A hands on practice– The intention of this assignment is to apply the concepts to real world situations. Write well–Do your best work. Use and refer to all the concepts in our readings as well as the APUS library this week to effectively answer this question. Be sure to cite your work. Deliverable length is approximately 2 – 3 pages.
1. Using the percent of sales method, an advertiser set its budget at a certain percentage of current or forecasted sales. However, determining what percentage to use is not always clear. Many marketers look at industry averages and competitor spending for comparisons. Trade publications, such as Advertising Age, publish data regarding industry averages as well as advertising-to-sales ratios for top advertisers. For more discussion of the financial and quantitative implications of marketing decisions, see Appendix 2, Marketing by the Numbers, Chapter 14.
**Using information regarding industry and leading advertisers’ advertising-to-sales ratios (see, Advertising-To-Sales File and
US Sales per Advertising File), recommend percentages of sales that advertisers in the following industries should use to set next year’s advertising budget: beverages, bicycle dealer, furniture store, jeweler, women’s clothing store, and automobile manufacturer.
2. AARP Magazine and Reader’s Digest are the top two magazines with regard to circulation. They also attract similar audiences. Although consumers aged 50+ are plugged in online like younger consumers, they still like print media, making these two magazines valuable media vehicles in which to reach seniors with their advertising.
**Using advertising rate information for these magazines (see AARP Rates file and RD Global Advertising Rates file), determine the cost per thousand of a full page, 4-color advertisement. Which magazine is more cost effective for advertisers? How does targeting a specific market affect your decision? Why or Why not?
3. Salespeople do more than just sell products and services-they manage relationships with customers to deliver value to both the customer and their company. Thus, for many companies, sales reps visit customers several times per year-often for hours at a time. Thus, sales managers must ensure that their companies have enough salespeople to adequately deliver value to customers.
Determine the number of salespeople a company needs if it has 3000 customers who need to be called on 10 times per year. Each sales call lasts approximately 2 1/2 hours, and each sales rep has approximately 1,250 hours per year to devote to customers per year. Why is this practice important to not only know how to do, but to utilize in the area of marketing?
