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Introduction Broadly rural marketing incorporates the marketing of agricultural products, rural industries products and services of many

kind. The trade channels for different types of commodities available in rural areas areas private, cooperatives, processors, regulated markets and state agencies. In no sense, a social cluster or village economy as at whole can, be developed without effective and efficient rural marketing. Very little attention has been paid in the planning era towards the development of rural marketing. In fact marketing is a dynamic state of affairs and is part and parcel of the whole economy. Thus production and marketing are the two facets of a coin. Rural marketing constitutes the nerve centre of rural development activities. Rural marketing is a two way marketing process. The content now encompasses not only marketing of products which flow to rural areas, but also products which flow to urban areas from rural areas. So a broad definition of rural marketing is concerned with the flow of goods and services from urban to rural arid vice-versa. In addition, it also include the marketing in the rural areas. As the rural marketing is a two-way process, this article attempts to highlight both the aspects. It examines the marketing aspects of rural produce with special reference to agriculture while on, the other hand it covers and suggests .strategies for promoting marketing within the rural areas. II. Marketing of Rural Produce to Other Areas The rapid economic growth of-any developing country is mainly governed by three factors: increasing food production and other major inputs of industry; increasing the income levels of middle and lower strata of the population and most importantly provision of basic infrastructure and planning a national marketing system and there by increasing the size of the national market is also essential to integrate the marketing systems with the needs and wants of the consumer with available resources. This is the hallmark of economic development. As India's major population lives in rural areas and agriculture being their main livelihood, major emphasis has been given to agriculture sector. 1n most of the developing countries development strategies are mostly in and around urban areas while technical advancement and improvement in the agricultural sector is receiving less attention. In order to promote the marketing, increase of the productivity of the farm is imperative. Apart from that, innovations in marketing of agricultural products is essential. On the other hand, promoting strategies for marketing of the manufactured goods in the rural areas requires equal attention. This article mainly discusses these objectives. A. Factors affecting agricultural productivity Regarding the increase of agricultural productivity, farmers should have an easy access to production inputs, the financial system, the market and agricultural knowledge then only they can improve agricultural productivity. Most of the farmers suffer from loss due to inadequate marketing facilities like non-availability of the inputs, lack of basic infrastructural facilities and price fluctuations etc besides lacking in fundamental knowledge about advancements in the field of agriculture. A case study done on this aspect clearly indicates that very little proportion of the seeds is being purchased from the outside agencies. The reasons found were as follows. 1. Lack of knowledge about the seeds ie. hybrids, high yielding which are better than the one they are producing. 2. Quality standards of the seeds procured from outside agencies are sometimes very low and variable to such an extent that the farmers cannot venture to purchase the seeds from outside. 3. Organizational shortcomings between extension and research agencies. The varieties suitable for the region are not popular among the farmers due to improper dissemination.

4. Above all, the variation and fluctuations of the procurement prices of the seeds discourage the farmers to go for it. And due to all these reasons, the yield of the crops is affected. The irregularities in the input supply system are affecting the productivity while lack of sufficient other basic infrastructural facilities like transport, storage, distribution, lack of market information etc. are found be the major bottle- necks in the marketing system. B. Disposal of surplus produce The expansion of production should always be aided by efficient marketing and distribution of surplus produce to the final consumer. The coordination between productive and marketing systems is a precondition for a stable progress. It is known fact that technological advancements led to a significant increase in wheat production in Punjab and Haryana but the farmers were stuck in disposing of the surplus due to inadequate transport and storage facilities. This illustrates that the emergence of large domestic production, if unattended by commensurate facilities in terms of credit, storage and transport facilities will increase the load of unsold price and depress the prices.

So, the modern marketing system should advocate the technological improvements in handling and storage of the produce. If we consider peas production in Uttar Pradesh improved preservation and packaging practice enabled the farmers to go for pea cultivation and also they are assured of a guaranteed and stable prices. The marketing facilities has really motivated the farmers. Likewise is the case in sugarcane also. But this technological changes should be carried out more efficiently by the extension personnel with regard to other crops also. C. Need of other facilities Besides, ensuring efficient coordination between production, transportation, communication and storage facilities, we have to realize the significance of credit financing and the value of market information for decision making. The present government has given a ray of hope as they have allocated considerable share in this budget for the agricultural sector. NABARD has a crucial role to play in the agricultural financing sector. Another important aspect in the rural marketing is market information. Information regarding production, market arrivals, day to day prices, changes in 1he stock with prices are essential for the farmers in order to equip themselves to withstand the prevailing situation.

The agricultural produce sector has been one of the most important components of the Indian economy. The increasing trend of agricultural production has brought, in its wake, new challenges in terms of finding market for the marketed surplus. There is also a need to respond to the challenges and opportunities, that the global markets offer in the liberalised trade regime. To benefit the farming community from the new global market access opportunities, the internal agricultural marketing system in the country needs to be integrated and strengthened. Government of India is striving to prepare the Indian agricultural markets and marketing environment so as to provide maximum benefit to the

producers and in turn, compete with the global markets. Agriculture and agricultural marketing need to be re-oriented to respond to the market needs and consumer preferences. Agricultural marketing reforms and creation of marketing infrastructure has been initiated to achieve the above purpose.

Agricultural marketing
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Market display in China Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in doing this, such as planning production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing, transport, storage, agro- and food processing, distribution, advertising and sale. Some definitions would even include the acts of buying supplies, renting equipment, (and) paying labor", arguing that marketing is everything a business does[1]. Such activities cannot take place without the exchange of information and are often heavily dependent on the availability of suitable finance. Marketing systems are dynamic; they are competitive and involve continuous change and improvement. Businesses that have lower costs, are more efficient, and can deliver quality products, are those that prosper. Those that have high costs, fail to adapt to changes in market demand and provide poorer quality are often forced out of business. Marketing has to be

customer-oriented and has to provide the farmer, transporter, trader, processor, etc. with a profit. This requires those involved in marketing chains to understand buyer requirements, both in terms of product and business conditions. In Western countries considerable agricultural marketing support to farmers is often provided. In the USA, for example, the USDA operates the Agricultural Marketing Service. Support to developing countries with agricultural marketing development is carried out by various donor organizations and there is a trend for countries to develop their own Agricultural Marketing or Agribusiness units, often attached to ministries of agriculture. Activities include market information development, marketing extension, training in marketing and infrastructure development. Since the 1990s trends have seen the growing importance of supermarkets and a growing interest in contract farming, both of which impact significantly on the way in which marketing takes place.

Contents
[hide]

1 Agricultural marketing support 2 Agricultural marketing development


2.1 Agricultural advisory services and the market 2.2 Market infrastructure 2.3 Market information 2.4 Marketing training 2.5 Enabling environments 2.6 Recent developments

3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit] Agricultural marketing support


In the United States the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is a division of USDA and has programs for cotton, dairy, fruit and vegetable, livestock and seed, poultry, and tobacco. These programs provide testing, standardization, grading and market news services and oversee marketing agreements and orders, administer research and promotion programs, and purchase commodities for federal food programs. The AMS also enforces certain federal laws. USDA also provides support to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center at Iowa State University [11] and to Penn State University [12]. In the United Kingdom support for marketing of some commodities was provided before and after the 2nd World War by boards such as the Milk Marketing Board and the Egg Marketing Board, but these were closed down in the 1970s. As a colonial power Britain established marketing boards in many countries, particularly in Africa. Some continue to exist although many were closed down at the time of the introduction of structural adjustment measures in the 1990s. In recent years several developing countries have established government-sponsored marketing or agribusiness units. South Africa, for example,

started the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) [13] as a response to the deregulation of the agriculture industry and closure of marketing boards in the country. India has the long-established National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) [14]. These are primarily research and policy organizations, but other agencies provide facilitating services for marketing channels, such as the provision of infrastructure, market information and documentation support. Examples include the National Agricultural Marketing Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO)[15] in Trinidad and Tobago and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation [16]. Several organizations provide support to developing countries to develop their agricultural marketing systems, including FAO's agricultural marketing unit and various donor organizations. There has also recently been considerable interest by NGOs to carry out activities to link farmers to markets.

[edit] Agricultural marketing development


Well-functioning marketing systems necessitates a strong private sector backed up by appropriate policy and legislative frameworks and effective government support services. Such services can include provision of market infrastructure, supply of market information (as done by USDA, for example), and agricultural extension services able to advise farmers on marketing. Training in marketing at all levels is also needed. One of many problems faced in agricultural marketing in developing countries is the latent hostility to the private sector and the lack of understanding of the role of the intermediary. For this reason middleman has become very much a pejorative word.

[edit] Agricultural advisory services and the market

Congestion at a market in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire Promoting market orientation in agricultural advisory services aims to provide for the sustainable enhancement of the capabilities of the rural poor to enable them to benefit from agricultural markets and help them to adapt to factors which impact upon these. As a study by the Overseas Development Institute demonstrates, a value chain approach to advisory services indicates that the range of clients serviced should go beyond farmers to include input providers, producers, producer organisations and processors and traders.[2]

[edit] Market infrastructure


Efficient marketing infrastructure such as wholesale, retail and assembly markets and storage facilities is essential for cost-effective marketing, to minimise post-harvest losses and to reduce

health risks. Markets play an important role in rural development, income generation, food security, developing rural-market linkages and gender issues. Planners need to be aware of how to design markets that meet a community's social and economic needs and how to choose a suitable site for a new market. In many cases sites are chosen that are inappropriate and result in under-use or even no use of the infrastructure constructed. It is also not sufficient just to build a market: attention needs to be paid to how that market will be managed, operated and maintained. [3] In most cases, where market improvements were only aimed at infrastructure upgrading and did not guarantee maintenance and management, most failed within a few years.[4] Rural assembly markets are located in production areas and primarily serve as places where farmers can meet with traders to sell their products. These may be occasional (perhaps weekly) markets, such as haat bazaars in India and Nepal, or permanent. Terminal wholesale markets are located in major metropolitan areas, where produce is finally channelled to consumers through trade between wholesalers and retailers, caterers, etc. The characteristics of wholesale markets have changed considerably as retailing changes in response to urban growth, the increasing role of supermarkets and increased consumer spending capacity. These changes require responses in the way in which traditional wholesale markets are organized and managed.

A typical market in Africa Retail marketing systems in western countries have broadly evolved from traditional street markets through to the modern hypermarket or out-of-town shopping centre. In developing countries, there remains considerable scope to improve agricultural marketing by constructing new retail markets, despite the growth of supermarkets, although municipalities often view markets as sources of revenue rather than infrastructure requiring development. Effective regulation of markets is essential. Inside the market, both hygiene rules and revenue collection activities have to be enforced. Of equal importance, however, is the maintenance of order outside the market. Licensed traders in a market will not be willing to cooperate in raising standards if they face competition from unlicensed operators outside who do not pay any of the costs involved in providing a proper service.[5]

[edit] Market information


Efficient market information can be shown to have positive benefits for farmers and traders. Upto-date information on prices and other market factors enables farmers to negotiate with traders and also facilitates spatial distribution of products from rural areas to towns and between markets.[6] Most governments in developing countries have tried to provide market information services to farmers, but these have tended to experience problems of sustainability. Moreover, even when they function, the service provided is often insufficient to allow commercial decisions to be made because of time lags between data collection and dissemination.[7] Modern

communications technologies open up the possibility for market information services to improve information delivery through SMS on cell phones and the rapid growth of FM radio stations in many developing countries offers the possibility of more localised information services. In the longer run, the internet may become an effective way of delivering information to farmers. However, problems associated with the cost and accuracy of data collection still remain to be addressed. Even when they have access to market information, farmers often require assistance in interpreting that information. For example, the market price quoted on the radio may refer to a wholesale selling price and farmers may have difficulty in translating this into a realistic price at their local assembly market.[8] Various attempts have been made in developing countries to introduce commercial market information services but these have largely been targeted at traders, commercial farmers or exporters. It is not easy to see how small, poor farmers can generate sufficient income for a commercial service to be profitable although in India a new service introduced by Thompson Reuters was reportedly used by over 100,000 farmers in its first year of operation. Esoko in West Africa attempts to subsidize the cost of such services to farmers by charging access to a more advanced feature set of mobile-based tools to businesses.

[edit] Marketing training


Farmers frequently consider marketing as being their major problem. However, while they are able to identify such problems as poor prices, lack of transport and high post-harvest losses, they are often poorly equipped to identify potential solutions. Successful marketing requires learning new skills, new techniques and new ways of obtaining information. Extension officers working with ministries of agriculture or NGOs are often well-trained in horticultural production techniques but usually lack knowledge of marketing or post-harvest handling.[9] Ways of helping them develop their knowledge of these areas, in order to be better able to advise farmers about market-oriented horticulture, need to be explored. While there is a range of generic guides and other training materials available from FAO and others, these should ideally be tailored to national circumstances to have maximum effect.

[edit] Enabling environments


Agricultural marketing needs to be conducted within a supportive policy, legal, institutional, macro-economic, infrastructural and bureaucratic environment. Traders and others cannot make investments in a climate of arbitrary government policy changes, such as those that restrict imports and exports or internal produce movement. Those in business cannot function if their trading activities are hampered by excessive bureaucracy. Inappropriate law can distort and reduce the efficiency of the market, increase the costs of doing business and retard the development of a competitive private sector. Poor support institutions, such as agricultural extension services, municipalities that operate markets inefficiently and export promotion bodies, can be particularly damaging. Poor roads increase the cost of doing business, reduce payments to farmers and increase prices to consumers. Finally, the ever-present problem of corruption can seriously impact on agricultural marketing efficiency in many countries by increasing the transaction costs faced by those in the marketing chain.

[edit] Recent developments


New marketing linkages between agribusiness, large retailers and farmers are gradually being developed, e.g. through contract farming, group marketing and other forms of collective action. [10] Donors and NGOs are paying increasing attention to ways of promoting direct linkages between farmers and buyers.[11] The growth of supermarkets, particularly in Latin America and East and South East Asia, is having a significant impact on marketing channels for horticultural, dairy and livestock products.[12] Nevertheless, spot markets will continue to be important for

many years, necessitating attention to infrastructure improvement such as for retail and wholesale markets.

[edit] References

Cooperative Marketing Act


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search The Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926 was a piece of agricultural legislation passed in the United States which expanded upon the Capper-Volstead Act of 1922. It allowed farmers to exchange past, present, and prospective crop, market, statistical, economic, and other similar information at their local cooperative meeting, without breaking antitrust laws. Previously, under the Capper-Volstead Act, they had only been permitted to exchange pricing information.[1] Under the Cooperative Marketing Act, farmers and their local, regional, and national cooperatives could legally exchange a host of information within their marketing systems. It was a critically important strategic authorization that enabled federated cooperative systems and marketing agencies-in-common to effectively function as coordinated entities. In addition, the Act created the Division of Cooperative Marketing within the United States Department of Agriculture to assist cooperatives in gathering and sharing data on output, prices, and demand. The Act also created the Cooperative Research and Service Division which conducted research and service activities relating to problems of management, organization policies, merchandising, sales, costs, competition, and membership arising in connection with the cooperative marketing of agricultural products and the cooperative purchase of farm supplies and services. The Cooperative Marketing act was useful, but it was still not satisfactory to the Farm Bureau or other farm lobbyist groups. For farmers, an increase in available information to help cooperatives work together was no substitute for the price floor on select crops that they demanded. Demand for a price floor was steady, and culminated in the passage of the McNary-Haugen bills in 1927, and again in 1928, both which suffered the veto of President Calvin Coolidge.
Though the above measures have improved the system of agricultural marketing to some extent, a major part of the benefits has been derived by large farmers, who have adequate marketable surplus. However, the small and marginal farmers continue to sell a major part of their produce to moneylenders to meet their credit needs and these moneylenders offer them very low prices. Therefore it is essential to form cooperatives of the small and marginal farmers to enable them to obtain fair prices for their produce. The advantages that co-operative marketing can confer on the farmer are multifarious, some of which are listed below. 1. Increases bargaining strength of the fanners Many of the defects of the present agricultural marketing system arise because often one ignorant and illiterate farmer (as an individual) has to face well-organised mass of clever intermediaries. If the farmers join hands and for a co-operative, naturally they will be less prone to exploitation and malpractices. Instead of marketing their produce separately, they will market it together through one agency.

2. Direct dealing with final buyers In cases, the co-operatives can altogether skip the intermediaries and enter into direct relations with the final buyers. This practice will eliminate exploiters and ensure fair prices to both the producers and the consumers.

More on Agricultural Marketing

Importance and Objectives of Agricultural Marketing in India Facilities Needed for Agricultural Marketing Inadequacies of Present Marketing System Characteristics of Agricultural Products Methods of Sale and Marketing Agencies Agricultural Marketing in India Improvement of Agricultural Marketing System Cooperative Marketing in India Warehousing in India Ideal Marketing System Scientific Marketing of Farm Products
3. Provision of credit The marketing co-operative societies provide credit to the farmers to save them from the necessity of selling their produce immediately after harvesting. This ensures better returns to the farmers. 4. Easier and cheaper transport Bulk transport of agricultural produce by the societies is often easier and cheaper. Sometimes the societies have their own means of transport. This further reduces cost and botheration of transporting produce to the market. 5. Storage facilities The co-operative marketing societies generally have storage facilities. Thus the farmers can wait for better prices. Also there is no danger to their crop yield from rains, rodents and thefts.

6. Grading and standardization This task can be done more easily for a co-operative agency than for an individual farmer. For this purpose, they can seek assistance from the government or can even evolve their own grading arrangements. 7. Market intelligence The co-operatives can arrange to obtain data on market prices, demand and supply and other related information from the markets on a regular basis and can plan their activities accordingly. 8. Influencing marketing prices While previously the market prices were determined by the intermediaries and merchants and the helpless farmers were mere spectators force to accept, whatever was offered to them, the co-operative societies have changed the

entire complexion of the game. Wherever strong marketing co-operative are operative, they have bargained for and have achieved, better prices for their agricultural produce. 9. Provision of inputs and consumer goods The co-operative marketing societies can easily arrange for bulk purchase of agricultural inputs, like seeds, manures fertilizers etc. and consumer goods at relatively lower price and can then distribute them to the members. 10. Processing of agricultural produce The co-operative societies can undertake processing activities like crushing seeds, ginning 'and pressing of cotton, etc.

In addition to all these advantages, the co-operative marketing system can arouse the spirit of self-confidence and collective action in the farmers without which the programme of agricultural development, howsoever well conceived and implemented, holds no promise to success.

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Agricultural Marketing in India - Warehousing in India

Industrial, or business to business (B2B) marketing


Examples of a B2B selling process: An organization seeks to build a new warehouse. After documenting requirements, it obtains three proposals from suitable construction firms. After a long process of evaluation and negotiation, it places an order with the organization that it believes offers the best value for money. An organization needs legal services and obtains submissions from two law firms. Analysis of the proposals and subsequent discussions determines that there is no price advantage to placing all of the work with one firm, and the organization decides to split the work between the two firms based on an evaluation of each firm's capabilities. A sales representative makes an appointment with an organization that employs 22 people. He demonstrates a photocopier/fax/printer to the office administrator. After discussing a proposal, the business owner signs a contract to obtain the machine on a fully-maintained rental and consumables basis, with an upgrade after 2 years. Marketing is one-to-one in nature. It is relatively easy for the seller to identify a prospective customer and build a face-to-face relationship. Highly professional and trained people in buying processes are involved. In many cases, two or three decision makers must approve a purchase plan. Often the buying or selling process is complex, and includes many stages (for example, request for proposal, request for tender, selection process, awarding of tender, contract negotiations, and signing of final contract).

Main features of the B2B selling process are:

Selling activities involve long processes of prospecting, qualifying, wooing, making representations, preparing tenders, developing strategies, and contract negotiations.

See also B2B definition.

[edit] Blurring between B2B and B2C


Industrial marketing can cross the border into consumer marketing. For example, an electronic component seller may distribute its products through industrial marketing channels (see channel (marketing)), but also support consumer sales. Many products are equally desired by business and consumerssuch as audio products, furniture, paint, hardware, etc. Nonetheless, manufactures and service providers frequently maintain separate industrial and consumer marketing operations to reflect the different needs of the two channels.

[edit] Competitive tendering


Industrial marketing often involves competitive tendering (see tender, tendering). This is a process where a purchasing organization undertakes to procure goods and services from suitable suppliers. Due to the high value of some purchases (for example buying a new computer system, manufacturing machinery, or outsourcing a maintenance contract) and the complexity of such purchases, the purchasing organization will seek to obtain a number of bids from competing suppliers and choose the best offering. An entire profession (strategic procurement) that includes tertiary training and qualifications has been built around the process of making important purchases. The key requirement in any competitive tender is to ensure that...

The business case for the purchase has been completed and approved. The purchasing organization's objectives for the purchase are clearly defined. The procurement process is agreed upon and it conforms with fiscal guidelines and organisational policies. The selection criteria have been established. A budget has been estimated and the financial resources are available. A buying team (or committee) has been assembled. A specification has been written. A preliminary scan of the market place has determined that enough potential suppliers are available to make the process viable (this can sometimes be achieved using an expression of interest process). It has been clearly established that a competitive tendering process is the best method for meeting the objectives of this purchasing project. If (for example) it was known that there was only one organisation capable of supplying; best to get on with talking to them and negotiating a contract.

Because of the significant value of many purchases, issues of probity arise. Organisations seek to ensure that awarding a contract is based on "best fit" to the agreed criteria, and not bribery, corruption, or incompetence.

[edit] Bidding process

Suppliers who are seeking to win a competitive tender go through a bidding process. At its most primitive, this would consist of evaluating the specification (issued by the purchasing organization), designing a suitable proposal, and working out a price. This is a "primitive" approach because...

There is an old saying in industrial marketing; "if the first time you have heard about a tender is when you are invited to submit, then you have already lost it." While flippant, the previous point illustrates a basic requirement for being successful in competitive tendering; it is important to develop a strong relationship with a prospective customer organization well before they have started the formal part of their procurement process.

(more needed)

[edit] Non-tender purchasing


Not all industrial sales involve competitive tendering. Tender processes are time consuming and expensive, particularly when executed with the aim of ensuring probity. Government agencies are particularly likely to utilise elaborate competitive tendering processes due to the expectation that they should be seen at all times to be responsibly and accountably spending public monies. Private companies are able to avoid the complexity of a fully transparent tender process but are still able to run the procurement process with some rigour.

[edit] Developing a sales strategy/solution selling/technical selling


The "art" of technical selling (solution selling) follows a three stage process...

Stage 1: Sell the appointment: Never sell over the telephone. The aim of the first contact with a prospective purchaser is to sell the appointment. The reason is simple; industrial sales are complex, any attempt to sell over the phone will trivialise your product or service and run the risk of not fully understanding the customer's need. Stage 2: Understand their needs: The best method of selling is to minimise the information about your goods or services until you have fully understood your customer's requirements. Stage 3: Develop and propose a solution: The solution is (of course) developed from your (or the firm's) product or service offerings.

In solution selling, it is essential not to sell the solution before you understand the customer's requirements. Otherwise you may unwittingly sell him on how ill-suited your solution is to his requirements. To illustrate, imagine a couple tells an architect, "We want to build a house." If the architect immediately responds with a design without learning the details of the clients' desires and requirements, he will likely alienate them. If he patiently learns what the clients need, he has a much greater chance of successfully selling his services. Marketing supports solution selling through methods like account-based marketing understanding a specific target organization's requirements as the foundation of a marketing program. As research shows,[1] sales success is heavily weighted towards suppliers who understand the customer. In UK research, 77 per cent of senior decision-makers believe new suppliers' marketing approaches are poorly targeted and make it easy to justify staying with current suppliers).

Sales force management has a critical function in industrial selling, where it assumes a greater role than other parts of the marketing mix. Typical industrial organisations depend on the ability of their sales people to build relationships with customers. During periods of high demand (economic boom), sales forces often become mere order takers and struggle to respond to customer requests for quotations and information. However, when economic downturn hits it becomes critical to direct the sales force outward to sell.

[edit] From cannon fodder to preferred tenderer


The term "cannon fodder" derives from the World Wars and refers to the massing of undertrained and recently recruited troops sent to the fronts to face the enemy. Such troops invariably had a poor survival rate but provided the tactical advantage of distracting the enemy while professional soldiers mounted more effective operations. In adopting the term to Industrial Marketing it means those bids being submitted that have no chance of winning but are involved to make up the numbers (you can't have only one bid in a "competitive" tender process; that wouldn't satisfy the requirements of probity) (for example in government tenders, or for private enterprise the requirement to "truly test the market" and to "keep them honest"). The reader might be wondering why anybody would go to all of the work of submitting a tender when they had no chance of winning; for the same reason that troops were sent in to battle to die; they thought they had a real chance.

[edit] The key features of a successful industrial sales organisation


In industrial marketing the personal selling is still very effective because many products must be customized to suit the requirements of the individual customer. Indicators such as the sales tunnel give information on the expected sales in the near future, the hit rate indicates whether the sales organization is busy with promising sales leads or it is spending too much effort on projects that are eventually lost to the competition or that are abandoned by the prospect.

[edit] The internet and B2B marketing


The dot com boom and bust of the late 90's saw significant attempts to develop on-line shopping. Many entrepreneurs (and their investors) discovered that merely having a website (no matter how innovative) was insufficient to generate sales. The amount of conventional media advertising required to promote the sites burnt cash at a faster rate than on-line sales generated. They also presumed that consumers would eschew the conventional shopping experience (driving, parking, poor service etc.) for the convenience of shopping on-line. Some did, but for many companies, not in sufficient numbers. There were many unforeseen problems, and apart from some notable exceptions (Amazon.com and others) the business to consumer online model failed for many companies. B2B selling, however, more frequently achieved impressive results.

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CSR and Corporate Image building


by Khushi Mehta last modified Nov 12, 2010 10:44 AM The potential of using Corporate Social Responsibility for a positive

image and brand building is being judiciously capitalized by the companies. Investing in CSR may not directly lead to an increase in the bottom-line, but nonetheless it can surely aid in forming a positive perception about the company among the masses. For the image building exercise, there are multiple ways at companys disposal, but choosing the most appropriate path that is in synergy with business goal and corporate image building, becomes a subject of strategic decision. One common approach of using CSR in corporate image building exercise is to follow inside out influence on society. This strategy focuses on creating a positive image from the primary or the core activities which the company carries out. For example, fair procurement price, safe products, truthful marketing, respectable labour practices come under this categoryi . A committed effort is also placed on saving the environment from adverse effects of company operations. Even the end products (e.g. automobiles) are publicized in a way to highlight their role in safeguarding the environment. Another approach of utilizing CSR as an instrument for image building is to adopt some social or environmental cause. Some companies like Nestle have used CSR in a holistic way such that it has not only built an image, but also improved its business and benefitted society. Nestle took initiatives to improve the condition of local dairy farmers, which in turn secured the supply of milk and improved the perception of company as being socially responsible. Enhancing reputation through CSR activities can help in brand building and attracting more business. A positive perception about the company can help in securing the deals with new partners, investors and regulatory authorities. Additionally, it also helps in rapport building with the customers and the employees. A considerable number of customers prefer to avail services from those companies who demonstrate responsible business. Furthermore, the advantage of attracting and retaining talent also depends on the candidates perception of company brand, which is partially determined by the social and ethical practices of the company. Keeping these views in mind, a whole new idea of CSR risk management has evolved. This branch deals with the present and future CSR risks, which might affect a company in terms of tarnishing its reputation, creating political controversies and disrupting its supply chains. The ethical business has caught up a new sensation in the market place and media plays a

powerful role in building or ruining the corporate image. Reports such as use of child labour in manufacturing of branded shoes, or traces of pesticides found in the soft drinks do take a toll on companys reputation and market share. The firms have started utilizing media as a tool for publicizing their positive steps taken for welfare of the society, business and environment, thus improving their market opportunities. However, it also means emphasizing in popular and visible corporate activities that may be purely for seeking media attention or building public relations. CSR, if used strategically can be utilized for a positive image building and business development. Company needs to meticulously plan out their strategy in such a way that the image building exercise does not compromise the core social and environmental responsibility, which is the crux of CSR.

Friday, May 1, 2009


The Importance Of Industrial Marketing

All of business people including employee, supplier, everyone that engaged into a business, especially those business man (one who runs the business) and also the business owner know exactly what they mean when they are into a business. They all agree to one purpose, which is to make money, to create profit. But how do they know about what they have been doing? Do they have reached what they aim at the first time they setting up their business? In this case, they must pay attention with the return on investment. To make the goals achieved, they have to manage their industrial marketing, as the important factor. Industrial Marketing helps all company to bear the bridge between buyer and seller. In internet business, this industrial marketing helps those internet companies that most of them are being blind about who is their customer. In summary, while also helps those internet companies to know their return on investment, this industrial marketing program also helpful in building a bridge between themselves and their customer. You can have the program of the internet industrial marketing through the internet itself. Visit the sites and learn how they may be a help.

Importance of IM

Introduction

International marketing has great significance for both the economic development of countries and the profitability of individual business firms. In the United States the strength of its economy and its world leadership position will be largely determined by the world-wide competitive effectiveness of American business. For some American businesses, survival depends on the expansion of international markets. Marketing figures strategically in the economic development of both mature and maturing economies, but this fact has long been ignored. In the emerging nations, economic development requires not only national markets that effectively link urban and rural areas, but also the creation of wider marketing activities to generate industrial production and stimulate diversified exports (Lazer 1971).

Marketing occupies a critical role in respect to the development of growth areas. Marketing is the most important multiplier of such development. It contributes to the greatest needs. In the international arena, marketing plays another significant role. It extends the domain of

competitive enterprise. International marketing tends to break down nationalistic and economic barriers and to encourage economic unity. In fact, the marketing philosophy, although associated with more mature economies, maybe of greater value when applied to a country with a developing economy than to highly industrialized nations (Lazer 1971).For countries at various stages of development, marketing can serve different needs, since it is involved with diffusing ideas and products that have great economic and social values. It can help to create and expand markets, increase profits, accumulate capital, balance international payments, extend production facilities, exchange primary products for machinery and equipment, and develop economic competence. In the United States, the broader economic posture is that of a commitment as never before, to a policy of increasing freedom of trade among nations. Not only a major factor in people's way of life, marketing is also one of the exportable components of American technology.

Effective Marketing Strategy in Retail


By Julie-Ann Amos
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The retail sector is one of the most competitive in the business world, and so effective marketing strategy is needed in order to be successful. However, many retailers get caught up in the day-today running of their companies and don't use all their business strategy expertise to push their business forward. If you are in the retail business, then you need to wake up and think carefully about your current marketing strategy. If you don't you could find yourself trailing behind the competition and losing business to other retailers. If you want to improve your retail marketing strategy, then here is some advice to get you started. Use the Internet With the Internet increasing in popularity all the time, it is extremely important to use Internet marketing as a way to improve market share. In order to improve your access to customers, create a web site where customers can view your merchandise and possibly buy products online. Selling your products online is a great way of expanding your business without having to spend lots of money on new premises or retail locations. However, if you don't want to develop online business, then you can still advertise your business online. Effective marketing strategy should use all mediums available to improve business exposure, and with online advertising a low cost and effective medium it makes sense to take advantage of the opportunity. Offer a promotion Retail business is extremely competitive, and so even the smallest of promotions can give you an edge over your competitors. Your business strategy should be to come up with regular and innovative promotions to entice customers into your store. These promotions can range from offering a free gift with certain products to a competition entry when certain items are purchased. If you keep your marketing strategy fresh with new promotions then you will definitely remain competitive and will attract customers to your products. Signage and storefront are important Although you can use plenty of complex marketing strategy techniques to attract customers, nothing is simpler and more effective than having a bold and effective storefront and signage. If you have a shop window, then keep the displays up to date and imaginative. Change the display each season and alter your sign every few years to keep things looking good. However, make sure that you keep the signage them constant so that your brand and store are easily recognisable. Make sure your sign can be seen from as far a distance as possible. Sometimes, the simplest marketing strategies are the best, and keeping your store bright and attractive is one such method. Ask customers what they want Your marketing strategy ideas might be great, but if you really want to improve your business then you need to ask the people that matter most - the customers. Effective marketing strategy should always begin by asking customers what sort of products, services and promotions they

want. This will give you a better idea of how to market your products and improve your customer base. If there is one thing you should learn about effective business strategy, it is to listen to your loyal customers and then cater to their needs through effective marketing strategy. Julie-Ann Amos is a freelance business writer on business and property investment, and owner of exquisitewriting.com She recommends http://www.singingpig.co.uk as one of the most effective sources of information for small businesses and property investment. Their property investment forum is a place to find information hard to locate elsewhere. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie-Ann_Amos

Marketing systems can be adapted to any type of economy regardless of its state of development or inclination toward regulation (Lazer 1971). But unlike agricultural, fishing, or manufacturing technology, marketing cannot be directly transplanted from its American base to another culture. Adaptations become extremely important. It is much easier to export marketing institutions and methods to countries that have basic cultural and economic similarities. The process of adapting American marketing technology to various countries is necessarily complicated and time consuming. Yet, many examples of successful adaptations in diverse economic climates are evident. The introduction of supermarkets into Italy, Japan, and Latin America; of advertising and installment selling into Russia; of credit purchases into Britain, and of discount houses into France are typical. Shaped in fact by particular cultures, marketing then influences local customs and practices. Marketing activities modify the cultural and social climate by building and

challenging consumer tastes and patterns of eating, housing, dress, and recreation. International marketers represent important sources of new ideas. International marketing is one of business's significant frontiers. Even though marketing has realized its greatest development in the American environment, the impact of its concepts and techniques has diffused to all parts of the world

Multi-level marketing
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Marketing Key concepts Product Pricing Distribution Service Retail Brand management Account-based marketing Marketing ethics Marketing effectiveness Market research Market segmentation Marketing strategy Marketing management Market dominance Promotional content Advertising Branding Underwriting Direct marketing Personal Sales Product placement Publicity Sales promotion Sex in advertising Loyalty marketing Premiums Prizes Promotional media

Printing Publication Broadcasting Out-of-home Internet marketing Point of sale Promotional merchandise Digital marketing In-game In-store demonstration Word-of-mouth marketing Brand Ambassador Drip Marketing This box: view talk edit

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation.[1] Other terms for MLM include network marketing,[2][3][4] pyramid selling,[5][6][7][8][9] and referral marketing.[10] Most commonly, the salespeople are expected to sell products directly to consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing.[1] Some people equate MLM with direct selling, although MLM is only one type of direct selling.[1][2][11] MLM companies have been a frequent subject of criticism as well as the target of lawsuits. Criticism has focused on their similarity to illegal pyramid schemes, price-fixing of products, high initial start-up costs, emphasis on recruitment of lower-tiered salespeople over actual sales, encouraging if not requiring salespeople to purchase and use the company's products, potential exploitation of personal relationships which are used as new sales and recruiting targets, complex and sometimes exaggerated compensation schemes, and cult-like techniques which some groups use to enhance their members' enthusiasm and devotion.[10][12] Not all MLM companies operate the same way, and MLM groups have persistently denied that their techniques are anything but legitimate business practices.[citation needed] In contrast to MLM is single-level marketing. In single-level marketing, the salesperson is rewarded for selling the product, but not for recruiting or sponsoring other salespeople.[13]

Contents
[hide]

1 Direct selling, network marketing, and multi-level marketing 2 History 3 Setup 4 Income levels 5 Legality and legitimacy 6 Criticism

6.1 Minimum "sales" requirement

7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links

[edit] Direct selling, network marketing, and multi-level marketing


"Network Marketing" and "Multi-level Marketing" are generally considered to be synonyms, and a subset of direct selling.[1] While "direct selling" and "network marketing" refer primarily to the distribution system, the term "multi-level marketing" emphasizes the compensation plan more.[1] Network Marketing tends to be modern preferred term,[14] however many other terms are also used, including word-of-mouth marketing, interactive distribution, relationship marketing and others. Critics have argued that the use of different terms and "buzzwords" is an effort to distinguish multi-level marketing from illegal Ponzi schemes, chain letters, and consumer fraud scams.[14] Some sources classify multi-level marketing as a form of direct selling rather than being direct selling.[13][15][16] The Direct Selling Association, an American industry body, reported that in 1990 twenty-five percent of members used MLM, growing to 77.3 percent in 1999.[17] Companies such as Avon, Electrolux, Tupperware,[18] and Kirby all originally used single level marketing to sell their goods and later introduced multi-level compensation plans.[19] By 2009, 94.2% of members were using MLM, accounting for 99.6% of sellers, and 97.1% of sales.[20] The DSA has approximately 200 members [21] while it is estimated there are over 1000 firms using multi-level marketing in the US alone.[22]

[edit] History
It is generally accepted that the first multi-level marketing plan was introduced in 1945 by the California Vitamin Company (shortly afterwards to become Nutrilite).[13][23] The plan allowed Nutrilite distributors with at least 25 regular customers to recruit new distributors and draw a 3 percent commission from their sales. Unlike traditional direct selling, this was an ongoing payment whenever the customer re-ordered, allowing direct sellers to build a sales organization that could generate a residual-like income.[23]

[edit] Setup
Independent, unsalaried salespeople of multi-level marketing, referred to as distributors (or associates, independent business owners, dealers, franchise owners, sales consultants, consultants, independent agents, etc.), represent the company that produces the products or provides the services they sell. They are awarded a commission based upon the volume of product sold through their own sales efforts as well as that of their downline organization. Independent distributors develop their organizations by either building an active customer base, who buy direct from the company, or by recruiting a downline of independent distributors who also build a customer base, thereby expanding the overall organization. Additionally, distributors can also earn a profit by retailing products they purchased from the company at wholesale price.

[edit] Income levels


Several sources have commented on the income level of specific MLMs or MLMs in general:

The Times: "The Government investigation claims to have revealed that just 10% of Amway's agents in Britain make any profit, with less than one in ten selling a single item of the group's products."[24] Scheibeler, a high level "Emerald" Amway member: "UK Justice Norris found in 2008 that out of an IBO [Independent Business Owners] population of 33,000, 'only about 90 made sufficient incomes to cover the costs of actively building their business.' That's a 99.7 percent loss rate for investors."[25] Newsweek: based on Mona Vie's own 2007 income disclosure statement "fewer than 1 percent qualified for commissions and of those, only 10 percent made more than $100 a week."[26] Business Students Focus on Ethics: "In the USA, the average annual income from MLM for 90% MLM members is no more than US $5,000, which is far from being a sufficient means of making a living (San Lian Life Weekly 1998)"[27] USA Today has had several articles:

"While earning potential varies by company and sales ability, DSA says the median annual income for those in direct sales is $2,400."[28] In an October 15, 2010 article, it was stated that documents of a MLM called Fortune reveal that 30 percent of its representatives make no money and that 54 percent of the remaining 70 percent only make $93 a month. The article also states Fortune is under investigation by the Attorneys General of Texas, Kentucky, North Dakota, and North Carolina with Missouri, South Carolina, Illinois, and Florida following up complaints against the company.[29] A February 10, 2011 article stated "It can be very difficult, if not impossible, for most individuals to make a lot of money through the direct sale of products to consumers. And big money is what recruiters often allude to in their pitches." [30] "Roland Whitsell, a former business professor who spent 40 years researching and teaching the pitfalls of multilevel marketing": "You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone making over $1.50 an hour, (t)he primary product is opportunity. The strongest, most powerful motivational force today is false hope."[30]

[edit] Legality and legitimacy


MLM businesses operate in the United States in all 50 states, and in more than 100 other countries. New businesses may use terms like "affiliate marketing" or "home-based business franchising". However, many pyramid schemes try to present themselves as legitimate MLM businesses.[11] The United States Federal Trade Commission states "Steer clear of multilevel marketing plans that pay commissions for recruiting new distributors. They're actually illegal pyramid schemes. Why is pyramiding dangerous? Because plans that pay commissions for recruiting new distributors inevitably collapse when no new distributors can be recruited. And when a plan collapses, most people - except perhaps those at the very top of the pyramid - end up empty-handed."[31] In a 2004 Staff Advisory letter to the Direct Selling Association, the FTC states: Much has been made of the personal, or internal, consumption issue in recent years. In fact, the amount of internal consumption in any multi-level compensation business

does not determine whether or not the FTC will consider the plan a pyramid scheme. The critical question for the FTC is whether the revenues that primarily support the commissions paid to all participants are generated from purchases of goods and services that are not simply incidental to the purchase of the right to participate in a money-making venture.[32] The FTC warns "Not all multilevel marketing plans are legitimate. Some are pyramid schemes. It's best not to get involved in plans where the money you make is based primarily on the number of distributors you recruit and your sales to them, rather than on your sales to people outside the plan who intend to use the products."[33] and states that research is your best tool, giving eight steps to follow:[33]

1) Find and study the companys track record 2) Learn about the product 3) Ask questions 4) Understand any restrictions 5) Talk to other distributors (beware of shills) 6) Consider using a friend or adviser as a neutral sounding board or for a gut check 7) Take your time 8) Think about whether this plan suits your talents and goals

However, there are people who hold that all MLMs are essentially pyramid schemes even if they are legal.[10][34][35][36]

[edit] Criticism
The FTC issued a decision, In re Amway Corp., in 1979 in which it indicated that multi-level marketing was not illegal per se in the United States. However, Amway was found guilty of price fixing (by effectively requiring "independent" distributors to sell at the same fixed price) and making exaggerated income claims.[37][38] The FTC advises that multi-level marketing organizations with greater incentives for recruitment than product sales are to be viewed skeptically. The FTC also warns that the practice of getting commissions from recruiting new members is outlawed in most states as "pyramiding".[39] In April 2006, it proposed a Business Opportunity Rule intended to require all sellers of business opportunitiesincluding MLMsto provide enough information to enable prospective buyers to make an informed decision about their probability of earning money. In March 2008, the FTC removed Network Marketing (MLM) companies from the proposed Business Opportunity Rule: The revised proposal, however, would not reach multi-level marketing companies or certain companies that may have been swept inadvertently into scope of the April 2006 proposal.[40] Walter J. Carl stated in a 2004 Western Journal of Communication article that "MLM organizations have been described by some as cults (Butterfield, 1985), pyramid schemes (Fitzpatrick & Reynolds, 1997),[41] or organizations rife with misleading, deceptive, and unethical behavior (Carter, 1999), such as the questionable use of evangelical discourse to promote the business (Hopfl & Maddrell, 1996), and the exploitation of personal

relationships for financial gain (Fitzpatrick & Reynolds, 1997)".[41][42] In China, volunteers working to rescue people from the schemes have been physically attacked.[43] MLM's are also criticized for being unable to fulfill their promises for the majority of participants due to basic conflicts with Western cultural norms.[44] There are even claims that the success rate for breaking even or even making money are far worse than other types of businesses:[45][46][47] "The vast majority of MLMs are recruiting MLMs, in which participants must recruit aggressively to profit. Based on available data from the companies themselves, the loss rate for recruiting MLMs is approximately 99.9%; i.e., 99.9% of participants lose money after subtracting all expenses, including purchases from the company."[45] In part, this is because encouraging recruits to further "recruit people to compete with [them]"[10] leads to "market saturation."[12] Another criticism is that MLM has effectively outlived its usefulness as a legitimate business practice. The argument is that, in the time when America was a series of relatively small, isolated towns and rural areas not easily accessible to small companies, MLM was a useful way to let people know of and buy products or services. But the advent of internet commerce, with its ability to advertise and sell directly to consumers, has rendered that model obsolete. Thus, today, nearly all modern MLMs ostensibly sell vastly overpriced goods and services (if there even is a real product or service involved at all) as a thin cloak of legitimacy, while their members are driven to recruit even more people into the MLM, effectively turning these programs into pyramid schemes.[35] It is because of this encouraging recruits to further recruit their competitors, some people have even gone so far as to say at best modern MLMs are nothing more than legalized pyramid schemes[10][34][35][36] with one stating "Multi-level marketing companies have become an accepted and legally sanctioned form of pyramid scheme in the United States"[34] while another states "Multi-Level Marketing, a form of Pyramid Scheme, is not necessarily fraudulent."[36] In October 2010 it was reported that multilevel marketing companies were being investigated by a number of state attorneys general amid allegations that salespeople were primarily paid for recruiting and that more recent recruits cannot earn anything near what early entrants do.
[48]

[edit] Minimum "sales" requirement


Some companies, many of them members of the Direct Selling Association, require their distributors to make minimum purchases ("pay to play") in order to be eligible for commissions and advancement in the business.[49] For example, Nefful has mandated a minimum "personal sales volume" each month of $20.00 in order to receive commission.[50] Such "incentives" are a "red flag" according to the Consumer Awareness Institute.[49] WatchForScams.com also warns that such requirements which compel sellers to be "committed to a minimum sales volume per month" are a hallmark of potential scams.[51] Frequently such "sales" are not real sales, but rather the "seller" purchasing the minimum amount for themselves in order to fulfill the requirement for compensation. In fact, the Direct Selling Association's Code of Ethics states that qualifying sales may be "based on sales to individual direct sellers for their own actual use or consumption."[52] The 2004 Staff Advisory letter to the Direct Selling Association from Federal Trade Commission notes that such minimum sales requirement may be used to "disguise these payments to appear as if they are based on the sale of goods or services"[32]thus a direct sale company avoids being

found as an illegal pyramid scheme on the technicality that pyramid schemes have to make no sales, as in the In re Amway Corp. ruling.[
Agricultural Marketing in India Preface

Introduction II. Importance and Objectives of Agricultural Marketing in India III. Facilities Needed for Agricultural Marketing IV. Inadequacies of Present Marketing System V. Characteristics of Agricultural Products VI. Methods of Sale and Marketing Agencies VII. Agricultural Marketing in India VIII. Improvement of Agricultural Marketing System IX. Cooperative Marketing in India X. Warehousing in India XI. Ideal Marketing System XII. Scientific Marketing of Farm Products
I. XIII. Conclusion

Preface The term agricultural marketing is composed of two words -agriculture and marketing. Agriculture, in the broadest sense means activities aimed at the use of natural resources for human welfare, and marketing connotes a series of activities involved in moving the goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. Specification, the subject of agricultural marketing includes marketing functions, agencies, channels, efficiency and cost, price spread and market integration, producers surplus etc. The agricultural marketing system is a link between the farm and the non-farm sectors. Introduction In India Agriculture was practiced formerly on a subsistence basis; the villages were self sufficient, people exchanged their goods, and services within the village on a barter basis. With the development of means of transport and storage facilities, agriculture has become commercial in character, the farmer grows those crops that fetch a better price. Marketing of agricultural produce is considered as an integral part of agriculture, since an agriculturist is encouraged to make more investment and to increase production. Thus there is an increasing awareness that it is not enough to produce a crop or animal product; it must be marketed as well. Agricultural marketing involves in its simplest form the buying and selling of agricultural produce. This definition of agricultural marketing may be accepted in olden days, when the village economy was more or less self-sufficient, when the marketing of agricultural produce presented no difficulty, as the farmer sold his produce directly to the consumer on a cash or barter basis. But, in modem times, marketing of agricultural produce is different from that of olden days. In modem marketing, agricultural produce has to undergo a series of transfers or exchanges from one hand to another before it finally reaches the consumer. The National Commission on Agriculture, defined agricultural marketing as a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and it involves all aspects of market structure of

system, both functional and institutional, based on technical and economic considerations and includes pre and post- harvest operations, assembling, grading, storage, transportation and distribution. The Indian council of Agricultural Research defined involvement of three important functions, namely (a) assembling (concentration) (b) preparation for consumption (processing) and (c) distribution. II. Importance and Objectives of Agriculture Marketing The farmer has realized the importance of adopting new techniques of production and is making efforts for more income and higher standards of living. As a consequence, the cropping pattern is no longer dictated by what he needs for his own personal consumption but what is responsive to the market in terms of prices received by him. While the trade is very organised the farmers are not Farmer is not conversant with the complexities of the marketing system which is becoming more and more complicated. The cultivator is handicapped by several disabilities as a seller. He sells his produce at an unfavorable place, time and price. The objectives of an efficient marketing system are: 1. to enable the primary producers to get the best possible returns, 2. to provide facilities for lifting all produce, the farmers are willing, to sell at an incentive price, 3. to reduce the price difference between the primary producer and ultimate consumer, and 4. to make available all products of farm origin to consumers at reasonable price without impairing on the quality of the produce. III. Facilities Needed for Agricultural Marketing In order to have best advantage in marketing of his agricultural produce the farmer should enjoy certain basic facilities. 1. He should have proper facilities for storing his goods. 2. He should have holding capacity, in the sense, that he should be able to wait for times when he could get better prices for his produce and not dispose of his stocks immediately after the harvest when the prices are very low. 3. He should have adequate and cheap transport facilities which could enable him to take his surplus produce to the mandi rather than dispose it of in the village itself to the village money-lender-cummerchant at low prices.

4. He should have clear information regarding the market conditions as well as about the ruling prices, otherwise may be cheated. There should be organized and regulated markets where the farmer will not be cheated by the -dalals- and -arhatiyas-. 5. The number of intermediaries should be as small as possible, so that the middleman's profits are reduced. This increases! the returns to the farmers. Agricultural Marketing in India Preface I. Introduction II. Importance and Objectives of Agricultural Marketing in India

III. Facilities Needed for Agricultural Marketing IV. Inadequacies of Present Marketing System V. Characteristics of Agricultural Products VI. Methods of Sale and Marketing Agencies VII. Agricultural Marketing in India VIII. Improvement of Agricultural Marketing System IX. Cooperative Marketing in India X. Warehousing in India XI. Ideal Marketing System XII. Scientific Marketing of Farm Products XIII. Conclusion

Preface The term agricultural marketing is composed of two words -agriculture and marketing. Agriculture, in the broadest sense means activities aimed at the use of natural resources for human welfare, and marketing connotes a series of activities involved in moving the goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. Specification, the subject of agricultural marketing includes marketing functions, agencies, channels, efficiency and cost, price spread and market integration, producers surplus etc. The agricultural marketing system is a link between the farm and the non-farm sectors. Introduction In India Agriculture was practiced formerly on a subsistence basis; the villages were self sufficient, people exchanged their goods, and services within the village on a barter basis. With the development of means of transport and storage facilities, agriculture has become commercial in character, the farmer grows those crops that fetch a better price. Marketing of agricultural produce is considered as an integral part of agriculture, since an agriculturist is encouraged to make more investment and to increase production. Thus there is an increasing awareness that it is not enough to produce a crop or animal product; it must be marketed as well. Agricultural marketing involves in its simplest form the buying and selling of agricultural produce. This definition of agricultural marketing may be accepted in olden days, when the village economy was more or less self-sufficient, when the marketing of agricultural produce presented no difficulty, as the farmer sold his produce directly to the consumer on a cash or barter basis. But, in modem times, marketing of agricultural produce is different from that of olden days. In modem marketing, agricultural produce has to undergo a series of transfers or exchanges from one hand to another before it finally reaches the consumer. The National Commission on Agriculture, defined agricultural marketing as a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and it involves all aspects of market structure of system, both functional and institutional, based on technical and economic considerations and includes pre and post- harvest operations, assembling, grading, storage, transportation and distribution. The Indian council of Agricultural Research defined involvement of three important functions, namely (a) assembling (concentration) (b) preparation for consumption (processing) and (c) distribution. II. Importance and Objectives of Agriculture Marketing The farmer has realized the importance of adopting new techniques of production and is making efforts for more income and higher standards of living. As a consequence, the cropping pattern is no

longer dictated by what he needs for his own personal consumption but what is responsive to the market in terms of prices received by him. While the trade is very organised the farmers are not Farmer is not conversant with the complexities of the marketing system which is becoming more and more complicated. The cultivator is handicapped by several disabilities as a seller. He sells his produce at an unfavorable place, time and price. The objectives of an efficient marketing system are: 1. to enable the primary producers to get the best possible returns, 2. to provide facilities for lifting all produce, the farmers are willing, to sell at an incentive price, 3. to reduce the price difference between the primary producer and ultimate consumer, and 4. to make available all products of farm origin to consumers at reasonable price without impairing on the quality of the produce. III. Facilities Needed for Agricultural Marketing In order to have best advantage in marketing of his agricultural produce the farmer should enjoy certain basic facilities. 1. He should have proper facilities for storing his goods. 2. He should have holding capacity, in the sense, that he should be able to wait for times when he could get better prices for his produce and not dispose of his stocks immediately after the harvest when the prices are very low. 3. He should have adequate and cheap transport facilities which could enable him to take his surplus produce to the mandi rather than dispose it of in the village itself to the village money-lender-cummerchant at low prices.

4. He should have clear information regarding the market conditions as well as about the ruling prices, otherwise may be cheated. There should be organized and regulated markets where the farmer will not be cheated by the -dalals- and -arhatiyas-. 5. The number of intermediaries should be as small as possible, so that the middleman's profits are reduced. This increases! the returns to the farmers.

Importance Of Rural Marketing In India


Why Rural Market is so Important? Rural market has following arrived and the following facts substantiate this. 742 million people Estimated annual size of the rural market FMCG Rs 65,000 Crore Durables Rs 5,000 Crore Agri-inputs (incl. tractors) Rs 45,000 Crore 2 / 4 wheelers Rs 8,000 Crore

Opportunities: Infrastructure is improving rapidly. In 50 years only 40% villages connected by road, in next 10 years another 30%. More than 90 % villages electrified, though only 44% rural homes have electric connections. Rural telephone density has gone up by 300% in the last 10 years; every 1000+ pop is connected by STD. Social Indicators have improved a lot between 1981 and 2001 Number of pucca houses doubled from 22% to 41% and kuccha houses halved (41%to 23%) Percentage of BPL families declined from 46% to 27% Rural Literacy level improved from 36% to 59% Low penetration rates in rural so there are many marketing opportunities. Durables Urban Rural CTV Total (% of rural HH) 30.4

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4.8 Refrigerator 33.5 FMCGs Urban Shampoo Rural 66.3

12.1 3.5 12.0

Total (% of rural HH) 35.2 44.9 44.2 55.6

Toothpaste 82.2

Detergents Formulation Synthetic Detergents are formulations comprising surfactants like alkyl benzene sulphonate, fatty acid soaps, fatty alcohol, ester and similar compounds, bleaching, optical brighteners, phosphates and anti-redeposition agents, fabric softeners and certain other chemicals to improve the detergent action. Classification Classified either based on the charge on the organic part of the detergent (like anionic, cationic or non-ionic) or on the case with which they decompose into smaller units which would no longer foam (bio degradable or soft detergents and non bio degradable or hard detergents). Use pattern Anionics are the most commonly used detergents for washing and cleaning applications,...

Visual merchandising
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification.
Tagged since July 2008.

It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. Tagged


since July 2008.

It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since July 2008. It may require cleaning up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Tagged since June 2008.

Visual merchandising is the activity of promoting the sale of goods, especially by their presentation in retail outlets.(New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1999, Oxford University Press). This includes combining products, environments, and spaces into a stimulating and engaging display to encourage the sale of a product or service. It has become such an important element in retailing that a team effort involving the senior management, architects, merchandising managers, buyers, the visual merchandising director, industrial designers, and staff is needed.

Contents
[hide] 1 Facility 2 Purpose 3 History 4 Variances 4.1 Planogram 4.1.1 Window Displays 4.1.2 Food Merchandising

5 References 6 Bibliography 7 See also

[edit] Facility

Visual merchandising starts with the store building itself. The management decides on the store design to reflect the products the store is going to sell and how to create a warm, friendly, and approachable atmosphere for its potential customers. Many elements can be used by visual merchandisers in creating displays including color, lighting, space, product information, sensory inputs (such as smell, touch, and sound), as well as technologies such as digital displays and interactive installations. Visual merchandising is not a science; there are no absolute rules. It is more like an art in the sense that there are implicit rules but they may be broken for striking effects. The main principle of visual merchandising is that it is intended to increase sales, which is not the case with a "real" art. Visual merchandising is one of the final stages in trying to set out a store in a way that customers will find attractive and appealing and it should follow and reflect the principles that underpin the stores image. Visual merchandising is the way one displays 'goods for sale' in the most attractive manner with the end purpose of making a sale. "If it does not sell, it is not visual merchandising." Especially in todays challenging economy, people may avoid designers/ visual merchandisers because they fear unmanageable costs. But in reality, visual merchandisers can help economise by avoiding costly mistakes. With guidance of a professional, a retailer can eliminate errors, saving time and money. It is important to understand that the visual merchandiser is there, not to impose ideas, but to help clients articulate their own personal style. Visual merchandising is the art of implementing effective design ideas to increase store traffic and sales volume. VM is an art and science of displaying merchandise to enable maximum sale. VM is a tool to achieve sales and targets, a tool to enhance merchandise on the floor, and a mechanism to communicate to a customer and influence his decision to buy. VM uses season based displays to introduce new arrivals to customers, and thus increase conversions through a planned and systematic approach by displaying stocks available. Recently visual merchandising has gained in importance as a quick and cost effective way to revamp retail stores.

[edit] Purpose
Retail professionals display to make the shopping experience more comfortable, convenient and customer friendly by:
Making it easier for the shopper to locate the desired category and merchandise. Making it easier for the shopper to self-select. Making it possible for the shopper to co-ordinate & accessorize. Informing about the latest fashion trends by highlighting them at strategic locations.

Merchandise presentation refers to most basic ways of presenting merchandise in an orderly, understandable, easy to shop and find the product format. This easier format is especially implemented in fast fashion retailers. VM helps in:
Educating the customers about the product/service in an effective and creative way.

Establishing a creative medium to present merchandise in 3D environment, thereby enabling long lasting impact and recall value. Setting the company apart in an exclusive position. Establishing linkage between fashion, product design and marketing by keeping the product in prime focus. Combining the creative, technical and operational aspects of a product and the business. Drawing the attention of the customer to enable him to take purchase decision within shortest possible time, and thus augmenting the selling process.

[edit] History
When the giant nineteenth century dry goods establishments like Marshall Field & Co. shifted their business from wholesale to retail, the visual display of goods became necessary to attract the general consumers. The store windows were often used to attractively display the store's merchandise. Over time, the design aesthetic used in window displays moved indoors and became part of the overall interior store design, eventually reducing the use of display windows in many suburban malls. In the twentieth century, well-known artists such as Salvador Dal and Andy Warhol created window displays. It is also common practice for retail venues to display original art for visual merchandising purposes.

[edit] Variances
[edit] Planogram
A Planogram allows planning of the arrangement of merchandise on a given fixture configuration to support sales through proper placement of merchandise by Style, Option, Size, Price points, etc. It also enables a chain of stores to have the same merchandise displayed in a coherent and similar manner across the chain. The main purpose is to support ease of applicability to the merchandiser while also increasing selection & enhancing the merchandise display in a neat and organized manner.
[edit] Window Displays

Display windows may communicate style, content, and price point. A window might combine seasonal and festive points of the year such as Back-to-school, Spring, Summer, Easter, Christmas, New Year approaching, Diwali, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day,Women's Day, etc.
[edit] Food Merchandising

Restaurants, Grocery Stores, and C-stores are using visual merchandising as a tool to differentiate themselves in a saturated market. With Whole Foods leading the way, many are recognizing the impact that good food merchandising can have on sales. If a food merchandising strategy considers the 5 senses, it will keep customers lingering in the store, and help them with the buying decision process. Aroma, if pleasant, can be used to help sell product and visual graphics on the boxes and packaging can make them look as good as they taste. Texture can be utilized to entice customers to touch, and samples are the best form of food advertising. Especially for large quantity items, the ability to experience the product before committing to the

purchase is critical. Food merchandising should educate customers, entice them to buy, and create loyalty to the store.[1]

Buyer decision processes


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Buyer decision processes are the decision making processes undertaken by consumers in regard to a potential market transaction before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service. More generally, decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. Common examples include shopping and deciding what to eat. Decision making is said to be a psychological construct. This means that although we can never "see" a decision, we can infer from observable behaviour that a decision has been made. Therefore we conclude that a psychological event that we call "decision making" has occurred. It is a construction that imputes commitment to action. That is, based on observable actions, we assume that people have made a commitment to effect the action. In general there are three ways of analysing consumer buying decisions. They are:

Economic models - These models are largely quantitative and are based on the assumptions of rationality and near perfect knowledge. The consumer is seen to maximize their utility. See consumer theory. Game theory can also be used in some circumstances. Psychological models - These models concentrate on psychological and cognitive processes such as motivation and need recognition. They are qualitative rather than quantitative and build on sociological factors like cultural influences and family influences. Consumer behaviour models - These are practical models used by marketers. They typically blend both economic and psychological models.

Nobel laureate Herbert Simon sees economic decision making as a vain attempt to be rational. He claims (in 1947 and 1957) that if a complete analysis is to be done, a decision will be immensely complex. He also says that peoples' information processing ability is very limited. The assumption of a perfectly rational economic actor is unrealistic. Often we are influenced by emotional and non-rational considerations. When we try to be rational we are at best only partially successful.

Contents
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1 Models of buyer decision making 2 Cognitive and personal biases in decision making

3 See also 4 References

[edit] Models of buyer decision making


Making a few last minute decisions before purchasing a gold necklace from a Navy Exchange vendor In an early study of the buyer decision process literature, Frank Nicosia (Nicosia, F. 1966; pp 921) identified three types of buyer decision making models. They are the univariate model (He called it the "simple scheme".) in which only one behavioural determinant was allowed in a stimulus-response type of relationship; the multi-variate model (He called it a "reduced form scheme".) in which numerous independent variables were assumed to determine buyer behaviour; and finally the "system of equations" model (He called it a "structural scheme" or "process scheme".) in which numerous functional relations (either univariate or multi-variate) interact in a complex system of equations. He concluded that only this third type of model is capable of expressing the complexity of buyer decision processes. In chapter 7, Nicosia builds a comprehensive model involving five modules. The encoding module includes determinants like "attributes of the brand", "environmental factors", "consumer's attributes", "attributes of the organization", and "attributes of the message". Other modules in the system include, consumer decoding, search and evaluation, decision, and consumption.

[edit] Cognitive and personal biases in decision making


It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into List of cognitive biases. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2008. It is generally agreed that biases can creep into our decision making processes, calling into question the correctness of a decision. Below is a list of some of the more common cognitive biases.

Selective search for evidence - We tend to be willing to gather facts that support certain conclusions but disregard other facts that support different conclusions. Selective perception - We actively screen-out information that we do not think is salient. Premature termination of search for evidence - We tend to accept the first alternative that looks like it might work. Conservatism and inertia - Unwillingness to change thought patterns that we have used in the past in the face of new circumstances. Experiential limitations - Unwillingness or inability to look beyond the scope of our past experiences; rejection of the unfamiliar. Wishful thinking or optimism - We tend to want to see things in a positive light and this can distort our perception and thinking. Recency - We tend to place more attention on more recent information and either ignore or forget more distant information. Repetition bias - A willingness to believe what we have been told most often and by the greatest number of different of sources.

Anchoring - Decisions are unduly influenced by initial information that shapes our view of subsequent information. Group think - Peer pressure to conform to the opinions held by the group. Source credibility bias - We reject something if we have a bias against the person, organization, or group to which the person belongs: We are inclined to accept a statement by someone we like. Incremental decision making and escalating commitment - We look at a decision as a small step in a process and this tends to perpetuate a series of similar decisions. This can be contrasted with zero-based decision making. Inconsistency - The unwillingness to apply the same decision criteria in similar situations.. Attribution asymmetry - We tend to attribute our success to our abilities and talents, but we attribute our failures to bad luck and external factors. We attribute other's success to good luck, and their failures to their mistakes. Role fulfillment - We conform to the decision making expectations that others have of someone in our position. Underestimating uncertainty and the illusion of control - We tend to underestimate future uncertainty because we tend to believe we have more control over events than we really do. Faulty generalizations - In order to simplify an extremely complex world, we tend to group things and people. These simplifying generalizations can bias decision making processes. Ascription of causality - We tend to ascribe causation even when the evidence only suggests correlation. Just because birds fly to the equatorial regions when the trees lose their leaves, does not mean that the birds migrate because the trees lose their leaves

CHAPTER 7 ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING BEHAVIOUR CHAPTER OBJECTIVES 1. To describe the organizational buying process and some models of this process. 2. To identify the main influences on organizational buying behaviour. 3. To distinguish the factors influencing organizational buying behaviour. 4. To consider the role of the purchasing functions in modern organizations. CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter introduces the basic theory of organizational buying, an understanding of which is fundamental to business-to-business marketing. It begins by looking at the organizational buying process and a number of models of the process. It then investigates the theory of risk and uncertainty and identifies the key factors that influence behaviour. It concludes with a discussion of the role of purchasing which is seen as a key area in the competitiveness of the modern industrial firm. ANNOTATED LECTURE OUTLINE

Point 1 - Introduction. The need for an understanding of the organizational buying process has grown in recent years due to the many competitive challenges presented in business-to-business markets. Since 1980 there have been a number of key changes in this area, including the growth of outsourcing, the increasing power enjoyed by purchasing departments and the importance given to developing partnerships with suppliers. Point 2 - The organizational buying behaviour process. The organizational buying behaviour process is well documented with many models depicting the various phases, the members involved, and the decisions made in each phase. The basic five phase model can be extended to eight; purchase initiation; evaluations criteria formation; information search; supplier definition for RFQ; evaluation of quotations; negotiations; suppliers choice; and choice implementation (Matbuy, 1986). Point 3 - The buying centre. The buying centre consists of those people in the organizational who are involved directly or indirectly in the buying process, i.e. the user, buyer influencer, decider and gatekeeper to who the role of initiator has also been added. The buyers in the process are subject to a wide variety and complexity of buying motives and rules of selection. The Matbuy model encourages marketers to focus their efforts on who is making what decisions based on which criteria. Point 4 - Risk and uncertainty - the driving forces of organizational buying behaviour. This is concerned with the role of risk or uncertainty on buying behaviour. The level of risk depends upon the characteristics of the buying situation faced. The supplier can influence the degree of perceived uncertainty by the buyer and cause certain desired behavioural reactions by the use of information and the implementation of certain actions. The risks perceived by the customer can result from a combination of the characteristics of various factors: the transaction involved, the relationship with the supplier, and his position vis-a-vis the supply market. Point 5 - Factors influencing organizational buying behaviour. Three key factors are shown to influence organizational buying behaviour, these are, types of buying situations and situational factors, geographical and cultural factors and time factors. Point 6 - Purchasing Strategy. The purchaisng function is of great importance because its actions will impact directly on the organizations profitability. Purchasing strategy

aims to evaluate and classify the various items purchased in order to be able to choose and manage suppliers accordingly. Classification is along two dimensions: importance of items purchased and characteristics of the supply market. Actions can be taken to influence the supply market. Based on the type of items purchased and on its position in the buying matrix (Fig. 7.3), a company will develop different relationships with suppliers depending upon the number of suppliers, the suppliers share, characteristics of selected suppliers, and the nature of customer-supplier relationships. The degree of centralization of buying activities and the missions and status of the buying function can help support purchasing strategy. The company will adapt its procedures to the type of items purchased which in turn will influence relationships with suppliers. Point 7 - The future. Two activities which will be crucial to the future development of organizational buying behaviour will be information technology and production technologies. Point 8 - Conclusion. Organizational buying behaviour is a very complex area, however, an understanding of the key factors are fundamental to marketing strategy and thus an organizations ability to compete effectively in the market place. Answers to the discussion questions: 1. Yes it is a fair criticism, as buying decisions can be influenced by a number of individuals all of who have to be identified in order to influence their buying decision. Only in this way can promotional activity be directed at the key influencers. A discussion of the elements of the Matbuy Model (pp135) will help here. 2. Here the discussion revolves around the modified rebuy and the straight rebuy (pp138-139) and whether the type of product bought is more important than the frequency of purchase in determining buyer behaviour. 3. It is essential that the perceived risks associated with any purchase are understood by suppliers if they are to be overcome. The nature of the perceived risk will directly influence the behaviour of the supplier in overcoming the risk, in terms of the information supplied and the actions taken. 4. To some extent this may depend upon the nature and complexity of the product being bought. It may also depend upon whether the buying group is the same or whether members within it have change and also whether contact has been retained in the intervening period. 5. This discussion revolves around the nature of the buying group and

the influences they exert on the buying decision as well as the development of the relationship itself. In addition, once the product has been developed on-going purchase may rely upon people other than the technical staff. It

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