Download marketing essentials

MARKETING ESSENTIALS
1. NATURE, SCOPE, AND IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING
 Meaning and pervasiveness of marketing
 Changing business environment in India & need for marketing
 Definition(s) of marketing: Product oriented, customer oriented, system oriented
definitions
 Nature of marketing: Customer focussed; mutually beneficial relationships…
 Scope of marketing: R&D; exchange; physical handling; exchange facilitation
 Importance of marketing: Provision of utility; psychic satisfaction
 Marketing management: Management dimension; purpose
 Marketing and other functions
 Marketing philosophies: Production, product, sales, marketing, societal marketing
concept
 Hurdles in adoption of marketing philosophy
 Latest buzzwords: Morph marketing; permission marketing; ambush marketing;
guerrilla marketing…
2. MARKETING MANAGEMENT PROCESS
 Scope: Organizing; analysing; selecting; developing; managing
 Organizing: Company, business, products; steps involved
 Analyzing: New opportunities; evaluation
 Selection: Demand measurement & forecasting; STP
 Development: Strategy development
 Managing: Management of self and competitors
 Implementation: Action program; organizational structure; organizational climate,
etc.
 Control: Annual plan, profitability, and strategic controls
3. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
 Meaning and typology; why scan environment?
 Demographic, political, socio cultural, economic, physical/natural, technological,
and regulatory environment
 Stakeholders (employees, financial partners, suppliers, intermediaries) related
environment
 Customer related environment: Demographic, psychographic, behavioural, and
geographic factors
 Competitive environment
 Environment scanning system: Marketing information system; scenario building,
etc.
4. MARKETING PROBING
 Marketing research: Meaning & scope; process; survey methods; sampling
process


Marketing information system
Demand estimation & sales forecasting: Meaning; information needs; approaches
to estimation; method involved; selection of suitable method
5. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
 Meaning; why study
 Study of the market through 10 O’s: Occupant, options, objects, objectives,
outlays, operations, occasions, objections, organization, outlets
 Consumer buying behaviour models
 Factors influencing consumption: Personal (demographic, psychological, etc) and
non personal (culture, group norms, etc)
 Consumer decision process: five stages in buying, consuming, and evaluating.
6. SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING
 Meaning and need for segmentation & targeting
 Benefits of segmentation
 Requisites of effective segmentation
 Alternative approaches to segmentation
 Bases for segmentation
 Targeting: various approaches
 Targeting strategies: Undifferentiated; differentiated; concentrated
7. PRODUCT AND PRODUCT PLANNING
 Concept of product & product portfolio
 Layers of product: Core, basic, expected, augmented, potential
 Product mix: Product line, width, depth, consistency
 Product mix strategies: Expansion, withdrawl, alteration, trading up/down
 Product classification: Goods (durables, nondurables) vs. services; convenience,
shopping, speciality, and unsought products; producer’s goods (raw materials,
fabricating material, installation, accessories)
 Product planning: Decisions about new product development & launch (on
addition to portfolio (or) improvement of existing product/alteration (or) weeding
out of unprofitable items
 Differentiation and positioning of a product.
8. NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
 Meaning
 Stages in NPD
 Product failures: Meaning and causes
 Quality dimension: meaning (conformance/improvement), provision (TQM),
assurance (standards), cost of poor quality.
 Packaging: Meaning & layers; functions; traits of good packaging
 Labelling: Meaning; required & desired information on label; new dimensions
(ecomark, etc)
 Standardization: Various marks (ISI, FPO…); grading
9. BRANDING
 Meaning: Brand, trademark; significance
 Functions of branding
 Advantages of branding to manufacturer, intermediaries, customers
 Brand related decisions:
- Should a product be branded?
- Who should sponsor the brand?
- Naming a brand
- Brand extension, line extension, multiple branding
- Brand positioning & repositioning
10. PRODUCT/BRAND LIFESTYLE
 Meaning and significance
 Stages in PLC and marketing strategies for each stage
 Limitation of the concept
11. PRICING
 Meaning; types (free market, administered controlled); significance
 Objectives dictating strategy: Target rate of return, meeting or preventing
competition, market share, profit maximization, survival, public image, product
image…
 Factors dictating pricing strategy: Internal and external (5 c’s: cost, customer,
competition, context, and control)
 Setting up of price: Bases (cost, customer, competition)
 New product pricing: Penetration pricing; skimming pricing; competitive pricing;
predatory pricing
 Geographical factor: Fob pricing; home delivered pricing; zone pricing; uniform
delivered pricing; base point pricing; freight absorption pricing
 Adopting the price: Fixed vs. variable; price range; psychological pricing; loss
leader pricing; follow the leader pricing; discriminating pricing; pricing over
stages of PLC; resale price maintenance
 Pricing in practice: Discounts; MRP; price higher than MRP.
 Initiating a price change: Reason (cost, demand, quality) and techniques
 Responding to a price change by the competitor: Ignore; react
12. PROMOTING AN OFFER
 Concept and relevance of marketing communication
 Process of marketing communication
 Objectives of promotion: Marketing, communication, operational
 Product mix: Types; features; advantages; disadvantages; selection of promotional
tool/mix.





Advertising: Definition; nature; features; objectives; significance; types; process
of advertising; advertising media; message; testing of advertising
Personal selling: Meaning; features; significance; process; sales force
management – recruitment to performance evaluation.
Sales promotion: Meaning; significance; comparison with advertising; types
(consumer/sales force/dealer oriented)
Sales promotional schemes: Samples; price offs; coupons; discounts; premium or
bonus offer; trading stamps; fairs and exhibitions; etc
Public relations: Meaning of publics and PR; steps involved; tools & techniques
available.
13. PLACEMENT STRATEGY
 Placement: Meaning and significance
 Distribution channels: Meaning; types
 Factors dictating channel choice
 Market coverage: Intensive, selective, exclusive
 New development in marketing channels: Vertical marketing systems; HMS;
multi level marketing; multi channel marketing; third party delivery system.
14. MARKETING MIDDLEMEN
 Meaning; reasons for appointment; why not direct selling?
 Types of middlemen: Agents; merchant middlemen
 Whole salers: Meaning; types; functions performed
 Retailers: Meaning; functions
 Difference between wholesalers and retailers
 Various retail formats available in Indian markets
 Retailing in marketing space as against market place
15. PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTIOIN
 Decisions about physical distribution: Mode & method of transportation;
warehouse location; inventory decisions; external distribution agency
 Transportation: Significance; modes of transportation; comparative evaluation of
different modes
 Storage and warehousing: Meaning; need; significance; functions of a warehouse;
types.
 Inventory: Meaning; optimum level; inventory control – meaning and techniques
available.
Reference books


Kotler, Keller, Koshy & Jha: Marketing Management (Pearson: 13th edition):
Relevant chapters
4P’s Business & Marketing ( Planman Media: fortnightly) All current issues
(IMP: The end semester examination will have questions based on articles, etc.
published in 4P’s)