Alternative Courses of Action

ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

**The first three alternatives are to be done without conducting marketing analysis beforehand

(1) To launch Dunhill cigarettes with low cost packaging

Packaging is one of the factors that affect the consumers' behavior towards buying a certain product but it must be taken into consideration that as long as the product itself has high quality, the packaging needs not to be so expensive to attract customers.

(2) To launch Dunhill cigarettes only in hotels and restaurants or other selected areas

Specifying target market is also a factor that can be considered in launching expensive products because not all class of people can buy them. Luxurious products are only bought by those rich and sometimes middleclass people and they are mostly the ones who can afford to stay in hotels or go to restaurants. Cities with promising economic growth can also be considered as selected areas because many individuals in them have the capability to buy expensive products.

(3) To launch the Dunhill cigarettes at low price but same quality

International products are often expensive because of its quality, thus in order to sell these products in our country we should consider a lesser price without degrading the quality. However, this might cause the company to incur huge amount of losses.

(4) To conduct a market analysis

Management often finds it necessary to invest in research to collect the data required to perform accurate marketing analysis. As such, they often conduct marketing research to obtain this information. Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording and analysis of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services. Without marketing research, it is quite difficult to start a business. Traditionally, marketing analysis was structured into three areas: consumer analysis, company analysis and competitor analysis.

* Consumer analysis allows you to identify your prospect and segment market which has the objective to give you the fundamental concepts about customer benefit, customer profile and market customer.

* In company analysis, marketers focus on understanding the company's cost structure and cost position relative to competitors, as well as working to identify a firm's core competencies and other competitively distinct company resources.