MARKETING STRATEGIES OF MODERN FOOD ENTERPRISES PRIVATE LIMITED

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Submitted by

ARAVIND P L (2015-31-027)

P J AASHIQUE (2015-31-003)

MINOR PROJECT

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduate degree of

MBA IN AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Under the guidance of

Dr. Smitha Baby

Assistant Professor

Agricultural Extension

Communication Centre

KAU,Mannuthy

COLLEGE OF CO-OPERATION BANKING AND MANAGEMENT

KERALA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

VELLANIKKARA, KAU (P.O)

THRISSUR-680 656

KERALA, INDIA

2016

1
DECLARATION

2
 DECLARATION

We hereby declare that this project entitled MARKETING

STRATEGIES OF MODERN FOOD ENTERPRISES
PRIVATE LIMITED A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY is a
bonafide record of research work done by us during the course
of major project work and that it has not previously formed the
basis for the award to me of any Degree/Diploma,
Associateship, Fellowship or other similar titles of any other
University or Society.

Place: Vellanikkara ARAVIND.P.L

Date: (2015-31-027)

P.J AASHIQUE
(2015-31-003)

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 DESIGN OF THE
STUDY

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 CHAPTER 1
DESIGN OF THE STUDY
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.0.1 Food Processing Industry
The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world
food trade every year. In India, the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit
sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing
industry.

The food industry, which is currently valued at US$ 39.71 billion!is expected to grow at a
Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11 per cent to US$65.4 billion by 2018. Food and
grocery account for around 31 per cent of Indias consumption basket.

Accounting for about 32 per cent of the countrys total food market, The Government of India
has been instrumental in the growth and development of the food processing industry. The
government through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is making all efforts to
encourage investments in the business. It has approved proposals for joint ventures (JV), foreign
collaborations, industrial licenses and 100 per cent export oriented units.

The Indian food and grocery market is the worlds sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 per
cent of the sales. Food has also been one of the largest segments in India's retail sector, which
was valued at US$ 490 billion in 2013@. The Indian food retail market is expected to reach Rs
61 lakh crore (US$ 894.98 billion) by 2020.

The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 per cent of the countrys total food market,
one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption,
export and expected growth. It contributes around 14 per cent of manufacturing Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), 13 per cent of Indias exports and six per cent of total industrial investment.
Indian food service industry is expected to reach US$ 78 billion by 2018.The Indian gourmet
food market is currently valued at US$ 1.3 billion and is growing at a Compound Annual Growth
Rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent. India's organic food market is expected to increase by three times
by 2020.

1.0.2 Bread Industry in India

The bread industry in India, valued at INR 33bn (~USD 0.53 bn) in FY 2015(E), grew at
a CAGR of ~9% over the last three years. ValueNotes estimates that the industry will be worth
approximately INR 53bn (~USD 0.86bn) by FY 2020, growing at a CAGR of ~10%.

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 Growing disposable incomes, changing lifestyles and preferences of consumers supported
by an increase in the youth population, female work participation as well as a widening scope of
the Indian retail market will drive the industry growth.Latest trends witnessed in the industry
reveal that companies manufacturing bread products are likely to increase their manufacturing
capacities to expand their foothold in different regions. With a change in eating habits and
preferences of consumers, the bread industry is coming up with innovative products and flavors,
and a variety of breads.

1.0.3 Modern Food Enterprises Priavate Limited

Modern foods enterprises Pvt Ltd is situated at Edapalli Ernakulam. MFEL was
established under the ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing. Government of India and is
registered under the companies act 1963, as a public sector enterprises with the objective of
popularizing wheat consumption especially in non-wheat producing areas. It was taken over by
Hindustan Unilever Ltd in January 2000. This was the was the first privatization of public sector
unit by the Government of India., In April 2016 it was taken over by Everstone Group. Modern
have over 40% of the bread market in India.

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

India is the worlds second largest producer of food next to China and has the potential of being
the biggest, backed by its food and agricultural sector. Food processing is an important segment
of the economy having a share of 9-10% of GDP in agricultural and manufacturing sector.
According to All India Bread Manufacturers Association (AIBMA) the per capita consumption
of bread in India is only around 1.6 to 1.8 Kg in various zones in 2015.A rough consumption of
bread indicate the southern state leading with 32% while north, west and east zonal states
consume about 27%, 23% and 18% respectively.

Modern Food Enterprises Private Limited (MFEPL) is holding the highest market share
in the bread industry. They have 48% of the total market share in Kerala. The main competitors
are Elite and local producers. They are maintaining this market share consistently over a long
period. This consistency can be maintained only through a definite and unique marketing
strategy, which is entirely different from their competitor. It is essential to understand and study
about the various marketing strategies followed by the market leaders in this sector. The
marketing strategies are the connecting link between the customers and the business
organization. A descriptive study about the marketing strategies along with the customer
awareness and preferences is to be done.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To analyze the marketing strategies adopted by MFEPL

2. To know the customer awareness and preferences about MFEPL

1.3 METHODOLOGY
Respondents of the study comprises the consumers of MFEPL.

STUDY AREA - Thrissur district

MFEPL is facing tough competition from Elite Breads and local brands in Thrissur District. The
level of competition is high in Thrissur district compared to other districts.

INSTITUTION Modern Food Enterprises Private Limited

PERIOD OF STUDY August-September 2016

SAMPLE DESIGN The primary data for the study were collected from consumers. A sample
of 60 consumers.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS The study uses both primary and secondary data.
Primary data will be collected by administering structured questionnaires to consumers.
Secondary data were collected through books, journals and websites related to the subject
domain area.

DATA ANALYSIS Statistical tools such as Percentage analysis, Satisfaction Index, Time
Series analysis are to be used by IBM SPSS.

1.4 OBSERVATIONS MADE

1.4.1 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Consumers socio-economic profile.

Consumption pattern
Life style
Brand awareness
Market share of competitors
Methods used for marketing
Quality parameters of the product
Shelf-life of the product

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 Availability of the product
1.4.2 PRODUCT

Respondents awareness towards MFEPL.

Attribute about the product
Quality parameters exclusively for bread
Consumer awareness about other brands
1.4.3 PRICE

Affordability
Pricing policy of MFEPL
Price offers
1.4.4 PROMOTION

Knowledge of promotion
Influence of promotion strategy
Brand preference
Media reach of consumers
1.4.5 PLACE

Availability
Convenience of purchase

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study concentrated on the marketing strategies of MFEPL to provide a basic
understanding for management studies and guidance for future entrepreneurs. This study helps
the organization to know about the views and ideas about the product by the customer. The study
also direct the organization to further modify their strategies according to customer behavior.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Since the study is restricted to Thrissur district, a generalization of the result is not possible.
Because the competition factor differs for each district.

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 REVIEW OF
LITERATURE
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 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In this chapter, an attempt is made to review critically the available literature. A comprehensive
review of past studies is useful to formulate concepts, methodologies and tools of analysis to be
used for study. The review was made on the following headings:

1. Consumer Awareness

2. Marketing Strategies

Consumer Awareness

Singh and Singhal (1980) a well-designed packaging act as a main identifying feature for quality
and quantity and makes the consumers more informative and choosy. It further informs the
consumer, as to what quality, quantity and price the package is worth off.

Rant (1987) in his study on consumers attitude towards advertising pointed out that around 89%
of the respondents believed that advertising is useful to the consumers, by giving convenient
information about the products and increase customer awareness. It also provides an opportunity
to make comparison and make shopping easier to consumers.

Mani and Srinivasan (1988) stated that educational status was a major determinant of
consumption of processed products by household and with regard to brand preference,
consumers were more conscious of quality than price.

Sabeson (1992) found that increase in educational level of households (head) and wife lead to
increase consumption of processed food products. Similarly consumption was more in case of
employed wife and higher income groups. The consumers were found to give more weightage to
the quality of the product, price and keeping quality while selecting the product.

Subhalekshmi (1999) found that rural consumes in general had a favourable attitude regarding
attractiveness of packing and availability of curry powder/masala in convenient packing and size.
In the case of urban consumers they generally agreed that the product had effective promotion
and enjoyable taste. She observed that rural consumers in general favoured the packing aspect of
the product features whereas urban consumers agreed to the promotion and product like taste of
the other product.

Raju and Saravanan (2001) pointed out that in most of the families purchase decision was taken
collectively in the case of consumer durables and revealed that advertisement or publicity

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through mass media proves to be the best source of reaching the public closely followed by
information from retailers and friends.

Vimal (2001) remarked that in the new economy, providing more, however efficiently is not
necessarily better. The realistic task is to capture the customer under certain circumstances for a
period of time. The goal should be to build limited loyalty to have as much of the customers
attention as realistically possible.

Feinberg, Krishna, and Zhang (2002) provides evidence of a betrayal effect, in which loyal
consumers of a brand provide less favourable preferences for that brand when they are excluded
from a targeted deal offered only to competitors' customers.

Gaur & Vahed (2002) observed that customers buying behaviour normally should include the
less observable decision process that accompany consumption including where, how often and
under what condition customer make their purchase of desired goods and services.

Vikas (2003) in his study says that brands are successful because the people prefer them to
ordinary products. In addition to the psychological factors brands give consumers the means
whereby they can make choice and judgements. Customers can then rely on chosen brands to
guarantee standard quality and service.

Kotler and Armstrong (2004) opined that a buyer decision is also influenced by personal
characteristics such as buyer's age, life style, occupation, economic situation, personality and
self-concept.

Ramasamy and. Kalaivanan (2005) opined that the buying behaviour is vastly influenced by
awareness and attitude towards the product. Generally people get awareness about the products
or services from various information sources like commercial advertisement in mass
communication media, retailers, sales people and reference group like family members, friends
and relatives.

Reddy and Rajarshmi (2005) found that almost all people prefer brand product and if their
favourite brand is not available in store and if their favourite brand is not available in the
markets, they are ready to postpone their buying decisions.

Howard and Kerin (2006) found that consumers with different levels of involvement,
operationalized by whether they are in the market for a particular product, have different
information processing styles and hence respond to different price promotion cues.

Thompson (2007) stated that it is a well-known fact that no business can exist without customers.
In the business of web design, it is important to work closely with your customers to make sure
the site or system you create for them is as close to their requirements as you can manage.
Because, it is critical that you form a close working relationship with your client, customer
service has vital importance.

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Balsubrahmanian and Sathyanarayanan (2008) explained in their study that the success of any
business lies in maintaining a strong base of loyal customer. The organization exists for the
customer and the customers are the deciding forces behind the success or failure of the business
organization.

Kumar (2008) revealed that majority of the consumers are highly concerned with the quality of
the products. He also revealed that the consumers uniformly both in urban and rural areas desire
to have quality product at reasonable prices and trust more in the advice of the retailers.

Kumar and Das (2009) opined that today's consumer can greatly influence the manufacturer or
the marketer regarding size, quality, content of the product, price, post-sale service etc. Markets
today have, therefore become "Customer driven" rather than being "Seller driven". With the
entry of several new retail formats in the country the competitive scenario is undergoing a major
change and is becoming extremely challenging. Price sensitive customers are targeted by
companies with lucrative promotion schemes.

Consumer awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognized by customers, and is correctly
associated with a particular product. Consumer awareness key role in customer decision making.
By increasing a potential or current customer's knowledge about a product, service or business, a
healthy economic environment is established in which customers are informed and protected and
businesses are accountable.

The eventual goal of most businesses is to generate profits and increase sales. Brand awareness
plays a major role in a consumer's buying decision process, and is essential to help the
companies to build market share. Word-of-mouth marketing from family and friends, or high
recognition of the product through repeated advertising, can drive consumers to purchase certain
brands over others. Consequently, integrated marketing communications strategies are
instrumental in helping companies expand their customer base and encourage repeat purchases.

Marketing Strategies

Frey (1961) suggested that marketing variables should be divided in to two parts: The offering
(Product, packaging, brand, price and service) and the methods and tools (distribution channels,
personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and publicity).

Borden (1965) claimed to be the first to have used the term "Marketing Mix- with a set of 1
elements namely- product planning, pricing, branding, channels of distribution. personal selling,
advertising, promotion, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling and fact finding
analysis.

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Bobrow and Bobrow (1985) defined marketing practices as strategies that one organization uses
to achieve its marketing goals; will probably not be the same that another company would use,
even under similar circumstances.

Totten and Block (1994) stated that the term sales promotion refers to many kinds of selling
incentives and techniques intended to produce immediate or short-term sales effects. Typical
sales promotion includes coupons, samples, in-pack premiums, and price-offs, displays, and so
on.

Philip Kotler (1996) opined that the best advertising is done by the satisfied consumers.
Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or
services by an identified sponsor. There are five stages in development of an advertising
program. In the first stage advertising objects are set. Second stage involves calculating a budget
that takes in to account product life cycle stages and market share. In third stage, advertising
message is chosen and executed.

Clewelt (2000) The marketing objective says 'where to go' and the marketing strategy says 'how
to go'. The marketing strategy helps to segment the market, target the most promising segment,
and position the product in the consumers mind as a clear, distinct and desirable place relative to
competing products.

SAM' (2000) stated that a firm would be able to achieve much success if it has continues
approach to market with a mass marketing strategy. The only way to replace customer
satisfaction with customer delight is to tailor ones offer to individual needs of each customer, that
is ,a shift from standardization to customization.

Chandon et al. (2002) indicated that sales promotion may be attractive to highly promotion prone
consumers for reasons beyond price savings. These highly promotion prone consumers may
switch brands to receive special deals that reflect and reinforce their smart shopper self-
perception. 'they concluded that highly promotion prone consumers might try a new product that
has promotion.

According to Gilbert and Jackaria (2002), packs with 'buy-one-get-one-free' may not increase
brand awareness before trial purchase because the customer will only come across the product
once in the store (unlike samples or coupons), however, if the promotion is noticeable it will
facilitate brand recognition and brand recall for future purchases. Since an additional amount is
given for free, consumers may be persuaded to buy the product it' they feel it represents a fair
deal that provides value for money.

According to Shimp (2003), sales promotion refers to any incentive used by a manufacturer to
induce the trade (wholesalers, retailers, or other channel members) and/or consumers to buy a
brand and to encourage the sales force to aggressively sell it. Retailers also use promotional

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incentives to encourage desired behaviours from consumers. Sales promotion is more short-term
oriented and capable of influencing behaviour.

Mukesh Pandey (2004) opined that the media burst, growing popularity of internet has brought
the generation closer to all developed world economies. The young 15 to 30 years old are
technology-savvy, discerning shoppers, believe in self-gratification, have money are spoilt for
choice, look out for differentiation that adds 'fun' to the experience of consuming that product. In
a developing country like India, a large chunk of consumer expenditure is on basic necessities,
especially food related items. The share of food related items however is going down, which
means IN ith income growth, Indians, like consumers elsewhere spent more on non-food items
compared with food products.

Kotwal et. al (2005) concluded that television and advertising together present a lethal
combination and has become an integral part of modern society. It is the most convenient route
to reach not only the adult consumers, but also adolescents.

Isha and Girish (2006) opined in their study that the objective of modern marketing is to make
profit through satisfying customer needs and wants, Hence the marketers have to understand the
real needs, wants, beliefs and attitude of the customer towards products and services.

Canavan, Henchion and 0' Reilly (2007) in their study on Irish speciality food producers
conclude that the Internet can complement other marketing channels used by Irish speciality food
producers and endorse its function as a key part of Ecrm "its role in managing information and
relationships may be more important than online sales". They conclude that -leveraging the
Internet as a 'marketing channel' as distinct from mainly a 'distribution channel' is evident in the
specialty food market and this is likely to be of increasing importance to speciality food
producers".

Kristoffer Ejehro (2007) states that the field of marketing is an era that is always evolving and
developing. One of the biggest development during the last decades is the introduction of
INIC(Integrated Marketing Communication),IMC switches the focus towards the customer,
using them as the basis for the marketing communication efforts and relying on two way
communications to create and strengthen the relationships that exists between a company and its
customers.

Sharif Menon (2007) in his study "competitive promotional tools and retailing" opined that the
major competitive promotional tools starting from the advertising, sales promotion. direct
marketing, personal selling, public relation and publicity.

Ferrel and Hartline (2008) to succeed in today's competitive market place, each company must
frame a marketing strategy. The marketing strategy is the marketing logic by which :he company
hopes to achieve its marketing objectives.

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Kamalm et.al (2008) opined that India is witnessing change in life styles of a large sections of
our population. The need to understand the emerging markets and consumers has become a big
challenge for the corporate world especially in creating and managing a powerful brand. By
developing a powerful brand, corporate can establish brand equity that assists firms in a variety
of ways to manage competition and maintain market share. Mal Murugan (2008) found that the
word of mouth is twice effective than radio advertisement and four times effective than the
personal selling.

Sandip Anand (2008) states that the consumers are neither receiving 'information value' nor
`entertainment value from television advertisements. Though there is a relationship between
brand used and add recall but viewers are not very satisfied with the ads, which they want.

Amarjeet kumar and Shantanu Uniyal (2009) observed that in this era of time shifting and fast
changing consumer loyalty advertisers are searching for new techniques of attracting consumers
interest. This unending quest for being different and innovative has brought advertisers to new
concept called Consumer Generated Advertisement (CGA).CGA is the latest strategy where
consumers purposely involved in creating ad campaigns.

Jain R. and Ekta Kapur (2009) this article argues that in the current economic turmoil, retailers
need to modify their marketing strategies and focus on practices like below-the-line promotions,
Bluetooth marketing, affiliate marketing and other unconventional methods of promotion

Kirti Dutta (2009) opined that advertising is the most visible and noticeable component of
communication mix.

A recent article by 0' Dwyer, Gilmore and Carson (2009) examining innovative marketing in
SMIF,s reiterates previous authors in the literature who state that the primary components of
innovative marketing are `uniqueness' newness' and 'unconventionality'. Taken together, these
variables are the basis from which SMEs can formulate a unique proposition. Ibis study also
presents a conceptual model for innovative marketing in SMEs based on "incessant supplemental
adjustments to current activities and practices, which enables SMEs in niche markets to
differentiate their product or service from the standardised offerings of larger firms".

Renganathan (2009) in his study entitled "Consumer Market and Buying Behaviour" stated that
ever since the marketing concept was developed buying behaviour of consumers has been the
pivotal point of marketing theory and practices. The emphases on buying behaviour of
consumers gained renewed strengthen following the adoption of modem marketing practices in
21St century.

Tong and Hawley (2009) described that sales promotion is seen as temporary incentive to
encourage the trial or use of a product or service. Sales promotion in general can be classified in
to two types ,as such: price promotion and non-price promotion.

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Chandran Chavady (2010) told that where advertisement offers a reason to buy, sales promotion
offers an incentive to buy.

Elmazi L (2010) Strategy is linked with the effective usage of development potentials and results
of an organisation that reacts to adopt itself to the environmental changes.

Nelson (2010) viewed as advertising is non-personal communication and promotion of ideas,

goods or services by an identified sponsor by various media. Therefore it is a crucial determinant
for brand image, along with physical characteristics of the brand, the price charged and the
satisfaction that is derived from the brand.

Lim and Chung (2011) WOM (Word Of Mouth) is a low cost and reliable way of spreading
information or experiences regarding products or services, thus it is believed as a key issue in
information or experience diffusion in consumer markets as well as shaping consumers
expectation.

For a company to succeed, it should understand the market it is targeting. Market analysis is an
important part of formulating marketing strategy. The marketing mix is a central tool used in the
development of the strategic section of a company's marketing plan. It is a blend of four key
elements that go into developing and promoting a product offering. The product component is
the specific tangible good that have developed to sell. Distribution refers to how products bring
to market. Pricing strategies helps to project the value proposition and relate to profitability. The
final component, promotions, involves strategies to communicate your brand benefits to
customers.

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CHAPTER 3

THEORETICAL ORIENTATION

In the process of marketing the consumers conceive the goods from the conceptual stage

to the actual form. The process is actually a combination of 4Ps of marketing.

1. Initiating, Designing and development of a product.

2. Price determination.
3. Selecting a Supply Chain Process to reach the place of the customer.
4. Developing and Implementing promotional strategies.

Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their

satisfaction and is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers

for the purpose of selling that product or service. Marketing strategies serves as the fundamental

base of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives.

Marketing strategy includes all basic, short term and long term activities in the field of

marketing that deals with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a company and the

formulation, evaluation and selection of market oriented strategies and therefore contribute to

the goals of the company and its marketing objectives.

The basic marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target

market. This is often related to 4Ps Price, Product, Promotion and Place

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 Product The first of the 4Ps of marketing is product. A product can be either a

tangible good or an intangible service. That fulfills a need or want of consumers.

Product refers to the item actually being sold.

Price Price refers to the money value equivalent to the value of product. It depends

on cost of production, segment targeted, ability of the market to pay, supply demand

and a host of other direct and indirect factors. There can be several types of pricing

strategies, each tied in with an overall business plan. Pricing can also be used as

demarcation, to differentiate and enhance the image of the product.

Place Marketing is about having the right product at the right place and at the right

time. The main objective of place strategy is to capture the attention of the customers

and making it easy to buy. Location is the most important aspect of retail business.
Promotion Promotion consists of all the activities than helps to be aware of the

existence and purpose of a product. Word of mouth is the most effective form of

promotion for a product or brand. Various other methods of promotion are

advertising, press reports, incentives, commissions and awards, consumer schemes,

direct marketing, contests and prices etc

Advertising
Advertising is defined as any form of paid communication or promotion for product,

service and idea. Advertising development involves a decision across five Ms ,

money, message, media and measurement.

Mission looks at the process of setting objectives for the advertisement activities. The

objectives should be based on the marketing strategies set by the company.

Money ,basically the budget decisions for the advertising activities should consider

the stages of product life cycle, market share and consumer base, competition,

advertising frequency and product substitutability.

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Messages development further is divided into four steps, message generation,

message evaluation and selection, message execution, and social responsibility

review.
Once the message is decided the next step is finalizing the media for delivering the

message. The choice depends on reach of media, frequency of transmission and

potential impact on customer. Based on this, the choice of media types are made from

newspaper, television, direct mail, radio, magazine and the internet.

Measurement -Checking on the effectiveness of communication is essential to

company's strategy.
Sales promotion
Sales promotion activity can have many objectives, for example, to grab attention of

new customer, reward the existing customer, increase consumption of occasional

users. Sales promotion is usually targeted at the fence sitters and brand switchers.

Consumer incentives could be samples, coupons, free trial and demonstration. Trade

incentive could be price off, free goods and allowances. Sales force incentive could

be convention, trade shows, competition among sales people.

Public relations
Companies cannot survive in isolation they need to have a constant interaction with

customers, employees and different stakeholders. This servicing of relation is done by

the public relation office. The major function of the public relation office is to handle

press releases, support product publicity, create and maintain the corporate image,

handle matters with lawmakers, guide management with respect to public issues.

Direct marketing
The communication establishes through a direct channel without using any

intermediaries is referred to as direct marketing. Direct marketing can be used to

deliver message or service. Direct marketing saves time, makes an experience

personal and pleasant. Direct marketing reduces cost for companies. Face to face

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 selling, direct mail, catalogue marketing, telemarketing, TV and kiosks are media for

direct marketing.
Sales Promotion Tools
Offering Products for Free

Offering company-manufactured products for free for a specified period like a few days or

months could be one of the finest tools of sales promotion. This is one of the most successful

marketing techniques for already-introduced goods as well as new goods. Exhibitions can be

arranged in major locations in the city, generally in the most popular areas, to attract maximum

customers to the venue. For this method to work, the company needs to advertise the exhibition in

different media and give an idea of the kind of goods kept for sale/display.

Discount Coupons

For a company to succeed in achieving its sales targets, understanding buyer psychology

is very essential. A buyer always looks for discounts and is always interested in schemes which

offer quality products at attractive rates as compared to the prevailing market rates. So,

distributing discount coupons by publishing them in newspapers, leading and popular magazines,

or handing them over personally to customers, would be a good idea to boost the sales of certain

selected products.

Exchange Offer

In an exchange offer. The customer gets a particular product for a price which is less than its

actual price if he gives the company the old product which he is currently using. Such offers can

help draw customers in huge numbers who are interested in buying technologically advanced and

new products.

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 Marketing is said to he the eyes and ears of a business organization. This is so because

marketing keeps the business in close contact with its economic, political, social and

technological environment and informs it of events that can influence activities as per the

requirements of the market. Marketing is the heart of business organization. It is the revenue

producing activity for the organization. Peter Drucker said "because its purpose is to create a

customer, the business has two and only two fUnctions - marketing and innovation. Marketing

and innovation create value, all the rests are costs". Thus sound marketing is critical to the

success of the organization.

A marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its (often

limited) resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable

competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer

satisfaction is the main goal.

Marketing strategies are most effective when they are well aligned with corporate

strategies. Designing goals and engaging customers, prospects and competitors in ways that meet

those goals are all key components of successful marketing strategies.

As the customer constitutes the source of a companys revenue, marketing strategy is closely

linked with sales. A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with a

companys overarching mission statement-which should address matters of: target audience,

unique proportion and implementation.

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