KIBABII UNIVERSITY

COURSE OUTLINE
FACULTY/SCHOOL: SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMME: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2020/2021 YEAR: 11 SEMESTER : 1
COURSE CODE: BBS 211 COURSE TITLE: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
LECTURER NAMES: DR.FRED GICHANA ATANDI
LECTURER CONTACT: 0710276503 EMAIL: fgatandi@kibu.ac.ke
LECTURERS OFFICE: SOBE CONSULTATION DAY/HOUR: Thursday 8.00-5.00PM

COURSE PURPOSE:
To provide the learners with an understanding of the process of the analysis, planning,
implementation and control of the marketing function in an organization.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this course are to;
1. Train learners to acquire knowledge on marketing concepts and understanding the marketing
environment.
2. Impart skills to learners to conduct marketing research and marketing planning and
strategies.
3. Prepare learners to manage marketing mix for local and global markets.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, the learner will be expected to;
1. Explain marketing concepts and demonstrate an understanding of the marketing
environment.
2. Conduct marketing research and marketing planning and strategies
3. Develop and manage marketing mix for local and global markets.

COURSE CONTENT
WEEK TOPIC
1 TOPIC : Marketing concepts
 Market
 Marketers
 Selling
 Distinction between selling and marketing
2 TOPIC : Marketing management concepts
 Management
 Marketing concept
 Production concept
 Product concept
3 TOPIC : Marketing in today’s economy

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  Contribution of marketing management in economy
 Challenges of marketing management in organizations

4 TOPIC : Marketing strategies and plans

 Sizing market
 Methods of market sizing
 Rationale for market sizing

5 TOPIC : Understanding the market

 Market stakeholders
 Target markets/market niche
 Marketing research
 Observation and interviews

6 TOPIC : Ethics issues and social responsibility

 Ethics in business
 Public relations
 Role of public relations in marketing management
7 CAT ONE
8 TOPIC : Segmenting, targeting and positioning
 Market segmentation
 Market targeting
 Market positioning
9 TOPIC : Product and services marketing
 Nature of products
 Levels of products
 Nature of services
 Characteristics of services
10 TOPIC : Pricing
 Pricing options in competitive b2b markets
 Pricing strategies
 Competitive pricing
11 TOPIC: Distribution and supply chain management
 Channels of distribution
 Channels conflicts & pricing strategies
 Integrated marketing communication

12 CAT TWO
13  TOPIC : Emerging issues
 Global marketing
 Online sales
14 FINAL EXAMINATION

MODE OF DELIVERY
Lectures and tutorials; group discussions; demonstrations; Individual assignment; Case studies
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
It will involve a combination of textbooks, course materials, white board and PowerPoint
projection .
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COURSE ASSESSMENT
Examination 70%
Continuous Assessment Test (CATS) 30%
TOTAL 100%
GRADING
70% and above A
60-69 B
50-59 C
40-49 D
Below 40 E

CORE REFERENCES:
Kotler, P., & Keller, K,L.,(2001)A Framework for Marketing Management, Fourth Edition,
Pearson, Prentice Hall.
Kuria, T. (2008). Principles of marketing: a skill-building approach. Nairobi, Kenya
Acrodile Publishing. 2nd ed.
Hutt, M. D. (2007). Business Marketing Management: B2B /2007, Thomson Southwestern
Johansson, J. K. (2008). Global marketing: foreign entry, local marketing & global
management , Boston : McGraw-Hill, ISBN 007066708x
Kristiaan, H. and Masaaki, K. (2010). Global Marketing Management (5 edition), Wiley,
ISBN 978-0470381113
Lee, D. and Hans, M. H. (2006). International Marketing: A Global Perspective (3 edition),
Thomson Learning, ISBN 978-1844801329
Recommended Reference Materials
Kotler, P., Keller, K., Sivaramakrishnan, S., & Cunningham, P. (2013). Marketing
Management(14th ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson Canada Inc.
Hooley, G., N. F. Piercy, & B. Nicoulaud. 2008. Marketing strategy and competitive positioning.
4th ed. Harlow, Essex: Financial Times Press.
Course Journals
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of Consumer Marketing
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Journal of Marketing Research
Journal of Interactive Marketing

SIGNATURE OF THE COURSE LECTURER: DATE: 07/03/2021

CHECKED AND VERIFIED BY:

COD, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

APPROVED BY: DEAN, SOBE

GUIDING NOTES

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING MANAGEMENT

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 MARKETING
Marketing is a crucial human activity. It embraces the activities we engage in to satisfy
economic needs and wants.
Various definitions;
 Marketing is the business process by which products are matched with markets and
through which transfer of ownership is effected (Cundiff and Stanton, 1964).
 Marketing is a total system of business activities designed to plan, price, promote and
distribute want-satisfying goods and services to present and potential customers (Stanton,
1964).
 Marketing consists of the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods
and services from producer to consumer or user (American Marketing Association).
 Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want, through creating and exchanging products and value with others (Kotler, 1984).
 Marketing is the business function that identifies customers’ needs and wants, determines
which target markets the organisation can serve best, and designs appropriate products,
services, and programmes to serve these markets (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). (e)
Marketing is the set of activities that facilitates exchange transactions involving
economic goods and services for the ultimate purpose of satisfying human needs
(Nwokoye, 1981).
For marketing or exchange to take place, the following conditions must subsist;
 There has to be two or more parties who have unsatisfied wants
 Some products or services and money to exchange
 Some means of communication between the parties involved.

BASIC CONCEPTS UNDERLYING MARKETING

 Needs. Human needs are states of felt deprivation. These needs include basic physical needs
for food, clothing, shelter and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual
needs for knowledge and self-expression. The needs are in-built in human nature itself. It is
not invented by marketers. That is, they naturally exist in the composition of human biology
and human condition. When the needs are not satisfied, a person will try to reduce the need
or look for an object that will satisfy it.
 Wants. Human wants are desires for specific satisfaction of deeper needs. For example, a
man in the village need rain, need food and wants fertilizer. Also, a man may want yam, rice,
body cream, a bag, a wrist-watch, etc. -but needs money. Human needs may be few, but
wants are numerous. These wants are continually shaped and reshaped by social forces and
institutions such as families, church, schools and business corporations.
 Demands. People have almost unlimited wants, but limited resources. The want to choose
products that provide the most value and satisfaction for their money. When backed by
purchasing power, wants become demands. That is, demands are wants for specific products
that are backed up by an ability and willingness to buy them.
 Products. People, normally, satisfy their wants and need with products offered into the
market. Broadly, a product can be defined as anything that can be offered to someone to
satisfy a need or want. Specifically, a product can be defined as an object, service, activity,
person, place, organisation or idea. It should be noted that people do not buy physical objects
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 for their own sake. The marketer’s job is to sell the service packages built into physical
products.
 Exchange. Marketing takes place when people decide to satisfy needs and wants through
exchange. Exchange is, therefore, the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by
offering something in return. Exchange is only one of the many ways people can obtain a
desired object. Exchange allows a society to produce much more than it would. Kotler (1984)
states that for exchange to take place, they must satisfy five conditions, namely:
 There must be, at least, two parties
 Each party has something that may be of value to the other party
 Each party is capable of communication and delivery
 Each party is free to accept or reject the offer
 Each party believes it is appropriate or desirable to deal with the other party.
 Markets. A market is defined as a set of all actual and potential buyers of a product and
service. These buyers share particular needs or wants that can be satisfied through exchange.
The size of a market depends on the need of people with common needs, and who have
resources to engage in exchange, and are willing to offer these resources in exchange for
what they want.
 Marketers .A marketer is someone seeking a resource from someone else, and willing to offer
something of value in exchange. A marketer could be a buyer and/or a seller.

 MANAGEMENT
Management is the process of getting things done in an organized and efficient manner.
Management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives
using available resources efficiently and effectively.Management functions include: Planning,
organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more
people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.
The Need for Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to
accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.
Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action
(including design) to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. Therefore,
management is needed in order to facilitate a coordinated effort toward the accomplishment of
the organization’s goals.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Institute of Marketing Management, England, has defined “Marketing Management AS the
creative management function which promotes trade and employment by assessing consumer
needs and initiating research and development to meet them. It co-ordinates the resources of
production and distribution of goods and services, determines and directs the total efforts
required to sell profitably to ultimate user”.

According to Philip Kotler, “Marketing Management is the art and science of choosing target
markets and building profitable relationship with them. Marketing management is a process

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involving analysis, planning, implementing and control and it covers goods, services, ideas and
the goal is to produce satisfaction to the parties involved”.

Marketing Management Involves:

1. The setting of marketing goals and objectives,
2. Developing the marketing plan,
3. Organizing the marketing function,
4. Putting the marketing plan into action and
5. Controlling the marketing program.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS

Marketing management is a branch of marketing that deals with analysis, planning,
implementation and control of programs; these programs are designed to create, build and
maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers for the purpose of achieving organizational
objectives.

The Production Concept. The concept holds that consumers will value products that are
available and highly affordable, and that management therefore should focus on improving
production and distribution, efficiently. It applies to the following situation.
 When the demand for a product exceeds the supply- this is very common to most of the
goods/services available in markets. It therefore implies that management should look for
ways of increasing production of such products.
 When the product’s cost is too high and improved productivity is needed to bring it down. In
order to maintain market turnover, it thus implies that management should improve facilities
and reduce prices of their products/services.
The Product Concept. The concept holds that consumers will value products that offer the
highest quality, performance, and innovative features; and that an organization should, thus,
devote energy to making continuous product improvements. In modern marketing, consumers
are diverse in their needs and wants- sparsely distributed. Thus, they need to be served based on
the peculiarity of their needs and environmental consideration.

The selling concept or sales concept .The concept holds that consumers, if left alone, will
ordinarily not buy enough of an organization’s products. The organization must, therefore,
undertake an aggressive selling and promotion efforts. The concept assumes that the consumers’
resistance has to be overcome and the consumers should be coerced into buying more; and that
the company has to use various strategies of effective selling and promotion tools to stimulate
more buying.

Marketing concept. It holds that the key in achieving organizational goals consists in
determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions, more
effectively and efficiently than other competitors. Examples of marketing concepts relates to the
following:
 Find wants and fulfill them
 Make what will sell, instead of trying to sell what you can make
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 Love the customer and not the product
DIFERENCE BETWEEN SELLING AND MARKETING
 Selling focuses on the needs of the sellers
 Marketing focus on the needs of the buyers.
 Selling is pre-occupied with the sellers’ need to convert his/her product into cash
 While marketing has to do with the idea of satisfying the needs of customers.
 Selling, management is sales-volume oriented
 While in marketing, management is profit oriented.
 In selling, planning is short-run oriented in terms of today’s products and markets.
 While in marketing, planning is long-run- oriented- in terms of new products, tomorrow’s
markets and future growth.
The marketing concept rests on four main pillars, namely:
 Market Focus- No company can operate in every market and satisfy every need. nor can
it do a good job within one broad market.
 Customer Orientation. Customer oriented thinking requires the company to define
customer needs from the customer point of view, not from its own point of view by
talking to customer and researching into customers’ needs. The key to customer retention
is customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers do the following:
 They buy again
 Talk favorably to others about the company
 Pay less attention to competitive brands and advertisements
 Buy other products from the same company.
 Coordinated Marketing. Which means two things;
1. The various marketing functions- sales force, advertising, product management,
marketing research and host of others, must be coordinated all together. These
marketing functions must be coordinated from the customer point of view.
2. Marketing must be well coordinated with the activities of other departments of the
company
 Profitability- The purpose of the marketing concept is to help organizations to achieve
their goals. The key is not to aim for profits as such, but to achieve them as a by-product
of doing the job well. They are highly involved in analyzing the profit potential of
different marketing opportunities. The sales force/people focus on achieving sales
volume goals, while marketing people focus on identifying profit making opportunities.
The societal marketing concept. It holds that the organization should determine the needs,
wants, and interests of target markets. It should then deliver the desired satisfactions, more
effectively and efficiently than competitors.According to Kotler (1994) most people see the
“Coca-Cola Company” as a highly responsible corporation, producing good soft drinks that
satisfy consumers. Yet certain consumer and environmental groups have voiced the concerns that
Coke has little nutritional value, that it can harm people’s teeth, contains caffeine, and adds to
the little problem with disposable bottles and cans.

 MARKETING IN TODAY’S ECONOMY

The role of marketing cannot be over emphasized.
 The first role is that it stimulates potential aggregate demand, and thus, enlarges the size
of the market, through stimulation of demand, people are motivated to work harder and
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 earn additional money (income) to buy the various ideas, goods and services being
market, it also accelerates the process of monetizing the economy, which in turn
facilitates the transfer of investible resources.
 It helps in the discovery of entrepreneurial talent. Peter Drucker, a celebrated writer in
Management, makes this point very clear when he observes that marketing is a multiplier
of managers and entrepreneurs.
 It helps in sustaining and improving the existing levels of employment. when a country
advances economically, it takes more and more people to distribute goods; and while it
takes, proportionately, a lesser number to make them. Production becomes relative
significant than marketing and the related services of transportation, finance,
communication, insurance, etc. which spring around it becomes important.

 MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PLANS

The key to successfully marketing your practice begins with developing a strategic marketing
plan in which each activity is based on solid research and specific goals, and is implemented and
carefully evaluated in a timely manner. The plan serves as a road map to help you achieve your
marketing goals.
The elements of a plan
There are nine major steps required to develop a well-crafted, strategic marketing plan:
1. Set realistic and measurable goals to achieve over the next 18 to 24 months. Examples of
measurable goals:
 Increase the number of new patients seen in the practice by 5 percent within the first six
months and 10 percent by the end of the first year.
 Shift your patient mix by expanding the pediatric and adolescent patient base from 15 percent
to 25 percent of total patient visits within 18 months.
 Increase your gross revenue by 30 percent within 24 months.
 Improve your practice’s image, which may be measured by “before” and “after” scores on a
community survey or by reviews from focus group participants.
2. Conduct a marketing audit. A marketing audit is a review of all marketing activities that have
occurred in your practice over the past three years. Be as thorough as possible, making sure to
review every announcement, advertisement, phonebook ad, open house, brochure and seminar
and evaluate whether it was successful.
3. Conduct market research. The purpose of market research is to draw a realistic picture of your
practice, the community you practice in and your current position in that community. With this
research, you can make fairly accurate projections about future growth in the community,
identify competitive factors and explore nontraditional opportunities.
4. Analyze the research. Analyze the raw data you collect and summarize it into meaningful
findings that will be the foundation for determining which marketing strategies make the most
sense and will get the best results for your practice.
5. Identify a target audience. With the help of your market research analysis, you should be able
to identify your practice’s “target audience,” which is the specific group of people to which
you’d like to direct your marketing efforts.
6. Determine a budget. Before you can decide what specific marketing strategies you want to
implement to achieve your goals, you need to examine your financial information and come up
with a marketing budget. Marketing budgets vary by the type of market a practice is in, the age
of a practice and whether the practice has marketed before.

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 7. Develop marketing strategies. With your budget in place, you can begin to define specific
marketing strategies that will address your goals, reach your target audience and build your
customer base.
8. Develop an implementation schedule. An implementation schedule is a time-line that shows
which marketing actions will be done when and by whom. The schedule should also include the
cost of each marketing action and how it fits into the budget estimates for the 24-month period.
9. Create an evaluation process. The value of a marketing plan is its effectiveness, which requires
deliberate and timely implementation and monitoring and evaluation of results. It’s important to
measure your results against the standards you set in establishing your goals. Review your plan
periodically (we recommend quarterly) by comparing your progress with the implementation
schedule.

 UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET

There is no marketing function more vital than understanding one’s audience and the market you
serve.  Strategies to embrace in understanding your market.
i. Understand what business you are truly in. Allow your customers to decide what business
you are in, not you. Products and services are judged not just by value perceptions and
functional benefits, but by a whole host of variables. To understanding of what business you
are truly in, according to your customer, ask yourself some simple questions:
 What value does my product/service add to my customer’s life?
 How am I enhancing it?
 What basic need do we fulfill?
 Why do we uniquely fulfill them?
ii. Understand how your business truly impacts others. This impact is critical, because without a
proper understanding of it, meaningful conversation with the target is impossible.  You will
be offering one set of benefits, while your audience will be looking to you for something
very different. An objective analysis of how your product is integrated into the consumer’s
life and from there is shaped to fit its way into various need fulfillments is needed. 
iii. Conduct market research. Traditional research into demographics such as income,
occupation, family status, age, gender and geography not only help accurately identify and
define target audiences, they also provide context that aids understanding and insights.
iv. See it firsthand. The only way to really know your audience is to observe them, in a real life
setting and situation. These observations are important both on the product purchase side and
the product use side
v. Don’t let assumptions prejudice perception. When approaching assessment or re-
assessment of a target, do not establish a conclusion beforehand to substantiate or disprove. 
Allow research to guide your view.
 ETHICS ISSUES AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ethics tends to focus on the individual or marketing group decision, while social responsibility
takes into consideration the total effect of marketing practices on society. In order to foster an
ethical and socially responsible behavior pattern among marketers while achieving company
objectives, special care must be taken to monitor trends and shifts in society’s values and beliefs.
Ethical Marketing is a philosophy that focus focuses on honesty, fairness and responsibility.
Though wrong and right are subjective, a general set of guidelines can be put in place to ensure
the company’s intent is broadcasted and achieved. Principles of this practice include:
 A shared standard of truth in marketing communications
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 A clear distinction between advertising and sensationalism
 Endorsements should be clear and transparent
 Consumers’ privacy should be maintained at all times
 Government standards and regulations must be adhered and practiced by marketers.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING
Today’s firms can make their practices more ethical and responsible by perfecting the following
characteristics.
 Safety: Any product or service that could be hazardous to the health conditions of people,
animals or the environment should have clear advisories and warnings
 Honesty: Ensuring a product satisfies a need it promises to, or aids in providing a lifestyle
it advertises. Advertising should be transparent about possible side effects and not puff up
results, so clients come to respect the honesty of your advertising.
 Transparency: Any techniques to manipulate and hide facts and information customers
need could harm a company.
 Ethical Pricing: Gathering data about your target market will give you information on
how much they are willing to pay for your product. The rest of the pricing strategy should be
based on overhead costs and supply and demand.
 Respecting Customer Privacy: When customers trust enough to allow you access to their
information, selling it to lead companies or obtaining prospective customers’ information
without permission is unethical and breaks trust.

UNETHICAL MARKETING PRACTICES

The following are unethical marketing practices to be avoided.
 Exploitation – avoid using scare tactics and hard sell and protect the vulnerable
consumer.
 Spam – avoid flooding a customer’s voicemail, mailbox, email or any other means of
communication with unsolicited messages or aggressive advances.
 Bad mouthing Competition – focus on the value and benefit of your product and point out
its unique selling point, the consumers are smart enough to choose the better product.
 Misleading Advertisement and Information –any exaggerated claims or dishonest
promises will cause the customers to mistrust you and even determine the failure of your brand.

 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS AND CUSTOMERS

Buying is the activity that is involved in all transaction. The aim of any buyer is to obtain the
right quality from the right source at the right price. In order to ensure that the stated objective is
practicable, a company must

i. Buy, efficiently and wisely, to obtain the best value for the company’s money.
ii. Ensure that there are enough goods and services available to the company to meet its needs at
all times.
iii. Manage the company’s inventory so as to provide the best services to customers at the least
cost
Buying is not an act. It is a process of many related activities. The buying decision is only one
action in the process. The process is a problem solving approach. Once the process has started,
potential buyers can withdraw, at any stage, in order to actualise purchase, while some stages can
be skipped.
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BUYING PROCESS.
 Felt need .The process stage is when an unsatisfied need (motive) creates inner tension. This
may be a biological need, aroused internally (e.g. the person feels hungry); or the need may
have been dormant until it was aroused by an external stimulus, such as an advertisement or
the sight of the product. Once the need has been recognized, often, consumers become aware
of conflicting motives or competitive uses for their resources of time or money. Often times,
there are conflicting needs, buyer must resolve these conflicts before proceeding.
i. Searching for alternatives Once a need has been recognised, both product and brand
alternative must be identified. The search for alternative and the methods used in the
search are influenced by such factors as:
a. Costs-in terms of time and money
b. How much information the consumer already has from past experiences
c. The amount of the perceived risk if a wrong selection is made. Once the entire
reasonable alternatives have been identified, the co
ii. Evaluate each one, in preparation to making a purchasing decision. The criteria
consumers use in their evaluation include;
a) past experience
b) attitude toward various brands
c) family’s opinions
d) Reference groups.
iii. Purchasing activities .After searching and evaluating, the consumer at some point must
decide whether or not to buy. At this point in the buying process, marketers are trying to
determine the consumer patronage buying motives. Some of the reasons for shopping at
certain stores are as listed below:
a) Convenience of location
b) rapidity of service
c) ease of locating merchandise
d) Price
e) Assortment of merchandise
f) Services offered
g) Alternative store appearance
h) Caliber of sales personnel
i) User’s behaviors

Roles in Buying Process

The decision and activities involved in the buying process involve several participants. These
participants may play all or different roles in the buying process. These participants are,
briefly, examined under the following headings.
1. Influencers- these are people or devices that inform, persuade and stimulate the
buyer at any appoint of the buying process. They include information from
advertisement, families, friends neighbor, salesmen etc., at the point of purchase.
2. Deciders- these are the people that make the buying decision. For example, for an
item bought for personal use, the user may be the deciders. For example, a gift giver may
be the sole decider for the purchase of very costly items, such as house, cars etc.

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 3. Buyers- these are the people that make the actual purchases; examples are wives,
house helps, agents etc., going to the market to buy big food items. For institutional and
business purchases- this will involve purchasing officers, committees etc.
4. User- these are individuals or departments that consume the products/service
purchased. They are the target markets which the company directs her communications
to.
 SEGMENTING, TARGETING AND POSITIONING
Market segmentation is the process of dividing consumers in a given economy into target
markets. It is aimed at dividing the total market in an economy where demands for a given
product are heterogeneous into homogeneous demand groups or segments, for the purpose of
providing unique or specific products or services for each segment.
The Benefits of Market Segmentation
i. The marketing opportunities for each segmentation and the total market can be easily
determined
ii. Appropriate marketing efforts for each market segment can be well defined and
implemented
iii. Each market segment becomes a marketing unit for planning, implementation and control
purpose.
Basis of Segmenting Business/Consumer Markets
Consumer markets can be segmented through a single variable or a combination of variables.
The general segment variables are as follows;
 Geographic segmentation which entails dividing a market into different geographic units
such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities, etc.
 Demographic segmentation which consists of dividing the market into groups based on
variables such as age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation,
education, religion, race, and nationality.
 Psychographic Segmentation which is dividing buyers into different groups based on
social class, lifestyle, or personality; people in the same demographic groups can have
different psychographic makeup. Social class, on the other hand, influences the types of
good and service consumed.
 Behavioral segmentation implies dividing buyers into groups based on their knowledge,
attitude, uses, or responses to a product.

Market targeting
Market targeting is a process of selecting the target market from the entire market. Target market
consists of group/groups of buyers to whom the company wants to satisfy or for whom product is
manufactured, price is set, promotion efforts are made, and distribution network is prepared.
Market targeting involves basically two actions;
 Evaluation of segments
 Selection of the appropriate market segments as the target market.

PROCEDURE OF MARKET TARGETING:

1. Evaluating Market Segments:
Evaluation of market segments calls for measuring suitability of segments. The segments are
evaluated with certain relevant criteria to determine their feasibility.
To determine overall attractiveness/suitability of the segment, two factors are used:
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i. Attractiveness of Segment:
In order to determine attractiveness of the segment, the company must think on
characteristics/conditions which reflect its attractiveness, such as size, profitability,
measurability, accessibility, actionable, potential for growth, scale of economy, differentiability,
etc.
ii. Objectives and Resources of Company:
The firm must consider whether the segment suit the marketing objectives and its resource
capacity.
2. Selecting Market Segments:
The company decides on which and how many segments to enter. Philip Kotler describes five
alternative patterns to select the target market. Selection of a suitable option depends on
situations prevailing inside and outside the company. Company may opt for any one of the
following strategies;
1. Single Segment Concentration: The company selects only a single segment as target market
and offers a single product.
Single segment merits:
 Company can gain strong knowledge of segment’s needs and can achieve a strong market
position in the segment.
 Company can specialize its production, distribution, and promotion.
 Company, by capturing leadership in the segment, can earn higher return on its investment.
Demerits
 Competitor may invade the segment and can shake company’s position.
 Company has to pay high costs for change in fashion, habit, and attitude. Company may not
survive as risk cannot be diversified.
2. Selective Specialization:
A company selects several segments and sells different products to each of the segments. All
such segments are attractive and appropriate with firm’s objectives and resources.
There may be little or no synergy among the segments. Every segment is capable to promise the
profits. This multi-segment coverage strategy has the advantage of diversifying the firm’s risk.
3. Product Specialization:
A company makes a specific product, which can be sold to several segments, the product is one,
but segments are many. Company offers different models and varieties to meet needs of different
segments. The major benefit is that the company can build a strong reputation in the specific
product area. But, the risk is that product may be replaced by an entirely new technology. Many
ready-made garment companies prefer this strategy.
4. Market Specialization:
This strategy consists of serving many needs of a particular segments, the products are many but
the segment is one. The firm can gain a strong reputation by specializing in serving the specific
segment. Company provides all new products that the group can feasibly use. But, reduced size
of market, reduced purchase capacity of the segment, or the entry of competitors with superior
products range may affect the company’s position.
5. Full Market Coverage:
A company attempts to serve all the customer groups with all the products they need, all the
needs of all the segments are served. Only very large firm with overall capacity can undertake a
full market coverage strategy.
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 MARKET POSITIONING
Market Positioning refers to the ability to influence consumer perception regarding a brand or
product relative to competitors. The objective of market positioning is to establish the image or
identity of a brand or product so that consumers perceive it in a certain way.
For example:
 A handbag maker may position itself as a luxury status symbol
 A TV maker may position its TV as the most innovative and cutting-edge
 A fast-food restaurant chain may position itself as the provider of cheap meals
Types of Positioning Strategies
There are several types of positioning strategies.
 Product attributes and benefits: Associating your brand/product with certain
characteristics or with certain beneficial value
 Product price: Associating your brand/product with competitive pricing
 Product quality: Associating your brand/product with high quality
 Product use and application: Associating your brand/product with a specific use
 Competitors: Making consumers think that your brand/product is better than that of your
competitors
A perceptual map is used to show consumer perception of certain brands. The map allows you to
identify how competitors are positioned relative to you and to identify opportunities in
the marketplace.
How to Create an Effective Market Positioning Strategy?
Create a positioning statement that will serve to identify your business and how you want the
brand to be perceived by consumers.
For example, the positioning statement of Volvo: “For upscale American families, Volvo is the
family automobile that offers maximum safety.”
 Determine company uniqueness by comparing to competitors
Compare and contrast differences between your company and competitors to identify
opportunities. Focus on your strengths and how they can exploit these opportunities.
 Identify current market position
Identify your existing market position and how the new positioning will be beneficial in
setting you apart from competitors.
 Competitor positioning analysis
 Identify the conditions of the marketplace and the amount of influence each competitor can
have on each other.
 Develop a positioning strategy
Through the preceding steps, you should achieve an understanding of what your company is,
how your company is different from competitors, the conditions of the marketplace,
opportunities in the marketplace, and how your company can position itself.

 PRODUCT AND SERVICES MARKETING

A product is the key marketing mix variable around which all the other marketing mix variables
revolve. A product can be described in form of anything like goods, services, ideas, people,
places, and even organizations that are offered for exchange; or a product is the bundle of
benefits or satisfactions offered to a customer.
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A product can also be defined as anything offered or sold for the purpose of satisfying a need or
want on both sides of the exchange process. It includes a tangible object that marketers refer to
as a good, as well as an intangible service (such as ideas, a place, an event, an organization, or
any combination of tangible objects and intangible services. Stanton (1981) defines a product as
“a set of tangible and intangible attributes including packaging, colour, price, manufacturer’s
prestige, retailer’s prestige, and manufacturer’s and retailer’s services, which the buyer may
accept as offering want – satisfaction”

Levels of products

1.The core benefits- this is the fundamental service or benefit that the customer is really buying.
For instance, the core benefit enjoyed by a guest in a hotel is “rest and sleep”.

(2) The basic product- here, marketers have to turn the core benefit into a basic product. For
example, in the case of a hotel, such things as a bed, table, chair, bathroom, and dresser are the
basic products enjoyed by a guest in the hotel.

(3) The expected product- here, marketers prepare an expected product, i.e. a set of attributes
and conditions buyers normally expect when they purchase a product. For example, in a hotel,
guests expect a clean bed, fresh towels, constant power supply, and relatively quiet environment.

(4) Augment product- marketers are concerned with preparing augmented products that exceeds
customer’s expectations.

Marketing of Services
Stanton (1983) defines services as: “those separately, identifiable, essentially intangible
activities that provide want-satisfaction, and that are not necessarily tied to the sale of a product
or another service.

To produce a service, you may or may not require the use of tangible goods. However, when
such use is required, there is no transfer of the title (permanent ownership) to these tangible
goods”.

Kotler and Armstrong (1994) define service as: “any activity or benefit that one party can offer
to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in ownership of any anything. Its
production may or may not be tied to a physical product. Activities such as renting a hotel room,
depositing money in a bank, travelling by an airplane, visiting a psychiatrist, getting a haircut,
having a car repaired, watching a professional sports, watching movies, having clothes cleaned
by a dry cleaner, seeking advice from a lawyer/consultant etc.- all these involve buying
services”.

It should, however, be noted that we rarely find situations in which services are marketed
without a product being involved. Most products are accompanied by services and most services
require supporting products. It is this product/service mix that is really growing in importance in
our economy.

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 Characteristics of Services

 Intangibility- since services are essentially intangible, it is impossible for consumers to

sample- that is, taste, feel, see, hear, or smell before they are purchased. This feature of
services places some strain on a marketing organization.
 Inseparability- services, often, cannot be separated from the seller. However, services
must be created and dispensed, simultaneously. For example, dentists create and dispense
almost all their services at the same time. It further means that services cannot be
separated from their providers, whether the providers are human being or machines.
 Heterogeneity- It’s impossible for a service industry or even an individual seller of
services to standardize output. Each ‘unit’ of the service is somewhat different from other
units of the same services. For example, an Airline does not give the same quality of
service on each trip.
 Perishability -services are highly perishable and they cannot be stored. For example,
unused electric power, empty seat, in a stadium, idle mechanics in a garage all represent
business that is lost forever. In addition, many doctors charge patients for missed
appointments, because the service value existed only at that point and disappeared when
the patient did not show-up.

Tasks Involved in Developing Service Marketing

o Market analysis- Marketers of services should understand the components of population and
income in relation to the market of their services.
o Planning and developing the services -Product planning and development has its counterpart
in the marketing program of a service industry. Management can use a systematic procedure
to determine:
 What services will be offered
 What will be the length and breathe of the services mix offered
 What needs to be done- in terms of service attributes, such as branding or
packaging.
o Pricing of services -Pricing of services are considered critical, this is because they are
extremely perishable, difficult to store for long time, and the demand often fluctuates,
considerably.
o Channel of distribution for services .Traditionally, services have been sold, directly, from
producers to consumers or from producers to industrial users. No middlemen are used when
the service cannot be separated from the seller or when the service is created and marketed,
simultaneously.
o Promoting services Management’s task is much difficult when the company must build its
promotional program around intangible service-benefits. It is much easier to promote
products that can be seen, felt, and easily demonstrated. Thus, in service-marketing, personal
selling, advertising, and other forms of promotions are, collectively, used to achieve
organizational goals.

MARKETING MIX
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The 4Ps of marketing is a model for enhancing the way in which you take a new product or
service to market. It helps to define your marketing options. Marketing mix is a general phrase
used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process
of bringing a product or service to market. The 4Ps are: Product (or Service),Place, Price and
Promotion
Here are some questions that will help you understand and define each of the four elements:
Product/Service
 What does the customer want from the product /service? What needs does it satisfy?
 What features does it have to meet these needs?
 Are there any features you've missed out?
 Are you including costly features that the customer won't actually use?
 How and where will the customer use it?
 What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
 What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
 What is it to be called?
 How is it branded?
 How is it differentiated versus your competitors?
 What is the most it can cost to provide and still be sold sufficiently profitably? (See also
Price, below.)
Place
 Where do buyers look for your product or service?
 If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or both? Or
online? Or direct, via a catalog?
 How can you access the right distribution channels?
 Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online submissions? Or
send samples to catalog companies?
 What do your competitors  do, and how can you learn from that and/or differentiate?
Price
 What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?
 Are there established price points  for products or services in this area?
 Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market
share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit margin?
 What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments  of
your market?
 How will your price compare with your competitors?
Promotion
 Where and when can you get your marketing messages across to your target market?
 Will you reach your audience by advertising online, in the press, on TV, on radio, or on
billboards? By using direct marketing mail shots? Through PR? On the internet?
 When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any wider
environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch or subsequent
promotions?
 How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your choice
of promotional activity?
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  DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Channels of Distribution The term channel of distribution is used to refer to the various
intermediaries who help in moving products from the producer to the consumer.

Stanton (1981) defines channel of distribution for a product as the route taken to get to the
ultimate consumer or industrial user. A channel always includes both the producer and the final
customer for the product, as well as all middlemen involved in the title transfer.

Channel of distribution is also defined as a system put in place to move goods and services from
producers to customers, made up of people and organisation, supported by various facilities,
equipment, and information.

Armstrong and Kotler (1994) submits that distribution channel is “a set of interdependent
organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or
consumption by the consumer or industrial user”.

Functions of Distribution Channels

The functions performed by the members of the marketing channels are as follows:
 Information- gathering and distributing marketing research and intelligence information
about actors and forces in the marketing environment needed for planning and aiding
exchange.
 Promotion- developing and spreading persuasive communication about an offer.
 Contact- finding and communicating with prospective buyers.
 Matching- shaping and fitting the offer to the buyer’s needs, including such activities as
manufacturing, grading, assembling and packaging.
 Negotiation- reaching an agreement on price and other terms of the offer, so that ownership
or possession can be transferred.
 Physical distribution- transferring and storing goods.
 Financing- acquiring and using funds to cover the costs of the channel work.
Types of Marketing Channels
i. Producer to consumers- when there are no intermediaries between the producer and the
consumer, the channel is direct.
ii. Producer to retailer to consumer- This is common when the retail establishments involved
are, relatively, large.
iii. Producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer- this is the most common channel for
consumer goods.
iv. Producer to wholesaler to jobber to retailer to consumer- producer chooses to use agents
(jobbers) to assist wholesalers in marketing its goods. The use of jobbers can be attributed to
their specialized experiences.

 INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines IMC as “a comprehensive plan that
evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these
disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact.” It ensures that
all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

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At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, means integrating all the
promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony. Promotion is one of the Ps in the
marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of communications tools.
Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications
Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many benefits.
 It can create competitive advantage
 Boost sales and profits
 Saving money, time and stress.

Barriers to Integrated Marketing Communications

 Functional silos
 Stifled creativity
 Time scale conflicts
 Lack of management know-how.

 CHANNELS CONFLICTS & PRICING STRATEGIES

Channel conflict can be explained as any dispute, difference or discord arising between two or
more channel partners, where one partner’s activities or operations affect the business, sales,
profitability, market share or similar goal accomplishment of the other channel partner. Every
manufacturing company needs to plan its distribution and marketing channel appropriately, to
ensure market captivity and customer satisfaction along with growth and profitability.
Types of Channel Conflict
The channel conflict can be classified majorly into the following four categories depending upon
its flow and the parties involved:
 Vertical Level Conflict- the channel partner belonging to a higher level enters into a dispute
with the channel member of a lower level or vice-versa.For instance, channel conflict
between dealers and retailers or wholesalers and retailers.
 Horizontal Level Conflict- the channel partners belonging to the same level, i.e., issues
between two or more stockists or retailers of different territories, on the grounds of pricing or
manufacturer’s biases, is termed as horizontal level conflict.
 Inter-type Channel Conflict-These type of conflicts commonly arise in scrambled
merchandising, where the large retailers go out of their way to enter a product line different
from their usual product range, to challenge the small and concentrated retailers.
 Multi-channel Level Conflict-When the manufacturer uses multiple channels for selling the
products, it may face multi-channel level conflict where the channel partners involved in a
particular distribution channel encounters an issue with the other channel.

CAUSES OF CHANNEL CONFLICT

Following are some of the key reasons for which the organizations need to face channel conflict:
 Role Ambiguity-The uncertain act of an intermediary in a multi-channel arrangement
may lead to disturbance in the channel of distribution and cause conflict among the
intermediaries.
 Incompatible Goals-When the manufacturer and the intermediaries do not share the same
objectives, both work in different directions to meet their ends, this results in channel
conflict.

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  Marketing or Strategic Mis-Alignment- Sometimes, two-channel partners promote the
manufacturer’s product in a different manner, which created two different images of the
same product in the consumers’ mindset, which creates conflicting brand perception.
 Difference in Market Perception: The manufacturer’s understanding of the potential
market and penetration into a specific region or territory, may vary from the perception of
the intermediaries, which can create conflict and reduce the intermediary’s interest in
capturing that particular market.
 Change Resistant-When the channel leader plans to modify the distribution channel, the
intermediaries may or may not accept this change, it may result in a condition of discord
or non-cooperation.
 Improper geographic or demographic distribution, when the sales territory has a narrow
consumer base, and the channel leader allows many selling partners, they tend to lose
interest soon because of low profit and limited sales.
CONSEQUENCES OF CHANNEL CONFLICT
 Price Wars. Due to channel conflict, the partners compete with each other on the grounds
of price, and therefore, the consumer may defer the purchase searching for the best deal.
 Customer dissatisfaction: If there exists a channel conflict, then the distributors or
retailers may show much interest in the company’s products and resist to assist the
consumers, which results into their resentment towards the brand.
 Sales deterioration. Conflicts can adversely affect the sales of the products due to the
decline in distributors’ interest and an increasing number of consumers shifting to
competitors’ products.
 Distributors exit-For the manufacturers, it is essential to retain the distributors or partners
to increase product sales. When there is a channel conflict, the chances of various
distributors leaving the channel increases.
 Poor Public Relations: The unsatisfied distributors may negatively publicize the brand
and its products as a result of manufacturer’s unhealthy public relations with them.
 GLOBAL MARKETING
Global marketing involves planning, producing, placing, and promoting a business’ products or
services in the worldwide market. It is the process of conceptualizing and subsequently
conveying a final product or service globally. The company aims to reach the international
marketing community.
For companies that produce and sell products and services that have universal demand, global
marketing is crucial. Food, smart phones, and cars, for example, have universal demand.
In the past, global marketing was mainly the domain of multinational corporations. Since the
emergence of the Internet and e-commerce, even small firms can reach customers across the
world. As long as you have an online store and credit/debit card payment facilities, you can reach
customers globally.
Global marketing is especially crucial for products and services that have universal demand. For
example, food is a product with universal demand, i.e., everybody needs and buys food.
Insurance is an example of a service with universal demand. Every country in the world has
people and businesses and need and buy insurance.
 
 PRICING OPTIONS IN COMPETITIVE B2B MARKETS

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 Competition is an activity involving two or more firms, in which each firm tries to get people
to buy its own goods in preference to the other firms' goods.”

Competitive Pricing is when you set the prices of your products or services based on the prices
set by your closest competitor. It applies when the product is homogenous and the market is
highly competitive. Competitive pricing is also known as market-oriented pricing because
companies consider the market prices instead of analyzing their own costs.

A competitive pricing strategy is adopted by companies to set the prices of their products or
services after carefully evaluating the pricing strategy of their competitors.
Competitive pricing allows companies to identify the best prices without the need to invest in a
price-setting strategy. They can easily analyze the price of their competitors and set a price that
is closest to the competition.

A COMPANY ADOPTING A COMPETITIVE PRICING STRATEGY HAS THREE

OPTIONS:
 Low Price: The prices of the products or services are lower than those offered by the
competitors, its applicable when you can produce products in bulk which lowers the production
cost.
 High Price: The prices of the products or services are higher than those offered by the
competitors. You can adopt this pricing strategy if you offer added features and benefits in the
products and services that your competitors are missing.
 Matched Price: The prices of the products or services match the prices offered by the
competitors. The product features remains more or less the same, but the focus shifts towards the
product quality. If you are able to offer a better-quality product at the same price, then customers
will automatically choose you.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Competitive Pricing?

A competitive pricing strategy is not the only pricing strategy that businesses need to consider.
There are other pricing strategies like premium pricing, economy pricing, price skimming,
bundle pricing, psychology pricing, etc. The choice of pricing strategy must suit the exact needs
of your business.
Advantages of Competitive Pricing Strategy
A competitive pricing strategy should be used when the product has reached the level of
equilibrium, meaning that the product is popular in the market and a lot of companies are
manufacturing it. Here are the top advantages of adopting a competitive pricing strategy:
 Pricing strategy is more efficient – You can easily combine a competition-based pricing
strategy with other pricing strategies and this makes the final prices of the products or services
much more efficient.
 Stable customer base – Competitive pricing lets you have a stable customer base because
people often compare the prices of products before they purchase and keeping a price similar to
your competitors helps in maintaining a regular flow of customers.

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 Price competition is avoided – Companies who follow the strategy of competition-based
pricing have to keep prices similar to their closest competitors. A price cap is automatically set
on the final selling price and this helps keep the price wars stable.

Disadvantages of Competitive Pricing Strategy

 Difficult to implement for smaller businesses because the prices of their competitors keep
changing. It becomes difficult to keep track of the prices. This leads to a massive loss that most
small businesses can’t afford.
 More prone to failure – The entire idea of setting the best prices of your products rests on
the prices already set by your competitors. This means that if the competition hasn't set their
prices correctly, then the chances of failure increases.
 Can’t attract the customers through price – If you are adopting a competitive pricing
strategy then it becomes difficult to attract customers using price because prices offered by you
remain closer to your competitors so customers look for additional advantages offered by
companies other than price.

 SIZING MARKET
The "market size" is made up of the total number of potential buyers of a product or service
within a given market, and the total revenue that these sales may generate.
It's important to calculate and understand market size for several reasons;
1. Entrepreneurs and organizations can use market sizing to estimate how much profit
they could potentially earn from a new business, product or service.
2. Help you to estimate the number of people that you may need to hire before you
launch a new product or service.
Market Sizing Methods
There are two methods that are commonly used for market sizing:

 Top-down method is simple, but its often unreliable and overly optimistic. It looks at the
"relevant" market size for your product or service, and then calculates how much your
organization might earn from it. For example, imagine that your organization markets
learning resources to schools. Your research shows that there are 6,000 relevant schools
in your country. You know that the average sale per school is around US$50,000, which
means that your market size is US$300 million. A top-down approach gives you inflated
data, and you often can't rely on it to make good decisions.
 Bottom-up approach is time-consuming, because you do all of your own market research
and you don't rely solely on generalized forecasts and trends. However, you'll get a more
realistic and accurate assessment of your market's potential.

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How to Calculate Market Size
1. Define Your Target Market- know the type of person that your product or service is best suited
to. Your offering has to fulfill a need – or solve a problem – uniquely well for a group of people,
and you need to define who these people are. You can use market segmentation  
2. Use Market Research to Assess Interest in Your Product-Focus on competitors who target the
same group of buyers. What is their market share? And what are their annual sales for similar
products or services? Another way to assess interest is through individual interviews, focus
groups, and surveys.
3: Calculate Potential Sales- forecast a realistic figure that represents how popular your product
or service could be to your target market. Use this data to decide whether your product is worth
the investment and risk.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations (PR) is the process of maintaining a favorable image and building beneficial
relationships between an organization and the public communities, groups, and people it serves.
PR strives to earn a favorable image by drawing attention to newsworthy and attention-worthy
activities of the organization and its customers. For this reason, PR is often referred to as “free
advertising.”
The Purpose of Public Relations
Public relations seeks to promote organizations, products, services, and brands. But PR activities
also play an important role in identifying and building relationships with influential individuals
and groups responsible for shaping market perceptions in the industry or product category where
an organization operates. Public relations efforts strive to do the following:
 Build and maintain a positive image
 Inform target audiences about positive associations with a product, service, brand, or
organization
 Maintain good relationships with influencers—the people who strongly influence the
opinions of target audiences
 Generate goodwill among consumers, the media, and other target audiences by raising the
organization’s profile
 Stimulate demand for a product, service, idea, or organization
 Head off critical or unfavorable media coverage
WHEN TO USE PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Public relations offers an excellent toolset for generating attention whenever there is
something newsworthy that marketers would like to share with customers, prospective
customers, the local community, or other audiences.
 PR professionals maintain relationships with reporters and writers who routinely cover
news about the company, product category, and industry, so they can alert media
organizations when news happens.
 PR actually creates activities that are newsworthy, such as establishing a scholarship
program or hosting a science fair for local schools.
 PR is involved in publishing general information about an organization, such as an annual
report, a newsletter, an article, a white paper providing deeper information about a topic
of interest, or an informational press kit for the media.

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  PR is also responsible for identifying and building relationships with influencers who
help shape opinions in the marketplace about a company and its products. When an
organization finds itself facing a public emergency or crisis of some sort.
 PR professionals play an important role strategizing and managing communications with
various stakeholder groups, to help the organization respond in effective, appropriate
ways and to minimize damage to its public image.
PR techniques can help marketers turn the following types of events into opportunities for media
attention, community relationship building, and improving the organization’s public image:
 Your organization develops an innovative technology or approach that is different and
better than anything else available.
 One of your products wins a “best in category” prize awarded by a trade group.
 You enter into a partnership with another organization to collaborate on providing
broader and more complete services to a target market segment.
 You sponsor and help organize a 10K race to benefit a local charity.
 You merge with another company.
 You conduct research to better understand attitudes and behaviors among a target
segment, and it yields insights your customers would find interesting and beneficial.
 A customer shares impressive and well-documented results about the cost savings they
have realized from using your products or services.
 Your organization is hiring a new CEO or other significant executive appointment.
 A quality-assurance problem leads your company to issue a recall for one of your
products.
 An executive leader can offer a visionary speech to generate excitement about a
company and the value it provides—now or in the future. Events can help cement brand
loyalty by not only informing customers but also forging emotional connections and
goodwill.
PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS
 Sponsorships go hand in hand with events, as organizations affiliate themselves with
events and organizations by signing on to co-sponsor something available to the
community.
 Award programs. Organizations can participate in established award programs managed
by trade groups and media, or they can create award programs that target their customer
community. Awards provide opportunities for public recognition of great work by
employees and customers to draw attention to how customers are benefitting from an
organization’s products and services.
 Crisis management is an important PR toolset to have. But when crises emerge, PR
provides structure and discipline to help company leaders navigate the crisis with
communications and actions that address the needs of all stakeholders.
Advantages of Public Relations
1. The opportunity to amplify key messages and milestones. A press release about a new
product, can be timed to support a marketing launch of the product and conference where
the product is unveiled for the first time.
2. Believable. Because publicity is seen to be more objective, people tend to give it more
weight and find it more credible. Paid advertisements, on the other hand are seen with a
certain amount of skepticism.
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3. Employee pride. Organizing and/or sponsoring charitable activities or community events
can help with employee morale and pride. It can also be an opportunity for teamwork and
collaboration.
4. Engaging people who visit your Web site. PR activities can generate interesting content
that can be featured on your organization’s Web site. Such information can be a means of
engaging visitors to the site, and it can generate interest and traffic long after the PR event
or moment has passed.

Disadvantages of Public Relations

1. Cost. A public relations firm may need to be hired to develop campaigns, write press
releases, and speak to journalists.
2. Lack of control. There’s no guarantee that a reporter or industry influencer will give your
company or product a favorable review—it’s the price you pay for “unbiased” coverage.
3. Missing the mark. Your public relations effort can fall short and fail to reach enough or
the right part of your target audience. It doesn’t do any good if the reporter’s write-up is
very short or it appears in a section of the paper that no one reads.

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