Promotion was the most visible of the elements in the four P’s during our visit. The factories and administrative facilities had posters with the brand name, and products with the company logo were used by the employees. Other than that, the company doesn’t seem to do much advertising; apparently they rely on the quality of their products to do the marketing for them, which makes sense if we take into account that they don’t sell their goods to the final consumer but to other manufacture companies that will then market their product. In the end this is beneficial for MICRON because they obtain advertisement without having to pay for it. The consumer recognizes the company without the company having done much.

Through our secondary research we developed the belief that this was a relatively small company, a perception that changed during the visit. Also, we thought that their commitment to quality consisted on testing their products to make sure they worked correctly, but we found that it goes far beyond testing. They produce most of the parts that they need to make their finalized products.

Also, it became obvious to us that companies do not say everything about them unless you ask. So, the “researcher” has to be more objective and persistent, in order to obtain a clearer, more real picture of the reality of the company. An example of this is that we obtained a SWOT analysis of the company before hand and in the actual visit they only focused on strengths and opportunities, but we knew that they also had threats and weaknesses.

For some reason we kept seeing Micron as a copy of their competition, Intel. We had the perception that they made products that were similar in function but very different in quality. We found that, even though their resources didn’t allow them to innovate as much or as quickly as their competitors, they made the best they could out of what they had. They paid close attention to quality, and that has earned them a name in their industry. We also learned that the commitment they talk about in their webpage is actually true. They are really committed and involved in making the Chinese society a better place to live.

Another interesting point is we thought that by outsourcing to China, Micron would try to enter the market there; however, it seemed to us as if Micron only focused its effort on the US market.

Micron has well-established core values that are written out throughout the company. Such values are: integrity, performance, leadership, agility, and efficiency. The company is aware of its main competitor, Samsung, and at the same time, the company is conscious of its importance in the electronics market as the only memory manufacturer in the US. We realized that the information gathered through secondary research was helpful and accurate, but only through primary research were we able to understand how the company separates itself from its competition, and how it markets its products.