MM01 Marketing Management

Assignment No.II
Assignment Code: 2013MM01A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2013 Maximum Marks:100

Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.

Section-A Ques.1

(a) What is the pattern of channel distribution normally adopted by a consumer durable
firm. Give answer in reference to a tyre industry? (b) What makes service marketing a specialty? Explain with special reference to 7ps of service marketing.

Ques.2

Write short notes on:(a) Core competence & unique selling preposition. (b) Inventory management & supply chain management An effective marketing mix must meet customer needs better than competitors. What are the elements of marketing mix. Explain? Briefly describe each of the four main stages of the product life cycle. What the strategies adapted at various stages of PLC? What are the major uses of PLC and what are the limitations of PLC? Section-B

Ques.3 Ques.4

Case Study : The Challenge of Change The board room was filled with the voice of Marketing Manager, Ashutosh Kant. He was

addressing a meeting of senior managers of Escape, The last three months were spent by our team of market research in finding out the reasons and patterns of sales at stores. Let me emphasize that retail sale is showing growth all over the country and in the process, competition is hitting up. We can no longer sit and relax, instead we need to put ourselves fully to retain our market leadership. The most disturbing highlights found in the survey are: 1. 2. People find our service staff bordering on aggressiveness and less helpful as they never leave people to browse. Children get bored and hence parents often leave the stores within minutes i.e., after finishing essential shopping. They never browse or spend leisure time at stores, which can otherwise promote sales. 3. With many choices available in the market, consumers have stopped treating our stores as a unique concept. We are loosing out on exclusivity.

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Setting Up a Store Mr Rehman, an entrepreneur, had set up a garments shop in one of Delhis busy markets about 10 years back. He realized that to attract customers, he must do something new and keeping this in mind he chalked out a massive plan to open a chain of stores called Escape. Some major features of his stores were: i) ii) iii) Complete dress range for kids, parents and teenagers. Full accessories for women and men in leather, cosmetics, stationery, shoes, purses and jewellery. A play centre where kids could spend time when the parents shopped.

The stores were opened at two locations in Delhi on an area of 7000 sq ft each. Within six months the shops became popular and the business grew rapidly in three years to a turnover of Rs 6 crores. The marketing plans for the stores included cable operators, newspapers, and advertising. The store conducted festivals such as childrens carnival and valentine special etc., to keep the crowds coming in.

The Ambience Stress on ambience was high as Rehman wanted to create an image of a complete shopping, experience for the entire family. The sales staff was trained to promote not push any product and to encourage customers to browse through. The womens section was given an ethnic setting and mens section had polished wood and leather all over. The garments, the accessories and gifts were displayed in large racks and full length mirrors were placed at multiple places. Sales staff present at all three floors often advised the customers but never showed around everything. The kids section included garments, toys and books and had more staff. A major attraction of the store is a play centre for kids. The parents could safely leave their children in the place, situated at the ground floor itself. The place had separate sections of toys and books and was supervised by trained staff. The parents, thus, could leave the children and shop in a relaxed way. This concept was appreciated by all customers and became one of the prime attraction for customers.

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The stores were one of its kind in the early 1990s and grew rapidly. New sections on books, gifts and handicrafts were launched and at any time, the stores had more than two hundred categories of products. During this time, the competition started hitting up and three similar ventures were launched in the city. This didnt bother Rehman much, because he felt he had built an image of being the ultimate store. By 1996, multi-storied, one-stop stores became the trend in this city and many more such stores came up. Rehman had expanded his stores in three other cities as well and the turnover grew to 40 crores. The total manpower of the company rose to 500 and several new management and non-management cadres were introduced in the company. The last year Diwali festival of the store brought 40,000 customers in the entire month, which worried Rehman as it was almost 20% less than their estimations. His marketing manager, after long discussions, hired a market researcher to study buying patterns and preferences of people walking in the store. Questions 1. 2. 3. What are the major issues in the case? Evaluate the strategies opted for by Rehman is creating the business. What has gone wrong with his strategies now? If you were to present a marketing plan based on research findings, what strategies would you include in it?

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