Marketing Management

Assignment: A

1) Define Marketing Management. Discuss the various management philosophies.

Explain how the marketing and selling are contrasted and briefly explain the
societal marketing concept.
Ans: Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation and control of
programs designed to create, build, and maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers
for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives.
The various management philosophies are:
a. The production concept: This concept is one of the oldest philosophies that guides
sellers. The first occurs when the demand for a product exceeds the supply. The
second situation occurs when the products cost is too high and improved
productivity is needed to bring it down.
b. The product concept: This concept holds that cosumers will favor products that
offer the most quality, performance, and innovative features and that an
organization should thus devote energy to making continuous product
improvements.
c. The selling concept: Many organizations follows the selling concept, which holds
that consumers will not buy enough of the organizations products unless it
undertakes a large scale selling and promotion effort.
d. The marketing concept: This holds that achieving organizational goals depends on
determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired
satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors do.
The selling concept and the marketing concept are frequently misunderstood as same but
they are two different concepts .The selling concept takes an inside-out perspective. It
starts with the factory, focuses on the companys existing products, and calls for heavy
selling and promotion to obtain profitable sales. In contrast, the marketing concept takes
an outside-in perspective. It starts with a well-defined market, focuses on consumer
needs, co-ordinates all the marketing activities affecting customers, and makes profits by

creating customer satisfaction. Under the marketing concept, companies produce what
consumers want, thereby satisfying consumers and making profits.
The societal marketing concept holds that the organization should determine the needs,
wants and interests of target markets. It should then deliver the desired satisfactions more
effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves the
consumers and the societys well being. The societal marketing concept is the five
marketing management philosophies.
Such concerns and conflicts led to the societal marketing concept. The societal marketing
concept calls upon marketers to balance three considerations in setting their marketing
policies: company profits, consumer wants, and societys interests. Originally, most
companies based their marketing decisions largely on short-run company profit.
Eventually, they began to recognize the long-run importance of satisfying consumer
wants, and the marketing concept emerged. Now many companies are beginning to think
of societys interests when making their marketing decisions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2) Explain the various factors influencing a companys marketing strategy with the help
of suitable examples.
Ans. Factors influencing companys marketing strategy:
Marketing Channels

Marketing analysis
Product
Marketing
M
Suppliers
Public
Control
Marketing

Place

Target

Marketing

0000
Price
Customers

Pl
Planning anning
Promotion

Marketing Implementation

Pl

Marketing Segmentation: The process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers
with different needs, characteristics, or behavior who might require separate products or
marketing mixes is called market segmentation.
Market Targeting: Market Targeting involves evaluating each market segments
attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter.
Market Positioning: A products position is the place the product occupies relative to
competitors in consumers minds. If a product is perceived to be exactly like another
product on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it.
Market positioning: It is arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive, and
desirable place, in the minds of target consumers, relative to competing products.
Marketing strategies for competitive advantage: To be successful, the company must do a
better job than its competitors of satisfying target consumers. Thus, marketing strategies
must be geared to the needs of consumers and also to the strategies of competitors. Based
on its size and industry position, the company must decide how it will position itself
relative to competitors in order to gain the strongest possible competitive advantage.
Developing the marketing mix: Once the company has decided on its overall competitive
marketing strategy, it is ready to begin planning the details of the marketing mix. The
marketing mix is one of the major concepts in modern marketing.
Product means the goods and service combination the company offers to the target
market. Price is the amount of money customers have to pay to obtain the product.
Place includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers.
Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the products and persuade
target customers to buy it.
An effective marketing program blends all of the marketing mix elements into a coordinated program designed to achieve the companys marketing objectives. The
marketing mix constitutes the companys tactical tool kit for establishing strong
positioning in target markets.
Four Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion
Four Cs: Customer needs and wants, cost to the customer, convenience and
communication.

Managing the Marketing Effort:

A
P
lN
a
A
n
L
n
Y
ii
S
n
I
g
S
Marketing Analysis: The Company must analyze its markets and marketing to find
attractive opportunities and to avoid environmental threats.
Marketing Planning: Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that
will help the company attain its overall strategic objectives.
Marketing Implementation: Planning good strategies is only a start toward successful
marketing. A brilliant marketing strategy counts for little if the company fails to
implement it properly. Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing
strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing
objectives.
Marketing Control: It is the process of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing
strategies and plans and taking corrective action to ensure that marketing objectives are
attained.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2) What is marketing research? Discuss the marketing research process with the help
of an example. Briefly explain the different sources of data.
Ans: Managers need information in order to introduce products and services that create
value in the mind of the customer. But the perception of value is a subjective one, and
what customers value this year may be quite different from what they value next year. As
such, the attributes that create value cannot simply be deduced from common knowledge.
Rather, data must be collected and analyzed. The goal of marketing research is to provide
the facts and direction that managers need to make their more important marketing
decisions.
Marketing research covers a wider range of activities. While it may involve market
research, marketing research is a more general systematic process that can be applied to a
variety of marketing problems.
Once the need for marketing research has been established, most marketing research
projects involve these steps:
1. Define the problem
2. Determine research design
3. Identify data types and sources
4. Design data collection forms and questionnaires
5. Determine sample plan and size
6. Collect the data
7. Analyze and interpret the data
8. Prepare the research report

Defining the
problem and
research
objectives

Developing the
research plan
for collecting
information

Implementing
the research
plan , collecting
and analyzing
the data

Interpreting
and reporting
the findings

The different sources of data:

SECONDARY DATA
Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, one should check
for secondary data that previously may have been collected for other purposes but that
can be used in the immediate study. Secondary data may be internal to the firm, such as
sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to the firm such as published data
or commercially available data. The government census is a valuable source of secondary
data. Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering costs.
The disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the
accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for primary data. Some
secondary data is republished by organizations other than the original source. Because
errors can occur and important explanations may be missing in republished data, one
should obtain secondary data directly from its source. One also should consider who the
source is and whether the results may be biased.
PRIMARY DATA
Often, secondary data must be supplemented by primary data originated specifically for
the study at hand. Some common types of primary data are:
demographic and socioeconomic characteristics
psychological and lifestyle characteristics
attitudes and opinions
awareness and knowledge - for example, brand awareness
Intentions - for example, purchase intentions. While useful, intentions are not a
reliable indication of actual future behavior.
Motivation - a person's motives are more stable than his/her behavior, so motive is
a better predictor of future behavior than is past behavior.
behavior
Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation. Communication
involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This method is versatile,

since one needs only to ask for the information; however, the response may not be
accurate. Communication usually is quicker and cheaper than observation. Observation
involves the recording of actions and is performed by either a person or some mechanical
or electronic device. Observation is less versatile than communication since some
attributes of a person may not be readily observable, such as attitudes, awareness,
knowledge, intentions, and motivation. Observation also might take longer since
observers may have to wait for appropriate events to occur, though observation using
scanner data might be quicker and more cost effective. Observation typically is more
accurate than communication.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3) What do you mean by productivity analysis? Differentiate between productivity

analysis and profitability analysis. What are the different steps in the direct and
indirect approaches to marketing budgeting?
Ans: Productivity analysis is the assessment of the sales or the market share
consequences of a marketing strategy. Specifically, a productivity analysis involves the
estimation of relationships between prices or one or more marketing expenditure (such as
advertising budgets) and the sales volume or market share of a particular product or
product line. Whereas profitability analysis is the assessment of the impact of marketing
strategies and programs on the profit contribution that can be expected from a product or
product line.
STEPS IN THE DIRECT APPROACH TO MARKETING BUDGETING
a. Develop an industry sales forecast(where feasible)
b. Estimate the marketing share that will result from a given price and marketing
expenditure level(if no industry sales are available, directly estimate company
sales instead of market share)
c. Calculate the expected company sales(market share X industry sales forecast)
d. Calculate variable contribution(company sales X PVCM)
e. Calculate total contribution(variable contribution margin less direct and traceable
fixed costs included in proposed budget)
f. Determine whether the sales, market share, and total contribution levels are
acceptable given the product objectives
STEPS IN THE INDIRECT APPROACH TO MARKETING BUDGETING

a. Establish the target level of total contribution.

b. Calculate the level of sales required to achieve target total contribution for a given
price and marketing expenditure level: (proposed total direct and traceable fixed
costs plus target total contribution) divided by PVCM.
c. Calculate the required market share: required level of sales divided by industry
sales forecast.
d. Based on estimated productivity of the proposed price and marketing expenditure,
determine whether the required sales and market share can be achieved.
e. Determine whether the required market share and required sales will acceptable
for the given product objectives. If not, determine whether the sales or marketshare objectives can be reached with the proposed budget.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5) Write short notes on any three of the following:

a) Competitive Parity Analysis:

This approach relies on historical experiences but is designed to consider relative
marketing effort explicitly. For example, when competing products are highly similar in
quality, a manger may find a very high correlation between a products market share.

Its Share of industry advertising expenses

The number of sales calls made relative to competitors sales calls.
The relative number of retail accounts that carry the product.
The price of the product relative to the average industry price.

b) Basic elements of a marketing Strategy:

Target market selection All buyers in the relevant market, buyers in one or more
segments.
Type of demand to be stimulated Primary demand, among new users, selective
demand, in new served markets, among competitors customers and in current
customer base.

c) Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle represents a pattern of sales over time, with the pattern
typically broken into four stages. The four stages are usually defined as follows:
a. Introduction: The product is new to the market. Because there are therefore no
direct competitors, buyers must be educated about what the product does, how
it is used, who it is for and where to buy it.
b. Growth: The product is now more widely known and the sales grow rapidly
because new buyers enter the market.
c. Maturity: Sales growth levels off as nearly all potential buyers have entered the
market. Consumers are now knowledgeable about the alternatives, repeat
purchasers; dominate sales and product innovations to minor improvements.
d. Decline: Sales slowly decline because of changing buyer needs or because of
the introduction of new products that are sufficiently different to have their
own life cycles.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assignment: B
1) a) What do you mean by media scheduling? Explain the procedure for
evaluating advertising programs with help of suitable examples.

Ans: An advertisings success in achieving the advertising objectives depends

largely on how well each show or magazine reaches buyers in the target market
segment. Because the cost, audience, size and characteristics of each media
alternative are generally known, managers can employ some quantitative tools in
media scheduling. However, managers must also employ judgment in media
scheduling decisions because some of the attributes of media are not easily
measured.
Selecting the type of medium to use

 Selecting specific vehicles for consideration

Determining the size, length and position of an advertisement
Determining the desired reach and frequent distribution of messages

Procedures for evaluating specific advertisements

a. Recognition Tests: Estimate the percentage of people claiming to have read
a magazine who recognize the ad when it is shown to them.
b. Recall Tests: Estimate the percentage of people claiming to have read a
magazine who can recall the ad and its contents.
c. Opinion Tests: Potential audience members are asked to rank alternative
advertisements as most interesting, most believable, best liked.
d. Theatre Tests: Theatre audience is asked to brand preferences before ad and
after an ad is shown in context of a TV show.

b) Define Sales promotion and discuss the different elements of promotion-mix

with the help of suitable examples.

Ans: Sales promotion is any short-term offer or incentive directed toward buyers,
retailers or wholesalers that is designed to achieve a specific, immediate response.
The two basic classifications of sales promotion are consumer promotions,
including coupons, free samples, premiums, and special exhibits and trade
promotions, in which cash, merchandise, equipment, or other resources are
awarded to retail or wholesale firms or to their personnel.
There are seven main elements in a promotional mix. They are:
1. Advertising - Any paid form of non-personal communication through mass
media about a service or product or an idea by a sponsor is called advertising. It
is done through non personal channels or media. Print advertisements,
advertisements in Television, Radio, Billboard, Broachers and Catalogs, Direct
mails, In-store display, motion pictures, emails, banner ads, web pages, posters are
some of the examples of advertising. Paid promotion and presentation of goods,

services, ideas by a sponsor comes under the advertisement.

2. Personal Selling - This is a process by which a person persuades the buyer to
accept a product or a point of view or convince the buyer to take specific course of
action through face to face contact. It is an act of helping and persuading through
the use of oral presentation of products or services. Target audience may vary
from product to product and situation to situation. In other words personal selling
is a person to person process by which the seller learns about the prospective
buyer's wants and seeks to satisfy them by making a sale. Examples: Sales
Meetings, sales presentations, sales training and incentive programs for
intermediary sales people, samples and telemarketing etc. It can be of face-to-face
or through telephone contact.
3. Publicity: Non-personal stimulation of demand for a product, service or
business unit by generating commercially significant news about it in published
media or obtaining favorable presentation of it on radio, television or stage.
Unlike advertising, this form of promotion is not paid for by the sponsor. Thus,
publicity is news carried in the mass media about an organization, its products,
policies, actions, personnel etc. It can originate with the media or the marketer,
and is published or broadcast at no charge for media space and time. Examples:
Magazine and Newspaper articles/reports, radio and television presentations,
charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars. Publicity can
be favorable (positive) or unfavorable (Negative). The message is in the hands of
media and not controlled by the organization/firm.
4. Sales promotion - is any activity that offers an incentive for a limited period to
obtain a distribution, fliers etc.desired response from the target audience or
intermediaries which includes wholesalers and retailers. It stimulates consumer
demand, market demand and improves product availability. Examples: Contests,
product samples, Coupons, sweepstakes, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating
premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.
5 Corporate image - It is important to create a good image in the sight of general
public as the Image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing. If the
reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from
this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.

6 Exhibitions: Exhibitions provide a chance to try the product by the customers. It

is an avenue for the producers to get an instant response from the potential
consumers of the products.
7 Direct Marketing is reaching the customer without using the traditional
channels of advertising such as radio, newspaper, television etc. This type of
marketing reaches the targeted consumers with techniques such as promotional
letters, street advertising, and catalogue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2) Discuss the marketing plan for a consumer product of your choice and briefly
explain the marketing planning process.