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Digital Revolution in Marketing
Article is devoted to a research of the digital revolution progressing in marketing nowdays. Increase in relevance of digital marketing usage is proved in modern conditions of business. When using digital marketing it is necessary to consider, both internal tasks of firm, and external factors of the surrounding firm macroenvironment. Practical benefits of application of digital marketing must be in increasing of profits and sales volume and also strengthening of confidential communications with clients.
Within consideration of current trends of development of digital marketing the most relevant directions of implementation of marketing activity on the Internet are revealed: search engine optimization, social media marketing, search engine marketing, email-marketing and different types of advertising display. Development of internet marketing is closely connected with spreading of the Internet and growth of its popularity with people. The special attention is focused on how development of the Internet changes some patterns of consumer behavior. In view of the fact that the level of penetration of the Internet in certain regions of the world is still quite low and steady increase of time spent by people on the Internet the conclusion is drawn that in the future it is necessary to expect further increase in the importance of internet marketing.
Keywords: digital marketing; internet marketing; advertising; shift of a marketing paradigm; evolutionary development; post-industrial society; digital revolution; cyberconsumers; information and communication technologies; globalization.
Services Provided by Scientific Organizations as a Special Kind Market Services
The article is devoted to the essence of the services provided by scientific organizations as a special type of market services. The authors examined the conditions for the implementation of scientific activities in the form of market services. According to the author’s definition, a service in the field of science is such a service, which is carried out by scientific organizations possessing the necessary resources on the basis of contractual relations with the state and / or business entities to achieve the strategic and tactical goals of economic development. The article discusses the specifics of the functioning of Russian scientific organizations in modern conditions, and also describes possible ways for them to carry out scientific activities. It is revealed that the service component of the activities of scientific organizations is most clearly manifested when performing research and development by request. On the basis of classical marketing representations, the article describes the general properties of services in the scientific field, identifies and analyzes their specific properties, such as uniqueness, creativity, high risk, etc. The place of scientific services in various service classifications has been determined. The factors contributing to the growth of the quantity and quality of services in the field of science are revealed.
Keywords: science services; high technology services; academic sector of science; science reform; research and development; new knowledge; scientific and technical progress; market of scientific services; results of intellectual activity.
Research of Consumer Preferences in the Context of Search for Tools to Improve the Competitiveness of Goods (On the Example of Children’s Toothpastes Market)
In conditions of strong competition and rapidly changing external factors (economic crisis, political situation, demographic “hole”, decline in consumer ability, etc.), one of the key tasks of manufacturing enterprises is to maintain the competitiveness of goods at a high enough level. The solution to this problem is provided by the availability of information on how the product being manufactured meets the preferences and expectations of customers. Children’s toothpaste is a product to which buyers make rather high demands, as well as to children’s products in general, therefore, domestic producers need clear knowledge of these requirements and how well they are implemented in the goods they produce.
The article presents the results of a marketing study conducted in two stages (content analysis and home-test). The study showed that even the most well-known manufacturers make mistakes in the design of goods (use of frightening «poisonous» colors, incorrect translation, misprints and language violations, etc.), in providing information on the packaging (for example, There is no age distinction, which turned out to be important for customers, in the characteristics of the product itself and its packaging (the consistency of toothpaste, its smell, the design of the lid, etc.). The information received gave an idea of the product’s properties set, which makes it really high-quality in the eyes of customers: gel consistency of the paste; color of the product and packaging (in particular, excluding too bright, «unnatural» shades); the smell of paste (for example, too «chemical» smell repels potential buyers); volume of the tube; inscriptions on which the manufacturer should focus. Features of the design are considered on the example of the “My Sunshine” children’s toothpaste The choice of optimal design by manufacturers will contribute to gaining a greater market share, creating a positive image of manufacturers and their brands and, ultimately, increasing their level of competitiveness in the market.
Keywords: marketing research, children’s toothpaste market, consumer preferences, content analysis, home-test, tools for optimal product design, product competitiveness.
Effective Communication and Customer Focus in the Retail Banking Business
Analysis of scientific ideas and practices of leading Russian banks in the field of customer-oriented banking products showed that today there is no method to objectively assess its level. In practice, the Bank applies its own criteria developed by banking organizations, the main of which (and maybe the only one) is the degree of customer satisfaction with the service at a particular time of his treatment. The development of a perfect methodology for assessing customer focus is impossible without establishing a connection with such key concepts in marketing as service, information, communication and marketing management. In particular, from the standpoint of a systematic approach in marketing, service should be considered as a process of service implementation, including: the creation of services as a market product; bringing information about the service to the client in a convenient way; provision (sale) of services; after-sales interaction. The service itself is a complete market product, which is transformed into a goods through the developed marketing mix at the subsequent stages of service. Thus, the service as a product should be integrated into a multi-component process of its promotion to the consumer, characterized by permanent interaction with him. The creation of a Banking Business Model and Integrated Banking Marketing Model based on the synthesis of the above processes, allows to take as the key criteria for assessing the customer focus of the Bank the effectiveness (sustainability and long-term) of communication, the degree of adaptability and permeability of the Bank to technical and technological innovations.
Keywords: banks; banking products; services; customer focus of the Bank; communication; model of customer-oriented banking business process of providing services; model of integrated banking marketing; communication efficiency criteria; the criteria of customer focus.