What is meant by marketing channels?

Once goods are manufactured, they must be transferred from their place of manufacturing(factory) to the end
consumer otherwise the goods would remain idle. Marketing channels give movement to such goods and help them
in reaching the right consumer at the right time and place.They can also be called the media or vehicle through which
goods reach the target market and to the end consumer. These comprise of the various intermediaries like
wholesalers, retailers, agents etc. Eg. Big Bazaar , has huge retail stores all over the nation selling household goods,
garments etc for various brands.

Do all companies use marketing channels?

Not necessarily all companies use marketing channels.There are some that directly market their products to
consumers. Eg. Dell computers ask its customers to directly login to their website , get their product configured and
order the same on the internet. We also see that in case of industrial goods like raw materials, metal pieces, rods,
bricks etc, goods are sold directly to the consumer which in this case is the industry itself, so there are no specific
channels involved. Even in case of perishable goods like fruits, vegetables etc which are like to expire within a short
span of time , they are directly brought in to the local markets from village farms without any channels of distribution
as such

Comment on the retail sector of today in India.

There has been a significant growth in the retail sector since the past few years.This has been mainly due to factors
like improvement in the standard of living of the people in India, increasing availability of international brands in the
Indian market, easy access to credit facilities by banks, betterment of the infrastructure at large and increasing
investment in technology as well as real estate. Today, the Indian Retail Market is the fifth largest in the world and is
estimated to grow from US$330billion in 2007 to US$637 billion by the year2015, as per industry estimates.

What are the factors to be considered before deciding upon setting up a

channel?
a.Understanding the customer profile : the tastes,preferences, habits of the customers may differ from person to
person.
b.Determining the objective as to who would be the target market, whether the company wants to go for cost
minimisation or not etc.
c.Type of channel members :Who all would be involved? Wholesalers, retailers?
d.The criteria on which the channel members would be evaluated and selected.
e.How many intermediaries will be involved in the overall distribution?

On what criteria can channel members be evaluated for their proper

selection?
The SCPCA method can be used to evaluate channel members.
a.Sales (S): How much sales each channel member can give within a cetain time frame
b.Cost(C):How much cost would be incurred for each channel?
c.Profitability(P):Which channel can give better profitability to the company?
d.Control(C): Whether company can have better control over its channel members or not.
e.Adaptability (A): Whether the channel alternatives are flexible enough to any changes or not. The channel meeting
the objectives of the company is selected.

How are the channel members managed and motivated, once they are
selected?
These days channel members are being accepted by companies as their partners. The intermediaries are even being
asked to integrate their business with the companies which results in lesser costs, greater efficiency and improved
customer service. Corporates like Airtel are adopting PRM (Partner relationship management) software to give that
added advantage to their supply chain. They organise rewards and recognition programs for their channel partners
and also organise proper channels though which partners can vent any of their grievances relating to payments,
violation of codes etc

What is Supply chain Management? Give an example

Supply chain management related to the flow of goods, information and fund from the supplier to consumer. Basically
it is the way in which the goods pass on from the factory to the indtermediaries and then to the ultimate consumer.Eg.
Bharti Airtels supply chain management has a central core team comprising of supply chain subject matter experts
as well as execution teams which operate under different business divisions nationwide. Bharti Airtel realised the
importance of having competent partners for its better business prospects due to which its supply chain function
enabled maximisation of mutual growth opportunities .

What are the major logistics functions?

The major logistics function are:
a. Warehousing : Under this goods are stored after manufacturing till the time they are required for consumption.
b. Inventory management: Goods like raw materials which are required for day to day operations of the business also
need to be properly stored and kept track of.
c. Transportation : Goods need to be transported from one place to another. They may have to be shipped from
supplier location to factory and thereafter from factory to customer.

What does the wholesaler do?

The functions of the wholesaler include:
a.Selling: via their large network of retailers.
b.Bulk Breaking : Buying the product in large quantities and selling them to retailers in smaller quantitites.
c.Warehousing: Looking after the storage of the goods.
d.Transportation: The wholesaler may enter into agreements with the company to transport their goods to the
retailers.
e.Credit and risk taking: They undertake the risk of providing credit to retailers.

What are the different types of pricing strategies for a firm?

i)Predatory pricing : this is followed to eliminate any other competitors in the market.
ii)Premium pricing: where the price is kept high as in case of designer items so as it increase the reputation of the
product and retain its goodwill

iii)Cost plus pricing : here the firm simply adds its estimated profit to the cost to fix its selling price.
iv)Skimming : Skimming is a pricing strategy adopted by firms under which goods are sold at high prices to capture
their market value.
v)Price discrimination: this is practiced according to different classes of people which maybe as per their
age,sex,occupation etc. Eg.higher price maybe charged for higher income group for the same product which maybe
charged at a lower price for lower income group.

Are the pricing strategies of a firm long term or short term based? Explain.
Depending upon the volume of profits that a company has targeted,its pricing strategy maybe short or long term
based. Where a company has invested heavily on research and development of the product and its promotion, short
term pricing strategy may be followed initially in order to recover the cost of investment speedily, thereafter it may
convert its pricing strategy to a long term one to sustain its business operations. For example a product may be sold
at premium price initially and gradually its price maybe lowered once it has captured sufficient market demand.

Who generally designs the pricing strategies and programs for a firm?
Depending upon the size of a firm,the pricing strategies and programs for a firm are generally designed by the
marketing manager in consultation with the top level management consisting of the CEO or MD and Board of
Directors at the board meeting.In small size firms, the organisation may hire an external consultant to design the
pricing strategy for a firm. The external consultant analyses the history and current business of the firm and then
accordingly advises the proprietor of the firm as to what should be the pricing strategy and how it is to be
implemented.

How are the other Ps of marketing related to the pricing program of a firm?
Product certainly influences the price level,higher the product quality is high, higher the company would price it and
vice versa. Again a new product requires widespread promotion which leads to higher promotion costs and higher
price. Supply chain management also becomes crucial in the price determination. A well integrated supply chain in an
organisation ensures an edge which it can enjoy over the others.

Enumerate the steps involved in designing a pricing strategy for a business

firm.
i. Determining the objective of price determination.
ii. Determing the level of demand for the product.
iii.Estimating the costs.
iv. Analysing competitors cost.
v.Determing what pricing method to use
vi.Select the price

What are the factors to be kept in mind while designing the pricing strategy for
a firm?

We need to analyse factors like:

1. Who is the target market?
2. Whether the product has been doing well in the market or not.
3. Time frame- whether I intend to earn profits in the short run or long run.
4. Which category the product belongs to? (necessity,comfort or luxury)
5. What pricing strategy the rival firms are using?
So to analyse these factors an indepth market research maybe required before designing the pricing strategy.

Explain skimming as a pricing strategy with examples.

Skimming is a pricing strategy adopted by firms under which goods are sold at high prices to capture their market
value. Example electronic goods like LCD TV . The purpose of such strategy is to mint higher profits within the short
run period in order to recover the costs incurred in product researching ,manufacturing, marketing etc as such costs
associated with the product are high. However this strategy carries with it the risk of acceptance of the product in the
market as other competitors may tend to lower their price range of the same product thereby forfeiting a large part of
the market share.

Give an example of any firm that has implemented pricing strategy during the
launch of a new product in the market and answer the following related to it:

a. Which type of pricing strategy did the firm use and why?
Nokia used the skimming price strategy when it introduced the 1100 handset in the Indian market priced at Rs.5200.
This was done in order to regain its R & D and promotion cost. As the sales gained momentum, the price of the
product was lowered down to Rs.3800 in the market.

b. Was it successful in the market or not? Give reasons.

Yes it gained huge success in the market. Apart from the pricing strategy, Nokias promotional strategy was also well
implemented on account of its widespread advertising using celebrity endorsements which added to its popularity in
the market.

How do buyers respond to price changes?

Depending upon the increase or decrease in price rates, buyers may respond accordingly. Some buyers may assume
that quality of the product may have reduced to to reduction in price or that the company may not be selling the
product as per expectations. The other assumption that buyers may make is that prices may go down in the future
and so may delay purchase. On the other hand increased price may lead to a decrease in demand as the product
may be more costly for the consumers who may switch to another seller offering similar products at lower prices.

How do sellers respond to price changes of their competitors?

In the light of competition, it may be seen that competitors may initiate price changes. If the cutting off on prices does
not affect the company, then the current pricing strategy itself can be continued to maintain the profitability of the
company. However if the price change on one firm is affecting the other, then it can:
a.reduce the product price at par with competitors price or below competitors price
or
b. Provide added advantage to the existing product like better quality, or a buy one get one free offer.
or
c.Provide better quality of the product at a higher price thereby not being at par with the competitors.

What is monopoly? Explain with an example.

A monopolistic market is one which is characterised by the presence of only a single seller which may happen on
account of certain market barriers like regulatory, technical or economic barriers. The monopolist can fix the price rate
at his discretion as there are no other competitors. Eg. The Indian Railways in India has been exercising monopoly
over the railway industry.This type of market is generally seen to be controlled by the government and is a prominent
feature of the socialist economy which prevailed a while ago in USSR and the Middle-East.

What is Oligopoly? Give some examples of oligopolistic markets.

In an oligopolistic market, a few suppliers control the market by not allowing any new entrants to the market. A
change in price by one supplier in the market will generate instant response by the other supplier who will also tend to
change his price. So in this market, there is a high level of dependency amongst suppliers on one another. Examples
of such markets maybe the automobile manufacturers or pharmaceutical industry which are generally price sensitive
by nature.

What is promotion (in marketing) according to you?

There is an Indian saying , Jo dikhta hai, wo bikta hai. (What is seen is what sells). In todays fast moving world of
glitz and glamour, products have become the face of the company. The brand image of a company that it carries with
it depends largely upon the kind of product or service the company is dealing with. A good enough product with the
best distribution channels and affordable prices may still fail to capture the market if it has not been well or clearly
communicated to the target customers. Promotion is communicating about our products or service to the masses. It is
one of the essential elements of the marketing mix without which gives that face or impression to the people at large
about that company brand.

What does the promotion mix comprise of?

The promotion mix is a combination of advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal selling and direct
marketing which a company uses to promote its products. So it becomes an important task for the marketer to
properly list out the promotion mix strategies and its benefits. It is like the ingredients that go into the making of any
particular dish. The quality of the dish depends upon the way in which the ingredients have been used and mixed.
Similarly, an organization must have an ideal promotion mix by which it should be able to promote its products to the
masses.

What are the objectives of promotion?

a. Awareness: particularly when a product is new to the market, it must be known to the consumers that such a
product exists in the market. Promotion helps there.
b.Knowledge: one gets to know the advantages of the product via promotion.
c.Liking and desire: even those who may not have a desire for the product, promotion helps to create that desire and
liking for the product by using strategies like celebrity endorsements etc.
d.Purchase: by promoting affordably priced products, the marketer can easily attract a large number of customers
who would prefer such products over high priced ones.

What is publicity?What is the difference between promotion and publicity?

Publicity is about getting others to know more about your organization and its business. Its objective is to gain more
name and fame in the public.
Promotion is much more vast in scope as compared to publicity which is just one aspect of promotion. There are
other areas in promotion apart from publicity, which includes advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal
selling and direct marketing as well.
Eg. If a film is to be promoted, film producers would use all of these tools both before and after its release and for
publicizing it, it would use publicity stunts much before the film gets released.

Do you know about IMC in promotions?

Yes. IMC or integrated marketing communication is the buzzword these days. Under this concept, all the elements of
marketing communication are made to work together in order to achieve sales maximization as well as cost
effectiveness of a product. All the elements including advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal selling and
direct marketing are integrated in such a way that they do not work at all in isolation, thereby contributing to a
common goal. With the advent of specialized media vehicles, internet marketing and retailer dominated market, IMC
has gained immense popularity among the corporate.

How would you promote our companys product (say X) if given a chance?
First of all I would identify the target market for the product. If at all the target market exists then identify if any other
prospective target market could be there apart from the existing one. I would approach a celebrity to endorse it
(Mention name of celebrity like mr so and so depending upon the product like if it is a health drink then a
sportsperson, if it is a cosmetic ,then filmstar, reason for selecting the celebrity maybe mentioned). I would also
organize roadshows to publicize the product and approach the media as well. As they say Charity begins at Home ,
so I would spread the word about the company product(name the product) to my family and friends and recommend
them to use it. That would be a simple word of mouth promotion.(this line can be answered with a slight smiling
expression).

Hmm. but what about the budget? We want our promotional campaigns to
be cost effective enough. I dont think we can afford celebrity endorsements
as of now!

No problem. We can use network marketing as an alternative. The company already has its strong network of
customers who can spread the word about its products. They can encourage referral rewards for say every three
customers who will buy our product or avail our service.
We can also announce a contest for the customers to buy the product and win a chance to get himself broadcasted
for the product advertisement. We can ask them to send in their photo along with the contest application form which
they get alongwith the product they buy. So we dont have to pay them as we would otherwise have to pay to a
celebrity.

What is the difference between a marketing mix and a promotional mix?

A marketing mix and a promotional mix does have some differences, both being highly crucial for the success of a
business. Marketing is very essential for the growth and continuity of business operations. It helps in creating new
customers and retaining the existing ones to keep the business ongoing. Marketing focuses on all the elements of the
marketing mix viz product, price, place and promotion while promotion focuses more on the customer- how to reach a
product to its customers and how to sell it to them ultimately.

How or on what basis is the profile of the target customer prepared?

It may be prepared on the following criteria:
a.Type of customer: whether individual or group.
b. Income : whether he belongs to the upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class or lower class.
c. Media exposure : print media like newspapers, magazines, journals or audio visual like TV, radio, street hoardings
etc.
d.Occupation : whether he is into service or business.

What is direct marketing? Give some examples.

In direct marketing, there is a direct interaction of the customers with the seller without any intermediaries. Here, the
role of the intermediaries is nil. The medium used is more direct using telephone, mail, internet where the seller can
directly reach out to the consumer. Examples of such marketing include telemarketing, email, voicemail marketing,
door-to-door selling etc. This kind of marketing is more time saving as the problem of distance which may otherwise
exist between the buyer and seller is eliminated and is also cost effective as it minimizes commuting costs.

Have you heard about J-I-T in logistics management?

Yes. J-I-T or just in time is a strategy of production. It aims at fostering continous improvement in production and can

help in the betterment of a manufacturing units return on investment,quality and efficiency. This can be brought about
by smooth flow of operations, greater involvement of employees and better quality products. This process is based on
the Japanese concept of Kanban which informs the system of production when to move on to the next step in the
process after completion of one step. Kanban can be in t he form of visual signals eg.an empty shelf or a filled shelf in
a factory which indicates the next step. J-I-T ensures production and delivery of goods just in time without any delay
or gap between one process and another one.

Why is logistics management important for an organisation?

For a business, being able to provide the right product at the right place and in the right time could be a challenging
task. Better storage and transportation facilities are being developed or outsourced by marketing managers to make
goods available to the customers or rather ensure timely delivery of the goods and services to customers. To achieve
this, it becomes increasingly important to keep track of the goods starting from its journey from the factory right upto
the hands of the consumer. Thus, in the modern marketing era, the study of movement of goods or logistic
management becomes an important subject in question.

Can wholesalers also be classified into certain categories?

Yes. Wholesalers may be classified into merchant wholesalers and brokers and agents.
Merchant wholesalers independently own and undertake the risk of title to the goods. Brokers and agents however do
not take the title of goods and their functions are limited. Brokers have good knowledge about the buyer and seller
and act as the link between them, helping in bringing about negotiation between the two parties. Agents act as
representatives to the company, retailer or customer on a permanent basis.

What is wholesaling ? What is the scenario of wholesaling in the Indian

market?
Wholesaling involves buying goods in bulk from the manufacturer and selling them to another buyer( generally the
retailer) for resale or business purpose. Wholesale trading , since pre-independence era has been dominated by the
Indian trading community.However, as of now, we also have foreign investors in the wholesale trade scenario who
have been showing a keen interest in this area of business. These companies are entering the Indian market as
trading firms and sourcing and selling domestically. They are giving our domestic traders a tough competition! Eg.
Sharp Corporation of Japan which has a manufacturing base in India are into trading color TVs from other
manufacturers as well.

What are the different types of retailing?

Basically, retailing can be categorised into store retailing and non store retailing.
In the store retailing, the essence of a store in a particular location is taken into consideration, to sell the
products.They can be performed in different formats like speciality store,department store, supermarkets,
convenience stores, discount store, off price retailers,super stores. On the other hand, non store retailing deals in
selling products through the use of electronic media or direct selling medium Example :direct selling,
telemarketing,automatic vending or online retailing.

What are the functions of retailing?

The functions of retailing include :

a.Sorting :The items are arranged in order by the retailers so that the customers are able to locate and pick up their
needed goods easily.
b.Storage: The retailer holds stocks of goods and thereby meets the day-to-day needs of the consumer.
c.Channels of communication: The retailer spreads by word-of-mouth communication, valuable information to the
customers about the product.
d.Transportation: Nowadays, small grocery stores are undertaking the work of door deliver orders in case of durable
goods.

What are the essential characteristics of retailing?

a.Direct interaction with customers: The retailer acts as the final link between the organisation and its customer. The
retailer knows his customer better than anyone. He even suggests the customer what to purchase and allows him
credit facilities to encourage frequent buying behaviour in the customer.
b.Small purchases: The customer purchases goods in small lots from the retail stores. So there are frequent visits to
the retail store by the customer.
c.Instrument of marketing communication: via which information about the product is disseminated to the needy
customers.

What are the essential characteristics of retailing?

a.Direct interaction with customers: The retailer acts as the final link between the organisation and its customer. The
retailer knows his customer better than anyone. He even suggests the customer what to purchase and allows him
credit facilities to encourage frequent buying behaviour in the customer.
b.Small purchases: The customer purchases goods in small lots from the retail stores. So there are frequent visits to
the retail store by the customer.
c.Instrument of marketing communication: via which information about the product is disseminated to the needy
customers.

What are the different modes used to perform the logistics function?
The different modes used are:
a.Air transportation : This enables quick delivery particularly useful in case of perishable commodities.
b.Water transportation: It involves ocean liners and ships. Though slow, it is a cost effective mode of transportation.
c.Surface transportation: Highway transportation and railway transportation are the different modes used under this.
d.Pipelines: Products like oil and natural gas use this mode .

e.Internet carriers: Under this, satellite enabled modem or telephone wires are used to carry digital products from
producer to consumer.

Does logistics management and supply chain management mean the same
thing?
No. Logistics is actually a part of supply chain management. Supply chain management involves other activities like
coordinating as well as collaborating with both customers and suppliers, matching the demand with the supply,flow of
products, services, information, and finances while logistics management entails the movement and storage of
products and services to add value via transformation of time and place. As such logistics is more about being able to
look into the facilities, transportation, inventory, materials, order fulfillment, communications, third-party relations, and
information within the firm thereby creating competitive advantage through value addition to customers.

What is logistics management?

Logistics management involves movement of products and materials from the suppliers to the factory where
manufacturing takes place and then from the factory to the resellers and to customers. It may be categorised into:
inbound and outbound logistics. When the goods move from the suppliers to the factory , it is known as inbound
logistics while if the goods move from the factory to other customers it is known as outbound logistics. This field
which studies the flow of goods and information from suppliers to consumers is nowadays popularly known as supply
chain management.

What according to you is sales promotion?

We can say that sales promotion is a cost effective technique by which an organisation can achieve its sales volume
or the marketing objectives by providing value added product and not just an ordinary product to the end user or even
the intermediaries. It is short term by nature and is suitable enough for generating sales within a short span of time.
Sales promotion techniques are being increasingly used by retailing organisations some of which include advertising,
providing discounts and allowances or a 'buy one get one free offer' etc.

What is public relations?

Public relations or PR is basically about managing the communication- both internal and external to an organisation,
in order to create and retain the goodwill or reputation of the company and its business that it is into. It entails
highlighting the achievements of the company, keeping the public informed or updating them regarding any changes
or new things happening with the company, maintaining relationships with the investors , participating in charitable
causes etc. Business is a part and parcel of the society within which it functions, hence arises the role of public
relations.

What role does PR play in marketing communications?

PR establishes the rapport between the organisation and the local community and also the organisation's investors. A
company which has a strong image among social groups can easily advertise through word of mouth. Any issues or
misconcepts regarding the company and its products can be minimised via PR. PR also publicizes a company's

products . Example, when Cadbury was confronted with the chocolate worm controversy, or during the pesticide
issue faced by the MNC giant Coca Cola, it was the the PR of the company helped it to sail through.

What are the different methods of PR?

A good PR can be established in the following ways :
a.Lobby groups: These groups play a crucial role in influencing the government policy, corporate policy or public
opinion.
b.Organising press conferences to attract media and customers.
c.Use of eye catching written and audio visual media to reach out to the masses.
d.Engaging in socially responsible activities like environment protection, cleaning drive etc.
e.Organising roadshows, workshops, seminars etc.

What is pubilicity?
Publicity is an act of making known to the media which includes TV, radio, news reporters or journalist , film makers
etc. , about the company and its products and asking them to disseminate such information to the masses. In addition
to this, publicity may include any such information meant to attract public attention towards a company-its products,
its people or any event via a third party which may include the media.Publicity may or may not be a part of PR
depending upon the circumstances. It may have positive or even negative consequences.
Examples of publicity include organising events, contests, exhibitions, tours, sponsoring awards, scholarships etc.

How do organisations deal with bad publicity?

Publicity may turn out to be positive or negative. Negative publicity can be dealt with in the following ways:
a.Giving the correct information and clarifying any doubts if required through press release, media interviews,
advertising, websites etc.
b.Active involvement of the company's top management or spokesperson in giving public statement or comment in
the various media.
c.Redesigning a good publicity message to eliminate the ill effects of bad publicity.
d.Involvement in socially responsible activities like community work or environmental protection campaigns.

As per the Indian market, what are the different sales promotion methods?

There are three different kinds of tools used in sales promotion :

a.Consumer promotion tools: which are directly targeted to the end consumer stimulating interest among them to
purchase the products instantly. Eg. Price reduction, contests, 'buy one get one free' offer on products, exchange
offers etc.

b.Trade promotion tools:These motivate selling of the product and brand promotion for the wholesalers and retailers
such as discounts offeed by the manufacturers and allowances provides to the channel managers.
c.Business promotion tools: which help in lead generation, provide rewards to cutomers and motivate salespeople to
sell more and more.

What is institutional advertising?

Sometimes organisations aim at enhancing the image of the company. They focus more on the brand image than
selling of the product. Such advertising covers all the products or services of the company under a single brand
name. This is known as institutional advertising. Eg.WIPRO has been using 'applying thought' for all of its business ,
thereby promoting the company as well.Other companies which have been using institutional advertising include '
British Airways', 'Hyatt Group', ITC and so on.

What are the different types of product adverising?

a.Pioneer advertising: This is used in the starting phase of a product life cycle .Eg. TATA Docomo which initially
advertised as to why a person should pay for the unused minutes, when talks may last for seconds.
b.Competitive advertisements: In the growth phase of the product life cycle, an organisation may have different
product lines , so to highlight the differences between them, competitive advertisements are used.
c.Comparative advertisements: When the sales volume of a product starts to decline, or competition is
high,comparative advertisements are used. Pepsi and Coca-cola used this type of advertising at one point of time.

On what basis are advertisement media selected?

Advertising media can be selected keeping in mind the following:
a.One should assess the target customers who are to view the advertisement.
b.The number of times the target customer is likely to come across the advertisement.
c.The impact that the advertisement message is likely to have upon the target audience.
d. The habits,tastes and preferences of the target customers.

How can you say if an advertisement has been effective enough or not?
It is important to know whether an advertisement has been effective at all or not.We can evaluate the effectiveness of
an advertisement through the following ways:
a.recognition method: showing the people an advertisement and asking them if they have seen it before.
b.aided recall: asking people to recall any brand that they may have or might want to use.
c.unaided recall: asking people if they can remember seeing any ads within an identified product category.

Which are the two popular forms of print media?

Newspapers and magazines.
Newspapers have been dominating the local markets since its very inception particularly though its classified
advertisements. They offer flexibility to the readers and provide added support in promotion as well as research
related function relating to a product or service. Magazines are broadly categorised into consumer magazines and
business magazines which may be further subdivided into monthly and weekly publications.They also offer wide
reach to the masses. The fashion industry mostly uses this form of media to promote their garments and cosmetics
and other accessories.

What are the different types of media used in advertising?

The major media generally used by companies for advertising their product are:
I.Broadcast media: comprising of radio and television.
II.Print media: comprising of newspapers and magazines.
III.Outdoor advertising : which is done though billboards, displays ,electric boards and has often been protested by
environmentalists. Such advertisements may also be seen in buses and moving vehicles.
IV.Online advertising : via emails etc.
V.Other media : like movie halls, in flight commercials, yellow pages, pamphlets etc.

What should be kept in mind while developing the message for an

advertisement?
a.The message should be developed only after the target profile has been completely created.
b.The interests of the target customers also must taken into consideration.
c.The objectives of the advertisement program shoule be answered by the message.
d.The message should be such that it should be easily understood by the viewers and should contain clarity.
e.More of interactive communication tools should be used while developing the message.

Discuss the factors that influence the advertisement budget decisions.

1.Stage of the product in the product life cycle: The company has to invest more at the time the product is newly
introduced in the market as at this stage the consumers have to be informed about the product as they are totally
unaware about the existence of the new product in the market. At a late stage when the product gains popularity, it
can cut down the costs of advertising.
2.The market share of the company: If the company enjoys a high market share, it can spend on widespread
advertising while if it is low, but the market holds good prospects, the organisation can still spend heavily on
advertisement.

What are the objectives of advertising?

There are many objectives of advertising. They are:
a. To create awareness about the product among the consumers.
b.To generate new or greater interest levels in a product of which the individual may not have shown an interest
before.
c. To inform more about the product to others.
d.To stimulate purchase habits among the buyers of the product.
e.To reinforce the product in the consumers' mind so that he gets reminded about purchasing the product which he
would otherwise not have purchased.

What is AIDA approach?

After deciding upon the objectives of communication, the marketer begins to focus on developing the right message
which should ideally aim at creating attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA) for the customer. Prior to deciding
the contents of the advertising message, a thorough understanding of the AIDA model is required. The main objective
of a message should be to meet the requirements of the AIDA model even though the message may be limited by the
product category to which it belongs, the ad budget and the creativity of the individuals involved in designing the
message.

In the AIDA model, what does each of the letters stand for? Explain.
a.Attention: The marketing communication should be able to catch the attention of its customers.For eg.when a
popular filmstar or sportstar endorses a particular brand of soap or health drink, it immediately captures the attention
of the audience.
b.Interest: Once the marketing communication has grabbed enough attention of the customers, it should be
stimulated by the organisation to create further interest.
c.Desire : a product in order to get sold must be backed by the willingness to purchase it. The interest developed by
the consumer should be forced upon his mind so that he develops a desire towards the product.
d.Action: Desires can be converted into action by the company higlighting the advantages of the product to its
customers, in their communication messages

What kind of appeal should the advertising message contain?

The advertisement can have two main types of appeal:
a.Emotional appeal : Positive emotional appeals like love, pride, joy and humor maybe used in the message while
negative emotions like fear,guilt,shame maybe communicated across in the advertisement to attract the attention of
the customer.
b.Moral appeal: Such advertisements focus upon public health or environment or social responsibility. Eg. Cigarettes

or pan masalas advertise their products with a statutory warning highlighting the moral appeal to show their genuine
concern for the consumers.

What is direct marketing?

When an organisation conducts its marketing activities particularly sale of goods to its customers directly it is called
direct marketing. The final products are sold to the final consumer directly by the company , and immediate or early
response from the consumer is expected. This type of marketing is also known as B2C marketing. Eg.direct door to
door sales made by the salesman. This type of marketing involves direct communication with the customer and is
found to be time saving and a cost effective method of selling

What is online marketing? Give examples.

Online marketing is the exchange of products and services between the buyers and sellers on the internet.It is also
known as e-marketing or internet marketing or online advertising. It may take the form of :
a.B2C where the products are sold directly to the customers.
b.B2B where trading networks or auction sites maybe used to reach out to the new customers and serve the existing
one
c.C2C where one customer may further sell the product to another customer.
Examples of online marketing may include banner ads, blogs, social network advertisement.

What are the different types of online marketing?

The different types of online marketing are as follows:
Display advertising: Here the advertisements are displayed on some websites in the form of banners or blogs are
used.
Search engine optimization (SEO): it helps to make the web page or website more noticeable via the use of search
engines like Google.
Social media marketing:here the marketing is done through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn
Email marketing: in which electronic mail is used as a medium of marketing
Referral marketing: in which customer referrals are used to promote the products and services of the company.

What are the advantages of online advertising over traditional advertising?

Online advertising is less costlier as compared to traditional advertising.Companies can have access to a wider
customer base at lesser costs. Consumers find it easier to research on the product and purchase them at just one
click of the mouse sitting in the convenience of their homes. They do not have to run from pillar to post for purchasing
a particular product. They can avail their much needed products instantly without any delays. The results of online
advertising can also be measured instantly via the number of website visits, number of clicks on an advertisement.
Thus the advertisement statistics can be measured easily in a cost effective manner.

What are the problems faced in online marketing?

Online marketing also brings with it disadvantages some of which are as follows:
a.Authenticity: the authenticity of the product maybe questionable, as the real product is not available at the time of its
purchase. The product may not turn out as expected by the customers. However, sites like Jabong.com or
Myntra.com , keeping this point in view are offering its customers the option to return the product if they are
dissatisfied with it after a trial. This has increased the goodwill and popularity of such sites.
b.Internet marketing scams : Fake schemes like get-rich-quick or win cash prize on the internet, often lure the users
to payout huge sums of money to such frauds and not gettomg anything in return. It has given rise to a lot of scams
and fraudulent activities detrimental to the users.
c.Security issues: Consumers maybe hesitant to disclose their personal information on the internet as they may feel
the invasion of their privacy.

What are the different forms of social network advertising?

Social network advertising takes place through different social network sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. The different
forms of social network advertising are:
a.Advertising to ones group of friends within his network itself: sending advertising messages directly to his inbox
about any product.
b.Display of attractive banners or boxes directly on the webpage of the social networking sites.
c.Creating a fanpage or group asking users to join such groups to create and spread the brand awareness about a
particular product.

What are the different methods of direct marketing?

a.Direct mail:This is the most common means of direct marketing.Under this direct postal mails are sent to the
consumers address eg. Credit card application forms sent by banks, free trial packs of products sent by companies,
subscription offers for magazines etc.
b.Telephone marketing: Via call centers products are also sold over telephone. It is also known as telemarketing.
c.Catalogue marketing: Print,video or electronic catalogues maybe sent to customers.
d.Online marketing: The organizations products are marketed on the virtual medium through company websites and
emails.

Give some benefits of direct marketing.

a.Cost effectiveness: The costs of paying to the intermediaries is eliminated due to their absence.
b.Alternative uses: apart from selling, direct marketing can be used to test new markets, offer rewards to customers,
or even for market segmentation.
c.The results of direct marketing are easier to measure as we know how many people have been directly contacted in

the first place.

d.Relationship building: it helps in building a rapport with the customers as a direct relationship is established with
them and they can avail authentic information about a product or service without any manipulations.

What is kiosk marketing?

Kiosks are machines kept in shopping malls and other such places by organizations to spread the information and
generate orders from customers who visit such malls.Eg. Ambi Pur , a perfume company dealing in room fresheners
recently organized a marketing campaign in the Nirmal lifestyle, Mumbai. The company used inflatables to attract
small boys. The kiosk attracted a lot of parents who came in with their children and stopped by the kiosk and got
information about the company. The objective of the campaign was to create awareness about the product among
the target consumers, mainly the households.

What are the challenges faced by direct marketing?

Sometimes poor quality leads or poorly communicated messages may pose problems for marketers as well as
consumers as some of such consumers may not be actually interested in the product. So much time and money may
be wasted on communicating with such consumers. Sending out direct mails to the addresses to the customers may
also irritate some customers. The customers may also have a feeling that their privacy is being invaded and they may
not want to disclose any personal information about themselves while being asked to answer questionnaires in direct
marketing. Direct marketing has to be convincing enough to win over the trust and belief of the consumers in order to
overcome such challenges.

What does monitoring and controlling marketing activities entail?

All those activities which have been planned out by the marketing department must be tried out in the market several
times in order to be able to conclude if such activities are worthwhile or not. Such activities may be repeated several
times over a period say six months or a year in order to be able to decide whether to stick to them or replace them
with other better alternatives. Monitoring and controlling the marketing activities entails keeping proper records of the
various activities and tracking them time and again particularly when it comes to the media, when to promote the
product, cost factor, reach or the number of persons towards whom the promotions have been targeted, responses
generated, sales generation and return on sales.

How can we evaluate the effectiveness of marketing initiatives undertaken by

the marketing manager?
We can evaluate it on the basis of:
a.External factors: like the economic and social environment, the competitors, the government policies (whether
compatible to all of these or not)
b.Cost benefits: whether the organisation is obtaining maximum profits at the minimum cost or not.
c.Feedback : whether the feedback systems of the company are reliable enough or not. Eg. If a particular email
generated response from a large number of customers it is a sign of a sound feedback system.
d.Long term oriented: the marketing initiatives undertaken by the marketing manager should be long term oriented

and should not cater to the organisation and its customers just for the short run. This is essential for the continuity
and survival of the organisations business.

What is profitability control?

Profitability control is a mechanism of monitoring the sales made, profits earned and expenditure incurred by a
company. The relative profit earning capacity of a firms products and consumer groups can be determined via
profitability control. Sometimes surpisingly, it may be found out by companies how a small proportion of their products
and even customers actually account for a significant percentage of the companys profits. This can be achieved
through profitability control. At times when the companies earn surplus profits, then such profits may even be
ploughed back or reinvested. This also forms part of profitability control.

How can an organisation achieve efficiency of its sales force?

In order to have an efficient sales force, an the sales managers should monitor the functioning of the the sales team
particularly in the following areas:
1. The average number of calls salesman make during the day or number of prospects contacted directly by visits per
day.
2. The average time taken per contact by each salesman for every sales visit made by him.
3. The average revenue generated by per sales finalised.
4.The average cost per sales call made.
5. Percentage of orders generated per 100 sales approach made.
6. The number of new customers created within a particular time period.
7. The number of lost customers per period.
8. The cost incurred on the sales force cost to the percentage of total sales made.

Who controls the marketing efficiency of an organisation?

Generally marketing controllers are assigned by organisations to look into its marketing efficiency. They are
specialised in the marketing field and provide expertise in controlling the marketing efficiency. Eg. In case of
companies General Foods, DuPont, and Johnson & Johnson, these marketing controllers conduct the financial
analysis of all such marketing expenditures incurred and present their findings to the organisation. They check the
profit plans of the company, guide in preparing the budgets relating to marketing, evaluate the effectiveness of
promotional campaigns conducted, evaluate customer profitability and further guide and inform the marketing
personnel about how and what type of marketing decisions to take depending upon the situation.

How can advertising efficiency be measured?

Managers can keep track of their advertising efficiency in the following areas:
a.Advertising costs incurred per hundred target customers .

b.The percentage of audience who viewed or noticed or associated and read the advertisement or listened to it
(depending upon the medium)
c.Opinions of the consumers on the advertisement : how they found it. Obtaining their feedback whether positive or
negative.
d.Purchase response of the consumers after coming across the ad.
e. Inquiries generated by the add: (how many and how frequent).

What is strategic control?

Strategic control is a system by which the organisation can find out how effective organisational strategies have
been- whether they have been implemented or not . This can be achieved by careful analysis, tracking and evaluating
the strategies so formulated by the organisation. The workplace, employees-their activities, productivity etc are
carefully observed and their progress is reviewed from time to time in order to detect the faulty areas and rectify them
on time. Any corrective action should be taken immediately for the strategic control system to be effective

What role does strategic control play in marketing?

The various marketing efforts made by an organisation on advertising, sales promotion, distribution etc. must be
evaluated to know whether such efforts have been effective at all or not. Strategic control is one such type of
marketing control system which companies use to assess their marketing activities. It helps to match the
organisations marketing strategies with that of the market needs and demands. On account of the rapidly changing
market environment and the changing demands, preferences, habits and lifestyle of the consumers, the organisation
needs to adapt itself to such changes if it is to survive and continue its business in such environment. For this
purpose, the marketing strategies and programs must be reviewed from time to time. This can be achieved via
marketing audit system which is a part of marketing control.

What are the areas covered under marketing audit?

Marketing audit consists of two key areas-internal and external audit.
The Internal marketing audit gives an insight into the following aspects of the organisation:
a.The organisation whether it is feasible or not .
b.Operating organisational structure how does it operate and does it work?
c.Systems the efficiency of the planning system
The external marketing audit focuses on researching and identifying the future prospects of the company
and also finding out the threats and opportunities if any. It also helps to detect any deviations from the

How is the organisational structure of the

marketing department in an organisation devised?
original plan and how they can be rectified.

The organisational structure of the marketing department depends upon the size of the organisation. Small size firms
may just have one or two marketing employees while large size firms may have several marketing employees. The
marketing department may generally comprise of :

a. The Vice President of marketing: who is responsible for the functioning of the entire marketing department and to
whom other marketing employees are accountable.
b. Marketing manager : who formulates the marketing strategies and reports to the vice president of marketing. Other
marketing employees may report to him.
c. Market researchers: who research on the product and present their information on their findings to the company.
d. Public relations officers : who act as the spokesperson and the liason between the company and outsiders.

What role does the marketing department play in an organisation?

The marketing department is the life-blood of any organisation without which it is impossible for the organisation to
survive. The other departments like human resources, finance, information technology are also very much dependent
upon the marketing department for their existence. The marketing department acts as the face of the organisation
and gives an identity to it. It plays a crucial role in generating sales and revenue to the organisation via its different
activities like advertising, promotion,distribution, research . It build up the image for the company and thus helps in
reaching out to the prospective customers and the target market.

As a consultant, what advice would you give a company while setting up its
marketing department?
As a consultant , I would:
Recommend structuring of the marketing department as per the demands of the different tasks, roles and
responsibilities keeping in mind the cost(budget) factor as long as it fits within the budget of the company.
Finding out and establishing the level of skills, duties and responsibilities of the employees via job descriptions and
job specifications.
Proper and regular supervision of the department to ensure its smooth functioning
Determine the marketing functions of the department as per the requirements (advertising,distribution
channels,promotional activities)

Recommend some ways to ensure the health and smooth functioning of the
marketing department for an organisation.

a.Equipping marketers with extra skills by enrolling them in specialised courses or providing training to upgrade their
skills.
b.Providing counselling sessions for the marketers to keep their morale high.
c.Motivating salepeople by providing extra incentives, bonus, rewards for high performers etc.
d.Bridging any communication gap that may exist among the team members or among the superior and
subordinates.
e.Coordination with other departments of the organisation like HR, Finance etc to ensure that they are getting the
right information needed to perform their tasks

What steps can be taken to organise a marketing team?

a. Set the objectives: why the team is being formed? How much revenues need to be generated? Determining the
sales target.
b.Defining team structure and their roles: what should be the role of each member? What structure should be
followed to determine the objectives?
c.Checking the skills and capabilities of the team members , if they fit into their roles or not and if any extra training or
coaching is required or not for the team.
d.Implementation: communicating the objectives to all the team members and seeing to it that the necessary action is
being taken for arriving at those objectives.

What are the duties and responsibilities of the marketing manager?

a.Conducting market research in order to gain an insight into the market environment, competitors and consumers.
b.Marketing planning : based on the objectives of the company, deciding the marketing strategies.
c.Personnel management: supervising the activities of the marketing personnel and seeing to their problems and
grievences and solving them.
d.Managing the advertising and other promotional events of the company .
e. Coordination: coordinating with the other departments of the company like finance, HR etc. to keep the department
aware of what is happening in the other departments as well.

How is a marketing plan set up?

Planning is a process. A marketing plan starts by a thorough analysis of the market who are the prospective
customers including past, present and future customers, what potential the product holds in the market. Then the next
part included the testing of the companys market position-where it stands in the market? The plan must also include
the pricing strategy, the packaging , how the product will be promoted. Another important part of the plan should
entail the budget and the how the funds would be allocated to activities like advertising, promotion ,public relations
etc. The plans so formulated must be reviewed from time to time say annually or half-yearly in order to detect any
errors in the plan and rectify them on time.

What is the meaning of marketing organisation? Explain.

In an organisation, the sales planning and sales policies are formulated on the basis of marketing organisation. It
ensures the smooth and systematic implementation of plans,policies and programs which are much needed for the
control of sales activities so as to maximize the efficiency and profitability . It also brings about innovative and better
methods of distribution and helps to meet the increasing production capacity. It also equips the organisation with the
necessary tools to counteract competition. Marketing organisation structures the organisation in such a way that
brings about improvement in customer services and their satisfaction.

What is sales management?

For an organisation, at the end of the day, the product must be sold. No sales means no profits and no profits means
no business! So this in turn depends upon the quality of the sales force. The sales force of an organisation needs to
be properly selected, trained, developed and managed so as to be able to reach out to and gain a wider customer
base and to retain the existing customers. This activity relating to the sales force is known as sales management.
Sales management entails deciding upon the sales territory, determing the composition og the sales force and sales
organization

What are the key aspects of sales management?

The key aspects of sales management are:
a.Deciding the sales territory: This allocates the sales quota for the individual sales executive and defines his
boundary within which he is to work. Thus the conflict between two sales executive is also avoided.
b.Determining the size of the sales force: This depends upon the size of the target market. Accordingly the activities
that the sales executive has to perform is listed out and the time taken for such activities is also estimated. The
number of calls that he may have to make at a certain point of time is also analysed. Finally the number of the sales
force is decided upon.

For a new salesperson, what are his training needs?

New salespersons needs:
a. He needs to know the information on company history, its policies, rules and regulations etc.
b.Details about the product- its features, usage , demand.
c.Systems and procedures as followed by the company. This may include the work timings, overimed, field work,
work culture of that particular organisation etc.
d.Training on the basic ethics that need to be followed while selling a product.
e.He must know the basics of selling the different products of the company.

For a regular saleperson who is not new to the company, what are his training
needs?
For regular salespersons, the need may arise on account of:
a.Any changes arising on account of the changes in the policies or working methods of the organisation.
b.Any important facts about the new and upcoming products of the company.
c.The future prospects of the company- if it has any upcoming plans like expansion or diversification etc.
d.Extra knowledge which may be required in case of delegation of work or assigning responsibitlities to others.
e.Supervision knowledge needed when there may be others working under the salesperson.

What is sales quota? Explain.

The sales executives are given certain targets to be fulfilled within a given period of time. This is called sales quota.
The sales quota so fixed can vary according to the organisation objectives.
They may be assigned a certain volume of goods say 6000 units in a year or Rs.40,000 worth of goods within the
next 6 months. Sometimes the quotas maybe fixed on the basis of the profit margin rather than the volume, then it is
known as profit quotas.Here, the company asks the sales executives to try to maximize the profit margin that they get
out of every sale they make.

How can the sales executives be compensated?

The sales executives can be compensated via three methods:

a.Direct Salary : where a fixed amount of salary is paid to the sales executives on a monthly basis.
b.Direct commission: where the salesmen get only commission on every sale they make. Eg.life insurance agents of
companies like L.I.C are paid on commission basis.
c.Combined plans: in this method, there is a combination of straight salary and straight commission, so the
salesperson gets to enjoy both. Eg. most retail stores companies employ salespeople on salary plus incentives basis.
This system also acts as a motivating factor for the sales force.

What is lead generation?

In the process of selling, discovery of the business prospects is the first and foremost step.Lead generation involves
indentifying who are the prospective customers for the product or service that they are likely to buy or avail. The
prospective sources from where leads can be generated include customer references, trade associations, yellow
pages or even through cold calling. While generating leads, the marketer should focus on the fact that the lead so
generated is backed by the willingness, purchasing power and authority to buy, otherwise such leads maybe of no
avail.

What should be the contents of a good training programme for the sales force
There are no such hard and fast rules as far as the contents of the training program are concerned. It is basically the
subject matter of the training that matters. A training programme may differ according to different organisations
depending upon the product, markets, company policies , ability of the trainees etc. A good training programme
should cover the following aspects:
a.job knowledge
b.the product itself
c.information about the organisation and the business that it is into.
d.the markets and its target customers
e.who are the competitors of the product
f. what sales techniques are to be followed.

What is the procedure for selecting the salespeople for an organisation?

The selection procedure may vary according to different firms. Generally it may include:
a.Filling of the application form.
b.Screening of the applicants : picking out the suitable candidates and eliminating unsuitable ones.
c.Conducting written test
d.Group Discussion
e.Personal inteview
f.Reference checks :Asking for any references to be mentioned by the candidate to check his authenticity.
g. Medical examination: to determine the physical fitness of the candidate.
h.Final interview and appointment

What is marketing?

Marketing can be referred to as a form of communication with your customers, with the help of marketing tools such
as advertising, promotion, publicity, design aspects related to the look of the product etc. All these are aimed at
getting the target audience (customer) to first get interested in your product or service and then ultimately buy them.

Explain its core concepts.

Needs ,wants and demands are the core concepts of marketing. These are basically inter related to each other which
means needs which could be individualistic, social or physical arise due to a state of deprivation and have to be
fulfilled for a basic human survival. Some human needs shaped by cultural and individual experiences and lifestyles
take the form of wants. Ultimately demands are those sets of wants which are backed by the power to buy and could
be related to many needs & wants. Other related concepts of marketing may include the Marketplace with exchange
and the actual transaction as its base.

Explain - Customer delivered value, Total customer value, Total customer

cost.
Customer delivered value
The term marketing does not revolve around fulfilling the needs of a consumer alone but also includes the value that
the consumer is deriving from the use of the said product or service. This value is arrived at by subtracting what the
product cost a consumer(total customer cost) from the benefits derived by him from the product (Total customer
value).

Total customer value

The sum total of all the benefits (Product value ,service value, personnel value, Image value) that a customer derives
from a product or a service is termed as the total customer value . In other words these are the benefits that the
vendor or seller provides in return of the associated payments received from a customer.

Total customer cost

The total cost incurred by a customer in the process of evaluating what he wants to buy, buying a product, using it
and ultimately disposing it of is termed as total customer cost. (monetary,time,energy,psychic)

Explain Basic marketing,

Reactive marketing,
Accountable marketing,
Proactive marketing,
Partnership marketing.
Basic marketing
Basic marketing is the set of activities used to get your potential customer's attention. After this one has to formulate
the communication in a manner so as to motivate them to buy. Thereafter the efforts are directed towards getting the
customers to actually purchase. And then the ultimate goal that is to get them to buy the product again and again
.This process on the whole is referred to as basic marketing.
Reactive marketing

Reactive marketing is the most widely used approach in marketing. Reactive marketing is based on the concept of
react ,which mean for example if a competitor company is following certain marketing practices with good resultant
output we do the same by slight change in design or price and adopting the same marketing policies. The ease of
approach in reactive marketing is the very reason for its popularity. At times due to stiff competition in the market a
firm might have no choice but to follow it so as to survive in the marketplace and make profits.
Accountable marketing
Accountable marketing works on the concept that all the targeted marketing communications should be accounted for
in terms of the result or output they generate. In other words every act of communication should concentrate on a
unique selling or a benefit driven point related to the product which ultimately results in motivating the customer and
adding on to the brand image of a brand or the product on a whole.
Proactive marketing
Proactive marketing basically is an innovative form of marketing which is based on new ideas in terms of the creative
content used as well as the creativity involved in the formation of marketing strategies. It definitely involves a lot more
work but the end result might be much better than other forms of marketing. Doing something new and different in the
market place to attract the attention of the consumer is the core aspect of proactive marketing.
Partnership marketing
The customer is always looking for something more than what the actual benefits of a product might be. Thus
partnership marketing plays ball on the very fact to create marketing communication and propositions for the
customer which include value addition of benefits to customer ,sourced and negotiated with a third partner. The
benefit in this form of enhanced propositions is that not only is it beneficial for the consumer and the brand but also
for the third partner by reducing costs of marketing communications. Partnership marketing basically aims at adding
more and more value to the benefits derived by a customer.

What do you mean by marketing mix?

The term marketing mix is referred to the amalgamation and use of the four Ps of marketing in a manner so as to
attain the highest level of customer motivation to buy a particular product or services. Price, place, product and
promotion are elements which constitute the four Ps of the marketing mix. Some commentators may increase the
marketing mix to the Five P's, to include people. Others may increase the mix to Seven P's, to include physical
evidence and process.

Explain its various components.

PRODUCT
Product is the bases for all the marketing activities undertaken because all the marketing communications are aimed
towards selling utmost quantities of the product .
PRICE
Price plays an important role in the success of a product or service. Not only is it a major determining factor for the
customer while buying a product but also plays a major part in determining the image of a product in the mind of the
customer. The seller has to also keep in mind the profit element while deciding the price of a product. Thus a balance
between all the aspects has to be achieved to determine a balanced pricing strategy.
PLACE

To sell and buy a product or service a common place is required which is suitable for both the customers as well as
the sellers. The selection of a particular marketplace suitable is very essential to match the product and brand image.
Promotion
Promotion is basically aimed towards creating an awareness in the market and the customers mind about a particular
product or service. Its cheaper than advertising and can definitely be more credible .It helps strengthen the brand
image and can be extensively used for new product launch.

What are the components of Macro environment?

Macro environment is basically referred to the area of external business operations of a particular organization. The
components of a macro environment have to be well analyzed before planning the course of marketing programmes
as it affects the very performance of a product or an organization. All the factors affecting the performance of a firm in
the macro environment are referred to as the components which could be economic, demographic, technological,
natural, social ,cultural, legal and political.

What is buying behavior?

The decision making process which involves the period before, during and after buying or purchasing a product is
referred to as the buying behavior of a customer. The buying behavior of the targeted customer has to be analyzed
before the formation of any marketing strategy aimed to achieve the targeted sells in the market. Since each targeted
segment or market might have a different kind of a buying behavior hence a different kind of approach is needed to
reach them.

What are the various buying behaviors exhibited by the customers?

Routine Response -There are some products in the market which are purchased by the customer almost
without much thought such as bread, butter, milk etc. There is a very low amount of involvement by the
customer while purchasing these products. The human mind gets programmed in a certain manner when it
comes to purchase of such products hence it is done without any prior thought or evaluation.
Limited Decision Making - There are certain products which are brought occasionally hence we require
some time to gather the information to make a decision. Due to the lack of knowledge of the product
segment in advance it requires limited decision making on the part of the customer.
Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought
products.
Impulsive buying - At certain times we just come across a product and buy it impulsively without any kind
of prior planning, evaluation or thought.

What are the major factors influencing buying behavior?

The factors influencing buying behavior can be categorized into:
a. Personal factors,
b. Psychological factors
c. Social factors.
Personal factors can be related to the persons age, sex , race, religion, occupation, educational qualifications, level of
authority etc.
Psychological factors refer to motives related to the satisfying of needs and wants which can either arise out of
deprivation or for instant social status.

Social factors refer to the physiological and social level of hierarchy in the society the consumer belongs to, which
determine his motives of purchasing a product.

What are the stages of buying decision process?

Stages of buying decision process:
Problem Recognition - This stage refers to recognizing a need or a want that has to be satisfied.
Information search - This stage refers to the part of the decision process where in the consumer searches
information from different sources about the product he needs to buy. A successful information search leaves a buyer
with possible alternatives.
Evaluation of Alternatives - In this stage the consumer evaluates the alternatives he has come across in the prior
stage.
Purchase decision - This is a crucial stage where in the consumer decides on a alternative and proceeds further
about when to buy and the mode of purchase.
Purchase - This stage refers to the actual purchase made by the consumer depending on the mode, payment
conditions and the product availability.
Post-Purchase Evaluation - This stage will decide if the consumer will purchase the same product again or if he is
satisfied with the applications of the product in relation to his needs. This can be improved by warranties, after sales
services.

Explain Business market and Consumer market

a.)Business market
Business market in simple words is business to business market where in the products or services of a particular
organization are sold to or purchased by other organization or business. It also happens in support industries where
the products that are manufactured are components required to be assembled into the products or services offered
by some other business organization.
b.) Consumer market
Consumer market refers to a market where in the seller sells the product for a primary reason of making profits while
buyer buys the products for personal use.

What are the major differences between the two?

In consumer market the purchase might even be made when the products are not required in day to day
activities. But in business market the business has to buy to stay profitable.
The business buyer is sophisticated in terms of the process involved in buying, decision making while on the
other hand the consumer in the consumer market might not be as sophisticated
The business buyer is an information-seeker, constantly on the lookout for information and advice. On the
other hand the consumer only searches information when he requires to make a decision.
Packaging is important in consumer market while its non existent in the business market.
Expert advice is taken while making purchases in the business market as against the consumer market.
Consumer market product are simplistic while business products are complicated

Who are the major participants in business buying process?

The major participants in business buying process are

Initiators-are the ones who initiate or recognize the need of a particular product requirement in the
organization for enhancement or to combat depravation.
Users-are the ones who are going to use the product or require it for the smooth functioning of their
operations.
Influencers --Influencers can be of different levels and the decisions that they influence might differ from
person to person or post to post. These are basically the people who will influence the decision of which
product to buy from where and what suitable price to buy it in.
Deciders - they decide or have the authority to decide whether to buy a certain product or not.
Approvers-they approve the deciders decision to by usually these people are authorized to do so.
Buyers--They are the once who make the actually purchases from other business.

Explain - Pure monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition, Pure

Competition.
a.) Pure monopoly
Monopoly is a market situation in which there is only one seller of a product with barriers to entry of others. The
product has no close substitutes. He is a price maker who can set the price to his maximum advantage. This may
occur because the firm has a patent on a product or a license from the government to be a monopoly .Pure monopoly
occurs when the producer is so powerful that he is always able to take the whole of all consumers income whatever
the level of his output is.
b) Oligopoly
Oligopoly is a market situation in which there are a few firms selling homogeneous or differentiated products. It is
difficult to pinpoint the number of firms in the oligopolist market. There may be three or five firms. It is also known as
competition among the few. With only a few firms in the market the action of one firm is likely to affect the others. An
oligopoly industry may produce either homogenous or heterogeneous products.
c.) Monopolistic competition
Monopolistic competition refers to a market situation where there are many firms selling a differentiated product.
There is competition which is keen, though not perfect, among many firms making very similar products. No firm can
have any perceptible influence on the price output policies of the other sellers nor can it be influenced much by their
actions. Thus monopolistic competition refers to competition among a large number of sellers producing close but not
perfect substitutes for each other.
d.) Pure Competition
In pure competition the number of buyers and sellers is very large. There is a perfect competition among them. Price
is determined for the entire industry by the forces of demand and supply. All firms have to sell their product at that
price. No firm can influence price by a single action. Thus every firm is a price taker and a quality adjuster.

What are the qualities of useful market segments?

A market segment must have the following qualities;

Segments must have enough profit potential to justify developing and maintaining

Consumer must have heterogeneous needs for the product

Segmented consumer needs must be homogeneous
Company must be able to reach a segment with its planned efforts. Must be able to measure characteristics
& needs of consumers to establish groups.

What can be the bases for

a.) Product differentiation/ Services Differentiation
b.) Personnel Differentiation
c.) Image differentiation

a.) Product differentiation/ Services Differentiation

Modify the objective properties of the products or services.

Linking the sales and service function.
Be the first to introduce a new product
Physical location of a firm
Mix of products or services sold
Competitors linkage
Maintain and improve its reputation
Customization
Sophistication of the product
Marketing tools used
After sales services offered

b.) Personnel Differentiation

Should have good skills and knowledge

Should be courteous
Should always be consistent and accurate
Should be trustworthy for the end consumer
Should be quick in responses
Should make effort to understand and communicate

c.) Image differentiation

The identity should be well differentiated from the image

Precise aim to identify itself to its customers.
Perception of the firm in the minds of the consumer

What is PLC? Explain the stages of PLC?

Product life cycle refers to the presence of the product in the marketplace with respect to the ups and down in its
business costs and sales activities. Products usually have a limited life and they pass through distinct stages, each
posing different challenges, opportunities, and problems to the seller. Products require different strategies in each life
cycle stage.
The different stages in a product life cycle are:
Introduction stage-This stage refers to the period when the product has been introduced in the marketplace
targeted to a specific or wide segments. Due to less demand at this stage the costs are high and the sales volume

are low as also the competition is quite less in the market. Demand has to be created so that customers are inclined
towards trying the product.
Growth stage- This stage refers to the period when the product has caught the market and the demand for it is
steadily growing. During this stage the costs are reduced due to higher sales volumes as also the competition starts
to begin with newer players. Prices are aimed to increase the market share along with profitability being high.
Maturation stage- This stage refers to the period when the product is well established and there is no need for
publicity. During this period the costs are low and sales volume peaks with increase in competition .Prices tend to
drop and industrial profit go down.
Decline stage: During this stage the product is on a decline in the market. Costs become counter-optimal and sales
volume decline or stabilize. While profit becomes more a challenge of production/distribution efficiency than
increased sales

What are the common patterns observed in PLC?

The most important patterns observed in product life-cycles are:

Even under normal conditions, patterns often cant be determined.

In most markets the majority of the major brands hold positions for at least two decades.
PLC of the brand leaders which monopolize many markets (around the globe), is usually continuous.
PLC is a dependent variable which is automated by market scenarios.
PLC is not an independent variable to be considered while creating marketing plans.
Marketing tools can easily alter the duration of a product life cycle.

What is a product?
Product refers to the bundle of tangible and intangible attributes that a seller offers to a buyer in return of a particular
predefined amount of payment in a particular mode. Goods, ideas, methods, information, objects, services, etc.,
whose output serves as a need or want satisfier.

Explain width, length and depth of a product mix.

Product mix usually refers to the length (the number of products in the product line), breadth (the number of product
lines that a company offers), depth (the different varieties of product in the product line), and consistency (the
relationship between products in their final destination) of product lines.