discussion 1
As the course goes on, I would like you to develop a personalized understanding of what marketing excellence means to you!   You may go through many changes in life.   Yet, you will be your own “best friend” forever.  You will find that you need to make important marketing decisions, and often quickly.  It is nice to have a personalized understanding of what is “marketing excellence,” so you can apply these beliefs when you most need them!
Thus, first, please come up with an inspirational quote that will motivate you to be at your best, and explain why you selected it!  Third, please write a few sentences about what is marketing excellence, to you.   This course is early, and you might not have a good understanding of marketing.  You could read p. 5 of our textbook, or even spend a second looking online about what is marketing.  I do not care that you are necessarily polished: Today in August, what do you think is excellent marketing?
Furthermore, much of the course involves a team project.  You, as a team, will develop a marketing strategy for a brand or firm.  Pretend, for example, that you want to come up with a “pet-powered” coffee shop chain for Starbucks (one that allows customers to bring their pets).    Therefore, fourth, please come up with a firm, or specific brand within a firm, that you might examine….one that you want to improve, possibly for the eventual team marketing project?  Use the 5 Market Opportunity questions in p. 49 of the text to evaluate the opportunities that you have for the firm.  Finally, fifth, you will indeed have a team project.  What are some times in the week that are generally possible for group involvement with other students in the course?
What else?   Most importantly: you are a Chief Marketing Officer in this course, but the Chief Executive Officer of your life.  Believe in the power of your dreams!   You have dreams and you are in graduate school to make them happen.  You should feel proud of yourself and know that the Pandemic, and other experiences, can happen.  You, though, have vital dreams and they will bring life to this course and everything else.
discussion 2
I think that this case is interesting, and relevant, in its own right!  Here, I would like you to think more about coming up with marketing problems and solutions, for the broader case analysis of the course.  Therefore, only work on the three areas below for this particular discussion board.
1.  I generally stress using observation and secondary research to learn more about the firm, and competitors, when developing a case analysis.  What are two specific forms of inspection research that you might conduct if you were examining J. C. Penney for a major case analysis?    (Please realize that you will probably not be able to spend more than a few hours on this research and then give time to work on the case.  Therefore, do not suggest something that will be highly time consuming, such as developing surveys or a focus group interview.)
2. List and justify two marketing problems for this course.  (Think about my comments for the Starbucks case analysis, in slide 48.  Before you answer this, remember what I discussed about the two problems in this earlier paper, shown in the side.  Think about what was wrong with the two that I showed near the end of the class!   My primary concern here is that you understand how to develop marketing problems, given my comments in the class near the end of the first class.   I, merely, want this discussion board to highlight some areas that will give students a good basis for the first primary case that they develop.)
3.  Come up with two rather detailed, specific recommendations and explain why they help solve the marketing problems you proposed.  (In other words, explain each of the two recommendations in at least a couple of paragraphs, each, and be specific about the ideas you propose.  For example, if you suggest improved customer service, explain the specifics of customer service that you propose, and do not merely argue that improved customer service is needed.) 
example of discussion 2 that you can follow in doing discussion 2
1.  I generally stress using observation and secondary research to learn more about the firm, and competitors, when developing a case analysis.  What are two specific forms of inspection research that you might conduct if you were examining J. C. Penney for a major case analysis? 
I think one of the major things that I would put into consideration is to physically observe clients and ask shoppers what it is about JC Penney and other department stores that attract them. The case focused mostly on pricing and believed that low prices were the fundamental way of going about getting sales. Though pricing is important, we need to consider other features that customers may value, such as quality products and the shopping environment/experience. We could then analyze to see if JCPenney was living up to its customers’ expectations.
Another research I might do is to look at other competitors who have also tried to implement JC Penney’s strategies and find out whether they are beneficial or not. Retailers have tried many ways to market themselves. I would look at another company that has tried to implement similar strategies and see whether it worked out for them. If other companies have successfully applied these game plans, we would then identify problem areas for JC Penney and see what exactly would need to change.
2. List and justify two marketing problems for this course.  
One of the major marketing problems for this case is the company’s lack of understanding their customers’ values, thinking, and habits. In the article, it clearly mentions, “In 2011, they [JC Penney] spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions which generate 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue.” We can see benefits the investment in promotions as they received great feedback as huge returns. JC Penney had also built a customer base where people loved seeing “JCP Cash Coupons,” “RedZone Clearance Aisles,” and advertisements for “This week’s price specials.” The company were known for these frequent advertisements and coupons. When it is suddenly taken away from them, regardless of how low the regular prices are, the customers felt that JC Penney was no longer having sales and were not sure if it was worth it to even continue shopping there.
Another marketing problem that I see is the unwillingness of the company to branch out to create more accessibility. Ron Johnson was a huge believer of the brick-and-mortar stores. Even when JC Penney’s competitors, such as Macy’s and Kohl’s were dabbling in e-commerce so as to have their consumers access their products through the web, JC Penney lost about 3 years because of their unwillingness to stray away from brick-and-mortar shops, thus losing the potential to reach out to many customers.
3.  Come up with two rather detailed, specific recommendations and explain why they help solve the marketing problems you proposed. 
One recommendation I have is trying to understand one’s customers better. This could be by either looking at customer-habits based data, or even creating surveys to get feedback from clients on what they value the most. Even when looking at previous data, we could clearly see how beneficial sales and promotions were as stated earlier, “In 2011, they [JC Penney] spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions which generate 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue.” Looking at this, one must realize how important these promotions are to customers and to propose something so drastic as to get rid of all sales must make us realize that customers may not react well to this. I think it is very important to understand what really drives clients to a certain business and that JC Penney would have benefitted from looking into this a bit more.
Another recommendation I would give is to invest in e-commerce and social media presence. Many people value accessibility as well as convenience. With the rising of technology advancements, JC Penney should invest in making their website user-friendly, available in different devices, and better shipping and returns policies. Not only can they advertise broadly but they can also receive lots of feedback from customers when they have online presence as well. This would help the company assess on what they need to improve on going forward.
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