Recent orders

MARKETING ASSIGNMENT – CUTCO ARTICLE

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME ONES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN POSTED OR USED! I NEED ORIGINAL WORK. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Read the following case study and then answer the question which follows: CUTCO Corporation, the largest manufacturer and marketer of high-quality kitchen cutlery and accessories in the United States and Canada, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2009. Over 100 kitchen cutlery products are sold under the CUTCO name as well as a variety of kitchen gadgets, utensils, and flatware. The company also carries a line of cookware, sporting/pocket knives, and garden tools. Boasting over 15 million satisfied customers and annual sales of over $200 million, CUTCO’s commitment to quality and innovation is evident throughout the manufacture and marketing of company products. CUTCO stands behind each and every product with a FOREVER satisfaction guarantee. The guarantee has four components:

  1. FOREVER Performance Guarantee
  2. FOREVER Sharpness Guarantee
  3. FOREVER Replace Service Agreement for Misuse or Abuse
  4. 15-Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee

The company’s FOREVER guarantee ensures that CUTCO cutlery stays in the family for generations to come. Given this backdrop of the company’s high-quality product offering in difficult economic times, the company initiated a “going green” effort in 2008. Everyone, from individual consumers to corporate decision makers, is talking about sustainability, going green, and reducing the carbon footprint. However, some companies’ efforts are more “greenwashing” than truly intended for the well-being of the environment. Greenwashing is what companies do (e.g., promotional efforts) to make themselves look more environmentally friendly than they really are. For the CUTCO Corporation, however, the plan is not for a “go-green project” or to engage in “greenwashing.” Rather, the company is instilling “going green” initiatives that, like the product’s FOREVER guarantee, stay with the company forever. In 2008, CUTCO Corporation’s marketing coordinator, Pam Bailey, was given the opportunity to create and coordinate a companywide “Going Green” effort. The focus initially was the “low hanging fruit” (things that were easy to do). One year later, Bailey, the Green Team, and CUTCO Corporation had accomplished the following:

  1. Implemented computer power management–estimated savings of $41,000 annually.
  2. Turned off center row lighting on one floor of administration building–estimated savings of $7,500 annually.
  3. Created a recycling program to collect plastic, glass, aluminum, and tin cans as well as reuse or recycling of Cutco product components–all resulting in a 26 percent decrease in trash from all CUTCO facilities.
  4. Set company printers to automatically duplex; departments switched to two-sided reports–paper use decreased by 27 percent.
  5. Printed company newsletter on 50-percent recycled paper
  6. Encouraged its 75 employees to bring their own reusable plates, cups, and utensils to the Christmas lunch–resulting in only two bags of garbage from the party.

CUTCO Corporation’s “Going Green. Going Forward” effort is part and parcel of the company’s internal processes, and the company plans to continually work toward going green. It is not holding itself up as a company that has “gone green,” nor is it touting its initiatives externally. Rather, like the CUTCO product, the results will speak for themselves. QUESTION The Cutco case deals with the marketing environment surrounding green initiatives and the skills marketers need in today’s changing workplace. You will assume the role of a new marketing manager at a local light bulb manufacturing company. Your boss has read a story about the green initiatives at Cutco and wants you to prepare an executive memo on some initiatives that could be considered for your company.

Your memo should address the following questions:

  1. What are true green initiatives versus “greenwashing” ideas?
  2. What are the ethical and societal issues involved in green initiatives?
  3. How have other organizations approached the issue of green initiatives?

Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.

Paper for Marketing 310

Week 2 Writing Assignment

Part 1 – What is Strategic Marketing?

Learning Outcomes

  1. Creating Value for Customers:  Student can demonstrate an understanding of the concept of value creation. 
  2. The Role of the Customer in the Company’s Strategic Planning.  Student can assess the company’s commit to serving customer needs as evidenced in a company’s mission statement.  
  3. SWOT analysis:  Student can conduct a simple SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of a product or service offering and draw inferences from an analysis of the results. 
  4. Competitive Analysis:  Student can conduct a simple competitive analysis based on criteria important to the customers of the product or service.

Directions

  • Select your product or service offering from the list in the Writing Assignment Discussion Forum. This list is also in the Syllabus. The same product/service will be used in all of the writing assignments.
  • Research your product or service offering through the Internet and UMUC’s virtual library (your references will need to be mostly academic sources. See library services if you do not know what an academic source means).  Do not limit yourself to searching solely on the product or service name.  Look up the industry it is in (Hoovers.com is a good source for this via the UMUC library) and search on that industry as well.  Look up the direct competitors.  Check industry journals and the trade press. Ask your family, friends, coworkers and others what they think about the product and each of the competitors.  You may want to visit a retailer to compare the products on the shelves or visit all of the websites.  Keep all your research as you will need it for future writing assignments.
  • Prepare your assignment beginning with a title page with your name and and the name of your product or service.  Then answer each of the following four questions in order and number the beginning of your response to each question.  You do not need to repeat the question.  
  1. Creating Value for Customers. Consider the customers you believe currently use your product or service and the definition of marketing offered in the course content.  As we begin our study of marketing, what are your preliminary thoughts as to how you think the company creates value for its customers based on the concepts in this week’s readings. 
  2. Role of the Customer in the Company’s Strategic Plan.  The readings indicate that the best marketing begins with the customer and that commitment to the customer begins with including the customer in the company’s mission statement.  Find your company’s mission statement.  Repeat it (or attach as an exhibit if it is too long) and comment on its effectiveness in demonstrating the company’s commitment to having a customer focus.  Could the mission statement have more focus on the customer?  How would you recommend it be modified?  Is it supported with value statements or other evidence of a customer focus?  
  3. SWOT analysis.  Identify at least one element of each of the SWOT categories (a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, and a threat).  Explain your choice using a citation if needed.  Then identify possible implications for each of the four elements.  For example, if a strength is a a strong national brand name, the implication is that the company may be able to launch other related products under the positive umbrella of the same brand name.  Conversely, if a major weakness is the company is carrying a lot of debt, the implication is that the company not not be able to achieve significant growth, but may have to consider retrenchment strategies.  
  4. Competitive Analysis. Identify at least two major competitors or those two products that are trying to sell essentially identical products to the same type of consumer.  Then, identify at least three criteria that are important to those consumers when they are making their decision as to which of the three competing offers to buy (e.g. price, specific benefit, service, warranty, convenience, specific feature, etc.).  Make a little chart with the three criteria along the left-hand side and the competitor products (including your own product) across the top.  Rank each of the products on a scale from 1= low to 5= high on each performs on each of the three criteria.  Add down each column.   Which product ranked highest overall based on the sum of the columns.   Then, look at the highest score in each of the criteria boxes.  Which products ranked the highest on each of the three criteria? Was it the same product, was it three different products?  What do these results tell you about the competitive environment of your product category.  Which product is the leader?  Which product is the follower, challenger and nicher if those categories apply?  Attach your chart as an exhibit.

                      Part 2 – Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty,  Management and Empowerment

Learning Outcomes

  1. Customer empowerment.  Student can identify how their chosen product or service offering uses social networks to communicate and empower customers to be part of the marketing process.
  2. Customer satisfaction.  Student can identify how customers communicate their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the chosen product or service offering.  
  3. Customer Relationship Management.  Student can explain customer lifetime value and how a customer relationship management program can have a role in attracting and retaining most valuable customers.
  4. Customer privacy.  Student can identify the product or service offerings privacy policy and analyze its effectiveness in protecting their customer’s information.

Need part of paper completed. Only bold underlined part below. MUST be completed and ready for purchase by due time!

Select a new product or service that will be launched by either an existing organization or one you will create. Obtain your instructor’s approval of your product or service before beginning this project.

Product:

The product we are covering is Lego Boost.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2017/january/lego-boost

Complete the following assignment using the “Strategy and Positioning Analysis” template.

Develop a 2,100-word analysis explaining the following headings:

  • Describe the organization’s background, industry, and product or service.
  • Describe, in detail, the product or service.
  • Prepare the SWOT analysis of the organization and offering.
  • Explain a competitive analysis of the organization and offering.
  • Describe your target market in detail, including information on the geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral factors used to choose your market segment.
  • Identify the needs that cause your target market to buy.
  • Create a written positioning statement that identifies:
    • Your organization’s product/service
    • Your target market
    • How your product solves the target market’s needs
    • What makes your organization different from its competition

Include at least four sources of research that support your analysis; at least one must be the textbook, one from the University of Phoenix library, and one piece of secondary research.  

Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.