Launching a Womens Magazine Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Launching a Womens Magazine - Assignment Example The marketing environment being essentially dynamic, it is essential for the organisation to keep up with the changes (Marketing Environment 2004, p.34). The marketing environment comprises of forces that are internal and external to its marketing functions. Internal forces are those that are inherent to the organisation and hence, can be controlled by the organisation. External forces affect the industry as a whole and cannot be controlled by individual organisations. It is imperative for an organisation to predict, recognise, analyse and understand these forces, and strategically plan its marketing activities. Macro-environmental factors include political, economical, social and technological factors along with demographic, cultural and legal factors that affect a marketing environment. Government policies, political stability, legislations, and prevailing domestic politics and international politics are factors that can affect the publishing industry. Economic factors of a region greatly influence the purchasing power parity (PPP) of that region. The higher the purchasing power parity in a region, the higher its buying potential (Marketing Environment 2004, p.41). The socio-cultural forces refer to the attitudes, beliefs, norms, values and lifestyles of individuals in a society. These forces can present opportunities and pose threats to the magazine sector of the industry. Increasing health challenges can lead to increasing sales of healthcare-related literature. Technology shapes needs as well as helps bring down prices. Technology also helps easy distribution of products. Technology ha s revolutionized advertising, and launching such a superior product as a women's magazine essentially needs promotion with high quality, creative advertisements. Some macro-environmental factors that affect the introduction of a new women's magazine into the market can be cited here. The possible threat of an EU-wide imposition of VAT on books and magazines can greatly affect the market of a new women's magazine. The Office of Fair Trading has recommended that the distribution of magazines should be opened up to greater competition (PEST analysis n.d., p.17). Under the initiative of The Reading Agency, funded by the Government, the year 2008 was announced as a National Year of Reading to encourage reading among the younger people (PEST analysis n.d., p.18). This is likely to have a significant impact on the market of a new women's magazine, and the possibility has to be thoroughly explored. Publisher's rights regarding territories where they are allowed to sell their publications are also factors that have to be looked into while launching a new women's magazine. 3. Micro-environmental factors Micro-environmental factors are those external factors that are close to the company "that affect its ability to serve its customers" (Marshall n.d.). The micro-environmental factors include mainly suppliers, marketing intermediaries, competition and customers. Suppliers provide the resources that are needed to produce the products. They form an important link in the value delivery system (Marshall n.d.). Increase in raw material prices will affect the cost of production, which will inevitably lead to an increase in price. This can affect the marketing environment negatively. Maintaining close relationships