Question 1:

Introduction:

Marketing Strategy:

An organization's strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into one comprehensive
plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market research and focus on the right
product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit potential and sustain the business. The
marketing strategy is the foundation of a marketing plan.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix definition is simple. It is about putting the right product or a combination
thereof in the place, at the right time, and at the right price. The difficult part is doing this well,
as you need to know every aspect of your business plan.
Concepts & Cases:

Marketing Strategy:

The strategy of the Starbucks has been very effective by the time it entered in the India by first
most effective strategy by joint venturing with the TATA Group. As the brand value and trust of
the Indian public is very high towards TATA groups the Starbucks came into Indian market very
effectively and easily as there are so many legal barriers are there in the India.

As a Marketing Strategy Consultant first we should conduct a market survey of the Indian
market to know what the current position of the Indian coffee market is.

We should first determine the different segment of the coffee drinkers in the India.

After determining the segment we should know whom to target, the Starbucks has targeted the
people who are not price sensitive, who care about their status, who prefer a high quality
products and nice ambience.

The power of the Social media:

As we know the power of the social media is increasing day by day with the increase in the
access to the internet. The number of the social media users is increasing.

The Starbucks should arrange different social media campaigns to build stronger brand name,
as we know that it already has the strong brand name, it should do more efforts to hold the
customers and increase brand loyalty. We can use the different hash tags to increase the brand
awareness.

The expansion strategy should be such that it will generate more and more profits and sustain
its current brand value.

We should first conduct the market survey of the place in which we wish to open our store to
know the potentiality of the Starbucks. It successfully opened its new store in the Gujarat state
recently in Ahmedabad and Rajkot.
Marketing Mix:

Product:

Coffee shops may have their unique characteristics, but it also possible to see many parallels
between the sector and other retailing and catering sectors. Over the years, Starbucks has
grown to become one of the largest purchasers of high-quality Arabica coffees. With a growing
proportion of young people in India, the company might put also have in-store entertainment
facilities and Internet.

Place/distribution:

Starbucks need to place its shops into central locations, as the rural part of the country still
lives in poverty. Customer convenience and service delivery will have to be understood.

Pricing:

As Asia emerges from economic downturn, a growing middle class is willing to spend money.
However, Indian population is predominantly characterized by an attitude to save money. The
company will have to benchmark its products and prices in accordance to competitors, and also
considering the market trends and the consumer incomes.

Promotion:

Starbucks uses various promotional strategies, including catalogs, the Internet, advertisements
in local media but mostly, it uses word-of-mouth. The very location of its stores is a strong
marketing tactic.
Conclusion:

Starbucks is a very famous coffee store in India, It has a very high brand value. So its
potentiality to open its coffee stores in India is high as there is high probability to success in
that market. But it still choose the place for its expansion very wisely. For example to come in
the Gujarat State it chose only two cities that is Ahmedabad and Rajkot.
Question 2:
Introduction:
Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior is the sum total of a consumer's attitudes, preferences, intentions,
and decisions regarding the consumer's behavior in the marketplace when purchasing a
product or service. The study of consumer behavior draws upon social science disciplines of
anthropology, psychology, sociology, and economics.

There are various factors that influence the buying behavior of the consumer that are
Psychological, Social, Cultural, Personal and Economic Factors.
Concepts & Cases:
Factors influencing Consumer Buying Behavior:

Psychological Factors:

The human psychology plays a crucial role in designing the consumer’s preferences and likes or
dislikes for a particular product and services. Some of the important psychological factors are:

 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Attitudes and Beliefs

Social Factors:

The human beings live in a complex social environment wherein they are surrounded by several
people who have different buying behaviors. Since the man is a social animal who likes to be
acceptable by all tries to imitate the behaviors that are socially acceptable. Hence, the social
factors influence the buying behavior of an individual to a great extent. Some of the social
factors are:

 Family
 Reference Groups
 Roles and status

Cultural Factors:

It is believed that an individual learns the set of values, perceptions, behaviors, and
preferences at a very early stage of his childhood from the people especially, the family and the
other key institutions which were around during his developmental stage. Thus, the behavioral
patterns are developed from the culture where he or she is brought up. Several cultural factors
are:

 Culture
 Subculture
 Social Class

Personal Factors:

There are several factors personal to the individuals that influence their buying decisions.
Some of them are:
 Age
 Income
 Occupation
 Lifestyle

Economic Factors:

The last but not the least is the economic factors which have a significant influence on the
buying decision of an individual. These are:

 Personal Income
 Family Income
 Income Expectations
 Consumer Credit
 Liquid Assets of the Consumer
 Savings

1. Mercedes India:

The factors that can influence the buying behavior of the cutomers while buying the Mercedes
car can be psychological factors(e.g. Motivation), Social Factors( like Roles and Status), Personal
Factors( like Lifestyles etc.).

2. Narayana Hrudayalaya.

The factors that are responsible for the selection of a multispecialty hospital are economic
factors (like Personal Income, Family Income) and personal factors(like Lifestyle ), also it’s a
trend now that people are influenced by the reference groups they belong to.

3. Netflix India.

The factors which are influencing customers to select Netflix as a medium for media are
psychological factors (like perception, attitude and beliefs etc.), cultural factors (like Social
class), personal factors (like Lifestyle).

4. Byjus.

The factors that seem to be behind the selection of byjus application can be psychological
factors( like learning and perception, motivation), personal factors(like income)etc.
Conclusion:
So as we can see that there are many factors that influence the buying behavior of the
consumer for various different different products, the marketers task is that he should be able
to identify and understand every single factor that influences the buying behavior of the
consumer.
Question 3
Introduction
Question 3(a):

Industry life cycle:

An industry life cycle depicts the various stages where businesses operate, progress, prospect
and slump within an industry. An industry life cycle typically consists of five stages — startup,
growth, shakeout, maturity and decline. These stages can last for different amounts of time,
some can be months or years.

Question 3(b):

There are five ways to differentiate our products from competitors and positioning strategies
that are:

1. Product differentiation
2. Price differentiation
3. Service differentiation
4. Distribution differentiation
5. Relationship differentiation
Concept & Cases
Question 3(a):

Various stages of Industry Life Cycle:

1. Startup Stage

At the startup stage, customer demand is limited due to unfamiliarity with the new product’s
features and performance. Distribution channels are still underdeveloped, so there are very few
product supply and promotional activities.

Characteristics:

 Distribution channel is underdeveloped

 Customer demand I limited
 Zero or very low revenue
 Large amount of capital investment

2. Growth Stage

As the product slowly attracts attention from a bigger market segment, the industry moves on
to the growth stage where profitability starts to rise.

Characteristics:

 Profitability starts to rise

 Improvement in product features
 Demand starts to rise
 Revenue rises

3. Maturity Stage

At the maturity stage, majority of the companies in the industry are well-established and the
industry reaches it saturation point.

Characteristics:

 Maintain profitability by adopting strategies

 Try to reduce Rivalry
  Revenue rises

4. Decline Stage

Decline stage is the last stage of an industry life cycle. The intensity of competition in a
declining industry depends on several factors: sped of decline, height of exit barriers and level
of fixed costs

Characteristics:

 Sales Decline
 Investment decreases
 No new Market to explore

Current stage of the Industry in India:

The current stage of the folding bicycle industry is at the Startup Stage.

As we know that the presence of the folding bicycle is not there in the Indian market so we can
say that it is at the startup stage. People are not much about the folding bicycle so the
awareness level is low in the Industry. As the awareness level is low the customer’s demand is
also low for the folding bicycle.

Question 3(b):

Ways to choose competitive advantage

1. Product Differentiation:

The XYZ can have competitive advantage by product differentiation, as we know that there is
no such folding bicycle in the market. So the company can gain competitive advantage by
offering a different and unique product that is folding bicycle in the market.

2. Price Differentiation:

The company can have competitive advantage by charging high for the folding bicycles.

As we know that it is the first and only company that is offering the folding bicycle in the Indian
market, so it can charge high prices as there is no other company offering such product.

It is the new and advance product so charging high prices can help company to gain competitive
advantage
Conclusion:
Question 3(a):

The folding bicycle industry is at the startup stage as it is the first company that is offering the
folding bicycle in the Indian market. At this stage the company should increase the awareness
of its product that is folding bicycle in the Indian market so it can increase its sales

Question 3(b)

By discussing the differentiation strategies that company can use to gain competitive
advantage, we can say that the XYZ Company can use the Product Differentiation and Price
Differentiation Strategy for the competitive advantage.

The folding bicycle is the new and never offered before product in the Indian market so the
company is having the competitive advantage by offering such product. And also it can charge
high prices for their products as it is different from the other products in the market.