Key – 1

The need to understand the

complexity of marketing!
 2 questions come to the fore-front

 What is marketing?

 How is it different from selling?

 What is marketing?
 Marketing is not selling

 Marketing is strategy

 Marketing has been defined by American

Marketing Association as the process of
planning and executing the conception, pricing,
promotion & distribution of ideas, goods &
services to create exchanges that satisfy
individual and organizational objectives.
 Difference between marketing &
sales….

 Selling focuses on the  Marketing focuses on the

need of the seller. need of the buyer.
 Its focus is on the  Focus of marketing,
manufacturer, whose ultimately is consumer
need is to convert the satisfaction, which is
product into cash. derived from the in-depth
knowledge of wants and
needs of the customer, as
well as a clearly thought
of marketing strategy.
 Hence…
the…
PRODUCT…
PRICE…
PROMOTION… &
DISTRIBUTION …
…has to be properly considered for meeting
the needs of the customer & creating a
marketing strategy.
Process of marketing & marketing strategy are integrated
& hence complex. It essentially involves 2 distinct
components -

Marketing mix – Marketing Target Market – Defining

manager is a mix of the target market.
ingredients inclusive of It should be obvious that
product, price, promotion marketing mix cannot
& distribution. work independent of the
The firm/marketing manager target audience. No
can strategically adapt matter how much creative
these components in the marketing mix is, it
construction of the final cannot stand alone.
product.
 Pre requisite for an effective
marketing strategy.

Developing a marketing mix that fits into the

needs & wants of target audience.
A mismatch between the two will cause the
product to fail.
 Key – 2 (Positioning)
Why is it important to develop the marketing strategy?

 The act of designing the company’s offer &

image so that it occupies a distinct and
valuable place in the target customer’s
mind.

 It is the place that a product occupies in

the consumer’s mind.
 USP (Unique selling proposition)

USP is a unique product attribute that a company

uses to set its (brand) product apart from the
competition.

e.g.
Volvo is a safe vehicle
Big Bazaar is the low priced supermarket.
 USP ???
Emphasizing a single
attribute as the tactic to
position your brand can
be beneficial, as it allows
us to focus all the
marketing input towards
one single attribute.
Can also be dangerous as
the attribute should be
such, which is identified
as valuable by the target
consumer. In addition,
since you are hanging
your hat on one attribute
to position your brand,
the competitor may have
easy time attacking you.
 Challenges in using USP for
positioning -
1st the competition can downplay the
importance of the attribute that u are
emphasizing.

2nd the competition can introduce a new

attribute, that makes your attribute look
obsolete.
Conveying USP through a slogan…
(1 sentence that says it all)
 Consistency is the key when it comes to the slogans.

 Slogan should be consistent with the intended

positioning of the brand.

 In general, should be consistent overtime.

 When the market environment changes the positioning

of a brand, the slogan should also change.
 Key – 3
(Why the job of a marketing manager is a key to
the success of the firm?)

Q – What does the marketing manager do?

 Work of a marketing manager is to monitor & attempt to

regulate the demand through the adaptation of marketing mix
(4ps) to the target market.

 Like all management positions, marketing management

involves the analysis, planning, implementation, monitoring or
control if the marketing operations, designed to achieve
company’s objectives.

 To counter the pioneering steps of the competitors by

creating a battle-plan to maintain the market share.
 Q – What does the marketing manager do?

 Positioning the product to the appropriate target market

is essential, failing to do which, the product also fails in
the market.
(It is the work of marketing manager to ensure that the
appropriate target audience has been identified. )

 Process of identifying the target customers is not easy &

involves an extensive market research. (key – 6) (Worst
mistake that marketing manager can do is to identify
target customer though gut feel, rather than hard,
empirical data.)
 Key – 4
(Understanding why the knowledge of market environment contributes
to the company’s success.)

 Market environment – are

the conditions under which
Target customer
the marketing strategy is
made & implemented.
Marketing mix or 4Ps
 Though these conditions
Market environment are not under direct
influence, but must be
consistently monitored &
attended to by the
marketing manager.

 Failure to keep pulse of the

changing market
environment can rapidly
lead to the demise of a
marketing strategy that was
working fine in the past.
 Types of market environments
 Social and Cultural Environment

 Economic Environment

 Political and Legal Environment

 Competitive Environment

 Demographic Environment
 Key – 5
Managing demand states

Q - Wouldn't it be wonderful if the demand for your

product was equal to what you wanted it to be?
This never happens & is only a dream!

So…
whenever the demand is in imbalance with the supply,
which is almost always the case, the marketing manager
is required to attempt to bring back the state of balance.
 5 different demand states in which imbalance between demand
& supply is evident.

5 different demand states & all possible solutions to bring consistency between
these factors in each of these cases –

 No demand

 Negative demand

 Faltering demand

 Irregular demand

 Latent demand
 No demand situation
Symptom – All or most of
target segment customers
of the potential market are
indifferent or uninterested
in a particular product.
Objective of marketer –
Stimulate the market,
through the creation of a
need. Marketer has to think
out of the box, to give birth
to a possible solution.

Solution
It might be a small physical change in the form/nature of the
product.
Linkage of the product to an individual’s emotional ties with
something magnificent.
 Negative demand situation
Symptom – All or most of the Objective of marketer –
potential market segments To convert the demand from
dislike the product or service, negative to positive.
and actually may pay a price (Conversional Marketing)
to avoid it. This is the most
difficult demand state that a
marketer can find
himself/herself in.
Solution
Conversional process usually occurs over a longer period of time.
 It is foolish to depend only on flashy advertising to change the attitudes
of target customers from negative to positive & therefore requires complete
transformation in the marketing strategy.
 Faltering demand situation
Symptom – Demand for a Objective of the marketer –
product or service is less than To keep the existing customers
its former level. (Common interested & excited by
Occurrence) maintaining a distinct product
In absence of a remedial or image in their mind.
corrective action, there is a
large likelihood of further
decline in market share.

Solution
 Remarket the product by finding new uses and extending its life cycle.
 Marketers should be creative enough to develop new uses of their
existing products and services, in order to keep their existing customers
interested.
 Irregular demand situation
Symptom – The timing Objective of the marketer –
pattern of demand for Synchronize demand and
product or service is level it out.
marked/influenced by
seasonal or other volatile
fluctuations.

Solution
 Manipulation in 1 or more of the 4Ps. During the off-season,
pricing can be slashed or promotion can be increased.
 Latent demand situation
Symptom – A specific set of Objective of the marketer –
people who share interest in a Formation of a developmental
product or service that does marketing process.
not exist.
(Often revealed during market
research with the use of focus
groups, designed to uncover
the unmet needs.)
Solution
 Commitment to marketing research & new product development.
 Being in close contact with customers, to know their needs and wants.
(which can be accomplished through marketing research only)
 If marketer adopts a casual attitude towards this issue, market share is
sure to decline.