Module 1

• Marketing


  • Conduct market analysis
  • Implement product, price and distribution policies
  • Check if your marketing measures are working
• Steve Jobs: 'When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can oftentimes arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don't put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and wants objects which are well thought through.'
• Marketing concerns all of us in our day to day decisions and activities of our lives
• Marketing


  Helps people know what you are selling and where they can find you if they want your product
• Without marketing, your business cannot succeed
• Marketing


  A social and managerial process by which individuals get what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value
• Marketing


  The management process that identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably
• Marketing


  The all-embracing function that links the business with customer needs and wants in order to get the right product to the right place at the right time
• Marketing


  The performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user
• Marketing is not selling or advertising or distribution or retailing etc. These are just marketing activities that bring a buyer and seller together, but not sufficient to define marketing
• What marketing involves


  • Ascertain what consumers want and provide it to them at a profit
  • Meet the needs and wants of customers
  • Create a good exchange environment
  • Creates time, place and possession utilities
• Need


  A basic requirement that an individual wishes to satisfy
• Want


  A desire for a specific product or service to satisfy the underlying need
• The customer needs and wants are always changing
• Customer


  The one who purchases and pays for a product or service
• Consumer


  The ultimate user of the product or service
• Exchange


  The act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return
• Demand


  A want for a specific product supported by the ability and willingness to pay for it
• Marketing concept/orientation


  • The business conceives its mission as that of satisfying the identified needs of a certain target market
  • The business recognizes that to satisfy these needs, there must be an undertaking to identify and learn these needs and how they will be satisfied
  • The business recognizes that consumers have varying tastes, incomes and habits, and that there are various competitors attempting to satisfy the consumer needs. Therefore the organization must coherently plan and implement those activities that will enable it sell to the target market
• Building a marketing oriented business


  1. Identify the markets you want or intend to serve

  2. Identify the needs of those customers

  3. Develop products or product concepts to meet the needs of the customers

  4. Take decision on other marketing mix elements (pricing, promotion, distribution)
• Meeting the needs of customers

  • Done through research and development and production activities
  • Businesses must develop products and services that meet needs and wants of the customers so as to attract them
• Marketing mix elements


  1. Identify target markets

  2. Determine price

  3. Determine promotion

  4. Determine distribution
• Pricing


  Attaching/offering value to the customers
• Promotion


  Informing customers/consumers of the existence of the product and persuading them to buy it
• Distribution


  Making the product accessible and convenient (i.e. at the right time and in the right place)
• For small businesses, the most ideal and cost effective way to promote a product is by exploring the word of mouth
• To achieve a positive word of mouth, the entrepreneur must ensure that his/her customers are happy/satisfied so that they tell others how good the business and its products are
• Continuously monitor your market

  Conduct customer satisfaction surveys to get feedback regarding customer satisfaction and what they think should be done to improve on the product and the way they are being served
• Concepts in addition to the marketing concept

  • The production concept
  • The product concept
  • The selling concept
  • The societal marketing concept
  • The green marketing concept
• Production orientation/concept


  A production oriented business is mainly concerned with making as many units as possible, assuming consumers will buy those products which are available and well-priced
• Product orientation/concept


  A business that is obsessed with its own products, assuming customers are aware about the existence of the products, and simply buy those products that are reasonably priced
• Selling orientation/concept


  Businesses see their main problem as selling more of what they already have available, assuming consumers buy, but they do not buy enough and will buy more if influenced by some selling and promotion efforts
• Societal marketing concept


  Businesses should not only be concerned with consumer satisfaction, but should keep in mind public interests and welfare
• Green marketing concept


  Businesses should protect the environment by doing an environmental impact study of the things they do or intend to do
• Product strategy


  • Design a unique, high quality, low-priced product that satisfies customers' needs
  • Shift from one product to another, or modify products to capture better marketing opportunities
  • Keep quality of product/service to acceptable standards or as per the needs of the customers
  • Test your product (and its price) on the market before you launch it
• How to achieve product quality

  • Understand the customer's perception of quality
  • Work on the mindset towards a quality orientation
  • Use raw material with good quality
  • Use improved and efficient production process/technology
  • Proper finishing
  • Good storage facilities - both for raw material and finished products
  • Use skilled labor
• Key product decisions


  • Plan and develop the right product(s) or service(s) required by the customer at the right price
  • Determine the range of products / services (product width and depth)
  • Keep in mind the product features that are most important for the customers
  • Be mindful of the product quality
  • Think of packaging and labeling your products
  • Think of product maintenance (where necessary)
  • Compare your product with the competitors'
• What is unique, special and original about the product/service (what is your competitive advantage)?
• Are there any weak points regarding your product (e.g., special delivery, easy to copy by competitors, etc.)?
• Market


  A set of actual and potential buyers of a product. It is an arena for potential exchange.