1

INCORRECT
Supply chain efficiency, a strong brand name, and customer satisfaction are likely to be sources of a
A) strategic plan.
B) sustainable competitive advantage.
C) macro strategy.
D) marketing plan.
E) SWOT analysis.
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO1 What is Marketing Strategy?
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Understand
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: What is a Marketing Strategy?
A sustainable competitive advantage is something a firm can persistently do better than its
competitors. Supply chain efficiency, a strong brand name, customer satisfaction, and patented
technology are all potential sources of sustainable competitive advantages.
2
INCORRECT
Although competitors can copy or match the goods and services a firm offers, the firm can still develop a
sustainable competitive advantage through ______________ if its products have high perceived value
and effective branding or positioning.
A) competitive intelligence
B) promotion
C) strategic pricing
D) product excellence
E) operational excellence
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO1 What is Marketing Strategy?
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Understand
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Product Excellence
Product excellence is one of the overarching strategies, and a firm may use the product itself,
branding, and positioning to create an advantage difficult for a competitor to copy.
3
INCORRECT
A document that analyzes the current marketing situation, opportunities and threats for the firm,
marketing objectives in terms of the four Ps, action plans, and pro forma financial statements is known
as
A) a positioning statement.
B) a unique selling proposition.
C) a situational analysis.
D) an annual report.
E) a marketing plan.
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO2 Describe the elements of a marketing plan.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Blooms: Remember
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: The Marketing Plan
A strategic marketing plan usually begins with a situation audit. It also identifies strategic
opportunities and potential threats. It includes an evaluation of alternatives, a set of objectives,
action plans, and appropriate pro forma financial statements.
4
INCORRECT
Of the five steps to the strategic marketing planning process, which step usually comes first?
A) Evaluate performance
B) Define the business mission
C) Analyze the situation
D) Identify and evaluate opportunities
E) Implement the marketing mix
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO2 Describe the elements of a marketing plan
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Blooms: Remember
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: The Marketing Plan
The first step in the strategic marketing planning process is to identify the business a firm is in and
to identify what is needed to accomplish its goals and objectives. The business mission should
guide all areas of the firm in addition to the marketing area.
5
INCORRECT
A SWOT analysis is part of a firm's situation audit. SWOT is an acronym for
A) strategies, work, operations, and threats.
B) strengths, weaknesses, organization, and timeliness.
C) sustainable competitive advantage, worth, opportunities, and thoughts.
D) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
E) strategies, willingness, order, and timeliness.
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO3 Analyze a marketing situation using SWOT analysis.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Blooms: Remember
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: The Marketing Plan
In a situation analysis a firm will examine the positives and negatives in its internal operations
strengths and weaknesses. It will also examine the positives and negatives in the external
environmentopportunities and threats.
6 CORRECT
Steve has been working his way through the five steps in the development of a marketing plan. He has
examined the firm's business mission and objectives and developed a SWOT analysis in some detail.
Before he can implement the marketing mix, he must begin identifying market segments that his
company could pursue. In target marketing, Steve will:
A) evaluate each potential segment's attractiveness.
B) predict competitive reactions.
C) choose one of the four macro strategies.
D) incorporate results from test marketing.
E) determine the preferences of senior management.
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO4 Describe how a firm chooses which consumer group(s) to pursue with
its marketing efforts.
Level of Difficulty: Hard
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Step 3: Identifying and Evaluating Opportunities Using STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and
Positioning)
No firm has sufficient resources to create value for all consumers. Marketers engage in target
marketing to focus their firm's efforts for those segments of the marketplace that are most
attractive.
7
INCORRECT
When marketers execute pricing, promotion, place and product strategies, they are in the
___________________ phase of marketing planning.
A) planning
B) marketing mix
C) control
D) implementation
E) strategic
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO5 Outline the implementation of the marketing mix as a means to increase
customer value.
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Understand
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Step 4: Implement Marketing Mix and Allocate Resources
In the implementation phase of the strategic marketing planning process, marketers execute the
marketing mix including pricing, product, promotion, and place decisions.
8
INCORRECT
Kathy has been assigned the task of assembling information to monitor whether the plans that were
implemented are achieving what they are supposed to. She will look at both performance and financial
measures. She will use a series of _____________, which are measuring systems that quantify a trend,
dynamic, or characteristic.
A) economic indicators
B) metrics
C) quantification criteria
D) implementation yardsticks
E) feedback loops
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO5 Outline the implementation of the marketing mix as a means to increase
customer value
Level of Difficulty: Hard
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Step 5: Evaluate Performance Using Marketing Metrics
Metrics are used to explain why things happen and predict the future. They make it possible to
compare efforts across regions, product lines, time and more. Effective metrics should be
determined as part of the planning process, not an afterthought.
9
INCORRECT
Brian heard his unit described as a cash cow. At first, he wasn't sure he liked that, but felt better about it
when he learned it meant
A)
his unit was the business version of a sacred cow, and the rest of the firm has an obligation to
honor what he and his colleagues are doing.
B) his unit has excess resources that can be spun off to other business units that need it.
C) the products in his unit have low market share but are in high-growth markets.
D) the products in his unit are in a low-growth market, but have low market share to reduce risk.
E) the products in his unit are in both high-growth markets and have high market share.
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO6 Summarize portfolio analysis and its use to evaluate marketing
performance.
Level of Difficulty: Hard
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Portfolio Analysis
In the portfolio analysis developed by the Boston Consulting Group, cash cows are in low-growth
markets but are high market share products. They can use the excess resources to support other
products, having already received heavy investments to achieve the high market share.
10
INCORRECT
Which of the following is one of the four major growth strategies marketers typically pursue?
A) Dynamic market segmentation
B) Merger and acquisition
C) Customer evaluation and retention
D) Market development
E) Vertical integration
Feedback:
Learning Objective: LO7 -Describe how firms grow their business.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Blooms: Remember
AACSB: Analytic
Topic: Growth Strategies
The four major growth strategies available to marketers include market penetration, market
development, diversification, and product development.