Internship Report on Marketing Problems in the Marketplace (Term Paper Sample)

COOP REPORT OUTER COVER PAGE
College of xxxxxxxxxxx
Cooperative Education Student Report
Title of the Project
Submitted to
Dr.___________________
Department of _________________
By
(Student Name)
In Cooperation with (Name of the organization)
(Location of the Organization)
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
Of Bachelor Degree in xxxxxx
Date dd/mm/yy
Student First and Last Name:
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Employer:
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Internship Report on Marketing Problems in the Marketplace
“I have read this co-op report and agree that it contains no proprietary information and it may be submitted for the Cooperative Education Program at UBT.”
Site supervisor’s signature: _________________ Title: _____________________________
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Abstract
Theory thought in class gives one a clue of what actual work in a company would look like. Classwork prepares an individual for the real world work. It would not be making any sense if a few hands on teaching were not incorporated in the theory taught in class. That is why it is recommended for us students to attend co-op training. I attended the 2022 spring co-op training in a company called GROHE. GROHE is a leading global brand for every bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings (grohe.com). It has over 6000 employees’ a third of whom are located in Germany. It is part of LIXIL Group Corporation for many years.
In GROHE, I worked in the Marketing department. My services were rendered in the marketing department. In class, we had recently been taught about strategic marketing principles (MKT 460) and the marketing problems experienced in the workplace. By working for GROHE, I had an opportunity to conduct a research on marketing problems experienced in the workplace and the necessary solutions to counter those problems.
In this article, I will write a summary of my internship roles and an in-depth study of the research I conducted, including the purpose of the study, statement of the problem, aims of the study, methodology used, findings, conclusion and recommendations. I will also write about the importance of the Co-op study in helping me advance my career prospects, increasing my experiences and improving my networks for future employment opportunities.
Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all the parties involved with my educational journey thus far. My supervisor best of all for giving me the opportunity to understand the topics we were supposed to understand during our research projects. They came in hand many times especially during this research project. My parents were a great anchor for me over the course of my study. They supported me through thick and thin and most especially during times when I felt like giving up. They encouraged me and told me that it will always be okay and it eventually was. To my friends and peers I take this opportunity to thank you for being there for me when I needed you, you are all my heroes. To the faculty of Marketing, I appreciate your efforts of making our lives bearable during our stay in school. Finally I thank those involved indirectly and I could not remember your names for this page.
Table of Contents
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc101066965 \h 3Acknowledgement PAGEREF _Toc101066966 \h 4Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc101066967 \h 5Chapter 1: Introduction PAGEREF _Toc101066968 \h 6Background PAGEREF _Toc101066969 \h 6Unclear Strategy PAGEREF _Toc101066970 \h 7Limited Resources and time PAGEREF _Toc101066971 \h 7Misalignment with buyers Interests PAGEREF _Toc101066972 \h 8Company profile PAGEREF _Toc101066973 \h 8Chapter 2: Methodology PAGEREF _Toc101066974 \h 10Primary Data PAGEREF _Toc101066975 \h 10Secondary Data PAGEREF _Toc101066976 \h 11Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Findings PAGEREF _Toc101066977 \h 12Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc101066978 \h 12Findings PAGEREF _Toc101066979 \h 13Chapter 4: Conclusion and Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc101066980 \h 15Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc101066981 \h 15Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc101066982 \h 15References PAGEREF _Toc101066983 \h 16
Chapter 1: Introduction
Background
During the few weeks I have been working for GROHE, one thing stood out, the sales of their bathroom and kitchen fittings kept dwindling while that of their competitors remained progressive or constant over the same period (GROHE.com). GROHE’s products are top notch good quality, and they meet the already set up standards for quality. The after-sales services are of good quality too. I concluded, after doing some research, that marketing problems are the main cause of poor sales for the company. 
All companies have problems in meeting their marketing demands. All marketers are faced with different challenges. Since the dawn of corona in 2020 end, companies have had to pivot, change their marketing campaigns many times and face new challenges. This is what any of us expected when the year was beginning. GROHE being an international organization might have overcome most of this marketing issue but there are those which are inevitable. Also, there are tasks, tactics and strategies that the company would like to dwell on.
Recently marketing is moving so fast to the point it has become difficult to note the very areas a company may wish to focus on and develop to initiate maximum growth in 2022 and years to come. It is therefore important to conduct this study and look into some of the problems companies face in their marketing departments. GROHE is our company of focus for this study
According to (Hub spot, 2022) in its Marketing Industry Trends Report and marketing experts, the following marketing problems cut across all forms of organizations in every type of industry. The problems include: training teams, generating leads and traffic, achieving ROI of marketing activities, justifying one’s budget, managing the company’s website, targeting and reaching international markets and finally hiring top talent. Marketing problems that may hinder the company’s high sales include poor marketing strategy, limited time and scarce resources, misalignment with buyers’ personas, inflexibility to change and many more. This research was mainly conducted to come up with solutions to these marketing problems to help GROHE improve its profits and revenue turnover.
Training Marketing Teams
The biggest problem facing marketing in companies is not from the very many KPIs marketers are tasked with to achieve as expected. Research conducted by (Forsey, 2022) shows the biggest problem experienced by marketing departments and their marketers is very fundamental than the quantifiable goals set at the beginning of the year or the employment of excellent talent who will easily achieve the set targets.
In another survey conducted on over 1000 marketing professionals by the bureau of statistics, the very big challenge marketing departments in companies are facing is the training of their teams. That is why many questions are asked both by the companies’ marketing departments and the recruits. One such question is ‘why? When a company hires an individual or one gets hired by their dream company, their work of growing with the company does not stop at the offer letter.
Managers and marketing leaders have the responsibility of teaching their employees how the company operates. Areas of training include voice and message, helping marketers know and understand buyers' persona, enabling them to get accustomed to the tech stack or processes which the company uses. No matter the level of a marketer in terms of skills, whether they are a new hire or seasoned at their jobs: every individual employed in a company will need their company to have many opportunities for training, onboarding or professional development that may allow them to learn and progress while at the same time achieving their KPIs
Training employees, whether new or old can be a major problem for leaders. Limited time on the part of the leaders and limited time and resources on the part of employees due to their tight schedules and limited resources due to low pay rates. According to recently conducted studies, it is said that 30% of marketers believe team training is the main problem of last year and this year. According to 21% of the study respondents, the problem of training teams will continue to be the main challenge in the years to come.
Solving such a problem will require managers and individuals to redefine what training is according to them. Even very seasoned marketing employees would require time to get acquainted with a new environment in a new company before they can be able to effectively work for the company. The company and its leaders should learn to retain their employees and save money on a talent search. They however should aim at training the employees and allow them to grow and become very competitive. In the process, the individuals will feel more fulfilled and supported in their roles by their employers (Forsey, 2022).
Training employees do not require the work of instructors or even leaders to leave their jobs and physically train them. They can talk to individual contributors who want popularity to show their experiments, strategies and how to go about learning at the said events, meetings and annual confe...