Marketing
Social scientists tell us
‘each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their
close network of friends, family, and associates. A
person's broader network may consist of scores,
hundreds, or thousands of people, depending upon her
position in society. ‘
What does the term Marketing conjure
up?
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What is marketing then ?
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The essence of marketing:
Marketing is about meeting the needs and wants of
customers;
 Marketing is a business-wide function – it is not
something that operates alone from other business
activities;
 Marketing is about understanding customers and
finding ways to provide products or services which
customers demand
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If we look at stages of adopting a new
product:
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Research suggests that customers go through five
stages in the process of adopting a new product or
service: these are summarised below:
(1) Awareness - the customer becomes aware of the
new product, but lacks information about it
(2) Interest - the customer seeks information about
the new product
(3) Evaluation - the customer considers whether
trying the new product makes sense
(4) Trial - the customer tries the new product on a
limited or small scale to assess the value of the
product
(5) Adoption - the customer decides to make full
and/or regular use of the new product
What is the role of marketing in the process of
new-product adoption?
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A marketing team looking to successfully introduce a new
product or service should think about
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how to help customers move through the five stages
For example, what kind of advertising or other promotional
campaign can be employed to build customer awareness? If
customers show a desire to trial or sample a product, how can
this be arranged effectively?
Marketing
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To convince people to try out or keep using particular products or
services
2 important principles
 All company policies and activities should be directed towards
satisfying customer needs
 Profitable sales volume is more important than max sales volume
Best used by :
 market research - Determine needs of customers by
 market strategy - Analyse competitive advantage in order to
develop a strategy
 target marketing - Select specific markets to serve
 marketing mix - Determine how to satisfy customer needs by
identifying
Key elements of marketing and their relationships
Create a Marketing Strategy
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customer needs and the
business environment in
which you operate are
constantly changing.
marketing strategy will
need to look at what
changes are taking
place, and at what
opportunities and threats
are emerging.
Ask the questions :
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What are customers looking for?
What are their needs?
Which customers are the most profitable?
How will I target the right potential
customers?
Are there groups that I can target
effectively?
What's the best way of communicating with
them?
How can I best promote my products?
 Options might include advertising, direct
marketing, exhibiting at trade fairs, PR or
marketing on the web.
Focus on the market
Your marketing strategy should:
 analyse your understanding of the different
needs of different groups of customers
 focus on a market niche where you can be the
best
 Possibly aim to put most of your efforts into the
20 per cent of customers who provide 80 per
cent of profits
You need to encapsulate All this in a
Marketing plan >
Main components of a Marketing Plan
THE MARKETING PLAN
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Identify your target audience .
Set your objectives and strategy
Decide upon the marketing mix
Agree a budget
Action planning
Measure your success
Main components of a Marketing Plan
1. Identify your target
audience - if you identify
multiple targets, rank them
in order of importance so
that you can allocate
resources accordingly.
Profile each target group
and understand their
requirements and
expectations so that you can
pitch your costs and
benefits at the correct
level.
Ten things you need to know about your
customers
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Who they are - If you sell directly to individuals, find out your
customers' gender, age, marital status and occupation. If you sell
to other businesses, find out what size and kind of business they
are. For example, small private company or big multinational.
What they do - If you sell directly to individuals, it's worth
knowing their occupations and interests. If you sell to other
businesses, it helps to have an understanding of what their
business is trying to achieve.
Why they buy - If you know why customers buy a product or
service, it's easier to match their needs to the benefits your
business can offer.
When they buy - If you approach a customer just at the time
they want to buy, you will massively increase your chances of
success.
How they buy - For example, some people prefer to buy from a
website, while others prefer a face-to-face meeting.
Ten things you need to know about your
customers
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How much money they have - You'll be more successful if
you can match what you're offering to what you know your
customer can afford.
What makes them feel good about buying - If you know
what makes them tick, you can serve them in the way they
prefer.
What they expect of you - For example, if your customers
expect reliable delivery and you don't disappoint them, you
stand to gain repeat business.
What they think about you - If your customers enjoy
dealing with you, they're likely to buy more. And you can
only tackle problems that customers have if you know what
they are.
What they think about your competitors - If you know how
your customers view your competition, you stand a much
better chance of staying ahead of your rivals.
Main components of a Marketing Plan
2. Set your objectives - possible
objectives could include
awareness raising (of
your business or disseminating
information about your products
or services), focusing on sales
(building Internet sales of a
product or increasing the
frequency of sales from regular
customers), or internal efficiency
(decreasing marketing costs,
reducing order-taking and
fulfilment costs, or improving
customer retention rates).
Your marketing objectives
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based on understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and the
business environment you operate in. They should also be linked to your
overall business strategy.
For example, suppose your business objectives include increasing sales
by 10 per cent over the next year. Your marketing objectives might
include targeting a promising new market segment to help achieve this
growth.
Other marketing objectives can be :
 Drive market growth.
 Increase market share.
 Create sustainable competitive advantages.
 Improve market adoption.
 Increase demand.
 Manage product life cycles
 Establish long-term customer loyalty.
 Improve brand equity.
 Execute profitable marketing campaigns
Objectives should always be SMART
though:
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Specific. For example, you might set an objective of getting ten
new customers.
Measurable. Whatever your objective is, you need to be able to
check whether you have reached it or not.
Achievable/ actionable. While you should set targets that
stretch you, there is no point in being too ambitious. Also what if
they are not met what is the resultant action ?
Realistic. You must have the resources you need to achieve the
objective. The key resources are usually people and money.
Time-bound. You should set a deadline for achieving the
objective. For example, you might aim to get ten new customers
within the next 12 months.
Main components of a Marketing Plan
3. Decide upon the marketing
mix – look at this in next few
slides
4. Agree a budget - careful budgeting allows you to
prevent costs spiralling out of control. By identifying the
returns you expect to make from your investment in emarketing activities you can compare these with the
costs in order to develop a cost/benefit analysis.
Variables controlled to
best satisfy customers in
target market
Marketing Mix (4p’s)
What
. your product offers that your
customers value, and how you should
change your product to meet
customer needs
Product
How and where you sell. This may
include using different distribution
channels. For example, you might sell
over the Internet or sell through
retailers
Place
Target Market
Price
For example, you might aim simply to match
the competition, or charge a premium price
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for a quality product and service. You might
have to choose either to make relatively
few high margin sales, or sell more but with
lower unit profits
Promotion
How you reach your customers and
potential customers. For example,
you might use advertising, PR, direct
mail, marketing on the web, and
personal selling
If you sell a service, you can extend this
to 7 Ps:
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People. For example, you need to ensure that your
employees have the right training.
Processes. The right processes will ensure that you
offer a consistent service that suits your customers.
Physical evidence. The appearance of your people and
premises can affect how customers see your service.
Even the quality of paperwork, such as invoices,
makes a difference.
Main components of a Marketing Plan
5. Action planning - identify
the tactics for
implementing the selected
marketing activities. The
plan should also cover
internet and non-internet
marketing activities that
are being undertaken.
Some examples :
Activities of marketing : Campaigns
Campaigns
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Different strategies are explored based on the customer’s perceived
value, buying process, priorities and influencers; and are based on
sustainable competitive advantages that create barriers of entry.
The campaigns are composed by a set of programs designed to increase
sales, create demand and influence customers. These programs may be
targeted to the sales force as incentives, to customers as promotions
and to the industry as contributions.
Incentives - Targeted to the sales force that may include,
incremental compensation, awards and special recognition.
 Promotions - Targeted to customers that may include, discounts,
additional services, bundles and preferable commercial conditions.
 Contributions -Targeted to the industry, primarily to the forums
and standard bodies, and are developed through a market alliance.
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Activities of marketing : Sales tools
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Sales Tools which may include:
 Seminars
 On-site presentations
 Business case
 Case studies
 White papers
 Demonstrations
 Field trials
 Product Approvals
Events including:
 Seminars
 Trade shows
 Speaking engagements
 On-site presentations
 Webinars
Activities of marketing : Web
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Web site
Search engines
Referrals and
collaboration
Email
Advertising
etc
Main components of a Marketing Plan
6. Measure your success build in feedback mechanisms
and regular reviews to enable
you to assess the success of
your marketing activities,
particularly for e-marketing
as e-commerce is such a
dynamic and fast-changing
area.
When setting Business Strategy
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Business strategy including:
 what your business is about (your business mission)
 your key business objectives
 your broad strategy for achieving those objectives
Carry out an External and internal analysis for your marketing
plan
 A PEST analysis helps you to identify the main
opportunities and threats in your market:
 Political and legal changes such as new regulations
 Economic factors such as interest rates, exchange rates and
consumer confidence
 Social factors such as changing attitudes and lifestyles, and
the ageing population
 Technological factors such as new materials and growing use
of the Internet
Carry out a S.W.O.T
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A SWOT analysis combines the external and internal
analysis to summarise your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats. You need to look for
opportunities that play to your strengths. You also
need to decide what to do about threats to your
business and how you can overcome important
weaknesses
For example, your SWOT analysis might help you
identify the most promising customers to target. You
might decide to look at ways of using the Internet to
reach customers. And you might start to investigate
ways of raising additional investment to overcome
your financial weakness
 How
do we get all the
market info ? …
 …. Well through
market research ….
Market research and market reports
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Market research helps you to gain this vital
knowledge.
You can build a picture of general trends using
published market information - from free government
statistics and data to paid-for market reports from
commercial providers. Your own contacts and sales
records can also be a great resource.
You can add to your knowledge by using field research
- from surveys and discussions to product tests - to
investigate customers' attitudes and examine
questions specific to your business.
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For business customers, you'll want to know how big
their businesses are, what sectors they're in, and who
makes the decision to buy your product or service.
If you're targeting individual consumers, it may be
useful to know such things as their gender, age,
occupation, income, lifestyle, attitudes or social class
Once you've identified the information you need, you
can start to draw it together. Initially it's worth
looking at information that's already been published,
eg market reports, official statistics, trade
publications etc.
Basic Field search
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You'll probably need to carry out some of your own field
research - talking, observing or carrying out product tests
with customers and potential customers. This can help you
to:
test customers' reactions to a new product, and adapt it if
necessary
investigate attitudes of customers and potential customers
find information specific to your business or a local market,
rather than the market as a whole
Field research can be quantitative or qualitative:
 Quantitative research provides statistical information - for
example, how many potential customers there are and what
their average incomes are.
 Qualitative research examines people's feelings and
attitudes towards your product or service, and what
motivates them.