1. Bill Stevens runs a retail clothing store, “Fashion Extraordinaire” in the local mall. Bill seeking a marketing intermediary that will handle the logistical functions in his marketing channel. What are these functions, and provide an example of each and discuss.

2. Bill Stevens runs a retail clothing store, “Fashion Extraordinaire” in the local mall. Bill seeking a marketing intermediary that will handle the transactional functions in his marketing channel. What are these functions, and provide an example of each and discuss.

3. Bill Stevens runs a retail clothing store, “Fashion Extraordinaire” in the local mall. Bill seeking a marketing intermediary that will handle the facilitating functions in his marketing channel. What are these functions, and provide an example of each and discuss.

4. You have taken over the operation of Sorghum Products, a producer of bulk molasses. Business has been slow (pardon the pun), so you are examining a complete reconfiguration of the distribution system to see if you can reduce your costs. You’re a small producer in the industry, and most of your customers are significantly larger than you. Looking at the four types of distribution systems discussed in class, which one would make the most sense for Sorghum Products, and why?

5. “MegaCar” is a new competitor in the auto parts business. Under one roof, MegaCar offers only car parts, but they have every imaginable product for the car enthusiast, ranging from replacement parts, tires, accessories, fluids – if it’s made for a car, they have it. Its size is approximately twice the size of its competitors, and the business model for MegaCar calls for low margins and high volume. What type of retailer is MegaCar? Describe the characteristics of this type of retailer.

6. There are three degrees of distribution. Under what circumstances does each make sense? (Be complete)

7. In terms of developing strategy, what is the most critical element for the success of a specialty store? (i.e., what must they do and do well, as discussed in class.)

8. Compare and contrast the keys to profitability for a discount store to those of a department store.

9. What is a category killer? Define what is meant by this type of retailer in terms of the breadth and depth of the product line, and provide an example. Why are category killer often successful?
10. Define what is meant by problem recognition, and provide an example.

11. Explain the role that social identity has in the marketing process.

12. In class, we discussed three classifications of retail merchandise (one of the categories was destination merchandise.) What are these three categories? Define each, and discuss the promotional strategies typically associate with each.

13. You work for a manufacturer of tools, and your company has developed its first carpenter hammer in hopes that it can be offered for sale through large home improvement retailers (Lowe’s Hope Depot). The product is a good product, though there’s nothing particularly innovative about another brand of hammer. Large customers such as Home Depot typically buy direct from manufacturers to avoid the costs added by middlemen. Would you recommend that your employer use a pushing strategy, a pulling strategy, or both? Explain your answer.
14. What is AIDA? Explain each step and the overall process as well.

15. You are developing a marketing communications campaign for a small retail gift shop that has just opened on the square in a mall in the Quad Cities. The store specializes in quality gift items in the $20-$200 range. Use AIDA to develop a promotional campaign for such a store – be sure to touch on each stage of the process and be clear what stage each activity is intended to address.

16. At which stages of the AIDA process is advertising most useful? At which stages is personal selling most useful? At which stages is sales promotion most useful?

17. Explain the terms “message strategy” and “media strategy.” Define these carefully – which comes first?

18. As discussed in class, some media can be particularly effective for generating “cheap replays” of material presented on television. What is meant by this, and which media is/are best suited for these “cheap replays”?

19. You need to purchase advertising on a local TV station. You consulted three stations, and received the following information:
a. Station 1: $400/spot, audience size=30,000, airing at 6 pm on Saturday
b. Station 2: $900/spot, audience size=60,000, airing at 10 pm on Monday
c. Station 3: $700/spot, audience size=40,000, airing at 7 pm on Thursday
Assuming the audiences for all three of these stations fits the target market equally well, which one is the most efficient media buy? Explain your reasoning. (numbers would change on the exam)

20. What is cooperative advertising, and why do manufacturer’s like it?

21. Contrast between direct and indirect advertising? Provide an example of each.

22. What are the seven steps of the personal selling process? As discussed in class, which of these seven steps is most important, and why?

23. You need to determine the size of a sales force for a company doing $38 million in sales. There are 1,200 potential clients that need to be called upon each year. Each client handles an average of $200,000 in potential annual sales of your company’s products. Each client needs to be called upon four times during the year, with each sales call lasting an average of 30 minutes. Your sales representatives currently spend 1/3 of their time face-to-face dealing with clients, and the rest of their time engaged in other activities (travel, paperwork, etc.) Using the build-up method, how many sales representatives will you need? You must show your work. (FYI - if this question is used on the exam, actual numbers will be different)

24. What are three particular effective rewards for sales representative in the US market? (as discussed in class)

25. Under what conditions does a relationship selling approach make the most sense? When does a transactional selling approach make the most sense?