297) A marketing strategy typically addresses both the ________ and the ________.
A) product groupings; target markets
B) target market; marketing program
C) subjective; objective plans
D) revenues generated; market share achieved
E) feasibility; time required to implement
298) A marketing strategy is the means by which a marketing goal is to be achieved. The two
parts that usually characterize a marketing strategy are
A) specific organizational goals and objectives.
B) a detailed marketing plan and a marketing budget.
C) marketing strategies and marketing tactics.
D) a specified target market and a marketing program to reach it.
E) marketing metrics and marketing dashboards to track effectiveness.
299) Which of the following statements reflects the key elements in developing a marketing
strategy for L. M. Schofield, Inc., a company that produces specialized concrete surfaces for
heavily trafficked areas such as retail outlets and amusement parks?
A) Subscribe to all the major trade journals to determine the offerings of competitors.
B) Communicate with contractors using direct mail about the various walking surfaces Schofield
can create for riding and walking paths.
C) Design a sample ad and test it using visitors at a trade show.
D) Hire six new sales representatives for the Midwest regional office and train them on all
aspects of concrete surfaces.
E) Conduct a focus group to decide on which surface to use for a theme park in Brazil.
300) Marketing tactics refer to the
A) long-term decisions made to implement the marketing program and the monitoring of those
decisions.
B) detailed day-to-day operational decisions essential to the overall success of marketing
strategies.
C) steps taken to develop an effective marketing plan.
D) development of marketing strategies to achieve the organization’s marketing objectives.
E) refinement of the organization’s mission based on the results obtained from a marketing audit.
301) The detailed day-to-day operational decisions essential to the overall success of marketing
strategies are referred to as
A) marketing plans.
B) marketing programs.
C) marketing tactics.
D) marketing strategies.
E) marketing procedures.
302) Compared to marketing strategies, marketing tactics generally involve actions that
A) are detailed day-to-day operational decisions.
B) are long-term rather than short-term.
C) involve upper levels of management rather than front-line managers.
D) are general rather than specific in nature.
E) have been successfully implemented in the past.
303) Marketers at Volkswagen in Istanbul created a digital flip film out of some 200 photos to
tout the prowess of their new truck, the Amarok, hoping it would be a clever way to get people to
engage. This action is an example of Volkswagen’s marketing
A) tactics.
B) missions.
C) visions.
D) strategies.
E) customer values.
304) Eileen Fisher is a leader in sustainable fashion. For two weekends in the summer of 2016,
shoppers could visit a pop-up shop in Brooklyn, NY, to purchase upcycled fashion pieces created
from damaged items donated to the company’s Green Initiative. Use of a pop-up shop to sell
these items is one of Eileen Fisher’s marketing
A) missions.
B) visions.
C) strategies.
D) tactics.
E) customer values.
305) The strategic marketing process involves three phases: planning, implementation, and
A) review.
B) execution.
C) evaluation.
D) goal revision.
E) correction.
306) The third and final phase of the strategic marketing process is the
A) tactics phase.
B) strategic phase.
C) planning phase.
D) implementation phase.
E) evaluation phase.
307) The two major aspects of the evaluation phase of the strategic marketing process are
A) segmenting the market and selecting target markets.
B) establishing a business mission and designing measurable goals and objectives.
C) designing the marketing mix and setting the budget.
D) comparing the results of the marketing program with the goals to identify deviations and
acting on them.
E) executing the marketing plan and designing the marketing organization.
308) The actions taken during the evaluation phase of the strategic marketing process include
comparing results with plans to identify deviations and
A) starting the planning process anew.
B) executing the marketing program.
C) tracking unit sales and revenues and comparing with competitors.
D) developing the budget by estimating revenues, expenses, and profits.
E) exploiting positive deviations and correcting negative ones.
309) The difference between the projection of the path to reach a new goal and the projection of
the path of the results of a plan already in place is referred to as the
A) planning gap.
B) contribution margin.
C) point of difference.
D) break-even point.
E) sales response function.
310) The planning gap refers to
A) the difference between projected total costs and realized total revenues.
B) the difference between projected total costs and net profits.
C) the difference between marginal revenue and marginal cost.
D) the percentage point difference between a firm and its next largest competitor in terms of
market share.
E) the difference between the projection of the path to reach a new goal and the projection of the
path of the results of a plan already in place.
Figure 2-11
311) The question mark (?) represented by the wedge DBC in Figure 2-11 is the
A) contribution margin.
B) marginal trend.
C) breakeven point.
D) planning gap.
E) sales differential.
312) Based on the information in Figure 2-11, the planning gap between 2005 and 2013, as
represented by the wedge DBC,
A) is widening.
B) is narrowing.
C) is staying the same.
D) cannot be quantified.
E) began to open in 1998.
313) Based on the sales revenue data shown in Figure 2-11, as a marketing manager for Apple,
you would most likely conclude that
A) the planning gap is narrowing.
B) the actual sales results (line BE) are on track with the new plan (line BD).
C) the actual sales results (lines AB and BE) are on track with the 2005 plan (line BC).
D) sales are increasing significantly since 2005 (line BD).
E) another new plan has been needed since 2005, since the planning gap (wedge DBC) is
widening each year thereafter.
314) When evaluations show that actual performance differs from expectations, firms typically
attempt to
A) decide if the time horizon should be increased or decreased.
B) perform a SWOT analysis with their major competitor as the principal focus.
C) use statistical linear trend analysis to interpret the results.
D) exploit a positive deviation or correct a negative deviation.
E) adopt a market-product grid to analyze the sales results.
315) A planning gap is the difference between the projection of the path to reach a new sales
revenue goal and the projection of the path of a plan already in place. The ultimate purpose of
the firm’s marketing program is to ________ this planning gap.
A) calculate the contribution margin of
B) calculate the marginal trend of
C) create the break-even point for
D) fill in
E) determine the sales differential of
316) Evergreen Air Center is the world’s largest parking lot for unwanted commercial aircraft.
Airlines pay from $750 to $5,000 monthly for the storage services provided by Evergreen. Prior
to September 2001, the company had 140 discarded airplanes at its Arizona facilities and was
growing at a rate of about six planes monthly with about two per month sold for parts or scrap
metal. After calamity struck the airline industry in September 2001, airlines retired over 1,000
planes, and the actual number of planes stored at Evergreen differed significantly from its earlier
prediction. Evergreen needed a new marketing plan; without one, the company would see a
widening of the
A) contribution margin.
B) planning gap.
C) marginal trend.
D) break-even point.
E) sales differential.
317) The marketing manager looks for two kinds of deviations during the evaluation phase, each
triggering a different kind of action: (1) actual results fall short of goals and (2)
A) deviations that result from major shifts in customer needs.
B) actual results exceed goals.
C) lack of deviations when there should be.
D) deviations that result from executive mandates.
E) deviations that are blamed on insufficient marketing support (personnel or funding).
318) Alex has just completed measuring the results of her firm’s product performance. Her next
step will be to
A) do a profitability analysis.
B) take necessary corrective actions.
C) bring these to the marketing auditor.
D) proceed regardless of deviations from original plans.
E) compare the results against the goals specified in the marketing plan.
319) IBM’s business strategy to help its clients prepare for a world that is infused with digital
intelligence and a world where humans and machines work side-by-side to do thing that humans
simply cannot do alone is known as
A) “The IBM Way.”
B) “Let’s Put Smart to Work.”
C) “Reinvent Business.”
D) “The 2020 Road Map.”
E) “Big Blue.”
320) Which of the following is a core value underlying business practices at IBM?
A) fast failure in research and development
B) honoring the contributions of important leaders
C) rapid but sustainable growth
D) influencing of popular culture
E) innovation that matters for the company and for the world
321) All of the following are important branded offerings that will meet IBM’s customer needs
into the future except which?
A) artificial intelligence capable of analyzing company and consumer data
B) industry-specific consulting services
C) entertainment-focused PCs and hard disk drives
D) enterprise-strength cloud capabilities
E) advanced cyber security
322) Marketing professionals at IBM use which word to describe their marketing practices and
methodologies?
A) honest
B) innovative
C) customized
D) relevant
E) agile
323) The marketing plan for IBM’s “Let’s Put Smart to Work ” strategy includes which of the
following marketing tactics?
A) handing out “Let’s Put Smart to Work” T-shirts on select college campuses throughout the
world
B) providing samples of new hard drives to Fortune 500 businesses
C) advertising in Outdoor magazine
D) including a strong message in an annual report from IBM’s chairman of the board and CEO
E) garnering a celebrity endorsement from Trevor Noah, the host of “The Daily Show”