Concept of Marketing

WHAT IS MARKETING?
The term Market refers to a place where goods are bought and sold by the buyers and sellers. In wider sense, market includes the whole of any region in which buyers and sellers are brought into contact with one another and by means of which the price of goods tend to be equalized easily and quickly.

CONCEPT OF MARKETING
Marketing is a human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes. Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers. The process of marketing starts with the identification of needs and wants through market survey and converting them into products or services and distributing the same to ultimate consumers through buyer oriented channel with suitable sales promotion technique at logical price to make a reasonable profit. Marketing is the process of discovering and translating consumer wants into product and service specifications and then in turn helping to make it possible for more and more consumers to enjoy more and more of these products and services. Harry L. Harsen Marketing is the business function that identifies customers needs and wants, determines which target markets the organization can serve best, and designs appropriate products, services, and programmes to serve these markets (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). This definition has also covered all the activities of marketing starting from identification of needs and wants of consumers, converting than into product and service and making things available to consumers in a manner that they can enjoy more and more. Therefore, Marketing is the process of bringing together the needs and wants of the consumer with the products and services that match them.

FEATURES OF MARKETING
The marketing management refers to planning, organizing, directing and controlling of activities which facilitates the exchange of goods and services between the producers to the end users. The main features of modern marketing are as follows: Marketing is a Science as well Art Marketing has evolved from the economics but it heavily depends upon the demographic features of the target market, political environment, philosophy, mathematics and statistics Exchange is the Essence of Marketing Marketing revolves around commercial exchange such as technology, exchange of ideas and information. Marketing is Goal Oriented The ultimate goal of marketing is to generate profits through the satisfaction of the customers. Marketing is a Continuous Process Marketing involves continuous planning, implementation and control of various activities. Marketing Starts with Consumer and Ends with Consumer The ultimate objective of marketing is to find out what the consumer wants and how to fulfill consumer needs. This leads to production of the goods and services as per the needs of the consumers.

Selling v/s Marketing

Many people confuse selling for marketing. They consider these two terms as one and the same. Marketing refers to a large set of activities of which selling is just one part.

Comparison Chart
Basis Marketing Sales

Approach:

Customer orientation Listens to and eventual accommodation of the target market and determine future needs

Customer orientation Makes customer demand match the products the company currently offers

Process:

One to many

Usually one to one

Focus:

Generate leads fulfill customer's wants and needs thru products and/or services the company can offer

Generate purchases/orders fulfill sales volume objectives

Horizon:

Longer term

Short term

Scope:

Identifying customer needs (research), creating products to meet those needs, promotions to advertise said products.

Once a product has been created for a customer need, persuade the customer to purchase the product to fulfill her needs

Strategy:

pull

push

Concept:

Marketing is a wider concept

Sales is a narrower concept

Priority:

Marketing shows how to reach to the Customers

Sales is the ultimate result of marketing

MARKETING CONCEPTS

Orientation

Profit Driver

Time Frame

Description

Production Production methods

Until 1950s

This concept is the oldest of the concepts in business. It holds that consumers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs, and mass distribution. They assume that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low prices

Quality Until Product of the 1960s product

This orientation holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on making superior products and improving them over time. A firm would also assume that as long as its product was of a high standard, people would buy and consume the product.

1950s Selling Selling methods 1960s And

A firm using a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling/promotion of a particular product, and not determining new consumer desires. Consequently, this entails simply selling an already existing product, and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible. Most firms practice the selling concept when they have overcapacity. Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants.

Marketing

It holds that the key to achieving its organizational goals (goals of the selling company) consists of the company being more & effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and to the communicating customer value to its selected target customers. wants The marketing concept rests on four pillars: target market, present day customer needs, integrated marketing and profitability. of customers 1970s Everything This concept holds that the organizations task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than 21st century competitors (this is the original Marketing Concept). Additionally, it holds that this all must be done in a way that preserves or enhances the consumers and the societys well-being.

Needs

Societal Marketing

Matters In marketing

MARKETING MIX
Product Goods manufactured by organizations for the end-users are called products. A product may be tangible or intangible i.e. goods or services. Price The money which a buyer pays for a product is called as price of the product. Retail stores which stock unique products (not available at any other store) quote a higher price from the buyers. Place Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Buyers can purchase products either from physical markets or from virtual markets. In a physical market, buyers and sellers can physically meet and interact with each other whereas in a virtual market buyers and sellers meet through internet. Promotion Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the end - users aware of their brand. Promotion includes various techniques employed to promote and make a brand popular amongst the masses.

 People They are the target consumers of the company. They are those the ones who will buy the product Process The process of giving a service and the behavior of those who deliver, are crucial to customer satisfaction. Issues such as waiting time, the information given to customers and the helpfulness of staff are all vital to keep customers happy. Physical Evidence Physical environment refers to the material part of the service. It includes Packaging, Internet/web pages, Brochures, Business cards.

Concept of sales
WHAT IS SELLING? Selling is a process by which one person guides other people's behavior along a path in a desired direction, motivating in the purchase of a product or service. Selling is the act of influencing a customer to buy (actually exchange something of value for) a product or service. TYPES OF SELLING Maintenance or service selling It aims to obtain sales from existing customers whose habits and patterns of thought are already conducive to such sales. Developmental selling aims to convert prospects into customers It seeks to create customers out of people who do not currently view the company, salespersons of the company favorably and who likely are resistant to changing present sources of supply. PROCESS OF SELLING 1. Prospecting Finds Customers Prospecting is the process of identifying potential buyers who have a need of the product or service offered by the company, and the ability to pay for it and authority to buy it.

2. Preapproach Is Precall Planning Once the prospect has been identified and qualified, the next step in the selling process is the preapproach. During the preapproach, the salesperson investigates the prospect in greater depth and plans the sales call. 3. Making A Great Presentation After the prospects interest has been grasped, the sales presentation is delivered. This involves a "persuasive vocal and visual explanation of a business proposition". It should be done in a relaxed atmosphere to encourage the prospect to share information in order to establish requirements. Some small talk may be necessary to reduce tension but the purpose always remains business. 4. The Trial Close The trial close involves checking the prospect's attitude toward the sales presentation. It may occur anytime during the selling process. "Some prospects are ready to buy early

in the presentation, whereas others take longer. If the prospect responds favorably, the salesperson can move on to the close. However, if a negative response is received, the close can be postponed.

5. Objections Are Salespeople's Friends An objection is opposition or resistance to information or a request. It shows that the prospect is interested in the product and that if the objections can be answered to the satisfaction of the prospect, the sale will be made. If, on the other hand, the prospect simply sits quietly, making noncommittal sounds, and at the end of the presentation simply says, "That's nice. I'm not interested. Goodbye," the salesperson has no grounds for continuing, and the sale is lost.

6. The Close This is the last part of the presentation. Many salespeople fear the closing of a sale. Closing a sale is only the confirmation of an understanding. Fear will disappear if the salesperson truly believes that the prospect will enjoy benefits after the purchase of the product. 7. Follow-Up And Service Quality Are Critical The sale does not complete the selling process. Follow-up activities are very important and are useful for the establishment of long-term business relationships. It is important to check if the products have been received in good condition, to establish the customer is satisfied etc.

SALES PROMOTION
Sales promotion describes promotional methods using special short-term techniques to persuade members of a target market to respond or undertake certain activity. Such as lakhpati bano, win a tour to Singapore, 30% extra in a pack of one kg, scratch the card and win a prize winter sale, summer sale, trade fairs, discount upto 50% and many other schemes to attract customers to buy certain products. TECHNIQUES OF SALES PROMOTION Free Sample Company provide sample of its product by mail, by retail store or attached in magazines.e.g free samples of medicine are distributed among physicians, in the case of textbooks, specimen copies are distributed among teachers. Coupons Company provides free coupons inside the pack of the product or inserted in magazines and newspaper ads.eg. Mr. White provides coupons inside in the pack, returned empty pack and get Rs. 5 discount on next purchase. Discount Company provides discount offers to their customers when they purchase the product. E.g. 40% discount on purchasing of PUMA T-shirts. Buy 1 Get 1 Free Company provides offer to their customer to buy 1 product and get another one free. E.g. Buy 1 shirt and get 1 free by yepme.com Combo Offers A combo pack is two related product banded together. E.g. Colgate offers combo pack of its toothpaste and tooth brush. Scratch and win offer: Under this scheme a customer scratch a specific marked area on the package of the product and gets the benefit according to the message written there. Money Back offer: Under this scheme customers are given assurance that full value of the product will be returned to them if they are not satisfied after using the product. This technique is particularly useful while introducing new products in the market.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GUARANTEE AND WARRANTY

A Guarantee is a formal promise (typically in writing) about an item by the producer, manufacturer or company to the end users. It is a promise to sort out any problems with a product or service within a specific/ fixed period of time. With the strength of the guarantee, a seller is liable to make the complete replacement of the purchased item, in case it was found to be below the prescribed standard or in the case of product not repairable or replaced then offer refund to the buyer. This is given by the seller or the manufacturer of a product to the customer and remains valid for a fixed period. The guarantee is a legal instrument irrespective of whether the customer paid for the article or not. A warranty is a legal contract between the buyer and seller and is always binding on the seller, which means that the seller will repair or replacement of a part / item / product if the product is defective, does not meet buyers expectations in terms of the way its supposed to perform during the period of the warranty. In simple terms Guarantee means that if a product malfunctions, the manufacturer will replace the whole product, where as in warranty, they just repair the problem causing part of the product. A guarantee is generally given by manufacturers whereas the warranty is provided by most of the retail sellers or distributors.

DIRECT MARKETING
Any advertisement activity which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your prospects or customer as an individual is called direct marketing. Thus direct Marketing is the direct communication between organizations and its customers without any intermediates. E.g. Non store sales via mail or telephone.

Direct marketing Channels Online Marketing (Teleshopping/Home shopping) Mobile Marketing (Through SMS/MMS) Direct Mail Direct Response (TV or Radio commercial) Marketing through Print Media (News papers and Magazines) Tele Marketing Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson influence prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call. Catalogs Marketing- In this method the marketer sent their product catalogs to the target customers. Interested customers respond by placing a mail order on the marketer. The product is supplied to customer by mail and payment is made either by mail or by VPP or by credit cards or by cheque.

Customer A person, company or other entity who buys goods and services produced by another person, company or other entity. In simple terms we can say that a customer is a person who regularly or repeatedly makes purchases of a trader. A customer may or may not be the end user of the product. He simply buys the product.

Customers are generally categorized into two types

Trade customer who is a dealer that purchases goods for re-sale. Ultimate customer who actually consume the product.

Consumer A consumer is a person or group of people who are the final users of products and or services. Although a common definition is an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale. A customer purchases goods; a consumer uses them.