Dissertation Proposal On How Relationship Marketing Can Help Improve The Image Of Companion

INTRODUCTION

Against the background of the current economic situation within the region, many marketers are looking for better and more effective ways of increasing their sales. Some of them assume that when there is greater media visibility, then one is more likely to boost their success. However, what most of these marketers are forgetting is that there are relationships that are created every time a sale is made. Consequently, their companies must look for ways in which they can sustain this kind of relationship. The proposal will examine how relationship marketing can boost company images in the car industry with specific emphasis on the issue of trust.

BACKGROUND

This project is worth doing because of a series of reasons. First of all, the automobile company is one of the most important sectors of the UKs economy. Consequently, there is a need to look for ways in which this industry can be improved in order to boost the economy. Additionally, by examining the role that trust plays in relationship marketing, then car companies can understand the underlying factors required to make relationship marketing work for them. This project will also be significant in providing information about various tools and approaches in relationship marketing from automobile companies. (Jackson, 1985)

Previous work in relationship marketing has focused on its core functions. Levitt (1983) explains that relationship marketing is a form of marketing that centres on consumer satisfaction and retention. This is a shift from traditional approaches that mostly emphasised on transactions made at the point of sale. Some authors have looked at application of relationships to the automotive industry. Nilsson (2004) examined a case study of an automobile company in the US and looked at how this companys success had been enhanced though relationship marketing. Other authors such as Kotler (2005) , DeYoung and Boldt (1988) & Berry (1983)

have examined ways in which relationship marketing can be integrated with other marketing concepts such as process reengineering. Furthermore, a lot of work has centred upon the use of relationship marketing in various aspects of an organisation. These include its application in the supply chain logistics, information technology and other vital sectors. (DeYoung, 1987)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES

The major objective that the research will be trying to achieve is to determine what the link between company image and relationship marketing is in the automobile industry. This will be determined through four specific objectives
1)What role does trust play in boosting relationship marketing in the automobile industry
2)What role does loyalty play in enhancing relationship marketing?
3)How can automobile companies apply relationship marketing in their marketing mix?
4)What is the value that relationship marketing brings to automobile companies?

Through these research objectives, it will be possible to understand what makes automobile companies successful in terms of relationship marketing and that can then be linked to company image. When companies are regarded as successful by their current or future clientele, then it is likely that they have a good image or vice versa. (Jackson, 1985)

METHOD; RESEARCH DESIGN
The research will dwell on the automobile industry in the United Kingdom. This will be done through a combination of approaches. Some leading automobile manufacturers like General Motors will be identified and asked about their implementation of relationship marketing. This will be analysed through personal interviews with their sales members. Additionally, the customer lifetime value added to a company through relationship marketing will be calculated for those chosen organisations. Customers will also be included in the research because they will be instrumental in assessment of how successful they perceive certain companies hence reflecting on the company image. (Envision software, 2007)

Personal interviews will be utilised when dealing with company representatives owing to the fact that they will be useful in highlighting certain unique r. marketing features prevalent in their organisations. However, in order to get uniform responses from clients, it would be favourable to use questionnaires for them. Secondary data will also form an important part of this research because it will provide a backbone for determining those elements that cannot be conducted practically and this include measurement of the value added to companies as a result of relationship marketing.

DATA COLLECTION
Data will be obtained through sales performance records released to the public by industry analysts. Data will also be obtained through the use of personal interviews. The population size in this part of the research will be made up of all top performing automobile companies in the UK. Ten sales representatives will be chosen from these companies. The sampling criteria will solely be based on that companys willingness and response to requests for interviews.

In the other aspect of the interview involving the public or various clienteles, the research will need to obtain fair representation from various parts of the UK. Consequently, a telephone directory will be used and respondents will be asked whether they would like to participate in the research. The questionnaires will be delivered personally to their residential areas after they accept to participate. Sampling criteria will be based on non probability sampling. Numbers will be chosen randomly in order to minimise biases. The research will involve ten personal interviews for sale representatives in automobile companies. Additionally, fifty questionnaires will be filled by those who accept to participate. (Durfee & Chase, 2003)

The research will also make a number of ethical considerations. Confidentiality will be a key concern as respondents in the questionnaire and the interview will be protected from other parties by concealing their identities. Additionally, care will be taken to ensure that clients only answer those questions that they feel comfortable with since they will be informed about this at the beginning of the research.

TIMESCALE

RESOURCES
Secondary data will largely be obtained from financial data released to the public. This will available in the school library and also in internet websites. This information will be crucial for ensuring that the issue of company image is duly inspected.

REFERENCES

Kotler, P. (2005): Relationship marketing- gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention; North Western University Press
Nilsson, T. (2004): Customer relationship management within the US Automotive Industry; department of BA and Social Sciences, Lulea University Report, 18th June
Envision software (2007); Project Timeline management, available at http://www.envisionsoftware.com/ accessed on 11th November 2008
Durfee, W. & Chase, T. (2003): Project management, University of Minnesota Press
DeYoung, B. (1987): Marketing Your Charter Boat Enterprise – Putting Relationships to Work; Information Bulletin, no. 206
Berry, L. (1983): Relationship Marketing in Perspectives on Services Marketing; American Marketing Association
DeYoung, B. and Boldt, W. (1988): Relationship Marketing – Putting Relationships to Work, in Cornell Cooperative Extension Marketing Manual
Jackson, B. (1985): Build Customer Relationships That Last; Harvard Business Review, 120-28
Levitt, T. (1983): After the Sale, in The Marketing Imagination; Free Press

The Recent Retargeting Effort by Google Search companion marketing

Search retargeting, a part of the PPC that is pay per click campaign has now got an interesting twist to it which is being implemented by Google. The web marketing arena is having a buzz regarding all the changes that are going to take part due to it. The new search companion marketing is all about using the same old technology in a better way. The old ways of search retargeting still remain but now you can access the whole Display Network of Google by way of the search retargeting.

The basics of search retargeting: It is an incredible and brilliant tool that is capable of utilizing all the recent search queries that can trigger the targeted advertisements on the web sites that have been subsequently visited. For example if you search for -cheap health insurances- on Google, you will find a number of advertisements for health insurances on those sites that you visit frequently. This is what you call search retargeting.

You need a good search engine optimization New York company to handle all your marketing needs with the changing scenario to keep up with the competition. If you are an advertiser, search companion marketing will help to maximize the relevant traffic that comes from every search effort that is paid. This applies to all the present and past terms for search keywords. For a business this means you will be having a bigger audience, better leads, and better conversion rates that you could hardly get from search retargeting traditionally.

Apart from all these, the search companion allows display of ads on various sites like About.com, Gmail or even CNN. But, this is restricted to users who have in the past searched for at least one or otherwise more of the target keywords.

It can definitely be concluded that the time has finally arrived where there is a fresh way of developing and deploying search retargeting programs. Google is also making these programs cost effective so that more and more advertisers can take the benefit of it. The internet has now become a better field to compete with your competitors in business.

Marketing Agencies A Good Decision

Using a marketing agency can be one of the best decisions your company ever makes, thanks to their ability to meet your companys marketing needs and help you find a way to sell your products and services. Simplistically, a marketing agency is responsible for coming up with a marketing strategy or advertisements to sell your company and its products. Beyond that, you and the marketing agency must work closely together to define your relationship. Once you have, the marketing agency is responsible for helping your marketing strategy succeed.

The best thing about marketing agencies today is that they will do what you want them to. If you want to treat them as a contracted marketing departmentwith their employees coming up with the marketing and carrying it outyou can do so. If you want them to simply create one advertisement for one television spot, they will do that. Many companies rely on marketing agencies for their entire marketing department, but some prefer to work piecemeal with their marketing agencies, only using them when absolutely necessary. If you need long-term work, you will probably be assigned a particular person at the agency to work with who can follow through with you when needed. Long-term slogans are a great way to market a little-known product or build up a companys reputation. Marketing agencies have years of experience with this and the time and money to invest in long-term marketing schemes.

A marketing agency usually will help your company come up with a marketing strategy. They will have many conversations with you about your customer base, your target audience, and how you want your company to be portrayed. Then they will try to come up with marketing tactics that will connect with the customer base and audience you have defined, and portray you as specified.

Marketing agencies will take advantage of all the mediums available to push your company and its products into the consumer market. Using print media, television, radio and the Internet, a marketing agency will help you make your sales. Using a marketing agency is a good decision because they are well versed in the benefits of using each advertising medium and know how to best reach each market demographic.

A marketing agency may also have the time and talent that your company lacks for strategy and marketing ideas. It is a sad fact that most corporations and businesses simply dont have a truly creative mind, which is what is needed for marketing. A marketing agency is filled with these types of people, which ultimately benefits you.

One other important fact about a marketing agency is that they have a good source of intelligence about the consumer market. Instead of having to pay for polling or focus groups, you can get the data you need from a marketing agency. They have lots of intelligence on different demographics, areas, types of people, as well as on products that sell and where, and the products that dont. They can be a wealth of information if you are willing to go to them.

Email Marketing An Edge Over Direct Mailing

Email marketing has made the job of marketing relatively easier and more effective. With the growing need of the concept of marketing, business organizations have tended to realize the fact that traditional marketing techniques such as direct mailing or sending messages through postal system are not only time consuming but ineffective as well.

No business can run in isolation, it’s equally essential to communicate with the interested parties of the business. Communication, itself, is a broad term, and in the global scenario it has changed drastically. No business can have direct inter-personal contact with each and every person related with the business. There is no face to face contact, unlike traditional forms of businesses. Email marketing services provider aims at bridging the gap between the organizations and the potential as well as existing customers.

Most of the people have this general belief that whenever they receive promotional messages from the business organizations, they are ‘spam’, people don’t even bother to have a glance at the message once, and delete it instantly. To change the perspective and the way messages are delivered it is quintessential that businesses hire emailing services provider. It will not only flourish the business but will also result in protecting the brand image of the organization. As it is rightly said, “It takes years to build reputation and goodwill but only a fragile reason to destroy all.” So why take risk when the benefits of bulk email marketing can be reaped out so easily? Furthermore, all these services are handy as well as pocket friendly.

To further analyses the cost-benefit ratio of bulk email marketing, think this way: you have to give away a reasonable amount of money and you’re getting better communication services for all your business parties, better reputation, faster services, zero transmission errors, specialized work, no faulty translations, and above all, less burden. It is always advisable to concentrate on the areas which need more of your time and attention.

That’s just one side of the coin, the other one being quicker and bulk mailing, where bulk email services scores the most. Direct mailing has been replaced with bulk mailing for the simple reason of saving time, money and efforts. When the same message is needed to be sent to a number of people, bulk emailing, stands at the highest peak. Email marketing is useful for keeping a track on business communication activities as well. Several useful pictures of the product or services can also be attached to give the readers a realistic view and to make them read the entire message.

An email marketing services provider knows all the little intricacies that can make the message more interesting. He knows where to add, what, to make the person read all the relevant information. He helps to sort the data too, so that the messages are sent to the given list of recipients and not to every other person. All businesses run to sell products or services, at the end of the day, so, to invite, inform, create awareness, launch new products, all they need is to have the services of email marketing.

Ethics In Network Marketing – Why It Was Important To Write About It

After more than twenty years in the corporate world, ten of which included owning my own network marketing business, I felt it was necessary to really outline what ethics is, and what our role as network marketers needs to be. The following is the reason why I wrote a book about ethics in network marketing.

After leaving the corporate world and focusing on network marketing on a full time basis, one thing was crystal clear: people are people no matter what business they happen to choose to be in.

I personally have an extreme passion for the world of network marketing, and even though in some cases our industry has been given a black mark, as network marketers I feel we have not only a huge responsibility, but also a massive opportunity.

What is Our Responsibility?

Our responsibility as network marketers is to build leaders in the global communities using an ethical base that is consistent, and that treats others as we would like to be treated ourselves – and perhaps even better.

What is Our Opportunity?

Our opportunity is to build leaders using this ethical base, and have these leaders build millions of more leaders around the world, all using that same ethical base. Hopefully the end result will be not only a significant cleansing of the network marketing industry’s image, but will also leave the world a much better place.

“Let me give you the definition of ethics: it is good to maintain life and to further life. It is bad to damage and destroy life. And this ethics, profound and universal, has the significance of a religion. It is religion.” – Albert Schweitzer

During my time within the network marketing industry, I have been positively influenced by hundreds of professional network marketers. I also have met too many people within the industry who are the definition of why network marketing as an industry is shunned by the masses.

In life we get to choose who our mentors are, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several key people who I’ve been able to mentor with, a few of whom I would consider giants on this planet.

One of these giants is John Maxwell – an expert not only in leadership, but also in ethics.

“There is no such thing as business ethics – there is only ethics. People try to use one set of ethics for their professional life, another for their spiritual life, and still another at home with their family. That gets them into trouble. Ethics is ethics. If you desire to be ethical, you live by one standard across the board.” – John C. Maxwell

In society today, we have a moral and ethical challenge like no other time in history. All you have to do is open a newspaper or switch on CNN and the corruption and moral downfall of our business leaders is front page news each and every day.

This problem also exists in Network Marketing because the industry is full of people. This problem does have a solution, if one looks close enough. If you are going to be a network marketer, make sure you are one that acts responsible.

It is my hope that this work touches millions of network marketers around the world. However, I’ll consider it a personal and professional success if I can convert one “non-responsible” network marketer into a responsible network marketer.

See You on the Beaches of the World,

Kevin McNabb

“The Responsible Network Marketer”