Chapter 1

Introduction to Marketing Management

 Meaning of Marketing Management:

Philip Kotler marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they
need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value to
each other.
Marketing is a continuous process. Marketing is the process of ascertaining consumer needs,
converting them into products or services and moving them to final consumers to satisfy their
wants and desires with emphasis on profitability through optimum use of resources. Modern
marketing involves transition of ten entities which are
(i) products (ii) services (iii) places (iv) persons (v) events (vi) possession (vii) corporate
organizations (viii) information (ix) knowledge (x) ideas.

Definition of Marketing Management

“The analysis, planning, implementation, and control of programs designed to create, build, and
maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers for the purpose of achieving organizational
objectives.”

FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT:

1. Determining objectives: Objectives are the goals towards which all marketing management
activities are directed. According to Peter F Drucker objectives are essential in all the keys areas
of business where performance and results directly contribute to the growth of the business.
2. Planning: The function of planning is used to determine the manner in which objectives are to
be achieved. Without planning, marketing operations will be directionless. Planning prepares
plans for a new product or sales forecast or distribution and promotional programmes.
3. Organizing: Organizing arranges ways and means to achieve business objectives. It deals with
mobilizing resources and acts as administrative machinery for the execution of marketing plans.
4. Directing: Directing is the task of making decisions and converting them into specific and
general orders. It provides continuous guidance to employees.

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5. Implementation: There should be close relationship between planning, implementation and
evaluation in the marketing management process. Without planning, marketing activeties can go
in any direction like an unguided missile.
6. Controlling: Controlling is an important marketing function which measures current
performance and guides it towards some predetermined objectives.

Objectives of Marketing Management:

1. To satisfy the customers: The marketing manager must consider demand of customers before
offering them products and services. Selling of products and service is not that important, as the
satisfaction of the customer’s needs.
2. To improve quality of life of people: Marketing management tries to improve the quality of
life of the people by providing them better products at affordable prices. It helps production and
marketing of a wide variety of product and services for use by the customers.
3. To create higher sales: Marketing manager must increase customer’s base. The company can
attract more and more customers to buy its products and services.
4. To create good image: Over a period of time, the company must carve out an image for itself.
Improved company image depends on satisfaction of consumers. The company can initiate
image building exercise to improve business image.
5. To work our appropriate marketing mixes: Product, pricing, physical distribution and
promotion should be so planned as to meet the requirements of different groups of customers.
6. To increase business profits: Marketing department is the only department which generates
revenue for the business. In order to market want-satisfying products, business must earn
adequate profits.

4P`s of Marketing:
The term “Marketing Mix” was introduced by Prof Neil H Borden of the Harvard Business
School. Marketing mix is one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing management. For
attracting consumers and for sales promotion, every manufacturer has to concentrate on four
basis elements. These are Product, Pricing, Distributive channels (place) & sales promotion
techniques.

1. Product:
Product is any article which a manufacturer desires to sell in the open market. A product has
capacity to satisfy human want. This creates demand & facilities marketing. The products mix
includes the following variable;

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1. Product line & range ,
2. Style, Shape, Design, Colour, quality & other physical features of a product.
3. Packaging & labeling of a product.
4. Branding & trademark given to the product.
5. Product innovation.
6. Guarantees warranties of the product.
7. Special attractive features of the product&
8. Product servicing

2. Distribution channel (Place):

Physical distribution is the delivery of goods at right time & right place to consumers. It includes
the following
1. Types of intermediaries available for distribution,
2. Marketing channels available for distribution&
3. Transportation, Warehousing & Inventory control for marketing the product

3. Promotion:
Promotional activities are for encouraging retailers &dealers to keep the stock of company’s
product also encouraging consumers to purchase companies due to various plus points. It
includes the following variables
1. Advertising &publicity of the product,
2. Personal selling,
3. Sales promotion
4. Display of goods for publicity & sales promotion

4. Price:
Price is one more critical component of marketing mix. It is the valuation of the product
mentioned on the product. It is the amount at which the seller is willing to sell & the buyer is
willing to buy. It includes the following variables
1. Pricing Policies ,
2. Discounts,
3. Terms of credit sale,&
4. Pricing strategy.

4C`s of Marketing:

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More recently marketing mix classification proposed by Robert Lauterborn focuses on view
points of customers & includes
(1)Customer benefit (2) Customer convenience (3) Customer cost (4) Communication.

(1) Customer benefit: Customers are not interested in the product but in the benefits that they
provide. Often customers are classified as per the benefits they seek. Product remaining the
same, they provide different benefits to different groups of buyers e.g. Shampoos offer benefits
like conditioning effects, learing of hair, medicinal properties. Common brand sold in to the
market include sun silk, Head&Sholders and chic which provide different benefit to different
users.

(2)Customer convenience: It involves minimum of effort because a customer has the

knowledge of product attributes prior to shopping. It results when product is available in the
vicinity &customer does not have to travel long distance. In order to minimize purchase time
&offer customer convenience, marketers use advertising, in store displays, long store hours, self
service et al.

(3)Customer cost: Cost is basic consideration in product marketing. Good quality product
should be economical in cost .when the customers finds the cost beyond they reach, he starts
looking for substitutes. O0mpanies follow the cost strategy when they and produce goods
&services at lowest cost compared to competitors to win a large market share. Companies like
Hindustan Unilever Ltd. &Godrej have edge over their competitor’s beause there customer cost
are within mgt limits.

(4)Customer communication: customer must be informed about new products, their price
features before they can develop favorable attitude towards them. Where the product is known in
the market, the focus is on persuasion &converting knowledge to liking. Where the product is
popular, the focus is on reminding & reinforcing existing consumer belive.often ompanies are
required to identify & appeal to opinion leaders who influence others deisionsuh as doctors,
teachers, office bearers &VIPs’.

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 Chapter 2
Orientation of a Firm

Core Marketing Concepts:

1. NEEDS: Human needs are the fundamental concept present in all marketing activities. Need
arises because of absence of a product or service where in an individual feels deprived. Some
needs determine human survival such as food, shelter, clothing, safe y &security .in addition to
these, an individual has social needs of affection &belongingness man is a social animal & he
has strong needs for recreation, education &entertainment.
2. WANTS: human wants are unlimited. The specific satisfier that an individual looks for
defines the want. Needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might
satisfy the needs.
3. DEMANDS: demand is wants for specific product. Ti must be supported by ability to pay
otherwise it remains a desire. According to Philip kotler, marketers are involved in marketing ten
different entities viz.,
 Products
 Services
 Persons
 Places
 Properties
 Events
 Ideas
 Information
 Experiences
 Organizations
There is a common complaint that marketers create needs or they force people to buy things that
do not want.
4. TRANSATIONS: Transactions develop when two parties reach an agreement. Transactions
consist of exchange of value between two or more parties. Transactions results in exchange of
ownership.

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5. TRANFERES: transfer means to move or hand over from one person or place to another.
Transfer is the physical means whereby goods are moved from the point of production to the
place where they are required for consumption. In this sense, marketing creates time, place&
possession utilities products manufactured from the raw materials much be rapidly &efficiently
transferred to the place of distribution.
6. EXHANGES: exchange is the act of getting a thing or object which one needs from another
by offering some thing in return. In order to complete an exchange two or more persons are
involved. Each person must possess some thing that is considered valuable but the other person.
Both person must the men of ordinary prudence who are competent to discuss the exchange
process. They may agree at once or disagree & some to agreement after some time.

Concepts of Marketing:
1. The Production Concept: the production concept of marketing gives too much importance to
production of goods& services. It treats large scale production as the base of marketing. It is
assumed that customers will purchase and support all type of products produced by manufactures
without any reservations. Here, production orientation is given to marketing. Production is
important in marketing, as without production, marketing is just not possible. However, is much
wider than mere production of goods &services.
2. The Product Concept: In product concept of marketing, the stress is on the product. This
concept suggests that large scale marketing is possible by improving the quality of the product.
The stress is on the product excellence. This means to improve the quality of the product raise its
utility& durability.
3. The selling concept: the selling concept believes that products will not be marketed easily&
quickly unless there is support &cooperation from consumers. The product much be given push
through sales promotion techniques which includes massive advertising, personal selling,
offering discounts, gifts, attractive packaging et al.
4. The Marketing concept: this modern consumer oriented marketing concept gain into existence
in 1950. Consumer is put at the beginning & also at the end of whole marketing on the marketing
process. This change is from profit to service &from production to consumers. It is based on
three main beliefs:
 All planning & operations should be customer oriented.
 Marketing activities like advertising, product planning &pricing should be combined under
one executive.
 Customer oriented marketing is essential to achieve organizations objectives.

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5. The societal concept: After 1980`s, the marketing concept is being replaced by a more
progressive conept called “the societal concept”. This concept supports a new philosophy replace
consumer orientation by social orientation to marketing should be linked with the society as a
whole. This means the society should get benefit in the form of social wellbeing or social
welfare. Thus marketing organizations, while farming marketing policies, should give equal
weight age to three parties viz,
 Consumers
 Company
 Society
The essence of this concept is “social orientation” to marketing

6. Relationship marketing concept: the beginning of 1990`s witnessed the rise of a new concept
of marketing called relationship marketing concept. A business desires to show the customers
that it has the ability to serve the customers needs in a superior way.

Elements of Marketing Concept:

Modern marketing started with the industrialization of countries notably Industrial Revolution in
18th century. With mass production, improved transportation, & efficient technology, products
can be made in greater volume & sold at lower prices. The 5 elements of marketing concepts are
as follows:
1. Consumer orientation : it means examining consumer needs & working out a plan to satisfy
them
2. Market – driven approach: it relates to being aware of the structure of the market particularly
the attributes &strategies of competing firms.
3. Goal orientation: marketing is used to achieve both short &long term goals. Such goals can be
profit, increased turnover, improved company image, social marketing, & so on.
4. Integrated marketing focus: All the activities relating to goods &services are coordinated.
Such activities. would include finance, r&d production inventory control, human resource &
so on
5. Value-based philosophy: it intends to offer more than what the consumer pays. Goods
&services are of superior quality compared to what the competitors are providing.

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 Chapter 3
New Trends in Marketing

Definition of E-marketing:
E-marketing is defined as “the art of crafting and delivering a message in the electronic form or
over internet that will influence a recipient’s behaviour.”

Features of E-marketing:
E-marketing is a wonderful mirror reflection of the real world. It is rightly called virtual
world. E-marketing provides opportunity to open a new branch in this virtual world at a
minimum cost, which can be accessed by anyone, anywhere and anytime. This is the website-the
foundation on which a business marketing on the internet requires traditional marketing practices
to be adapted and extended to succeed in cyberspace.” The main features of e-marketing are:
1. E-marketing is cost effective and economical.
2. It is not restricted by the political boundaries of the countries.
3. It obtains customer feedback immediately.
4. It operates for 24 hours a day and 365 days in a year.
5. It follows pull strategy of marketing and it permits users to define the time and place.
6. It achieves cross promotion easily on WWW by just linking one site to another.
7. It uses different services on the internet.
8. Its implementation is instant

4Ps OF E-MARKETING:
We are familiar with 4Ps of marketing mix viz., product, price, plan and promotion. E-
marketing has the following 4 PS:

1. Personal: E-marketing is customer-friendly. On every website there is flood of information.

Frankly, people are not interested and mostly do not have time to screen the information to take
what is relevant to them. If a business firm wants that its website should be noted and the
information is used, it is extremely important that it provides tailor-made communication on
which the customer acts.

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2. Pervasive: Internet is present all over at the same time. Today it is considered the fastest
means of communication. It is not only used by the business firms for economic gains but also
for passing informal messages. The current revolution sweeping the mobile phone market-
Multimedia Messaging System promises a lot. E-marketing has to assure the customers that their
privacy and security are topmost on the agenda of the marketer. They must install the feeling that
the information conveyed will improve their lifestyle.

3. Permission: E-marketing is sophisticated marketing. E-marketing does not aim at common

men. It has defined target audience. The approach is to send messages to those who have shown
willingness to get it. Most of the users may not like secrecy but they certainly value their
privacy. The willing users do not only receive communication but they are also prepared to act
on it.

4. Privacy: Easy and prompt accessibility of people through internet often tempts businessmen to
penetrate the privacy of consumers. This is an unethical practice. It is only with the prior
permission of an interested customer that businessmen can send e-mail. Under no circumstances
he can sell the names or e-mail addresses with or without consideration to anyone.

TYPES OF E-MARKETING:
1. B2B (business to business):
B2B is one of the common models used in e-marketing. It conducts its trading and other
commercial activity through the net among business units only. Hence another business becomes
its customers. In present context of e-marketing B2B represents huge opportunity in the web.
Large companies have computerized all their operations worldwide. Many B2B sites are
company and industry specific. They cater to a community costs. Two of the common B2B
portals in India are:

1. agriwatch.com: it is a B2B portal established by Indian agricultural systems. It is one of the

largest agro based B2B portal in India.
2. e2commerce.net: This portal helps Indian exporters to export their goods to North America
and Europe using e-marketing in the form of auction, sale and reverse auction.

B2B MODELS:

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B2B operations can be highly risky if e-business sites cannot guarantee quality of services in
terms of performance, security and marketplace for B2B trading.

Electronic Marketplace

Buyers Aggregations
Hubs
Auctions Sellers
Community
Contents

Following are the common models:

1. Aggregations: under this model, one company aggregates buyers to establish a virtual buying
entity or aggregates suppliers to constitute a virtual distribution e.g. a construction firm offers a
total home buying service right from search to financing under one site.
2. Hubs: Hubs is also called process integration. It is also described as neutral internet based
intermediaries which focus on specific business process. It reduces the costs of transactions
between sellers and buyers.
3. Community: In this model, alliances are used to achieve high value subscription.
4. Contact: This model facilities trading. Revenue is generated from subscriptions, membership
or advertising e.g., e-companies providing information’s about job opportunities in industry.
5. Auctions: Auctions handle complex exchanges between buyers and sellers e.g., airlines in
India have allowed auction to sell ticket on specific routes.

Tools and Techniques for B2B Enterprises:

The web as a medium provides unique opportunity to use different marketing strategies which
would not have been possible in traditional markets.
Common tools and techniques are:
1. Pricing model: Under this model, buyers are given substantial discounts and incentives.
2. Services model: software companies are offering their packages through the web.
3. Personalized model: A number of the web provide personalized services to its users right
from the time of selection, placing order, execution of order and after sale services.
4. Comparison model: E-marketing has brought about price matching and comparison shopping.

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2. B2C (Business to Consumers):
This kind of e-marketing relates to selling goods and services directly to the consumers through
internet. With rapid rise in computer use, personal computers, laptops, palm tops and internet
facilities, the entire world is covered. Now it is possible to buy from pin to a plane on internet.

B2C WEBSITES:
A large number of websites are available to consumers to buy almost anything. Shopping
through internet is most suitable when the shopper seeks lower costs or ease in buying. Internet
also makes available information about differences in product features and value.

SCOPE OF B2C:
Internet is a wonderful mirror reflection of the real world. It is rightly called “virtually world.”
Effective marketing on the internet requires traditional marketing practices to be adopted and
extended to succeed in cyber space.

1. Huge Demographic Segments: In recent years, internets demographic have changed

significantly. In US almost two thirds of households surf the internet.
2. Website for children: with rapid growth in internet, marketers now have opportunities to
target new customers.
3. Growing Number of Elderly Buyers: consumers aged 50 and more are fast becoming internet
savvy. In compression to younger consumers their needs are different.
4. Time for New Marketing Approaches: Unlike traditional buyers who are passive audience, the
exchange process via internet has become more customer initiated and customer controlled.

3. C2C Consumers 2 consumers:

This kind of e-marketing relates to individual consumers preparing their own website and
entering into online transactions with other consumers. This business has gained popularity in
with other consumers in marketing of services.

Marketing Mix in eMarketing:

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Whether its traditional or e-marketing, business is required to use an appropriate combination of
components of marketing mix. E-marketing has the same objective to serve consumers i.e. to
deliver value for money and maintain a list of loyal consumers.

1. Product: Distance is no longer a actor of obstruction. With the use of internet products get
worldwide exposure. Even the smallest company can compete with the large ones using the
web.
2. Price: Pricing methods in traditional marketing indicates declining fixed costs as volume of
sale increases. To a certain extent this pricing method holds good in e-marketing also but due
to limited life of the product constant innovation takes priority.
3. Place: Today world market is viewed as without boundary. World is treated as one unified
market. Globalization has become a reality.
4. Promotion: In case of traditional marketing, consumers can see, read and view TV
commercials. They remain passive in communication process.

Phases of e-marketing:
1. Bricks-and-mortar firms: These are traditional companies operated with success in the past but
they remained small in size.
2. Clicks only firms: These firms started working during 1990s. these companies do business
online. They have generated good revenues but with limited profits. They expanded the
operations very fast and invested heavily in the infrastructure.
3. Bricks-and-click firms: These firms have proved to be more market-friendly. They operate in
both traditional marketing and on the internet. Practically all large firms have substantial web
presence. Even government organizations and non-profit organizations have effectively used this
style of e-marketing.

Challenges of emarketing:

1. Customer Service: Web users can be very demanding. They often feel frustrated because of
poor customer service. Added to this, a company’s corporate culture may be hard to adapt to
internet.
2. Consumers resist online shopping: Because of frequent reporting of corruption and cheating
in the media, consumers are rather unwilling to shop online. There is lack of software
integration capabilities between buyers and sellers.

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3. System breakdown: This is a continuous problem faced bye e-marketers. System breakdown
occur due to lack of attention by companies to their web sites and intrusions by hackers who
steal customer data.
4. Legal Issue: in India, there are limited laws to deal with e-marketing. Legal issues develop
between firms, with buyers and government organizations. Disputes take place relating to
copyright, patents and business practices.
5. Protecting privacy: A major challenge relates to protecting individuals privacy. Personal data
of internet users are prepared. When information is requested at websites one does not know
how it will be used.
6. Slow connections: slow connections are tiresome to both users and companies that have
websites. Telephone connections are still the main mode for home users.
7. Avoiding spam: Spam are unwanted e-mail. In India also there are laws which prohibit use of
spam. Success to handle this problem is strictly limited.
8. Clutter: It is not easy for a company to be noticed and to stand out. This is because consumers
are tired of the messages. Most advertisements and messages are ignored by consumers.

FUTURE OF E-MARKETING:
1. There will be more emphasis on e-marketing rather than one-commerce. E-marketing uses
internet to improve marketing strategies and e-commerce tries to obtain sales.
2. B2B will dominate B2C.
3. Online retail sales in India will double by 2012.
4. Because of large customer following bricks-and-clicks firms will outshine all other types of e-
marketers.
5. E-marketing will sweep urban India and will make its presence felt in rural India by 2010.

Types of internet marketing services offered on the internet:

1. Web Banner and Panel Ads: these are small rectangular graphic images which usually have a
call to action e.g., “click here”. These banners are placed on the high traffic websites like
rediff.com, yahoo.com.
2. Website Sponsorship: In this case, an entire website is sponsored by an advertiser. These sites
are normally service based and get high traffic because of their utility value.
3. Inline Advertisements: Inline ads provide an opportunity for sponsors to generate rich brand
building messages. Inline ads integrate within site content ensuring that site visitors will see
them.

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4. Pop-up Windows: A pop-up window delivers the advertisement In a new window on top of
the site content.
5. Classifieds: Similar to classifieds in print media, advertisers in cyberspace can pay for their
advertisements to be listed in online classifieds.
6. Mailing list Ads: Mailing lists are emails sent out to group of subscribers at regular intervals
focusing on a particular topic. These emails usually give tips, hints or even jokes free of cost.
7. Ads on chat: Chat is an service available on net for two or more people to conserve with one
another through their keyboards.
8. Internet Movies: Indian companies might now take to making films for advertising on-line
currently, they collectively spends around Rs.30 crores annually for advertising on the
internet.

Disadvantage of internet banking:

1. Doubtful medium: internet is often seen with an eye of suspicion because it is associated with
scams, frauds, manipulation, misconduct etc. there are horrid tales how surfers have been
cheated.
2. Junk mail: Internet is full of junk mail. If users are not competent to isolate junk mail quite
likely he may suffer. Junk mail needs to be ignored.
3. Limited use: Internet has limited applicability in India. Majority of buyers are not internet
savvy
4. Limited appeal: Internet cannot be compared with any other mass media like press or TV.
Internet meets the needs of sophisticated buyers only.
5. Fear Factors: Buyers are often afraid to part with their credit card number and other details
because of the fear of being misused.

Concept Testing:
1. E-marketing: E-marketing describes company efforts to inform buyers, communicate,
promote and sell its product and services over the internet. E-marketing is the application of
information technology to achieve business objective.
2. B2B: Business conducts its trading and other commercial activity through the net among
business units only. Hence, another business becomes its customer. B2B sites cater to a
community of users and have achieved huge savings in distribution.
3. Social Networking: Social networking gets consumers to spread information about a product
or services to others in their communication. Cha rooms, blogs and discussion forums

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 distribute one customer’s evaluation of a product or a supplier to a large number of other
potential buyers and also to marketers seeking information.

Chapter 4
The Micro and Macro Environment

Meaning of Marketing Environment:

Marketing environment and marketing management are closely related and inter-dependent.
Marketing activities are to be planned and conducted within the context of changing marketing
environment. Marketing environment is more important to management today than ever before.
This is mainly because of the increase in the rate of environmental change.
Thus, marketing environment creates opportunities and challenges (threats) before
business/marketing enterprises. They have to study environment and adjust the marketing
activities accordingly. Marketing environment is the net result of various marketing forces such
as market competition, introduction of new products, entry of new companies in the marketing
field and changes in the government policies.

Definition of Marketing Environment:

According to Philip Kotler, “A company’s marketing environment consists of the actors and
forces external to the marketing management function of the firm that impinge on the marketing
management’s ability to develop and maintain successful transactions with its target customers.”

Features of Marketing Environment:

(1) Marketing environment is the situation/surrounding within which marketing firms
have to operates. The environment may be favorable or unfavorable. It may create new
opportunities or threats to marketing enterprises. However, they have to accept the
enviornment as it is and face it boldly through appropriate marketing plans nd policies.
(2) Marketing firms have practically no control on the marketing environment as it is the
result of various economic, social, political and other factors and forces. Marketing firms
have no capacity to fight with the marketing environment. They have to study the changing
marketing environment and adjust their marketing activities accordingly.

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(3) Marketing environment is the net result of various socio-economic factors. Factors
influencing environment may be macro factors (e.g., demographic, economic, technological,
political and cultural) or micro factors (e.g., competitors, suppliers marketing intermediaries
and customers of the firm). In brief, marketing environment is the net result of various
socio-economic factors and forces.
(4) Marketing environment is external in character but has its influence on the operations
and activities of marketing/business enterprises. They have to understand the environment
and operate within the same. Moreover, Market forces are uncontrollable variables.
(5) Marketing firms must be ready to face all sorts of environmental changes (favorable or
unfavorable). Such readiness is the price for their survival, growth and stability in the
business world.
(6) Marketing environment and marketing management are closely related. Study of
changing economic and marketing environment is a must for efficient marketing
management.

Meaning of Micro Environment:

Micro-environment implies the factors and forces in the immediate environment which affect the
company’s ability to serve the market. It starts with the company’s environment where in the
marketing managers are necessarily required to handle.
(i) Sales executives.
(ii) Brand managers.
(iii) Marketing researchers.
(iv) Advertising and sales promotion personnel’s and
(v) Sales representatives.

Marketing management is directed towards building relationships with customers by creating

customer value and satisfaction. It is not possible for marketing managers to achieve this goal all
alone. There are major forces working in the micro environment such as management structure,
marketing channels, competitors, stakeholders, etc.

Meaning of Macro Environment:

Macro-environment refers to those factors that are external forces in the company’s activities.
These factors are uncontrollable which indirectly affect company’s ability to operate effectively.
The company is helpless and is incapable of exercising any control over them. Macro-
environment consists of certain specific components which have their own implications on

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marketing strategy of the company. Macro-environment is the larger societal forces that affect
the micro-environment. Each company operates in a larger macro-environment of forces that
shape opportunities and pose threats to the business.

Factors Influence Micro and Macro Environment:

Forces influencing marketing environment can be divided into the following two groups
(a) Micro factors which consist of suppliers, competitors, marketing intermediaries and
customers.
(b) Macro factors which include demographic, economic, technological, political and cultural
factors. It is necessary to keep watch on all the factors and forces connected with the marketing
environment. These non-controllable factors and forces are the parameters of the market and act
as constraints on the marketing organization.
The factors influencing marketing environment are shown below:

Factors/Forces Determining Marketing Environment

(A) Internal Factors influencing Marketing Environment:
(1) Management Structure: Management structure is a basic framework within which
decisions are made for the smooth functioning of the business. Management structure represents
hierarchy of people. All executives and managers are accommodated in a meaningful
relationships who works under the guidelines and policies framed by the board of directors. With
regard to department of marketing total work is divided and assigned it the personnel’s along
with policies and plant to coordinate to achieve organizational objectives. Management structure
outlines formal aspects of working by integrating activities, delegating authority and
interconnecting roles and relationships. Whatever way management structure works it must
respond to internal environment of the business.
(2) Marketing Channels: Every company has wide choice in selecting channels of distribution
to market its products and services. It is desirable to adopt channel level rather than
concentrating on any one channel, Channel level comprises channel members who have a
specific role to play. An important issue is regular flow of feedback that will guide the company
to score over its competitors.
(3) Markets: Markets in which firms operate is determined by the area covered such as local
market, regional market, national market and global market. Pressure groups that influence

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various organizations and individuals in a given society. A large number of laws have been
enacted to regulate business and marketing.
(4) Economic Factors: Economic factors like purchasing power and willingness to spend
determine marketing environment. High level of economic growth; employment and income
suggest promising marketing opportunities and favorable marketing firms. On the other hand,
period of depression with mass unemployment suggests unfavorable marketing environment,
other economic factors such as interest rate, money supply and price level; decide the marketing
environment likely to develop in the near future.
(5) Social and Cultural Factors: Social and cultural factors have their impact on the demand
for goods and services. Due to these factors, demand develops for new products while the
demand for existing products may decline. Consumers may prefer certain modifications in the
existing products. Social environment changes along with changes in the lifestyles of people.
Market demand is affected due to changes in the lifestyles of the people. Similarly, due to
consumerism, consumers become alert and conscious of their rights. They fight collectively
when they are exploited through unfair trade practices. core cultural value is deep-rooted and
they do not change easily but secondary cultural values change easily.
(6) Technological Factors: Technological changes are taking place in all aspects of life. In the
production field, new products go down (e.g. TV in place of radio). Modifications are made in
the existing products for raising their quality and utility. Consumers prefer such products. Such
factors crate marketing environment and the marketing policies are required to be adjusted
accordingly. Technological factors are mainly influenced by government policies and industry’s
response in terms of investments in R&D. These developments influence firm’s raw materials,
packaging, operation, final products and services. Tetra packs, PET bottles and cell phones
along with revolution in plastics is the direct outcome of technological developments. Besides
making the packs more convenient and attracting, it has reduced the cost of packaging.

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 Chapter 5
Marketing research and MIS

Definition of marketing research:

“The systematic gathering, recording, recording and analyzing of data about problems relating to
the marketing of goods and services”

Features of Marketing Research:

1. Systematic and continuous process: MR is a continuous process. This is natural as new
marketing problems develop frequently in the course of marketing of goods and services.
2. Wide scope: MR is wide in scope as it deals with all aspects of marketing of goods and
services. Introduction of new products, identification of potential markets, selection of
appropriate selling techniques.
3. Emphasizes on accurate data collection and critical analysis: In MR, suitable data should be
collected objectively and accurately.
4. Offers benefits to the company and consumers: Marketing research is useful to the sponsoring
company. It raises the turnover and profits of the company. MR also raises the competitive
capacity and creates goodwill in the market.
5. Tool for managerial decisions: MR acts as a tool for identifying and analyzing marketing
problems and finding out solution to them.

Advantages of marketing research:

1. Indicates current market trends: MR keeps business unit in touch with the latest market trends
and offers guidance for facing market situation with confidence.
2. Pinpoints deficiencies in marketing policies: MR pinpoints the deficiencies as regards
products, pricing, promotion, etc. it gives proper guidance regarding different aspects of
marketing such as product development, branding and packaging, advertising and publicity.

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3. Explains customer resistance: MR is useful for finding out customer resistance to company’s
products. Remedial measures are also suggested by the researcher to deal with situation.
4. Suggests sales promotion techniques: MR enables a manufacturer to introduce appropriate
sales promotion techniques, select most convenient channel of distribution.
5. Guides marketing Executives: MR offers information and guidance to marketing executives
while framing marketing policies.
6. Facilitates selection and training of sales force: MR is useful for the selection and training of
staff in the sales organization.
7. Facilitates business expansion: MR enables a business unit to grow and expand its activities.
It creates goodwill in the market and also enables a business unit to earn profits through
consumer oriented marketing policies.

Importance of product research:

1. Product research helps to explain the features of the product.
2. It helps to simplify the product line.
3. It enables a manufacturer to develop new products wit good market demand in the existing
market.
4. Product research brings best sales returns.
5. It widens market for the product and also creates goodwill for the product and its
manufacturer.
6. It facilitates appropriate price fixation of the product.
7. Product research brings to the limelight the difference uses of the product for effective
publicity for sales promotion.

Definitions of MIS:
“A continuing and interacting structure of people, Equipment and procedures to gather, sort,
analyze, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing
decision-makers to improve their marketing planning, execution, and control.”

Characteristics of MIS:
1. Continuously operated process: Information is a skilled human accomplishment. MIS is a
consciously developed technique for the flow of information to the company. Regular inflow
of information acts as a feedback in marketing.
2. Operates with speed and accuracy: Electronically operated data processing technique can be
used to collect and process new information.

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3. Need co-operation of department and executives: Close cooperation and understanding among
functional departments, executives and specialist are essential for purposeful collection and
utilization of the market information.
4. Facilitates prompt and correct decision making: MIS provides updated information on various
aspects of marketing to executives. As a result, managers are aware of new marketing
developments taking place within and outside the company.
5. Future-oriented: MIS provides information about possible future problems and their solution
through appropriate marketing decisions. It acts as a preventive mechanism in marketing
management and offers guidance to marketing executives.

Concept Testing:
1. Marketing research: marketing research is an in-depth study of marketing problems for
solving them in a satisfactory manner. Here, required information/data on marketing problem
is collected, analyzed and conclusions are drawn for making suitable recommendations for
solving the marketing problem.
2. Product Research: It is one important branch of marketing research and deals with product, its
uses, features, pricing, branding, and packing and so on. Product research is useful for new
product development, sales promotion, product modification and for facing market
competition effectively.
3. Promotion research: It is an important component of marketing research and relates to sales
promotion activities of a marketing firm. It partly relates to sales and distribution research and
partly with advertising research as both activities are related to sales promotion directly.
4. MIS: Marketing information system is the data bank useful to marketing executives for
marketing planning and decision-making. A orderly conduct of marketing activities. A
business unit has to develop an efficient MIS as a critical resource for orderly conduct of
marketing activities

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 Chapter 6
Consumer Behaviour

 Meaning of consumer behaviour:

 Consumer is the most important person in business. His likes and dislikes, attitude, behaviour,
needs and reaction plays an important role in regard to marketing plans and policies of
companies.
 The purpose of consumer behaviour study is to understand human action and reaction in the
best possible manner.
 This is necessary in order to win the confidence of consumers in the present consumer-oriented
marketing system.
 Study of consumer behaviour is essential due to growing importance of consumer in
purchasing/marketing, consumer legislation and consumerism. This consumer behaviour is the
cornerstone of marketing strategy.
 The study of consumer behaviour is essential because success in marketing largely depends on
the ability to anticipate what the buyers will do or how they will react.
 The study of buyer behaviour is important as it is an integral part of market opportunity
analysis.

 Features of Consumer Behaviour:

 Social aspect: Consumer Behaviour involves individual aspect as well as social aspect. It is
generally a purposive, decision-making process.
 Reflects: It is reflected through satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the part of consumer after
actual purchase of product.
 Interaction: consumer behaviour is the result of interaction of consumer with the
environment forces. The buyer is influenced by the buyer’s environment.

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 External factor: consumer behaviour is the net result of consumers/buyers of consumer
good, consumer durables and industrial products. Organizational buying behaviour also
comes within the scope of consumer behaviour.
 Uncertainty: consumer behaviour is always uncertain as the thinking process in human mind
is uncertain.
 Goods and services: consumer behaviour gives answer to various questions such as why,
what and how consumers purchase good and services.
 Study: study of consumer behaviour is a must in the case of marketing of goods and services
as such study brings success to marketing efforts.
 Challenge: consumer buying behaviour is a challenge and an opportunity to a marketer.
Large-scale marketing is possible only when consumer behaviour is anticipated accurately.

 Basic consumer behaviour model:

 Consumer behaviour relates to the buying behaviour of final consumer. They include
individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption.
 Consumer research is an independent field where researchers make efforts to get answer to
question like what consumer buy, where they buy, and why they buy. The answer to this
question resides in the mind of consumers.
 Understanding consumers mind appears to be an impossible task because consumers
themselves do not know what exactly influences their purchases.

 Factor affecting consumer behaviour:

 Social factor: buyer behaviour is influenced considerably by social factor which include
family, social class, status symbols and so on. Practically all buyer behaviour is influenced by
other people i.e. member of the family, friends and member of the community. Social factor
include:
 Reference group: a person’s reference group consists of all the groups that have a direct or in
direct influence on the person’s attitude or behaviour.
 Family: family is the base of every reference group. In a buyer’s life we may distinguish
between the family of orientation and the family of procreation.
 Roles and status: every individual in his life plays a number of roles and occupies different
status. Every role carries a status reflecting the general respect given to it by the society.

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 Economic factor: economic factor such as income and purchasing power affect buyer
behaviour. A rich buyer may not be very alert about the price and may purchase a product
with high price. Buyer behaviour is affecting due to high or low purchasing power. Economic
factor include:
 Disposable income: it refers to the money at the disposal of the consumer to spend e.g., in a
small family where every member is earning the consumer will have higher disposable
personal income.
 Size of family: a small family is a happy family. It is possible to provide better quality life to
the family member. In case of a large sized family demands are too many and economic
means to satisfy them are highly restricted. The result is presence of dissatisfied needs.

 Cultural factors: cultural factors include values, beliefs, faith and traditions accepted
willingly by buyer or specific class of buyer. Cultural factors include:
 Culture: culture is the social heritage. It relates to social values, attitudes towards work,
beliefs, morals, language and so on. A marketer needs to be aware of these cultural influences
on buyer behaviour.
 Sub-cultural: every cultural consist of several sub-culture which provide more specific
identification and socialization of its members.
 Social class: human societies indicate satisfaction which sometime takes the form of social
class. Class-conscious consumer pays more to buy branded products.

 Personal factor: personal factor include age, occupation, life style, social and economic
status, personal likes and dislikes, cultural and family background, beliefs and attitudes.
Buyer behaviour is very much influenced by personal factors. Personal factor include:
 Age and life cycle: consumer’s need, preference and buying vary according to age. Family
life cycle also determines consumption. Marketers target consumers depending on life cycle
groups.
 Occupation: occupation is a prime factor influencing buying decision of consumers.
 Life style: a person’s lifestyle is the person’s pattern of living as indicated by his activities,
consumption and interests. Marketers aim their product and brands at different lifestyle
groups.
 Personality and self concept: the distinct personality of each customer influences his
behaviour. Strong correlation exists between certain personality types and products or brand
choices.

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 Psychological factor: These factor influence buyer behaviour in different ways. The
psychological factors dominate other factor as they are closer to mind of the buyer
psychological factors include:
 Motivation: inner drive to fulfill the needs is called motivation. The same factor of
motivation may not motivate a consumer throughout his life.
 Perception: perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information
inputs for creating meaningful picture.
 Learning: learning relates to changes in individual behaviour that are caused by information
and experience e.g., when a consumer buys a car and is satisfied with its performance, he will
recommend this brand to others also.
 Beliefs: beliefs are based on knowledge, opinion, faith and confidence. Brand image is the
result of beliefs which eventually influences buying behaviour.
 Attitude: an attitude is a person’s favorable or unfavorable evaluation of product/services.
Attitude influence buying behaviour of consumer.

 Impact of changing consumer behaviour on marketing:

 Branded product: More than 10,000 branded products are advertised in India with the
various media mix. In big cities consumers display clear choice for branded products. This
has resulted into multiplication of brands giving wide choice to consumers.
 Quality product: liberalization brought about influx of foreign-made products that started
selling along with Indian product. Indian companies have been forced to adopt techniques like
total quality management and quality circle to ensure that consumers get the quality that they
are looking for.
 Credit purchase: plastic money has become fashionable. Credit card companies motivate
customers to spend more than their income. Other things remaining the same, consumers find
their purchasing power has increased.
 Competition: only fittest business can survive in the market. There is conscious effort on the
part of marketers to win over consumer patronage.
 Mobility: with improved railway services, low cost airlines and higher ownership of
automobiles, there is unprecedented shift of people from one place to another. No wonder
service sector in India now is the fastest growing business.

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 Luxury goods: consumer durable goods like refrigerators, air conditioners, washing
machines, kitchen appliances, etc. have shown increased purchases. Comfort and convenience
are being utmost preference.
 Use of IMC: integrated marketing communication (IMC) deals with use of media-mix such
as personal selling, sales promotion, advertising, public relations etc. marketers are able to
cover larger geographic areas leading to higher sales turnover.
 Relationship: relationship marketing is an ongoing process. It deals with creating,
maintaining and enhancing strong long-term trusting relationship with customers, distributors,
dealers and suppliers.
 Expansion: the big business is becoming bigger and the bigger are becoming biggest.
Markets for consumer goods are slowly becoming national and to be ahead of other
professional marketing is given topmost priority.

 Meaning of sale forecasting:

 Sales forecasting is an estimate of the amount of sales for a specified future period under a
proposed marketing plan.
 Sales forecasting estimates the possible market demand and adjusts the manufacturing and
marketing activities.
 As a practice, forecasting is done for a short period. A proper sales forecasting requires
assessment of the following two sets of factor:
 Internal factor such as the product, quality, price, distribution, service and advertising.
 External factor which would include competitor’s actions, weather conditions, consumer
behaviour and government policies. Internal factors are mostly controllable whereas external
factors are uncontrollable.

 Importance of sales of sales forecasting:

 Sales forecasting is the foundation on which the various plans of the business are prepared. It
is the core of marketing management.
 It helps in balancing the growing needs of demand and supply and in avoiding sudden and
temporary pressures.
 It is the basis of allocation of sales quota for each salesman and determination of sales
compensation plan.
 It is extremely important in avoiding under-stocking and over-stocking of inventory.
 It governs the entire scheme of distribution.

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 Its helps markets to fix prices for the products. Sales forecast guides an enterprise to increase
or decrease the prices of its products.
 It enables an enterprise to make optimum use of its resources.
 It equips an enterprise to plan employment of sales personnel and monitor their performance.
 The pattern of production, control over finished product, adjustment in capacity, expansion or
contraction of production is all guided by sales forecast.
 Planning for working capital, cash flows and profit is done on the basis of sales forecast. The
manpower needs of the enterprise are also determined on the basis of sales forecast.

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 Chapter 7
Industrial buying behavior

 Meaning of industrial/organizational buying behaviour:

 Buyers of goods and services may be regular consumers who purchase goods for meeting
their regular needs.
 Industrial buyers purchase products such as machines, plants and office equipment, raw
materials, packaging materials and services such as insurance, financing, consulting and
transportation.
 Industrial buying is substantially more as machinery, equipment; spare parts, components, etc.
are required continuously for the conduct of manufacturing activities.
 The terms, organizational buyer, industrial buyers and business buyer indicate the same
meaning. Industrial/business buyer buys for any or all of the following purpose: for
production other goods and services, for reselling, and for use as consumables in the
organization itself.
 Industrial buying includes several kinds of decisions at the organizational level. Three
important buying decisions are:
 Authorization to purchase the product or service.
 Determining product specification.
 Choosing a suitable supplier for actual buying.

 Decision making process:

 Recognition: Recognizing the need for buying is the first step in the organizational buying
process where the customer/buyer recognizes a need for the product.
 The problem may be related to cost reduction, high productivity, quality improvement, etc.
industrial purchasing starts with a need for a product or service. Needs are varied and relate to
the operations of business.

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 Need recognition is not complicated and is a routine step in buying decision-making process.
It is the starting point of organizational buying process.
 Determining product specification: the industrial buyer is more specific about what he is
looking for. They lay down specifications for the product they looking for.
 Product specifications must be decided clearly so that adequate information will be collected
from suppliers and order can be placed quickly. Product specifications give convenience of
buying to organization as well as supplier/seller.
 Search for suppliers: organizational buyer lay down the technical and commercial
qualification for potential suppliers/vendors.
 The invitation may be by open tender notice for all pre-qualified suppliers or the supplier may
make an enquiry and submit proposal.
 In only a few pre-qualified suppliers. This makes selection of supplier easy and manageable.
 Analysis of proposals: after the receipt of the proposals, the next logical step is to make
scrutiny of the proposals received. Such analysis of proposals is called evaluating the
proposals.
 Selection of suppliers: once the technical evaluation is completed and the suppliers are short-
listed for final selection, the proposal is commercially evaluated.
 The supplier is selected after evaluation and negotiations. In practice, the buyer generally
selects two suppliers to ensure uninterrupted supplier.
 Evaluation: this is the last stage in organizational buying process. The buyer then gives a
feedback to the seller by either repeating his purchased or may float a subsequent enquiry
only to those supplier who have shown satisfactory performance while executing the previous
order.

 Composition of decision-making units:

 Actual user: actual user is a person who actually uses the vendor’s product. The users are the
shop floor individuals who use the purchase items in the production process.
 Influencer: influencer is a person who may or may not be a part of customer organization but
whose opinion is valued significantly by the customer. The opinions and views expressed by
them are given due weight age at higher levels.
 Buyer: the buyer is the person who makes an actual purchase on behalf of the organization.
The job of a buyer is important. He has to see that the delivery of materials is available on
time.

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 Decider: decider is a person who actually takes decision to buy. He considers economic and
technical factor while taking decision to purchase.
 Gatekeeper: gatekeeper is individual in the organization’s buying center who control the
flow of information to others. The role of gatekeeper in purchasing is rather critical.

 Factor influencing purchase decision:

 Economic environment: environmental factors constitute an important determinant of
organizational purchasing. This includes economic situation, government policy, and
competitive development in the industry, technological developments and their introduction.
An organizational buyer may update his technology if machinery is available at fair rates and
interest charges are low. An industrial purchase will be cautious and careful in his buying
decision will prove appropriate and will not bring loss to the organization.
 Organizational factors: organizational factors are internal factor affecting buying decisions.
These factors directly or indirectly influence its purchase decisions. The objective of an
organization influence the types of products its needs and the criteria by which it evaluates
suppliers.
 Inter-personal factor: Industrial buying decisions are normally collective and also as per the
procedures decided. They also have a common goal. There is interaction among the members
so a buying centres as regards purchases to be made.
 Individual factor: in final analysis, individual factor play an important role in buying
decisions. A supplier needs to have complete details of all individuals involved in the
purchase decision process. The make-up of these individual is a major factor influencing
buying decision

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 Chapter-8
Product management – I
 Meaning of a product:
 The term product is used frequently in marketing. Consumers purchase different products
which are useful and agreeable to them.
 A product can be defined as a bundle of attributes that satisfies a customer demand. Product is
a transferable asset. It is the result of process of manufacturing. Customers purchase a product
because of its attributes and benefits.
 A product has utility. In addition, it has various features such as physical attributes, brand,
design, colour, shape, style and so on.
 Product is rightly treated as the heart of marketing mix as it is the quality and utility of
product which bring success in the marketing efforts of a firm.
 Product is something more than a physical commodity. A product has its name and identity. It
is know to people due to its name, features, and uses and so on.

 Components of product:
 Core product: a core product means the basic benefit or purpose for which it is produced. It
stands at the centre of the total producer. Physical characteristics of a product remain the same
only its utility differs from one customer to another. While designing products, marketers
must first define the core of benefits the product will provide to consumer/purchasers.
 Actual product: actual product is what the target market recognizes as the tangible offer. It
has certain well-perceived characteristics such as a quality level, brand name, features, style
and packaging. Tangible benefits of a product include features, design, colour, size, weight,
quality and durability of a product.
 Augmented product: augmented means to increase. It refers to certain additional benefits or
services offered by the manufacturer. The product planner must build an argumented product
around the core and actual products by offering additional consumer services and benefits.

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 Consumer tends to see products as bundles of benefits that satisfy the needs. Companies like
titan or godrej bring continuous augmentation of their products.

 Product mix decisions are as explained below:

 Expansion: a firm may decide to expand its present product mix either by increasing the
number of product mix either by increasing the number of product lines or the depth within
the line. Expansion of product mix is desirable where consumers are used to shift from one
brand to another because they have wide variety of brands to select from.
 Contraction: contraction does not take place instantly. Products are allowed to remain in the
market until they show continuous loss. If this strategy also fails, the company may decide to
discontinue this brand of product.
 Alteration: alterations can take place in the size, colour, designs, flavor, quality and
advertising appeal. Sometime only packaging is changed without change in the quality of the
product.
 New uses: the company can work out new uses of the product with the objective to increase
its consumption and finally its demand. This helps to increase consumption and eventually
demand for the product.
 Product differentiation: Product differentiation is used to enable a company to remove itself
from price competition so that it can compete on the non price factor. This strategy is
successfully used to market standardized products such as soaps, calculators, cigarettes,
watches etc.

 Product line decisions:

 Increasing the line strength: most companies start with just one product line with two or
three products. New products are added existing product line. More product line are also
started. This leads to increase in line length. Thus product lines tend to lengthen overtime.
Such increase in the line length is possible through two methods:
 Line stretching: line stretching decision is taken by firms frequently in the field of product
management. The purpose is to enter a new price slot and a new market segment which is not
covered by the existing offers of the firm.

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 Line filling: in line filling, the firm introduces more items to its product line to plug certain
gaps in its current range of offers. the other purpose is to avoid its customers from going to
competitors for offer in particular price slots.
 Line pruning: line pruning is one more decision which can be taken in regard to product line.
Line pruning is necessary when the product line of the company have become unduly long
and complicated. Line pruning is exactly opposite to line stretching. Line pruning decision is
necessary when the product lines have become unduly long and difficult as well as costly to
manage.

 Line modernization decisions:

 Ordinarily consumers want change in the product rather than using it in exactly the same
form, size, shape, appearance and performance.
 Line modernization will fulfill consumer expectation that would extend their cooperation to
buy and try out the new product.
 Perhaps it is not always possible to introduce a new line. Most of the time new features are
added to the existing product which is appreciated by the consumers.
 Line modernization decision is a continuous process. A firm cannot afford to remain static
because then it runs the risk of getting eliminated from the market. Hindustan Unilever
Limited is known to experiment with line modernization decisions successfully.
 Line modernization decisions will use internet more commonly to cater to the global buyers
who aim at value for money.
 Large firm have no option, they have to adopt line modernization decisions on regular basis to
face competition effectively and maintain one upmanship.

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 Chapter 9
Product management II
 Meaning of product development:
 New product development means introducing a new product in the market. In other words, it
is adding a new product to the existing product line of the company.
 Companies introduce new product in order to secure the benefit of initial demand and also for
profit maximization. New product development is different from product innovation or
product modification.
 In fact, a progressive company treats new product development as a cardinal element of its
product policy and product management.
 Engineers, scientists, marketers, etc are involved in this activity. Their coordinated efforts
lead to new product development.

 Why new product development in needed?

 Growth and changes: new product development is necessary to meet the growing and
changing needs of consumers. A company has to respond to respond to the demand of
consumers by introducing new products as per the expectations of consumers.
 Environmental changes: along with consumer expectations, marketing environment changes
rapidly and this creates favorable situation for the introduction of new product by companies.
 Earning profit: the established products are popular and give reasonable profit to the
company. The profit earning capacity of such products declines in due course. The
progressive companies have to replace old products by new products for long term survival,
stability and profitability.
 Product line: new product development is needed in order to extend the product line of
company. Moreover, such marketing of new products is quick and economical.
 Expansion: new product development is needed in order to expand the business activities of
the company and in order to earn more profits.

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 Steps in new product development/process:
 Generating new product ideas: new product development, new and promising ideas are
discovered for the introduction of new product. New product ideas may also come from
customers, dealers, salesmen and research staff working in the organization.
 Idea screening: many ideas are discovered for the introduction of new product. However, all
ideas are not equally promising. Idea screening facilitates the selection of the most promising
product idea by eliminating all others.
 Concept testing: after initial screening of the product idea, the same will be put to concept
testing which is different from test marketing. This gives more clear idea of the proposed
product to the company and its executives. Concept testing is necessary and useful when the
product to be introduced is totally new to consumers.
 Business analysis: the financial and marketing aspects of the new product will be considered
in detail in this analysis. The new project may be dropped if the commercial and financial
results expected are not promising.
 Actual development of a new product: the decision to introduce new product is finalized at
the highest level in the company. The R and D department will be asked to go ahead with the
actual work of designing the new product. The new product will be ready and all
arrangements for its introduction are finaliased.
 Market test: after the development of new product, it has to be tried out in selected market
segments. Market test is, in fact, a risk control tool. It is experimental marketing at minimum
cost and risk.
 Test marketing: test marketing is necessary before large-scale production for marketing
purpose. Test marketing is actually small-scale marketing of the new product in the selected
market segments.
 Commercialization/large-scale production: in this last stage of new product development,
the company takes decision to go in for large-scale manufacturing and marketing of the

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 product. The marketing organization is also adjusted for large-scale marketing of new
product.

 Meaning of Product life cycle (PLC):

 A product introduced in the market by a firm has to move through different stages of growth
till the product goes out of the market.
 Product life cycle indicates distinct stage through which a product passes in its sales history
since its introduction in the market.
 Introduction, growth, maturity, decline and withdrawal are five stages in the product life
cycle. The product life cycle is presented as a sales curve taken by a product.
 Product life cycle is actually product market life cycle as it is based on the marketing
performance of a product.
 Understanding the product life cycle concept and managing it effectively can help in
prolonging the profitable phases of the life span of a product. Product life cycle is the heart of
market strategy.

 Stages in product life cycle:

 Introduction stage: introductory stage is the first stage in the life cycle of a product. It is
preceded by “product planning and development.” Profit during this stage may not be
available due to low sales volume supplemented by heavy production and distribution costs.
This is how, the product is introduced and efforts are being made to raise its popularity. The
introduction stage is called “marketing pioneering stage.”
 Growth: growth is the second stage in the product life cycle. In this stage, the product is
accepted by consumer and traders. The sales/turnover increases with speed. The profit from
the sale also increases. During the growth stage, the volume of sales increases with speed.
 Maturity: maturity is the third stage in the product life cycle when sales turnover reaches to
the highest level. The demand tends to a saturation stage during the maturity stage. In short,
relatively low prices, increased marketing costs, keener competition and lesser profit are the
broad features of maturity stage.

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 Decline: in the decline stage, the maturity stage comes to an end and the product enters the
market decline stage. Sales drop severely in due course and the product fail to get support
from the market. Some firms keep new product ready in a queue to fill up the vacuum created
by the decline of existing product.
 Withdrawal: in the withdrawal stage of product life cycle, the firm comes to the conclusion
that production and marketing of the product are no more profitable. Withdrawal of the
product in a phased manner or replacement of the old product by a new one are better
alternatives than having total failure of the product in the market in the course of time.

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 Chapter 10
Brand Management
 Meaning of product branding:
 Branding is commonly used trade practice by manufacturers of consumer and industrial good.
 Branding means giving an attractive name or symbol to the product by which it will be
identified in the market and remembered by traders and consumers.
 A brand means a name, term, symbol, mark, design or picture put on the product itself. It is an
identification mark or stamp. It gives independent status and identity to a product.
 In the absence of branding product cannot be distinguished, their producers cannot be
remembered and quality cannot be guaranteed.

 Advantages of branding to consumers:

 Confidence: consumers purchase branded goods with confidence. This because of standard
quality, fixed price and regular supply. Consumers purchase them with confidence.
 Marketing: shopping is easy and quick in the case of branded goods. Such goods are known
to consumers well and easy identification is also possible. This avoids unnecessary discussion
about quality, price, etc.
 Regular supply: branded goods are manufactured on a large scale and are supplied regularly
to dealers and consumers.
 Fixed prices: branded goods are generally sold at prices fixed by the producer himself. Such
prices are known to consumers through advertising.
 Convenience: branding acts as a guide to consumers in their shopping. They develop faith
and loyalty in the case of branded goods due to standard quality, fixed price and easy
availability.
 Easy handling: branded goods are invariably supplied in convenient packages. Consumers
can carry them easily.

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 Meaning of brand equity:
 The term brand equity is now used extensively alone with the terms, brand image and brand
personality. Brand equity acts as a powerful strategic marketing tool.
 Physical assets depreciate over a period of time and become obsolete while brand equity as an
asset appreciates continuously over a period of time.
 A powerful brand has high brand equity in terms of brand loyalty, brand name awareness and
so on.
 The company gets more benefits from the brand name as compared to its physical assets and
is described as brand equity.
 Colgate toothpaste is another example of brand equity . the paste is popular in India for many
years and gets support from large majority of consumers due to its “ring of confidence”.

 Meaning of Brand decisions:

 The need and benefits of branding are universally accepted. Thousands of brand names are
throughout the world for giving independent identity to products and also for large scale
marketing.
 Various decisions are required to be taken as regards branding of firm’s products. Branding in
not an end in itself.
 It has developed consumer preference to his product and also develops brand loyalty.
 Unpopular/unsuitable brands will have to be withdrawn and adjusted among the existing
popular brands of the company.
 Even guidance from outside consultants will be necessary for important brand decisions.
Faulty decisions on branding may prove harmful to the firm in terms of product.

 Meaning of Brand extensions:

 A successful and popular brand has market value and acts like a powerhouse light which has a
strong popularity and reputation in the market.

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 Companies having popular brand desire to introduce new products in the same product line
with that popular brand. This leads to brand extension.
 Brand extension policy is used by many manufacturers with popular brands under their
control. The original brand is kept alive through extensions.
 Brand extension is an effective tool in brand management. It simply means; extending a brand
name to more products.

 The benefits if brand extension:

 Brand extension helps the new product to acquire instant brand recognition in the market.
 There is cost saving in brand extension as brand extension costs less than launching a new
brand in the market.
 Brand extension facilitates the use of strength of existing brand name to new additions within
the product line. New products get easy and quick publicity and consumer support.
 The benefit of brand extension is more significant when a brand lends for premium pricing.
 Brand extensions help to build the original brand into a “super brand” in the minds of
consumers. This leads to more sales of products in the brand product line with wide scope for
earning profits.
 It is a tremendously less expensive or economical way of introducing new products.

 Brand Portfolios:
 As the manufacturing firm grows, it adds new products in its product lines and new brands are
also introduced.
 The firm decides to cut short the product line and prune its brand portfolio by eliminating
some of the brands. The basic purpose is to have a manageable brand portfolio.
 Worldwide, P and G are well known as the votary of brand proliferation. In every product
line, P and G have been launching a number of individual brands.
 The new strategy is to focus on a few successful global brands like Pantene and head
$shoulders in hair care. Local/regional brand are being taken up for strict evaluation.

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 Chapter 16
Sales Promotional and Personal

Meaning of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion suggests promotional activities other than personal salesmanship,

advertising and publicity which stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness
through displays, exhibitions, demonstrations, free samples, discounts, premiums etc. Sales
promotion acts as a bridge connecting link in between advertising and personal salesmanship.

Definition
(1) According to American marketing association, sales promotion includes all “those
marketing activities other than personal selling advertising and publicity that stimulate
consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness.
(2) According to William Stanton “sales promotion is an exercise in information, persuasion
and influence.”

Features
1) Sales promotion acts as a tool in marketing to lubricate the marketing efforts.
2) It stimulates consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness.
3) It supports advertising and personal selling and acts as connecting link between the two.
4) It aims at stimulating consumer purchasing at the point of sale.
5) It provides more sales and profits to producers and dealers.

Objectives
(1) To raise the volume of sales of the product.
(2) To raise the buying response of regular and potential consumers.

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(3) To support and supplement advertising and personal selling efforts.
(4) To face market competition effectively by offering special incentives to customers,
salesman.
(5) To stimulate end user demand
(6) To launch new product in the market
(7) To change the marketing strategies and policies.

Importance: - Sales promotion acts as an effective tool to a marketer to solve several short term
hurdles in marketing. Its measures are useful for achieving sales targets, for facing market
competition and for attracting consumers towards the products. It is necessary due to the
availability of wide variety of identical products in the market. They generate consumer interest,
generate inquiries from the target customers group, and provide customers to retail outlets.

Major Tools
(1) Advertising and publicity
(2) Personal selling
(3) Sales promotion at consumer level at dealer level
(4) Public relations techniques used for cordial relations with dealers and consumers
(5) Display of goods for publicity and large scale sales
(6) Miscellaneous tools: demonstrations, free samples, price-offs

Details of Sales Promotion At Consumer Level:

Consumer promotion measures are used extensively in the present competitive marketing of
consumer items. Such measures are as explained below:
(1) Over the counter premium: Here, the manufacturing company provides gifts articles to
consumers through the dealers. Through advertisement, the consumers are requested to demand
the gift article from the dealer along with their purchases. Many companies offer free samples or
small articles with their products to consumers.
(2) Banded premium: to eliminate the shortcomings of the first method banded premium is
introduced by some manufacturers. The article offered as premium is banded with the regular
product package. For example hamam soap cake is offered free with magic washing powder.
(3) In pack premium: To ensure that the premium or gift goes directly to the ultimate customer,
the impact premium method is introduced. In this method, premium i.e., gift article is kept inside

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the package of the product and the message regarding the same is printed on the e package. The
purpose is to supply the gifts directly to consumers.
(4) Container premium: In this premium the product itself is kept in a container which is a sort
of gift to consumers. The containers are not only attractive but also durable and reusable .For ex-
manufactures dealing in washing powders have started offering their powders in attractive plastic
buckets or plastic jars.
(5) Price deals: In the price deal, a special cash discount is allowed for a definite period. Such
cash discount is allowed on many consumer products like soap, tea packets, glass ware, stainless
steel utensils and cosmetics. Such discount may be of 2rs or even more. It is usually offered
when new article is bought in the market for the first time.

(B) Public Relations

Meaning: - According to Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong public relations means, “building
good relations with the company’s various publics by obtaining favourable publicity building up
a good “corporate image”

Functions
(1)Press relations: creating and placing newsworthy information in the news media
(2) Product publicity: to give publicity to new ad existing products
(3) Public affairs: building and maintaining cordial national and local community relations.
(4) Customer relations: maintaining cordial relations with customers, dealers, trade associations

Tools
(1) News, speeches and special events relating to company: the news may be related to
products introduced by the company, achievements of the company, etc.
(2) Support to charitable activities and publicity to them.
(3) Participating in community service projects
(4) Funding of arts, cultural and music activities.
(5) Producing an employee news letter.

(C) PUBLICITY

Meaning: The main purpose of publicity is to give wide exposure to a product or a news item.
Mostly the source of publicity may not be identified while the name of the advertiser is always

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prominently displayed. Advertising publicity is not paid for and the sponsor is not identified.
Publicity is issued by a third party such as newspaper or broadcast station.
Definition: Publicity is “any form of non paid commercially significant news or editorial
comment about ideas, products or institutions.”
-American Marketing Associations

FORMS
(1) Planned publicity: Planned publicity becomes effective since a seller planning to publicise
attempts to create certain news and arrange for publicity.
(2) Better human relations: the seller must develop good personal relations with the media
editors. He should get well with them and should learn to respect them
(3) News value: News stories are the most common form of publicity e.g. entry in guiness
book of world records, revelation of a scandal or fraud etc
(4) Wide variety: publicity also includes announcements feature, stories, committee reports,
photographs etc.

(D)Personal Selling
Meaning: - In personal selling a salesman personally presents the product to his customer
supplies all relevant information clears the doubt of customer at the counter and motivates him to
purchase the product for his benefit. A salesman has to be a problem solving salesman for
effective personal selling.

Definition
According to William j. Stanton, “personal selling consists in individual personal
communication, in contrast to mass relatively impersonal communication of advertising, sales
promotion.

Management of sales personal involves following steps:

(1) To establish objectives of sales personnel: objectives that are set in quantitative terms are
easy to measure and compare such as in units or rupees. The general practice is to set the
objectives for the entire sales personnel and then they are divided for individual salesman.

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(2) To determine structure for sales organization: sales organization must be capable of
implementing the personnel selling programme of the firm and also execute sales policies
and strategies.
(3) To determine size of sales personnel: the size of sales personnel should be fixed at
optimum level. Under-employment of sales personnel will hamper performance of the
business
(4) Recruitment and selection of sales personnel: in recruitment applications are collected
from interested candidates and in selection the best available are selected for appointment.
Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees
(5) Training of sales personnel: salesmanship is an art and training is a must to all types of
sales personnel. Training is continues process. It is important to provide sales knowledge to
these personnel in advance
(6) Motivation of sales force: Sales personnel can be motivated through monetary and non
monetary incentives it have lasting impact. Motivation gives stimulation effect.
(7) Performance evaluation of sales personnel: To keep sales men alert it is necessary to
undertake periodic evaluation about their performance. It will indicate whether sales quota is
attained or not.

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 Chapter 17
Integrated Marketing Communication

Meaning: Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is gaining considerable recognition due

to challenges faced by advertising in designing and implementing their advertising
communication messages. IMC provides a new way to manage the different communication
options which insists on integrating them on a common program.

IMC tools
(1) Advertising
(2) Publicity
(3) Public Relations
(4) Sales Promotion
(5) Personal Selling
(6) Packaging
(7) Trade Fairs And Exhibitions
(8) Internet

Definition: IMC is “a concept of marketing, communication, planning that recognizes the added
value of comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic role of a variety of communication
disciplines.
-American Association of Advertising Agencies

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Importance: over the years the need for communication in an organization has increased by
leaps and bound. Communication in the pre liberalization era was more of a luxury and most of
the companies used to thin k that communication was limited only to the immediate customer
rather than end user. Today companies have many alternatives to opt from to reach their target
audience. The technical evolution mainly the internet has changed the way of communication.

Objectives:
(1) Category used: consumers are motivated by what applies to them currently. While
introducing new product it is necessary to establish communication objective.
(2) Brand awareness: Brand recognition is important inside the store and brand recall is
important outside the store
(3) Brand attitude: - Brands may have negative orientation or positive orientation. Negative
orientation refers to problem removal and problem avoidance on the other hand positive
orientation refers to social approval.
(4) Brand purchase intention: sales promotion affords such as by one get one free and
discount coupons encourage consumers to make a mental commitments to buy certain
products. The formation of purchase intention may not take place when a consumer does not
have expressed category need or he may not be in the market then he is exposed to an ad.

Designing Communication:
(1) Advertising:- The advertiser must look into the following:
 Becoming familiar with the markets
 Obtaining first hand information through travel
 Selecting those ad agencies which have wide network
 Planning campaign comfortably in advance

(2) Sales promotion:- The advertiser should take the following steps while organizing sales
promotion
 Define the objective of sales promotion
 Determine appropriate budget

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 Formulate an action plan
 Evaluate sales promotion programme

(3) Public relations: The advertiser has to take following steps

 Establish objectives for public relations
 Engage a professional firm or prepare the message on his own
 Choose the tools of PR to release the message
 Ensure actual insertion in the media
 Get regular feed back of public reactions

(4) Personal selling:- It must result into

 Locating prospective buyers
 Converting theses buyers into customers
 Retaining them as loyal customers

(5)Publicity: The advertiser must look into

 Any remarkable events or stories
 Launching a new brand must get view publicity
 Popular brands must continue to get favourable publicity
 Consumers who dislike overdose of advertising take publicity seriously
 Detailed presentation is possible because publicity is not affected by constraints of time and
space

(6)Packaging: - The advertiser must look into

 Use attractively designed packing
 Ensure necessary details are provided on the packages
 Provide carry home packages
 Stress quality of the product on the packages

(7)Direct marketing:- It takes place when a customer is first exposed to a product or service by
a non personal medium such as direct mail, TV , radio etc. its major tools are
 Direct mail
 Catalogue

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 Telemarketing
 Direct response advertising

(8)Trade fairs and exhibitions: Trade fairs mean a large fair whereas exhibitions mean also
solo presentations. Trade fairs and exhibitions must facilitate:
 Demonstration of the product
 Regular participation
 Establishing contact with diversified buyers
 Introducing the new product

(9) Internet: it enables buyers and sellers to come in contact with one another. Internet is linked
system of international computer networks. The World Wide Web is the information interface
that allows people to access the internet through an easy to use graphical format.

Selection of Communication Channels

It is not easy decision to select a communication channel because they get fragmented and suffer
from clutter e.g. medical representatives are required to call on doctors to convince them to
prescribe their medicines. Mostly these representatives have to wait for longer time to get the
interview which lasts for about two or three minutes. This makes the channel of communication
very costly.

(1) Personal communication channels: it includes face to face communication, telephonic

talks and email. SMS and independent sites are also to obtain consumer reviews. This channel I
highly effective because of individual presentations and feedback. Advocate channels refer to the
efforts made by sales personnel’s contacting buyers in the target market. Expert channels refer to
experts and specialists who make statement to target audiences. Social channels refer to friends,
family members, and neighbor’s associates who talk to target audience.

(2) Non personal communication channels: It includes media, sales promotion, public
relations and events and experiences.

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 Media: it is a comprehensive term and it includes newspapers, magazines, posters, radio,
cable and web page. One of the most successful ad campaigns over the years is that of amul
butter. It uses media- mix but mainly concentrates on hoardings.
 Sales promotion: it utilizes coupons, samples, premiums; contests, discounts, and buy one
get one free.
 Public relations: every company desires to maintain cordial public relations. They need
public support and cooperation for sales promotion and expansion of business activities.
 Events and experiences: it includes cause events, sports, and art exhibitions. HUL
manufacturer of Close up organizes dental care week for school going children all over the
city.

Chapter 18
Marketing of Services

Meaning: Service sector consists of (a) service industries and (b) self employed professionals
.In service sector we have government providing public service institutions such as libraries,
water supply, gas supply, electricity, urban passenger transport, educational institutions,
hospitals etc. when a customer buys a service, he buys the time, knowledge and skill from the
supplier of service. A customer purchases advantages of the services, he wants value for money.
If he is satisfied he will come back to the supplier of service again and again. He may also
provide mouth to mouth publicity but if this satisfies he will warn others to keep away from such
service.

Definition: The American marketing Association defines service as” activities, benefits or
satisfaction which is offered for sale or is provided in connection with the sale of goods.”

Characteristics:
(1) Perish ability: services are perishable. They can’t be stored like industrial products. Most
services face fluctuating demand. When services not fully used it represents total loss.

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(2) Intangibility: To a very large extent service are abstract and intangible .when a customer
buys perfume he can see, feel, touch, smell and check its fragrance. Teaching is an
intangible service; it is not possible to check the quality of teaching.
(3) Inseparability: it is totally in contrast with goods produced in a factory, stocked for few
weeks or months and sold when order is received. Because of inseparability in providing
service direct sale is the only channel of distribution.
(4) Heterogeneity: it means non standardized services. The services are highly variable
depending upon who is providing it e.g. the services provided by a lawyer on the very first
visit of the client was of much better quality as compared to the service that the client now
gets.
(5) Change in demands: demand for the services fluctuates widely. Demand may be seasoned
or at may change by hours days weeks
(6) Lack of ownership: service has no ownership a costumer can pay for the service but he
cannot own it
(7) Pricing of services: the decision to determine price of service is of paramount importance
the general principle better the service, higher the price and vice-versa. pricing services
becomes doubly difficult becomes services are mostly non standardized

Strategies for Service Firms:

(1) Customer relationship: high- spending customers are pampered by hotels, airlines and
banks. Big spenders get special discounts, promotional offers, gift vouchers and other
special services. Common customers pay higher fees with routine service where much is left
to be desired. In the present scenario of mixed bag of services customers have become more
prices minded and less loyal. The objective of very concern should be to maximize both
customer satisfaction and company profitability.
(2) Role of internet: the customers expect time bound response from the companies whenever
there is online inquires... They are being more sophisticate about buying products support
services. They want separate prices for each service elements of their choice.
(3) Holistic marketing for services: it refers to treating the entire system rather than the
symptom of a disease. Service is affected by numerous elements and adopting holistic
marketing approach I always desirable. Marketing in April 1995 has identified behavior that
causes customers to switch services. These behaviors are put into eight categories as shown
below:
(1) Pricing (2) inconvenience (3) core service failure (4) service encounters failure (5)
response to service failure. (6) Competition (7) Ethical problems

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Managing Service Quality
1) Expectation of customers: customers evaluate perceived service against expected service.
The customers are disappointed when the perceived service falls below the expected service.
The e customers go back to the service provider when the perceived service needs this
expectation... The customers delight through toll free service, gift, marketing, extra offer etc.

2) Determinedness of service quality: the determinedness service quality includes:

1) Reliability: to provide promised service reliably
2) Responsiveness: to make available uninterrupted assistance to customers
3) Assurance: to employ well in form employees who can win over trust and confidence.
4) Empathy : To consider every problem from the point of view of customers
5) Tangibles: To make available for communication network, trainees personals and equipment.

Service Quality Management

The following practices are unavoidable to ensure better service quality management:
1) Strategic concept: service providers prosper on the patronage of customers. They have
clearly identified there needs and make available appropriate service. The customers belonging
to higher age group want services across the counter whereas the young customers who are
computer literate want services online.
2) Top management commitment: top management commitment must accomplish specific
roles. Top management must not restrict its prosperity in terms of profits but must also give
equal importance to service performance to keep the customers royal to the business.
3) Self service: the customers value convenience in service. Because of use of advance
technology customers have preference for self service e.g. ATMs of banks, AVM at railway
stations, online purchase of tickets and hotel booking.
4) High standards: it is maintained through reliability, resilience and innovativeness. Reliability
refers to executions of orders on time to satisfaction of customers. Resilience refers to better
style of meeting emergencies and answering enquires. Innovativeness refers to newer techniques
of making available services by proper use of information system.
5) Monitoring customer’s reaction: the customer’s reaction is never stable. There reactions are
subjected to variations. Using customer service and screening complaints indicate customer’s
reactions.

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6) Solving customer complaints: a satisfied customer speech good about service provider to
fewer people but this satisfied customer’s speech to many more people. The customers whose
complaints are satisfactorily solved become more company loyal than those who were never
dissatisfied.
7) Satisfying customers and employees: the service companies must attract the best talents.
They need to make a carrier ratchet than just a job. Training to employees and reward for good
performance keep employees motivated.

Chapter 19
Ethics in Marketing

Meaning: Business Ethics deals with morality in the business. It is the system of moral
principles applied to business activities. There should be ethics behind all business activities.
This means the business activities should be conducted according to certain self-recognized
moral standards. Business ethics refers to a code of conduct which businessmen are expected to
follow while dealing with others. Business ethics suggests that the dealing with all social groups
should be homiest and fair. Every professional activity has its own ethical standards and
individuals conducting that activity are expected to follow such ethical standards honestly.
Marketing ethics suggests certain golden rules which are fair to all and should be followed by
businessmen. It suggests the manner in which business should be conducted and the manner in
which it should not be conducted.

Definition: According to wheeler, “business ethics is an art or science of maintaining

harmonious relationship with society, its various groups and institutions as well as reorganizing
the moral responsibility for the rightness or wrongness of business conduct.”

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Features:
(1) Refers to code of conduct: Marketing ethics is the code of conduct which marketers should
follow while conducting their activities.
(2) Provides protection to social groups: Marketing ethics gives protection to different social
groups such an employees and consumers.
(3) Provides basic framework for business: Marketing ethics provides the framework within
which marketing activity I sot conduct it.
(4) Needs willing acceptance: Marketing ethics cannot be imposed by law or by force. It must
be accepted as self- discipline by traders etc
(5) Education and guidance required: Marketers should be given guidance in order to motivate
them to follow ethical practices in marketing.
(6) Not against fair profit making: Marketing ethics is not against fair profit making in
marketing. It is against profiteering by cheating and exploitation consumers and employees.

Advertising Standards Council of India

ASCI play an important role in monitoring self-regulation in the failed of advertising through its
code of the advertising standards. The ASCI has adopted a code for self-regulation in advertising
in 1985.it is for the guidance of advertisements for the benefit of all parties particularly the
consumers.

Code of the advertising standards counsel of India:

(1) To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising for the promotion of products.
(2) To ensure that the advertisements observe fairness in competitions.
(3) To ensure the truthfulness and honesty
(4) To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public
decency.

Features:
(1) Applicability: the code applies not just to advertisement in newspaper and magazines but
also to advertisements wherever they appear.
(2) Main purpose: the code has been drawn up to ensure the truthfulness and honesty of
representations and claims made by advertisements.
(3) Responsibility of the advertiser: As the advertiser originates the advertising brief and
sanctions its placement.

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(4) Responsibility of ad agencies: ad agency has full responsibility to ensure the observance of
this code in as much as the facts are known to them.
(5) Code and Indian ads abroad: this code does not apply to advertisements in media
published abroad.
(6) The coded and the consumers: no ad shall be permitted to contain any claim so
exaggerated as to mislead the consumers.
(7) The code and the children: ads addressed to children shall not contain anything. Which
might result in their physical, mental or moral harm or which exploits their vulnerability?
(8) Ads vis-à-vis other Ads: Ads shall not be so similar to other ads imp goral layout, copy,
slogans or sound which is likely to mislead or confuse consumers.
(9) The code and the law: the codes rule sand the machinery through which they are enforced
is designed to complement but not to compete with legal controls.
(10) Responsibility of media owner: Any media owner must view each advertisement offered
for publication to them from the point of view of the code.

Unfair Practices in Marketing:

(a) Ethical marketing practices: marketing practices may be ethical or unethical. Ethical
practices are different from unethical practices and are fair to consumers and the society at
large. Ethical means as per certain well-recognized social rules and cardinal values. Business
practices which are legally morally and socially fair and consumer friendly are ethical
practices. Consumers always support ethical business practices. In fact they demand that
marketing activities should be ethical.

(b) Unethical marketing practices: Marketing practice which are not fair are treated as unfair
marketing practices. Unethical practices are used for exploiting cheating consumers and
other social group. They are used for profit maximization at the cost of social good.
Unethical marketing practices used in India are as noted below:
 Supplying inferior quality goods to consumers.
 Giving the false, confusing and misleading advertisements of the products
 Adulteration and short weights and measures.
 Misbranding hoarding and black marketing.
 Supplying inadequate information on the packages
 Use of unfair sales promotion techniques

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 Providing inefficient services to bank depositors
 Exploitation of child labor and women workers.
 Misuse of funds and mismanagements of the company
 Over invoking and stealing trade secrets.

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