What is marketing?

Marketing can be referred to as a form of communication with your customers, with the help of
marketing tools such as advertising, promotion, publicity, design aspects related to the look of
the product etc. All these are aimed at getting the target audience (customer) to first get interested
in your product or service and then ultimately buy them.
Explain its core concepts.
Needs , wants and demands are the core concepts of marketing. These are basically inter related
to each other which means needs which could be individualistic, social or physical arise due to a
state of deprivation and have to be fulfilled for a basic human survival. Some human needs
shaped by cultural and individual experiences and lifestyles take the form of wants. Ultimately
demands are those sets of wants which are backed by the power to buy and could be related to
many needs & wants. Other related concepts of marketing may include the Marketplace with
exchange and the actual transaction as its base.
Explain - Customer delivered value, Total customer value, Total customer cost.
Customer delivered value- The term marketing does not revolve around fulfilling the needs of a
consumer alone but also includes the value that the consumer is deriving from the use of the said
product or service. This value is arrived at by subtracting what the product cost a consumer(total
customer cost) from the benefits derived by him from the product (Total customer value).
Total customer value- The sum total of all the benefits (Product value ,service value, personnel
value, Image value) that a customer derives from a product or a service is termed as the total
customer value . In other words these are the benefits that the vendor or seller provides in return
of the associated payments received from a customer.
Total customer cost- The total cost incurred by a customer in the process of evaluating what he
wants to buy, buying a product, using it and ultimately disposing it of is termed as total customer
cost. (Monetary, time, energy, psychic)
Explain
Basic marketing,
Reactive marketing,
Accountable marketing,
Proactive marketing,
Partnership marketing.

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

Reactive marketing - Reactive marketing is the most widely used approach in marketing.
Reactive marketing is based on the concept of react ,which mean for example if a competitor
company is following certain marketing practices with good resultant output we do the same by
slight change in design or price and adopting the same marketing policies. The ease of approach
in reactive marketing is the very reason for its popularity. At times due to stiff competition in the
market a firm might have no choice but to follow it so as to survive in the marketplace and make
profits.
Accountable marketing - Accountable marketing works on the concept that all the targeted
marketing communications should be accounted for in terms of the result or output they
generate. In other words every act of communication should concentrate on a unique selling or a
benefit driven point related to the product which ultimately results in motivating the customer
and adding on to the brand image of a brand or the product on a whole.
Proactive marketing - Proactive marketing basically is an innovative form of marketing which
is based on new ideas in terms of the creative content used as well as the creativity involved in
the formation of marketing strategies. It definitely involves a lot more work but the end result
might be much better than other forms of marketing. Doing something new and different in the
market place to attract the attention of the consumer is the core aspect of proactive marketing.
Partnership marketing- The customer is always looking for something more than what the
actual benefits of a product might be. Thus partnership marketing plays ball on the very fact to
create marketing communication and propositions for the customer which include value addition
of benefits to customer ,sourced and negotiated with a third partner. The benefit in this form of
enhanced propositions is that not only is it beneficial for the consumer and the brand but also for
the third partner by reducing costs of marketing communications. Partnership marketing
basically aims at adding more and more value to the benefits derived by a customer.
What do you mean by marketing mix?
The term marketing mix is referred to the amalgamation and use of the four Ps of marketing in a
manner so as to attain the highest level of customer motivation to buy a particular product or
services. Price, place, product and promotion are elements which constitute the four Ps of the
marketing mix. Some commentators may increase the marketing mix to the Five P's, to include
people. Others may increase the mix to Seven P's, to include physical evidence and process.
Explain its various components.
PRODUCT- Product is the bases for all the marketing activities undertaken because all the
marketing communications are aimed towards selling utmost quantities of the product .
PRICE - Price plays an important role in the success of a product or service. Not only is it a
major determining factor for the customer while buying a product but also plays a major part in
determining the image of a product in the mind of the customer. The seller has to also keep in

mind the profit element while deciding the price of a product. Thus a balance between all the
aspects has to be achieved to determine a balanced pricing strategy.
PLACE - To sell and buy a product or service a common place is required which is suitable for
both the customers as well as the sellers. The selection of a particular marketplace suitable is
very essential to match the product and brand image.
Promotion- Promotion is basically aimed towards creating awareness in the market and the
customers mind about a particular product or service. Its cheaper than advertising and can
definitely be more credible .It helps strengthen the brand image and can be extensively used for
new product launch.
What are the components of Macro environment?
Macro environment is basically referred to the area of external business operations of a particular
organization. The components of a macro environment have to be well analyzed before planning
the course of marketing programmers as it affects the very performance of a product or an
organization. All the factors affecting the performance of a firm in the macro environment are
referred to as the components which could be economic, demographic, technological, natural,
social, cultural, legal and political.
What is buying behavior?
The decision making process which involves the period before, during and after buying or
purchasing a product is referred to as the buying behavior of a customer. The buying behavior of
the targeted customer has to be analyzed before the formation of any marketing strategy aimed to
achieve the targeted sells in the market. Since each targeted segment or market might have a
different kind of a buying behavior hence a different kind of approach is needed to reach them.
What are the various buying behaviors exhibited by the customers?

Routine Response -There are some products in the market which are purchased by the
customer almost without much thought such as bread, butter, milk etc. There is a very
low amount of involvement by the customer while purchasing these products. The human
mind gets programmed in a certain manner when it comes to purchase of such products
hence it is done without any prior thought or evaluation.

Limited Decision Making - There are certain products which are brought occasionally
hence we require some time to gather the information to make a decision. Due to the lack
of knowledge of the product segment in advance it requires limited decision making on
the part of the customer.

Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or

infrequently bought products.

Impulsive buying - At certain times we just come across a product and buy it
impulsively without any kind of prior planning, evaluation or thought.

What are the major factors influencing buying behavior?

The factors influencing buying behavior can be categorized into:
a. Personal factors,
b. Psychological factors
c. Social factors.
Personal factors can be related to the persons age, sex , race, religion, occupation, educational
qualifications, level of authority etc.
Psychological factors refer to motives related to the satisfying of needs and wants which can
either arise out of deprivation or for instant social status.
Social factors refer to the physiological and social level of hierarchy in the society the consumer
belongs to, which determine his motives of purchasing a product.
Explain Business market and Consumer market
a.) Business market - Business market in simple words is business to business market where in
the products or services of a particular organization are sold to or purchased by other
organization or business. It also happens in support industries where the products that are
manufactured are components required to be assembled into the products or services offered by
some other business organization.
b.) Consumer market- Consumer market refers to a market where in the seller sells the product
for a primary reason of making profits while buyer buys the products for personal use.
What are the major differences between the two?

In consumer market the purchase might even be made when the products are not required
in day to day activities. But in business market the business has to buy to stay profitable.

The business buyer is sophisticated in terms of the process involved in buying, decision
making while on the other hand the consumer in the consumer market might not be as
sophisticated

The business buyer is an information-seeker, constantly on the lookout for information

and advice. On the other hand the consumer only searches information when he requires
making a decision.

Packaging is important in consumer market while its nonexistent in the business market.

Expert advice is taken while making purchases in the business market as against the
consumer market.

Consumer market product is simplistic while business products are complicated.

Explain - Pure monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition, Pure

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

Segments must have enough profit potential to justify developing and maintaining

Consumer must have heterogeneous needs for the product

Segmented consumer needs must be homogeneous

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

What can be the bases for

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

Modify the objective properties of the products or services.

Linking the sales and service function.

Be the first to introduce a new product

Physical location of a firm

Mix of products or services sold

Competitors linkage

Maintain and improve its reputation

Customization

Sophistication of the product

Marketing tools used

After sales services offered

b.) Personnel Differentiation

Should have good skills and knowledge

Should be courteous

Should always be consistent and accurate

Should be trustworthy for the end consumer

Should be quick in responses

Should make effort to understand and communicate

c.) Image differentiation

The identity should be well differentiated from the image

Precise aim to identify itself to its customers.

Perception of the firm in the minds of the consumer

What is a product?
Product refers to the bundle of tangible and intangible attributes that a seller offers to a buyer in
return of a particular predefined amount of payment in a particular mode. Goods, ideas, methods,
information, objects, services, etc., whose output serves as a need or want satisfier.
Explain width, length and depth of a product mix.
Product mix usually refers to the length (the number of products in the product line), breadth (the
number of product lines that a company offers), depth (the different varieties of product in the
product line), and consistency (the relationship between products in their final destination) of
product lines.
1. What is the difference between marketing and selling?
Both large and small companies experience internal conflicts between the sales group and
marketing group stemming from differing opinions about the role of marketing vs. the role of
sales. Marketing groups tend to see sales groups as a delivery mechanism at the end of a
marketing process. Sales groups tend to see marketing groups as providing a service that helps
sales groups to sell more easily.
Both viewpoints depend upon perspective. If youre in marketing, it may be difficult to perceive
the complexity and multiple steps involved in selling. Similarly, those in sales are so focused on
making the numbers that its difficult to appreciate the way that marketing has laid
groundwork.
Regardless of which viewpoint is correct, the conflicts between marketing and sales groups
can reduce a companys productivity.

Take, for example, the generation of sales leads, a common marketing function. According to a
recent study of 600 sales and marketing groups conducted by the research firm CSO Insights,
less than a quarter of sales professionals believe that theyre getting fully qualified leads from
their marketing group.
As with most organizational conflicts, a sense of mutual respect is the key to building better
working relationships.
One of the benefits of this question is that it helps to assess whether the candidate possesses that
fundamental sense of respect and will therefore be able to work well with your sales team. If the
candidate is dismissive of the sales group (e.g., says something like marketing drives sales), he
or she will probably increase rather than dampen any conflicts that exist between your sales and
marketing groups. Ideally, you want a candidate who understands the contributions of both
groups to the overall success of your company.
2. How would you contribute if you were temporarily assigned to our
sales group?
Many companies do this type of cross-assignment as a way to build bonds between their sales
and marketing groups. However, even if youre not planning such an assignment, you should still
ask this question because it takes the theoretical situation in the first question into the practical
realm of the candidates career.
The worst possible answer is something like, Im sure Id be good at selling, but such an
assignment would not be the best use of my talents. A response like this suggests that the
candidate, if hired, will have difficulty creating marketing programs and deliverables that are
useful to the sales team.
This is a huge problem, according to the book The Profit Maximization Paradox, which quotes
surveys showing that salespeople spend a whopping 40 percent of their time preparing
customer-facing deliverables while using less than 50 percent of marketing-created sales
materials.
A less-than-ideal but still acceptable answer is something like I dont know if Id be very good
at selling. Such a response suggests that the candidate understands that selling is difficult and
has the self-awareness to realize that he or she might not have the right characteristics to be
successful at the job.
The ideal answer is something like Id learn everything I could and then bring that knowledge
back into the marketing group to help make it more effective.
3. Tell me about your personal brand.

This is a bit of a trick question. On the surface, it provides an opening for the candidate to talk
about his or her experience and identity and how they appear to the outside world.
However, youre actually probing for something deeper: whether this candidates priority is 1)
helping your marketing team build a stronger corporate brand or 2) building a personal brand to
advance the candidates own career.
Ideally, you want a candidate who defines his or her personal brand in terms of service, working
with a team, and helping a company be successful. A candidate who articulates a personal brand
thats independent of any corporate brand is problematic.
Building and enhancing a corporate brand is difficult in a business world thats already saturated
with brands and corporate aims to get everybody in the company to be on the same page rather
than creating cross-currents that might confuse the corporate message.
If the candidate is being hired specifically as a celebrity whose prior experience adds to your
corporate credibility, then a strong personal brand is an asset. Indeed, its the reason that youre
hiring that candidate.
However, if a candidate is being hired for a less lofty job, a strong personal brandor the desire
to build onemay make that candidate less effective when working with a team and more likely
to grandstand and steal credit.
Thats important because, however you define marketing, getting good results requires people
who work well with teams.