UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW FINAL EXAM

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING Semester 2 (2020-2021)

MODULE: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Duration: 75 minutes

PART A: MULTIPLE CHOICES WITH EXPLANATION (30%)

For each question, please provide the correct answer and explain why did you choose the
correct one and eliminate the others (each correct question equals to 0.5 point).

Question 1: Choose the wrong statement.

A) High involvement products manufactured by the same company must have different brand
names.
B) There are few to no competitors in the introduction stage of a product.
C) Demography is the most popular segmentation base for marketers to use in segmenting
customer groups.
D) A business's customers are the most important actors in the company's micro-environment.
Question 2: What sets the floor for product prices?
A) market competition C) competitors' strategies
B) consumer perceptions of the product's value D) product costs
Question 3: It would not pay for an automobile manufacturer to develop cars especially for
people whose height is greater than 2 meters because this segment isn’t ________.
A) measurable B) accessible C) substantial D) All are correct.
Question 4: Which of the following is the value proposition of VietJet Air?
A) less for much less C) the same for less
B) more for more D) more for the same
Question 5: Samsung Mobile plans to launch a new phone with a unit cost of $270 and wants to
earn a 10 percent markup on its sales. Samsung's markup price is ________.
A) $275 B) $280 C) $297 D) $300
Question 6: Which of the following products should NOT use a market-skimming pricing
strategy?
A) smartphones B) specialty drugs C) juice bottles D) diamond rings

1
PART B: ESSAY (30%)
This section will include 1 essay question (it is worth 3 points)
Question: The “form versus function” debate applies to many arenas, including marketing.
Some marketers believe that product performance is the be all and end all. Other marketers
maintain that the looks, feel and other design elements of products are what really make the
difference. Take a position: Product functionality is the key to brand success versus Product
design is the key to brand success & please provide your explanation to clarify your answers.

PART C: CASE STUDY WRITTEN QUESTIONS (40%)

This section will include 2 written questions from the Southwest Airlines case study (each
question is worth 2 points).
Southwest Airlines case study
Southwest Airlines is a unique and powerful brand in the airline industry. The company
has its own distinctive way of marketing and delivering air travel to customers ⎯ a way that
other companies in the airline industry, as well as outside of it, might find instructive.
“Southwest Airlines was incorporated in Texas and commenced Customer Service on
June 18, 1971, with three Boeing 737 aircraft serving three Texas cities ⎯ Houston, Dallas, and
San Antonio. Today [that is, mid-2011], Southwest operates 548 Boeing 737 aircraft among 72
cities.  Year end results for 2010 marked Southwest’s 38th consecutive year of profitability.
 Southwest is the United States’ most successful low fare, high frequency, point-to-point
carrier. Southwest operates more than 3,400 flights a day coast-to-coast, making it the largest
U.S. carrier based on domestic passengers carried as of September 30, 2010.
“The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer
Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.”
This mission gives shape and form and direction to the Southwest Airlines’ brand and its
marketing strategies and activities.
Al St. Germain, who is global director of the airline practice at Landor Associates, a
brand consulting company, asserts that “[a]n airline brand is essentially the sum of the
experiences that passengers have when they fly with that carrier.” St. Germain also points that
many airlines have been inconsistent in the experiences they have provided customers over time
but that “Southwest hasn’t failed customer expectations because it’s always been a no-frills
airline.” From a brand standpoint, St. Germain considers Southwest airlines to be “a testament to
consistency.”

2
 One powerful example of this testament to brand consistency is Southwest’s approach to
advertising. According to Herb Kelleher, a Southwest Airlines co-founder and until recently its
long-time CEO, good advertising contains three essential elements: (1) advertising must be true;
(2) advertising should fairly reflect the company’s attitude; and (3) advertising should be
consistent over time. Generating good advertising and achieving brand consistency at Southwest
Airlines is, in part, attributable to top executive participation in monthly advertising meetings.
Kelleher says that such involvement is helpful with respect to communicating the congruency of
the company’s message to the outside world as well as in communicating to Southwest’s
employees that the advertising messages are consistent with the treatment they receive.
Another powerful example of the testament to consistency is found in Southwest’s tag
line Freedom to Fly. Employees think of their jobs in terms of “giving people the freedom to
fly” ⎯ a perspective that permeates not just employees’ thinking but all of Southwest’s
operations. With regard to employees’ beliefs, for instance, “on the busiest holidays of the year,
 [Southwest’s employees] don’t think their objective is to load bags or to serve in-flight
beverages; they know they provide a service which gives people the ability and freedom to
spend holidays with their loved ones.” With respect t to the broader corporate perspective, Gary
Kelly, Southwest’s current Chairman, President, and CEO, in commenting on the recent
acquisition of AirTran, says: “Once integration is complete in a couple of years, we will have
one Brand, one Customer Experience, one livery, one operation under a Single Operating
Certificate, and one mission—to give the world the Freedom to Fly while spreading low fares
farther.”
The Freedom to Fly perspective also contributes to creating memorable customer
experiences. “Building a memorable customer experience involves strategy, discipline,
technology, relationship management, branding, leadership and commitment ⎯ all wrapped in a
process to engage, surprise and delight. You can be sure that  Southwest Airlines  spends
countless hours on how best to deliver a unique customer experience.” Sandra Howard, director
of advertising at Southwest Airlines, indicates the company has been re-embracing its brand,
emphasizing the emotional touch points about customer service, Southwest’s employees, and the
experience provided by the brand.
So, what are some of the important components of Southwest’s memorable customer
experiences? “Southwest’s main advantage is that its rivals often treat passengers like cargo. Not
only do  [Southwest’s competitors] squeeze them into seats that make dentists’ chairs seem
comfortable, but they do so with an air of ill-concealed resentment.” In contrast, Southwest
treats passengers as people rather than cargo. “Southwest doesn’t have premium-class cabins.
But the airline in late 2007 began offering 15 more-expensive Business Select tickets on each of
3
its flights, in return for preferential boarding and a free alcoholic beverage. It also began
assigning other passengers boarding numbers to ease jockeying in lines.” More recently,
passengers who are willing to pay “a $10 fee get boarding priority ⎯ after Business Select
holders or mileage-award recipients.” And even small things contribute to Southwest’s
memorable customer experiences. “Southwest still gives out free peanuts, an oddly emotive
subject among travelers. It lets passengers switch their flights often, for no extra charge.”
In contrast to many of its competitors, Southwest Airlines does not charge for checked-in
luggage ⎯ the “Bags Fly Free” campaign. “Executives crow that this has allowed Southwest
to poach customers from rivals, which has made up for the forgone fees. Meanwhile, Southwest
has no qualms about charging for extras that irk passengers less, such as those early check-ins,
and this generates a happy whack of cash.” Observes Kevin Krone, Southwest’s Vice President
of Marketing, “[w]hat other folks are doing is charging money for what they used to do for free.
What we’re doing is offering new things that we hadn’t done before.”
Considering all the components of Southwest Airlines’ marketing efforts as an integrated
package, it is clear that Southwest is a brand that is driven by a purpose ⎯ the Freedom to Fly.
“Brands that are not driven by purpose will have a tougher time  and purpose isn’t just good
for the soul; it’s good for the bottom line. Studies over the years have shown that organizations
driven by purpose and values outperform the general market 15-to-1 and outperform comparison
companies 6-to-1.”

Question 1: How does Southwest Airlines’ approach to providing a total product experience
capture the marketing framework elements of STP (i.e., segmentation, targeting, and
positioning) and the 4Ps (i.e., product, price, place, and promotion)?
Question 2: Describe the marketing exchange relationship that exists between Southwest
Airlines and its customers.
END

TRƯỞNG BỘ MÔN DUYỆT GIẢNG VIÊN RA ĐỀ

(ký tên, ghi rõ họ tên) (ký tên, ghi rõ họ tên)

TS. PHÙNG THANH BÌNH TS. NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN TRANG