- What does it mean that Marketing is a process of value exchange?

In my opinion the value exchange process in marketing is a useful tool for positioning product
and service offerings. In this process consumers use value to compare the attractiveness of the
offers in comparison to the offers made by competitors.
A value exchange could also be described as a transaction that may include, but is not
necessarily limited to, a financial arrangement.
An Example of a value exchange between a brand and a customer can be:

When the consumer sharing information in return for a reward, where we input data and get a
service in return (such as META, Instagram, etc).

- How do the concepts of Segmentation and Marketing Mix strategically and tactically
relate? How are they linked in Marketing practice? 

Market segmentation can be considered as the classification of a company's audience into

different categories. This classification becomes vitally important when it comes to developing
our marketing mix strategies. Market segmentation strategies consist of varying some element
of the company's business model for a particular segment or audience. In other words,
segmentation strategies allow you to define and understand your market more effectively.

The fundamental purpose of strategic marketing is to improve knowledge of the total market and
follow-up its evolution, with the aim of identifying consumer needs that could represent attractive
business opportunities for the company. Ultimately, it is about delimiting and defining the needs
and behaviours of potential customers and, based on this, evaluating, and selecting the market
segment that the company is going to target and in which it wishes to compete with a product
and a programme adapted to satisfy that target market.

On the other hand, operational marketing is oriented towards the design and implementation of
a specific action plan aimed, in its application, at the short and medium term for the acquisition
of existing markets, which is based on a series of tactical factors, more specifically, on product,
distribution, price and promotion policies. Operational marketing is therefore concerned with the
set of activities directly related to the management of the well-known commercial variables that
can be controlled by the company.

For this reason, I believe that the two dimensions, analysis, and action, represent the
fundamental difference between the sales and marketing approaches. The sales part
emphasises operational marketing, the search for and organisation of outputs for existing
products, which means that production is preceding marketing, and the product pre-exists the
potential consumer. In this way, marketing activities are focused on the limited
commercialisation of these products. It is therefore a matter of creating, conquering, and
preserving a market for the product.

- When designing a product or service from a Marketing perspective and using Kotler's
Product Circles model, what does it mean that differentiation and competitive advantage
resides in the dimensions of Total Product and Added Value, and not in the Basic
Product?

I think this means that these two elements, which are differentiation and competitive advantage,
will be reflected in what the company has developed through the analysis and/or studies carried
out before embarking on a project, which through analysis and use of all the data collected
should reflect in the final presentation of a new product or service those features that will allow it
to be differentiated from all other products or services in the same niche, either by improving
exponentially or by incorporating new and better features and / or benefits.

A product and/or service with a high level of quality and a remarkable added value provides
organisations with substantial benefits in terms of market share, productivity, costs, staff
motivation, differentiation from the competition, as well as loyalty and generation of new
customers, competitive advantage, positioning and brand/company value among other
advantages. As a result, quality management must become a priority strategy for every
company. The quality of the service and/or product will bring benefits to the business, which will
be taken as fundamental pillars of its commercial strategy.

- Why should price fixation come after segmentation and target definition?

Through everything I have learned in class and from my point of view I can say
that pricing is one of the most important considerations for any brand or
business. When you know your market and the different segments that belong
to it, you can adjust the offer based on many different strategies. It is a
fundamental key to know who you want to target and how you want to attract
them and, in that sense, to be able to adapt your offer accordingly.

- Think of a business situation in which you think direct distribution could

be a better alternative than indirect channels. What are the advantages of
direct distribution in that case?

Business situation:

A company dedicated to exclusive and personalised production of luxury

watches.

Advantages:
 A direct-to-consumer approach in which the manufacturer controls all the
distribution aspects.
 The company have more control over the whole process.
 Offering products without competition.
 Focus on quality
 Avoid sharing profits with a third-party distributor.
 Build relationships with customers.
 Collect valuable data on customer buying habits
- Imagine you are the Marketing Director of EOI. You are working on the
communication plan for the next edition of the MBA. What media would
you use to reach potential students in the Consideration/Interest phase of
the purchase decision process? Can you detail two specific actions and
touch points in any of those media? 

I would use the social network TikTok to promote EOI the next edition of the
MBA.
Any TikTok user can browse through the university's profile collection to find
information about what the university offers and even videos from students
about what it's like to study at EOI.

Actions:

Encourage the current MBA students to create social media content to show
what it is like to be a student at EOI. They can serve as your brand
ambassadors.

Make videos to showcase the activities offered by the university as well as

create content about the faculty and their expertise in order to attract more
students looking for an MBA with professors of high academic standards
through their background.

- What would you say are the key learnings of this subject for your
professional career in the short, medium and long term?

Developing critical thinking.

Offer creative solutions adapted to today's needs.

understand the complexities of the business.