Key – 1

The need to understand the

complexity of marketing!
 2 questions come to the fore-front

 What is marketing?

 How is it different from selling?

 What is marketing?
 Marketing is not selling

 Marketing is strategy

 Marketing has been defined by American

Marketing Association as the process of
planning and executing the conception, pricing,
promotion & distribution of ideas, goods &
services to create exchanges that satisfy
individual and organizational objectives.
 Difference between marketing &
sales….

 Marketing focuses on the need of

 Selling focuses on the the buyer.
need of the seller.  Focus of marketing, ultimately is
 Its focus is on the consumer satisfaction, which is
derived from the in-depth
manufacturer, whose knowledge of wants and needs of
need is to convert the the customer, as well as a clearly
product into cash. thought of marketing strategy.
 Hence…
the…
PRODUCT…
PRICE…
PROMOTION… &
DISTRIBUTION …
…has to be properly considered for meeting
the needs of the customer & creating a
marketing strategy.
Process of marketing & marketing strategy are integrated
& hence complex. It essentially involves 2 distinct
components -

Marketing mix – Marketing Target Market – Defining

manager is a mix of the target market.
ingredients inclusive of It should be obvious that
product, price, promotion marketing mix cannot
& distribution. work independent of the
The firm/marketing manager target audience. No
can strategically adapt matter how much creative
these components in the marketing mix is, it
construction of the final cannot stand alone.
product.
 Pre requisite for an effective
marketing strategy.

Developing a marketing mix that fits into the

needs & wants of target audience.
A mismatch between the two will cause the
product to fail.
 Key – 2 (Positioning)
Why is it important to develop the marketing
strategy?

 The act of designing the company’s offer

& image so that it occupies a distinct and
valuable place in the target customer’s
mind.

 It is the place that a product occupies in

the consumer’s mind.
 USP (Unique selling proposition)

USP is a unique product attribute that a company

uses to set its (brand) product apart from the
competition.

e.g.
Volvo is a safe vehicle
Big Bazaar is the low priced supermarket.
 USP ???
Emphasizing a single
attribute as the tactic to
position your brand can
be beneficial, as it allows
us to focus all the
marketing input towards
one single attribute.
Can also be dangerous as
the attribute should be
such, which is identified
as valuable by the target
consumer. In addition,
since you are hanging
your hat on one attribute
to position your brand,
the competitor may have
easy time attacking you.
 Challenges in using USP for
positioning -
1st the competition can downplay the
importance of the attribute that u are
emphasizing.

2nd the competition can introduce a new

attribute, that makes your attribute look
obsolete.
Conveying USP through a slogan…
(1 sentence that says it all)
 Consistency is the key when it comes to the slogans.

 Slogan should be consistent with the intended

positioning of the brand.

 In general, should be consistent overtime.

 When the market environment changes the positioning

of a brand, the slogan should also change.
 Key – 3
(Why the job of a marketing manager is a key
to the success of the firm?)

Q – What does the marketing manager do?

 Work of a marketing manager is to monitor & attempt

to regulate the demand through the adaptation of
marketing mix (4ps) to the target market.

 Like all management positions, marketing

management involves the analysis, planning,
implementation, monitoring or control if the marketing
operations, designed to achieve company’s objectives.

 To counter the pioneering steps of the competitors by

creating a battle-plan to maintain the market share.
 Q – What does the marketing manager
do?
 Positioning the product to the appropriate target market
is essential, failing to do which, the product also fails in
the market.
(It is the work of marketing manager to ensure that the
appropriate target audience has been identified. )

 Process of identifying the target customers is not easy &

involves an extensive market research. (key – 6) (Worst
mistake that marketing manager can do is to identify
target customer though gut feel, rather than hard,
empirical data.)
 Key – 4
(Understanding why the knowledge of market environment
contributes to the company’s success.)

 Market environment –
are the conditions under
Target customer
which the marketing
strategy is made &
Marketing mix or 4Ps implemented.

Market environment
 Though these conditions
are not under direct
influence, but must be
consistently monitored
& attended to by the
marketing manager.

 Failure to keep pulse of

the changing market
environment can rapidly
lead to the demise of a
marketing strategy that
was working fine in the
past.
 Types of market environments
 Social and Cultural Environment

 Economic Environment

 Political and Legal Environment

 Competitive Environment

 Demographic Environment
 Key – 5
Managing demand states

Q - Wouldn't it be wonderful if the demand for your

product was equal to what you wanted it to be?
This never happens & is only a dream!

So…
whenever the demand is in imbalance with the supply,
which is almost always the case, the marketing manager
is required to attempt to bring back the state of balance.
 5 different demand states in which imbalance between
demand & supply is evident.

5 different demand states & all possible solutions to bring

consistency between these factors in each of these cases –

 No demand

 Negative demand

 Faltering demand

 Irregular demand

 Latent demand
 No demand situation
Symptom – All or most of Objective of marketer –
target segment Stimulate the market,
through the creation of a
customers of the
need. Marketer has to think
potential market are out of the box, to give birth
indifferent or to a possible solution.
uninterested in a
particular product.
Solution
It might be a small physical change in the form/nature of
the product.
Linkage of the product to an individual’s emotional ties
with something magnificent.
 Negative demand situation
Symptom – All or most of the Objective of marketer –
potential market segments To convert the demand from
dislike the product or negative to positive.
service, and actually may (Conversional Marketing)
pay a price to avoid it. This
is the most difficult demand
state that a marketer can
find himself/herself in.

Solution
Conversional process usually occurs over a longer period of time.
 It is foolish to depend only on flashy advertising to change the
attitudes of target customers from negative to positive & therefore
requires complete transformation in the marketing strategy.
 Faltering demand situation
Symptom – Demand for a
product or service is less
than its former level.
(Common Occurrence)
In absence of a remedial or
corrective action, there is a
large likelihood of further
decline in market share.
Objective of the marketer
–
To keep the existing
customers interested &
excited by maintaining a
distinct product image in
their mind.

Solution
 Remarket the product by finding new uses and extending its life
cycle.
 Marketers should be creative enough to develop new uses of
their existing products and services, in order to keep their existing
customers interested.
 Irregular demand situation
Symptom – The timing Objective of the
pattern of demand for marketer – Synchronize
product or service is demand and level it out.
marked/influenced by
seasonal or other
volatile fluctuations.

Solution
 Manipulation in 1 or more of the 4Ps. During the off-
season, pricing can be slashed or promotion can be
increased.
 Latent demand situation
Symptom – A specific set of Objective of the marketer –
people who share interest Formation of a
in a product or service that developmental marketing
does not exist. process.
(Often revealed during market
research with the use of
focus groups, designed to
uncover the unmet needs.)
Solution
 Commitment to marketing research & new product
development.
 Being in close contact with customers, to know their needs and
wants. (which can be accomplished through marketing research
only)
 If marketer adopts a casual attitude towards this issue, market