DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Replies: • You must respond to at least 2 of

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Replies:
• You must respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ original posts with a reply of at least 250 words. Your replies must do the following:
a. Answer the question posed by the classmate.
b. Respond to the practical example in the classmate’s post with a practical example that differs from the one in the classmate’s post.
c. Reference at least 1 scholarly source in addition to the course textbook.
Note about Responses: Seek to understand your classmates’ posts (including the marketing management theory, the facts presented in their posts, their points of view, and their real-world examples). Aim to communicate your own understanding of relevant facts, your values, and your perspective of the topic. All work will be checked through Turnitin for plagiarism.
REPLY TO POST #1 FROM LAUREN:
Concept
Customer Loyalty is the relationship that a consumer has with a brand. Consumers must see value in the product or service being provided and understand how a problem they are facing will be solved. Value and exchange are the key aspects of the consumer/firm relationship, each one holds something that the other wants. Customer relationship management encompasses a few different drivers for increasing the overall profits and reputation of a company (Sa’adah et al., 2023). Brands must target the right customer with advertisements and product solutions for continued growth. Retaining consumers is a difficult task for businesses as every aspect of the market is often affected by outside forces such as economic conditions and supply chains. Increasing customer margins adds more value to an individual customer than the collective and allows a company to offer a quality product at the right time (Marshall & Johnston, 2023).
Many companies do not appreciate the value and growth that customer loyalty brings to a firm or how they can accurately convey it to investors. Information regarding customer loyalty is not a metric that is shared in most earnings or investor reports because it is overlooked as a significant source of data to guide a brand in their marketing efforts (Markey, 2022). Successful marketing planning requires a firm to understand who the target market is along with why they would want to interact with the brand. This metric can be measured through data warehouses and assessing customer touchpoints with the brand such as social media interactions, surveys, and purchases (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). Return on customer investment is important for companies to gather data on so they can best serve the customer while maintaining profit margins for investors.
Application/Example
A brand that has significant customer loyalty is the Toyota vehicle manufacturer. Over the years Toyota has had several problems with components that resulted in a significant number of recalls (Muller & Fahey, 2006). However, this has not deterred consumers from seeking the brand out for their vehicle needs and a lot of this is due to how the brand handles conflict when it arises. Instead of waiting until customers begin needing major repairs and are angry with the company, Toyota is getting ahead of the problem by investing in quality control systems that will detect a malfunction with vehicle parts before they become an issue. J.D. Power released a study (2022) that evaluated vehicle brand customer loyalty and showed that Toyota was the highest ranked among car and SUV brands. The willingness of a brand to incur the cost of fixing a mistake instead of putting it on the customer provides more value to the consumer which creates more loyalty.
Undervaluing a customer can be the end of the relationship and cause irreparable damage to the brand’s reputation. A mistake can lead to a catastrophic deterioration of the CRM and decrease the company’s market value. Instead of only calculating what will make investors happy and gain a short-term profit, firms must assess how they can boost customer value through means that shareholders will understand (Markey, 2022). The cost of acquiring new customers, cost of servicing, and revenue per customer are valuable tools that can be tracked and provided to investors to prove how CRM is one of the most important aspects of marketing. Earning a level of trust with consumers through the collection of data is important to consider as many legal and ethical issues are raised around this subject (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). It is important to make users aware of personal information that may be gathered and how it will be used so consumers are not negatively impacted.
Question for Classmates
What matters more to you regarding a physical product, cost or quality?
REPLY TO POST #2 FROM BENJAMIN:
Loyalty is Number One!
Customer loyalty is one of the most important goals for any marketing manager. It “results in better, longer-lasting relationships, stronger bonds, and ultimately repeat business.” (Nasdaq.com) That is what every business wants from every customer. This is more than customer retention. It is the value the customer sees in the brand. It is more than a begrudged purchase, like the electric bill or car insurance. Customer Loyalty is oneness with the product. It is a connection between the product and the customer’s soul. The loyal buyer is eager for the purchase. They look forward to buying and are excited by the possibilities of connecting with “their brand” again. It becomes theirs. They have ownership of it. It completes them.
There are certain characteristics that truly loyal customers exhibit. Loyal customers become advocates for the brand. They tell their friends how they feel and convince others to join them on their journey. They follow the brand and post about it on social media. There is pride in ownership. Once they reach the tipping point of “loyal” they are easier to market to, since they actively look for the brand’s advertisements. They are cheaper to market to, because they need fewer interactions to result in a purchase. They purchase more because they have a longing for intimacy with the brand that can only be filled with another purchase. “Data gathered by InvespLinks to an external site. confirms that loyal, returning customers spend 67 percent more than new ones.” (business.com) Loyal customers’ purchases are more profitable. Harvard Business School and Bain & Company teamed up to report that “increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.” (forbes.com) Enhancing customer loyalty is an investment worth every penny.

Apple is Number One at the Number One Thing.
One of the brands that has consistently excelled at customer loyalty is Apple. Apple people are Apple-only customers. They identify with the brand. They live the culture and innovation. They identify with cutting-edge sleekness and powerful simplicity. There is zero chance they would go to a competitor. It’s unthinkable! A 2020 survey found that “Apple ranks highest in customer satisfaction, at 82 out of 100, according to data compiled by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.” (Nasdaq.com) Apple’s customers are so emotionally connected to the products that Apple could develop a product that has nothing to do with their core competency, and the Apple disciples would scoop it up without question and pay whatever was asked. Apple has accomplished, with customer loyalty, what few companies could even dream of.
How did they do it? Apple has created a culture of innovation. They have kept things simple, but powerful. They have the highest standards of quality. Everything Apple is smooth and easy. The entire company is focused on the customer and their experience with the products. Everything they do stays on brand and that Apple experience. Every product relays that innovative message. When someone wears an Apple watch, carries an iPhone, or uses the iPad they tell others they are innovators, just like Apple. It tells the world that they think outside of the box. It says they are ahead of the curve. It says this to the world even if it is not exactly true all the time. Apple products are arguably a generation behind competitors in some areas. According to androidauthority.com, Samsung’s (Apple’s main competitor) phones have “better cameras, battery life, and display technology, for the price, but iPhones have better software support, security, and a proven ecosystem.” Innovation has grown stale with the latest iPhone 15. There is little difference between it and the generation before (iPhone 14). According to Digitaltrends.com, Google Pixel, another iPhone competitor, has better battery life and charging, display refresh rates, camera, and price. Sometimes perception is not reality. Apple has done an amazing job framing customers’ reality better than any company in the market. They are reaping the rewards for that masterful marketing effort. No one does it better than Apple.
TEXTBOOK CITATION:
Marshall, G. W., & Johnston, M. W. (2023). Marketing management. McGraw-Hill Education.