Marketing Management

Q.1 Suppose you are the marketing manager of a banking firm. Your bank has
opened its first branch overseas. What factor do you think will affect the
choice of marketing the most and why?
a) Define environment scanning
b) Demographics
c) Political and Legal environment
d) Socio-cultural environment,
Ans. Environment scanning - It refers to careful monitoring of an organisation's
internal and external environments for detecting early signs of opportunities and threats
that may influence its current and future plans.
Demographics - It implies to the changes in the composition of the market, the demand
of the population, the opportunities in the country, etc. that affect the marketing mix.
Political and legal environment - Legal and political environment also influences
marketing decisions in a significant way. Government plays a great role in moderating
the role of business in the society through legislation. There has been a growth in the
number of legislations over a period of time to let the business know that before they
play the game, they should learn the rules. There are certain legislations brought at the
central government level whereas some are practised differently in different states of
India. This is a critical issue related to sales and different kind of taxes. Though Value
Added Tax (VAT) tries to simplify them, it is not always possible to bring uniformity in
legislation across the states. Laws like Monopoly Restricted Trade Practices (MRTP) and
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) are dumped in order to promote growth of free
enterprise in India. Business legislation in India can be classified into legislation covering
corporate affairs, consumer protection, employee protection, specific sector protection
like small scale industry, protection of companies against hostile takeover bids,
protection against unhealthy price, and distribution practices related to deceptive
advertising.
Social and cultural environment - Social and cultural environment have maximum
direct effect on consumers.
Social forces shape consumption habit of people. Let us look at the processed food in
Indian markets. Due to the changes in lifestyle and more and more women taking up
jobs, there is a rising demand for processed and packaged food. Packaged brands of
chicken and other frozen foods are doing well in the Indian market. The societal
environment is the marketers relationship with society in general. It is an explanation of
readiness of the society to accept a marketing idea. Taste and consumer behaviour also
vary from place to place. Culture influences consumers beliefs, values, and norms.
Culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by a consumer as a member of the society. It is a distinct way of life
of a group of people and their complete design of living. The marketing manager needs
to understand how the consumers react to different products and marketing practices in
a social setting.

Q.2 A brand is a composite set of beliefs and associations in the mind of

consumers. In brand Development, as a part of branding strategy decision, the
brand manager can decide to create new brand elements for the new products,
apply some of the existing brand elements to the new product, or use a
combination of existing and new brand elements to the existing and new
products. Explain the different branding strategies used by the companies for
their range of products.
a) Definition of Brand
b) Advantages of Brand
c) Explanation of different branding strategies adopted by companies
Ans. Defination of Brand - A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.
Advantages of Brand
The following are the advantages of branding.
A brand promises and delivers a high level of assurance to consumers.
A brand serves as an assurance to the customer about the product performance. A
brand helps customers to identify the product on the shelf and helps in making an
informed choice.
A brand as a symbol of status and social significance gives you psychological
satisfaction.
The brand speaks about the product's attributes and how they perform, about the
brand name and what it stands for and about the company associated with a
brand.
Branding Strategies
Companies use different branding strategies for their range of products. They can be
categorised into the following three types.
1. Individual branding In this case, the company adopts a separate brand name
for each product it offers. The major advantage of individual branding is that if one
brand loses its market, the others may offset sales in the particular product
category. However, the company has to spend a lot of money and pursue
enormous promotional efforts to position each brand in the consumers mind.
Large multinationals such as Hindustan Lever, Proctor and Gamble, etc. follow
individual branding strategy.
2. Family branding This is another type of branding strategy followed by some
companies which have developed their family names. The major advantage of
using family name for products is that it minimises advertising and other
promotional costs. But, if one product in the group is perceived negatively in terms
of quality, or in other aspects, by consumers, it may pull down the entire range of
products.
3. Corporate umbrella branding Companies such as Tata, Coke, and Pepsi are
not only using individual brand name for the range of products they market but
also use a corporate umbrella cover for their brands. It is the corporate logo,

symbol, or trademark which provides protection to the individual brand. The idea is
that the corporate name symbolizes trust and confidence to the buyers.

Q.3 Describe the international market entry strategies in brief.

a) Joint ventures
b) Strategic alliances
c) Direct investment
d) Contract manufacturing
e) Franchising
Ans. International market entry strategies
The methods of entering international markets are:
Joint venture - A joint venture is a strategic alliance where two or more parties,
usually businesses, form a partnership to share markets, intellectual property,
assets, knowledge, and profits. A joint venture differs from a merger, in the sense
that there is no transfer of ownership in the deal.
Strategic alliance - A strategic alliance is formed when two or more businesses
join together for a set period of time. The companies, generally, are not in direct
competition, but have similar products or services that are directed towards the
same target group.
Direct investment - Through Foreign Direct Investment a firm invests directly in
facilities to produce and/or market a product in a foreign country. For example, in
the early 1980s, Honda, a Japanese automobile company, built an assembly plant
in Ohio and began to produce cars for the North American market. These cars were
substitutes for imports from Japan. Once a firm undertakes FDI, it becomes a
Multinational Enterprise.
Contract manufacturing - Contract manufacturing is a process that establishes
a working agreement between two companies. As part of the agreement, one
company will custom produce parts or other materials on behalf of their client. In
most cases, the manufacturer will also handle the ordering and shipment
processes for the client. As a result, the client does not have to maintain
manufacturing facilities, purchase raw materials, or hire labour in order to produce
the finished goods.
Franchising - Franchising is basically a specialised form of licensing in which the
franchiser not only sells a trademark to the franchisee, but also insists the
franchisee to abide by strict rules with respect to how business is done. The
franchiser will also often assist the franchisee to run the business on an ongoing
basis.
Q.4 Personal selling focuses in on personal or one to one selling. It involves
an individual salesman or a sales team establishing and building a profitable
relationship with customers over a period of time through a series of steps.
Explain the steps in the personal selling process which helps in the successful
sales. Definition of Personal Selling and Explanation of steps in the Personal
selling process.
Ans. Personal Selling
Personal selling is an activity which involves a face-to-face interaction with the
customers wherein there is a quick response and personal confrontation. This allows for
more specific adjustment of the message and the opportunity to develop long-term
familiarity and relationship. In personal selling, the focus in on personal or one to one
selling.
Personal Selling Process

Process or steps in personal selling include the following:

1. Prospecting This is the beginning of sales process, which covers searching for
customers with potential demand.
2. Targeting This is the process of deciding how to allocate sales time among
prospects and existing customers.
3. Pre-approach In this step, the salesperson plans methods to approach the
customers and to collect company and customer information.
4. Communication and approach This is the process of communicating and
contacting the customers. It involves developing a system to greet the customers
and meet them for the sale.
Ask questions Questions should preferably be relevant to sales presentation.
Use a referral Someone favourably known to the potential customer.
Offer a benefit or service This can be quite effective if relevant to customers
need.
Complement the prospect It is a good way to establish rapport if there is
anything that the prospect has achieved.
5. Presentation and demonstration In this stage, the salesperson gives a sales
presentation and if required demonstrates features, advantages, and benefits and
value propositions of the product.
6. Customer objection handling Customers always pose objections during
presentations or when asked to order. Psychological resistance and logical
resistance are the two types of resistance seen at this stage. The psychological
resistance includes resistance to interference, preference for established brands,
apathy, reluctance to give up something, etc. The logical resistance includes
objections to price, delivery schedule, or certain companies.
7. Closing Some salespeople do not get to this stage or do not do it well. The
salespeople try to close sales after handling the customer objections.
8. Follow up and maintenance The salesman does follow up and retains the
relationship with customers to obtain repeated orders and referrals and ensures
customer satisfaction and repeated business. In the case of consumer durables,
salespeople take care of maintenance.
Q.5 Describe the stages in consumer decision making process.
Ans. Consumer decision making process:
1. Problem recognition - A buying process starts when a consumer recognises that
there is a substantial discrepancy between his/her current state of satisfaction and
expectations in a consumption situation. A need can be activated through internal
or external stimuli. The basic needs of common men rise to a particular level and
become a drive. From their previous experiences, they know how to satisfy these
needs likehunger, thirst, sex, etc.
2. Information search - After need arousal, the behaviour of the consumer leads
towards collection of available information about various stimuli. In this case,
information about products and services are gathered from various sources for
further processing and decision-making. Sources for desired information can be
grouped into five categories.
Internal source (the information regarding the relevant product from his/her
inner memory.)

Personal sources (family, friends, neighbours, and peer group)

Commercial sources or market dominated sources (advertisements, salesmen,
dealers, and company owned sales force)
Public sources (mass media, consumer rating organisations, and trade
association publications)
Experiential sources (handling, examining, and using the product)
3. Alternative evaluation - Once interest in a product(s) is aroused, a consumer
enters the subsequent stage of evaluation of alternatives. Evaluation leads to
formation of buying intention that can be to either purchase or reject the
product/brand. The final purchase will however depend on the strength of the
positive-intention, which is the intention to buy.
4. Purchase decision - Finally the consumer arrives at a purchase decision.
Purchase decisions can be any one of the three - no buying, buying later, and buy
now.
a. No buying takes the consumers to the problem recognition stage as their
consumption problem is not solved and they may again get involved in the
process as we have explained.
b. A postponement of buying can be due to a lesser motivation or evolving
personal and economic situation that forces the consumer not to buy now or
postponement of purchase for future period of time.
c. If positive attitudes are formed towards the decided alternative, the
consumer will make a purchase.
5. Post-purchase behavior - Post-purchase behaviour refers to the behaviour of
consumers after their commitment to a product has been made. It originates out of
consumers experience regarding the use of the product and is indicated in terms
of satisfaction. This behaviour is reflected in repeated purchases or abstinence
from further purchase. A satisfied product-use experience leads to repeated
purchase, referrals from satisfied customers to new customers, higher usage rate,
and also brand advocacy.
Q.6 Describe some of the strategies for effective marketing and advertising in
rural market. Also explain the innovative use of media in rural market.
Ans. Rural Market: Rural marketing should not be considered as an expense but as an
investment. Of course, the initial costs for distribution and communication are high and
returns come after a long period of gestation, yet it is an investment worth making. A
sound understanding of rural consumer behaviour and customer demand patterns will
help the rural marketer to creatively serve the rural market with ample success.
Strategies:
For success, the following points must be considered:
An efficient countrywide distribution network must be created so that company's
products are available to the farmers at their doorstep.
Advertising communication and servicing must be evolved in tune with rural needs
and in ways different from what is effective in larger towns and cities.
There should be a strong research and development team to produce products
specifically for rural areas.
Role of trade in distribution and communication must be strengthened.
Pricing of products should be in line with the economic competence of villagers.
Packaging should be simpler and more functional than ornamental.
Innovative use of media in rural market:

Puppetry
Puppetry is the indigenous theatre of India. From time immortal it has been the most
popular form and well-appreciated form of entertainment available to the village people.
It is an inexpensive activity. The manipulator uses the puppets as a medium to express
and communicate ideas, values and social messages.
Life Insurance Corporation of India used puppets to educate rural masses about Life
Insurance; enlisting the help of the literacy house in
Luck now.
These plays were shown to the audience in villages in UP, Bihar, & MP. The number of
inquires at local Life Insurance Companies during the period immediately following the
performance was compared with normal frequency and found to be considerable higher.
Folk Theater
Folk theaters are mainly short and rhythmic in form. The simple tunes help in informing
and educating the people in informal and interesting manner. It has been used as an
effective medium for social protest against injustice, exploitation and oppression.
Government has used this media for popularizing improved variety of seeds, agricultural
implements, fertilizer etc. Punjab Agricultural University produced Two Audio Cassettes.
A) Balliye Kanak Biye - Wheat Cultivation.
B) Khiran Kepah Narme - Cotton Cultivation.
Both were well received by farmers.
BBLIL used Magician quite effectively for launch of Kadak Chhap Tea in Etawah.
Demonstration:
"Direct Contact" is a face-to-face relationship with people individually and with groups
such as the Panchayats and other village groups. Such contact helps in arousing the
villager's interest in their own problem and motivating them towards self-development.
Demonstration may be
A. i. Method demonstration
ii. Result demonstration
B. i. Simple Demonstration
ii. Composite Demonstration

In result demonstration, help of audio -visual media can add value. Asian Paints launched
Utsav range by painting Mukhiya's house or Post office to demonstrate that paint does
not peel off.
Wall Paintings
Wall Paintings are an effective and economical medium for advertising in rural areas.
They are silent unlike traditional theatre .A speech or film comes to an end, but wall
painting stays as long as the weather allows it to.
Retailer normally welcomes paintings of their shops, walls, and name boards. Since it
makes the shop look cleaner and better.