A

ABC Method
ATTENTION, BENEFIT, CLOSE sales method, where the customer's Attention is
attracted, the salesman then shows the Benefits of the product to the customer, and
finally Closes the deal.
Account Executive
Employee usually in a service industry or an advertising company who looks after
certain customers/clients or who is a liaison between important/key customers and
the company.
AIDA
ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, ACTION. This model shows stages of
consumer attention towards an ad/product.
Ad Click Rate
Sometimes referred to as "click-through," this is the percentage of ad views (see
definition) that resulted in an ad click.
Adoption
This is the mental stage through which an individual consumer passes from first
hearing about an innovation to final trial or consumption.
Ad spend
The money spent on an advertisement or an ad campaign.
Advertainment
Create content that is centered on customer preferences and is entertaining. Then
leverage the content, using a soft-sell technique to push products and services.
Identifying your market and establishing a meaningful relationship using relevant
and entertaining content is a compelling tactic for creating loyal customers.
Advertising
Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or
services by an identified sponsor.
Advertising page exposure
A measure of the opportunity for readers to see a particular print advertisement.
Advertising Plan
An explicit outline of the goals of the ad campaign; programme and methods to
achieve, and measures to evaluate the success.
Advertorial
A print advertisement which is styled to resemble the editorial format and typeface
of the publication in which it runs. Similar to infomercial.
Agent
A wholesaler who represents manufacturers or end-consumers on a relatively
permanent basis, performs only a few functions, and does not take title to the goods.
Aisle
Passageway between the shelves of products on display in a supermarket.
Ala Carte Services
This is used in Agency slang, wherein other than providing all advertising services
for one price, a client can choose which exclusive service he wants from the agency.

1
All-You-Can-Afford Method
A promotional budgeting technique in which a marketer first allots funds for each
element of the marketing strategy mix except promotion. Whatever funds are left
over are placed in a promotional budget.
Ambient Media
The media choice for advertisers and their agencies, that was once dominated by the
"big five" (television, press, posters, cinema and radio), is now being supplemented
by a fledgling group of 'non-traditional out of home' media known collectively as
ambient media.
Ambush Marketing
Linking a promotion campaign to an event (such as a sporting contest which is
sponsored by another marketer or manufacturer, sometimes even a competitor)
without paying a fee. Gaining from another's ad spend.
Armchair Research
Searching for information that has already been compiled and published in reference
books such as directories. Also known as Desk Research.
Artificial Obsolescence
Deliberately making old models seem out of date by bringing out new ones with
changes and additional features, which will attract the customer. E.g. Gillette and
Sony practice artificial obsolescence by introducing new models and variants
making the old ones look obsolete. [Gillette Sensor Excel was the old one while
Mach III is new]
Assortment
Range of goods sold. Assortments could be at any intermediation level, like from the
factory end by the manufacturer or in the retail store by the marketer.
Assortment Display
An interior display in which a retailer exhibits a wide range of merchandise for the
customer. It may be open or closed.
Asynchronous Communications
Messages that can be sent and received at any time, without any direct connection
between the sender and the recipient.
Atmospherics
Creating an overall image of a company through the design of its premises and
products. E.g. Every McDonalds' outlet is renowned for its pleasing atmospherics.
ATR
AWARENESS, TRIAL, REPEAT. Model showing stages in the effects of
advertising on the consumer, where the customer becomes aware of the product,
buys it once to try it and then buys it again when he finds it is satisfactory.
Attitude
Attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or
unfavourable way with respect to a given object.
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC)
A company that audits the circulation of print publications, to insure that reported
circulation figures is accurate.
Automatic Markdown Plan
Controls the amount and timing of markdowns on the basis of the length of time
merchandise remains in stock.

2
Automatic Reordering System
Orders merchandise when stock-on-hand reaches a pre-determined reorder point. An
automatic reorder can be generated by a computer on the basis of a perpetual
inventory system and reorder point calculations.

B
Baby Boom
The major increase in the annual birth rate in the U.S.A following World War II and
lasting until the 1960s. The Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, now
moving into middle age are a prime target for marketers.
Backlit
It describes an out-of-home display where the advertising message is printed on
translucent plastic and backlit with fluorescent bulbs.
Bait and Switch
A strategy in which products are sold or advertised, priced at a loss, to attract traffic
or customers into the store, so that they switch to the other profitable brands or
products.
Behavioural Segmentation
Dividing a. market into groups based on consumer knowledge, attitude, or response
to a product.
Benefit Associations
A direct link to the benefits of the product. For instance, the benefits of using the
body -building equipment should influence attitudes towards extension.
Benefit Segmentation
Dividing the market into groups according to different benefits that consumers seek
from the product.
Bifurcated Retailing
Denotes the decline of middle-of-the-market retailing due to the popularity of both
mass merchandising and positioned retailing.
Billings
Total amount charged to clients, including the agency commission, media costs,
production costs, etc
Brand
A name, term, sign, symbol, jingle, or design, or a combination of these, intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate
them from those of competitors.
Brand Alignment
A four-step process developed by Enterprise IG, which provides a methodology by
which organisations can ensure that all their actions are in tune - or 'aligned' - with
their brand. It fills the missing link between bold and brave brand promises and real
business actions.
Brand Architecture
Brand architecture provides the blueprint for marketing decisions. Brand
Architecture is the pictorial depiction of each relationship within and across the
family of brands. Five dimensions define it - the brand portfolio, the roles of the

3
portfolio brands, product-market context roles, the structure of the portfolio and
portfolio graphics.
Brand Associations
The feelings, beliefs and knowledge that consumers (customers) have about brands.
These associations are derived as a result of experiences and must be consistent with
the brand positioning and the basis of differentiation.
Brand Audit
A specific examination of all aspects of the firm's brand.
Brand Dynamics
Brand Dynamics correlates the relationship of the individual with the brand at its
core, taking into account Pareto's principle that few customers contribute to a large
part of the sales.
Brand Equity
The value of a brand based on the extent to which it has high consumer loyalty,
name awareness, perceived quality, strong brand associations, and other assets such
as patents, trademarks and channel relationships.
Brand Extension
Using a successful brand name to launch new or modified product in new category.
E.g. Bic introducing disposable razors under the same popular brand name Bic for
disposable ball-pens.
Brand Identity
The outward expression of the brand, including its name and visual appearance. The
brand's identity is its fundamental means of consumer recognition and symbolises
the brand's differentiation from competitors.
Brand Image
A set of values and beliefs that consumers possess about a particular brand.
Brand Personality
The attribution of human personality traits (seriousness, warmth, imagination, etc.)
to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation. Usually done through long-term
above-the-line advertising and appropriate packaging and graphics. These traits
inform brand behaviour through both prepared communication/packaging, etc., and
through the people who represent the brand - its employees.
Brand Position
The entire collection of thoughts a client has in his or her mind about a professional
services firm, service or product learned through contact, experience and
communication. This includes the distinguishing "human" characteristics of a brand
personality (e.g., engaging and friendly, big and dependable). It is a comparative
concept as to how one brand is perceived relative to others that may be considered.
Brand Positioning
The distinctive position that a brand adopts in its competitive environment to ensure
that individuals in its target market can tell the brand apart from others. Positioning
involves the careful manipulation of every element of the marketing mix.
Brand Promise
The spoken or unspoken expression of the continuing, important and specific
benefits clients connect with a firm, service or product.

4
Brand Reinforcement
The goal of brand reinforcement is to enhance the organisation's image in customers'
minds. The organisation uses the Internet to add value to the information it provides
about itself, and to build a good relationship with customers.
Brand Switchers
Refers to consumers who shift brands, due to difference in price or value-added
services provided by competition.
Branded Experience
Branded Experience involves brands that go beyond being just a product or a
service. Walt Disney adds to the involvement consumers have with it, both on
functional and emotional platforms.
Business Portfolio
The collection of businesses and products that make up the company.
Buyer Decision Process
The stages a buyer goes through in trying to satisfy a need. The series of logical
stages that a prospective buyer goes through when faced with a purchasing decision.
These normally differ for individuals and organisations.

C
Canvass sampling
Teams travel outdoors in a specific geographical area handing samples to
consumers.
Cash Cows
These are low-growth, relatively high-market share businesses or products. These
require less investment to hold their market share. They also have substantial cash
inflows.
Cash Discount
A price reduction to buyers who pay their bills promptly.
Catalogue Marketing
Direct marketing through catalogues that display pictures of available products.
These are mailed to a select list of customers or made available in stores.
Category Killer
Giant specialty stores that carry a narrow but very deep assortment of a particular
line, at low prices, with little to moderate customer service and is staffed by
knowledgeable employees.
Category Killers
Speciality stores are retail stores, which carry a deep assortment of a particular
product line and usually operate on a large scale. Knowledgeable sales personnel
usually man these stores.
Chain stores
Retail stores (usually dispersed over geographic locations) that have common
management, which own and control them. They usually display similar store
layouts, operate in same product categories and have centralized procurement and
inventory management policies.

5
Chameleon Brands
Chameleon brands are multi-faceted, have a consistent core, vary and adapt to
different media and situations, and are complex in nature.
Channel
The various methods of marketing and selling a company's offerings. Examples
include indirect channels (e.g., value added resellers, retailers), e-commerce, and
direct sales. Integrated multi-channel strategies that leverage the strengths of each
channel are crucial to achieve speed-to-market advantages.
Channel Conflict
It is disagreement among marketing channel members, or intermediaries on goals
and roles - who should do what, and for what rewards.
Channel Coverage Map
This is the method by which a manufacturer markets its goods. Channel partners are
typically used to provide wider market coverage in a cost effective fashion. The
channel map lays out the markets, products and which partner sells in each cross
section of the market.
Channel Productivity
By increasing the efficiency of a partner's business, their productivity rises and the
total costs associated with sales activity drop to benefit the vendor, partner and
customers.
Circulation
The number of copies of a print advertising medium that are distributed.
Cognitive Dissonance
Buyer discomfort caused by post-purchase conflict.
Cohort Branding
Branding a product and positioning it, keeping in focus the common characteristics
of the product cohort, or the set of consumers of similar products.
Collaborative Commerce
Collaborative commerce attempts to bring together employees, customers, and
business partners in order to improve trust, share information, and eliminate any
friction associated with business transactions.
Commercialisation
Introducing a new product into the market.
Competitive Advantage
An advantage a company possesses over its competitors, gained by offering
consumers greater value that is distinct -and superior- from the competitor's offering.
Competitive Marketing Strategies
Strategies that strongly position the company against competitors and that give the
company the strongest possible strategic advantage.
Complex Buying Behaviour
The behaviour demonstrated by a consumer in situations where he relies on
information search as well as on his gut feeling to make his purchase decision of a
brand from an array of "me-too" brands.
Concentrated Marketing
A type of marketing strategy where a firm chooses to focus all its marketing efforts
on one particular market segment.

6
Concept Marketing
Marketing of an idea where either there has been no precedent of the product/service
earlier, or the tangible benefit cannot be viewed currently.
Consultative selling
It is all about being both a marketing advisor and a solution provider. It is the
attitude or frame of mind towards the entire selling process. It is all about knowing
the products you sell; your competitor and the market, thereby making suggestions
that are in the customer's best interests.
Consumer Behaviour
The process and activities that people engage in when searching for, selecting,
purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy
their needs and desires.
Consumer Goods
Goods bought by final customers for personal consumption.
Consumer Involvement
It is a function of urgency of the need, and risk perceived in the purchase and
consumption of the product. The higher the need and the perceived risk, the more
the involvement in that purchase decision, and hence the higher the information
search, and longer the time to decide.
Consumer Market
A market representing all the individuals and households that buy products and
services for their personal consumption.
Consumer orientation Business
Philosophy incorporating the marketing concept that emphasizes first determining
unmet consumer needs and then designing a system for satisfying them.
Consumer-oriented Marketing
A company that believes that all its strategies should be viewed and organized from
the consumer's point of view.
Consumerism
An organized movement of citizens and government agencies to improve the rights
and powers of buyers in relation to sellers.
Contextual Marketing
Contextual marketing is based on the fact that if a message is delivered in the
context of the consumer's current situation, he will be more favourably tuned to it.
Therefore it is the practice of customising marketing initiatives to increase the
relevance to the customer's context.
Cooperative sampling
Several samples are packaged and distributed together and their manufacturers share
all costs.
Core Brand Values
Core Brand Values are values that consumers or people external to the organisation
associate with the brand, which forms a crucial base for fostering brand equity.
Core Competence
Core Competence can be defined as "the singular competence among a portfolio of
capabilities that can lend the company a distinctive and sustainable advantage. A
core competence is something a company does especially well in comparison to its
competitors.

7
Country of Origin
The country from which a given product comes. Customers' attitudes to a product
and their willingness to buy it tend to be heavily influenced by what they associate
with the place where it was designed and manufactured.
Cross-Sell
A term used in personal selling that refers to the sale of other or additional products
and/or services to the same customer.
Culture
The complexity of learned meanings, values, norms, and customs shared by
members of a society.
Customer Lifetime Value
The total revenue that can be generated from a customer over his lifetime or that of a
product lifespan, whichever is shorter, less the cost of acquisition and maintenance
of such customers. This revenue may be either directly from him or from those sales
he has influenced. Companies of late have understood the importance of Customer
lifetime value and are building relationships with customers.
Customer Satisfaction
A state where the expectations of the buyer meets the product's performance. If the
product's performance falls short of expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied. If
performance matches or exceeds expectations, the buyer is satisfied or delighted.
Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM) program
A set of ongoing procedures for measuring customer feedback against customer
satisfaction goals and developing an action plan for improvement.
Customer Service
The way in which the brand meets its customers' needs via its various different
channels (for example, over the telephone or Internet in the case of remote banking,
or in person in the case of retail or entertainment).
Customer Value
The difference between the values the customer gains from owning and using a
product and the costs of obtaining the product. Value= Total Benefits-Total Costs
Customer Value Proposition
CVP implies: · Offering the right product · to your target customers · at a price that is
acceptable to them · Based on their perception of the value · at a cost that allows you
to be profitable.
Customerisation
Making the entire company (all its departments, people, and processes) totally
customer-oriented. The focus is primarily toward ensuring that all the customers and
the entire market of the company is satisfied.
Customization
Altering the product or service to suit the customer's needs. See also Mass
Customization.

D
DAGMAR
An acronym for Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. This
is an approach to set advertising goals and objectives.

8
Database marketing
Companies use a variety of tools to develop databases of consumer purchasing
patterns and demographics. These databases are then utilised to develop focused
marketing programmes.
De Facto Brand
De Facto Brand refers to the pioneer in a new category (Xerox in Photocopying
Industry) trying to get the brand through by being synonymously identified to the
category’s main benefit.
Demarketing
Marketing to reduce demand temporarily or permanently- the aim is not to destroy
demand, but only to reduce or shift it.
Demographic Segmentation
Dividing the market into groups based on demographic variables such as age, sex,
family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, and
nationality.
Desk Research
A study based on information that has already been compiled or published.
Differential Product Advantage
A feature of a product that is valuable to customers and is not found in other
products of the same category.
Differentiated Marketing
A strategy in which a company targets several market segments and devises separate
offers or market mixes for each.
Differentiators
Those aspects of a brand - usually deliberately communicated - that distinguish it
from competing brands
Direct Marketing
A form of non-store retailing that uses advertising to contact customers, who in turn
purchase products without going to retail stores.
Direct-Mail Marketing
Direct marketing through single mailings that include letters, ads, samples, foldouts,
etc. sent to prospects on mailing lists. Also known as “salespeople with wings”.
Direct-Response Television Marketing
Direct marketing via television, including direct-response television advertising or
infomercials and home shopping channels, like Asian Sky Shop.
Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behaviour
Consumer buying behaviour in situations that are characterised by high involvement
for products that have few perceived differences among brands.
Dumping
The controversial trade practice of selling a product in a foreign market at a lower
price than it commands in the producer's domestic market.

E
Electronic Article Surveillance (Retail)
Involves attaching specially designed tags or labels to products.

9
Emotional capital
It has been defined as the feelings and beliefs that motivate people to take action.
Also described as brand value and goodwill.
Emotive Value
Certain words elicit strong cultural or psychological reactions. Names with
"American", "mother" or "family" in them not only evoke positive psychological
responses but can also have warm emotional effects on the hearer.
Employee Star pattern
Employee Star pattern occurs in businesses where employee opinion of the brand is
paramount. For instance, in confectionery and distilleries, the taste test given to
employees and their resultant suggestions would contribute to brand building.
Therefore employees understanding of the brand becomes imperative.
Engel’s Laws
Differences noted by a Prussian statistician and researcher, Ernst Engel, in how
people shift their spending across food, housing, transportation, health care and
other goods and services categories as family income rises.
Enlightened Marketing
A marketing philosophy holding that a company’s marketing should support the
long-run performance of the system; its five principles include consumer-oriented
marketing, innovative marketing, value marketing, sense-of-mission marketing, and
societal marketing.
Ethnographic Research
A technique borrowed from cultural Anthropology, in which researchers place
themselves in the society under study, in an effort to understand the meaning of
various cultural practices.
Evaluation
The consumer considers whether trying the product makes sense. This consideration
depends on factors as price, income, standard of living, etc.
Evaluative Criteria
The dimensions or attributes of a product or service that are used to compare
different alternatives.
Event sampling
Samples are given to consumers during an event such as a concert or sporting event.
Evoked Set
The various brands identified by a consumer as purchase options or alternatives,
which are actively considered during the pre-purchase evaluation process.
Exclusive Distribution
Giving a limited number of dealers the exclusive right to distribute the company’s
products in their territories.
Experience Curve/Learning Curve
Over time, there is a drop in the average per unit production cost. This is a result of
accumulated production experience, learning and use of the cost-saving methods of
production, and increased skill and competence at carrying out the task.
Extender
A tray-like extension that projects outward from a retail store shelf, used for special
displays, or as a means of increasing the regular shelf display. Also known as shelf
extender.

10
Eye tracking
A method for following the movement of a persons eyes as he or she views an ad or
commercial. Eye tracking is used for determining which portions or sections of an
ad attract a viewers attention and/or interest.

F
Facings
Depth of rows of a product on a retail display shelf.
Factoring
Converting accounts receivable to cash on hand is quickly becoming one of the
preferred ways to provide immediate cash flow for businesses. This process is
referred to as factoring. A company sells accounts receivables to a 'Factor', who
provides cash immediately. The factor collects payment on the invoices owed to
you. When you factor, you retain complete control and ownership of the company,
yet get the cash you need immediately.
Factory Outlet
A store that is owned and operated by a manufacturer and that normally carries the
manufacturer’s surplus, discontinued, or irregular goods. This could be located even
at the factory gate.
Fad
A product or a style that becomes popular suddenly and becomes a craze, but is
short-lived and fades away overnight.
Fair-trade law
A statute (enacted in most states) that permits manufacturers to stipulate minimum
retail prices for their products.
Family Branding
A strategy of using the company name or one flagship product brand name for
branding other products. An example of this is Ponds, which uses its name on
various products: Ponds face wash, Ponds Dreamflower talc, Ponds cold cream, etc.
FMCGs
These include all consumer non-durable goods that are used and purchased
frequently. Such products include detergents, toilet soaps, toothpaste, shampoos,
creams, powders, food products, confectionery, beverages and cigarettes. These are
also known as PMCGs, (Packaged Mass Consumer Goods).
Focus Group Interviewing
It is a survey method in which around 6 to 8 people are invited to talk in depth with
a trained interviewer about a product, service, or organization. The interviewer
“focuses” the group discussion on important issues.
Forward Buying
Super Shoppe, a regional supermarket chain made bulk purchases of products during
the trade promotion period but did not pass the discount onto consumers.
Subsequently, after the expiry of the promotion period, the Shoppe sold products at
the regular price. Known as ‘forward buying’, such transactions are commonplace in
regions where the manufacturer has just a handful of retailers.
Fourth Party Logistics (4PL)

11
Fourth Party Logistics is the shared sourcing of supply chain processes with a client
and a teaming partner. Under the direction of an integrator, fourth party logistics
combines resources, capabilities, and technology within its own organisation with
those that complement it, thereby delivering a comprehensive chain solution.
Franchise
A contract between a manufacturer or marketer (franchiser), and an independent
retailer (franchisee) that buys the right to own and operate the business unit and also
gets managerial assistance in return for some consideration.
Freestanding Brand
A brand name and identity used for a single product or service in a portfolio, which
is unrelated to the names and identities of other products in the company's portfolio.
Freight Absorption
A pricing system that incorporates transportation costs by allowing a buyer to deduct
shipping expenses from the price paid for the goods.
Full Service Agency
An advertising agency that offers clients a full range of marketing and
communications services including the planning, creating, producing, and placing of
advertising messages and other forms of promotion.
Functional Discount
A discount offered by the seller to specific channel members who perform certain
functions such as selling, storing, and record keeping.

G
Gatekeepers
People in the organisation’s buying centre who control the flow of information to
others. Marketing
Generics
Former brand name now shifted to the product category. Its brand equity is lost. E.g.
Xerox.
Geographic Specialisation
One method of organising selling activities, in which each salesperson is assigned a
specific geographic area, called a territory, in which to sell.
Global Brand Management
It implies crafting a global brand strategy, by a firm by deciding whether it needs to
develop a distinct strategy for international markets or develop one, which is in tune
with the organisational structure and ethos. It also decides about the issue of balance
between regional local and global brands, simultaneously maintaining consistency
across markets without diluting the brand.
Global Marketing
This involves marketing on a worldwide scale, with a centrally coordinated
marketing strategy that targets broad consumer groups globally.
Going Rate Pricing
Here pricing of a product is done according to the price that is prevalent in the
market (going rate). Price is fixed according to the price offered by the competitor,
irrespective of the cost of production.

12
Global Sourcing
Contracting to purchase goods and services from suppliers worldwide.
Good Value Strategy
This is a method of pricing products, which directly hits at premium pricing by
providing quality products at lower prices.
Greening the supply chain
When companies use life cycle analysis of their products and processes in order to
reduce adverse environmental impact on the supply chain. Even the suppliers are
chosen based on whether they are certified as environment friendly or not.
Gross Rating Points (GRP)
The sum of the ratings of a media schedule.
Growth Stage
The second stage of the PLC or product life cycle, where the sales of a product
category rise, and competition is fierce, resulting in maybe higher expenses and
therefore even lower margins.
Growth-Share Matrix Model
For marketing strategy with various categories of product-based present
performance and industry growth rates. SBUs (Strategic Business Units) are
classified as stars, cash cows, question marks, or dogs.

H
Habitual Buying Behaviour
This Occurs when there is low consumer involvement and little or no brand
difference. For instance, salt, where there is low involvement in the product category
and all brands of salts appear the same, as they provide nothing new.
Handled risk
Handled risk is the amount of conflict a product or retailer causes when the
consumer selects a brand/store in a particular buying situation.
Hard Sell
Aggressive selling of the products/services by the salesperson. The salesperson
pushes the product in this type of selling.
Harvest Strategy
According to the General Electric business screen, a strategy of restraining new
expenditures on a strategic business unit that lacks an attractive market and a strong
business image.
Heterogeneity
A characteristic of service that indicates that each unit of a service is different from
other units.
Hierarchy of Effects
The stages a buyer goes through while purchasing a product are awareness,
knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase (resembles the AIDA model,
- Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action).
High Voltage Brand
A High Voltage Brand is defined as one, which has the immense capacity to benefit
from its own actions in the marketplace. A high voltage brand has the power of
sustainability and can therefore resist competitive reactionary strategies.

13
HIPS (High Involvement Products and Services)
Those products and services whose purchases are complex and risky. Consumers of
these products and services engage in an extensive information search prior to
making a decision. Examples are automobiles, mutual funds, and shares.
Home Shopping Channels
This is a form of direct response advertising whereby television channels are
dedicated to sell goods and services. For instance: Asian Sky Shop, and TSN in
India.
Horizontal Conflict
A channel conflict occurring among middlemen at the same level of distribution. For
instance, conflict amongst retailers
Horizontal Marketing System
An arrangement in which two or more companies at one level join together to
explore a new marketing opportunity. This system is very advantageous as both
companies can make use of each other’s resources. The proposed alliance between
P& G and Godrej was to use horizontal marketing system, to mutual advantage.
Hub and Spoke
A distribution system where products are shipped from one central warehouse or
plant to many different locations.
Hybrid Marketing Channel
Multi-channel distribution system in which a single firm sets up two or more
marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments. These channels could
be even combinations of different levels.
Hypermarket
An exceedingly large-scale retail institution that has a very broad product
assortment, across all categories, low prices and customer services.

I
Idea Generation
A systematic search for new product ideas. A company has to generate many new
ideas to either keep up with competition, or have a stock of ideas ready when the
need arises. The search for new ideas can be from within the company or from
outside sources. Gillette is one company that constantly motivates its employees to
come up with new ideas.
Impulse Buying
A low involvement decision-making purchase made with little or no advance
planning. E.g. Chocolates, and ice creams are usually purchased on an impulse.
Incremental Profit
During a promotion campaign, the mark-up on each unit, multiplied into the
additional number of units the company expects to sell as a result of the promotion.
Independent Off-price Retailers
Independent Off-price Retailers are owned and run by entrepreneurs or is a division
of a larger retail corporation. Example: Crossword owned by India Book House.
Indifference Zone

14
The difference between the customers’ desired price and the acceptable one (which
could be a noticeably higher price) is the zone of indifference. Within its area,
customers are indifferent to any price change.
Influencers
They are participants in the business buying decision process, who help in providing
information regarding purchase and evaluating alternatives available.
Infomediaries
Players who specialise in collecting consumer information and add value to the
transactions between consumers and vendors.
Infomercials
Thirty-minute commercials that appear to an average consumer as documentaries
and thus command more active and attentive viewing than obvious commercials
would receive. Generally for products, where the perceived risk associated with the
product is high, or for highly technical products like PCs, and Servers.
Information Search
The stage in the buyer decision process, when the buyer is motivated to search for
more information actively The extent to which a buyer searches for information will
depend on the intensity of need, the ease of obtaining information, the value he
places on additional information, and the satisfaction derived.
Informative Advertising
Informative Advertising is used to create awareness for a new product. Most
companies follow this method during their launch of new products.
Inherent risk
Inherent risk is the latent risk that a product or a retailer holds for a consumer.
Innovation
A new product, new service, new idea or a new practice, which has an effect on
consumer’s established usage patterns. While an invention is a new technological
advancement, an innovation is a commercially viable invention. Consumers are
willing to pay for the utility of this product.
Innovative Marketing
A principle of enlightened marketing, which requires the company to constantly seek
real product and marketing improvements, to sustain itself.
Inseparability
A major characteristic of services – the service consumption cannot be separated
from the service providers.
Insertion Order
The form or document sent to a publication that contains information relating to an
ad's placement--i.e. its size, rate, frequency, date, etc.
Instant Branding
Instant branding both puts into question and calls on the advertising business's
ability to manage brands urgently, cleverly, spontaneously, and within a flexible
strategy. There may only be hours to control a brand's destiny.
Institutional Advertising
Advertising that tries to create a favourable impression and build goodwill about the
organisation. For instance, Tata’s employees’ ad.
Intangibility

15
A major characteristic of services – services cannot be seen, felt, heard or smelled
before purchase.
Integrated Direct Marketing
Direct marketing campaigns that make use of multiple vehicles and stages to
improve consumer response rates.
Integrated Logistics Management
The logistics concept that emphasises teamwork, both inside the company and
among all the marketing channel organisations, to maximise the performance of the
entire distribution system
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Usage of various communication channels to convey a clear, concise, and crisp
message to the target audience. For instance, using advertising, sales promotion,
personal selling and direct marketing collectively to deliver a message.
Intensity of Distribution
The number of middlemen used by a manufacturer at a particular level.
Intensive Distribution
A strategy in which a producer sells its product through every available retail outlet
in a market, wherever a consumer might look for it. For instance, soaps are now
available everywhere right from chemists to supermarkets to departmental stores to
malls.
Interactive Marketing
In simple terms, it means that the quality of service provided, is dependent on the
interaction between the buyer and the seller.
Intermarket Segmentation
Developing segments of consumers who have similar needs and wants, who follow
the same buying behaviour, but are located in different countries. For instance,
buying habits do not differ much from India to Sri Lanka.
Internal Marketing
Treating the employees within the company as employees, leading toward
satisfaction and delight of the external customer. Such honing of internal processes,
trains them to focus towards customer-oriented and satisfaction systems.
International Marketing
The activities of an organisation to market its product in one or more countries. e.g.
MNCs. Marketing
Involvement
It is a function of risk perceived in the purchase and consumption of the product.
The higher the risk perceived, the more the involvement in that purchase decision,
and hence the higher the information search.
Involvement Levels
The amount of time and effort the consumer spends while purchasing a
product/service.

J
J.N.D. (Just Noticeable Difference)
The minimal difference that can be detected between two stimuli.
J.N.N.D. (Just Not Noticeable Difference)

16
The maximal difference that cannot be detected between two stimuli.
Joint Venture
A partnership arrangement in which a foreign operation is owned in part, by a
domestic company and in part by a foreign company.

K
Key Account
A key account is a customer who contributes significantly to the company’s
business, and requires the special attention and focus of an experienced salesman.
Key accounts constitute 20% of customers who contribute to over 80% of a
company’s revenue.
Kinked Demand
A condition in which total revenue of the firm moves sharply in inverse direction to
a product’s price, in relation to the prevailing market price.
Kiosk
Small wooden or iron shelter, for selling goods out of doors: newspaper kiosk,
telephone kiosk, cigarette and paan kiosks, etc.
Kiosk Marketing
Kiosks are one-stop booths, (which may or may not be mechanised) where you can
get all the information about the various products of the company. For example,
Hallmark uses kiosks to create personalised cards.

L
Label
Labels are identification tools. These are simple tags of information, sometimes with
graphics, attached to a product, that form a part of the packaging. E.g. the label on
the Milkmaid tin carries critical deciding information about the company.
Laggards
They are the fifth and last, among the market segments in the social diffusion
process to take up the product. They tend to resist change, are risk-averse, and cling
hardest to tradition.
Late Majority
A group of sceptical consumers who are slow in adopting an innovation but
eventually do so, either to save money or due to peer pressure. They are the fourth
among the market segments in the social diffusion process to adopt the product.
Lead Time
The amount of time between the start of making a TV/radio buy and the on-air date
Licensing
An arrangement in which one firm sells to another the rights to use its brand name,
equity, trademark and patent in return for a fee or royalty.
Limited Service Retailers
When compared to other retailers, they provide more sales assistance since they
carry more shopping goods about which customers need information. Examples are
Lifestyle or Shoppers’ Stop.
Linchpin Brand

17
A brand that holds the entire organisation together. It is a number one brand that
indirectly influences a business area providing a strong base for customer loyalty.
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is a linchpin brand for Cadbury’s as it controls a critical
segment in the confectionary industry.
Line Extension
A successful brand that increases the types or levels of its portfolio in a specific
product line to take advantage of the existing equity. Example: Gillette has
successfully managed to use line extension for its shavers.

Lineage
A term expressive of advertising volume or content.
LIPS (Low Involvement Products and Services)
Those products and services whose purchases are routine and unimportant in nature.
Consumers of these products and services engage in little information search prior to
making a decision. For example, stationery items like pens, pencils, etc.
List of Values (LOV)
Research at the Survey Research Centre at the University of Michigan has identified
nine basic values that could motivate consumption and are hence related to purchase
behaviour. They are: Self Respect; Self Fulfillment; Security; Sense of Belonging;
Excitement; Sense of Accomplishment; Fun and Enjoyment in life; Well Respected;
Warm relationships.
Living the brand
The company must focus, align and motivate the entire organisation to embrace a set
of contemporary beliefs that support brand values. Living the brand requires the
organisation to keep stretching for more, to create internal brand loyalty.
Location Pricing
A company using location pricing, charges different prices in different areas. E.g.
Theatre groups change their prices depending on the location.
Loss Leaders
A few lead items, offered by a store at extremely low prices, to stimulate interest on
the part of bargain-hunters.
Logistics
Marketing logistics involves planning, implementing, and controlling the physical
flow of materials and final goods from points of origin to meet customer
requirements at a profit.
Loss-Leader Pricing
A pricing and promotional strategy in which temporary price cuts are made on a few
items to attract traffic (customers) into the store. The objective is bait-and switch, to
increase the overall spend of these customers within the store by spending on
volumes or on other higher-priced products.
Low Involvement
A purchase decision, which is so quick, that it ignores the other stages and jumps
directly from need to purchase. This generally happens when there is low risk
perception, and hence hardly any information search or comparative shopping
required before the purchase.
Low Voltage Brand

18
A Low Voltage Brand would be one whose market share is declining and will have
to put in tremendous effort to stand the same level as competition.

M
Markdown price
A reduction in the original or previous maximum retail price of the
goods/merchandise. Usually used as a component of Every Day Low Pricing
programme.
Market Challenger
A runner-up firm that is fighting hard to increase its market share in the industry.
Market Follower
A runner-up firm that wants to hold its share without upsetting competition in the
industry.
Market Leader
The firm with the largest market share in the industry.
Market Mavens
Individuals whose influence stems from a general knowledge or market expertise
that leads to an early awareness of new products and services.
Market Penetration
Pricing Setting a low price for a new product in order to attract a large number of
buyers and a large market share. Britannia’s Chekkers followed this strategy.
Market Positioning
Arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive, and desirable place relative to
competing products in the minds of the target consumers. The process of
formulating competitive positioning for a product using a detailed marketing mix.
Market Skimming
Pricing Setting a high price for a new product to skim maximum revenues, layer by
layer from the segments that are willing to pay the high price; the company makes
fewer but more profitable sales.
Market Targeting
The process of evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or
more segments to enter.
Marketing Audit
A comprehensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a
company’s environment, objectives, strategies, and activities to determine problem
areas and opportunities and to recommend a plan of action to improve the
company’s marketing performance.
Marketing Communications Mix (Promotion Mix)
The specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public
relations that a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.
Marketing Concept
The marketing management philosophy that holds that achieving organisational
goals depends on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering
the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors.
Marketing Intelligence

19
Everyday information about developments in the marketing environment that helps
managers prepares and adjusts marketing plans.
Marketing Intermediaries
Firms that help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final
buyers; they include resellers, physical distribution firms, market service agencies,
and financial intermediaries.
Marketing Mix (The 4 Ps)
The set of controllable tactical marketing tools - product, place, price, and
promotion - that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target
market.
Marketing Website
The Websites used to engage consumers in an interaction that makes the consumers
come closer to purchasing.
Markups
The difference between the final cost of the product and the selling price.
Alternatively, it can also be referred to as the amount added to the cost of product.
Mass Customisation
The cost-efficient mass production of goods and services in lot sizes of just a few at
a time. Mass customisation is not the same as customisation. Customisation involves
the production of a product from scratch to a customized specification, whereas
mass customisation is the assembly of a product or the rendering of a service from
pre-configured modules or components.
Master Franchiser
The master franchiser acts as a mediator between the franchiser and the franchisee in
the foreign market.
Media integration
Media integration is advertising that delivers a similar message with the same look
and feel, and aims to a build a brand over the long term across both online and off-
line media.
Media Scheduling
Planning all the details of advertising and promotion to be used in a campaign, like
timing, and positioning of ads.
Merchandising
Organising the inventory, display and promotion of goods in retail outlets.
Micro-marketing
The practice of tailoring products and marketing programmes to suit the tastes of
specific individuals and locations - includes local marketing and individual
marketing.
Modified Rebuy
It is a situation where the buyer wants to modify the product specifications, prices,
terms, or suppliers.

N
Need states
Need states can be defined as those triggers – rational, emotional and subconscious –
that compel consumers to make a product choice. To put it elaborately, need-states

20
work on the principle that everything is dynamic. The product choice made by the
consumer depends upon the situation in which he finds himself, his mood, the time,
his attitude, and the environment.
New Product Development
The development of new products, product improvements, modifications and new
brands through the R&D process.
Non-personal Communication Channels
Media that carry messages without personal contact or feedback, including major
media, atmospheres, and events.
North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
An accord to remove trade barriers among Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

O
Observational Research
It is the gathering of primary data by observing relevant people, actions, and
situations.
Occasion Segmentation
The division of market into groups according to occasions when buyers get the idea
to buy, make their purchase, or use the purchased item.
Online Ads
It is the way of sending ads on-line while customers are surfing the net, which
include banners, pop-up windows, “tickers,” and “road blocks”.
Online Databases
The collection of data and information available from on-line commercial sources or
Internet.
Online Marketing
The marketing of goods/services through interactive on-line computer systems or
Internet.
Online Marketing Research
The collection of relevant information through on-line surveys.
Opinion Leader
Any person who can exert influence on others because of his special skills,
knowledge, personality, or other characteristics.
OTS (Opportunity To See)
A term used indicating the amount of "frequency" a media audience receives in a
media schedule.

P
Packaging
An integral part of the branding process, which involves the design and production
of the container, package or wrapping of a product.
Pareto’s Principle (80-20 rule)
This states that a small percentage of customers may account for a large percentage
of value of a company’s sales or of a company’s profit (80% of the profit comes
from only 20% of the customers).

21
Patent
It’s an official right showing that a person has the exclusive right to make and sell an
invention.
Perceived Pricing
A consumer perceives a price as high, low or fair, in relation to the perceived or
experienced value of the product.
Perception
The process by which people select, organise and interpret information to form an
understandable and meaningful picture of the world.
Perceptual Mapping
Graphic Analysis and presentation of where actual and potential customers place a
product or supplier in relation to other products and suppliers. Most perceptual maps
show only two dimensions at a time, for example price on one axis and quality on
the other.
Perfect Market
It is a perfectly competitive market is one in which there is a large number of firms,
each with a very small share of the market, producing a homogeneous product, with
firms and consumers possessing perfect information, and with free entry to and exit
from the industry.
Peripheral Brand Associations
The logo, colour and packaging are the peripheral associations. These bring about a
surface level of similarity between the parent brand and the extended one.
Perishability
A characteristic of services and some products. It means that the product or service
cannot be stored for later sale or consumption.
Personal Communication Channels
The medium through which people communicate with each other, including face-to-
face, person-to-audience, over the telephone, or through the mail.
Personal Selling
It is the form of presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making
sales and building customer relationships.
Persuasive Advertising
The form of advertising used to build a selective demand for a particular
product/service by persuading the consumer that it offers the best quality for their
money.
PEST
Factors Any firm’s strategy formulation is preceded by environmental analyses.
Under macro-environment analysis, companies need to identify and understand the
impact of Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors. These are known as
PEST factors.
Planogramming
Planogramming produces a stocking plan such that merchandise fits on the shelves
and in the fixtures when it arrives at the store; this reduces stocking labour.
Planogramming with intelligence is space management, which requires direct
integration of merchandise and sales data using technology that makes it possible to
minimise the inventory needed to achieve high in-stock levels. That increases sales,
improves inventory turns, and boosts gross margin return on investment (GMROI).

22
Pleasing Products
The products that fetch immediate satisfaction but may disappoint consumers in the
long run.
PMCG (Packaged Mass Consumer Goods)
These include all consumer non-durable goods that are used and purchased
frequently. Such products include detergents, toilet soaps, toothpaste, shampoos,
creams, powders, food products, confectionery, beverages and cigarettes. These are
also known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs).
Point-of-Purchase (P.O.P.)
The place or retail store where a product or service is bought by the customer.
Point-of-Purchase (POP) promotion
The display of ads or demonstration of products at the place of sale. Marketing
Portfolio Analysis A tool by which management identifies and evaluates the various
businesses that makes up the company. Marketing
Post-purchase Behaviour The decision process a consumer adopts after a purchase
based on his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Marketing
Pre-approach
It is the learning process where a sales person learns about a prospect before making
a sales call.
Preferred Brand Values
Preferred Brand Values refer to attributes that consumers regard as important for a
brand in a given category.
Premium
The goods offered either free or at low cost as an incentive to buy a product. (See
Self-Liquidators)
Premium Pricing
Producing a high-quality product, for the premium or higher income segments, and
charging a high price.
Prestige Value
A commercial name should possess the power to command admiration. Products
with French or Italian names often command such prestige. "Clinque" sounds more
prestigious than "Clinic" and "pasta" is more sophisticated than "noodles". The
selection of certain words or morphemes can contribute prestige value; that is why
"Premier," "Super," and "Ultra" frequently appear in commercial names. Marketing
Product Adaptation The adaptation of a product to meet local conditions, culture, or
different wants in foreign markets.
Product Bundle Pricing
The way of bundling several combined products and offering them at a low cost.
Marketing
Product Life Cycle (PLC)
The six stages through which a product goes. It includes product development,
introduction, growth, maturity, saturation, and decline.
Product Mix
The set of all product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale.
Product Sale Joint Venture Method
The emphasis is on the product, which the seller has to sell, but is done in such a
fashion that it involves the customer's participation. There is an exchange of

23
information regarding the customer's specific product needs and the unique strengths
of your product. The focus is on the product itself; to figure out how the product can
fit the client's stated needs.
Product Sale Unilateral Way
Here the seller tells everything he knows about the product to the customer. It is a
one-sided conversation that is presented to the customer, consisting of all the
features and functions of the product. Making a product sale in a unilateral way can
help the customer create divergent thinking.
Product/market Expansion Grid
The portfolio-planning tool used to identify company growth opportunities through
market penetration, market development, product development, or diversification.
Prospecting
It is the identification of potential customers by the salesperson.
Psychographic Segmentation
It is the division of markets based on psychographics, i.e. the market is divided into
relevant groups based on lifestyle, social class, and personality characteristics.
Psychographics
The study of lifestyles, social class, or personality characteristics. It also includes the
dimensions of AIO (activities, interests, and opinions).
Psychological Pricing
A pricing technique based on the psychological aspects of pricing and not on
economics.
Pull Strategy
A promotional strategy used to intensify the sales by advertising heavily. The
strategy leads to the consumers asking retailers for the product, in turn the retailers
order from the wholesalers and the wholesalers demand from the producers.
Push Strategy
A promotion strategy used to increase the sales through sales force and trade
promotion that pushes the product through the distribution channel. The producers
push the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers to retailers, and retailers to
consumers.

Q
Question Marks
These are low-share businesses and products in high-growth markets. These require
a lot of investment just to hold their market share.

R
Reference Prices
The price used as a comparative index, when a buyer purchases any product/service.
Reinforcement
Reduction in drive that results from an appropriate consumer response.
Relationship Marketing
A marketing concept focusing on value-laden delivery, to enhance a long-term
relationship with the customers.
Research design

24
Series of decisions that, taken together, comprise a master plan for conducting
marketing research.
Retail concept
The complex mix of products, merchandising, store format, ambience, service and
the brand image that differentiate a retail store. This is unique from store to store.
Retail ecosystems
An ecosystem can be described as a community of organisms and its environment
functioning as an ecological unit. In the context of retailing, an ecosystem caters to
the interrelated customer requirements. On offer is a wide array of products and
services to customer segments based on their common situation.
Retail EST Model
The Retail EST “and has been devised by the J.C. Williams Group, which states that
to win, a retailer has to be the best at what he promises. For instance, the Biggest
when it comes to Toys is “Toys ‘R’ Us”, the cheapest is “WalMart”, the quickest is
“Shoppers Drug Mart”, the easiest, the slowest, so on and so forth.
Retail Promotions
Any communication by a retailer that informs, persuades, and/or reminds the target
market about any aspect of that firm.
Retail Reductions
Represent the difference between beginning inventory plus purchases during the
period and sales plus ending inventory. They should encompass anticipated
markdowns, employee and other discounts, and stock shortages.
Retail Renewal
It involves a shift in the concept to address the emerging consumer needs. In some
cases, it even leads to changes in assets – modifying, acquiring or even discarding.

S
Sales Contest
A competition open to a company’s sales personnel or to prospects, structured to
reward superior performance or unusually large purchases. See Sales Incentive.
Sales Force Automation (SFA)
Applications of computers and other technologies to improve the efficiency and
competitiveness of the sales function.
Sales Force Management
The analysis, planning, implementation and control of sales activities. It includes
setting and designing sales force strategy, recruiting, selecting, training, supervising,
compensating, and evaluating the firm’s sales people.
Sales Incentive
A reward in excess of salary or commission provided to a salesperson in return for
achieving or exceeding a stated sales goal. See Sales Contest.
Sales office
A manufacturer's facility that serves as a regional office for salespeople, but does not
carry inventory.
Sales orientation
Business assumption that consumers will resist purchasing nonessential goods and
services with the attitude toward marketing that only creative advertising and

25
personal selling can overcome consumers' resistance and convince them to buy.
Marketing
Sales Promotion A variety of short-term incentives to induce trail or purchase of a
particular product or service.
Sales Promotion Trap
A spiral that results when a number of competitors extensively use promotions. One
firm uses sales promotions to differentiate its product or service and other
competitors copy the strategy, resulting in no differential advantage and a loss of
profit margins to all.
Sales Quotas
Standards set for salespeople, stating the amount they should sell and how sales
should be divided among the company’s product.
Salesperson
An individual acting for a company by performing one or more of the following
activities: prospecting, communicating, servicing, and information gathering.
Sample
A segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the
population as a whole.
Seasonal Discount
A price reduction to buyers who purchase merchandise or services out of season.
Seasonal Discounts
Discounts offered on products, which display characteristics of seasonal/cyclical
demands. Discounts are offered to induce purchases during off-season.
Segment Marketing
Isolating broad segments that make up a market and adapting the marketing strategy
to match the needs of one or more segments.
Segmentation
The process of dividing the market into distinct subsets of consumers with common
needs or characteristics, in order to target them with a distinct marketing mix.
Segmented Pricing
Selling a product or service at two or more prices, where the difference in prices is
not based on the differences in cost.
Selective Attention
A heightened awareness of small stimuli/cues relevant to one’s needs or interests.
Also called Selective Perception.
Selective Comprehension
The perceptual process whereby consumers interpret information based on their own
attitudes, beliefs, motives, and experiences.
Selective Demand
The demand for a particular brand of product or service.
Selective Demand
Advertising that focuses on stimulating demand for a specific manufacturer’s
product or brand.
Selective Distribution The use of some of the intermediaries who are willing to
carry the company’s products.
Selective Exposure

26
Conscious or subconscious exposure by the consumer to a certain media or message,
and the subconscious or active avoidance of others. A process whereby consumers
choose whether or not to make themselves available to media and message
information.
Selective Perception
A state of heightened awareness of stimuli relevant to one’s interests or needs.
Self-managed team
A group of employees who work with little or no supervision.
Seller's market
Marketplace characterized by a shortage of goods and/or services.
Selling agent
An agent-wholesaling intermediary responsible for the entire marketing program of
another firm's product line.
Selling Concept
This concept states that if the customer is left alone, he/she may not buy enough of
the company’s’ product. Hence the company must have aggressive selling and
promotional activities.
Selling Process
The steps that the salesperson follows when selling, which include prospecting and
qualifying, pre-approach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling
objections, closing and follow-up.
Selling up
A retail sales technique that tries to convince a customer to buy a higher-priced item
than he or she had originally intended.
Service
A service is any act or performance that one party offers to another that is
experiential, and doesn’t result in the ownership of anything. Services differ from
goods on four counts: intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and Perishability.
Service encounter
The actual interaction point between a customer and a service provider. Marketing
Service Profit Chain The chain that links the profits of the service firm to employee
and customer satisfaction.
Share of Voice
The media spending of a particular brand when compared to others in its category.
Shelf Card
A display card designed to be set up on a shelf in a retail store.
Shelf Extender
A tray-like extension that projects outward from a retail store shelf, used for special
displays or as a means of increasing the regular shelf display. Also known as
extender.
Shelf Pack
A container for retail items of sufficiently small size to permit the full amount to be
placed on a shelf with ordinary clearance height.
Shelf Space
The amount of point-of-purchase space occupied by a type of merchandise in a retail
store; measured in terms of square feet, linear feet, or number of facings. Marketing

27
Shelf Talker A small promotional sign or card that sits on the shelf where a product
is displayed.
Shopping Centre
A group of retail businesses planned, developed, owned and managed by a single
unit.
Shopping Goods
These are less-frequently purchased consumer products and services. Customers
generally compare carefully on suitability, quality, price and style before purchasing
these products.
Shopping Group
Two or more people who shop together.
Shopping Product
Consumer good that the customer, in the process of selection and purchase,
characteristically compares on such bases as suitability, quality, price and style.
Societal Marketing
A revision of the traditional marketing concept that suggests that marketers adhere to
principles of social responsibility in the marketing of their goods and services, that
satisfy the needs and wants of their target markets in ways that preserve and enhance
the well being of the consumer and the society.
Socio-cultural Segmentation
The division of a total potential market into smaller subgroups on the basis of
sociological or cultural variables, such as social class, race, religion, nationality,
beliefs, values or customs.
Specialty Advertising
An advertising, sales promotion, and motivational communications medium that
employs useful articles of merchandise imprinted with an advertiser’s name,
message, or logo.
Specialty Product
Consumer product with unique characteristics or brand identification for which a
significant group of buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort. Marketing
Specialty Store A retail store that carries a narrow product line with a deep
assortment within that line.
Spokesperson
A celebrity or company executive who represents a product, brand, or company over
an extended period of time, often in print, on television, and in personal
appearances.
Sponsorship
When the advertiser assumes responsibility for the production, the content of the
program as well as the advertising that appears within it.
Spot Advertising
Commercials shown on local television stations, with the negotiation and purchase
of time being made directly from the individual stations.
Store Image
Consumers’ perception of the personality of a store and the products it carries.
Stored-value card

28
A stored-value card acts as a credit card, except that the card contains a prepaid
amount and can be used to purchase products and services worth that amount. As the
consumer keeps purchasing goods, the value of the card decreases.
STP
STP-segmentation, targeting, and positioning - is an organising framework for
thinking about the process of formulating marketing strategy
Strategic Agility
Strategic Agility of company is a function of its response to the constantly changing
environment, which enables it to stick true to the preconceived strategic Intent.
Strategic Alliance
A partnership between two or more companies/business units to achieve strategically
significant objectives, which are mutually beneficial.
Strategic Brand
A brand that is projected to reap future sales and profits. It may be a laid-back brand
that is headed towards becoming a major one. Leesures is a strategic brand for Lee’s
as it lays the foundation for a position in casual wear in India.
Strategic Business Unit (SBU)
A unit of the company that has a separate mission and objectives and that can be
planned independently from other businesses. An SBU can be a company division, a
product line within a division, or sometimes a single product or brand.
Strategic Intent
Strategy intent is a statement or a series of statements, which outline what the
organisation wants to achieve in a long term. This intent has to be simple enough to
be communicated unambiguously. It is important to hold internal and external
customers attention, and the consequences of failing is sufficiently compelling to
mobilise huge effort.
Strategic Marketing Plan
The planning framework for specific marketing activities.
Strategic Planning
Determination of the steps required to achieve the optimum fit between the
organization’s goals and capabilities and the marketplace.
Strategic rollup
A process of acquiring small, owner-operated businesses to leverage the resulting
economies of scale and the best practices across all functions.
Strong Implicature
A strong Implicature is the main or obvious meaning in a message. Such conclusions
are "made so strongly manifest that the hearer can scarcely avoid recovering them.
For example, the plane in the Star News ad may elicit the strong Implicature "news."
Sub-brand
A brand that resides beneath and acts subserviently to the masterbrand.
Subculture
A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and
situations. They form a distinct cultural group that exists as an identifiable segment
within a larger, more complex society.
Suggested list price
A pricing policy where the manufacturer suggests a retail price to the retailers so that
they receive their markups.

29
Superimposition
Process in TV production where an image, words, or phrases are placed over another
image.
Supermarket
Large, low-cost, low margins, high volume, self-service store that carries a wide
variety of food, laundry and household products.
Superstore
A store almost twice the size of a regular supermarket that carries a large assortment
of routinely purchased food and non-food items and offers services such as dry-
cleaning, post-office, photo-finishing, cheque encashing, bill paying, lunch counters,
etc.
Supplier Search
The stage of the business buying process in which the buyer tries to find the best
vendors.
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is a tool for gathering, analysing, and evaluating information and
identifying strategic options facing an organisation at a given time. This serves a
precursor to generating potential feasible strategies. Strength can be thought of as a
particular skill or distinctive competence, which will aid the organisation in
achieving its stated objectives. Weakness can be any aspect of the company that will
hinder the achievement of specific objectives. Opportunity is any feature of the
external environment, which fosters conditions that are advantageous to the firm in
relation to stated objectives. Threat can be any environmental development that may
hinder the achievement of organisational goals.

T
Tabloid
A newspaper approximately half the size of a standard newspaper.
Tag Line
A line of copy used on an ad or in a commercial that captures the theme of the
advertisement or broader campaign and is placed prominently within it. It usually
conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the advertiser wishes to
convey.
Target Audience
A specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is
designed.
Target Market
A group of individuals whom collectively, are intended focus of the marketing mix
or strategy.
Target Marketing
The process of identifying the specific needs of segments, selecting one or more of
these segments as a target (Market Targeting/ Targeting), and developing marketing
programs directed to each.
Target Rating Points
The number of persons in the primary target audience that the media buy will reach -
and the number of times.

30
Teaser
Copy printed on the outside of a direct mail envelope to encourage the recipient to
open, read and act on the piece.
Teaser Advertising
An ad designed to create curiosity and build excitement and interest in a product or
brand, without actually showing the product.
Test marketing
The stage of new product development in which the product and the marketing
programme are tested in much more realistic market settings.
Tie-in Promotion
A single promotion event intended to encourage the sale of more than one product or
brand.
Top-down Approach
Budgeting approaches in which the appropriation amount is established at the
executive level and monies are passed down to the various departments. Marketing
Total Customer Cost
The total of all the monetary, time, energy, and psychic costs associated with a
marketing offer.
Total Customer Value
The total of all of the product, services, personnel, and image values that a buyer
receives from a marketing offer.
Total Market Demand
The total volume of a product or service that would be bought by a defined
consumer group, within a defined geographic area, in a defined time period, in a
defined marketing environment, under a defined level and mix of industry marketing
effort.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Programmes designed to constantly improve the quality of products, services, and
marketing processes.
Tracking Studies
Advertising effectiveness measures designed to assess the effects of advertising on
awareness, recall, interest, and attitudes toward the ad as well as purchase intentions.
Trade Advertising
Advertising directed at distribution channels (wholesalers, distributors, sales
representatives, affiliates, value-added resellers, retailers, etc.) rather than end-
consumers.
Trade Regulation Rules (TRR)
Industry-wide rules that define unfair practices before they occur. Used by the
Federal Trade Commission to regulate advertising and promotion.
Trade Show
A type of exhibition or forum where manufacturers can display their products to
current as well as prospective buyers.
Trademark
An identifying name, symbol, icon, or other device that identifies a specific
manufacturer, product or service. It gives a company the legal and exclusive rights
to use.
Trademark infringement

31
It is the unauthorised use of name, symbol, logo, colour, design or combination
thereof, which may lead to confusion of the origin of the good or service, which the
mark is intended to designate.
Transfer price
A cost assessed for a product exchanged between profit centres within a single firm.
Transformational Advertising
An ad that associates the experience of using the advertised brand with a unique set
of psychological characteristics that would not typically be associated with the brand
experience to the same degree without exposure to the advertisement.
Transit Advertising
Advertising targeted to target audiences using transportation facilities, including
buses, taxis, trains, elevators, trolleys, airplanes, and subways.

U
Unaided Recall
The ability to recall information about an advertisement, product, service or brand
without any prompting. The level of unaided recall in recipients of marketing
communications is used as one measure of communication effectiveness.
Undifferentiated Marketing
A strategy in which market segment differences are ignored and one product or
service is offered to the entire market, with the same marketing mix. Marketing
Unduplicated Research to find out the number of persons reached once with a media
exposure.
Unfair Advertising
Advertising in which the advertiser withholds information that could result in
injuries to the consumers.
Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P.)
An advertising strategy that focuses on a product or service attribute that is
distinctive to a particular brand and offers an important benefit to the customer.
Unsought products
Consumer products that the consumer either does not know about or knows about
but does not normally think of buying.

V
Value
A relatively enduring belief that serves as a guide for what is considered appropriate
behaviour and that is widely accepted by the members of a society.
Value Analysis
An approach to cost reduction, in which components are studied carefully to
determine if they can be redesigned, standardized, or made by less costly methods of
production.
Value Marketing
A principle of enlightened marketing that holds that a company should put most of
its resources into marketing investments that build value.
Value-added

32
Increased worth of a good or service resulting from added features, lower price,
enhanced customer service, a strengthened warranty, or other marketing mix
improvements that increase customer satisfaction.
Value-based Pricing/Value Pricing
Setting the price based on buyer’s perception of value rather than on the seller’s
cost. Offering just the right combination of quality and good service at a fair price.
Vehicle
A specific channel or publication for carrying the advertising message to a target
audience. For example, a medium would be magazines, while one vehicle would be
Time magazine.
Viral Marketing
A marketing technique whereby Web site visitors or e-mail recipients are
encouraged to pass along the company’s marketing message to friends, colleagues
and/or family, thereby creating exponential growth in the message’s reach.

W
Warehouse Club
Off-price retailer who sells a limited selection of brand name grocery items,
appliances and a mix of other goods at deep discounts to members who pay annual
membership fees.
Wheel of Retailing
A concept of retailing that states that new types of retailers usually begin as low-
margin, low-price, low-status operations but later evolve into higher-priced, higher-
service operations, eventually becoming like the conventional retailers they
replaced.
Wholesaler
A firm engaged primarily in wholesaling activity.
Wholesaling
All activities involved in selling goods and services to those who buy for resale or
business use.
Wireless advertising
Wireless advertising is delivering ads to people on their pagers and wireless phones.
However, how effectively advertisers make use of this medium is entirely up to
them. Advertisers at times can either build long-lasting relationships with their users
or plainly drive them away with cluttering of messages.
Word-of-mouth Influence (W.O.M.)
Personal communication about a product between target buyers and neighbour’s
friends, family members, and associates.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
A 125-member organization that succeeds GATT in overseeing trade agreements,
mediating disputes, and reducing trade barriers; unlike GATT provisions, WTO
decisions are binding.

Y
Yellow Page Advertisements
Advertisements that appear in various phone directories like the Yellow Pages.

33
Z
Zipping
Fast-forwarding through commercials during the playback of a program previously
recorded on a VCR.

34