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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING 3
PRODUCT 20
TYPES OF MARKETING 24
BRAND CONCEPT 28
PRICING CONCEPT 33
PROMOTION 39
DIGITAL MARKETING 43
RURAL MARKETING 47
SALES 49

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 INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING

Marketing: is an organizational function tangible item, services, ideas, concepts or a

and a set of processes for creating,
communicating, and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its stakeholders.
person.
2. Price
The sum of the values that consumers
exchange for the benefits of having or using
the product or services.

Evolution of Marketing 3. Place (Distribution Channel)

A set of interdependent organizations
Simple Trade Era (Pre-Industrial involved in the process of making a product
Revolution) or service available for use or consumption
Production Era (1860’s–1920’s) by the consumer or business user.
Sales Era (1920’s–1940’s)
Marketing Department Era (1940’s– 4. Promotion
1960’s) Coordination of methods of communication
Marketing Company Era (1960’s – 1990’s) that a marketer may use to provide
Relationship Marketing Era (1990’s – information to different parties about the
2010) product. Promotion comprises elements
Social/Mobile Marketing Era (2010 – such as advertising, public relations,
Present) personal selling, etc.

Marketing Mix (7 P’s) 5. People:

People are the most important element of
1. Product any service or experience. Services tend to
Anything that can be offered to a market for be produced and consumed at the same
attention, use or consumption that might moment, and aspects of the customer
satisfy a want or need. It includes any experience are altered to meet the
'individual needs' of the person consuming

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it. Most of us can think of a situation where ● The building itself (such as prestigious
the personal service offered by individuals offices or scenic headquarters)
has made or tainted a tour, vacation or ● Mailboxes
restaurant meal. Some ways in which
people add value to an experience, as a part Market
of the marketing mix, are - training, A place where buyers and sellers meet,
personal selling and customer service. goods and services are offered for sale, and
transfer of ownership occurs.
6. Process:
It refers to the process and methods of Roles comprising the Market
offering a service. For instance, the method ● The Marketer
of handling sales, processing of orders and ● The Decision Maker
after-sale service can be very important ● The Consumer
elements of the marketing mix. ● The Purchaser

7. Physical evidence: The Influencer Difference between

It is the material part of a service. Strictly
speaking there are no physical attributes to
a service, so a consumer tends to rely on
material cues. There are many examples of
physical evidence, including some of the
following:
● Packaging (considered in the product
dimension in the traditional 4Ps)
● Internet/web pages Paper work (such as
invoices, tickets and dispatch notes).
● Brochures
● Furnishings
● Signage (such as those on aircraft and
vehicles)
● Uniforms
● Business cards
Needs, Wants and Demands
Needs
Needs are basic human requirements and
include food, clothing and shelter. An
extended part of the needs today has
become education and healthcare.
Wants
Needs become wants when they are
directed to specific objects that might
satisfy the human needs.
Demands
Human wants that are backed by buying
power.

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Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning ● Nationality
Market Segmentation ● Religion
● Socio Economic Classes
The process of dividing a broad market into
subsets of consumers, businesses or Psychographic Segmentation
countries who have, or are perceived to Grouping customers according to their
have common goals, interests and priorities lifestyle.
and then designing and implementing Few tools to measure lifestyle:
strategies to target them. ● Activities
● Interests
Bases of segmentation ● Opinions
Geographic Segmentation Region ● Attitudes
By continent, country, state or even ● Values
neighborhood
Size of metropolitan area: segmented Behavioral Segmentation
according to the size of population Based on actual customer behavior towards
Population density: often classified as products. Few variables to measure:
urban, suburban or rural ● Benefits sought
Climate: according to weather patterns ● Usage rate
common to certain geographic region “A ● Brand loyalty
Business has only two functions: Marketing ● Readiness to buy
and Innovation” ● User status: potential, first-time,
● regular, etc.
Demographic Segmentation ● Occasions: holidays and events that
● Age stimulate purchases
● Education
● Gender Targeting
● Ethnicity The process of evaluating each market
● Family segment’s attractiveness and selecting one
● Size or more segments to enter. After the most
● Occupation attractive segments are selected, a company
● Income should not directly start targeting all these

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segments – other important factors come
into play defining a target market. Four sub
activities form the basis for deciding on
which segments will actually be targeted.
Defining the abilities of the company and
resources needed to enter a market
Analyzing competitors on their resources
and skills
Considering the company’s
compared to the competitor’s abilities
Deciding on the actual target markets
the benefits desired by a single specific
segment Differentiated Designing more
than one promotional message, with each
communicating different benefits.
Marketing Environment
The market environment is a marketing
term and refers to factors and forces that
abilities affect a firm’s ability to build and maintain
successful relationships with customers.
Example: Amazon Kindle

Positioning Segmentation
Positioning is the act of designing a Urban vs Rural, City, Income, Education,
company’s offering and image to occupy a Lifestyle, Personality, Benefits, Usage
distinctive place in the minds of the target Rate, Readiness Stage, Attitude towards
market. It can also be defined as, “All the Product.
activities undertaken by a marketer to
create and maintain the concept of value Targeting
regarding its brand in the minds of Urban, Tier-I and Tier- II cities, Income >
customers as against its competitor’s 5 lac per annum, Graduates, Culture-
brands.” oriented, Ambitious and information
“Situational Analysis is the foundation of a seeking, People seeking a convenient mode
marketing plan” of reading and buying books, Voracious
Three important types of targeting readers and people who read while on the
strategies: move, People with high awareness of such
a technological product, People
Strategy Description enthusiastic and positive about an
Undifferentiated Sending the same alternative way of reading books which
promotional message to everyone makes it more convenient for them.
Concentrated/ Niche Designing a
promotional message that communicates

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Positioning
An alternative way of reading books which
makes it more convenient and offers a
technological solution which feels closest
to reading a physical book.
Marketing Methods
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix
The Boston Consulting group’s product
portfolio matrix (BCG) is designed to help
with long-term strategic planning, to help a
business consider growth opportunities by
reviewing its portfolio of products to decide
where to invest, to discontinue or develop
products.
This framework assumes that an increase in
relative market share will result in an in-
crease in the generation of cash. This
assumption often is true because of the
experience curve; increased relative market
share implies that the firm is moving
forward on the experience curve relative to
its competitors, thus developing a cost
advantage. A second assumption is that a
growing market requires investment in
assets to increase capacity and therefore
results in the consumption of cash. Thus,
the position of a business on the growth-
share matrix provides an indication of its
cash generation and its cash consumption.
Stars
In Stars the market growth rate is high as
well as the product growth rate is also high
and capturing a large market size. They
need heavy investment and excellent
strategies. Whenever the market growth
will slow down, product can turn into Cash
Cows category.
Question marks
In question marks the market growth rate is
high but the product growth is either stable
or decreasing. They required a lot of cash to
hold their market share. Managers have
question marks for low-share. Managers
may be plan for new investments.
Dogs
In Dogs, the market growth rate is low and
the product growth rate is also low. They
may generate enough cash to maintain
themselves but do not promise to be large
sources of cash. All such products are near
to decline stage.
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Cash Cows their current market segments, aiming to
In Cash Cows market growth rate is low but increase its market share.
the product growth rate is either stable or Market Development – the firm seeks
high relative market growth rate. Due to growth by targeting its existing products to
established products they need less new market segments.
investment to hold their market share. Thus, Product Development – the firms develop
they produce a lot of cash and profit margin new products targeted to its existing market
is relatively high. segments.
Example: PepsiCo Diversification – the firm grows by
diversifying into new businesses by
developing new products for new markets.
Example: Ansoff Matrix for Coca Cola

Igor Ansoff Matrix

The matrix focusses on the firm’s present

and potential products and markets
(customers). By considering ways to grow
via existing products and new products, and
in existing markets and new markets. There
are four possible product-market
combination:
Market Penetration – the firm seeks to
achieve growth with existing products in

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AIDA Model in Marketing
The AIDA model, which stands for
Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action
model, is an advertising effect model that
identifies the stages that an individual goes
during the process of purchasing a product
or service. The AIDA model is commonly
used in digital marketing, sales strategies,
and public relations campaigns.
The steps involved in an AIDA model are:
Attention: The first step in marketing or
advertising is to consider how to attract the
attention of consumers.
Interest: Once the consumer is aware that
the product or service exists, the business
must work on increasing the potential
customer’s interest level. For example,
Disney boosts interest in upcoming tours by
announcing stars who will be performing
on the tours.
Desire: After the consumer is interested in
the product or service, then the goal is to
make consumers desire it, moving their
mind-sets from “I like it” to “I want it.” For
example, if the Disney stars for the
upcoming tour communicate to the target
audience about how great the show is going
to be, the audience is more likely to want to
go.
Action: The ultimate goal is to drive the
receiver of the marketing campaign to
initiate action and purchase the product or
service.
Therefore, the AIDA model says that
Awareness leads to Interest, which leads
to Desire, and finally, Action
Market Research
Research is the development, interpretation
and communication of decision-oriented
information to be used in all phases of the
marketing process.
Why Research?
● Competitive pressure
● Expanding market
● Customer expectation
● Cost of a mistake
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Porter’s Five Forces
Porter's Five Forces Framework is a tool for
analyzing competition of a business. It
draws from industrial organization (IO)
economics to derive five forces that
determine the competitive intensity and,
therefore, the attractiveness (or lack of it) of
an industry in terms of its profitability.
Five primary forces:
● The threat of new entrants
● The bargaining power of buyers or
customers
● The bargaining power of suppliers
● The threat of substitute products
● Rivalry with competitors
● Attractiveness of the market
depends upon:
● Intense competition allows minimal
profit margins
● Mild competition allows wider
profit margins
Barriers to Entry:
There are a number of factors that
determine the degree of difficulty in
entering an industry:
• Economies of scale
• Product differentiation
• Capital requirements vs. switching
costs Access to distribution channels
• Cost advantages independent of scale
• Proprietary product technology
• Favorable access to raw materials
Favorable location
• Learning curve
• Government policy
Bargaining Power of Buyers:
A buyer group is powerful if:
• It is concentrated or purchases large
volumes relative to seller's sales
• The products it purchases front the
industry are standard or
undifferentiated
• It faces few switching costs
• Buyers pose a credible threat of
backward integration
• The industry's product is unimportant to
the quality of the buyer's products or
services.
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Bargaining Power of Suppliers: ● Capacity is augmented in large
A supplier group is powerful if: increments
● It is not obliged to contend with other
substitute products for sales in the Marketing Research Projects
industry Define the objective:
● The industry is not an important Objective is to solve a problem. Research is
customer of the supplier group not a solution but no solution can be
● The supplier group is an important input discovered without research.
to the buyer's business
● The supplier group's products are Conduct a Situational Analysis:
differentiated or it has built up A situational analysis often is called the
switching costs foundation of a marketing plan.
● The supplier group poses a credible A situational analysis includes a thorough
threat of forward integration examination of internal and external factors
affecting a business. It creates an overview
Substitute Products: of the organization that will lead to a better
Substitute products that deserve the most under- standing of the factors that will
attention is those that: influence its future.
● Compete in price with the industry's
products Conduct an Informal Investigation:
● Are produced by industries earning Informal investigation consists of gathering
high profits readily available information from the
company, middlemen, competitors,
Rivalry: advertising agencies, and consumers.
Rivalry among existing competitors
increases if: Place and conduct a Formal
● Numerous or equally balanced Investigation:
competitors exist Industry growth is Formal investigation consists of gathering
slow primary and secondary data and their
● Fixed costs are high resources. Primary Data are the new data
● There is lack of differentiation or gathered specifically for the project at hand.
switching costs

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Secondary Data are available data, already their organization's procedures. The B2B
gathered for some purpose. market has a thirst for knowledge and they
are information seekers.
Sources of Primary Data:
• Survey Method Marketing to B2C
• Mail Survey
• Personal Interviews Observation While marketing to a consumer you want to
Method Experimental Method focus on the benefits of the product. Their
decision is more emotional. Consumers are
Analyze the Data: different and demand a variety of
The end of the investigation is the distribution channels for convenience, not
researcher’s conclusions and so with the B2B market. Consumers are less
recommendations in the form of a written likely to be interested in a lengthy
report. marketing message. They will want you to
get right to the point. Consumers don't want
Conduct a Follow Up: to work to understand your benefits, instead
Researcher should follow up their studies to they will want you to clearly point out the
determine whether their results and benefits to them.
recommendations are being used as well as
improving the research data in the future.

Marketing to B2B

While marketing to a B2B you want to

focus on the logic of the product. You do
this by focusing on the features of the
product. There is little to no personal
emotion involved in the purchasing
decision. You want to focus on
understanding the organizational buyers
and how they operate within the confines of

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 B2B vs. B2C

B2B vs. B2C B2B B2C

B2B markets are generally small

vertical markets, often niche in B2C markets that are typically large broad
Size of B2B vs B2C
size, comprised of a few thousand markets of tens to thousands to millions of
Markets
sales prospects to maybe as large sales prospects.
as 10000 prospects.

B2B sales typically have a

purchasing process that is usually B2C sales have short purchasing periods of
Purchasing Power defined in months and the sale is anywhere from a few minutes (the impulse
complex, often taking additional buy), to a few days.
months to complete.

B2C sales are usually direct to the

B2B sales require consultative
consumer or involve a retailer. The sales
selling (selling based on
Sales Process approach is a traditional product sell of
understanding a client's needs and
“convincing the consumer” they need the
developing a relationship of trust).
product or service being sold.

B2B sales are "higher ticket"

B2C sales can range in cost from a rupee to
purchases usually costing from
Cost of a Sale a few thousand rupees. Except, for cars and
just a few thousand rupees to tens
homes.
of millions of rupees.

The decision to purchase in B2B B2C purchase decisions tend to be made

sales is generally driven by need based on want more than need or a budget
Purchase Decision
and budgets therefore; it tends to and, therefore, are triggered by more
be a very rational decision. emotional decisions.

Brand identity in B2B markets is

created through personal Brand identity in B2C markets is created
The Value of Brand
relationships and consultative through advertising and now social media.
selling.

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Five key B2B vs. B2C differences in
marketing strategies
1. Customer relationships
B2B: Build personal relationships
B2B marketing focuses on building
personal relationships that drive long-term
business. So, relationship building in B2B
marketing, especially during the buying
cycle, is crucial.
It gives you the opportunity to prove what
kind of business practices, ethics, and
morals you keep close to your heart. This
ability to connect with your targeted
audience allows you to separate your
business or your client’s business from
competitors, as well as build your brand.
According to G2Crowd, 94% of customers
read online reviews. With the majority of
customers reading reviews, a negative
review can be devastating. However, 72%
of B2B buyers say negative reviews give
depth and insight into a product.
Bad reviews may result in a positive. When
a website only has positive results, they can
come across as fake and untrustworthy.
Remember, even the best of the best have
some haters out there. By responding to the
negative and positive reviews, you can
tweak your approach to business
accordingly. Further, you are able to show
the reviewer you truly care and that you are
a real person responding to the needs and
opinions of customers.
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B2C: Establish transactional
relationships
The goal of B2C marketing is to push
consumers to products on your client’s or
your company’s website and drive sales. To
do this, the customer needs to have a near-
perfect customer experience with your
website.
B2C businesses value efficiency and,
therefore, minimize the amount of time
spent getting to know the customer, which
ultimately causes the relationship to
become extremely transactional.
The marketing strategy focuses on selling
the product, and the majority of time here is
on delivering high-quality products at the
quickest rate possible.
Unlike reviews in B2B business, reviews
are buried by an influx of high quality,
positive reviews. If your business or client
is B2C, and the products you sell are of high
quality, this should not be difficult. As a
search marketer, pushing PR outreach and
offering deals for completed reviews can
help increase the number of reviews
altogether.
A popular tactic that has shown to be useful
for B2C review collection is through store
credit or personalized discount codes
through email marketing or remarketing.
After a customer makes a purchase or
receives their product, they would receive
an email or a pop-up that asked them about
their experience. The main tagline here
would be something such as, “Give us your
feedback and receive 20% off next
purchase!”
By providing extra value to your customer,
you can increase future user experience and
even cultivate an ambassador to your brand.
2. Branding
B2B: Focus on relationships
Branding is a part of B2B marketing, but,
more often than in the B2C world, it comes
through relationship building. According to
B2B International, branding begins with the
consistency of the presentation and
deliverance of your products or services.
In regards to B2B search marketing, being
able to portray where you position yourself
in the market and have your personality
shine can help drive brand recognition and
lead generation.
Going back to relationship development,
you must have a keen vision for
personalities within the market. Being able
to adjust your brand towards your target
audience will help drive brand recognition
and ramp up your lead generation.
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B2C: Prioritize your message
Branding is essential in marketing because
it allows the marketer to precisely deliver a
message, create loyalty with the customer,
confirm credibility, emotionally connect
with the customer, and motivate the buyer
to buy.
It also is the number one priority of B2C
marketing.
The relationship between the customer and
company are minimally interactive so you
must create a lasting memory and quality
experience for the customer to ensure they
will come running back.
To achieve this, clearly delivering credible
messages that resonates with the customer
is imperative to your success.
3. Decision-Making Process
B2B: Maintain open communication
The decision-making process is another
place where you can appeal to the
emotional and rational decisions of
businesses. In the decision-making process
for B2B, it is more open communication
between businesses to determine whether
or not it is a good fit for both parties.
During this communication, comparing the
positive aspects of your company to your
competitors can be highly effective in
giving you a step ahead.
During the decision-making process, B2B
customers must evaluate the company or
their individual worker’s needs. These
needs can be separated into rational and
emotional motivations.
The rational motivations are those that
drive their financial mind. Is this a good
investment for us?
The emotional motives are those that drive
their emotional connection to the company
or individual workers. Will I have to fire
someone or a group of people? Will we lose
money and have to cut benefits for our
workers?
At some point, both of these decisions are
important enough to sway their decision.
As B2B marketers, understanding your
audience can help you understand the
decision-making process that may apply to
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them. Being able to deliver a message that
is clearly specific can place you ahead of
competitors by creating an emotional
connection between both parties.
B2C: Simplify the process
The B2C decision-making process is where
you can start utilizing their expertise in the
conversion funnel to maximize ROI. At the
top of the conversion funnel, a B2C
marketer must be able to create influential
advertisements that give the consumer the
need for a product.
Once the consumer has identified a need,
they already have a clear understanding of
what kind of product they are looking to
purchase. Unlike B2B businesses,
consumers are much more flexible when
looking at a specific product to buy.
As a marketer, it is essential that you
continue to appeal to the consumer and
ways to get them what they’re looking for
by simplifying the decision-making
process. Unless the consumer has made a
firm decision to purchase your product,
often they look at your competitors to see if
they can get similar products quicker and
for a better deal.
As a search marketer, it is essential to
identify focus keywords that a consumer
will search for when looking for similar
products and try to rank for those keywords.
The higher you rank, the closer you are to
bringing customers back to your site.
When evaluating the conversion funnel, we
see three sets of keywords we can
potentially go after to grab their attention.
For example, if the customer wants to learn
more about electric bikes, they may search
for the long-tail variation of the keyword
“electric bikes” such as “what is an electric
bike.”
Once the customer learns about the electric
bike, they may want to learn about electric
bike brands that are trustworthy and high-
quality. So, they will search “best electric
bikes” next.
Once they search through the various
brands, they may find the exact brand they
want to purchase from, and now they are
ready to buy. So, they search “[insert brand]
electric bike.”
As a B2C search marketer, make sure that
all of these portions of the conversion
funnel are covered and targeted by blogs,
core pages, and product pages so you have
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a higher chance of capturing potential
customers in the space.
Remember, as solid as your conversion
funnel is, if your checkout process is
confusing, it can turn your customers away
and leave room for others to steal them.
Optimize your conversion funnels,
minimize the complexity of these
processes, and work toward the conversions
you’re looking for.
4. Audience Targeting
B2B: Find your niche
B2B businesses usually work in a niche
market, and it is imperative to understand
your target audience’s demographic. To
effectively attract them, compile and
analyze accurate data.
Your data focus can come in numerous
forms, both qualitative and quantitative.
Some of the more effective tactics for data
collection is through Google Analytics and
keyword research. However, the best way
to determine who your target audience is to
head to Google and evaluate the search
engine results pages for your keywords.
By actively going through the SERP
(Search Engine Results Page) and seeing
what the user’s intent for certain keywords
are, you are able to infer what kinds of
searches certain people are performing. By
merging your conclusions from SERP
analysis with keyword research and Google
Analytics demographic data analysis, you
should have a general idea of who your
target audience is.
With this data, integrated advertisements,
targeted to specific keywords and
demographics, can successfully build a lead
generation strategy.
Lead generation is the primary goal for B2B
marketers. Therefore, building a top-of-
funnel prospect list, followed by a highly
integrated remarketing and lead generation
marketing funnel is vital to reach your top
prospects.
B2C: Follow the funnel
Unlike B2B businesses, B2C businesses
work in a larger-scale market, and the target
is much more spread out. Search marketers
heavily weigh the importance of following
the marketing funnel when acquiring
customers.
Starting at the top of the funnel, pushing
advertisements that are skewed toward
emotional and product-driven purchases
can cast a wide net and try to gain some
qualified top-of-funnel leads. By analyzing
the demographics of the top-of-funnel
leads, you can create a warm lead list and
remarket to those people in hopes to
generate sales from those leads.
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Another critical audience targeting strategy to improve the overall performance of the
emphasized in B2C is the implementation business. Although they may have personal
of highly effective CRO (Conversion Rate drivers for making the purchase, they need
Optimization). Writing enticing copy, to remove emotion from the decision and
creating quality and easy landing pages to think about the positive and negative effects
navigate, and implementing simple but of the purchase.
effective conversion funnels can change the B2C: Write emotional ads
sales game in B2C business. Unlike B2B business, B2C businesses must
use a relatable voice that entices the
5. Ad copy customer to click on an advertisement. By
B2B: Learn the lingo using more straightforward language, you
B2B businesses are much more likely to can speak in the customer’s voice rather
want to purchase services or products from than using industry jargon that might cause
an expert who understands their a customer to turn away.
terminology, processes, and even the Copywriting for B2C should evoke
decisions they have to make during the emotion in the consumer. For example,
buying process. someone who is shopping for a $200
So, to reach your target audience, speak bicycle will take less time to make the
their language! decision to purchase it compared to a
For example, a B2B business that sells a business purchasing a $50,000 piece of
$50,000 piece of software does not focus on software.
writing fluffy copy that entices the reader to The person buying the bicycle is looking to
purchase their software on impulse. enjoy the purchase, which means the copy
Instead, the copy should focus on taking the and content should evoke emotions of joy
emotion away from the decision and and excitement.
building confidence in the potential Place massive importance on this because
customer. something as simple as the ad copy can
The business-really, the director or make or break an ad campaign. Be
manager in charge of making the strategic!
purchasing decision-is buying the software

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 PRODUCT

Consumer Product: Products bought by Industrial Product: Products bought by

final consumers for personal consumption. individuals and organizations for further
processing or for being used in facilitating
Convenience Product businesses.
Products that consumers usually buy Materials and Parts
frequently and with minimum comparison ● Farm product, ex: Fruits, Cotton,
and buying effort. E.g. Toothpaste etc. Natural product, ex: Fish, Iron,
etc.
Shopping Product ● Capital Items
Goods that customers purchase after a ● Capital items of office accessories,
process of selection. Customers usually installations, equipment, operating
compare products on the basis of materials, etc.
suitability, quality, price, and style. E.g. ● Supplies
Clothing ● Operating supplies (DVD’s, office
stationeries)
Specialty Product ● Services
Products with unique characteristics or ● Maintenance and repair services
brand identification for which a significant
group of buyers are willing to make a Product Life Cycle Stages
special purchase effort. E.g. pensive and
fashionable shopping goods like designer The product life cycle has 4 very clearly
wear clothing. defined stages, each with its own
characteristics that mean different things
Unsought Product for different business that are trying to
Products that consumers either do not know manage the life cycle of their particular
about or do not normally put in any thought products.
before buying. There is an emotional
connect associated with the product. E.g. Introduction Stage – This stage of the
Donations cycle could be the most expensive for a

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company launching a new product. The size
of the market for the product is small, which
means sales are low, although they might
show an increasing trend. On the other
hand, hand, the cost of things like research
and development, consumer testing, and the
marketing needed to launch the product can
be very high, especially if it is a competitive
sector.
Growth Stage – The growth stage is
typically characterized by strong growth in
sales and profits. Here, since the company
can start to benefit from economies of scale
in production, the profit margins as well as
the overall amount of profit, will increase.
This makes it possible for businesses to
invest more money in promotional activity
to maximize the potential of this growth
stage.
Maturity Stage – During the maturity
stage, the product is established and the aim
for the manufacturer is now to maintain the
market share they have captured. This is
probably the most competitive time for
most products. Businesses need to invest
wisely in any form of marketing they
undertake. They also need to consider any
modification or improvement in the pro-
duction process which could give them a
competitive advantage.
Decline Stage – Eventually, the market for
a product will start to shrink. This is known
as the decline stage. This shrinkage could
be due to market saturation (i.e. customers
who would purchase the product have
already purchased it), or because they are
now considering other alternatives and
switch to different types of products. While
this decline may be inevitable, it may still
be possible for companies to make some
profit by switching to less-expensive
production methods and cheaper, less
competitive markets.
21
Business Market
All organizations that buy goods and
services for use in the production of other
products and services that are sold, rented,
or supplied to others.
Organizational buying
It is the decision-making process by which
formal organizations establish the need for
purchased products and services and
identify, evaluate and make choices among
alternative brands and suppliers.
Types of Buying Situation
Straight re-buy
• A business buying situation in which
the buyer routinely reorders something
without any modifications.
• Routine vendors from the approved
vendor list, low involvement, minimal
time commitment
E.g. Papers for printing
Modified re-buy
A business buying situation in which the
buyers want to modify product
specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers.
Moderate level of involvement and time
commitment
E.g. Desktop computers
New Task
A business buying situation in which
buyers purchase products or services for the
first time.
High level of involvement and time
commitment
E.g. Selecting a website design/media
firm
Participants in the Business Buying
Process
Buying Centre: All individuals and units
who participate in the process of business
buying decisions.
Users: Members of organizations who use
the product or service; users often initiate
the buying proposal and help define product
specifications.
Influencers: People in an organization’s
buying center who affect buying decisions.
They often help define specifications and
also provide customers with information
which help them evaluate their alternatives.
Deciders: People in the organization’s
buying center who have formal or informal
power to select or approve the final
suppliers.
22
Gatekeepers: People in the organization’s Product Specification Organizations:
buying center who control the flow of in- decide on products and specify the best
formation to others. technical product characteristics of
essential items.
Business Buying Process Problem
Recognition: Value Analysis:
The first stage of the business buying An approach to cost reduction in which
process in which someone in the company components are studied carefully to
recognizes a problem, or need that can be determine if they can be redesigned,
met by acquiring a good or a service. standardized or made by less expensive
methods of production.
General Need Description: At this stage
of the business buying process, companies Supplier Search:
describe the general characteristics and Buyers try to find the best vendor available.
quantity of essential items.
Order-routine Specification Buyers:
Proposal Solicitation: write the final order with the chosen
Buyers invite qualified suppliers to submit supplier(s), listing the technical
proposals. specifications, quantity needed, expected
time of delivery, return policies and
Supplier Selection: warranties.
Buyers review proposals submitted and
select a supplier or group suppliers. Performance Review:
Buyer rate its satisfaction with sup- pliers,
deciding whether to continue, modify, or
drop them

23
 TYPES OF MARKETING
Account-based marketing: is a strategic Analytical marketing:
approach to business marketing based on quantitative methods and models of
account awareness in which an marketing
organization considers and communicates
with individual prospect or customer Article marketing: writing articles (online
accounts as markets of one. and offline) to promote one’s business.

Affiliate marketing: paying affiliates to B2P (person) marketing: marketing to

send traffic/customers to your persons, in business and life
website/business
Behavioral marketing: targeting
Agile marketing: is an organizational advertising/offers based on user behavior
effectiveness strategy that drives growth Blackhat marketing — primarily in SEO,
through focusing team efforts on those that unethically fooling the search engines to
deliver value to the end-customer. game rank

Algorithmic marketing: using software Brand marketing: developing your brand,

algorithms to execute (semi-)automated often contrasted to direct marketing
marketing
Buzz marketing: getting people to talk
Ambush marketing: strategy in which an about your stuff, similar to viral
advertiser "ambushes" an event to compete
for exposure against competing advertisers. Call center marketing:
A marketing technique in which advertisers outbound telemarketing and handling of
work to connect their product with a inbound prospect/customer calls
particular event in the minds of potential
customers, without having to pay Campus marketing: marketing to (and
sponsorship expenses for the event. often by) college students, campus
ambassadors

24
Catalog marketing: marketing through Conversational marketing: actively
printed catalogs delivered in the mail engaging with consumers in two-way
conversations
Cause marketing: businesses marketing
cooperatively with nonprofit(s) to mutual Conversion (rate) marketing: optimizing
benefit conversion rate in online marketing and
sales
Celebrity marketing: use of celebrities as
spokespeople, for endorsements or Corporate marketing: company-wide
testimonials channel marketing promotions marketing and standards, esp. in multi-
through wholesalers, distributers, resellers. product firms (Forrester report)

Cloud marketing: using software-as-a- Cross-marketing: co-marketing, product

service (SaaS) applications for marketing bundling, co-promotion, licensing, etc.

Cooperative marketing: companies co- Culture marketing: branded content, the

marketing a jointly developed product, intersection of culture and marketing
service or brand
Data-driven marketing: use data,
Communal marketing: engaging the especially analytics, to direct marketing
public in the development of a marketing decisions
campaign
Digital marketing: marketing through
Content marketing: producing useful or digital channels, primarily the Internet
entertaining content for your audience
Direct marketing: marketing directly to
Contextual marketing: delivering audience, often without TV, radio, or print
relevant, optimal messages/offers, esp. ads
online
Diversity marketing: marketing to
Controversial marketing: generating different culture groups in audience, i.e. in-
attention through controversy or conflict culture marketing

25
Door-to-door marketing: Inbound marketing: pulling in customers
salespeople walking to houses, knocking on via content, instead of pushing ads or cold-
doors calls

Drip marketing: Industrial marketing: B2B marketing but

sending pre-planned messages to specifically for large firms, esp.
prospects/customers on a schedule manufacturers
Ethical marketing: marketing ethics for
being socially/morally responsible Influence(r) marketing: focus on
Event marketing: running events such as convincing a few influential people in a
trade shows, conferences, seminars, market
festivals
Informational marketing: providing
Experiential marketing: enabling sensory useful/educational material to nurture
interactions with brands audience, like content marketing

Geo marketing: geo-targeting for Integrated marketing: coordination and

marketing tactics such as price, promotion integration of multiple marketing tools,
channels, vehicles
Global marketing: marketing of
products/firms worldwide, global strategy Interactive marketing:
and structure interactions between marketers and
prospects, mostly online
Green marketing: explicit promotion of
products that are environmentally friendly Promotional marketing:
broadly speaking, almost any kind of
Guerilla marketing: low-budget, high- marketing to attract customer
impact marketing, typically entrepreneurial
Pull marketing: pushing messages to
Horizontal marketing: similar message prospects, synonymous with inbound
across different groups/industries, in marketing
contrast to vertical marketing

26
Push marketing: prospects pull messages Test-driven marketing: systematically
from you, synonymous with outbound and iteratively testing marketing ideas
marketing
Time marketing: research on when to
Real-time marketing: accelerating release and promote products in the market
marketing in the age of speed
Sports marketing: use of sporting events, Trade show marketing: subset of event
teams, and athletes to promote products marketing, exhibiting and promoting at
trade shows
Stealth marketing: ways of marketing
surreptitiously to people, undercover Traditional marketing: pre-Internet
marketing marketing methods and channels

Street marketing: unconventional Undercover marketing: when consumers

marketing in public places meant to engage don’t know they’re being stealthily
prospects marketed to

Surrogate Marketing: Surrogate User-generated marketing: marketing

marketing is a form of marketing to created by consumers, communal
promote illegal or banned product in legal marketing
way, in disguise of other product
Word-of-mouth marketing: when happy
Technical marketing: marketing with customers spread your marketing message
technical depth to a technical audience
Youth marketing: targeting young
Telemarketing: calling people on the audiences, often using emerging channels
phone with a pitch, usually uninvited

27
 BRAND CONCEPT

"Branding is what people say about you thing. The brand develops credibility and
when you're not in the room." trust this way.
-Jeff Bezoz This is what make up the Coca-Cola brand,
not just the logo of the business.
Brand
Brand Equity
A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a The value of a brand, based on the extent to
combination of these intended to identify which it has high brand loyalty, name
the goods or services of one seller or group aware- ness, perceived quality, strong
of sellers and to differentiate them from brand associations, and other assets such as
those of competitors. patents, trademarks, and channel
relationship.
Brand identity
A brand identity is made up of what your
brand says, what your values are, how you
communicate your product, and what you
want people to feel when they interact it.

Example of Brand Identity Factors Contributing to Brand Equity

Here are two things that comprise Coca- ● Brand Awareness

Cola's brand identity: ● Brand Associations

Coca-Cola's brand identity begins with a ● Brand Loyalty

red logo in script text. The red colour elicits ● Perceived Quality

confidence in the person who drinks a Example of Brand Equity

Coke, while the script typeface is all about An example of a brand with high brand

enjoyment. This is the brand's "face." equity is Apple. Although Apple or the

Coca-Cola prints its logo on a uniquely company’s products are very similar in

shaped bottle. This tells customers they're terms of features to other brands, the

not getting an imitation -- this is the real demand, customer loyalty,

28
and company’s price premium are among
the highest in the consumer tech industry.
Apple ranks consistently as one of the most
valuable brands in the world. Apple’s brand
equity is valued at upwards of US$2 billion.
Co-Branding
The practice of using established brand
names of two different companies on the
same product.
Example of Co-branding
MasterCard and Apple Pay
Both Apple and MasterCard understand
that cashless transactions are where our
society is headed. MasterCard became the
first credit card company to support Apple
Pay. This gave Apple an ample customer
base to work with while it tweaked its
service and gave MasterCard a brand-new
functionality that was exclusive to their
customers.
Brand Strategy
Line Extension
Using successful brand name to introduce
additional items in given product cate- gory
under the same brand name, such as new
flavors, forms, colours, added ingredients,
or package sizes. Ex: Hyundai i20, Hyundai
Verna, Hyundai Creta
Brand Extension
Using the same brand name to launch new
or modified products in new categories. Ex:
Honda – Cars, Motorcycle, Generators and
Marine Engines
Multi Brands
In this strategy, company market their
products with different brand for each
product. Ex: P&G – Gillette, Ambi Pur,
Olay, Duracell, etc.
New Brands
In this strategy company introduces new
brands just to increase their number of
brand or to enter in the new market.
Importance of Branding
• Helps you stand out from the
competition
• Builds brand recognition
• Creates a consistent brand experience
for your customers
• Sparks a connection with your audience
and turns that audience into loyal
customers
Types of branding strategies
1. Name Brand Recognition
A well-established company will often use
the weight of its own name brand to extend
to its products. Companies such as Coca-
29
Cola, Starbucks, Apple, and Mercedes-
Benz are all iconic while featuring multiple
subsidiary products featured under the
company name.
2. Individual Branding
Sometimes a larger company may produce
products that carry their own weight
independent of the parent company. This
strategy involves establishing the brand as
a unique identity that is easily recognizable.
Examples of individual product branding
include Procter & Gamble, which markets
multiple brands such as Pampers, and
Unilever, which markets individual brands
such as Dove.
3. Attitude Branding
Ambiguous marketing can often go above
the actual product itself in the case of
attitude branding. These brands all use
strategies that bring to life personality and
a customized experience with products and
services.
Nike Corporation is one of the forefathers
of attitude branding, with its billion-dollar
phrase of “just do it.” Other popular
companies include Starbucks and The Body
Shop.
4. “No-brand” Branding
A minimalist approach can speak volumes.
No-brand strategy means that little is spent
on advertisement or classical marketing.
No-brand products are often simple and
generic in design. The most successful
company to establish this marketing
method is the Japanese company, Muji,
which simply translates to “no label.”
5. Brand Extension
Brand extension occurs when one of your
flagship brands ventures into a new market.
Say you have a shoe company that is now
making jackets, athletic wear, and
fragrances. The brand name carries its own
identity to your product mix.
6. Private Labels
Store brands—or private labels—have
become popular at supermarkets. Retail
chains such as Kroger, Food Lion, and Wal-
Mart can produce cost-effective brands to
compete with larger retailers.
7. Crowdsourcing
These brands are outsourced to the public
for brand creation, which allows customers
the chance to be involved in the naming
process, and effectively drives up personal
interest in a product.
30

Brand Architecture Models
In a Branded House the company brand
(or a main overarching brand) becomes the
dominant source of identification and
meaning. All the sub brands draw their
energy from a single brand identity. This
stymies the brands’ independence at the
product level, but the energy of the brand
overall pervades and strengthens each
company despite the lack of shared product
commonality
In a House of Brands model, individual
products or companies can focus on what
they each do best without limiting the
broader group’s businesses growth
trajectory. Taking Alphabet as example,
Google will continue to operate in the
sphere which it knows best – to be single-
minded at search and analytics whereas
YouTube can focus on video content.
A Hybrid Model is typically used when a
firm is changing and architectures or
acquiring existing brands through mergers
or acquisitions. In such cases, the firm has
to preserve older product names and
designs to keep customers happy, or to
avoid confusion, while paving the way for
future offers. The classic example of this
architecture is that of Volkswagen. VW
owns brands like Bugatti, Seat, Audi and
Skoda. But it also carries a brand on its own
name
Brand Extension
The Brand Extension is the marketing
strategy wherein a new product is launched
under the existing brand name. Brand
extension involves offering a completely
different product, service or business. The
category in which product is launched may
be related or unrelated to the brand’s
current category. The brand that gives rise
to a new product under its name is called
“The Parent Brand”. For instance, Nike’s
brand core product is shoes. But it is now
extended to sunglasses, soccer balls,
basketballs and golf equipment.
Line Extension
Line extension refers to adding variety to its
existing product for the sake of reaching a
31
more diverse customer base and enticing
existing customers with new options. For Brand Resonance
instance, a soft drink manufacturer might Brand Resonance refers to the relationship
introduce a "Diet" variety to its cola line, that a consumer has with the product and
while a toy manufacturer might introduce how well he can relate to it.
new characters or accessories in its line of
action figures

32
 PRICING CONCEPT
The second most important factor in the
marketing mix after product is the type of
pricing being used. This is because the type
of pricing can alter the distribution and the
promotion mix as well.
An organization has various options for
selecting a pricing method. Prices are based
on three dimensions that are cost, demand,
and competition. The organization can use
any of the dimensions or combination of
dimensions to set the price of a product.
Cost-based Pricing:
Cost-based pricing refers to a pricing
method in which some percentage of
desired profit margins is added to the cost
of the product to obtain the final price. In
other words, cost-based pricing can be
defined as a pricing method in which a
certain percentage of the total cost of
production is added to the cost of the
product to determine its selling price. Cost-
based pricing can be of two types, namely,
cost-plus pricing and markup pricing.
These two types of cost-based pricing are as
follows:
1. Cost-plus Pricing:
Refers to the simplest method of
determining the price of a product. In cost-
plus pricing method, a fixed percentage,
also called mark-up percentage, of the total
cost (as a profit) is added to the total cost to
set the price. For example, XYZ
organization bears the total cost of Rs. 100
per unit for producing a product. It adds Rs.
50 per unit to the price of product as’ profit.
In such a case, the final price of a product
of the organization would be Rs. 150.
Cost-plus pricing is also known as average
cost pricing. This is the most commonly
used method in manufacturing
organizations.
In economics, the general formula given for
setting price in case of cost-plus pricing is
as follows:
P = AVC + AVC (M)
AVC= Average Variable Cost
M = Mark-up percentage
AVC (m) = Gross profit margin
Mark-up percentage (M) is fixed in which
AFC and net profit margin (NPM) are
covered.
AVC (m) = AFC+ NPM
For determining average variable cost, the
first step is to fix prices. This is done by
estimating the volume of the output for a
given period of time. The planned output or
33
normal level of production is considered to
estimate the output.
The second step is to calculate Total
Variable Cost (TVC) of the output. TVC
includes direct costs, such as cost incurred
in labor, electricity, and transportation.
Once TVC is calculated, AVC is obtained
by dividing TVC by output, Q. [AVC=
TVC/Q]. The price is then fixed by adding
the mark-up of some percentage of AVC to
the profit [P = AVC + AVC (m)].
The advantages of cost-plus pricing
method are as follows:
● Requires minimum information
● Involves simplicity of calculation
● Insures sellers against the unexpected
changes in costs
The disadvantages of cost-plus pricing
method are as follows:
● Ignores price strategies of competitors
● Ignores the role of customers
2. Markup Pricing:
Refers to a pricing method in which the
fixed amount or the percentage of cost of
the product is added to product’s price to
get the selling price of the product. Markup
pricing is more common in retailing in
which a retailer sells the product to earn
profit. For example, if a retailer has taken a
product from the wholesaler for Rs. 100,
then he/she might add up a markup of Rs.
20 to gain profit.
It is mostly expressed by the following
formulae:
● Markup as the percentage of cost=
(Markup/Cost) *100
● Markup as the percentage of selling
price= (Markup/ Selling Price) *100
For example, the product is sold for Rs. 500
whose cost was Rs. 400. The mark up as a
percentage to cost is equal to (100/400)
*100=25. The mark up as a percentage of
the selling price equals (100/500) *100=20.
Demand-based Pricing:
Demand-based pricing refers to a pricing
method in which the price of a product is
finalized according to its demand. If the
demand of a product is more, an
organization prefers to set high prices for
products to gain profit; whereas, if the
demand of a product is less, the low prices
are charged to attract the customers.
The success of demand-based pricing
depends on the ability of marketers to
analyze the demand. This type of pricing
can be seen in the hospitality and travel
industries. For instance, airlines during the
period of low demand charge less rates as
compared to the period of high demand.
Demand-based pricing helps the
organization to earn more profit if the
34
customers accept the product at the price
more than its cost.
Competition-based Pricing:
Competition-based pricing refers to a
method in which an organization considers
the prices of competitors’ products to set
the prices of its own products. The
organization may charge higher, lower, or
equal prices as compared to the prices of its
competitors.
The aviation industry is the best example of
competition-based pricing where airlines
charge the same or fewer prices for same
routes as charged by their competitors. In
addition, the introductory prices charged by
publishing organizations for textbooks are
determined according to the competitors’
prices.
Other Pricing Methods:
In addition to the pricing methods, there are
other methods that are discussed as follows:
1. Value Pricing:
Implies a method in which an organization
tries to win loyal customers by charging
low prices for their high- quality products.
The organization aims to become a low-
cost producer without sacrificing the
quality. It can deliver high- quality products
at low prices by improving its research and
development process. Value pricing is also
called value-optimized pricing.
2. Target Return Pricing:
Helps in achieving the required rate of
return on investment done for a product. In
other words, the price of a product is fixed
on the basis of expected profit.
3. Going Rate Pricing:
Implies a method in which an organization
sets the price of a product according to the
prevailing price trends in the market. Thus,
the pricing strategy adopted by the
organization can be same or similar to other
organizations. However, in this type of
pricing, the prices set by the market leaders
are followed by all the organizations in the
industry.
4. Transfer Pricing:
Involves selling of goods and services
within the departments of the organization.
It is done to manage the profit and loss
ratios of different departments within the
organization. One department of an
organization can sell its products to other
departments at low prices. Sometimes,
transfer pricing is used to show higher
profits in the organization by showing fake
sales of products within departments.
35
5. Premium pricing
It is a type of pricing which involves
establishing a price higher than the
competitors to achieve a premium
positioning. This kind of pricing is used
when the product or service presents some
unique features or core advantages, or when
the company has a unique competitive
advantage compared to its rivals. For
example, Audi and Mercedes are premium
brands of cars because they are far above
the rest in their product design as well as in
their marketing communications.
6. Penetration pricing
It is a commonly used pricing method
amongst the various types of pricing is
designed to capture market share by
entering the market with a low price as
compared to the competition. The
penetration pricing strategy is used in order
to attract more customers and to make the
customer switch from current brands
existing in the market. The main target
group is price sensitive customers. Once a
market share is captured, the prices are
increased by the company.
However, this is a sensitive strategy to
apply as the market might be penetrated by
yet another new entrant. Or the margins are
so low that the company does not survive.
And finally, this strategy never creates long
term brand loyalty in the mind of
customers. This strategy is used mainly to
increase brand awareness and start with a
small market share.
7. Economy pricing
This type of pricing takes a very low-cost
approach. Just the bare minimum to keep
prices low and attract a specific segment of
the market that is highly price sensitive.
Example of such a company focusing on
this type of pricing is Walmart.
8. Skimming price
Skimming is a type of pricing used by
companies that have a significant
competitive advantage and which can gain
maximum revenue advantage before other
competitors begin offering similar products
or substitutes. It can be the case for
innovative electronics entering the
marketing before the products are copied by
close competitors or Chinese
manufacturers.
After being copied, the product loses its
premium value and hence the price has to
be dropped immediately. Thus, to get
maximum margins from their products,
innovative companies keep launching new
variants so that customers are always in the
discovery phase and paying the required
premium.
36
9. Psychological pricing
It is a type of pricing which can be
translated into a small incentive that can
make a huge impact psychologically on
customers. Customers are more willing to
buy the necessary products at a higher price
than products costing less. The difference
in price is actually completely irrelevant.
However, it makes a great difference in the
mind of the customers. This strategy can
frequently be seen in the supermarkets and
small shops.
10. Neutral strategy
This type of pricing focuses on keeping the
price at the same level for all four periods
of the product lifecycle. However, with this
type of strategy, there is no opportunity to
make higher profits and at the same time, it
doesn’t allow for increasing the market
share. Also, when the product declines in
turnover, keeping the same price effects the
margins thereby causing an early demise.
This pricing is used very rarely.
11. Captive product pricing
It is a type of pricing which focuses on
captive products accompanying the core
products. For example, the ink for a printer
is a captive product where the core product
is the printer. When employing this strategy
companies usually put a higher price on the
captive products resulting in increased
revenue margins, than on the core product.
12. Optional product pricing
It can be frequently observed in the case of
airline companies. For example, the basic
product of KLM Airlines is offering or
providing seats in the airplane for different
flights. However, once the customers start
purchasing these seats, they are offered
optional features along with the seats.
Examples may be extra seat space, more
drinks etc. Because of this optional product,
there is more revenue generated from the
main product. Customers are willing to
spend for the optional product as well.
13. Bundling price
Ever hear of the offer of 1 + 1 free? In the
supermarket, when two different products
are combined together such as a razor and
the lotion for shaving, and they are offered
as a deal. This is bundling type of pricing
first hand. This strategy is mainly used to
get rid of excess stocks.
14. Promotional pricing strategy
It is just like Bundling price. But here, the
products are bundled so as to make the
customer use the bundled product for the
first time. This type of pricing focuses on
buying one, and getting a new type of
37
product for free. Promotional pricing can
also serve as a way to move old stock as
well as to increase brand awareness.
15. Geographical pricing
It involves variations of prices depending
on the location where the product and
service is being sold and is mostly
influenced by the changes in the currencies
as well as inflation. An example of
geographic pricing can also be the sales of
heavy machinery, which are sold after
considering the transportation cost of
different locations.
Depending on the goals and objectives of
the company, and the strategies decided by
the company. One can identify what
strategy should be applied by analyzing the
market and also the product/service
lifecycle they are present in.
38
 PROMOTION
In marketing, Promotion refers to any type
of marketing communication used to
inform or persuade transit audiences the
related minutes of product, service, brand
or issue. The aim of promotion is to
increase awareness, create interest,
generate sales or create brand loyalty. It is
one of the basic elements of the marketing
mix.
The Importance of Promotion
The most important purpose that a
promotion serves is that it sets a business
apart from its competitors. No business will
ever need to run any promotions if there
wasn’t any competition. You have to stay
ahead of your competitors in order for
customers to keep doing business with you.
If there is a company that sells similar
products or services to yours, you can only
make customers buy from you if you have
a special promotion going on. Of course, it
is also equally important to spread the word
about promotion to the people by using
several advertising and marketing methods.
Businesses often must bundle their
products together in order to run a
promotion. What they usually do is that
they include a less popular item with a very
popular item. This not only helps them sell
their popular item more but also allows
them to cross sell an item that customers
have not given much attention to. If the
bundled product is liked by customers, the
business will then have 2 popular products.
The sales will increase as a result and with
a successful promotion like this the
business will get more return on its
investment.
Promotions also allow you to make use of
your available data and create more useful
data from it. As you continue to do
business, you collect information of
thousands and millions of customers. By
using the right database software, you can
know the trends, patterns and inclinations
of your customers. By using this data, you
can launch targeted promotions. By further
collecting data of the promotion you can
know your customers better. When you
know them better, you can launch more
successful promotions. In addition to that,
when there is something available only for
a limited time, customers like to talk about
it.
When they talk about your promotion, they
become your marketing agents. They
spread the word of mouth, and this results
39
in more customers becoming interested in
doing business with you. Branding is all
about making your customers remember
you. When they remember you, they
remember to do business with you. By
launching promotions frequently you
become a memory for the customer.
Whenever a customer feels like buying
some new stuff, he/she will think of
checking you out to see if there is a
promotion going on.
The biggest benefit of promoting today is
that you make use of various online
platforms for marketing your promotion.
You have blogs, social networking
websites, video hosting websites etc. where
you can spread the news about your
promotion. This makes you visible on the
internet the way you should be visible to
your target market. By being visible on the
internet you are already creating a very
strong image of your business in the minds
of the customers.
Types of Promotions
The seven major types of promotion are:
Advertising
Advertising is a specific marketing
communication activity that involves
placing marketing messages or more
specifically, advertisements on a purchased
area within a medium such as radio,
television, print, outdoor mediums, digital
marketing channels including blogs and
social media. The purpose of advertising is
to sell a product or advance an idea through
the paid distribution of marketing
communication through third-party media.
The form of a particular advertisement
depends on the chosen media. Static
graphics are commonly used in print,
outdoor mediums, and the Internet. On the
other hand, audio-visual contents are used
in television as well as interactive mediums
such as smartphones, and other online
advertising channels such as blogs and
social media.
Direct Selling
Otherwise known as direct marketing,
direct selling is another type of promotion
that involves direct communication with
potential customers to sell a product or
advance an idea. Unlike advertising, direct
selling does not buy spots from third-party
media.
Mediums used in direct selling include
direct traditional or electronic mail,
telephone, or digital communication tools
and mediums such as computers and the
Internet. Examples of direct selling activity
include outbound mail or email marketing
and cold calling, one-on-one sales
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presentations, and group-based sales
meeting.
Sales Promotion
Another type of promotion is sales
promotion. It involves the use of media and
non-media marketing communications
within a specified period to increase
awareness and interest, improve the
attractiveness of a product or idea, compel
the target audience to purchase or respond
to a call-of-action, and stimulate demand in
the market.
Examples of tactics or activities in sales
promotion include handing product
samples to potential customers such as free
tastes to a particular food product,
launching a contest or raffle with attractive
prizes, providing freebies with every
purchase or response, inclusion of different
after sales services, inclusion of value-
added services seasonal price discounts,
and loyalty programs that include perks or
privileges.
Public Relations
Public relations or publicity intends to
promote a product or idea through the
dissemination of information through third
parties. The goal of public relations is to
deliver marketing messages via reliable
media organizations and communicators
with sizeable reach. Unlike advertising, this
type of promotion can be free although
there are paid efforts aimed at stimulating
or boosting discussion and interest.
There are different ways organizations
pursue public relations. The dissemination
of press releases to media outlets is the most
popular and cost-effective example. An
example is the staging of corporate events
such as trade shows or hosting press
conferences to invite the media and
prominent communicators. Other examples
include hosting seminars, sponsorships,
guest writing in a newspaper or blog or
guest hosting in a TV show, and corporate
social responsibilities programs such as
charities.
Product Placement
Similar to advertising and some aspects of
paid publicity, product placement or
embedded marketing is about paying a film
studio or television show producer to place
a product or communicate an idea
prominently within a particular movie or
TV show. However, unlike advertising and
public relations, product placement
generally involves directly showcasing a
product or discussing about an idea.
Part of the goal of product placement is to
incorporate a product or idea while
maintaining a sense of realism. Note that
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there are two ways to approach this:
unobtrusive appearances that seamlessly
blends the product or idea within the
environment and prominent integration and
direct acknowledgment of the product or
idea.
Endorsement and sponsorship
Endorsement and sponsorship overlap with
other typed of promotion such as
advertising and public relations. Note that
endorsement involves the use if of an
endorser or a prominent individual such as
a celebrity to provide written or spoken
statement about a product or idea, or
demonstrate the use of a product in an
advertisement or publicity stunt.
Sponsorship is about supporting an event,
activity, person, or another organization
financially in exchange of placement of
branding or trademark, demonstration of a
product, or endorsement of an idea.
Placement of logos of sportswear
companies placed on stadiums and team
uniforms is an example of sponsorship.
Different Promotion Strategies
● Contests as a Promotional Strategy
● Social Media Promotion
● Mail Order Marketing
● Product Giveaways and Samples
● Customer Referral Incentive Program
● Causes and Charity
● Branded Promotional Gifts
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 DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital Marketing: Often referred to as SEO

‘web marketing’, ‘online marketing’ or To understand the true meaning of SEO,
‘internet marketing’ too, it is an umbrella let's break that definition down and look at
term for marketing various the parts:
products/services using digital platforms.
Digital marketing encompasses all Quality of traffic: You can attract all the
marketing efforts that use an electronic visitors in the world, but if they're coming
device or the internet. Businesses leverage to your site because they are expecting
digital channels such as search engines, something other than your product due to
social media, email, and other websites to similarities in product names, it’s going to
connect with current and prospective be a problem. Instead you want to attract
customers. visitors who are genuinely interested in
While traditional marketing might exist in products that you offer.
print ads, phone communication, or
physical marketing, digital marketing can Quantity of traffic: Once you have the
occur electronically and online. This means right people clicking through from those
that there are a number of endless search engine results pages (SERPs), more
possibilities for brands including email, traffic is better.
video, social media, or website-based
marketing opportunities. Organic results: Ads make up a significant
It comes with number of tools– content portion of many SERPs. Organic traffic is
marketing, blogs, search engine any traffic that you don't have to pay for.
optimization (SEO), website designing,
web banner ads, paid search (SEM or Email Marketing: Did you know that
search engine marketing), affiliate email marketing is the cheapest, most
marketing, mobile marketing (SMS, MMS preferred and most effective digital
in-app marketing), email marketing, social medium? It comprises building a
media management, social media subscribers list and sending emails to the
advertising etc. target audience.

43
The use of email to promote products
and/or services. But a better email
marketing definition is the use of email to
develop relationships with potential
customers and/or clients. Email marketing
is one segment of internet marketing, which
encompasses online marketing via
websites, social media, blogs, etc. It is
essentially the same as direct mail except
that instead of sending mail through the
postal service, messages are sent
electronically via email.
Much of the spam email we all get
proclaiming 'deals' on this, and that is a
good example of email marketing at its
worst; the mindless email barrage.
At its best, email marketing allows
businesses to keep their customers
informed and tailor their marketing
messages to their customers.
Particular groups of customers can be
targeted or even individuals. Offering
individual customers special deals on
merchandise and/or services.
Email marketing best practices include
developing your own email list rather than
buying an email list(s) and making
participation in your email list opt-in rather
than opt-out (using permission-based email
marketing). Email should also be optimized
for mobile usage as according to statistics
over half of emails are opened on mobile
devices.
The huge advantage of email over social
media is that prospects and customers are
more likely to see an email than social
media. Just posting something doesn't mean
that everyone you want to see your message
will see it.
Your post might not even show up in your
targets' social media streams. However, an
email will sit in the inbox until it's read (or
deleted).
Content Optimization
Content optimization is the process of
making sure content is written in a way that
it can reach the largest possible target
audience. The process of optimizing
content should include making sure
associated keywords are present, adding
meta and title tags, and relevant links. You
should also optimize headlines for
increased CTRs and visual images for
increased user engagement.
Some digital marketing experts say that
content is the silver bullet of digital
marketing. Whether it is a website, social
media platforms or emails, the quality,
consistency, relevance and frequency of
updating of content plays a crucial role.
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Do note that content can be published in
various ways:
● Web pages
● Blogs
● Infographics
● Whitepapers
● E-books
● Videos
● Webinars
● Podcasts
Marketing Analytics
Marketing analytics play a very important
role in evaluating data to design the
complete strategy of marketing. Marketing
analytics involves the technologies and
processes CMOs and marketers use to
evaluate the success and value of their
efforts. As such, marketing analytics uses
various metrics to measure the performance
of marketing initiatives.
Effective marketing analytics gathers data
from all sources and channels and combines
it into a single view. Teams then use the
analytics to determine how their marketing
initiatives are performing and to identify
opportunities for improvement. It is
difficult to determine the effectiveness and
return on investment (ROI) of your
marketing campaigns without marketing
analytics.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Paid advertising, especially on Facebook
and Twitter, can increase your digital
footprint to a larger audience.
PPC is an online advertising model in
which advertisers pay each time a user
clicks on one of their online ads.
There are different types of PPC ads, but
one of the most common types is the paid
search ad.
These ads appear when people search for
things online using a search engine like
Google – especially when they are
performing commercial searches, meaning
that they're looking for something to buy.
This could be anything from a mobile
search (someone looking for "pizza near
me" on their phone) to a local service search
(someone looking for a dentist or a plumber
in their area) to someone shopping for a gift
("Mother's Day flowers") or a high-end
item like enterprise software. All of these
searches trigger pay-per-click ads.
In pay-per-click advertising, businesses
running ads are only charged when a user
actually clicks on their ad, hence the name
“pay-per-click.”
Other forms of PPC advertising include
display advertising (typically, serving
banner ads) and remarketing.
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Mobile Marketing
With 80% of internet users relying on their
smartphones to search for information and
buy products, mobile marketing is the way
to tap them. It is a tool to appeal the mobile
device users via SMS, responsive websites,
apps and personalized notifications.
(Source: Smart Insights)
Measurement
The beauty of digital marketing lies in the
fact that ROI on every penny spent can be
tracked. It also monitors the number of
leads and conversions.
Steps to an effective digital marketing
strategy:
For Example: Zomato is a restaurant finder
mobile app available for 24 countries. The
company uses humor liberally in its
marketing strategy. In particular, it creates
and shares images referencing popular
culture, as this recent example spoofing an
Oscar-nominated film shows. They are
simple, creative, and entertaining, proving
that a minimalist approach can do the trick.
It must be working, because the company’s
got 1.3 million followers on Twitter, and
the same on Facebook, and the app’s been
downloaded hundreds of thousands of
times.
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 RURAL MARKETING

Rural Marketing refers to the activities Distribution Strategy

undertaken by the marketers to encourage ● Ensuring reach & visibility
the people, living in rural areas to convert ● Reaching up to mandis, towns &
their purchasing power into an effective suburban centers
demand for the goods and services and ● Targeting larger villages
making these available in the rural areas, ● Understanding of peak seasons
with the intention to improve their standard ● Collaboration for distribution
of living and achieving the company’s ● Converting unorganized sector
objective, as a whole. manufacturers into distributors
To be precise, rural marketing in India ● Company’s own distribution
Economy covers two broad sections, network
namely:
● Selling of manufactured products in Distribution Network
the rural regions
● Selling of agricultural products in
the urban area.
“Rural marketing is now a two-way
marketing process. There is inflow of
products into rural markets for production
or consumption and there is also outflow of
products to urban areas”

Distribution in Rural Markets

While a company operating in a developed
market needs to carefully consider its
distribution network design in order to
achieve profitability, companies operating
in rural emerging market face particular
challenges because of the low density of the

47
population and poorly developed
transportation infrastructure.

"The majority of populations in emerging

markets continue to live in low-density
areas. As a consequence of the low
population density companies may be faced
with continuously escalating inventory
holding and transportation costs as they are
forced to stock and manage sales points in
thousands of villages to meet customer
expectations for product availability

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 SALES
Sales is the team whose job it is to “sell
what’s in stock”. The company has specific
products or services and—and it's up to
Sales to sell those things. Sales develops
relationships with customers and/or
channel partners. They knock down the
doors, overcome objections, negotiate
prices and terms and often work internally
to be sure their customer’s orders are filled.
The perspective of Sales is from inside the
company out toward the customers and
their horizon is focused on this week, this
month, and this quarter. If sales are not
focused on the now, then there may not be
any revenue this week, month, or quarter.
Types of Sales
1. Inside Sales: Commonly a salesperson is
also termed as a Sales representative who
would be responsible for maintaining
relationships with the existing clients and
generate new sales orders. In the case of
inside sales representative does the same
thing.
2. Outside Sales: The representative
interacts face to face with the customers and
is done primary the outside of the office.
3. Sales support functions: support
function arm is helpful for the organization
which reduces the time of the salesperson
and helps to focus on other clients with a
little budget from the company.
4. Client services: The client service
executive is responsible to help the
customers and ensure that their needs and
demands are met.
5. Lead generation: The salesperson is
also responsible for ensuring that the
connection is reliable and the extent to
which it can be perceived for getting a sale.
Lead generation can be done with the help
of technology and a combination of
inbound marketing techniques along with
digital marketing.
6. Business development manager: The
activities of the Business development
Manager been to the door to door cold
calling in order to generate new leads.
7. Account manager: The primary
objective of the account manager is to
ensure that the needs of the clients are met
and also to find Creative solutions and
49
techniques in order to continue their Sales Management
savings to the existing clients. The art of meeting and exceeding the sales
goals of an organization through effective
8. Consultative selling: Consultants are the planning, controlling, budgeting and
person who is an expert for an experienced leadership refers to sales management.
professional and has immense knowledge Process of Sales Management –
about a particular subject matter for a 1. Sales Planning
specific field. Consultants work only in ● Know the product well. Sales
specialized fields such as management, professionals must know the USPs and
education, accountancy, human resources, benefits of the product for the
marketing, Public relations, engineering, consumers to believe them.
science, finance etc. ● Identify the target market.
● Proper planning makes the products
9. Business to business and business to available to the end users at the right
customer: In B2B the client that has been time and at the right place.
approached is himself a buyer has potential ● Sales Planning helps the marketers to
customers. B2C is the one in which the analyze the customer demands and
business is separate the customers directly. respond efficiently to fluctuations in the
The nature of the deal is small and there are market.
multiple deals with multiple customers. The ● Devise appropriate strategies to
number of deals is more in b2c than in B2B. increase the sales of the products.
2. Sales Reporting
10. Online Selling: Form of Sales in which ● Sales strategies are implemented in this
the customers approach to digitally or via stage.
the internet. A landing page is very crucial ● It is essential for the organization to
in order to greet potential customers. The evaluate the outcome of proposed
website has to be developed very accurately strategies for any particular department.
and should address all the queries that Organizations depend on KPI also
customer might have. The product should called Key Performance Indicator or
be in a proper and good picture it should be simply Performance Indicator to
attractive to the potential customers. measure the effectiveness of
implemented strategies.

50
● Mapping individual performance over When a brand wants to increase the sales of
time is essential. its products, it uses Sales promotion. The
brand can increase the sales by attracting
3. Sales Process new customers to their products or by
Sales representatives should work as a retaining the old customers by various
single unit for maximum productivity. A means. The company can also motivate the
systematic approach results in error free dealers and distributors of their channel to
work. perform better for their brand, and to get
The management must make sure sales their stock moving.
managers follow a proper channel to reach There are two types of Sales promotions:
out to the customers. 1. Consumer sales promotions
Steps for maximum sales and better output Any sales promotion activity that you do
1. Initial Contact/Lead keeping the end consumer in mind is known
2. Information Exchange as consumer sales promotions. Example –
3. Lead Generation if an E-commerce website gives 10%
4. Need Identification discount on its products, then it wants the
5. Qualified Prospect consumers to make the best of this deal.
6. Proposal This is a consumer-focused promotional
7. Negotiation activity and hence can be called as
8. Closing of Deal consumer sales promotions.
9. After Sales Service
2. Trade Sales promotions
Sales Promotion If your promotional activities are focused
Sales promotion is a type of Pull marketing on Dealers, distributors or agents, then it is
technique. If you have a product which is known as trade promotions. There is a lot of
new in the market or which is not receiving competition in any field. And in channel
a lot of attention, then you can promote this sales, to get the products moving and to
product to customers via sales promotions. motivate the dealer to perform better, trade
You can use various techniques like giving discounts are given.
discounts on the product, offering 1 + 1 free Example – You are a dealer for Televisions.
scheme. Now Sony comes and tells you, you will be
given 5% discount if you cross a sale of 100

51
televisions. Naturally, you will be very
motivated because 5% in television sales is
huge. Plus selling Sony TV’s is easy
because it is already a brand. Thus, you
divert all potential customers to Sony
Televisions so that you can achieve the
target.
As the noise of competitors rises, you will
find more and more companies using sales
promotions techniques. The advantage of
sales promotion is that they are not too
expensive for the company when compared
with ATL advertising mediums like
Television or newspaper. Hence, even
small businesses use it quite effectively.

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