MAADHYAM 2022- A NATIONAL LEVEL CASE COMPETETION

ACHIEVING MARKETING 4.0 DURING THE NEW NORMAL ERA

A RERORT SUBMITTED TO

N.L. DALMIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, MUMBAI

SUBMITTED BY

BALAJI INSTITUTE OF TELECOM MANAGEMENT, PUNE

 Shubhangi Kesharwani
(9691889909)
 Shivam Dode
(9074519526)

Date- 15-01-2022
 ACHIEVING MARKETING 4.0 DURING THE NEW NORMAL ERA

I. SUMMARY
Business systems are competing in the economy that is awash in hyper-competition, and the
markets are changing faster than marketing. Innovations in digital technologies have created more
connected marketing environment that is more engaging and consequently more difficult for
organisations to comprehend and achieve their goals. The motivation for this paper arises from the
idea to understand and explore existing marketing theories in order to understand the importance of
adapting marketing to the rapidly changing business conditions. The core idea of this paper was to
analyse how to incorporate marketing into the complexity of contemporary markets and modern
business environment, with a particular focus on Marketing 4.0. This paper expands exiting research
related to the evolution of marketing and its implementation, primarily focusing on the application of
Marketing 4.0. The study also contributes to the findings may be useful to scholars, marketers, social
influencers, and the general public.
II. INTRODUCTION
The world has changed over the last decades because of the technology evolution; Marketing has
also advanced, and the user requirements have also evolved with this. Since, Marketing started to
receive a bad conception in many circles because the experiences with many marketers, which
were simply focused on profit through non-ethic techniques such as carry-on tricks in pricing,
packaging, and false claims without really putting an effort to focus on the customers. This has
required a new generation and evolution of the Marketing towards a more customer-centric era.
This customer-centric era is what has raised the Marketing 3.0, where the customers are treated
as human beings who are active, anxious, and creative. They will demand their deepest anxieties
and desires, request more the world has changed over the last decades because of the technology
evolution; Marketing has also advanced, and the user requirements have also evolved with this.
They will demand their deepest anxieties and desires, request more participation in value
creation. Therefore, it is just not only focused on the traditional needs and wants. In addition, in
order to satisfy this human side, where the soul, heart and feeling are taking into account, the
customercentric is being based on values. It can be found several examples as the enterprises,
manufacturers and vendors are focusing on the public relations, social commitment and the
improvement of their reputation through social actions. For example, these new features of the
product allow to the customers change their vision over the brand, and extend the relation of
brand image not only to its products; else it is also related with the contributions to social actions
for sports, environment, sustainability, and humanitarian fields. In this new consumer-centric era,
the customers have their own aspirations, their independent voice, opinion, and in definitive
experience. Therefore, no matter what approach that it is taken, advertising, it must be created
personal conversations. We should promote their freedom to talk about you, i.e. we should offer
the medium to participate.
 III. DISCUSSION
Nowadays, with the social networks, it is being more important the users experience with the
products, and this integration with the Internet, is offering a new medium to validate, confirm and
check the experiences of other customers with the product, the brand reputation, and make sure
that this satisfies what is offering.
Therefore, we are living a major integration of the users with Internet through the social
networks, and now these social virtual environments are presenting a direct consequence over the
products with platforms of opinion and experiences such as foursquare, and youpping. These
solutions have presenting some limitations in order to be widely used:
1- They are based on online platforms, which are not accessible for all the customers.
2- They are usually focused for very specific users and sectors. Users are not spending time for
each of the products which they are consuming this checking through the mentioned online
platforms. They are online doing it for the most relevant ones.
3- The information from Internet is coming from users and it is not always integrating the opinion
and justification from the vendors.
For that reason, we propose with the Marketing 4.0 an evolution of the customer-centric era with
a new dimension more focused to the interaction with the product. This interaction will provide
two benefits, first, the capacity to consult the experiences from other customers, and second, the
capacity to confirm, validate and check the features and promises from the product. For that
purpose, we extend the Internet to the product, i.e. the direct integration of the products,
physically, in the Internet, and the capacities to interact directly with the product.

Thereby, it is solved the mentioned limitations:

1- It is not required the use of online platforms, it can be easily checked directly over the
products.
2- Customers are able to know the experiences and comments from the other customers for any
product.
3- Customers are able to see the proofs from the manufacturer and vendor about their promises,
features and brand, in order to check the brand integrity.

IoT defines a new dimension, which will be made available to all pertinent parties in any
location at any given time. This ubiquity and flexibility are our solution goals due to the fact
that this concerns a global scale.

The main technologies utilized in IoT for objects and products identification range from
existing technologies such as barcodes to new technologies such as Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) together with its version for smart phones. These technologies are
ancillaries with the new communication capabilities of the Future Internet with IPv6
connectivity over Low Power Area Networks.
IoT has been deemed the solution because it presents a new vision for the new generation of
services and communications. IoT extends the Internet to all parties involved in the transaction,
from the original involved parties i.e. customers, manufacturers with the products, and the
identification and validation of their social actions and quality of the product from the
manufacturer, and the opinions and experiences, i.e. quality of experiences from the other
customer.
Finally, the WoT extends the capabilities from the IoT with its integration in the Web through
the Webservices. Thereby, it enables the interaction of the products with a flexible solution. WoT
allows to link a product directly with a Webservice via an URI or URL.
A. Marketing 1.0
The first stage of the marketing is dated during the industrial age. In this era, the marketing was
basically focused on selling products without considering the needs and wants from the target
market. This can be defined as the Marketing 1.0, which was a product-centric approach, which
was mainly focused on the art to persuade to increase sale.
B. Marketing 2.0
Marketing changed radically, since the offer increased significantly, and consequently, the
consumers were able to choose among the entire available offer. In addition with the capabilities
from the information and communications age, consumers started to be well informed and
compare several values offerings of similar products. Therefore, the product value is defined by
the consumer. This is Marketing 2.0 or the customer-centric era. This marketing era is featured
by the exhaustive search and research about the needs and wants from the customers, in order to
discover new target markets, which convert into advantageous opportunities.
C. Marketing 3.0
Recently, it has been defined by Prof. Kotler, the Marketing 3.0 or the human-centric era where
the values are the drivers from the marketing. Since, the consumers are treated as human beings
who are active, anxious, and creative. In addition, they are more awareness and sensible about
the social and humanistic side from the brand, i.e. the corporate responsibility, social and
environmental dimension. This demand from the customers to satisfy their anxieties and desires,
more than the traditional needs and wants, and the capabilities from the client to influence, and
apply their creativity on the products is changing the relation among the customer, enterprises
and products. These new demands are a direct consequence of the success of Internet and mainly
the new generation of social networking sites, where users are able to leave opinions, have
numerous connections to other site members, and a set of reader from the public sites which are
influenced from the user experiences and opinions over the products.

MARKETING 4.0: INTERNET OF THINGS/PRODUCTS DRIVEN MARKETING

This section describes the features and the main differences from the proposed Marketing 4.0,
with respect to the traditional one. For that purpose, it is firstly analyzed the current marketing
through the Positioning, Differentiation, and Brand triangle, see Figure 4, and how it has been
extended with an additional dimension focused on the customer experience through the
interaction between customers and products.
A. Brand identity
A brand is clearly positioned in the consumer’s mind to give it a clear Brand Identity. To
give Brand Integrity to your positioning, it must be supported by strong differentiation.
Brand Identity is about positioning your brand in the minds of the consumers. The
positioning should be unique for your brand to be heard and noticed in the cluttered
marketplace. It should also be relevant to the rational needs and wants of the consumers.
Positioning supported by strong differentiation will in turn lead to strong Brand Image.

B. Brand image
Brand image is about acquiring the consumer’s mind share. Your brand value should
appeal to consumer’s emotional needs and wants beyond product functionalities and
features. For that reason, the values-driven actions from a brand will be part of the image
from the brand.

C. Brand integrity and reputation

Brand Integrity or brand reputation is about fulfilling what is claimed through the
positioning and brand value through solid differentiation. It is about being credible to your
promise and establishing the trust of the consumers to your brand. The target of Brand
integrity and reputation is the spirit of the consumers.

D. Brand interaction- Marketing 4.0 extends it with a new dimension focused on the customer-
experience. The experience dimension is based on:
1- A direct interaction between customers and products.
2- Capability to verify that a product satisfies the customers’ needs and wants.
3- Capability to confirm the values-driven actions, and check how the brand is carrying
out the inversions.
4- Definition of the brand integrity and reputation through the proofs of their values-
driven actions and the general experience from the customers.

For that reason, this new dimension is taking into account from the enterprises the influence
of the values from the brand over the customers, and making more awareness to the customer
about the impact of the values driven actions in the world.

Marketing 4.0 is moving toward the participation and the creation of value in a collaborative
way, where the customer is able to check, confirm and be more awareness about the reality of
a brand. For that reason, this fidelity between the reality and the promises will build the brand
reputation.

Specifically, the brand reputation will be built through the compromise in the quality of the
products, the quality of the experience from the customers with the products and finally, the
quality of the values-driven actions carried out from these manufacturers.

This last dimension from the values-driven actions and the capability from the user to
participate are a new key element in order to gain market with respect to other international
brands with similar quality, and similar and even lower costs. It is because, other brands are
not reaching that the customers feel identified with the brand through their participation,
values-driven actions carried out by the brand, and finally, the experience from friends and
other customers.

MARKETING 4.0 SCENARIO AND INTERACTION MODEL

The customer is enabled to interact with the products through the readers from the shopping
center, personal device such as the smart phone or the device presented in, and finally
through Internet.
The first step in order to carry out this interaction with the product is based on the product
identification. This identification is based on some the technologies such as barcodes, matrix
barcodes and RFID/NFC tags.
An extended set of IoT technologies has been considered; from the legacy identification
solution based on barcodes offering a feasible solution with the current identification of the
products, to one based on RFID/NFC for next generation of products tagging.

Barcode-
All the products offer a GS1 barcode for its identification. Nowadays most of the smart-
phones are provided with a camera. Hence, a solution based on this may be used in order to
scan barcodes. Therefore, products are identified by reading barcode. Specifically, it is read a
GS1-13 / EAN-13, which is the main scheme used throughout Europe for retail article
numbering. This offers a 12-byte code.

Matrix Barcode-
In addition to the 1D barcode, it is starting to be integrated the matrix codes such as QR
codes, QR Code is the most extended type of matrix barcode (or 2D code). This presents a
higher capability to store information that the usual barcodes. This offers in addition to an
identification number, the capability to store a description of the product, or an URL to an
Internet website. The code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square
pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized
kinds of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji), or through supported extensions,
virtually any kind of data. The amount of data that can be stored in the QR Code symbol
depends on the data type, version (1,...,40, indicating the overall dimensions of the symbol),
and error correction level.

RFID/NFC tag
RFID is a main technology for IoT and consequently it is also the version of RFID integrated
in smart-phones, i.e., NFC. NFC/RFID tags and cards are chosen for identification from the
new generation of solutions based on IoT. However, since devices with RFID/NFC are not
very extended, this solution also considers the use of a legacy technology such as barcodes
because all products use it. NFC is a contactless or proximity communication medium, which
is based on magnetic induction. This works on the 13,56Mhz frequency. The theoretical
distance of standard antennas is around 10 cm. The bandwidth/speed for data transmission is
until 424 Kbits/s.
RISING OF MARKETING 4.0 AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION
Many different marketing models developed over time, but lately, one of the most interesting
marketing approaches is Marketing 4.0. The core roots of Marketing 4.0 can be found in the
marketing literature of the nineteenth century. Doyle (2016) described the AIDA model as
one of the models that analyse and measure the customer's journey from ignorance to
purchase. St Elmo Lewis developed this model in 1898 in an attempt to explain personal
selling. There are four sequences in the process that salesperson must lead a potential
customer through.
The sequences are following:
(1) Attention;
(2) Interest;
(3) Desire; and
(4) Action.
Similar to 4P's, mentioned before, AIDA model has also developed and expanded in time.
One of the modifications of the AIDA model is offered by Derek Rucker of the Kellogg
School of Management. This modification is called the four A's, and it also has four
sequences.
The stages are the following:
(1) Aware;
(2) Attitude;
(3) Act; and
(4) Act again.
New framework simplified interest and desire stages into attitude and added a new segment,
act again. First, potential clients become aware of some brand, then they form a particular
attitude towards it, liking or disliking it. After that, they decide whether to act in a way brand
desired, for example, to purchase something or pay for services. After they gain experience
regarding that product or service, they form an opinion and decide whether the brand is worth
to act again, to repeat purchase or pay again for services. The number of customers declines
as they move from the first to the last stage of the process. In the modern, hyperconnected
business environment, a new customer path must be determined to accommodate changes
formed by connectivity. Kotler recommended rewriting the customer path as the five A's:
(1) Aware,
(2) Appeal,
(3) Ask,
(4) Act, and
(5) Advocate.
Brands should implement marketing strategies to drive customers from awareness to
advocacy, which is the ultimate goal of Marketing 4.0. Three significant shifts determine the
change from the customer path in the Pre-Connectivity Era and Connectivity Era.

The first shift represents a change from the attitude toward a brand determined by an
individual to the primary appeal of a brand formed by the community. The client determines
the final attitude. The second shift observe variations in the comprehension of loyalty. In the
pre-connectivity era, loyalty is recognised as retention and 627 repurchase, but in the
connectivity era, loyalty is determined as a willingness to advocate a brand. The third shift
describes the understanding of brands. In the contemporary marketing environment,
customers actively connect with other customers, building the new, ask-and-advocate
relationship. The mentioned connection can either strengthen or weaken the brand appeal,
depending on the preference during the conversation.

New customer path in a connected world can be observed as a funnel that drives potential
customers from being aware of the existence of some brand to the clients that are advocating
and promoting the brand, either online or offline. At first, potential customers learn about the
brand from others. If they are getting to know with the brand online, they will be considering
the website and pages of social networks of a brand, online reports and even comments about
a brand on official and unofficial brand pages. In this phase, potential customers are exposed
to the marketing communication messages and advertisements of a brand. Desired customer
impression is awareness regarding brand is knowing about its existence.

Successful ads should build awareness, and that gives consumers reasons to choose and buy
that brand. (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 2007; Teixera et al., 2010). Bakator et al. (2019, p. 483)
described brand awareness as a strong influential construct and market factor in a marketing
environment.

In the following, the appeal phase, brands seek to attract customers to the brand. Customers
process many marketing messages that are emitted by brands, and because more frequently
consumers receive messages or think about the brand the more prominent it becomes in their
memory, they create short-term and long-term memory regarding a particular product, service
or brand itself (Elliot & Percy, 2007). Desired customer impression is to get customers to like
some brand more than others.

When customers are interested in a specific brand, they actively research it by searching for
brand review online, asking friends and family, reading about products online, but also by
contacting the call centre, asking questions in person and online, examining prices and trying
products if possible. The goal of the brand in this stage is to convince the customer.

If convinced, customers decided to act and purchase a product or service of a particular

brand. Customers make deeper interactions with a brand through purchase, using or trying the
product and also complaining. Brands should observe complaint responses as an opportunity
to reframe and explain the failure of a particular product or service to customers (Weiner,
1986; Tomlinson & Mryer, 2009). An effective complaint reply can change the perceived
stability of the service failure by transforming customers' original attribution (Chatterjee,
2001). Desired customer activity in this phase is to buy the product or do what brand was
intending to achieve. Trusting brand is very important, and when customers do not trust some
brand, it distinctly decreases their purchase intention (McKnight & Choudhury, 2006).

The final phase of the customer path in a connected era is advocating. In this stage, some
customers are using the product or services of a brand, and they may develop a loyal and
robust connection to the brand. Their loyalty is indicated by retention, repurchase and
advocacy to others. Customers keep using the same brand, they try new products or services
of the same brand with ease, and they also repurchase it and recommend it to others.
Consumer-generated content and complaints are regarded as highly credible, and consumers
pay notable attention to that content (Filieri, 2016). Advocacy can be conducted any time in
any place, and it probably will be conducted using smartphone.

CHALLENGES OF ADVOCACY PHASE IN MARKETING 4.0

There are various challenges in the advocacy stage. If a customer is not satisfied due to a
service or product failure or any other reason, it could be demotivated for both current and
potential customer if there are negative comments or complaints regarding a particular brand
or its services or products. Scholars investigated service failure in various online contexts
(Guo et al., 2016), such as online retailing (Holloway & Beatty, 2003; Lin et al., 2011),
hospitality (Sparks et al., 2016), and social media contexts (van Noort & Willemsen, 2012;
Schaefers & Schamari, 2016; Hogreve et al., 2019), and in offline contexts (Maxham III,
2001) and observers' reactions to complaints managed on social media (Mattila et al., 2014;
Bacile et al., 2018; Hogreve et al., 2019).

A major source of information on the quality of brands and their products and services are
online reviews of current clients that are easily accessible because of the internet accessibility
(Raval, 2019). Visitors of social media pages, potential customers, can observe complaints of
dissatisfied customers on mentioned pages (Javornik et al., 2020). The public nature of online
customer reviews aggravates the effects of negative reviews, as prospective customers
commonly read these public complaints when making buying decisions (Standifird, 2001;
Mudambi & Schuff, 2010; Kuehn, 2015; Schaefers & Schamari, 2015), which can cause
distrust of the seller (Moody et al., 2014). Perceptions of justice or injustice in the complaint-
handling process of some brand affect the customers' future trust and loyalty (Tax et al.,
1998; Homburg & Fürst, 2005). Potential customers 628 will base their perception regarding
a particular brand on the communication exchange that is visible online (Einwiller & Steilen,
2015; Hogreve et al., 2019).

Regardless of the type of complaint, an instant response to a customers' complaints is critical

(Seeger, 2006). Brands should have prepared an effective communication strategy for
resolving problems. Marketers can analyse and use various textual data that can be gathered,
such as online reviews, customer service calls, press releases, marketing communications,
and other online communications and interactions (Berger et al., 2020). An effective strategy
for managing customer complaints can facilitate forgiveness and assist in restoring customers'
patronage after correspondence (Harris et al., 2006; Xie & Peng, 2009; Del Río-Lanza et al.,
2009; Gelbrich et al., 2016). Cicvarić Kostić et al. (2014) confirm that the efficiency and
effectiveness of the operation are affected by market orientation, and marketing strategies and
tools affect. A brand can use different response strategies when managing an online
complaint about a failed service (Davidow, 2003; Gelbrich & Roschk, 2011). Effective
response strategies can be an apology, defending the reputation of a brand, excuse, and
compensation (Kim et al., 2004; Seeger, 2006; Jin, 2009). Kim et al. (2004) point out that an
apology is more effective when the benefits exceed the costs of accepting liability for the
failure. Zhao et al. (2020) in their study found that apology is more efficient when the alleged
cause is relatively unstable and when the seller has a high capacity to change and that
defending the reputation is better when the alleged cause is relatively stable or when the
seller has a low ability. The most recent research proposes appreciation rather than an
examined apology; therefore it is more likely to increase consumers’ self-esteem if the
company is saying “thank you” to their unsatisfied customers than “sorry” (You et al., 2020).

IV. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented an initial conception of the capabilities from the Internet of Things
(IoT) and the Web of Things (WoT) for the extension of the Marketing to a more
participative and trustable relation with the products based on the capabilities to identify
products in a universal way through technologies such as RFID/NFC and QR codes. In
addition, to the identification, it is being exploited the capabilities from the WoT to link a
product with an URI, where it can be deployed extended information of the product,
information about the values-driven actions carried out by the brand, e.g., where and how it is
being applied the investments from their social commitments, and the experiences from other
customers.

This last feature is highly relevant, since Marketing started to receive a bad conception
because the experiences with many marketers, which were focused on profit through non-
ethic techniques such as false claims without really putting an effort to focus on the
customers.

Ongoing work is focused on the deployment of a scenario based on Marketing 4.0, and the
development of a reputation platform in order to evaluate the experiences and opinion from
the customers with this new dimension of capabilities to participate and interact with the
products.