IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING IN

TODAY’S ECONOMY

PREPARED BY:- SUBMITTED TO:-

 SOURABH KUMAR
 GAJENDRA SINGH SOLANKI ________________
 SOURABH SINGH RAJPUROIT
 AMAN ALI
 DAN SINGH RATHORE
 PREFACE

India is a developing country. One of the leading forces behind these outcomes is the
swift growth of the industries and service sector. Practical studies are the part of BBA
is a special professional course regarding business. Practical study implied
Aishwarya college of education in BBA under this subject, the students requires to
visit one service sector to know the world economy growth.

The visit is very helpful to the students because students get the practical
knowledge about the working of service sector and seeing the atmosphere of the
world wide market with the help of this project.
As a BBA students we got an opportunity to make the project on the topic
“Importance of marketing in today’s economy”. It was a great experience for us.
We had tried our best to get as possible as information about the given topic. I
thanked to all the group members and faculty of Aishwarya college who helped me to
get information.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are the student of BBA studying in Aishwarya college. It is great

experience for us to prepare a project report. We feel happy for my group members
who involve and helped me in making the project.

Firstly we would like to thank to my college - Dr. Parvesh Bhandari college and
our guide & professor - Mr. Liberian give us complete information regarding the project
report under their guidance.

We are very happy that we choose BBA course because, by choosing this
course one become aware of practical studies. For the learn management BBA is very
useful course.

Signature
 DECLARATION

The undersigned The group members SOURABH KUMAR, GAJENDRA

SINGH SOLANKI, SOURABH SINGH RAJPUROHIT, AMAN ALI, DAN SINGH
RATHORE students of Aishwrya college, here by declare that the project work which
is presented in this report is our own work. We have prepare this project report under
the supervision and guidance of DR. PARVESH BHANDARI of Aishwariya college.

We feel very great to prepare this project report. This project report is to be
submitted to DR. PRAVESH BHANDARI

Place:-
Date:-

Signature
 INDEX

Sr.No Particulars Page

No.
1. Introduction 6
2. A Marketing strategy for today’s economy 6
3. The Challenges and Opportunities of Marketing in today’s 9
economy
4. Basic Marketing Concepts 12
(a) What is a Market? 13
(b) What is a Product 14
(c) What is Exchange 15
5. Importance of Marketing in Indian Economy 16
(a) Economic and Population Growth 17
(b) Turbulent times for tech. 17
(c) Doing Business in India- cultural prospects 18
6. Major Marketing Activities and Dcisions 19
7. Strategic Planning 19
8. Social Responsibility and Ethics 20
9. Research and Analysis 21
10. Developing Competitive Advantages 22
11. Marketing Strategic Decisions 22
(a) Targeting young customers Via online Networking 22
12. Implementation and control 23
13. The Dominance of the Customers 24
14. The Spread of Marketing Research 26
15. The Rise of Computers 27
16. Expanded use of test Marketing 28
17. Metamorphosis of field selling 29
18. Global Marketing Planning 31
19. Developing and Maintaining Customer relationship 32
20. Taking on the challenges of marketing strategy 32
21. Conclusion 34
 INTRODUCTION
Marketing in today’s economy means finding ways to break out of commodity status to
meet customers’ needs better than competing firms. All organizations—both for-profit
and nonprofit— require effective planning and a sound marketing strategy to do this
effectively. Without these efforts, organizations could not satisfy customers or meet the
needs of other stakeholders. For example, having an effective marketing strategy
allows Toyota to develop popular products, such as its line of hybrid vehicles and its
new low-cost Scion line. Further, effective planning and strategy allows Procter &
Gamble to continually improve the performance of Tide and to make a key acquisition
in its purchase of the Gillette Company, all the while continuing its expansion into the
lucrative pharmaceuticals market. These and other organizations use sound
marketing strategy to leverage their strengths and capitalize on opportunities that exist
in the market. Every organization—from your favorite local restaurant to giant
multinational corporations; from city, state, and federal governments to charities such
as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross—develops and implements
marketing strategies.

How organizations plan, develop, and implement marketing strategies is

the focus of this book. To achieve this focus, we provide a systematic process for
developing customer-oriented marketing strategies and marketing plans that match an
organization to its internal and external environments. Our approach focuses on real-
world applications and practical methods of marketing planning, including the process
of developing a marketing plan. The chapters of this book focus on the steps of this
process. Our goal is to give the reader a deeper understanding of
marketing planning, the ability to organize the vast amount of information needed to
complete the planning process, and an actual ‘‘feel’’ for the development of marketing
plans.

In this topic, we review some of the major challenges and opportunities that exist in
planning marketing strategy in today’s economy. We also review the nature and scope
of major marketing activities and decisions that occur throughout the planning process.
Finally, we look at some of the major challenges involved in developing marketing
strategy.

A Marketing Strategy for Today’s Economy

When business is booming, rarely do companies stop to think about where every
dollar is being spent. Times are good, customers are plentiful and sales are on
target, so why take the time to what's not broken, right? Weathering and thriving
through economic recession requires a more tactful approach, as companies have
learned over the last few years. Throwing money down the drain is no longer an
option, particular when it comes to nebulous expenses like If there's one thing that was
proven throughout the downturn and well into the recovery period, it's that direct
response—in particular, direct response television (DRTV)—continues to be a viable
addition to any marketer's advertising strategy. Whether it's an entrepreneur hawking a
new invention, a small company building market share, a brand advertiser seeking a
more accountable marketing approach on generating leads, direct response fits the
bill.

Here are seven reasons ways:

1. It's Accountable: Until the advent of the long-awaited, mythical “buy button” on
your remote control, no other television advertising medium allows a marketer to track
the sales process from the initial point of contact right on through to the actual sale, to
the up sell, to the continuity program. Using this valuable information, companies can
quickly tweak their campaigns (by redistributing media dollars among networks, for
example) and maximize their success.
2. It Makes Consumers Take Action: Whether they pick up the phone, head to a
retail store for a closer look, or pull up a website for more information, consumers are
driven to action by DRTV.
3. It Sells While You Sleep: You might be asleep at 10:00 p.m. every night, but while
you're snoozing, millions of households are up watching television into the wee hours
of the morning. So while prime time commercial avails hit the masses, it's the niche
late-night and weekend watchers who are faithful DRTV viewers—and patrons.
4. It Plays Well With Others: DRTV is by no means an island. It effectively
supplements your existing brand advertising media mix without cannibalizing the
investment or undermining brand equity. Whether you want to drive retail sales, direct
consumers to the web, or take your brand to a new level, DRTV helps achieve those
goals by operating as a viable component within your overall
campaign.
5. It Educates Consumers: It's impossible to tell a viewer everything he or she needs
to know about your product in 15 seconds, but expand that time frame to one or two
minutes and you wind up with a lot of time to Step into the 28.5-minute infomercial
arena and your educational opportunities become
virtually limitless.
6. iIt Comes in D ierent Shapes and Sizes: Short-form spots, infomercials, and home
shopping are the three main categories of DRTV, but there are many other
subcategories that fall under those umbrellas. Lead generation and continuity
commercials, for example, accomplish a different task than the infomercial that's
designed to sell direct. Pick the format that's and then tweak your strategy
accordingly.
7. It Costs Less Than Brand Spot Advertising: Sure direct response media rates
creep up every year, but they never reach brand-awareness spot-advertising levels.
The upfront cost of a DRTV campaign is considerably less than what would pay for a
30-second image spot, and it provides advantages that the latter can't touch, including
the ability to test new campaigns and adjust them quickly, as needed. The list goes on,
and serves as proof of DRTV's viability in today's changing market conditions. With so
many positive attributes lined up in its corner, DRTV will become even more of a
mainstay for successful companies in 2011, and beyond. It just works.

Tim Hawthorne is founder, chairman, and CEO of Hawthorne Direct, a full-service

DRTV and new media ad agency founded in 1986. Hawthorne has produced or
managed more than 800 Direct Response TV campaigns for clients such as 3M, Black
& Decker, Braun, Discover Card, Time-Life, Nissan, Lawn Boy, Nikon, Oreck, Bose,
and Feed the Children. Hawthorne is a co-founder of the Electronic Retailing
Association (ERA) and is the author of the de8nitive DRTV book The Complete Guide
to Infomercial Marketing. A cum laude graduate of Harvard, Hawthorne was honored
with the ERA's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Marketing
in Today’s Economy
Although the euphoria over the dot-com bubble and its subsequent demise is long
over, the fact remains that advances in computer, communication, and information
technology have forever changed the world and the world of marketing. It wasn’t that
long ago when few people knew the difference between a .com and a .org, much less
the names of today’s powerhouse companies such as Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, and
eBay. Consider these fundamental changes to marketing and business practice, as
well as our own personal buying behavior:

 Power Shift to Customers The astounding growth of the Internet has shifted
power to customers, not marketers. Rather than businesses having the ability to
manipulate customers via technology, customers often manipulate businesses
because of their access to information and ability to comparison shop. Individual
consumers and business customers can compare prices and product specifications in
a matter of minutes. In many cases, customers are able to set their own prices, such
as purchasing airline tickets at Priceline.com. In addition, customers can now interact
with one another because merchants such as Amazon and eBay allow customers to
share opinions on product quality and supplier reliability. As power continues to shift to
customers, marketers have little choice but to ensure that their products are unique
and of high quality, thereby giving customers a reason to purchase their products and
remain loyal to them.
 Massive Increase in Product Selection The variety and assortment of
goods and services offered for sale on the Internet and in traditional stores is
staggering. In grocery stores alone,
customers are faced with countless
options in the cereal and soft-drink
aisles. The growth in online retailing
now allows customers to purchase a car
from CarsDirect.com, handmade, exotic
gifts from Mojo Tree or a case of their
favorite wine from Wine.com. Increased
transaction efficiency (for example, 24/7
access, delivery to home or office) allows customers to fulfill their needs more easily
and conveniently than ever before. Furthermore, the vast amounts of information
available online has changed the way we communicate, read the news, and entertain
ourselves. Customers can now have the news delivered to them via RSS feeds (really
simple syndication) from hundreds of sources. This radical increase in product
selection and availability has exposed marketers to inroads by competitors from every
corner of the globe.

 Audience and Media Fragmentation Since the advent of cable television in the
1970s, mass-media audiences have become increasingly fragmented. Television
audiences, for example, shifted from the big three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and
began watching programming on ESPN, HGTV, Nickelodeon, and the Discovery
Channel.When the growth of the Internet, satellite radio, and mobile
communication is added to this mix, it becomes increasingly difficult for marketers
to reach a true mass audience. Media audiences have become fragmented due to
(1) the sheer number of media choices that we have available today and (2) the
limited time that we have to devote to any one medium. As shown in Exibit 1.1, a
full 42 percent of U.S. households now have broadband Internet access. Across
the board, the time that we devote to traditional television, radio, and print media is
declining, while the time that we spend with interactive media (online, wireless,
 gaming) is on the rise. Despite the challenge of reaching mass audiences today,
media fragmentation does have a big advantage: It is easier to reach small, highly
targeted audiences.

 Changing Value Propositions The speed and efficiency of commerce today has
changed the way that customers view value. For example, fewer customers
automatically turn to travel agents for assistance in booking airline tickets, cruises,
or hotel stays. Now, customers turn to travel sites like Expedia.com or book
directly at websites operated by travel and lodging providers. A similar change has
taken place in the real estate industry as buyers are moving their house hunting
online, while sellers are increasingly taking the ‘‘for sale by owner’’ route.2 Similar
changes have occurred in banking, mortgage lending, and car buying. The lesson
for marketers is clear: In situations where customers see goods and services as
commodities, customers will turn to the most convenient, least-expensive
alternative. This fact makes it increasingly difficult for marketers to differentiate
their product offering in today’s economy.

 Shifting Demand Patterns In some cases, changes in technology have shifted

customer demand for certain product categories. The explosive growth in the
digital distribution of music and video bears this out. The success of Apple’s iPod
and iTunes, as well as the ongoing issues associated with copyright protection and
digital piracy, proves that customers absolutely prefer to get their music and video
from the Internet. The repercussions of this demand shift for the recording and
movie industries are enormous. For example, in the traditional movie theater
business, ticket sales have declined 7 percent in recent years due to the growing
popularity of DVD distribution by mail (for example, Netflix) and increasing sales of
home theater equipment.3 Now, an emerging sector devoted to online movie
distribution has appeared, with CinemaNow being one of the early pioneers.

 New Sources of Competitive Advantage Businesses that link their internal

computer networks with the networks of customers, suppliers, and other partners
can leverage the advantages of e-commerce. Dell Computer, for example, has
seamlessly integrated its supply chain—from suppliers (manufacturers of chips,
drives, displays, and so on), to assembly, to product delivery (United Parcel
 Service). As a result, Dell enjoys reduced costs, operational efficiency, economies
of scale, and broad customer reach, which are all key aspects of its leadership in
the personal computer industry.4 Dell’s example illustrates that to be successful
marketers must be able and willing to network with other firms to create new
efficiencies and competitive advantages. In today’s economy, some of the best
competitive advantages stem from partnerships and alliances with other firms.

 Privacy, Security, and Ethical Concerns Changes in technology have made our
society much more open than in the past. As a result, these changes have forced
marketers to address real concerns about security and privacy, both online and
offline. Businesses have always collected routine information about their
customers. Now, customers are much more attuned to these efforts and the
purposes for which the information will be used. Though customers appreciate the
convenience of e-commerce, they want assurances that their information is safe
and confidential. Concerns over online privacy and security are especially acute
with respect to controversial businesses—such as casinos or pornography—and
with respect to children.
 Basic Marketing Concepts
Marketing is many different things. Many people, especially those not employed in
marketing, see marketing as a function of business. From this perspective, marketing
parallels other business functions such as production, research, management, human
resources, and accounting. As a business function, the goal of marketing is to connect
the organization to its customers. Other individuals, particularly those working in
marketing jobs, tend to see marketing as a process of managing the flow of products
from the point of conception to the point of consumption. The field’s major trade
organization, the American Marketing Association (AMA), recently changed the
definition of marketing after 20 years. From 1985 until 2005, the AMA defined
marketing this way:-

“Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,

promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges
that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

In 2005 the AMA changed the definition of marketing to better reflect the realities of
competing in today’s marketplace:

“ Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating,

communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

Notice that the changes in the definition are not merely cosmetic in nature. The new
definition stresses two critical success factors in marketing today: value and customer
relationships. The notion of value recognizes that customer satisfaction can be derived
from many different aspects of the total product offering, not just from having access to
high-quality products at a low price. Customer relationships—which grow and thrive on
exceptional value—are an absolute necessity in the commodity-driven status of many
product markets. Whereas the former definition of marketing had a decidedly
transactional focus, the new definition emphasizes long-term relationships that provide
value for both customers and the firm.
A final way to think about marketing relates to meeting human and social needs. This
broad view links marketing with our standard of living, not only in terms of enhanced
consumption and prosperity but also in terms of society’s wellbeing. Through
marketing activities, consumers can buy cars from South Korea and wines from South
Africa; and organizations can earn a viable profit, making both employees and
stockholders happy. However, marketing must also bear responsibility for any negative
effects that it may generate. This view demands that marketers consider the social and
ethical implications of their actions and whether they practice good citizenship by
giving back to their communities. As exemplified in the New Belgium Brewery case at
the end of the text, firms can successfully meet human and social needs through
socially responsible marketing and business practices.
Let’s take a closer look at several basic marketing concepts. As we will see, ongoing
changes in today’s economy have forever altered our way of thinking about these
foundational aspects of marketing.

What Is a Market?
At its most basic level, a market is a collection of buyers and sellers. We tend to
think of a market as a group of individuals or institutions that have similar needs that
can be met by a particular product. For example, the housing market is a collection of
buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and the automobile market includes
buyers and sellers of automotive transportation. Marketers or sellers tend to use the
word market to describe only the buyers.

This basic understanding of a market has not changed in a very long

time.marketers have considered a market to be a physical location where buyers and
sellers meet to conduct transactions. Although those venues (for example, grocery
stores, malls, and flea markets) still thrive, technology mediates some of the fastest-
growing markets. The term marketspace has been coined to describe these electronic
marketplaces unbound by time or space.11 Some of the largest marketspaces, such
as Amazon.com, eBay, and Monster.com, are now household names. In fact,
Amazon.com has become the marketspace equivalent of a shopping mall as the
company now sells shoes, apparel, jewelry, beauty aids, and sporting goods in
addition to its traditional offerings of books and electronics. Marketspaces also exist in
the business-to-business realm.

What Is Exchange?
Closely related to the concept of a market, our ideas about exchange have changed in
recent years. Exchange is traditionally defined as the process of obtaining something
of value from someone by offering something in return; this usually entails obtaining
products for money. For exchange to occur, five conditions must be met:
1. There must be at least two parties to the exchange:- Although this has always
been the case, the exchange process today can potentially include an unlimited
number of participants. Online auctions provide a good example. Customers who bid
on an item at eBay may be one of many participants to the exchange process. Each
participant changes the process for the others, as well as the ultimate outcome for the
winning bidder. Some auctions include multiple quantities of an item, so the potential
exists for multiple transactions within a single auction process.
2. Each party has something of value to the other party:- Exchange would be
possible but not very likely without this basic requirement. The Internet has exposed
us to a vast array of goods and services that we did not know existed previously.
Today, we buy a television or stereo receiver from not only a local merchant but also
have access to hundreds of online merchants. Furthermore, the ability to comparison
shop products and their prices allows customers to seek out the best value.
3. Each party must be capable of communication and delivery:- The advantages
of today’s communication and distribution infrastructure are amazing. We can seek out
and communicate with potential exchange partners anywhere and anytime via
telephone, personal computers, handheld devices, and wireless telephones. We can
also conduct arm’s-length transactions in real time, with delivery of exchanged items
occurring in a matter of hours if necessary.

4. Each party must be free to accept or reject the exchange:- In the online world,
this condition of exchange becomes a bit more complicated. Customers have grown
accustomed to the ease with which they can return items to local merchants. Easy
return policies are among the major strengths of traditional offline merchants.
Returning items is more difficult with online transactions. In some cases, the ability to
reject an exchange is not allowed in online transactions. Ordering airline tickets on
Priceline.com and winning a bid on an item at eBay are contractually binding acts for
the customer. In other words, once the actual purchasing process has started, the
customer is not free to reject the exchange.

5. Each party believes that it is desirable to exchange with the other party:-
Customers typically have a great deal of information about or even a history with
offline merchants. In online exchange, customers often know nothing about the other
party. To help resolve this issue, a collection of third-party firms has stepped in to
provide ratings and opinions about online merchants. Sites like BizRate.com and
Epinions.com not only provide these ratings but also provide product ratings and serve
as shopping portals. eBay goes one step further by allowing its users to rate both
buyers and sellers. This gives both parties to the exchange process some assurance
that reputable individuals or organizations exist on the other side of the transaction.

The bottom line is that exchange has become all too easy in today’s economy.
Opportunities for exchange bombard us virtually everywhere we go—even in our own
homes. Customers don’t even have to trouble themselves with giving credit cards or
completing forms for shipping information. Most online merchants will remember this
information for us if we let them. For example, Amazon’s 1-Click1 ordering feature
allows customers to purchase products with a single mouse click. The ease with which
exchange can occur today presents a problem in that individuals who do not have the
authority to exchange can still complete transactions. This is especially true for
underage customers.

What Is a Product?
It should come as no surprise that the primary focus of marketing is the customer and
how the organization can design and deliver products that meet customers’ needs.
Organizations create essentially all marketing activities as a means toward this end;
this includes product design, pricing, promotion, and distribution. In short, an
organization would have no reason to exist without customers and a product to offer
them.

 Goods Goods are tangible items ranging from canned food to fighter jets, from
sports memorabilia to used clothing. The marketing of tangible goods is arguably
one of the most widely recognizable business activities in the world.

 Services Services are intangible products consisting of acts or deeds directed

toward people or their possessions. Banks, hospitals, lawyers, package-delivery
companies, airlines, hotels, repair technicians, nannies, housekeepers,
consultants, and taxi drivers all offer services. Services, rather than tangible
goods, dominate modern economies like the U.S. economy.
 Ideas Ideas include platforms or issues aimed at promoting a benefit for the
customer. Examples include cause-related or charitable organizations such as the
Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, or the
American Legacy Foundation’s campaign against smoking.

 Information Marketers of information include websites, magazine and book

publishers, schools and universities, research firms, churches, and charitable
organizations. In the digital age, the production and distribution of information has
become a vital part of our economy.

 Digital Products Digital products, such as software, music, and movies, are
among the most profitable in our economy. Advancements in technology have also
wreaked havoc in these industries because pirates can easily copy and
redistribute digital products in violation of copyright law. Digital products are
interesting because content producers grant customers a license to use them,
rather than outright ownership.

 People The individual promotion of people, such as athletes or celebrities, is a

huge business around the world. The exchange and trading of professional
athletes takes place in a complex system of drafts, contracts, and free agency.
Other professions, such as politicians, actors, professional speakers, and news
reporters, also engage in people marketing.
Importance of Indian Marketing Economy
India’s economic success in recent years has helped to ensure that South Asia is the
fastest-growing region in the world – but it faces significant challenges alongside its
opportunities for further growth.

Ahead of the India Economic Summit 2017, taking place in New Delhi from 4-6
October, here are eight things you need to know to understand the current state of
India’s economy.

Economic and population growth

India is the world’s seventh-largest economy, sitting between France and Italy. Its GDP
growth recently dipped to 5.7%; still, India is growing faster than any other large
economy except for China. By 2050, India’s economy is projected to be the world’s
second-largest, behind only China.

India is home to 1.34 billion people – 18% of the world’s population. It will have
overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024. It has the world’s
largest youth population, but isn’t yet fully capturing this potential demographic
dividend – over 30% of India's youth are NEETs (not in employment, education or
training), according to the OECD.

India is the world’s fastest-growing large economy, having outpaced China over the
past year. Yet though economic growth has improved living standards, India, which
has the largest number of poor in the world, is still struggling to lift its 1.2 billion
population out of poverty. Here are some facts and figures about India’s economic rise,
and the challenges ahead. 7.6% The IMF predicts a robust growth rate of 7.6% for
India’s economy in 2016 and 2017.

India has benefited from lower oil prices and remains the fastest-growing large
economy in the world," the IMF said. However, the reliability of India’s GDP
numbers has been questioned, and concerns remain about jobs, which have not kept
pace with economic growth.

Turbulent times for tech

Several leading companies in India’s IT sector are reportedly planning significant

layoffs, in part due to concern that the Trump administration’s clampdown on H-1B
visas will make it harder to do business in the US.

The growing ability of machine learning to replace human workers is also a challenge.
A recent McKinsey report reckons that within a few years, up to half of the 3.9 million
Indians currently working in the IT sector will become irrelevant.

But other tech trends are more promising. India has again moved up the Global
Competitiveness Report’s rankings on technological readiness – albeit from a low
base, still only 108th in the world – on the back of improvements in indicators such as
internet bandwidth per user, mobile phone and broadband subscriptions and internet
access in schools.

India also has scope to build on its tech start-up scene, which already boasts more
companies than anywhere other than the US and UK. The country scored well in
the Inclusive Development Index on access to finance for business development.

Doing business in India:- Cultural Prospects

Indians view time differently from the Americans in any business deal they prefer
relaxed interactions. The culture is a major factor in shaping business deal. A proper
cultur understanding leads to a senseof trust between the parties and business
proceeds. Our cultures define our fundamental beliefs about how the world works and
form ways in which where interact and communicate with others and develop and
maintain relationships. Doing business practices nation require a focus on a multi -
dimensional understanding of its culture and business practices understanding these
differences and adopting to them is the key.

India is a complex country, and those arriving here to do business will discover that the
path to success is often, not very smooth. The following posits elaborate the difference
in our culture from that of west. It also gives an idea about the workings and business
norms in practice here.

In the united states of America, efficiency, adhering to dead line and host of other
similar matters are considered normal and to be expected. But, one needs to
understand that one is dealing with people from different cultural background that think
an interact differently. As a result, what is considered to be reasonable and feasible in
the U.S.A. may not work here.

In India aggressiveness can be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. This may lead to a

complete lack of communication and motivation on the part of Indians. One needs to
take the time to get to know them as individuals in order to develop professional trust.
Indians are very good hosts and will therefore, invite you to their homes and indulge in
personal talk often. All this is very much a part of business.

Criticism about an individuals ideas of work needs to be done constructively,without

damaging that person’s self-esteems. As Indian are used to a system of hierarchy in
the work-place senior collageous are obeyed and respected. Supervisors are
expected to monitors and an individual works and shoulders the responsibility of
meeting deadlines. Therefore, it is important to double-check and keep track of time.
Educated Indians have learn to adopt to western methods of monitoring one’s own
work and completing it on its schedule.
For any expatriate the pace, pressure and protocol of living and working in a new
country can be overwhelming, but their are many positive aspects to living in India- the
valued friendships that one makes with the Indians, the beautiful and exotic places to
visit, the multi-word cuisine to experiment with, and the many, many interesting things
to buy. An expatriate who Is prepared to accept the differences and make the
necessary adaptation will difficultly be greeted with the sweet taste of success in all
the business endeavor.

Major Marketing Activities and Decisions

Organizations must deal with a number of activities and decisions in marketing their
products to customers. These activities vary in both complexity and scope. Whether
the issue is a local restaurant’s change in copy for a newspaper ad or a large
multinational firm launching a new product in a foreign market, all marketing activities
have one thing in common: They aim to give customers a reason to buy the
organization’s product.

Strategic Planning
If an organization is to have any chance of reaching its goals and objectives, it must
have a game plan or road map for getting there. A strategy, in effect, outlines the
organization’s game plan for success. Effective marketing requires sound strategic
planning at a number of levels in an organization. At the top levels of the organization,
planners concern themselves with macro issues such as the corporate mission,
management of the mix of strategic business units, resource acquisition and
assignments, and corporate policy decisions. Planners at the middle levels, typically a
division or strategic business unit, concern themselves with similar issues but focus on
those that pertain to their particular product/market. Strategic planning at the lower
levels of an
organization is much more tactical in nature. Here, planners concern themselves with
the development of marketing plans—more specific game plans for connecting
products and markets in ways that satisfy both organizational and customer
objectives.
Social Responsibility and Ethics
The role of social responsibility and ethics in marketing strategy has come to the
forefront of important business issues in today’s economy. Our society still
reverberates from the effects of corporate scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and
ImClone, among others. Although these scandals make for interesting reading, many
innocent individuals have suffered the consequences from these companies’ unethical
behavior. Social responsibility refers to an organization’s obligation to maximize its
positive impact on society while minimizing its negative impact. In terms of marketing
strategy, social responsibility addresses the total effect of an organization’s marketing
activities on society.
A major part of this responsibility is marketing ethics, or the principles and
standards that define acceptable conduct in marketing activities. Ethical marketing can
build trust and commitment and is a crucial ingredient in building long-term
relationships with all stakeholders. Another major component of any firm’s impact on
society is the degree to which it engages in philanthropic activities. Many firms now
make philanthropy a key strategic activity.
Research and Analysis
Strategic planning depends heavily on the availability and interpretation of information.
Without this lifeblood, strategic planning would be a mindless exercise and a waste of
time. Thankfully, today’s planners are blessed with an abundance of information due to
improving technology and the Internet. However, the challenge of finding and
analyzing the right information remains. As many marketing planners have found,
having the right information is just as important as having the right product. Marketers
are accustomed to conducting and analyzing research, particularly with respect to the
needs, opinions, and attitudes of their customers.
Although customer analysis is vital to the success of the marketing plan, the
organization must also have access to three other types of information and analysis:
internal analysis, competitive analysis, and environmental analysis. Internal analysis
involves the objective review of internal information pertaining to the firm’s current
strategy and performance, as well as the current and future availability of resources.
Analysis of the competitive environment, increasingly known as competitive
intelligence, involves analyzing the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of
competing businesses.Analysis of the external environment, also known as
environmental scanning, involves the analysis of economic, political, legal,
technological, and cultural events and trends that may affect the future of the
organization and its marketing efforts. Some marketing planners use the term situation
analysis to refer to the overall process of collecting and interpreting internal,
competitive, and environmental information.
Developing Competitive Advantage

To be successful, a firm must possess one or more competitive advantages that it can
leverage in the market in order to meet its objectives. A competitive advantage is
something that the firm does better than its competitors and gives it an edge in serving
customers’ needs and/or maintaining mutually satisfying relationships with important
stakeholders. Competitive advantages are critical because they set the tone, or
strategic focus, of the entire marketing program. When these advantages are tied to
market opportunities, the firm can offer customers a compelling reason to buy their
products. Without a competitive advantage, the firm and its products are likely to be
just one more offering among a sea of commoditized products. Southwest Airlines, for
example,
maintains a cost-based competitive advantage over its rivals due to its no-frills
strategy of high efficiency, limited routes, a uniform fleet of airplanes, online
reservation system, low pricing, and dedicated people. Southwest’s marketing strategy
has allowed the company to remain profitable for over 32 years. Southwest is also the
only air carrier to remain consistently profitable since the September 11, 2001 terrorist
Attacks
.

Marketing Strategy Decisions

An organization’s marketing strategy describes how the firm will fulfill the needs and
wants of its customers. It can also include activities associated with maintaining
relationships with other stakeholders such as employees or supply chain partners.
Stated another way, marketing strategy is a plan for how the organization will use its
strengths and capabilities to match the needs and requirements of the market. A
marketing strategy can be composed of one or more marketing programs; each
program consists of two elements—a target market or markets and a marketing mix
(sometimes known as the four Ps of product, price, place, and promotion). To develop
a marketing strategy, an organization must select the right combination of target
market(s) and marketing mix(es) in order to create distinct competitive advantages
over its rivals.

TARGETING YOUNG CONSUMERS VIA ONLINE SOCIAL

NETWORKING YOUNG CONSUMERS VIA ONLINE SOCIAL
NETWORKING

Social networking sites on the Internet have proved to be very popular with both users
and advertisers. Sites like MySpace.com and Facebook.com allow users to ‘‘hang out’’
in an online equivalent of shopping malls, parking lots, and bars. Most users are teens
and young adults who use the sites to trade messages, photos, music, and blogs. The
largest and most profitable of these sites currently is MySpace, which was acquired by
News Corp. In 2005 for $580 million. Other sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are also
busy and profitable.

Although social networks are very popular, they have attracted a fair amount of
criticism. Many argue that these sites make it easier for predators to reach teens and
children through the use of their online profiles. Business experts have been skeptical
of the long-term success of social networking as a business model. They argue that
younger audiences are fickle and will leave these sites for the next hot thing on the
Internet. Others argue that the questionable nature of the content on these sites is a
risky proposition when tied to advertising strategies.

Despite these criticisms, online social networking appears to have legs for the long
term---forcing media companies and advertisers to take notice. The reason is simple:
the demographic profile of the social networking audience is extremely lucrative.
MySpace alone reaches over 70 million registered users, mostly in the 12- to 17-year-
old age range. Power like that has forced an increasing number of advertisers to
consider social networking as a viable media strategy. Target, NBC, Procter & Gamble,
Viacom, and Geffen A&M Records are only some of the firms that have run ad
campaigns on MySpace. In addition to the demographic bonanza, social networking
also allows firms to carefully target promotions to the right audience and collect a
striking amount of information about users. For example, Procter & Gamble launched
Secret Sparkle to 16- to 24-year-old girls and women using MySpace.

These users were not only exposed to ads for the product but also allowed to
participate in a Secret Sparkle sweepstakes. Volkswagen also used MySpace as a
part of its ‘‘Unpimp Your Auto’’ campaign for the GTI. The campaign featured Helga, a
blond bombshell, and Wolfgang, a German engineer, who both maintained profiles on
MySpace. More than 7500 fans signed up as Helga’s friends. Though the future of
social networking sites looks promising, the protection of minor children remains a
nagging issue. In early 2006, MySpace began taking aggressive steps to ensure the
safety of children, including hiring a former federal prosecutor as its first chief security
officer. MySpace and other social networking sites must find a balance between
security and free expression. If these firms tighten up too much, users will leave and
so will advertisers.

Implementation and Control

Once a marketing strategy has been selected and the elements of the marketing mix
are in place, the marketer must put the plan into action. Marketing implementation, the
process of executing the marketing strategy, is the ‘‘how’’ of marketing planning.
Rather than being an add-on at the end of the marketing strategy and marketing plan,
implementation is actually a part of planning itself. That is, when planning a marketing
strategy, the organization must always consider how the strategy will be executed.
Sometimes, the organization must revisit the strategy or plan to make revisions during
the strategy’s execution. This is where marketing control comes into play. Adequate
control of marketing activities is essential to ensure that the strategy stays on course
and focused on achieving its goals and objectives.
The implementation phase of marketing strategy calls into play the fifth P of the
marketing program: people. As we will learn in Chapter 11, many of the problems that
occur in implementing marketing activities are ‘‘people problems’’ associated with the
managers and employees on the frontline of the organization who have responsibility
for executing the marketing strategy. Many organizations understand the vital link
between people and implementation by treating their employees as indispensable
assets. Aflac, for example, has been named eight consecutive times by Fortune
 magazine to its list of the ‘‘100 Best Companies to Work for in America.’’ The Georgia-
based company has developed a corporate culture that focuses on caring for
employees and providing for their needs.25 Other companies cited as having good
relationships with their employees include The Container Store, J.M. Smucker, and
S.C. Johnson & Son.

The dominance of the customer

It is nearly a truism that the needs and wants of the consumer are the critical issues today
in creating new products and services, and developing the accompanying plans to
merchandise them at a profit. But this trend—the first on my list—is still in process of
evolution. The need to understand and anticipate future customers is bound to become
even more essential than in the past, because the end users of almost every company’s
products are shifting in makeup, location, and number at an ever-increasing rate.

The significance of this to senior marketing executives is twofold: First, they cannot—
indeed, they must not—assume that yesterday’s customers will be available tomorrow.
Second, they had better be certain that they have adequate sources of market
information. Unless they can keep up with what is happening to their markets, the whole
company’s selling effort may ultimately be directed at the wrong people with the wrong
products and at the wrong time. This is what a marketing vice president I know meant
when he said, “My company’s sales output can’t be any better than my intelligence input.”

Consider a few of the changes in the nature of consumers and markets:

 Sociologists and marketers agree that people are becoming more interested in use than
in ownership. One can rent or lease everything from garden tools to machine tools
to cars. Annual rental income, not including car and truck rentals, is close to the $750
million mark. The value of equipment being leased, currently about $1 billion, may well
double in five years. This trend could affect the channels of selling, pricing
arrangements, sales appeals, or even the characteristics of the product line (such as
the increasing sale of disposable items).

 There has been disproportionate growth in the market for personal services, including
recreation, education, and travel. Depending on whose statistics you choose to believe,
 consumer services now account for 40 percent to 50 percent of all consumer
purchases.
A whole series of demographic changes hold significance for the producer of consumer
goods—in particular, the explosive growth of the teenage and young-adult market, the
migration of blue-collar workers to the suburbs, the increase in per capita income, and
the ever-growing mobility of our population. To the consumer-goods manufacturer, the
wholesaler, and the retailer, this means there is no such thing as stability of customers.
 People’s tastes are becoming more varied, flexible, and demanding. As just one example,
consider the demand for wood products. The traditional lumber manufacturer now
produces and sells a multitude of products that were virtually unknown 20 years ago—
and all because product research teamed up with marketing to develop products that
people wanted and were willing to buy.

Another important result of this growing consumer dominance is that today nearly all sales
potentials are segmented. Typically, a total market now comprises a series of submarkets,
each with its own characteristics and each demanding a different sales approach. For
most companies, it is a gross error to develop a marketing program aimed at the “average
customer.” Today such a consumer, or such a company, hardly exists. In short, the
company that is not alert to the customers’ needs and the changing complexities of
marketplaces is inviting disaster.

The spread of marketing research

The second trend is the increased use of marketing research—in terms of both quantity
and scope. To an important degree, of course, this trend is a response to the first. If
knowledge about future customers is essential, and if the quality of the marketing output
is materially affected by the caliber of the informational input, then marketing research is
bound to increase in use and contribution as the interest in more scientific marketing
grows.

The dimensions of this trend are suggested by the membership growth of the American
Marketing Association (AMA) from 2,800 in 1950 to an estimated 13,000 by mid-1966.
Most of the increase represents marketing research, not individuals from the academic
fields. As long as seven years ago, according to a national study by the AMA, nine out of
ten companies with sales of $25 million or more had at least one marketing researcher on
their staffs.

Today, the bulk of company marketing research is devoted to such activities as

development of market potentials (for both existing and new products), analysis of
customer buying habits and requirements, measurement of advertising effectiveness,
share-of-market studies, determination of market characteristics, sales analysis,
establishment of sales quotas, and development of sales territories. Beyond this value in
reporting on historical and current conditions, however, I see a trend toward increased
use of marketing research as a creative tool to help solve future management problems.

For example, it can be used to help management determine the most effective channels
of distribution for a particular product line. By coupling distribution-cost analysis with
accurate research on shifts in consumer attitudes, a marketer may uncover the need for a
major shift in distribution policy. Such a sophisticated response to changed customer
attitudes can be seen in the fact that Chanel No. 5, fine oil paintings, and expensive mink
coats now can be purchased at Sears Roebuck, which also is the single largest retailer of
diamonds in the United States.

Again, consider the function of marketing research in the evaluation of a major

acquisition. Recently, a maker of industrial-machinery components became interested in
acquiring a somewhat smaller company in a different but related business. On paper, and
particularly from a financial viewpoint, the proposed acquisition looked desirable. But a
careful research effort in the field revealed that two competitors of the company under
review had considerably better reputations for customer service and, more important,
much superior research-and-development capabilities. Thus a potentially disastrous
purchase was avoided.
Salespeople’s compensation is another area where a creative marketing-research group
can make helpful contributions. Today, many companies are trying to orient salespeople’s
efforts toward profitable sales rather than volume alone. But before a compensation plan
can be geared to this objective, careful thought must be given to identifying and
measuring the profitability of customers, the profit relationships among the various
products, the costs of carrying out the various selling activities, and the feasibility of any
new sales-control system that may be required. Marketing research can help to provide
revealing analyses and reliable recommendations on each of these factors. Other
management problems calling for inputs from marketing research include pricing
decisions, test marketing of new and/or revised products, and estimates of future
personnel requirements.

Obviously, the broadening scope of marketing research should materially increase the
efficiency of the total marketing function. In some companies today, it is worth noting, the
head of marketing research is a member of a product-planning committee, a marketing-
strategy committee, or even a company-wide long-range planning committee—clear
evidence of top management’s growing realization that marketing-research people can
make a vital contribution to planning decisions and marketing strategies.

The Rise of the computer

The third major trend marketing must consider is the emergence of electronic data-
processing equipment as a major tool of scientific marketing not only for reporting data
but also, more importantly, for planning and control by management.

Generally speaking, I think it must be conceded that companies have dragged their feet in
taking advantage of electronic data-processing analyses, online communications, and
information-retrieval systems as tools to help make marketing more efficient. But the
computerization of many areas of marketing is only a matter of time. Consider a few
current applications of these techniques:

A major insurance company analyzes sales performance daily, weekly, monthly, and
yearly, comparing current figures with last year’s performance and this year’s goals. The
input information is fed into 15 satellite computers at 15 regional headquarters. After
processing the sales data (a complex task in the insurance industry, since so many
 pertinent details are routinely involved for every policy sold) these machines feed back
the essential sales information to two master computers at headquarters. There the
data are summarized and printouts are made on Friday night. By Monday morning, the
reports are on the manager’s desk.

A West Coast apparel manufacturer now adjusts the initial merchandising forecasts in
light of salespeople’s bookings, then develops the cutting orders for three plants day by
day in relation to inventories on hand. Salespeople and management are kept abreast
of trends daily during the key selling periods and weekly thereafter. Major
merchandising decisions are made on the basis of current information that was not
available before the installation of electronic data processing.
 One of the largest industrial distributors in the West has set up an online electronic data-
processing system that enables its key customers to place purchase orders for major
products by using prepunched cards that bear the price and quantity information. These
purchase orders are automatically transmitted to the distribution center for processing,
billing, and shipping—freeing the salespeople from much routine order taking and
permitting them to spend more time on individual customer problems.
 There are, of course, many other possible applications of electronic equipment as an aid
to the marketing function. And in the years to come, the use of electronic equipment by
marketing management will certainly increase.

Expanded use of test marketing

A fourth important trend, in my opinion, will be toward more controlled experimentation to

narrow the odds of an error in making marketing changes.

Two major influences emphasize the need for further expansion of test marketing. The
first is the rising cost of marketing changes: the costs, for example, of introducing new
products and packaging, of developing new advertising and promotional programs, and of
retraining salespeople.

The second influence is the mounting investment in product research and development.
About half of all corporate research-and-development activity in the United States today is
concerned with the creation of new commercial products. The resulting outpouring of new
products may measurably shorten the product life cycle and reduce the payout time
 correspondingly. This is one reason so many innovations in consumer goods are test-
marketed before being placed in national distribution, even though the product may have
been checked out in the laboratory and its sales potential assessed through marketing
research.

What kind of projects should be considered for test marketing? Here are a few examples:

 Evaluating new products and new product features or services in relation to

market potentials. This kind of application, accepted in the food industry for many
years, has only recently been used to determine whether customers would support
further processing and fabrication of sheet and plate products by industrial distributors.

 Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of new packaging. New frozen-food

containers for berry products went through regional market tests on the West Coast
before national introduction.
 Evaluating the effects of a new sales-incentive plan. A shift from individual incentives
to a group plan was tested by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in San Diego, St. Louis,
and Atlanta before being installed nationwide.
 Determining the advantages, if any, of new delivery and service practices. A
machinery manufacturer used test marketing to determine whether to expand its
customer-service program. When the results indicated that customers would not pay
the added cost when faced with the reality of signing up for the added service, the
proposal was dropped.
 Evaluating the effectiveness of alternative advertising media and approaches. Here
again, an established technique in many consumer-goods industries is being more
widely applied in testing alternative media and promotional approaches for the
marketing of industrial products.
Some marketing projects can be tested quickly and relatively inexpensively through
computer simulation. For example, a leading US pharmaceutical company has used
simulation to determine the sales and profit impact of servicing small orders and/or small
customers by using jobbers and/or parcel post and/or not selling them at all—and all this
under a variety of assumed reactions by competitors.

With or without computers, however, I believe that increased use of test marketing under
controlled conditions will be an important future trend in marketing.

Metamorphosis of field selling

The fifth trend I foresee is a shift in the nature of the field-selling job toward a more
integrated, profit-oriented marketing effort.

A typical salesperson today represents a major investment of company funds. A 1964

survey by the Sales Executives Club of New York placed average training costs at $8,731
per person, excluding pay. Keeping a typical salesperson on the road may easily average
$15,000 to $17,000 of direct costs per year, including compensation. To achieve a
satisfactory return on this investment, the salesperson must sell profitably—not just bring
in volume. The job is becoming less and less the presentation of the company’s product
line, more and more the marketing of integrated systems.

Consider some of the ways an apparel salesperson now works with retailers:

 selecting the products for the coming selling season and establishing inventory
standards.
  maintaining stocks at proper levels and reordering as necessary (frequently utilizing
electronic data processing).
 helping to train retail clerks.
 establishing advertising schedules and assuring proper in-store tie-ins.
 executing in-store promotions.

 counseling on style trends and helping to move or shift slow-moving merchandise.

In other words, such a salesperson is carrying out a field-marketing effort that involves
products, market analysis, advertising, promotion, and inventory control.

In another case, a sales representative for chemical fertilizers helps distributors sell to
their customers, the dealers, through financing services and marketing-research
assistance. The sales rep may even have to set up merchandising programs to help
select and train salespeople for the distributors. Thus, the emphasis is on
helping customers increase their profits so that the company, in turn, can prosper.

Another important continuing trend in the field-sales job is the ever-increasing impact of
key-account, or selective, selling. In most industries, a limited number of customers have
a growing profit importance. In grocery retailing, for example, there are 20 percent fewer
outlets today than in 1958. In industrial manufacturing, 10 to 20 percent of the customers
may account for as much as 80 percent of sales, and an even bigger share of profits.

In the net, there is little doubt that tomorrow’s salespeople will be different from
yesterday’s breed. They are going to be more highly trained and better paid; they are
going to be planning oriented, service oriented, and technically skilled—in short,
sophisticated marketers.

Global market planning

An ever-broadening application of the marketing concept to worldwide markets is the last

of the six broad trends that I believe will change the face of marketing in the next few
years. Over the past decade, the marketing concept has become widely accepted in the
United States—perhaps, in some situations, too enthusiastically accepted and too
indiscriminately applied. Nevertheless, I believe the concept of a completely integrated
marketing effort is valid and will be increasingly adopted. In many companies operating
worldwide, it will stimulate the development of global market planning.

Expenditures by US companies on plant and equipment abroad, which were $5.1 billion
in 1963, $6 billion in 1964, and $7.5 billion in 1965, may well exceed $9 billion in 1966.
For manufacturing operations alone (excluding petroleum refining), expenditures abroad
rose by 30.5 percent last year, while domestic plant and equipment expenditures
advanced 15.7 percent. And mergers, licensing agreements, joint ventures, and the
establishment of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries by US companies overseas are
continually on the rise.

This means that top management must think through how best to coordinate a
multinational selling effort to assure adequate corporate control over a worldwide
marketing plan—yet without unduly restricting initiative and responsibility within each
national segment. An important part of this problem is determining how to provide most
efficiently the marketing services needed—services that in many companies today are
directed, if not executed outright, by a central corporate staff.

But this matter of becoming a worldwide company is only one of the major pressures in
the changing complexities of business today. To keep pace with these changes, and to
play the strong role in the future that I believe to be the key challenge to marketing
executives, the face of the marketing function will have to change accordingly.

Developing and Maintaining Customer Relationships

Over the last decade, marketers have come to the realization that they can learn more
about their customers and earn higher profits if they develop long-term relationships
with them. This requires that marketers shift away from transactional marketing and
embrace a relationship marketing approach. The goal of transactional marketing is to
complete a large number of discrete exchanges with individual customers. The focus
is on acquiring customers and making the sale, not necessarily on attending to
customers’ needs and wants. In relationship marketing, the goal is to develop and
maintain long-term, mutually satisfying arrangements where both buyer and seller
focus on the value obtained from the relationship.

Taking on the Challenges of Marketing Strategy

One of the greatest frustrations and opportunities in marketing is change—customers
change, competitors change, and even the marketing organization changes.
Strategies that are highly successful today will not work tomorrow. Customers will buy
products today that they will have no interest in tomorrow. These are truisms in
marketing. Although frustrating, challenges like these also make marketing extremely
interesting and rewarding. Life as a marketer is never dull.

Another fact about marketing strategy is that it is inherently people driven. Marketing
strategy is about people (inside an organization) trying to find ways to deliver
exceptional value by fulfilling the needs and wants of other people(customers,
shareholders, business partners, society at large), as well as the needs of the
organization itself. Marketing strategy draws from psychology, sociology, and
economics to better understand the basic needs and motivations of these people—
whether they are the organization’s customers (typically considered the most critical),
its employees, or its stakeholders. In short, marketing strategy is about people serving
people.

The combination of continual change and the people-driven nature of marketing

makes developing and implementing marketing strategy a challenging task. A perfect
strategy that is executed perfectly can still fail. This happens because there are very
few rules for how to do marketing in specific situations. In other words, it is impossible
to say that given ‘‘this customer need’’ and these ‘‘competitors’’ and this ‘‘level of
government regulation’’ that Product A, Price B, Promotion C, and Distribution D
should be used. Marketing simply doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, an organization
can get lucky and be successful despite having a terrible strategy and/or execution.
The lack of rules and the ever-changing economic, sociocultural, competitive,
technological, and political/legal landscapes make marketing strategy a terribly
fascinating subject. Most of the changes that marketers have faced over the past 20
years deal with the basic evolution of marketing and business practice in our society.
One of the most basic shifts involves the increasing demands of customers. Today,
customers have very high expectations about basic issues such as quality,
performance, price, and availability. American customers in particular have a passion
for instant gratification that marketers struggle to fulfill. Some evidence suggests that
marketers have not met this challenge.

some industries such as newspapers and airlines have suffered large declines in
customer satisfaction. Satisfaction in other industries, such as the automotive industry,
has remained fairly high and stable. The decline in satisfaction can be attributed to
several reasons. For one, customers have become much less brand loyal than in
previous generations. Today’s customers are very price sensitive, especially in
commoditized markets where products lack any real means of differentiation.
Consequently, customers constantly seek the best value and thrive on their ability to
compare prices among competing alternatives. Customers are also quite cynical about
business in general and are not that trusting of marketers. In short, today’s customers
have not only more power but also more attitude. This combination makes them a
formidable force in the development of contemporary marketing strategy. Marketers
have also been forced to adapt to shifts in markets and competition. In terms of their
life cycles, most products compete today in very mature markets. Many firms also
compete in markets where product offerings have become commoditized by a lack of
differentiation (for example, customers perceive competing offerings as essentially the
same). Some examples include airlines, wireless phone service, department stores,
laundry supplies, and household appliances. Product commoditization.

Developing a viable and effective marketing strategy has become extremely

challenging. Even the most admired marketers in the world like McDonald’s, Procter &
Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, and Toyota occasionally have problems meeting the
demands of the strategic planning process and developing the ‘‘right’’ marketing
strategy. Our goal in this book is not to teach you to develop the ‘‘right’’ strategy.
Rather, our approach will give you a framework for organizing the planning process
and the ability to see how all of the pieces fit together. Think of it as a mind-set or way
to think about marketing strategy. The remainder of this text dedicates itself to these
goals.
Marketing is no longer about how a firm takes a product to market. Simply focusing on
awareness of your product, in the belief that interest and sales would follow
automatically, have gone in a fog of choice, over-supply and fragmentation of media.
In today’s ultra competitive markets firms have to organise themselves around the
needs of the customer, not the needs of the firm. Buying behaviour has changed from
focusing on product features to personal value. The task of marketing today is not to
interrupt and persuade but to engage, motivate and satisfy
.Firms need to make people aware of how they understand and can meet their
requirements. Relevance to the individual customer is now the key to generating
interest, not awareness. If customers do not find the experience of using the product
or service to their tastes they will switch to one of the other providers keen for their
business – very quickly.
In the Production era marketing was geared around the requirements of the production
process, to help promote an affordable product. The planning models based on the
4P’s was internally orientated.
In the Consumer era we now find ourselves in, with the huge explosion in competition
and over-supply in most markets, firms need a new approach to marketing. One that
goes beyond the initial purchase, and takes account of the whole customer journey. It
is why differentiation and customer value is at the heart of modern business planning
and marketing has extended beyond adverts and brochures to include people and
processes.
To survive and thrive today firms need to recognise that the role of marketing, is not
just in setting expectations to win customers, but ensuring the experience matches up
to it to retain and develop those relationships. Marketing planning has switched from
looking inwards to looking out – at what customers want and finding production and
distribution methods that meet those wants. With this change has come a change in
planning, replacing the 4P’s with a more customer-centric planning model, to help
shape and meet the needs of today’s more demanding customers.
Firms who take no notice of customers needs risk having customers take no notice of
them. Instead of making it harder for firms to prosper, the changes in the market have
actually enabled those companies that have embraced the changes to become more
profitable and more dominant. Even in the face of greater competition. Spending more
no longer guarantees greater impact. Consumers have become much better at filtering
out messages they regard as not relevant to them individually. Interuption marketing is
no longer productive. Firms who think smarter, instead of bigger, with an effective
engagement marketing strategy can make budgets work much harder and stretch
further, generating more customers and maximising customer lifetime value. Price and
competitive edge is linked to desirability and not production costs and profitability is
linked to maximising lifetime customer value not individual purchases.
In a time of almost limitless choice and more standard production quality, product
features have been superceded by brand value as the key differentiator. What sets a
£2 and £200 pair of jeans apart in the 21st Century is not the production costs, but the
perceived value to the purchaser. Choice has changed consumer behaviour. People
are happy to pay more if they believe they are getting more personal value.
The price now represents the cost to access the desired benefits. The value an
individual gets is linked to the result gained from the purchase. The result includes
satisfying emotional wants, in terms of how they see themselves and want others to
see them, as well as the physical needs. Hence the badge on the jeans counts for
more than needing a tough pair of trousers. It is like wanting to be friends and
associated with the most popular kid at school – only now you can buy into that
friendship.
Brand personality or image has emerged as the key differentiator as products
themselves have become more commoditised. As product differences have shrunk,
non product differences, such as the image and personality of the brand or added
value aspects that make the product or service more relevant, have replaced them as
people have demonstrated their willingness to measure price based on personal worth
to them rather than cost (display an affinity for, pay a premium, to be associated with
values and an image they aspire to).
They are also a much easier and quicker method for individuals, with limited technical
knowledge, to judge on than pouring over complex product specifications. No doubt
the £200 jeans used better materials, were better stitched and had nicer detailing. But
these elements have no real sway compared to personal value aspects in the buying
process. They may help justify the purchase, but would not be a consideration in the
motivation for the purchase.
Buying behaviour now involves two stages. Cultural fit for individuals is based on the
brands they have an affinity with. From this shortlist the final product choice is
determined by the best individual fit. A simple example of this is car buying. People will
have a group of manufacturers they regard as acceptable and will not look outside
these manufacturers, even though identical style cars will be made by many others,
and will often be cheaper. From this group they will then make their final selection
based on the test drive, the offers, the specification etc. Whilst branding plays a less
significant part in professional buying behaviour, i.e. B2B markets, it is still a significant
factor in achieving standout in overcrowded and building a cultural fit with the target
market. Personal value needs will also be less emotional than in B2C purchase
decisions, involving elements over and above the product functionality, such as
service, communication and guarantees. Even though more based in logic they will
still have a major impact in the final buying decision.

Some of the questions you should be able to answer to compete effectively in

the modern economy are;
 How well are you geared up to take advantage of the changes in how people
buy?
 Do you have relevant value propositions to differentiate you on the elements
that really matter to potential customers?
 Do you understand what your customers are looking for when deciding what to
buy and who to buy it from?
 Do have the relevant sales skills within the organisation to create value in the
eyes of the prospect to make you the best choice for them?
 Conclusion

Due to Economic downturn marketing has gained importance in past few years in
order to gain the attention of the consumers.In 21st century marketing has become
one of the key strategies used by organisations world wide. Companies can not use
one simple marketing strategy which meets the need of both markets’ and consumers’
because they are so versatile to be dealt collectively this is because of continues
change in modern society. Cultural changes and advancements in technology divided
a market into so many segments.In order for M&S to capture large market share it has
to set up successful market strategies and make the most of technology.

Currently, the marketing has an important vital in:

 the economy of companies, organizations, and nations;

 improving the quality of life of individuals and
 generating more competitive and able to meet the needs and desires of the
enterprises.

Therefore, no nation, corporation, organization or individual can ignore

the importancethat has the marketing in the development of society or group of
people and the economy.