MARKETING

MARKETING

Marketing is “a human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process”.

Marketing concept holds that key to achieving organizational goals consists of determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions efficiently and effectively.

Marketing management means management of the marketing functions. It is the process of organizing, directing and controlling the activities related to marketing of goods and services to satisfy customers’ needs & achieve organizational goals.

“Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers through creating, delivering and communicating superior customer of management.”

MEANING OF MARKET

The term ‘market’ refers to the place where buyers and sellers gather to enter transactions involving the exchange of goods and services. The term ‘Market’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Marcatus’ which means ‘to trade’.

FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING

1. Gathering and Analysing Market Information: This involves systematic accumulation of facts and analysis of information. Analysing the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of a business environment. Identifying customer needs and wants, identifying buying motives, choice of a brand name, packaging and media used for promotion etc.

2. Marketing planning: It is important to develop an appropriate marketing plan so that the marketing objectives can be achieved. It should specify the action programs to achieve these objectives. E.g., if a marketer tries to achieve a bigger market share in the country in the next three years, then his marketing plan should include various important aspects like plan for increasing level of production, promotion of products etc.

3. Product designing and development: This involves decisions regarding the product to be manufactured and its attributes such as its quality considerations, packaging, models and variations to be introduced etc. A good design improves the performance of a product and give it a competitive advantage in the market.

4. Standardization and grading: Standardisation refers to producing goods of predetermined specifications, which helps in achieving uniformity and consistency in the output E.g., ISI Mark etc. Grading is the process of classification of products into different groups, based on some of its important characteristics such as quality, size, etc. 

5. Packaging and Labelling: Packaging refers to designing and developing a package for a product. It protects the products from damage, risks of spoilage, breakage and leakage. It also makes buying convenient for customers and serves as a promotional tool. Labelling refers to designing a label to be put on the package. It may vary from a simple tag to complex graphics. E.g., Colgate, Lays etc.

6. Branding: It helps in differentiation of the product, builds customer loyalty and promote its sale. The important decision area is branding strategy, whether each product will have a separate brand name or the same brand name to be used for all products.

7. Customer Support Services: Customer support services are very effective in increasing sales from the prospective customers and developing brand loyalty for a product. It aims at providing maximum satisfaction to the customer and building brand loyalty. E.g., sales services, handling customer complaints and adjustments, procuring credit services, maintenance services, technical services and consumer information.

8. Pricing of Product: Price of product refers to the amount of money customers have to pay to obtain a product. It is an important factor in the success/ failure of a product. Demand for a product/ service is related to its price, so price should be fixed after analysing all the factors determining the price of the product.

9. Promotion: Promotion of products and services involves informing the customers about the firm’s product, its features, etc. and persuading them to buy the products. 

10. Physical Distribution: The two major decision areas under this function are

(a) Decision regarding channels of distribution or the marketing intermediaries to be used E.g., wholesalers, retailers

(b) Physical movement of the product from where the place of production to the place of consumption.

11. Transportation: Transportation means physical movement of goods from one place to the other. Various factors like nature of the product, cost, location of target market etc. should be considered in choosing the mode of transport. 

12. Storage or Warehousing: To maintain smooth flow of products in the market, there is a need for proper storage of the products. Storage and warehousing is used to protect against unavoidable delays in delivery or to meet out contingencies in the demand.

ROLE OF MARKETING

HOW IT WORKS?

KEY PROCESSES

CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR 

PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

1.     Scarcity - People have a higher desire for products in short supply. It increases their sense of urgency, and they think more seriously about buying the item. Deadlines have a similar effect. Our brains perceive missed opportunities as something very negative.

2.     Perceived Quality - Pricing affects the way people feel about a product. They attribute higher quality to expensive products.

MARKETING RESEARCH

Many businesses fail due to lack of marketing research. Marketing Research reveals the wants and needs of customers. The main goal is to collect enough data to process it and discover a pattern in the behaviour of a group of consumers.

STEPS in Marketing Research

MARKET SEGMENTATION

MARKETING MIX

If a company understands the needs of its customers, it can create products that satisfy the clients’ expectations and contain the features they desire; the price will correspond to the target market’s willingness to spend, and the products will be where the target market shops, and brand communication will be in a language that speaks to the target market.

PRODUCT MIX

PLACE MIX

PROMOTION MIX

PRICE MIX

It becomes really important to understand and implement the techniques to build a recognizable brand and loyal customers.