Enhancing Competitiveness through Strategic Marketing Term Paper

Enhancing Competitiveness through Strategic Marketing - Term Paper Example In the same vein, the organization will accomplish nothing if it spends less on the marketing of a product that requires more. The specific considerations include the newness or uniqueness of the product. If the product represents a market innovation or it is different from other products available in the target market, such a product has a built-in advantage, according to the so-called Porter generic strategy as posited by market analyst Michael Porter. Central to strategic marketing is the research data on how customers buy, what they buy, where they buy, how they buy. This elaborates the principle of the 4 Ps in marketing which are a product, price, place, and promotion. In the target market, the organization decides if it wants to be the industry leader, follower, challenger or niche-maker. Does it want to dominate this market or simply snag a share in it The scope and coverage of the market strategy depend on these choices based on conditions reflected in the market research? The company also determines if it wants to fast-track its sales effort by using aggressive methods or warfare-based tactics, which refer to defensive or offensive, flanking or guerrilla maneuvers.Before the actual market launch, a company prepares for the big event with its mind already made up on the mix of methods it will use. The marketing, promotion and advertising methods are already specified, along with the product packaging and physical distribution. Cost projections for sales and related activities are in place, while prices have been determined based on the end user's perspective. Also, the company must have determined the appropriate pricing and credit schemes as t o where introductory discounts would be offered. Equally important is the availability of plans to deal with competitors and some fallback measures in case the sales target is not reached.  Ã‚   Cost projections should be developed on the short-term, medium-term and long-term basis and drawn at least one year ahead of the product launch for good measure. This should be updated monthly at first and then quarterly or annually afterward.  

The Women, Infant's and Children programs Research Paper

The Women, Infant's and Children programs - Research Paper Example The researcher states that WIC was founded in 1973. But its history stretches back to the 1960s. Studies and national television programs were discovering that starvation, malnutrition and other forms of caloric deficiency were preventing many Americans from having enough to eat. The Poor People's March on Washington and major documentaries focused the issue and brought it to the attention of policymakers. A 1969 Conference was convened, which included in its report a recommendation to focus specifically on the needs of low-income women, pregnant women, children and infants, whose gaps between nutritional needs and opportunities were often most dire. A Commodity Supplemental Food Program was created that targeted women and children under 6, but studies found that it and the Food Stamp Program were not dealing with the special needs of the groups in question. An amendment of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 finally created the WIC department as a two-year pilot. The department was desi gned to work with the USDA, who would provide the food support and commodities. The WIC program differed itself from the CSFP by coordinating food relief with health care and other aid programs. USDA resistance to coordination required a federal court order to force them to comply. The WIC proved successful enough to be established permanently on October 7, 1975, by PL 94-105. Eligibility was expanded to nonbreastfeeding women, and while inadequate income was an eligibility requirement, it was not specifically defined, giving the program flexibility. In 1999, the USDA implemented standard measures of food security and, after two years, published a report that indicated what food scholars had been saying for years: Malnutrition and caloric deficiency were reaching epidemic levels. The standardization of food insufficiency metrics has transformed the debate around food provision entirely and galvanized public interest and support. Mission Statement The WIC's mission is as follows: â⠂¬ ¢ Protect women, children and infants †¢ Improve nutrition and health of poor and disadvantaged women †¢ Provide education, support and information †¢ Support women with post-partum depression The WIC themselves define their goal as, â€Å"To safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care†. They define their mission completion mechanisms as, â€Å"Food, nutrition counseling, and access to health services are provided to low-income women, infants, and children under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, popularly known as WIC. WIC provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children who are found to be at nutritional risk...Most State WIC programs provide vouchers that participants use at authorized food stores.