Strategic Marketing; Hierarchy of Needs model

With reference to relevant theory from the lectures, workshops and associated readings for this course, including the journal articles you have been specifically asked to read for this task, complete ALL of the following tasks.

• Apply the Hierarchy of Needs model (Maslow, 1954) to critically reflect upon the needs that motivated you to pursue an MBA at AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar, and in what ways these are similar or different to the needs identified by Dailey, Anderson, Ingenito, Duffy, Krimm, and Thomson (2006; see essential reading list below for a link to this paper).
• Apply the Theory of Consumption Values (Sheth et al., 1991) to critically reflect upon the types of value that you are seeking to gain from pursuing your MBA course at AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar, and whether you think these are similar or different to other students on your course.
• What are the main sources of direct, indirect and replacement competition for AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar when seeking to attract MBA students in Qatar ? (e.g. you might think about which other institutions you considered when choosing your MBA course, and whether there were other ways you could have fulfilled the needs and types of value you identified in parts i) and ii) of this task)
• Critically consider how AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar is positioned in comparison to the competitors you have identified by addressing the following questions/tasks:

1. To what extent, and in what way is AFG/Aberdeen differentiated from its main competitors in the MBA market in Qatar? (e.g. you might think about the ways, if any, that AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar offer benefits and value to MBA students that its competitors do not).
2. Identify TWO criteria that were important to you when you chose between the option you took (i.e. to pursue an MBA at AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar) and the alternative competitor options you have identified above. Use these two criteria to construct the axes for a perceptual map. Plot all these options (i.e. MBA at AFG/University of Aberdeen in Qatar and all competitor options) on this perceptual map to show how you think about them in relation to each other.

• Apply either the Anatomy of the Brand model (Jobber, 2001) or the Brand Prism model (Kapferer, 1994) to identify and explain the image that you currently hold of the AFG/Brand, and then address the following questions:

1. Does the brand image you have described give AFG/University of Aberdeen a distinct, meaningful and sustainable competitive advantage over its main competitors in the MBA market? Justify your answer.
2. In what ways would you recommend AFG/University could better formulate and communicate its brand identity to enhance its brand positioning compared to its main competitors? In answering this question, you must make reference to the model you used to critically reflect on your current image of the brand (i.e. Anatomy of the Brand or Brand Prism).