SESSION 1 TO 3:

We discussed the following things in PoM Sessions 1-2-3 –

As per the small exercise on greeting card, the 1st thing in marketing is understanding

the customer needs – Who is the customer, what is his/her need, why will the customer

buy the product – it’s use to him/her and so on! Then we tried to define the concept of

marketing – and looked at the concept of Marketing Myopia (what business you are in).

Then we discussed at what is marketed / sold (the product) before going into the basic

3 “Needs, Wants & Demands”. After that, we looked at the details of Need and Demand –

The Need Hierarchy (Stated to Secret Needs) and the Demand States (Negative to the

Unwholesome). Then we discussed the types of Markets. Then we discussed the Company

orientation, which has moved from the Production to Marketing through Product and Selling.

Then we discussed some other important terminologies in marketing – Marketplace-space-

Metamarket, STP, Competition forms (brand to generic), the changing trends (due to
Internet).

Marketing has moved towards Holistic Marketing, which is made up of – Integrated

Marketing

(how to solve the customer problem using marketing mix), Internal Marketing (all
departments

working together), Performance Marketing (Measuring the performance using Sales revenue,

Brand equity etc.), and Relationship Marketing (using the marketing network of all
stakeholders)

focusing on the long-term relationship. Then we moved the discussion towards the strategies
needed to deliver value – The Marketing Mix (4P’s) and what are the 4C’s related to the 4P’s.

It is crucial to have proper interaction between the 4P’s. In that we must maintain (1)
Consistency

or Fit (e.g., High quality product sold through low quality retailer is misfit); (2) Integration

(Harmonious interaction) – High price gives more margin & pays of heavy advertising and
heavy

advertising creates brand differentiation, which justifies the high price; and (3) Leverage –
using

each P in support of the total mix. Next, we looked at the Value Delivery Process – Assessing
the

market opportunities, Choosing, Designing, Delivering & Communicating the Value for the
Growth

& Sustenance. Then we discussed the Value Chain & the Value Chain for Services. To
deliver value,

We need to understand the core business processes, which starts from Market Sensing

(Understanding the market using tools of Market Research), then goes through the New
offerings,

Customer acquisition, CRM (long term focus) and ends with the Fulfilment management
(Receiving

& delivering order and collect the payment). Core competency is also critical, as that is your
source

of competitive advantage. Customer Perceived Value is about balancing the Total customer
benefits

against the Total customer cost. Next, we looked at, the Customer Value Analysis processes.
At the
end is Choice processes & implications – it depends whether the objective is Long or short
term &

relationships with the employees of the seller. The ultimate aim is to get the Total Customer

Satisfaction (Perceived performance should exceed the expectations). After that we discussed
the

Article on Market orientation. It discusses importance of working together of all the

departments,

to become market oriented. This is because, as per the holistic concept of marketing, each &
every

department should take up the responsibility of marketing instead of only marketing

department.

We ended the Session with the discussion of what happens when the other departments work
in

silos and not with the marketing department. Then we looked at the Role of strategic planning
to

understand, create, deliver, capture & sustain customer value. Strategic Planning (at the levels
of

Company – HUL; Division – Body care; Business – Soaps; Product – Lux); Implementation
& Control.

Corporate and Division’s Strategic Planning starts with defining the corporate mission (what
do we

stand for), establish the SBUs, assigning resources to each SBU and assessing growth
opportunities.

The growth can be intensive (increase of the market share), integrative (through backward or
forward integration) or even through diversification (Introducing new products). Then we
looked

at the role of Marketing Plan for the whole Strategic planning process. Marketing plan can be

strategic (target market & the design of value proposition) and tactical (using the 4P’s). It can
be

done at products, product lines, brands, channels, and customer groups level. After that we

discussed the contents of a Marketing Plan. Executive Summary is followed by the Situation

Analysis, followed by Marketing strategy (mission, marketing & financial objectives, STP)
and

Tactics (Market Research & 4P’s). Then comes the financial performance followed by the

control measures. After that, we discussed the Ethical issues in Marketing. We discussed
what

we mean by ethics, and how it affects the business. There are 2 important consequences –

CSR and Green marketing. Then we moved the discussion towards impact of the
environment

on business & marketing. There are two parts of the environment. 1 st is the
Microenvironment,

which consists of the Company and its resources, Suppliers and Marketing intermediaries

(retailers. wholesalers etc.), and the market (customers, competitors, public etc.). Then we

discussed the Macroenvironment (PESTEL factors). Political talks about the influence of the

government policies. Legal talks about importance of the rules & regulations e.g., Consumer

Protection Act. Social (Sociocultural) talks about the influence of demographics (population
age
mix, household patterns) or Culture & subculture. Environmental factors discuss the issues of

Pollution, renewable resources, green marketing etc. Economic factor is about the impact of

Inflation, interest rate, income distribution etc. Technical factor is about the influence of the

fast change of pace and innovation. We moved the discussion towards SWOT – the Internal

strengths and weaknesses of a company, and what external opportunities & threats are there

in the market. Then we discussed the 3 generic strategies that is to be chosen by the
companies

for growth – cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. For that choice, we can use different

models – Porter 5-Force model to understand the situation of the industry; Ansoff matrix, to

decide which path to be followed for growing your business; GE model, to allocate your

resources and take the strategic decisions for each of your SBUs (depending on health of the

SBU). We also looked at the pros and cons of these matrices. Sending the session slides for

your reference.

SESSION 4 TO 5:

With the case of family buying 2-wheeler – the 1st point was what was the decision –
Buy 2-wheeler (and get loan for it) –so 2 decision situations (1 primary & 1 secondary.
So, we started with what was the need – the starting point (Drop kid to school)!
Then, we looked at definition of Consumer Behaviour (CB) and motives for buying.
It’s all about answering the questions – What; Why; Where; When; How often?
Next we discussed the 5-stage Consumer buying decision process & Types of buying
Behaviour – Complex (House, Car); Dissonance reducing (Jewellery, Furniture);
Variety seeking (Restaurants, Biscuits); Habitual (Groceries, Toothpaste). Then we
looked at the influencers of CB – Cultural, Social, Personal and Psychological.
The next point of discussion were the 5 psychological processes – Motivation,
Perception, Learning, Emotions & Memory. Then we discussed how all of them
are applicable in the 2-wheeler buying example! Especially we discussed both
Motivation & Perception in details. After that, we discussed the decision making
process of how we start with Total Set (All products) and then go through Awareness
(of some of them) – Consideration (some among the aware) – Choice (Final 2-3)
and narrow down to Final Decision! The process is different for new products.
We also discussed the different types of risks and type of buying roles in B2C scenario,
with examples of 2-wheeler & Toy buying. The scenario is totally different in B2B situation!
We discussed what is different (characteristics) in B2B market! Then we discussed the
B2B buying situations (Straight rebuy without changing anything; Modified rebuy with
some changes in specifications; New task of new products buying) & the concept of
Buying Center (where in B2B, decision is taken by a group of people). We ended the
discussion by looking at the buying process (stages) in B2B. Sending the session slides
for your reference. Happy Marketing Dreams till we meet again in the next Session
(Season) next year only. Do not hesitate to contact for any other doubts related to
the concepts or any clarifications that you have.
SHIRSHENDU GANGULI

SESSION 6 TO 8:

We discussed the following things in PoM Sessions 6-7-8 –

We started with the need for Segmentation! Then we looked at the different levels of
Segmentation – whether to go full market coverage with all segments (HUL, Coke etc.)
or go for only a niche segment (Porsche, Voice & Data magazine), or go for local marketing
vs. International marketing (Reid & Taylor ads) or do 1-to-1 marketing (Dell, Subway).
Then we discussed the basis or types of segmentation for both B2C & B2B markets.
B2C – Geographic (countries, regions, city, weather etc.); Demographic (age - toys, gender –
cosmetics, family size - insurance, income - cars etc.); Psychographic (e.g. lifestyle – ready to
cook food, personality – brand – Titan vs. Fasttrack); Behavioural (benefits – toothpaste,
occasions – greetings card etc.). B2B – Demographic (industry or company size); Operating
variables (level of technology or service needed); Purchasing approaches (centralized vs.
decentralized or tenders by government buyers); Situational factors (delivery urgency,
specific applications or project); Personal characteristics (buyer-seller similarity, risk taking
ability). After that we discussed the 7-step segmentation process; followed by criteria of
effective segmentation. After that we moved to the 2nd part of STP i.e. Targeting and how
should it start from evaluation of segments with the help of Porter’s 5 force model.
We need to select the target segments & the strategy for targeting depending on the
resources of the company, degree of product variation, PLC stage, competitor strategies.
We need to decide on the segment-wise invasion plan & continuously upgrade / update the
segments with the market change. Then we looked at different ways of target market
selection.
It could be single segment (Porsche), selective specialization (Tata Motors), product
specialization
(Gillette, Amul), market specialization (PNC films, ordinance factory), full-market coverage
(HUL, Coke). Last point we discussed is about 1-To-1 Targeting (especially in Services).
We looked at the P of STP – Positioning. We discussed the need of Positioning as well
as the Value proposition (giving the target segment reason to buy the product).
Then we discussed the competitive advantage (CA – it should be important, distinctive,
superior, communicable & visible, pre-emptive, affordable & profitable). We looked at
the means of differentiation – Product (electronic goods), Service (Maruti, Pizza),
Channel (Amway, Eureka Forbes), People (Virgin Airlines), Image (Harley Davidson).
We also discussed the use of POP vs POD. We also looked at the use of the Perceptual
Maps (Based on 2 attributes, we look at the different market segments as well as position
of different brands w.r.t each other. We moved to the concept of Overall positioning –
the 1st 4 types are easily understood and can be used in the market, but not the 5th type.
We discussed the positioning types – Attribute / benefit (Nirma – low price), Use /
application
(Surf Excel – stain remover), User groups (TV channels like Astha or POGO), Competitor
(Complan comparing with Horlicks), Quality vs. Price or Value (Bada Bisleri same price),
Product category (leader – Butter with taste, Margarine with health focus). Last we looked at
Positioning problems – over positioning (Tanishq), under positioning (Crystal Pepsi or the
slimmest cell phone MOTORAZRV3), confused positioning (Burger King, NZXT PC) &
doubtful
positioning (Fairness cream or weight loss pills). Last point was about Repositioning needed
to change the brand perception either in case of slow growth or to correct the positioning
mistakes. Then in the 8th Session, we started with the discussion of Marketing Research
(MR), a very critical function of marketing. MR is all about collecting information from the
market, so that we can take our marketing related decisions. Then we discussed the ways
(who does) of doing MR as well as the MR Process. The most important part is the 1st step
(Defining the problem and the research objectives). Research can be Exploratory (where
you are trying to identify the problem), Descriptive (where you are trying to measure the
problem and find solution), and Causal (the cause & effect relationships explored through
the experiments). 2nd step is the Research Plan, which consists of decision on the data sources
(primary or secondary), research approaches (Observation, Interview, Survey, Experiments),
research instruments (Questionnaire, Word association etc.), sampling plan (unit, size and
procedure), and contact methods (mail, telephone, face-t-face etc.). Then we collect the
information, analyse the information collected, present the findings and make the decision
(about the problem for which we did the MR study). MR helps to created Marketing
dashboards which consists of (1) Customer metrics like level of awareness, trials, preference
or repeat purchase); (2) Unit metrics – sales of products or brands by geography; (3) Cash-
flow
metrics – Marketing ROI measures like CLV; (4) Brand metrics – Brand equity, Brand health
etc.
The last topic discussed was an application of MR – Estimating Demand. For that several
measures are used – Potential, Available, Target or Penetrated markets; Market demand,
forecast & potential; Company demand, forecast & potential; Total market vs. area market
potential; industry sales & company sales (market share). Last we discussed the different
ways
of estimating demand. Sending the session slides for your reference. Happy Marketing
Dreams
till we meet again in the next Session. Do not hesitate to contact for any other doubts or
clarifications that you have. Start working on the 1 st part of the Assignment (PFA) given
today.
The next 2 parts will be given tomorrow. Also sending the Quiz-1 Solution.
SHIRSHENDU GANGULI

SESSION 9:

We discussed the following things in PoM Sessions 9-10 –

We started the discussion with the Product P concepts –
why does a product exist – its benefits – what problem it solves and what’s the need;
then we discussed the Product levels and Product classifications – Consumer goods can be
classified into convenience goods (staples), shopping goods (clothes), specialty goods (car)
and unsought goods (medicines). Next, we looked at the Product hierarchy – need family
to item; Then we discussed the Product Mix system – Width (no. of product lines), Length
(no. of items or brands), Depth (For each brand & average of the Product mix), and the
Consistency; After that we discussed Product Line analysis – How to manage Product Line –
stretching, filling, pruning etc. as well as Product mix pricing (product-line pricing to
product-bundle pricing), Branding, Co-branding & Ingredient branding (highlighting another
brand used in making the product). Then we discussed the use of Packaging, Labelling,
Warranties, Guarantees & the difference between Warranties & Guarantees; followed by
importance of services in case of the physical products., and how products can be looked
at as services. Then we moved towards New Product options – buy other companies or
patents, new to the world, improving existing products; then we discussed the challenges
and failure reasons (e.g., too high R&D costs, poor launch timing, legal constraints, wrong
target customers etc.). After that we discussed the process of NPD (The 8 steps), followed
by the Consumer Adoption Process (Awareness to Adoption) and the factors influencing
the adoption process. After that we moved to the concepts of Product Life Cycle (PLC) –
what is it – what are different types of PLCs – style (formal clothes), fashion (Bell bottom),
fad (bullet-wash jeans), growth-slump-maturity pattern (roti-makers), cycle-recycle pattern
(medicines or drugs), scalloped PLC (nylon, Amitabh Bachchan as a brand). Then we
discussed
how to manage PLC – why obsolescence comes and where can PLC be applied, followed by
important influencing factors which determines the marketing objective at each PLC stage;
also, we discussed and what are the marketing strategies for each of the 4 stages – how to
control the marketing mix for the PLC and how to allocate the resources. Next we discussed
the Services Marketing concepts – 1st we looked at What are the Services – the importance
and classifications of service; It can be classified in several manners - by industry, type of
customer involvement – it is classifying services into physical care (healthcare), mental
stimulus
(entertainment), physical possession (laundry) & info. Processing (banking). Then we looked
at
Service as a product and Derived services concept. After that we discussed Tangibility
Spectrum,
along with Search, Experience and Credence qualities. Search quality is for physical goods
which
can be tested before buying; experience is for services where, quality can be judged only after
experience; when you can’t judge even after the experience (medical treatment) then it
becomes
credence quality of services. Then we discussed the inherent characteristics of services – the
4 I’s –
After that, we discussed SERVICE QUALITY (SQ) – Gap model and SERVQUAL /
RATER scale to
measure service quality. We started the with difficulty in measuring service quality in
services
compared to goods. Then we looked at the Expectation – Perception paradigm to evaluate
Service Quality (SQ). We need to look at both Outcome and Process for measuring service
quality.
Then Gap model was discussed – with the 1st 4 gaps (Listening, Service Design & Standards,
Service Performance and Communication Gaps). Listening Gap happens when the service
provider
is not able to understand the customer expectations (needs) properly. This can happen due to
inadequate MR or improper service recovery. Service Design & Standards Gap happens
when
company is not able to convert their understanding of Customer expectations into Service
Design / Standards. Poor designing or conceptualisation of Service to be delivered will lead
to
this gap. Service Performance Gap will happen when the Service Design is not converted to
Service Performance (Delivery). Reasons can be varied – Wrong employees, wrong
customers,
demand-supply mismatch, channel problems, over reliance on price to smoothen demand etc.
Next the Communication Gap happens when the Service Delivery is not matching External
Communication to customers (e.g., Ads). Whatever you claim / promise should be delivered.
Lack of IMC planning, overpromise, inappropriate pricing, not educating customers can be
reasons for this gap. All these 4 gaps build up the Gap 5 (Customer Gap). Based on Customer
Gap
(E-P) we measure service quality. The ultimate model to measure Service Quality –
SERVQUAL.
SERVQUAL has 5 dimensions – Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, Empathy and
Responsiveness.
It is also called RATER, with 1st letters of the 5 dimensions. Sending the Session 10 slides for
your
Reference (Session9 is already sent). Also sending the SERVQUAL article. Happy
Marketing Dreams
till we meet again. Do not hesitate to contact for any other doubts or clarifications that you
have.