Strategic Marketing: Review Questions

Part 1: Review Questions

1. Is it better for a firm to bear the high costs and risks of being the pioneer in hopes of maintaining a profitable position as the market grows, or to be a follower that watches for possible design or marketing mistakes by the pioneer before joining the fray with its own entry? Take a position and defend your answer.
2. What is a frontal attack strategy? Choose an airline that has utilized this type of strategy. Explain your choice in detail and provide evidence, if possible.
3. For firms with multiple businesses or product lines, different administrative relationships between the business unit and corporate headquarters are appropriate for different competitive strategies. Explain why this statement is true.
4. The success of a marketing plan depends on effective communication with other parts of the organization and a variety of marketing units. Using the airlines industry as your frame of reference, discuss what marketing units are involved in this process.

Part 2: Start-up Business Plan for a New Airline

Staring a new airline requires a lot of planning. Preparation of a written plan is a key step in ensuring the effective execution of a strategic marketing program because it spells out what actions are to be taken, when, and by whom. Marketing plans can vary a good deal in content and organization, but they generally follow a format similar to the one outlined in Chapter 17, Exhibit 17.8. For this assignment, we will follow the Boeing business plan template linked below.

• Major Components of a Typical Startup-Airline Business Plan (PDF)  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.(Boeing, 2006)

Using the components of this plan and the descriptions given, create your own unique new start-up fictitious airline and sketch out a business plan rough draft. Charts and graphs are optional. The goal is to demonstrate your understanding and application of the concepts. Four to five pages in total length is expected for this portion of the assignment.