Definitions of marketing

Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably The Chartered Institute of Marketing

The right product, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price Adcock et al

Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others Kotler 1991

Implications of marketing
Who are our existing / potential customers? What are their current / future needs? How can we satisfy these needs?
Can we offer a product/ service that the customer would value? Can we communicate with our customers? Can we deliver a competitive product of service?

Why should customers buy from us?

The marketing concept

choosing and targeting appropriate customers positioning your offering interacting with those customers controlling the marketing effort continuity of performance

Marketing management process

Analysis/Audit - where are we now? Objectives - where do we want to be? Strategies - which way is best? Tactics - how do we get there? (Implementation - Getting there!) Control - Ensuring arrival

Why is marketing planning necessary?

Systematic futuristic thinking by management better co-ordination of a company s efforts development of performance standards for control sharpening of objectives and policies better prepare for sudden developments

The scope of marketing

Marketing is typically seen as the task of creating,promoting,and delivering goods and services to consumers and businesses Marketers are skilled in stimulating demand for a companys products Marketing managers seek to influence the level,timing,and composition of demand to meet the organisations objectives

 GOODS-Physical goods constitute the bulk of most countries production and marketing effort Not only do companies market their goods even,using the internet even individuals do it Services-As economies advance a growing proportion of their activities is focussed on production of services Services include the work of airlines,hotels,car rentals,barbers or beautitians as well as professionals

 Experiences- By orchestrating several services and goods a firm can create,stage and market experiences Events-Marketers promote time based events,company anniversaries,major trade shows,sports shows and artistic performances There is an whole profession of meeting planners who work outs the event perfectly

 Persons-Celerity marketing is a major business these days Today every major icon be it a filmstar or a professional has a PR manager Places-places , cities, states regions and whole nations attract tourists,factories,company HQ and new residents Place marketers include economic development specialists,real estate agents,commercial banks,local business asssociations and ad and Pr agencies

 Properties- are intangible rights of ownership of either real property or financial property Properties are bought and sold and this requires marketing Organisations-Organisations actively work to build a strong favourable image in the minds of the target public Corporates and institutions spend money to build up their identity and image

 Information-can be produced and marketed like a product or service This is what is done by institutions provide to the student community and corporates to the public Ideas-Every market offering includes a basic idea,where product and services are platforms for delivering some idea or benefit Social marketers are busy promoting ideas as say no to drugs or exercise daily

Core marketing concepts

Target markets and segmentation- A marketer can rarely satisfy everyone in the market Not everyone likes the same soft drink,hotel room,restaurant,college and movie Therefore marketers start by dividing up the market based on demographic,psychographic and behavioural differences among buyers The marketer then decides which segments present the greatest opportunity which are its target markets

 Marketplace,marketspace and metamarketBusiness people often use the term market to cover various groupings of customers They talk about the need market(the diet-seeking market),product market(the shoemarket),demographic market(youth market) and geographic market(the french market) They exchange the concept to cover other markets such as voter markets,labour markets and donor markets

 Marketplace is physical as one goes shopping in a store,market space is digital Marketspace is digital as when one goes shooping on the internet Metamarket is a cluster of complementary products and services that are closely related in the minds of consumers but are spread across diverse set of industries

 Marketers and prospects-A marketer is someone seeking a response (attention,purchase,vote or donation) from another party called the prospect If two parties are seeking to sell something to each other we call them both marketers Needs,wants and demands- Needs are basic human requirements like food,air,water, clothing and shelter to survive

 The needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need Demands are wants for specific products backed by ability to pay Marketers do not create needs,needs preexist marketers,marketers with societial factors influence wants

 Product,offering and brand- Companies address needs by putting forth a value proposition,a set of benefits they offer customers to satisfy their needs The intangible value proposition is made physical by an offering which is a combination of products,services, and experiences A brand is an offering from a known source,and a brand name carries many associations in the minds of people All companies strive to build a strong and favourable brand image

 Value and satisfaction-The offering will be successful if it delivers value and satisfaction to the target buyer The buyer choses between different offerings on the basis of which is perceived to deliver the most value Value can be seen as primarly a combination of quality,service and price(QSP),called the customer value triad

 Value increases with quality and service and decreases with price We can define value as a ratio between what the customer gets and what he gives The benefits include functional benefits and emotional benefits The costs include monetary costs,time costs,energy costs and psychic costs

 Exchange and transactions- Exchange is only one of the four ways in which a person can obtain a product One can self-produce the product or service,one can use force to get a product,or as in burglary or can beg Exchange is the core concept of marketing,is the concept of obtaining a desired product from some one by offering something in return

 For exchange potential to exist five conditions are to be satisfied There are at least two parties Each party has something of value to the other party Each party is capable of communication and delivery Each party is free to accept or reject the exchange offer Each party believes it is appropriate or desirable to deal with the other party

 Transaction is a trade of values between two or more parties A barter transaction involves trading goods or services for other goods or services A transaction involves several dimensions,at least two things of value ,agreed upon conditions,a time of agreement and place Transfer is when A gives to B and receives nothing tangible in return,eg:gifts,subsidies and charitable contributions

 Relationships and networks-Transaction marketing is a part of larger idea called relationship marketing Relationship marketing has the aim of building mutually satisfying long term relations with key parties- customers, suppliers,distributors in order to retain their business Marketing network consists of company and its supporting stake holders with whom it has built mutually profitable business relationships

 Marketing channels-To reach a target market,the marketer uses three kinds of marketing channels Communication channels deliver and receive message from target buyers The marketer uses distribution channels to display,sell or deliver the physical products or services to the buyer or user The marketer also uses service channels to carry out transactions with potential buyers like ware houses,transport cos. and banks

 Supply chain-When marketing channels connect the marketer to the target buyers,the supply chain describes a longer channel from raw materials to components to final products The supply chain represents a value delivery system When a company moves upstream or downstream its aim is to capture a higher percent of supply chain value

 Competition-includes all the actual and potential rival offerings and substitutes that a buyer might consider Brand competition offers similar products and services Industry competition is from all payers in the industry Form competition is from all manufactures that offer the same service Generic competition is from any other organisation whose product is a purchase option for a buyer

 Marketing environment Task environment includes the immediate actors involved in producing,distributing and promoting the offering The broad environment consists of six components; demographic,economic,natural,technological,politi cal-legal and socio-cultural environment These environments contain certain forces that have a major impact on the actors in the task envronment

 The marketers task is to build a marketing program or plan to achieve the desired objectives The marketing program consists of numerous decisions on on the mix of marketing tools to use The marketing mix is the set of marketing tools the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market

Mc- carthy classified these tools in to 4 broad groups The 4 p s are product,price,place and promotion Robert Lauteburn suggests that sellers 4Ps correspond to customers 4 cs 4 c s are customer solution,customer cost,convenienc e and communication

Marketing management philosophies

Marketing activities should be carried out in a well-thought philosophy of efficiency effectiveness,and social responsibility Eg: Dexter corporation There are 6 competing concepts under which organisations conduct marketing activities namely the production concept,product concept,selling concept,marketing concept,customer concept and societal marketing concept

 The marketing concept- emerged in the mid50s and challenged the preceeding concepts Instead of a product-centered make and sell philosophy,the shift is to a customer centered sense and respond The job is not to find right customers for the products but right products for customers

 The marketing concept holds that key in achieving organisational goals It consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating delivering and communicating superior value Theodore levitt of Harward drew a perceptive contrast between selling and marketing concepts mainly selling focusses on the needs of the seller and marketing the consumer

 The marketing concepts rests on 4 pillars, target market,customer needs,integrated marketing and profitability Target market-Companies do best when they choose their target markets They do this very carefully and prepare tailored marketing programs

 Customer needs- A company can define its target market but fail to understand the customer needs eg:the marble like product Some customers have needs of which the are not fully conscious or they cannot articulate these needs or words require some clarity The needs of the customer should be addressed with a solution not your offering

 Integrated marketing- When the companys departments work together to serve the customers interests its integrated marketing Not all employees in the organisation are trained and motivated to work for the customer Integrated marketing takes place at two levels one at various marketing functions,next marketing must be embraced by other depts

 Profitability- In the case of private firms,the major objective is long term profitability In the case of non profit and public organisations,its surviving and attracting enough funds to perform useful work Private firms should not aim for profits as such but rather to achieve profits as a consequence of creating superior customer value

 The customer concept- Today many companies are moving beyond the marketing concept to the customer concept Companies practicing the marketing concept work at the level of customer segments A growing number of todays companies are now shaping separate offers,services and messages to individual customers

 They collect information from the customers past transactions,demographics,media and distribution preferences They hope to achieve profitable growth through capturing a larger share of customers expenditures by building customer loyalty The advent of factory customization, computers,internet and marketing software makes it effective

 The societal marketing concept There is a debate if marketing concept is an appropriate philosophy in an age of environmental deterioration There are also resource shortages,explosive population growth,world hunger and poverty, and neglected social services The marketing concepts sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants,consumer interests and long-run societal welfare

 The fast food hamburger business an eg. of unhealthy food creating environmental issues Situations like this enlarges the marketing concept and those suggested are humanistic marketing and ecological marketing The societal markets holds that the organisations task is to cater to the interests of the target market enhancing the consumer and societys well being

How business and marketing are changing

Market place is changing radically as result of major societal forces-technology,deregulation Customers-expect higher quality,service and customization,internet supplements this Brand manufacturers- facing intense from domestic and foregin brands,rising promotion and shrinking margins also strong retailers Store based retailers-are suffering from catalog houses,direct mails e-commerce etc

Company responses and adjustments

Reengineering-From focussing on functional departments,reorganising by key processes, managed by a multidisciplined team Outsourcing-From making everything inside the company to buying from outside if they are cheaper and better and own brands Ecommerce-From attracting customers to stores or sales people reaching them its feasible to make available in the internet

 Benchmarking- from relying on self improvement to understanding world class performers and adopting best practices Aliances-From trying to win alone to network of partner firms Partner suppliers-From using many suppliers to using few but more reliable suppliers who work close in a partnership relationship

 Market centered- From organising by products to organising by market segments Global and local-From being local to being both global and local called glocal Decentralised- From being managed at the top to encouraging more initiative and intrapreneurship at the local level

Marketer responses and adjustments

Customer relationship marketing- From focussing on transactions to build a long term profitable customers,products and channels Customer life time value- From making profit on each sale to making profits by managing life time sale,lower price for longer periods Customer share- From a focus of gaining market share to focus building customer share

 Target marketing- From selling to every one to trying to be the best firm serving well defined markets Target market is facilitaed by special interest magazines,TV channels and internet news groups Customization- From selling the same offer in the same way,to customizing the offerings

 Customer database-From collecting sales data to building rich data ware house of information about preferences,purchases etc. Companies can apply data mining techniques to discover new segments and trends Integrated marketing communications- From heavy reliance on one communication tool such as adv or sales force to several tools

 Channels as partners- From thinking of channels as customers to treating them as partners in delivering value to final customers Every employee a marketer- Instead of marketing done only by the marketing,sales and customer service to every employee doing Model based decision making- From basing decisions on intuition or slim data to basing decisions on models and facts