MKT202-Case on tomato without nutrition PDF

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This is a group case given by the MKT faculty FCH. I recommend you to take the idea from this and write it on your on your own words...

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Critical analysis essay on the marketing management orientation practiced by the companies showcased in the documentary

MKT202 Section 2 Fairuze Chowdhury

MEMBERS Group one

Member 1 Sharif Nasif Mahamud Utsho Serial no: 17

Date of Submission: 10th April 2021

ID no: 2111024630

Member 2 Mohammed Ifaz Bashir Serial no: 10 ID no: 2021457630 Member 3 Umme Humaira Jasena Serial no: 9 ID no: 2021408630

Member 4 Faiyaz Rahman Serial no: 11 ID no: 2021688630

Member 5 Nowshin Afroz Neha Serial no: 6 ID no: 2011864630

Over the years, seed manufacturers have tried and tried to discover the perfect seed. They wanted crops with a higher yield, and they achieved this by inventing the seed of profit or the hybrid seed. The higher outcome was achieved but at the cost of nutritional elements and taste. Like the tomato seeds in the documentary, they can be produced in higher numbers in a lesser amount of land, and the shelf life of those tomatoes is significantly higher. In search of all this, more than half of the nutritional values were diminished.

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The documentary's product was tomatoes with a high life shelf, also known as hybrid tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes. Customers demand tomatoes with good nutritional values and good taste at an affordable price. The customers are unsatisfied with hybrid tomatoes because they lack both nutrients and flavors. In the documentary, some leading multinational seed manufacturing companies like Limagrain, Syngenta, Bayer, and Monsanto were mentioned. Upon analysis of their mode of operations, they can understand that they practice the production marketing concept. In the production concept, the manufacturers make their products highly affordable and available to their customers. At the same time, there is no regard for the customers' needs, wants, or demands. They make it affordable by mass production and available by mass distribution. As shown in the documentary, these companies mass produce their products in over 30 different countries. They also mass distribute that product so well that only four of these companies control over 60% market share in the seed manufacturing business. They are so focused on mass-producing the product and cutting their cost that they don't even hesitate to use child labor or pay lower than minimum wage. Production concept at times can be morally unethical, and this is clearly one of those times. According to the documentary and the previous paragraph, the marketing management concept practiced by companies like Limagrain, Syngenta, Bayer, Monsanto, etc., is called the production concept. This concept consists of many pros and cons. Throughout the following paragraphs, we will discuss some of them. Let's start with the pros—first, the affordability. According to the documentary, companies like Limagrain produce their seeds worldwide and in huge numbers, making the product cost-efficient. Mass production makes it profitable for the sellers and still affordable for the customers. Second, the availability. Only producing the product in mass is not enough. The companies also make them available to consumers by mass distributing them, making the product available in just hand's reach. So, the customers don't have to worry about the shortage of products. Third, employment. All this mass production and distribution require a massive workforce, creating many employment opportunities for the general population. Companies need to employ thousands of workers all over the world to maintain their production concept. As the

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woman said in the documentary, she was doing the work because there were no other jobs available. Now, think, what would that woman do without that job? Fourth, investors. In a non-competitive market, the production principle is generally efficient. The company's financial gain improves as a result of mass-scale production. When a company makes a profit, it draws investors' interest. Because of the high profitability and share value, they'll end up investing in the sector. As claimed by the documentary, in 2020, 60% of the commercial seeds market was owned by four multinational companies. Given that statistics, who would not want to invest in them? Fifth, suppliers. All the operations of different industries depend on the availability of raw materials and other essential components. Suppliers prefer to work with more prominent manufacturers because they can rely on regular orders. Such partnerships usually last for a long time if both parties uphold their end of the bargain. This benefits both parties in the process. Let's move on to the cons. First of all, the production concept creates a market condition called the market myopia. This is when the company does not focus on the customers' needs; instead, it produces the product because it benefits the company. The customer demands tomatoes with more nutritional values, and the multinational seed manufacturing companies do not recognize those claims because it is not profitable. They decide to manufacture seeds with high shelf life and low nutritional values because that accomplishes their money-making goals. Secondly, compromised quality. In the documentary, farmer-grown tomatoes and hybrid tomatoes were tested for dietary elements. The results were astounding. Hybrid tomatoes contain 63% less calcium, 29% less magnesium, and 72% less vitamin C than farmer-grown tomatoes. It also has less than half of the antioxidant lycopene. The result clearly shows how much the quality of these genetically modified tomatoes is compromised. This lack of nutrients also results in a lack of taste. Thirdly, absence of customer relationships. As mentioned earlier, the production concept creates market myopia. If a company doesn't even care about the customers' needs, how can that company possibly create a customer relationship? Due to this, all their customers are considered butterflies: high profitability but no loyalty. Fourthly, no grasp over customers. The moment any other company starts offering better quality tomatoes with higher nutritional value and taste within a close enough price range, the customer base of companies like Limagrain and Syngenta will vanish into thin air. Fourthly, public scrutiny. As the production concept does not care for the customer's needs, wants, or demands, they might fall under heavy scrutiny by the general public or the media. The proof for that is the documentary itself. These multinational

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seed-producing companies are getting scrutinized because they have no regard for customer satisfaction. The societal marketing concept is philosophy-driven. It is an idea that a company's marketing decisions should consider consumers' wants, the company's requirements, consumers' long-run interests, and society's long-run interests. This concept influences the decision-making process of the company to make more sensible and socially responsible decisions. It impacts certain areas like human welfare, environmental concerns, and the societies' long-term interests. Undoubtedly, it has some pros, but it also has its fair share of cons. We will try to go through some of them in the following discussion. Starting with the pros. This concept helps the company to send a message that they care about the environment. The company tries to make decisions that in no way harms the environment or society. Over time, it creates a reputation that the company cares about itself and the community it is serving. Building this reputation takes time, but it also creates a loyal customer base: a customer base loyal to the company under almost any circumstances. Customer loyalty is not only about a customer making repeat purchases. It also means the company is delivering customer satisfaction and fulfilling the customers' needs, wants, and demands. Having a loyal customer base carries perks of its own. The extras include an increase in sales, opportunities to expand, and, most importantly, word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth is free advertisement triggered by the customer experiences. It is a message from an existing customer to a potential customer that "This product is good." As these messages come from a reliable source, the chances of that potential customer turning into a customer are astronomically high. The societal concept would undoubtedly raise the living standard of people. Imagine if those four companies with more than 60% of the seed production industry's market share were eco-friendly. A massive reduction of the carbon footprint would have been inevitable; the consumers would get tomatoes with higher nutritional values and better taste. As these companies produce more than just tomato seeds, this would have been the case for every vegetable or fruit seed they manufacture. Doing so also could have encouraged other companies to take a step towards socially responsible decision-making.

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Even though this sounds like the perfect marketing management orientation, it still has some flaws. Starting with a lower profit margin. Making eco-friendly and socially responsible products are expensive. It requires new equipment and a better-skilled workforce. Even after doing all that, if the companies wanted to sell those products at a higher price, they would lose some customers, and if they keep the price the same, it will reduce their profit margin significantly. Doing good comes at a cost, and in this case, the price is a lower profit margin. Not only that, but the companies would also have to face some conflicts with their existing customers as well. According to Kotler, when a company produces goods and services that are good for society, it would create disputes between the customers and the company instead of fulfilling their needs and requirements. Suppose Limagrain starts to produce non-hybrid tomato seeds. The tomatoes' consumers would be happy because they would get tomatoes with higher nutritional values and better taste. On the flip side, the farmers who grow and commercially sell tomatoes for a living would be very unsatisfied. The non-hybrid tomato seeds would give them a low yield resulting in a lower profit, if any. The main buyers of the hybrid tomato seeds are the farmers, and their needs are high-yielding tomato seeds. Providing non-hybrid tomato seeds might be good for society but doing that also means losing customer satisfaction. Multinational companies produce hybrid seeds, and farmers grow them because high-yielding crops are better for business. The production concept used by these companies can be morally unsettling. If even one of these big companies used the societal concept, they would have funded the ACE program proposed by Prof. Haim D. Robinowitch. He offered this research program to discover seeds that had high yield and nutritional values. The societal concept might have some flaws, but it makes the companies choose human welfare over monetary gains.

Reference www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljthwaFUW1k www.marketingtutor.net

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