Abstract

The following marketing survey brief will list a set of quantitative objects which should be recorded and monitored via the “W” Company 1-800 phone bank. The criteria used to determine the questions being asked is based upon current trends in the snack food industry. This brief will explain and utilize both discrete and continuous variables in order to offer a broad swathe of information to the “W” Company marketing department.

Applied Managerial Decision-Making

In an effort to increase profitability and revenue generation, the management of the “W” Company has determined that by using the 1-800 phone banks to retrieve statistical information while offering our continued unsurpassed customer service. The information generated needs to reflect our customer’s preferences, habits, thoughts, concerns, and general vital facts. The information gathered will be used by our marketing department to develop new products, services, advertising and awareness for each of the “W” Company’s brands. The following list is a starting point from which to begin the daily analytical retrieval:

1) Vital Statistics – Age, Housing status, Average Income, Number in Household, Number of Children under the age of 18, ethnicity (if they wish to give the information), email address.
2) Purchasing Statistics – Favorite “W” food, weekly/monthly expenditure on snack foods, how often does the caller eat snack foods, how often do they change snacks for variety.
3) Consumer trends and thoughts – can include wanting more “low-salt” items, “no-sugar” items, healthier snacks, any changes to a snack item, price points.

Each section contains both discrete (scalable answers) and continuous (infinite answers) variables. This will help maintain the “purity” of the survey results plus give our marketing department a broader scope or cross-section to review, analyze and expound upon.

The purpose of the “Vital Statistics” list of questions is to generate an idea of who is the typical “W” Company snack foods customer, in order for our sales and marketing to gain a better clarity and perspective for advertising. Every question, with the exception of the email address, is a discrete quantitative variable. The purpose of the “Purchasing Statistics” list of questions is to generate an idea of what the typical “W” Company customer buys and consumes. This section contains a 50/50 mix of both discrete and continuous quantitative variables depending upon the question asked. The purpose of the final section, “Consumer trends and thoughts”, will generate a wide variety of answers depending upon the needs and desires of the interviewer. This section also features both discrete and continuous variables.

The proposed way to approach the caller is when the call is first answered, the call center representative will ask the caller if they would like to participate in a brief survey designed to enhance their purchasing experience with the “W” Company. If they choose to be interviewed, the computer system will generate a free food coupon to the email address given by the caller. If not, the call center representative will automatically go into the reason for the consumer’s call.

The data gathered will be collated at the end of each business week and submitted to the Head of Marketing every Monday morning. On the following Friday morning, the marketing department will distribute a memo highlighting the weekly data analysis. Once a month, marketing will give a presentation to the Board of Directors, sales, and product development departments on the “W” Company consumer trends and thoughts for the previous month. The end of the presentation will be followed by a strategy session of the three department heads and the Board of Directors on how to best enhance or implement the findings. In this way, the “W” Company can best utilize the valuable information garnered by the 1-800 phone banks and set the course for the future of our company.

Management Products on our marketplace

Robert Smith has spent more than 20 years working as a professor at the University of California. Now he spends most of his time with his family and shares his Univesity experience with the customers of Custom Essay Writing Service. He is a right person to contact on technical issues where to order essay.