1. What are the scopes of marketing?

The scope (subject matter) of marketing is as follows:

(1) Products and Services:
Products and Service are the basic element of marketing. If there is no product there is no
marketing. It is concerned with the nature and type of products, product quality and design,
product planning and development, product decisions relating to branding, labelling, packaging,
trademarks etc.
(2) Marketing Research:
Though products and services were the starting point under traditional marketing, modern
marketing starts with an analysis of the various aspects of market and related areas. It includes
an analysis of nature and types of customers, size of market, customer attitude, buyer
behaviour etc. An in-depth analysis of customers and markets is a prerequisite for every
marketer to have a successful marketing.
(3) Channel of Distribution:
The pathway through which the goods move from producer to consumer is the channel of
distribution. It includes a number of intermediaries like wholesaler, retailers, jobbers etc.
Channels by moving the goods help in transferring the ownership of goods from seller to buyer.
(4) Physical Distribution:
The physical movement of the goods from producer to consumer is physical distribution. It
includes transportation, warehousing, inventory control and management, order processing etc.
(5) Promotional Decisions:
Howsoever good a product is, it has no value if it is not properly promoted. Promotion has the
basic objective of informing the market about product availability and creating a demand for it.
Different promotional tools are there like advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity,
public relations etc.
(6) Pricing Decisions:
This is the only element of marketing which generates revenue for the firm. Pricing is concerned
with pricing policies and strategies, price determination, discounts, commissions etc.
(7) Environmental Analysis:
An analysis of the environment in which the business is to be carried out is the first step for any
organisation. The various macro and micro factors should be studied beforehand only to
develop an understanding of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, for an
organisation.
This will help not only in the formulation of the corporate strategy but marketing strategy as well.
It includes the study of economic environment, geographical environment, political and legal
environment, social and cultural environment, natural and technological environment etc. in the
country and outside.
(8) Feedback from Customers:
For successful marketing of goods it is essential that the marketer obtains the required feedback
from customers. A proper feedback mechanism should be developed so that reasons for failure
or less satisfaction may be identified and improvements in the products be made.
(9) Responsibility towards the Society:
Business and society are interrelated and interdependent. A business cannot exist in vacuum. It
derives its much needed inputs from society and therefore owes a responsibility towards the
society. These social activities are a part of marketing as the units have to protect and
pro0.mote the interest of the society. A marketer to be socially responsive owes responsibility
towards employees, consumer, shareholder etc.

Nature and Scope of Marketing – Areas Covered in the Subject

Scope refers to the areas that a subject covers. Scope of marketing can be described by having
an understanding of the functions of marketing. The scope of marketing can also be understood
easily by studying the roles and responsibilities of the marketing department. The scope of
marketing revolves around customer satisfaction, anything and everything that has an impact of
customer satisfaction comes under the scope of marketing.
Consumer Needs and Wants:
Consumer will purchase goods or services only if it fulfills his/ her needs and wants. Before
offering a product, the marketer undertakes research activities in order to try and understand
customer needs, and then try to offer a product which satisfies those customer needs.
Consumer Behavior:
In this, the marketer studies and analyzes how consumers respond to a particular product or
service? Every consumer is different and unique in nature, therefore consumers have to be
studied in a group as well as individually in order to understand their behavior and satisfy them
accordingly.
Product Planning & Development:
There is no marketing without a product. Therefore product planning and development is an
integral part of marketing functions. Product planning and development includes idea
generation, concept development, product development, branding, packaging &
commercialization of the product. Marketing department plays a key role in this activity along
with the research and development team.
Pricing Policies:
As marketing is an exchange process, money is exchanged for products. This aspect of
marketing falls under the function of pricing strategies. Every product needs to be priced
strategically in order to survive in the market and satisfy consumers. There are different pricing
policies. Each policy depends on various factors like production cost, competition, product life
cycle etc.
Distribution:
Study of distribution channels is important in marketing. It is necessary for a marketer to reach
maximum customers with minimum cost.
Promotion:
Promotion includes personal selling, sales promotion, world of mouth advertising etc. To
achieve marketing objectives it is necessary to design the right promotion mix. The process of
designing and implementing the marketing mix falls in the scope of marketing.
Consumer Satisfaction:
Consumer satisfaction is the major objective of marketing. A consumer is satisfied when his/ her
needs are fulfilled. Consumer satisfaction ensures that the business is moving in the right
direction.

Scope of Marketing – Goods, Services, Persons, Experiences, Events, Places,

Organizations as a Brand, Information, Ownership of Property and Ideas
Marketing is pervasive in scope; any type of entity which is of value to a market segment can be
marketed.
Some of these are as follows:
1. Goods:
Physical goods are one of the most common things that are produced and marketed. Goods
can range from customer products like soap, utensils, clothes, shoes, etc. to electronics and
heavy industrial products. In developing nations most of the marketing activities are aimed at
physical products.
2. Services:
Services are goods of an intangible nature. Many services may also include some tangible
elements. Service marketing is normally believed to be more difficult than product marketing.
Services include- airlines, legal services, hotels, education, medical services, transportation,
etc.
3. Persons:
Celebrities need to maintain a larger than life image to maintain their goodwill and market value.
Celebrity marketing is a big business in modern times. High profile persons like doctors,
lawyers, etc. also advertise themselves.
4. Experiences:
By combining a variety of goods and services, some organizations create special experiences
for their clients. Amusement parks, water parks, safaris, circus, etc. are examples of marketable
experiences.
5. Events:
Time-based events are promoted by marketers to attract advertisers and customers. These
would include large scale events like Filmfare awards, Oscar awards or sports events like
Cricket/Football World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Olympics, etc.
6. Places:
Places are endorsed as tourist attractions. Cities, states and countries are promoted as
potential factory locations, residential or industrial areas. Place marketers include travel
agencies, real estate agents and advertising agencies.
7. Organizations as a Brand:
It is not just the products and services of an organization which are marketed, organizations
often tend to market themselves as a brand. P&G advertises the fact that it donates money
towards children’s education programmes. This is to build goodwill and strengthen brand image.
8. Information:
Marketing of information is one of developed economy’s major industrial activity. Schools,
colleges, universities, study centres; publishers of encyclopedia, educational magazines, CDs,
websites, etc. are marketing information.
9. Ownership of Property:
Ownership is the intangible right of owning either real property (real estate) or financial property
(shares, bonds). Real estate agents, investment companies and banks make marketing efforts
for transferring ownership from one hand to another.
10. Ideas:
Ideas form the basis for any marketing activities. It is basically an idea which is converted into a
product or service for satisfying needs of customer. For example it was the idea of information
sharing that gave birth to the internet.

2. Identify the following:

a) Production concept
Production Concept is a belief that states that the customers would always acquire
products which are cheaper and more readily available (or widely available). The
production concept advocates that more the products or production, more would be the
sales. In countries where labor is cheap and easily available, the production can be
maximized while minimizing the costs, hence increasing the production efficiency.
Importance of Production Concept
Production Concept is very important for an economy where certain commodities can be
mass produced for consumers keeping the prices low. The supply is always high so
shortage does not happen. Production concept is relevant in a new market which is not
saturated with competition. More you produce, more customers you get. The market can
still absorb more of the product and can earn profit but still keeping the prices low. It can
help grow new categories in the market. Once the competition arrives then the focus can
move away from the Production concept.
Example of Production Concept
India and China are great examples of the Production Concept of marketing. China
made sure that it increases its overall production through manual labor available by
 mass producing and distributing products across the world. Today China is one of the
biggest exporter of its manufactured product across the globe. What China did in
manufacturing, India did with information technology services by mass producing talent
for IT. Today India is one of the biggest exporter of IT services. The production concept
can easily explain the above two examples. The production concept is one of the few
orientations which a company has towards the market. Other being - The Product
Concept, The Selling Concept, The Marketing Concept and the Holistic Marketing
Concept.
b) Sales concept
The Selling Concept. This is another common business orientation. It holds that consumers
and businesses, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the selling company’s
products.  The organization must, therefore, undertake an aggressive selling and promotion
effort.  This concept assumes that consumers typically sho9w buyi8ng inertia or resistance
and must be coaxed into buying.  It also assumes that the company has a whole battery of
effective selling and promotional tools to stimulate more buying. Most firms practice the
selling concept when they have overcapacity.  Their aim is to sell what they make rather
than make what the market wants.
c) Marketing concept
The Marketing Concept.  This is a business philosophy that challenges the above three
business orientations.  Its central tenets crystallized in the 1950s.  It holds that the key to
achieving its organizational goals (goals of the selling company) consists of the company
being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer
value to its selected target customers. The marketing concept rests on four pillars:  target
market, customer needs, integrated marketing and profitability.

Distinctions between the Sales Concept and the Marketing Concept:          

1.         The Sales Concept focuses on the needs of the seller.  The Marketing Concept focuses
on the needs of the buyer. 
2.         The Sales Concept is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his/her product into
cash.  The Marketing Concept is preoccupied with the idea of satisfying the needs of the
customer by means of the product as a solution to the customer’s problem (needs).
            The Marketing Concept represents the major change in today’s company orientation that
provides the foundation to achieve competitive advantage.  This philosophy is the foundation
of consultative selling. 
            The Marketing Concept has evolved into a fifth and more refined company
orientation:  The Societal Marketing Concept. This concept is more theoretical and will
undoubtedly influence future forms of marketing and selling approaches.
Relationship concept
Relationship marketing is a facet of customer relationship management (CRM) that focuses on
customer loyalty and long-term customer engagement rather than shorter-term goals like
customer acquisition and individual sales. The goal of relationship marketing (or customer
relationship marketing) is to create strong, even emotional, customer connections to a brand
that can lead to ongoing business, free word-of-mouth promotion and information from
customers that can generate leads.

Societal marketing concept

The Societal Marketing Concept. This concept holds that the organization’s task is to determine
the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more
effectively and efficiently than competitors (this is the original Marketing Concept).  Additionally,
it holds that this all must be done in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s and the
society’s well-being.