Assignment 1
Subject: Business Management Unit Name: Marketing
Topic: 4.1 The role of marketing
Date: Student Name: Class: IBDP
Answer all questions:
Case study 1: Sony
Sony Corporation, formerly the market leader in consumer electronics, had built up a reputation of
innovation since its beginnings in 1946. However, its complacency during the late 1990s meant that the
Japanese company had to play catch up. In 2003, Sony launched its luxury line of gadgets under the Qualia
brand name. This included a ¥380 000 ($25 700) digital camera and a ¥1.5 m ($101 500) audio system.
The big problem, however, was that Sony seemed to be more obsessed about the pricey technology than
what their customers wanted. The Qualia line of products was not well received by customers, especially
with the growing competition from the likes of Samsung and Apple. For example, in 2006, Apple's iPod was
outselling Sony's digital music players by a ratio of 5 to 1. Critics argued that Sony was losing touch with its
consumers.
(a) Outline why Sony might be described as a 'product-orientated' business. [3]
Ans: Sony is product orientated business because:
1) It is selling products that it can make instead of selling products that the customers want.
2) Sony was more obsessed with their pricey technology than what their customers wanted. They
produced luxury products (e.g. $25 700 digital camera) with the mindset that people are willing to
pay for luxury products.
3) There must not have been any market research done by Sony, and so they went with the hit or
miss approach.
(b) Explain two disadvantages of product-orientated marketing to businesses such as Sony. [4]
Ans:
1) This approach is very risky and has a very high rate of failure because the needs and wants of
consumers are ignored. This same approach was taken by Sony and it failed miserably because its
competitor, Apple, was outselling Sony by a ratio of 5 to 1.
2) It might result in a negative corporate image and loss of customer base. As the needs and wants of
customers are not considered, the firm might start losing touch with its consumers because they will start
looking for better products from its competitors. Sony was also losing touch with its consumers.
Case study 2: Singapore's littering policy
Singapore is considered to be one of the cleanest countries in the world. However, clean cities do not
simply come about by chance. Singapore imposes strict laws against littering of any kind. First-time
offenders are fined up to S$1000 ($650). Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$5000 ($3265) and face
imprisonment. They may be placed under the Corrective Work Order (CWO), which requires litterbugs to
spend up to 12 hours of community service cleaning a public place, wearing bright coloured jackets to
draw public attention. The government also 'names and shames' offenders by inviting the media to cover
the spectacle. Litter laws are taught in schools and promoted by the government to ingrain Singapore's
culture of cleanliness.
(a) Define the meaning of social marketing. [2]
Ans: Social marketing is the planning and implementation of programs designed to bring about social
change using concepts from commercial marketing. For e.g. Singaporean government is also trying to
influence the behaviour of their citizens by this cleanliness campaign.
(b) Examine the role of social marketing for the success of the Singaporean government in dealing with
litter problems. [6]
Ans:
The government has used social marketing but also other techniques such as educating people about litter
laws which is more cost effective. The main role of social marketing is to influence or persuade a person to
influence a change in his/her behaviour. Singaporean government charged very heavy fines which makes
the general public more likely to stop littering. Also, the general public will refrain from littering because
the cost of littering outweighs any benefit. Education, not social marketing itself, has been used to ingrain
a culture of cleanliness. Success does not rely on social marketing itself, legislation (such as littering fines
and the Corrective Work Order) is also used to achieve the government’s objectives. In conclusion, both
social marketing and government control have worked together to maintain the cleanliness of the country.
