1.

Definition of Marketing:
Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates and satisfies
customer needs, profitably.

2. Who is the Boss?

There is only one boss – The Customer. And he can fire everybody in the company
from the chairman down simply by spending his money somewhere else. (Sam Walton –
Founder of Wal-Mart)

3. Promotional Mix:
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix (product, price, promotion,
place). It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing,
informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision.
Above the line promotion (ALP): Promotion in the media (e.g. TV, radio,
newspaper, Internet, Mobile Phones, and, historically, illustrate songs) in which
the advertiser pays an advertising agency to place the ad.
Below the line promotion (BLP): All other promotion. Much of this is intended to be
subtle enough for the consumer to be unaware that promotion is taking place.
(e.g. sponsorship, product placement, endorsements, sales promotion, merchandising, direct
mail, personal selling, public relations, trade shows.)

4. Traditional Marketing Mix Model:

The 4Ps: Product, Place, Price, Promotion

Product/Service: The product is the full bundle of goods and services offered to the
customer. This includes the appearance, functionality, and support or non-tangibles the
customer will receive. The physical product itself is part of “product” as well as any
packaging it arrives in.
(Bundle of Benefits, Product or Service, Packaging, Quality, Features & Relevance, R&D,
Manufacturing, Quality, Delivery Times)

• What does the customer want from the product/service? What needs does it satisfy?
• What features does it have to meet these needs?
• Are there any features you've missed out?
• Are you including costly features that the customer won't actually use?
• How and where will the customer use it?
• What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
• What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
• What is it to be called?
• How is it branded?
• How is it differentiated versus your competitors?
• What is the most it can cost to provide, and still be sold sufficiently profitably? (See
also Price, below).

Place: This is where and how your product is distributed and sold. Will you sell it yourself,
through a broker, or a distributor? Will you run a retail store or sell only to retailers? If a
service, do you deliver in person or through the internet or telephone? These questions all
involve “place”.
(Location, Interface, Image, First Impresion, Premises, Logistics, Access, Transport)
 • Where do buyers look for your product or service?
• If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or both?
Or online? Or direct, via a catalogue?
• How can you access the right distribution channels?
• Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online submissions?
Or send samples to catalogue companies?
• What do you competitors do, and how can you learn from that and/or differentiate?

Price: This is how much you charge for your product or service. Considerations include
whether you will charge the same amount all of the time or vary it in some way. Varied
pricing could occur according to geography, time frame, or volume. Additionally, with a
service, price can be varied according to level of service.
(Cost plus, Competitor Parity, What they will pay, Positioning Tool, Finance, Investment,
Credit Control, Budgeting)

• What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?

• Are there established price points for products or services in this area?
• Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market
share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit margin?
• What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments of
your market?
• How will your price compare with your competitors?

Promotion: This is the advertising and selling part of Marketing. Often, promotions are
categorized into push versus pull. Advertising pulls by making the consumer aware of and ask
for your product or service. Incentives, such as premiums or price reductions, push your
product out the door by encouraging your customers to purchase in volume, more, or more
often than he would otherwise purchase.
(Advertising – ATL, BTL Tools, Communication)

• Where and when can you get across your marketing messages to your target market?
• Will you reach your audience by advertising in the press, or on TV, or radio, or on
billboards? By using direct marketing mailshot? Through PR? On the Internet?
• When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any
wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch, or
the timing of subsequent promotions?
• How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your
choice of promotional activity?

5. Extended Marketing Mix:

More recently, three more Ps have been added to the marketing mix namely People,
Process and Physical Evidence.

People: All people involved with consumption of a service are important. For example
workers, management, consumers etc. It also defines the market segmentation, mainly
demographic segmentation. It addresses particular class of people for whom the product or
service is made available. (Service Providers, Customers, Ambient Population)
Process: Procedure, mechanism and flow of activities by which services are used.
Also the 'Procedure' how the product will reach the end user. (Ordering, Payment Systems,
Delivery, Aftercare)
 Physical Evidence: The marketing strategy should include effectively communicating
their satisfaction to potential customers. Satisfied customers can be the best advertisement,
with either tangible products or services. (Bulidings, Vehicles, Signage, Furniture,
Giweaways)

6. Characteristics of Service Industries (VIP I):

Variability: Services delivered vary in quality, time consumed in
delivery and the extent of service provided.
Challenge: Standardise quality in the face of variability.
(People are the delivery mechanism, Returnee problems, Training needs)
Intangibility: Cannot be seen, felt, tasted, smelt or heard before being purchased
Challenge: Making the intangible, tangible.
(You can’t try before you buy, Increased risk, Communication-based)
Perishability The services cannot be stored.
Challenge: Influence demand movements and supply capacities better to
overcome service perishability.
(You can’t store services, Manage the yield, Control Capacity)
Inseparability: Reflects the interconnection between the service provider,
customer receiving the service and customers sharing the service experience.
Challenge: Increase productivity of providers who are inseparable from the
Product.
(Customer is part of the service product, Service perceptions vary, Negative human nature)

7. Service Industries:
Banking & Finance, Travel & Tourism, Healthcare, Education & Training,
Communications, Retail…

8. What is market research and why it is needed?

Market research is the function that links the Consumer, the Customer & the Public,
with the Marketer, through information. (Kotler, 2006)
Aid Decision-making, Keep in Touch with Market, Find, New Markets, Monitor
Performance, Identify Problems, Check Customer Reactions, Check Preceptions, Reduce
Waste, Demonstrate Caring.
Research can be Descriptive (Looks at the target Audience), Diagnostic (looks at the
Effectiveness) and Predictive (Identifies Opportunities).

9. The MR Process:
Define the problem, Decide Method & Sources, Collect Data, Analyse Data, Interpret
& Use Results.
Problem definition: describe the problem, identify clear objectives, identify
challenges, acknowledge constraints, redefine based on above.
Methods & Sources: Primary research (filed) – collacted from original sources,
questionnaires, face-to-face, mail internet, expensive. Secondary research (desk top) –
already published, governments, lobby groups, biased agendas, out-of-date. Quantitative
research – what, when, where, who, how how many, how much? Numbers & percentages,
easily interpreted. Qualitative research - why? questions, open-ended interviews, focus
groups, converting Data, Lickert & Semantic Scales.
Primary Data Collection: sample selection, nature of population, resources available,
degree of accuracy.
 Data Analysis: regression analysis (How variable affect sales etc.), logit models
(predict probabilities), structural equations (complex constructs - trust), netural networks (a
network of variables).
Interpret & Implement: report distribution, product/service adaptation, manage
change, research the changes.

10. Segmentation Tools:

Segmentation: Separating the overall market into groups of customers with similar needs.
Tools: BPDOGS – Behavioural (Use of Product, Benefits Sought, Frequency of Use,
Attitude to Product), Psychographic (Personality, Lifestyle, Interests, Beliefs, Attitudes),
Demographic (Age, Gender, Nationality, Ethnicity, Income) Occupational (Work Needs,
Leisure, Treatment, Clothing, Equipment) Geographic (Unreliable Grouping by Language &
Location) Socio-economic (Disposable Income, Social Clusters, Zoning)

11. What is a brand?

An Aura of Beliefs & Expectations about a Product which make it Relevant & Distinctive.
Imagination is more important than knowledge – Einstein
Brands belong to the people who use them, not to the companies who own them – Leo Burnett