Business (Marketing)

• The purpose of marketing

  Satisfy the needs of customers
• Examples of marketing purposes

  • Inform consumers about the launch of new products
  • Remind customers of existing products
• Identify the market segments


  Identify groups of potential customers that can be targeted
• Increase revenue and profitability


  A purpose of marketing
• Increase the organisation's market share


  A purpose of marketing
• Improve the image of the product or the organisation

  A purpose of marketing
• Keep ahead of competition


  A purpose of marketing
• Importance of marketing


  • Helps organisations meet customers' needs
  • Makes customers aware of available products
  • May be carried out differently depending on product/service and organisation
• Successful marketing mix


  • The right product
  • Sold at the right price
  • In the right place
  • Using the most suitable promotion
• Market share


  A firm's percentage of all the sales in the market for that product
• Market growth


  Achieved by obtaining a larger market share, taking customers from existing businesses or attracting new customers
• Target marketing


  • Targeting specific customers rather than a whole market
  • Improves customer satisfaction
  • Customers more loyal
  • Market share can increase
  • New opportunities to sell more products
  • Correct price can be set
  • Advertising and promotion more relevant
• Market segmentation factors


  • Age
  • Gender
  • Religious beliefs/culture
  • Income
  • Lifestyle
• Market research


  Provides managers with information about what customers want and need and what will influence them to buy a product
• Uses of market research

  • Identifies customers' needs and wants
  • Identifies a target market
  • Gains information on new trends and behaviour
  • Gains information on the competition
• Desk research


  Using existing information that has already been created for another purpose
• Benefits of desk research

  • Relatively inexpensive
  • Easily obtained
  • Can help find out about the external environment
• Costs of desk research

  • Information may be out-of-date
  • Available to competitors
  • May contain bias
  • Not all relevant
• Sources of desk research

  • Internal information from the business
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Websites
  • Government statistics
  • Social media
• Field research


  An organisation gathering its own information first hand
• Benefits of field research

  • More reliable
  • More likely to meet the organisation's needs
  • Information not available to competitors
  • Information up to date
• Costs of field research

  • More expensive
  • Takes time to gather
• Methods of field research

  • Postal surveys
  • Telephone surveys
  • Focus groups
  • Personal interviews
  • Online surveys
  • Social networking sites
  • Loyalty cards
• Developing a New Product

  Through enterprising ideas, businesses have to create products that customers will buy. This can be expensive and time consuming as the product has to be created and tested, perhaps a number of times, before it can reach the customer.
• Steps in developing a new product

  1. Carry out market research

  2. Generate the idea

  3. Analyse the idea

  4. Create a prototype

  5. Test the product

  6. Adjust the product based on the tests and feedback

  7. Produce the product
• Market research


  This stage will find out what potential customers' needs and wants may be or a gap in the market.
• Idea generation


  Brainstorming session or focus groups to come up with ideas.
• Idea analysis


  A number of issues need to be considered, such as will the new product meet the objectives of the business? Will the new product contribute to the continued growth of the business?
• Prototype


  A prototype of the product will be developed using the details that the market research indicated that consumers wanted.
• Product testing


  The business may often decide to test market the new product in a small geographic area, in order to test consumer response, before it launches the product nationally. If the consumer response is favourable, then the product is likely to be launched nationally.
• Product adjustment


  Any changes needed such as changing the packaging.
• Product production


  Decide on advertising and promotions to promote the product
• Product life-cycle


  The product life-cycle shows the different stages a product will pass through and the level of sales that can be expected at each stage.
• Stages of the product life-cycle

  • Introduction
  • Growth
  • Maturity
  • Decline
• Introductory stage


  The product is introduced to the market and is heavily advertised to make customers aware of the product. Few sales at this stage and so little or no profit is being made.
• Growth stage


  Sales are rising quickly as more customers become aware of the product and profits start to increase.
• Maturity stage


  Product is well known in the market and sales are at their highest. Advertising is reduced as consumers know about the product. Competition has increased and the price of product falls. This is the most profitable stage.
• Decline stage


  Sales and profits start to fall as new and more advanced products enter the market and customers no longer want the product which is ten taken off the market.
• Price


  The amount of money the customer is willing to pay for the product
• Pricing considerations


  • Cost of production
  • Competitors' prices
  • Level of profit organisation wishes to make
  • Level of promotion/advertising carried out
  • The market segment, what price are customers willing to pay
  • The Place where the product is sold eg an exclusive store or a supermarket