Marketing Issues

MARKETING ISSUES

Introduction

This document presents an analysis of Nordstrom business studies in two cases. The first case was presented in the chapter 13 of the text book (O.C Ferrel, Geoffrey A. Hart and Linda Ferrel, 2009) that discussed the marketing environmental forces based on Nordstrom business. The second case involved Nordstrom’ s establishing distribution channels to be used for their market in foreign countries, and in particular, in Mexico.

Marketing Environmental Forces

The marketing environmental forces have five characteristics which have had a great impact on the Nordstrom marketing strategy. They five forces are: 1) political; 2) legal and regulatory; 3) technical; 4) social; and 5) the economic forces. All of these forces are summarized below:

Political Forces have great impact on the Nordstrom marketers, as the state, local, and national policy change over time. Changes in policy sometimes are a threat to the business, but also they can also be an opportunities for the business. The best way for Nordstrom to keep up the business was to acknowledge the opportunities, know the latest rules, and then follow the updated rules and regulations which were imposed for the business.

Legal & Regulatory Forces protect existing companies as well as consumers. Regulation consists of various restrictions state and federal laws place on businesses with regards to the conduct of its activities. For any organization, the marketing and broader business decisions are constrained, directed and influenced by regulatory forces. Also, legal forces protect consumers from unfair retail prices. Federal laws control many business activities, pricing and advertising by manufacturer, wholesalers and retailers.

The Social Forces of the environment include the demographic characteristics of the population and values. Changes in these forces can have a dramatic impact on marketing strategy. However, changes could be an...