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Muggles’ Guide to Marketing

From:

With Love

Authored and Curated by: Co-Created by

Ashay Kamble NjM Senior Team 2019-20
NjM, 2018-20

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Preface

There are some who consciously choose marketing as their future career path, there are some who
eliminate finance as an option and land up here, and there are some who just want to follow their
instincts. Irrespective of how you have arrived, we have taken up the responsibility to be the helping
hand to your journey ahead. You will often hear your peers commenting that Marketing is just about
“knowing how to talk”. Trust us, you can disrupt the whole market without uttering a single word.

To help you in your preliminary preparation, we have put together the basics of Marketing that we feel
would arm you appropriately before Summers begin with full gusto.

We present to you the Muggles’ Guide to Marketing – the official resource book developed and
curated for all first-year students at NMIMS, Mumbai, by NjM.

The aim is to apprise you with the basics of Marketing that will help you with your Summer
Preparation. We have touched upon various topics to get you going with the Marketing concepts,
supported by appropriate graphics and examples.

However, we strongly encourage you to explore as many resources as possible and do an extensive
external reading, over and above this resource book. This is not by any means an exhaustive material.

Please note that this guide is by no means a replacement of your course material and should not be
used for your academic purposes.

We, as a part of the NjM Committee 2019-20, would like to thank all the seniors who, over the years,
have contributed to this resource book and carried forward the legacy of helping out the Marketing
folks at NMIMS.

Cheers!

Not just Marketing – The Official Marketing Cell at NMIMS, Mumbai (2019-2020)

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Serial Content Page
No: No:
1 Introduction to Marketing 5

2 Sales vs Marketing 6

3 Need, Want, And Demand 7

4 Consumer Vs Customer 8

5 B2B vs B2C 9

6 STP 10

7 Marketing Mix 14

8 ATL & BTL 17

9 Brand and Branding 20

10 Brand Equity 22

11 Brand Resonance 23

12 Additional Branding Terminologies 24

13 Product Mix – Line, Depth, Width 25

14 Product Life Cycle 26

15 Recap 28

16 SWOT Analysis 30

17 Porter’s 5 Forces 33

18 PESTEL Analysis 36

19 BCG Matrix 37

20 IMC – Integrated Marketing Communication 39

21 Digital Marketing 40

22 Go-to-Market Strategy 41

23 Ansoff’s Matrix 42

24 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy 43

25 AIDA Model 44

26 Distribution Strategies 45

27 Wrap Up 49

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 Introduction to Marketing
What is Marketing?

You would often hear your non-marketing friends saying – “Marketing toh sirf GAS hai yaar!” (Translation
– Marketing is just GAS). Brace yourselves. We are about to get into some real deep stuff.

Let’s start with some basic understanding of the term.

Marketing is identifying and meeting the needs and wants of customers, profitably.
The aim is to identify the needs (and wants) of a target market, create value for the customers by satisfying
those needs and make sure that they keep coming back to you.

Marketing is a very wide term. It includes all the activities right from the production of the goods to their
consumption. Every activity in between - designing, pricing, promotion, distribution, transportation,
warehousing, etc. - are activities of marketing.

Alright, hope you got that well. You need to have a great deal of clarity about this question.
You don’t want to mess this up in the interviews. Just in case you need more definitions to be absolutely
clear, here is a curated list for you:

1. Philip Kotler (Also known as Father of Marketing) –

“Marketing is the social process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want
through creating and exchanging value with others.”

2. American Marketing Association

“The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large”

3. Mary Ellen Bianco – Director Marketing & Communications, Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC
“Marketing includes research, targeting, communications, and often public relations. Marketing is to sales
as plowing is to planting for a farmer—it prepares an audience to receive a direct sales pitch.”

4. Reread the above definitions and try to get a deeper understanding.

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Sales vs Marketing
What is the difference between Sales and Marketing?

This is one of the most basic yet the favorite question interviewers like to ask
(After “Tell me about yourself”, of course).

Marketing: Study the market and the customers, focus on their needs and satisfy them to create profit.
You spend money so that you have the right insights to develop the right product and you spend more
money to promote it and maintain a relationship with the customers. It is, hence, a cost center.

Sales: The task here is to make sure that maximum customers purchase your product. You PUSH your
products into the market and generate profits. It is hence a revenue center for the company.

Refer the below table for the differences

Marketing Sales
Act of understanding the market and the Act of converting prospects to actual
customer paying customers
Emphasis on product planning and Emphasis on selling the product already
development produced

Long term process Short term process

Focus on the market and the customer first Focus on the company and the product
– Outside In first– Inside out
Profit through customer satisfaction Profit through sales maximization
PULL your customers towards your PUSH your products to your
product/brand customers/into the market
Cost center Revenue center

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 Relation Between Marketing and Selling
“The aim of Marketing is to make Selling superfluous” - Peter Drucker (Father of Management Thinking)

(Before you google, Superfluous: unnecessary, especially through being more than enough
e.g. this definition right here, for some of you)

Peter Drucker goes on to say that the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well
that the product or service fits him and sells itself. That is exactly how you make selling unnecessary. Of
course in real life, you cannot completely remove sales as a function, but you can reduce the dependency
on it by improving your marketing efforts.

Getting familiar with the concept of Marketing and understanding why is it different from Sales is very
important. Make sure you are thorough with these two ideas. Before you get into more Marketing Gyaan,
let’s visit some key terminologies that will help you comprehend the concepts better.

 Need vs want vs demand

 Customer vs consumer
 B2B vs B2C

NEED, WANT, AND DEMAND

Needs are basic human requirements – food, clothing, shelter, electricity, transportation, etc.
Human needs have been evolving over the years. For example, food has been one of the most basic need
of human beings. But fast-paced lifestyles have created a need for ready-to-eat food products.
There are various levels of needs, best explained by Abraham Maslow through the Hierarchy of Needs
(covered later in this course)

Wants are needs that get shaped due to culture and individual personality. A desire for a specific means to
satisfy one’s need is what differentiates a need and a want.
For example, you are thirsty and you need water to quench the thirst. But if you find yourself asking for a
Bisleri bottle at restaurants when the waiter asks - “Mineral water or Regular water?”, that’s a want right
there.

When wants are backed by buying power, demand is created. People want to choose products that provide
the most value and satisfaction for their money. A desire, without the buying capacity, will not be converted
into a demand.

Marketers do not create needs:

1. Needs pre-exist marketers.
2. Marketers, do not create needs, they influence wants.
3. They might promote the idea that a Mercedes would satisfy a person‘s need for social status.
4. They do not, however, create the need for social status.
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 CONSUMER VS. CUSTOMER

You might have found yourself using these terms interchangeably. But there is a significant (and subtle)
difference between the two terms.

Consider the image below

Say the Mom and her baby, roaming around a shopping mall, stop
near the baby diapers section. Who do you think is the customer
here and who is the consumer?

Put simply, the one who buys the product is the customer.
The one who uses (or consumes) it, is the consumer.
So, the mother here, is the customer for the baby diapers, but her
baby is the consumer.

An individual goes to a shop and buys a wrist watch for his friend's birthday. The friend who buys the watch
is the customer as he has done the transaction with the seller. Once he gives the gift to his friend, it is the
friend who will wear the watch, and hence is the end consumer.

Lego’s customers are children, but shoppers are their parents. Lego used this difference to their advantage
to create two separate user journeys, each covering touch points characteristic for that particular group.
This helped Lego create a more engaging environment and user experience for both groups.

If you buy a smartphone for yourself, you are both the customer and the consumer.

Some DIY examples for you – identify the consumer and the customer

1. Soap for washing utensils1

2. Beverages stocked at restaurants2
3. Cement used for building a bungalow3
4. (look at the footnotes for the answers)

Customers and consumers are considered to be important targets for marketers to generate sales and
revenue. It is the customer who makes the purchase but more often influenced by the consumer.

1
You might say that your maid is the one using it, but the effects are experience by you, so you are both the consumer and
the customer.
2
We assume you cracked this one
3 This might call for a debate, but if the owner is involved in the decisions, he/she will be the customer as well as consumer
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 B2B VS B2C MARKETING
Business to business marketing (B2B):
B2B refers to when companies deal with institutions rather than
individuals. For example, Intel & Microsoft doing business with
Computer manufacturers like Dell, HP.

Business-to-business marketing refers to the marketing of products

or services to other businesses and organizations. B2B marketing
campaigns are aimed at any individual(s) with control or influence
on purchasing decisions. This can encompass a wide variety of titles
and functions, from low-level researchers all the way up to the C-
suite. B2B marketing may use channels such as emails, blogs, and
direct sales.

It holds several key distinctions from B2C marketing, which is

oriented towards consumers. In a broader sense, B2B marketing
content tends to be more informational and straightforward than
B2C. This is because business purchase decisions, in comparison to
those of consumers, are based more on bottom-line revenue
impact.

Business to consumer marketing (B2C):

B2C describes businesses whose customers are individual consumers, rather than professional buyers.
Therefore, all of the business' marketing is dedicated to the needs, interests, and challenges of people in
their everyday lives. B2C business includes goods and services such as food, clothes, cars, houses, phone
services, credit repair services, and so on.

B2C customers get influenced through many factors such as emotions, personal beliefs, and attitudes,
family, friends, and colleagues, etc. Unlike B2B marketing where companies take rational approaches to
convince customers, B2C marketing may often involve emotional and social angles.

Example
Bournvita portrayed as something which caring mothers think is the best healthy drink for their kids, rather
than purely focusing on its functional benefits.
Raymonds’ tagline “the complete man” is another emotional approach to influence customers. The tagline
has an aspirational message, rather than focusing on the supreme quality or comfort of the products.

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SEGMENTATION, TARGETING, AND POSITIONING

The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments
having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics. Its objective is to design a marketing mix that
precisely matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment. Few companies are big enough
to supply the needs of an entire market; most must breakdown the total demand into segments and choose
those that the company is best equipped to handle.

Four basic factors that affect market segmentation are: IMAA

1. Clear identification of the segment

2. Measurability of its effective size
3. Its accessibility through promotional efforts
4. Its appropriateness to the policies and resources of the company

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Segmentation is done using 4 broad parameters:
Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, Behavioral

Source: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/market-segmentation

Take the example of toothpaste. How would you segment the market as per the above parameters?
Consider toothpaste as a product.

Geographic – Segment as urban, semi-urban or rural areas

Demographics – Can segment population as kids, youth, adults, senior population, etc.
Psychographics – Based on lifestyle and attitudes. Lifestyle examples can be office-goers, college-goers,
etc.
Behavioral – Some may want whitening of teeth, some may ask for strong teeth, some want freshness, etc.

After you are done segmenting the market, your task is to choose a segment that you would want to target,
based on profitability, volume, future potential etc. This process is known as targeting.
Say for the above example of toothpaste, Close-up has target a segment that shows the following traits in
particular:
Geographic - Urban and semi urban areas
Demographic - Mostly youths in their teenage life stage
Psychographic - Outgoing, social

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 Behavioral - Freshness and clear breath (for social interactions)
Note that you can choose to
Mass target your product without differentiating at all – for e.g. commodities like salt, sugar, milk, etc.
Or target multiple segments – for e.g. Marie biscuits targeting elders and seniors as well
or target a niche segment in particular – for e.g. Horlicks Junior, specifically for kids

Bases for Targeting:

1. Market size – Sustainability
2. Expected growth – Future potential
3. Competitive position – Attractiveness
4. Cost of reaching the segment – Accessibility
5. Compatibility with the organization’s objectives & resources

Let’s apply the concepts of Segmentation and Targeting to something we all love to talk about.

We can hear your screams, Potterheads!

If you notice closely, the students of Hogwarts have actually been Segmented, based on their
psychographics, as depicted in the image above. Your Targeting now depends upon what do you think
is the most suitable segment for your product or service.
Say you want open a new bookstore - you know the wise Ravenclaws might be a good target group.
Letting our imagination flow out a little more, Gryffindors would make a great TG for Mountain Dew -
because “risk utha naam bana” (translation: Take risks and make a name for yourself). We will leave it
to you to decide what products or services are best suitable for the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs.

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POSITIONING:

Positioning is developing a product and brand image in the minds of consumers. It can also include
improving a customer's perception of the experience they will have if they choose to purchase your product
or service. The business can positively influence the perceptions of its chosen customer base through
strategic promotional activities and by carefully defining your business' marketing mix. Effective positioning
involves a good understanding of competing products and the benefits that are sought by your target
market. A business should aim to differentiate and define themselves in the eyes of their customers in
regards to their competition.

In our above discussion on toothpaste, you may observe that Close-up wants to position itself for “Fresh
breath”, Colgate for “Strong and White Teeth” and Sensodyne for “Sensitivity”

Positioning in the smartphone sector:

Apple – Ultimate user

experience; premium and quality
phones

OnePlus – High end features at

prices lower than the
competitors

Xiaomi – Value for Money,

budget friendly phones

Blackberry (R.I.P) – Suitable for

corporate use; high security

Elements of positioning: (Some More Important Terminologies)

Target Audience/Target Group/TG: For whom the product is intended

Points of Parity (PoP):

Attributes similar to other products in the category. Points of parity are important because customers
expect basic offerings from a category. POPs are also often used to nullify the advantage that the
competitor might have over you. E.g.: Two facewash brands, both offering to reduce acne, becomes a PoP.

Points of Difference (PoD):

Attributes that differentiate the products from others in the category. The more the number of PODs the
better is the positioning. Two facewash brands, both offering to reduce acne, but one using only natural
ingredients to do so, becomes a PoD.

Tip: Feel free to use these terms in your group discussions of case discussions, you’ll look knowledgeable.
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Marketing Mix (4Ps/ 7Ps of Marketing)

4Ps/7Ps are the set of tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants from
the target market.
They make up the business plan for a company and when handled right, can give it a great success. Handle
it wrongly and the business could take years to recover. The marketing mix needs a lot of understanding,
market research, and consultation with several people, from users to trade to manufacturing and several
others.
The 4Ps of Marketing are generally used for Products (here, tangible). In terms of services marketing, there
are 3 additional Ps in the Marketing Mix, namely People, Processes and Physical Evidence

“P”-1: PRODUCT:
Product refers to an actual item being sold, that satisfies a consumer’s needs or wants.

There are five levels of a product:

Level 1: Core Product:

This is the basic product and the focus is on the purpose
for which the product is intended.
For example, a warm coat will protect you from the cold
and the rain.

Level 2: Basic/Generic product:

A version of the product containing only those attributes
or characteristics absolutely necessary for it to function.
For example: For a warm coat this is about fit, material,
rain repellent ability, high-quality fasteners

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Level 3: Expected Product:
The set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to. E.g. The coat should be
really warm and protect from the weather and the wind and be comfortable when riding a bicycle.

Level 4: Augmented Product:

This refers to all the additional factors which set the product apart from that of the competition.
For example: Is that warm coat in style, is it color trendy and made by a well-known fashion brand?

Level 5: Potential Product:

This is about augmentations and transformations that the product may undergo in the future.
For example: A warm coat that is made of a fabric that is as thin as paper and therefore light as a feather
that allows rain to automatically slide down

“P”-2: PRICE:
The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors
including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value
of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of the product if other stores have the
same product.

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“P”-3: PLACE:
Place refers to the point of sale. It is the location or kind of outlet a product is sold at and it also includes
the channel/distribution. Channel is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from
the manufacturer/service provider to the user or consumer.
(Place is actually the Distribution part of Marketing, but it is named “Place” just to keep the “P” consistency)

“P”-4: PROMOTION:
Includes the activities undertaken to make the product known to the TG (target group or audience) and
persuade them to initiate the purchase. The several tools that facilitate the promotion objective of a firm
are collectively known as the Promotion Mix.
The Promotion Mix is the integration of Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Public Relations, Direct
Marketing, and Advertising
Let us look at the individual components of the promotions mix in more detail. Remember all of the
elements are 'integrated' to form a specific communications campaign.

Personal Selling:
Personal Selling is an effective way to manage personal customer relationships. The sales person acts on
behalf of the organization. They tend to be well trained in the approaches and techniques of personal
selling. However, salespeople are very expensive and should only be used where there is a genuine return
on investment.

Sales Promotion:
Sale promotions are of two types– consumer promotions (targeted at consumers) and trade promotions
(targeted at retailers to ensure they buy more of the product to be kept in the store).
Examples of consumer promotion include the BOGO (Buy One Get One) promotion. Others include
couponing, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories (such as free blades with a new razor),
introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation), and so on.
Examples of trade promotion include – trade schemes, free gifts to retailers on purchase of a particular
amount of SKU, extra SKUs when purchase crosses a particular number, etc.

SKU: In the field of inventory management, a stock keeping unit is a distinct type of item for sale, such as a
product or service, and all attributes associated with the item type that distinguish it from other item types.
Example, Lay’s is available in Rs 5 Pack, Rs. 10 Pack and Rs. 20 Pack. Thus, there are 3 SKUs of Lay’s available
in the market.

Public Relations (PR):

Public Relations professionals help a business or individual cultivate a positive reputation with the public
through various unpaid or earned communications. Unlike advertisers, who tell stories through paid
methods, PR professionals tell their stories through unpaid or earned media. PR team can be seen in full
fledge especially during times of crisis, such as when Maggi got banned due to the presence of lead in the
product.

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Direct Marketing:
Direct marketing is very highly focused upon targeting consumers based upon a database. As with all
marketing, the potential consumer is 'defined' based upon a series of attributes and similarities. Creative
agencies work with marketers to design highly focused communication in various forms such as mails. The
mail is sent out to the potential consumers and responses are carefully monitored.

Advertising:
Advertising is a 'paid for' communication. It is used to develop attitudes, create awareness, and transmit
information in order to gain a response from the target market. There are many advertising 'media' such
as newspapers (local, national, free, trade), magazines and journals, television (local, national, terrestrial,
satellite) cinema, outdoor advertising (such as posters, bus sides).

ATL AND BTL MARKETING

Two more important terms in the Communications & Advertising area are ATL and BTL.
ATL – Above the Line Marketing
BTL – Below the Line Marketing

The terms ATL and BTL were first used in 1954 after Proctor and Gamble began paying advertising firms
separately (and at a different rate) from other suppliers who dealt with more direct promotional efforts. In
effect, marketing that was more broad in nature was separated from marketing that was more direct in
nature.

What is the Line in the Marketing?

“IT SEPARATES DIRECT MARKETING FROM HIGHER LEVEL BRAND MARKETING.”

You’ll often find questions around “Design ATL/BTL strategy for XYZ company”. Let’s get on with it.

ATL

‘ATL Marketing’ stands for ‘Above The Line

Marketing ‘. This kind of marketing is the
kind of marketing that has a very broad
reach and is largely untargeted. Think
about a national TV campaign, where
viewers across the nation see the same
advert aired across the various networks.

This kind of marketing is mostly used for

building brand awareness and goodwill.

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 BTL:

‘BTL Marketing’ stands for ‘Below The

Line Marketing ‘. This kind of marketing is
the kind of marketing that targets specific
groups of people with focus. For example,
a leaflet drop in a specific area, a Google
AdWords campaign targeting a certain
group or a direct telemarketing campaign
targeting specific businesses.

This kind of marketing is best for

conversions and direct response

A newer term TTL emerged to explain a more integrated marketing approach, which combines both the
widespread and direct approaches, rather than the traditional ATL/BTL separation.

Now that we have taken a look at the 4Ps, let’s explore the additional 3Ps for services – People, Process,
Physical Evidence

“P”-5: PEOPLE:
These are the people directly related to the business such as the employees.
Employees represent a company while interacting with the client or customers. They are the ones who
deliver the service. Therefore, it is important to have the right set of people to deliver superior service and
enhance the customer experience.

“P”-6: PROCESS:
Process represents the method or flow of providing service to the client. It's best viewed as something that
your customer participates in at different points in time.
Here are some examples to help you build a picture of the marketing process, from the customer's point of
view.
Example - Going on a cruise - from the moment that you arrive at the dockside, you are greeted; your
baggage is taken to your room. You have two weeks of services from restaurants and evening
entertainment, to casinos and shopping. Finally, you arrive at your destination, and your baggage is
delivered to you.

“P”-4: PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:

A service does not have any physical attributes to it. So what are the tangible aspects of your service that
the customer can experience? That is what comes under the final “P” of the Marketing Mix – Physical
Evidence.

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To define Physical Evidence, it is the environment in which the service is delivered, and where the firm and
customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the
service
There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following:
1. Packaging (considered in the product dimension in the traditional 4Ps)
2. Internet/web pages
3. Paperwork (such as invoices, tickets, and dispatch notes)
4. Furnishings
5. Signage (such as those on aircraft and vehicles)
6. Uniforms
7. Business cards
8. The building itself (such as prestigious offices or scenic headquarters)

Example: A sporting event is packed full of physical evidence. Your tickets have your team's logos printed
on them, and players are wearing uniforms. The stadium itself could be impressive and have an
electrifying atmosphere. You traveled there and parked quickly nearby, and your seats are comfortable
and close to restrooms and store. All you need now is for your team to win! Some organizations depend
heavily upon physical evidence as a means of marketing communications, for example, tourism
attractions and resorts (e.g. Disney World), parcel and mail services (e.g. UPS trucks), and large banks and
insurance companies (e.g. Lloyds of London).

As a mandatory exercise, do try to analyze the Marketing Mix for different products and services.
Also, it is a good idea to have the 4P/7P analysis ready for any company that visits the campus during the
summers. Not only will it help you understand the company better, but will also help you study different
strategies used by companies.
Below are some links to start with:
Coca Cola - https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/16786-coca-cola.html
Netflix - https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-netflix/

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BRAND & BRANDING

What is a brand?

(Some Punch lines for your GD/Interview)

“Brand is the personality of the organization”
“What a company makes is a product; what you buy is the brand”

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign symbol or design or a
combination of them intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors.
Brand is an accumulation of emotional and functional associations. Associations are nothing but the images
and symbols associated with the brand or brand benefits.
“Brand is a promise that the product will perform as per consumer’s expectations. Branding is the process
of endowing products and services with the power of brand”
As a part of the Branding process, marketers need to teach consumers “who” the product is – by giving it a
name and other brand elements to identify it. They should communicate what the product does and why
the consumers should care about it.

Consider this symbol to your left.

Although just a stylized tick mark, you would instantly recognize this image as
the logo of Nike (it’s called the Nike Swoosh).
You associate this particular symbol with the Nike Brand. Having this logo
automatically increases the credibility and the trust factor for the product. That’s
the brand doing its work in the background.

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Here are some of the Best Global Brands as per a report by Interbrand (2018)
It is highly recommended that you read and understand the product/services of these companies and
analyze their marketing strategies.

To see the complete ranking https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-

brands/2018/ranking/

When you visit the website, click on individual brands to understand what are the strengths of each of
these brands that differentiate them from each other.

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 POSITIONING VS BRANDING
So here we are with some basic understanding of what Branding is. But have you guys started to question
the difference between Branding and positioning?
After all, both things involve building a perception about your brand/product amongst the minds of the
consumers. But then why have two different terms for the same thing?

Positioning – Act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of
the target market – it’s about where you rank in your customers’ mind in relation to your competition.

Branding, on the other hand, is building the personality of the product, service or company. The goal is to
elicit a positive rational or emotional response from the market. Branding comes from your customers’
experiences with your business. You build strong associations (logo, jingle, taglines, color etc.) and thoughts
in the mind of target audiences.

Positioning comes before Branding.

BRAND EQUITY
Brand equity is the value of the brand in terms of perceptions in the minds of the consumer.

(Brand value on the other hand is the financial worth of the brand. Businesses need to estimate how much
their brand is worth in the market if someone decides to purchase the brand)

If people think highly of a brand, it has positive brand equity. When a brand consistently under-delivers and
disappoints to the point where people recommend that others avoid it, it has negative brand equity.

Imagine there are two smartphones, A and B.

Both phones have the same specifications, features, performance, dimensions, design, etc.
If asked to choose one, you would choose anyone of them.
Now say we put the Apple logo on one of those phones, rest of the things remaining the same.
You would automatically associate the phone having the Apple logo as having a better performance, better
user experience, better quality, better customer support and a premium feeling to it. You wouldn’t mind
paying more for this phone over the other, because, of course, Apple.

The additional weight a product gets because of the brand is what brand equity is.

Positive brand equity has value:

1. Companies can charge more for a product with a great deal of brand equity.
2. That equity can be transferred to line extensions – products related to the brand that include the brand
name – so a business can make more money from the brand.
3. It can help boost a company’s stock price.

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 BRAND RESONANCE
One of the key concepts related to brand is Brand resonance. Put simply, it tells us how well the customers
“resonate” with the brand. It is the intensity of customer’s psychological connection with the brand and
the randomness to recall the brand in different consumption situations.
Building Brand resonance involves several stages. Study the diagram below.

Brands should approach the brand-building process through specific stages.

Brands can choose either
1. The rational approach (left side of the diagram, like the rational left side of the brain) by focusing on the
functional aspects of the offerings or
2. The emotional approach by focusing on customer’s psychology and feelings.

The first stage involves establishing the identity of the brand. Salience refers to how easily or often does
a customer think of a brand.
Second Stage: Brand performance means how well the product or service meets customer’s functional
needs. On the other side, Brand imagery describes ways in which a brand attempts to meet psychological
and social needs.
Third stage: Brand judgments focuses on customer’s personal opinions and evaluations. Brand feelings
are customers’ emotional responses and reactions to the brand.

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The Ultimate stage, the Summit– Brand Resonance: Extent to which customers think that they are “in-
sync: with the Brand.
Example: Brand Resonance Pyramid for Mercedes-Benz
https://bmvsmb.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/mercedes-benz-kellers-brand-resonance-pyramid/

Some Important concepts related to Brand:

Brand Extension – Companies introducing new products under their strongest brand names. For example,
Nestlé using Maggi’s brand power to foray into sauces and soups.
Brand extension helps companies facilitate new product acceptance and they save on building awareness
and trust amongst the customers.

Brand Revitalization – Adopted when Brand reaches the Maturity stage in the Product Life cycle and when
the profits fall drastically. Example: Snapdeal changing its logo and packaging after six years of existence to
manage the dropping sales position. It launched the new “Unbox Zindagi” campaign to boost its awareness
and brand image.

(Note: There might be questions in case discussions or interviews to revitalize any brand of a company.
Read about different strategies adopted by various companies over the years, it will help you build a good
thought process.

Brand Identity - Brand identity is how you want your brand to be perceived and it includes everything from
the language you use, through to your color palette, and your organizational values.

Brand Image - Your brand image is essentially the same. The only difference is that while your identity is
how you want to be perceived, your image is the reality today

Brand Positioning - Your positioning takes your identity and positions it to a particular audience in a way
that magnifies certain attributes of the brand while downplaying others

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Product Line, Depth, Width
You will come across these terms quite often in Marketing.
Definitions first.
Product Line – An array of closely related products. Dairy products, smartphones, skin-care products,
hygiene products, etc. are examples of different product lines. The products under one product line have
a great extent of functional similarity between them.
Product Depth – The total number of products under one product line is called the Product Depth. For
example, for the smartphones product line of OnePlus, assuming 4 models in the sale currently –
OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro, the Product Depth will be 4
Product Width – The width of the Product mix is equal to the number of product lines within a company.
For example, consider P&G having the products broadly in two categories – Detergents (Arial, Tide, etc.)
and shampoos (Head and Shoulders, Pantene, etc.) then the product width will be 2.
Product Mix – A combination of all the Product Lines within a company is broadly referred to as the
Product Mix of that company.

Let us take an example of Dabur and study its product mix.

(There are a lot many products offered by Dabur, the above list is just for purpose of explanation)
Product lines -> Health Supplement, Foods, Home Care, Consumer Health
Product depth:
For Health Supplement- 3 (Chyawanprash, Glucose-D, Honey)
For Food – 3 (Real Juice, Active, Capsico)
For Home Care – 3 (Odonil, Odomos, Sani Fresh Shine)
For Consumer Health – 4 (Honitus, Dabur Lal Tail, Dabur Lal Dant Manjan, Dabur Active Antacid)
Product Width = No. of product lines = 4

25
Product Life Cycle:
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) describes the stages of a product from launch to being discontinued (Ah. that
was harsh). As we will see in the example, the product lifecycle can be reviewed across an entire category,
or in the context of an individual company product. It is a strategic tool that helps companies plan for new
product development and refine existing products.
There are 4 stages shown in the table below to the lifecycle process, although decline can be avoided by
reinventing elements of the product. It is also recognized that some products never move beyond the
introduction phase whilst others move through the life cycle much faster than others.

The stages of PLC:

Introduction:
Introducing a new product where it's unknown and is a fresh face in the market. The price is often higher
as distribution is limited, and promotion is personalized.

Growth:
Here, the product is being bought and with volume, the price declines. Distribution increases and
promotion focus on product benefits.

Maturity:
Here, the product competes with alternatives and pricing drops. Distribution becomes intense (it’s
available everywhere) and promotion focuses on the differences to competitors’ products.

26
Decline:
The product is reaching the end of its life and faces fewer competitors. The price may rise and
distribution has become selective as some distributors have dropped the product. Promotion aims to
remind customers of its existence.

How can I use this model?

When reviewing your business, you need to understand which stage your products or services have
reached. This can be assessed in terms of market share and growth. Reviewing the portfolio enables
marketers to plan for new products, reinvent existing products or discontinue products that are in
serious decline.

An example of the Product Lifecycle model

This example shows how the yoghurt product category has moved through the product life cycle by
remixing elements of the marketing mix. Examples of stages and how PLC evolved:

1. Introduction:
• Yoghurt available in health food stores
• Functional and plain packaging
• Promoted as a health food

2. Growth:
• Yogurt now available in supermarket chiller cabinets
• Packaging gets a makeover
• New flavors introduced; Strawberry and Vanilla

3. Maturity:
• Product re-invented with added fruit, added muesli, added chocolate!
• Packaging changes into different shapes and sizes
• Promoted as a fun snack and a luxury treat

4. Decline:
• Ad campaign evoking brand association through remembrance and fondness
• Brand available at select retail megastores only

A tip is to review customer feedback continuously, to ensure your products don’t reach the end of their
shelf life, carry out regular customer surveys. Get feedback and find out what works, what doesn’t and
why.

27
We will take a break at this part of the document and reflect on the things that we have studied so far.

Below is the flow of topics that we have covered so far:

We strongly recommend that you go through these topics again, focusing more on their practical
applications. Pick any brand of your choice and try searching for keywords such as “Apple Marketing
Mix”, or “ITC Product Mix”. It will help you understand how exactly to go about these basic concepts.

The next sections of this document will focus on different Models and Frameworks, relatively newer
concepts such as IMC, Digital Marketing, Go-To-Market, and Distribution channels.
At the end we have some interesting terminologies, with examples, for you. Let’s go ahead then.

28
Models and Frameworks:
Now that you are thorough with some of the basic marketing concepts, it is time to visit the world of
models and frameworks. Whenever faced with any problem (or even if not), whenever you want to
perform some kind of analysis about your products, your company, the industry in general, or the
broader environment where your company operates, it is always a good idea to have a structured
approach, rather than being all over the place.

There are a variety of models/frameworks available for various kinds of analysis. It is CRUCIAL to know
WHICH model has to be applied WHEN. And because each model has its own purpose, you need to find
your purpose (of analysis) first. We repeat – find your purpose first.

Time for a story.

Once upon a time, there was a person named Mr. Stark. He had a Vision (pun intended).
His vision was to build a computer company and make it the top company in the category. He also aimed
to be a billionaire in the process. Mr. Stark had a structured approach to his analysis and decisions. He
first went on to analyze the industry he wanted to get into - computer industry in this case.

To do so, he used Porter’s five forces model. It helped him analyze the power of various forces present
in the industry, namely the competitors, the suppliers, the customers, the substitute products, and new
entrants. Understanding the power of these forces in the computer industry helped him gauge the
attractiveness of the industry and decide whether he should choose this industry or not.

After studying the external factors, Mr. Stark decided to evaluate the internal factors that could decide
the future of the company. He needed to know what are his (the company’s) strengths and weaknesses,
and also what are the threats and opportunities for him. That’s how he came to know of SWOT analysis.
He spent a good amount of time in evaluating self so that he knows exactly how to make use of available
resources.

He later realized that he needed to look beyond the business level analysis to a broader level analysis
and study the macro-environmental factors that could affect his company. Factors such as the political
atmosphere, legal atmosphere, economic conditions, etc. could greatly influence the company and its
business. Hence to study them, he used a popular framework called the PESTEL framework.

Through an in-depth analysis of the industry, company, and the environment in which he planned to
operate, Mr. Stark was able to launch a highly successful company. He created a range of products over
the years and made good money out of it. He continued to have a structured approach for his decisions,
using the BCG Matrix and Ansoff Matrix to evaluate his product portfolio and growth strategies
whenever required.

Mr. Stark was truly a genius. We love him 3000.

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The aim of the story was to help you understand why a particular framework is used in a particular
situation. To put it in a more non-fictional form -

Note: By external, mean external to the company. Same goes for internal.

Let us go through the models one by one.

 SWOT Analysis:

A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT
analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person.
You can employ a SWOT analysis before you commit to any sort of company action, whether you are
exploring new initiatives, revamping internal policies, considering opportunities to pivot or altering a
plan midway through its execution.

30
Strengths:
Characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others. Try to look for answers
to these questions to find your company’s strengths -
What advantages does your organization have?
What do you do better than anyone else?
What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't?

Note that If there is something that everyone does, then it won’t be a strength to you. For example, if
you launch a new flavor of chips and price at Rs. 10, do not claim that your strength is budget-friendly
products. Almost all the popular chips are priced in this category. So make sure that the strength is an
“advantage” over your (or most of your) competitors.

Weaknesses:
Characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others

What factors lose you sales?

What aspects of your company need improvement?
What are the limitations you face in terms of resources?

Being realistic and practical is the key to cracking this section. After all, acknowledgment of your
weaknesses is the first step towards improvement.

Opportunities:
Elements that the project could exploit to its advantage, such as technological trends, changing economy
or political environment, increasing demand for your products in your industry, etc.

What good opportunities can you spot?

What interesting trends are you aware of?

A useful approach when looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether
these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you
could open up opportunities by eliminating them.

Threats:
Elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project

What obstacles do you face?

What are your competitors doing?
Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing?
Is changing technology threatening your position?

31
You might get confused between weaknesses and threats – you may call a weakness as a sure threat to
the company in some way or the other.
Understand that weaknesses are the internal factors that can hold back your company from growing
further. Threats, on the other hand, are the external factors that pose a potential problem to your
company in the mere future.

Go through the below SWOT analysis to get a better understanding of how it should be done.
SWOT for PepsiCo
Products: Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Mirinda, Gatorade, Slice, 7up, Mountain Dew etc.

Strengths
• High Brand Equity
• Customer loyalty towards
brands like Doritos, Lay’s,
Pepsi etc.
• Strong distribution
network
• Clear Target Audience –
The Youth
Weaknesses
• Reliance on carbonated
drinks when customers
are looking for healthier
options
• Lack of product
diversification – only food
and beverages in the
product portfolio

Opportunities
• Increasing demand for
healthy beverages
• Partnerships with
businesses to increase
sales. e.g Domino's and
Coca-Cola
Threats
• Competitors such as Coca
Cola, Nestle and Kraft
foods.
• Regulations and reforms
in different countries. For
e.g. Plastic Ban

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 Porter’s five forces model:

What is this model and why is it used?

Model used to study the attractiveness (profit potential) of a particular industry. It is done mainly while
launching a new product or a service in a particular category or when you want make changes in your
existing corporate strategy.
Industry structure has a strong influence in defining the competitive rules of the game as well as the
strategies potentially available to the firm.

 What are the five forces?

1. Rivalry amongst existing firms
2. Bargaining power of customers/buyers
3. Bargaining power of suppliers
4. Threat of new entrants
5. Threat of substitutes

What better way to understand this than by taking an example?

Porter’s five forces analysis for the soft drinks industry.

(REMEMBER that you carry out this analysis for an industry, not for a company.

1. Rivalry amongst existing firms:

Factors such as size and scale of competitors, costs involved, the potential of the industry, etc. greatly
affect the dynamics of competition in the industry. If an industry is a high growth industry and all
competitors have enough pie for themselves, they would rather focus on the products instead of handling
the competition. But for a slow-growing industry where the customers are limited, rivalry may be fierce.

33
 There are a handful of players in the soft drinks industry creating a high level of competition in the market.
Firms spend heavily on sales and promotions to differentiate themselves and to reach each and every
customer in the best way possible. Hence, the rivalry in the beverages sector is HIGH

2. Bargaining power of customers:

Buyers or customers influence the industry by forcing down the prices or demanding higher quality,
directly affecting the profitability of the operating companies. By bargaining power, we mean that they try
to manipulate the products and prices as per their choices because they are in a stronger and better
position. When can customers have higher bargaining powers? Consider a situation where customers are
flooded with choices for a particular product. It is completely up to them which product to choose. They
will readily switch from one product to another if the prices rise or the quality drops. So producers are
constantly in competition with each other to produce the best at the lowest prices.

Consider the case of Jio. Jio’s budget-friendly offerings actually put pressure on other providers. Mobile
Number Portability or MNP had previously eased out the switching process but the options were limited
and the offerings were similar. Customers had little choice for themselves. Now, the scenario is completely
different.

In the beverages industry too, the switching cost is low and customers can shift from one product to
another without hesitation. Hence the bargaining power of customers here is HIGH.

3. Bargaining power of suppliers:

Suppliers are the ones that supply material (Raw material), or products to be further used for making other
products (like camera sensors used in the making of mobiles). A supplier in a generic sense contributes to
the making of a product or service.

Suppliers can exert power by increasing the prices of their offerings or reducing the quality. Suppliers can
get powerful if:
The industry is dominated by a few suppliers
High switching costs involved

In the beverages industry, suppliers include bottling manufacturers or packaging suppliers. It is easy to
switch between these suppliers due to the abundance of options hence reducing the bargaining power.
Additionally, many companies may involve in backward integration i.e. owing their own supplier network.
Thus, overall the Bargaining power of suppliers is low, in this case.

4. Threat of new Entrants:

When an industry has limited barriers to entry - such as low investment, favorable policies, abundant
resources, less competition - new firms may keep foraying into the business. Every time a new firm enters
the competition, the profitability of the existing players takes a hit. Hence, existing firms constantly try to
create barriers, by holding on to resources or lobbying with the government and thus protecting
themselves.

In the soft drinks industry, existing companies have already carried out massive expenditures and possess

34
 economies of scale. In order to enter in the beverages industry, an ample amount of money is required
for the sake of manufacturing, bottling, distribution, and storage. The major difficulties when starting a
beverage business is of distribution channels; well-known brands are retaining many of the main
distribution channels including supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations, etc. Thus, the threat of new
entrants here is moderate. You will often find existing players launching new products in the category,
rather than completely new brands entering the market.

5. Threat of substitutes
Substitutes are alternatives to your products and services. This should not be confused with competitors’
products. For example, iPhone X and Samsung s10 are competitors. But their substitutes can be tablets,
that limit the potential of smartphones in general. Thus, substitutes are for your products (not the
company), and they belong to different categories altogether.
Substitutes place a cap on the prices the firm can change.

The usual substitutes for the carbonated beverages are water, tea, sports drinks and many more. But
most of the customers do not switch between categories, each has its own purpose.
Overall the threat of substitutes is low for the soft drink beverage industry.

6. Surprise, Surprise!!
Although you will find most academic resources discussing the above five forces, there is an additional 6 th
force which was proposed at a later stage. It is called the Complementors. These are the companies or
entities offering goods that are complementary in nature to the goods in a particular industry.

If business is booming for the complementors, then this could positively affect the business of the firms in
the given industry. On the other hand, if business is slow for the complementors, this could adversely
affect the business of the firms in the given industry. So, complementors and complementary goods do
not necessarily increase or decrease the competitiveness of an industry, they merely add another layer to
the structural complexity of the competitive environment.
A basic example of complementary products is the hotdog and the bun, which when put together,
provides more value than they are apart. This complementarity results in a commercial symbiosis.

What could be the complementary products for the soft drinks category? Alcohol? Maybe.

Conclusion: Looking at all the factors above, we can conclude that entering in the world of beverages is a
challenging task to accomplish as there exists a tough competition and the brands are striving to maintain
their name through various incentives, advertisements, promotions and many more.

Things to be kept in mind while using this model:

1. Used only at the level of individual business units (Strategic business units or SBUs) and not at the level of
the whole organization
2. These five forces are not independent of each other
3. Understanding the connections between these forces is very important

Hope you absorbed all the forces well. May the forces be with you.
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PESTEL framework:

Why do we need this model?

1. To describe some of the macro-environmental factors that affect organizations
2. These factors can affect strategies and the ways in which organizations seek to handle aspects of their
environment

How are the factors categorized?

Political Factors:
These determine the extent to which government and government policy may impact an organisation or a
specific industry.

Economic Factors:
These factors impact the economy and its performance. Factors include interest rates, employment or
unemployment rates, raw material costs and foreign exchange rates.

Social Factors:
These factors focus on the social environment and identify emerging trends. This helps a marketer to
further understand customer’s needs and wants. Factors include changing family demographics, education
levels, cultural trends, attitude changes and changes in lifestyles.

Technological Factors:
These factors consider the rate of technological innovation and development that could affect a market or
industry. Factors could include changes in digital or mobile technology, automation, R&D, etc.

Environmental Factors:
These factors relate to the influence of the surrounding environment and the impact of ecological aspects.
Factors include climate, recycling procedures, carbon footprint, waste disposal and sustainability.

Legal Factors:
An organisation must be aware of any change in legislation and the possible impact it may have on business
operations. Factors include employment legislation, consumer law, health and safety, international as well
as trade regulations. Political factors do cross over with legal factors; however, the key difference is that
political factors are led by government policy, whereas legal factors must be complied with.

Check out the PESTEL of the food industry here - https://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-of-the-food-industry/

36
BCG Matrix:

What is the BCG matrix?

1. A tool that allows an organization to classify and evaluate its product portfolio.
2. It is also called Product Portfolio Matrix. Used for an overview of products, not for detailed analysis.
3. It helps to identify what stage a particular brand is in and what is its contribution to revenue, and its
future potential.
4. This allows the company to properly allocate its resources, and decide which products to focus on and
which one to step away from.
5. It positions products or services of the company based on market growth and market share of the
product/service.

37
Question marks (or problem child)
A business unit that has a small market share in a high growth market.
They do not generate profits unless the company decides to invest resources to maintain and even increase
the market share (become potential stars). They have a high demand for liquidity and the company must
ask the question: Invest or give up the product?

Stars:
These are promising products for the company, they even can be considered as leaders of the industry. The
strategy is to boost these products by appropriate investments and maintain a position of strength. These
products require a large amount of cash but also contribute to the company's profitability. They are
becoming progressively cash cows with market saturation.

Cash Cows:
These are products or services which are mature and which generate interesting profits and cash but need
to be replaced because the future growth will be lower. Cash cows require little investment and generate
cash that can be used to invest in other business units.

Dogs:
These products are positioned in a declining market and that the company wants to get rid of soon as they
become too expensive to maintain. The company must minimize the dogs. The company must decide
whether it still injects liquidity, otherwise, it will eliminate the dogs in the near future.

Below is an example BCG matrix for Coca-Cola. (Note: Also try doing BCG for ITC, it was an interview
question last year)

38
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC):
Integrated Marketing communication means that all the communication and messages received by a
customer through various brand contact points should be relevant, coherent and consistent over time. This
means even if a brand uses multiple channels to reach out to a customer, the message that reaches the
customer should be the same. A brand shouldn’t be speaking two different things on two different
channels. And by speaking we do not mean just the verbal part. The non-verbal means of communication
such as your logo, packaging, brand ambassadors and so on are included as well – Anything that a customer
interacts with is an important means of communication.
To give you an example where a brand’s messaging isn’t consistent across channels – take the example of
McDonald’s in India. The company wants to give Indians the experience of having American food and its
culture. The breakfast menu doesn’t have Indian snacks like poha or dosa. It has western food items in it.
(Note that the menu is also a way of speaking about your brand).
Now say if you are having the American Breakfast in McDonald’s, influenced by the sophisticated interiors
and English speaking staff, and then a random Hindi breakup song plays in the background, how would you
feel? The song is going to ruin your whole “American” experience right there and then. If your brand has
one message to give, then all your touchpoints should speak the same thing – verbally or non-verbally. That
is what IMC is all about.
Another reason why IMC is done is so that instead of using only a couple of channels to reach your
customer, you choose multiple channels, depending on their strengths, and achieve a greater impact
together than what each channel would achieve individually. The aim is to convey the brand’s story (one
common story) using different promotional elements.
Consistent images and relevant, useful, messages help nurture long term relationships with customers.
Here, customer databases can identify precisely which customers need what information when… and
throughout their whole buying life. Disjointed messages can dilute the overall impact and cause confusion
and frustration amongst the customers.

39
 Here are some examples of integrated marketing communication:
Apple conveys the premium experience it offers through various means. Be it the ‘if you don’t have an
iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone” campaign that builds the exclusivity of the products, its stores
with superiorly designed interiors, or its minimal hoardings and advertisements. Even the color scheme
used on various channels is consistent. This helps to establish a clear positioning and achieve higher
impact.

Coca Cola launched Open Happiness campaign through a very catchy TV commercial. Apart from the
TVC, the company ensured that other communication channels like social media, print, online ads, OOH
etc. were also used effectively. This shows the overall use of IMC channels to capture people across
media channels

Digital Marketing:

Digital Marketing is the practice of promoting products and services using digital channels to reach
consumers in a personal and cost-effective manner.
Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet.
Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to
connect with current and prospective customers.

Digital Marketing Glossary: (Make sure you know these terminologies if you apply for companies with
Digital Marketing profiles. These are the ABCs of Digital Marketing)

Pay-Per-Click:
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one
of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn”
those visits organically.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC):
Cost Per Click (CPC) refers to the actual price you pay for each click in your pay-per-click (PPC)
marketing campaigns.

CPM:
This is the “cost-per-thousand” views of an advertisement. Often, advertisers agree to pay a certain
amount for every 1,000 customers who see their ad, regardless of conversion rates or click-thrus.

Click-Thru Rate (CTR):

The percentage of people who actually click on a link (e.g., in an e-mail message or sponsored ad) after
seeing it. CTR = CPC/CPM (Favorite interview question for DM profiles)

40
Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA):
Represents the ratio of the total cost of a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign to the total number of leads or
customers, often called “CPA” or “conversion cost”

Inbound Link:
A link from another website directed to yours, also known as a “backlink.” Related marketing areas that
focus on inbound links include link popularity, social media and online PR, all of which explore ways to
collect quality links from other websites.

Landing Page:
A stand-alone Web page that a user “lands” on, commonly after visiting a paid search-engine listing or
following a link in an email. This kind of page often is designed with a very specific purpose for visitors.

Search-Engine Marketing (SEM):

A phrase sometimes used in contrast with “SEO” to describe paid search activities, SEM may also more
generally refer to the broad range of search- marketing activities, either paid or organic. The sponsored ads
that you see when you search something on google are a part of Google’s SEM, using Google AdWords.

Search-Engine Optimization (SEO):

The process of using website analysis and copy/design/structural adjustments to ensure both the highest
possible positioning on desired search-engine results pages and the best experience for a given site’s users.
This enables websites to appear on the top of the search results. The aim should be to make your site
relevant, useful and easy to use for the users.

Points to Note:
SEM, uses PAID strategies to appear in search; SEO, uses ORGANIC strategies to appear in search

Go-to-Market Strategy:
A go-to-market strategy (GTM strategy) is an action plan that specifies how a company will reach
customers and achieve competitive advantage. GTM can be associated with product launches. The
purpose of a GTM strategy is to provide a blueprint for delivering a product or service to the end
customer, taking into account such factors as pricing and distribution. A GTM strategy is somewhat
similar to a business plan, although the latter is broader in scope and considers such factors as funding.

Checklist for a go-to-market strategy:

1. Define the target market (STP analysis)
2. Define the value proposition (Can be functional, emotional or economical)
3. Set the pricing strategy
4. Address the Marketing and Promotions Price, Promotion and Place (4Ps)
5. Devise a channel strategy
6. Have a timeline for everything that you have planned

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 Ansoff’s matrix

Ansoff matrix is used when companies want to look at opportunities to grow, and hence need to choose
one of the various growth strategies – Diversification, Market Development, Market Penetration, and
Market Development. Also known as the Product-Market Matrix.

1. Market Development – Trying to sell more of the same things to different people. Can be done by using
different geographical market, different sales channel or a different target segment. For example, OnePlus
getting into partnership with Reliance Retail to create a better physical presence and target a wider
consumer base.
2. Diversification – Selling completely different products to different customers. Example – Reliance Jio
3. Market Penetration – Increase market share by penetrating deeper into an existing market with the
existing product. Telecom industry is again a good example of such a strategy, where companies are trying
to increase their customer base by expanding their network and offering friendly packages.
4. Product Development – Introducing a new product in the existing market. Example OnePlus 6T after
OnePlus 6.

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Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains the different stages in which humans evolve in terms of their needs
and desires. Unless we have the fundamental basic human needs at the bottom of the hierarchy we will
not strive to meet any further desires. As each requirement is fulfilled we move up the hierarchy.

If marketers know the wants and needs of their target market (which every good marketer should!) then
this can be used as a selling point to influence the TG.

Physiological Needs – Roti Kapda aur Makaan (Translation – Food, clothing and shelter). Also, internet.
Products: Sleepwell Mattress, Durex, Kent RO (I trust only Kent)

Safety Needs – Darr sabko lagta he (Translation: Everyone fears something or the other)
Products: Health Insurance, Vehicles positioned for safety (e.g. Volvo)

Social Needs – Man is a social animal. Here, the need for emotional relationships drives human
behavior.
Products – Facebook, Tinder etc.

43
 Self Esteem: Zindagi main kuch chahiye to sirf izzat! – Zakir Khan (Translation: There’s one thing we need
in our lives and that’s respect)
Products: iPhone, All sorts of Luxury products etc.

Self-Actualization: Nirvana
The need people have to achieve their full potential as a human being.
Products/Marketing: Travel companies, Army and Navy advertisements, Royal Stage (“Make it large”),
probably Rajnigandha as well ;)

AIDA MODEL

Building a substantial and loyal customer base doesn’t happen over-night. There are a series of stages
that a customer goes through before being called as a customer/user of the product. The AIDA model
structures this journey and categorizes it into 4 stages – Attention, Interest, Desire and Action

Firms should approach the customer acquisition journey through the following stages:

1. Attract attention: The product must attract the consumer's attention. This is done through effective
promotion and advertisement. Do not assume that people would be aware of your products. You need
to break the clutter and garner attraction for your products.

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2. Maintain interest: After capturing the attention of the consumers, you should now focus on generating
interest for your product. Focus on relevant messages for your TGs.

3. Create desire: If you manage to create interest for your product, it is important to help the customers
realize why they need your products. This step involves the transition of a customer from “I like it” to
“I want it”. Focus should be on the benefits of your product and the functional or emotional value that
it offers. In the best-case scenario, the advertisement or the product itself creates the desire to
purchase.

4. Take action: As soon as there emerges a desire to try your product, this must be transferred into action,
that is, the purchase.

To summarize, you start by catching the customer’s attention, then you communicate with the customer
with relevant messages in order to generate interest and desire, all of it finally leading to the action of
purchasing your product.

Distribution Strategies:
(The Place in the 4Ps of Marketing)

What is distribution?
Companies produce certain goods for people like us so that we can use them for our daily needs. But, the
way in which it reaches us (through retail shops, showrooms, e-commerce websites etc.) is called
distribution.
Formally put - The process of making a product or a service available for the consumer or the business user
who needs it is called distribution.

Depending on the type of product and its positioning, there are 3 common distribution strategies available:
Intensive distribution: Used commonly to distribute low priced or impulse purchase products.
E.g.: chocolates, soft drinks.

Exclusive distribution: Involves limiting distribution to a single outlet. The product is usually highly priced,
and requires the intermediary to place much detail in the sale.
E.g.: Sale of vehicles through exclusive dealers.

Selective Distribution: A small number of retail outlets are chosen to distribute the product. Selective
distribution is common with products such as computers, televisions household appliances, where
consumers are willing to shop around and where manufacturers want a large geographical spread.
Ex: Whirlpool selling a majority of its appliances through select dealers.

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Distribution models:
Generally, companies use two approaches for Distribution (We also call them Channels of Distribution)
Direct channel
Indirect channel

Direct channel (Also known as Zero level - Zero intermediaries)

When companies sell directly to the consumers without involving any intermediary (Distributor, retailer,
etc.) in between.
Example: Apple has its OWN Apple stores (or in partnerships) spread across the market, showcasing and
selling its various product offerings to its customers.
Bata also has a few company-owned stores through which it sells its shoes and other products
NOTE: Some companies also appoint sales personnel, who personally take orders from clients, based on
which company supplies them with the required product. This is usually the case in a B2B segment

Indirect Channel

Indirect channel is reaching the customers through intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors,
retailers etc.

Why Indirect Channel though?

India’s population = 1.35 billion (Assuming all of them wish to live and so they need to buy some essentials)
Major Companies producing goods = Let’s assume somewhere around 1000
Problem: It is absolutely impossible in this non-MARVEL universe for these 1000 companies to cater to the
mass population on its own.
Solution: Indirect distribution channel. By leveraging the reach of various intermediaries (Like 1000s of
Distributors reaching Lakhs of Retailers and these Retailers catering to Crores of Consumers)

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Based on the number of intermediaries, indirect channels can be further classified into:
One level
Two-level
Three-level

Strategy with respect to levels depends upon what type of customers does a company want to target, how
wide a reach does a company want to attain and so on.

E.g. Automobile companies have dealers all across the country, serving as the only link (Intermediary)
between the company and the customer
All the major consumer goods companies (HUL, Dabur) use two-level distribution for the majority of their
product offerings catering to the urban and semi-urban areas

Some types of Intermediaries involved:

C&FA- Carrying and Forwarding Agents:
A C&FA normally undertakes the following activities:
1. Receiving the goods from the factories or premises of the manufacturer/firm
2. Warehousing these goods
3. Receiving dispatch orders from the manufacturer/firm
4. Arranging dispatch of goods as per the directions of the manufacturer or firm by engaging transport
on his own or through the authorized transporters of the manufacturer/firm
5. Maintaining records of the receipt and dispatch of goods and the stock available at the warehouse

Distributor:
An entity that buys noncompeting products or product lines, warehouses them, and resells them to retailers
or direct to the end-users or customers. Most distributors provide strong manpower and cash support to
the supplier or manufacturer's promotional efforts. They usually also provide a range of services (such as
product information, estimates, technical support, after-sales services, credit) to their customers

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Stockists:
The Stockists are region wise agents who store products of a company. They may or may not be exclusive.

Wholeseller:
Person or firm that buys a large number of goods from various producers or vendors, warehouses them
and resells to retailers.

Retailer/Dealer:
The retailer is the end customer. This person will stock many competing goods and sells the products to the
end consumer.

Why so much fuss for deciding a Distribution channel?

To choose a distribution channel means, to choose the way in which the company’s product is going to
reach its target customers.

All that hard work spent on product development, formulating the right price for the product and creativity
unleashed on advertising the product (Basically the first 3Ps) will be wasted if the product does not reach
the customers at the right place at the right time.
(No company can do this perfectly. The best amongst the rest, however, claims to hold the “Competitive
Advantage”)

Here’s all you need to know about Distribution (Basics only!!!)

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Closing Comments:

Time to wrap up the dossier, folks. We had a great time creating and curating it, hope you had one too
while going through it. We presume you are a better marketer now. The concepts in the dossier will be
helpful not only for the summers but for your academic projects and case studies as well.

In case you have any doubts, feel free to mail us. We would also love to have some feedback on the
topics that can be covered or skipped. Do share your thoughts here - njm@nmims.edu.in.

We wish you all the very best for your Summers. Keep reading and keep learning.

Build a great foundation for your Marketing career ahead.

From NjM,
With Love

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