Marketing Management

Assignment
#1
By: Mohamed Ammar Zaheer

ERP: 00592
Answer 1:
In my opinion Marketing is both an art and a science. These two disciplines
go hand in hand to make marketing effective.

Marketing as an Art:
Art is the factor that breathes life into marketing. The creativity aspect of
marketing is all about art, coming up with new unique activation campaigns,
ad campaigns etc. to beat the clutter and getting your message across is an
art. Furthermore marketing is about creating a demand for your product. The
Science part may help you with an analysis of the target market but how you
access and reach out to the market is a blank sheet of canvas. You can use
your imagination and creativity to draw the most effective advertising plan
there is and this in my opinion is pure art. In addition to this, consumer
researches, surveys, etc. can only provide a marketer with the information.
To analyze that information and discover new unobvious trends which may
not be seen by others is art. Also the Brands aspect of marketing is an
important area where the art comes in, the way you set the identity of your
brand, define its persona and how you position it is an exercise in art.

Marketing as a Science:
I believe that science is the bridge stone of Marketing. Marketing is a science
because it involves understanding and influencing target market behaviors.
There is a whole science behind human behavior and it is used to pre
determine how the target market will respond to a certain stimulus.
Marketing is also about measuring or quantifying important market
characteristics that have a big impact on marketing strategy, this is known
as market research and it is an immense field of science. Popular questions
include: How many prospects do you reach? How many people read your
message? How many prospects were converted to buyers? How much is the
spending power? How many buy again? These are mathematical questions
and answers and are important to the success of any marketing endeavor.
Furthermore marketing is an effort that costs money, therefore one cannot
take the ideal approach since constraints are always there. Developing a
marketing campaign in the prescribed budget is where the science comes in
as there is a whole research or a valid reasoning behind every tradeoff made.

Conclusion:
Art is as important a part of marketing as is science. Without either of them
marketing can never be effective. The role of science in marketing is to lead,
direct and measure. While the role of Art is to inspire, create and execute.
Eg:
Finding out what the customers need is a science, creating an offer to satisfy
the need is an art.
Communication is a science, advertising the offering is an art.
Distributing the offering is a science, selling it is an art.

Example:
In the local Pakistan setting the perfect example of this in my opinion would
be that of Ufone. At the time when the cellular service industry was too dull
and was offering no special offers to customers Ufone did the research and
immediately positioned itself as a service of the masses with the cheapest
offers around. Furthermore, they were also the first ones to realize that the
youth was an immensely underutilized segment and came up with cheap
offers and packages designed especially for the youth. This was the science
part that Ufone did really well. How they tapped the youth market was
fantastic. Their advertisements portrayed light humour and energy that was
an immediate hit with the youth. People hate ads but ufone ads were the talk
of the town with the witty humour they encompassed. This was the art part
with which Ufone was very successful. With the low cost packages Ufone
fulfilled a customer need and provided a solution that was absent in the
market. Even at present Ufone continues to keep humour as the theme of its
advertisements and the new unique offers that they keep coming up with
has created a very loyal customer base. Ufone has been very mindful of its
customer base and the introduction of the Youth Package a few years back
has definitely added to customer value. As now the Youth Package is not
just a low cost platform but an experience. With the youth card the holder
can get upto 30% discount at over 200 brand outlets all over Pakistan. This
was really the industry trendsetter. Telenor, Mobilink and Warid followed suit.

Sources of reference:
http://www.12manage.com/forum.asp?TB=i_m&S=161
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Is-Marketing-Science-Or-Arts-922907.html
http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/thought-leadership/whartonat-work/2011/06/art-science-marketing

Answer 2:
The eight different demand states are as follows:
Negative demand: This is the kind of demand which is created if the
product is disliked in general. The product being offered may be beneficial
but the customer does not want it. Eg. - Dental treatments are usually
avoided till the very end as the customer tries special tooth pastes and
mouth washes to solve his problem. The customer knows that the dental
treatment will be beneficial but still he avoids it, in fact he is prepared to pay
for avoiding it by spending on toothpastes and mouthwashes that may
provide some temporary relief.
Unwholesome demand: This demand type is the other side of Negative
demand. In unwholesome demand the customer should not desire the
product due to the negative connotations associated with it, still customer
wants the product badly. Best example of unwholesome demand are
cigarettes, alcohol, pirated movies, guns etc.
No demand: There are a few products that may face no demand in a certain
region. It is rare to encounter such products. The best example for the same
may be the demand for combat Submarines for a landlocked country such as
Mongolia. The country does not have a navy hence there is no demand for
combat submarines.
Latent Demand: Latent demand is a demand which the customer realizes
later. While buying the product, he might not desire some features. But later
on, he might think about those features and buy the product. The best
example of latent demand are normal phones vs smart phones. People
nowadays want more and more features from a smartphone.
Declining demand: Declining demand as the name suggests is decreasing
demand for a product or service. For example when IPOD came into the
market, the demand for walkman went down. Although there was still a
demand for the product, the demand was a declining demand.

Irregular demand: Irregular demand is a demand which is not consistent.

An example of irregular demand is a seasonal product such as an umbrella,
the demand may increase drastically during the rainy season. These
products sell irregularly and sell more during peak season as their demand is
very low during the off season.
Full demand: In an ideal environment, a company should always have full
demand. Full demand means that the demand is meeting the supply
potential of the company. It also means that the customers are satisfied with
the products of the company and they want to buy from the same company.
Overfull demands: Overfull demands occur when the companys
manufacturing capacity is limited but the demand for its products is more
than the supply of those products. This can be observed in the cement
industry occasionally. Generally, most cement industries have limited
manufacturing capacity. And hence, brand switching in cement industry is
high.
Sources:
http://jrbarcelonmarketing.blogspot.com/2013/03/8-demand-states-inmarketing.html
http://www.marketing91.com/types-of-demand-2/

Answer 3:
Value and satisfaction are interrelated concepts. A customer focuses on
these two key concepts when making purchase decisions.
Value is the ratio of what the customer gets from a product and what he
parts with or gives to get it. Simply put, the customer receives benefits and
pays the costs. What product a customer purchases depends on the value
that the product provides to the customer. Benefits to the customer maybe
functional and emotional. Costs for the customer may include money, time
and energy.
To get maximum customers onboard it is the marketing functions job to
maximize benefits and reduce costs.
Satisfaction is the customers perceived performance of the product
compared to his expectations from the product. A customer is satisfied if the

product performance matches his expectations from the product. Similarly a

customer is delighted if product performance exceeds his expectations.
Sources:
http://www.slideshare.net/Kiranprasad153/customer-value-and-satisfaction16129717
http://mostbeautifulplacesandcultures.blogspot.com/2010/02/meaning-ofvalue-satisfaction-and.html
http://www.studymode.com/subjects/value-and-satisfaction-in-marketingconcept-page2.html

Answer 4:
Social responsibility in marketing is a philosophy in which a company takes
into consideration the best interests of the society in the present and the
long term.
The result of effective social marketing is a better society. Through social
responsibility a company takes care of its needy employees, poor citizens.
This is not where it ends, social responsibility also includes uplift projects
such as schools and even hospitals. The advantages to the consumer are
that there is no exploitation in the market, also the society gets an uplift
through these various social responsibility measures. They can be sure that
the product that they are getting is 100% compliant, of top quality and
reasonably priced.
Social Responsibility may come at a cost for the company but it is the need
of the time and as research suggests it does not directly translate into
increased revenue. However it has been observed that customers prefer to
engage in business with firms that value the society as a whole, therefore
company reputation, customer loyalty and repeat purchases tend to increase
as a result of social responsibility measures.
Sources:
http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Social_Responsibility.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_marketing
http://www.knowthis.com/what-is-marketing/characteristics-of-modernmarketers

Answer 5:
At present the bifocal lenses market is experiencing a declining demand.
Reason being that the product is outdated and there are better alternatives
available in the market such as contact lenses, multifocal lenses and laser
surgery procedures that correct eye vision and one never needs to get
assistance from lenses again.
The latent demand concept is also applicable to bifocal lenses. When a
person gets single focus glasses prescribed there is a 5% chance that in old
age he will require assistance of bifocal lenses. So later when the need is
realized the person goes for the bifocal lenses.
Bifocal lenses are produced through a tedious and slow process therefore its
demand usually exceeds its very very limited supply. So the Overfull
demand is applicable here. Consumers have to wait for a week and a half to
get their bifocal glasses from the lenses store.
Non-Existent demand for bifocal lenses may occur in the air-force air
combat division where 20 by 20 vision is a requirement. So the demand for
this product in that division of the organization does not exist.
Negative Demand also exists for the bifocal lenses. Reason being that
bifocal lenses are thick and the design options available are very limited
least and the frame designs are hideous to say the. Therefore they are
viewed as a negativity in ones personality. So people may not go for them
deliberately and try less effective options to avoid them.
Certain companies specializing in bifocal lenses are facing full demand.
They get orders for bifocals regularly and they manage to get the orders
done on time without creating a backlog.

In my opinion the following demand concepts are not applicable to the

bifocal lenses market:
Irregular Demand: Bifocal lenses are not seasonal products, their demand
does not depend on a certain season. Therefore this demand type is not
applicable.

Unwholesome Demand: These lenses have no negative connotations

associated with it except for the fact that they look awful when wearing. And
customers dont feel the urge to get them either. Therefore this demand type
is not applicable.

Sources:
http://www.visiondirect.com/bifocal-vs-multifocal/qxc150586
http://www.blanchardlab.com/clinical/essmulti2.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_lens