Unit 3: Introduction to Marketing – Assignment 1

My two businesses are going to be from the private sector and from the public sector. These two businesses are British Petroleum (BP), and Smith & Wesson (S&W), a private sector arms manufacturing business. Both of these businesses have made a substantial impact on their respective markets due to their profile and the way they have used innovative marketing techniques to build a customer base and maintain it over several decades.
Some growth strategies include direct marketing and advertising. This has allowed these companies to gain a major market share and become very well-known and reputable companies. Nearly every company uses the Ansoff Matrix to effectively lead their business and provide a stable base for diversification, market penetration, market development, and product development. Product development could include making a product; such as making a new model of a phone, or introducing a new item to a restaurant menu.
Developing a market is also very important for any business as a way to make money. This market could take the form of a niche market such as making clothing for big & tall people or a line in novelty items.
Both BP and S&W have used all of these at some point in their market lives, by making a successful business plan and executing it well. S&W for example were able to capitalise on the huge arms manufacturing industry in the United States at their time of establishment, and their products were aimed at most of the United States as a means of reliable defence. Now, the Smith & Wesson name has become synonymous with the “Old West” due to their revolver manufacturing. This marketing strategy has played a key part in brand recognition and their ability to stay afloat in an ever changing industry.

However with BP, there is a much smaller, but in many ways more