UNIVERSITY EXAM (MODEL SOLUTION)

MBA
(SEM I) THEORY EXAMINATION 2022-23
MARKETING MANAGEMENT

SECTION A
1. Attempt all questions in brief.
a) How marketing is a social process?
Ans. “A societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want
through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with other”
According to Dr. Philip Kotler’s marketing as a social exchange process is all about the concept
of value that there will be an exchange of values between two parties. So, what is value basically,
the value is something which is very central to the marketing process and value is a function of
benefit and the cost. Mathematical it is represented that value is basically a function of benefit
and cost or to be more precise it is (Benefit — Cost).

b) Write the different elements of Marketing Mix.

Ans. The marketing mix, also known as the four P's of marketing, refers to the four key
elements of a marketing strategy: product, price, place and promotion.
 Product. The item or service being sold must satisfy a consumer's need or desire.
 Price. An item should be sold at the right price for consumer expectations, neither
too low nor too high.
 Promotion. The public needs to be informed about the product and its features to
understand how it fills their needs or desires.
 Place. The location where the product can be purchased is important for optimizing
sales.
Extended 3 Ps for Service products:
 People: The role of the service employee becomes much more critical since to a
very real extent the employee is the service, given the absence of any tangible
artifact.
 Physical Evidence: Physical evidence of service includes all the tangible
representations of service such as clear signage, good ventilation, adequate space,
internet presence, equipment and facility.
 Process: Process is referred to as the procedures, mechanisms, and flow of
activities by which the service is delivered i.e. the service delivery and operating
systems.

c) What is value delivery process?

Ans. Value-Delivery involves everything necessary to ensure every paying customer is a
happy customer: order processing, inventory management, delivery/fulfilment,
troubleshooting, customer support, etc. Every successful business actually delivers what it
promises to its customers. There’s a term for a person who takes other people’s money
without delivering equivalent value.

d) What is the concept of Brand?

 Ans. A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one
seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” - American Marketing
Association. A brand can be conceived as an idea or an image that people will have in their
minds when they think about specific products and services or even the activities that are
associated with the company.

e) What is meant by positioning?

Ans. Positioning refers to the place you want your brand or product to have within a
particular target market. More specifically, the process of market positioning and brand
positioning involves how you market your brand or product to consumers to achieve that
position.
The aim of positioning in marketing is to establish or sway how consumers perceive you to
gain a competitive advantage.

f) What is labeling?
Ans Labelling (Labeling) is the process of assigning a label to a product to make it more
recognizable and identifiable by adding products information and the manufacturer. Where, a
prodcut label may be any tag, symbol, small piece of paper, wrapper, or means of recognition
directly attached to the product.
A label consists of valuable verbal information about the products such as the product’s
manufactured date, producer name, address, ingredients used in products, product’s benefits,
product expiry date, how & when to use the products, and other necessary information
customers seek to know.

g) What do you mean by penetration pricing?

Ans. Penetration pricing is a marketing strategy used by businesses to attract customers to a
new product or service by offering a lower price during its initial offering. The lower
price helps a new product or service penetrate the market and attract customers away from
competitors. Market penetration pricing relies on the strategy of using low prices initially to
make a wide number of customers aware of a new product.
The goal of a price penetration strategy is to entice customers to try a new product and build
market share with the hope of keeping the new customers once prices rise back to normal
levels.

h) Define the concept of sales promotion.

Ans. Sales promotion can be defined as promoting a product, brand or service among
consumers with a direct approach to increasing sales.
In simple words, we can define sales promotion as a set of different tools to increase the sales
of the company’s products. A television advertisement or an outdoor hoarding is an example
of a sales promotion.

i) What is advertising copy?

Ans. Advertisement copy is the text or the script used in the advertisement in a print, digital,
radio, television or any other form of advertisement. It can be in form of printed or rendered
text, spoken voice or as conversational format between 2 or more people. The copy in the form
of a dialog, narrative, phrase, motto, slogan or sentences can clearly deliver the intended
message to the target audience.
 j) What is the meaning of indirect exporting?
Ans. Indirect exporting involves export through middlemen. Between the exporter and
importer, an intermediary in the exporter’s country performs certain marketing functions
relating to the export of the product. Indirect way of exporting is equal to domestic sales.
There are two methods of indirect exporting:
 Selling to a merchant exporter or export house in India and
 Selling to visiting or resident buyers.

SECTION B

2. Attempt any two of the following:

a) Analyse the STP strategy adopted by AXE.
Ans. STP strategy adopted by AXE
Segmentation basis: Demographic segmentation basis includes: Semi-Urban, Targeted to
Gender: Male, Concentrate on single-segment (male 16-28).
Occupations: Students & Bachelors
Behavioral/Lifestyle segmentation
Psychographic: Outdoor-oriented
Occasions: Benefits, Fashion-oriented, trendy Product
Income Group: Middle &Upper Middle
User Status: Regular User
Usage Rate: Medium
Targeted to: Targets on Young at heart (male from age group 16-28 years).
Positioning: Competitive advantage of this brand is its Complete monopoly over this brand
propositions. It persuades youngster mind that using that deo will help to attract the girls, but
it is just that they present the ad using humor and made something that attracts people easily.
The biggest strength of this brand is the underlying message that the brand users are High on
Confidence and always go for the Axe.

b) How AXE uses multiple distribution strategies in the Indian market? Discuss.
Ans. PLACE: Placing and availability of products play significant role in determining the
sales of product. Axe relies on location and distribution channels.

Promotions in shopping malls.

OTC (Over the counter) strategy - Medical Stores.
Physical distribution.
Model retail format.

c) How AXE has broken the stereotype of the Indian male population? Discuss.
Ans. Axe, the men’s fragrance, hair and body care brand, is promulgating the newly minted
concept of “bathsculinity” as it tries to chop away at harmful masculine stereotypes. Axe has
been on a mission to get men to embrace self-care and grow self-confidence.
The intersection of masculinity and grooming products has been an intriguing topic particularly
for health and beauty companies who want to evolve beyond traditional gender stereotypes to
be more in line with younger consumers
The company extensively uses the TV ads and conducting many Campaigns. The biggest
strength of this brand is the underlying message that the brand users are High on Confidence
and always go for the Axe. It also ensures that consumers are mostly engaged with new
Fragrances.
 SECTION C

3. Attempt any one part of the following:

a) Explain the different stages of consumer buying decision process.
Ans: The 5 steps are problem recognition, information search, alternatives evaluation,
purchase decision and post-purchase evaluation.

b) Briefly explain the different types of consumers buying behaviour.

Ans: 1. Complex buying behaviour
It is encountered particularly when consumers are buying an expensive product. In complex
buying behaviour, the buyer will pass through a learning process. He will first develop
beliefs about the product, then attitudes, and then make a thoughtful purchase choice. For
example, when a consumer is buying a car for the first time, it’s a big decision as it involves
high economic risk.
2. Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour
In this consumer involvement is very high. This might be due to high prices and infrequent
purchases. For example, a consumer who is looking for a new collapsible table that can be
taken for camping quickly decides on the product based on a few brands available.
3. Habitual buying behaviour
Habitual Buying Behaviour is depicted when a consumer has low involvement in a
purchase decision. For example, when a consumer buys an energy drink, he tends to buy
the flavour/taste that he likes without actually putting in a lot of research and time.
4. Variety seeking buying behavior
 In this consumer involvement is low.For example, a consumer likes to buy a cookie and
choose a brand without putting much thought into it.
4.
a) Discuss the different target market strategies.
Ans: Mass marketing- Also known as undifferentiated marketing, mass marketing does not
segregate the target market and offers one strategy for the entire market.
Differentiated Marketing strategy is also known as the segmented marketing strategy. It
decides to select several target markets in the industry and produce customized products for
each market segment.
Concentrated marketing is known as Niche marketing as well. In this, the organization
focuses on a large share of one or more small segments (niches).
Micromarketing strategy is about producing the product and the marketing method to suit
the taste of a specific individual or specific location. It is of two types:
Local Marketing – This is about providing a product or a service based on the requirement of
a customer group
Individual Marketing – This is about providing a product or a service based on an individual
customer. This can be identified as one-to-one marketing or mass customization.
b) Briefly explain the brand building strategies.
Ans: Define Your Brand- conduct a proper swot analysis to find out your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can give you an idea what you can do better from
your competitors.
Brand Differentiation and Positioning- focus on developing those unique advantages that
can affect the consumers’ mind and they prefer your brand over competitors. Brand logo, font
size, style, color, styling and packaging are important elements to differentiate your brand and
build a competitive advantage in the minds of the consumer.
Promote Your Brand in the Market- use different advertising and promotional channels e.g.
social media, newspapers, magazines, websites and blogs to promote your personal and
business brand.
Personalize Your Brand-Always use a consistent voice (language and tone of your business)
across different media platforms, websites, blogs, product description. Consistent voice and
one broad message will help consumers to identify your across different platforms.
Evaluate Your Brand- It helps to assess the brand success in the market whether it remains
the same, strengthen over time or degraded the minds of consumers.
5.
a) Explain product life cycle and its importance.
Ans: A product life cycle is the length of time from a product first being introduced to
consumers until it is removed from the market. A product's life cycle is usually broken down
into four stages; introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
 1. When the product life cycle is predictable, the management must be cautious in taking
advance steps before the decline stage, by adopting product modification, pricing
strategies, style, quality, change, etc.
2. The firm can prepare an effective product plan by knowing the product life cycle of a
product.
3. The management can find new uses of the product for the expansion of market during
growth stage and for extending the maturity stage.
4. The management can adopt latest technological changes to improve the product quality,
features and design.
5. Examples of products that have passed or are passing through the product life cycle:
Typewriters, VCRs, AI, EVs etc.

Understanding how a product’s life cycle works allows companies to work out whether
their products are meeting the needs of the target market and, thereby, when they may
need to change focus or develop something new.

c) Discuss the different stages of new product development process.

Ans: New Product Development (NPD) is a set of design, engineering, and research
processes which combine to create and launch a new product to market.
1. Idea Generation
The new product development process begins with idea generation, where you brainstorm an
idea (or ideas) that will help you solve an existing customer problem in a new and innovative
way.
2. Research-
Market research to understand the current sentiment in your industry and if there are any holes
that your product will fit into, and if there will even be demand for it.
Competitor analysis to understand if customers think there are things your competitors'
products or services lack that you can incorporate into your product to better fit your target
market's needs.
3. Planning
Here you formulate a final product idea/definition based on your initial idea.
4. Prototyping
The prototyping phase is when you come up with a sample product that is a mockup of what
will be created during mass production.
5. Testing
Before launching your product, you need to test it to ensure it will work as advertised and
effectively solve your customer needs.
6. Product Development
This stage involves creating the final product that will be commercialized once completed.
7. Commercialization
The final stage of your new product development process is commercialization, where you
introduce your products to market.
Q6
a) What is channel management? Discuss the different factors involved in channel
management.
Ans: It is defined as a process where the company develops various marketing techniques as
well as sales strategies to reach the widest possible customer base.
Important factors affecting the choice of channels of distribution by the manufacturer are:
(A) Considerations Related to Product
1. Unit Value of the Product: For example, Industrial Machinery or Gold Ornaments are very
costly products that are why for their distribution small distribution channel is used.
2. Standardised or Customised Product: Standardised products are those which has no scope
for alteration. For example: utensils of MILTON. To sell this long distribution channel is used.
For customized products face-to-face interaction is used.
3. Perishability: A long distribution channel can be selected for durable goods and shorter
channel for perishable goods.
4. Technical Nature: If a product is of a technical nature, then it is better to supply it directly to
the consumer.
(B) Consideration related to Market
1. Number of buyers-If the number of buyer is large then it is better to take the services of
middlemen for the distribution of the goods.
2. Type of buyer- If the buyers of the product belong to general category, then there can be
more middlemen. But in case of industrial buyers there can be less middlemen.
3. Size of Market: If the market area of the product is scattered fairly, then the producer must
take the help of middlemen.
b) Discuss the objectives and importance of advertising.
Ans: Advertising helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and
the variety of products useful to them.
Objectives of Advertising
Four main Objectives of advertising are:
Trial- involves convincing the customers to buy the new product introduced in the market.
Continuity- The advertisers here generally keep on bringing something new in the product
and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying their products.
Brand switch- Here, the advertisers try to convince the customers to switch from the existing
brand they are using to their product.
Switching back- The advertisers use different ways to attract the customers back like discount
sale, new advertise, some reworking done on packaging, etc.
Importance of Advertising:
1. Advertising is important for the customers
2. Advertising is important for the seller and companies producing the
products
 Yes, advertising plays very important role for the producers and the
sellers of the products, because
 Advertising helps increasing sales
 Advertising helps producers or the companies to know their
competitors and plan accordingly to meet up the level of
competition.
 If any company wants to introduce or launch a new product in the
market, advertising will make a ground for the product.
 Advertising helps creating goodwill for the company.
 The demand for the product keeps on coming with the help of
advertising and demand and supply become a never-ending process.
3. Advertising is important for the society- helps educating people.
Advertising deals with social issues like child labour, liquor
consumption, girl child killing, smoking, family planning education, etc.
Q7
a) Describe the opportunities and challenges of green marketing.
Ans: According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing
of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing
incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the
production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Other similar
terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.
Opportunities
Increasing the trustworthiness of a brand. Providing long-term prospects for growth.
Helping individuals make better decisions via education. Keeping costs down while
increasing profits.
Challenges of green marketing
Large Investment- Material purchased for production is costly. Renewal and recycling is
not easy. It needs high technology which cost is very high and it is not easy for a normal
business to do such type of huge investment.
Price sensitive consumers- India is a developing country where income of the people is
very low. So it is not possible for the people to pay high price and also they do not want to
pay high price because they are price sensitive also.

b) What are the different entry strategies of global market.

Ans