define marketing management

DescriptionMarketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical

application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations
and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities.

why primary data is important in marketing resorce process

Primary data is information that you collect specifically for the purpose of your research project. An
advantage of primary data is that it is specifically tailored to your research needs. A disadvantage is
that it is expensive to obtain.

functions of marketing management

Marketing Management has the responsibility of to perform many functions in the field of marketing
such as planning, organizing, directing, motivating, coordinating and controlling. All these function
aim to achiven the marketing goals.

What are the different factors affecting consumer behavior?

Consumer s buyer behaviour is influenced by four major factors: 1) Cultural, 2) Social, 3) Personal,
4) Psychological. These factors cause consumers to develop product and brand preferences.

what is meant by consumer behaviour ?

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, buy,
use, and dispose ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the
actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions.

define market segmentation??

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market of potential customers into groups, or
segments, based on different characteristics. The segments created are composed of consumers
who will respond similarly to marketing strategies and who share traits such as similar interests,
needs, or locations.

define targeting in relation to marketing management.?

Targeting in marketing is a strategy that breaks a large market into smaller segments to concentrate
on a specific group of customers within that audience. It defines a segment of customers based on
their unique characteristics and focuses solely on serving them.

Instead of trying to reach an entire market, a brand uses target marketing to put their energy into
connecting with a specific, defined group within that market.

What are the elements of micro environment in marketing?

Customers and Consumers

Competitors

Organization

Market

Suppliers

Intermediaries

various steps involved in a marketing resource process??

Mission

Situation Analysis

Marketing Strategy/Planning

Marketing Mix

Implementation and Control

What are the five forces of competition as given by Michael Porter?

Competitive Rivalry,Supplier Power,Buyer Power,Threat of Substitution,Threat of new entry.

Long question-What are the elements of micro environment in marketing?

Customers and Consumers

Customers are people who buy an organization’s products/services. In simple words, an

organization cannot survive without customers. A consumer, on the other hand, is the ultimate user
of the product/service.

For example, a husband might purchase a product for his wife. In this case, the husband is the
customer and the wife is the consumer.

A successful business keeps a close watch on both customers and consumers of its products/
services. It must monitor and track any changes in tastes and preferences of the consumer along
with changes in the buying habits of the customer.

Competitors

Every business has competition. Competitors are other organizations that compete with each other
for both resources and markets. Hence, it is important that an organization is aware of its
competitors and in a position to analyze threats from its competition. A business must be aware of
its competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and the most aggressive and powerful
competitors at all times.

Further, an organization can have direct or indirect competitors. When organizations are involved in
the same business activity, they compete for both resources and markets. This is Direct
Competition.

For example, Pantene and Sunsilk shampoo companies are direct competitors. On the other hand,
a five-star holiday resort and a luxury car company are Indirect competitors since they offer
different products but vie for the same market.

Organization

One of the most important aspects of the micro environment of an organization is the self-analysis
of the organization itself. It must understand its own strengths and weaknesses, objectives and
goals of the business, and resource availability. The following non-specific elements of an
organization can affect its performance:

Owners – People who have a major shareholding in the organization and have vested interests in
the well-being of the company.

Board of Directors – The board of directors is elected by the shareholders for overseeing the
general management of the business and ensuring that the shareholder’s interests are met.

Employees – People who work in the organization are major contributors to its success. It is
important that all employees embrace the organization’s goals and objectives.

Market

The market is much more than the sum of all the customers. The organization must study the
market in terms of its actual size, the potential for growth, and its attractiveness. Some important
issues are:

The cost structure of the market

Price Sensitivity of the market

Technological structure of the market

The existing distribution system of the market

The maturity of the market

Suppliers

Suppliers are another important component of the micro environment. Organizations depend on
many suppliers for equipment, raw material, etc. to maintain their production. Suppliers can
influence the cost structure of the industry and are hence a major force.

Intermediaries

Intermediaries are also a major determining force in business. Most customers are unaware of the
manufacturer of the products they buy since they approach retailers, departmental store, chain
stores or online stores for their purchases.

Long question-processes involved in marketing management

The marketing management process goes through various stages to ensure the success of a
product in an organization. A company is generally in the blind about any new product. In a tough
business environment, with a customer who knows everything beforehand because of the presence
of online portals and websites, it is tough to plan and launch a new product or a marketing strategy.

Just like movie stars waiting in anticipation for their movies to be released, companies wait in
anticipation when a new product is launched. This new product can rock or it can fail in the market.
The marketing management process ensures that whatever happens, the product is given its best
chance to survive and thrive in the market.

1) Conduct market research

The very first step in the marketing management process starts with conducting a market research.
As previously mentioned, if a product is a new launch, then the company is likely to be in the blind
for the future propects of the product. They do not know what product the market needs, should
they go for a new product or do a product extension, what will be the expected turnover increase
from the new product, etc. Such questions are answered by market research. Thus, to even start
thinking of launching a new product, market research is necessary.

2) Develop a marketing strategy

Before making a marketing strategy, you need to know the market. As market research has already
been done, marketing strategy forms the second step in marketing management process. The
marketing strategy takes several points in consideration.

Simple things such as segmentation, targeting and positioning are a part of Marketing strategy.
However, tough things like deciding the marketing mix as well as getting the positioning strategy
right are also involved. Core competencies like financials and production are also to be analysed
during the marketing strategy stage. Taking all these things in consideration, a marketing strategy is
formed.

3) Make a marketing plan

After marketing strategy, a written marketing plan is made. This is the third and a very important
step in marketing management process. A written marketing plan is made to analyse where the
company is and where it wants to reach in a given time period. The marketing plan actually puts the
plan on paper and the marketer can anytime refer to the marketing plan to analyse whether he is on
track or not. The marketing plan itself has some pointers which are most important.

Situation analysis – Business environment analysis, Internal analysis (SWOT analysis), USP’s, core
competencies.

Strategic plan – A time related strategic plan outlining the pros and cons of the strategy.

Financials – Sales forecasts. Expenses forecast. Working capital etc.

Implementation – Operations. Customer loyalty. Brand building. Consumer behaviour. Product and
pricing decisions.

Follow up – After implementation, follow up is done to ensure marketing strategy is on track.

4) Feedback and control

Step 1, 4 and 5 are interrelated. Once a product is in the market, customers might give further ideas
for the improvement of the product. These ideas are usually considered by the marketing
department and a market research is conducted to find the validity of the ideas. If the idea is valid,
another product can be developed or another marketing strategy implemented. On the other hand,
if the product is not received positively, then the control mechanism needs to fall in place and
implement an alteration process for the product or in the worst case scenario – take the product out
of the market before it affects the brand.

The four steps above complete the marketing management process. With the world becoming a
small place due to the advent of the internet, the marketing management process has become
simpler. Feedback can be obtained online through simple questions, Marketing strategy can be
changed by keeping an online brand watch and market research can be done through social
networks. However, this does not change the gruelling process which traditional marketing
companies like FMCG, Electronics and Automobiles have to adopt.

Long question-factors affecting competition in the marketing management

From a microeconomics perspective, competition can be influenced by five basic factors: product
features, the number of sellers, barriers to entry, information availability, and location. These factors
hinge on the availability or attractiveness of substitutes.
Product features essentially describe the level of differentiation. If a company's product is
homogeneous, it is completely indistinguishable from products sold by competitors. This situation
would imply heavy competition. Alternatively, a product might be completely differentiated,
meaning that it is unique. In this case, there might be few alternatives and thus low levels of
competition. The level of differentiation is largely a subjective matter and subject to consumer
opinion.

The number of sellers also impacts competition. If there are many sellers of an undifferentiated
product, competition is considered to be high. If there are few sellers, competition is low. If there is
a single seller, the market is considered a monopoly.

Barriers to entry can influence the number of sellers. Market characteristics such as high capital
investment requirements or heavy regulation may prevent new companies from entering the market,
which in turn provides a level of protection to existing firms. With lower competition through barriers
to entry, firms might be able to charge higher prices.

Information availability is also important, and it revolves chiefly around price discovery. When
customers can efficiently and accurately find out prices across competitors, companies are less
able to set prices and competition is more heated.

An effective location strategy can corner a group of potential customers or otherwise reach them
more effectively than the competition. For example, gas stations are often located on busy corners.

It's easiest to understand these characteristics of competition through the lens of the two most
extreme versions: perfect competition and monopoly. In perfect competition, each firm's marginal
profit is equal to the marginal cost; there is no economic profit. In a monopoly, the marginal profit is
equal to the marginal revenue, which is the incremental revenue generated from selling one more
unit of the product.

Companies in perfect competition are considered to be price takers, meaning that they have no
scope to set prices – this is the reason why marginal profit is equal to marginal cost. Perfectly
competitive markets are defined by a homogeneous product, many sellers with low market share
and absolutely no barriers to entry or exit. These firms are unable to differentiate their products, and
their customers have highly accurate information.

A monopoly involves a single company dominating the entire market. In this situation, the firm sets
the price, and competition is nonexistent.

Most markets are somewhere in between perfect competition and monopoly. For example, the
market for soft drinks, dominated by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, could be considered an oligopoly,
where a few large firms dominate most of the market. The market for tomatoes could be considered
a step or two above perfect competition; after all, some people are willing to pay more for organic
or heirloom tomatoes, while others look only at the price.

Long question-relevance of marketing management in current senario

Importance of marketing can be studied as follows:
(1) Marketing Helps in Transfer, Exchange and Movement of Goods:

Marketing is very helpful in transfer, exchange and movement of goods. Goods and services are
made available to customers through various intermediaries’ viz., wholesalers and retailers etc.
Marketing is helpful to both producers and consumers.

To the former, it tells about the specific needs and preferences of consumers and to the latter about
the products that manufacturers can offer. According to Prof. Haney Hansen “Marketing involves
the design of the products acceptable to the consumers and the conduct of those activities which
facilitate the transfer of ownership between seller and buyer.”

(2) Marketing Is Helpful In Raising And Maintaining The Standard Of Living Of The
Community:
Marketing is above all the giving of a standard of living to the community. Paul Mazur states,
“Marketing is the delivery of standard of living”. Professor Malcolm McNair has further added that
“Marketing is the creation and delivery of standard of living to the society”.

By making available the uninterrupted supply of goods and services to consumers at a reasonable
price, marketing has played an important role in raising and maintaining living standards of the
community. Community comprises of three classes of people i.e., rich, middle and poor. Everything
which is used by these different classes of people is supplied by marketing.In the modern times,
with the emergence of latest marketing techniques even the poorer sections of society have
attained a reasonable level of living standard. This is basically due to large scale production and
lesser prices of commodities and services. Marketing has infact, revolutionised and modernised the
living standard of people in modern times.

(3) Marketing Creates Employment:

Marketing is complex mechanism involving many people in one form or the other. The major
marketing functions are buying, selling, financing, transport, warehousing, risk bearing and
standardisation, etc. In each such function different activities are performed by a large number of
individuals and bodies.

Thus, marketing gives employment to many people. It is estimated that about 40% of total
population is directly or indirectly dependent upon marketing. In the modern era of large scale
production and industrialisation, role of marketing has widened.

This enlarged role of marketing has created many employment opportunities for people. Converse,
Huegy and Mitchell have rightly pointed out that “In order to have continuous production, there
must be continuous marketing, only then employment can be sustained and high level of business
activity can be continued”.

(4) Marketing as a Source of Income and Revenue:

The performance of marketing function is all important, because it is the only way through which the
concern could generate revenue or income and bring in profits. Buskirk has pointed out that, “Any
activity connected with obtaining income is a marketing action. It is all too easy for the accountant,
engineer, etc., to operate under the broad assumption that the Company will realise many dollars in
total sales volume.

However, someone must actually go into the market place and obtain dollars from society in order
to sustain the activities of the company, because without these funds the organisation will perish.”

Marketing does provide many opportunities to earn profits in the process of buying and selling the
goods, by creating time, place and possession utilities. This income and profit are reinvested in the
concern, thereby earning more profits in future. Marketing should be given the greatest importance,
since the very survival of the firm depends on the effectiveness of the marketing function.

(5) Marketing Acts as a Basis for Making Decisions:

A businessman is confronted with many problems in the form of what, how, when, how much and
for whom to produce? In the past problems was less on account of local markets. There was a
direct link between producer and consumer.

In modern times marketing has become a very complex and tedious task. Marketing has emerged
as new specialised activity along with production.

As a result, producers are depending largely on the mechanism of marketing, to decide what to
produce and sell. With the help of marketing techniques a producer can regulate his production
accordingly.

(6) Marketing Acts as a Source of New Ideas:

The concept of marketing is a dynamic concept. It has changed altogether with the passage of
time. Such changes have far reaching effects on production and distribution. With the rapid change
in tastes and preference of people, marketing has to come up with the same.

Marketing as an instrument of measurement, gives scope for understanding this new demand
pattern and thereby produce and make available the goods accordingly.

(7) Marketing Is Helpful In Development Of An Economy:

Adam Smith has remarked that “nothing happens in our country until somebody sells something”.
Marketing is the kingpin that sets the economy revolving. The marketing organisation, more
scientifically organised, makes the economy strong and stable, the lesser the stress on the
marketing function, the weaker will be the economy.

Long question-describe process of exploring opportunities in marketing

planning