearts, giving them a more competitive advantage. Start-ups need to develop a way to win their
customer's trust, giving them an added advantage.
People
The people are all the individuals who are responsible for the success of a product.
Firms must consider looking at this formula in terms of looking at individuals working in the
firm and the outsiders responsible for every activity in the sales and marketing process.
According to Collins and Collisn (2006), the most important marketing strategy aspect is getting
g the right people on board. They will eventually develop excellent prospects that will lead to
more sales of the product and services.
Wine Biz project:
What are the required elements that must be included on all wine labels (15 pts)?
The wines and spirits industry, over the years, has become successful. Most of the
wine and brands are advertised and associated with lifestyle to increase the sale further. This
section will cover the contents of a wine bottle on what should be included. The wine bottle is
always covered with information that several people may wonder what it means to the business.
The following are the information's which should be included in a wine label
Brand Name
The brand name will always represent the producer, winery, or vineyard. However, the rand
name could be anything that may include trademark, owner's name, and growing area. If the

8

8
brand lacks a name, the bottler's name takes precedence and becomes the brand name of the
wine.
Wine Type
The one type is normally broken down into three main categories: table, dessert, and
sparkling wine. Even though this information may not be compelling in creating an effective
wine label, it is equally important to include them. The type of wine information can be
substituted with American Viticulturally Area (AVA), which indicates the specific geographical
area the wine is originating.
Alcohol Content
Alcohol content provides details on the volume of alcohol a wine contains. The
alcohol content is a crucial label element that should help their consumers know what type of
content they prefer. It also aids the US (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Bureau) TTA for setting
and monitoring the alcohol-related taxes.
Name and Address
This section may contain either the producer or the bottler's name and address, and
normally it precedes with the phrase "Bottled by" or "produced by."
Volume
This section provides the bottle's volume or any container, normally stated in fluid
ounces such as fl.oz, liters, and milliliters.
Government health Warning.
Wines and spirits are alcoholic content, which may harm the consumer who uses them.
The government requires all the wine producers to provide this information, which sounds like a
warning to the general public that irresponsible consumption may be harmful to their bodies.

9

9

Sulfite Declaration
This is a compulsory section: the wine producers are expected to provide all the wines
containing more than ten parts per million of sulfur dioxide. However, the organic wines which
tend to be free from added artificial sulfuric may omit this section.
Based on the Wine Biz competition, what are some of the key considerations that impact a
wine brand (15 pts)?
The confusion that a customer gets while trying to choose a wine from the pool of
choices is quite hectic. Branding of wine helps the consumer build trust on the wine they prefer
and the reduction of wineries selling and efforts. Various factors need to be considered, which
have an impact on wine brands. The factors include: the grape variety, attraction of front label,
the alcoholic content of the wine
TED Talks
In the TED Talk by Bill Gross on the biggest reasons why start-ups succeed described
five factors. Provide three of these below (10 pts):
Idea
According to Bill Gross, Ideas only counted a 28% success ratio among accomplished
companies he reviewed.
Team
Bill Gross points out customers are the true reality. Moreover, Bill continues to state
the importance of having a team that can adapt to demanding customers' true reality (Customers).
It signifies that the team is one of the truest indicators of success for a start-up business.
However, he also claims that the team factor is also short down as it only accounts for only 32%
success ratio.

10

10

Business model
According to Bill Gross, he points out that a firm or company needs to have a clear
and precise path in which the firm can generate revenues. Even though an individual can start
without having a business model, but as time passes by and you get more and more customers, it
would be necessary to create one. He gives an example of YouTube, which started without
having any clear business model.
Funding
Any start-ups must always get funding for them to be able to run their operations
successfully. However, according to Bill, funding is not the first thing he might consider for
start-ups. He points out that with the right timing, team, business model, and idea, any person
can grow their start-up organically. Moreover, injecting huge amounts of money when it is too
early can be detrimental to the start-up, leading to artificial growth of the start-up compared to
organic growth.
Timing
Being in the right place at the right time is always a critical moment for start-ups.
Technology also plays a significant role in the start-ups since Bill gives examples of Z.com,
which started earlier. Due to low technological advancement, they were forced to shut down. On
the other hand, Bill uses Airbnb, which came just the right time for the recession when people
needed extra money to support themselves. He also mentions Uber, which also had good timing
to involve the drivers who then wanted extra money hence bringing them into the system.
Project-based questions:
When evaluating a new service or product, what process and steps would you use to
determine whether or not the idea has a sufficient market size (15 pts)?

11

11
The development of new products and services are significant moves for business
continuity. Firms need to pay more attention to developing these new products and services since
a mistake in the development process can be detrimental. The evaluation and the development
process follows a series of steps, which are highlighted below.

 The life cycle of the product
 Development ideas
 Match products and services to market needs
 Pricing the firms proposed service or product
 The project development process
 Creating a project team
 Investment and cost control
 Manage a development project

Describe three key ethical, regulatory, or legal issues that need to be considered for new
F&B-oriented services or products (10 pts)?
The Food and Beverage has been on a tight spot involving public health, the law
providing ethical dilemmas. The first key ethical issue arising in the F&B is child obesity, which
the public health claims that the F&B is solely responsible for. Even though it may seem to be a
business to some, other regulatory bodies such as public health view it in another perspective of
causing child obesity. Another key ethical issue revolving around the F&B is the production of
the products. The F&B involves several issues, such as food packaging, which normally consists
of farm produce. The key issue is the quality of hygiene, quality control, and health and safety
measure. All these issues revolve around animal welfare's ethical issue, which recently has been
surrounded by heated debates. There have been ethical dilemmas on whether the church can

12

12
benefit from successful F&B companies' financial support, which encourages unhealthy and
unbalanced diet to the general public. The key issue revolves around using child labor or illegal
immigrants' employment and growing genetically modified crops.
Describe two key (or favorite) learning outcomes that emerged during this class from the
wine biz project or overall project – and describe why valued (10 pts).
The two fascinating learning outcomes that I can consider favorite are the label elements
since I was not aware that the labels could be used to market the wines. I believe the class helped
me comprehend that every little thing that we, as the consumers, view as unnecessary could be a
game-changer to an organization. Another course outcome that was my favorite was the ethical
issue and regulations concerning F&B companies. I value the class since it enlightened me on the
policies that the F&B companies need to partake in to control childhood obesity.