Contemporary issues in marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary issues in marketing - Essay Example Several global companies have been designing marketing strategies since the wake of the 21st century technological development and the financial crisis in recent times, and some of them have actually survived the hard economic times. One of the companies that have had an outstanding market strategy in the 21st century is Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota is one of the leading automakers in the world, with a wide range of vehicle models for its customers. The company’s sale in 2002 estimates around 6.17 million units worldwide. In addition, the company has more than 11 manufacturing affiliates and subsidiaries and 12 plants, 45 manufacturing companies with locations in 27 countries all over the world. One of the major contributing factors for the company’s success is its marketing communication strategies. Marketing communication include practices like advertising, packaging, publicity, public relations, sponsorships, sales promotion among others. Marketing Communication Toyota marketing communication strategy employs both product-led information and communication plan around specific vehicle brands, as well as corporate-led communication on its objectives in the industry. This is an effective mode of marketing strategy considering that Toyota is a monolithic corporate brand. The corporate objectives are part of the Global Vision Document unveiled in 2010 as a managerial guide for the company. For instance, according to Grant 2005, Toyota ran articles in the Japan Times in 2003 educating the readers on the environmentally friendliness of its â€Å"green† cars The company is also establishing a leaf care logo to portray its efforts in reducing environmental effects of its products in the sector, its plants, and all the processes. This part of its communication strategy enhances its relations with the community that buys its products, as well as those living in its workshops’ neighborhood. Toyota has been establishing initiatives that he lp it communicate with the communities within its market target. Some of these initiatives include volunteer services to the surrounding community and financial assistance in form of grants. By engaging in such activities, Toyota is sending a message to the outside world of its social responsibility, a factor of consideration that influences the customers’ preference in the automobile market. These efforts highlight it as a responsible company that offers reliable products, thus capturing and maintaining a market niche for it. In addition to its environmentally conscious efforts, the company has consistently been enhancing its employees’ awareness on environmental credibility concern through bulletins within the company, environmental booklets issued to employees at the company’s sites, educative seminars, and events held on occasional basis, like the Environment month. The company also rewards employees who involve themselves with voluntary services like creati ng awareness of environmental responsibility through initiatives like tree-planting, cleaning riverbanks, and others. January 2002 saw the introduction of a new communication exercise that incorporates screening of movies (Like Erin Brokovich) to inform them of the benefits of the environment. To understand the Toyota marketing communication str

The Financial Engineer's Most Versatile Tool Dissertation - 1

The Financial Engineer's Most Versatile Tool - Dissertation Example The EPS graph of the company has been shown for a five year period to highlight the rise in the earnings per share due to a stock repurchase program. The deterioration in the important financial ratios like interest coverage, return etc has also been shown with the help of suitable graphs. An announcement of a share repurchase by a company is valued highly by the market participants interpreting it as a ‘buy signal’ for its stock. So the company has good reasons to buy-back its stocks but sometimes these share buyback programs go awry. Despite the popularity of such programs as evident from the recent buyback deals, there are concerns whether the firm or the shareholders derive any gains from it. One reason favoring the buyback deal is that at any point of time the surplus cash lying with the management can be used for buyback of shares thereby returning the funds to the shareholders. It has been seen that idle cash makes the managers complacent so buying back of shares can be one way of instilling confidence among the investors. From the viewpoint of the company stock buyback results in increased Earnings per share (EPS), share price and increases the value of â€Å"executive stock options† (Ogilvie, 2006, p.51). However, the share buyback strategy can be dangerous if the company finances the buyback of equities using borrowed funds. Financing buyback using loan stock may look tempting in the short term but some years down the line the company has to pay back the loan. In the event of an economic recession, the company will have to struggle with fund shortage. A rise in the share price, the increase in company EPS are all good signs but not at the cost of endangering the position of the company in the future. The board of directors must keep the interests of the shareholders in mind while considering share buyback programs. Significant research has been conducted especially in the area of share repurchases.