Marketing Strategy

A visual aid most often does the trick. This one caught my eyes and as if it spoke to me, marketing is an avenue and strategy a street. If I shall expand it there could be many streets to this avenue and perhaps, this too, is the essence of one having to immerse herself in the study of Marketing Strategy-- to choose not necessarily  the closest but the best strategy to get to the marketing goal.

A day before coming back to IUJ, I strolled in the so-called Lala Port Mall in Toyosu, Tokyo. After some purchases, I was offered a "point card" but I had to deliver a form to a nearby desk for confirmation. Here, the form was taken from me but the staff offered another card, with more benefits. Mostly said in Japanese, I thought this was an "upgraded point card". Well, I ended up facing a laptop, where I thought my photo would be taken. Instead, I was made to fill up an electronic form with so many inquiries that took more than 30  minutes of my time. The whole process made me weary, I only tried not to show my disappointment. Outrightly, having learned some customer care theories in IUJ, I knew they were doing me wrong as a customer.

For one, it was a credit card. I knew of it only after some time. The gift certificate was not handed to me readily, a card approval had to be awaited. Most of all, I was a foreigner, they should at least have had someone to talk to me in English since they would entertain non-japanese applicants. Everything was coordinated with someone on the phone to make sure I qualified the filling out of the form. Aghast, since i realized t'was a credit card, I knew I'd fail it being a mere foreign STUDENT. After a day, I received an email. I was not wrong. The card was denied.

Marketing in general is a dynamic way to connect mutual wants with customers. From what I learned so far, in all the strategies we try to design, the most important result is that customers are pleased. Or, sooooo pleased. This gives the business. THis sustains it. Thus, in connecting to them, it shall be vital they are left with a pleasant experience. And short to say, this was not how I ended up with that bank. 

To say the least, therefore, how customers get to be into their data bank was painstaking both for the staff and the yielding client. One example of marketing bereft of a well thought strategy.  =,(