SMM Chap 1

Marketing Strategies: Meaning, Nature and Essentials
Marketing strategy is the total and unbeatable instrument or a plan shaped and designed
specifically for attaining the marketing objectives of a firm. A marketing mission and objectives
tell us as to where we want to go and marketing strategy provides us with the grand design for
reaching out there.
The borrow the words of Prof. Jerome Mc Carthy “strategy is the all important part of marketing.
The one time planning decision the most crucial decision that determines what business the
company is in and the general strategy, it will follow may be more important than has ever been
realized”
In the words of Mr. Robertson and Yoram Wind, “there are three generic strategies for achieving
success in the competitive market place. The first of these is to gain control over the supply or
distribution, the second competitive cost advantage and the third product differentiation;
marketing as a discipline is critical component of all these three strategies. Marketing performs a
boundary role function in the firm’s selection of an appropriate strategy; marketing spares the
customer interface and provides the assessment of needs which must ultimately guide all strategy
development”.
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To quite Michael E. Porter “marketing strategy has mainly one aim to cope up with competition;
these are five major and vital forces that decide the nature and intensity of competition the threat
of new entrants, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of
substitute products and jockeying among the existing contest arts ; the collective strength of
these forces determine the ultimate profit potential, of an industry; the strategists goal is to find a
position in the industry where his company can best defined itself against these forces or can
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influence them in his favour; strategy can be viewed as building defences against competitive
forces.
In the final analysis marketing strategy stands for competitive marketing actions that are bound
to evoke a response from competition. That is why a successful marketer needs to have a
comprehensive strategy to tackle competition at any cost.
However, one cannot go to the extent of “any cost” unless one works according to a plan and that
is competitive strategy for thumping success in marketing. It is but, therefore, natural that
competitive strategy has to be one that will evoke the much sought after competitive advantage.
Having given the competitive advantage, the said strategy should give a sustainable competitive
edge.
It warrants the thorough investigation and analyses of competition before one hope to have a
competitive advantage. Thus competitive investigation, scanning and analysis consist of two
things namely, the “long-term profit- opportunity” and owns one’s competitive position.
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The ways of out beating competition are:

1. Reducing competition:
Perhaps this is the simplest way of fighting out. It sounds well in theory; however in practice it
means acquisition of smaller or weaker units which are in competition. Thus, Hindustan Lever
acquired TOMACO and Broke Bond acquiring Kissan and Lipton.
2. Joining competition:
This is another way out to mitigate competition which is gaining ground. The best example is
that of joint venture of Procter and Gamble and Godrej Soaps.
3. Pre-empting competition:
This is another way which is a proactive approach, which is very effective particularly when it is
backed by competitive analysis. The example of pre-empting competition is that of.

4. To create barriers:
This implies forbidding others from entry in the line based on very strong financial and muscle
power. Good many companies spend heavily barring others to just think of such extravagance a
luxury or a dream for them. The example of this kind is that of.
5. To differentiated the products:

It pays to differentiate the products. One must not hesitate to differ his own product with a new
to provide better value for the money paid by the customers. It is not only ideal but practical.
That is majority of the companies to do it. The examples are good many but we can take
toiletotries of all companies.
6. To improve the speed of response:

The competitive edge can be further sharpened than one thinks. There are certain manufactured
products where speed of response as well as quick source is of top significance.
Though the companies are aware of keeping pace with changing technological tempo they
should be well ahead of the same. Quality in consonance with technology has much valid
response if it catches the required speed.
7. To divest from regular activities:

Instead of moving in the same grow; it should more out of it. The firm should divest out of focus
active
ities. This makes available much wanted scarce recess in the focused activities.
8. To improve efficiency:
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It is but natural that there is close alliance between important efficiency and the competitive
edge. This helps the marketer to distinguish his products though reduced cycle of line and
reduced costs.

To restate, a competitive marketing strategy should be such that will give sustainable competitive
advantage. One has to be therefore proactive and quick in one’s responses and one should be
willing to invest in long-term profits.
Nature of Marketing Strategies:

The exact nature of strategy is self evident from the definitions we have gone through.
The nature is clearly spoken by the following points:
1. They are dynamic:
The concept of marketing strategy is relative as it is designed to meet the changing demands of a
situation. Each situation and event needs a different strategy that is why strategies are revised
and recast very frequently to cope up with the changes in a given situation or event.
2. They are futuristic:

A marketing strategy is forward looking. It orients towards future. A marketing strategy is
designed to bring out the organisation from a ditch of degression to the path of progress for
better change in the coming times.
3. They are complex:

A marketing strategy is a very complex plan impounding in its compound other plans or firms of
plans which area must to achieve the organizational goals. It is a compendium or complex of
plans within plan to out beat the strength and vitality of others in the line are allied activities.
4. They provide direction:

Marketing strategies provide a set direction in which human and physical resources will be
allocated and deployed for achieving organisational goals in the face of change environmental
pressure, stress and strains and constraints and restraints.
5. They are all covering:

Marketing strategies involve the right combination of factors governing the best results. In fact
strategic planning warrants not only the isolation of various elements of a given situation but a
judicious and critical evaluation of their relative importance.

6. They are a link between the unit and environment:
The strategic decisions that are basically related with likely trends in the changing marketing
changes in govt., policies, technological developments, ecological change over’s, social and
cultural overtones. Then, the ever-changing environment which is external to the organisation
has impact on it because unit is the sub-systems of supra-system namely environment.
7. They are interpretative:

Marketing strategies are the interpretative plans formulated to interpret and give meaning to
other plans in the spot-light of a specific situation or situations. They demand an adjustment of
plans in anticipator of the reactions of those who will be influenced. Strategic decisions are the
result of a complex and intricate process of decision making.
8. They are top management blue-print:

Marketing strategies their formulation is the basic responsibility of top management. It is
because, it is top management that spells out the missions, objectives and goals and the policies
and strategies are the ways to reach them. Thus, top management is not only to say to where to
go but how best to go the terminal point.
Essentials of Marketing Strategies:

Any marketing strategy to be worth calling as successful or effective must enjoy certain extras
which can be called as essentials or requisites of it.
The basic guidelines, used to call a strategy a successful one used by experts are:
1. It is consistent:
A marketing strategy to be effective is to be consistent with the overall and specific objectives
and policies and other, strategies and tactics of the marketing organisation. Interval consistency
is an essential ingredient of a good strategy as it identifies the areas where the strategic decisions
are to be made imminently or in the long run.
2. It is workable:
Any strategy however laudable and theoretically sound is meaningless unless it is able to meet
the ever changing need of a situation. In this business world contingency is quite common and

the strategy that strikes at the head to contribute to the progresses and prosperity of marketing
organisation.
3. It is suitable:
A strategy is emergent of situations or environment. It is the subservient of changing
environment of business world. It is but natural that any strategy not suiting to .the environment
can impound the marketing organisation in the compounds of danger, digress and frustration.
4. It is not risky:
Any strategy involves risks as uncertainty is certain; what is important is that the extent of the
risk involved or associated with strategy is reasonably low as compared to its pay-off or returns.
It is because; a high risk very strategy may threaten the survival of the marketing organisation,
let alone its success, if calculations go fit.
5. It is resource based:
A sound strategy is one which is designed in the background of the available resources at its
command. A strategy involves certain amount of risk which can hardly be segregated. A strategic
decision warrants commitment of right amount of resources to the opportunity and reservation of
sufficient resources for an anticipated or “pass through” errors in such demands of resources.
6. It has a time horizon:

The statement “a stitch in time saves nine” that aptly applies to the concept of strategy. A sound
strategy is time bound to be used at the nick of the hour and tick of the opportunity. It has an
appropriate time horizon. This time this is costlier than money and its horizon banks on the goals
to be achieved.
The time should be long enough to permit the organisation to make adjustments and maintain the
consistency of a strategy.

Concept of Marketing Management Philosophy
Every company can have different ideas or philosophy. For example, a particular company can
have its idea or philosophy that if the production is done on a large scale, the cost would be less
and the product would be sold automatically.
In this way, such a company will concentrate mainly on the large scale production of goods.
Similarly, some other company can have a different idea. It may have an idea that if the quality
of the product is improved, there will be no difficulty in selling the product.
Under the marketing management philosophy, we shall study the following five concepts:
(1) Production Concept
(2) Product Concept
(3) Selling Concept
(4) Marketing Concept
(5) Societal Marketing Concept
1. Production Concept
Those companies who believe in this philosophy think that if the goods/services are cheap and
they can be made available at many places, there cannot be any problem regarding sale.
Keeping in mind the same philosophy these companies put in all their marketing efforts in
reducing the cost of production and strengthening their distribution system. In order to reduce the
cost of production and to bring it down to the minimum level, these companies indulge in large
scale production.

This helps them in effecting the economics of the large scale production. Consequently, the cost
of production per unit is reduced.
The utility of this philosophy is apparent only when demand exceeds supply. Its greatest
drawback is that it is not always necessary that the customer every time purchases the cheap and
easily available goods or services.
2. Product Concept
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Those companies who believe in this philosophy are of the opinion that if the quality of goods or
services is of good standard, the customers can be easily attracted. The basis of this thinking is
that the customers get attracted towards the products of good quality. On the basis of this
philosophy or idea these companies direct their marketing efforts to increasing the quality of
their product.
It is a firm belief of the followers of the product concept that the customers get attracted to the
products of good quality. This is not the absolute truth because it is not the only basis of buying
goods.
The customers do take care of the price of the products, its availability, etc. A good quality
product and high price can upset the budget of a customer. Therefore, it can be said that only the
quality of the product is not the only way to the success of marketing.
3. Selling Concept
Those companies who believe in this concept think that leaving alone the customers will not
help. Instead there is a need to attract the customers towards them. They think that goods are not
bought but they have to be sold.

The basis of this thinking is that the customers can be attracted. Keeping in view this concept
these companies concentrate their marketing efforts towards educating and attracting the
customers. In such a case their main thinking is ‘selling what you have’.
This concept offers the idea that by repeated efforts one can sell-anything to the customers. This
may be right for some time, but you cannot do it for a long-time. If you succeed in enticing the
customer once, he cannot be won over every time.
On the contrary, he will work for damaging your reputation. Therefore, it can be asserted that
this philosophy offers only a short-term advantage and is not for long-term gains.
4. Marketing Concept
Those companies who believe in this concept are of the opinion that success can be achieved
only through consumer satisfaction. The basis of this thinking is that only those goods/service
should be made available which the consumers want or desire and not the things which you can
do.
In other words, they do not sell what they can make but they make what they can sell. Keeping in
mind this idea, these companies direct their marketing efforts to achieve consumer satisfaction.
In short, it can be said that it is a modern concept and by adopting it profit can be earned on a
long-term basis. The drawback of this concept is that no attention is paid to social welfare.
5. Societal Marketing Concept

This concept stresses not only the customer satisfaction but also gives importance to Consumer
Welfare/Societal Welfare. This concept is almost a step further than the marketing concept.
Under this concept, it is believed that mere satisfaction of the consumers would not help and the
welfare of the whole society has to be kept in mind.
For example, if a company produces a vehicle which consumes less petrol but spreads pollution,
it will result in only consumer satisfaction and not the social welfare.

Primarily two elements are included under social welfare-high-level of human life and pollution
free atmosphere. Therefore, the companies believing in this concept direct all their marketing
efforts towards the achievement of consumer satisfaction and social welfare.
In short, it can be said that this is the latest concept of marketing. The companies adopting this
concept can achieve long-term profit.
ADVANCE CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES
Strategic Management is all about identification and description of the strategies that managers
can carry so as to achieve better performance and a competitive advantage for their organization.
An organization is said to have competitive advantage if its profitability is higher than the
average profitability for all companies in its industry.
Strategic management can also be defined as a bundle of decisions and acts which a manager
undertakes and which decides the result of the firm’s performance. The manager must have a
thorough knowledge and analysis of the general and competitive organizational environment so
as to take right decisions. They should conduct a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats), i.e., they should make best possible utilization of strengths,
minimize the organizational weaknesses, make use of arising opportunities from the business
environment and shouldn’t ignore the threats.
Strategic management is nothing but planning for both predictable as well as unfeasible
contingencies. It is applicable to both small as well as large organizations as even the smallest
organization face competition and, by formulating and implementing appropriate strategies, they
can attain sustainable competitive advantage.
It is a way in which strategists set the objectives and proceed about attaining them. It deals with
making and implementing decisions about future direction of an organization. It helps us to
identify the direction in which an organization is moving.
Strategic management is a continuous process that evaluates and controls the business and the
industries in which an organization is involved; evaluates its competitors and sets goals and
strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reevaluates strategies on a
regular basis to determine how it has been implemented and whether it was successful or does it
needs replacement.
Strategic Management gives a broader perspective to the employees of an organization and

they can better understand how their job fits into the entire organizational plan and how it
is co-related to other organizational members. It is nothing but the art of managing employees
in a manner which maximizes the ability of achieving business objectives. The employees
become more trustworthy, more committed and more satisfied as they can co-relate themselves
very well with each organizational task. They can understand the reaction of environmental

changes on the organization and the probable response of the organization with the help of
strategic management. Thus the employees can judge the impact of such changes on their own
job and can effectively face the changes. The managers and employees must do appropriate
things in appropriate manner. They need to be both effective as well as efficient.
One of the major role of strategic management is to incorporate various functional areas of the
organization completely, as well as, to ensure these functional areas harmonize and get together
well. Another role of strategic management is to keep a continuous eye on the goals and
objectives of the organization.
Customer Relationship Management

every business unit emphasizes on spurting a long term relationship with customers to nurture its
stability in today’s blooming market. Customer’s expectations are now not only limited to get
best products and services, they also need a face-to-face business in which they want to receive
exactly what they demand and in a quick time.
Customer Relationship Management is an upright concept or strategy to solidify relations

with customers and at the same time reducing cost and enhancing productivity and
profitability in business. An ideal CRM system is a centralized collection all data sources under
an organization and provides an atomistic real time vision of customer information. A CRM
system is vast and significant, but it be can implemented for small business, as well as large
enterprises also as the main goal is to assist the customers efficiently.
Usually an organization consists of various departments which predominantly have access to

customer’s information either directly or indirectly. A CRM system piles up this information
centrally, examines it and then makes it addressable within all the departments.
Lets take an example of an international call center which uses a CRM tool called ‘xyz’ and is
integrated with a phone and a computer system or laptop. Now this system automatically
perceives which customer is calling. Before the executive attends the phone the CRM system
brings forth the customer details on the computer or laptop screen and also indicates what the
opportunity of deals is with that particular customer, what the customer had already purchased or
ordered in past and what is the probability of buying in future. Not only this, it can also highlight
what all products best suit this customer. For finance department it may show the information
regarding the current balance and for accounting department it may pop out the information
regarding the recent purchases by the customer. All these pieces of data are stored in the CRM
database and are available as and when it is needed.
According to this example, CRM system provides a well defined platform for all business
units to interact with their clients and fulfill all their needs and demands very effectively
and to build long-term relationship.
Wangling this kind of relationship with customers is not easy to manage and it depends on how
the systematically and flexibly a CRM system is implemented or integrated. But once it’s
accomplished it serves the best way in dealing with customers. In turn customers feels gratitude

of self-satisfaction and loyalty which results in better bonding with supplier and hence increasing
the business.
A CRM system is not only used to deal with the existing customers but is also useful in acquiring
new customers. The process first starts with identifying a customer and maintaining all the
corresponding details into the CRM system which is also called an ‘Opportunity of Business’.
The Sales and Field representatives then try getting business out of these customers by
sophistically following up with them and converting them into a winning deal.
Customer Relationship Management strategies have given a new outlook to all the suppliers and
customers to keep the business going under an estimable relationship by fulfilling mutual needs
of buying and selling.
Features of CRM
Customer Relationship Management is a strategy which is customized by an organization to
manage and administrate its customers and vendors in an efficient manner for achieving
excellence in business. It is primarily entangled with following features:
1. Customers Needs- An organization can never assume what actually a customer needs.
Hence it is extremely important to interview a customer about all the likes and dislikes so
that the actual needs can be ascertained and prioritized. Without modulating the actual
needs it is arduous to serve the customer effectively and maintain a long-term deal.
2. Customers Response- Customer response is the reaction by the organization to the
queries and activities of the customer. Dealing with these queries intelligently is very
important as small misunderstandings could convey unalike perceptions. Success totally
depends on the understanding and interpreting these queries and then working out to
provide the best solution. During this situation if the supplier wins to satisfy the customer
by properly answering to his queries, he succeeds in explicating a professional and
emotional relationship with him.
3. Customer Satisfaction- Customer satisfaction is the measure of how the needs and
responses are collaborated and delivered to excel customer expectation. In today’s
competitive business marketplace, customer satisfaction is an important performance
exponent and basic differentiator of business strategies. Hence, the more is customer
satisfaction; more is the business and the bonding with customer.
4. Customer Loyalty- Customer loyalty is the tendency of the customer to remain in
business with a particular supplier and buy the products regularly. This is usually seen
when a customer is very much satisfied by the supplier and re-visits the organization for
business deals, or when he is tended towards re-buying a particular product or brand over
times by that supplier. To continue the customer loyalty the most important aspect an
organization should focus on is customer satisfaction. Hence, customer loyalty is an
influencing aspect of CRM and is always crucial for business success.
5. Customer Retention- Customer retention is a strategic process to keep or retain the
existing customers and not letting them to diverge or defect to other suppliers or
organization for business. Usually a loyal customer is tended towards sticking to a
particular brand or product as far as his basic needs continue to be properly fulfilled. He
does not opt for taking a risk in going for a new product. More is the possibility to retain
customers the more is the probability of net growth of business.

6. Customer Complaints- Always there exists a challenge for suppliers to deal with
complaints raised by customers. Normally raising a complaint indicates the act of
dissatisfaction of the customer. There can be several reasons for a customer to launch a
complaint. A genuine reason can also exist due to which the customer is dissatisfied but
sometimes complaints are launched due to some sort of misunderstanding in analyzing
and interpreting the conditions of the deal provided by the supplier regarding any product
or service. Handling these complaints to ultimate satisfaction of the customer is
substantial for any organization and hence it is essential for them to have predefined set
of process in CRM to deal with these complaints and efficiently resolve it in no time.
7. Customer Service- In an organization Customer Service is the process of delivering
information and services regarding all the products and brands. Customer satisfaction
depends on quality of service provided to him by the supplier. The organization has not
only to elaborate and clarify the details of the services to be provided to the customer but
also to abide with the conditions as well. If the quality and trend of service go beyond
customer’s expectation, the organization is supposed to have a good business with
customers.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing

CRM leverages and amplifies customer base of an organization through efficacious and efficient
marketing. In fact CRM has brought up new dimensions in the field of marketing by significantly
improving marketing functioning and execution. Intuitive CRM associated marketing strategies
like direct marketing, web marketing, e-mail marketing etc. have been matured during the recent
past. These marketing strategies are more promising as compared to the traditional ways on
marketing as they help delivering higher-up performance and walloping business. They also help
meliorating response rates in marketing campaigns, cut cost on promotions due to low asset
values and provide higher scrutiny on organizational investments.
The various aspects of CRM oriented marketing are discussed below.
1. Web Marketing- With the growing popularity of web, customers are tending towards
web marketing or web shopping. This helps both customers and suppliers to transact in a
real time environment irrespective of their locations. Some of the major advantages of
Web Marketing are listed below:
 It is relatively very inexpensive as it reduces the cost for physically reaching to
the target customers for interaction.
 Suppliers can reach to more number of customers in lesser amount of time.
 The online marketing campaigns can be easily tracked, traced, calculated and
tested.
 The selection process of any product or brand is simplified due to proven online
research and analysis techniques.
 Online marketing campaigns are more promotional as compared to manual
campaigns.
2. Email Marketing- Email marketing has turned out to be more efficacious and
inexpensive as compared to mail or phone based marketing strategies. Email marketing is

direct marketing which is data driven and leads to more accurate customer response and
effective fulfillment of customer needs. More attractive features include newsletters,
sending of eCoupons, eCards, provision of saving events into calendars etc.
3. Analyzing customers buying behavior online- A CRM system provides a platform to
analyze the customers buying behavior online. This interactive strategy provides great
accuracy with high speed which includes profiling services furnishing elaborated bits of
information regarding customers purchasing habits or behavior. Individualized analysis
of this behavior also helps to identify to which product or brand the customers are more
tended. For example an online selling website www.xyz.com can analyze the customers
buying behavior by installing an in-house service with the help of a full-fledged CRM
that checks what all products are being purchased by a particular customer and under
which specific group they fall. This is achieved by personalized analyzing the buying
history of customers in the past which predicts the future business with those customers
also. This accomplishes to build a long-term relationship with customers by properly
canvassing customer needs and resulting in customer satisfaction. Analyzing this
particular buying behavior of customers online also helps to fix or change of marketing
techniques or strategies to mould the system according to the future perspectives.
4. Forecasting future marketing strategies- Down the line marketing strategies keeps on
changing according to the emotional behavioral change of customers. CRM market
forecasting techniques help to understand this change through regression and statistical
analysis of customer behavior online. These are some complex but more accurate
analysis techniques provided by CRM system which are proved to be one of best
marketing strategies. This innovative approach is carried out with greater risks but is
believed to outturn astonishing rewards.
5. Building business impact models- It is important for an organization to have check on
marketing performance regularly so that the techniques never deteriorate and always
match to yield greater results. These CRM oriented models help in delivering accurate
measurement of marketing performance throughout the organization and to do better
every time.
These synergistic marketing strategies make a part of CRM system to develop high-end
marketing business. Hence it is very important for an organization to incorporate them by
carefully anticipating change, testing their performance and assembling the best possible
combination of these strategies to meet the needs of the customers and maximize its marketing
growth.
Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship management is the strongest and the most efficient approach in
maintaining and creating relationships with customers. Customer relationship management is not
only pure business but also ideate strong personal bonding within people. Development of this
type of bonding drives the business to new levels of success.

Once this personal and emotional linkage is built, it is very easy for any organization to identify
the actual needs of customer and help them to serve them in a better way. It is a belief that more
the sophisticated strategies involved in implementing the customer relationship management, the
more strong and fruitful is the business. Most of the organizations have dedicated world class
tools for maintaining CRM systems into their workplace. Some of the efficient tools used in most
of the renowned organization are BatchBook, Salesforce, Buzzstream, Sugar CRM etc.
Looking at some broader perspectives given as below we can easily determine why a CRM
System is always important for an organization.
1. A CRM system consists of a historical view and analysis of all the acquired or to be
acquired customers. This helps in reduced searching and correlating customers and to
foresee customer needs effectively and increase business.
2. CRM contains each and every bit of details of a customer, hence it is very easy for track a
customer accordingly and can be used to determine which customer can be profitable and
which not.
3. In CRM system, customers are grouped according to different aspects according to the
type of business they do or according to physical location and are allocated to different
customer managers often called as account managers. This helps in focusing and
concentrating on each and every customer separately.
4. A CRM system is not only used to deal with the existing customers but is also useful in
acquiring new customers. The process first starts with identifying a customer and
maintaining all the corresponding details into the CRM system which is also called an
‘Opportunity of Business’. The Sales and Field representatives then try getting business
out of these customers by sophistically following up with them and converting them into
a winning deal. All this is very easily and efficiently done by an integrated CRM system.
5. The strongest aspect of Customer Relationship Management is that it is very cost-
effective. The advantage of decently implemented CRM system is that there is very less
need of paper and manual work which requires lesser staff to manage and lesser resources
to deal with. The technologies used in implementing a CRM system are also very cheap
and smooth as compared to the traditional way of business.
6. All the details in CRM system is kept centralized which is available anytime on
fingertips. This reduces the process time and increases productivity.
7. Efficiently dealing with all the customers and providing them what they actually need
increases the customer satisfaction. This increases the chance of getting more business
which ultimately enhances turnover and profit.
8. If the customer is satisfied they will always be loyal to you and will remain in business
forever resulting in increasing customer base and ultimately enhancing net growth of
business.
In today’s commercial world, practice of dealing with existing customers and thriving business
by getting more customers into loop is predominant and is mere a dilemma. Installing a CRM
system can definitely improve the situation and help in challenging the new ways of marketing
and business in an efficient manner. Hence in the era of business every organization should be
recommended to have a full-fledged CRM system to cope up with all the business needs.

Components of a Strategy Statement
The strategy statement of a firm sets the firm’s long-term strategic direction and broad policy
directions. It gives the firm a clear sense of direction and a blueprint for the firm’s activities for
the upcoming years. The main constituents of a strategic statement are as follows:
1. Strategic Intent
An organization’s strategic intent is the purpose that it exists and why it will continue to
exist, providing it maintains a competitive advantage. Strategic intent gives a picture
about what an organization must get into immediately in order to achieve the company’s
vision. It motivates the people. It clarifies the vision of the vision of the company.
Strategic intent helps management to emphasize and concentrate on the priorities.

Strategic intent is, nothing but, the influencing of an organization’s resource potential and
core competencies to achieve what at first may seem to be unachievable goals in the
competitive environment. A well expressed strategic intent should guide/steer the
development of strategic intent or the setting of goals and objectives that require that all
of organization’s competencies be controlled to maximum value.
Strategic intent includes directing organization’s attention on the need of winning;

inspiring people by telling them that the targets are valuable; encouraging individual and
team participation as well as contribution; and utilizing intent to direct allocation of
resources.
Strategic intent differs from strategic fit in a way that while strategic fit deals with
harmonizing available resources and potentials to the external environment, strategic
intent emphasizes on building new resources and potentials so as to create and exploit
future opportunities.
2. Mission Statement
Mission statement is the statement of the role by which an organization intends to serve
it’s stakeholders. It describes why an organization is operating and thus provides a
framework within which strategies are formulated. It describes what the organization
does (i.e., present capabilities), who all it serves (i.e., stakeholders) and what makes an
organization unique (i.e., reason for existence).
A mission statement differentiates an organization from others by explaining its broad

scope of activities, its products, and technologies it uses to achieve its goals and
objectives. It talks about an organization’s present (i.e., “about where we are”). For
instance, Microsoft’s mission is to help people and businesses throughout the world to
realize their full potential. Wal-Mart’s mission is “To give ordinary folk the chance to
buy the same thing as rich people.” Mission statements always exist at top level of an
organization, but may also be made for various organizational levels. Chief executive
plays a significant role in formulation of mission statement. Once the mission statement
is formulated, it serves the organization in long run, but it may become ambiguous with
organizational growth and innovations.

In today’s dynamic and competitive environment, mission may need to be redefined.
However, care must be taken that the redefined mission statement should have original
fundamentals/components. Mission statement has three main components-a statement of
mission or vision of the company, a statement of the core values that shape the acts and
behaviour of the employees, and a statement of the goals and objectives.
Features of a Mission
a. Mission must be feasible and attainable. It should be possible to achieve it.

b. Mission should be clear enough so that any action can be taken.
c. It should be inspiring for the management, staff and society at large.
d. It should be precise enough, i.e., it should be neither too broad nor too narrow.
e. It should be unique and distinctive to leave an impact in everyone’s mind.
f. It should be analytical,i.e., it should analyze the key components of the strategy.
g. It should be credible, i.e., all stakeholders should be able to believe it.
3. Vision
A vision statement identifies where the organization wants or intends to be in future or

where it should be to best meet the needs of the stakeholders. It describes dreams and
aspirations for future. For instance, Microsoft’s vision is “to empower people through
great software, any time, any place, or any device.” Wal-Mart’s vision is to become
worldwide leader in retailing.
A vision is the potential to view things ahead of themselves. It answers the question
“where we want to be”. It gives us a reminder about what we attempt to develop. A
vision statement is for the organization and it’s members, unlike the mission statement
which is for the customers/clients. It contributes in effective decision making as well as
effective business planning. It incorporates a shared understanding about the nature and
aim of the organization and utilizes this understanding to direct and guide the
organization towards a better purpose. It describes that on achieving the mission, how the
organizational future would appear to be.
An effective vision statement must have following features-
a. It must be unambiguous.
b. It must be clear.
c. It must harmonize with organization’s culture and values.
d. The dreams and aspirations must be rational/realistic.
e. Vision statements should be shorter so that they are easier to memorize.
In order to realize the vision, it must be deeply instilled in the organization, being owned
and shared by everyone involved in the organization.
4. Goals and Objectives

A goal is a desired future state or objective that an organization tries to achieve. Goals
specify in particular what must be done if an organization is to attain mission or vision.
Goals make mission more prominent and concrete. They co-ordinate and integrate
various functional and departmental areas in an organization. Well made goals have
following features-
a. These are precise and measurable.

b. These look after critical and significant issues.
c. These are realistic and challenging.
d. These must be achieved within a specific time frame.
e. These include both financial as well as non-financial components.
Objectives are defined as goals that organization wants to achieve over a period of time.
These are the foundation of planning. Policies are developed in an organization so as to
achieve these objectives. Formulation of objectives is the task of top level management.
Effective objectives have following features-
f. These are not single for an organization, but multiple.

g. Objectives should be both short-term as well as long-term.
h. Objectives must respond and react to changes in environment, i.e., they must
be flexible.
i. These must be feasible, realistic and operational.
Brand Loyalty
Brand Loyalty is a scenario where the consumer fears purchasing and consuming product from
another brand which he does not trust. It is measured through methods like word of mouth
publicity, repetitive buying, price sensitivity, commitment, brand trust, customer satisfaction, etc.
Brand loyalty is the extent to which a consumer constantly buys the same brand within a product
category. The consumers remain loyal to a specific brand as long as it is available. They do not
buy from other suppliers within the product category. Brand loyalty exists when the consumer
feels that the brand consists of right product characteristics and quality at right price. Even if the
other brands are available at cheaper price or superior quality, the brand loyal consumer will
stick to his brand.
Brand loyal consumers are the foundation of an organization. Greater loyalty levels lead to
less marketing expenditure because the brand loyal customers promote the brand positively.
Also, it acts as a means of launching and introducing more products that are targeted at same
customers at less expenditure. It also restrains new competitors in the market. Brand loyalty is a
key component of brand equity.
Brand loyalty can be developed through various measures such as quick service, ensuring quality
products, continuous improvement, wide distribution network, etc. When consumers are brand
loyal they love “you” for being “you”, and they will minutely consider any other alternative
brand as a replacement. Examples of brand loyalty can be seen in US where true Apple
customers have the brand's logo tattooed onto their bodies. Similarly in Finland, Nokia

customers remained loyal to Nokia because they admired the design of the handsets or because
of user- friendly menu system used by Nokia phones.
Brand loyalty can be defined as relative possibility of customer shifting to another brand in
case there is a change in product’s features, price or quality. As brand loyalty increases,
customers will respond less to competitive moves and actions. Brand loyal customers remain
committed to the brand, are willing to pay higher price for that brand, and will promote their
brand always. A company having brand loyal customers will have greater sales, less marketing
and advertising costs, and best pricing. This is because the brand loyal customers are less
reluctant to shift to other brands, respond less to price changes and self- promote the brand as
they perceive that their brand have unique value which is not provided by other competitive
brands.
Brand loyalty is always developed post purchase. To develop brand loyalty, an organization
should know their niche market, target them, support their product, ensure easy access of their
product, provide customer satisfaction, bring constant innovation in their product and offer
schemes on their product so as to ensure that customers repeatedly purchase the product.
Brand loyalty is where a person buys products from the same manufacturer repeatedly rather
than from other suppliers.When consumers become committed to a brand and make repeat
purchases over time.
Brand loyalty is a result of consumer behaviour and is affected by a person's preferences. Loyal
customers will consistently purchase products from their preferred brands, regardless of
convenience or price.
Companies will often use different marketing strategies to cultivate loyal customers, be it is
through loyalty programs (i.e. rewards programs) or trials and incentives (ex. samples and free
gifts).
Companies that successfully cultivate loyal customers also develop brand ambassadors –
consumers that will market a certain brand and talk positively about it among their friends. This
is free word-of-mouth marketing for the company and is often very effective.

TYPES -
According to Philip Kotler there are 4 types of brand loyals -
1. Hard-core Loyals - who buy the brand all the time.

2. Split Loyals - loyal to two or three brands.
3. Shifting Loyals - moving from one brand to another.
4. Switchers - with no loyalty (possibly 'deal-prone', constantly looking
for bargains or 'vanity prone', looking for something different). Again, research shows
that customer commitment is a more nuanced a fine-grained construct than what was
previously thought. Specifically, customer commitment has five dimensions, and some
commitment dimensions (forced commitment may even negatively impact customer
loyalty).
BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY
1. Keep quality high.
 Depending on the price of the product there is an expectation of a certain level of quality
from the marketplace.
 Stay consistent in the quality of goods or services. Else people will go back to what they
know they can count on, don’t let them down.
2. Engage customers.
 Keep in touch with your target market on a frequent and consistent basis.

 Let the customers know about the new and exciting developments within the company
and what to expect next, build momentum through communication and let them feel involved in
the happenings of the company.
3. Focus on your best customers
 Building business around the best customer called Brand Lovers—instead of trying to
aimlessly drive sales.
 Over time, return on marketing and innovation efforts will rise.
 Apple is masterful at creating products especially for customers who love style,
creativity, and simplicity.
4. Offering returning customers a discount on services.
 Everyone loves a good deal. Therefore, when a customer returns to a company, it is a
good idea to reward them for coming back.
 It can be a huge discount; or can just be a percentage off of their bill. However, simply
acknowledging and to appreciate their business and are thankful they are coming back is a great
way to encourage loyalty.
5. Giving rewards for references.

 Giving current customers rewards for referring other customers is yet another way to
show current customers to appreciate their business. It also helps build up customer database
quickly.
6. Offering updates.
 A company can post updates on Facebook or Twitter page, about their business.
 This will make customers feel like they know the company well.
 They will have the inside scoop, a behind-the-scenes look at what company is dealing
with on any given day.
 As a result, business suddenly become more human to them. This is important because
appearing as a human in their eyes instead of a big, cold, heartless company is key to relationship
building. Consequently, it’s crucial to personal branding as well. Updating your social-media
accounts or website is a great way to create brand loyalty.
MEASURING BRAND LOYALTY
1. PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS
 Consumer behaviour captures all the aspect of purchase, utility and disposal of products
and services. In groups and organization are considered within the framework of consumer.

Failing to understand consumer behaviour is the recipe for disaster as some companies have
found it the hard way.
 For example, Wal-Mart launched operations in Latin-America with store design
replicating that of US markets. However, Latin America consumer differs to US consumer in
every aspect. Wal-Mart suffered consequences and failed to create impact.
 Social, cultural, individual and emotional forces play a big part in defining consumer
buying behaviour.
 Consumer buying behaviour is influenced by individual’s own personality traits. These
personality traits do not remain the same but change with the life cycle.
 The choice of occupation and corresponding income level also play part in determining
consumer behaviour.
 A doctor and software engineer both would have different buying pattern in apparel, food
automobile etc.
 Consumers from similar background, occupation and income levels may show a different
lifestyle pattern.
 An individual buying behaviour is influenced by motivation, perception, learning, beliefs
and attitude. These factors affect consumer at a psychological level and determine her overall
buying behaviour.
 Maslow’s hierarchy, Herzberg Theory and Freud Theory try and explain people different
motivational level in undertaking a buying decision. Perception is what consumer understands
about a product through their senses.
2. SWITCHING COST ANALYSIS
 The negative costs that a consumer incurs as a result of changing suppliers, brands or
products.
 Although most prevalent switching costs are monetary in nature, there are also
psychological, effort- and time-based switching costs.
 Switching costs are incremental expenditures, inconveniences, and risks incurred when a
customer changes from one supplier to another.
 Sustainable companies usually try to employ strategies that incur some sort of high cost
in order to dissuade customers from switching to a competitor's product, brand or services.
 For example, many cellular phone carriers charge very high cancellation fees for
canceling a contract. Cell phone carriers do this in hopes that the costs involved with switching
to another carrier will be high enough to prevent their customers from doing so.
3. SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT

 A satisfied customer is one who will continue to buy from you, seldom shop around, refer
other customers and in general be a superstar advocate for the business. 
 The customer satisfaction can be measured by : Perceived quality, Loyalty ,Attributional
satisfaction and Intention to repurchase.
EXAMPLE - BRAND LOYALTY
JET PRIVILEGES BY JET AIRWAYS
•Objective: Ensuring stickiness of every customer who boards a Jet Flight.
•Eligibility: Any customer who has flied once on a Jet flight can register in the program.
•Modalities: The program revolves around five tiers, with increasing Privileges. Tier upgrade and
retention done through unique multi-criteria based DTR System, which allows JP to periodically
review its best customers & move them up.
•Results:
In its first year of inception, JP Miles has been awarded the Freddie Global Awards 2005 for its
unique DTR system
Brand Positioning - Definition and Concept

Brand positioning refers to “target consumer’s” reason to buy your brand in preference to
others. It is ensures that all brand activity has a common aim; is guided, directed and delivered
by the brand’s benefits/reasons to buy; and it focusses at all points of contact with the consumer.
Brand positioning must make sure that:
 Is it unique/distinctive vs. competitors ?

 Is it significant and encouraging to the niche market ?
 Is it appropriate to all major geographic markets and businesses ?
 Is the proposition validated with unique, appropriate and original products ?
 Is it sustainable - can it be delivered constantly across all points of contact with the
consumer ?

 Is it helpful for organization to achieve its financial goals ?
 Is it able to support and boost up the organization ?
In order to create a distinctive place in the market, a niche market has to be carefully chosen and
a differential advantage must be created in their mind. Brand positioning is a medium through
which an organization can portray it’s customers what it wants to achieve for them and what it
wants to mean to them. Brand positioning forms customer’s views and opinions.
Brand Positioning can be defined as an activity of creating a brand offer in such a manner that it
occupies a distinctive place and value in the target customer’s mind. For instance-Kotak
Mahindra positions itself in the customer’s mind as one entity- “Kotak ”- which can provide
customized and one-stop solution for all their financial services needs. It has an unaided top of
mind recall. It intends to stay with the proposition of “Think Investments, Think Kotak”. The
positioning you choose for your brand will be influenced by the competitive stance you want to
adopt.
Brand Positioning involves identifying and determining points of similarity and difference to
ascertain the right brand identity and to create a proper brand image. Brand Positioning is the key
of marketing strategy. A strong brand positioning directs marketing strategy by explaining the
brand details, the uniqueness of brand and it’s similarity with the competitive brands, as well as
the reasons for buying and using that specific brand. Positioning is the base for developing and
increasing the required knowledge and perceptions of the customers. It is the single feature that
sets your service apart from your competitors. For instance- Kingfisher stands for youth and
excitement. It represents brand in full flight.
There are various positioning errors, such as-
1. Under positioning- This is a scenario in which the customer’s have a blurred and unclear
idea of the brand.
2. Over positioning- This is a scenario in which the customers have too limited a awareness
of the brand.
3. Confused positioning- This is a scenario in which the customers have a confused
opinion of the brand.
4. Double Positioning- This is a scenario in which customers do not accept the claims of a
brand.
Brand positioning refers to “target consumer’s” reason to buy your brand in preference to others.
It is ensures that all brand activity has a common aim; is guided, directed and delivered by the
brand’s benefits/reasons to buy; and it focusses at all points of contact with the consumer.
Positioning is a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative
to competing brands, in the mind of the customer.

Companies apply this strategy either by emphasizing the distinguishing features of their brand
(what it is, what it does and how, etc.) or they may try to create a suitable image (inexpensive or
premium, utilitarian or luxurious, entry-level or high-end, etc.) through advertising.
Once a brand is positioned, it is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility. It
is also called product positioning.
PROCESS OF BRAND POSITIONING
1. Identifying the business's direct competition (could include players that offer the
same product/service amongst a larger portfolio of solutions).
2. Understanding how each competitor is positioning their business today. (e.g.
claiming to be the fastest, cheapest, largest, the #1 provider, etc.)
3. Documenting the provider's own positioning as it exists today (may not exist if
startup business).
4. Comparing the company's positioning to its competitors' to identify viable areas
for differentiation.
5. Developing a distinctive, differentiating and value-based positioning concept.
6. Creating a positioning statement with key messages and customer value
propositions to be used for communications development across the organization.
STRATEGIES : BRAND POSITIONING

1. Quality Positioning
 The quality of a given product is one of the most important components of a company
brand, and can be combined with other positioning strategies rather easily.
 Since every business is trying to emphasize its commitment to quality, a good way to
distinguish the brand from competitors is to narrow the focus to one area of expertise, thereby
branding the company as a high-quality and trusted specialist.
2. Value or Price Positioning

 There are two ways to approach value or price positioning, both of which are crucially
dependent on quality.
 One approach is to use a high-end tack, which exploits the psychological belief that the
more expensive something is, the more intrinsically valuable it must be.
 Positioning the brand as the provider of high-quality, value-priced products or services.
 Example - Southwest Airlines. In a tough economy, its policy of offering affordable
flights as well as promising free checked luggage has allowed it to flourish while other airlines
struggle.
3. Benefit Positioning
 Communicating the unique benefits of a product or service has long been a popular brand
position.
 With this strategy, the goal is to highlight your company's most powerful attributes —
attributes no competitor can claim and that are valuable to the consumer.
 Colgate toothpaste uses a benefit strategy with an effective message: Brush with Colgate
and prevent cavities and gingivitis, a benefit promise that appeals to consumers.
4. Problem and Solution Positioning

 Positioning a brand as the solution to a consumer's problem is also a powerful strategy.
 The idea is to demonstrate that the company has the power to relieve customers of
whatever problem they may be facing, both quickly and efficiently.
 Example- Pre-packaged chopped vegetables solve the consumer's problem of time-
consuming food preparation in a snap.
5. Competitor-Based Positioning
 Business is nothing if not competitive. Therefore, with this positioning strategy, a
company takes aim at one or several competitors to demonstrate its superiority among others
offering the same type of product or service.
 Car insurance companies often employ this strategy to establish a powerful brand by
comparing their rates or service to those of other companies. The message is that consumers
should cancel their old policies and purchase their coverage from a different and better insurer.

6. Celebrity-Driven Positioning
 Hiring celebrities as spokespeople or to endorse a company's product or service is a
popular way to position a brand.
 The goal is to garner brand awareness and recognition by associating your company with
a glamorous individual.
 While this is an expensive route to take, the consumer tends to trust celebrities implicitly
because she's familiar with their faces.
 This familiarity inspires buyers to follow the celebrity's lead or to emulate him, making
this strategy ideal for selling luxury goods or athletic apparel.
IMPORTANCE OF BRAND POSITIONING
1. Understand the brand’s strengths and weaknesses from customers’ perspectives.

2. Know how customers perceive the brand vis-à-vis competitive brands.
3. Understand which benefits are the most important to the customers and which of those
benefits brand could uniquely “own” in customers’ minds.
4. Know which benefits are believable for the brand.
5. Understand how different customer groups perceive brand’s product/service categories
(and the brands within them) differently.
Brand Resonance
Definition: The Brand Resonance refers to the relationship that a consumer has with the
product and how well he can relate to it.
The brand resonance begins with:
 Brand Identification: The first and foremost step, is to ensure the brand identification with
the customers, i.e. creates awareness about the product and establish an association in the
minds of customers with respect to its usage and the segment for which it exists.
 Brand Establishment: To create a full meaning of the product in the minds of customers, so
that they start remembering it.
 Eliciting Response: Once the association is built with the customers, the next step is to elicit
the responses, i.e. what customers feel about the brand?
 Relationship: The next and final step is to convert the responses into building the customer’s
strong relationship with the brand.
In order to accomplish these four pre-requisites for creating the brand equity, the Six brand
building blocks need to be followed that are arranged in a pyramid-like structure called
as Brand Resonance Pyramid.

Crisis Management - Meaning, Need and its Features
What is Crisis ?
A sudden and unexpected event leading to major unrest amongst the individuals at the
workplace is called as organization crisis. In other words, crisis is defined as any emergency
situation which disturbs the employees as well as leads to instability in the organization. Crisis
affects an individual, group, organization or society on the whole.
Characteristics of Crisis
 Crisis is a sequence of sudden disturbing events harming the organization.

 Crisis generally arises on a short notice.
 Crisis triggers a feeling of fear and threat amongst the individuals.
Why Crisis ?
Crisis can arise in an organization due to any of the following reasons:
 Technological failure and Breakdown of machines lead to crisis. Problems in internet,

corruption in the software, errors in passwords all result in crisis.
 Crisis arises when employees do not agree to each other and fight amongst themselves.
Crisis arises as a result of boycott, strikes for indefinite periods, disputes and so on.
 Violence, thefts and terrorism at the workplace result in organization crisis.
 Neglecting minor issues in the beginning can lead to major crisis and a situation of
uncertainty at the work place. The management must have complete control on its
employees and should not adopt a casual attitude at work.
 Illegal behaviors such as accepting bribes, frauds, data or information tampering all lead
to organization crisis.
 Crisis arises when organization fails to pay its creditors and declares itself a bankrupt
organization.
Crisis Management
The art of dealing with sudden and unexpected events which disturbs the employees,
organization as well as external clients refers to Crisis Management.
The process of handling unexpected and sudden changes in organization culture is called as crisis
management.

Need for Crisis Management
 Crisis Management prepares the individuals to face unexpected developments and

adverse conditions in the organization with courage and determination.
 Employees adjust well to the sudden changes in the organization.
 Employees can understand and analyze the causes of crisis and cope with it in the best
possible way.
 Crisis Management helps the managers to devise strategies to come out of uncertain
conditions and also decide on the future course of action.
 Crisis Management helps the managers to feel the early signs of crisis, warn the
employees against the aftermaths and take necessary precautions for the same.
Essential Features of Crisis Management
 Crisis Management includes activities and processes which help the managers as well as
employees to analyze and understand events which might lead to crisis and uncertainty in
the organization.
 Crisis Management enables the managers and employees to respond effectively to
changes in the organization culture.
 It consists of effective coordination amongst the departments to overcome emergency
situations.
 Employees at the time of crisis must communicate effectively with each other and try
their level best to overcome tough times. Points to keep in mind during crisis
 Don’t panic or spread rumours around. Be patient.
 At the time of crisis the management should be in regular touch with the employees,
external clients, stake holders as well as media.
 Avoid being too rigid. One should adapt well to changes and new situations.
ypes of Crisis
Crisis refers to sudden unplanned events which cause major disturbances in the organization and
trigger a feeling of fear and threat amongst the employees.
Following are the types of crisis:
1. Natural Crisis
 Disturbances in the environment and nature lead to natural crisis.
 Such events are generally beyond the control of human beings.
 Tornadoes, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Landslides, Tsunamis, Flood, Drought all
result in natural disaster.
2. Technological Crisis
 Technological crisis arises as a result of failure in technology. Problems in the
overall systems lead to technological crisis.
 Breakdown of machine, corrupted software and so on give rise to technological
crisis.
3. Confrontation Crisis

 Confrontation crises arise when employees fight amongst themselves. Individuals
do not agree to each other and eventually depend on non productive acts like
boycotts, strikes for indefinite periods and so on.
 In such a type of crisis, employees disobey superiors; give them ultimatums and
force them to accept their demands.
 Internal disputes, ineffective communication and lack of coordination give rise to
confrontation crisis.
4. Crisis of Malevolence
 Organizations face crisis of malevolence when some notorious employees take the
help of criminal activities and extreme steps to fulfill their demands.
 Acts like kidnapping company’s officials, false rumours all lead to crisis of
malevolence.
5. Crisis of Organizational Misdeeds
 Crises of organizational misdeeds arise when management takes certain decisions
knowing the harmful consequences of the same towards the stakeholders and
external parties.
 In such cases, superiors ignore the after effects of strategies and implement the
same for quick results.
Crisis of organizational misdeeds can be further classified into following three types:
iii.Crisis of Skewed Management Values

 Crisis of Skewed Management Values arises when management supports
short term growth and ignores broader issues.
iv.Crisis of Deception
 Organizations face crisis of deception when management purposely
tampers data and information.
 Management makes fake promises and wrong commitments to the
customers. Communicating wrong information about the organization and
products lead to crisis of deception.
v.Crisis of Management Misconduct
 Organizations face crisis of management misconduct when management
indulges in deliberate acts of illegality like accepting bribes, passing on
confidential information and so on.
Crisis due to Workplace Violence
 Such a type of crisis arises when employees are indulged in violent acts such as
beating employees, superiors in the office premises itself.
Crisis Due to Rumours
 Spreading false rumours about the organization and brand lead to crisis.
Employees must not spread anything which would tarnish the image of their
organization.
Bankruptcy
 A crisis also arises when organizations fail to pay its creditors and other parties.
 Lack of fund leads to crisis.
Crisis Due to Natural Factors
 Disturbances in environment and nature such as hurricanes, volcanoes, storms,
flood; droughts, earthquakes etc result in crisis.

Sudden Crisis
 As the name suggests, such situations arise all of a sudden and on an extremely
short notice.
 Managers do not get warning signals and such a situation is in most cases beyond
any one’s control.
Smoldering Crisis
 Neglecting minor issues in the beginning lead to smoldering crisis later.
 Manager s often can foresee crisis but they should not ignore the same and wait
for someone else to take action.
 Warn the employees immediately to avoid such a situation.
Unique Selling Proposition
For years, business trainers have stressed the importance of “USPs” (Unique Selling
Propositions). Your USP is the unique thing that you can offer that your competitors can’t.
It’s your “Competitive Edge”. It’s the reason that customers buy from you and you alone.
Definition: The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product
or service is different from and better than that of the competition.
A unique selling proposition (USP) is a description of the qualities that are unique to a
particular product or service and that differentiate it in a way which will make customers
purchase it rather than its rivals.
USPs have helped many companies succeed. And they can help you too when you’re
marketing yourself (when seeking a promotion, finding a new job or just making sure you get
the recognition you deserve.) If you don’t have a USP, you’re condemned to a struggle for
survival – that way lies hard work and little reward.
However, USPs are often extremely difficult to find. t. Philip Kotler says that the difficulty
firms have in creating functional uniqueness has made them “focus on having a unique
emotional selling proposition (an ESP) instead of a USP”. He gives the example of the
Ferrari car and the Rolex watch. Neither has a distinctive functional uniqueness, but each has
a unique emotional association in the consumer’s mind.
How to develop your USP
To develop your USP, you will have to answer the below five questions

1. What are your strengths?
2. Who are your customers?
3. What your customer wants?
4. What motivates buying decision of the customers?
5. What differentiates you from your competitor?
1. Brand Salience: The brand salience means, how well the customer is informed about the
product and how often it is evoked under the purchase situations?

The marketer should not only focus on just creating the awareness about the product but also
includes the ease with which the customers can remember the brand and the ability to recall it
under the different purchase situations.
2. Brand Performance: The Brand performance means, how well the functional needs of
customers are met?
At this level of the pyramid, the marketers check the way in which product is performing and
how efficiently it is fulfilling the needs of the customers.
3. Brand Imagery: The Brand Imagery means, what product image the customer create in their
minds?
This aspect deals with the customer’s psychology or the feelings that how they relate to the
product in terms of their social needs.
4. Brand Judgements: The Brand Judgement means, What customer decides with respect to the
product?
The customers make the judgment about the product by consolidating his several performances
and the imagery associations with the brand. On the basis of these, the final judgment is made
about the product in terms of its Perceived Quality, Credibility, Consideration, and Superiority.
5. Brand Feelings: The Brand feelings means, what customers feel, for the product or how the
customer is emotionally attached to the product?
The consumer can develop emotions towards the brand in terms of fun, security, self-respect,
social approval, etc.
6. Brand Resonance: The Brand Resonance means, what psychological bond, the customer has
created with the brand?
This is the ultimate level of the pyramid, where every company tries to reach. Here the focus is
on building the strong relationship with the customer thereby ensuring the repeated purchases
and creating the brand loyalty.
The resonance is the intensity of customer’s psychological connection with the brand and the
randomness to recall the brand in different consumption situations.

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Marketing Strategies: Meaning, Nature and Essentials

RJSERA,M.COM PREVIOUS,SHC MADANTHAYR Page 1

The ways of out beating competition are:

RJSERA,M.COM PREVIOUS,SHC MADANTHAYR Page 2

5. To differentiated the products:

6. To improve the speed of response:

7. To divest from regular activities:

RJSERA,M.COM PREVIOUS,SHC MADANTHAYR Page 3

Nature of Marketing Strategies:

2. They are futuristic:

3. They are complex:

4. They provide direction:

5. They are all covering:

RJSERA,M.COM PREVIOUS,SHC MADANTHAYR Page 4

7. They are interpretative:

8. They are top management blue-print:

Essentials of Marketing Strategies:

RJSERA,M.COM PREVIOUS,SHC MADANTHAYR Page 5

6. It has a time horizon:

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(2) Product Concept

(3) Selling Concept

(4) Marketing Concept

(5) Societal Marketing Concept

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5. Societal Marketing Concept

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ADVANCE CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES

Strategic Management gives a broader perspective to the employees of an organization and

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Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management is an upright concept or strategy to solidify relations

Usually an organization consists of various departments which predominantly have access to

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing

The various aspects of CRM oriented marketing are discussed below.

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Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

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Strategic intent helps management to emphasize and concentrate on the priorities.

Strategic intent includes directing organization’s attention on the need of winning;

A mission statement differentiates an organization from others by explaining its broad

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a. Mission must be feasible and attainable. It should be possible to achieve it.

A vision statement identifies where the organization wants or intends to be in future or

An effective vision statement must have following features-

4. Goals and Objectives

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a. These are precise and measurable.

f. These are not single for an organization, but multiple.

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According to Philip Kotler there are 4 types of brand loyals -

1. Hard-core Loyals - who buy the brand all the time.

BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY

1. Keep quality high.

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5. Giving rewards for references.

MEASURING BRAND LOYALTY

1. PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS