| Course | MRKT 3001 Marketing |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post |
| Length | About 520 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MRKT 3001 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: Marketing Is More Than Promotion
Marketing Without a Single Ad: Three Decisions at a Commuter Bicycle Repair Cooperative, From Opening at 7 A.M. to a Flat Tune-Up Price on the Door, and Whom Each One Leaves Out
Picture a bicycle repair cooperative run out of a former hardware storefront near a city's busiest bike lane; it is invented for this post, but it is the kind of place many cities have. Its most important marketing decision has nothing to do with advertising. It opens at 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, two hours before most bike shops, because the riders it chose to serve are commuters who need a bicycle back before work. That choice was made before anyone wrote a slogan. Kotler and Armstrong (2018) define marketing as the process of creating value for chosen customers and building relationships with them, and opening hours are one of the plainest ways to create value for a particular group.
Two more decisions follow from the same choice of customer. The cooperative posts a single flat price for a standard tune-up, $65, on the front door, because commuters want to know the cost before they hand over the bicycle they depend on. And it stocks parts for city bikes, such as fenders, chains for internal-hub gears and puncture-resistant tires, rather than parts for racing frames. Each decision leaves people out. Weekend riders who want a Saturday afternoon fitting will find the shop closed by 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Racers will not find carbon components. Customers who like to negotiate a custom quote will not find one. Those exclusions are part of the marketing: the cooperative is easy to choose for one group because it is not trying to serve every rider.
Levitt (1960) warned that firms stumble when they describe their business as a product instead of as a customer need. The cooperative does not sell repairs; it sells the certainty of getting to work on time. Seen that way, a 7:00 a.m. opening is not an operations detail but the center of its marketing. Drucker (1954) put the same idea in terms of purpose, arguing that a business exists to create customers, and the cooperative created its customers by deciding whom it would serve before deciding what to say to them.
What decision at a business you use regularly is really a marketing choice, even though it never appears in an ad?
Reply to Priya
Priya, I agree that your gym's decision to close its pool for an hour each afternoon for swim lessons is a marketing choice, not just scheduling. Whom does it leave out? Lap swimmers who come after work might be the price of serving families, and I wonder whether the gym made that trade deliberately.
Reply to Marcus
Marcus, the grocery store that moved its pharmacy counter to the front entrance is a strong example. You said it was about convenience, but I wonder whose convenience. It seems built for older shoppers picking up prescriptions without walking the whole store, and it may cost the store impulse sales on the way to the back. Do you know whether the store said who the change was for?
References
Drucker, P. F. (1954). The practice of management. Harper & Row.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2018). Principles of marketing (17th ed.). Pearson.
Levitt, T. (1960). Marketing myopia. Harvard Business Review, 38(4), 45-56.
MRKT 3001 Week 1 instructions, in plain terms
In Week 1 you show that marketing includes decisions that have nothing to do with advertising. Choose a business, real or invented, and describe one decision that shapes who buys from it without any persuasion, such as hours, location, pricing or what it stocks. Add one or two more decisions and say whom each one leaves out, since choosing a customer means not choosing others. Bring in one classic idea about marketing and use it on your example instead of summarizing it. End by putting a question to classmates, and hold the post to three or four plain paragraphs within the prompt's word range.
How the MRKT 3001 Week 1 example is put together
The post opens with the cooperative's 7 a.m. weekday opening, chosen for commuters, and cites Kotler and Armstrong's definition of marketing as creating value for chosen customers. A second paragraph adds the flat tune-up price and city-bike parts, and names weekend riders, racers and negotiators as the groups each decision excludes. A third paragraph applies Levitt's warning against defining a business by its product, arguing the cooperative sells getting to work on time, and adds Drucker on creating a customer. A question asks classmates for a decision that is really a marketing choice. Replies ask Priya whom her gym's pool schedule leaves out and Marcus whose convenience a moved pharmacy counter serves.
Where the marks sit in the MRKT 3001 Week 1 rubric
Opening posts are judged on whether they show marketing as a set of choices about whom to serve, not just about what to say. Strong posts name specific decisions and explain how each one creates value for a chosen group. Naming who each decision leaves out shows the student understands that targeting involves trade-offs. Citing a classic source earns credit when the idea is applied to the example rather than quoted. Posts that describe only advertising or social media miss the week's point. Replies should test a classmate's example by asking whom it serves or excludes. Concise, plain paragraphs read best on a discussion board.
MRKT 3001 Week 1 help from the desk
Think of a business you use and ask why it is open when it is, priced as it is or stocked as it is. Those choices usually reflect a decision about who its customers are. Pick the clearest one and describe it. Then ask who would be unhappy with that choice; they are the people it leaves out. Look for one classic idea in your reading, such as defining a business by the need it meets, and use it to explain the example. Common weaknesses are describing ads and slogans and treating every customer as the target. If you would like help choosing an example, tell us about a business you know. Plain paragraphs, one idea each, are easier for classmates to answer than a long block of text.
Get a MRKT 3001 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Paste the Week 1 board prompt and its rubric, and a finished post on marketing's work beyond the sale arrives in 24 to 48 hours, with the first one free. Tell the desk which business you plan to follow this term, or let the sample use a made-up shop. Your two follow-up replies can travel in the same delivery.
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MRKT 3001 Week 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free MRKT 3001 Week 1 sample paper?
Every paragraph of the cooperative post, plus the replies to Priya and Marcus, is shown below without charge.
What decision does the MRKT 3001 Week 1 post start with?
A bicycle repair cooperative opening at 7 a.m. on weekdays because its chosen customers are commuters who need their bikes before work.
What other decisions does the post describe?
A flat $65 tune-up price posted on the door and parts stocked for city bikes rather than racing frames.
Whom do the decisions leave out?
Weekend riders who want Saturday afternoon service, racers who need carbon parts and customers who like to negotiate a quote.
How is Levitt's idea applied?
The post argues the cooperative sells the certainty of getting to work on time, not repairs, so its opening hours are central to its marketing.