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INTERNET EXERCISES
Chapter 1: The Nature of Marketing
Exercise 1 – The Nature of Marketing
Exercise 2 – The Nature of Marketing in Small Businesses
Exercise 1 – The Nature of Marketing
Vignette: TELUS, formerly Alberta’s provincial telephone company
(Alberta Government Telephones), wanted to build a national identity
and unite its multiple acquisitions into a single operation.
Featured URL: www.telus.ca
The Importance of Being Innovative
In 1990, Alberta Government Telephones was privatized and the company
moved to establish itself as Western Canada’s biggest telecommunications
company. In 2000, under the name TELUS, it moved onto the national
stage. In order to build a national identity for itself and unite its
multiple acquisitions (such as BC Tel, QuébecTel and Clearnet),
TELUS employed an innovative marketing campaign based on whimsical
nature themes and an aggressive sustainable growth strategy. In a relatively
short time, TELUS has gone from being a regional telephone company
to a national success story due to its unique approach to marketing.
Activity
-
Tour the featured Web site for TELUS. Note its various telecommunications
products and the different groups of customers it serves. Why do
you think the whimsical nature themes advertising campaign appeals
to each
of these groups of customers?
-
TELUS’ use of its nature themes is evident throughout its
Web site, but it is also very understated. Why would the company
select to
make such subtle use of this award-winning campaign rather than,
for example, featuring the animals much more prominently on each
screen and
building interactive devices based on the animals? Relate your
answer back to the different groups of customers that TELUS serves.
- Go into the sections that TELUS has for each of its customer groups.
List the various types of information that it has provided for each
type of customer. Is TELUS providing different customers with different
information
or is it really all the same?
- Go into the “About TELUS” portion of this Web site. Based
on what you see here as well as your answer to question 3, is TELUS a
firm with a product orientation, a sales orientation, or a market orientation?
Consider why it is sponsoring Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Olympics
and its other community-based programs in your answer.
Resources Government regulators of the telecommunications industry:
CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission)
The federal agency responsible for regulating Canada’s broadcasting
and telecommunications systems
Spectrum Management and Telecommunications Sector
A division of Industry Canada; responsible for international treaties,
policies, and agreements
Telecommunications associations and other information sources:
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association
This organization represents carriers and companies that produce products
and services for the telecommunications industry.
Telecommunications Information
This site has links to telecommunication sites with useful information
on telecommunications-related issues.
Canadian Institute for Telecommunications Research
This institute organizes research programs in strategic emerging technologies.
Exercise 2 – The Nature of Marketing in Small Businesses
Can Small Businesses be Market-Oriented, Too?
It may seem surprising, but there are many small businesses in the telecommunications
industry. For example, Wightman Telecommunications is a family-owned company
that serves 6,300 customers in central Ontario. Navigata is a B.C.- based company
that markets its services to business customers across Canada. Iridium Satellite
Solutions provides remote voice, fax, and data communications anywhere in the
world. The competitiveness of this industry forces even the smallest entrants
to try to be market-oriented. In a high-tech field like telecommunications,
a Web site is essential to achieving this goal. Activity
-
Visit the featured Web sites for Wightman Telecom (www.wcl.on.ca),
Navigata (www.westel.com), and Iridium Satellite Solutions (www.iridium.com).
Which groups of customers do they each serve? As small businesses,
do they try to serve several groups like TELUS does?
-
Based on their Web sites, how would you classify each of these
companies? Are they production-oriented, sales-oriented, or market-oriented?
What
improvements could they make to their Web sites to serve their particular
group(s) of customers better?
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