WHAT IS MARKETING STRATEGY?

A strategy that integrates an organization's marketing goals into a cohesive whole. Ideally
drawn from market research, it focuses on the ideal product mix to achieve
maximum profit potential. The marketing strategy is set out in a marketing plan. It is a process
that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities
to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of

interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business
development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication,
and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong
customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves. Marketing is
used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer
as the focus of its activities, marketing management is one of the major components of business
management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by
mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries The adoption of marketing strategies
requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of
their customers as the means of staying profitable. The term marketing concept holds that
achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and
delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational
objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy
these more effectively than competitors. The field of marketing strategy encompasses the
strategy involved in the management of a given product. A given firm may hold numerous
products in the marketplace, spanning numerous and sometimes wholly unrelated industries.
Accordingly, a plan is required in order to effectively manage such products. Evidently, a
company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to utilize its finite resources. For example, a
start-up car manufacturing firm would face little success should it attempt to rival Toyota, Ford,
Nissan, Chevrolet, or any other large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching
the end of its life-cycle. Thus, the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production, may be made.
Each scenario requires a unique marketing strategy. Listed below are some prominent
marketing strategy models.

DEVELOPING A SUCCESFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKETING

STRATEGY
Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans
designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives. Plans and objectives are generally
tested for measurable results. Commonly, marketing strategies are developed as multi-year
plans, with a tactical plan detailing specific actions to be accomplished in the current year.
Time horizons covered by the marketing plan vary by company, by industry, and by nation,
however, time horizons are becoming shorter as the speed of change in the environment
increases. Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned and
partially unplanned. See strategy dynamics. Marketing strategy involves careful scanning of
the internal and external environments. Internal environmental factors include the marketing
mix, plus performance analysis and strategic constraints. External environmental factors
include customer analysis, competitor analysis, target market analysis, as well as evaluation of
any elements of the technological, economic, cultural or political/legal environment likely to
impact success. A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with
a company's overarching statement. Besides SWOT analysis, portfolio analyses such as the
GE/McKinsey matrix or COPE analysis can be performed to determine the strategic focus.
Once a thorough environmental scan is complete, a strategic plan can be constructed to identify
business alternatives, establish challenging goals, determine the optimal marketing mix to
attain these goals, and detail implementation. A final step in developing a marketing strategy
is to create a plan to monitor progress and a set of contingencies if problems arise in the
implementation of the plan the following are the major Development of a marketing strategy.

UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER - Develop a clear picture of your target customer using
market research and analysis. Understand their pain points and the benefits of your solution.

ANALYZE THE MARKET - Some basic market research should allow you to find market
data such as total available market, market growth (historical numbers and projections), market
trends, etc. Having a strong marketing research plan is the first step in building a
winning marketing strategy that will drive sales and grow your business. Market Research is
the process of learning as much about your target market as possible – essential to successful
marketing. Without first researching your potential market, launching a product or service is
like shooting in the dark. Unfortunately, too many small business owners shy away from taking
the time to do the thorough marketing research and strategy that is needed to build a successful
business.

ANALYZE THE COMPETITION - Ask yourself what other choices your target customers
have to solve their pain point. Research and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each. A
solid competitive marketing strategy is the key to maximizing your business growth.
Essentially, a good competitive analysis involves understanding three main elements:

Their key pain points (that your product will solve);

target customers;

Competitive solutions (other ways the target customer could solve their problem).

Develop the competitive marketing strategy easily by following these three functions:

DEVELOP A TARGET CUSTOMER PROFILE - Your target customer is the individual or

individuals who will purchase your product. Hopefully you already have some idea of who
your ideal target customer is (not specific names, but the type of buyer they are: eg, retail sales
managers, or stay-at-home moms, or whatever). You need to get inside your target customer’s
head, and paint as detailed a picture of them as possible. There is often value in narrowing your
market niche by tightening up your target customer profile (eg, stay-at-home moms who work
out of the home, versus all stay-at-home moms), especially if you are a small company or just
starting out.
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER’S PAIN POINTS - It will be much easier to market
and sell your product if it is solving a key problem facing your target customers. Especially in
a recession, other things are considered “nice to have” and it can be much harder to drive those
purchase decisions. Think about the detailed target customer profile you just painted, and
identify the top 3-5 issues that keep them awake at night. How can your product solve one or
more of those pain points? If your product is not a solution to one of your customer’s top
problems, you may need to re-evaluate either your product or your target market.

IDENTIFY AND ANALYZE YOUR COMPETITORS - Once you have completed steps one
and two, it becomes fairly straightforward to identify your main competitors: just ask yourself
what other solutions your target customer has to their problem. Often your main competitors
will be other companies with products that are very similar to yours. But be on the lookout for
different ways that the customer could solve their pain point – those are competitors also. Now
consider the ways in which your product or service is better than the competitive options at
solving the pain point of your target customer. Make a list and refine it – it should be short and
easy to communicate. This is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

RESEARCH DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS - What is the best way to deliver your product or
service to your target customers? This will impact your sales strategy and your financials, as
well as your marketing mix.

DEFINE YOUR MARKETING MIX 4 Ps

PRODUCT OR SERVICE:-

What are the top three needs of your target customer base? What keeps your customers awake
at night?

What unique value do you have to offer that meets those customer needs?

Will you offer a single product or service, or will you have multiple options to target different
needs or segments?

PRICE:-

How do you want customers to perceive your product: the budget choice, the luxury item,
or something in between?

What is your competitors' pricing, and how does your product or service compare to theirs?

Will you have a single product at a single price, or offer multiple levels of pricing to target
different segments?
PLACE:-

Where do your customers typically look for a solution to their need? That could be a physical
place (eg, a retail chain) or a distribution channel or other medium (eg, online).

How do your competitors get their product to the end customer?

What are the optimal / fastest / most cost-effective way to deliver your product or service to
your customer?

PROMOTION:-

What media do your target customers read or view? (magazines, TV shows, websites, blogs,
forums, stores, etc)

Where do your customers go to find information to help them solve the problem that your
product or service addresses?

When will target customers be most receptive to learning about your product or service? (Eg,
at a certain time of year, at a certain place, while doing a certain other activity, etc).

ANALYZE THE FINANCIALS - Put together your marketing budget and evaluate projected
marketing ROI, customer acquisition costs, etc.

REVIEW AND REVISE - Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing strategy,
and revise or extend as needed.

ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING STRATEGY

Any marketing strategy to be worth calling as successful or effective must enjoy certain extra
which can be called as essential or requisites of it. The basic guide lines used to call a strategy
a successful one used by experts are:

It is consistent: A marketing strategy to be effective is to consistent with the overall and specific
objectives and policies other strategies and tactics of the marketing organisation. Interval
consistency is an essential ingredient of a good strategy as it identifies the areas where the
strategic decisions are to be made imminently or in the long run.

It is workable: Any strategy however laudable and theoretically sound is meaningless unless it
is able to meet the ever changing needs of a situation. In this business world contingency is
quite common and the strategy that strikes at the head to contribute to the progresses and
prosperity of marketing organisation.

It is suitable: A strategy is emergent of situations or environment. It is subservient of changing

environment of business world. It is but natural that any strategy not suiting to the environment
can impound organisation in the compound of danger, distress and frustration.
It is not risky: Any strategy involves risk as uncertainty is certain; what is important is that
extent of the risk involved or associated with strategy is reasonably low as compared to its pay-
off or returns. It is because a high risk very strategy may threaten the survival of the marketing
organisation, let alone its success, if calculations go fit.

It is resource based: A sound strategy is one which is designed in the background of the
available resources at its command. A strategy involves certain amount of risk which can hardly
be segregated. A strategic decision warrants commitment of right amount of resources to the
opportunity and reservation of sufficient resources for an anticipated or “pass through” errors
in such demands of resources.

It has a time horizon: The statement “a stitch in time saves nine” that aptly applies to the
concept of strategy. A sound strategy is time bound to be used at the nick of the hour and tick
of the opportunity. It has an appropriate times horizon. This time which is costlier than money
and its horizon banks on the goals to be achieved. The time should be long enough to permit
the organisation to make adjustments and maintain the consistency of the storage.

FEATURES OF MARKETING STRATEGIES

DYNAMIC: The concept of marketing strategy is relative as it is designed to meet the changing
demands of a situation. Each situation and event needs a different strategy that is why strategy
are revised and recast very frequently to cope up with the changes in a given situation or event.

FUTURISTIC: A marketing strategy is forwarded looking. It orients towards future. A

marketing strategy is designed to bring out the organisation from a ditch of degression to the
path of progress for better change in the coming times.

COMPLEX: A marketing strategy is a very complex plan impounding in its compound other
plans or firms of plans which area must to achieve the organisational goals. It is a compendium
or complex of plans within plan to out beat the strength and vitality of others in the line are
allied activities.

PROVIDE DIRECTION: Marketing strategies provide a set direction in which human and
physical resources will be allocated and deployed for achieving organisational goals in the face
of change environmental pressure, stress and constraints and restraints.

COVERING ALL ASPECTS: Marketing strategies involve the right combination of factors
governing the best results. In fact strategic planning warrants not only the isolation of various
elements of a given but a judicious and critical evaluation of their relative importance.

LINK BETWEEN THE UNITS AND ENVIRONMENT: The strategic decisions that are
basically related with likely trends in the changing marketing changes in the government
policies, technological developments, ecological change over’s, social and cultural-overtones.
Then, the ever changing environment which is external to the organisation has impact on it
because unit is the sub systems of supra system namely environment.

INTERPRETATIVE: Marketing strategies are the interpretative plans formulated to interpret

and give meaning to other plans in the spot-light of a specific situation or situations. They
demand an adjustment of plans in anticipator of the reactions of those who will be influenced.
Strategic decisions are the result of a complex and intricate process of decision making.
TOP MANAGEMENT BLUE-PRINT: Marketing strategies, their formulation is the basic
responsibility of top management. It is because; it is top management that spells out the
missions, objectives, goals and the policies and strategies are the ways to reach them. Thus top
management is not only to say where to go but how best to go the terminal point

MARKETING SPECIALIZATIONS

With the rapidly emerging force of globalization, the distinction between

marketing within a firm's home country and marketing within external markets is disappearing
very quickly. With this in mind, firms need to reorient their marketing strategies to meet the
challenges of the global marketplace, in addition to sustaining their competitiveness within
home markets.

FORMULATION OF MARKETING STRATEGY

Strategy formulation is the broadest, longest-term marketing activity. At this stage, complex
and subtle integration with other corporate functions is required. All of the functional strategies
must fit together into a business strategy. Because marketing deals with customers and the
competitive environment, it is an early part of the total strategy formulation process. When
done well, it is impossible to separate the marketing strategy from the corporate strategy. The
two meld into a unified whole. Strategy Formation Marketing Planning Programming,
Allocating and Budgeting Implementation Analysis and Research Monitoring and Auditing 26
The strategic process is one of working with market dynamics (a particular segment or selection
of the market) to achieve a solid positioning of the product/service offering that contains a clear
‘benefit promise’ to the consumer which is differentiable from the offers of the competition
and which thus positions the firm well for potential competitive responses to its actions.

TYPES OF MARKETING STRATEGY

There are different types of marketing strategies available. Picking up a marketing strategy
includes analyzing the needs of your business, your target audience and specifications of your
products.
The two main types of marketing strategy are:

1. Business to business (B2B) marketing

2. Business to consumer (B2C) marketing

The most common form of marketing is business to consumer (B2C) marketing. Let’s explore
a bit more.

Following are the different types of marketing strategies

Paid advertising

This includes multiple approaches for marketing. It includes traditional approaches like TVCs
and print media advertising. Also, one of the most well-known marketing approach is internet
marketing. It includes various methods like PPC (Pay per click) and paid advertising.
2. Cause marketing

Cause marketing links the services and products of a company to a social cause or issue. It is
also well known as cause related marketing.

3. Relationship marketing

This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing existing

relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty.

4. Undercover marketing

This type of marketing strategy focuses on marketing the product while customers remain
unaware of the marketing strategy. It is also known as stealth marketing.

5. Word of mouth

It totally relies on what impression you leave on people. It is traditionally the most important
type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in business world. When you give quality
services to customers, it is likely that they’d promote you.

6. Internet marketing

It is also known as cloud marketing. It usually happens over the internet. All the marketing
items are shared on the internet and promoted on various platforms via multiple approaches.

7. Transactional marketing

Sales is particularly the most challenging work. Even for the largest retailers, selling is always
tough especially when there are high volume targets. However with the new marketing
strategies, selling isn’t as difficult as it was. In transactional marketing the retailers encourage
customers to buy with shopping coupons, discounts and huge events. It enhances the chances
of sales and motivates the target audience to buy the promoted products.

8. Diversity marketing

It caters diverse audience by customizing and integrating different marketing strategies. It

covers different aspects like cultural, beliefs, attitudes, views and other specific needs.

MARKETING MIX

Prof. N. H. Borden of the Harvard Business School introduced the concept of Marketing Mix.

According to him, it refers to two things:

A list of important elements or ingredients that make up the marketing program•

A list of the forces that have a bearing on the marketing operations•

He argued that the marketing mix refers to the apportionment of effort, the combination, the
designing and the integration of the elements of marketing into a programmed mix, which will
best achieve the objectives of an enterprise at a given time.

Element of Marketing Mix

Marketing mix is a set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives
in the target market.

McCarthy has classified these tools into four broad groups, which are known as the 4 P’s of
marketing. They are as follows:

 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion

The marketing variables covered under each P are shown below. Marketing Mix hence
includes:

1. Product

 Product variety
 Quality
 Design
 Features
 Brand name
 Packaging
 Sizing
 Services
 Warranties
 Returns

2. Price

 List price
 Discounts
 Allowances
 Payment period
 Credit terms
3. Promotion

 Sales promotion
 Advertising
 Sales force
 Public relations
 Direct marketing
 Telemarketing
 Internet

4. Place

 Channels
 Coverage
 Assortments
 Location
 Inventory
 Transport

The marketing mix may be considered as a master mix of 4 sub-mixes

 Product Mix
 Price Mix
 Promotion Mix
 Place Mix

The Product Mix

A Product is the sum total of physical and psychological factors that provide satisfaction to the
customers. It is hence, the focus of all marketing efforts. The Product mix is the package of products
offered for sale by the firm.

According to Stanton, the product mix is the full list of all the products offered for sale by a company.
The product mix structure has both dimensions of breadth and depth. The number of product lines
carried is the depth, while the breadth deals with the variety of sizes, colors and models offered within
each product line.

A product line may be designed as a broad group of products intended for similar uses and possess
reasonably similar physical characteristics. The product mix is considered the most powerful instrument
in the hands of the marketing manager.

The product mix involves not only the various activities relating to the product, service or idea
but also deals with planning, developing and producing the right types of products and services
to be marketed by the firm.
The important variables of the product mix are as follows:

 The product line and product range

 Product design
 Product package
 Product quality
 Product branding
 Product labelling
 After sales

The Price Mix

The Price mix is a major marketing tool that is often used to direct the product to a specific
consumer segment. Price is the money value of the product or service.

The price policy determines the return on investment, provides a stable economic structure. It
creates, maintains and expands the market and market share.

Hence from above mentioned point pricing, is an important element of the marketing mix.

There are many variables affecting the price of a product, such as

 the nature of the product

 nature of the market
 the cost of marketing
 sales policies
 the channels of distribution
 fiscal policy of the government

The major price variables include:

 The pricing policies and pricing strategies

 The terms of credit.
 Terms and conditions of delivery of goods.

Trade margin includes the margin of profit to the retailers, wholesalers and the producers.
Trade margins that are the difference between the final price paid by the consumer and the total
cost of making the product.
Resale price maintenance

When the product is a part of product mix, the firm searches for a set of prices that maximises
profits on the total product mix

Pricing is difficult because various products have a demand and cost interrelationship and are
subject to different degrees of competition

According to Kotler, the product mix and pricing may take six forms. These are as follows:

Product line pricing:

Companies normally develop product lines rather than single products and introduce price
accordingly.

Optional feature pricing:

Companies may offer optional products which are features and services along with their main
product, for example, many restaurants price their liquor high and their food low. The food
revenue covers costs and the liquor produces profits. On the other hand some restaurants price
their liquor low and food high to attract a “drinking crowd”.

Captive product pricing:

Some products require the use of ancillary or captive products, for example, manufacturers of
razors and cameras often price them low and set high marked prices on razor blades and photo
films respectively. AT & T may give a cellular phone free if a person subscribes for two years
of its services.

Two part pricing:

A service firm often practices it. It consists of a fixed fee plus a variable usage fee, for example,
telephone users pay a minimum monthly fee plus charges for calls beyond a certain limit. The
fixed fee is set low enough to induce purchase of the service and profits are made on the usage
fees.

By-product pricing:

The production of certain goods like chemicals and petroleum products often results in by-
products. If the by-products have value to a customer group, they are priced accordingly. Any
income earned on the by-products makes it easier for the company to charge a lower price on
its main product.

Product-bundling pricing:

Sellers often bundle products and features. Pure bundling occurs when a firm only offers its
product as a bundle or tied up in sales. However, in case of Mixed Bundling, the seller offers
goods both individually and in bundles. While offering a mixed bundle, the seller charges a
lesser price for the bundle than to those who purchase the items separately.

The Promotion/Communication Mix

The marketing mix activities that deal with product, price and place are performed mainly by
the organisation, or between the organisations and its marketing partners. However, with
promotional activities, the firm communicates directly with its potential customers. Thus
marketers have to be very effective communicators. Promotion is the element in the marketing
mix that serves to inform, persuade and remind the market of the organisation and the
customers of its products. Promotion aims at influencing the potential buyers, their feelings,
beliefs or behaviour.

The Promotional Mix is the combination of following:

 Personal selling
 Advertising
 Sales promotion
 Publicity
 Public relations that helps the organisation to achieve marketing objectives

Above points are discussed below:

Personal selling

It is the presentation of the product to a prospective customer by the representative of a selling

organisation. In most organisations, a large amount is spent on personal selling, than on any
other form of promotion.

Advertising

It is a paid form of impersonal mass communication in which the sponsor is clearly identified.
The most common forms used for advertising are broadcast through TV, radio and the print
media (newspapers, magazines and so on).

Sales promotion

It is designed to supplement advertising and coordinate personal selling. It includes activities

such as, contests for salesmen and consumers, trade shows and in-store displays.

Publicity

It is a mass communication to stimulate demand. Publicity consists of a favorable news

presentation for a product or company presented through any medium. Organisations
frequently provide the material for publicity by way of news releases, press conferences,
photographs, etc.

Public relations

It is a more targeted activity than publicity. It is a planned effort of an organisation to influence

the attitudes and opinions of a specific group. The target may be customers, stockholders,
government agencies or a group with some special interest. They attempt to maintain good
relations with the public. Promotion, thus, is a critical element in many marketing strategies.

Place Mix/Distribution Mix

In the early days it was held that a quality product, a fair price and aggressive sales are sufficient
to attract customers. As competition started becoming more intense, manufacturing firms
adopted cost reduction techniques.

Firstly, physical distribution was one element for cutting the cost.

Secondly, it was noticed that the costs of physical distribution were rising rapidly and even a
small saving in • distribution contributed significantly to profitability of the company.

Thirdly, the high cost of energy and high interest rates affected inventory costs and compelled
organisations to take steps to develop efficient and effective physical distribution systems.
Physical distribution in marketing is basically a problem of logistics.

A business unit cannot develop unless it has enough stock of its final products to satisfy the
demand of the market. The location factor too plays an important role in marketing. Thus,
essential products have to be made available at the right time and right place to maximise
profitable sales. Physical distribution is the physical flow of the products. It is the development
and operation of efficient flow systems for products. The full scope of physical distribution
involves the flow of raw materials from the source of supply to the production line, to the
movement of the finished goods from the end of the production line to the ultimate user.
Middlemen help in the process of the management of this flow.

The main elements of physical distribution or place mix are as follows:

 Transportation
 Warehousing
 Materials handling

 Inventory control

 Order processing
 The channels of distribution
Transportation

In many organisations, a major function of the physical distribution system is shipping the
products to customers. The form of transportation and particularly the carriers are essential to
any organisation.

The five major forms of transportation are as follows:

 Rail roads
 Trucks
 Water vessels or ships
 Pipe lines
 Air transport

When we consider the transport of goods, the railways stand out as important means of
transport followed by truck transport and water transport. The railways offer special facilities
to attract the transportation of goods. Transportation creates place utility; it widens the market
and increases the marketability of products. It is also necessary to make goods available at a
place that is suitable to the customers. However, one who bears the cost of transportation is a
question to be addressed.

There are various transportation policies which have been discussed below:

The Free on Board (FOB) policy is where the buyer pays the transport cost, from the point of
shipment to the • point of purchaser.

Paid on delivery Policy, it is where the seller pays all the shipping costs.•

Freight Allowance Policy is where the seller as well as the buyer shares the cost of
transportation in an agreed • proportion.

Averaged Transportation charge policy is where the buyer is made to pay uniform charges on
all shipments • irrespective of their location, for example, The Bata Shoe Company follows
this policy.

Basing point policy is where the buyer pays the cost of transport from a basing point.•

The transportation policy of a manufacturing organisation is influenced by:

 Consumer Demand
 Advertising
 Plant Location
 Profit
 Warehouse Facilities
 Competition
 Product Value
Warehousing and Inventory Location

Warehousing facilities are necessary to create time utility by way of adjusting the supply to the
demand and preserving the products to obtain a higher price. Therefore, plans and policies have
to be worked out and implemented to make their use economical. In modern times,
warehousing performs four essential functions in the distribution of goods.

These are as follows:

 receiving and checking goods received

 selecting goods to meet orders received
 shipping the goods to the user, after checking their specifications

Material handling

The selection of proper equipment to physically handle the products is an important aspect of
physical distribution management. Proper equipment helps in reducing handling costs and
time. It can minimise losses from breakage, spoilage, theft, etc. Now-a-days, containerization
has become popular. It is a handling system where shipments of products are encased in large
containers made of metal. The containers are transported unopened. It thus minimises physical
handling, reduces damages, risk of theft and allows for transportation that is more efficient.

Inventory control

For any physical distribution system, it is necessary to maintain control over the size and
composition of its inventories. Inventories represent a sizeable investment; hence, the goal of
inventory control is to minimise both the investment and fluctuations in inventories, yet
fulfilling the customers’ orders promptly and accurately. The development of computer
technology has enabled the management to reduce order delivery time, which has led to a
substantial reduction in the size of inventories. The management has to establish an optimal
quantity for re-order while replenishing inventory stocks. The Economic Order for Quantity
(EOQ) has to be estimated for the leading or key items of the inventory. The modern Just-in-
Time (JIT) technique of inventory management is beneficial to both, the producers and the
suppliers.

Order processing

Another important aspect of the physical distribution system is a set of procedures for handling
and filling orders. It includes billing, granting credit, preparing invoices, collecting due
accounts, and so on. If a company makes mistakes or is very slow in following the orders
received, it may disappoint customers. As demand for information becomes more complex,
companies are turning to computers to implement their order processing activities.
Channels of distribution

A manufacturer or a producer has to take a decision regarding most the economical and
convenient distribution channel. One has to work out plans and policies to determine the
number of middlemen to be utilised, the number of distributors and dealers to be employed or
the number of franchise agreements to be entered into. For this, it is necessary to take into
consideration the following:

 the type of the product•

 nature and extent of the market•
 channels employed by the competitors•
 cost benefit of each channel, and so on•
 Depending upon the prevailing conditions, a producer may adopt a policy of
 intensive distribution by using maximum number of outlets or•
 selective distribution•

The variables of marketing mix discussed above are internal and controllable. In addition, we
have behaviour and environmental variables which are external, and uncontrollable in nature.

The behavioural variables include:

 customer variables•
 competitive variables•
 trade variables•
 environment variables

Significance of Marketing Mix

Significance of marketing management is as follows:

 Emphasis on key elements•

 Guide for resource allocation•
 Allocation of the responsibilities•
 Analysis of cost and benefits•
 Facilitating communication

WHO ARE COMPETITORS?

Any person or entity which is a rival against another. In business, a company in the same
industry or a similar industry which offers a similar product or service. The presence of one
or more competitors can reduce the prices of goods and services as the companies attempt to
gain a larger market share. Competition also requires companies to become more efficient in
order to reduce costs. Fast-food restaurants McDonald's and Burger King are competitors, as
are Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and Wal-Mart and Target
BENEFITS OF COMPETITOR IN THE MARKET

 UPGRADATION: A company needs competition to regularly upgrade their product as

well as innovate so that you stay ahead of competition. If there was no
competition, Apple would not have been what it was. It would still be doling out laptops
only. Because Steve jobs wanted to get ahead of competition like Sony and others, he
innovated. So upgradation is a natural advantage of having market competition.
 ADDING MORE VALUE: The advantage of having market competition is that
companies are always adding value to their product. They can either increase the quality
of the product, or they can decrease the prices. In either of the cases, the products
become more desirable to the customer and they feel that it is a value for money
product.
 MORE OPTIONS FOR CUSTOMER: Customer get many more options when
competition is strong in the market. Take Samsung for example. The smart phone
company has several flagship products. Yet it is still launching a new SKU every
month. Besides that, Samsung has branded out to so many other products. This is just
so that it fills up the gap in the market and offers more options to the customer. As
Samsung itself is offering so many products, customer does not go to another brand.
They might buy refrigeration, TV, air conditioner, smart phones and everything from
Samsung itself.