Assignment 1
Unit 1
1. What is marketing and explain briefly about its nature, scope & functions?
2. Explain in detail about Marketing Management and discuss about Marketing
management process?
3. Briefly discuss about the market environment? How do you describe
environmental scanning?
4. Explain in brief about marketing management orientations? With Examples
5. What is the difference between Marketing and Selling?
6. Marketing mix strategies
Unit 2
7. What do you mean by market research? Explain about various types of
market research
8. Describe about customer satisfaction& Customer Value proposition
9. Explain about the process and bases of market segmentation and criteria for
segmentation
10.Discuss in detail about the Target marketing Process?
Short answers
11.Marketing information system (MIS).
12.Marketing intelligence system
13.Marketing research process
14.Analyzing business markets
Q1. What is marketing and explain briefly about its nature, scope &
functions?
Meaning of marketing and Nature of marketing
Marketing: It is the process of creating consumer value in the form of goods, services, or ideas
that can improve the consumer’s life. Marketing is the organizational function charged with
defining customer targets and the best way to satisfy needs and wants competitively and
profitably. Since consumers and business buyers face an abundance of suppliers seeking to
satisfy their everyday need, companies and nonprofit organizations cannot survive today by
simply doing a good job. They must do an excellent job if they are to remain in the increasingly
competitive global marketplace. This is what we say that survival of the fittest. Many studies
have demonstrated that the key to profitable performance is to know and satisfy target customers
with competitively superior offers. This process takes place today in an increasingly global,
technical, and competitive environment.
Marketing is not only restricted to selling and advertising as is perceived but is More than it
advertising it identifies and satisfies customers’ needs. It functions revolve around wide variety
and range of tasks and activities mostly termed as functions related to 4ps i.e. Product, price,
place and promotion. Marketing is:
 It is managing profitable customer relationships.
 The two fold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value
and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction.
 E.g. : Wal-Mart ‘ Always low price’ ,Dell , P&G etc.
 Marketing is the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong
customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.
 Philip Kotler- Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and
groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value.
 Marketing is an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating
and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in a way that
benefits both the organization and the stakeholder.
WORD
ORIGIN
MEANING
Market
Latin – ‘Marcatus’
A place where business is conducted.
 In the 1960s the AMA defined marketing as: “The process of planning and executing
the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.
a. Creating customer value and satisfaction are at the very heart of modern marketing
thinking and practice.
b. A very simple definition of marketing is that it is the delivery of customer satisfaction
at a profit.
c. Sound marketing is critical to the success of every organization.
Marketing can also be defined as process
of planning and executing the conception,
pricing, promotion, and distribution of
ideas, goods, and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational objectives.”
Demand
Supply
Market
Marketing involves in developing product
that provides superior value, and prices,
distributes and promotes them effectively.
Advertising and selling are only part of a
larger marketing mix- a set of tools that
work together to satisfy customer needs and build customer relationship
Thus marketing is …
A social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want through creating and exchange products and value with others
a process by which companies create value for customers and build
relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.
strong customer
CORE MARKETING CONCEPTS
a. Needs, wants, and demands Needs: Human needs are the most basic concept underlying
marketing. A human need is a state of felt deprivation.
 Humans have many complex needs.
 Basic, physical needs for food, clothing, warmth, and safety.
 Social needs for belonging and affection.
 Individual needs for knowledge and self expression.
 These needs are part of the basic human makeup.
Wants A human want is the form that a human need takes as shaped by culture and
individual personality.
Demands are human wants that are backed by buying power.
 Consumers view products as bundles of benefits and choose products that give
them the best bundle for their money.
 People demand products with the benefits that add up to the most satisfaction.
Outstanding marketing companies go to great lengths to learn about and
understand their customer’s needs, wan
wants,
ts, and demands. The outstanding
company strives to stay close to the customer
Needs, wants
and demand
Markets
Exchange ,
transaction
and Customer
relationships
Marketing
offers
Customer
value and
satisfaction
b. Products and Services:: A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy
a need or want. A service is an activity or benefit offered for sale that is essentially
intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.
i. The concept of product is not limited to physical objects and can include
experiences, persons, places, organizations, information, and ideas.
ii. Be careful of paying attention to the pr
product and not the
he benefit being satisfied.
iii. “Marketing myopia” is caused by shortsightedness or losing sight of underlying
customer needs by only focusing on existing wants.
c. Value, satisfaction, and quality
Customer value is the difference between the values that the customer gains from
owning and using a product and the costs of obtaining the product. Customers do not
often judge product values and costs accurately or objectively
objectively--they
they act on perceived
value.
Customer satisfaction depends on a product’ss perceived performance in Delivering
value relative to a buyer’s expectations. If performance exceeds expectations, the buyer is
delighted (certainly a worthy goal of the marketing company).
i. Smart companies aim to delight customers by promising only what they can
deliver, then delivering more than they promise.
ii. The aim of successful companies today is tot
total
al customer satisfaction.
iii. Customer delight creates an emotional affinity for a product or service, not just a
rational preference, and this creates high customer loyalty.
Quality has a direct impact on product or service performance. Quality is defined in
terms of customer satisfaction.
The term total quality management (TQM) is an approach in which all the company’s
people are involved in constantly improving the quality of products, services, and
marketing processes.
i. In the narrowest sense, quality can be defined as “freedom from defects.”
ii. Quality has a direct impact on product or service performance. Quality is defined
in terms of customer satisfaction.
iii. The fundamental aim of today’s total quality movement has become total
customer satisfaction.
d. Exchange, transactions, And relationships: Marketing occurs when people decide to
satisfy needs and wants through exchange
Exchange is the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in
return. Exchange is only one of many ways to obtain a desired object. Exchange is the
core concept of marketing. Conditions of exchange include:
i. At least two parties must participate.
ii. Each must have something of value to the other.
iii. Each must want to deal with the other party.
Each must be free to accept or reject the other's offer.
Whereas exchange is a core concept of marketing, a transaction (a trade of values
between two parties) is marketing’s unit of measurement. Most involve money, a
response, and action.
Transaction marketing is part of a larger idea of relationship marketing. Beyond
creating short term transactions, marketers need to build long- term relationships with
valued customers, distributors, dealers, and suppliers. Ultimately, a company wants to
build a unique company asset called a marketing network (the company and all its
supporting stakeholders). The goal of relationship marketing is to deliver long-term value
to the customer and thereby secure customer satisfaction and retention of patronage.
i. Competition is increasingly between networks.
ii. Build a good network of relationships with key stakeholders and profits will
follow.
e. Markets: The concepts of exchange and relationships lead to the concept of a market. A
market is the set of actual and potential buyers of a product.
i. Originally a market was a place where buyers and sellers gathered to exchange
goods (such as a village square).
ii. Economists use the term to designate a collection of buyers and sellers who
transact in a particular product class (as in the housing market).
iii. Marketers see buyers as constituting a market and sellers constituting an industry.
iv. Modern economies operate on the principle of division of labor, where each
person specializes in producing something, receives payment, and buys needed
things with this money. Thus, modern economies abound in markets.
v. Marketers are keenly interested in markets.
SCOPE OF MARKETING
Goods
Services
Experien
ces
Events
Persons
Organiza
tions
Informat
ion
Ideas
Places
Properti
es
Buying function
Assembling function
Functions of
exchange
Selling function
Transportation
Marketing
functions
Functions of
physical
distribution
Inventory management
Ware housing
Material handling
Financing
Functions
of
facilities
Risk taking and insurance
Standardization
After sales service
MARKETING FUNCTIONS
There are eight Universal functions that are performed in marketing these are as shown in fig
these are Buying, selling, transporting, storing, standardizing and grading, financing and finally
risk taking ,they are
Buying: (Raw material to produce goods and services and to purchase finished goods or services
as retailer or whole seller to sell them again for final customers and consumers). It is a function
that ensures that product offerings are available in sufficient quantities to meet customer
demands
Selling: The function to be performed to sell the products/services/idea to satisfy customer needs
or wants. Using advertising, personal selling and sales promotion to match goods and services to
customer needs
Transporting: Function related to create the availability of product or services. It is used for
moving products from their points of production to location convenient for purchases
Selling
Storing: Warehouses are used to store
the products for further distribution.
Transporting
Storing
Standardizing
Grading
Financing
Risk taking
Standardizing and grading:
To provide more
re quality products and
services without variation in the
quality. Ensuring that product
offerings meet established and grading
quality and quantity control standards
of size, weight, and other product
variables
Financing: Providing the financial resources to carry out different function e.g. promotion of
product and providing credit for channel members (wholesaler’s retailers) or consumers
Risk taking: Marketer takes a risk specifically when any new product is introduced in a market
because there are equal chances of success and failure. Dealing with uncertainty about consumer
purchases resulting from creation and marketing of goods and services that consumers may
purchase in the future
Securing Marketing Information: Collecting information about consumers, competitors,
information and channel members (wholesalers, and retailers) for use in making marketing
decisions Almost all marketing functions are based on information acquired from external
environment and information distributed out of organization. Mar
Marketer
keter seeks information to find
out customer needs and wants which are to be satisfied than after producing goods and services
awareness about the availability is required so that consumer can purchase the available goods
and services.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Marketing
management
functions
Marketing
Research and
information
Product and
pricing
Planning and
control
Promotion
Distribution
Q2. Explain in detail about Marketing Management and discuss about
marketing management process
process?
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
It is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with
them. To design a winning marketing strategy the manager must answer two important
questions:
1. What customers will we serve?
serve?- target market
 SELECTING CUSTOMERS TO SERVE
2. How can we serve these customers best?
best?- value proposition
 CHOOSING A VALUE PROPOSITION
The Marketing Management Process consists of analyzing market opportunities, researching and
Selecting target markets, developing marketing strategies, planning marketing tactics, and
implementing and controlling the marketing effort.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT PROCESS
STRUCTURE OF MARKETING FLOW IN MODERN MARKET ECONOMY
ELEMENTS OF A MODERN MARKETING SYSTEM
Q3. Briefly discuss about the market environment? How do you describe
environmental scanning?
Environment plays a critical role in business, especially in marketing. The marketing
environment is constantly changing and thus presenting new opportunities and threats. A
marketer's task is to correctly analyse the environment and design a marketing mix, which will
fit the environment. The ultimate purpose of the environmental analysis is to facilitate the firm's
strategic response to the environmental changes. The firm can attain its objective with strategic
planning in order to encash on environmental opportunities.
The Structure of the Marketing E
Environment
The consumer occupies the core/central position of all business activities and hence occupies the
centre of the marketing environment. The organization with its resources and having a policy and
structure surrounds the consumer with its particul
particular
ar market Marketing Environment offering as
do its competitors, suppliers and other intermediaries. This microenvironment of marketing is
again affected by the macro environment, which consists of the government, technical, political,
social, economic factors.
ors. This is graphically represented by Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: The Marketing Environment
2.2.2 The Micro and Macro Environment
There are two types of environmental forces, which influence an organization's marketing
activities. Some of these forces are external to the firm and the organization has little control
over them. The other type of forces comes from within the organization and can be controlled by
it. Hence, the marketing environment can be divided into two major components:
MACRO ENVIRONMENT: consists of demographics and economic conditions, socio cultural
factors, political and legal systems, technological developments, etc. These constitute the general
environment, which affects the working of all the firms.
Demographic Environment: Factors relating to population, such as size, growth rate, age
distribution, religious composition and literacy levels and aspects like composition of workforce,
household patterns, regional characteristics, population shifts etc., need to be studied as they are
all part of the demographic environment. The points to be considered here are:
 What demographic trends will affect the market size of the industry?
 What demographic trends represent opportunities or threats?
Economic Environment: Economic environment determines the strength and size of the market.
The purchasing power in an economy depends on current income, prices, savings, circulation of
money, debt and credit availability. Income distribution pattern determines the marketing
possibilities. The important point to consider is to find out the effect of economic prospects and
inflation on the operations of the firms.
Macro
Environment
Demographic
Economic
Government
Technological
Political
Socio-Cultural
Legal
Global
Physical
Government Environment: Business is highly guided and controlled by government policies.
Hence the type of government running a country is a powerful influence on business and
marketing gets affected.
 What changes and regulations are possible and what will be their impact? Marketing
Environment
 What are the political risks of operating in a governmental jurisdiction?
 What are the incentives the government may offer that might affect business?
 What are the taxes and duties that may be levied and might affect business?
Legal Environment: Firms prefer to operate in a country where there is a sound legal system
such as in US. Marketers must have a good working knowledge of the major laws protecting
consumers, competitions and organizations. Laws like MRTP, Consumer Protection Act,
Intellectual Property Right, FEMA, Labour Laws etc., can considerably affect business
operations.
Political Environment: Political pressure groups influence and limit organizations e.g., the case
of Enron in Maharastra and KFC in Karnataka. Special interest groups and political action
committees put pressure on business organizations to pay more attention to consumer's rights,
minority rights, and women’s rights.
Cultural Environment: The beliefs, values and norms of a society determine how individuals
and organizations relate to each other. The core beliefs of a particular society tend to be
persistent, as the American value system of work, charity and honesty. It is difficult for
marketers to change these core values, which have a major bearing on marketing operations in as
much as they set the stage for marketing activity and consumer response.
Technological Environment: The most important factor, which is controlling and changing the
human society and even impacting the future, is technology. Technology has literally
transformed the way people think, work and relax. Man could realise his dream of putting an
astronaut on the lunar surface, the moon, going to the other side of the globe within a few hours,
and even exploring the mysteries of the solar system. With the latest developments in genetic
engineering, man is extending the human life span. Technology has changed the way people
communicate with the advent of Internet and telecommunication system, and with the revolution
in communications have come new ways of doing business. This is opening up new business
opportunities while consumers reap the rewards of cutthroat competition among manufacturers.
The following factors are to be considered for the technological environment:




The pull of technological change
Opportunities arising out of technological innovation
Risk and uncertainty of technological development
Role of R&D in a country and government's R&D budget
Global Environment: The global environment is also rapidly changing. The new concept of
global village has changed how individuals and organizations relate to each other. The advent of
worldwide terrorism has the power to turn a booming economy into a stagnant one within no
time. The new migratory habits of the workforce as well as increased offshore operation are
changing the dynamics of business operation, while in the background, the WTO initiatives have
changed the way nations do business with each other, opening up markets and heralding the
coming of a new global economic order.
MICRO ENVIRONMENT: consist of suppliers, consumers, marketing intermediaries, etc.
These are specific to the said business or firm and affect its working on short term basis. This is
also known as the task environment and affects business and marketing at the daily operating
level. While the changes in the macro environment affect business in the long run, the effect of
micro environmental changes are noticed almost immediately. Organizations have to closely
analyse and monitor all the elements of microenvironment in order to adapt to rapid change and
stay competitive.
Consumer: According to Peter Drucker, the aim of business is to create and retain the customer.
Hence consumer occupies the central position in the marketing environment. The marketer has to
closely monitor and analyse changes in consumer tastes and preferences and cater to (if not try
and anticipate) their buying habits.
 What constitutes the consumer value system?
 What benefits is the consumer looking for?
 Who are the consumers?
 What are their buying patterns?
Competitors: Competition shapes business. A study of the competitive scenario is essential for
the marketer, particularly threats from competition.
 Who are the competitors?
 What are their present strategies and business objectives?
 Who are the most aggressive and powerful competitors?
Company: Nothing can be as important as self-analysis by the organization itself. "We have met
the enemy, and he is us" - Pogo. Understanding its own strengths and capabilities in a particular
business, that is, understanding a business in depth should be the goal of a firm's internal
analysis. The objectives, goals and resource availabilities of a firm occupy a critical position in
the microenvironment of marketing. The company with its resources and capabilities surrounds
the consumer in the microenvironment.
Market: The market is to be studied in terms of its actual and potential size, its growth prospect
and also its attractiveness. The marketer should study the trends and development and the key
success factors of the market he is operating. Important issues are :





Cost structure of the market
The price sensitivity of the market
Technological structure of the market
The existing distribution system of the market
Is the market matured?
Suppliers: Suppliers form an important component of the microenvironment. With their own
bargaining power they affect the cost structure of the industry. They constitute a major force,
which shapes competition in the industry. Also organizations have to take a major Marketing
Environment decision on "outsourcing" or "in-house" production depending on this supplier
environment.
Intermediaries: Intermediaries exert a considerable influence in the marketing environment.
They can also be considered as the major determining force in the business. In many cases the
consumers are not aware of the manufacturer and buy the product from the renowned
intermediaries as for example Wal-Mart in US, Pantaloons in India.
Public: Public constitute a major force in the micro environment and marketers have to very
carefully study their opinion, values, beliefs and attitudes in order to design a proper marketing
strategy for goods carefully tailored to meet the needs of the target consumer segment. In a sort
of reverse engineering, marketers also use the media to shape consumer tastes and preferences.
Consumer
Competitors
Company
Micro
Economics
Market
Suppliers
Public
Intermediaries
IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
 It creates an increased general awareness of environmental changes on the part of
management.
 It guides with greater effectiveness in matters relating to government.
 It helps in marketing analysis.
 It suggests improvement in diversification and resource allocations.
 It helps firms to identify and capitalize upon opportunities rather than losing out to
competitors.
 It provides base of objective qualitative information about the business environment that
can be value in designing the strategies.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
Environmental scanning – also known as Environmental Monitoring – is the process of gathering
information regarding a company's environment, analysing it and forecasting the impact of all
predictable environmental changes. Successful marketing depends largely on how a company
can synchronise its marketing programmes with its environmental changes.
The major components of environmental scanning are:





External Environmental analysis: write about macro environment and micro
environment
Customer Analysis: The important question for a firm is "Who are our customers?
Hence, the first logical step in strategic market planning is to analyse the customer, i.e., to
understand customer motivation, their unmet needs and how they can be segmented.
Competitor analysis: the competitor analysis is the second phase of external analysis, in
order to gain insights that will influence the product- market investment decision. The
analysis is focused on identifying threats, opportunities or strategic uncertainties created
by emerging or potential competitor moves. Competitor analysis starts with identifying
current and potential competitors. After competitors are identified, the task is to
understand them and their strategies, i.e., to analyze their strengths and weaknesses and
strategic groups of competitors.
Market analysis: "Imaging the future may be more important than analysing the past. I
daresay companies today are not resource-bound, they are imagination-bound", says,
C.K. Prahalad, University of Michigan Market analysis builds on customer and
competitor analysis, its objective being to determine the market response to current and
potential participants and also to understand the dynamics of the market.
Company analysis: The organization's performance in the marketplace is significantly
influenced by the following three factors:
o The organization's current market position, how well it has positioned itself
o The nature of environmental opportunities and threats
o The organization’s resource capability to capitalize on the opportunities and its
ability to guard itself against threats.
Faced with a constantly changing environment, each business unit needs to develop a
marketing information system to track trends and developments, which can be
categorized as either opportunities or threats. The company has to review its strength and
weakness against the backdrop of environmental opportunities and threats, i.e., to
perform a SWOT analysis for the organization.
Q4. Explain in brief about marketing management orientations? With
Examples
MARKETING MANAGEMENT ORIENTATIONS
There are several alternative philosophies that can guide organizations in their efforts to carry out
their marketing goal(s). Marketing efforts should be guided by a marketing philosophy.
Decisions about the weight, given the interests of the organization, customers, and society need
to be made by marketing managers. There are five alternative concepts under which
organizations conduct their marketing activities.
a. The Production Concept
The production concept holds that consumers will favor products that are available ad highly
affordable and that management should, therefore, focus on improving production and
distribution efficiency. This is one of the oldest philosophies that guide sellers. The production
concept is useful when:
i. Demand for a product exceeds the supply.
ii. The product’s cost is too high and improved productivity is needed to bring it down. The
risk with this concept is in focusing too narrowly company operations. The production
concept holdss that consumers will favor products that are affordable and available, and
therefore management’s major task is to improve production and distribution efficiency
and bring down prices.
b. The Product Concept
The product concept holds that consumers favor quality products that are reasonably priced, and
therefore little promotional effort is required. The selling concept holds that consumers will not
buy enough of the company’s products unless they are stimulated through a substantial selling
and promotion effort. The product concept states that consumers will favor products that offer
the most quality, performance, and features, and that the organization should, therefore, devote
its energy to making continuous product improvements. The product concept can also lead to
“marketing myopia,” the failure to see the challenges being presented by other products.
c. The Selling Concept
Many organizations follow the selling concept. The selling concept is the idea that consumers
will not buy enough of the organization’s products unless the organization undertakes a largelarge
scale selling and promotion effort.
i. This concept is typically practiced with unsought goods (those that buyers do not
normally think off buying e.g. insurance policies).
ii. To be successful with this concept, the organization must be good at tracking down the
interested buyer and selling them on product benefits.
iii. Industries that use this concept usually have overcapacity. Their aim is to sell
s what they
make rather than make what will sell in the market.
iv. There are not only high risks with this approach but low satisfaction by customers.
d. The Marketing Concept
The marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on determining the
needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and
efficiently than competitors do. The marketing and selling concepts are often confused. The
primary differences are:
i. The selling concept takes an “inside
“inside-out”
out” perspective (focuses on existing products and
uses heavy promotion and selling efforts).
ii. The marketing concept takes an “outside
“outside-in”
in” perspective (focuses on needs, values, and
satisfactions).
ons). Many companies claim to adopt the marketing concept but really do not
unless they commit to market
market-focused and customer-driven
driven philosophies:
a. Customer-driven
driven companies research current customers to learn about their
desires, gather new product and se
service
rvice ideas, and test proposed product
improvements.
b. Such customer-driven
driven marketing usually works well when there exists a clear
need and when customers know what they want.
c. When customers do not know what they want, marketers can try customer driving
marketing--understanding
understanding customer needs even better than customers themselves
do, and creating products and services that will meet existing and latent needs
now and in the future.
e. The Societal Marketing Concept
The societal marketing concept holds that the organization should determine the needs, wants,
and interests of target markets. It should then deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively
and efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves the consumer’s and the
society’s well being.
i. The societal marketing concept is the newest of the marketing philosophies.
ii. It questions whether the pure marketing concept is adequate given the wide variety of
societal problems and ills.
iii. According to the societal marketing concept, the pure marketing concept overlooks
possible conflicts between short
short-run consumer wants and long- run consumer welfare.
iv. The societal concept calls upon marketers to balance three considerations in setting their
marketing policies:
a. Company profits.
b. Customer wants.
c. Society’s interests.
v. It has become good business to consider and think of society’s interests when the
organization makes marketing decisions.
f. Service Concept: Customers buy services, not products. Therefore marketers should adopt a
service model of marketing instead of selling the title to the products.
Customers buy products for the services that they provide.
Ex :- 1)When a customer buys a car – he is buying the service of transportation.
2) When a customer buys an air conditioner – he is essentially buying cool atmosphere.
g. Experience Concept:
The marketer should create an experience around the product to make it memorable and reaffirm
it with cues at every customer interaction point.
a. An experience occurs when a company intentionally uses services as the stage, and goods
as props to engage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event.
b. Products and services are external to the customer.
c. Experiences are inherently personal, existing only in the mind of an individual who has
been engaged on an emotional, physical, intellectual, or spiritual level.
d. No two people can have the same experience. Because each experience derives from the
interaction between the staged event and the individuals state of mind.
h. Green marketing concept:
According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products
that are presumed to be environmentally safe.[1] Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range
of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging
changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task
where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the
existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term.[1] Other
similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.
Green, environmental and eco-marketing are part of the new marketing approaches which do not
just refocus, adjust or enhance existing marketing thinking and practice, but seek to challenge
those approaches and provide a substantially different perspective. In more detail green,
environmental and eco-marketing belong to the group of approaches which seek to address the
lack of fit between marketing as it is currently practiced and the ecological and social realities of
the wider marketing environment.
Q5. What is the difference between Marketing and Selling?
SELLING
Emphasis is on the product
MARKETING
Emphasis on consumer needs and wants
Company manufactures the product Company first determines customers’ needs and wants
and then decides on how to deliver a product to satisfy
first and then decides to sell it
these wants
Management
oriented
is
sales
volume Management is profit oriented
Planning is short-run-oriented, in Planning is long-run-oriented,in terms of new products
terms of today’s products and tomorrow’s markets and future growth
markets
Stresses needs and wants of buyers
Stresses needs of seller
Views business as a goods producing Views business as consumer satisfying process
process
Emphasis is on staying with existing Emphasis is on innovation in every sphere, on
providing better value to the customer by adopting a
technology and reducing costs
superior technology
Different departments work in All departments of the business operate in an integrated
highly
separate
water
tight manner, the sole purpose being generation of consumer
satisfaction
compartments
Consumer determines price, price determines cost
Cost determines price
Selling views customer as the last Marketing views the customer as the very purpose in
business.
link in business
Q6. Marketing mix strategies
Marketing Mix is a combination of marketing tools that a company uses to satisfy their target
customers and achieving organizational goals. McCarthy classified all these marketing
tools under four broad categories:




Product
Price
Place
Promotion
These four elements are the basic components of a marketing plan and are collectively called 4
P’s of marketing. 4 P’s pertain more to physical products than services.
The important thing to note is that all these four P’s (variable) are controllable, subject to internal
and external constraints of marketing environment. Marketers, using different blends of these
variables, can target different group of customers having different needs. So, a customer may
call marketing mix “the offering”.
Product
Product is the actual offering by the company to its targeted customers which also includes value
added stuff. Product may be tangible (goods) or intangible (services). While formulating the
marketing strategy, product decisions include:
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What to offer?
Brand name
Packaging
Quality
Appearance
Functionality
Accessories
Installation
After sale services
Warranty
Price
Price includes the pricing strategy of the company for its products. How much customer should
pay for a product? Pricing strategy not only related to the profit margins but also helps in finding
target customers. Pricing decision also influence the choice of marketing channels. Price
decisions include:
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Pricing Strategy (Penetration, Skim, etc)
List Price
payment period
Discounts
Financing
Credit terms
Using price as a weapon for rivals is as old as mankind. but it’s risky too. Consumers are often
sensitive for price, discounts and additional offers. Another aspect of pricing is that expensive
products are considered of good quality.
Place (Placement)
It not only includes the place where the product is placed, all those activities performed by the
company to ensure the availability of the product tot he targeted customers. Availability of the
product at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity is crucial in placement
decisions. Placement decisions include:
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Placement
Distribution channels
Logistics
Inventory
Order processing
Market coverage
selection of channel members
Promotion
Promotion includes all communication and selling activities to persuade future prospects to buy
the product. Promotion decisions include:
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Advertising
Media Types
Message
Budgets
Sales promotion
Personal selling
Public relations
Direct marketing
As these costs are huge as compared to product price, So it’s good to perform a break-even
analysis before allocating the budget. It helps in determining whether the new customers are
worth of promotion cost or not.
It often takes time and requires market research to develop a successful marketing mix. You
should not depend on one mix always try new mixes. While designing the mix, make changes to
all mixes in such a way that all conveys the same message. Don’t confuse your customers by just
changing one variable and keeping the rest same.