Table of Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................................... 2
Micro and Macro environmental factors........................................................................2
Micro environmental factors...................................................................................... 2
Macro Environmental factors.....................................................................................5
Development the new programme...................................................................................7
Various pricing methods used by organizations...........................................................8
1. Cost-plus pricing....................................................................................................8
2. Competitive pricing................................................................................................9
Integrated marketing communication’............................................................................10
Advertising.................................................................................................................. 11
Sales promotion..........................................................................................................11
Personal selling.......................................................................................................... 11
Publicity...................................................................................................................... 12
Public relations........................................................................................................... 12
References.....................................................................................................................14

1
Introduction

There are basically two environmental factors that would influence the marketing
decision of an institute like University of Lusaka (UNILUS). These environmental factors
are micro and macro environmental factors. The former relates to the environment
which is in direct contact with company and affects the routine activities of business
straight away. It is a collection of forces or factors that are close to the organization and
can influence the performance as well as the day to day activities of the institution. Six
components of micro environment are: Company, Suppliers, Marketing
Intermediaries, Competitors, General Public and the Customers. The latter refers to the
major external and uncontrollable factors that influence the decision making of an
organization. A company does not operate alone in its business environment, but
operates in a larger context. It comprises of forces that provide opportunities, but at the
same time also pose threats to company. Six components of macro environment
are Demographic, Economic, Natural, Technological, Political and Cultural
environments.

Micro and Macro environmental factors

Micro environmental factors

As already alluded to above, the micro environmental factors are:

The Company (University of Lusaka)

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has taken a marketing strategy where all the different
groups within the institution take an active role in the marketing of the institution.

Various groups in the institution such as, the top management, finance, operations,
human resourcing, research and development (R&D), accounting and academic staffs
all are taken into consideration by the marketing management for designing the
marketing plans. The team in marketing department works closely with them so that
they play a significant role when it comes to make decisions with broader strategies and

2
plans. With marketing team taking the lead, other departments like academic, finance,
legal and human resources teams takes the responsibility for understanding the
customer needs as well as creating customer value.

Suppliers

The suppliers are an important part of the university’s overall customer value delivery
network. They are the ones who provide inputs to business like raw materials, white
boards, white board markers, projectors, stationary, textbooks, laptops, desk top
computer, printers and desks etc. The quality and reliability of vendors are very
essential for smooth functioning of business of any organization. Marketing managers
must have a control on the supplier’s availability and costs. The marketing managers
and their team ensure that all the items supplied to the institution are of superior quality.
This in turn has enhanced the image of the university and has led to the increase in the
number of new enrollment every semester. However, If the quality of the items supplied
to the university becomes compromised, it will lead to customer dissatisfaction in the
long run. This would ultimately result in the reduction in the enrollment of new students.

Competitors

Competitors are rivals who compete with the organization in market and resources as
well. According to the marketing concept, a company needs to provide greater customer
value and satisfaction that its competitors, in order to be successful. The marketers
must not only try to simply adapt to the needs and demands of target customers, but
also try to attain strategic advantage against the competitors by positioning their
products strongly in the market.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has taken the issue of its competitors very seriously.
The university has adopted a policy of ensuring that it provides superior quality of
service which meets the needs of the students at the present moment. University of
Lusaka (UNILUS) ensures that the students receive the best in terms of lessons
presented by the lecturers by hiring suitably and well qualified and experienced
lecturers.

3
General Public

The public refers to the group of people who have an actual or potential interest in
University of Lusaka (UNILUS)’s services or who can have an impact on the institution’s
ability to achieve its objective. There are seven types of publics identified in a
company’s marketing environment which includes financial publics, media publics,
government publics, citizen-action publics, internal publics, local publics and general
public. Each of these groups must be taken into consideration when the marketing team
is planning on any marketing strategy. These groupings can either haveca positive or
negative influence on the well being of the university.

Customers (Students)

The most important actors in the University of Lusaka (UNILUS)’s microenvironment

are its customers (students). The whole of value delivery network aims to engage the
target customers (students) and create strong relationships with them. There are five
types of customer markets that companies might try to target. These include consumer
markets, business markets, government markets, reseller markets, and the international
markets. University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has made significant achievements in most of
these areas more especially the international market. It is highly likely that among all the
universities in Zambia, University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has the highest number of
foreign students. Also the university has a significant number of students working in
various government departments.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has managed to attract many students due to its robust
marketing strategy. The institution has made it a policy that it endeavors to meet the
needs of the students. This policy has attracted many students to enroll with University
of Lusaka (UNILUS).

4
Macro Environmental factors

Macro environment refers to the major external and uncontrollable factors that influence
the decision making of the university. An institution like University of Lusaka (UNILUS)
does not operate alone in its business environment, but operates in a larger context. It
comprises of forces that provide opportunities, but at the same time also pose threats to
company. Six components of macro environment are Demographic, Economic, Natural,
Technological, Political and Cultural environments.

Demographic environment

Demography can be defined as the study of human population in context of size,

density, age, location, gender, race, occupation and other statistics. The marketers
have special interest in the demographic environment because it consists of people and
people are the driving force for development of markets. The large and diverse
demographics offer both opportunities as well as challenges for businesses.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) has taken advantage of the demography of the

population of Lusaka which is comprised of more than sixty percent of the youth. The
university has used this by intensify its marketing mainly in Lusaka and managed to
penetrate the market and enroll quite a substantial number of students.

Economic environment

The economic environment consists of factors that can affect consumer purchasing
power as well as the spending patterns. As an example, it is not advisable for a
company to start exporting its goods to a country before having examined the citizens
spending patterns. Important economic criteria includes GDP, GNI, Import duty rate,
unemployment, inflation, spending patterns as well as the disposable personal income.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) studied the economic environment of Zambia before

establishing the university. Management of University of Lusaka (UNILUS) discovered

5
that there was great potential for establishing a university. The economic environment in
the country as a whole was favorable.

Natural environment

It refers to the natural resources or physical environment that are required as inputs by
marketers or which is affected by the marketing activities. The ecological conditions
have become a crucial factor to consider as the environmental concerns have grown
strongly in the recent years. Example, air and water pollution, floods, droughts, etc.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) management noticed that there was abundant land
where they could construct new university. Lusaka had varsity land which the university
acquired and built its university. Presently, the university has acquired more land and it
is in the process of construction another campus.

The campus the university has built uses borehole water as result of abundant water
from the underground sources.

Technological environment

Technology has a crucial influence in the macro environment. An organization needs to

perform a thorough research on the spread and use of technology, before investing in
any of marketing activities. The company needs to have an understanding of the
technology penetration as well as user interface technology in the region and make
plans accordingly for their communication and campaigns.

Political environment

The developments in the political environment strongly affect the marketing decisions.
This involves laws, government agencies, as well as the pressure groups that can
influence or give constrains to various individuals or organizations in a given society.

Zambia as a developing country has created an enabling environment for upcoming

institution to find a favorable environment by allowing many mobile phone providers.
This has facilitated the introduction of fast internet in the county. University of Lusaka

6
(UNILUS) has used this technology to provide online to students on distance learning.
Lessons are provided to these students on a weekly basis. This has made University of
Lusaka (UNILUS) to be the preferred university in Zambia. students on distance
learning receive online just on a weekly basis just like their counterparts on are on full
time. This has contributed significantly to growth of the university.

Cultural environment

The cultural environment links to factors which affects the basic values, preference,
perceptions and behavior of the society. Organizations needs to understand the cultural
beliefs and practices prevalent in society for marketing decision making. Failure of
companies in understanding foreign cultures can lead to many cultural blunders. For
example, a symbol having a positive meaning in one culture can have a negative
meaning in some other culture.

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) took time to understand cultural environment before

embarking on opening the university. Zambia as a country does not have a complicated
cultural environment. It was relatively easier for the management of University of
Lusaka (UNILUS) incorporate students from different cultural background.

Development the new programme

Launching a new program into the market can be an exciting but stressful time for an
entrepreneur. New program launches had been part of promotional strategies in the
university’s overall marketing plan. The goal of promotional strategies is to create value
in the minds of consumers. The main objective of the university when it introduces a
new program is to increase its market share through an increase in the number of
students it enrolls.

The following are the strategies University of Lusaka (UNILUS) used when it introduced
the new program

7
Stayed focused

University of Lusaka (UNILUS) kept focused on the main goal of introducing a program
to move program from university to potential students. University of Lusaka (UNILUS)
therefore created excitement and generate on-going demand by utilizing some of the
promotional options listed below. University of Lusaka (UNILUS) made an extensive
tour of the whole country and conducted personal selling to the citizens.

Various pricing methods used by organizations

Pricing is one of the most important and visible aspects of a market strategy, which also
includes promotion, placement (or distribution) and people (the classic four “Ps”). The
price an organization offers, according to Dolansky, must be consistent with “how the
firm would like to be seen among its competitors, and consistent with its promotional
messages, its packaging and types of stores that its product is in.” All pricing strategies
are double-edged swords. What attracts some customers will turn off others. Pricing
strategy cannot be all things to all people. The most important issue to note is that a firm
would like its customer to buy your product, which is why it must use a strategy that’s
appropriate to it target market.
The following are five most common pricing strategies an organization can use:
Cost-plus pricing. Calculate your costs and add a mark-up.
Competitive pricing. Set a price based on what the competition charges.
Price skimming. Set a high price and lower it as the market evolves.
Penetration pricing. Set a low price to enter a competitive market and raise it later.
Value-based pricing. Base your product or service’s price on what the customer
believes it’s worth.

1. Cost-plus pricing
Many businesspeople and consumers think that cost-plus pricing, or mark-up pricing, is
the only way to price. This strategy brings together all the contributing costs for the unit
to be sold, with a fixed percentage added onto the subtotal.
Dolansky points to the simplicity of cost-plus pricing: “You make one decision: How big
do I want this margin to be?”

8
The advantages and disadvantages of cost-plus pricing
Retailers, manufacturers, restaurants, distributors and other intermediaries often find.
The major drawback of cost-plus pricing is that the customer is not taken into
consideration. For example, if a firm is selling insect-repellent products, one bug-
filled summer can trigger huge demands and retail stock outs. As a producer of such
products, a firm can stick to its usual cost-plus pricing and lose out on potential profits or
it can price its goods based on how customers value the product.

2. Competitive pricing

This is a marketing strategy whereby businesses set prices based on their competitors’
prices. Also known as competitor-based pricing, this strategy can be used in online and
offline markets and is often used to attract more customers and increase market share.
However, for competitive pricing to be effective, businesses need to understand their
competitors’ pricing strategies and how consumers perceive value.

Co-operative pricing

Cooperative pricing also referred to as price fixing is a type of market activity in which
competitors in the same market collude, either explicitly or implicitly, to coordinate on
price. The goal of cooperators is to form an agreement among sellers to maintain prices
at a higher level than competitive prices.

The weakness with this approach, according to Dolansky, “is that it leaves the firm
vulnerable to not making optimal decisions for itself because it will focus on what others
are doing.”

Aggressive pricing

This pricing strategy occurs when a firm sets its product price too low to gain the hold of
the market. This strategy is also known as predatory pricing.

9
Dismissive pricing

If a firm is a lead in the market and is selling a premium product or service, a dismissive
pricing approach may be an option.

In such an approach, an organization will price as it wish and do not react to what its
competitors are doing. In fact, ignoring them can increase the size of the protective
moat around your market leadership.

As University of Lusaka (UNILUS) is introducing a program, it will be better to use the

market penetration pricing strategy. This will enable the students enroll for this program
at lower prices than the other courses currently offered. The lower prices will attract
more students would also act as a means of advertising the new program to the other
potential students.

Integrated marketing communication’

An integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a research – based, audience –

focused, result – driven, communication, planning process that aims to execute a brand
communication program over time so that there is clarity and consistency in the
positioning of the brand. In other words integrated marketing communication (IMC) is
the process of unifying a brand’s messaging to make it consistent across all media that
the brand uses to reach its target audience. It is a strategic approach that guides
communication and tactics used across all marketing channels.

An integrated marketing communication strategy (as part of integrated marketing) would

thus involve choosing marketing communication options that reinforce and complement
one another (Kotler & Keller, 2006:19).

Elements of the promotional mix including the extended marketing mix

A promotional mix is an allocation of resources among five primary elements namely:

Advertising

10
Public relations and publicity

Sales and promotion

Direct marketing

Personal selling

Advertising
Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods, and services by an identified sponsor. It is a way of mass communication.
It is the most popular and widely practiced tool of market promotion. Major part of
promotional budget is consumed for advertising alone. Various advertising media –
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and outdoor means are used for advertising
the products/services.

Sales promotion
Sales promotion covers those activities other than advertising, publicity, and personal
selling that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion
mainly involves short-term and non routine incentives, offered to dealers as well as
consumers. The popular methods used for sales promotion are demonstration, trade
show, exhibition, exchange offer, seasonal discount, free services, gifts, contest and
many others.

The primary purpose of sales promotion is to induce customers for immediate buying or
dealer effectiveness or both.

Personal selling
Personal selling includes face to face personal communication and presentation with
prospects (potential and actual customers) for the purpose of selling the products. It
involves personal conversation and presentation of products with customers. It is
considered as a highly effective and costly tool of market promotion. Personal selling

Is an oral, face to face, and Personal presentation with consumers. It involves two way
communications. Immediate feedback can be measured.

11
Publicity
Publicity is also a form of mass communication. It is not a type of paid mass
communication that involves getting favorable response of buyer by placing
commercially significant news in mass media. William J. Stanton defines:” Publicity is
any promotional communication regarding an organization and/or its products/services
where the message is not paid for by the organization benefiting from it.” It is the
traditional form of public relations.

Public relations
The public relations is comprehensive term that includes maintaining constructive
relations not only with customers, suppliers, and middlemen, but also with a large set of
interested publics. Note that public relations include publicity, publicity is the part of
public relations.

William J. Stanton defines it as follows: “Public relations activities typically are designed
to build or maintain a favorable image relationship with the organization’s various
publics. These publics may be customers, stockholders, employees, union,
environmentalists, the government, and people in local community, or some other
groups in society.” Thus, public relations include organization’s broad and overall
communication efforts intended to influence various groups’ attitudes toward the
organization. Some experts have stated that the public relations are an extension of
publicity.

As University of Lusaka (UNILUS) is introducing a program, I am of the view that the

relevant promotional mix that it can use for its new program personal selling. As the new
program is not known to the majority of the people, it will be useful to the institution if it
engages people to travel around the country to talk to people on a one on one basis to
explain the new program. Using other methods of advertising, might not achieve the
intended purpose of making the general public become aware of the new program.

12
References
Davenport, T., & Prusak, L. (2005). Working knowledge: How organizations do what
they know? Repeated work by permission. London: Harvard Business School Press.

Onyango, R.A. (2018). Effects of knowledge management practices in financial

institutions: A study of lion asset management limited in Nairobi. Kenya: University
Press

13
Philip K.., Gary A., John S., Veronica . Principles of Marketing 8th edition. published by
Prentice Hall Inc

Self Growth, 2017. Integrated Marketing Communications – 5 Primary Communication

Tools. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 September 2023].

UK Essays, 2015. Use of Integrated Marketing Communications Marketing Essay.

[online] Available at: [Accessed 6 September 2023].

14