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SNIPPET
 Effies 2010: Ogilvy India is Agency of the Year; Lowe and Mudra follow. Ogilvy

India did a repeat act, winning the Agency of the Year at Effies 2010 with a total

score of 145 points. While it won two gold awards last year; this time, the team in

black bagged four -- two for its Adidas and Bajaj Pulsar campaigns and two more for

the Vodafone Zoozoos (link)

 Facebook is challenging software hotshots around the world to show their mettle in

the online social networking king's first "Hackers Cup." (link)

 Sunil Mittal, group chairman and chief executive officer of Bharti Enterprises, will be

initiated on to the board of London and Rotterdam-based fast moving consumer goods

major, Unilever. (link)

 Chyawanprash makers have lined up fruity variants for a wider reach

 Tata Group-promoted retail arm, Trent Hypermarket , today said it would be

launching a range of food products from the basket of its joint venture company,

Tesco, in India. (link)

 With the objective to promote football among school children and help talented young

football players to access the best in terms of infrastructure & training, Tata Global

Beverages announced the launch of the 4th edition of Arsenal Tata Tea Jaago Re

Soccer Stars (link)

 Dabur Nepal Pvt. Ltd -- a subsidiary of Dabur India Ltd. -- today announced the

launch a new hair oil brand, PROstyle Dandruff Control Hair Oil, the 1st ever hair oil

developed especially for men (link)

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 Diversified FMCG company, CavinKare has entered professional beauty products

category, which is heavily dominated by multi-national companies.

The company is testing the waters with the launch of „Raaga Professional‟ brand of

hair care products in Chennai and Delhi. After six months, the products will be

launched in 20 big cities. The company plans to come out with a skincare range too.

 It was 13 years ago when the French car maker PSA Peugeot Citreon had to leave the

Indian car market, severing its JV with Premier Automobiles Ltd. Now the Peugeot is

re-entering into the refined Indian car market on the lines of major global companies

(link)

 Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt . Limited has announced that REVAi vehicle

would be available at four Mahindra dealers in Pune (link)

 Google Hotpot, a local recommendation engine, launched a b-to-b direct marketing

campaign in Portland, OR on December 9. The goal of the effort is to educate

businesses about the benefits of using Google Places to gain exposure, increase online

ratings and reviews, and boost traffic.

 Tata Motors pulls out all stops in a bid to drive up Nano sales (link)
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definition of Marketing

“Marketing” seems to mean different things to different people. Some think of Ron Popeil
and late-night infomercials, while others may think of the circulars and coupons they get in
their Sunday paper. Many also think of the spam in their inboxes and the junk mail the
mailman delivers every day. In reality all these views are correct, but marketing is much,
much more.

Marketing involves selling products and services, but that doesn‟t mean marketing is limited
to sales activities. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “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.” Sounds
impressive, but what does that really mean? This definition is chocked full of information, so
let‟s break down each component of the definition.

The Activity
Marketing involves activity. That sounds obvious, but it is important to remember that
marketing is not passive; It requires active participation on the part of the marketer. It may
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sound like this active participation means solely promoting your product or service, but it
really means employing the entire marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion), plus
some of the legwork that goes into implementing the mix, such as market research, financial
planning, strategy, etc.

Set of Institutions
Even the best salesperson in the world knows that marketing is a group effort that involves a
variety of individuals and groups, internal and external to his organization. From an overall
perspective marketing involves many institutions/groups, such as market researchers,
advertising agencies, sales support, research and development, financial forecasting,
distributors, etc. A key to good marketing is being able to manage and coordinate all these
institutions and groups.

Processes
Marketing has to be process driven. While flying by the seat of your pants may sound like fun
to some people and may even work for the short term, eventually it will land you in trouble.
Without processes in place, you will not be able to plan effectively, determine what is
working or not working, figure out which efforts have a positive or negative effect on sales or
even learn from your successes and mistakes. To do all this, you really need a mapped-out
process that can be honed and replicated.

Creating
Marketing is an innovative field that attracts very creative people. Marketing ideas and
strategies are limited only by your imagination, and we see this high level of creativity in
action every day. I have always respected an artist who can make his audience feel a certain
emotion or understand a certain idea or point of view. But I admire a marketer who can make
his audience act even more. Understanding and feeling are just the first steps for a marketer,
while mobilizing toward action is what really counts. This is true creative power in action.

Communicating
If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it fall, does it make a sound? This
philosophical question mirrors a problem marketers face; You may have the best product or
service in the world, but if you don‟t communicate the benefits and features of that product or
service well to the right audience (and not necessarily only through advertising) how is the
world going to find out about it? Communication is important to marketing your product or
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service, and this communication can come in many forms, from overt advertisements and
promotions to more subtle activities such as the effectiveness of your supply/value chain and
branding.

Delivering
Again this seems obvious, but marketing isn‟t just selling a product or service. In essence it is
delivering on the promise created by your marketing mix. It is your job to accurately describe
that brand promise, and if you fail to deliver on that promise, you have failed as a marketer.
At the very least you need to deliver what you promise, but a smart marketer over delivers to
delight and wow his customers.

Exchanging Offerings That Have Value

You provide customers value in the form of features and benefits delivered by your products
and services. In return you demand value, usually in the form of financial payment. Only an
unethical marketer would expect to receive value for something of no value. And only an
ineffective marketer would deliver value yet not receive appropriate value in exchange. One
of the roles of a marketer is to determine the fair value of the product/service he is marketing.
He must then go about exchanging that product/service for the appropriate value.

Customers, Clients, Partners, and Society at Large

Marketers must satisfy these constituents by marketing products and services so that they
fulfill customer needs/wants and attain their clients‟/partners‟ goals. There is also an ethical
question about the role of the marketer to “protect” society at large by refusing to
misrepresent features/benefits or hide the negative aspects of a product or service. True
marketers think of long-term, strategic goals, and trying to “make a quick buck” at the
expense of others is not how you attain these objectives.

In conclusion, “marketing” seems to mean different things to different people, but in reality
marketing is a complex and robust activity that encompasses many different skills,
competencies and people. It is a very exciting and rewarding field that offers a marketer the
chance to explore his own interests and develop strengths in areas he may have never
considered.