MKTG3023 Minor Assignment

Due Date 23:55 Sunday, March 23

Please choose one topic only from the list below
Word limit is 1500 words

Topic 1

The biggest change in marketing today, ushered in by the digital revolution, is the shift from
fixed to fluid. Consumers no longer move along a fixed, linear path to purchase. Every
element of how people decide now is completely fluid J. Walker Smith
Source:
http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/MarketingNews/Pages/2013/1213/dynamic-pricing-purchase-funnel-fixed-prices.aspx, viewed February, 23, 2014.
Questions:
1. Do you agree with the above statement? Please use at least 3 Australian examples to
support your answer.
Topic 2
Please watch the following vids and then answer the questions that follow:
1. Michael Porter (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYF2_FBCvXw (5 forces
rehash)
2. Michael Porter (2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKMEpD94mwk (5 forces and
the net and social media)
3. Seth Godin (3) How to Get Your Ideas to Spread
http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html
4. Malcolm Gladwell, Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce,
http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Total viewing time of all vids: 51 mins est.
5. Peter Day, BBC World of Business In Business: The Music Industry 2-1-14
Found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/worldbiz
Total listening time of the podcast: 28 mins
Defining and predicting success in strategy seems to be contextual. Michael Porters
definition of strategy is based on forces, Seth Godins ideas, but yet both seem to be
founded in the context of the speaker.

Which do you think is more important in order to be successful with a strategy: to

understand the forces affecting the business or to have a great idea that works and that can
be adopted quickly into the current market conditions and by the current customers?
Topic 3
Predicting the future success of brands is difficult. Looking at the examples of successful
brands, failed brands and brands that are still around despite changing environmental forces
and conditions, do you think that models can predict the future success of brands or are
they more appropriate as an academic tool of analysis?
Looking at the examples you have used, was any one specific model able to effectively
predict the outcome for those brands or did you have to use more than one model to do so?
Finally, do you think that models have a future in understanding marketing strategy from a
practical perspective or will they be consigned to academic journals only?