5 C’s of Marketing

1. Customer – Determine what are the needs and from which clients that you’re trying to satisfy. A few areas of research can be market segments, frequency of purchases, quantity of purchases, retail channel, and customer needs depending on trends over time.

2. Company – Determine if your company is in a position to meet those customer needs. For example, whether your company has the right product line and technical expertise. A good tool to find out your company’s strengths and weaknesses is “SWOT” analysis.

• Strengths: innovative products, expertise and procedures

• Weaknesses: lack of knowledgeable technical support or average product quality

• Opportunities: a new international market or a market led by a weak competitor

• Threats: a new competitor or price war

3. Competition – Determine who competes with your company in meeting the customer’s needs. Is the competitor an active competitor or is it a potential threat? What are their products exactly? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

4. Collaborators – Determine if there is any outside source or third party help that can help the company such as distributors, suppliers etc.

5. Context – Determine if there are any limitations due to

• Political issues: legal problems, trade regulations, taxes or labor laws

• Economic issues: growth rate, labor costs, and business cycle stage

• Social impacts: demographics, education, and culture

• Technological developments: impact on cost structures

This is also known as “PEST” analysis.